Daily Currentaffairs: 26 Sept 2020

Tables of contents

1.Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020

2.NASA's Data Sonification Project

3.Artemis Lunar Exploration Program

4.Kerala Bird Atlas

5.Prithvi Short-Range Ballistic Missile

6.Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020

7. Centralized Farm Machinery Performance Testing Portal

8.e-Marathon of Ayush for Immunity Campaign

1.Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020

Recently, the central government has introduced the Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020.

Key Highlights of the Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020

• It is based on the Model Netting Act 2018 by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

• It is applied on a qualified financial contract, that is, a netting agreement or between a qualified financial market participant and an authority as mentioned under the First Schedule of the bill.

• A qualified financial market participant includes:

• • a banking institution or a non-banking financial company which is regulated and supervised by the RBI;

  • any foreign and Indian individual, partnership firm, company or any other person including any international or regional development bank or organisation; any insurance or reinsurance company regulated by IRDAI;

  • a pension fund regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA); and

  • a financial institution regulated by International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) and any other entity as notified by authority.

• An authority under this bill is referred to as central government, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA and IFSCA.

• It defines qualified financial contract as a bilateral agreement, contract, transaction, regulated by the Authority but excludes any contract entered as per the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956 and Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.

• The provisions of the bill will apply to QFCs between two qualified financial market participants, where at least one party is an entity regulated by the specified authorities (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA or the IFSCA).

Significance of Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020

• It brings a reduction in credit risk and capital burden on the banks and other financial institutions.

• It increases liquidity in the Indian financial market, which further strengthens the opportunity for foreign direct investment in India.

• It reduces unnecessary litigation and waste of business resources.

• It ensures the margin when the Over-the-Counter trade is made between two business entities which provide more liquidity in market.

• It opens the doors for Indian business entities for sovereign borrowing globally.

Concerns associated with Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020

• It fails to provide any significant impact on the capital of banks and other financial institution and it reduces counter-party credit risk.

• It revolves around the freezing of the ongoing proceedings and even the imposition of moratorium proceedings on the defaulter.

Bilateral netting: Netting refers to offsetting of all claims arising from dealings between two parties, to determine a net amount payable or receivable from one party to other.

Source: The Hindu

2.NASA's Data Sonification Project

Recently, NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) has gone a step further by unveiling a new ‘sonification’ project that transforms data from astronomical images into audio.

• The data has been collected by NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, each of which is represented by a different musical ‘instrument’.

What is Data Sonification?

• Data sonification refers to the use of sound values to represent real data i.e. it is the auditory version of data visualisation.

• With the NASA's data sonification project, the users can now experience different phenomena captured in astronomical images as an aural experience.

• The birth of a star, a cloud of dust or even a black hole can now be ‘heard’ as a high or low pitched sound.

Translation of Astronomical Images into Sound

• NASA’s distant telescopes in space collect inherently digital data, in the form of ones and zeroes, before converting them into images.

  • The images are essentially visual representations of light and radiation of different wavelengths in space.

• The Chandra project has created a celestial concert of sorts by translating the same data into sound.

• The pitch and volume are used to denote the brightness and position of a celestial object or phenomenon.

• The astronomers behind Project Chandra have released three examples made using data collected from some of the most distinct features in the sky i.e. the Galactic Centre, Cassiopeia A and Pillars of Creation Nebula.

How sonification project useful?

• The sonification project was led by the Chandra X-ray Center in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning Program (UoL).

• It aims to incorporate NASA science content into the learning environment effectively and efficiently for learners of all ages.

Galactic Centre

 

It is the rotational centre of the Milky Way galaxy which is comprised of collection of celestial objects i.e. neutron and white dwarf stars, clouds of dust and gas and a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A.

 

Based on data gathered by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, an image is rendered using X-ray, visible and infrared light before being translated into sound.

 

Cassiopeia A

 

It is located around 11,000 light years away from Earth in the northern Cassiopeia constellation.

 

It is one of the most well-known remnants of a once-massive star that was destroyed by a supernova explosion.

 

Unlike with the sonification of the Galactic Centre, where the translation plays from left to right, here the sounds move outwards from the centre of the circular structure.

 

The Pillars of Creation

 

The iconic Pillars of Creation is located in the centre of the Eagle Nebula, which is also known as Messier 16.

 

The Hubble Star Telescope was used for images of the celestial structure, which comprises wispy towers of cosmic dust and gas.

 

The different colours are used to represent elements i.e. blue for oxygen, red for sulphur and green for both nitrogen and hydrogen.

 

Like with the Galactic Centre, the sound translation also plays from left to right.

Source: The Hindu

3.Artemis Lunar Exploration Program

Recently, the NASA has published the outline for its Artemis Lunar Exploration Program.

About Artemis Lunar Exploration Program

• The Artemis Lunar Exploration Program is aimed at sending the next man and the first woman to the lunar surface by the year 2024.

