Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 3rd October 2024

Electrolyte: Study

Researchers recently developed an electrolyte with high conductivity, formability, and electrochemical stability.

• Electrolytes are minerals that give off an electrical charge when they dissolve in fluids like blood and urine.
• The most familiar electrolytes are acids, bases, and salts which ionize when dissolved in such solvents as water or alcohol.
• Many salts, such as sodium chloride, behave as electrolytes when melted in the absence of any solvent; and some, such as silver iodide, are electrolytes even in the solid state.
• Your body makes electrolytes. You also get these minerals from foods, drinks, and supplements.
• Electrolytes in blood, tissue, urine and other body fluids play a critical role in balancing body fluids, regulating your heart rhythm, and supporting nerve and muscle function.
• An electrolyte imbalance occurs when you have too much or not enough of certain minerals in your body. This imbalance may be a sign of a problem like kidney disease.
• An electrolyte panel is a blood test that measures electrolyte levels.

Five-Hundred Aperture Spherical Telescope : In News

China has kicked off a second phase of construction to enhance the capabilities of the Five-Hundred Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).

• Five-Hundred Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is a radio telescope in China’s Guizhou Province.
• It is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, with a receiving area equivalent to 30 football fields.
• It measures 500 meters in diameter.
• Scientific Goals:
  • Detect neutral hydrogen at the edge of the universe; reconstruct the images of the early universe;
  • Discover pulsars, establish a pulsar timing array, and participate in pulsar navigation and gravitational wave detection in the future;
  • Join the International Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Network to obtain hyperfine structures of celestial bodies;
  • Perform high-resolution radio spectral survey;
  • Detect weak space signals;
  • Participate in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
• FAST uses a data system developed at ICRAR (International Center for Radio Astronomy) in Perth, Australia, and at ESO (European Southern Observatory) to manage the huge amounts of data it generates.

National Mission For Edible Oils – Oil Palm:

The second day of a National Level Multi-Stakeholder Consultative Workshop on Sustainable Oil Palm Cultivation under the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) was held recently.

• National Mission for Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)launched by the Government of India in August 2021, NMEO-OP targets a substantial increase in oil palm cultivation and crude palm oil production.
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a special focus on the Northeast region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with a focus on increasing the area and productivity of oilseeds and Oil Palm.
• A financial outlay of Rs. 11,040 crores have been made for the scheme, out of which Rs. 8,844 crore is the Government of India share and Rs. 2,196 crore is the State share, and this includes the viability gap funding also.
• Targets:
  • To increase the area of oil palm to 10 lakh hectares from 3.5 lakh ha during 2019-20 by 2025-26 (an additional 6.50 lakh ha).
  • To increase the Crude Palm Oil production from 0.27 lakh tonnes during 2019-20 to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26.
  • Increase consumer awareness to maintain a consumption level of 19.00 kg/person/annum till 2025-26.
  • The State Department of Agriculture, State Department of Horticulture, Central University, ICAR-Institutions, CDDs, SAUs, KVKs, Central Agencies/Cooperatives, Oil palm processors/ Associations, DD Kisan, AIR, DD, TV channels will be the implementing stakeholders of the NMEO-Oil palm.

Kuno National Park : In News

With monsoon season almost at its fag end, Kuno National Park is looking forward to augment the prey base for cheetahs.

• Kuno National Park is located in the Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh.
• It is nestled near the Vindhyan Hills.
• It is named after the Kuno River (One of the main tributaries of the Chambal River) that cuts across it.
• Initially established as a wildlife sanctuary, it was only in 2018 that the government changed its status into a national park.
• Kuno National Park was selected under ‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’.
• Kuno is primarily a grassland region, though a few rocky outcrops are found here too.
• Kardhai, Salai, and Khair trees dominate the forested area of Kuno National Park, which is mostly mixed forest.
• The protected area of the forest is home to the jungle cat, Indian leopard, sloth bear, Indian wolf, striped hyena, golden jackal, Bengal fox, and dhole, along with more than 120 bird species.

Anna DARPAN Project:

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has selected Coforge Limited as the System Integrator (SI) for its digital transformation project, Anna DARPAN.

