WHY IN THE NEWS?

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has handed over the first deliverable Firing Unit (FU) of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) System to Indian Air Force (IAF).

About:

• In a significant boost to the defence capabilities of India, MRSAM was handed over to IAF at Air Force Station, Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
• Handing over the system to IAF is a giant leap towards becoming “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” and it will be a game-changer in the air-defence system.

Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM)

MRSAM is an advanced network centric combat Air Defence System. It was jointly developed by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in collaboration with Indian industry consisting of private and public sectors as well as MSMEs. It is a surface-to-air-missile, 4.5m in length. Contract for MRSAM programme was signed in February 2009. Under the contract, IAF was to buy 450 MRSAMs and 18 firing units at the value of $2bn.

Firing Unit

Firing unit of MRSAM comprises of Missiles, Mobile Launcher Systems (MLS), Combat Management System (CMS), Advanced Long-Range Radar, Reloader Vehicle (RV), Mobile Power System (MPS), Radar Power System (RPS), and Field Service Vehicle (FSV).

Significance of MRSAM system

MRSAM system provides point and area air defence for ground assets against threats like fighter aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, sub-sonic & supersonic cruise missiles guided & unguided munitions, etc. This system is capable of engaging multiple targets at ranges up to 70 kms in severe saturation cases. It is powered by indigenously developed rocket motor and control system which helps in achieving high manoeuvrability during the terminal phase.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Minister of State of Jal Shakti Ministry, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, launched the “Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021” under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase -II.

About:

• It was launched at an event organized by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) on September 9, 2021.
• Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 will be undertaken by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) across the country. DDWS has commissioned the Survekshan in 2018 and 2019 earlier.

Aim of the Phase two of SBM (G)

This programme was launched with the aim of supporting acceleration of ODF (Open defecation free) Plus interventions and increase momentum of improving ODF Sustainability and Solid & Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) activities in villages. It seeks to achieve the goal of comprehensive cleanliness.

ODF Declaration

India achieved the challenge of ODF declaration of all villages in mission mode in five years period of 2014-2019.  The vision of Swachh Bharat triggered the Behavior Change to end open defecation by construction of more than 10 crore toilets. It also led to Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to address water security.

SSG 2021 mobile App

Under this phase, a mobile app named “SSG 2021 mobile app” will also be made available in major local Indian languages. App will help in getting feedback from citizens and using it survey will be well monitored through frequent field visits.

Swachh Bharat Initiative

Swachh Bharat initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. Under it, a national behaviour change movement was started comprising of two primary yardsticks that is, Transparency and people’s participation. With the help of this movement, Swachh Bharat initiative succeeded in achieving its goal of safe sanitation across rural India.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Government inked a ceasefire agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) Khaplang (K), led by Nikki Sumi.

About:

• According to Ministry, with the signing of the peace agreement, about 200 cadres of NSCN group along with 83 weapons have joined the peace process.
• The agreement was signed between Additional secretary (Northeast) in MHA, Piyush Goyal, and representatives of NSCN (K) Niki along with supervisor of ceasefire supervisory board and a CFSB member.

Background

Nikki Sumi had expressed his willingness to sign the ceasefire agreement with the government in December 2020. However, he was not able to present to sign the deal because of ill health.

Why peace pact was needed?

According to Ministry of Home Affairs, this peace process was signed with the aim of fulfilling Prime Minister Modi’s vision of ‘insurgency free and prosperous North East. It will also be a significant step for the Naga peace process.

Pact between Government and other factions of NSCN

Central Government has also signed peace pact with other factions of National Socialist Council of Nagaland- NSCN (NK), NSCN (R), and NSCN (K)- Khango.

Naga Peace Accord

The framework agreement for Naga Peace Accord was inked between Central Government and NSCN (IM) group on August 3, 2015. Before this framework agreement, NSCN (K) had revoked the peace pact with the government in March 2015. This pact was signed to end the insurgency in Nagaland.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R. K. Singh met Minister for Climate, Energy & Utilities of Denmark, Dan Jorgensen in New Delhi.

