Daily UPSC Current Affairs 02 Sep 2021

By Sudheer Kumar K|Updated : September 2nd, 2021

The Daily Current Affairs Series covers events of national and international importance sourced from various national newspapers - The Hindu, PIB, The Indian Express, Down to Earth, Livemint, etc.

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Table of Content

Daily Current Affairs: 02 SEP 2021 

Poshan vatikas

(Topic- GS Paper II–Governance, Source-Indian Express)

Why in the news?

  • Union Minister for Women and Child Development has urged all state governments to ensure that all aspirational districts in India have a poshan vatika (nutrition garden) at Anganwadi centres during Nutrition Month which starts from September 1.

About Rashtriya Poshan Mah

  • It is being celebrated under POSHAN Abhiyan (PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) which was launched in 2018.

Objective

  • To encourage Jan Bhagidaari to create a Jan Andolan for addressing malnutrition amongst young children and women and to ensure health and nutrition for everyone.

Nodal Ministry

  • Ministry of Women and Child Development being the nodal Ministry for POSHAN Abhiyaan is celebrating it in convergence with partner Ministries and departments at the National, States/UTs, Districts and grass-root levels.

Features

  • During this month activities related to nutrition awareness will be carried out by all the states/UTs up to the grass-root level.

Related Information

About Poshan Abhiyan

  • It was launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Aim

  • To achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children (0-6 years) and Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) in a time-bound manner and ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022

Targets

  • To reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
  • The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4 %( NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022.

About National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges

  • It has been set up under the Poshan Abhiyaan, the Council is also known as National Council on Nutrition (NCN).
  • It is headed by the Vice-Chairman of the NITI Aayog.
  • It provides policy directions to address nutritional challenges in the country and review programmes.
  • It is national-level coordination and convergence body on nutrition.

Reports related to Malnutrition and sanitation

  • According to the World Bank report that had been released in 2010 had revealed that India suffered a Rs 24,000 crore loss due to lack of sanitation.
  • The health impact on the economy was 38 million dollars. In 2018, an Assocham study revealed that a loss of 4 per cent GDP [is incurred] annually for the country due to malnutrition.
  • The report also found that when children suffering from malnutrition grow up and start earning, they earn 20 per cent less than those who have had healthy childhoods.

National Trust Act, 1999

(Topic- GS Paper II–Governance, Source-PIB)

Why in the news?

  • Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment had organized a meeting with Govt. Officials, NGOs, parents and professionals from UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh for implementation of National Trust Act, 1999 in the Union Territories.

About National Trust

  • It is a statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
  • It is set up under the “National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities” Act 1999.
  • Its fundamental purpose, is to create enabling environment, i.e. provide opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) through comprehensive support systems which will lead towards the development of an inclusive society.

Objectives

  • Enable and empower PWD to live as independently and fully as possible within and close to their community as possible.
  • Facilitate realisation of equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation of persons with disabilities.
  • Extend support to its registered organisations to provide need-based services.
  • Evolve procedures for appointments of guardians and trustees for persons with disabilities.

C.1.2 variant of Covid-19

(Topic- GS Paper III– Science and Technology, Source-Indian Express)

Why in the news?

  • Scientists in South Africa has recently announced that they have found a new variant called 1.2 variant of Covid-19 which is mutating at a rapid pace and can be extremely potent in evading the protection offered by antibodies.

Where was the C.1.2 variant first detected?

  • The C.1.2 variant was first detected in the Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces of South Africa in May 2021.
  • In June, it was also detected in the KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces of South Africa as well as in England and China.

Unique about this variant

  • The study found that C.1.2 has “mutated substantially” in comparison to C.1 variant, which was one of the dominant lineages during the spike in infections during the first wave in South Africa.
  • The study found that C.1.2 is undergoing 41.8 mutations per year, which is “approximately 1.7-fold faster than the current global rate and 1.8-fold faster than the initial estimate of SARS-CoV-2 evolution”.
  • The study also found that there were consistent increases in the number of C.1.2 genomes in South Africa each month, rising from 0.2 per cent of the genomes sequenced in May to 1.6 per cent in June and then to 2 per cent in July.

Key mutations that the C.1.2 carries

  • Scientists have found that C.1.2 carries some of the mutations that were previously seen in the C.1 variant.
  • But it has picked up additional mutations within the ORF1ab, spike, ORF3a, ORF9b, E, M and N proteins.
  • Several of the spike mutations identified in C.1.2 were previously seen in other variants of concern or variants of interest.

ZAPAD 2021 exercise

(Topic- GS Paper III–Defence, Source-The Hindu)

Why in the news?

  • Recently, the Indian Army will participate in Exercise ZAPAD 2021 which will be being held at Nizhniy, Russia from 03 to 16 September 2021.

About ZAPAD 2021 exercise

  • It is one of the theatre level exercises of Russian armed forces and will focus primarily on operations against terrorists.
  • The exercise aims to enhance military and strategic ties amongst the participating nations.

Countries Involved

  • In all, 17 countries have been invited by Russia for the exercise.

Participating countries

  • Of these nine are Participating countries which include Mongolia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Russia, India and Belarus.

