Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 22nd May 2023

Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V:

The Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V, an ambitious initiative by the Government of India, was recently launched by Union Minister Parshottam Rupala.

• The inauguration of the Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V took place in Karanja, a coastal town situated in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
• The event witnessed the participation of around 6,000 fishermen, fish farmers, and distinguished guests, emphasizing the importance of this endeavor.
• The Sagar Parikrama Yatra Phase-V encompasses a comprehensive route, covering several coastal regions.
• The journey includes visits to iconic locations such as the Gateway of India, Karanja in Raigad District, Mirkarwada in Ratnagiri District, Devgad in Sindhudurg District, Malvan, Vasco, Mormugaon, and Canacona in South Goa.
• This extensive exploration aims to foster connectivity and highlight the significance of these regions in trade, agriculture, and education.

Kudumbashree Celebrates Silver Jubilee:

President Droupadi Murmu, during her recent visit to Kerala, inaugurated the silver jubilee celebrations of Kudumbashree, the largest self-help group network in the country.

• Kudumbashree was established in 1997 in Kerala, aiming at eradicating poverty and empowering women following the recommendations of a government-appointed task force.
• The mission was launched with the support of the Government of India and NABARD
• Kudumbashree meaning ‘prosperity of the family’ in the Malayalam language and therefore focuses on poverty alleviation and women empowerment, promoting democratic leadership and provides support structures within the “Kudumbashree family.”
• The mission operates through a Three-Tier structure consisting of,
  • Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) at the primary level
  • Area Development Societies (ADS) at the ward level
  • Community Development Societies (CDS) at the local government level.
  • This structure forms a large network of Self-Help Groups.

Self-Help Group:

• Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of people who choose to come together to find ways to improve their living conditions.
• It can be defined as a self-governed, peer-controlled information group of people with similar socio-economic backgrounds and having a desire to collectively perform a common purpose.
• SHG relies on the notion of “Self Help” to encourage self-employment and poverty alleviation.

Centre Of Excellence On Sustainable Land Management:

The Union Minister inaugurated Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management at Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) in Dehradun

• The establishment of the CoE-SLM was announced by the Prime Minister of India during the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September, 2019.
• Aims is:;
  • to set Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets,
  • Develop drought risk and early warning systems,
  • Mainstream gender considerations,
  • Promote good governance of land tenure and rights,
  • Assess the impacts of land degradation on greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.
  • To facilitate the restoration of degraded land through technical support, capacity building, and knowledge sharing at the national and sub-national levels.
  • To promote South-South Cooperation and address land degradation issues through sustainable land management practices.

INS Tarini:

The Indian Navy is all set to receive the six-member crew of INSV Tarini, including 2 women officers at the “flag in” ceremony on May 23 at the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC), INS Mandovi, Goa.

• INSV Tarini is returning home after successfully completing the 17000-nautical miles trans-ocean inter-continental voyage in seven months.
• The ‘flag in’ event will showcase the exemplary valour, courage and perseverance of the crew, especially the two women officers, who participated in the entire expedition.
• The two women officers undertook the voyage from Goa to Rio de Janerio via Cape Town and back, spanning over 188 days of sailing on the vessel.
• The current sailing expedition of INSV Tarini is part of the run-up towards the Navy’s next big project to send a woman to circumnavigate the globe solo.
• The officers that participated in this expedition were shortlisted from volunteers after rigorous selection at the Ocean Sailing Node (OSN).
• Ocean Sailing Node was established on 24 Aug 2016 with the aim of promoting and undertaking ocean sailing activities and is located at INS Mandovi.

Third In-Person Quad Leaders Summit:

The Prime Minister of India recently participated in the third in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan

• The Quad leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism.
• They also released the ORAN Security Report to support industry investment in open, interoperable and secure telecom platforms. Quad Investors’ Network has been launched as a private sector-led platform to facilitate investments in strategic technologies.
• Quad Known as the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ (QSD), the Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely — United States of America (USA), India, Australia and Japan. One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
• The group met for the first time in 2007 on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
• It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies, and the forum is maintained by meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills of all the member countries.

Riverine Based Religious Tourism Circuit:

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed to develop a ‘Riverine Based Religious Tourism Circuit’ in Northeast India, connecting seven historic temples along the Brahmaputra River.

• The initiative aims to boost riverine tourism and strengthen the tourism sector in Assam.
• It also intends to establish a modern ferry service operating on a ‘Hop-On Hop-Off’ mode, allowing passengers to conveniently explore these spiritual landmarks.
• To be completed within 12 months
• Funding will be shared between the Sagarmala Development Corporation Limited (SDCL), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), and Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC).

