tps 18 daily current affairs - neo ias · sustainable sugarcane initiative is an innovative method...

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27th December, 2017 ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Science and Technology........................................................................................................................................................ 1

Climate Resilient Agriculture Technologies .......................................................................................... 1

System of Rice Intensification .......................................................................................................... 1

Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) ............................................................................................... 2

Culture ................................................................................................................................................... 2

Logo for City – Bengaluru ................................................................................................................... 2

Paradesi Synagogue .............................................................................................................................. 3

Shravanabelagola ................................................................................................................................. 3

Economy ................................................................................................................................................ 3

Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) .................................. 3

Gold Reference Standard (BND- 4201) ................................................................................................. 4

Personal Rapid Transit PRT ................................................................................................................ 4

World Inequality Report ..................................................................................................................... 5

Jal Marg Vikas Project ......................................................................................................................... 6

Polity ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

Bar Council of India ............................................................................................................................ 6

Environment .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority .............................................. 6

World Affairs ......................................................................................................................................... 7

CPEC .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Science and Technology

Climate Resilient Agriculture Technologies Why in news?

The Government of India, the Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank signed a $318 million loan

agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient

agriculture technologies. Two important such conservation technologies used in the program are System of

Rice Intensification (SRI) and Sustainable Sugar Initiative (SSI).

System of Rice Intensification

What is it? The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method aimed at increasing the productivity of

irrigated rice by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients.

SRI in India: SRI is being adopted in many states in India with good result

Features

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TPS 18 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS Date: 27-12-2017


A set of Methods: SRI involves a set of components.

4 main components: soil fertility management, planting method, weed control and water (irrigation)

management.

In Detail:

o Under SRI, farmers transplant young, single seedlings, spacing them widely in a grid pattern, while

keeping soil moist and fertile, but not flooded.

o Soil aeration is ensured by regular weeding both manually and by specially designed Cono Weeders.

o Compost and other sources of organic nutrients are preferred over fertilizers to enrich soil biota.

Variety of Ways: SRI might vary across different agroecological and cropping system conditions.

Constrain: SRI is generally considered to be labour-intensive, one of the constraints to its rapid adoption.

Not just Rice: SRI methods have also been used in crops like wheat, sugarcane, millets, potato and rapeseed

mustard, with similar benefits as for rice. These are referred to as the System of Crop Intensification (SCI).

Outcome: SRI has shown an ability to raise rice yields to about eight tonnes per hectare (the current national

average is 2.1 tons) without requiring new varieties, and with significantly reduced fertilizers and

agrochemicals, while using only about half the water in businessasusual irrigated rice.

Read more here.

Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI)

What is it? Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative is an innovative method of sugarcane production using less

seeds, less water and optimum utilization of fertilizers and land to achieve more yields.

Inspiration: SSI is inspired from the successful approach of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) paddy

cultivation.

The International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid Tropics (ICRISAT) and World Wide Fund for

Nature (WWF) actively promote the initiative.

Advantages

o Better aeration and more penetration of sunlight favours higher sugar content.

o It also reduces crop duration and provides a longer period of the cane crushing season to the sugar

industry.

o This farmbased approach (as opposed to cropbased) also gives farmers options to grow intercrops,

such as pulses to improve their income.

o It reduces the overall pressure on water resources and contributes to recovery of ecosystems.

Read the introduction chapter of ICRISAT and WWF manual on SSI for more details

Culture

Logo for City – Bengaluru

Why in news?

Bengaluru becomes the only city in the country to boast of a logo of its own.

Learn more about it

Benefit: The logo can now be used widely cityspecific memorabilia and

be helpful in tourism promotions.

They too have logos: With this initiative of the Karnataka government,

Bengaluru joins New York City, Melbourne, Singapore, and other global cities to have its own tourism logo.


Paradesi Synagogue

Why in news?

One of Kochi’s oldest monuments, the Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568, came alive after lying more or less

dormant for nearly four decades. (Synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. | Paradesi means foreigner in

Malayalam).

Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi

Other centres as well: Throughout India, there are thirty five

existing or former Jewish houses of prayer, built by distinct

communities of Jews, dating from the sixteenth to the

twentieth century.

Significance: Paradesi Synagogue is said to be oldest active

synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations. It is the only

one of the seven synagogues in the Kochi area that is still in

use.

