Hyperloop 2020 MAY 2019 - IES GS
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hyperloop 2020
MAY 2019
Monthly Current Affairs for ESE 2020
&
Practice Questions
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other purpose without the prior permission of IES GS
Current affairs – ESE 2020 May 2019
Contents
1. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUES ....................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Social development ............................................................................................................................................... 5
India lags behind in inclusive growth ....................................................................................................................... 5
International Classification of Diseases (ICD)........................................................................................................... 6
1.2 Industrial Development ......................................................................................................................................... 6
The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) ................................................................................... 6
High Security Number Plates ................................................................................................................................... 7
FAME II .................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Golden Rice ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
New Space India Limited (NSIL) ............................................................................................................................... 9
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1.3 Economic Development ........................................................................................................................................10
NSE Found Guilty of Lapse in Algo-trading Case .....................................................................................................10
WTO ministerial meeting ........................................................................................................................................12
Draft export policy..................................................................................................................................................13
How Interest Rate is determined? ..........................................................................................................................14
RBI Raises Cap on Home Loan under PSL ................................................................................................................15
Generalised System of Preferences ........................................................................................................................15
Index of Industrial Production (IIP) .........................................................................................................................16
Economic Census ....................................................................................................................................................17
Doubling India's exports .........................................................................................................................................17
2. ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................................................................18
2.1 Environment .........................................................................................................................................................18
World Heritage glaciers ..........................................................................................................................................18
Waste to Wealth Technologies ...............................................................................................................................19
Environmental impact of Dams ..............................................................................................................................20
Basel Convention COP ............................................................................................................................................21
New UN accord to curb export of plastic waste ......................................................................................................22
DNA Database for Indian Rhinos ............................................................................................................................22
‘Room for the River’ project ...................................................................................................................................23
2.2 Energy ...................................................................................................................................................................24
GRIHA rating ...........................................................................................................................................................24
The fusion reactor ..................................................................................................................................................24
3. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................................25
RISAT-2B satellites ..................................................................................................................................................25
Radars and its functions .........................................................................................................................................26
ISRO’s Seven Mega Missions ..................................................................................................................................26
4. KEY GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES....................................................................................................................................28
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan ............................................................................................................................................28
National Nutrition Mission .....................................................................................................................................29
Mission Indradhanush ............................................................................................................................................29
National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) ........................................................................................30
5. MATERIAL SCIENCE .....................................................................................................................................................30
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Superconductivity at room temperature ................................................................................................................30
Poly (Diketoenamine) .............................................................................................................................................31
Wearable super capacitors .....................................................................................................................................31
Graphite reserves of India ......................................................................................................................................32
PRACTICE QUESTIONS .....................................................................................................................................................33
1. Social development ................................................................................................................................................33
3. Economic development ..........................................................................................................................................34
4. Environment ...........................................................................................................................................................35
5. Information and Communication Technology ........................................................................................................37
6. Government Initiatives ...........................................................................................................................................38
7. Material Science .....................................................................................................................................................38
8. General Knowledge ................................................................................................................................................39
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1. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
1.1 Social development
India lags behind in inclusive growth
According to data computed by the Indian Council of Research on International Economic Relations
(ICRIER), India is far behind neighbors China and Indonesia on all major counts of inclusiveness such as
education, skills, employment, labor compensation and asset building.
Key findings:
● Even among the BRICS countries, India is the least inclusive economy.
● Among seven emerging economies of China, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and
Turkey, India is behind six of them on education and skill parameters and behind five of them,
excluding Turkey, on asset building and entrepreneurship.
● On employment and labor compensation, India is behind China, Brazil and Argentina but ahead
of South Africa, Turkey and Indonesia.
● India is at the bottom on education, with ICRIER suggesting that a country like India, which still
has limited access to education, should first focus on it before spending its limited resources on
quality and digital literacy.
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International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
The World Health Organization has for the first time recognised “burn-out” in its International
Classification of Diseases (ICD), which is widely used as a benchmark for diagnosis and health insurers.
Key Facts:
● WHO defines burn-out as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace
stress that has not been successfully managed.”
● The syndrome is characterised by three dimensions:
1) Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
2) Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s
job
3) Reduced professional efficacy.
About ICD:
● The ICD is the global health information standard for mortality and morbidity statistics.
● WHO was entrusted with the ICD at its creation in 1948.
● ICD is increasingly used in clinical care and research to define diseases and study disease
patterns, as well as manage health care, monitor outcomes and allocate resources.
● More than 100 countries use the system to report mortality data, a primary indicator of health
status. This system helps to monitor death and disease rates worldwide and measure progress
towards the Millennium Development Goals.
● About 70% of the world’s health expenditures (USD $ 3.5 billion) are allocated using ICD for
reimbursement and resource allocation.
