Daily Current Affairs: 11:02:2022
Important News: World
1. One Ocean Summit 2022
Why in News
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the high-level segment of One Ocean Summit on 11 February, 2022.
- The high-level segment of the Summit will also be addressed by several Heads of States and Governments including Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Canada, among others.
Key Points
- One Ocean Summit is being organized by France from 9-11 February, 2022, in Brest, France, in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.
- The objective of the Summit is to mobilize the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.
- Several important initiatives will be launched on this occasion in favour of marine ecosystem protection and sustainable fisheries, intended to fight pollution, in particular from plastics, respond to the impacts of climate change, as well as advocate for improved governance of the oceans.
Source: Business Today
2. India to provide grant to Sri Lanka to implement ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’
Why in News
- India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card.
Key Points
- The government of Sri Lanka has decided to speed up the implementation of a Unitary Digital Identity framework in the country.
- This project comes amid substantive economic assistance from India, worth USD 1.4 billion to Sri Lanka, since the start of 2022 to help Sri Lanka cope with its dollar crunch, and import food, medicines and fuel due to shortages.
About Unitary Digital Identity framework:
- The personal identity verification program is a digital tool that can represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace, and the identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments by combining the two devices.
Note: The government of India had previously agreed to provide a grant to implement the Unitary Digital Identity framework, after bilateral talks between the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.
Source: newsonair
Important News: India
3. Coastal Vulnerability Index prepared by INCOIS
Why in News
- Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has carried out coastal vulnerability assessment for the entire Indian coast at state level to bring out an Atlas comprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI).
Key Points
About Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI):
- The maps determine the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast, the CVI uses the relative risk that physical changes will occur as sea-level rises are quantified based on parameters like: tidal range; wave height; coastal slope; coastal elevation; shoreline change rate; geomorphology; and historical rate of relative sea-level change.
- Coastal vulnerability assessments can be useful information for coastal disaster management and building resilient coastal communities.
About Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS):
- INCOIS, which is an autonomous body under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), issues alerts on Potential Fishing Zone, Ocean State Forecast, Tsunami Early Warning, Storm Surge Early Warning, High Wave Alerts, etc., through dedicated ocean modeling, observations, computation facilities and the marine data center.
Note: India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km i.e. 6100 km of mainland coastline plus coastline of 1197 km Indian islands touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
Source: The Hindu
4. ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ Scheme
Why in News
- Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body established through an Act of Parliament, has invited applications under ‘ABHYAAS’, a program of ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ Scheme, for summer season.
- In a recent notification, the call for applications under components of “KAARYASHALA” and “VRITIKA” for the summer season (May 2022-July 2022) is extended till 28 February 2022.
Key Points
About "Accelerate Vigyan" (AV) Scheme:
- "Accelerate Vigyan" (AV) strives to provide a big push to high-end scientific research and prepare a scientific workforce, which can venture into research careers and a knowledge-based economy.
- AV aims to expand the research base in the country, with three broad goals — consolidation / aggregation of all scientific training programs, initiating high-end orientation workshops and creating opportunities for training and skill internships.
About ‘ABHYAAS’:
- ‘ABHYAAS’, a program of AV scheme, is an attempt to boost research and development in the country by enabling and grooming potential postgraduate / PhD students by developing dedicated research skills in selected areas / disciplines / fields through its two components — high-end workshops (“KAARYASHALA”) and Training and Skill Internship (“VRITIKA”).
- This is especially important for researchers with limited opportunities to access such learning capacities / facilities / infrastructure.
Source: DTE
5. Satellites launched by ISRO
Why in News
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh said in the Rajya Sabha, ISRO has launched a total of 129 satellites of Indian Origin and 342 foreign satellites belonging to 36 countries of which nearly 39 satellites are commercial satellites and rest are nano-satellites since 1975.
Key Points
- India has a total of 53 operational satellites in space. 21 of these are communication satellites, 8 are Navigation satellites, 21 are Earth Observation Satellites and 3 are Science Satellites.
- The satellite enabled data and services are being used for the benefit of various sectors of the country.
- These include Television broadcasting, Direct-to-Home, ATM, Mobile communication, tele-education, tele-medicine and advisories on weather, pest infestation, agro-meteorology and potential fishing zones.
- Satellite data is also used for crop production estimation, crop intensification, and agricultural drought assessment, wasteland inventory, identifying ground water prospect zones, inland aquaculture suitability and disaster risk reduction.
About ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation): It is the national space agency of India. It operates under the Department of Space.
- Founded: 15 August 1969
- Headquarters: Bengaluru
- Chairman: Somanath
Source: PIB
Important News: State
6. India’s first biomass-based hydrogen plant coming up in Madhya Pradesh
Why in News
- The country’s first commercial-scale biomass-based hydrogen plant is coming up in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
Key Points
- The plant will produce a tonne of hydrogen per day, from 30 tonnes of biomass feedstock.
- It will also produce biochar and methane.
- The plant is being put up by a joint venture of Watomo Energies Ltd and Biezel Green Energy with an investment of ₹24 crore.
Source: The Hindu
Important News: Science
7. India to have two National Centres of Excellence in Carbon Capture & Utilization at IIT Bombay & JNCASR, Bengaluru, supported by DST
Why in News
- Two National Centres of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) are being established in India.
- The two Centres, namely the National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCoE-CCU) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai and the National Centre in Carbon Capture and Utilization (NCCCU) at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluruare being set up with support from the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.
Key Points
- Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) is among one such key pathways to reduce emissions while continuing to develop sustainably at an unprecedented pace. CCU aligns with five of the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs), namely, climate action; clean energy, industry, innovation, and infrastructure; responsible consumption and production; and partnerships to achieve the goals.
About Carbon capture and utilization (CCU):
- CCU is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) to be recycled for further usage.
- CCU may offer a response to the global challenge of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions from major stationary (industrial) emitters.
Source: PIB
8. India’s newest mammal: White Cheeked Macaque
Why in News
- Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have found a new mammal species in the country — the White Cheeked Macaque.
Key Points
- Macaque was first discovered in China in 2015, its existence was not known in India before this.
- It is only now that Indian scientists have discovered its presence in the remote Anjaw district in central Arunachal Pradesh.
- The White Cheeked Macaque has distinct white cheeks, long and thick hair on the neck and a longer tail than other Macaque species.
- It is the last mammal to have been discovered in Southeast Asia.
Source: Indian Express
Important News: Personality
9. The Great Khali joins BJP
Why in News
- World-renowned wrestler ‘The Great Khali’, whose real name is Dalip Singh Rana, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Key Points
- Khali made his professional debut in wrestling in 2000 and was a prominent face in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) along with other wrestlers such as The Undertaker, John Cena and Kane.
- Khali was inducted into the 2021 WWE hall of fame.
- Before his career in wrestling, he was an assistant sub-inspector in the Punjab Police.
Source: HT
Important News: Important Days
10. February 11, International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Why in News
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on 11 February every year.
Key Points
Theme:
- Towards the achievement of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), the International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly 2022 will focus on the following theme: “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us".
History:
- The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is the 11th day of February, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on 22 December 2015.
- The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is implemented by UNESCO and UN Women, in collaboration with intergovernmental agencies and institutions, as well as civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science.
Source: un.org
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