Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated 'AatmaNirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan' through video conferencing from here today. Under this, local entrepreneurship will be promoted along with providing employment opportunities to migrant workers.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that everyone would be able to surpass the difficulties owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic. He stressed that until a vaccine is found, maintaining Do Gaj ki Doori, covering the face with the mask are the best precautions.
PM expressed satisfaction in the manner in which Uttar Pradesh has turned the disaster into an opportunity, the way people were engaged during this pandemic. He said that other states will also get to learn a lot from 'AatmaNirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan' and will be inspired by it.
The PM lauded the courage and wisdom shown by Uttar Pradesh, when Corona is in such a major crisis in the world. He said that the way the state succeeded and the way it handled the situation is unprecedented and is praiseworthy.
The PM praised the contribution of doctors, parameds, sanitation staff, police, ASHAs, Anganwadi workers, banks and post offices, transport services, workers in UP.
The Prime Minister lauded the Government of UP making efforts to bring back the migrant labour belonging to the state, by facilitating hundreds of Shramik Express Trains.
He said that more than 30 lakh migrant labor from all over the country returned to their villages in UP in the last few weeks. The Prime Minister said that the Chief Minister of UP understood the seriousness of the situation and his government worked on a war footing in view of this situation.
The Prime Minister praised the UP government for their unprecedented work in ensuring that the poor don't go hungry. He said the UP Government acted very promptly in providing free rations to the poor and the migrant labor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. This was provided for those even without ration cards. He said that in addition to this, about 5 thousand crore rupees were also directly transferred to the Jan Dhan account of 75 Lakh poor women of Uttar Pradesh.
The Prime Minister said that Uttar Pradesh is also leading in the campaign to take India on the path of AatmaNirbhar at a fast pace as well as in the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan. He added that under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, many works are being started in villages to increase the income of the workers.
He said that out of this, about 60 lakh people are being given employment in MSMEs under the schemes related to rural development. He said that apart from this, an amount of Rs 10,000 Crore is allocated under the Mudra Yojana for providing self employment to thousands of people.
Shri Modi said that UP will benefit immensely when clusters of industries are being created to promote such local products across the country under the AatmaNirbhar Rojgar Abhiyan.
The Prime Minister highlighted the recent reforms announced in Agriculture where in the farmers were freed from various shackles under the law. He said that now the farmers are free to sell their produce anywhere in India and that he can set his price at the time of sowing itself.
The Prime Minister said many new steps are being taken for our livestock viz. A special infrastructure fund of 15 thousand crore rupees has been created for the livestock and dairy sector.
The Prime Minister also referred to declaring Kushinagar airport as an international airport which will be important in terms of promoting Buddhist circuit. This will strengthen air connectivity in Purvanchal and crores of devotees of Mahatma Buddha in the country and abroad can easily reach UP.
The 15th Finance Commission headed by Chairman, Shri N. K. Singh including its Members today held a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and senior officials of his Ministry.
In view of fact that in the third tranche of Rs 20 lakh crores fiscal stimulus package, Government of India had announced various measures to boost agriculture to strengthen Infrastructure Logistics and Capacity Building for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Processing Sectors and in order to re-orient its proposed formulation on the agriculture reforms and incentives for exports in the light of para 7 of the ToR, FC-XV had called for this discussion with the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and hence this meeting.
Earlier the Fifteenth Finance Commission had also constituted a Committee on Agricultural Exports under the chairmanship of Mr Sanjeev Puri, CMD, ITC. Some of the key points related to Agri-exports discussed in the Committee meetings so far are given below:
· India is the second highest agriculture producer in the world and world leader in many significant agriculture categories. It has competitive advantage over other countries in agriculture as its diverse agro-climatic conditions created diverse crop portfolio potential; two main cropping seasons (Kharif and Rabi) and relatively low cost of labour and manufacturing.
· However, given the Competitive edge, India is only ranked 11th globally in terms of agriculture exports.
· Despite India’s global advantage in terms of hectares of arable land, it significantly lags smaller countries in export $ per hectare, driven amongst other things by (a) Lower yields and farm productivity (b) Low focus on value addition, allowing it to be captured by others such as Vietnam (c) Larger domestic market.
· India’s processed exports have been steadily improving, but still has a higher global share of raw commodities than processed goods. · India’s agricultural exports have been volatile for the last 10 years, but have flattened more recently.
