Daily Currentaffairs: 29 Sept 2020

Tables of contents

1.Five New Amphibians in Madhya Pradesh 

2.Species of Wetland Plant

3.Himalayan Chandra Telescope

4.User Depot Module

5.Defence Acquisition Procedure–2020

1.Five New Amphibians in Madhya Pradesh

Recently, the researchers from Wildlife Institute of India have come up with a list of five species of amphibians which are to be included in Madhya Pradesh’s fauna list.

Key Highlights

• The study was conducted on the amphibians in the central Indian Panna Tiger Reserve which were hitherto undocumented in this region.

• The researchers have recorded a call library of eleven species and also have obtained molecular confirmation (through DNA) of the cryptic species.

• The five species added to Madhya Pradesh’s fauna list are dwarf toad, Odisha paddy frog, wrinkled cricket frog, Pierre’s cricket frog and western burrowing frog.

About Dwarf Toad

• It is thumbnail-sized species which was discovered in India's Western Ghats.

• It has been named Astrobatrachus kurichiyana for its constellation-like markings and the indigenous people of Kurichiyarmala.

• It is a widespread and common toad in India and Sri Lanka.

• It is listed as ‘Endangered’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

About Odisha paddy frog

• It is a species of frog that is endemic to Odisha state in eastern India.

• Its scientific name is Fejervarya orissaensis.

• It is listed as ‘Least Concern’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

About Wrinkled Cricket Frog

• It is a species of night frog in the family Nyctibatrachidae.

• It is endemic to the Western Ghats.

• It is listed as ‘Endangered’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

About Pierre’s cricket frog

• It is a species of amphibians in the family Dicroglossidae.

• It is found in Nepal, India, Bhutan and eastern Bangladesh.

• It is listed as ‘Least Concern’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Panna Tiger Reserve

 

It is situated in the Vindhyan mountain range in the northern part of Madhya Pradesh.

 

The River Ken flows from the south to the north through the reserve.

 

It forms the northern most tip of the natural teak forests and the eastern most tip of the natural Anogeissus pendula (Kardhai) forests.

 

Panna National Park was formed in 1981 and in 1994, it was included as India’s 22nd tiger reserve.

Source: The Hindu

2.Species of Wetland Plant

Recently, the scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) have discovered two new species of pipeworts, a type of wetland plant, from areas along the Western Ghats in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

About Pipeworts

• Eriocaulon is a genus of about 400 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Eriocaulaceae.

• It is commonly known as pipeworts widely distributed in tropical regions, particularly southern Asia and the Americas.

• The genus Eriocaulon is usually adapted to soft water.

• It is a quite small, very narrow-leaved and almost cushion-growing plant that demands good supply of light and carbon dioxide to develop.

• The species found in Maharashtra is named as Eriocaulon parvicephalum for its distinct minute inflorescence size.

• The Karnataka counterpart has been named Eriocaulon karaavalense indicating the Karaavali coastal region in the state.

Source: The Indian Express

3.Himalayan Chandra Telescope

Recently, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has organized an online science workshop on the 20th anniversary of the Himalayan Chandra Telescope.

About Himalayan Chandra Telescope

• The 2-m diameter optical-infrared Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO).

• It is located at Mt. Saraswati, Hanle at an altitude of 4500 m (15000 ft) in Ladakh.

• It is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore.

• The telescope remotely operated using a dedicated satellite communication link from the Centre for Research & Education in Science & Technology (CREST).

• The area of research covers a wide range of topics, from solar system objects to cosmology.

• It has been scanning the night sky in search of stellar explosions, comets, asteroids, and exo-planets.

Source: PIB

4.User Depot Module

Recently, the Ministry of Railways has rolled out User Depot Module (UDM).

About User Depot Module

• It is developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

• It will be implemented shortly across all Zones of Indian Railways.

• It will bring in transformational changes from manual working to digital working with real time transactions and online information exchange among all stakeholders.

• It will ensure digitization of complete supply chain, including user depots.

• The system will facilitate economy, efficiency and transparency besides improved asset management.

Source: All India Radio

5.Defence Acquisition Procedure–2020

Recently, the Ministry of Defence has unveiled the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020.

Background of Defence Acquisition Procedure

• The first Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was promulgated in the year 2002.

• It has since been revised periodically to provide impetus to the growing domestic industry and achieve enhanced self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

Key Highlights of Defence Acquisition Procedure–2020

• Request for Information: RFI stage will explore willingness of the prospective foreign vendors to progressively undertake manufacture and setup an indigenous eco system.

• Time Bound Defence Procurement Process and Faster Decision Making: The Project Management Unit (PMU) will facilitate obtaining advisory and consultancy support in specified areas to streamline Acquisition process.

• Realistic Setting of General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs) of Weapons/Platforms: The process of formulation of SQRs has been further refined with greater emphasis on identifying verifiable parameters.

• Reservation in Categories for Indian Vendors: The categories of Buy (Indian-IDDM), Make I, Make II, Production Agency in Design &Development, OFB/DPSU and SP model will be exclusively reserved for Indian Vendors.

Significance of Defence Acquisition Procedure–2020

• It has been aligned with the vision of the Government of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

• It is aimed at empowering Indian domestic industry through Make in India initiative with the ultimate aim of turning India into a global manufacturing hub.

• It has adequately included provisions to encourage FDI to establish manufacturing hubs both for import substitution and exports while protecting interests of Indian domestic industry.

• It emphasises the need to conduct trials with an objective to nurture competition based on the principles of transparency, fairness and equal opportunities to all.

• It is aimed at promoting use of indigenous military material with provisions for examination of platforms and other equipment/systems.

Concerns associated with Defence Acquisition Procedure–2020

• The document like its previous iteration in the DPP 2016 continues to carry along a few below par policies and notions that may hinder India’s attempts at indigenisation.

• It does not make provisions to analyse or compare the cost premium and consequent potential decrease in output delivered in implementing such high levels of indigenous content in platforms.

• India lacks several core sub-systems manufacturing capability, production expertise, resulting in many of the systems being developed and produced for the first time in India.

Source: PIB

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