• The 5th Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) will begin in New Delhi under India’s presidentship.
• Participants from 109 countries will be sharing their experiences towards a low-carbon economy through promotion of solar energy at the 4-day event.
• The Assembly is the apex decision-making body of International Solar Alliance makes decisions concerning the implementation of the ISA’s Framework Agreement.
• The Assembly meets annually at the ministerial level at the ISA’s seat.
• Talking to AIR, ISA Director General Ajay Mathur outlined the priorities and focus areas of the global meet.
• He said one of the key focus areas of the meeting is streamlining the solar sector investments in the countries where investments are not flowing at present.
• He said the assembly will also deliberate on creating a Risk Mitigation Facility for solar projects with a Payment Guarantee Mechanism.
• Dr Ajay Mathur spoke about the ramifications of One Sun One World One Grid initiative. He also highlighted the benefits of solar mini-grids.

• Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr. L Murugan has said that the ministry has taken several steps to improve fish production, export and infrastructure development in the last eight years.
• Speaking at the valedictory of Inland Fisheries Summit in Bengaluru, he said, India stands third in the world in terms of fish production.
• Making specific reference to Karnataka, the Union Minister said that 734.77 crore rupees was allocated to the state under the flagship scheme of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) from 2020-21 till date for the development of infrastructure facilities.
• Under PMMSY, over 53 crore rupees was given to complete phase three expansion of Mangalore fishing harbour, phase two of Gangolli fishing harbour, Alvekodi and Thenginagundi fish landing centres.
• In principle, approval is given for the development of state of an art fishing harbour at Majali in Uttara Kannada district at a total cost of 250 crore rupees.
• Under PMMSY, approval is given to acquire 114 new deep-sea fishing vessels at a total cost of 136 crore rupees for traditional fishermen in the state.
• A total of 1000 communication and tracking devices and 781 safety kits were also distributed to traditional and motorized fishing vessels at a total cost of 11.31 crore rupees.
• Under PMMSY, 62 new Ice plants or cold storage facilities, 799 fish transport vehicles, one fish retail market, 84 fish kiosks and three value-added enterprises were supported with an investment of 133.15 crore rupees.
• The minister informed the fish production in Karnataka has increased from 6.80 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 to 10.74 lakh tonnes during 2021-22 which is about 76 percent growth.
• PMMSY has helped create 1.4 lakh direct and indirect job opportunities in this sector in the state.

 Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY):

• The vision is to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector.
• The main motto of PMMSY is ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’ in the fisheries sector.
• Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying is the implementing agency.
• The PMMSY is an umbrella scheme with two separate components – Central Sector Scheme and Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

• Shimla Municipal Corporation’s former Mayor Sanjay Chauhan and Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar have approached World Bank’s Country Head for India, alleging irregularities in the implementation of the Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Services project. In a letter to the World Bank official, the former MC officials have urged him to intervene and cancel the recent award of tender for the continuous high pressure water supply in the city.
• Challenging the award of tender to Suez India for Rs 683 crore, the former MC officials alleged that the lowest bid, including Capex (capital expenditure) and operation and maintenance costs was nearly 33 per cent higher than the department’s estimate of the project value.
• The two alleged that estimated value of the project, excluding operation and maintenance, was Rs 442 crore in a tender published by the SJPNL on July 27, 2022, but the project cost would balloon up to around Rs 786 crore after the quoted cost.
• SJPNL MD Pankaj Lalit, however, refuted their claims saying that the tender process has been done in a fair and transparent manner. “The tender floated on July 27 was only for capital expenditure to be incurred on the project, but the tender awarded to Suez India for Rs 683 crore also included operation and maintenance cost of the project for 15 years,” said Lalit, explaining the gap in the estimated and quoted cost.
• The complainants, however, claim that the SJPNL’s overall estimate including capital expenditure and operation and maintenance was Rs 592 crore, but the eventual cost would exceed it by around Rs 200 crore, which would be a straight loss to the exchequer.
• In another alleged irregularity, the complainants said that that since the tender for the project was floated the first time, it should have been floated again as per the law as only two bids had been received. SJPNL MD, however, asserted that the tender was floated for the fourth time and hence they were not obliged to float it again.
• “The tender for the project was first floated in 2019, second time in 2020 and third time in 2022. For some reasons, the process could not be completed in earlier occasions. So, this was the fourth time and we awarded it to the lowest bidder,” said Lalit.

• The Governor has approved the appointment of a sitting judge of the High Court, Justice Chander Bhusan Barowalia, as Lokayukta of Himachal Pradesh.
• The post of Lokayukta had been lying vacant for the last about eight years after the term of Justice LS Panta, a retired Supreme Court Judge, got over during the previous Congress regime.
• As per the notification issued by the state government, Justice Barowalia will take oath of office after his resignation is accepted.
• Justice Barowalia was due to retire from the post of Judge on March 15, 2023.
• In December 2021, the HP Assembly passed an amendment to the HP Lokayukta Act, 2014, making a provision to appoint a High Court Judge as the Lokayukta. Prior to that, under the provision of the Act, only a retired Supreme Court Judge or Chief Justice of High Courts were eligible for the office of Lokayukta.

