Daily Current Affairs 25 June 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Private sector participation in Space activities approved

• Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved far-reaching reforms in the Space sector aimed at boosting private sector participation in the entire range of space activities. The decision taken is in line with the long-term vision of the Prime Minister of transforming India and making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced.
• India is among a handful of countries with advanced capabilities in the space sector. With these reforms, the sector will receive new energy and dynamism, to help the country leapfrog to the next stages of space activities
• This will not only result in the accelerated growth of this sector but will enable the Indian Industry to be an important player in the global space economy. With this, there is an opportunity for large-scale employment in the technology sector and India to become a global technology powerhouse.

Key Benefits:

• The space sector can play a major catalytic role in the technological advancement and expansion of our Industrial base. The proposed reforms will enhance the socio-economic use of space assets and activities, including improved access to space assets, data, and facilities.
• The newly created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote, and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.
• The Public Sector Enterprise ‘New Space India Limited (NSIL)’ will endeavor to re-orient space activities from a ‘supply-driven’ model to a ‘demand-driven’ model, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of our space assets.
• These reforms will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions, and human spaceflight programs. Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to the private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism.

Source: PIB

2) Annual TB Report 2020

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare released the annual TB Report 2020, in the presence of Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MOS (HFW), through a virtual event. They also released a Joint Monitoring Mission (JMM) report, a manual on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to TB patients under the NIKSHAY system, a Training Module, and the quarterly newsletter NIKSHAY Patrika.

The key achievements listed in the Report include:

• Around 24.04 Lakh TB patients have been notified in 2019. This amounts to a 14% increase in TB notification as compared to the year 2018.
• Achieving near-complete on-line notification of TB patients through the NIKSHAY system.
• Reduction in the number of missing cases to 2.9 lakh cases against more than 10 lakhs in 2017.
• Private sector notifications increased by 35% with 6.78 lakh TB patients notified.
• Due to the easy availability of molecular diagnostics, the proportion of children diagnosed with TB increased to 8% in 2019 compared to 6% in 2018.
• Provision of HIV testing for all notified TB patients increased from 67% in 2018 to 81% in 2019.
• The expansion of treatment services has resulted in a 12% improvement in the treatment success rate of notified patients.  For 2019 it is 81% compared to 69% in 2018.
• More than 4.5 lakh DOT Centers provide treatment covering almost every village across the country.
• NIKSHAY also expanded the provision of four Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) schemes of the program –
• Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) to TB patients
• The incentive to Treatment Supporters
• The incentive to Private Providers and
• Transport incentive to TB patients in the notified tribal areas

1. Underscoring the crucial contribution that the private sector can make to the national TB program by mandatory TB notification and providing quality TB care, he added that with both collaborative and regulatory steps, the country has notified 6,64,584 TB patients in 2019 in the private sector which amounts to a 22% increase in TB notification as compared to the year 2018.
2. The salient feature of this year is that for the first time Central TB Division (CTD) introduced a quarterly ranking on TB elimination efforts by all the states and UTs. Treatment linkage of drug-resistant TB patients, HIV testing of TB patients, Nutritional assistance to TB patients in the form of NIKSHAY Poshan Yojana (DBT), Universal Drug Susceptibility Testing (UDST) coverage among notified TB patients, TB Preventive Therapy (TPT) coverage and Financial expenditure are included in the assessment criteria
3. In the categories of larger states with more than 50 lakh population, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh were awarded as best performing States. In the category of smaller states with less than 50 lakh population, Tripura and Nagaland were awarded. In the category of Union Territory, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu were chosen as the best performers.

Source: PIB

3) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) launches another funding scheme to help the distressed MSME sector

• Minister of MSME, Shri Nitin Gadkari today launched the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Sub-ordinate Debt (CGSSD) which is also called “Distressed Assets Fund–Sub-ordinate Debt for MSMEs”.
• As per the Scheme, the guarantee covers worth Rs. 20,000 crores will be provided to the promoters who can take debt from the banks to further invest in their stressed MSMEs as equity.
• It was being felt that the biggest challenge for stressed MSMEs was in getting capital either in the form of debt or equity. Therefore, as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, on 13th May 2020, Finance Minister had announced this scheme of sub-ordinate Debt to the promoters of operational but stressed MSMEs.  After completion of necessary formalities including approval of CCEA and consultation with Finance Ministry, SIDBI, and RBI among others, the scheme was formally launched today by Shri Gadkari from Nagpur.

