WHY IN THE NEWS?

Geological Survey of India (GSI), under the government’s energy security plans, has imitated seven lithium exploration projects in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir.

About:

• Lithium exploration in the states of Rajasthan and Karnataka has also been undertaken by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMDER) which comes under the ambit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
• The government of India has announced an Rs 18,100 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme with the primary aim of making lithium-ion cells to promote e-mobility in the country.
• India lacks lithium reserves for the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries and other usages. Most lithium batteries are imported into the country.

Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL)

Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) is a joint venture firm of Hindustan Copper Ltd, National Aluminium Company Ltd and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd. It is scouting for lithium and cobalt mines overseas with the target of acquiring them. JV KABIL has inked non-binding MoUs with YPF, JEMSE and CAMYEN which are owned by Argentina.

What is the reason for securing lithium supplies?

India needs to secure lithium supplies and doing so will boost the Indian energy sectors towards the green economy of the country. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has already announced its plans of setting an Advanced Energy Storage Giga Factory. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Adani Group, Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Tata Chemicals, Greeenko Group, Renew Power etc are interested in building lithium-ion cell manufacturing plants in the country.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has flagged in the Indian Army’s skiing expedition that was conducted in the Himalayan mountain ranges between March 10 and July 6.
• The expedition, called ARMEX-21, was flagged off at Karakoram Pass in Ladakh on March 10 and culminated at Malari in Uttarakhand on July 6 covering 1,660 km in 119 days.
• The ARMEX-21 was conducted in the mountain ranges of the Himalayan region to promote the adventure activity in the country and the Indian Army,”.
• During the expedition, the team travelled through several passes at a height of 5,000-6,500 meters and through glaciers, valleys and rivers.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Indian Women’s National Team Forward, Ngangom Bala Devi has been named as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Women’s Footballer of the Year 2020-21. Bala currently plays for Rangers Women’s FC in Scotland.
• She made her debut for the team in February 2020 and created history as she scored her first competitive goal for the side in December last year. She is the first Indian woman footballer to sign a professional contract with an overseas club in Europe.
• Bala was a part of the Manipur U19 team that took part in the Under-19 Women’s Championship in Assam in 2002, where she was declared the best player. She has also represented the Manipur Senior Women’s Football Team in the India women’s football championship.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Bhageerathi Amma, the oldest woman in India to take the equivalency exams, has passed away due to age-related ailments. She was 107-years-old.
• Amma, who hailed from the Kollam district of Kerala, decided to continue her education at the age of 105.
• Amma had quit formal education in class three when she was 9 years old. The centenarian was felicitated with the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar by the central government for her exceptional contribution towards women’s empowerment.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Sweden has ratified the framework agreement for the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and is now a member of the global platform, which is an initiative of India aimed at promoting renewable energy and sustainable development.
• Sweden hopes to bring its expertise and its experience in renewable energy and clean energy technologies to discussions in the ISA to contribute to meeting the challenges related to climate change.
• In April 2018, Prime Minister Modi visited Stockholm during which both sides agreed to further deepen innovation partnership for a sustainable future.
• The ISA has been conceived as an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform to increase the availability of solar energy technologies to enhance energy security and sustainable development.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Senior IPS officer Nasir Kamal has been appointed the Director-General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). He is a 1986-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Kamal’s appointment to the post of Director General in BCAS for a tenure up to his superannuation on July 31, 2022.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

On 28^th July 2021, Lok Sabha has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2021. This Bill replaces the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 which was implemented on 4^th April 2021.

About:

• Insolvency is a situation where a company or an individual are unable to pay their debt.
• The government has notified that the threshold of a default that does not exceed Rs 1 crore for the initiation of a pre-packaged resolution process remains unchanged.
• On 4th April 2021, the government amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 by putting forward an ordinance that provides for a pre-packaged resolution process for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) when the Parliament is not in session.
• The pre-pack is merely an informal way of providing a corporate rescue plan for which approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will be sought.
• Under this ordinance, a pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PIRP) was established that provides an alternate MSME insolvency resolution process.

What is a pre-packed insolvency resolution mechanism?