About Chander Bhusan Barowalia:

• Justice Barowalia was born on March 15, 1961. He obtained an LLB degree from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.
• He practised as an advocate from November 1, 1984, in the High Court and other courts in Shimla.
• Thereafter, he was appointed Additional District and Sessions Judge on January 10, 2003. Thereafter, he was designated as District & Sessions Judge on October 26, 2005, and worked as District & Sessions Judge for Kinnaur, Una, Solan and Mandi. Before his elevation as Judge, he was posted as the Registrar General in the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
• Thereafter, he was elevated as Additional Judge of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on April 12, 2016, and then took oath as Judge of the High Court on January 8, 2018.

• The state government notified ‘Kadavur slender loris sanctuary’ under Section 26 (A)(1)(b) of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

About Slender Loris:

• Slender Loris is a small nocturnal mammal that spends most of its life on trees.
• They are native to India and Sri Lanka and are also amongst the world’s top 25 endangered primates.
• They are listed under endangered species as per the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• They are also protected under Schedule 1 of the Indian legislation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972.
• They act as biological predators of pests that harm agricultural crops and help farmers.
• As per reports, there are 14,000 Slender Loris in the Dindigul and Karur forests in Tamil Nadu.

• Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi recently rejected the Pakistan PM Sharif’s statement on the Kashmir issue at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in Astana.

About:

• The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is a multi-national forum for strengthening cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
• It was founded by the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, on 5 October 1992, at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
• India is one of the founding members of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
• To be a member of CICA, a state must have at least a part of its territory in Asia.
• The CICA Summit is convened every four years. The Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs is required to be held every two years.
• The CICA Secretariat – administrative body of CICA – is located in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

About:

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in collaboration with Power-CSIRTs (Computer Security Incident Response Teams in Power sector), successfully designed & conducted the Cyber Security Exercise “PowerEX”.
• The theme of the exercise was “Defending Cyber induced disruption in IT & OT infrastructure”.
• The Objective of the exercise was to “Recognize, Analyse & Respond to Cyber Incident in IT & OT Systems”.

CERT-In:

• The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security in India and strengthen security-related defence of the Indian internet domain.

• The CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories in Bengaluru has successfully conducted the Drone based magnetic survey near Magnetic Hill and Puga Chumthang region of Leh-Ladakh.
• The survey was conducted last month along with the Hyderabad based CSIR National Geophysical Research Institute.
• NAL deployed its OCTA-Copter drone which has a payload capability of 20 kgs at sea level.
• The Director of NAL Dr.Abhay A Pashilkar has issued a statement that its OCTA-Copter drone performed as per the design at the high altitudes of over 3600 meters, withstanding harsh flying conditions of strong and gusty winds.
• The Magnetometer integrated with the drone acquired magnetic data and is being analysed by the National Geophysical Research Institute scientists.
• Pashilkar said that the data will help to plan developmental activities in Ladakh region.

• Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated IInvenTiv – the first-ever all-IITs Research and Development, R&D, Showcase at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi.
• This event is being organized in line with the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.
• The first leg of this two-day event has brought over 300 representatives from industry, including start-ups along with government and embassy officials, and global IIT-alumni.
• Mr Pradhan said, that this event bears testimony to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of ‘Jai Anusandhan’ to build an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• He said, IITs have become instruments of transformation and a bridge to the future.
• Mr Pradhan stated that in the Amrit Kaal, the Anusandhan-led Bharat would be propelled by innovations at the grass roots level and it would seek the participation of all, especially the rural sector.
• He said, IInvenTiv shall be the start of such a revolution and emerge as a key forum which will provide solutions to complex global challenges.
• A total of 75 projects by the 23 IITs are being exhibited at this event.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched ‘Maa Bharati Ke Sapoot’ website for contribution to the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund at a function organised at the National War Memorial Complex in New Delhi.
• This Tri-Service fund, which is utilised for grant of immediate financial assistance to the families of armed personnel of three forces who laid down their lives or get grievously injured in active military operations.
• The amount donated in this fund will provide financial assistance to the families of martyrs and soldiers of all three services.
• Speaking after launching the website, Mr Rajnath Singh said that security is paramount for any society and all sections of the society have an important responsibility towards the welfare of the brave soldiers and their families.
• He also appealed to the countrymen to be associated to this initiative and make contribution for the welfare of the bravehearts.
• On this occasion, the Minister also felicitated the next of kin of fallen heroes and disabled soldiers.
• Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is the ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ of the initiative, expressed his gratitude towards the families of the fallen heroes and exhorted people to come forward and contribute to the fund.
• Anyone or any organisation can make financial assistance.