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19 AUGUST 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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Written by NDI EDITOR

Aug 19 2021

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19 AUGUST 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB
1. NUCLEAR FUSION
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced that an experiment carried out in its National Ignition Facility has made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion research.

About:

  • In the experiment, lasers were used to heat a small target or fuel pellets. These pellets containing deuterium and tritium fused and produced more energy. The team noted that they were able to achieve a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules.

  • The megajoule of energy released in the experiment is indeed impressive in fusion terms, but in practice, this is equivalent to the energy required to boil a kettle.”

What is nuclear fusion?

  • Nuclear fusion is defined as the combining of several small nuclei into one large nucleus with the subsequent release of huge amounts of energy.

  • Nuclear fusion powers our sun and harnessing this fusion energy could provide an unlimited amount of renewable energy.

  • Nuclear fusion energy is a good choice as the baseload energy in the future with many advantages, such as inexhaustibility of resources, inherent safety, no long-lived radioactive wastes, and almost no CO2 emissions.

Source : Indian Express

2. NATIONAL MISSION ON EDIBLE OILS – OIL PALM
The Union Cabinet has given its approval to launch a new Mission on Oil palm to be known as the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a special focus on the North east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

About:

  • A financial outlay of Rs.11,040 crore has been made for the scheme, out of which Rs.8,844 crore is the Government of India share and Rs.2,196 crore is State share and this includes the viability gap funding also.

  • Under this scheme, it is proposed to cover an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectare (ha.) for oil palm till the year 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares ultimately. 

  • The production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is expected to go upto 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and upto 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30.

  • There are two major focus areas of the Scheme. For the first time, the Government of India will give a price assurance to the oil palm farmers for the Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFBs). This will be known as the Viability Price (VP).

  • The second major focus of the scheme is to substantially increase the assistance of inputs/interventions.  A substantial increase has been made for planting material for oil palm and this has increased from Rs 12,000 per ha to  29000 per ha.

Source : PIB

3. PINEAPPLE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS (PAFS)
Pineapple-based agroforestry, traditionally practiced by ethnic “Hmar” tribe in southern Assam, can be a sustainable alternative to jhum cultivation for the North East India.

About:

  • This traditional practice can provide twin solutions for climate change and biodiversity loss, according to a new study.

  • Jhum cultivation, also called swidden agriculture, the dominant agricultural practice in the region, has become unsustainable primarily due to the reduced fallow cycle resulting in depletion in soil fertility, severe soil erosion, and low agronomic productivity.

  • Hence, North East India and many south Asian countries are shifting to agroforestry and high-value cropping systems from traditional jhum practices over the past decades, which are considered sustainable and profitable alternatives.

  • Pineapple agroforestry systems (PAFS) are dominant land use in the Indian Eastern Himalayas and other parts of Asia and are mostly grown in association with multipurpose trees.

Source : PIB

4. CIVIL SERVICES EXAM CENTRE
Union Minister of Personnel informed about the setting up of a separate IAS/Civil Services Exam Centre for Ladakh, to be located at Leh.

About:

  • The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will, from this year, have an Examination Centre at Leh, which will operate for the first time for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2021, scheduled to be held on 10th of October this year.

  • This will address a long pending demand of the youth from the Ladakh region whose grievance was that they found it difficult to reach Examination Centres in other parts of the country because of the constraints of affordability of air fare and uncertain weather conditions.

Important Info :
  • He also informed that monetary incentives called “Special Allowances for AIS officers belonging to NE Cadres of AIS” is paid to the officers who are working in the North-Eastern Region, presently at the rate of 20% of the basic pay and the same has been extended to the AIS officers working in the UT of Ladakh also vide order dated 12th April, 2021. 
Source : PIB

5. BANKS AND RTI
The contentious issue of whether banks should disclose inspection reports by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is back in the reckoning once again after a division bench of the Supreme Court referred writ petitions filed by banks to a bench led by Justice L Nageswara Rao.

About:

  • The writ petitions had been filed by different banks challenging the Right to Information (RTI) notices issued by the RBI.

  • In 2015, the Supreme Court had come down on the RBI for trying to keep the inspection reports and defaulters list confidential, paving the way for the public disclosure of such reports of the RBI, much against the wishes of the banking sector.

