08 JUNE 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.LAMU PORT

Kenya recently launched its newest mega infrastructure project, the Lamu port, which is a part of an ambitious transport corridor between Lamu (a small archipelago north of Mombasa in Kenya), South Sudan and Ethiopia.

About:

• The Lamu port is going to be Kenya’s second deep-water port after Mombasa.
• The port is part of the wider US $23 billion Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor and has been constructed by China Communications Construction Company, with the first three of the planned 32 berths coming at a cost of US $367 million.
• This transport corridor is touted to comprise a standard gauge railway line; an oil pipeline and refinery; road network; international airports at Isiolo, Lamu, Lokichogio; the port of Lamu at Manda Bay; and resort cities.

Source : ORF

2.BIOMEDICAL WASTE

The report titled, “State of India's Environment 2021,” released by the Centre for Science and Environment, said 2,03,000 kg of COVID-19 biomedical waste was produced daily in May this year and it was roughly 33% of India's non-COVID biomedical waste.

About:

• As per Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, Bio-medical waste is required to be segregated in 4 colour coded waste categories, and the same is treated and disposed as per the methods prescribed under Schedule I of the Rules.
• Common methods of treatment and disposal of bio-medical waste are by
• incineration/plasma pyrolysis/deep-burial for Yellow Category waste;
• autoclaving/microwaving/chemical disinfection for Red Category waste;
• sterilization and shredding, disinfection followed by burial in concrete pit/recycling through foundry/encapsulation for White Category sharps waste; and
• washing, disinfection followed by recycling for Blue Category glass waste. 

Source : The Hindu

3.INTERNET FROM THE SKIES

Following the successful launch of 36 satellites on May 28, OneWeb’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation reached 218 in-orbit satellites.

Internet from skies

• Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communication satellites.
• Modern consumer grade satellite Internet service is typically provided to individual users through geostationary satellites.
• In addition, new satellite internet constellations are being developed in low-earth orbit.

LEO technology

• LEO satellites have been orbiting the planet since the 1990s, providing companies and individuals with various communication services.
• LEO satellites are positioned around 500km-2000km from earth, compared to stationary orbit satellites which are approximately 36,000km away.
• Latency, or the time needed for data to be sent and received, is contingent on proximity. 

Important Info :

Benefits of LEO technology

• As LEO satellites orbit closer to the earth, they are able to provide stronger signals and faster speeds than traditional fixed-satellite systems.
• Additionally, because signals travel faster through space than through fibre-optic cables, they also have the potential to rival if not exceed existing ground-based networks.

Source : Indian Express

4.PRAN VAYU DEVTA PENSION SCHEME (PVDPS); OXY VANS

Amid the ongoing pandemic, several states including Haryana witnessed a crisis of medical oxygen that was needed for severely ill Covid-19 patients. To avoid such a deficit in the future, the Haryana government has come out with what it says is a “unique and first of its kind initiative”.

What is the Pran Vayu Devta Pension Scheme (PVDPS)?

• The state government has taken an initiative to honour all those trees which are of the age of 75 years and above and have served humanity throughout their life by producing oxygen, reducing pollution, providing shade and so on.
• Such trees will be identified throughout the state and these will be looked after by involving local people in this scheme.
• For maintenance of trees older than 75 years, a “pension amount” of Rs 2,500 would be given per year in the name of PVDPS. This ‘tree pension’ shall continue to increase every year, on lines similar to the Old Age Samman Pension Scheme in the state.
• The pension shall be given by the Urban Local Bodies department for the upkeep of the trees, installing plates, grilles etc. 

Important Info :

What is an Oxy Van (Oxygen Forest)?

• Oxy Van are identified pieces of land, on which as many as 3 crore trees would be planted.
• Oxy Forests will be planted on land ranging from 5 acres to 100 acres in the cities of Haryana.
• The Oxy Vans will occupy 10 per cent of the 8 lakh hectares of land across Haryana.

Source : Indian Express

5.FUGITIVE ECONOMIC OFFENDERS

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on international cooperation to combat the challenge of Fugitive Economic Offenders and Assets.

Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018

• The bill was passed by both the houses of Parliament in 2018 after the Nirav Modi–PNB fraud worth more than ₹12,000 crore and Vijay Mallya having fled the country to avoid being arrested for economic fraud.

Objective:

• To deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts,
• To ensure that fugitive economic offenders return to India to face the action in accordance with law.

Salient features of the Bill:

Defining Fugitive economic offender (FEO)

• FEO is defined as an individual who has committed a scheduled offence (economic offences contained in the Schedule to this Bill) or offences involving an amount of 100 crore rupees or more and
• has absconded from India or refused to come back to India to avoid or face criminal prosecution in India.

Special Court: It proposes to establish a special court under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002. It will be able to declare an alleged fraudster a fugitive economic offender.

