Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 24th December 2022

What Is Resolution 2593?

India joins other nations in criticising Taliban’s ban on Women in universities.

Resolution 2593:

• United Nations Security Council Resolution 2593 was adopted on 30 August 2021, following the Fall of Kabul and subsequent Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
• According to the resolution, the Security Council demands that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any other country or to shelter and train terrorists.
• It reaffirms importance of upholding human rights including those of women.

Sahitya Akademy Awards 2022:

The awards, recommended by distinguished jury members were approved by the Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademy under its President Chandrashekhar Kambar.

• The awards in 23 languages included seven books of poetry, six of novel, two of short stories, three dramas, two literary criticism and one each of autobiographical essays, collection of articles and literary history.
• Tamil author Rajendran, Telugu writer Madhuranthakam Narendra and Sanskrit Poet Janardan Prasad Pandey ‘Mani’ were among those selected.
• The Bhasha Samman was awarded to Udaya Nath Jha for his valuable contribution to the field of classical and medieval literature in the eastern region.
• In Assamese language, Manoj Kumar Goswami won the award for his collection of short stories Bhool Satya;Anuradha Roy won in English language for her novel All the Lives we never lived; Gulam Mohammad Shaikh won in Gujarati for Gher Jatan, a collection of autobiographical essays.

Sahitya Akademy Awards:

• The Sahitya Akademi Awardis a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the 8th Schedule to the Indian constitution as well as in English and Rajasthani language.

Lion @ 47: Vision For Amrutkal : Project Lion

Project Lion document titled “Lion @ 47: Vision for Amrutkal” has been prepared by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

• The Project is being implemented in the Gir landscape in Gujarat which is the last home of the Asiatic lion.
• It envisages landscape ecology-based conservation by integrating conservation and eco-development.

Objectives:

• To secure & restore lions’ habitats for managing its growing population
• Scale up livelihood generation and participation of local communities
• To make India a global hub of knowledge on big cat disease diagnostics and treatment
  Create inclusive biodiversity conservation
• State government of Gujarat also gets funding for conservation of wildlife under centrally sponsored scheme – Integrated development of Wildlife Habitats.

Asiatic Lions:

• Scientific name: Panthera leo persica
• IUCN Status: Endangered, CITES: Appendix I, Wildlife Conservation Act: Schedule I

HPV Vaccine For Cervical Cancer:

India is expected to roll out the indigenously developed CERVAVAC vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer among girls aged 9-14 years through their schools by mid-2023.

• The decision was based on the National Technical Advisory Group for Immunisation (NTAGI) recommendation to introduce the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Programme.

CERVAVAC:

• It is India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine that is said to be effective against four strains of the virus – Type 6, Type 11, Type 16 and Type 18.
• A quadrivalent vaccine is a vaccine that works by stimulating an immune response against four different antigens, such as four different viruses or other microorganisms.
• CERVAVAC is based on VLP (Virus-Like Particles), similar to the Hepatitis B vaccination.
• The vaccine has received the Drugs Controller GeneraI of India’s approval and has been cleared by the government advisory panel NTAGI for use in the public health programme.
• It has a significant potential to eliminate cervical cancer and it would be helpful if included in national HPV vaccination efforts and offered at a lower cost than existing vaccinations.
• The vaccine is extremely effective only when it’s administered before the first sexual intercourse.

Key Features Of J&K Land Grant Rules 2022:

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has notified “J&K Land Grant Rules 2022” which has ended the owners right to hold on to properties on lease in the Union Territory (U.T.) and plans to outsource these properties afresh online.

• The new laws replaced “J&K Land Grants Rules 1960”, which had liberal lease policy such as 99-year lease period and extendable.
• Most hotels at famous tourist places in the Valley and prime commercial structures in twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar are on lease land.
• The new laws state that all leases, except the subsisting or expired residential leases, including lease granted under the J&K Land Grants Rules 1960, notified area (All Development Authorities set in tourism sector) Land Grants Rules, 2007 and leases expired or determined prior to the coming into force of these rules or issued under these rules shall not be renewed and shall stand determined.
• The Lieutenant Governor administration plans to hold a fresh online auction to outsource these lease properties.
• All the outgoing lessees would immediately hand over the possession of the land taken on lease to the government, failing which the outgoing lessee shall be evicted.

iDEX And Defence India Start-Up Challenge:

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the flagship initiative of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, has reached a milestone with the signing of its 150th contract.

