WHY IN THE NEWS?

Lok Sabha passed the “General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill.

About:

• General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 will allow the government to lower down its stake in State-owned general insurance companies and generate required resources.
• It will also help public sector general insurers design innovative products.

Amendments to the bill

• Proposed amendments to the Bill meant for removing the mandatory requirement of Central government holding not less than 51 per cent of the equity capital in a specified insurer.
• As per the Bill, amendments had become necessary to attract larger private participation in public sector insurance companies, enhance penetration of the insurance sector and provide social protection by securing the interests of policyholders.

Background

This bill was passed in line with the government’s privatization drive. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced ambitious privatisation agenda, including two public sector banks and one general insurance company in her budget speech for 2021-2022. Accordingly, among four public sector general insurance companies namely, National Insurance Company Limited, Oriental Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited; the government will dilute its shareholding in one company. The name of the company is yet to be finalised.

General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021

This bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 30, 2021.  It seeks to amend General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 that was enacted to nationalise all private companies undertaking general insurance business.  Bill provides for greater private sector participation in public sector insurance companies that are regulated under the Act of 1972. Bill has removed the government shareholding threshold of 51% in specified insurers.   Bill has also changed the definition of general insurance business and transferred the power of appointing the majority of directors of specified insurer & power over its management or policy decision from the government

WHY IN THE NEWS?

NITI Aayog has released a report on Power Distribution Sector that presents reform pathways to transform India’s power distribution sector.

About:

• The report was released providing steps to improve policymaking in the distribution sector.
• The report is titled “Turning Around the Power Distribution Sector”.
• It has been jointly authored by NITI Aayog, RMI and RMI India.

What was the need for a report?

In India, Power distribution companies (DISCOMs) incur losses every year. In the financial year 2021, total estimated losses are as high as Rs 90,000 crore. Because of these losses, DISCOMs are unable to pay power generators on time, make investments to ensure high-quality power, or prepare for use of variable renewable energy. Thus, this report becomes significant as it presents a review of reform efforts in the Indian and global power distribution sector.

About the report

Report extracts learnings and best practices from a wealth of policy experience existing in India. It examines several important reforms including the role of the private sector in distribution, regulatory oversight, power procurement, integration of renewable energy and up-gradation of infrastructure. The report is divided into chapters that focus on structural reforms, operational reforms, regulatory reforms, managerial reforms, and renewable energy integration. It presents policymakers with several reform options in order to put the distribution sector on the track of efficiency and profitability

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) launched an earthquake early warning (EEW) Mobile App for Uttarakhand.

About:
Earthquake early-warning system will alert people regarding the onset of calamity on mobile application.

• It can detect the onset of the Earthquake and issue warnings before significant tremors take place in the state.
• This mobile app project was sponsored by Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA).

Where it will be set up?

With the support of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, this initiative was earlier started as a pilot project for Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Later, it was extended by the Uttarakhand government. Under the project, sensors had been installed in high terrains of Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand.

How EEW provides a warning?

Early warning system works on the basis of the speed of the seismic waves, that propagate after the release of stress from faults movement. Strong ground shaking is caused by shear waves. Shear waves travel at half speed as compared to primary waves and much slower than electromagnetic signals. EEW system uses these waves to generate warning.

Central Server

Seismic data stream in the central server that has been established in EEW System laboratory. For data streaming, high-speed telecommunication is used and high-performance computers compute scenario projections. Central server processes receive data continuously on 24 × 7 basis. It issues warning to the public as and when detects that an earthquake of magnitude greater than 5 has occurred in earthquake-prone areas. Warning time differs with the distance of any location from epicentre of the earthquake.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Lovlina won the third Olympic medal for India. She won bronze medal after going down 0-5 against Busenaz Surmeneli from Turkey in the 69kg welterweight semifinals.

About:

• Lovlina Borgohain has also become the second Indian female boxer, after MC Mary Kom, to win Olympic bronze.
• Mary Kom had won the medal in 2012 London Olympics.
• Including the bronze medal of Lovlina, India has acquired three medals till date.
• Earlier, Mirabai Chanu won silver in weightlifting and PV Sindhu won bronze in badminton women’s individual event.
• Lovlina has become the first-ever Assamese woman to win the Olympic medal.
• Lovlina Borgohain is the third Indian boxer to win Olympic bronze following legendary boxers Mary Kom and Vijender Singh.
• Mary Kom and Vijender Singh had won bronze medal respectively in 2012 London Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• She is currently ranked at world no. 3.

Who is Lovlina Borgohain?

Lovlina Borgohain belongs to Golaghat district of Assam. Her father is a small-scale businessman. She started her career as a kickboxer and switched to boxing after getting an opportunity from the field. She participated in trials at her high school conducted by Sports Authority of India. She was selected by renowned Coach Padum Boro. He started giving training Lovlina in 2012. She was selected to participate in 2018 Commonwealth Games in the welterweight boxing category. However, she could not win a medal and lost it in the quarterfinals.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, conducted its maiden sea trials on August 4, 2021 encouraging the making of military equipment within India.

About:

• Trials will be conducted for a long period under all conditions before the carrier is accepted as “proven at sea”.
• It will be fully operational by 2022.
• Navy will accept this warship and then conduct aviation trials.
• Under the aviation trials, take-off and landing of Russian MiG 29K fighter jets would take place.
• In the maiden trail, Navy conducted the deck landing of Navy’s Sea King helicopters.
• Carrier has been designed by Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design.

