Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 7th Jan 2022

NEWS

Election Commission on Thursday announced a hike in expenditure limit for candidates to Rs 95 lakh (up from Rs 70 lakh) for Lok Sabha elections, and Rs 40 lakh (up from Rs 28 lakh) for Assembly polls.

DETAILS

• The government’s decision is based on the poll panel’s recommendation.
• EC had formed a committee to study cost factors and other related issues, and subsequently make suitable recommendations
• Committee
  • Invited suggestions from political parties, chief electoral officers and election observers, and found that there has been a substantial increase in the number of electors and Cost Inflation Index since 2014.
  • Factored in the changing modes of campaigning, which is gradually shifting to virtual mode.
• Candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur can now go for increased poll expenditure.

NEWS

PFMS Division of Office of Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under Ministry of Finance organized a workshop on Public Finance Management System (PFMS) to generate awareness among the officials on the functioning and achievements of the system at Jaydev Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

WHAT

• Electronic fund tracking mechanism
• Compiles, collates and makes available in real-time, information regarding all government schemes.
• Significantly provide government real-time information on resource availability and utilisation across schemes.
• Allow government expenditure to adopt a Just-in- Time (JIT) approach, with payments made only when they are needed.

HOW WILL IT BENEFIT GOVERNMENT

• Promoting transparency and bringing about tangible improvements in overall Central Government Financial Management as well as implementation of various Central Government Schemes across the country.
• Help in complete tracking and monitoring flow of funds to implementing agencies and ensuring timely transfer of funds.
• Ascertain actual status of utilization of funds by multiple implementing agencies of central and the state governments.
• Cut need for paper work and in long way help in monitoring and tracking of any unnecessary parking of funds by implementing agencies, thus minimising cases of delay and pending payments to large extent.
• Help to plug leakages in system and help to manage and maintain data that government can use to develop more scientific approach.

NEWS

In a conservation effort to monitor seasonal fluctuations in birds' movements, the ringing of oriental darters has been taken up in the Keoladeo National Park after a gap of 22 years.

 ORIENTAL DARTERS

• Classified as “near-threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Water bird of tropical South Asia
• Taxonomically named as Anhinga melanogaster
• Has a long and slender neck which looks like a snake when it swims and dives into water to catch a fish
• Sharp and long beak is helpful in puncturing the fish which it brings out of water to toss it up in air and swallow it
• Hunts for fish while its body is submerged in the water.
• Availability of fish of the same size for a longer period causes the bird to stay at one lake.
• Found perched on a rock or a tree branch for drying its wettable feathers.

ABOUT KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARK

• Also called as Bharatpur bird sanctuary
• Located in Bharatpur district, the eastern part of Rajasthan.
• Spread over nearly 30 sq.km which comprises many artificial and seasonal lagoons.
• Attracts several migratory birds that make the region their breeding and wintering grounds.
• UNESCO World Heritage and also a Ramsar site.
• The Siberian crane is one of the rare species that was spotted here till about the turn of the century.
• Habitat for nearly 365 species of birds, including raptors and waterfowls.
• Animal such as Jackals, Sambar, Nilgai, wild cats, hyenas, wild boar, porcupine and mongoose can be found in the region.

NEWS

The Sanjay Lake in east Delhi has become polluted over the years and the number of birds sighted there has fallen

ABOUT

• Artificial lake developed by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in Trilokpuri in East Delhi, India
• Spread over an area of approximately 17 hectares (42 acres)
• Developed in the 1970s and opened in 1982
• Attracts some migratory birds and has many indigenous trees
• Bound by Sanjay lake park
• Sanjay Jheel is a huge rainwater fed lake. At times, the water supply was augmented by the back flowing Yamuna.
• During floods, it also received water through Hindon River channel.
• Different types of birds can be seen here till February end every year
• Shovellers, Pintails, common pochard, tufted pochard, common teal, Indian spot-billed duck, yellow headed wagtail and pied wagtail are some of the birds that commonly visit the lake
• The migratory birds mostly come to the eastern part of the lake, as the water is deeper and the area is free from human disturbance

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NEWS

Cabinet approves Intra-State Transmission System – Green Energy Corridor Phase-II

DETAILS

• Facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of about 20 GW of renewable energy (RE) projects
• In seven states -- Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
• Implemented during 2021-22 to 2025-26 fiscal years.
• Help in offsetting the intra-state transmission charges and keep the power costs down. Thus, the government support will ultimately benefit the end users.
• Help in achieving the target of 450 GW installed RE capacity by 2030.
• Contribute to long-term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing the carbon footprint.
• Alternative transmission system for renewable energy (RE) power projects.
• During the first phase of GEC, inter-state transmission projects were constructed by state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and some projects were awarded to private players through competitive bidding.

NEWS

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has called for more effective utilisation of drone applications

WHAT IT SAID

• Urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance, situational analysis, crime control, VVIP security, disaster management, etc.
• Drones offered tremendous benefits to almost every sector of the economy, including but not limited to, national defence, agriculture, law enforcement, and mapping, among others.
• As part of the initiatives to make India a global hub for drones under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and in the backdrop of the Union government rolling out the liberalised Drone Rules 2021, suggested the heads of various Ministries promote effective use of the technology.
• The suggestions include deployment of drones for combat, communication in remote areas, counter-drone solutions, etc., by the Ministry of Defence; and delivery of medicines, collection of samples from remote or epidemic/pandemic-affected areas by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

HYPERSONIC MISSILES

NEWS

North Korea has successfully tested a hypersonic missile in the first major weapons test by the nuclear-armed nation this year.

