31.12.20 fastag to be mandatory for all vehicles from tomorrow

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Daily News Decode (DND) by UPSC Hacks @249/Year

Daily News Decode

31.12.20

FASTag to be mandatory for all vehicles from tomorrow • FASTag will be mandatory for all

vehicles in the country. It will be useful

for the commuters as they will not need

to stop at toll plazas for cash payments.

• It will also save time and fuel.

• The Road Transport and Highways

Ministry had issued a notification last

month making FASTag mandatory by

1st of January 2021 in old vehicles also

sold before 1st December, 2017

• The Ministry said, the steps for ensuring the availability of FASTag at multiple

channels are being made through physical locations and also through online

mechanism so that the citizens are able to have them affixed at their vehicles within

the next two months at their convenience.

• FASTag is easily available at over 30 thousand points of sale across the country and

mandatorily available at NHAI toll plazas. It is also available online through Amazon,

Flip Kart and Snapdeal.

• FASTag uses Radio-frequency Identification technology that provides users a

smooth and effortless cross-over at Toll plazas without waiting.

• The payment is made digitally through the FASTag linked to the bank wallet.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

• Commission for Air Quality Management for

Delhi-NCR has warned that commercial

vehicles without RFID tags or inadequate

balance in the tags, will not be allowed entry

from January 1.

• RFID is a technology behind Fastag which uses radio frequency waves to track the

items and transfer the data without being in contact by reading and capturing the

information stored on a tag which is attached to the object.

• It also uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to

objects.

• An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder; a radio receiver and

transmitter.

• A radio-frequency identification system uses tags, or labels attached to the objects to

be identified.

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• Two-way radio transmitter-receivers called interrogators or readers send a signal to

the tag and read its response

RFID systems can be classified by the type of tag and reader.

• A Passive Reader Active Tag (PRAT) system has a passive reader which only

receives radio signals from active tags (battery operated, transmit only).

• The reception range of a PRAT system reader can be adjusted from 1–2,000 feet

(0–600 m), allowing flexibility in applications such as asset protection and

supervision.

• An Active Reader Passive Tag (ARPT) system has an active reader, which transmits

interrogator signals and also receives authentication replies from passive tags.

Usage of RFID

• In India, RFID technology is used in Fastags

• An RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its

progress through the assembly line

• RFID-tagged pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses; and implanting

RFID microchips in livestock and pets enables positive identification of animals.

India's first hot air balloon safari • India's first hot air balloon safari in a tiger

reserve was launched on December 25, 2020

in Madhya Pradesh's world famous

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

• The hot air balloon wildlife safari will be

restricted to the buffer area, from where the

tourists will be able to watch leopards, tigers,

Indian sloth bear and other wild animals.

• The service will be operated by a Jaipur-based company Sky Waltz.

• The hot air balloon safari is the first in any tiger reserve in the country.

• The addition of the activity at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve has added one more

adventure for tourists coming to the place.

• The hot air balloon safari will give the tourists an aerial view of all the animals hosted

by the tiger reserve.

• Madhya Pradesh was declared the Tiger State in 2019. As per the July 2019 Tiger

census report, the tiger count in the state had risen from 308 in 2014 to 526 in 2018

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DRDO develops Quantum Random Number Generator

(QRNG)

• Recently, the DRDO Young Scientist

Laboratory for Quantum Technologies

(DYSL-QT), a DRDO facility based in

Mumbai, has developed a QRNG

• The Quantum Random Number Generator

(QRNG) developed by the Defence

Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO) facility has the ability to detect

random quantum events and convert those

into a stream of binary digits.

• The facility has developed a fiber-optic branch path based QRNG

• This branch path based QRNG depends on the principle that if a single photon falls

on a balanced beam splitter, it will take either of the beam-splitter output paths

randomly.

• As the path chosen by the photon is random, the randomness is translated to a

sequence of binary digits, also called bits.

• The generation of perfect randomness is generally considered impossible with

classical methodologies.

• Quantum mechanics has the inherent potential of providing true random numbers

and thus has become the preferred option for scientific applications requiring

randomness.

• As per the Defence Ministry, The QRNG system developed by the laboratory

(DYSL-QT) has passed the global randomness testing standards of NIST and Die-

harder Statistical Test Suites at the speed of around 150 kbps after post-processing.