• The contract relates to an Indian Navy project of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) SPRINT edition.
• iDEX, launched in 2018, is an ecosystem to foster innovation & technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging innovators & entrepreneurs to deliver technologically advanced solutions for modernizing the Indian Military.
• It provides funding/grants to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia to carry out research and development.
• The iDEX-Prime aims to support projects requiring support beyond Rs 1.5 crore up to Rs 10 crore, to help ever-growing start-ups in the defence sector.
• iDEX portal was launched to provide wider publicity and better visibility of iDEX activities and enable more efficient running of future challenges through better information management.
• Objectives:
  • Rapid development of new, indigenized and innovative technology.
  • Creates a culture of engagement with innovative startups to encourage co-creation.
• Funding:
  • iDEX is funded and managed by “Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO)”.
• iDEX has been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Public Policy in Innovation Category for the year 2021.

National Programme On High-Efficiency Solar PV Module:

The Government of India has recently approved the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (Tranche II) on ‘National programme on High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules’, with an outlay of Rs. 19,500 crores

• The national programme on High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules aims to build an ecosystem for the manufacturing of high-efficiency solar PV modules in India.
• Associated Ministry: The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.
• Funding: Under it, the government has provided an outlay of Rs.19,500 crores for achieving manufacturing capacity.
• PLI will be disbursed for 5 years post commissioning of solar PV manufacturing plants on sales of high-efficiency solar PV modules from the domestic market will be incentivised.
• This programme will strengthen the Atamnirbhar Bharat initiative and generate employment.

GRIHA Exemplary Performance Award 2022:

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) headquarters in New Delhi has won the prestigious GRIHA Exemplary Performance Award 2022.

Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA):

• UIDAI believes in and promotes the idea of recycling and reusing to reduce carbon footprint.
• It has been harnessing solar power to meet a portion of its energy consumption.
• It is recycling and reuses water and has been adhering to sustainable waste management practices.
• GRIHA is the national rating system of India for any completed building construction.
• It was jointly set up by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• Objective: To help design green buildings and help evaluate the ‘greenness’ of the buildings.

Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP):

The Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) recently said more than 5,000 internships have been offered under the TULIP.

The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP):

• TULIP is a programme for providing internship opportunities to fresh graduates in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Smart Cities across the country.
• The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has developed this programme.
• At the State level, TULIP will be supported by the Urban Development departments in providing a clear roadmap for the ULBs/smart cities to adopt TULIP in their respective organisations.
• Duration: Internship durations can range from eight weeks to one year.
• TULIP Enhanced employability through “learning by doing” and opportunity to co-create innovation for cities.
• TULIP interns would get exposure in a large number of areas including but not limited to urban planning, urban design, different branches of engineering, information and technology, mobility, finance, social sector issues and environmental issues.
• Strengthen institutional capacity of the urban ecosystem and youth engagement towards urban initiatives, creating an ecosystem wherein youth can contribute towards building a liveable city.
• Skilled, high-quality workforce and innovative citizen-centric solutions that help them address critical challenges.

Dance To Decarbonise : Musical Event

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry will organise a one of its kind musical event, Dance to Decarbonise, National Stadium in New Delhi on December 23, 2022.

Dance to Decarbonise:

• The renewable energy generated through dance will be used to charge electric vehicles.
• The event aims at showcasing India’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 weighing against the country’s growing economy, rising energy requirements, and the implementation of responsible energy sources over transformational energy systems for the future.

Getting India to Net Zero Report:

• The report is prepared by the High-Level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero.
• The High-Level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero was constituted by Asia Society Policy Institute, a New York-based think tank.
• The report contains new research and modelling as well as recommendations about the policies necessary for the clean energy transition.
• It also contains insights about how much India could benefit from achieving the Net Zero status.
• This is the first report of the commission.
• Findings: Ending new coal as soon as possible by 2023 and transitioning from unabated coal power by 2040 would be particularly impactful to get India to net zero emissions sooner.
• By reaching net zero by 2050, India could boost annual GDP by as much as 7.3% ($470 billion), and create nearly 20 million additional jobs by 2032, compared with current policies.