• The Artemis Program is divided into three parts, i.e.:

• • Artemis I involve an un-crewed flight to test the SLS and Orion spacecraft and is targetted for 2021.

  • Artemis II will be the first crewed flight test and is targetted for 2023.

  • Artemis III will land astronauts on the Moon’s South Pole in 2024.

• With the Artemis program, NASA wishes to demonstrate new technologies, capabilities and business approaches that will ultimately be needed for the future exploration of Mars.

• NASA’s new rocket called SLS will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft a quarter of a million miles away from Earth to the lunar orbit.

• The astronauts going for the Artemis program will wear newly designed spacesuits, called Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU).

  • The spacesuits feature advanced mobility and communications and interchangeable parts that can be configured for spacewalks in microgravity or on a planetary surface.

Source: The Indian Express

4.Kerala Bird Atlas

Recently, a team of over 1,000 birdwatchers wrapped up field surveys of the ‘Kerala Bird Atlas’ and the detailed report is scheduled to be released in 2021.

About Kerala Bird Atlas

• It is an ambitious citizen science project which started in 2015.

• It aims to map the distribution and abundance of birds of an entire Indian state for the first time.

• The project is spearheaded by the Kerala Agricultural University in Vellanikkara and done in partnership with the Bird Count India.

Bird Count India

 

It is an informal partnership of organizations and groups working together to increase our collective knowledge about bird distributions and populations.

 

It aims to document the distributional range and the abundance of Indian birds, from the finest scale (within a city) to the largest (across the country).

 

The annual Great Backyard Bird Count in India provides a yearly snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.

 

e-Bird Portal

 

The eBird India portal is designed for the use of birders and eBirders from India.

 

The eBird India portal is managed by Bird Count India.

 

Source: The Indian Express

5.Prithvi Short-Range Ballistic Missile

Recently, the Strategic Forces Command of Indian Army has successfully conducted a night trial of nuclear-capable ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a defence test facility off Odisha coast.

About Prithvi II Missile

• It is India's first developed and inducted indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile.

• It is developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

• It is capable of attacking targets at a range of 350 km.

• The missile thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engine uses an inertial guidance system while the warhead uses a radar correlation terminal guidance system.

• The single stage liquid propelled weapon which was inducted into the Indian Armed Forces in 2003.

• It is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kg of warheads.

Source: The Indian Express

6.Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has decided to organise 'RAISE 2020-Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020' in October 2020.

About Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) 2020

• It will be jointly organised by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and NITI Aayog.

• It is a first of its kind, global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India's vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI.

• At the RAISE 2020 Summit, delegates and experts in research, policy and innovation on Artificial Intelligence will join from across the globe.

• The cross-sector subjects at the summit such as ‘Leveraging AI for Pandemic Preparedness’, ‘The Impetus that Innovation Places on Digitisation’, ‘Inclusive AI’, ‘Partnerships for Successful Innovation’ etc.

Source: Business Standard

7. Centralized Farm Machinery Performance Testing Portal

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has launched the 'Centralized Farm Machinery Performance Testing Portal'.

About Centralized Farm Machinery Performance Testing Portal

• It is developed by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare as a further step to improve services of farm machinery testing institutions.

• It is aimed at bringing out transparency in the entire process of testing and evaluation of machines.

• It will facilitate manufacturers in applying, communicating and monitoring the progress of testing of their machines in a seamless manner.

• It offers the possibility of integrated management in a unified manner within the organization.

• The portal offers following benefits to the users viz manufacturers, FMTTIS and the DAC&FW:

• • In line with Government Policy of “Ease of Doing Business”, this would facilitate applying for testing of machinery online.

  • Ensure Transparency in the entire processes of testing.

  • Faster Feedback

  • Help in Reducing testing Time

  • Reduced Business Expenses of Agricultural Manufacturers

  • Testing Efficiency Improvement

  • Thoroughness in Testing

  • Flexible Access – Officers concerned at Ministry and manufacturers can monitor testing activities from anywhere with internet access.

Source: PIB

8.e-Marathon of Ayush for Immunity Campaign

Recently, the Ministry of AYUSH has joined hands with Rajagiri College of Social Sciences and Rajagiri Business School, Kochi to organise a novel e-marathon, as a part of the Ministry’s three-month campaign called “Ayush for Immunity”.

About e-Marathon of Ayush for Immunity Campaign

• It is being conducted for the cause of supporting the education of COVID affected children.

• It aims to enhance the well-being of the participants during the current pandemic crisis.

• The theme of the e-marathon is “Recharge Mental Health: During and beyond the Covid-19 Pandemic”.

• The Rajagiri e-marathon is designed to promote physical and mental well-being of the people of all age-groups, across geographies.

• The conclusion of the event will coincide with the “Vihara” focus of the “Ayush for Immunity” campaign.

Ayush for Immunity Campaign

 

It aimed at increasing awareness about affordable and easy practices that can be adopted for enhancing immunity and preventing any disease.

 

The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about affordable practices for boosting immunity.

Jai Hind!