Observer countries

  • The other eight countries are Observers which include Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

President’s Colour award

(Topic- GS Paper III–Defense, Source-The Hindu)

Why in the news?

  • President Ram Nath Kovind will award the President’s Colour to Indian Naval Aviation at a ceremonial parade to be held at INS Hansa, Goa.

About President’s Colour award

  • It is the highest honour bestowed on a military unit in recognition of its exceptional service to the nation.
  • It is also known as ′Nishaan′ which is an emblem that will be worn by all unit officers on the left-hand sleeve of their uniform.

Note:

  • The Navy was the first among the armed forces to be awarded the President's Colour on May 27, 1951, by then President Rajendra Prasad.

(Topic- GS Paper III–Defence, Source-The Hindu)

Why in the news?

  • The Indian Navy has recently sealed a contract with Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the supply of the first indigenously developed Naval Anti Drone System (NADS)

About Naval anti-drone system

  • It has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by BEL.
  • It is the first indigenously developed anti-drone system to be inducted into the Indian armed forces.

Features

  • The NADS can instantly detect micro drones and uses a laser-based "kill mechanism" to terminate the targets.
  • The anti-drone technology system of DRDO provides both 'soft kill' and 'hard kill' options to the Indian Armed Forces to tackle fast-emerging aerial threats.
  • NADS uses the help of Radar, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors and radio frequency (RF) detectors to detect and jam the micro drones.
  • It uses the DRDO's RF/Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to detects the frequency which is being used by the controller and the signals are then jammed," the ministry said.

e-Source: Platform to promote reuse, repair, recycle e-waste

(Topic- GS Paper III–Environment, Source-The Hindu)

Why in the news?

  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras is developing a new model to tackle electronic wastes (e-waste) by linking stakeholders in the formal and informal economy.

About e-Source platform

  • e-source is an open-source platform that will evolve towards using machine learning for better traceability of e-waste in compliance with guidelines and help increase the opportunities for repair and re-use of e-waste.
  • It will be an exchange platform that will serve as an online marketplace for waste electrical and electronic equipment and facilitate a formal supply chain between various stakeholders.
  • The initiative is being spearheaded by the Chennai-based Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) which is located at the IIT-Madras campus.

Funding:

  • It is funded by the Government of India’s Department for Science and Technology and the German Academic Exchange Service.

Significance

  • The platform will potentially improve livelihoods for youth and women in peri-urban settings by upgrading their skills and improving occupational health and safety, reduce the flow of toxic materials in waste streams, and broaden the market for affordable, second-hand e-devices.

India and e-waste

  • E-waste is a pressing issue in India and Indian is the world’s third-largest producer of e-waste.

But only five per cent of its e-waste is recycled properly.

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 categorised into 21 types under two broad categories:
    • Information technology and communication equipment.
    • Consumer electrical and electronics.
  • Laws to manage e-waste have been in place in India since 2011, mandating that only authorised dismantlers and recyclers collect e-waste.

 E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 was enacted in 2017.

  • So far, the Environment Ministry has notified 21 types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) as e-waste.

About E-Waste Management Rules, 2016

  • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016 in supersession of the E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011.
  • Over 21 products (Schedule-I) were included under the purview of the rule
  • It included Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury-containing lamps, as well as other such equipment.
  • For the first time, the rules brought the producers under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), along with targets.
  • Producers have been made responsible for the collection of E-waste and its exchange.
  • Various producers can have a separate Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) and ensure collection of E-waste, as well as its disposal in an environmentally sound manner.

About Deposit Refund Scheme

  • The deposit Refund Scheme has been introduced as an additional economic instrument wherein the producer charges an additional amount as a deposit at the time of sale of the electrical and electronic equipment and returns it to the consumer along with interest when the end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment is returned.
  • The role of State Governments has been also introduced to ensure the safety, health and skill development of the workers involved in dismantling and recycling operations.
  • A provision of penalty for violation of rules has also been introduced.
  • Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Committee/Council/Corporation) has been assigned the duty to collect and channelize the orphan products to authorized dismantlers or recyclers.
  • Amendments in E-Waste Management Rules 2016

E-waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018

  • The E-Waste Management Rules 2016 have been amended vide notification G.S.R. 261(E), dated March 22, 2018.
  • The amendment in rules has been done to channelize the E-waste generated in the country towards authorized dismantlers and recyclers to formalize the e-waste recycling sector.
  • The collection targets under the provision of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the Rules have been revised and targets have been introduced for new producers who have started their sales operations recently.

Some of the salient features of the E-waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018 are as follows:

  • The quantity of e-waste collected by producers from 1st October 2016 to 30 September 2017 shall be accounted for in the revised EPR targets until March 2018.
  • Separate e-waste collection targets have been drafted for new producers, i.e. those producers whose number of years of sales operation is less than the average lives of their products. The average lives of the products will be as per the guidelines issued by CPCB from time to time.
  • Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) shall apply to the Central Pollution Control board (CPCB) for registration to undertake activities prescribed in the Rules.
  • Under the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) provisions, the cost for sampling and testing shall be borne by the government for conducting the RoHS test.
  • If the product does not comply with RoHS provisions, then the cost of the test will be borne by the Producers.

Note:

  • India's first e-waste clinic for segregating, processing and disposal of waste from household and commercial units has been set up in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. 

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