One Nation One Ration Card Scheme

• Recently the Food Minister announced One Nation One Ration Card Scheme, which all states needs to implement by July 2020.
• One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme seeks to provide portability of food security benefits all across the nation.

Features

• The poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country but for that their ration cards must be linked to Aadhaar.
• Migrants would only be eligible for the subsidies supported by the Centre, which include rice sold at Rs. 3/kg and wheat at Rs. 2/kg, It would not include subsidies given by their respective state government in some other state.
• This scheme will ensure that no poor person is deprived of subsidised grains.
• The scheme can be implemented as already 77% of the ration shops across the country have PoS machines and more than 85% of people covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) have their cards linked to Aadhaar.
• For remaining beneficiaries, all the States have been given one more year to use point of sale (PoS) machines in the ration shops and implement the scheme.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan

The Jal Shakti Abhiyan, launched by the Union Jal Shakti Minister has begun from 1^st July, 2019.

• The Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a campaign for water conservation and water security in the country.
• The campaign will run through citizen participation in two phases, firstly, during the monsoon season, from 1^st July, 2019 to 15^th September, 2019 and then from 1^st October, 2019 to 30^th November, 2019 for states receiving the North East retreating monsoons.
• It is a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and state governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) that comes under the Jal Shakti Ministry.
• The focus of the campaign is on water stressed districts and blocks. The teams of officers from the central government will visit and work with district administration in 1592 water stressed blocks in 256 districts, to ensure five important water conservation interventions.
• The five important water conservation interventions are :
  
  • Water conservation and rainwater harvesting,
  • Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks,
  • Reuse of water and recharging of structures,
  • Watershed development and
  • Intensive afforestation.
• The water conservation interventions will also be supplemented with special interventions including the development of block and district water conservation plans, promotion of efficient water use for irrigation and better choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

Global Trans Fat Elimination Report: WHO

According to the first annual global progress report on trans fat elimination issued by World Health Organization (WHO), more than 110 countries still have no regulations against trans fat.

• Lack of regulations have left around five billion people at risk of industrially produced trans fat exposure in the foods they eat every day.
• This new report summarizes country actions to ban industrially produced trans fat and makes recommendations for action to achieve the 2023 goal for global elimination. It’s recommendations are:
  
  • Develop and implement mandatory Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA) limits.
  • Share experiences and best practices in TFA elimination, and consider regional or intercountry networks to enhance actions.
  • Renew support and strengthen commitment for eliminating industrially produced TFA by 2023 to achieve the first elimination of a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases.
• Intake of trans-fatty acids (TFA) is associated with increased risk of heart attack and death from heart disease.
  
  • TFA intake is estimated to be responsible for more than half a million deaths from coronary heart disease each year around the world.
  • Replacing industrially produced TFA with healthier oils and fats is feasible without changing the taste of food or its cost to the consumer.

Background

• In May 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the REPLACE action package to support governments to eliminate industrially produced TFA from the global food supply by 2023.
• In 2011, India set a TFA limit of 10% in all oils and fats, which was further reduced to 5% in 2015. In December 2018, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India proposed reducing this limit further to 2% and eliminating artificial TFA in the food supply by 2022, a year ahead of the global target.

STRIDE

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a new initiative, Scheme for Trans-Disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE), to support socially relevant, local need-based, nationally important and globally significant research projects.

• The UGC has set up an advisory committee under its Vice Chairman Bhushan Patwardhan, to oversee the entire scheme.

Components of the Scheme

• Component 1: The Scheme will provide for research capacity building in diverse disciplines by mentoring, nurturing and supporting young talents to innovate pragmatic solutions for local, regional, national and global problems. Grant available is upto Rs. 1 crore.
• Component 2: It will mainly focus on enhancing problem solving skills with the help of social innovation and action research to improve wellbeing of people and contribute for India’s developing economy. Grant upto Rs. 50 lakh to 1 crore is available for projects under this component.
• Component-3 will fund high impact research projects in the identified thrust areas in humanities and human sciences through national network of eminent scientists from leading institutions. Grant available under this component is upto Rs. 1 crore for one Higher Educational Institution and upto Rs. 5 crores for a multi institutional network.

