• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Mariano Grossi commended India’s responsible nuclear power record and its global leadership in civil nuclear applications during a meeting with PM.
• The Prime Minister emphasized India’s commitment to safe and secure atomic energy and its ambitious goals to increase environmentally-friendly nuclear power capacity.
• Both sides agreed to explore cooperation between India and IAEA for extending civil nuclear technology applications.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

• IAEA is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.

• The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology.
• India is a founding member of IAEA.
• It is widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace and Development” organization and reports annually to the United Nation General Assembly.
• IAEA is the international centre for cooperation in the nuclear field.
• HQ – Vienna, Austria.
• IAEA works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
• It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for their work for a safe and peaceful world.

• PM on October 24^th greeted the personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police on its raising day and hailed their “indomitable spirit and valour” while protecting the nation.
• In the year 2004, in pursuance of GoM recommendations on “One Border One Force”, the entire stretch of the India-China Border comprising 3488 Kms was assigned to the ITBP for Border Guarding duty and, accordingly, ITBP, replaced Assam Rifles in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in 2004.

ABOUT ITBP

• It is a specialised security force which was constituted after the Indo-China war in 1962.
• It is one of the 7 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
  • Other 6 are – Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Assam rifles and National Security Guard.
• Motto – Shaurya-Dridhata-Karma Nishtha or Valour, Steadfastness and Commitment
• ITBP was initially raised under the CRPF Act. However, in 1992, parliament enacted the ITBPF Act and the rules there under were framed in 1994.
• It trains its personnel in various disciplines including mountaineering and skiing apart from intensive tactical training.
• ITBP presently has 60 service Battalions, 4 Specialist Battalions, 17 Training Centres and 07 logistics establishments with a total strength of approx. 88,432 personnel.

• It is a flagship publication of the International Energy Agency and is the energy world’s most authoritative source of analysis and projections.
• It has been published each year since 1998.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instability in the Middle East could lead to further disruption to energy markets and prices.
• Renewables are set to contribute 80% of new power capacity by 2030.
• Fossil fuel share in the global energy supply to reduce from 80% to 73% by 2030.

INDIA RELATED FINDINGS

• India will see the largest energy demand growth of any country or region in the world over the next three decades.
• In the same period, India’s annual carbon dioxide emissions will be the largest as they will climb to nearly 30% by 2050.
• Over the past five years, solar PV has accounted for nearly 60% of new generation capacity.
• India’s total electricity demand from residential air conditioners in 2050 is most likely to exceed the total amount of electricity consumed across Africa now.
• India is expected to meet its 2030 target to have half of its electricity capacity consisting of non-fossil resources well before the end of the decade.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (IEA)

• It is an autonomous agency within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• It was founded in 1974 to ensure the security of oil supplies, in response to the 1973-1974 oil crises.
• HQ- Paris, France
• Members- 31 member countries and 11 association countries.
  • India joined the organization in 2017 as an Associate member.
• A candidate country to the IEA must be a member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• Criteria for membership
  • Crude oil and/or product reserves are equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, to which the government has immediate access (even if it does not own them directly) and could be used to address disruptions to global oil supply.
  • A demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%.
  • Legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis.
  • Legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request.
  • Measures are in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action.

• The Satyanand Stokes Library of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, bagged the Best Usage of J-Gate@CeRA award for the year 2022.
• The Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA) is an e-Consortium of agricultural libraries under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for National Agricultural Research and Education System Libraries.
• Established in 2007, CeRA is a-first-of-its-kind organisation to facilitate 24×7 online access to select journals in agricultural and allied sciences to all researchers, teachers and students, policy planners, administrators and extension specialists.

• Uttar Pradesh CM recently launched the ‘Mission Mahila Sarathi’ initiative under the state’s Mission Shakti Abhiyan and flagged 51 buses.
• These will be operated exclusively by women as drivers and conductors.
• It will encourage more women empowerment, safety and progress.

• World Development Information Day, celebrated annually on October 24, highlights global development challenges and the importance of international cooperation in addressing these issues.
• The day is also dedicated to propagate information and mobilise public opinion in order to draw their attention.
• In 1972, the UN General Assembly established the World Development Information Day with the objective to direct people’s attention toward developmental problems.

