New Space India Limited                                                                                             

Fair and Remunerative Price’ of sugarcane                                                              

Global Innovation Index-2019                                                                                     

India’s R&D expenditure ecosystem report                                                               

IBBI amends Insolvency and Bankruptcy board of India                                         

Milky Way's Violent Birth Decoded                                                                             

India, China to overtake U.S. in tech innovation: survey                                         

Dracaena cambodiana : India’s first dragon blood-oozing tree                              

Merger of National Institute of Miners’ Health with ICMR-NIOH                              

New Space India Limited

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The Union Government has set up New Space India Limited (NSIL), a wholly owned Government of India undertaking/ Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS).

Functions :

• Small Satellite technology transfer to industry, wherein NSIL will obtain license from DOS/ISRO and sub-license it to Industries

• Manufacture of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in collaboration with Private Sector

• Productionisation of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through Indian Industry

• Productionisation and marketing of Space-based products and services, including launch and application

• Transfer of technology developed by ISRO Centres and constituent units of DOS

• Marketing spin-off technologies and products/services, both in India and abroad

• any other subject which Government of India deems fit.

Impact :

• To commercially exploit the research and development work of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Centres and constituent units of DOS.

• The emergence of NSIL would spur the growth of Indian industries in the space sector and enable Indian industries to scale up manufacturing and production base.

                                                                                                                                                             Source :- PIB

Fair and Remunerative Price’ of sugarcane

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;

Context :

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal in respect of Determination of ‘Fair and Remunerative Price’ of sugarcane payable by sugar mills to the cane growers.

Fair and Remunerative Price’ :

• Fair and remunerative price (FRP) is the minimum price at which rate sugarcane is to be purchased by sugar mills from farmers.

• The FRP is fixed by Union government on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

• The ‘FRP’ of sugarcane is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.

• Recommended FRP is arrived at by taking into account various factors (cost of production, demand-supply situation, domestic & international prices, inter-crop price parity etc.

Benefits of FRP :

• FRP assures margins to farmers, irrespective of whether sugar mills generate a profit or not.

• This will be uniformly applicable all over the country. Besides FRP, some states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and TN announce a State Advised Price, which is generally higher than the FRP.

                                                                                                                             Source :- PIB

Global Innovation Index-2019

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Context :

• The Government of India, has launched the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019  in New Delhi.

Key Highlights :

• India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index is 52 which shows an improvement of 5 points from the last years ranking (57).

• India’s rankings has been consistently increasing over the last few years and is among the top in the world in innovation drivers such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), services exports, graduates in science and engineering, the quality of universities, gross capital formation (a measure of economy-wide investments) and creative goods exports.

• India stands out in the world’s top science and technology clusters, with Bengaluru, Mumbai, and New Delhi featuring among the top 100 global clusters.

• India continues to be the most innovative economy in central and southern Asia (a distinction held since 2011).

Global Performance :

• Switzerland tops the GII index

• Followed by Sweden, United States of America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, Germany and Israel.

                                                                                                                             Source :- PIB

India’s R&D expenditure ecosystem report

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Growth and Development

Context :

• A special session was held to discuss India’s Research and Development (R&D) expenditure eco-system report during the Global launch of Global Innovation Index (GII) – 2019 in New Delhi.

  • The report has been compiled by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.

Key Findings :

• Investments in R&D are key inputs in economic growth. The impact of this is proven on productivity, exports, employment and capital formation.

• India’s investment in R&D has shown a consistent increasing trend over the years.

• However, it is a fraction of India’s GDP, it has remained constant at around 0.6% to 0.7% of India’s GDP.

  • This is below the expenditure of countries like the US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and Korea (4.2).

• Government expenditure, almost entirely the Central Government, is the driving force of R&D in India which is in contrast to the advanced countries where private sector is the dominant and driving force of R&D spend.

Recommendations :

• There is a need for greater participation of State Governments and private sector in overall R&D spending in India especially in application oriented research and technology development.

• The growth in R&D expenditure should be commensurate with the growth of GDP and should reach at least two percent of GDP by 2022.

                                                                                                                                                                  Source :- PIB

IBBI amends Insolvency and Bankruptcy board of India

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• IBBI has amended the IBBI (Insolvency Professionals) Regulations, 2016 and the IBBI (Model Bye-Laws and Governing Board of Insolvency Professional Agencies) Regulations.

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board India (IBBI) notified regulations related to the IBBI (Insolvency Professionals) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019, and the IBBI (Model Bye-Laws and Governing Board of Insolvency Professional Agencies) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019.

Amendments made by the IBBI (Insolvency Professionals) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 are:

• An insolvency professional shall not accept any assignment as resolution professional, liquidator, bankruptcy trustee, authorised representative under the Insolvency and bankruptcy Code, 2016 unless he holds an ‘Authorisation for Assignment’ issued by his Insolvency Professional Agency. This is effective from 1st January, 2020.

• An insolvency professional shall not engage in any employment when he holds an Authorisation for Assignment or when he is undertaking an assignment.

Amendments made by the IBBI (Model Bye-Laws and Governing Board of Insolvency Professional Agencies) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019: 

• An Insolvency Professional Agency shall issue/renew an Authorisation for Assignment to insolvency professionals in accordance with its Bye-laws.

