Daily Current Affairs: 02 Jul 2021

Tidal wave washes away portion of Odisha village

(Topic- GS Paper I- Geography, Source- The Hindu)

Why in the news

Recently, ‘ Ramayapalli’ an odisha village has been facing the threat of tidal surge for the last 14 years, with the Bay of Bengal menacingly marching towards the mainland.

About Tidal Waves

Tides can be defined as the alternate rise and fall of the ocean water. It is caused by the combined effects of :

The gravitational force exerted on Earth by the Sun
The gravitational force exerted on Earth by the Moon
Rotation of the Earth

Types of Tides

Tides Based on Frequency

Semi-Diurnal Tides
Diurnal Tides
Mixed

Tides Based on the Position of Earth, Sun, and the Moon

Spring Tides
Neap Tides

Spinner dolphin

(Topic- GS Paper III- Environment, Source- DTE)

Why in the news?

Recently, the carcass of Spinner dolphin was washed ashore in Odisha’s port town of Paradip within the Bhitarkanika National Park.

About the Spinner dolphin

The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world.
It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it spins along its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List: Least Concern
CITES: Appendix I
CMS (Convention on Migratory Species): Appendix II

Related Information

About Irrawaddy Dolphins

Irrawaddy dolphins are found in coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia, and in three rivers: the Ayeyarwady (Myanmar), the Mahakam (Indonesian Borneo) and the Mekong.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List: Endangered
CITES: Appendix I
CMS (Convention on Migratory Species): Appendix I
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I

About Indo- Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins generally occur in shallow coastal waters of the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List: Near Threatened
CITES: Appendix II

About Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins

The Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin occurs within the Indian Ocean from South Africa to India.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List: Endangered
CITES: Appendix I
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I

Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme

(Topic- GS Paper III- Agriculture, Source- PIB)

Why in the news?

Recently, the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme marks the completion of its one year.

About the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PM-FME Scheme)

It has been launched under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme.

Aims

The scheme aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and to promote formalization of the sector and provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.
Under the PM-FME scheme, states have identified the food products of districts, keeping in view the availability of existing clusters and raw materials.
The scheme will be implemented over a 5 year period from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

GIS ODOP digital map

The GIS ODOP digital map of India provides details of ODOP products of all the states and facilitate the stakeholders.
The digital map also has indicators for tribal, SC, ST, and aspirational districts.
It will enable stakeholders to make concerted efforts for its value chain development.

Objectives:

Increase in access to finance by micro food processing units.
Increase in revenues of target enterprises.
Enhanced compliance with food quality and safety standards.
Strengthening capacities of support systems.
Transition from the unorganized sector to the formal sector.
Special focus on women entrepreneurs and Aspirational districts.
Focus on minor forest produce in Tribal Districts.

Rationale behind the Scheme:

The unorganised Food Processing sector of India contributes nearly 74% of employment with approximately 25 lakh units.
Nearly 66% of these units are located in rural areas and about 80% of them are family-based enterprises supporting livelihood rural household and minimizing their migration to urban areas.
These units largely fall within the category of micro enterprises.
Such enterprises face a lot of challenges in day to day operations such as:
Lack of funds and institutional credits.
Poor access to modern technology and equipment and even if they have then lack of training drive their output down.
Lack of marketing and branding skills.
Lack of basic awareness and quality controls.

United District Information System for Education plus (UDISE+) 2019-20

(Topic- GS Paper III- Education, Source- PIB)

Why in the news?

Union Education Minister has recently released the Report on United Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 for School Education in India.

About United District Information System for Education Plus

The UDISE+ system of online data collection from the schools was developed in the year 2018-19 to overcome the issues related to manual data filling in paper format and subsequent feeding at the block or district level, which was in practice in the UDISE data collection system from 2012-13.
The present publication relates to UDISE+ data for the reference year 2019-20.

Key highlights

The report shows improvement in GER at all levels of School Education, Pupil Teacher Ratio, Enrolment of Girls.

