• The Union Government has launched Rashtriya Puruskar Portal to bring together all the awards of the various Ministries, Departments and agencies of the government under one platform. This has been done to ensure transparency and public partnership.
• Home Ministry said that this common portal facilitates every citizen or organization to nominate individuals or organizations for various awards instituted by the government. It informed that the nominations or recommendations for the Padma Awards are open till 15th of next month, while nominations or recommendations for Jeevan Raksha Padak will be invited till 30th of next month.
• Individuals and organizations can visit Rashtriya Puruskar Portal WWW.AWARDS GOV.IN in for making their nominations or recommendations for various awards constituted by the government.

• Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has said that the country’s Bioeconomy will grow from 70 Billion to 150 Billion US dollars by 2025. He stressed that this can only be achieved with active participation of all the stakeholders in the biotechnology Sector. Dr. Singh said this today during the announcement of 75 “Amrit” Grants for Biotech initiatives involving StartUps, industry, academia and research bodies in integrated collaboration.
• Singh described that the Biotechnology sector has been recognized as one of the key drivers growing exponentially and it will be the main torch bearer of the country’s developed economic status in the Amrit Kaal period of next 25 years.
• Highlighting the 75 Amrit grants Dr. Singh said, 75 inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional grants would be supported for high-risk, ambitious research ideas, milestones-driven collaborative research in all domain-specific areas of the biotech sector in Public-Private Partnership mode.
• The Minister said that Startups, Industries, Academia and Research Bodies can form Team Science Grant in a Public-Private Partnership mode to avail grant of ten to fifteen crore rupees over a period of two to three years for inter-disciplinary, high-quality research.
• He said the grants also would be broadly provided in the areas of health, agribiotech, climate change, synthetic biology and sustainable bioresource management in order to address national priorities to propel India as a global leader in biotechnology.

What is Bioeconomics?

• As per, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bio-economics could be defined as the production, use, and conservation of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation to provide information, products, processes, and services to all economic sectors with the aim of moving towards a sustainable economy.

Historical Background:

• The term bioeconomy became popular in the first decade of the 21^st century following its adoption by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a framework for promoting the use of biotechnology to develop new products and markets.

Examples:

• Food systems occupy the largest niche in the bioeconomy. To these systems, which include Sustainable agriculture, Sustainable Fishing, Forestry and aquaculture, Food and feed manufacturing.

• The three-day Pori festival concluded at the Triloknath temple in Lahaul and Spiti.
• The festival was inaugurated by Technical Education Minister Ram Lal Markanda.
• The festival plays an important role in keeping cultural heritage intact.
• The minister added that the Triloknath temple is worshipped by the Hindus and Buddhists in the form of Lord Shiva and Avalokiteshvara.

• In Himachal Pradesh, the 10th National Conference of Women Police will begin in Shimla. More than two hundred women police officers and employees across the country are participating in this two-day National conference.
• The conference is being organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) in collaboration with Himachal Police.
• Union Minister of State for Home affairs Nityanand Rai will inaugurate the conference.
• The main objective of this conference is to enhance the leadership potential of women police officers and discuss their problems and challenges. It will also highlight and discuss the new roles and responsibilities of women in terms of changing technology and crime.
• State Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu said, at present the strength of women in the police force in Himachal is 13 percent and the women quota in the police has been increased to 25 percent.

• 17-year-old Haryana wrestler Antim Panghal has become the first Indian woman wrestler to win Gold medal at Under-20 World Wrestling Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria. She scored an 8-0 win over Atlyn Shagayeva of Kazakhstan in 53kg category to achieve this feat.
• This gold medal is historic in its own ways as India has never won any gold medal in women’s wrestling at U20 World Championships. Antim Panghal belongs to Haryana’s Bhagana village in the Hisar district.
• Sonam Malik and Priyanka won silver medals in 62 kg and 65 kg respectively after losing the gold medal bouts.

• Exemptions specified in a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with regard to the country of origin would prevail in case of a conflict between the revenue department and an importer, the Finance Ministry has said.
• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said customs field officers should be sensitive to applying CAROTAR and maintain consistency with the provisions of relevant trade agreement or its Rules of Origin.
• Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) or CAROTAR Rules, came into effect from September 21, 2020.
• It empowers officers to seek further information from an importer, consistent with the trade agreement, in case the officer has reasons to believe that the country-of-origin criteria have not been met. Where the importer fails to provide the requisite information, the officer can make further verification consistent with the trade agreement.

About:

• CAROTAR, 2020 set guidelines for enforcement of the ‘rules of origin’ for allowing preferential rate on imports under Free Trade Agreements.
• They supplement the existing operational certification procedures prescribed under different trade agreements.
• They were notified in August, 2020 by the Ministry of Finance.

• Cmde Sanjay Panda Commanding Officer, INS Mandovi flagged off a sailing expedition from Goa to Port Louis, Mauritius at early hours of 20 Aug 22. The expedition is being undertaken by a crew of six (incl three women officers), onboard INSV Tarini.
• Covering a distance of almost 2500nm (approx 4500 km) one way, the crew, over a period of 20 – 21 days is expected to face extreme weather and rough sea conditions of monsoons.
• In addition to sailing in these conditions the crew will also be undertaking boat upkeep, machinery routines and preparing their meals. The passage would be nonstop once they leave the Indian shores.
• The Indian Navy has six ocean going Indian Naval Sailing Vessels (INSVs) viz Mhadei, Tarini, Bulbul, Hariyal, Kadalpura and Neelkanth in her inventory.

• Every year on the 20th of August India observers Akshay Urja Diwas or Renewable Energy Day. Akshay Urja Diwas 2022 or Renewable Energy Day aims to spread awareness about the development and adoption of renewable energy in India.
• Akshay Urja Diwas 2022, marks its importance by promoting and lining up the alarming rate of depletion of Natural resources. This day makes people aware of the use of natural resources like wind energy, solar energy, and hydropower.

HISTORY

• Akshay Urja Diwas was first established in 2004to support renewable energy development programs in India and promote the usage of natural resources. In 2004, the first event was facilitated by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, where he released a stamp with 12000 children forming a human chain to promote the use of green energy sources.

• The Secretary General of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Tenzin Lekphell will arrive in Delhi on a 4-day official visit.
• The Secretary General is visiting India on the invitation of Saurabh Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs.

ABOUT

• BIMSTEC is a regional multilateral organization comprising 7 Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.
• It came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• The seven Member States ae Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
• It has its secretariat at Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• Greece has announced that it has exited the European Union’s enhanced surveillance framework. Country’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made this announcement.
• Mitsotakis said, it ends 12 years of pain and allows the country greater freedom in policymaking. EU officials had confirmed yesterday’s exit earlier this month, saying Athens had delivered on the bulk of its commitments.
• Greece was hit with waves of pension cuts, spending constraint, tax increases and bank controls after it was forced to seek its first bailout in 2010. The economy shrank 25 per cent during the bailouts.
• Greek economic developments and policy have been monitored under the framework since 2018, after Athens exited three international bailouts, totaling more than 260 billion euros, from the European Union and the IMF between 2010 and 2015.