WHY IN THE NEWS?

During the first leader-level meeting on energy, under the UN General Assembly, India has made commitments to increase the renewable energy installed capacity to 450 GW by 2030.

About:
India has also committed to develop and implement a National Hydrogen Energy Mission in order to boost the annual green hydrogen production to 1 MT by 2030.

• It also announced to start a Production Linked Incentive Scheme which will help in adding 10 GW solar PV manufacturing capacity by 2025.
• India’s commitments were part of new multi-billion-dollar commitments that countries made in order to increase renewables and access to electricity & clean cooking technologies at the critical summit.
• The summit was aimed at boosting efforts towards reducing the ranks of about 800 million people living in energy poverty. It also seeks to set the world on a trajectory towards net-zero emissions by 2050.

Production Capacity of Compressed Biogas

India also announced to establish a 15 MMT production capacity of compressed biogas by 2024 and achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the year 2025-26. It seeks to enhance energy efficiency in agriculture, industry, buildings and transport sectors besides promoting energy-efficient appliances & equipment in a bid to reduce India’s emissions intensity of GDP by 33-35 per cent by 2030.

Commitments by other countries

About 35 countries including Small Island, Developing States and major emerging & industrialized economies have made new energy commitments in the form of Energy Compacts. They also announced partnership initiatives with the aim of providing and improving access to reliable electricity.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The central bank of China has declared all Cryptocurrency transactions illegal.

About:
The global values of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have massively fluctuated in during 2020-2021 partly due to Chinese regulations that sought to prevent speculation and money laundering.

• According to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities.
• Offenders will be “investigated for criminal liability” in accordance with the law.
• Chinese notice has banned all the related financial activities involving cryptocurrencies like transactions involving virtual currency derivatives, selling tokens, trading crypto, and illegal fundraising.

Why ban was put?

According to People’s Bank of China, trading of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies had become widespread and are disrupting economic & financial order. It also gave rise to money laundering, fraud, illegal fund-raising, pyramid schemes and other illegal & criminal activities. These disruptions were seriously endangering the safety of the assets of the people. Considering these facts, China has declared all Cryptocurrency transactions illegal.

Significance of the ban for China

Crypto crackdown has opened up gates for China to introduce its own digital currency. China’s own digital currency is already in the pipeline. It will allow the central government of China to monitor transactions.

Background

Crypto creation and trading have already been illegal in China since 2019.

About Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a binary data that have been designed to work as a medium of exchange. Here, individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger which is existing in the form of a computerized database. Strong cryptography are used to secure transaction records, control the creation of additional coins as well to verify the transfer of coin ownership

WHY IN THE NEWS?

As per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) study, India is all set and is on the right track to becoming industrial trans-fat-free by 2022.

About:

• In India, only 1.34 percent of the newly tested processed food samples show more than the permissible levels of ingredients.
• FSSAI cited pan-India survey results and dismiss the perception of excessive use of industrial trans fats in processed food products.
• India has mandated to reduce the limit of industrially produced trans fats to 2 per cent in order make India free from the industrially produced trans fats by 2022, one year ahead of the WHO guidelines.

About the survey of FSSAI

To test compliance by the industry, the FSSAI collected 6,245 samples of processed foods, in association with the Quality Council of India. Samples were collected from six predefined categories in 419 cities. As per survey,

• 34% of 6,000 processed food samples were high in fats
• 3% of packaged food item samples comprises of over 2% trans fat

WHO guidelines on Trans Fat

According to WHO, Increased intake of trans fat that is, more than 1% of total energy intake, increases the risk of coronary heart disease mortality.

Casualties due to trans fat

Trans fat intake is associated with 5,00,000 premature deaths worldwide, due to coronary heart disease each year.

About Trans fat

Tran’s fat is considered as the worst type of fat. Unlike other dietary fats, trans fat or trans-fatty acids increases bad cholesterol and lowers the good cholesterol. A diet comprising of trans fat increases the risk of heart disease.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Leh is all set to host the first edition of the Himalayan Film Festival, which is starting on September 24, 2021.

About:
The film festival will be inaugurated by Information and Broadcasting Minister, Anurag Thakur, on September 24.