• An insolvency professional shall be eligible to obtain an Authorisation of Assignment if he has not attained the age of seventy years.

• An individual may serve as an independent director on the Governing Board of an Insolvency Professional Agency up to the age of 75 years.

                                                                                                                                                                Source :- PIB

Milky Way's Violent Birth Decoded

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the field of Space.

Context :

• The Milky Way, home to our sun and billions of other stars, merged with another smaller galaxy in a colossal cosmic collision roughly 10 billion years ago, scientists said based on data from the Gaia space observatory.

Milky Way – Gaia-Enceladus merger:

• The Milky Way, home to our sun and billions of other stars. The galaxy merged with another smaller galaxy in a colossal cosmic collision roughly 10 billion years ago, scientists said, based on data from the Gaia space observatory.

• The union of the Milky Way and the so-called dwarf galaxy Gaia-Enceladus increased our galaxy’s mass by about a quarter and triggered a period of accelerated star formation lasting about 2 to 4 billion years.

• It was found that certain stars with higher content of elements other than hydrogen or helium arose in the Milky Way, and others with lower such content originated in Gaia-Enceladus, owing to its smaller mass.

• The merger was dramatic and helped shape the Milky Way.

• However, it was not a star-destroying calamity.

                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

India, China to overtake U.S. in tech innovation: survey

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Context :

• India and China will surpass the US as tech innovation hubs in the world, believe most business professionals in emerging economies, according to a survey.

More about the Survey :

• The findings are based on the views of 2,000 business professionals in 20 markets.

• Indian respondents are particularly confident in China and India’s future role as global innovation centers — with 64% of those surveyed agreeing the countries will surpass the U.S. by 2035.

• The data shows that business professionals in emerging countries are more optimistic than those in developed markets about change, and have markedly higher expectations for the role that technology will play in the economy, business and daily life in decades to come.

• Developing countries, in general, see technology more as an opportunity while the developed world has a greater sense of technology as a threat.

Issues :

• The majority of business professionals across the world agree that by 2035, we will be reaching the point of no return on climate change.

• There is strong global consensus that if there is another world war, then it is likely to be a cyber war.

• Most global business professionals also agree that rising sea levels will have already wiped the first low-lying country off the map by 2035.

• There are fears that Artificial Intelligence will destroy manual jobs. However, a majority around the world believe that lifelong learning can mitigate the threat.

                                                                                                 Source :- The Hindu ; Financial Express

Dracaena cambodiana : India’s first dragon blood-oozing tree

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

Context :

• A trio of researchers led by Assam forest officer Jatindra Sarma has discovered Dracaena cambodiana, a dragon tree species in the Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong. This is for the first time that a dragon tree species has been reported from India.

Dracaena cambodiana :

• In India, the Dracaena genus belonging to the family Asparagaceae is represented by nine species and two varieties in the Himalayan region, the northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

• But Dracaena cambodiana is the only true dragon tree species.

Uses :

• Dracaena cambodiana is an important medicinal plant as well as an ornamental tree.

• It is a major source of dragon’s blood, a precious traditional medicine in China.

• Several antifungal and antibacterial compounds, antioxidants, flavonoids, etc., have been extracted from various parts of the plant.

Threat :

• Recent overexploitation to meet the increasing demand for dragon’s blood has resulted in rapid depletion of the plant. For this reason, the species is already listed in the inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of China.

• The population size of the dragon tree species in Assam was estimated to be fewer than 50 mature individuals. The habitat of the plant is severely fragmented due to open excavation of a stone quarry and there is continuing decrease in its area of occupancy and number of mature individuals.

• The Dracaena seeds are usually dispersed by birds. But due to the large fruit size, only a few species of birds are able to swallow the fruits, thus limiting the scope of its natural conservation.

                                                                                                                    Source :- The Hindu

Merger of National Institute of Miners’ Health with ICMR-NIOH

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE -  Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• Union Cabinet has recently approved the merger of National Institute of Miners' Health (NIMH) with ICMR - National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH).

Impact of merger :

• Enhance expertise in the field of occupational health.

• Efficient management of public resources

National Institute of Miners Health

• It was set up by the Government of India in 1990 and was registered as a Society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960.

• It is an autonomous Institute under Ministry of Mines and located at Kolar Gold Fields, Karnataka and the Central Laboratory in Nagpur.

• It conducts applied research in occupational health and hygiene and specializes in providing technical support services to mining and mineral based industry with special reference to metalliferous sector.

• It has the state-of-art infrastructural facilities and expertise for conducting Airborne Respirable Dust, Heat Stress, Vibrations, Noise Monitoring & Mapping, Illumination, ergonomic, etc. surveys in underground and opencast mines and routine & specialized health surveillance of persons employed in mines.

National Institute of Occupational Health :

• It was established in 1966 as Occupational Health Research Institute (OHRI) at Ahmedabad and later renamed as National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) in 1970.

• It works under the administrative control of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• Its primary responsibility is to support the national policy makers for adopting an appropriate policy in the field of occupational health which includes occupational medicine and occupational hygiene.

• It has two regional office at Kolkata and Bangalore.

                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

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