#Current #PT2021

G7

- It is an informal group of seven countries - the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Origin - The G7 draws its roots from a meeting between the current G7 members, excluding Canada that took place in 1975.

Background : Russia participated in the G8 from 1998 to 2014 until its invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea caused the group to eject it.

G7 summit - The heads of these countries hold an annual G7 summit with European Union and other invitees.

News: India has been invited to the 2021 G7 summit as a special guest.

Key points:
1. It will be particularly interested in the talks related to global vaccine delivery as both a major manufacturer and consumer.
2. The presidency of G7 meetings is held by each of the seven countries in turn, each year.
3. The country holding the presidency is responsible for organising and hosting the meeting.
4. The UK holds the G7 presidency for 2021 in Cornwall.


Facts:
1. Together the member countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population.
2. It has no binding impact on policy, and all decisions and commitments made at G7 meetings.

#Current #PT2021

PASIPHAE

- Polar-Areas Stellar-Imaging in Polarisation High-Accuracy Experiment
- It is an international collaborative sky surveying project
- launched by the Institute of Astrophysics, Greece.

- Significance:
1. It will be used in upcoming sky surveys to capture polarisation coming from very faint stars that are so far away.
2. The survey will use two high-tech optical polarimeters to observe the northern and southern skies, simultaneously.
3. Astronomers will perform a maiden magnetic field tomography mapping of the interstellar.
4. a polarimeter with high sensitivity and accuracy was needed, so WALOP was planned sometime in 2013.

#Governmentinitiative #PT2021

PENCiL Portal

- The Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCiL)
- Launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
- Function: to rehabilitate child labour in the country.

Key points:
- This portal is an online platform
- It aims at engaging the Central and State Governments, District, civil society and the public in eradicating child labour to
- Achieve the target of child labour free society.
- To mainstream into legal schools of all children who have been withdrawn from child labour and rehabilitated through the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme.
- To build a strong authentication mechanism for implementing and monitoring both the enforcement.

Components of PENCiL Portal - 1. Child Tracking System,
2. Complaint Corner
3. State Government
4. National Child Labour Project, Convergence.

Implementation Process -
- All complaints filed will be received by the District Nodal Officers
- DNOs who are nominated by the Districts.
- After receiving the complaints, the rescue measures will be taken within the 48 hours in coordination with the police department only
- if the complaint filed is found to be genuine.

#Environment #PT2021

Blue-finned Mahseer

News: On the IUCN red list, the Blue-finned Mahseer (Tor Khudree) has been moved from the ‘endangered’ status to the ‘least concern’ status.

Location : The IUCN group is involved in conservation of the blue-finned and golden Mahseer for 50 years in Lonavala, Maharashtra.

Characteristics -
1. They inhabit both rivers and lakes.
2. Most of species ascend into rapid streams with rocky bottoms for breeding.
3. They are omnivorous.
4. They eat algae, crustaceans, frogs, insects and other fish. They also eat fruits that fall from trees overhead.
5. The species is migratory; moving upstream during rains.
6. It prefers clean, fast flowing and well oxygenated waters

Habitat - This species is found in River Mota Mola east of Pune and other rivers of the Deccan Plateau.

Threats -
1. Over harvesting
2. Habitat manipulation
3. Competition from other fish species

#Environment #PT2021

Operation Olivia

- Every year, the Indian Coast Guard conducts “Operation Olivia”

- Aim: to protect turtles as they arrive to nest in Odisha.

Acts:
1. Odisha has also formulated laws for protecting Olive Ridley turtles.
2. he Orissa Marine Fisheries Act empowers the Coast Guard as one of its enforcement agencies.

Threats:
1. Indiscriminate fishing with trawlers and gill nets
2. Beach soil erosion
3. Dense fishing activity along the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
4. Trawlers, mechanised fishing boats and gill-netters.

Concern: It is estimated that only one in a thousand survive

Origin: early 1980s

Role:
1. It involves round-the-clock surveillance from November till May using fast patrol vessels, air cushion vessels, interceptor craft etc.
2.Enforcing the use of turtle excluder devices (TED) by trawlers in the waters adjoining nesting areas
3.Prohibiting the use of gill nets and curtailing turtle poaching.

Fact:
All five species of sea turtles found in India are included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and in the Appendix I of the CITES.

#Culture #PT2021

Tulu

News: Tulu speakers have been requesting the governments to give Tulu the official language status and include it in the 8th schedule to the Constitution.

Key points:
- Presently, there are 22 official languages.
- Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in regions of Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts) and Kerala (Kasaragod district).
- This region is informally known as Tulu Nadu.
- Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), in his book, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, called Tulu as one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family.
- Tulu is not an official language in the country.
- Karnataka government introduced Tulu as a language in schools a few years ago.

#Current #PT2021

River Devika National Project

- The River Devika Project in Jammu & Kashmir is being compared with the pioneer “NamamiGange” project of the Central Government.