· Due to effect of fall in global prices and back to back drought during 2014, 2015 and 2016, exports dropped by 10% CAGR Recent growth rates show that agri-food production is rising faster than growth in domestic demand, and volume of surplus for export is witnessing accelerated growth. This offer scope and opportunity for capturing overseas markets to earn foreign exchange and enable producers to earn higher prices for farm produce.
· India’s top 50 commodities and agriculture products make up 75% of its total exports · India exports 70% of its agriculture value to 20 countries; opportunity to export more to Europe and the Americas. · While India imports over $20B in agriculture products, it still maintains a significant trade surplus of $18B.
Oilseeds coverage area jumps more than three-fold, significant gains in Cotton, Coarse Cereals, Cotton, Pulses & Rice
More rainfall this year accumulates almost double of decade’s average water storage in 123 reservoirs Posted On: 26 JUN 2020 8:46PM by PIB Delhi
The country has received the rainfall of 155.2 mm against the normal of 128.2 mm during the period from 1.06.2020 to 25.06.2020. There has been satisfactory progress of sowing area coverage under Kharif crops, the status of which is given as under:
Sowing Area Coverage of Summer Crops: Rice: About 37.71 lakh ha area coverage under summer rice as compared to 32.05 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Pulses: About 19.40 lakh ha area coverage under pulses as compared to 11.45 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year.
Coarse Cereals: About 47.96 lakh ha area coverage under coarse cereals as compared to 26.09 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Oilseeds: About 83.31 lakh ha area coverage under oilseeds as compared to 24.07 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year.
Sugarcane: About 49.69 lakh ha area coverage under sugarcane as compared to 47.77 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. Jute & Mesta: About 5.88 lakh ha area coverage under jute & mesta as compared to 6.98 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year.
Cotton: About 71.69 lakh ha area coverage under cotton as compared to 39.23 lakh ha. during the corresponding period of last year. In Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2020-21, a total of 403.44 Lakh MT wheat is arrived in FCI out of which 387.20 Lakh MT is purchased.
Anti - Submarine Warfare capability of the Indian Navy has received a major boost today with the conclusion of a contract for Advanced Torpedo Decoy System Maareech capable of being fired from all frontline warships. Design & Development of this anti-torpedo decoy system has been undertaken indigenously DRDO labs (NSTL and NPOL).
Bharat Electronics Limited, a Defence PSU, would undertake the production of this decoy system. The prototype of this system installed onboard a nominated naval platform had successfully completed all user evaluation trials and demonstrated the features as per the Naval Staff Qualification Requirements.
New Classification raises the Investment limits and adds turnover as another criteria: this raises the hopes and aspirations of millions of MSMEs
Eases the Entry rules beyond comprehension; No papers required for Registering an MSME called Udyam now onwards Effective mechanism for facilitation set up right from Registration level Posted On: 26 JUN 2020 5:34PM by PIB Delhi
In a historic move, bold initiative and landmark decision, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has come out with a consolidated notification in the form of guidelines for classification and registration of MSMEs. It may be recalled that Ministry had published a Notification on 1st June, 2020 with new criteria for classification of MSMEs based on Investment and Turnover. It was also said that it will be effective from 1st July, 2020.
Accordingly, the MSME Ministry has moved in advance towards implementing the new norms from the next month. For this purpose, Ministry had undertaken a series of consultations with various stakeholders including the advisory committee, officials of Income Tax, GST, State Governments and MSME Associations in the month of June.
Based on the same, MSME Ministry has issued a detailed notification on 26th June, 2020. This Notification gives the detailed criteria for classification of MSMEs and the procedure for registration and the arrangements made by the Ministry for facilitation in this process.
Another striking feature of this notification is that it supersedes all earlier notifications issued with regard to classification or registration of MSMEs. Now, the entrepreneurs, enterprises and the MSMEs have to refer to just this notification for matters relating with classification or registration. The notification also says that hereafter, an MSME will be known as Udyam, as this is more closer to the word Enterprise. Accordingly, the registration process will be known Udyam Registration.
In another landmark and bold decision, the Ministry has also notified that: Udyam Registration can be filed online based on self-declaration with no requirement to upload documents, papers, certificates or proof.