Jews in Kerala: The synagogue is built by the Kerala Jewish community, who are believed to have first settled

in and around the ancient port town of Cranganore near the Arabian Sea. Jews abandon previously built

synagogues and immigrated to their homeland.

Shravanabelagola

Why in news?

Karnataka government is offering shelter for devotees visiting Shravanabelagola, a major pilgrimage centre,

during the anointment of Gomateshwara statue atop Vindhyagiri – Mahamastakabhisheka.

Watch NEO IAS Video on Shravanabelagola.

Economy

Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB)

Why in news?

Canara Bank said it would raise up to Rs. 3,500 crore capital through the qualified institutional placement (QIP)

route.

What is it?

A designation of a securities issue given by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that allows an

Indianlisted company to raise capital from its domestic markets without the need to submit any preissue

filings to market regulators.

It enable the listed companies to raise finance through the issue of securities to qualified institutional buyers

(QIBs).

Rationale: Earlier, since raising finance in the domestic market involved a lot of complications, Indian

companies used to raise funds from the overseas markets. So to prevent this, SEBI introduced this process so

as to make the raising of funds easier in the domestic market.


Who is a Qualified Institutional Buyer?

A Qualified Institutional Buyer (or QIB) is a purchaser of securities that is deemed financially sophisticated

and is legally recognized by security market regulators.

Typically, the qualifications for this designation are based on an investor’s total assets as well as specific legal

conditions.

A QIB must be an institution, either domestic or foreign; individuals, regardless of their wealth level of

financial sophistication, are not permitted to be QIBs.

A QIB owns and invests a minimum of $100 million in securities on a discretionary basis; the brokerdealer

threshold is $10 million.

As per SEBI, following institutions can be classified as QIB

o Public financial institution as defined in section 4A of the Companies Act, 1956;

o Scheduled commercial banks;

o Mutual funds;

o Foreign institutional investor registered with SEBI;

o Multilateral and bilateral development financial institutions;

o Venture capital funds registered with SEBI.

o Foreign Venture capital investors registered with SEBI.

o State Industrial Development Corporations.

o Insurance Companies registered with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

o Provident Funds with minimum corpus of Rs.25 crores

o Pension Funds with minimum corpus of Rs. 25 crores

o National Investment Fund

(Take a glance over QIB – most of the financial institutions can become a QIB)

Gold Reference Standard (BND- 4201)

Why in news?

India’s first home-grown high purity gold reference standard the Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND4201) was

launched.

More on BND – 4201

The Standard: It is the reference material for gold of ‘9999’ fineness (gold that is 99.99 per cent pure).

Benefit: will be beneficial to the consumers and public at large to ensure purity of gold.

Usage: Gold reference standard is indispensable in gold and jewellery hall marking. This will also be useful for

Collection and Purity Testing Centres to certify the purity of gold deposits under the gold monetisation

scheme.

Institutions behind: IGM, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre National Centre for Compositional

Characterisation of Materials (Hyderabad), and CSIRNational Physical Laboratory (New Delhi).

Personal Rapid Transit PRT

Why in news?

A highlevel panel recommended inviting fresh bids for pod taxi conforming to the strictest safety standards on

the lines of those prescribed by an American body. Pod taxi is also known as Personal Rapid Transit.

What is it?


Personal Rapid Transit is a public transport mode that offers personal, ondemand origintodestination

travel on a network of dedicated guide ways.

The system features small automated vehicles — cable cars or pod cars — equipped to carry a small group of

passengers.

AGT: PRT is a type of Automated Guideway Transit (AGT)

What is AGT? :

Automated guideway transit (AGT) is a fully automated, driverless, gradeseparated transit system in which

vehicles are automatically guided along a "guideway". The guideway normally provides both physical

support, like a road, as well as the guidance.

Features:

Vehicle movements may be coordinated, unlike the autonomous human control of cars and bikes.

Small vehicle size allows infrastructure to be smaller than other transit modes.

Automated vehicles can travel close together.

There are only very few PRTs in operation.

World Inequality Report Why in news?

Recently of the World Inequality Report 2018 has brought into focus rising inequality existing with economic

progress in India. It is reported that the top 1% of income earners received 6% of the total income in the early

1980s and now they receive 22%.