- Centrally funded Rs.190cr. Project

Includes:
1. Bathing “ghats” (places) on the river’s banks will be developed
2. Encroachments will be removed
3. Natural water bodies will be restored andCatchment areas will be developed.
4. The project includes the construction of three sewage treatment plants of 8 MLD, 4 MLD and 1.6 MLD capacities, sewerage network.
5. Protection structures, small hydropower plants and three solar power plants.
6. On completion of the project, the rivers will see reduction in pollution and improvement in water quality.

#current #PT2021

Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor

- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed this project
- $484 million loan to improve the Tamil Nadu Industrial Connectivity Project.

Key points:

1.improve transport connectivity and facilitate industrial development in the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in the state of Tamil Nadu.

2. It is part of India’s East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), which stretches from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu and connects India to the production networks of South, Southeast, and East Asia.

3.The Connectivity project is part of the priority infrastructure projects identified for corridor development under the ADB-supported CKIC comprehensive development plan.I

4.eimprove the planning capacity of Tamil Nadu’s Highways and Minor Ports Department.

5.The project will upgrade about 590 km of state highways in the CKIC influence areas that cover 23 of the 32 districts between Chennai and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

#current #PT2021

Biotech-KISAN Programme

Its a program of Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

- It is Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN).

- This programme is a scientist-farmer partnership scheme.

- launched in 2017.

- Developed by and with farmers under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.

Objective:
to connect science laboratories with the farmers to find out innovative solutions and technologies to be applied at farm level.

Significance:
follows a hub-and-spoke model and stimulates entrepreneurship and innovation in farmers and empowers women farmers.

- These hubs have been established covering all 15 agroclimatic zones and 110 Aspirational Districts in the country.

#current #PT2021

Medical Tourism

News: Ministry of Tourism invites suggestions on the draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Medical and Wellness Tourism.

Key points:
1. Medical Tourism (also called medical travel, health tourism or global healthcare)

2. It is a term used to describe the rapidly growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain healthcare.

3.Virtually every type of healthcare, including psychiatry, alternative treatments, and convalescent care is available here.

4.Key drivers for growth of Medical Tourism and wellness tourism are:

- Affordability and accessibility of good healthcare services,
- Facilitation around hospitality services,
- Minimal waiting time,
- Availability of latest medical technologies and accreditations.

5. Medical Value Travel (MVT) is being promoted as a fusion product of the Healthcare and Tourism industries (World’s fastest growing industries).

#current #PT2021

Inland Vessels Bill, 2021

News: The Union Cabinet gave the nod to the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021, which will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917.
- The Bill will regulate safety, security and registration of inland vessels
- Total 4,000 km inland waterways have been operationalised.

Key features of bill:
1.Unified law - for entire country
2. The certificate of registration granted under the proposed law will be deemed to be valid in all States and Union Territories. T
3. here will be no need to seek separate permissions from the States.
4. Central database
It requires all mechanically propelled vessels to be mandatorily .
5. This Bill directs the Central Government to designate a list of chemicals, substances, etc. as pollutants. This deals with pollution control measures of Inland Vessels.

#current #PT2021

Delta plus Variant

News:
India found 40 cases of Delta variant carrying a mutation that appears to make it more transmissible and advised states to increase testing.

Key points:

T1. 1his Variant is called Delta Plus, which is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first detected in India.
2. It has acquired the spike protein mutation called K417N which is also found in the Beta variant (
.3. This Beta variant was reported to have immune evasion property.
4. The K417N mutation, coupled with other existing features of the Delta variant, could make it more transmissible.
5. It reduce the effectiveness of a cocktail of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
6. There are worries Delta Plus would inflict another wave of infections on India after it emerged from the world’s worst surge in cases recently.

#current #PT2021

Doppler RADAR

News:The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will install seven new doppler radars in Maharashtra.

Uses:
1. to detect and track the movement of weather systems, cloud bands and gauge rainfall over an area of 500 km, with effective range of up to 250 km.

Types of Radars:
1. X-band radar - It is used to detect thunderstorms and lightning as it is more sensitive and can detect smaller particles.
2 C-band radars - The signal is more easily attenuated, so this type of radar is best used for short range weather observation.
3. S band radars - Because of the wavelength and frequency, S band radars are not easily attenuated. So, they are useful for near and far range weather observation.

Functions:
1. It is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler Effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance.
2. It does this by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target and analyzing how the object's motion has altered the frequency of the returned signal.
3. This variation gives direct and highly accurate measurements of the radial component of a target's velocity relative to the radar.

#current #PT2021

Green Hydrogen

Green hydrogen 
It is prduced using renewable energy and electrolysis.

Process:
1. Electrolysis method uses an electrical current to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in water
2. By Products are water and water vapour.
3. If this electricity is obtained from renewable sources we will, therefore, produce energy without emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

NTPC is pioneering green hydrogen initiative  in India.

