National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 3rd October 2018

PM inaugurates first Assembly of the International Solar Alliance

Topic: GS-2 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests  

IN NEWS: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Assembly of the International Solar Alliance at Vigyan Bhawan. The same event also marked the inauguration of the second IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting, and the 2nd Global RE-Invest (Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo). The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, was present on the occasion.

International Solar Alliance

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
• The alliance is a treaty-based inter-governmental organization. Countries that do not fall within the Tropics can join the alliance and enjoy all benefits as other members, with the exception of voting rights.
• The initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Africa Summit, and a meeting of member countries ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015.
• The framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance opened for signatures in Marrakech, Morocco in November 2016, and 121 countries have joined.
• ISA is headquartered in India. 2016, Narendra Modi, and the then French President François Hollande jointly laid the foundation stone of the ISA Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, India.

Objective:

• The focus is on solar power utilization. The launching of such an alliance in Paris also sends a strong signal to the global communities about the sincerity of the developing nations towards their concern about climate change and to switch to a low-carbon growth path.
• India has pledged a target of installing 100GW by 2022 and reduction in emission intensity by 33–35% by 2030 to let solar energy reach to the most unconnected villages and communities and also towards creating a clean planet.
• India’s pledge to the Paris summit offered to bring 40% of its electricity generation capacity (not actual production) from non-fossil sources (renewable, large hydro, and nuclear) by 2030.

Initiatives and partnerships

• The alliance has partnered with World Bank to launch Global Solar Atlas at an ISA event at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
• Global Solar Atlas: It is a free online tool that displays annual average solar power potential at any location in the world and thus identifies potential sites for solar power generation.
• World Bank announced “This tool will help governments save millions of dollars on their own research and provide investors and solar developers with an easily accessible and uniform platform to compare resource potential between sites in one region or across multiple countries.
• 2016, the alliance entered into an understanding with the World Bank for accelerating mobilization of finance for solar energy. The Bank will have a major role in mobilizing more than US $1000 billion in investments that will be needed by 2030, to meet ISA’s goals for the massive deployment of affordable solar energy.
• Till date 48 countries have signed and 26 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement of the ISA. With ratifications by 15 countries, the ISA will become a treaty based inter-governmental international organisation and it will be recognized by UN legally to become fully functional.

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean.
• The IORA is a regional forum, tripartite in nature, bringing together representatives of Government, Business and Academia, for promoting co-operation and closer interaction among them.
• It is based on the principles of Open Regionalism for strengthening Economic Cooperation particularly on Trade Facilitation and Investment, Promotion as well as Social Development of the region.
• The Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is located at Ebene, Mauritius.

Model UPSC Question: Analyse the role of India in International solar alliance. What are the similarities one can find with International solar alliance in comparison with nonalignment movement.

Source:PIB

PM to recieve ‘UNEP Champions of the Earth’ award

Topic: Environment and Ecology/ Awards

IN NEWS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the United Nations’ highest environmental honour, the ‘UNEP Champions of the Earth’ award, at a special ceremony in the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra.

More on the Topic

• Prime Minister Modi has been selected in the leadership category for his pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and for his unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.
• Awarded annually, the ‘Champions of the Earth’ prize is given to outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions “have had a positive impact on the environment”.

United Nations Environment Programme

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is an agency of United Nations and coordinates its environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices.
• It was founded by Maurice Strong, its first director, as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) in June 1972 and has overall responsibility for environmental problems among United Nations agencies but international talks on specialized issues, such as addressing climate change or combating desertification, are overseen by other UN organizations, like the Bonn-based Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
• UN Environment activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, environmental governance and green economy.
• It has played a significant role in developing international environmental conventions, promoting environmental science and information and illustrating the way those can be implemented in conjunction with policy, working on the development and implementation of policy with national governments, regional institutions in conjunction with environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• UN Environment has also been active in funding and implementing environment related development projects.

Treaties and Protocols:

• UN Environment has aided in the formulation of guidelines and treaties on issues such as the international trade in potentially harmful chemicals, transboundary air pollution, and contamination of international waterways. Relevant documents, including scientific papers, are available via the UNEP Document Repository.
• The World Meteorological Organization and UN Environment established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.
• UN Environment is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.
• The International Cyanide Management Code, a program of best practice for the chemical’s use at gold mining operations, was developed under UN Environment’s aegis.

Source:PIB

New 840 Higher Educational Institutes enrolled in Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

In news: New 840 Higher Educational Institutes enrolled in Unnat Bharat Abhiyan as a part of celebrations to mark 150th Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

More on Unnat Bharat Abhiyan:

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has launched a programme called Unnat Bharat Abhiyan with an aim to connect institutions of higher education, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISERs) etc. with local communities to address the development challenges through appropriate technologies.
• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is being coordinated and steered by IIT Delhi.The programme involve engaging with neighbouring communities and using technologies for their upliftment.

The objectives of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan are broadly two-fold:

• Building institutional capacity in Institutes of higher education in research & training relevant to the needs of rural India.
• Provide rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education ,especially those which have acquired academic excellence in the field of Science, Engineering  & Technology  and Management.

Source:PIB

Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as Chief Justice of India

Topic: GS-2Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

In news: Justice Ranjan Gogoi was on Wednesday sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India.He succeeds Justice Dipak Misra.President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath to the 63-year-old Justice Gogoi at a brief ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Darbar Hall.

