Indo-Singapore Joint Training Exercise Bold Kurukshetra                                     

India stares at a pile of solar e-waste                                                                         

Two West  Bengal govt. schemes win UN awards                                                    

A genetic method to empower conservation                                                             

India’s population growth rate outpaced China in last 9 years: UN report            

Namami Gange gets global recognition at world summit 

Indo-Singapore Joint Training Exercise Bold Kurukshetra

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS  - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The 12th edition of joint military exercise between India and Singapore, BOLD KURUKSHETRA 2019,culminated after an impressive closing ceremony held at Babina Military Station.

BOLD KURUKSHETRA 2019 :

• This was the 12th edition of joint military training between India and Singapore.

• The four-day long joint training focused on developing interoperability and conduct of joint tactical operations in mechanised warfare. The troops learnt about each other’s organisations and best practices being followed in combat.

• The exercise was a grand success and taught valuable lessons to troops of both the participating nations.

                                                                                                                                                                        Source :- PIB

India stares at a pile of solar e-waste

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Context :

• A recent study by energy consultancy firm, Bridge to India, has estimated that India’s photovoltaic (PV) waste volume would grow to 1.8 million tonne by 2050.

India’s Solar energy Sector:  

• India is among the leading markets for solar cells in the world, buoyed by the government’s commitment to install 100 GW of solar power by 2022.

• So far, India has installed solar cells for about 28 GW and this is largely from imported solar PV cells.

• Solar cell modules are made by processing sand to make silicon, casting silicon ingots, using wafers to create cells and then assembling them to make modules.

• India’s domestic manufacturers are largely involved in assembling cells and modules.

• These modules are 80% glass and aluminium, and non-hazardous. Other materials used, including polymers, metals, metallic compounds and alloys, and are classified as potentially hazardous, says the study.

• While the solar sector continues to grow robustly, there is no clarity on solar waste management in India.

Issue :

• The report has noted that technology for solar e-waste recycling remains in a nascent stage globally and the high cost of recycling makes it further financially unviable.

• At present, India’s e-waste rules have no laws mandating solar cell manufacturers to recycle or dispose waste from this sector.

• India is poorly positioned to handle PV waste as it doesn’t yet have policy guidelines on the same…a lack of a policy framework is coupled with the fact that even basic recycling facilities for laminated glass and e-waste are unavailable.

• Despite the e-waste regulation being in place for several years, only less than 4% of estimated e-waste is recycled in the organised sector as per the latest estimates from the Central Pollution Control Board.

Recommendations :      

• The report has also cited best practices. For example: The European Union (EU) has Eco-Design Directive 2009 in place. It is a policy instrument to reduce environmental impact of energy-related products throughout their life cycle.

                                                                                                                                                     Source :- The Hindu

Two West  Bengal govt. schemes win UN awards

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - HEALTH AND EDUCATION

Context :

• Two schemes of the West Bengal government for skill development and distribution of bi-cycles to students have won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) awards of the United Nations

• The schemes are "Utkarsh Bangla" and "Sabooj Sathi".

"Utkarsh Bangla" :

• Utkarsh Bangla Scheme was launched with an aim of providing vocational training to school dropouts.

• Objective of the scheme is to give vocational training to school dropouts by providing training ranging from 400 to 1200 hours free of charge.

  • Under this scheme, beneficiaries will be trained in driving, tailoring, repairing television and other electronic equipment, beautician courses etc.

  • On completion the courses beneficiaries are given Certificates would be given.

  • The state Vocational Education Department is the nodal agency in charge of implementing the scheme.

  • The syllabus for courses under this scheme has been made in line with the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework.

Sabooj Sathi:

• Sabooj Sathi is a scheme of West Bengal government for distribution of bi-cycles to estimated 40 lakh students of class IX to XII studying in Govt. run and Govt. aided Schools and Madrashas.

• The scheme was launched in September 2015.

• The objective of the scheme is to empower the students, especially the girls and reduce drop outs in higher education.

                                                                                                                       Source :- Business Standard

A genetic method to empower conservation

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Researchers at Stanford and the National Centre for Biological Sciences at India’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research have developed a method for extracting genetic clues from degraded and left-behind materials, such as feces, skin or saliva, and from food products suspected of containing endangered animals.