Officials said that this is possible because the Udyam Registration process has been fully integrated with the Systems of Income Tax and GST and the details filled in can be verified on the basis of PAN number or GSTIN details.
Other Highlights of the Notification include: An enterprise can be registered just on the basis of Aadhaar number. Other details can be given on self-declaration basis without any requirement of uploading or submitting any papers-thus it is a paperless exercise in true sense;
As declared earlier, Investment in ‘Plant and Machinery or Equipment’ and ‘Turnover’ are the basic criteria for classification of MSMEs now; The notification clarifies that Exports of goods or services or both shall be excluded while calculating the turnover of any enterprise whether Micro, Small or Medium;
The process of registration can be done online through the portal which will be made known to the public before 1st July, 2020, the date from which this new arrangement is going to be effective.
In another first, the Ministry of MSME has established a strong facilitation mechanism for the MSMEs. This process is in the form of Single Window Systems at the district level and regional level. It will help those entrepreneurs who are not able to file the Udyam Registration for any reason. At the district level, the District Industry Centres have been made responsible for facilitating the entrepreneurs. Similarly, Ministry’s recent initiative of Champions Control Rooms across the country have been made legally responsible for facilitating such Entrepreneurs in registration and even thereafter.
Those people who do not have a valid Aadhaar Number can also approach the Single Window Systems for facilitation alongwith adhaar enrollment request or identity, bank photo passbook, voter ID card, passport or driving license and the Single Window Systems will facilitate them in registering after getting the adhaar number.
Minister of MSME, Shri Nitin Gadkari while releasing the new guidelines today said that their new system of classification, registration and Facilitation of MSMEs will be an extremely simple and yet fast-track, seamless and globally benchmarked process and a revolutionary step towards Ease of Doing Business. These steps and strategies also give a strong message that the Ministry is standing strongly behind the MSMEs who are facing several challenges at this time.
Ministry officials are upbeat about these developments and say that this is making of a history in the Ministry. Others in the Ministry also say that this is one more step towards fulfillment of Ministry’s commitment of making Indian MSMEs National and International Champions and to enable them to break their barriers and capture global markets.
The portal will provide information about the district-wise and work-wise components of the Abhiyaan; it will also enable monitoring of the progress and completion of the works
Shri Tomar says that the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan will provide gainful employment for four months to lakhs of skilled workers who have returned to their native places because of the Covid-19 lockdown Posted On: 26 JUN 2020 5:59PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today launched the web portal of the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan through video conferencing from New Delhi.
The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan is the massive employment generation-cum-rural infrastructure creation programme of the Government of India which was inaugurated on 20th June 2020 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with the objective of providing employment to returnee migrant workers at their native places for next four months, because of the situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The video conference was attended by Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Secretary, Rural Development Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, 116 Central Nodal Officers appointed by the Government for monitoring the implementation of the Abhiyaan in the identified districts, and top officials of the Ministries and State Governments associated with the Abhiyaan.
Shri Narendra Singh Tomar expressed happiness at the launch of the portal which besides providing information to the public about the various district-wise and scheme-wise components of the Abhiyaan, will also help to monitor the progress of completion of the works being undertaken with a fund outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore in 116 districts of 6 states, where there are more than 25000 returnee migrant workers per district.
Shri Tomar said that the Union Government in coordination with the State Governments has been successful in dealing with the difficult situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, even during the period of lockdown, activities related to agriculture, small industries and implementation of government welfare and development schemes continued to function in order to alleviate livelihood problems of poor people.
Shri Tomar said that MGNREGA with an allocation of Rs. 1,01,500 crore during the current financial year is the greatest employment generator for unskilled persons. In accordance with the Prime Minister’s concerns to provide employment to lakhs of skilled workers who have returned to their native places because of the lockdown, the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan was launched with a funding of Rs. 50,000 crore on 20th June 2020 for which the Ministry of Rural Development is the nodal Ministry, working in close coordination with 12 other ministries of the Government of India for the 25 categories of works which are to be completed in the identified districts in 125 days.
Shri Tomar said that these ongoing works which were progressing at a normal pace as per schedule, have now been fast-tracked to transform the challenge presented by the pandemic into an opportunity to create infrastructure in rural areas in a short duration.
“Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21) for 272 Most Affected Districts’ was e-launched by Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment on the occasion of “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” here today.
