Second Assembly of ISA

The second assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) is being hosted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy from 30^th-31^st October 2019.

• The Assembly is the supreme decision making body of the ISA, and gives directions on various administrative, financial and programme related issues.
• India (represented by the Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Power) is the President and France is the Co-President of the ISA Assembly.
• Till now, 81 countries of the 121 prospective member countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA. Of these, 58 countries have ratified the same.
  
  • During the first Assembly of the ISA, an Indian resolution to extend the Membership of the organisation to all countries that are Members of the United Nations was adopted.
• Since the first assembly on 3^rd October 2018, ISA has initiated many activities and programmes.
  
  • For building domestic capacity of the ISA member countries programmes such as STAR - C Programme, development of the Infopedia etc. have been launched.
    
    • STAR C is a Solar Technology Application Resource Centre project.
    • Infopedia is an online platform dedicated to the dissemination of information, best practices and knowledge on Solar Energy.
  • The ISA sent country missions to eight countries over the course of 2019 in order to understand the challenges and issues ‘on the ground’.
  • ISA has significantly extended outreach and have partnered with over 40 organizations. These broadly include United Nations (UN), Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), etc.

International Solar Alliance

• The ISA, is an Indian initiative that was launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30^th November 2015 in Paris, France on the side-lines of the Conference of the Parties (COP-21), with 121 solar resource rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn as prospective members.
• The overarching objective of the ISA is to collectively address key common challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in ISA member countries.
• The Government of India has allotted 5 acres of land to the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) campus, Gurugram and has released a sum of Rs. 160 crore for creating a corpus fund, building infrastructure and meeting day to day recurring expenditure of the ISA up to the year 2021-22.

Source: PIB

National Health Profile 2019

The 14^th edition of National Health Profile and its e-book (digital version) has been released by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI).

• CBHI has been publishing the National Health Profile since 2005 and its digital version since 2015.
• The objective of this publication is to create a versatile database of health information of India and making it available to all stakeholders in the healthcare sector.
• The purpose is to provide relevant information for planning and decision making on an informed basis to the planners, policy makers, health administrators, research workers and others engaged in raising the health and socio-economic status of the community.
• The NHP highlights substantial health information under major indicators viz.
  
  • Demographic indicators: population and vital statistics.
  • Socio-economic indicators: education, employment, housing and amenities, drinking water and sanitation.
  • Health status indicators: incidence and prevalence of common communicable and non-communicable diseases.
  • Health finance indicators: health insurance and expenditure on health.
  • Health of human resources: availability of manpower working in the health sector.
  • Health infrastructure: details of Medical and Dental Colleges, AYUSH Institutes, Nursing Courses and Paramedical Courses

Key Findings

• Life Expectancy: Life expectancy in India has increased from 49.7 years in 1970-75 to 68.7 years in 2012-16.
  
  • From 2012-16, the life expectancy for females was 70.2 years and 67.4 years for males.
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): The IMR has declined considerably (33 per 1,000 live births in 2016), however differentials of rural (37) & urban (23) are still high.
• Population Growth Rate: There has been a consistent decline in the birth rate, death rate and natural growth rate in India since 1991 to 2017.
  
  • As of 2017, India has registered birth rate of 20.2 per 1,000 population and death rate of 6.3 per 1,000 population while the natural growth rate was 13.9 per 1,000 population.
• Demographics: It found the high incidence of the young and economically active population.
  
  • It reports that 27% of population below 14 years, 64.7% in the age group of 15-59 and 8.5% above 60 years.
• Total Fertility Rate(TFR): NHP reports TFR of 2.3 for the country.
  
  • 2.5 for rural areas and 1.8 for urban areas.

Source:PIB

Union World Conference on Lung Health

The Vice-President of India inaugurated the 50^th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad on 30^th October 2019. It is a four-day scientific programme focusing on every aspect of lung health.

• The theme of the conference is ‘Ending the Emergency: Science, Leadership, Action’.
  
