Sarat Chandra IAS Academy brings to you the daily current affairs keeping in mind the changing pattern of the UPSC civil services exam. UPSC Prelims and Mains exams mix the current affairs with static core concepts. So, we give the background explanation for every current topic.
TOPICS OF THE DAY:
- SDG INVESTOR MAP
- INDIA AND FINLAND MOU ON BIODIVERSITY
- 3rd RE-INVEST 2020
- PORTAL FOR TRANSGENDER PERSONS TO GET IDENTITY CERTIFICATE ONLINE
- BENEFICIARIES OF ROSHNI ACT MOVE SC
- GMRT accorded the prestigious IEEE Milestone status
1) SDG INVESTOR MAP:
Relevant to: Prelims GS #Mains: GS 2 and 3
Context: UNDP and Invest India have launched the SDG Investor Map for India, laying out 18 Investment Opportunities Areas (IOAs) in six critical SDG enabling sectors, that can help India push the needle forward on Sustainable Development.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SDG INVESTOR MAP
- Of the 18 IOAs identified, 10 are already mature investable areas that have seen robust Private Equity and Venture Capital activity, and feature companies that have been able to unlock scale and demonstrate profitability.
- The remaining eight IOAs are emerging opportunities, which have seen traction from early stage investors.
- The map has also identified eight White Spaces, which have seen investor interest and have the potential to grow into IOAs within a 5-6-year horizon. However, these require further policy support and private sector participation to mature into commercially attractive IOAs.
- Nearly 50% of the shortlisted IOAs have historical investments that have yielded IRRs in excess of 20%.
- 84% of the IOAs have investment timeframes ranging from the short term (less than 5 years) to the medium-term (between 5- 15 years).
SIGNIFICANCE
- By mapping the overlaps and gaps between public sector priorities and private sector interest, the SDG Investor Map lays out pathways that can bring together private-sector investment and public sector support for 6 SDG-enabling sectors including Education, Healthcare, Agriculture & Allied Activities, Financial Services, Renewable Energy & Alternatives and Sustainable Environment.
- With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the financing gap for the SDGs in India has only widened further and decades of development progress are nearly on the verge of reversal.
- So, investing in the SDGs at this point is crucial to ‘building back better’ and making the economy and our societies more resilient and sustainable.
SDG 2030 Targets:
2) INDIA AND FINLAND MOU ON BIODIVERSITY:
Relevant to: Prelims GS
Context: India and Finland signed Memorandum of Understanding in the field of biodiversity conservation and environment protection. The agreement was signed by the Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and his counterpart Krista Mikkonen of Finland.
Key points
The Memorandum of Understanding
- According to the Memorandum of Understanding, the countries will exchange their best practices in areas such as prevention of air and water pollution, waste management, low carbon solutions, sustainable management of natural resources and promotion of circular economy.
- Also, it will help the countries to develop technological, scientific and management capabilities.
- It aims to develop bilateral cooperation in the field of environmental protection and biodiversity conservation on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit. This will help in the promotion of sustainable development.
- The Minister of Environment Shri Prakash Javadekar made the following announcements while signing the agreement: ? In 2020, India achieved voluntary target of reducing its emission intensity of GDP by 21% as compared to 2005 levels. ? India has set a target of achieving 35% of reducing its carbon emissions well before the 2030 target. Paris Agreement and India
Under Paris Agreement
- India has committed to achieve 40% electric power installation based on non-fossil fuels by 2030.
- Also, under the agreement, India has committed to create carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.
India-Finland :
- The diplomatic relations between India and Finland was established in 1949. The bilateral trade between India and Finland was 1.284 billion USD in 2016-17.
- India mainly exports mineral fuels, electronic goods, mineral oils, cotton, iron and steel, machinery appliances. The major exports of Finland to India are nuclear reactors, pulp of wood, boilers, etc.
3) 3rd RE-INVEST 2020:
Relevant to: Prelims GS
Context: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo (RE-Invest 2020) through video conferencing.
Key points:
- The summit is organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
- The theme for RE-Invest 2020 is ‘Innovations for Sustainable Energy Transition’.
AIM : It aims to accelerate the worldwide effort to scale up development and deployment of renewable energy and connect the global investment community with Indian energy stakeholders.
RENEWABLE ENERGY CAPACITY INCREASED IN INDIA
- In the last 6 years in India, over 4.7 lakh crores have been invested and now India has become a favored destination for the investment in renewable
- Even though Corona has caused the disruption, the renewable energy sector in India has rebounded remarkably.