On this occasion, he also released Logo and Tagline for National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction and 9 Video Spots produced for Drug Abuse Prevention. Secretary, M/o SJ&E Shri R. Subramaniam and Joint Sec retary Ms. Radhika Chakravarty were present.
Representatives from State governments and NGOs also participated online.
Motoring expeditions have become very popular of late with those who are looking for thrills and want to explore what the Country has to offer with a Vehicle. The Union Tourism Ministry’s Webinar Series under the banner “Dekho Apna Desh” on 25th June 2020 showcased the potential Motoring Expeditions(Driving Holidays in India. The webinar showcased diverse network of roads and terrain available in various corners of the Country. DekhoApnaDesh Webinar Series is an effort to showcase India’s rich diversity under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
The 38th session of Dekho Apna Desh webinar series on 25.06.2020 was moderated by Ms. Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism and presented by Manish Sarser, Head-off-Road driver Training Programme, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and Hari Singh, Head of Operations, JK Motorsports & Founder, DriveTech India.
Mrs. Rupinder Brar started the session stating India’s leadership position in terms of length of road networks. She stated that India has the second largest road network in the World with total length of around 5,897,671 kilometres. Indian road network consists of 1000 km -Expressways, 79,243 km -National Highways, 1, 31,899 km -State Highways and Other major district and rural roads. She explained how Indian motoring expeditions offers a fantastic and thrilling experience considering the varied terrain that India has like desert, plateau, mountains, highest passes, costal roads etc.
Motoring Expedition to North East is also a fantastic experience. The state government of Nagaland hosts the Hornbill Festival ever year in the month of December, similarly Arunachal Pradesh hosts Orange Festival. Visit during these festival periods is full of fun, fair and music. Local people are hospitable and even the State Government authorities from Chief Minister to local authorities welcome the visitors. One can plan 7 days road trip starting from Guwahati Imphal Kohima Bandula Tawang Guwhati.
Context: In a bid to revive the Independence-era spirit of the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’, named after nationalists Lala Lajpat Rai, ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, and to mark the death centenary of Tilak, Pune-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) ‘Sarhad’ will launch a series of literary and cultural programmes to strengthen connections between Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Rationale behind the event: Punjab, Bengal and Maharashtra have played significant roles during the struggle for Indian Independence. The historical association and cultural bonds among the three States was solidified in the modern era by the trinity of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’.
After Independence, while the socio-cultural bonds between Maharashtra and Punjab have grown stronger, Maharashtra’s ties with Bengal have somewhat weakened, despite a rich pedigree of literary and cultural affinity in the past.
Highlights: It will be a two-year-long event and is named ‘Maharashtra-Bengal friendship chapter’. It is envisioned as a people’s cultural revivalist movement in these two States. It will commence on Tilak’s death centenary (August 1, 1920-August 1, 2020) and will go on till August 15, 2022 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the great philosopher, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.
Brief overview of contributions made by Lal- Bal- Pal: The triumvirate had played a stellar role in the second phase of the Swadeshi movement which gathered momentum after the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon in 1905, and which called for the boycott of all imported items and the use of Indian-made goods.
Lal-Bal-Pal mobilized Indians across the country against the Bengal partition, and the demonstrations, strikes and boycotts of British goods that began in Bengal soon spread to other regions in a broader protest against the Raj. The nationalist movement gradually faded with the arrest of its main leader Bal Gangadhar Tilakand retirement of Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh from active politics.
Some facts: In 1895, Lal started the Punjab National Bank—the first Indian bank to begin solely with Indian capital, and that continues to function till date. In 1917, Lal founded the Indian Home Rule League of America there.
In 1884, Tilak founded the Deccan Education Society in Pune, and under the banner, opened the New English School for primary studies and Fergusson College for higher education. Bipin Chandra Pal was of a strong opinion that a mass reliance on Swadeshi goods would help people get rid of their poverty.
Context: 2020 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report released by UNESCO.
In line with its mandate, the 2020 GEM Report assesses progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education and its ten targets, as well as other related education targets in the SDG agenda.
Key findings: COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in education systems across the world. About 40% of low- and lower-middle-income countries have not supported learners at risk of exclusion during this crisis, such as the poor, linguistic minorities and learners with disabilities.