Expected Benefits from the Scheme

• It will help strengthen transdisciplinary research culture in colleges and universities.
  
  • Trans-disciplinary research is a team effort of investigators from different disciplines to create new conceptual, theoretical, methodological innovations that integrates and transcends beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a common problem.
  • It goes beyond mere production of knowledge and extends to the practical use of the knowledge outside academic endeavour.
• It will provide opportunity to build multi sectoral linkages between university-government-community-industry for national development and wellbeing of people.
• It will give major impetus to high impact research in Humanities and Human Sciences.

India International Cooperatives Trade Fair

First ever India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

• IICTF is a unique initiative for taking farmers, artisans & other members of cooperatives directly to the global trade platform.
• Trade Fair is being conducted by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with the support of Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives (NEDAC), Ministries, State Governments and several apex level Indian cooperative organizations.
• Focus sectors of India International Cooperatives Trade Fair are:
  
  • Textile: ginning spinning, power loom, textile processing.
  • Agribusiness and food processing: cold chain, packaging, climate-smart agriculture.
  • Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Health and hospitality
  • Trade and marketing: agriculture produce marketing, transport and marketing infrastructure.
  • Credit service and finance: insurance, cooperative banking.

Significance

• The Cooperative sector has a big role to play in doubling agriculture exports (from present US $ 30 billion to US$ 60 billion) by 2022 as envisaged in the Agriculture Export Policy 2018.
  
  • 94% of the Indian farmers are members of at least one cooperative institution.
• IICTF would be a major platform to promote exports by cooperatives with direct benefits to their members who are mainly farmers, artisans, women, SC /ST etc.
• Promotion of exports of key commodities/value chain products that have high potential, and are backed by specific promotional initiatives (including the involvement of stakeholder entities) would definitely actualize the target of Doubling the Farmers Income and will achieve the goals set under the Agri-Exports Policy 2018.

INS Viraat to be Scrapped

The Union Ministry of Defence has decided to scrap INS Virat after consultation with Indian Navy.

• The Navy has been incurring expenditure on its upkeep such as the provision of electricity and water, and repairs till date.
• The Navy has stated that it cannot keep Viraat indefinitely as it would block space in the already crowded Mumbai dockyard.
• Efforts to keep it intact by converting it into a museum or other means have not been successful.
• Ministry stated that INS Viraat could not be handed over to any State Government because of non-receipt of a self-sustaining financially complete proposal.
• There had been demands from various quarters to not let Viraat go the INS Vikrant way, India’s first carrier that was eventually scrapped.
• INS Vikrant, a Centaur class, was maintained by the Navy in Mumbai for 17 years as various proposals to convert it into a museum went back and forth unsuccessfully before the ship was eventually sent to a scrapyard in 2014.
  • Andhra Pradesh submitted a proposal in 2016 for the conversion of Viraat as an aircraft museum, including tourist and hospitality components on a commercial basis through a joint venture with the Union government.
  • But the Defence Ministry rejected the proposal.
  • In 2018, the Maharashtra Cabinet approved a proposal to convert the carrier into a museum and hospitality center on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, but there were no takers.

National Mission on Libraries

The Union Ministry of Culture has declared financial assistance under National Mission on Libraries (NML) to develop libraries in each States/UT.

• As per scheme, it will provide financial assistance for upgradation of infrastructure of one State Central Library and one District Library in each State/UT as NML Model Library.
• Public libraries as being a State Subject, function under the administrative control of the respective State/UT library authority.
• There are six Public Libraries under administrative control of Union Ministry of Culture namely National Library, Kolkata; Central Reference Library, Kolkata; Central Secretariat Library, New Delhi; Delhi Public Library, Delhi; Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna and Rampur Raza Library, Rampur.