The highlights of the scheme are:

• This Scheme seeks to extend support to the promoter(s) of the operational MSMEs which are stressed and have become NPA as on 30th April 2020;
• Promoter(s) of the MSMEs will be given credit equal to 15% of their stake (equity plus debt) or Rs. 75 lakh whichever is lower;
• Promoter(s) in turn will infuse this amount in the MSME unit as equity and thereby enhance the liquidity and maintain debt-equity ratio;
• 90% guarantee coverage for this sub-debt will be given under the Scheme and 10% would come from the concerned promoters;
• There will be a moratorium of 7 years on payment of principal whereas the maximum tenor for repayment will be 10 years. 
• It is expected that this scheme would provide much-required support to around 2 lakh MSMEs and will help in reviving the economic activity in and through this sector. It will also help in protecting the livelihoods and jobs of millions of people who depend on them. Promoter(s) of MSMEs meeting the eligibility criteria may approach any scheduled commercial banks to avail benefit under the scheme. The scheme will be operationalized through the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for MSEs (CGTMSE). Necessary guidelines along with answers to possible FAQs have been issued today and made public in this regard.

Source: PIB

4) New biomolecules to fight drug resistance in Kala-azar

• Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease affecting almost 100 countries including India. It is caused by a parasite called Leishmania, which is transmitted through the bite of sandflies.
• There are three main forms of leishmaniasis – visceral, which affects multiple organs and is the most serious form of the disease, cutaneous, which causes skin sores and is the most common form); and mucocutaneous, which causes skin and mucosal lesion).
• Visceral leishmaniasis, which is commonly known as Kala-azar in India, is fatal in over 95% of the cases if left untreated. The only drug available against leishmaniasis, miltefosine, is rapidly losing its effectiveness because of emerging resistance to this drug due to a decrease in its accumulation inside the parasite, which is necessary for the drug to kill the parasite.
• Specific types of protein molecules, called transporter proteins, play a major role in carrying miltefosine into and out of the parasite’s body, which comprises a single cell. A protein called ‘P4ATPase-CDC50’ is responsible for the intake of the drug by the parasite, and another protein, called ‘P-glycoprotein’, is responsible for throwing this drug out from within the parasite’s body.
• A decrease in the activity of the former protein, and an increase in the activity of the latter results in fewer amounts of miltefosine being accumulated inside the parasite’s body, thus causing it to become resistant to the drug.
• A team of researchers at the Department of Biotechnology’s National Centre for Cell Science (DBT-NCCS) in Pune led by Dr. Shailza Singh has been exploring ways to tackle miltefosine resistance. The researchers worked with one of the species of Leishmania that causes infection, called Leishmania major. They tried to manipulate these transporter proteins in the species in a manner that would result in increased uptake of the drug and decrease in its being thrown out of the parasite’s body.
• Scientists need to be extremely careful while seeking to manipulate the transport proteins.  They exist across a diverse range of organisms from bacteria to mammals, including humans and any mishandling could cause more harm than be of use. Consequently, though various researchers have been working over the past two decades to combat drug resistance, their activities were limited to laboratory studies.
• Dr. Singh’s research group used computational methods to design small molecules, called peptides, that could very specifically interact with the transporter proteins of L. major alone, and not interfere with human proteins in any way. The peptides were designed to modulate the transporter proteins “allosterically”, i.e. by interacting with the protein molecule at a location other than the specific location where miltefosine binds to it.
• This group is the first to have shown allosteric modulation of transporter proteins of Leishmania using computationally-designed synthetic peptides, and their findings were reported in the ‘Biochemical Journal’. These promising research outcomes indicate that this approach could prove useful in the long run to develop novel therapeutics against drug-resistant Leishmania parasites.

