NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
5th Assembly of International Solar Alliance to be held in New Delhi: The curtain
raiser for the 5th Assembly of International Solar Alliance and associated side
activities, which will take place in New Delhi from October 17–20, 2022, was
unveiled by Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh.
According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India currently holds
the position of President of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Assembly. Key
Points:
a)
This
gathering will feature ministers, missions, and delegations from 109 Member and
Signatory Countries. R.K. Singh, Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable
Energy, will preside over the assembly.
b)
Singh
stated in his speech that India is undergoing the world’s fastest energy
transition. The International Solar Alliance is very necessary to achieve the
energy transition objective for our planet. As the cheapest form of energy,
solar and mini-grids, according to the Minister, are the solution to ensuring
that everyone in the globe has access to electricity.
c)
In
addition, the Minister stated in his speech that International Solar Alliance
(ISA) is a crucial tool for fulfilling international commitments on the energy
transition.
d)
Every
Member Country is represented in the 5th Assembly of International Solar
Alliance (ISA), which is the highest decision-making body of the International
Solar Alliance (ISA).
e)
This
group decides how the ISA’s Framework Agreement will be put into practise and
what coordinated efforts will be needed to accomplish the goal. Annually, the
Assembly convenes at the International Solar Alliance (ISA)‘s headquarters at
the ministerial level. It evaluates the overall impact of the programmes and
other actions on the deployment of solar energy, as well as on performance,
dependability, cost, and financial scope.
2.
Agni Tattva campaign first seminar under LiFE mission held in Leh: Agni Tattva
campaign to raise awareness under LiFE – Lifestyle for the Environment is now
being carried out by Power Foundation of India in collaboration with Vijnana
Bharati (VIBHA). The goal of this campaign, which involves educational
institutions, local communities, and pertinent organisations, is to raise
awareness of the central idea of Agni Tattva, one of the five elements of
Panchmahabhoot and a symbol of energy. It will be done by holding conferences, seminars,
events, and exhibitions across the nation. Key Points:
a)
In
Leh, the Agni Tattva campaign‘s inaugural conference, with the topic
“Sustainability and Culture,” was held.
b)
Agni
Tattva campaign first seminar saw participation from influential figures from a
variety of professions, including government, policymakers, academia, and
start-ups, who work in the fields of energy, culture, and sustainability.
c)
Ladakh
has tremendous solar energy potential that needs to be utilised. Ladakh should
work on developing power-generating systems to reach inaccessible locations.
d)
The
goal of Agni Tattva campaign is to reduce reliance on the grid by providing
decentralised renewable solar electricity across Ladakh.
3.
Indian Cricketer Smriti Mandhana unveiled as Gulf Oil India ambassador: Indian cricket star
Smriti Mandhana has signed on as a brand ambassador of lubricant manufacturer
Gulf Oil India. India women’s vice-captain joins current men’s cricket ace
Hardik Pandya and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an ambassador for the
company. Through the partnership, Gulf Oil stated that it aims to ‘celebrate
women power’ and ‘inspire female audience in the country’, while also honouring
the achievements of Indian women cricketers. With this association, Gulf Oil
claims to have become the first company in the lubricant space to appoint a
woman cricketer as ambassador to represent the organisation and its ethos.
4.
ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 spectrometer maps abundance of sodium on moon for first
time:
Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter’s X-ray spectrometer ‘CLASS’ has mapped an abundance of
sodium on the moon for the first time, as per the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO). As Chandrayaan-1’s X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (C1XS)
detected sodium from its characteristic line in X-rays, this opened up the
possibility of mapping the amount of sodium on the Moon. Chandrayaan-2 mapped abundance of sodium:
a)
The
abundance of sodium was mapped in a recent work published in ‘The Astrophysical
Journal Letters’ for the first time using CLASS (Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft
X-ray Spectrometer), the national space agency. Built at the U R Rao Satellite
Centre of ISRO in Bengaluru, CLASS provides clean signatures of the sodium line
thanks to its high sensitivity and performance,”.
b)
A
part of the signal could be arising from a thin veneer of sodium atoms weakly
bound to the lunar grains, the study finds. These sodium atoms can be nudged
out of the surface by solar wind or ultraviolet radiation more easily than if
they were part of the lunar minerals. Also shown is a diurnal variation of the
surface sodium that would explain the continuous supply of atoms to the
exosphere, sustaining it.
c)
An
interesting aspect that widens the interest in this alkali element is its
presence in the wispy atmosphere of the moon, a region so thin that the atoms
there rarely meet. This region, termed an ‘exosphere’, begins at the surface of
the moon and extends several thousand kilometres merging into the
interplanetary space.
d)
The
new findings from Chandrayaan-2, provide an avenue to study surface-exosphere
interaction on the moon, which would aid development of similar models for
mercury and other airless bodies in our solar system and beyond.
