• In response to Chinese dams being built in north-east, India has initiated its biggest hydroelectric project in Upper Subansiri in Arunachal Pradesh (AR) to reduce the adverse effects of Chinese dam.
• Also, India is moving three stalled hydro projects in AP for possible allocation to National Hydroelectric Power Corporation after recommendations of evaluation committee and in-principle permission by Ministry of Power.
• China plans to construct 60,000MW hydropower project on Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) at Medog on border with Arunachal.
• After construction, China plans to divert Brahmaputra water from the project to its northern arid region.
• Three more projects i.e., 640 MW project at Dagu, 710 MW project at Bayu & 800 MW project at Zhongyu is in advance stage of planning.

Concerns associated with increasing Chinese infrastructure

• Impact lower riparian states, particularly India including environmental consequences.
• Diversion of water could strain India’s agricultural need in northeast region.
• Use of water infrastructure as a form of territorial demarcation and control.
• Causes flood like situation in Assam and AR.

About Brahmaputra River

• It originates from Kailash ranges of Himalayas. After flowing through Tibet, it enters India through AP and flows through Assam and Bangladesh before joining Bay of Bengal.
• It accounts for around 30 percent of India’s freshwater resources and 40 percent of its whole hydropower potential.
• Tributaries: Subansiri, Borgong, Dhansiri(North) Manas, etc on North bank; and Noadehing, Buridehing, Desang, Dikhow, Bhogdoi etc on South Bank.

• More than 300 specially abled persons from 11 districts of the state are participating in the State Para Sports Tournament began at the sports complex in Anu here.
• The meet was inaugurated by local MLA Ashish Sharma. He donated Rs 20,000 to the organisers of the event and said he would raise the issue of promotion of para sports with the state government.

• Foundation stone of a World Bank (WB)-funded fruit processing centre was laid at Behar Bithal village of Amb subdivision.
• A sum of Rs 1.65 crore will be spent on the centre under the HP Horticulture Development Project.
• The centre would process dragon fruit, ashwagandha, aloe vera, fig and stevia.

• Greater Scaup– It is a rare species of duck (locally known as Sadangman) that was recently sighted in Loktak lake (Manipur) after a gap of over 90 years.
• Loktak lake is famous for Keibul Lamjao National Park and Sangai, the dancing deer.
• Greater Scaup is a migratory bird widely distributed across Arctic and Subarctic regions where it mainly nests in coastal tundra habitats.
• It belongs to the family of Anatidae.
• IUCN status: Least Concern.

• Facing its worst economic crisis since independence, financing assurances from creditors is critical for Sri Lanka to get the $2.9 billion loan from IMF to put its economy on track.
• It is facing multiple challenges such as shortage of dollars, runaway inflation and a steep recession.
• India, Japan, and China are Sri Lanka’s three largest bilateral lenders.

About International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• IMF was established (in 1944) to provide emergency financing to countries hit by crises and help them to stabilize their economies.
• Unlike development banks, IMF does not lend for specific projects. It also provides precautionary financing to help prevent crises
• Crises can occur due to domestic or/and external factors and can take many different forms such as Balance of Payment issue, illiquid or insolvent financial institutions, excessive deficits and debt etc.
• Lending instruments of IMF include
  • General Resources Account on non-concessional terms (market-based interest rates).
  • Concessional financial support (currently at zero interest rates) through Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which is better tailored to needs of low-income countries.
  • Resilience and Sustainability Trust to help low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries.

• 44 lakh women entrepreneurs have fulfilled 14.76 lakh orders on GeM since 2019: Govt
• According to the data shared by the commerce ministry in a statement on Saturday, women MSE sellers have fulfilled over 14.76 lakh orders worth Rs 21,265 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) since 2019.
• Women entrepreneurs have a share of 74 per cent in the order value of products sold on GeM and 26 per cent in the order value of service categories.
• Moreover, the top five product categories with the maximum number of women entrepreneurs were desktop computers, smartphones, special purpose telephones (smartphone for integrated child development service – ICDS), hopper tipper dumper while the top five service categories were manpower outsourcing services – minimum wage, custom bid for services, human resource outsourcing service, monthly basis cab and taxi hiring services, and manpower outsourcing services – fixed remuneration, according to the government data.