Source: PIB

5) INST develops nanotechnology-based low-cost, a method for the production of antiepileptic drug ‘Rufinamide’

• Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science & Technology (INST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, have developed a nanotechnology-based industry-friendly and low-cost method for the production of antiepileptic drug ‘Rufinamide’.
• Dr.JayamuruganGovindasamy and his co-workers from INST have developed a new recyclable copper-oxide catalyst, which plays a crucial role in the key reaction for producing the Rufinamide drug.
• The existing technology for producing the drug has an inherent selectivity issue, which often leads to unwanted non-drug isomer ---1, 5-regioisomer. This necessitates the use of organic solvent, high temperature, and the need to purify and separate the soluble catalyst and so on, leading to unfriendly reaction conditions and high production costs.
• In the new production method published in the journal Chemical Communications, unlike the traditional CuSO4 catalyst, the newly designed catalyst comprising of very small-sized (3-5 nm) CuI and CuII is so reactive that the reaction can be conducted efficiently under the aqueous condition and at room temperature. Since the catalyst is coated with slightly modified natural bio-polymer, they are biocompatible and can be separated just by filtration technique.
• The new method promises to overcome many of the current challenges in the synthesis of Rufinamide drugs such as high cost, the formation of unwanted 1,5-regioisomer in addition to the required 1,4-regioisomer, limited choice of starting materials (propiolic acid derivatives) leading to multistep synthetic sequences, and poor yields due to use of organic solvents and overheating of the reagents.
• Dr. G. Jayamurugan, a Ramanujan Fellow of DST, and his co-workers used nanotechnology to develop the new recyclable copper-oxide catalyst supported by customized bio-polymer (available abundantly from biomass). The synthesized catalyst turned out to be highly active in aqueous solvents, making manufacture possible under industrial friendly conditions. The reasons for this high activity are the extremely small sizes (3-5 nm) of copper oxide nanoparticles, the mixed oxidation states of CuI and CuII and their synergistic effects. They also found that the product is fully devoid of 1,5-regioisomer, as indicated by the single peak observed for 1,4-regioisomer in the HPLC with >99% purity. The scalability of the reaction was also demonstrated in 10 g scale reactions in the laboratory condition.
• The developed catalyst is not only useful for the Rufinamide drug synthesis, but it is also for other organic transformation reactions. The catalyst can be commercialized for academic use, as well as companies deal with fine chemicals that use these reactions.
• Having been well optimized under laboratory conditions in the 10 g scale, the catalytic process can be easily translated into the industrial process. Furthermore, because the choice of metal and the polymers are so cheap, the end product of the present catalytic process can be maintained at low-cost. A patent has been filed for the highly efficient, economical, and eco-friendly process. 
• Presently only a few companies manufacture the costly Rufinamide drug, which epilepsy patients need to consume continuously for their entire life. Hence, the catalytic process developed by the INST team can be used by Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient, producing companies for mass production to bring down the drug cost.
• “Several nanotechnology initiatives of DST in seeding the infrastructure, human resources, and the Institute of Nanoscience and Technology are now increasingly producing a plethora of useful technologies and products that contribute to an AtamNirbhar Bharat,” said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

