Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 23rd May 2023

FIPIC Summit 2023:

Prime minister of India meets with Pacific Island nation leaders on sidelines of FIPIC Summit in Papua New Guinea.

• The third forum for India-Pacific islands co-operation (FIPIC Summit), which was held today at Port Moresby was jointly hosted with Papua New Guinea.
• Prime minister of India co- chaired the summit with PM of Papua New Guinea.
• The discussions encompassed various areas of cooperation, including commerce, technology, healthcare, and climate change.

FIPIC:

• Forum for India-Pacific Islands cooperation (FIPIC) is a multinational grouping for cooperation between India and 14 Pacific Islands nations.
• It include 14 islands named- Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
• All Head of state/head of government of the above countries met in Suva, Fiji in November 2014 for the first time where the annual summit was conceptualised.
• The FIPIC initiative marks a serious effort to expand India’s engagement in the Pacific region.

Mega Textile Park:

New Mega Textile Park at Dhar district will strengthen Make in India and will create new job opportunities

• The Parks will come up in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• It is under PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme.
• It will offer the opportunity to create an Integrated Textiles Value Chain right from spinning, weaving, processing/dyeing and printing to garment manufacturing etc. at one location and will reduce the logistics cost of the Industry.
• A Special Purpose Vehicle owned by the Centre and State Government will be set up for each park which will oversee the implementation of the project.
• The Central government’s budget outlay for the scheme, which is ₹4,445 crore, is to be spent till 2027-28.
• Special purpose vehicles, with a 51% equity shareholding of the State government and 49% of the Centre, will be formed for each park

Machilipatnam Port:

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister will inaugurate the Machilipatnam port construction works at Manginapudi in Krishna district.

• Machilipatnam Port is a proposed deep sea port on the coast of Bay of Bengal.
• It is located at Machilipatnam, the District Headquarters of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh.
• The port is developed by the State Government under the landlord model at a cost of Rs 5,156 crore.
• The project is being implemented by Machilipatnam Port Development Corporation Limited (MPDCL), a special purpose vehicle floated by the State government.
• The port is expected to have a capacity of 35 million tonnes in phase one, with four berths, including three general berths and one for coal.
• It would cater to exports of fertilizers, coal, cooking oil, containers, agricultural products, cement, granite, cement clinker, iron ore from Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Telangana.
• Landlord Port Model this model, the publicly governed port authority acts as a regulatory body and as landlord while private companies carry out port operations—mainly cargo-handling activities.

IRIS-T Surface-Launched-Missile (SLM) System:

European Union and NATO members Estonia and Latvia will soon begin negotiations with Germany’s Diehl Defence for the purchase of IRIS-T SLM air defence system.

• IRIS-T Surface-Launched-Missile (SLM) system is the medium-range version of the IRIS-T SL air defense missile system designed and produced by the German company Diehl Defense.
• The system provides comprehensive 360° protection against aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and guided weapons.
• It enables simultaneous engagement of multiple targets from very short to medium-range within extremely brief reaction times.
• It is suited for both mobile and stationary deployment.
• Each system comprises three vehicles: a missile launcher, a radar, and a fire-control radar, with integrated logistics and support.

World Food India 2023:

In celebration of the International Year of Millets in 2023, India’s Ministry of Food Processing Industries will be organizing the second edition of ‘World Food India 2023’, which aims to showcase India’s rich food culture and attract global investments in the diverse food processing sector.

• The event will take place from 3rd-5th November 2023 in New Delhi.
• World Food India 2023 is a gateway to the Indian food economy, facilitating partnerships between Indian and foreign investors.
• It will be a one-of-a-kind gathering of manufacturers, producers, food processors, investors, policymakers, and organisations from across the global food ecosystem.
• It is a promising platform to showcase, connect and collaborate in retail, processing, technology transfer, manufacturing, and cold chain logistics, along the global food value chain.
• It will showcase investment opportunities in backward linkages, processing equipment, research and development, cold chain storage, start-ups, logistics, and retail chains.

Annual Forex Spends Up To ₹7 Lakh Exempted From TCS:

India will not impose a 20% tax on spending of up to 7 lakh rupees through international debit and credit cards in a financial year to eliminate any procedural uncertainties.

• This decision comes in response to concerns raised regarding the application of Tax Collection at Source (TCS) to small transactions under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) from July 1, 2023.
• It clarified that expenditures up to ₹7 lakh per year would neither fall under the LRS nor be subject to TCS.
• To facilitate this exemption, the necessary changes to the Foreign Exchange Management 2000 would be separately issued.
• Additionally, the ministry emphasised that the existing beneficial TCS treatment for education and health payments would continue, with a TCS rate of 5% for such payments up to ₹7 lakh per year.
• Also, the Reserve Bank of India recently introduced a new provision under the LRS, allowing individuals to make forex remittances of up to USD 2.5 lakh annually.

Calcium-41 : New Method For Radiometric Dating

Scientists have suggested using Calcium-41 for Radiometric Dating as an alternative to Carbon-14 for determining the age of fossilized bones and rocks.

• They have suggested a technique called Atom-Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA) as a solution, because ATTA is sensitive enough to spot Calcium-41, which is a rare isotope.
• Calcium-41 is a rare long-lived radioisotope of calcium with a half-life of 99,400 years.
• Calcium-41 is produced in the Earth’s crust when cosmic rays from space collide with calcium atoms in soil or rocks.
• This isotope has the potential to be employed in dating methods for objects that are older than what can be accurately determined using carbon-14 dating.
• ATTA is based on laser manipulation and detection of neutral atoms.
• The sample is vaporized, and the atoms are laser-cooled and loaded into a light and magnetic field cage.
• By tuning the laser’s frequency, Calcium-41 atoms can be detected through electron transitions.
• Electron transition: In an atom, an electron in one orbital can transition to the next if it’s given a specific amount of energy; then it jumps back by releasing that energy.
• The researchers reported being able to spot one calcium-41 atom in every 1016 calcium atoms with 12% precision in seawater.
• It is selective and avoids confusion with potassium-41 atoms.

e-Malkhana:

Visakhapatnam City police is set to introduce e-Malkhana in all police stations by June this year.

• e-Malkhana is a scientific storage system implemented by the Visakhapatnam Police Commissionerate to preserve and organize items and evidence recovered from crime scenes.
• The system uses standardized cardboard boxes labelled with unique numbers and QR codes for easy retrieval and access to case-related information.
• It enhances efficiency, transparency, and the chain of custody for law enforcement officials.

Operation Dhvast:

NIA’s Operation Dhvast was a nationwide operation targeting terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers. It involved raids at 129 locations across multiple states, resulting in three arrests.

• The operation aimed to dismantle the terror nexus involved in targeted killings, terror funding, extortion, and smuggling of drugs and weapons.
• NIA(National Investigation Agency)
• It was founded in 31st Dec 2008; HQ: New Delhi; Under Home Ministry
• It is the primary anti-terror investigation task force of India.
• The agency is empowered to deal with the investigation of terror-related crimes across states without special permission from the states under a written proclamation from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It has the authority to take over cases from state police forces and other agencies.
• It seeks the sanction of the Central government for prosecuting accused individuals under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other scheduled offences.