1.2 Industrial Development
The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT)
Creation of new automotive test centres in the country under NATRIP((National Automotive Testing
and R&D Infrastructure Project), is an important step forward by the Government to support the
need of the automotive industry in the backdrop of tightening regulatory framework and technology
shift driven by market forces. The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) is located in
the northern automotive hub of India.
Key facts:
● ICAT is a leading world class automotive testing, certification and R&D service provider.
● With Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Component, Powertrain, NVH and Tyre, ICAT intends to
eventually transform it into an automotive product development centre.
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Automotive electrical and electronics lab (AEEL)
● The lab offers services for certification and validation for wide range of E&E components
including systems, E-motors, ECUs, Batteries and RFIDS.
● It also provides consultancy services to the customers for product development and
improvements.
Tyre Test Lab (TTL)
● Tyre Test Lab is providing services to the tyre industry, vehicle manufactures and Bureau of
Indian Standards.
● ICAT has transformed this lab into centre of excellence by developing new capabilities including
the dual station endurance test rig and tyre rolling resistance test rig.
Passive Safety Lab
It is dedicated to support automotive industry for their needs of Crash Testing (Regulatory as
well as Developmental), pedestrian protection testing, sled testing and airbag deployment
testing.
The PSL has state of the art test facilities capable of conducting crash testing of vehicles as per
Indian and international regulations.
High Security Number Plates
The issuing of certificate of registration (RC) for all classes of motor vehicles has been blocked from
2nd May 2019 in the country for not integrating High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) with the
'Vahan' database.
Key Facts:
● The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has taken this step to curb vehicle theft
and enable easier tracking of lost and stolen vehicles.
● The new amendment of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 has made it mandatory for all
vehicles sold on or after April 1, 2019 to be pre-fitted with High Security Registration Plates
(HSRP).
About High security Registration Plates
● The high security number plates are made of aluminum and come with reflective tapes.
● The plates are tamper-proof equipped with a chromium-based and self-destructive hologram,
which is hot stamped on the plate.
● In addition, a sticker on the plate carries all the essential details including the vehicle's engine
and chassis number and laser-branding of a 10-digit permanent identification number.
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● With the use of the high security plate throughout the country, the details about the car,
engine and the chassis number will be stored in the national database.
FAME II
Electric and hybrid vehicle (xEVs) manufacturers will have to indigenise a significant portion of
components to avail benefits under a revised set of rules of the phase 2 of the Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, or FAME 2 scheme.
Highlights:
● In a first, putting out a list of key components for xEV manufacturers to localise with respective
● Other key components such as electronic throttle, vehicle control unit along with the onboard
charger for all approved vehicle categories, and electric compressor and the DC charging inlet,
both for the electric cars and buses are aimed for indigenization from 1 October 2020.
● The new draft rules notifies the vehicle testing agencies to ensure strict compliance of phased
manufacturing program (PMP) before issuing the eligibility certificate to the xEV manufacturers
for facilitating registration of their vehicles under phase-II of Fame India scheme.
About FAME:
● The first phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles Scheme or
the FAME scheme was introduced on 1 April 2015, while the second phase was notified in
March earlier this year, and has been under implementation April onwards.
● The FAME India Scheme is aimed at incentivising all vehicle segments i.e. 2 Wheeler, 3 Wheeler
Auto, Passenger 4 Wheeler Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses.
● The scheme covers Hybrid & Electric technologies like Mild Hybrid, Strong Hybrid, Plug in
Hybrid & Battery Electric Vehicles.
● Monitoring Authority : Department of Heavy Industries
● Fame India Scheme has four focus Areas.
1. Technology development
2. Demand Creation
3. Pilot Projects
4. Charging Infrastructure
● Target: National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) has set a huge target to deploy 48
lakh 2W EVs and 15 lakh 4W EVs by 2020
● Technology development: There are two types of technology related with FAME : Battery
Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs).
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Golden Rice
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its partners, the Philippines Rice Research
Institute and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, have successfully cultivated Golden Rice in a
controlled environment on IRRI campus.
About Golden rice:
● Golden Rice is a new type of rice that contains beta-carotene (provitamin A), which is
converted into vitamin A as needed by the body and gives the grain its golden color.
● Research has indicated that one cup of Golden Rice can provide up to 50% of the daily
requirement of an adult for vitamin A.
● But presently, it has a low shelf life of not more than 3 months as it may lose its nutrients after
that.
● Golden Rice can be grown just like ordinary rice and varieties containing the GR2E Golden Rice
trait have the same yield and agronomic performance as their conventional counterparts.