Source: PIB

6) NITI Aayog, ITF Launch Decarbonizing Transport Project in India

• NITI Aayog and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD jointly launched the ‘Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies’ (DTEE) project in India on 24June.
• The launch was held via a webinar and was inaugurated by ITF Secretary-General Young Tae Kim and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant in the presence of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) Secretary D.S. Mishra, as well as Ministry of Road Transport and HighwaysJoint Secretary Priyank Bharti.
• The ambitious five-year project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through the development of modeling tools and policy scenarios.
• During his opening address, Young Tae Kim, Secretary-General of ITF, thanked NITI Aayog and CEO Amitabh Kant for the support and collaboration on this project. ‘We are very pleased to launch this project with India, and excited that it is being so well received by our partner, NITI Aayog. This is a very important and promising undertaking that will provide practical support for the Indian government for making the right choices on the way to a low-CO2 transport system. Our collaboration on the “Decarbonizing Transport in India” project is also an opportunity to further strengthen the relationship between India and the ITF.’
• In his keynote address, CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant said, ‘Decarbonization of the transport sector would create a cleaner, healthier and more affordable future for everyone. The DTEE project would help India translate its climate ambitions into actions. The modeling tool and assessment framework would provide targeted analytical assistance to identify these climate actions and help us draw policies rooted in data analysis and advanced modeling. Given our diverse demographics across socio-economic factors such as population, age, income, etc., it would be important to first estimate the demand for transportation in India and then do detailed modeling to compute the CO2emissions.
• ‘Building on this evidence-based assessment of mitigation impacts, bringing DTEE and NDC-TIA together under this collaboration would support our policymaking by identifying various scenarios to achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets submitted by India under the Paris Agreement. This project could very well define our future urban policies and could help us in designing policies, which are firmly grounded in data and are likely to be highly efficient and impactful across the entire transport ecosystem in India.’
• Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, D.S. Mishra said, ‘Our country is urbanizing very fast, which will throw up huge challenges in terms of provision of various kinds of infrastructure, especially mobility. Our strategies need to be in tune with our requirements when our population doubles. I would like to congratulate NITI Aayog and ITF for coming up with this project, which is one of the commitments of the Paris Agreement and the GoI, and we are working to achieve it.’
• The transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, where the major contribution comes from the road transport sector. Out of the total carbon dioxide emissions in India, 13% come from the transport sector. These emissions have more than tripled since 1990. The increasing motorization and demand for mobility in India have contributed to air pollution, congestion, as well as the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, in the urban area.
• In India, CO2 emitted per inhabitant was just about a twentieth of that of an average OECD country, yet, India’s transport CO2 emissions are likely to increase by almost 6% annually to 2030. India is actively taking several measures to tackle its emissions, including newer fuel emission norms as well as the promotion of electric vehicles in the country. NITI Aayog has been at the helm for the promotion of electric vehicles and sustainable mobility through its National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage’.
• However, given the vast size of India as well as the enormous and diverse transport sector within the country, strategic policy decisions will have to be driven predominantly by data. The Decarbonizing Transport in India project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India. It will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.
• The ITF project team will work in close cooperation and coordination with India’s government agencies, local decision-makers, researchers, experts, and civil society organizations. Stakeholder workshops, training sessions, briefings for policymakers, and mitigation action plans will support the development of policies beyond the duration of the project.
• The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonizing Transport initiative. It is part of the Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies family of projects, which supports transport decarbonization across different world regions. India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco are current participants. DTE is a collaboration between the ITF and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Source: PIB

7) Cabinet approves establishment of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund

• In pursuance of recently announced Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package for ensuring growth in several sectors, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) worth Rs. 15000 crore.
• The government has been implementing several schemes for incentivizing the investment made by the dairy cooperative sector for the development of dairy infrastructure. However, the government realizes that even MSMEs and Private companies also need to be promoted and incentivized for their involvement in processing and value addition infrastructure. AHIDF would facilitate much-needed incentivization of investments in the establishment of such infrastructure for dairy and meat processing and value addition infrastructure and establishment of animal feed plant in the private sector. The eligible beneficiaries under the Scheme would be Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies, and individual entrepreneurs with a minimum 10% margin money contribution by them. The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks.
• The government of India will provide a 3% interest subvention to eligible beneficiaries. There will be 2 years moratorium period for the principal loan amount and 6 years repayment period thereafter.
• The government of India would also set up a Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs. 750 crore to be managed by NABARD. Credit guarantee would be provided to those sanctioned projects which are covered under MSME defined ceilings. Guarantee Coverage would be upto 25% of the Credit facility of the borrower.
• There is huge potential waiting to be unlocked in investment through the private sector. The INR 15,000 cr. AHIDF and the interest subvention scheme for private investors will ensure the availability of capital to meet upfront investment required for these projects and also help enhance overall returns/ payback for investors.  Such investments in processing and value addition infrastructure by eligible beneficiaries would also promote export of these processed and value-added commodities
• Since almost 50-60% of the final value of dairy output in India flows back to farmers, therefore, growth in this sector can have a significant direct impact on farmer’s income. The size of the dairy market and farmers’ realization from milk sales is closely linked with the development of organized off-take by cooperative and private dairies. Thus, investment incentivization in AHIDF would not only leverage 7 times private investment but would also motivate farmers to invest more in inputs thereby driving higher productivity leading to an increase in farmers' income. The measures approved today through AHIDF would also help in direct and indirect livelihood creation for 35 lakh.

Source: PIB

8) Historic decisions are taken by Cabinet to boost infrastructure across sectors

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met on 24th June 2020 and took several landmark decisions, which will go a long way providing a much-needed boost to infrastructure across sectors, which are crucial in the time of the pandemic.