• The generated random numbers are also evaluated and verified using DRDO’s

indigenously developed Randomness Testing Statistical Test Suite of SAG.

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) • Recently, the Union Health Minister Harsh

Vardhan has been nominated by the

Global Alliance for Vaccines and

Immunisation (GAVI) as a member of the

GAVI Board

• According to the Ministry, Dr. Vardhan will

be representing the South East Area

Regional Office (SEARO)/ Western Pacific

Regional Office (WPRO) constituency on

the GAVI Board.

• The seat is currently held by Myint Htwe of

Myanmar.

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• Dr. Vardhan will be representing India from January 1, 2021 till December 31, 2023.

• The Board is responsible for strategic direction and policymaking, oversees the

operations of the Vaccine Alliance and monitors programme implementation.

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI)

• Started in 2000, the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and

Immunisation) is a global health partnership of public and private sector

organizations dedicated to “immunisation for all”.

• It is based in Geneva, Switzerland

• It provides a unique opportunity for a wide-range of partners to build consensus

around policies, strategies, and priorities and to recommend responsibility of

implementation to the partner with the most experience and insight in the area.

• GAVI has developed innovative approaches to international health and development.

• GAVI has observer status at the World Health Assembly

Govt. nod for missions in Estonia, Paraguay and Dominican

Republic • “The opening of the missions will help expand

India’s diplomatic footprint, deepen political

relations, enable growth of bilateral trade,

investment and economic engagements,

facilitate stronger people-to-people contacts,

bolster political outreach in multilateral fora

and help garner support for the foreign policy

objectives

• The move would also help the diaspora

members residing in these countries.

New dock at Paradip Port • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

(CCEA) on Wednesday approved a ₹3,004.63-

crore project to enhance the facilities at

Paradip Port, including the development of a

Western dock to accommodate the larger

cape size vessels, a government

statement said.

• The project would be on the build, operate and transfer model under the public-

private partnership mode. The project would cater to imports of coal and limestone.

• Paradip Port is a natural, deep-water port on the East coast of India in Jagatsinghpur

district of Odisha. It is situated at confluence of the Mahanadi river and the Bay of

Bengal. It is situated 210 nautical miles south of Kolkata and 260 nautical miles north

of Visakhapatnam.

• The port is administered by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), an autonomous

corporation wholly owned by the Government of India

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Akash missile export • As part of efforts to boost defence exports

approved the export of the indigenously

developed and manufactured Akash short-

range Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system.

• It also approved the high-level committee

formed to expedite clearance of such exports.

• This decision by the Cabinet would help the

country to improve its defence products and

make them globally competitive.”

• After its induction in the Services, interest was shown in the Akash missile by many

friendly countries during international exhibitions/Def Expo/Aero India

China set to launch third aircraft carrier in 2021 • The launching of China’s third and largest

aircraft carrier is likely to take place next year,

State media in China reported on Wednesday,

with a renewed push to take forward military

modernisation plans amid a number of territorial

and maritime disputes.

• Two larger aircraft carriers are being built at the Jiangnan Shipyard near Shanghai,

the first of which is likely to be launched in 2021, the Global Times reported on

Wednesday.

• This means it could be commissioned into service and be combat ready by 2023.

• This will be China’s first that has an integrated electric propulsion system, an

upgrade from its Soviet-modelled carriers, as well as an electromagnetic launch

system for aircraft.

Argentina legalises abortion

• ARGENTINA on Wednesday became the

largest nation in Latin America to legalise

abortion, a landmark vote in a conservative

region and a victory for a grassroots movement

that turned years of rallies in to political power

• The effects of the legalisation vote are likely to ripple across Latin America,

galvanising reproductive-rights advocates elsewhere in the region and leaving them

hopeful that other socially conservative nations could follow suit.

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• Uruguay, Cuba and Guyana are the only other countries in Latin America to allow

abortion on request. Argentina, like a number of other countries in the region, had

previously permitted abortion incases of rape or if the pregnancy posed a risk to a

woman’s health; other Latin American countries have stricter limits or total

prohibitions.

President calls for more inclusive 'digital revolution’ • THE GOVERNMENT’S Digital India initiative should

continue to strive to reduce the digital divide in the

country and this access could be done through

effective innovation

• “A large segment of our population is still not able

derive the benefits of digital devices and services.

• The number of such people needs to minimised. This will make our digital revolution

more inclusive,” he said, speaking at the DigitalIndiaAwardsfor2020.

