• American Professor Claudia Goldin has won the 2023 Nobel Economics Prize for her comprehensive research on women’s contribution to the labor market.
• This was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 2023 is officially known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences
• Goldin, a professor at Harvard University, is the 55th recipient of the prestigious award and only she third woman to get the prize that was first presented in 1969.
• The prizes are handed out at awards ceremonies in December in Oslo and Stockholm.
• They carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million).
• Winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and diploma.

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently released the Children Displaced in a Changing Climate

MAJOR FINDINGS

• Over the last six years, weather-related disasters have forcefully displaced at least 134.1 million people, of which 32 per cent or 43.1 million were children from 44 countries.
• Thus at least three of every 10 persons displaced across the world due to weather-related disasters was a child.
• Storms (21.2 million) and floods (19.7 million) have been the most damaging and accounted for 95 per cent of forced child displacements in this period.
• The region with the largest number of weather-related child displacements was East Asia and the Pacific, followed by South Asia, UNICEF estimates showed.
• A little over 53 per cent (23 million) of the children displaced were in three countries – Philippines, India and China.
  • These three countries were highly prone to weather-related disasters and so, the risks may increase further due to climate-driven extreme weather events.
• The greatest proportion of child population displaced was in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and countries in the Horn of Africa

• The Centre’s air quality panel directed authorities in the National Capital Region to enforce a ban on coal usage in hotels and restaurants, and to take punitive measures against polluting industries and thermal power plants as the air quality in Delhi plunged into the ‘poor’ category.
• The action comes as a part of the central government’s pollution control plan known as the ‘Graded Response Action Plan’ (GRAP) which is implemented in Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution during the winter season.
• The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing GRAP, reported a “sudden decline” in air quality parameters in the region over the last 24 hours, with Delhi’s AQI reaching 212 (in the ‘poor’ category).
• Stage II measures involve increasing parking fees to discourage private transport and enhancing CNG/electric bus and metro services by introducing additional fleets and increasing service frequency.
• Under Stage III, BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four-wheelers are prohibited from operating in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
  • Stage III also involves a complete halt on construction and demolition work except for essential government projects, mining, and stone crushing.
  • It also includes a ban on the entry of light commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi and diesel-guzzling trucks, medium and heavy goods vehicles (except those involved in essential services).
• Stage IV includes banning all types of construction and demolition work.
  • State governments are authorized to decide on online classes for school students and work from home arrangements for government and private offices during such situations.

• India has been elected president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) General Conference (GC) for the third successive term.
• It is a first in the history of AIBD.
• The move shows the confidence broadcasting organisations across the Asia Pacific and the world reposed in India.

ABOUT ASIA-PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR BROADCASTING DEVELOPMENT (AIBD)

• Established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO, the AIBD currently has 92 member organisations from across 44 countries, including 26 government members (countries) represented by 48 broadcasting authorities and broadcasters, and 44 affiliates (organisations) represented by 28 countries and regions in Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Arab States and North America.
• India is one of the founding members of AIBD, and Prasar Bharati, India’s public service broadcaster, is the representative body of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, at
• The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) are founding organizations of the Institute and they are non-voting members of the General Conference.
• Its secretariat is situated in Kuala Lumpur and is hosted by the Government of Malaysia.

• Reserve Bank Governor said it has been decided to include PM Vishwakarma under the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme.
• Also the tenure of the PIDF scheme has been extended by another two years till 2025.

ABOUT PIDF SCHEME

• Operationalised in January 2021, the PIDF Scheme aims at incentivising the deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure such as physical Point of Sale (PoS), Quick Response (QR) codes in tier-3 to tier-6 centres, north-eastern states and Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• As per the original plan, the tenure of PIDF scheme was fixed for three years till December 2023.
• As at end-August 2023, over 66 crore new touch points have been deployed under the scheme.
• Also, it is proposed to include beneficiaries of PM Vishwakarma Scheme in all centres under the PIDF Scheme.
• This decision to expand the targeted beneficiaries under the PIDF scheme will provide a fillip to the Reserve Bank’s efforts towards promoting digital transactions at the grassroots level.

ABOUT PM VISHWAKARMA SCHEME

• PM Vishwakarma scheme proposes to offer up to 8% subsidy for loans given to artisans.
• The scheme provides collateral-free loans up to ₹Rs 3 lakh to artisans at a very affordable interest rate of 5%.
• The scheme covers artisans related to 18 fields, including carpenter, goldsmith, blacksmith, mason, stone sculpture, barber and boatmakers.
• Initially, ₹1 lakh loan will be given and the beneficiary would be eligible for an additional ₹2 lakh after repayment schedule of 18 months.
• The components of the scheme will include not only financial support but also access to advanced skill training, knowledge of modern digital techniques and efficient green technologies, brand promotion, linkage with local and global markets, digital payments, and social security.