Efforts to maintain learning continuity during the pandemic may have actually worsened exclusion trends. During the height of school closures in April 2020, almost 91% of students around the world were out of school.
Issues with alternatives: Education systems responded with distance learning solutions, all of which offered less or more imperfect substitutes for classroom instruction.
Many poorer countries opted for radio and television lessons, 55% of low-income, 73% of lower-middle-income and 93% of upper-middle-income countries adopted for online learning platforms for primary and secondary education.
Even as governments increasingly rely on technology, the digital divide lays bare the limitations of this approach. Not all students and teachers have access to adequate internet connection, equipment, skills and working conditions to take advantage of available platforms. School closures also interrupted support mechanisms from which many disadvantaged learners benefit.
Resources for blind and deaf students may not be available outside schools. Children with learning disabilities or those who are on the autism spectrum may struggle with independent work in front of a computer or the disruption of daily school routines. For poor students who depend on school for free meals or even free sanitary napkins, closures have been a major blow.
Cancellation of examinations in many countries, including India, may result in scoring dependent on teachers’ judgements of students instead. This could be affected by stereotypes of certain types of students.
Context: The only drug available against leishmaniasis, miltefosine, is rapidly losing its effectiveness because of emerging resistance to this drug due to a decrease in its accumulation inside the parasite, which is necessary for the drug to kill the parasite.
So, a team of researchers had been exploring ways to tackle miltefosine resistance. This team has now shown allosteric modulation of transporter proteins of Leishmania using computationally-designed synthetic peptides. These promising research outcomes indicate that this approach could prove useful in the long run to develop novel therapeutics against drug-resistant Leishmania parasites.
Kala-azar: What is it? Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, black fever, and Dumdum fever, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality.
Spread: Caused by protozoan parasites of the Leishmania genus, migrates to the internal organs such as the liver, spleen (hence “visceral”), and bone marrow. Signs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, fatigue, anemia, and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen.
Additional facts: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease affecting almost 100 countries including India. It is caused by a parasite called Leishmania, which is transmitted through the bite of sand flies.
There are three main forms of leishmaniasis – visceral, which affects multiple organs and is the most serious form of the disease, cutaneous, which causes skin sores and is the most common form); and mucocutaneous, which causes skin and mucosal lesion).
Observed on 26 June. Theme: “Better Knowledge for Better Care”.
Why June 26th? The date June 26 is to commemorate Lin Zexu’s dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong, ending in June 25 1839, just before the First Opium War in China.
On this occasion, UNODC World Drug Report 2020 was also released.
Highlights: Around 269 million people used drugs worldwide in 2018, which is 30 per cent more than in 2009.
Over 35 million people suffer from drug use disorders. Rising unemployment and reduced opportunities caused by the pandemic are also likely to disproportionately affect the poorest, making them more vulnerable to drug use and also to drug trafficking and cultivation in order to earn money.
Most used substance in 2018: Cannabis. Cannabis also remains the main drug that brings people into contact with the criminal justice system. Most harmful: Opioids. Who use them? Adolescents and young adults account for the largest share of those using drugs, while young people are also the most vulnerable to the effects of drugs because they use the most and their brains are still developing.
Low-income countries still suffer a critical shortage of pharmaceutical opioids for pain management and palliative care.
Indian Government has taken several policy and other initiatives to deal with drug trafficking problem: It constituted Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) in November, 2016 and revived the scheme of “Financial Assistance to States for Narcotics Control”.
In 2017, the government approved new Reward Guidelines with increased quantum of reward for interdiction or seizure of different illicit drugs. Narcotics Control Bureau has been provided funds for developing a new software i.e. Seizure Information Management System (SIMS)which will create a complete online database of drug offences and offenders.
The government has constituted a fund called “National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse” to meet the expenditure incurred in connection with combating illicit traffic in Narcotic Drugs; rehabilitating addicts, and educating public against drug abuse, etc.
The government is also conducting National Drug Abuse Survey to measure trends of drug abuse in India through Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment with the help of National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of AIIMS.
Context: To ensure that depositors are protected, the Centre has decided to bring all urban and multi-State cooperative banks under the direct supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance to this effect.
How were these banks regulated so far? Currently, these banks come under dual regulation of the RBI and the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
The role of registrar of cooperative societies includes incorporation, registration, management, audit, supersession of board and liquidation. RBI is responsible for regulatory functions such maintaining cash reserve and capital adequacy, among others.