• The project aims to streamline and enhance the supply chain management system at various levels.
• This system will be designed to improve efficiency and productivity by creating an interactive and user-friendly UI design.
• It will also enable data-driven decision-making by leveraging data analytics to support strategic and operational decisions.
• The system will be integrated with internal and external systems, and a mobile-first approach will be prioritized to ensure that it is accessible anytime, anywhere.
• As part of the project, Coforge will be responsible for the end-to-end design, development, implementation, and maintenance of the Anna DARPAN system.
• The development team will leverage the latest technology and a state-of-the-art IT environment to build a cloud-based platform for hosting the system.
• It will be powered by a service mesh architecture, which will facilitate seamless communication among microservices.
• In the requirement gathering, analysis, and documentation phase of the project, Coforge will have extensive visibility into FCI’s operations, including a deep understanding of its requirements, existing process flows, and potential integration opportunities with current FCI-related applications.

Digital Personal Data Protection Act:

NITI Aayog, the top think tank of the government, had opposed some of the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, and particularly red-flagged the changes proposed to the Right to Information (RTI) Act that could “weaken” the legislation.

• The data protection law proposed is an amendment to a section in the RTI Act with such effect that disclosure of personal information about public officials would not be allowed even when these are justified in larger public interest.
  Digital Personal Data Protection Act:
• It is a comprehensive privacy and data protection law that provides guidelines on processing, storing, and securing personal data.
• It aims to regulate the processing of digital personal data while ensuring individuals’ right to protect their data and the need to process it for lawful purposes.
• It protects digital personal data by providing:
  • The obligations of Data Fiduciaries (that is, persons, companies, and government entities who process data) for data processing (that is, collection, storage, or any other operation on personal data);
  • The rights and duties of Data Principals (that is, the person to whom the data relates);
  • Financial penalties for breach of rights, duties, and obligations.

Salient Features of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act:

• It applies to the processing of digital personal data within India where such data is collected in digital form or non-digital form and digitised subsequently.
• It empowers individuals with the right to know and control their personal data.
• This includes rights to access, correction, and erasure of their data, giving citizens greater control over their personal information.
• It mandates that personal data may be processed only for a lawful purpose after obtaining the consent of the Data Principal (who shall have the right to withdraw consent at any time). For a child or a person with a disability, consent will be provided by the parent or legal guardian.

Jal Hi AMRIT Programme:

The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs said that the government has introduced the Jal Hi AMRIT scheme in its first 100 days.

• Jal Hi AMRIT Programme was launched under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme.
• Under this initiative, it is envisaged to incentivise State & UTs to manage the used water (sewage) treatment plants (UWTPs/ STPs) efficiently to ensure recyclable good quality treated water, meeting environmental standards, on a sustained basis.
• The purpose of the exercise is to build competition among the cities, develop capacities and incentivise them to attain the best quality of used treated water at the treatment facilities.
• The main focus is thus on capacity building & incentivizing qualitative improvements in the treated discharge effluent.
• A mid-course assessment and water quality testing will be conducted, culminating in a final assessment & award of Clean Water Credits in terms of a Star-rating (between 3 stars to 5 stars) certificate valid for six months.

AMRUT 2.0 scheme:

• It was launched for a period of five years, from the financial year 2021-22 to the financial year 2025-26.
• It is designed to provide universal coverage of water supply through functional taps to all households in all the statutory towns in the country and coverage of sewerage/septage management in 500 cities covered in the first phase of the AMRUT scheme.

PM Modi Laid Foundation & Dedicated Projects worth Rs.11,200 Crore Projects in Maharashtra:

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone and commenced various projects worth Rs.11,200 crore in Maharashtra. PM Modi inaugurated the Pune Metro section (from District Court to Swargate) marking the completion of the Pune Metro Rail Project (Phase-1) and laid the foundation stone for Swargate-Katraj Extension of Pune Metro Phase-1. PM Modi also dedicated to the nation Bidkin Industrial Area (BIA), PM Modi inaugurated the Solapur Airport and laid the foundation stone for the Memorial for Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule’s First Girls’ School at Bhidewada.