• The Joint bilateral training exercise “Exercise Harimau Shakti 2023”, between Indian & Malaysian Army commenced today in Umroi Cantonment, India.
• The Malaysian Army contingent comprises troops from 5th Royal Battalion of Malaysian Army.
• The Indian contingent is being represented by a Battalion of THE RAJPUT REGIMENT.
• Both sides will rehearse employment of joint forces in jungle/ semi urban / urban environment.
• In addition, intelligence collection, collation and dissemination drills will also be rehearsed.
• The Exercise will also witness employment of Drones/UAVs & Helicopters.
• The training will focus primarily on high degree of physical fitness, conduct of drills at tactical level and sharing of best practices with each other.

• Aadi Mahotsav, the National Tribal Festival – started on 25^th October, at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• The mega event is being organized by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED).
• The Aadi Mahotsav serves as a unique, symbiotic bridge to embark on a journey through the tapestry of India’s indigenous heritage.
• This Aadi Mahotsav, besides other attractions of handicrafts, handloom, pottery, jewellery, will be showcasing ‘Millets grown by Tribals’.

ABOUT TRIFED

• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987.
• It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• HQ-New Delhi
• Objective– socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of the tribal products such as metal craft, tribal textiles, pottery, tribal paintings and pottery on which the tribals depends heavily for major portion of their income.
• TRIFED acts as a facilitator and service provider for tribes to sell their product.

It has been entrusted by the Government of India to implement its proposed Minimum Support Price Scheme for Minor Forest Produce.

• The Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhuyday Yojana (PM- AJAY) has been implemented since 2021-22 with an aim to reduce poverty of the SC communities by generation of additional employment opportunities through Skill development, income generating schemes and other initiatives and to improve socio-economic developmental indicators by ensuring adequate infrastructure and requisite services in the SC dominated villages.

ABOUT PRADHAN MANTRI ANUSUCHIT JAATI ABHUYDAY YOJANA

• It is a merged scheme of 3 Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely-
  • Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY),
  • Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan ( SCA to SCSP) and
  • Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana(BJRCY).
• The Scheme has three components–
  • Development of SC dominated villages into an “Adarsh Gram”– The objective of this component is to ensure integrated development of SC majority villages so that, inter alia, there is:, Adequate infrastructure, all requisite infrastructure necessary for socio-economic development needs are to be provided under the Scheme.
  • ‘Grants-in-aid’ for District/State-level Projects for socio-economic betterment of SCs that may include creation of infrastructure in SC dominated villages including those selected under Adarsh Gram component, construction of Hostels/Residential schools, Comprehensive Livelihood Projects which may include components such as Skill development, related infrastructure development, financial assistance towards loans taken by beneficiaries for acquisition/creation of assets required for livelihood generation etc.
  • Construction of Hostels in higher educational institutions which are top-ranked as per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of Government of India and are funded by the Centre/State/UT Governments either fully or partially.

• A team of researchers has developed a software tool called DANGER (Deleterious and ANticipatable Guides Evaluated by RNA-sequencing) analysis that provides a way for the safer design of genome editing in all organisms with a transcriptome.
• For about a decade, researchers have used the CRISPR technology for genome editing. However, there are some challenges in the use of CRISPR.

ABOUT GENOME EDITING

• Genome editing, or gene editing, refers to technologies that allow researchers to change the genomic DNA of an organism. With these technologies, researchers can add, remove or alter genetic material in the genome.
• CRISPR-Cas9 is a well-known gene editing technology.
• It has a reputation for being more accurate, faster, and less expensive than other similar technologies. However, gene editing using CRISPR technology presents some challenges.
  • The first challenge is that the phenotypic, or observable, effects caused by unexpected CRISPR dynamics are not quantitatively monitored.
  • A second challenge is that the CRISPR technology generally depends on basic genomic data, including the reference genome.
  • The reference genome is like a template that provides researchers with general information on the genome.
  • Unexpected sequence editing with mismatches can occur.
  • These off-target sites are always unexpected.
• DANGER analysis software overcomes these challenges.
• It allows researchers to perform safer on- and off-target assessments without a reference genome.
• It can be performed on various organisms, personal human genomes, and atypical genomes created by diseases and viruses.
• It holds the potential for applications in medicine, agriculture, and biological research.