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#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
#current #PT2021

Pyrostria laljii

- News: Pyrostria laljii has been discovered from the Andaman Islands.

Key features:
1. It is a 15-meter-tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family.
2. The new species is also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India.
3.The tree is distinguished by a long stem with a whitish coating on the trunk, and oblong-obovate leaves with a cuneate base.
4. It was first reported from South Andaman’s Wandoor forest.
5. Theother places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the tree is found are:
- Tirur forest near the Jarawa Rerserve Forest and
- Chidia Tapu (Munda Pahar) Forest- 6.pyrostria laljii has been listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
#current #PT2021

Dragon Man of China

News:Researchers from China have found an ancient human skull of new human species dubbed the “Dragaon Man” or Homo longi .

Location: in the Songhua River in China’s Harbin city that could belong to an altogether.

Key features:
1. The name “Dragon Man” has been derived from the Long Jiang or Dragon River in China’ Heilongjiang province.
2. The cranium could be over 146,000 years old.
3. Because of the distinctive shape of the skull, it be declared a part of a new species of the genus Homo.
4. The size of the skull, which has a considerable brain capacity, is comparable to that of modern humans and Neanderthals.
#current #PT2021

Digital India Abhiyan

- Launched in 2015

- It is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MietY).
- Purpose- a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

Key features:
1. It would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically.
2. This programme is centred on three key vision areas,
a) Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility to Every Citizen
b) Governance & Services on Demand
c) Digital Empowerment of Citizens

Scope
1. To prepare India for a knowledge future.
2. On being transformative that is to realize IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology) = IT (India Tomorrow),
3. Making technology central to enabling change

Note: The programme weaves together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single, comprehensive vision, so that each of them is seen as part of a larger goal.
#current #PT2021

DigiGaon or Digital Village 

- It conceptualized as the connected village where the citizen can avail various e-services.

Function: They are change agents that promote rural entrepreneurship, build rural capacities and livelihoods through community participation.

Aim of the program is to turn each village into a self-sustaining unit.
#current #PT2021

Project
BOLD

- The project “Bamboo Oasis on Lands in Drought” (BOLD)
- It is an initiative of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) -
- Aim :It seeks to create bamboo-based green patches in arid and semi-arid land zones.

Key features:
1. It has been launched as part of KVIC’s “Khadi Bamboo Festival” to celebrate 75 years of independence “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.
2. It was launched from the tribal village NichlaMandwa in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
3. The saplings of special bamboo species – Bambusa Tulda and Bambusa Polymorpha specially brought from Assam – have been planted over 16 acres of vacant arid Gram Panchayat land.
4. KVIC is set to replicate the Project at Village Dholera in Ahmedabad district in Gujarat and Leh-Ladakh region by August 2021.

Significance -
1. It will reduce desertification
2. It provide livelihood and multi-disciplinary rural industry support.
3. It will be havens of sustainable development and food security.
#current #PT2021

Harit Dhara
- It is an anti-methanogenic feed supplement
- Developed by an Indian Council of Agric0ultural Research (ICAR) institute & National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology (NIANP), Bengaluru.

Key features:
1. When given to bovines and sheep, it cuts down their methane emissions by 17-20%,
2.Also results in higher milk production and body weight gain.
3. Concern: average lactating cow or buffalo in India emits around 200 litres of methane per day, while it is 85-95 litres for young growin heifers and 20-25 litres for adults.
4. Harit Dhara acts by decreasing the population of protozoa microbes in the rumen,
5. It is responsible for hydrogen production and making it available to the archaea for reduction of CO2 to methane.
6. It has been prepared using condensed and hydrolysable tannin-rich plant-based sources abundantly available in the country.
#current #PT2021

Red Flag Campaign
- red flag campaign or #benderamerah works in the same way as the white flag movement.
- It was started by the Malaysian Animal Association as many families were abandoning pets they couldn’t afford to feed.

Black Flag Movement
- There is the black flag movement in order to express dissatisfaction of the public with the Malaysian government against the government’s management of the pandemic.
- This movement is demanding that Prime Minister resign.