Co-operative banks are registered under the States Cooperative Societies Act. They come under the regulatory ambit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under two laws, namely, the Banking Regulations Act, 1949, and the Banking Laws (Co-operative Societies) Act, 1955.
What necessitated this? This comes after several instances of fraud and serious financial irregularities, including the major scam at the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank last year. In September, the RBI was forced to supercede the PMC Bank’s board and impose strict restrictions.
Implications of the latest move: Empower the RBI to regulate all urban and multi-state co-operative banks on the lines of commercial banks.
It will also provide more security to depositors. There are 1482 urban co-operatives banks and 58 multi-state co-operative banks. These banks have a depositor base of 8.6 crores, who have saved a huge amount of Rs. 4.84 lakh crore with these banks.
Context: NITI Aayog and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD jointly launched the ‘Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies’ (DTEE) project in India on 24June.
About the project: The ambitious five-year project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through the development of modelling tools and policy scenarios.
The project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India. The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonizing Transport initiative.
Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies (DTEE): It supports transport decarbonisation across different world regions.
Current participants: India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco. Implementation: The DTEE is collaboration between the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
How this will help India? The transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, where the major contribution comes from the road transport sector.
Out of the total carbon dioxide emissions in India, 13% come from the transport sector. These emissions have more than tripled since 1990. In India, CO2 emitted per inhabitant was just about a twentieth of that of an average OECD country, yet, India’s transport CO2 emissions are likely to increase by almost 6% annually to 2030.
This project will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.
International Transport Forum (ITF): It was created in 2006 by ministers from 43 countries.
It is an intergovernmental organisation within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with 60 member countries. It acts as a think tank for transport policy and organises the Annual Summit of transport ministers.
ITF is the only global body that covers all transport modes. The ITF is administratively integrated with the OECD, yet politically autonomous. It is headquartered in Paris, France.
Context: According to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), while particulate matter and nitrous oxide levels fell during the lockdown, ozone — also a harmful pollutant — increased in several cities.
Factors responsible for tropospheric ozone pollution: Ozone is primarily a sunny weather problem in India that otherwise remains highly variable during the year. The surge is because of few characteristics of summer pollution. These include: high winds, intermittent rains and thunderstorms, and high temperature and heat waves.
What is Ozone? Ozone (O3) is a colourless, reactive oxidant gas that is a major constituent of atmospheric smog.
How Tropospheric, or ground level ozone is formed? Ozone is not directly emitted by any source but is formed by photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and gases in the air under the influence of sunlight and heat.
This happens when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react in the presence of sunlight.
Concerns: Ozone at ground level is a harmful air pollutant, because of its effects on people and the environment, and it is the main ingredient in “smog.”
Elevated ground-level ozone exposures affect agricultural crops and trees, especially slow growing crops and long-lived trees.
Context: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras are collaborating with their counterparts in Germany to develop new materials for green energy solutions.
This project has been taken up under the Scheme for Promotion of academic and Research Collaboration or SPARC. It aims at developing alternative technologies to produce green hydrogen in anticipation of transition to hydrogen-based economy.
Need for and significance of the project: Conventional methods of generating hydrogen result in a large quantity of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that imposed serious environmental concerns. This project aims to develop novel low cost electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions.
What is SPARC? It is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The scheme aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world.
Under this Scheme, 600 joint research proposals will be awarded for 2 years to facilitate strong research collaboration between Indian research groups with the best in class faculty and renowned research groups in the leading universities of the world, in areas that are at the cutting edge of science or with direct social relevance to the mankind, specifically India.
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the National Coordinating Institute to implement the SPARC programme.
Context: Andhra Pradesh State government has extended the time for submission of report by the high-power committee that is probing the styrene monomer vapour leak incident at the LG Polymers unit till June 30.
Background: The committee was constituted to investigate into the May 7 incident that had killed 12 persons and hospitalised many others residing in the vicinity of the factory located at R.R. Venkatapuram village.
The government had earlier asked the committee to submit the report by June 22. The committee, besides probing the cause of the incident, would also find possible solutions to address the concerns raised by the victims and recommend steps to be taken, and identify hazardous industries. A quick look at Styrene Gas and its impacts:
What is Styrene? Styrene — an organic compound used in the production of polymers, plastics and resins — is manufactured in petrochemical refineries.