  • It focuses on what is needed to ensure commitments become action, and that life-saving targets are met.
  • The conference theme resonates strongly with TB, but it also raises awareness that all threats to lung health – TB, air pollution, tobacco and many more – are emergencies that our science, leadership and action need to meet head-on.
• This is the world’s largest gathering of stakeholders working to end the suffering caused by lung disease, with a focus specifically on the challenges faced by low-and lower-middle-income populations
• International Union Against Tuberculosis (IUAT) has been organising this conference since 1920.
• India provides a unique backdrop for discussions on ending Tuberculosis (TB) and lung disease with the current highest burden of TB in the world, and ambitious targets to eliminate TB by 2025.
• An agreement was also reached to lower the price of rifapentine. It is a critically important drug used to prevent tuberculosis (TB).

International Union Against Tuberculosis

• International Union Against Tuberculosis (IUAT) was founded at the post-war conference, held in Paris in 1920.
• It became the first NGO to be officially recognised by WHO In 1940.
• The IUAT plays a central role in international clinical trials to determine the best ways to use the new tools for TB treatment and co-founds the TB Surveillance Research Unit.

Source: PIB

Cyber Attacks

• Recently, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) has confirmed that a malware had infected its system at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).
• The malware named ‘Dtrack’ is a new spyware tool that is believed to be actively targeting a large number of Indian institutions, in order to steal confidential data as well as a remotely downloading malicious tool- tracking key logs and monitoring IP (internet protocol) traffic.
  
  • Dtrack was originated in North Korea by the hackers’ group Lazarus.
• The attack revived the memories of Stuxnet virus attack on an Iranian nuclear facility in 2018.
• The acceptance of cyberattack in NPCIL systems highlights the fact that nuclear reactors are not only prone to natural disasters but also to cyberattacks.

Cyber Attacks Definition

• It is a malicious and deliberate attempt by an individual or organization to breach the information system of another individual or organization.
• There are various types of cyberattacks like malware, phishing, denial of service attacks, etc.

Recent Instances of Cyber Attacks

• WhatsApp recently filed a lawsuit against Israel's NSO Group, alleging that the firm was incorporating cyber-attacks on the application by infecting mobile devices with malicious software.
  
  • Users affected included journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, and diplomats.
• A massive cyber-attack took place at multiple targets in Georgia on October 28, 2019, taking down several websites.

Report on Cyber Attacks

• According to the U.S. global computer security software company McAfee, the month of October 2019 saw the most terrible cyberattacks and cyber scares so far.
  
  • The cyberthreats varied from malicious malware to restricting ransom wares.
  • Malware like ‘Ghostcat’ infects a user when the user visits a particular website and is served with a malicious advertisement. It collects the device information and eventually leads the user to malicious content. It targets the mobile devices in general.
  • ‘MedusaLocker’ is a ransomware (a type of malware) that makes its way into users’ devices by encrypting files.
  • According to the report, a technique called stenography is used which can hide malicious code inside a file that appears normal and allow hackers to bypass security software and firewalls.

Way Forward

• Real-time intelligence is required for preventing and containing cyber attacks. To achieve that, India needs to secure its computing environment and Internet of Things (IoT) with current tools, patches, updates and best-known methods in a timely manner.
• The need of the hour is to develop core skills in cyber-security, data integrity, and data security fields and setting up of stringent cyber-security standards to protect the institutional infrastructure of the country.

Source: TH

National Symposium on Lymphatic Filariasis

A day long National Symposium on the theme ‘United to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis’ was inaugurated by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare.

• The Union Minister also signed the ‘Call to Action to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis by 2021’.

Lymphatic Filariasis

• Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis and is considered as a neglected tropical disease.
• It impairs the lymphatic system and can lead to the abnormal enlargement of body parts, causing pain, severe disability and social stigma.
• Lymphatic filariasis is a vector-borne disease, caused by infection with parasites classified as nematodes (roundworms) of the family Filariodidea. There are 3 types of thread-like filarial worms which causes lymphatic filariasis:
  
  • Wuchereria Bancrofti is responsible for 90% of the cases.
  • Brugia Malayi causes most of the remainder of the cases.
  • Brugia Timori also causes the disease.