● It is intended to complement current strategies in the fight against vitamin A deficiency (VAD)
and is intended to supply up to 30-50 percent of the estimated average requirement for
vitamin A for preschool age children and pregnant or lactating mothers.
New Space India Limited (NSIL)
New Space India Limited (NSIL) is the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),
and was officially inaugurated in Bengaluru.
About NSIL:
● NSIL was incorporated for commercially utilising research and development activities carried
out by ISRO in the area of space.
● It is the second commercial arm of the ISRO after the Antrix Corporation, which was set up in
1992 primarily to facilitate ISRO’s commercial launch of foreign satellites.
● The objective is to enhance industry participation in Indian space programmes.
● NSIL will act as an aggregator for all space-related activities in industry and develop private
entrepreneurship in space-related technologies.
Role of NSIL:
● Manufacturing and production of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through technology transfer mechanisms.
● It will also cater to emerging global commercial SSLV market demand, providing satellite
building and satellite-based services, including the supply of sub-systems for various domestic
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and international application needs and will enable space technology spin-offs through Indian
industry interface.
1.3 Economic Development
NSE Found Guilty of Lapse in Algo-trading Case
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred the National Stock Exchange (NSE) from
raising money from the securities market directly or indirectly for six months.
Key Facts:
● According to SEBI, NSE officials provided high frequency traders’ unfair access through co-
location servers placed at the site of exchange, which could speed up algorithmic trading
leading to front-running.
● NSE had failed to ensure equal and fair access to all members when they were using its
algorithmic trading platform and co-location services.
What is Algorithm trading?
● In trading, advanced mathematical tools are used for facilitating transaction and decision
making in the financial market, the need for a human trader's intervention is minimized and
thus the decision making is very quick.
● This enables the system to take advantage of any profit making opportunities arising in the
market much before a human trader can even spot them.
The common trading strategies used in algo-trading are:
1. High Frequency Trading (HFT):
● It involves placing a large number of trade orders across multiple markets and decision
parameters at a very high speed, based on preprogrammed instructions.
2. Trend Following Strategies:
● It follows trends in moving averages, channel breakouts, price level movements and related
technical indicators.
● These are the easiest and simplest strategies to implement through algorithmic trading
because these strategies do not involve making any predictions or price forecasts.
3. Arbitrage Opportunities:
● Buying a dual listed stock at a lower price in one market and simultaneously selling it at a
higher price in another market offers the price differential as risk-free profit or arbitrage.
4. Mathematical Model Based Strategies:
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● A lot of proven mathematical models, like the delta-neutral trading strategy, which allow
trading on combination of options and its underlying security, where trades are placed to
offset positive and negative deltas so that the portfolio delta is maintained at zero.
5. Trading Range (Mean Reversion):
● It is based on the idea that the high and low prices of an asset are a temporary phenomenon
that reverts to their mean value periodically.
● Identifying and defining a price range and implementing algorithm based on that allows trades
to be placed automatically when price of asset breaks in and out of its defined range.
6. Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP):
This strategy breaks up a large order and releases dynamically determined smaller chunks of the
order to the market using stock specific historical volume profiles.
7. Time Weighted Average Price (TWAP):
It breaks up a large order and releases dynamically determined smaller chunks of the order to the
market using evenly divided time slots between a start and end time.
8. Implementation Shortfall:
● It aims at minimizing the execution cost of an order by trading off the real-time market,
thereby saving on the cost of the order and benefiting from the opportunity cost of delayed
execution.
● The strategy will increase the targeted participation rate when the stock price moves favorably
and decrease it when the stock price moves adversely.
What is Co-location?
● Co-location allows brokers to operate closer to their servers upon payment of additional fees.
● It helps brokers secure an advantage over others due to proximity to exchange servers as data
transmission takes less time.
● Orders reach exchange servers faster than those who have not availed the facility.
What is Front-running?
● Front-running is also known as tailgating. Front-running is when a broker or any other entity
enters into a trade because they have the foreknowledge of a big non-publicized transaction
that will influence the price of the asset, resulting in a likely financial gain for the broker.
● It also occurs when a broker or an analyst buys or sells shares for their account ahead of their
firm's buy or sells recommendation to the clients.
● Front-running is illegal and unethical because it takes the advantage of private information that
is not available to the public.
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WTO ministerial meeting
India will host a WTO ministerial meeting of developing countries in New Delhi.
Key facts:
● The meeting is an effort to bring together the developing countries and the Least Developed
Countries on a platform for sharing common concerns on various issues affecting the WTO and
to address the following issues:
1) WTO’s appellate body has shrunk over the last two years from its required strength of seven
members to three.
2) Special and differential treatment of developing countries in the WTO is a concern for some
other countries.
