• National Highways Authority of India organized a brainstorming session with stakeholders for expediting adoption of Insurance Surety Bonds for NHAI contracts.
• NHAI has urged insurance companies and contractors to analyze use of Insurance Surety Bonds as an additional mode of submitting Bid Security and /or Performance Security Deposit.
• The Insurance Surety Bonds, when issued, would be cost effective and provide adequate security for NHAI projects.

ABOUT INSURANCE SURETY BONDS

• Insurance Surety Bonds are instruments where insurance companies act as ‘Surety’ and provides the financial guarantee that the contractor will fulfil its obligation as per the agreed terms.
• Surety bonds act as a viable option to bank guarantees and offer longer maturity terms than the traditional banking products.
• Ministry of Finance has granted equivalence status to e-BGs and Insurance Surety Bonds, aligning them with BGs for all government procurement processes.
• They are one of the most cost-effective ways to finance contract security options and could provide an estimated capital relief of Rs. 50,000 crore for the infrastructure sector.

• Visitors to Pench Tiger Reserve will now be able to experience cycle safari.
• The cycle safari will be on the Kolitmara to Kunwara Bhivsen stretch.
• This stretch is 48 km long and it takes visitors through the forested areas of Narhar, Banera and Chargaon.

ABOUT PENCH TIGER RESERVE

• The Reserve is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh and continues in Ramtek, Parseoni and Saoner tehsil of Nagpur district, Maharashtra as a separate Sanctuary.
• It includes the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Pench Mowgli Sanctuary and a buffer.
  • It is 25^th tiger reserve of India.
• The Pench Tiger reserve (PTR) derives its name from the River Pench, which divides the reserve in almost two equal halves and Totladoh reservoir built on the Pench river plays an important role in enriching and sustaining the wild life in the tiger reserve.
• It is spread over 741.41 Sq.km of area.
• Flora– teak, saag, mahua, and various grasses and shrubs.
• Faunal species include tiger, leopard, sloth bear, Sambar, Nilgai, Indian gaur, wild dog, wolf etc.

• Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members have approached India to restart negotiations on the free trade agreement.
• India had GCC had agreed to explore an FTA in 2004 but after two rounds of discussions in 2006 and 2008, the process was abandoned.
• The council is the largest trading bloc of India.

ABOUT GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL

• GCC is a political and economic union of six countries in the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.
• Established in 1981 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the GCC promotes economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between the six states.
• HQ- Riyadh
• Official language- Arabic.
• It holds a summit every year to discuss cooperation and regional affairs.
• The GCC consists of the Supreme Council, the Ministerial Council and the Secretariat General.

• AR4 Tech, a start-up in Coimbatore, has partnered Sodion Energy of Singapore to make sodium ion battery packs for domestic and export markets.

ABOUT SODIUM ION BATTERY

• Sodium-ion batteries (Na-ion batteries or NIBs) are an emerging battery technology that utilizes sodium ions (Na+) as charge carriers.
• Sodium-ion batteries offer an alternative energy storage solution to Lithium Ion Batteries (LIB) with potential benefits such as cost-effectiveness and abundance of sodium resources.
• Working (similar to LIBs)-
  • During charging, sodium ions are moved from the positive electrode (cathode) to the negative electrode (anode), and during discharge, they move back to the cathode, generating electrical energy in the process.

ADVANTAGES

• NIBs have a number of advantages over other types of batteries, including their safety, affordability, and long lifespan.
• They are a good fit for applications where fast charging and high discharge rates are required, such as electric vehicles which are required to climb slopes or carry heavy loads.
• NIBs also shine in applications such as Backup Power Supplies, Solar Energy Storage and even Starter Batteries for gasoline vehicles.
• NIBs are close to Lead Acid Battery LABs in price but perform similarly to LIBs.

• A rare mosquito-borne virus Eastern equine encephalitis, has been reported in the US states of Alabama and New York.
• Eastern equine encephalitis is rare in the US and only few cases are reported every year, 30 % of which could turn fatal and may have severe symptoms.