India’s Initiative

• The Government launched the Accelerated Plan for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (APELF) in 2018, as part of intensifying efforts towards its elimination.
• It has adopted a twin pillar strategy - prevention through Mass Drug Administration (MDA) using a combination of 2 anti-filarial drugs (DEC and Albendazole) and providing Morbidity Management and Disability Prevention (MMDP) services to those affected by the disease.
• The government is ready to scale-up the use of Triple Drug Therapy (IDA) in a phased manner starting from December 2019.

Source: PIB

Wildfires

The latest data from Sentinel-3 World Fire Atlas showed that, compared to August 2018, there were almost five times as many wildfires across the world in August 2019.

• There were 79,000 fires in August 2019 as compared to just over 16,000 fires detected in August 2018.
• 49% (nearly half) of the fires were detected in Asia, around 28% were detected in South America, 16% in Africa, and the remaining were recorded in North America, Europe and Oceania.
  
  • It is to be noted that August and September 2019 were the months which witnessed fires in the Amazon rainforest.

Sentinel-3 World Fire Atlas

• The Sentinel-3 World Fires Atlas Prototype product has been developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide continuity to the ESA Along Track Scanning Radiometers (ATSR) World Fire Atlas, which produced monthly global fire maps from 1995 to 2012.
• It covers the southern countries of the ESA member states.
• This new prototype uses Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B data and contains two dedicated channels (F1 and F2) for fire and high temperature events.
  
  • Sentinel-3 is a multi-instrument mission to measure sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature, ocean colour and land colour with high-end accuracy and reliability.
  • It is based on a constellation of two satellites: Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B.
  • The mission is part of the European Commission Copernicus programme for Earth Observation.

Source: IE

National Unity Day

National Unity Day is celebrated every year on 31^st October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

• It is also known as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.
• It was celebrated for the first time in 2014 with the aim to pay tribute to the ‘Iron man of India’ by remembering his extraordinary works for the country.
• Several events are organized on this day like ‘Run For Unity’-a nationwide marathon to increase awareness about the contribution of Sardar Patel to national integrity, National Unity pledge, etc.
• In 2018, the Government of India unveiled the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat in the honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
  
  • It is the tallest statue in the world.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

• Sardar Patel was born on 31^st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat.
• He was the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India.
• He played an important role in the integration of many Indian princely states to make an Indian federation.
  
  • At the time of independence, Sardar Patel played a key role in convincing several princely states to align with the Indian Union.
  • He also worked hard as a social leader for the Independence of India.
• Women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel, which means ‘a Chief or a Leader’.
• He is recognized as the real unifier of India for his colossal contribution to integrate and make India a united (Ek Bharat) and an independent nation.
  
  • He requested the people of India to live together by uniting in order to create Shresth Bharat (Foremost India).
• He is also remembered as the ‘Patron saint of India’s civil servants’ as he established the modern all-India services system.

Source: IE

Nirvik Scheme

• Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has introduced the Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) called NIRVIK to enhance loan availability and ease the lending process.
• It is an insurance cover guarantee that will cover up to 90% of the principal and interest. The cover will include both pre and post-shipment credit.
  
  • The ECGC currently provides credit guarantee of up to 60% loss.
• The enhanced cover will ensure that Foreign and Rupee export credit interest rates will be below 4% and 8% respectively for exporters.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India

• ECGC Ltd is wholly owned by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• The Government of India had initially set up Export Risks Insurance Corporation in 1957.
• After the introduction of insurance covers to banks during the period 1962-64, the name was changed to Export Credit & Guarantee Corporation Ltd in 1964.
  
  • It was changed to ECGC Ltd in August 2014.
• Its objective was to promote exports from the country by providing credit risk insurance and related services for exports.

Source: PIB

Cyclone Maha

A depression that developed in the Comorin Sea (near the southernmost end of India) has intensified into a cyclonic storm, named ‘Maha’.

• The name has been given by Oman.
• It lies centered over Lakshadweep and the adjoining southeast Arabian Sea and the Maldives area.
• Cyclone storm ‘Maha’ is the second in the 2019 northeast monsoon season, following close on the heels of super cyclone Kyarr which took its way towards the Arabian peninsula.

Source: PIB