Gross Enrolment Ratio

Gross Enrolment Ratio at all levels of school education has improved in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19.

Gross Enrolment Ratio increased to 89.7% (from 87.7%) at Upper Primary level, 97.8% (from 96.1%) at Elementary Level, 77.9% (from 76.9%) at Secondary Level and 51.4% (from 50.1%) at Higher Secondary Level in 2019-20 (from 2018-19).
Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls has increased to 90.5% (from 88.5%) at Upper Primary level, 98.7% (from 96.7%) at Elementary Level, 77.8% (from 76.9%) at Secondary Level and 52.4% (from 50.8%) at Higher Secondary Level in 2019-20 (from 2018-19).

Enrolment of Divyang students

Enrolment of Divyang students has increased by 6.52% over 2018-19.

Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR)

The Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) has improved at all levels of school education.

In 2019-20, the PTR for primary has become 26.5, PTR for upper primary and secondary has become 18.5 and PTR for higher secondary has become 26.1.
In 2019-20, the PTR for secondary has become 18.5, whereas it was 29.7 in 2012-13.
In 2019-20, the PTR for higher secondary has become 26.1, whereas it was 39.2 in 2012-13.

Internet facilities

In the academic year that ended with school closures due to COVID-19, only 22% of schools in India had Internet facilities.
Among government schools, less than 12% had Internet in 2019-20, while less than 30% had functional computer facilities.
This affected the kind of digital education options available to schools during the pandemic, as well as plans for hybrid learning in the days ahead.

‘Indrajaal’- India’s 1st indigenous drone defence dome

(Topic- GS Paper III- Defence, Source- AIR)

Why in the news?

Hyderabad-based technology R&D firm Grene Robotics has designed and developed India’s first indigenous drone defence dome called “Indrajaal”.

About Indrajaal

The drone defence dome has the capability to autonomously protect an area of 1000-2000 sq km against the aerial threats by assessing and acting on aerial threats such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), loitering munitions, and Low- Radar Cross Section (RCS) targets.

Salient features of Indrajaal

Real-time situational awareness
Integrated and Intelligent meshed network
Integrated all current weapons suite and infrastructure
Honeycombed cell structure for seamlessly built
Synergic combination of 9-10 technologies
24×7 persistent and autonomous monitoring, action and tracking

ZyCov-D vaccine

(Topic- GS Paper III- Science and Technology, Source- Indian Express)

Why in the news?

Recently, Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila has applied to Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the national drugs regulator, seeking emergency use authorisation (EUA) for ZyCov-D, its Covid-19 vaccine.
If approved by the regulator, ZyCov-D will be the world’s first DNA vaccine against infection with SARS-CoV-2.

About ZyCov-D vaccine

It has been developed with the support of the central government’s Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Features

It is a “plasmid DNA” vaccine — or a vaccine that uses a genetically engineered, non-replicating version of a type of DNA molecule known as a ‘plasmid’.
The plasmids in this case are coded with the instructions to make the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
Vaccination gives the code to cells in the recipient’s body, so they can begin making the spiky outer layer of the virus. The immune system is expected to recognize this as a threat and develop antibodies in response.

Needle-free applicator

The vaccine will come with PharmaJet, a needle-free applicator that will ensure painless intradermal vaccine delivery.

Efficacy

It has primary efficacy of 66.6%.

Cabinet approves ₹3.03 trillion power discom reform scheme

(Topic- GS Paper III- Infrastructure (Energy sector), Source- AIR)

Why in the news?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the marquee ₹3.03 trillion power distribution company (discom) reform scheme, wherein the Centre’s share will be ₹97,631 crore.

About the Discom reform scheme

It is a reforms-based result-linked power distribution sector scheme. It will be applicable till 2025-2026. It was announced in union budget 2021.
This scheme subsumes programmes like Integrated Power Development Scheme and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
The Scheme seeks to improve the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of all DISCOMs/ Power Departments excluding Private Sector DISCOMs by providing conditional financial assistance to DISCOMs for strengthening of supply infrastructure.

