Facts in News

Facts in News

EOS-03 Satellite

• Recently, ISRO’s Earth Observation satellite (EOS-03) faced a setback minutes after it was launched.
• This is the second launch for ISRO in 2021 after its successful mission in February, which was Brazil’s earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites.

EOS-03

• It is a state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite that will be placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10. 
  • This was the 14th launch involving a GSLV rocket.
• It is being sent ahead of EOS-02, which has been delayed.
  •  EOS-02 is scheduled for a launch in September-October 2021. 
• It is meant to provide almost real-time images of large parts of the country that could be used for monitoring natural disasters like floods and cyclones, water bodies, crops, vegetation and forest cover.

Features 

• Mission Life: 10 years
• Power: 2280 W
• Launch Vehicle: GSLV-F10 / EOS-03
• Type of Satellite: Earth Observation
• Manufacturer:  ISRO
• Application:  Earth Observation
• Orbit Type: GTO

Significance

• It is capable of obtaining vital information for application in different sectors including agriculture, forestry, water bodies.
•  It would provide real-time images of the country and its borders.

Earlier Missions 

• PSLV-C49 successfully placed the EOS-01 on November 7, 2020. 
  • The mission objective was a disaster management system, earth observation. It was intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.

Herpes Virus

• Recently, A male elephant in an Odisha forest tested positive for the herpes virus after the death of another wild elephant suffering from the same pathogen.   
• The autopsy report revealed that the death was due to acute haemorrhagic disease caused by the Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV)
• About EEHV
  • It is a type of herpes virus that can cause fatal haemorrhagic disease in elephants. 
  • It is one of the most deadly viral infections in elephants worldwide but is most commonly found in Asian elephants. 
    • EEHV can strike without warning.
• Symptoms: Sudden illness which includes reduced appetite, swollen glands on both sides of the face and nasal discharge.

About Herpes virus: 

 The herpes simplex virus is categorized into 2 types: 

• Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2).
  • HSV-1 is mainly transmitted by oral-to-oral contact to cause oral herpes (which can include symptoms known as “cold sores”), but can also cause genital herpes.
  • HSV-2 is a sexually transmitted infection that causes genital herpes.
  • Both oral herpes infections and genital herpes infections are mostly asymptomatic or unrecognized but can cause symptoms of painful blisters or ulcers at the site of infection, ranging from mild to severe.

Kaziranga National Park

• Recently, Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has become the first national park in India to be equipped with satellite phones.

About 

• Kaziranga National Park lies partly in Golaghat District and partly in Nagaon District of Assam. 
• It is the oldest park in Assam covering an area of 430 sq km along the river Brahmaputra on the North and the Karbi Anglong hills on the South. 
• National Highway 37 passes through the park area.
• It is a world heritage site that is famous for the Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros.
• It was declared a National Park in 1974.
• It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the conservation of avifaunal species. 

Biodiversity 

• The landscape of Kaziranga is of sheer forest, tall elephant grass, rugged reeds, marshes & shallow pools. 
• It is inhabited by the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, as well as many mammals, including tigers, elephants, panthers and bears, and thousands of birds.

                               Image Courtesy: TH

Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

• The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) system has resulted in a 10% savings in public procurement costs in five years.

About the Platform

• It was launched in 2016 and operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Central and State Government Departments / Organizations /Public Sector Undertakings ( PSUs).
• The procurement of goods and services by ministries and the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is mandatory for goods and services available on GeM.
• It is owned by GeM SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) which is a 100 per cent Government-owned, non-profit company under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries
• Facilities provided by GeM:
  • Listing of products for individual, prescribed categories of Goods/ Services of common use.
  • Estimation, comparison and buying facility on dynamic pricing basis.
  • Buying Goods and Services online, as and when required.
  • Transparent, efficient, easy, secure and cost-saving of buying goods. 
  • Useful for low value buying and also for bulk buying at competitive price using Reverse Auction/ e-bidding.
  • Continuous vendor rating system.
• The government has made it mandatory for sellers on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to clarify the country of origin of their goods when registering new products.

Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA)

• The Chief Election Commissioner of India has inaugurated the 11th Annual meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) for the year 2021. 

About

• The delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the day-long meeting.
• Theme of 2021:  ‘Use of Technology in Elections’

What is FEMBoSA?

• About
  • The forum was established at the 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of SAARC Countries in 2012.
  • Since the creation of FEMBoSA, Annual Meetings were held in Pakistan (2011), in India (2012), in Bhutan (2013), in Nepal (2014),  in Sri Lanka (2015), in Maldives (2016), in Afghanistan (2017) and in Bangladesh(2018).
• Aims: 
  • To increase mutual cooperation in respect to the common interests of the SAARC’s EMBs.
  • Foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting free, fair, transparent and participative election
• Membership: 
  • The Forum has eight Member Election Management Bodies from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
• Significant activities undertaken: 
  • Member organizations celebrate National Voter’s Day in a calendar year in their respective countries.
  • Initiative of establishing South Asia Institute for Democracy and Electoral Studies (SAIDES) in Nepal
  • In order to increase knowledge related to elections, take initiatives to include voter education in the school-level textbooks of their respective countries
  • Implementation of recommendations of South Asian Disabilities Organizations for the inclusion of disabled people in the electoral system and the creation of suitable election environment

South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

• It was created in 1985 as an expression of the region’s collective decision to evolve a regional cooperative framework.
• Objective: To promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life, and to accelerate economic growth and development.
• Secretariat: Kathmandu, Nepal
• Members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Observers States:  China, EU, Iran, Republic of Korea, Australia, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar and USA.
• SAARC Summit: It is usually held biennially and hosted by member states in alphabetical order.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana

• The Ministry of Food Processing industries (MoFPI) has shared information related to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) in the Parliament.
• So far, the Ministry has approved 41 Mega food Parks, 353 Cold Chain projects, 63 AgroProcessing Clusters, 292 Food Processing Units, 63 Creation of Backward & Forward Linkages Projects & 6 Operation Green projects across the country under corresponding component schemes of PMKSY.

About the Scheme

• About:
  • It is a Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters or SAMPADA with an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore for the period 2016-20 coterminous with the 14th Finance Commission cycle. 
  • In the year 2017, the government renamed the SAMPADA scheme as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY).
  • It is a Central Sector Scheme.  
• Objective:
  • To supplement agriculture.
  • To create processing and preservation capacities.
  • To modernise and expand existing food processing units with a view to increasing the level of processing.
  • To add value leading to the reduction of wastage.

• Components:
  • Mega Food Parks
  • Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure
  • Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing/ Preservation Capacities (Unit Scheme)
  • Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters
  • Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages
  • Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure
  • Human Resources and Institutions
  • Financial Allocation
• Finance:
  • Under component schemes of PMKSY, MoFPI provides mostly credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing / preservation industries. 
  • The capital subsidy in the form of grants-in-aid ranging from 35% to 75% of the eligible project cost subject to a maximum specified limit is provided to investors under the various schemes for undertaking infrastructure, logistic projects and setting up of food processing units in the country.

Significance

• Creation of modern infrastructure: Result in the creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
• Growth: It will provide a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in the country.
• Better Prices: It will help in providing better prices to farmers and is a big step towards doubling farmers’ income.
  • It will also act towards making India self-reliant in the fruits and vegetable sector.
• Employment opportunities: It will create huge employment opportunities, especially in rural areas.
• Reduce wastage: It will also help in reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level, availability of safe and convenient processed foods at an affordable price to consumers and enhancing the export of the processed foods.