1. WTO PEACE CLAUSE
Context: The US, UK, EU and Japan have opposed extending the temporary peace clause agreed upon at the 2013 World Trade Organization (WTO) Bali conference.
Key Points
- The US said India’s expansion of support to its rice and wheat farmers has negative spillover effects. India has invoked the clause thrice.
- Developing countries’ food subsidies are protected by an interim peace clause which shields food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case the subsidy ceilings - 10% of value of food production in the case of India and other developing countries - are breached.
- The “Peace Clause” is the term used by trade negotiators to refer to Article 13 of the Agriculture Agreement of the World Trade Organization.
- According to Article 13, a WTO member’s domestic support policies and export subsidies that are permitted by the terms of the Agreement on Agriculture cannot be objected to by other WTO members on the basis that they violate the terms of another WTO agreement.
- It prevents legal action against any developing nation that breaches the food subsidy limits specified in the agreement on agriculture.
- India , Indonesia, South Africa and China are among the 80 WTO member countries that have called for initiating text based negotiations to find a permanent solution on public stockholding (PSH) for food security.
- Developing countries and the African Group have demanded a food security package at the 2024 conference.
2. NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM
Context: Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) would allow pension
funds to invest in sovereign green bonds when issued.
- Currently, there are 10 pension fund managers that manage funds under the National Pension System.
National Pension System (NPS)
- It is a voluntary, defined contribution retirement savings scheme designed to enable the subscribers to make optimum decisions regarding their future through systematic savings during their working life.
- It was launched in January 2004 for government employees.
- However, in 2009, it was opened to all sections.
- The scheme allows subscribers to contribute regularly in a pension account during their working life.
- On retirement, subscribers can withdraw a part of the corpus in a lump sum and use the remaining corpus to buy an annuity to secure a regular income after retirement.
- This system is managed by PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority).
Sovereign green bonds
- Green Bonds: These are like any other debt instrument except for the fact that the issuer of the green bond pledges to use its proceeds to finance projects that will have a positive impact on the climate and environment.
- Different from standard bonds: Standard bonds proceeds can be used for various purposes as per the choice of the issuer, whereas proceeds of green bonds are earmarked for green projects or projects that benefit the environment.
- Issuer: Green bonds can be issued by countries, companies and multilateral organisations to only fund projects that have positive impacts on the climate and environment and provide investors with fixed income payments.
- Budget 2022-23: The Finance Minister in the Budget 2022 announced that the government proposes to issue sovereign green bonds to mobilise resources for green infrastructure.
3. CRCS-SAHARA REFUND PORTAL
Context: Union Home and Cooperation Minister launched 'CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal', aimed at refund of hard earned money of crores of depositors in four
cooperative societies of Sahara Group in about 45 days.
CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal
- The money will be returned to 10 crore investors of the four cooperative societies within nine months.
- This was followed by a Supreme Court order directing the transfer of Rs 5,000 crore from the Sahara-Sebi refund account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS).
- Around 2.5 crore people have deposits of up to Rs 30,000 in the four cooperative societies namely Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Saharayan Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd, Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.
- The refund portal has been developed by a subsidiary of IFCI Ltd, for submission of legitimate claims by the depositors of these cooperative
- societies.
- Depositors need two important things: Aadhaar registration with mobile and Aadhaar-linking with the bank account where refund is to be deposited.
- Depositors will also require to provide receipt details, and that they will need to download a form, fill it and re-upload it on the portal for
- processing of the refund.
- The Common Services Centre would also help and guide depositors for online registration on the portal for refund.
4. BHOOMI SAMMAN SCHEME
Context: The President of India presented the “Bhoomi Samman” 2023 at a function organised by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
- The awards were received by State Secretaries and District Collectors along with their teams who have excelled in achieving saturation of the core components of Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). Bhoomi Samman Scheme
- The “Bhoomi Samman” Scheme primarily aims to acknowledge and encourage outstanding performance in the implementation of the DILRMP.
- This program is instrumental in modernizing land records and registration processes, streamlining administrative procedures, and ensuring transparency and efficiency in governance.
- The Department of Land Resources has set an ambitious target of achieving 100% saturation in the digitization of land records across all districts of the country by 31st March 2024.
- The “Bhoomi Samman” serves as an inspiration and testament to the dedicated efforts made by these individuals and teams in realizing this goal.
- Districts that successfully achieve 100% targets in the core components of the DILRMP receive the prestigious Platinum Grading.
- This recognition signifies their exceptional performance and commitment to embracing digital transformation and modernization in the land records domain.
- The “Bhoomi Samman” Scheme exemplifies the principles of cooperative federalism and trust between the central and state governments.
- The grading system for the awards is based on the performance reports and inputs provided by the states and union territories, fostering a strong partnership in the computerization and digitization of land records.
5. TCRM MATRIX FRAMEWORK
Context: The NITI Aayog, released, under the NITI Working Paper series, the Techno-Commercial Readiness and Market Maturity Matrix (TCRM Matrix) framework, a pioneering assessment tool designed to revolutionize technology evaluation, foster innovation, and fuel entrepreneurship in India.
Key Points
- The Working Paper casts light on the historical evolution of technology assessment frameworks, including the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), Commercialization Readiness Level (CRL), and Market Readiness Level (MRL) scales.
- By building upon these frameworks’ core principles, the TCRM Matrix framework presents an integrated assessment model that offers in-depth insights and actionable intelligence to stakeholders at every stage of the technology development cycle.
- The working paper provides clear guidelines for integrating the TCRM Matrix framework within the broader innovation ecosystem.
- By doing so, policymakers, strategists, academicians, and investors can unlock its full potential and drive meaningful change.
- The adoption of the TCRM Matrix framework necessitates a comprehensive analysis and contextualization within the unique national and sectoral innovation landscapes.
