• The Environment (Protection) Act (EPA)was enacted in 1986 with the objective of providing the protection and improvement of the environment.
• The Environment Ministry proposes to soften the provisions of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) by replacing a clause that provides for imprisoning violators with one that only requires them to pay a fine. This, however, doesn’t apply to violations that cause grave injury or loss of life. The proposed fines, in lieu of imprisonment, are also 5-500 times greater than those currently levied.
• The Act currently says that violators will be punishable with imprisonment up to five years or with a fine up to ₹1 lakh, or with both. Were violations to continue, an additional fine of up to ₹5,000 for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction would be levied. There’s also a provision for jail terms to extend to seven years.
• According to Ministry, the rationale governing the amendments, to decriminalise existing provisions of the EPA to weed out “fear of imprisonment for simple violations”.
• The two major changes proposed are appointing an “adjudication officer” who would decide on a penalty in cases of environmental violations such as reports not being submitted or information not provided when demanded. However, in case of serious violations which lead to grievous injury or loss of life, they shall be covered under the provision of Indian Penal Code, 1860 read with Section 24 of EP Act.
• Funds collected as penalties would be accrued in an “Environmental Protection Fund”.
• In case of contraventions of the Act, the penalties could extend to anywhere from ₹5 lakh to ₹5 crore, the proposal notes.
• The removal of prison terms also applies to the Air Act, that is the cornerstone legislation for dealing with air pollution, and the Water Act, which deals with violations to water bodies.

• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Indian Army’s Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), succeeding fellow officer Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar.
• Lt General Subramanian has a distinguished military career with the Indian Army spanning over 36 years. Most recently, he served as the General Officer Commanding, Military Region (Operational and Logistic Readiness Zone) in central India, contributing to the Army’s operational and logistic preparedness.
• In addition to Lt. Gen Subramanian’s appointment, India has provided fifteen Force Commanders, two military advisors, one deputy military advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, two divisions commanders and eight Deputy Force Commanders in various United Nations missions.

What is the UNMISS?

• In 2011, South Sudan gained independence and became a new country. The creation of South Sudan marked the end of a deadly conflict spanning more than 20 years and a civil war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
• However, assessing the security situation in South Sudan as volatile and posing a threat to international peace even after its independence, the UNMISS was first established in 2011 under Security Council Resolution 1996.
• The mission has four main pillars which include protecting civilians, and creating conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance. It also supports the implementation of the “revitalised agreement and the peace process” and monitors, investigates, and reports on violations of humanitarian and human rights law.
• Since its inception, the Security Council resolution has been renewed every year with the UN body maintaining that the situation in South Sudan continues to pose a threat to global security. In fact, this year, the Security Council Resolution 2625 was adopted to renew the UNMISS till 15 March 2023.
• India for decades has had a strong association and presence with UN peacekeeping missions. Since 1948, over 2,00,000 Indians have served in 49 UN peacekeeping missions. Currently, India has a presence in eight out of fourteen UN peacekeeping missions, with 5,400 military personnel serving.

• Plant Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA), with the support of the Nagpur Dall Millers Cluster, will set up a plant protein cluster in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• According to a statement from the association, the cluster will aim to make India a credible global supplier of plant proteins.
• Nagpur is a strategic location because of the availability of raw materials, workforce and land.
• Plant based food market is expected to grow from ₹2,000 crores in 2022 to ₹40,000 crores by 2032.
• Eat Just, a US ­based producer of plant-based egg alternatives, procures its main ingredient — mung beans (indigenous to the Indian subcontinent) —from Myanmar rather than the main producer, India.
• The plant-based food can enhance the export potential.
• APEDA is working to create export standards for vegan products to address the huge overseas opportunity, based on the principle of ‘Ahimsa Parmo Dharma’, increasing farmers’ income and addressing climate change.

• Typhoon is a regionally specific name for a strong Tropical Cyclone.
• A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation.
• A typhoon made landfall in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture, bringing with it torrential downpours and thunder amid unstable atmospheric pressure in the eastern and northern parts of the country.
• The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has warned that Aere could trigger landslides, rough seas, flooding in low-lying areas as rivers breach their banks, as well as warning of thunder and lightning strikes.
• The slow-moving typhoon that is forecast to be downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system, is moving slowly eastward toward western and central parts of Japan.
• Typhoon Aere, had an atmospheric pressure of 1,000 hectopascals at its center and was packing winds up to 90 km per hour.
• The Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) Tokyo – Typhoon Centre assigns the name for a tropical cyclone.

• Haryana is promoting dragon fruit cultivation by giving Rs 1,20,000 per acre grant for dragon fruit orchards.
• According to additional chief secretary, agriculture and farmers’ welfare department, a special grant scheme has been implemented by the government to encourage the cultivation of dragon fruit. Dragon fruit is in great demand in the market due to which farmers can make good profits by cultivating this fruit.
• There is a provision of a grant of Rs. 1,20,000 per acre for the dragon fruit orchard. In which Rs. 50,000 is for planting saplings and Rs.70,000 per acre for trawling system. For planting saplings, a grant of Rs. 50,000 will be given in three instalments of Rs. 30,000 in the first year, Rs. 10,000 in the second year, and Rs. 10,000 in the third year.
• The farmers can get good profits by planting more orchards of different kinds of fruit. While establishing orchards saves water, fruit orchards help in increasing the income of the farmers.
• Under this scheme, a farmer can avail of the facility of the grant of up to a maximum of 10 acres. To get the grant, it is mandatory for the farmers to register on the ‘Meri Fasal-Mera Byora’ portal.
• The grant will be given on a ‘first come-first serve’ basis. Farmers can take advantage of the scheme by applying on the website of the horticulture department.