Note: ISRO Chairman: S. Somanath; ISRO’s
foundation Date: 15th August, 1969; ISRO’s Founder: Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
India-US Announce Launch of New Energy Storage Task Force: India and US
announced the launch of a new energy task force to support the large-scale
integration of renewable energy needed to support the clean energy transition.
The announcement will strengthen the India-US partnership in the critical
energy sector to new levels. There was also a bilateral meeting between Union
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and US Energy
Secretary Jennifer Granholm, after which the announcement was made. Key
Points:
a)
During
the bilateral meeting, the two leaders underscored the critical importance of
clean energy engagement to strengthen energy security.
b)
The
two leaders underscored the importance of ensuring reliable energy supplies to
ensure balanced energy markets including India’s support for the US initiative
to release crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserves.
c)
Both
leaders emphasized the importance of private sector engagement to facilitate
investment, inform policy, and accelerate technology deployment.
d)
US
and India continued to convene public-private task forces on hydrogen and
biofuels.
e)
They
announced the launch of a New Energy Storage Task Force to support the
large-scale integration of renewable energy needed to support the clean energy
transition.
2.
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction: 13th October: October 13 is
designated as International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction with a focus on
encouraging a global culture of risk awareness and catastrophe preparedness.
The day is an opportunity to acknowledge the progress being made toward
preventing and reducing disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods,
economies and basic infrastructure in line with the international agreement for
reducing global disaster risk and losses.
In 2022, the International Day will focus
on Target G of the Sendai Framework: “Substantially increase the availability
of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk
information and assessments to people by 2030.” The urgency to achieve this
target was strengthened in March 2022 by the announcement made by the UN
Secretary-General António Guterres that “the United Nations will spearhead new
action to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems
within five years.”
International Day for Disaster Risk
Reduction Background:
The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was started in 1989, after a
call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global
culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. Held every 13 October, the
day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their
exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in
the risks that they face.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Harmanpreet Singh and Felice Albers named FIH Player of the Year: India men’s
hockey team defender and vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh has been voted the FIH
Player of the Year for the second year running. The 26-year-old became just the
fourth player to win the Player of the Year award (men’s category) in
consecutive years, joining an elite list that includes Teun De Nooijer
(Netherlands), Jamie Dwyer (Australia) and Arthur van Doren (Belgium). The
India vice-captain has scored an incredible 18 goals from 16 games, with two
hat-tricks, in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021-22.
In women’s category: Felice Albers of
Netherlands was named the FIH Player of the Year. The 22-year-old became the
youngest winner of the FIH Player of the Year award (women’s category) since
Germany’s Natascha Keller (1999) and second youngest ever, since the inception
of the awards in 1998. Albers total points tally stood at 29.1 points, narrowly
edging Maria Granatto (26.9 points), in one of the closest races of the FIH
Hockey Stars Awards 2021-22. Agustina Gorzelany finished in the 3rd place with 16.4
points. She broke into the Dutch national team in 2019, on the back of great
performances at the junior level where she switched between midfield and
attack. Since making her debut for the senior team, she has scored 16 goals in
her 32 international appearances thus far.
2.
Pankaj Advani wins his record 25th World title in Kuala Lumpur: Indian cueist,
Pankaj Advani defended his World Billiards Championships (150-up) title for the
5th time, beating compatriot Sourav Kothari in the best-of-7 frames final at
the High End Snooker Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a record 25th title at
the global level. Pankaj’s last world title came over 12 months ago in Qatar
where he won the IBSF Six-Red Snooker World Cup.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
Govt Pushes IDBI Bank Disinvestment Process: After facing challenges in the plan
to privatise IDBI Bank, the government has asked the Reserve Bank of India to
consider tweaking the promoter criteria that may bring a wider pool of bidders
for public sector banks. There are currently 12 public sector banks.
The bank privatisation has come a cropper because
RBI’s norms are clear that no existing bank can promote a new bank, and the
same promoter cannot promote another bank, a source said. “This has limited the
pool of possible bidders and the government wants RBI to take a relook. The
Budget for 2021-22 (Apr-Mar) had proposed privatising two public sector banks
and one general insurance company. Privatisation of public sector banks will
require legislative amendments. The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, which
was listed for business in the Winter session last year, has not yet been
introduced in Parliament due to protests by bank unions.