HYPERSONIC WEAPONS

• Describes any speed faster than five times that of sound i.e. greater than 5 Mach( 1 Mach is speed of sound), which is roughly 760 miles (1,220 kilometers) per hour at sea level.
• Extremely complex technology, which also needs to be able to handle high temperatures, making the hypersonic systems extremely costly.

Different kinds of hypersonic weapons

• Glide vehicles and cruise missiles.
• Hypersonic cruise missiles: These are the ones that use rocket or jet propellant through their flight and are regarded as being just faster versions of existing cruise missiles.
• Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV): These missiles first go up into the atmosphere on a conventional rocket before being launched towards their target.
• Most of the attention is focused on the former, which are launched from a rocket before gliding to their target, because of the challenges of achieving hypersonic propulsion of missiles.
• The missiles have engines called scramjets that use the air’s oxygen and produce thrust during their flight, allowing them to cruise at a steady speed and altitude.

WHAT

• Multilateral treaty aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons including three elements:
  • Non-proliferation
  • Disarmament
  • Peaceful use of nuclear energy
• These elements constitute a “grand bargain” between the five nuclear weapon states and the non-nuclear weapon states.
• Signed in 1968 and entered into force in 1970.
• Presently, it has 190 member states.

IMPLICATIONS

• States without nuclear weapons will not acquire them.
• States with nuclear weapons will pursue disarmament.
• All states can access nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, under safeguards.

KEY PROVISIONS

• Defines nuclear weapon states (NWS) as those that had manufactured and detonated a nuclear explosive device prior to 1 January 1967. All the other states are therefore considered non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS).
• The five nuclear weapon states are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• The Treaty does not affect the right of state parties to develop, produce, and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW

• Hegemonic rise of China has led other countries within its immediate sphere of geographical influence to wonder if they need to develop strategic capabilities to safeguard their sovereignty
• The current situation with regard to Ukraine and Russia is also very tense.
• Australia, through AUKUS, seems to be on a path to acquire nuclear capabilities for its naval fleet, to counter China.
• The P5’s joint statement, ‘Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races’, affirms to non-offensive uses of nuclear weapons and committing to the NPT agreement. The impetus is on the major powers to signal commitment through its actions towards putting an end to the nuclear arms race.

WHAT ARE THE OTHER TREATIES AND AGREEMENTS ON NUCLEAR BANS

Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), which had the Interim Agreement and Protocol on Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons Offensive Arms, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (I and II), the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) among others.

WHAT LIES AHEAD?

• With Australia already on the road to acquire nuclear capabilities, it stands to reason that other nations would work towards developing or acquiring nuclear weapons. This could, in principle, also re-ignite another arms race.
• The P5’s joint statement, ‘Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races’, affirms to non-offensive uses of nuclear weapons and committing to the NPT agreement but the wording of this statement and previous statements on arms reduction could be understood in a different light as well—to use nuclear weapons against conventional weapons if the nation feels its security to be threatened so as to merit the use of nuclear weaponry.
• The impetus is on the major powers to stay on the path which the NPT has paved (even if a winding one) and signal commitment through its actions towards putting an end to the arms race and hopefully complete disarmament.

• The Directorate of Urban Land Transport has opened first Pedal Port at the Dr B R Ambedkar metro station’s exit near Vidhana Soudha. The project was piloted at Church Street when it was made pedestrian-friendly last year. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative where cycle pumps and tools such as tyre levers, Allen keys, screwdrivers, and spanners are available for self-service.Cyclists can fix their cycle tyre punctures, fill air or even tighten seat posts
• Bengaluru will get Rs 6,000 crore over three years under the Chief Minister's Amrit Nagarotthana scheme for infrastructure development. This is the third phase of the scheme
• Hindustan Aeronautics Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), designed and developed by HAL for the stage-2 training of Indian Air Force pilots, has successfully demonstrated its ability to carry out six-turn spins to the right-hand and left-hand sides.
• For providing more facilities for tourists at the Jog Falls, where water from river Sharavati takes a plunge from a height of 810 feet, the State Cabinet on Thursday decided to construct a ropeway, a five-star hotel, coffee bars and other facilities on Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model. In this model, the entire responsibility for the design, construction, finance, and operation of the project for the period of concession lies with the private party.
• Union Minister of State for Science & Technology  inaugurated India’s first open rock museum displaying different types of rocks gathered from different States of ages ranging from 3.3 billion years to around 55 million years on the campus of the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). It is located in Hyderabad
• Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between India and Turkmenistan on Cooperation in the field of Disaster Management
• Cabinet approves Agreement between India and Spain on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters
• Cabinet approves MoU between India and Nepal for construction of bridge over Mahakali River at Dharchula (India) – Dharchula (Nepal)
• Veer Gatha is one such unique project that has been launched to inspire the school children of our country with the stories of war heroes, brave hearts, and it has elicited a tremendous response from all over the country. For the first time as part of Republic Day celebrations, the Ministry of Defence has envisioned that school students may be motivated to do projects/activities based on gallantry award winners. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education, Department of School Education & Literacy & Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) organized the Veer Gatha Project from 21 October to 21 November 2021 all across the country.
• India is among the six Indo-Pacific nations participating in a multi-lateral anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Pacific Ocean named Sea Dragon 22 along with the navies of India, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.