3) The increased unilateral measures and counter-measures by member countries, as well as
deadlock in key areas of negotiations and the impasse in the WTO's appellate body has given
rise to demands to reform the organization.
About the World Trade Organization (WTO)
● It is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
● It came into existence on January 1, 1995 and has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
● All major decisions are made by the WTO's member governments, either by ministers (who
usually meet at least every two years) or by their ambassadors or delegates (who meet
regularly in Geneva).
About Special and Differential Treatment provisions:
The WTO Agreements contain special provisions which give developing countries special rights and
developed countries the possibility to treat developing countries more favourably than other WTO
Members.
The special provisions are:
1. Longer time periods for implementing Agreements and commitments
2. Measures to increase trading opportunities for developing countries
3. Provisions requiring all WTO members to safeguard the trade interests of developing countries
4. Support to help developing countries build the capacity to carry out WTO work, handle
disputes, and implement technical standards
5. Provisions related to least-developed country (LDC) members.
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Draft export policy
The Commerce Ministry has come out with a comprehensive draft of the export policy which includes
product- specific rules with a view to provide a ready reckoner for exporters.
Highlights:
● Updated draft comprises of all existing policy conditions, all notifications and public notices
issued after January 2018 and also includes non-tariff regulations imposed by different
government agencies.
● It aimed at consolidating export norms for each product, has accorded eight digit HS codes to
every product.
● This compendium will help an exporter know all the applicable norms pertaining to a particular
product, helping them understand policy conditions for that item.
About ITC-HS:
● ITC-HS Codes are Indian Trade Clarification based on Harmonised System of Coding. It was
adopted by India for import-export operations.
● The compendium will help an exporter know all the applicable norms pertaining to a particular
product, helping him/her understand policy conditions for that item.
About Export Import Policy of India
● Exim Policy or Foreign Trade Policy is a set of guidelines and instructions established by the
DGFT in matters related to the import and export of goods in India.
● Foreign trade in India is guided by the EXIM Policy of the Indian Government and is regulated
by the Foreign Trade Development and Regulation Act, 1992.
● Key features are:
1) Five existing schemes to promote merchandize exports have been merged into a single
Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).
2) Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) will be only for India based service providers and will
be based on net foreign exchange earned.
3) Paperless Trade and Online filling of forms will ensure trade facilitation and ease of doing
business.
4) E-commerce export is applicable to items of worth upto 25,000.
5) Provision for Export oriented units, Export hardware technology park and software technology
park.
6) The Duty free scrips (form of credit) are provided to the exporters under various export
promotion schemes of the government. The scrips may be transferable or nontransferable.
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How Interest Rate is determined?
SBI had announced that it will be linking its savings deposits rates and short-term loans to the RBI's
repo rate from May 1 with an aim to ensure faster monetary transmission.
Financial institutions decide on the interest rates for a loan through different parameters, and the
bank can’t lend below that interest rate. Methods are:
Base Interest Rate
● It is a minimum interest rate set and published by commercial banks for accumulating interest
on different credit types, this rate is based on non-treasury securities.
Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR)
● The MCLR system was introduced by the Reserve Bank to provide loans on minimal rates as
well as market rate fluctuation benefit to customers.
● This system has modified the base rate system of providing home loans.
● In this system, banks have to set various benchmark rates for specific time periods starting
from overnight to one month, quarterly, semi-annually and annually.
External Bench Mark Rate
● The RBI proposed to the use of external benchmark rates such as Treasury bill rate, certificate
of deposit rate and repo rate with an objective to make transmission faster.
● The new system of the external benchmark is expected to bring in more transparency in fixing
interest rates, and faster transmission of rates.
Repo rate:
● Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to its clients generally against government securities.
● Reduction in repo rate helps the commercial banks to get money at a cheaper rate and
increase in repo rate discourages the commercial banks to get money as the rate increases and
becomes expensive.
● The increase in the repo rate will increase the cost of borrowing and lending of the banks
which will discourage the public to borrow money and will encourage them to deposit.
Reverse repo rate:
● Reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from the commercial banks.
● As the rates are high the availability of credit and demand decreases resulting to a decrease in
inflation.
● This increase in repo rate and reverse repo rate is a symbol of tightening of the policy.
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RBI Raises Cap on Home Loan under PSL
RBI has raised eligibility cap on home loans for regional rural banks (RRB) and small finance banks
(SFBL) to ₹35 lakh in metropolitan areas and ₹25 lakh in other centres. All such loans will be now
classified by these banks as priority sector loans.
About Priority Sector Lending:
● It means those sectors which the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India consider as
important for the development of the basic needs of the country and are to be given priority
over other sectors.
● The banks are mandated to encourage the growth of such sectors with adequate and timely
credit.
RBI guidelines for PSL for scheduled commercial banks:
1) 40% of the total net bank credit should go to priority sector advances.