2. Mohit Bhatia named CEO of Bank of
India Mutual Funds:
The appointment of Mohit Bhatia as CEO of Bank of India Investment Managers
Private Ltd (Bank of India Mutual Funds) has been made public. In the fields of
sales and distribution, team development, marketing & branding, and the
creation of digital eco-systems, Bhatia has more than 26 years of professional
expertise.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
Financing Platform Launched by IFC in response to Global Food Crisis: Financing Platform
Launched by IFC: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private
sector investment arm of the World Bank, has introduced a new, $6 billion
funding facility to boost the private sector’s capacity to respond to the
Global Food crisis and aid in food production in response to mounting food
insecurity. Rising levels of hunger and malnutrition (Global Food Crisis) have
already been made worse by climate change and increasingly extreme weather
events that are destroying harvests and lowering yields. The conflict in
Ukraine and an unequal worldwide recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic have
exacerbated to this trend. Key Points:
a)
A
significant portion of the funding of Financing Platform Launched by IFC
(International Finance Corporation), which will be offered through the new
Global Food Security Platform, will assist the delivery of food stocks to
nations with food instability and sustainable production of those stocks.
b)
Additionally,
long-term initiatives to strengthen the global food system’s resilience and
reduce its ecological and climatic impact will be the main focus of Financing
Platform Launched by IFC (International Finance Corporation).
c)
This
Financing Platform Launched by IFC (International Finance Corporation) entails
making investments to increase crop production that is more efficient, to
increase access to fertilisers, to make fertiliser production and use more
environmentally friendly, to decrease crop loss and food waste, to boost supply
chain effectiveness, and to alleviate infrastructure bottlenecks.
2.
Former Indian cricket MS Dhoni launches Made-in-India ‘Droni’ camera drone: Former Indian
cricket Mahendra Singh Dhoni has launched the made-in-India camera drone named
‘Droni’ with advanced features manufactured by Garuda Aerospace. Dhoni is the
brand ambassador of Garuda Aerospace, a company which has attempted to offer
drone solutions for agricultural pesticide spraying, solar panel cleaning,
industrial pipeline inspections, mapping, surveying, public announcements, and
delivery services. It has ventured into the consumer drone market with ‘Droni’.
The event in Chennai also witnessed the
launch of a new ‘Kisan Drone’ that is aimed at the agriculture sector,
particularly in spraying applications. This battery-powered drone is capable of
carrying out agricultural pesticide spraying over a land area of 30 acres per
day.
Note: Garuda Aerospace’s founder and CEO:
Agnishwar Jayaprakash.
DEFENCE
1.
Indian Air Force: Weapon systems branch approved for first time: On the occasion
of the 90th anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Centre has approved
the creation of a weapon system branch for IAF officers. This is the first time
since independence that a new operational branch has been created. This will
essentially be for manning of four specialised streams of Surface to Surface
missiles, Surface to Air Missiles, Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Weapon System
Operators in twin and multi-crew aircraft.
The creation of this branch would entail
the unification of all weapon system operators under one entity dedicated to
the operational employment of all ground-based and specialist airborne weapon
systems. Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari announced the
creation of the new weapon systems branch to handle all types of latest weapon
systems in the force which would also result in a saving of Rs 3400 cr. The key
to success in multi-domain operations is to have flexible, robust and redundant
command and control structures which will allow a joint force to dominate
across domains.
2.
China More Self-Reliant in Defence Production, Outranks India by Massive Margin: India stands at
fourth position among 12 countries of the Indo-Pacific in self-reliant defence
production, says a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) that assessed self-reliance in arms production. China
dominated the list leaving others behind by a long margin.
India’s Position: Despite the
long-term efforts, India remains one of the largest importers of major arms
globally. For the period 2016-20, it ranked as the second largest importer, the
study says. “India’s domestic arms companies provide only 16 per cent of its
total procurement. The study says India is highly dependent on imports of
complete foreign major arms, including many produced under licence or as
components for its domestic production. Of Indias total volume of procurement
in 2016-20, 84 per cent was of foreign origin.
China’s Position: According to the
study, China remained the worlds fifth largest arms importer in 2016-20 but the
implementation of the self-reliance and military-civil fusion policies,
combined with Chinas fast-paced economic growth, mean that the Chinese arms
industry increasingly fulfils the requirements of the armed forces, the Peoples
Liberation Army (PLA). “Hence, while the volume of imports was still high in
absolute terms, it accounted for only 8 per cent of total procurement for the
period. This is the lowest share for any of the 12 governments studied in this
report.”
Others Position: After China, Japan
and South Korea, India is ranked fourth. Taiwan, Australia and Singapore rank
fifth, sixth and seventh. Pakistan is ranked eighth, followed by Indonesia
(rank 9), Malaysia (rank 10) and Thailand (rank 11).
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