  • The SC had said the RBI has no legal duty to maximize the benefit of any public sector or private sector bank, and thus there is no relationship of ‘trust’ between them. It added that the RBI was duty-bound to uphold the public interest by revealing these details under RTI.

  • The central bank then allowed making such reports public following the Supreme Court order.

Source : Indian Express

6. KIGALI AMENDMENT
The Union Cabinet has approved ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer for phase down of Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) by India, adopted by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on October, 2016 at 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol held at Kigali, Rwanda.

Implementation strategy and targets:

  • National strategy for phase down of Hydrofluorocarbons as per the applicable phase down schedule for India will be developed after required consultation with all the industry stakeholders by 2023.

  • Amendments to the existing legislation framework, the Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules to allow appropriate control of the production and consumption of Hydrofluorocarbons to ensure compliance with the Kigali Amendment will be done by mid-2024.

  • India will complete its phase down of HFCs in 4 steps from 2032 onwards with cumulative reduction of 10% in 2032, 20% in 2037, 30% in 2042 and 80% in 2047.

Important Info :

Background:

  • The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, is an international environmental treaty for protection of the Ozone Layer by phasing out the production and consumption of man-made chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances (ODS).
  • Under the Kigali Amendment; Parties to the Montreal Protocol will phase down production and consumption of Hydrofluorocarbons, commonly known as HFCs.
  • Hydrofluorocarbons were introduced as non-ozone depleting alternative to Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). While HFCs do not deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, they have high global warming potential ranging from 12 to 14,000, which have adverse impact on climate.
  • Recognizing the growth in use of HFCs, especially in Refrigeration and Air-conditioning sector the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, reached agreement at their 28th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) held in October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda to add HFCs to the list of controlled substances and approved a timeline for their gradual reduction by 80-85 per cent by the late 2040s.
Source : PIB

7. INDIA-BANGLADESH MOU ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Union Cabinet has approved a MoU between National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India and Bangladesh on cooperation in the field of Disaster Management, Resilience and Mitigation.

Salient features of the MoU:

  • Extend cooperation in the field of advanced information technology, early warning systems, remote sensing & navigation services and expertise for disaster preparedness, response and mitigation and more towards real time data sharing.

  • Support training of officials in the field of Disaster management.

  • Conduct Joint Disaster Management Exercises bilaterally between both the countries.

  • Exchange publications and materials as textbooks, guidelines in the field of Disaster Management and may conduct joint research activities in the field of Disaster management, Risk Reduction and Recovery. 

Source : PIB

8. MOU ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT LAW
The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of a MoU between Permanent Mission of India to the WTO (PMI), Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) within The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

About:

  • The MoU with CTEI of The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva will provide valuable academic and research opportunities to the employees of CTIL and the Department of Commerce in the field of international trade and investment law.

  • The collaboration between academicians, practitioners, jurists, policy makers, and students from India, Switzerland and other countries would help create a technical and nuanced understanding of emerging and new areas of international trade and investment law and related disciplines.

  • The MoU will remain in force for three years. 

Source : PIB

9. NORTH EASTERN REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETING CORPORATION LIMITED (NERAMAC)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a revival package of Rs.77.45 crore (Rs. 17 crore towards fund based support and Rs.60.45 crore towards non-fund based support) for revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC).

About:

  • NERAMAC is a central Public Section Enterprises under the administrative control of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Regional (MDoNER).

  • Revival package will help NERAMAC to implement various innovative plans namely providing better farming facilities, training to farmers in clusters, organic seeds and fertilizer etc. 

Source : PIB

10. INDIA-USA GEOLOGY MOU
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing the MoU between Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines and United States of America on cooperation in the field of Geology.

The identified area of cooperation between the two Participants will be as follows:

  • Development of the geological knowledge, research regarding geologic and tectonic environment of post collisions magmatism in India-Asia collisional margin, geologic history and tectonics of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis.

  • Developing cooperative projects in the fields of regional geological, geochemical, petrological and multi-isotopic studies related to the evolution of post collisional magmatic belts (Ladakh Plutons). 

Source : PIB
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Written by NDI EDITOR

National Defence Institute's Editor

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