2) 10% of the priority sector advances or 10% of the total net bank credit, whichever is higher
should go to weaker section.
3) 18% of the total net bank credit should go to agricultural advances. Within the 18 target for
agriculture, a target of 8 per cent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent
Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher is prescribed for Small and
Marginal Farmers, to be achieved in a phased manner.
4) 7.5% of ANBC or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher
should go to Micro enterprises.
Priority Sector includes the following categories:
1) Agriculture
2) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
3) Export Credit
4) Education
5) Housing
6) Social Infrastructure
7) Renewable Energy
8) Others
Generalised System of Preferences
● The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a U.S. trade program designed to promote
economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential duty-free entry for up to
4,800 products from 129 designated beneficiary countries and territories.
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● GSP has been given on non-reciprocal basis yet the US has linked it with market access and
tariff reduction which is against the basic tenets of GSP.
● The objective of GSP was to give development support to poor countries by promoting exports
from them into the developed countries.
● GSP promotes sustainable development in beneficiary countries by helping these countries to
increase and diversify their trade with the United States.
Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
The Central Statistics Office released by Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Highlights:
● India’s industrial output declined by 0.1% in March, hitting a 21-month low, due to contraction
in manufacturing, capital goods and consumer durables.
● The factory output growth was at a three-year low of 3.6%, down from 4.4% in FY18.
● The growth in eight core infrastructure industries hit a five month high of 4.7% in March on the
back of strong output in coal and cement.
About Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
● Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the performance of different
industrial sectors of the Indian economy.
● The IIP is estimated and published on a monthly basis by the Central Statistical Organisation
(CSO) .
● As an all India index, it gives general level of industrial activity in the economy.
● The IIP is used by public agencies including the Government agencies/ departments including
that in the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve
Bank of India etc. for policy purposes.
● The all-India IIP data is used for
estimation of Gross Value Added of
Manufacturing sector on quarterly basis.
● Similarly, the data is also used
extensively by analysts, financial
intermediaries and private companies for
various purposes.
● Following are the three sectors of
the IIP as per the revision based on 2011-12
series.
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1. Mining,
2. Manufacturing and
3. Electricity as in the old series.
Sector Number of item groups Weight (%)
1. Mining 1 14.373
2. Manufacturing 405 77.633
3. Electricity 1 7.994
Total 407 100
Economic Census
The statistics ministry has decided to use mobile phone application for conducting 7th economic
census beginning next month, which will speed up the process of data collection and analysis.
Key Facts:
● The census will provide insights of all economic activities and ownership patterns of businesses
across the country.
● The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) partnered with CSC e-
Governance services India Ltd (CSC SPV) to conduct the census.
● The census
● Introducing geo-tagging which will help to find out the distribution of economic activity in a
certain place.
● Six Economic Censuses (EC) have been conducted till date. The first Economic Census was
undertaken in 1977. The Second EC was carried out in 1980 followed by the Third EC in 1990.
The fourth edition took place in 1998 while the fifth EC was held in 2005.
Doubling India's exports
The high-level panel constituted by Commerce and Industry Ministry has recommended a host of
measures for doubling India's exports of goods and services to over USD 1,000 billion by 2025. The
panel was headed by economist Surjit Bhalla.
The panel recommendations
● It has suggested issuance of 'Elephant Bonds' wherein people declaring undisclosed income will
have to mandatorily invest half of that amount in these securities.
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● Lowering effective corporate tax rate, bringing down cost of capital and simplifying regulatory
and tax framework for foreign investment funds.
● Increasing capital base of EXIM Bank by another Rs 20,000 crore by 2022.
● Seeking inputs from industry and MSMEs before signing free trade agreements (FTAs) and
sensitising them of its benefits.
● State governments need to be closely involved in improving the competitiveness of exports by
providing support measures in a WTO (World Trade Organisation) consistent manner.
● Building a comprehensive export strategy and rationalise tariff structure.
Industry-specific suggestion are:
1) Textiles and garments sector: modification in labour laws (like the Industrial Disputes Act,
1947) to remove the limitation on firm size and allow manufacturing firms to grow.
2) Medical tourism: Setting up of a pan-India tourism board to promote medical value tourism.
Simplification in the medical visa regime.
3) Agriculture exports: abolishing Essential Commodities Act and the APMC (Agricultural Produce
Market Committee) to promote agricultural export.
4) Medical sector: a single ministry for medical devices and separate regulation for this sector.
About Elephant Bonds:
● It is a 25-year sovereign bond in which people declaring undisclosed income will be bound to
invest 50 per cent.
