Daily Current Affairs 22 November 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) Avian botulism

• The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly confirmed avian botulism a neuro­muscular illness caused by a toxin which is produced by a bacterial strain as the reason for mass mortality of birds, including migratory species from Northern Asia, at Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan.
• The illness, caused by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, affected the nervous system of birds, leading to flaccid paralysis in their legs and wings and neck touching the ground.
• More than 18,000 carcasses of birds have been removed from the lake and its catchment area so far, raising concern among environmentalists and ornithologists. The scientists at IVRI found the samples infested with maggots of the third stage with a clear indication that the avian mortality had occurred over a period of time

About Sambar Lake

Located 80 km south­west of Jaipur, Sambhar Lake is India's largest inland saline water body and has been designated as a wetland of international importance, attracting thousands of migratory birds during winter.

2) New investments in FY20 fall to 15­ year low

• The value of new investment projects in the first half of the current financial year has fallen to a 15­year low of ₹1.9 lakh crore, as per the latest analysis by Care Ratings
• The analysis by economists of the rating agency revealed that there has been a sustained decline in new projects undertaken in the past five years, with the amount for such projects pegged at ₹11.9 lakh crore in FY19, the lowest in the past five years and also marks the fourth consecutive year of contraction
• The new investment segment, the government’s share in such investments declined from 56% in FY15 to 36% in FY19, while that of the private sector rose from 44% to 64% in the same period.
• New investment projects were mainly seen in the manufacturing sector, even as services and electricity segments witnessed a decline in investments. Stalled or abandoned projects declined over the last five years, though such government­owned projects increased.
• Two primary reasons for the stalling of the projects have been cited; lack of nonenvironmental clearances along with lack of funds

3) Commercial Exploitation of Space Research and Development

A new company by name, “New Space India Limited (NSIL)”, has been incorporated on 06th March 2019, as a wholly-owned Government of India Undertaking / Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS) to commercially exploit the research and development work of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The mandate of NSIL includes

• Small Satellite technology transfer to industry wherein NSIL will obtain a license from DOS/ISRO and sub-license it to industries
• Manufacture of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in collaboration with Private Sector
• Productionisation of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through Indian Industry
• Productionisation and marketing of Space-based services, including launch and application
• Transfer of technology developed by ISRO Centres and constituent institutions of DOS
• Marketing of spin-off technologies and products, both in India and abroad and (vii) any other subject which the Government of India deems fit.

Advantages

• With the activity plan and the mandate set for NSIL, Indian industries are likely to see a major spur in their growth in the space sector. This initiative would further enable scaling up the manufacturing and production base in Indian industries towards meeting the growing needs of the Indian space program and exploiting the opportunities available in the global space market.
• All the involved technologies related to ISRO’s small satellite and its sub-systems that could be transferred to Indian industries for productization which eventually would cater to national demand as well as commercial needs of the domestic and global market. This activity is also likely to give rise to several spin-off technologies that could be marketed nationally and globally.
• Through the sale of products related to small satellite, sub-system technology, and the spin-off products in the domestic and global markets, foreign exchange revenue will be generated.

4) The power generated from Waste Garbage/Material

• A total capacity of 56.34 MW has been set up for power generation from waste garbage/material during the last three years and the current year in the country.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing the scheme “Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes/ Residues” for promoting of setting up of waste-to-energy plants to recover energy in the form of Biogas or BioCNG or Power from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Waste / Residues for meeting certain niche energy demands of urban, industrial and commercial sectors in the country. The scheme provides Central Financial Assistance in the form of back-ended subsidy to developers for setting up of such projects. 
• So far 199 waste-to-energy projects for the generation of Biogas/BioCNG/Power based on Urban, industrial, agricultural waste and Municipal Solid Waste have been successfully established in the country.

5) Pilot Programme on Patent Prosecution Highway

• The Union Cabinet on 20th November 2019 approved a proposal for Bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programme between Indian Patent Office under Controller General of Patents, Design and Trade Marks (CGPDTM), Government of India with Patent Offices of other interesting countries/regions.
• For the first time, the Indian Patent Office is entering into a pilot program on PPH with the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
• The program will initially commence between JPO and Indian Patent Office on a pilot basis for a period of three years. Under this pilot program, the Indian Patent Office may receive patent applications in certain specified technical fields only, like electrical, electronics, computer science, information technology, physics, civil, mechanical, textiles, automobiles, and metallurgy. Japan Patent Office may receive applications in all fields of technology.

Advantages of Patent Prosecution Highway

• Patent Prosecution Highway will lead to benefits like reduction in disposal time and pendency of patent applications, consistency in quality of granted patents and an opportunity for Indian inventors including MSMEs and Start-ups of India to get an accelerated examination of their patent applications in Japan.
• Japanese inventors seeking patent protection in India will now be able to take the benefits of expedited examination in India under the pilot program on PPH. Faster grant of patents in India will result in more inbound investments by companies and also the introduction of newer technologies thereby giving a fillip to Make in India and increasing employment opportunities. It will also help Indian Startups in patenting in Japan.

6) India asks Colombo to boost reconciliation 

India expects the newly-elected President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa to boost the national reconciliation policy with the Tamil community of the country.

What national reconciliation policy?

National Reconciliation is the term used for the establishment of so-called 'national unity' in countries beset with political problems.

7) Cartosat­-3 launch by two days

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has postponed the launch of Cartosat-­3 by two days, to November 27. The earlier date was November 25
• Cartosat­-3, the first of third-generation advanced remote­sensing and mapping satellites, will offer 25­cm high-resolution earth imageries. It will be placed in a sun­synchronous or polar orbit of 509 km at an inclination of 97.5 degrees.
• Thirteen small customer satellites from the U.S. are also riding on the PSLV­C47 rocket. The launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, is tentatively scheduled at 9.28 a.m. IST on November 27 subject to weather condition