India’s National Hydrogen Energy Mission focuses on generation of hydrogen from green power resources.

Grey Hydrogen
Grey hydrogen is produced from hydrocarbons and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
It constitutes India’s bulk Production.

Blue Hydrogen
Blue hydrogen captures the above greenhouse gas emissions and stores them underground to prevent them causing climate change.
Uses:
They are Captured and Stored, so better than grey hydrogen.

#current #PT2021

AgriStack

- It is a collection of digital databases and technology-based interventions in agriculture.
- It is proposed by the Central Government focusing on India’s farmers and the agricultural sector.

Key features:
1. Under the programme, each farmer will have a unique digital identification (farmers’ ID) that contains personal details, information about the land they farm, as well as production and financial details.
2. Each ID will be linked to the individual's digital national ID Aadhaar.
3. database creation from particularly three schemes: PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi), Soil Health Card and PM Fasal Bima Yojna (crop insurance scheme).
4.This data will be compared with land records data
5. If there’s a mismatch, it will be shared with the local authorities for validation and field survey.
6.The field data received from local authorities will be updated with the compiled data to create clean, standardised, verified data for AgriStack.

#current #PT2021

World’s Fifth Ocean

News: The National Geographic magazine has recognised the ‘Southern Ocean’ as the world’s fifth ocean.
- The magazine has followed the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) on marine names.

Key points:
1 .The Southern Ocean is the only ocean to touch three other oceans and to completely embrace a continent rather than being embraced by them.
2. Its northern limit is a latitude of 60 degrees south.
3. It is also defined by its Antarctic Circumpolar 2Current that was formed 34 million years ago.
4. The current flows from west to east around Antarctica.

#current #PT2021

Electoral Bearer Bond Scheme

News:The State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches .
- Aross the country w.e.f. July 01, 2021 to July 10, 2021.

Key points:
Donor: Bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.
The donor donates these bonds to th political party.
Receiver - Electoral Bonds shall be received only by the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Encash - The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank. E.g.: SBI.
Validity - Electoral Bond shall be valid for 15 calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.

#current #PT2021

Omega Block

News:A dangerous 'Omega block' is trapping scorching hot air over the US and Canada.

Heat Dome - Even though the average summer temperatures are steadily increasing every year due to global warming, a weather anomaly called ‘Heat dome’
- It is partly to blame for the Pacific Northwest heat.

Key features:
- As the ground warms, it loses moisture, which makes it easier to heat even more.

- As that trapped heat continues to warm, the system acts like a lid on a pot - earning the name “heat dome.”

- Conflating high- pressure and low-pressure systems have trapped the region in a heat dome locked in place by undulations in the jet stream.

- The the jet stream has trapped a ridge of high pressure (heat dome) over the Pacific Northwest, creating a block in the atmosphere that prevents the weather system from moving on.

- Instead, the hot air in the high-pressure system pushes down over the region, creating a suffocating blanket of heat.

- As the wind patterns swirl around the heat block in the shape of the Greek letter Omega, the systems like these got the name “Omega blocks”.

#current #PT2021

Agni P

News: Tested by Defence Research and Development.

Location: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha, Balasore.

Key features:
1. It is the first of the new generation advanced variant of Agni class of missiles.
2. It has a range capability between 1,000-2,000 kms
3. It weighs 50% less than Agni 3 and has new guidance and a new generation of propulsion.
4. it is a canisterised missile
5. It can be launched from rail and road and stored for a longer period and transported all across the country as per operational requirements.
6. This missile can be used to target enemy armadas in the Indo-Pacific.

#current #PT2021

Gaganyaan

- ISRO is planning to launch the first uncrewed mission in December, as part of the human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan.

Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address on August 15, 2018.

Objective: to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low earth orbit on board an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth safely.

- Currently 4 Indian astronaut-candidates have already undergone generic space flight training in Russia as part of this programme

#current #current

NATRAX

News: Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises inaugurated NATRAX- the High Speed Track in Pithampur, Indore (Madhya Pradesh).

Key features:
1. It is one of the state-of-the-art automotive testing and certification centre
2. Comes under National Automotive Testing and Research and development (R&D) Infrastructure Project (NATRIP)
3. It is a flagship project of the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
4. It aims to create a state of the art testing, validation and R&D infrastructure in the country.
5 . It is a world class 11.3 km High Speed Track. The track is the longest in Asia and the fifth-largest in the world.
6. It is developed in an area of 1000 acres of land.
7 . Ithas multiple test capabilities like measurements of maximum speed, acceleration.

Significance:
1. measuring the maximum speed capability of high-end cars like BMW, Mercedes etc.
2. Foreign OEMs will be looking at NATRAX High Speed Track for the development of prototype cars for Indian conditions
3. It can cater to the widest category of vehicles