• The Himalayan Film festival will run for five days from September 24 to 28.
• Ladakh is hosting the film festival as part of the celebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence.
• The 5-day festival will comprise of several segments to capture audience and film buffs alike.
• Aim of the festival

The five-day festival is being organised with the aim of creating an interactive and exposure platform in order to promote aspiring local filmmakers as well as to showcase Ladakh as an attractive film destination.

Who is organising the festival?

This festival is being organised by Leh in association with the Directorate of Film Festivals under Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Where it will be held?

The film festival will be held at the Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra in Leh.

Himalayan region of India

Himalayan region of India attracts filmmakers from worldwide due to its unique scenic endowment. Unique geography of this region is documented along with its indigenous people, occupations and traditional skills. Film festival thus presents an opportunity for local filmmakers in order to narrate their stories to a wider audience. Himalayan Film festival will also envision institutionalising of a Himalayan film fraternity, which will be having productive repercussions for filmmaking in the Himalayan region of India.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named a Lunar crater at the south pole of the moon after the Arctic explorer Matthew Henson.

About:

• Matthew Henson was a Black man who was one of the first people who stand at the very top of the world, in 1909.
• Proposal to name the crater after Henson was put forward by Jordan Bretzfelder who is an Exploration Science summer intern with Lunar & Planetary Institute, in Houston.

Artemis Programme

Artemis Programme was launched by NASA which aims to land the next slate of lunar explorers on the Henson Crater. They will be selected from NASA’s increasingly diverse astronaut pool. Henson Crater is located between Sverdrup and de Gerlache craters at the south pole of the Moon. This program provides a cornerstone to study planetary processes as well as to create the infrastructure to advance human exploration at the Moon and on Mars.

Who was Matthew Henson?

Henson was an experienced explorer and skilled carpenter & craftsman. He stood at the front lines of almost a dozen Arctic expeditions that were organized by Robert Peary over the period of 18 years, including the one that reached the North Pole. Final push of that expedition was made by Henson. He was born in Maryland in 1866.

International Astronomical Union (IAU)

IAU is a non-governmental organisation set up with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects such as promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and development. IAU was founded in 1919 with its headquarter in Paris, France.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Two more beaches in India have been awarded “Blue Flag” certification, an international eco-level tag, taking the total number of such beaches in the country to 10. The two beaches to receive the certification this year are Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry.
• The Foundation for Environment Education (FEE), Denmark, which accords the Blue Flag certification, has also given re-certification for eight nominated beaches – Shivrajpur-Gujarat, Ghoghla-Diu, Kasarkod and Padubidri-Karnataka, Kappad-Kerala, Rushikonda- Andhra Pradesh, Golden-Odisha and Radhanagar- Andaman and Nicobar, which were awarded the Blue Flag certificate last year.
• These eight beaches got the Blue Flag certification on October 6, 2020.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• India’s D Gukesh won his second consecutive tournament of this month, the Norway Chess Open 2021 Masters section.
• Gukesh scored an unbeaten 8.5/10 and finished a full point ahead of the competition to win the tournament.
• Iniyan secured sole second position with 8.5/10 points, finishing a half-point ahead of top seed Dmitrij Kollars (Germany) and Valentin Dragnev (Austria).

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• India could become the world’s third-largest importer by 2050, according to a report released by the UK’s Department of International Trade.
• With a 5.9 per cent share of global imports by 2050, the country will become the third-largest importer, following China and the United States.
• At present, India occupies the eighth spot on the list of the largest importing countries with a 2.8 per cent share. As per the Global Trade Outlook report, the country’s position on the list will jump to the fourth position by 2030 with a 3.9 per cent share.
• The Department for International Trade is a United Kingdom government department responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and export trade.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Marshal, Vivek Ram Chaudhari has been appointed the next Chief of Air Staff.
• The current Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria is set to retire on September 30. Chaudhari had taken over as the vice chief on July 1 this year, after Air Marshal HS Arora retired.
• He is a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Vayu Sena Medals.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government has cleared a proposal to develop an ‘Electronic Park’, along the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area, near Noida, to promote the electronics industry.
• The park is proposed to be developed in an area of 250 acres of the YEIDA near Jewar Airport.
• National and international companies manufacturing mobile phones, TVs and other electronic devices and accessories will establish their units in the park.
• The new Electronic Park will be built at an investment of around Rs 50,000 crore as well as generate employment for thousands of local youths