Kailash Mansarovar in Tentative List of World Heritage Sites

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the Minister of State of Culture and Tourism clarified that proposal for ‘Sacred Mountain Landscape and Heritage Routes’ (Indian side of Kailash Mansarovar) has been included in Tentative List of World Heritage Sites of India

• It was proposed as a Mixed site in April 2019.
• As per UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines 2017, a site must be on the tentative list of UNESCO at least for a period of one year before proposing it for final nomination.
• Once the nomination is done, it is sent to the World Heritage Centre (WHC) by the stipulated deadline of 01 February of a calendar year.
• Accordingly, the decision of permanent inclusion of any site in the World Heritage list is taken by the members of the World Heritage Committee.

World Heritage site

• World Heritage site, any of various areas or objects inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.
• The sites are designated as having “outstanding universal value” under the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972.
• It provides a framework for international cooperation in preserving and protecting cultural treasures and natural areas throughout the world.
• There are three types of sites: Cultural, Natural, and Mixed.
  
  • Cultural heritage sites include hundreds of historic buildings and town sites, important archaeological sites, and works of monumental sculpture or painting.
  • Natural heritage sites are restricted to those natural areas that:
    
    • Furnish outstanding examples of Earth’s record of life or its geologic processes
    • Provide excellent examples of ongoing ecological and biological evolutionary processes.
    • Contain natural phenomena that are rare, unique, superlative, or of outstanding beauty,
    • Furnish habitats for rare or endangered animals or plants or are sites of exceptional biodiversity.
  • Mixed heritage sites contain elements of both natural and cultural significance.

UNESCO's World Heritage of India
Tangible Heritage			Intangible Cultural Heritage
Cultural	Natural	Mixed	Indian Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Taj Mahal, Agra Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh Hampi, Karnataka Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra Ellora Caves, Maharashtra Bodh Gaya, Bihar Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha Red Fort Complex, Delhi Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh Chola Temples, Tamil Nadu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu Humayun’s Tomb, New Delhi Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, Rajasthan Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh Rani Ki Vav, Patan, Gujarat Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University), Bihar Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus), Maharashtra Mountain Railways of India Qutub Minar and its Monuments, New Delhi Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, Gujarat Hill Forts of Rajasthan Churches and Convents of Goa Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh Capitol Complex, Chandigarh The Historic City of Ahmedabad The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai	Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh Kaziranga Wild Life Sanctuary, Assam Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan Manas Wild Life Sanctuary, Assam Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks, Uttarakhand Western Ghats Sundarbans National Park, West Bengal	Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim	The tradition of Vedic chanting Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan Chhau dance Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India Yoga Navroz Kumbh Mela

European Heatwave

France has recorded the hottest temperature of 45.9°C amid European heatwaves.

• The heatwave in Europe has caused flash floods and forest fires.

European heatwave

• According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), heatwaves in Europe are the result of warm air masses from Africa and extreme heat condition in India, Pakistan, parts of the Middle East and Australia.
• According to weather experts, heatwaves are being amplified by a rise in global temperature.
• A scientific study on Europe-wide heatwave by the World Weather Attribution group concluded that high temperatures in the region were made more likely by human activities that contributed to climate change.
• If the current trend were to continue, heatwaves across Europe could occur as often as every other year by the 2040’s, with the possibility that temperatures may rise by 3-5 degree Celsius by 2100.

NASA’s Punch Mission

Dipankar Banerjee, a solar physicist from Indian Institute of Astrophysics is a co-investigator of NASA's PUNCH mission.

• PUNCH, which stands for “Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere,” is focused on understanding the transition of particles from the Sun’s outer corona to the solar wind that fills interplanetary space.
• PUNCH will consist of a constellation of four suitcase-sized microsats that will orbit the Earth and study how the corona, which is the atmosphere of the Sun, connects with the interplanetary medium.
• The mission will also image and track the solar wind and coronal mass ejections, which are huge masses of plasma that get thrown out of the Sun’s atmosphere. The coronal mass ejections can affect and drive space weather events near the Earth.
• There is also a plan to observe the Sun using joint observations from PUNCH and Indian mission Aditya, which is underway. India is planning to send up its own satellite Aditya-L1 with an aim to study the Sun’s corona.
• The mission is expected to be launched in the year 2022.