More about the report

World Inequality Report is a report by the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics.

It is the first report published and it will be published biannually.

It provides estimates of global income and wealth inequality based on the most recent findings complied by

the World Wealth and Income Database (WID).

What is World Inequality Lab?

The World Inequality Lab is a group of researchers based at the Paris School of Economics who aims to

promote research on global inequality dynamics. Its core mission is to maintain and expand the World

Wealth and Income Database.

Some crucial findings:


The combination of large privatizations and increasing income inequality within countries has fueled the rise

of wealth inequality among individuals.

In Russia and the United States, the rise in wealth inequality has been extreme, whereas in Europe it has

been more moderate.

Jal Marg Vikas Project

Why in news?

Projects worth Rs. 1,353 crore have been awarded under the Jal Marg Vikas project. Termed as subprojects,

these touch three States, and are scheduled to be ready between May 2018 and December 2019.

More about JMVP

Jal Marg Vikas project (JMVP) is a National Waterways development project announced during the budget

201516.

The Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on NW1 is now being implemented between Varanasi and Haldia (Phase-I)

with the financial and technical support of the World Bank.

It seeks to facilitate plying of vessels with capacity of 15002000 tons in the HaldiaVaranasi stretch of the

River Ganga.

The project also involves development of fairway, strengthening of river navigation system, conservancy

works and modern river information system, Digital Global Positioning System, night navigation facilities,

creation of a new state of art navigational Lock at Farraka and Multimodal terminals at Sahibganj, Haldia

and Varanasi.

Polity

Bar Council of India Why in news?

An expert committee of the Bar Council of India is considering a plea to ban lawmakers — Members of

Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assemblies — from doubling up as practising advocates.

More about BCI

The Bar Council of India (BCI) is a statutory body created by Parliament to regulate and represent the

Indian bar (It was established under the Advocates Act, 1961).

Functions:

Regulatory Functions: prescribe standards of professional conduct and etiquette and by exercising

disciplinary jurisdiction over the bar.

Legal Education: sets standards for legal education and grants recognition to Universities whose degree in

law will serve as qualification for enrolment as an advocate.

Representative Function: protecting the rights, privileges and interests of advocates and through the

creation of funds for providing financial assistance to organise welfare schemes for them.

Environment

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority Why in news


According to a written reply given in the Lok Sabha, even after a year the Union government brought in CAMPA

law to allow the States to access nearly Rs. 40,000 crore for regenerating forest land lost to industry, it is still to

frame rules to get the money disbursed.

CAMPA Law

What is it? Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) are meant to

promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non

forest uses.

How can forest be diverted to non-forest use?

To divert forest land, prior permission is required under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

To mitigate impact of diversion of forest land Central Government stipulates conditions that certain amounts

shall be realised from the user agencies to undertake compensatory afforestation and such other activities

related to conservation and development of forests.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2015

In order to manage the funds taken from the user agencies (accumulated over Rs. 40000 Crore), a Fund and

Authority have been set up through Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2015.

o Authority: The Act provided for constitution of an authority at national level and at each of the State and

Union territory Administration for administration of the funds.

o Fund: funds under the public accounts of India and the public accounts of each State.

Utilization: Fund can be utilized for the purpose of undertaking artificial regeneration (plantations),

assisted natural regeneration, protection of forests, forest related infrastructure development, Green India

Programme, wildlife protection and other related activities and other related matters.

Participation of States: The states would deposit money collected from user agencies with the national CAF,

to be eventually credited into state CAFs as per their entitlement. The states would, however, receive only

90% of their share; the other 10% would be held back to cover administrative expenses.

Read more on CAMPA here:

World Affairs

CPEC Why in news?

China has signalled the possible inclusion of Afghanistan in the

ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

More about CPEC

It refers to a group of major infrastructure works currently under

way in Pakistan, intended to link Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang

province to Gwadar deep sea port close to Pakistan’s border with

Iran.

It is a 15-year project between Pakistan and China and it pass

through contentious Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Several other road, rail and power projects are associated with

the corridor, and the project seeks to expand and upgrade

infrastructure across the length and breadth of Pakistan, and to

widen and deepen economic ties with China.


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tps 18 daily current affairs - neo ias · sustainable sugarcane initiative is an innovative method...

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