ABOUT EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS

• The virus was first discovered in horses (equines) in the 1830s.
• It is caused by a virus spread by infected mosquitoes.
• It can also infect a wide range of animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
• The mosquito species that cause EEE primarily bite at dawn and dusk
• Symptoms
  • Starting from high fever, headache, chills and nausea, it can progress to seizures, disorientation, and coma. The survivors may face neurological issues.
• It does not spread from person to person via touching or droplets from coughing or sneezing.
• People in the age group of above 50 and under 15 are said to be more at risk.
• As many as a third of people with the disease die and dea th usually occurs from 2 to 10 days after symptom onset.
• Even after recovery, people may face long-term physical or mental impairments ranging from mild brain dysfunction to severe intellectual impairment, personality disorders, seizures, paralysis, and cranial nerve dysfunction.
• There are no vaccines available to treat the disease. Rest, fluids and over-the-counter pain medications are used to relieve symptoms.

• The government will launch the ‘Mera Bill Mera Adhikar’ invoice incentive scheme.
• The scheme is aimed at motivating customers to ask for a bill every time they make purchases.
• It will be launched in the States of Assam, Gujarat and Haryana; and the UTs of Puducherry, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
• Invoice incentive scheme allows to earn cash prizes on upload of GST invoices.
• Monthly and quarterly draw of lots will be made and winners will be eligible for cash reward prize beginning from ₹10,000 to up to ₹1 crore.
• Eligibility
  • All invoices issued by Goods and Services Tax (GST) registered suppliers to consumers will be eligible for the ‘Mera Bill Mera Adhikar’ scheme
  • The minimum purchase value for the invoice to be considered for lucky draw is ₹200 and individuals can upload a maximum of 25 invoices in a month from September 1.
• The ‘Mera Bill Mera Adhikar’ mobile app will be made available in both IOS and android platforms.
• The invoice uploaded on the app should have the GSTIN of the seller, invoice number, amount paid and tax amount.

• The winners of the 69^th National Film Awards were announced recently.

WINNERS INCLUDED-

• Allu Arjun bagged the Best Actor award for the film Pushpa: The Rise,
• Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon shared the award for Best Actress for the films Gangubai Kathiawadi and Mimi respectively.
• Rocketry: The Nambi Effect won the award for Best Feature Film.
• The Kashmir Files won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration
• Shoojit Sircar’s biographical historical drama Sardar Udham won Best Hindi Film, Best Cinematography (Avik Mukhopadhyay), Best Audiography (Sinoy Joseph), Best Production Design (Dmitrii Malich and Mansi Dhruv Mehta) and Best Costume Design (Veera Kapur Ee) awards.

ABOUT THE AWARD

• The awards aim at encouraging the production of films of aesthetic and technical excellence and social relevance.
• The awards were first handed out in 1954 and were known as the ‘State Awards’. At the time, only best films in different regional languages were recognised and awarded.
• The awards for actors and technicians working on the films were first given in 1967.
• They are presented by the President of India.

• More than 200 ships are stuck on the either side of Panama Canal as due to the impact of climate change, the water levels have shrunk, leading to a traffic jam near it.
• The canal relies on rainwater to replenish its sources, but a lack of rain makes it difficult for ships to cross.
• Lake Gatun, one of the water bodies that supply the canal with water, has seen its depth falling to a seven-year low.
  • Gatun Lake is a freshwater artificial lake to the south of Colón, Panama.
• The Panama Canal, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
• It enables ships to avoid the lengthy journey around Cape Horn which is located at the southern tip of South America.
• It connects nearly 2,000 ports in 170 countries.
• Panama is located on the isthmus connecting North and South America.

• In a historic decision, Ecuadorians voted against the oil drilling of a protected area in the Amazon that’s home to two uncontacted tribes and serves as a biodiversity hotspot.
• Around six in ten Ecuadorians rejected the oil exploration in Block 44, situated within Yasuni National Park, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions.
• The area is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenani, who live in self-isolation.
• In 1989, Yasuni was designated a world biosphere reserve by the UNESCO.
• Encompassing a surface area of over 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres), it boasts 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles.

• In a bid to overhaul the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the Ministry of Defence has formed a nine-member committee of experts.
• A report is expected from the committee within next three months.
• The committee will be chaired by Prof K Vijay Raghavan, the former Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.