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund set-up

Background :

• In pursuance of recently announced Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package, Cabinet today approved setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) amounting to Rs. 15000 crore.
• The government had earlier approved the Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) worth Rs. 10,000 crores for incentivizing investment by the cooperative sector for the development of dairy infrastructure. However, the MSMEs and Private companies also need to be promoted and incentivized for their participation in processing and value addition infrastructure in the animal husbandry sector.
• The AHIDF approved today would incentive infrastructure investments in dairy, meat processing, and animal feed plants. The eligible beneficiaries under the Scheme would be Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies, and individual entrepreneurs with only a 10% margin money contribution by them. The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available to them by scheduled banks.
• The government of India will provide a 3% interest subvention to eligible beneficiaries. There will be 2 years moratorium period for repayment of a loan with 6 years repayment period thereafter. The government of India would also set up a Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs. 750 crore to be managed by NABARD which would provide credit guarantee to the projects which are covered under the MSME defined ceilings. Guarantee Coverage would be upto 25% of the Credit facility of the borrower.

Benefits :

• There is huge potential waiting to be unlocked through private sector investment in the animal husbandry sector. The AHIDF with the interest subvention scheme for private investors will ensure the availability of capital to meet upfront investment required for these projects and also help enhance overall returns/ payback for investors. Such investments in processing and value addition infrastructure by eligible beneficiaries would also promote exports.
• Since almost 50-60% of the final value of dairy output in India flows back to farmers, the growth in this sector can have a significant direct impact on farmer’s income. The size of the dairy market and farmers’ realization from milk sales is closely linked with the development of organized off-take by cooperative and private dairies. Thus, investment of Rs. 15,000 crores through AHIDF would not only leverage several times more private investment but would also motivate farmers to invest more in inputs thereby driving higher productivity leading to an increase in farmers' income. The measures approved today through AHIDF would also help in direct and indirect livelihood creation for about 35 lakh persons.

Declaration of Kushinagar Airport in UP as International Airport

Background :

• Kushinagar is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Gautama Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana. It is regarded as a very sacred Buddhist pilgrimage center where Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world come for a pilgrimage. Kushinagar is dotted with several other Buddhist sites in the nearby surroundings like Sravasti (238 km), Kapilvastu (190 km), and Lumbini (195 km) that makes it an attraction for both followers and visitors alike. Kushinagar already serves as the presenting site for Buddhist circuit pilgrimage spanning across India and Nepal. Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to declare Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport.  

Benefits :

• The Buddhist Circuit is a key pilgrimage destination for 530 million practicing Buddhists across the globe. Hence the declaration of Kushinagar Airport as an 'International Airport' will offer improved connectivity, a wider choice of services at competitive costs to the air-travelers resulting in boosting domestic/international tourism and economic development of the region.
• On any given day, around 200-300 devotees from Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Burma, etc are coming and offering their prayers at Kushinagar. However, this International tourist destination has no direct connectivity, which has been a long pending demand of the visitors.
• Direct international connectivity to Kushinagar would substantially increase the number of foreigners and domestic tourists visiting  Kushinagar, which will also provide an impetus to the economic development of the region. The international airport is expected to boost the already growing tourism and hospitality ecosystem in the country.

Additional investment by OVL towards further development of Shwe oil & gas project in Myanmar approved

Background :

• ONGC Videsh (OVL) has been associated with the exploration and development of the Shwe gas project in Myanmar since 2002, as part of a consortium of companies from South Korea, India, and Myanmar. The Indian PSU, GAIL, is also a co-investor in this project. OVL has invested US$ 722 million (about Rs 3949 crores, as per the corresponding average annual exchange rate) till 31st March 2019 in this project. The first gas from Shwe Project was received in July 2013 and plateau production was reached in December 2014. The Project has been generating positive cash flows since FY 2014-15. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved an additional investment of US$ 121.27 million (about Rs 909 crores; 1 US$ = Rs 75) by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) towards further development of Shwe oil & gas project in Myanmar.

Benefits :

• The participation of Indian PSUs in oil & gas exploration and development projects in neighboring countries is aligned with India’s Act East Policy, and also part of India’s strategy to develop Energy Bridges with its neighbors in addition to further strengthening India’s energy security needs.

Source: PIB