● The fund will be utilised only for infrastructure projects
2. ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
2.1 Environment
World Heritage glaciers
The study, ‘Disappearing World Heritage glaciers as a keystone of nature conservation in a changing
climate’ has been co-authored by scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN).
About the study:
● The authors of the study also developed the first ever inventory of glaciers on the UNESCO
World Heritage list.
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● The sites are home to some of the world’s most iconic glaciers, such as the Grosser
Aletschgletscher in the Swiss Alps, Khumbu Glacier in the Himalayas or Greenland’s Jakobshavn
Isbrae.
● Climate change is the fastest growing threat to natural World Heritage sites..
● Natural World Heritage sites are recognised as the planet’s most important protected areas,
providing life-supporting benefits to millions of people worldwide.
● Loss of glaciers will have major consequences for the availability of water resources, sea level
rise and weather patterns.
About World Heritage List
● The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to
encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage
around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
● This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of
the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
About IUCN:
● IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society
organisations.
● Created in 1948, IUCN has evolved into the world’s largest and most diverse environmental
network.
● It is headquartered in Switzerland.
● The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the
global conservation status of plant and animal species.
● The IUCN World Heritage Outlook provides conservation outlook assessments for all natural
World Heritage sites.
Waste to Wealth Technologies
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and the IIT Delhi have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to
Wealth Technologies for implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutions for
waste management.
Key Facts:
● The waste to wealth mission project has been approved under the recently constituted Prime
Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
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● The partnership will provide an effective platform for stakeholders to bring together integrated
approaches for effective recycle, reuse and resource recovery of waste.
● The immediate objective is to implement technologies that are available with various national
and international academia, industries, research laboratories and other agencies by way of
setting up pilot projects on-site.
● The long-term goal is to create circular economic models for waste management, by leveraging
big data analytics and frontier technologies to streamline waste in India.
● The overall outcomes would involve treating waste and generating different forms of energy,
thereby making India a waste free nation, with zero greenhouse gas emission and no health
hazard.
Environmental impact of Dams
The fasting activists had demanded that all hydroelectric projects along the Alaknanda, Dhauli Ganga,
Mandakini and Pindar rivers (the streams and rivers that lead to the formation of the Ganga in
Uttarakhand) be stopped, besides new legislation protecting the Ganga being enacted.
1. Habitat fragmentation: Unless specifically engineered to allow fish to pass through them,
dams present a barrier to fish that need to migrate to spawn and reproduce downstream and
upstream along a river.
2. Flooding and the destruction of surrounding habitat: Dammed rivers create a reservoir
upstream from the dam, which spills out into the surrounding environments and floods
ecosystems and habitats that once existed there. Such flooding can kill or displace many
different organisms, including plants, wildlife, and humans.
3. Greenhouse gases: The flooding of surrounding habitat around dams kills trees and other plant
life that then decomposes and releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Because
the river is no longer flowing freely, the water becomes stagnant and the bottom of the
reservoir becomes becomes depleted of oxygen. This lack of oxygen creates a situation where
methane (a very potent greenhouse gas) is produced from the decomposition of the plant
materials at the bottom of the reservoir.
4. Sediment builds up behind the dam: Because a dammed river no longer flows freely, the
sediment that would have otherwise been deposited naturally downstream begins to build up
behind the dam, forming new riverbanks, river deltas, alluvial fans, braided rivers, oxbow lakes,
levees and coastal shores.
5. Downstream sediment erosion: Dam leads to an increase in downstream erosion. The lack of
sediment load causes the riverbed to deepen and narrow over time, a compromised water
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table, the homogenization of the river’s flow, reduced wildlife support, and a reduction in
sediment that reaches coasts and deltas.
6. Production of methyl-mercury: The stagnant water in reservoirs creates a situation where the
decomposition of organic matter from decaying plants can transform inorganic mercury into
methy-mercury.
Basel Convention COP
The 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to Basel Convention (COP 14) was held along
with the 9th meeting of the COP to Rotterdam Convention and the 9th meeting of the COP to
Stockholm Convention in Geneva, Switzerland.
Theme: “Clean Planet, Healthy People: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste”.
About Basel Convention:
● The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
their Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989.
● The overarching objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the
environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes.
● Its scope of application covers a wide range of wastes defined as “hazardous wastes” based on
their origin and/or composition and their characteristics, as well as two types of wastes
defined as “other wastes” - household waste and incinerator ash.
Aims and provisions
1) The reduction of hazardous waste generation and the promotion of environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes, wherever the place of disposal;
2) The restriction of trans boundary movements of hazardous wastes
3) A regulatory system applying to cases where trans boundary movements are permissible.
● The Convention also provides for the establishment of regional or sub-regional centres for
training and technology transfers regarding the management of hazardous wastes and other
wastes and the minimization of their generation. Fourteen such centres have been established.
