Today’s Current Affairs: 3rd Mar 2024 for UPSC IAS exams, State PSC exams, SSC CGL, State SSC, RRB, Railways, Banking Exam & IBPS, etc
Table of Contents
Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project:
The recent Nepal-India official dialogue did not address progress on the significant Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP), despite the signing of a long-term power-sharing agreement over a month ago.
- The project remains stalled due to disagreements over benefit sharing, posing challenges to its initiation.
- Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP) is a joint hydropower initiative situated on the Mahakali River, shared by Nepal and India.
- It is governed by the integrated Mahakali Treaty signed in 1996.
- The project aims to generate approximately 6,480 MW of energy, with equal division between the two countries, and provide irrigation water for 130,000 hectares of land in Nepal and 240,000 hectares in India
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023:
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam introduces changes in electronic evidence provisions, addressing definitions and admissibility concerns.
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam is a new criminal law in India that replaces the Indian Evidence Act.
- It introduces changes in provisions relating to electronic evidence, including definitions and admissibility procedures.
- It is part of the three new criminal laws, the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (replacing IPC), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (replacing CrPC), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (replacing IEA), will be enforced from July 1, 2024.
- The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam retains much of the Indian Evidence Act’s content, with minor changes in secondary evidence scope and electronic evidence provisions.
International Intellectual Property Index : 12th Edition
The US Chamber of Commerce released its 12th edition of the International IP (Intellectual Property) Index, where India ranked 42 out of 55 countries with an overall score of 38.64%.
- The United States topped the list, followed by the United Kingdom and France.
- The index assesses the IP framework of the world’s top economies, noting 20 economies showing significant improvement.
- While India’s IP framework is strengthening, it still lags behind the top performers.
- The top 10 economies for IP rights include the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland.
- Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. It can include the subject matter, methods, and tools created as part of research or studies.
66th Meeting Of Network Planning Group:
The 66th meeting of Network Planning Group (NPG) was held under the chairpersonship of Additional Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
- Network Planning Group is an Integrated Multimodal Network Planning Group (NPG) with heads of Network Planning Division of all connectivity infrastructure Ministries & Departments.
- It is responsible for unified planning and integration of the proposals and assist the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) in respect of its mandate.
- It facilitates regular interactions between the stakeholders.
- It will guide all the Departments/ Ministries responsible for creation of economic zones and connectivity infrastructure during the planning phase itself.
- The parameters/prescribed norms of the overall National Master Plan will be the overarching objective of the NPG for examining and sanctioning future projects thus leading to minimising of disruptions and strive for the creation of an ideal & efficient operating system for all infrastructure projects in the country.
- Its role is to ensure:
- integration of networks;
- enhance optimization through modification/expansion/new network creation;
- avoid duplication of works for holistic development of any region;
- reduction logistics costs through micro-plan detailing.
Exercise Samudra Laksamana:
The Exercise Samudra Laksamana kicked off on February 28 and will continue until March 2, taking place at or off the coast of Visakhapatnam.
- Exercise Samudra Laksamana is a joint naval exercise between the Indian Navy and Royal Malaysian Navy.
- It is the 3rd edition of this exercise.
- Indian Naval Ship Kiltan and Royal Malaysian Ship KD Lekir are participating in this exercise which has harbour professional interactions followed by the operational phase at sea.
- At harbour, crew of both ships will have various professional interactions, Subject Matter Expert Exchange on topics of mutual interest, sports fixtures, and other interactions.
- These interactions are aimed to enhance knowledge base, share best practices and further cooperation on maritime aspects. The exercise aims to strengthen bonds and enhance interoperability between the Indian and Royal Malaysian Navy.
- INS Kiltan is an indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette
- This is the third of the four Kamorta-class corvettes being built under Project 28.
Genome India Project : 10,000 Indian Genomes Sequencing
The Genome India Project recently announced that it had finished sequencing 10,000 Indian genomes.
- Genome India Project is a pan-India initiative focused on the whole genome sequencing of representative populations across India.