Chief Justice of India

• The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the head of the judiciary of India and the Supreme Court of India. The CJI also heads their administrative functions.
• As head of the supreme court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.
• In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the Chief Justice allocates all work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter back to him or her (for re-allocation) in any case where they require it to be looked into by a larger bench of more judges.
• On the administrative side, the Chief Justice carries out the following functions: maintenance of the roster; appointment of court officials and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court.
• Article 124 of the Constitution of India provides for the manner of appointing judges to the Supreme Court. Though no specific provision exists in the Constitution for appointing the Chief Justice, who, as a result, is appointed like the other judges[7] conventionally, the outgoing CJI recommends the name of the senior-most judge (i.e. by date of appointment to the Supreme Court) for appointment by the President of India, as his successor.
• Article 124(4) of Constitution of India lays down the procedure for removal of a Judge of Supreme Court which is applicable to Chief Justice as well. Once appointed, the Chief Justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years. He can be removed only through a process of impeachment by Parliament.

Judiciary Of India:

• The judiciary interprets the Constitution as its final arbiter.It is its duty as mandated by the Constitution, to be its watchdog, by calling for scrutiny any act of the legislature or the executive, who otherwise, are free to enact or implement these, from overstepping bounds set for them by the Constitution.
• It acts like a guardian in protecting the fundamental rights of the people, as enshrined in the Constitution, from infringement by any organ of the state.
• It also balances the conflicting exercise of power between the centre and a state or among states, as assigned to them by the Constitution.
• It has in fact, inherited the legacy of the legal system established by the then colonial powers and the princely states since the mid-19th century, and has partly retained characteristics of practices from the ancient and medieval times.
• There are various levels of judiciary in India – different types of courts, each with varying powers depending on the tier and jurisdiction bestowed upon them.
• They form a strict hierarchy of importance, in line with the order of the courts in which they sit, with the Supreme Court of India at the top, followed by High Courts of respective states with district judges sitting in District Courts and Magistrates of Second Class and Civil Judge (Junior Division) at the bottom.
• While pronouncing decisions under its constitutional mandate, it is expected to remain unaffected by pulls and pressures exerted by other branches of the state, citizens or interest groups.
• And crucially, independence of the judiciary has been held to be a basic feature of the Constitution, and which being inalienable, has come to mean – that which cannot be taken away from it by any act or amendment by the legislature or the executive.

Source:The Hindu

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of lndia have signed a $150 Million Loan

Topic:GS-2Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate

In news: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of lndia have signed a $150 Million Loan to finance continued improvements to road connectivity and efficiency of the International Trade Corridor in West Bengal and North-Eastern Region of lndia.

More on The Project:

• The Project will upgrade about 65 kilometers of lmphal-Moreh Section of National Highway in Manipur, construction of about 1.5 km of an international bridge between lndia and Nepal, and completion of about 103 km of a State Highway in Manipur between lmphal and Tamenglong under Project-I.
• The Project will reduce transaction costs along the targeted cross-border corridors substantially, creating economies of scale and commercial prosperity.

Asian Development Bank

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 1966,which is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines.
• The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-regional developed countries.
• From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.
• ADB is an official United Nations Observer.
• The ADB defines itself as a social development organization that is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
• This is carried out through investments – in the form of loans, grants and information sharing – in infrastructure, health care services, financial and public administration systems, helping nations prepare for the impact of climate change or better manage their natural resources, as well as other areas.

Eighty percent of ADB’s lending is concentrated public sector lending in five operational areas:

• Education – Most developing countries in Asia and the Pacific have earned high marks for a dramatic rise in primary education enrollment rates in the last three decades, but daunting challenges remain, threatening economic and social growth.
• Environment, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management – Environmental sustainability is a prerequisite for economic growth and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific.[20]
• Finance Sector Development
• Infrastructure, including transport and communications, energy,water supply and sanitation,and urban development
• Regional Cooperation and Integration
• Private Sector Lending

Source:PIB

First woman Physics Nobel winner in 55 years

Topic: Science and Technology

In news: Donna Strickland, from Canada, is only the third woman winner of the award, along with Marie Curie, who won in 1903, and Maria Goeppert-Mayer, who was awarded the prize in 1963

 More On the topic:

• Dr Strickland shares this year’s prize with Arthur Ashkin, from the US, and Gerard Mourou, from France.
• The Nobel Prize Committee recognised their discoveries in the field of laser physics.
• Dr Ashkin developed a laser technique described as optical tweezers, which is used to study biological systems.
• Drs Mourou and Strickland paved the way for the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created. They developed a technique called Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA). It has found uses in laser therapy targeting cancer and in the millions of corrective laser eye surgeries which are performed each year.

IBSAMAR Joint Multi – National Maritime Exercise

Topic: International Relations

In news: The sixth edition of IBSAMAR, a joint Multi – National Maritime Exercise between the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies, is being held at Simons Town, South Africa from 01 – 13 Oct 18.

More On the Topic

• The aim of the exercise is to undertake collective training for participating navies, building interoperability and mutual understanding as well as sharing of best practices.
• The exercise includes both harbour and sea phases with various navigation and seamanship evolutions, surface weapons firing, force protection exercises, anti-piracy exercise, anti-air and anti-submarine exercise as well as flying operations. Apart from professional activities, sports and social engagements are also planned.