A pre-packed insolvency resolution mechanism is a procedure in which a resolution arrangement is decided upon between the lender and the debtor before approaching the NCLT for receiving approval. Under this pre-pack framework, a debtor will initiate and participate in the resolution proceedings in tandem with the lender. This is done through an informal process that helps in avoiding costly and lengthy court procedures.

Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP)

As stated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), under the existing corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), a maximum number of 270 days is provided for the resolution process to be completed. To take control of the administration a resolution professional (RP) is appointed and the promoters have to step down. The appointed RP then manages the resolution and bidding process, which generally takes several months. Under the new pre-pack scheme, the time limit for the resolution will be reduced and the participants will get 90 days to submit resolution plans and NCLT will approve them in another 30 days.

Rule for MSME

An MSME not having met its Rs 10 lakh payment obligation, could either initiate a pre-pack bankruptcy resolution scheme on its own with the approval of the lenders or the lenders who are representing the 66% debt of the business could themselves initiate the process.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The world’s first affordable as well as an effective new drug for hepatitis C has been registered by Malaysia. This new drug offers hope for accessible treatment to the millions of people around the world who are suffering from this disease.

About:          

• Hepatitis C has very few early symptoms, hence, making it very hard to diagnose and is said to be a silent killer.
• The drug which has been named ravidasvir has been approved for use along with an existing drug named sofosbuvir, in the month of June.
• This approval came five years after the Malaysian government had partnered with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to develop the drug.
• According to the World Health Organization, around 71 million people globally are thought to be living with Hepatitis C which is a blood-borne virus that is one of the leading causes of liver cancer and can lead to cirrhosis.
• Hepatitis C has no vaccine.
• Hepatitis C medicines are very costly and are sometimes out of reach of the sufferers from the lower and middle-income group countries.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials were conducted in Thailand and Malaysia.  300 people joined the clinical trial. One patent who was suffering from this disease, three months after he began the treatment, showed no trace of the virus. The ravidasvir plus sofosbuvir trial reports were published in the journal Lancet in the month of April. The reports showed that the drug combination is highly effective and cures patients in 97% of the cases.

Conclusion

Cheaper treatment of this disease is going to help the sufferers and the countries are also being encouraged to conduct more testing for hepatitis. The WHO plans to eliminate this disease by reducing new infections by 90% and deaths by 65 % by the year 2030

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Indian Naval Ship Talwar is participating in Exercise Cutlass Express 2021, being conducted from 26 July 2021 to 06 August 2021 along the East Coast of Africa.
• The exercise is an annual maritime exercise conducted to promote national and regional maritime security in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean.
• The exercise focuses on East Africa’s coastal regions and is designed to assess and improve combined maritime law enforcement capacity, promote national and regional security and increase interoperability between the regional navies.
• As part of the exercise, the Indian Navy, together with other partners, shall undertake the training of contingents from various participating countries in various fields across the spectrum of maritime security operations.
• Information sharing and information flow between various partner countries with respect to maritime domain awareness is also a key focus of the exercise and participation of India’s Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) would contribute to achieving the same.

Government of India has announced they it will set up a Centre of Excellence for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics. This decision has been taken to create a globally acclaimed talent pool in the country so as to cater to the Indian as well as the global industry.

About:

• This Centre of Excellence will be set up in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
• This announcement was made in the Rajya Sabha by Anurag Thakur, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
• Film and Television Institute of India and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and have offered courses on VFX and Animation with the aim to support skilled manpower in these sectors.
• In India, the Media and Entertainment sector is one of the fastest and largest growing sectors and focus should be given on this sector so that they can produce an internationally acclaimed talent pool.
• To attract more foreign investments, Film Bazaar is organised by the National Film Development Corporation every year at the International Film Festival of India, Goa.
• Film Bazaar is the largest South Asian Film Market and it attracts lots of investors globally by encouraging financial and creative collaboration between the International and South Asian Film communities.
• With 15 countries, India has audio-visual co-production treaties.
• The Gaming industry is one of the biggest industries in the world and it earns a lot every year. Hence, the government has plans to set up a talent pool in India that can churn out international level talents and attract foreign investments.

Centre of Excellence

It is a shared facility, team or an entity that helps in research, development, support, training, etc on different areas.