Daily Current Affairs 28 February 2022 | WBCS, WBPSC, WBP

Daily Current Affairs: 28:02:2022

Important News: International

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)

Context

• The European Union, US, UK and allies have agreed to exclude a number of Russian banks from Swift, an international payment system used by thousands of financial institutions.

About the SWIFT

• The SWIFT system stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
• It is a secure platform for financial institutions to exchange information about global monetary transactions such as money transfers.
• It does not move money; it operates as a middleman to verify information of transactions by providing secure financial messaging services to more than 11,000 banks in over 200 countries.
• It is overseen by the central banks from eleven industrial countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, besides Belgium.
• It is based in Belgium.

Effects on Russia

• The statement from EU, the US, the UK and others said the move would "ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally".
• The aim is for Russian companies to lose access to the normally smooth and instant transactions provided by Swift.
• Payments for its valuable energy and agricultural products will be severely disrupted.
• Banks would be likely to have to deal directly with one another, adding delays and extra costs, and ultimately cutting off revenues for the Russian government.

Note:

• Prior to this, only one country had been cut off from SWIFT — Iran.

Source-Indian Express

USCC’s International IP Index 2022: India ranks 43rd

Why in News

• India has ranked 43 out of 55 countries on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index 2022 (10^th edition).
• This index was released by the Global Innovation Policy Center of the US Chambers of Commerce (USCC).

Key Points

The top 3 countries in the ranking are:

• Rank 1- United States
• Rank 2- United Kingdom
• Rank 3- Germany
• The International IP Index benchmarks the IP framework in 55 global economies across 50 unique indicators.
• India's overall score has increased from 38.40 percent in the ninth edition to 38.64 percent in the 10th edition.

Source: Business Standard

Immigration Visa Foreigners Registration Tracking (IVFRT) Scheme

Why in News

• The Government has approved the continuation of the Immigration Visa Foreigners Registration Tracking(IVFRT) Scheme beyond March 31, 2021 for a period of five years from  April 1, 2021 to  March 31, 2026 with a financial outlay of Rs.1,364.88 crore.

Key Points

• The Ministry of Home Affairs aims to providea secure and integrated service delivery framework that facilitates legitimate travelers while strengthening national security, through this scheme.
• The project has a global outreach and seeks to interlink and optimize functions relating to immigration, visa issuance, registration of foreigners and tracking of their movements in India by covering 192 Indian Missions across the globe, 108 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India, 12 Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) and offices and more than 700 Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs), Superintendents of Police (SPs)/Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) across the country.
• After the commencement of IVFRT, the number of Visa and OCI cards issued increased from 44.43 lakh in 2014 to 64.59 lakh in 2019 at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.7 percent. 
• Average visa processing time of 15 to 30 days (during pre-IVFRT period) has been reduced to a maximum of 72 hours in e-visas, with 95 percent of e-visas issued within 24 hours. 
• International traffic to and from India grew from 3.71 crore to 7.5 crore during the last 10 years at a CAGR of 7.2 percent.

Source: ET

Important News: India

Reintroduction of Cheetah

Why in news

• Recently, an expert team of wildlife officials from Madhya Pradesh, the Indian Forestry department and the Wildlife Institute of India visited Namibia for a site visit for the transfer of Cheetah.
• It has been done under the action plan' launched at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Provision of Action Plan

• The action plan states that a cohort of around 10-12 young cheetahs that are ideal for reintroduction would be imported from Namibia or South Africa as a founder stock during the first year.
• The animals' lineage and genetic history will be examined to ensure that they are not from an excessively inbred stock and are in the ideal age group so that they make up a suitable founding population.
• The proposed site for introduction is the Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, though at least three other reserves in Central India are being considered.

About Cheetah

• The scientific name of Cheetah is Acinonyx Jubatus.
• It is the fastest land animal.

Conservation Status

African Cheetah

• IUCN status - Vulnerable     
• CITES status - Appendix-I of the List

Asiatic Cheetah

• IUCN Status - Critically Endangered.
• CITES status- Appendix-I of the List.

Note:

• In India, Cheetah was declared extinct India in 1952. It is the only large mammal to have been declared extinct in our country in recorded history.

Source-Indian Express

India’s first dugong reserve in Palk Bay

Context

• The Tamil Nadu government has begun work to form India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in the Palk Bay region.

About the Dugong

• Dugong (Dugong dugon) also called ‘Sea Cow’ .
• It is the only existing species of herbivorous mammal that lives exclusively in the sea including in India.

Conservation Status

• They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
• These are protected in India under Schedule I of the Wild (Life) Protection Act, 1972.