• Laying emphasis on the sharing of information and data, he said the National Data

Sharing and Accessibility policy too envisages a similar participatory model, under

which non-strategic information could be accessed by anyone for research and

innovation

Who is the Chinese billionaire who beat Ambani as Asia's

richest person? • Zhong Shanshan, who became Asia's

richest person overtaking Mukesh

Ambani, founded China's largest bottled

water company Nongfu Spring and also

controls vaccine maker Beijing Wantai

Biological.

• He gained $70.9 billion this year after taking both the companies public. Nicknamed

the 'Lone Wolf', the 66-year-old worked as a construction worker and newspaper

reporter before starting his own business.

NASA takes pic of 'Wolf Moon'; shares the story behind the

name • NASA shared a picture of 'Wolf Moon',

the 13th and final full Moon of 2020

that will be visible for about three days.

NASA said the Algonquin tribes of

what is now the northern and eastern

US named it 'Wolf Moon' as packs of

wolves howled hungrily outside

villages in winter. Another name for it

is 'Ice Moon', NASA said.

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Separating the wheat from the agri-policy chaff (Written by Biswajit Dhar)

• Erosion of farm incomes was triggered by growing

inefficiencies, which, in turn, was caused by a lack

of meaningful investment in agriculture.

• The share of this sector in the total investment

undertaken in the country consistently fell from

about 18% in the 1950s to just above 11% in the

1980s.

• Every government in post-independent India systematically ignored the need to step

up investment in agriculture, which would not only have ensured more efficient use

of farm resources

• If one ranks countries in terms of their yields in wheat and rice — India’s two major

crops — the country’s ranks were 45 and 59, respectively, in 2019.

• The existing marketing system dominated by the Agricultural Produce Market

Committees has long been proved to be against the interests of the small farmers

• The magnitude of this failure can be better understood if one considers the fact that

the United States, with less than 2% of its workforce engaged in agriculture, has

been enacting farm legislations every four years

• Instead of engaging with the farming communities for putting in place a

comprehensive set of policies (which also provides for the setting up of farmer-

friendly institutions in order to improve the economic viability of the sector),

successive governments have chosen to dole out subsidies in order to ensure

domestic food security and protecting rural livelihoods.

• Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are expected to notify their

agricultural subsidies as a part of their commitment under the Agreement on

Agriculture (AoA); the subsidy notifications provide a good basis to understand

where India stands vis-à-vis other countries in this regard.

• India has notified that 99.43% of its farmers are low income or resource poor.

• According to the agricultural census conducted in 2015-16, these are the farmers

whose holdings are 10 hectares or less.

• When subsidies have virtually been made the survival kit for Indian farmers, there is

possibly a need to understand the magnitude of the government dole out, also by

comparing it with those granted by other countries.

• Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are expected to notify their

agricultural subsidies as a part of their commitment under the Agreement on

Agriculture (AoA); the subsidy notifications provide a good basis to understand

where India stands vis-à-vis other countries in this regard.

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A virus that changes stripes

• On December 29, six samples of passengers who

had returned from the U.K. to India had been found

to contain the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

(VOC 201212/01).

• At the moment, the variant does not seem to pose a

huge risk to India — given its propensity to spread

faster, the variant should have already caused a

spike in cases in some cities

• Since the preliminary study indicates that the variant is unlikely to cause increased

risk of reinfection, the new variant might not spread wildly here due to difficulty in

finding dense pockets of susceptible people.

• This is because 40%-50% of urban India, particularly in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities, and

about 30% of people across India would have already been infected.

• The emergence of the new variant brings to the fore the importance of undertaking

more genome sequencing of the virus.

• Though the total number of recorded cases stands at over 10.2 million, India has so

far sequenced only around 6,300 genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

• A few days ago, the National Task Force on COVID-19 belatedly recommended the

setting up of a Genomic Surveillance Consortium (INSACOG) to map the various

strains circulating in India.

• The new variant shows the importance of genome sequencing and the need to link

genome data with epidemiological and clinical information in order to make a

difference in controlling the disease

• The N440K variant was found in a healthcare worker who was found to have been

reinfected.

• The N501Y mutation in the new variant first identified in the U.K. is believed to make

the variant more transmissible.

• The N501Y mutation has independently arisen in South Africa too.

31.12.20 fastag to be mandatory for all vehicles from tomorrow

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