About:

• During the meeting, it was highlighted that energy transition towards green is an important part of India’s policy.
• India has set a target of 450 Giga Watt of Renewable Energy capacity by 2030.
• Currently, India’s whole renewable energy portfolio is at 146 GW.
• Minister noted that, among G-20 countries, only India’s actions are in consonance with the Paris Climate Agreement with respect to the global rise in temperature.
• India is also looking towards making Ladakh, Andaman Nicobar Island and Lakshadweep Island green in energy and transport.
• Both the ministers jointly launched ‘Centre of Excellence on Offshore Wind’ under the Green Strategic Partnership.

Green Strategic Partnership

India and Denmark launched the Green Strategic Partnership in the year 2020 to deliver the sustainable solutions in India. For this, Ministry of Commerce & Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Intellectual Property (IP) Cooperation with Denmark. Green Strategic Partnership focuses on expanding green growth, economic ties and cooperation on global challenges like climate change.

What is green growth?

Green growth is the path of economic growth which uses natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Key points of Green Strategic Partnership

• Under the partnership, Danish companies with niche technologies and expertise offered to help India to meet its air pollution control targets.
• It also provided mechanism to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and cooperation in water efficiency & water loss.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar, inaugurated “Digital Population Clock”.

About:

• Minister also presided over the Seminar on Population, Human Capital and Sustainable Development.
• Digital Population Clock was inaugurated at the Institute for Economic Growth inside the University of Delhi.
• She also launched a book titled “Infant and Child Mortality in Assam – Demographic and Socio-Economic Interrelations” on the occasion. The book was written by Dr Dipanjali Haloi and Dr Suresh Sharma.
• During the event, a HMIS Brochure or Ready Reckoner was also launched.

Highlights of the minister’s address

• In her address minister noted that, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is committed to strengthen the health infrastructure in India and fulfil the Vision of Prime Minister Modi- “Health for All”.
• According to her, population policy should be made in order to stabilize population and it requires macro as well as micro approach.
• Government is working to provide everyone clean fuel, house, clean water and health care.

Population Research Centres (PRCs)

Minister noted the role played by Population research centres in carrying research on contemporary issues because population estimation is critical in distribution and access to public goods.

What is the purpose of Population clock?

Population clock was launched in order to provide minute by minute estimate of India’s population. It will also capture data on Total Fertility Rate, Infant Mortality Rate as well as Maternal Mortality Rate. It will help in raising awareness in young generations and conducting research

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ms. Jennifer Granholm, co-chaired a virtual Ministerial meeting and launched the revamped U.S.-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP).

About:

• In the meeting, both the sides reviewed progress & major accomplishments and prioritized new areas for cooperation across several pillars.
• Indian side noted that, this revamped clean energy partnership will intensify the efforts to take advantage of complementarities that exists between both the countries.
• They also announced addition of a fifth Pillar on Emerging Fuels as both the countries seek to promote clean energy fuels.
• On the occasion, a new India-US Task Force on Biofuels was also announced in order to build the scope of work on cooperation in biofuels sector.

Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP)

• SCEP was launched in line with U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden in April 2021 at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate.
• It organizes inter-governmental engagement on the basis of five pillars of cooperation:

1. Power and Energy Efficiency
2. Responsible Oil and Gas
3. Renewable Energy
4. Sustainable Growth and
5. Emerging Fuels.

India-US cooperation on renewable energy fuel

Both sides will put emphasis on upscaling cooperation under renewable energy pillar by working on various projects and system-friendly practices in the renewable energy sector. They also seek to strengthen electric grid in India to extend support to large-scale integration of renewables including smart grids, flexible resources, energy storage, and distributed energy resources.

Gas Task Force

They also announced renaming the Gas Task Force to India-US Low Emissions Gas Task Force. This task force will continue to forge collaboration between Indian and US companies on innovative projects to provide support to India’s vision of gas-based economy.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

World’s largest plant that has been designed to suck carbon dioxide (CO2) from air and turn it into rock was started recently in Iceland.