• The survival of Kolleru Lake is under severe threat as aqua ponds continue to encroach and thrive in the heart of the wetland.
• The rate at which the lake is witnessing encroachments demands ‘Operation Kolleru-2.0’ for the survival of the unique wetland ecosystem.
• In 2006, the Andhra Pradesh government executed ‘Operation Kolleru’ as per the directives of the Supreme Court and demolished 1,776 aqua ponds spread over 43,000 acres within the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS).
• In 1999, the State government declared more than 308 sq.km area as the sanctuary within the 90,100 hectares of the lake.

 ABOUT KOLLERU LAKE

• It is India’s largest freshwater lake ecosystem.
  • It is also Asia’s largest freshwater lake.
• It serves as a breeding and feeding ground for 220 avian species including nearly 100 species migrating from the Palearctic region.
• It lies between the Krishna and Godavari deltas.
• It is fed by seasonal Budameru and Tammileru rivers.
• It was notified as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1999 under Wild Life Protection Act,1972.
• Kolleru Lake was declared as a ‘Ramsar’ site in 2002.

• Overlapping prey availability or habitat suitability could dictate a positive association between dholes and tigers, facilitating co-existence or even cooperative behaviours between the two species of carnivores, a new study has found.
• The paper titled ‘Do dholes segregate themselves from their sympatrids? Habitat use and carnivore co‑existence in the tropical forest’ was published in the latest issue of Mammalian Biology.

ABOUT DHOLE

• The dhole or Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus) is the only endangered wild pack-living canid in the tropical Indian forests and is considered at high risk of extinction.
• Operate in packs of 5-10 individuals however larger groups of more than 30 were observed in 2004.
• Dholes were once widespread across southern and eastern Asia.
• Factors such as habitat loss, declining prey availability, persecution, disease, and interspecific competition have contributed to the ongoing fragmentation of its populations.
• The global population of adult dholes is estimated to be between 949 and 2,215 individuals, scattered in localised areas of India and Thailand.
• Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the adjoining Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan form one of the largest areas of conservation significance in South Asia, representing the full range of habitats from the subtropical plains to the alpine zone.
• IUCN red list status- Endangered

REPORTS AND INDICES

2.   Sustainable Finance: Bridging The Gap In Asia And The Pacific Report

• The Sustainable Finance: Bridging the Gap in Asia and the Pacific report was released recently by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
• The new report by the has put forward 10 principles for action for policymakers, regulators and private finance for mobilising and deploying financing for key UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals, particularly around climate action.
• The principles put forward are-
  • Developing new climate finance partnerships
  • Developing effective NDC financing strategies
  • Developing policy coherence and capacities across key government ministries
  • Taking decisive regulatory action to shift capital in Asia and the Pacific towards the Net Zero transition
  • Driving investment in the capacities of financial personnel
  • Driving investment in much-needed sectoral and project-based financial data is undertaken
  • Committing to Net Zero pledges for 2050 with credible transition pathways and including 2030 goals
  • Increasing local-currency financing of energy transition projects as well as green technologies and other net-zero investments
  • Expanding and accelerating concessional financing and risk-sharing by multilateral development banks, bilateral development financial institutions, and public development banks
  • Increasing investment of time and effort with partners in project preparation.

OTHER FINDINGS

• Only 17 of the 51 Asia-Pacific countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have assessed and reported their financial needs to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions
• Only seven have broken down financial needs between adaptation and mitigation.
• Furthermore, average economic losses in the region from disaster-related and other natural hazards are expected to rise to $1.1 trillion in a moderate climate-change scenario and $1.4 trillion in a worst-case scenario.
• India may face higher climate change-related losses, reaching 35% of its GDP by 2100, a notable difference from developing Asia’s 24%.
• There is sufficient capital and liquidity to close the global financing gap in sustainable finance.
  • However, deploying capital for climate action faces a number of challenges.

ABOUT UNESCAP

• The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the most inclusive intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Established in 1947 as Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE)
• Headquarters- Bangkok, Thailand
• The Commission promotes cooperation among its 53 member States and 9 associate members in pursuit of solutions to sustainable development challenges.
• ESCAP is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations (other belongs to Africa, Europe, Western, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean).

• Every year, World Cotton Day is celebrated on October 7^th.
• The day’s celebrations promote fair trade and help developing nations engage in all aspects of the cotton industry to improve their economies.
• The first World Cotton Day was suggested by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on October 7, 2019, with support from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali, known as the Cotton Four or C4 countries.
• The theme for World Cotton Day 2023 is ‘Making cotton fair and sustainable for all, from farm to fashion’.

• Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian women’s rights advocate, has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.
• She was honoured for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and to promote human rights and freedom for all.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is the only Nobel prize that is presented by the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; the other Nobel prizes are administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.
• She is the second Iranian woman to be awarded in the prize’s history after Shirin Ebadi.

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)—the country’s food safety regulator—has said that there is no need to add ingredients such as protein binders and emulsifiers in milk and milk products.
• The communication from the food safety watchdog comes days before the onset of the festive season in the country.

ABOUT PROTEIN BINDERS

• Protein binders are biological research reagents which bind to a specific target protein to manufacture a wide range of new food products.
• They can enhance or detract performance.
• It is known to affect the digestibility of the protein-bond and thus can affect the biological and nutritive value of milk protein.