• India has proposed to launch the G20 satellite mission for environment and climate observation in the recently held G20 Summit.
• It aimed to help the countries of Global south for environment and climate observation.
• The climate and weather data obtained from this will be shared with all the countries, especially the countries of the Global South.
• India invites all G-20 countries to join this initiative.
• Other missions – India had earlier launched a satellite for the benefit of the SAARC countries, popularly called SAARC Satellite, in 2017 as a part of its ‘neighbourhood first policy.
• India has also been working with the US on the world’s most sophisticated dual-band NASA-ISRO satellite (NISAR).
• India and U.S. commenced discussions on joint efforts for the International Space Station in 2024.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently announced the issue price for the upcoming Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Tranche 2.

ABOUT SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SCHEME:

• SGBs were introduced by the Government of India in 2015 under the Gold Monetization Scheme.
• They are issued by the RBI in different tranches during a financial year.
• These securities are made available via banks, brokers, post offices and online platforms.
• A discount of INR 50 per gram is offered to investors who purchase them digitally to promote buying SGBs online.
• Investors can either buy the bonds in physical, digital or dematerialized format.
• SGBs have a term of eight years and an interest rate of 2.5% per annum paid on a half-yearly basis.
• On maturity i.e. after 8 years, the Gold Bonds shall be redeemed in Indian Rupees and the redemption price shall be based on simple average of closing price of gold of previous 3 business days.
• Early encashment/redemption of the bond is allowed after fifth year from the date of issue on coupon payment dates.
• Every individual purchase is restricted to a maximum of 4kgs per financial year and in case of a trust, it is restricted to
• The only document mandatory for the purchase of SGBs is a PAN card without which no investment in these bonds is permitted.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed setting up a Self Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for fintechs to address several key objectives and concerns within the fintech industry.

ABOUT SELF-REGULATORY ORGANISATION:

• It is a non-governmental organisation that sets and enforces rules and standards relating to the conduct of entities in the industry (members).
• Aim: Protecting the customer and promoting ethics, equality, and professionalism.
• These typically collaborate with all stakeholders in framing rules and regulations.

WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF AN SRO?

• The recognised SRO will serve as a two-way communication channel between its members and the RBI.
• It will work towards establishing minimum benchmarks and standards and help instil professional and healthy market behaviour among its members.
• These will impart training to the staff of its members and others and will conduct awareness programmes.
• It will establish a uniform grievance redressal and dispute management framework across its members.

• Small island nations seek protection from ocean pollution, climate change and appeal to the United Nations maritime tribunal recently.
• A group of 9 SIDS countries will urge the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to rule on whether greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the marine environment should be considered pollution.
• It will also seek the tribunal’s advisory opinion on the obligations countries have to prevent it.
• Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – Group of low-lying island nations, home to approximately 65 million people.
• They are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change despite being responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA:

• It is an independent judicial body established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• Composition
  • The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members.
  • Members elected by secret ballot by the States Parties to the Convention.
  • Each State Party may nominate up to two candidates.
• Jurisdiction
  • It has jurisdiction over any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention and over all matters specifically provided for in any other agreement which confers jurisdiction on the Tribunal.
  • Disputes relating to the Convention may concern the delimitation of maritime zones, navigation, conservation and management of the living resources of the sea, protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine scientific research.
• The Tribunal is open to States Parties to the Convention(i.e. States and international organisations which are parties to the Convention).
• It is also open to entities other than States Parties, i.e., States or intergovernmental organisations which are not parties to the Convention, and to state enterprises and private entities.
• The seat of the Tribunal is in the City of Hamburg, Germany.

• The RBI is likely to launch the pilot of central bank digital currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market.

MONEY MARKET

• The money market basically refers to a section of the financial market where financial instruments with high liquidity and short-term maturities are traded.
• It includes buying and selling of securities of short-term maturities of one year or less, such as treasury bills and commercial papers.
• It is used by many participants, including companies, to raise funds.
• The money market is considered a safe place to invest due to the high liquidity of securities.

CALL MONEY

• Call money is also referred to as the money at call.
• It is a short-term loan that is due to be paid immediately in full as and when demanded by the lender.
• Unlike term loans, call money loan does not have a defined schedule of payment and maturity.
• Furthermore, the lender of the call money need not provide prior notice to the borrower about the repayment.