Steps Taken for Conservation:

• India has signed non-legally binding Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) on the conservation and management of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008) and Raptors (2016).
• The Environment Ministry also constituted a ‘Task Force for Conservation of Dugongs’ to look into issues related to conservation of dugongs and implementation of the ‘UNEP/CMS Dugong MoU’ in India.
• It also facilitates India to act as the leading nation in the South Asia Sub-region with respect to dugong conservation.

Source-Indian Express

Bhasha Certificate Selfie campaign

Context

• Ministry of Education has recently started the Bhasha Certifiate Selfie campaign under the aegis of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

About the Bhasha Certificate Selfie campaign

• It will aim to ensure that people acquire basic conversational skills in Indian languages.
• It also promotes the Bhasha Sangam mobile app, developed by the Ministry of Education and MyGov India.
• Using the app, people can learn 100+ sentences of daily use in as many as 22 scheduled Indian languages.
• The ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’ initiative is encouraging people to upload their selfie with the certificate from their social media accounts using the hashtag #BhashaCertificateSelfie.

Related Information

About Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education which was launched in 2015.
• Its primary objective is to strengthen cultural relations of various regions in the country and to encourage mutual connection between people residing in different states.
• The scheme aims at celebrating unity in the diverse culture of the nation and to bolstering sentimental bonds among the people of different states.

Source-PIB

India's first e-waste eco-park

Context

• The Delhi Cabinet has approved the construction of India's first 'e-waste eco park' for the effective management of e-waste.

About the 'e-waste eco park'

• The eco-park will provide training and tools to people in the informal sector to "groom them as formal recyclers.
• Park to recycle, re-manufacture e-waste.
• The park is also likely to have a refurbishing market, which will sell electronic goods like laptops, mobiles, chargers and batteries.

Related Information

About E-Waste

• E-Waste is short for Electronic-Waste and the term is used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded electronic appliances.
• It includes their components, consumables, parts and spares.

It is XXXcategorized into 21 types under two broad categories:

1. Information technology and communication equipment.
2. Consumer electrical and electronics.

Source-The Hindu

Flights under ‘Operation Ganga’ to evacuate stranded Indian nationals in Ukraine

Why in News

• Following the closure of Ukrainian airspace, India is facilitating evacuation of stranded Indians from Ukraine through its land border crossings with Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
• India has named the evacuation mission as 'Operation Ganga'.

Key Points

• The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since February 24 when the Russian military offensive began. 

Note:

• Ukraine is in the east of Europe, and is bound by Russia to its northeast, east, and southeast, and the Black Sea in the south.
• In the southwest, west, and north, Ukraine shares borders, in the clockwise direction, with Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Belarus
• Recently, Russia recognised two independent republics out of Ukraine (Donetsk and Luhansk - Donbass region), signaling the inevitable war that followed.

Source: India Today

Important News: Science & Technology

International Space Station (ISS)

Context

• A widely circulated comment by the chief of Russian space agency Dimitry Rogozin has ignited fears that the tension following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have consequences for the International Space Station (ISS).

About International Space Station (ISS)

• It is a manmade space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
• The ISS has been in operation since 1998 and is expected to continue at least till 2028.
• However, Russia has indicated that it might pull out of the collaboration earlier, possibly by 2024.
• It is a joint project between five participating space agencies:
• NASA (United States),
• Roscosmos (Russia),
• JAXA (Japan),
• ESA (Europe),
• CSA (Canada)

Facility

• The facility is used for carrying out a variety of zero-gravity experiments, space exploratory studies, and technology development.

Note:

• The ISS is not the first space station to be built and operated.
• Several smaller space stations have been used earlier, the most famous of which has been the Russian Mir space station that operated in the 1980s, and the American Skylab.

Source-Indian Express

Important News: Important Days

National Science Day

• National Science Day is celebrated every year on 28th February to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’.
• Theme: - Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future

About the National Science day

• On this day, Indian Physicist Sir C.V. Raman announced the discovery of the 'Raman Effect' for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.
• In 1986, the Government of India designated 28 February as National Science Day.
• The day is aimed at spreading the message of the importance of science and its application in human life.

Important News: Defence

The joint military exercise, “EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022”, between India and Japa

Why in News

• A joint military exercise, “EX DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022”, between India and Japan has been started at Foreign Training Node, Belagavi (Belgaum, Karnataka) on 27 February 2022. It will continue till 10 March 2022.

Key Points

• Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN-2022 is an annual training event which is being conducted in India since 2018.
• It will enhance the level of defence co-operation between Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces, which in turn will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.
• The scope of this exercise covers platoon level joint training on operations in jungle and semi urban/urban terrain.

Source: PIB