About INS Vikrant

INS Vikrant is a 44000-tonne carrier, built at the cost of Rs 23,000 crore. It has been built at the state-owned Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, Kerala. About 550 Indian firms including 100 MSMEs are providing services to construct this warship. It is the largest and most complex warship that has been designed and built in India for the first time. With this aircraft, India now joins a select group of nations having the capability to indigenously design, build and integrate such aircraft carriers. Countries like US, UK, Russia, Japan, Italy and France have such capacities. South Korea is also pursuing a carrier programme.

Features of the aircraft carrier

The aircraft carrier has a top speed of 28 knots or 52 kmph while cruising speed of 18 knots. It has an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles or 13,650 km. Warship comprises of 14 decks with 2300 compartments which can carry about 1700 crew.

Background

Keel for the warship was laid in 2009. It was scheduled to join the fleet in December 2018 but it got delayed due to the complexity of making it. The warship was set out at sea in 2013. Cost of making also escalated beyond the originally sanctioned amount of Rs 19,341 crore

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the continuation of ‘Samagra Shiksha Scheme’ for school education for a further five years.

About:

• As per the education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, the scheme would continue from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.
• This would be called as ‘Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2’
• To implement the scheme, a financial outlay of Rs 2,94,283.04 cr has been made out of which, the central share stands at Rs 1,85,398.32 cr.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme

Samagra Shiksha is an integrated scheme for school education. It extends from pre-school to class XII and ensures inclusive & equitable quality education at all levels of school education. This scheme was launched by subsuming three schemes ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, ‘Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). This scheme provides holistic treatment to school education from Pre-school to Class 12.

Aim of the scheme

This scheme emphasises improving the quality of school education by focussing on two T’s – Teacher and Technology. The primary aim of the scheme is to support States in implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 in accordance with Article 21A of the constitution of India.

The vision of the scheme

This scheme was launched with the vision of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to the senior secondary stage in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)- SDG 4.1 & SDG 4.5- for Education.

Who funds the scheme?

This scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. Thus, the funds are shared between Centre and State in the ratio of 90:10 for the North-Eastern States & Himalayan States and 60:40 for other States & Union Territories with Legislature. Centre provides 100% of the fund in Union Territories without Legislature

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Prime Minister has launched the SAFAL assessment framework and Vidya Pravesh Scheme on the first anniversary of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

About SAFAL:

• SAFAL stands for Structured Assessment for Analysing Learning.
• Purpose: It is a competency-based assessment for grades 3, 5 and 8 introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
• SAFAL will be used to assess the progress of foundational skills and basic learning outcomes among students

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has successfully completed two-month-long and a first of its kind, digital skills and exclusive entrepreneurship ATL Tinkerpreneur summer boot camp held across the country.

About ATL Tinkerpreneur:

• ‘Tinkerpreneur’ is the name derived from the phrase ‘enabling students to tinker from the comfort of their homes and become an entrepreneur this summer.
• Hence, ATL Tinkerpreneur was a Bootcamp focussed on cultivating a hands-on innovative mindset among students. It was designed for high school students across the nation,
• The Bootcamp enabled the participants to develop a business idea and create an end-to-end strategy for setting up a new venture.
• Over the course of the Bootcamp, the participants learnt the required digital skills, created and developed a business model around a digital product, generated a marketing plan, developed/established an online store, learnt business finance and culminated it by presenting their pitch deck in front of Industry experts.

About Atal innovation mission (AIM)

• AIM was set up by NITI Aayog in 2016 to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship by creating institutions and programs that enhance innovation in schools, colleges, and entrepreneurs in general.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur has inaugurated a “Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse Facility” and laid the foundation stone of “Retractable Roof Polyhouse” at Ludhiana in Punjab

Background:

• Farmers face a number of problems such as excessive or insufficient cold, heat, rain, wind, and other factors associated with insufficient transpiration.
  • Transpiration is the biological process by which water is lost in the form of water vapour from the aerial parts of the plants.
• Crop loss, in the country due to insects and pests, is about 15% at present, and it may increase as climate change lowers the plant defence system against insects and pests.
• To some extent, these problems can be overcome by a conventional polyhouse.

About Conventional Polyhouse:

• A conventional polyhouse has a stationary roof to reduce the effect of weather anomalies and pests.
• However, roof covering leads to excessive heat and insufficient light (early morning) to the crops.
• Besides, they are also prone to insufficient levels of CO2, transpiration, and water stress.
• Hence, a combination of open-field conditions and conventional polyhouse conditions is more effective.

About Retractable Roof Polyhouse Technology:

• Retractable Roof Polyhouse Technology is an all-weather structure.
• It has an automatic retractable roof that will be operated based on weather conditions and crop requirements from the conditional database using a PLC software

WHY IN THE NEWS?

A team of Delhi University researchers has discovered a new frog species in the Western Ghats and has named it “Minervarya Pentali”.

About Minervarya Pentali:

• Minervarya Pentali is a new frog species from the genus Minervarya. It is also among the smallest known Minervarya frogs.
• The species was discovered from the Western Ghats. The species is endemic to the southern Western Ghats.
• The species has been named after former DU Vice-Chancellor and plant geneticist Deepak Pental.

About Minervarya:

• Minervarya is a genus of frogs in the family Dicroglossidae. The identity and taxonomic status of all known members of this genus are from Peninsular India