Aim

The scheme aim to bring down India’s average aggregate technical and commercial loss from the present level of 21.4% to 12-15%, and gradually narrow the deficit between the cost of electricity and the price at which it is supplied to ‘zero’ by 2024-25.
The reforms are also aimed at improving the reliability and quality of power supply
The scheme involves a compulsory smart metering ecosystem across the distribution sector—starting from electricity feeders to the consumer level, including in about 250 million households. Also, loss reduction measures such as separate feeders for agricultural and rural household consumption will be put in place.

Implementing Agency

State-run Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) have been nominated as nodal agencies to implement the scheme.

Significance

It help to ensure that India is the leader in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7 that calls for “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all."

Note:

The union government is also working on a raft of measures including ethanol blending with fossil fuels, green mobility, battery storage and green hydrogen to help reduce pollution and facilitate commitments made at COP-21, the UN Climate Change Conference held in France in 2015.

Andhra launches IT policy for 2021-24

(Topic- GS Paper III- Economics, Source- Business standard)

Why in the news ?

The Andhra Pradesh government has recently come out with the new 'AP Information Technology Policy 2021-24'.

About the IT policy for 2021-24

The new IT Policy links incentive disbursement to realisation of committed direct employment ensuring transparent and effective utilisation of public funds.
In a shift from the previous IT policy, the new one offers end-to-end support for startups like plug and play office space, access to investors, mentors, talent pool, funds through venture capitals, private equity firms and other commonly shared services on a variable chargeable basis.
The policy is expected to generate more than 55,000 jobs over the next three years.
The policy would be in force till March 31, 2024.

Other initiative

The government would establish an IT Emerging Technologies Research University in Visakhapatnam to develop the State as the leading contributor to the national talent pool in IT and cutting-edge emerging technologies.
The university would focus on applied research in use of emerging technologies in areas of interest to the State. Digital libraries and workplaces are proposed to be set up at the grama panchayat-level with access to high-speed Internet, six workstations and essential software.

Atmanirbhar Krishi App

(Topic- GS Paper III- Agriculture, Source- AIR)

Why in the news?

Recently, the government has launched "Atmanirbhar Krishi App" to provide farmers with actionable agricultural insights and early weather alerts.

About the Atmanirbhar Krishi App

It is an Android and Windows versions which is s available in 12 languages for free of cost for farmers, start-ups, Krishi Vighyan Kendras, Self Help Groups, and NGOs.

Aim

The data related to soil type, soil health, moisture, weather, and water table were aggregated and analysed to generate personalized insights.
The app brings together data relevant to the farmer and his farm, from various agencies and departments of the Government of India.
The app relies on the geo-location of the farm to provide relevant data.
It will facilitate Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) to interact with farmers more specifically as per the existing ground realities.

Stages:

The app was envisioned in 5 stages:

Data aggregation
Building centralized insights
Enable local expertise (KVK) supported interactions and insights
Deriving Machine Learning inferences
Continuous improvement

About Krishi Vigyan Kendras

They are an agricultural extension centre in India, usually associated with a local agricultural university.
These centres serve as the ultimate link between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and farmers and aim to apply agricultural research in a practical, localized setting.
All KVKs fall under the jurisdiction of one of the 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) throughout India.

Also in news

Capital to soon get colour-coded response system to fight COVID

(Topic- GS Paper III- Health, Source- The Hindu)

Why in the news?

Delhi will soon get a colour-coded response system to control and fight COVID-19 with each colour representing a pre-defined degree of action that needs to be taken, including lockdowns.

More on the news

The response system has been divided into four types of alerts — yellow, amber, orange, and red — each of which is based on test positivity rate, new cases, and bed occupancy.
Yellow is the lowest level of alert and red is the highest.
So, if the alert is yellow, the measures are taken by the government, including restrictions or lockdowns, will be less severe compared to red, which will see more stringent measures,”
The government will take actions, including lockdowns of different intensity and ramping up of medical infrastructure, based on the alert level.