• The study has been published in the international journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Key Highlights :

• The new genetic method helps conservation by deriving information from animal sources containing extremely low-quality DNA — including faeces and cooked meat.

• Their method, described in the study published in the international journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, relies on identifying multiple, short portions of DNA segments in a single experiment (a ‘multiplex PCR’), followed by ‘next-generation sequencing’, in which multiple fragments of DNA can be decoded simultaneously, and several times, in an automated process.

• The team tested their method on Caribbean queen conches and tigers, two extremely different species that had strong conservation needs to show how this approach could be used generally.

• The team obtained DNA from the faeces, hair and saliva of 75 wild and captive tigers to identify individuals and close relatives, and RNA from 279 queen conch samples.

• They then decoded between 60 to 100 single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, one of the most common types of change seen in genetic material, in these samples.

Significance :

• The new methodology helps identify the geographic regions these individuals belonged to.

• Apart from using this for animal monitoring, it could also potentially be used to obtain intelligence on wildlife trade.

• Testing several hundred samples simultaneously and decoding up to 1000 SNPs per sample would cost as low as $5 (less than Rs. 350).

• The biggest advantage is that this would take just five days while older methods take at least a month.

                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

India’s population growth rate outpaced China in last 9 years: UN report

GS PAPER - 01 SOCIAL ISSUES - Population and Associated issues

Context :

• According to the State of World Population 2019 report, India’s population grew at an average of 1.2% annually between 2010 and 2019.

• It is more than double the annual population growth rate of China. The report was published by the United Nations Population Fund’s(UNFP).

Key Findings :

• According to the report, in India, total fertility rate per woman was 5.6 in 1969, dropping to 3.7 in 1994 and 2.3 in 2019.

• India also recorded an improvement in life expectancy at birth. The life expectancy at birth in 1969 was 47 years, growing to 60 years in 1994 and 69 years in 2019.

• The report says that 27% of India’s population was in the age bracket of 0-14 years and 10-24 years while 67% of the country’s population was in the 15-64 age bracket.Further,6% of the country’s population was of the age 65 and above.

• Indicative of the improvement in the quality of India’s health care system, the report noted that Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country dropped from 488 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1994 to 174 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015.

• UNFPA report highlights that “untold millions” have enjoyed healthier and more productive lives in the 50 years,

  • Highlighting positive changes in the last half-century, the report shows that in 1969, the average number of births per woman was 4.8, compared with 2.9 in 1994, and 2.5 today.

Focus on Women :

• The findings, relating to women aged between 15-49 years, were published for the first time as part of United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFP) State of World Population 2019 report.

• The report includes, for the first time, data on women’s ability to make decisions over three key areas: sexual intercourse with their partner, contraception use and health care.

• The absence of reproductive and sexual rights has a major and negative repercussions on women’s education, income and safety, leaving them “unable to shape their own futures”.

• Early marriage continues to present a major cultural obstacle to female empowerment and better reproductive rights

• The report further says that, highlights the threat to women’s and girls’ reproductive rights posed by emergencies caused by conflict or climate disasters.

• Every day, more than 500 women and girls including in countries with emergency settings, die during pregnancy and childbirth, due to the absence of skilled birth attendants or emergency obstetric procedures.

                                                                                                                                                      Source :- Indian Express

Amami Gange gets global recognition at world summit

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Context :

• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was awarded the distinction of “Public Water Agency of the Year” by Global Water Intelligence at the Global Water Summit in London.

Global Water Awards :

• The Global Water Awards are presented at the Global Water Summit, the major business conference for the water industry worldwide.

• The awards recognise excellence across the international water industry and reward those initiatives in the water, waste water, and desalination sectors, which bring remarkable improvements in the lives of people

Global Water Summit :

• Global Water Summit is the annual business conference for the water industry worldwide.

• The summit attracts high-level executives from industry, municipalities and international water companies and provides the opportunity to connect with hard-to-reach industry insiders that will not attend any other water event.

• The summit provides a platform for connecting the public and private sector and for accelerating change and innovation within the sector, it attracts the most influential industry representatives and also becomes a forum for business development and expanding your network.

                                                                                                                           Source :- Indian Express

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