About Womaniya 

• The “Womaniya” initiative was launched in 2019 and has sought to encourage the participation of women entrepreneurs and self-help groups (SHG) from the informal sector on the GeM portal and facilitate the sale of their products directly to various Government buyers, sans intermediaries.
• Generic product categories were created for a listing of handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, bamboo products, organic foods, spices, home décor, and office furnishings to facilitate ease-in product catalogue listing and procurement from women entrepreneurs.
• The Womaniya initiative is particularly important because nearly 80% of women-owned establishments are self-financed and more than 60% of 8 million units are owned and or led by women entrepreneurs from socially-challenged sections of the society.

• The Face of Womaniya on GeM-The initiative is represented by artist Anukta M Ghosh’s artwork “Magan”, an illustration of women empowerment and grace.
  • The Womaniya homepage will inform procurement officers in various government ministries, departments, and CPSEs about the drive to promote procurement of common use goods and services from women entrepreneurs.

About Government e Marketplace

• GeM is a 100% government-owned company set up under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry for procurement of common use goods and services by government ministries, departments, and CPSEs.
• GeM was set up in 2016 and has 731,431 product categories, with 180,862 registered sellers and 32,114 government buyers.
• Since inception, GeM has processed 1,171,761 orders worth Rs. 16,976 crores in gross merchandise value.

• Banks still investing heavily in fossil fuels despite net zero pledges – study
• According to a report, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) members are continuing to finance expansion of coal, oil and fossil gas industries.

About GFANZ

• GFANZ is world’s largest coalition of financial institutions committed to transitioning global economy to net-zero greenhouse gas emission.
• It aims to coordinate efforts across all sectors of the financial system to accelerate the transition to a net-zero global economy.
• It was launched in 2021 by UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and COP26 presidency, in partnership with UNFCCC Race to Zero campaign.
• It has over 550 members from 50 jurisdictions.

• World Economic Forum HAS launched Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA)to help unlock $3 trillion of financing needed each year to reach net-zero, reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity by 2050.
• Global initiative is to fund and grow new and existing public, private and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) and is supported by more than 45 partners (including India’s HCL Technologies).
• Philanthropic financing for climate mitigation has risen in recent years, but still represents less than 2% of total philanthropic giving.
• Advantage of philanthropic financing: It is nimble, more tolerant of risks and is driven by values and long-term outcomes rather than quarterly returns.

• The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) welcomed the deployment of the single largest all-women platoon of peacekeepers from India. The all-women platoon will join forces serving in Abyei , reaffirming India’s continued commitment to the implementation UN mandate in the region.

About Abyei

• The Abyei dispute is a long-standing territorial dispute between Sudan and South Sudan over the Abyei region.
• The area is rich in oil and is located on the border between the two countries.
• The dispute centers on the question of whether the region should be part of Sudan or South Sudan, and who has the right to administer and control it.
• The conflict has resulted in a number of violent clashes over the years, causing significant human suffering and displacement.
• Efforts to resolve the dispute, including through mediation by the African Union and other international organizations, have so far been unsuccessful.

UNISFA

• The United Nations Security Council established the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) through Resolution 1990, in order to provide security and protect civilians in the region, who were under imminent threat of violence.
• UNISFA’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of the Abyei Police Service (APS) by providing support, including personnel training, and coordinating with the APS on matters of law and order. UN and international peacekeeping efforts continue to be essential in maintaining peace and stability in Abyei.

About UN Peacekeeping Mission

• The establishment of UN peacekeeping missions is authorized by the UN Security Council.
• The aim of UN peacekeeping missions is to maintain international peace and security by preventing conflicts, protecting civilians and promoting sustainable peace.

• Astronomers from McGill University (Canada) and Indian Institute of Science (MSc), Bengaluru used data from GMRT to detect a radio signal originating from atomic hydrogen in an extremely distant galaxy at redshift z=1.29.
  • Redshift represents signal’s wavelength change depending on the object’s location and movement.
  • A greater value of z indicates a farther object.
• Atomic hydrogen is the basic fuel required for star formation in a galaxy.
  • When hot ionised gas from surrounding medium of a galaxy falls onto universe, gas cools and forms atomic hydrogen.
  • This then becomes molecular hydrogen and eventually leads to formation of stars.
• Detection was made possible by gravitational lensing phenomenon.
  • In gravitational lensing, light emitted by source is bent due to presence of another massive body between target galaxy and observer, effectively resulting in magnification of signal.

About GMRT

• It is an instrument for studying astrophysical phenomena, ranging from nearby Solar system to edge of observable Universe, at low radio frequencies.
• It is operated by National Centre of Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), which is part of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
• GMRT is located in Junnar near Pune.