Application:

• A director or deputy director (appointed under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002) may file an application before a special court (designated under the 2002 Act) to declare a person as a fugitive economic offender.
• Upon receiving an application, the special court will issue a notice to the individual requiring him/her to appear at a specified place within six weeks
• If the person appears at the specified place, the special court will terminate its proceedings under the provisions of this Bill.
• Failure to appear will result in him being declared a fugitive economic offender.

Appeal: Appeals against the orders of the special court will lie before the High Court.

Can the offender file a civil claim? Section 11 of the Act disqualifies those declared as offenders from either filing or defending a civil claim in court.

Source : DD News

6.I-FAMILIA

The Interpol has launched a new global database named ‘I-Familia’. It will identify missing persons or unidentified human remains around the world through DNA of relatives.

Interpol:

• The International Police Organisation is commonly known as Interpol.
• It is an international organization facilitating international police cooperation against cross-border terrorism, trafficking, and other crime.
• Membership: INTERPOL has 194 member countries, making us the world's largest police organization. State of Palestine is its member.
• Governance: All decisions regarding the activities of INTERPOL are made by the General Assembly which is it’s ’s supreme governing body which meets annually.
• It is ‘NOT’ a unit or part of united nation system. It is an independent international organization.
• HQ: Lyon in France.
• Founded in: 1923.
• Each country hosts an INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), which links national police with our global network. in India, CBI is the NCB.
• Interpol notices: These are international alert/requests circulated by Interpol allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information. There are eight types of notices, seven of which are colour-coded by their function. An eighth Special Notice is issued at the request of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). 

Source : The Hindu

7.SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (SPP)

On the occasion of World Environment Day, a new product category of Green Room Air Conditioners was launched on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). This was launched by Department of Commerce in association with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

About:

• The addition of Green Room Air Conditioners on GeM is another step towards sustainable public procurement (SPP).
• Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) is a process by which public authorities seek to achieve the appropriate balance between the three pillars of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental - when procuring goods, services or works at all stages of the project.

Initiatives in India for SPP

• In March 2018, the Ministry of Finance constituted a Task Force on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP).
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is supporting the Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) initiative of the Government of India with initial focus on three prioritized product categories including paper, disinfectant and Green Room Air Conditioners.

Source : PIB

8.JAL SHAKTI MISSION

It has been decided that in the 5 North-Western States and UTsi.e.,Punjab,Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission will be expedited.

About:

• In these 5 states, every rural household will be provided with tap water connections by 2022, instead of by 2024.
• To enable these States/ UTs to achieve this goal by 2022, Union Minister of Jal Shakti has approved Central allocation of Rs. 8,216.25 Crore in 2021-22. This is more than 4 times of the allocation to these States/ UTs in 2020-21.
• With this massive increase in allocation, and speed of implementation, these 5 States/UTs are set to achieve ‘Har Ghar Jal’ status by 2022. 

Important Info :

Background

• On 15th August, 2019, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi announced Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM) to provide safe piped drinking water to every rural household in the country by 2024.
• In this period, Goa, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry has become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ i.e. every rural household in these States/ UTs is having tap water supply. 

Source : PIB

9.G7 CORPORATE TAX DEAL

Advanced economies making up the G7 grouping have reached a “historic” deal on taxing multinational companies. The deal announced involving the US, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan, is likely to be put before a G20 meeting in July.

What are the decisions taken?

• The first decision that has been ratified is to force multinationals to pay taxes where they operate so as to counter tax avoidance.
• The second decision in the agreement commits states to a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to counter the possibility of countries undercutting each other to attract investments.

Suggestions by USA

• The decision to ratify a 15% floor rate follows from a declaration of war on low-tax jurisdictions around the globe announced by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in April 2021, who had urged the world’s 20 advanced nations to move in the direction of adopting a minimum global corporate income tax in April.
• She that the move to put a minimum rate in place attempted to reverse a “30-year race to the bottom” in which countries have resorted to slashing corporate tax rates to attract multinational corporations.
• The US proposal had proposed a higher 21 per cent minimum corporate tax rate, coupled with cancelling exemptions on income from countries that do not legislate a minimum tax to discourage the shifting of multinational operations and profits overseas.

Source : Indian Express

10.MALAYALAM

GIPMER, a Delhi government hospital banned its nursing staff from speaking in Malayalam in the hospital and warned of “serious action” if they do not talk in English or Hindi.

Malayalam

• Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken.
• Malayalam has official language status in Kerala, Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé)
• It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India and is spoken by 2.88% of Indians.
• Due to Malayali expatriates in the Persian Gulf, Malayalam is also widely spoken in the Gulf countries.
• Malayalam was designated a "Classical Language in India" in 2013.

Important Info :

Script

• The earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu script.
• The current Malayalam script is based on the Vatteluttu script, which was extended with Grantha script letters to adopt Indo-Aryan loanwords.
• It bears high similarity with the Tigalari script, a historical script that was used to write the Tulu language.

Source : The Hindu