• Himurja is encouraging people of Mandi district to set up rooftop solar power plants to meet the domestic power demand.
• The Centre and the state government are providing subsidies to consumers for the rooftop solar power plants.
• To make people aware of the benefits of solar energy, the Himurja department is organising awareness camps in the district.
• To encourage domestic consumers, the government has proposed to enhance the subsidy from Rs 4,000 per kw to Rs 6,000 per kw this year.
• Himurja has fixed the rates of the plants — 1kw to 3 kw plants will cost Rs 50,000 per kw while 4-10 kw plants to cost Rs 48,600 per kw.
• The Centre offers 40 per cent subsidy on solar panels of 1-3 kw and 20 per cent subsidy on panels of 4-10 kw.
• The Centre has fixed a target of 10 megawatt for the state through roof-top solar panels by 2024.

• The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will charge women travelers only half the fare for their travel within the state.
• At Launching of the scheme ‘Naari Ko Naman’, Chief Minister also issued concessional tickets to women.
• Seema Thakur, the first woman bus driver in the state, drove him in a state transport bus to the event venue.
• The chief minister had announced the 50 percent concession on bus fares to women on April 15, Himachal Day.
• In another scheme, CM announced a reduction in the minimum bus fare from Rs 7 to Rs 5 for all passengers across the state.
• According to CM, the government will sanction 25 new posts of women drivers in the ‘Ride with Pride’ government taxi service – an initiative to ferry women passengers and senior citizens.

• Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra spoke to Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs, in a high-level talk in order to activate a shorter and sanctions-proof route between Russia and India. Almost a dozen countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus will also benefit from the route.
• Recently, Iran’s state-run shipping company had successfully completed the first transit of Russian goods to India using the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).
• India has requested for the Chabahar Port to be brought under the INSTC ambit.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin also reiterated on the importance of the INSTC and emphasized on making the Caspian basin, the hub of energy and logistics.
• Significantly, ONGC Videsh Limited had a stake in the Satpayev oil block, but decided to exit after it could not find commercially exploitable oil.
• Interestingly, all 18-odd countries touched by the INSTC route have never been active backers of unilateral sanctions announced periodically by the West.
• Recently,Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had visited India and held talks on regional connectivity which entailed reviewing the progress made at the Shahid Beheshti terminal, Chabahar that will provide sea access to landlocked Afghanistan and emerge as a commercial transit hub for the region, including Central Asia.
• As if in acknowledgement of the developing ties, a few days later India abstained from voting against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting.
• Last month, a test cargo of 41 tonnes of wooden laminate sheets left St Petersburg for the Russian port of Astrakhan and from there, it was shipped to Iran’s Anzali Caspian port. It was then taken by road across Iran to Bandar Abbas from where the cargo was shipped to Mumbai. The entire journey took 24 days and is likely to become quicker once the trans-Iranian railway is completed.
• Traditionally, shipments from South Asia go via the Suez Canal to the ports of Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium), Piraeus (Greece) and Valencia (Spain). All of these places are amenable to the West’s diktat on unilateral sanctions.

• In an effort to achieve self-reliance in Defence manufacturing, the Navy has proposed to develop and induct at least 75 new technologies or products in the coming year.
• It will be part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to celebrate the 75th year of independence.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) to work on a collaborative project named SPRINT (Supporting PoleVaulting in Research and Development through iDEX, NIIO and TDAC).
• The Navy in conjunction with the DIO will unveil the problem statements for Indian Industries as part of iDEX(SPRINT) during the NIIO Seminar ‘Swavlamban 2022’ scheduled on July 18-19 at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
• The purpose of the Seminar is to engage the Indian Industry and Academia towards achieving ‘Self-reliance in Defence Sector.
• The Defence Acquisition Policy (DAP 2020) envisages creation of ‘Innovation and Indigenisation Organisations (IIOs)’ within Service Headquarters.
• The NIIO was launched on August 13, 2020 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The NIIO is a three-tiered mechanism headed by Vice Chief of Naval Staff. At apex level, the Naval Technology Acceleration Council (NTAC) has been constituted to bring together twin aspects of innovation and indigenisation and accelerate induction of disruptive combat technology into Navy so as to enhance war fighting capabilities.
• The NTAC meets every six months and gives apex level directives. It consists of ex-officio members as well as nominated members of technical expertise and standing, both from within Navy and civilians, scientists and industry.

• World Zoonoses Day was instituted on 6^th July 1885 to educate and raise awareness about zoonotic diseases that can transmit from animals to humans.
• It commemorates French biologist Louis Pasteur, who administered the first dose of the first vaccine against rabies.

What Are Zoonoses?

• Zoonosis or a zoonotic disease is an infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. Animals can often carry harmful germs which may spread to people and cause illnesses, known as zoonoses.
• Pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi may cause zoonotic diseases. The pathogens may cause different types of illnesses in people and animals, ranging from mild to serious illness, and sometimes, death.
• There are over 200 known types of zoonoses, which comprise a large percentage of new and existing diseases in humans. Rabies is a zoonotic disease which is 100 per cent preventable through vaccination and other methods.
• Zoonotic pathogens may spread to humans through direct contact or through food, water or the environment, and represent a major public health problem around the world.