It is a poisonous, inflammable gas. It is also known as PVC gas (polyvinyl chloride), as it is used in the production of PVC. Styrene is the 20th most-used chemical in the world, according to the World Health Organization.
Where it can be found? The chemical can be found in air, water and soil once released into the environment. It is broken down in air in 1-2 days, while it evaporates from soil and shallow water surfaces. It is broken down by micro-organisms if it reaches soil.
Styrene occurs naturally in small quantities in some plants and foods (cinnamon, coffee beans, balsam trees and peanuts) and is also found in coal tar.
How it affects living beings? When humans are exposed to styrene, it causes eye irritation and gastro-intestinal effects.
It also impacts the outer layer of tissues in the skin causing erosion and bleeding in the short term. Long-term effects include central nervous system dysfunction, depression, hearing loss and peripheral neuropathy (a numb feeling in the hands and feet).
It also leads to an increase in the colour confusion index that may lead to colour blindness. Styrene is a possible carcinogen and can cause cancer under long exposure.
Context: First global report on the illegal wildlife trade was recently released by FATF. It is called the “Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade” report.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has described illegal wildlife trade as a “global threat”, which also has links with other organised crimes like modern slavery, drug trafficking and arms trade.
Key findings: The illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year. Criminals are frequently misusing the legitimate wildlife trade, as well as other import-export type businesses, as a front to move and hide illegal proceeds from wildlife crimes.
They also rely regularly on corruption, complex fraud and tax evasion. There is a growing role of online marketplaces and mobile and social media-based payments to facilitate movement of proceeds warranting a coordinated response from government bodies, the private sector and the civil society.
According to the 2016 UN World Wildlife Crime report, criminals are illegally trading products derived from over 7,000 species of wild animals and plants across the world.
Challenges: Jurisdictions often do not have the required knowledge, legislative basis and resources to assess and combat the threat posed by the funds generated through the illegal trade.
Criminal syndicates are misusing formal financial sector to launder the proceeds. Funds are laundered through cash deposits, under the guise of loans or payments, e-banking platforms, licensed money value transfer systems, and third-party wire transfers via banks.
Accounts of innocent victims are also used and high-value payments avoided to evade detection. Front companies, often linked to import-export industries, and shell firms are used for the movement of goods and trans-border money transfers.
What needs to be done? The report says financial probe is key to dismantling the syndicates involved, which can in turn significantly impact the associated criminal activities.
Jurisdictions should consider implementing the good practices. They include providing all relevant agencies with the necessary mandate and tools; and cooperating with other jurisdictions, international bodies and the private sector.
Legislative changes are necessary to increase the applicability of anti-money laundering laws to the illegal wildlife trade-linked offences.
O9A is considered to be a satanic, anarchist group founded in the UK in the 1970s that now operates around the world, including in the US.
The group describes itself as “a diverse, and world-wide, collective of diverse groups, tribes, and individuals, who share and who pursue similar sinister, subversive, interests, aims and life-styles, and who cooperate when necessary for their mutual benefit and in pursuit of their shared aims and objectives…”
Why in News? A US Army private has confessed to plotting an attack on his own unit by sharing secret information with this obscure satanic neo-Nazi group.
Madhya Pradesh (MP) this year surpassed Punjab to become the number one contributor of wheat.
Punjab, however, is still a way ahead from MP as far as per hectare productivity of wheat is concerned, which is around 52 per cent more (per hectare) than MP.
This year wheat was sown on 2 LH across the country against 296.98 LH last year. Of the total wheat area in the country, MP’s share was 31 per cent, while Punjab cultivated wheat on 10.6 per cent of the total national area.
It is named Vivekananda Yoga University (VaYU).
VaYU will offer online graduate programmes based on scientific principles and modern research approaches to yoga.
Eminent Indian yoga guru Dr. H R Nagendra, Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA) is the first Chairman of VaYU.
It is a campaign launched by NITI Aayog, in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Centre for Social and Behavioural Change (CSBC), Ashoka University, and the Ministries of Health and WCD.
It focusses on COVID-safe behaviours, especially wearing masks, during the ‘Unlock’ phase of the ongoing pandemic.