About Rotterdam Convention:
● The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in international trade provide Parties with a first line of defense
against hazardous chemicals.
● It enables countries to decide if they want to import hazardous chemicals and pesticides listed
in the Convention.
About Stockholm Convention:
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The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a global treaty to protect human health
and the environment from highly dangerous, long-lasting chemicals by restricting and ultimately
eliminating their production, use, trade, release and storage.
New UN accord to curb export of plastic waste
Around 180 governments agreed on a new UN accord to regulate the export of plastic waste. The
meeting amended the 1989 Basel Convention on the control of hazardous wastes to include plastic
waste in a legally-binding framework.
Highlights:
● Developed countries like the US and Canada have been exporting their mixed toxic plastic
wastes to developing Asian countries claiming it would be recycled in the receiving country
● Much of this contaminated mixed waste cannot be recycled and is instead dumped or burned,
or finds its way into the ocean.
● The new amendment would empower developing countries to refuse dumping plastic waste.
● Even though the U.S. and a few others have not signed the accord, they cannot ship plastic
waste to countries that are on board with the deal
● It also aims to eliminate two toxic chemical groups — Dicofol and Perfluorooctanoic Acid, plus
related compounds. The latter has been used in a wide variety of industrial and domestic
applications including non-stick cookware and food processing equipment, as well as carpets,
paper and paints.
DNA Database for Indian Rhinos
The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has begun a project to create DNA
profiles of all rhinos in the country.
Highlights:
Key facts:
● The project is a subset of the Centre’s larger, ongoing rhino conservation programme.
● By 2021, the project’s deadline, the Indian rhino could be the first wild animal species in India
to have all its members DNA-sequenced.
● The project will help in curbing poaching and gathering evidence in wildlife crimes involving
rhinos.
● The database will be hosted in the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) headquarters in Dehradun.
About Rhinos:
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● There are three species of rhino in Asia — Greater one-horned, Javan and Sumatran. Javan and
Sumatran Rhino are critically endangered and the Greater one-horned (or Indian) rhino is
vulnerable In IUCN Red List.
● They are spread across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia and Malaysia. These countries are also
known as Asian Rhino Range Countries.
● Only the Great one-horned rhino is found in India.
● At present, there are about 2,600 Indian rhinos in India, with more than 90% of the population
concentrated in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park.
National Rhino Conservation Strategy
● It calls for active engagement between India and Nepal to conserve the Greater one-horned
rhinoceros.
● It asks for the management of the two population under the same protocol, instead of
managing the two population separately.
Indian Rhino Vision 2020:
● Launched in 2005, Indian Rhino Vision 2020 is an ambitious effort to attain a wild population of
at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state
of Assam by the year 2020.
● Seven protected areas are Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang National Park, Manas National Park,
Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary, Burachapori wildlife sanctuary and Dibru Saikhowa wildlife
sanctuary.
● It is a collaborative effort between various organisations.
‘Room for the River’ project
About the project:
● The flagship project of the Dutch government is centered around protecting areas adjoining
rivers from routine flooding and improving water management systems in delta regions.
● The basic premise of the ‘Room for the River’ project is essentially to provide more space for
the water body so that it can manage extraordinary high water levels during floods.
● The project, implemented at over 30 locations across the Netherlands and funded at a cost of
2.3 billion euros, involves tailor-made solutions for each river.
● Among the nine measures which define the project are lowering the flood plain, deepening the
summer bed, strengthening of dykes, relocation of dykes, reducing the height of the groynes,
increasing the depth of the side channels and removing obstacles.
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● A key aspect of the project is also to improve the surroundings of the river banks through
fountains and panoramic decks.
● The landscapes are altered in a way that they turn into natural sponges which can
accommodate excess water during floods.
2.2 Energy
GRIHA rating
Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council recently released a rating tool
‘GRIHA for Existing Day Schools’ to evaluate the environmental performance of existing schools across
India.
Highlights:
● The rating familiarizes the students with the concepts of sustainability by involving them in
evaluating the environmental impact of schools on the environment.
About GRIHA:
● GRIHA, or Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, is the national rating system of
India for any completed building construction.
● GRIHA is recognised as India’s own green building rating system in India’s INDC submitted to
UNFCCC
● It was conceived by TERI and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy.
● The main objective of the rating system is to help design green buildings and, in turn, help
evaluate the 'greenness' of the buildings.
● It is an assessment tool to measure and rate a building’s environmental performance.
● The rating system is based on four parameters:
1) Site selection and planning
2) Conservation and efficient utilization of resources
3) Building operation and maintenance
4) Innovation points
The fusion reactor
Fusion is now attracting science-minded entrepreneurs and investors willing to make a long bet. Since
the 1930s, scientists have been trying to harness fusion.