- The goal is to start with and execute whole genome sequencing and subsequent data analysis of 10,000 individuals representing the country’s diverse population.
- This is a mission-mode, multi-institution consortium project, the first of its kind in India, supported and funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
- Genome is the complete set of genetic information in an organism.
- In living organisms, the genome is stored in long molecules of DNA called chromosomes.
- In humans, the genome consists of23 pairs of chromosomes located in the cell’s nucleus, as well as a small chromosome in the cell’s mitochondria.
India’s First Indigenous Hydrogen Fuel Cell Ferry:
Prime Minister of India flagged off India’s first indigenously built hydrogen fuel cell ferry boat in virtual.
- The hydrogen cell-powered inland waterway vessel launched under the Harit Nauka initiative.
- The vessel’s flagging off was a key component of a major program that involved the foundation stone laid for a ₹17,300-crore project, including the outer harbor at the V.O. Chidambaranar Port.
- The vessel has been built at the Cochin Shipyard.
- It will make urban mobility smooth and easy through inland waterways. The vessel underscores the pioneering step for embracing clean energy solutions and aligning with the nation’s net-zero commitments.
- Hydrogen fuel cells are a clean, reliable, quiet, and efficient source of high-quality electric power.
- They use hydrogen as a fuel to drive an electrochemical process that produces electricity, with water and heat as the only by-products.
Foreign Exchange Reserve : India Status
India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $2.98 billion to $619.07 billion recently.
- Foreign Exchange Reserves (also called Forex Reserves) are reserve assets held by a central bank in foreign currencies.
- Foreign assets comprise assets that are not denominated in the domestic currency of the country.
- These may include foreign currencies, bonds, treasury bills, and other government securities.
- Reserves are denominated and expressed in the US dollar, which is the international numeraire for the purpose.
- RBI is the custodian of the foreign exchange reserves in India.
- India’s foreign exchange reserves comprise of;
- Foreign currency assets (FCAs): These are maintained in currencies like the US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Australian dollar, and Japanese yen.
- Gold
- SDR (Special Drawing Rights): This is the reserve currency with the IMF.
- RTP (Reserve Tranche Position): This is the reserve capital with the IMF.
- The biggest contributor to India’s Forex reserves is foreign currency assets, followed by gold.
Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojna (PM-AJAY):
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 34 residential hostels across various states and central institutes (under PM-AJAY), in order to cater to the accommodation needs of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) students.
- PM-AJAY (Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme aimed at reducing poverty among Scheduled Castes (SC) communities and increasing literacy rates while encouraging SC enrollment in schools.
- The scheme comprises several components:
- Development of SC-dominated villages into “Adarsh Gram” (model villages) to uplift their socio-economic status.
- Provision of grants-in-aid for District/State-level Projects focused on the socio-economic betterment of SC communities.
- Construction of hostels in Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) that are top-ranked according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), providing accommodation and support for SC students.
- Financial support for Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure effective implementation and impact assessment of the scheme.
Amrabad Tiger Reserve:
The leopard population increased considerably in Amrabad Tiger Reserve, according to the ‘Status of Leopards in India’ report released recently.
- Amrabad Tiger Reserve is located in the Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda districts in the southern part of Telangana.
- It is one of the largest tiger reserves in India. It is the second-largest Tiger Reserve in terms of core area.
- Earlier, it was part of ‘Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, but post-state bifurcation, the northern part of the reserve was vested with Telangana state and renamed ‘Amrabad Tiger Reserve’.
- The southern portion continues to be ‘NSTR’ with Andhra Pradesh.
- ATR covers a part of the Nallamala Forest and is home to a variety of flora and fauna.
- Major reservoirs like the Srishailam Dam and Nagarjunsagar Dam are fed by the river Krishna and its several perennial streams that originate in the Tiger Reserve.
- Flora: Dense grass occurs in 30% of the area and is scattered in an additional 20%.
- Fauna: Major wild animals found are Tiger, Leopard, Wild dog, Indian Wolf, Indian fox, Rusty-spotted cat, Small Indian civet, Sloth bear, Honeybadger, Wild boar etc.