- India’s renewable energy capacity, in the last 6 years, has increased by two and half times and solar energy capacity has increased over 13 times.
- The non-fossil fuel energy sources in India’s power-generation capacity have increased to 136 GW or about 36% of total capacity and by 2022 the share is expected to be further increased by 220GW.
- The scheme of the Indian government alone has created an assured market and domestic demand of around 40GW of domestically manufactured solar PV Cells and Modules.
ROLE OF RENEWABLES IN THE FARM SECTOR
- Under PM-KUSUM Scheme which aims at replacing 20 lakh diesel pumps with solar pumps, 15 lakh solarized grid-connected pumps and 10GW decentralized solar power plants will be planted in the cultivable lands within the next 4 years.
- In addition, the initiative for including solarization of agricultural feeders under the PMKUSUM Scheme has also been undertaken which will significantly reduce the subsidy burden of states.
4) PORTAL FOR TRANSGENDER PERSONS TO GET IDENTITY CERTIFICATE ONLINE:
Relevant to: Prelims GS #Mains GS 2
Context: The ministry of social justice and empowerment (MSJE) has launched a portal to enable transgender persons to apply online to get their identity certified by the district magistrate without visiting the offices. .
SIGNIFICANCE
- The move is aimed at protecting their privacy.
- The portal will also enable the community members to register their grievances and eventually it will link them to all facilities and schemes online.
- The portal will also help build a database of the community.
THER SUCH STEPS FOR TRANSGENDER PERSONS
- The ministry will also open shelter homes for transgender people who have been forced to leave their homes or abandoned by the family in each state.
- The first such home was e-inaugurated in Gujarat’s Vadodara.
- By March 31 next year, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Patna, Kolkata, Jaipur, Raipur, Bhubaneswar and Manipur will also have such homes to be called “Garima Greh” with a capacity for 25 persons.
- They will be run by transgender community-led organisations.
- These shelters will also provide skill training to connect the community members with livelihood opportunities.
TRANSGENDER PERSONS (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) ACT 2019
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 came into effect in January.
- The law provides for “self-perceived identification” by an applicant for an identity certificate and makes it clear that there would be no medical examination for the same.
5) Beneficiaries of Roshni Act move SC:
Relevant to : # Mains:GS2: Polity and Governance
Context: A petition was filed before the Supreme Court by the beneficiaries claiming they were not even heard by the J&K High Court while saying the law as unconstitutional.
What is Roshni Act?
The J&K State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 is popularly known as the Roshni Act.
What it says?
According to this act, the government will sell the government land (state property) to people residing in those lands before and from 1990 at the cost that will be determined by the people.
What is the motive behind this law?
To use the revenue generated (target is Rs.25,000) by transferring 20 lakh kanals (one-eighth of an acre) of state land to existing occupants for commissioning hydroelectric power projects, hence the name “Roshni”.
What is the controversy over this law?
- Though the Act was passed to raise ?25,000 crore for hydel projects, only ?76 crore was collected.
- In 2018, the then Lieutenant Governor of J&K repealed the Act.
- Later, the High Court also scrapped the Act and directed the authorities to take away the land from the occupants.
- A CBI probe has been ordered into the allotment of land under this law.
6) GMRT accorded the prestigious IEEE Milestone status:
Relevant to: Prelims GS
Context: The Giant Metre wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) has been selected as a ‘Milestone’ facility by the U.S.-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which is the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to advancing technology in all areas related to electrical and electronics engineering.
Key points:
- The IEEE Milestones programme honours significant technical achievements which have global or regional impact. This is only the third such IEEE ‘Milestone’ recognition for an Indian contribution.
- The previous two Indian IEEE Milestones were for the pioneering work done by Sir J.C. Bose to demonstrate the generation and reception of radio waves in 1895 (recognised in 2012), and for the Nobel Prizewinning (in 1930) ‘scattering of light’ phenomenon observed by Sir C.V. Raman in 1928.
- The citation also recognises the scientific work done using GMRT. “The GMRT has produced important discoveries in domains such as pulsars, supernovae, galaxies, quasars, and cosmology, greatly enhancing our understanding of the Universe.”
About GMRT:
- The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) Observatory, located near Pune, Junnar, Narayangaon in India, is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45 metre diameter.
- It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
- One of the aims for the telescope during its development was to search for the highly red shifted 21-cm line radiation from primordial neutral hydrogen clouds in order to determine the epoch of galaxy formation in the universe.
- In February 2020, it helped in the observation of the biggest explosion in the history of the universe, the Ophiuchus Supercluster explosion
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