What is Fusion?
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Fusion is the process which powers the sun and the stars. The energy is produced by fusing together
light atoms, such as hydrogen, at the extremely high pressures and temperatures which exist at the
center of the sun (15 million ºC). At the high temperatures experienced in the sun any gas becomes
plasma, the fourth state of matter (solid, liquid and gas being the other three).
Importance of Fusion energy:
● There is millions of times the energy potential of oil and gas, without the carbon emissions of
fossil fuels.
● It is free of most of the risks of contemporary nuclear plants.
3. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
RISAT-2B satellites
Radar Imaging Satellite 2B is an Indian radar reconnaissance satellite that is part of India's RISAT
programme.
Key Facts:
● It has been developed for military and general surveillance purposes.
● The data will also be used in fields of agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
● RISAT-2B is equipped with synthetic aperture radar that can take pictures of the earth during
day and night, and also under cloudy conditions.
● With this advanced earth observation satellite, ISRO has introduced a complex new technology.
That is a 3.6 meter unfurlable radial rib antenna. This is also going to be the technology of the
future.
Applications:
● Can be used as "spy satellite"
● In India radar imaging are used for crop estimation because our main crop growing season of
kharif is in May-September when it rains and gets cloudy.
● We have used this data extensively for forestry, soil, land use, geology and during floods and
cyclone.
Features of RISAT 2B
● The satellite has a mass of 615 kg and feature an X-band SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar).
● RISAT 2B will be launched into a 37° inclined orbit at 555 km orbital height.
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● RISAT 2B, RISAT 2BR1 and RISAT 2BR2
will be launched in 2019 on Indian PSLV launch
vehicle.
Radars and its functions
What is a radar?
● Radar stands for radio detection and
ranging. A radar typically has a magnetron,
transmitter, receiver, and a screen.
● The magnetron generates radio waves
which are released through an antenna in
different directions at certain time intervals.
● If there is an object in the air, an
aeroplane for instance, the radio waves hit it
and bounce back, to be caught by the receiver
of the radar.
● By mapping the reflected waves on a
screen with a grid map, the aeroplane is
displayed as a blip on the screen and its
movement is shown as the radio waves strike it
at intervals
How does they function?
● By virtue of being radio waves, radars can
see through cloud cover, and during day and
night. In fact, that is what they are meant to do.
● The Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) across the world depend on radars.
● All ATCs have two radars - primary and secondary. The primary is a classic radar based on the
principle described above.
● The secondary radar identifies the details of the aircraft by communicating with the
transponders on the aircraft.
ISRO’s Seven Mega Missions
ISRO has planned seven mega missions, including Chandrayaan-2, to be conducted over a period of 10
years.
Highlights:
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● Xposat will be launched to study cosmic radiation in 2020, Aditya-L1 to the Sun in 2021, Mars
Orbiter Mission-2 in 2022, Venus Mission in 2023, Lunar Polar Exploration or Chandrayaan-3 in
2024 and Exoworlds, an exploration outside the solar system in 2028.
● Aditya-L1 will be placed in a ‘libration orbit’, which is about 1.5 million km from Earth. It is
about 1% of the distance between the Sun and the Earth, where the gravity of the two celestial
objects equalises. Placing it in such an orbit allows the spacecraft to circle along with the earth,
thereby constantly facing the Sun.
● Aditya-L1 will play a key role in understanding and predicting climate change on Earth. The
payloads will study the solar corona. Corona has an influence on the upper atmosphere and
that impacts climate change on earth.
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● Xposat will be a five-year mission, carrying a polarimeter instrument made by Raman Research
Institute to measure cosmic radiation. The spacecraft will be placed in a circular 500-700 km
orbit.
● The four other undefined missions, which are in the planning stage, are Mangalyaan-2, Venus
mission, Lunar Polar Exploration and Exoworlds.
4. KEY GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
Common Service Centre’s (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited, under the Ministry of
Electronics & IT, has tied up with IIT-Kanpur to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’.
About Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
● ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD).
● Its 2.0 version was launched in the year 2018.
● It aims to create a vibrant relationship between the society and the higher educational
institutions, with the latter providing the knowledge and technology support to improve
livelihoods in rural areas and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and private
organizations in the society.
● It covers two major domains for holistic development of villages
a) Human development and
b) Material (economic) development
● Institutes through their faculty and students carry out studies of living conditions in the
adopted villages, assess the local problems and needs and thus accordingly prepare a workable
action plan.
About Common Service Centres (CSCs)
● The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).
● The objective of CSCs is to provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content
and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as
well as other private services.
● A highlight of the CSCs is that it offers web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas,
including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and
water bills.
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