ABOUT THE INTERBANK CALL MONEY MARKET:

• It is a short-term money market which allows large financial institutions to borrow and lend money at interbank rates, the rate of interest that banks charge when they borrow funds from each other.
• The loans in the call money market are very short, usually lasting no longer than a week.
• These loans are often used to help banks meet reserve requirements.
• It is not exclusively used by banks. Interbank call money market customers can include other financial institutions, mutual funds, large corporations, and insurance companies.

• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that the world food price index for food commodities fell to a new two-year low in August. This decline reversed a rebound that was observed in the previous month.

DETAILS

• The FAO’s price index, which tracks globally traded food commodities, averaged 121.4 points in August, compared to a revised 124.0 points for the previous month. The July reading had initially been reported as 123.9, representing a rebound from a two-year low in June.
• The August figure was the lowest since March 2021 and marked a 24% decrease from the all-time high reached in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The overall index decline was driven by decreases in the prices of dairy products, vegetable oils, meat, and cereals, despite a significant increase in the FAO’s rice benchmark to a 15-year high due to Indian export restrictions

About World Food Price Index

• The World Food Price Index is a key metric that tracks the prices of globally traded food commodities. It is published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on a regular basis, typically on a monthly or quarterly basis.
• It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices (cereal, vegetable, dairy, meat, and sugar), weighted with the average export shares.

ABOUT FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
• FAO is composed of 197-member states.
• It is headquartered in Rome, Italy.
• It helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources.
• It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects data on agricultural output, production, and development.

REPORTS PUBLISHED BY FAO:

• The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA).
• The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO).
• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
• The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA).
• The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO).

• The Kerala health department issued a health alert in Kozhikode after two people who died due to “unnatural” deaths in the district were suspected to have been infected with the Nipah virus (NiV).

ABOUT NIPAH VIRUS (NIV)

• Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted from animals to humans.
• The organism which causes Nipah Virus encephalitis is an RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is closely related to Hendra virus.
• The case fatality rate is estimated at 40% to 75%. This rate can vary by outbreak depending on local capabilities for epidemiological surveillance and clinical management.
• The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.

HISTORY

• Nipah virus was first recognized in 1999 during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia when pigs in Malaysian farms came in contact with the bats who had lost their habitats due to deforestation.
• It was also recognized in Bangladesh in 2001, and nearly annual outbreaks have occurred in that country since.
• The disease has also been identified periodically in eastern India.
• In subsequent outbreaks in Bangladesh and India, consumption of fruits or fruit products (such as raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats was the most likely source of infection.
• Transmission
• The disease spreads through fruit bats or ‘flying foxes,’ of the genus Pteropus, who are natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah and Hendra viruses.
• The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.
• The virus is transmitted to people from animals and can also be passed on through contaminated food or directly from person to person.
• Human-to-human transmission of the Nipah virus has also been reported among family and caregivers of infected patients.

• The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to provide rented accommodation to disaster-hit people living in relief camps and pay the rent for these accommodations.
• Over 13,000 houses have been damaged fully or partially in the rain-related incidents since July.
• The CM said Rs 10 crore would be released for the repair of roads in the Shimla municipal areas.

• The work on the construction of Renuka Dam project is likely to begin shortly. The state government, in a meeting with Secretary Water Resources, has sought the final design of the project and release of funds from the Centre to kick-start work on the ground.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the project in December, 2021.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• Renuka dam project is water storage project on Giri River in Sirmaur district of the state.
• The beneficiary states of the project are Delhi, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Himachal.
• The project will generate 40 MW power during peak flow.

As per the agreement, 90 per cent of the of the cost of irrigation or drinking water component will be provided by the Central government, while the remaining 10 per cent will be borne by the beneficiary states

• On the eve of the G20 leadership summit, the Ministry of Culture launched a portal of the mega exhibition—‘Bharat: The Mother of Democracy’.
• “Bharat: The Mother of Democracy” Portal showcases the content on the history of democracy in India, showcasing 7,000 years of democratic ethos starting from the Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation to 2019.
• It is available in 16 languages, including German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, and Russian besides English and Hindi.
• The portal is divided into five sections and 22 sub-sections starting from Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation (6000-2000BCE), Mahajanapada and Gantantra (7-8 BCE), Vijaynagar Empire (14-16 century), and Mughal emperor Akbar reign (1556-1605) to Constitution of India (1947) and Elections in Modern India (1952 onwards).