MoS Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel Inaugurated National Conference on PESA Act in New Delhi:

Union Minister of State (MoS) Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) inaugurated and addressed National Conference on the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) at Dr. Ambedkar International Central in New Delhi, Delhi. The conference witnessed the launch of PESA – GPDP (Gram Panchayat Development Plan) portal and seven action-oriented Specialized Training Modules aimed to enhance the effectiveness of GPDPs and training initiatives. The MoPR also introduced initiatives like the Functional Activity Mapping Dashboard for monitoring State actions on the 29 Subjects outlined in the 11th Schedule of the Constitution, the PESA Training Manual for Vth Schedule Areas, and the PESA–GPDP Portal to facilitate village-based development planning.

India ranked 39th in Global Innovation Index 2024:

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) report titled 17th edition of the ‘Global Innovation Index (GII – 2024)– Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship’, India secured the 39th position out of a total of 133 economies with a score of 38.3. In GII 2023, India’s rank was 40th with a score of 38.1. The index has been topped by Switzerland for the 14th consecutive year. It is followed by Sweden at 2nd rank and the United States of America (USA) at 3rd. The GII has been co-published annually since 2007 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), INSEAD( Paris, France), Cornell University( New York, the United States of America, USA). It ranks the world economies according to their innovation capabilities on the basis of 80 indicators.

SEBI Amended Delisting Regulations:

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has amended the Delisting of Equity Shares Regulations, 2024 which has now allowed companies to delist shares through a fixed price process as an alternative to the Reverse Book Building (RRB) process. This will help in facilitating ease of doing business for listed firms. These amendments are introduced by SEBI in exercise of powers given by section 31 read with section 21A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) and section 30, sub-section (1) of section 11 and sub-section (2) of section 11A of the SEBI Act, 1992 (15 of 1992). These new regulations are now known as the SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024.

IDBI Bank Launches OTS scheme for retail NPA borrowers to Boost Recovery:

IDBI Bank has launched the ‘Sugam Rinn Bhugtan Yojana (SUGAM Scheme)‘, a one-time settlement (OTS)/Negotiated Settlement scheme aimed at recovering non-performing retail loans. The scheme is available to borrowers with outstanding principal between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 10 crore, offering relaxed terms for loans classified as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) as of March 31, 2021, and continuing through August 31, 2024. The scheme runs from 2nd September 2024 to 25th March 2025.

Arundhati Roy’s first memoir ‘Mother Mary Comes to Me’ to release in September 2025:

Renowned Indian Author and 1997 Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, is set to publish her first memoir titled “Mother Mary Comes to Me” in September 2025. The book will be published by Penguin Random House.The book offers an intimate account of how she became the person and the writer she is. The book was inspired by the death of her mother and women’s rights activist Mary Roy in September 2022.

Oscar Winning British Actor & Harry Porter Star Dame Maggie Smith Passed Away:

British actor Dame Maggie Smith, a double Oscar winner who is well known for her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series, passed away at the age of 89 in London, the United Kingdom (UK). She was born as ‘Margaret Natalie Smith’ on 28th December 1934 in Ilford, Essex, UK

Dwayne Bravo Retires From All Forms of Cricket:

West Indies cricketer Dwayne Bravo(40-year-old), two-time Men’s Twenty20 (T20) World Cup winner, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. He retired from international cricket in 2021. He has completed a 21-year journey in the field of cricket. His final appearance was cut short by an injury during the 2024 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Dwayne Bravo joins KKR as Mentor; Replaced Gautam Gambhir Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a professional franchise cricket team of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has announced Dwayne Bravo as KKR’s new mentor succeeding Gautam Gambhir.

China Successfully Launched 6 new satellites:

On 20th September 2024, China successfully launched six new satellites – “Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B (01-06)” into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province. Jilin-1 Kuanfu (wideband) 02B satellites numbers 1-6 were launched aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket.This marked the 536th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. This satellite features a high resolution and wide-field-of-view telephoto range imager for high-resolution land observation.