6. CHILDHOOD IMMUNISATION
Context: Over 4 million more children were vaccinated in 2022 compared to the year before, the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.
Key Points
- The three-dose vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough), also known as the DTP3, is used as the global marker for immunisation coverage. ? Over 20.5 million children missed out on one or more vaccines delivered through routine immunisation services in 2022, compared to 24.4 million children in 2021.
- Large lower-middle income countries such as India and Indonesia have shown strong recoveries as they stepped up efforts to address the historic backsliding in immunisation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Vaccination against one of the most contagious pathogens, measles, has not recovered as well as other vaccines.
- This has increased the risk of measles infection for an additional 35,2 million child.
- Only rates of the cervical cancer-preventative human papillomavirus or HPV vaccination have returned to pre-pandemic levels
7. UN REPORT ON GENDER PARITY
Context: Only an abysmal 1 percent of women across the world live in countries that have managed to achieve both high women empowerment and gender parity, according to a new report by the United Nations.
- The first-of-its-kind report that presents a comprehensive analysis of the progress made in human development of women and girls was jointly created by two UN agencies – UN Women and UN Development Programme.
Key Points
- On an average, women are empowered to achieve only 60 percent of their full potential.
- They also were found to achieve 28 per cent less than men across key human development dimensions.
- The report identified areas where comprehensive policy action is needed:
- Health policies: Support and promote long and healthy lives for all, with a focus on universal access to sexual and reproductive health
- Equality in education: Address gaps in skills and quality of education, especially in fields such as STEM, to empower women and girls in the digital age
- Work-life balance and support for families: Invest in policies and services that address work-life balance, including affordable quality childcare services, parental leave schemes, and flexible working arrangements
- Women’s equal participation: Set targets and action plans for achieving gender parity in all spheres of public life and eliminate discriminatory laws and regulations that hold women back
- Violence against women: Implement comprehensive measures focused on prevention, changing social norms, and eliminating discriminatory laws and policies
8. ORGANIC NANOGENERATOR
Context: Scientists have developed a nanogenerator device for harvesting light energy using organic material, which has the potential to power wearable devices on the go.
Key Points
- The device can generate current and voltage from minute amounts of heat or light that fall on it.
- The experimental exploration of energy materials has led to the successful synthesis of an organic energy material called polyaniline-rubrene, and they have fabricated an Organic Pyroelectric Nanogenerator (OPyNG).
- The pyroelectric effect of the device is induced by the light-induced change in spontaneous polarization occurring in the ultra-thin oxidized surface layer of the polyaniline-rubrene thin film.
- The working principle of the device is based on the pyro-phototronic effect.
- The pyroelectric effect is the change in polarization due to the change in temperature.
- Ferroelectric materials are expected to be strongly pyroelectric because ferroelectric materials have a large range of temperature-dependent spontaneous polarization
- This effect holds a unique advantage in the pyroelectric nanogenerator (PyNG), as it can optically induce the pyroelectric effect, which is useful for energy harvesting.
- The fabricated OPyNG device utilizing organic material provides new insights and opens up new avenues for harvesting energy from organic materials.
- The OPyNG operates in the UV-visible-NIR region in self-powered mode, and it offers significant advantages as it can function as a self-sustainable standalone device.
9. ANTRIX - DEVAS CASE
Context: In a big relief for Isro’s commercial arm Antrix against its legal fight against Bengaluru Based Devas Multimedia, a court in the Netherlands upheld the liquidation orders of the company by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the subsequent orders of the NCLAT and Supreme Court of India upholding the tribunal’s liquidation order.
- In a judgment, the Dutch court rejected the request of Devas Multimedia America Inc (DMAI), a subsidiary of parent company Devas Multimedia, to enforce the ICC (international tribunal) judgment — which awarded $1. 2 billion compensation to Devas for a failed satellite deal with Antrix in 2005 — by seeking to seize the assets in form of contract receivables (amount received from satellite services) of Antrix as well as its sister arm NSIL in Netherlands.
Background
- In 2005, Devas Multimedia signed an agreement with Antrix to provide multimedia services to mobile users using the leased S-band satellite spectrum to be provided by Antrix.
- In 2011, the UPA-2 government canceled this agreement on the ground that it needed the S-band satellite spectrum for national security and other social purposes.
- This led to arbitration between Antrix and Devas at the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) and two bilateral investment treaty (BIT) arbitrations. India lost all three disputes.
ANTRIX
- Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), Bengaluru is a wholly-owned Government of India Company under the administrative control of the Department of Space.
- It is as a marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.
- Antrix is engaged in providing Space products and services to international customers worldwide.
10. GOMTI RIVER
Context: A three-year-old government order (GO) issued by the irrigation department of the Uttar Pradesh government declaring the Gomti as a “non-perennial river” has drawn flak from water experts and river rights activists.
- The GO defining the floodplain of 12 rivers was regarding a case being heard by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
- In 2018, the NGT raised dissatisfaction over encroachment and construction activities on the floodplains of rivers, which included Kali, Hindon, Varuna, Rapti, Sai, Betwa and Ghaghra.
Gomti
- Gomti is a tributary of Ganga river and an alluvial river of the Ganga Plain.
- It originates from Gomat Taal which formally is known as Fulhaar jheel, near Madho Tanda, Pilibhit in UP.
- It extends 900km through UP and meets the Ganges River in Ghazipur.
- At the Sangam of Gomti and Ganga, the famous Markandey Mahadeo temple is situated.
- The most important tributary is the Sai River, which joins near Jaunpur
- The cities of Lucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur and Jaunpur are located on the banks of Gomti
- The river cuts the Jaunpur city into equal halves and becomes wider in Jaunpur.
theIASHub | 19 Jul, 2023 | 4
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