About:

• This plant has been named as Orca, after the Icelandic word “orka”, meaning energy.
• The plant comprises of four units. Each of the units are made up of two metal boxes. They are similar to the containers used for maritime transport, in appearance.

Who constructed the plant?

Orca plant has been constructed by Switzerland’s Clime works and Iceland’s Carbfix.

Plant’s capacity

When the plant will operate at its full capacity, it will draw 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from air every year. As per US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this amount is equal to the emissions from about 870 cars.

How CO2 will be collected?

In order to collect the CO2, Orca plant uses fans to draw air into the collector comprising of filter material inside. Once the filter material is filled with carbon dioxide, collector is closed and temperature is raised to release the carbon dioxide from the material. Following this process, highly concentrated gas can be collected. Collected CO2 is mixed with water and are injected at a depth of 1,000 metres into nearby basalt rock where it is petrified.

Significance of the plant

As per the proponents of carbon capture and storage (CCS), these technologies can become a major tool towards the fight against climate change.

What are the concerns?

This technology is still prohibitively expensive and will take decades to operate at larger scale.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

World Suicide Prevention Day was observed on September 10, 2021.

About:

• The day is observed annually to highlight several ways by which suicide can be prevented.
• It was first marked on September 10, 2003, as an initiative by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).
• IASP and WHO collaborated to create this day to spread an important message that “suicides are preventable”.
• Following the first successful year, WHO formally agreed in 2004 to co-sponsor the event again and made it an annually recognized day.
• In 2011, around 40 countries organised awareness events to mark this occasion.
• IASP organizes several events or programs across 60 countries to mark this day.

Cases of Suicide

Suicide is an act of intentionally taking one’s life. It has become a major public health issue in the time of Covid-19 pandemic and periods of lockdowns. As per report, every 40 seconds someone take their life in world. Around 75% of the cases are reported from low and middle-income countries. In 2019, 1.3% of deaths were due to suicide. According to the World Health Organization, suicide is a global phenomenon, which was the 17th leading cause of death in 2019.

International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP)

IASP is an international suicide prevention organization, which was founded by Erwin Ringel and Norman Farberow in 1960. The organization is dedicated to prevent suicidal behaviour and provide a forum for mental health professionals, suicide survivors, crisis workers and other people affected by suicidal behaviour. It comprises of professionals and volunteers from 50 countries.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), listing the top universities and colleges across India.

About:

• NIRF India Ranking 2021 has been announced for eleven categories, namely, Overall, University, Management, Pharmacy, College, Architecture, Engineering, Medical, ARIIA (Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements), Law and Research Institutions.
• NIRF India Ranking parameters and weighted averages were adopted to rank colleges and universities for all the categories.
• Broad categories adopted to rank the colleges, universities and institutes are- Teaching, Learning and Resources; Graduation Outcomes, Research and Professional Practice; Outreach & Inclusivity and Peer Perception.
• Number of institutes participating in NIRF rankings has increased over the years. Thus, categories in which institutes are ranked were changed this year. In 2016, there were four categories to rank the institutes which increased to eleven in 2021.
• About 6,000 colleges and universities participated in the sixth edition of NIRF 2021 Rankings.

Which institute has topped the list?

• IIT Madras has topped the list in the Engineering Category, for the sixth consecutive year.
• IIT Madras also topped the list in overall category.
• IIM Ahmedabad also maintained its top rank in Management category, for the second year.
• In University category, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore was at top position.
• Miranda House, Delhi topped the list in college category.
• Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi was ranked at first position in Pharmacy category.
• In Medical Category, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi was ranked at first position.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Central Government has appointed G.S. Pannu as President of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. G. S. Pannu is presently a Vice-President, ITAT, New Delhi and will be Officiating President of ITAT with effect from September 6, 2021, till the appointment of regular President.
• Mr. Pannu was born on 01 Aug 1962 at Hoshiarpur (Punjab), he is a C.A and joined Government Service 14 September 2000. Presently posted as Vice-President at ITAT, New Delhi. Before joining ITAT, practised as a Chartered Accountant at New Delhi from 1986-2000.