School To Work Transition Workshop:

The Ministry of Education and the World Bank organized a workshop on School-to-Work Transition under the STARS Program.

• The workshop aimed to strengthen vocational education and discuss skill gap analysis in the six STARS states.
• The Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) Programme is a world bank aided initiative, to improve the quality and governance of school education in six Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan through the Samagra Shiksha.
• It would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
• Objectives is to Improve learning assessment systems, strengthen classroom instruction and remediation, facilitate school-to-work transition, and strengthen governance and decentralized management.
• Expected Beneficiaries is  Around 250 million students (between the age of 6 and 17) in 1.5 million schools and over 10 million teachers will benefit from this USD 500 million programme.
• The program strengthens public school education and supports India’s goal of providing ‘Education for All’.
• Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) component enables the program to be responsive to any natural, man-made, and health disasters. It helps the government respond to situations leading to loss of learning such as school closures/infrastructure damage and inadequate facilities.

Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS):

Finance Ministry has announced that it will waive the 20% tax on overseas credit card spending for individuals up to ₹7 lakh per financial year, following criticism and concerns raised by taxpayers and businesses.

• The Reserve Bank of India had introduced a provision to capture overseas credit card spending under the LRS, which allows individuals to remit forex up to $2.5 lakhs annually.
• However, the government’s plan to impose a 20% tax on such spending faced backlash, leading to its current decision to exempt spending up to ₹7 lakh and the continuation of beneficial treatment for education and health payments, under the LRS.
• Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS), remittance refers to the transfer of foreign exchange (forex) by resident individuals in India for various purposes.
• The LRS sets the limit on the amount of money that can be remitted by individuals without requiring specific approvals from regulatory authorities.
• Under LRS Indian individuals can send money outside up to a maximum of $250,000 in a year.
• Aim is to
  • Simplify the process of remitting money outside India and encourage foreign investments by Indian individuals
  • Permissible Transactions Education, travel, medical treatment, gifting, investment in shares or property, etc.
  • Non-Permissible Transactions Trading in foreign exchange or buying lottery tickets
  • Ineligible Entities Corporations, partnership firms, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), Trusts, etc.
• Benefits
  • Diversify investments and assets, finance foreign education or travel
  • Issues Outward remittances may pressure Forex reserves

Sustainable Aviation Fuel:

India successfully flew its first commercial passenger flight using an indigenously produced Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend.

• Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a type of aviation fuel that is produced from renewable sources, unlike traditional fossil-based jet fuels.
• It is considered sustainable because it has a significantly lower carbon footprint and reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional jet fuel.
• It can be derived from various feedstocks, such as plant oils, agricultural waste, forestry residues, and municipal solid waste.
• SAF can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel.
• Also, it is designed to be a drop-in replacement for conventional jet fuel, meaning it can be used in existing aircraft engines without requiring modifications.

Rs 2000 Denomination : RBI

The RBI has decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

• On November 8 2016, the PM of India announced demonetisation, withdrawing two banknotes (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) from circulation with immediate effect.
• The Rs 2000 and the new Rs 500 note were introduced under (Section 26) of the RBI Act 1934, primarily with the objective of meeting the currency requirement of the economy expeditiously.
• With the fulfilment of the objective, the printing of Rs 2000 notes was stopped in 2018-19.
• The RBI issued the majority of the Rs 2000 denomination notes prior to March 2017 – now at the end of their estimated lifespan of 4-5 years.
• Therefore, in pursuance of the Clean Note Policy of the RBI, it has been decided to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

Demonetisation:

• It is the process of eliminating the lawful acceptance status of a monetary unit → The existing types of currency are withdrawn through circulation and supplanted with new currency.
• While demonetization is exceptional, governments around the globe have used it to check – hyperinflation situations, counterfeit currency, terror and tax fraud, and to introduce a new monetary system in some circumstances.

Baralacha La Pass : 76 tourists Rescued

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) recently rescued 76 tourists including seven children stranded at Baralacha La Pass.

• Baralacha La Pass is a high mountain pass located along the Leh-Manali highway that connects Leh district in Ladakh and Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh.
• It is situated in the Zanskar range.
• It lies close to River Bhaga, which originates from the Surya Taal Lake & is a tributary of the River Chenab.
• It is located at the height of 16,040 feet above the sea level and is one of the highest motorable passes in India.
• It also finds mention in Rudyard Kipling’s celebrated novel ‘Kim’, wherein the source of the Suraj Tal is used by the novel’s character Lama to enter into India from Tibet.

Border Roads Organisation (BRO):

• It is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to Indian Armed Forces.
• It was formed on 7 May 1960 to secure India’s borders and develop infrastructure in remote areas of the north and north-east states of the country.
• The organisation motto is Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam (everything is achievable through hardwork).