Daily NEWS 10 February 2024

Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS)

• Crisil assessment report called PRABHAAV launched by SIDBI, stating Rs 17,534 crore invested in 938 startups under FFS.
• Established in 2016 with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to boost the Indian startup ecosystem and enable access to domestic capital.
• Monitoring agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
• Operating agency: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
• Provides capital to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-registered Alternative Investment Funds, which invest money in startups.

Olive Ridley Turtles

• Olive Ridley Turtles are back on Mangalore beaches.
• Smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans.
• Known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary (Odisha) is known as the world's largest rookery of sea turtles.
• Conservation status: Vulnerable according to IUCN, listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Threats include unsustainable fishing methods, tourism, poaching, etc.

Aadi Mahotsav 2024

• Aadi Mahotsav 2024 is being organized in New Delhi to showcase rich diversity of India's tribal heritage.
• Annual National Tribal Festival showcasing India's tribal heritage in New Delhi.
• Organized by TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• TRIFED was established in 1987 for socio-economic development of tribal people through marketing tribal products.
• Functioning under administrative control of MoTA.
• Headquartered in New Delhi with 15 regional offices across the country.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending

• Cautioned NBFCs on peer-to-peer lending.
• Practice of lending money online, cutting out financial institutions as middlemen.
• Rates and terms are set by individual websites, regulated by RBI.
• All P2P platforms must be registered with RBI as NBFCs.
• Challenges include risk of default and lack of trust in P2P platforms.

Trichoglossum syamviswanathii

• New fungus species discovered in Thrissur, Kerala.
• Named after scientist Syam Viswanath.
• Belongs to Geoglossaceae family, characterized by club-shaped apothecia in dark shades.
• Plays a vital role in decomposition of organic matter and nutrient recycling in forest ecosystems.

Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem (PACE)

• SpaceX launched NASA’s PACE satellite to monitor ocean, atmosphere, and climate.
• PACE is in a sun-synchronous orbit for consistent positioning relative to the Sun.
• Objectives include understanding carbon dioxide exchange, aerosol impact on phytoplankton growth, and global measurements of ocean color, cloud properties, and aerosols.

InfexnTM

• Kerala is launching India's first genomics-based infectious diseases test.
• Developed by Haystack Analytics and NIMS Medicity.
• 'infexnTM' is a next-generation sequencing test for bacterial/fungal infections and antimicrobial resistance genes.
• Kit-cum-software solution for hospitals use, providing results within 24 hours.

DC-8 Marathon Flights

• NASA is conducting marathon flights in Asia with the DC-8 to improve air pollution forecasting and control models.
• DC-8 is the world's largest flying laboratory that assesses pollution sources close to the ground.
• Accompanied by a smaller NASA Gulfstream jet for creating three-dimensional maps of pollutants.
• Part of the ASIA-AQ project, a collaboration between NASA and regional governments.

Chile (Capital: Santiago)

• Chile records deadliest wildfire.
• Situated along western seaboard of South America.
• Bounded by Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Pacific Ocean.
• Major features: Andes Mountain Range, Ojos del Salado peak, rivers like Loa, Biobío, Maipo.
    

Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology presented Digital Payment and Online Security Measures for Data Protection Report

Status of Digital Payment Growth:

• Expected to grow over threefold by 2025.
• Due to growing Smartphone penetration, COVID-led changes in consumer behaviour, and Government policies for financial inclusion.
• Share of UPI transactions increased from 4% in FY2017-18 to over 64% in FY2022-23.
• Foreign entities dominate Indian fintech sector with market share of 46.91% and 36.39% for PhonePe and Google Pay respectively.

Challenges in Digital Payment:

• High value of money lost in cyber frauds (Rs. 5574 Crore reported until September, 2023).
• Recovery rate is abysmally low at about 10.4% of transactions reported over 2020 to 2022.
• Illegal and fraudulent lending apps on Google Playstore and Apple App Store.
• Virtual accounts used to mask funds trail and evade Anti money laundering mechanism.

Recommendations by Committee:

• Maintain a repository of Android and banking malwares for security.
• Coordinate stakeholders to address cyber frauds effectively.
• Promote Indian players in the fintech sector.

Steps taken to promote Digital Payment:

• Incentive scheme for promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and BHIM-UPI transactions.
• Financial inclusion initiatives like PM Jan Dhan Yojana.
• Awareness initiatives like Stay Safe Online Campaign for adoption of digital payments.

Standing Committee presented Action taken Report on ‘Research and Development in Farm Mechanization for Small and Marginal Farmers in the Country.’

• Status of Farm Mechanization:
• • India's agriculture mechanization level is 47%, lower than countries like China and Brazil.
  • It would take 25 years for India to achieve 75-80% mechanization.
• Significance of Farm Mechanization:

• • Increases productivity and efficient use of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and water.
  • Reduces human labor and cost of cultivation.
  • Helps convert uncultivable land to agricultural land.
• Challenges to Farm Mechanization: Small farm size, capital shortage, inadequate service centers, availability of cheap labor, and low labor costs.
• Recommendations by Committee:

• • Achieve 75% mechanization in a shorter time frame.
  • Streamline testing procedures and train engineers on farm equipment.
  • Establish National Institute of Agricultural Robotics and AI and a directorate of engineering.
  • Improve functioning of custom hiring centers and farm machinery banks with adequate funding and awareness campaigns.

Steps taken to promote Farm Mechanization

• Implementation of Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM).
• Inclusion of farm mechanization under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture also focuses on promoting farm mechanization.

“Rural employment through MGNREGA-An Insight Into Wage Rates and Other Matters Relating Thereto” report presented in Lok Sabha

Report on Rural Employment through MGNREGA presented in Lok Sabha:

• Presented by Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development.
• MGNREGA launched in 2005, provides 100 days of wage employment to rural households.
• Implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Central Government notifies wage rates.

Issues with MGNREGA as observed by the committee:

• Shortage of funds affecting timely release of wages and materials.
• Fake job cards depriving genuine beneficiaries and diverting funds.
• Low wage rates, with higher wages for miscellaneous work.
• Lack of social audits, only 14% of planned gram panchayats audited in 2020-21.

Recommendations of the committee:

• Revision of base rate and base year to address lower wage rates.
• Use of better inflation-linked index.
• Increase in number of days of work.
• Issuance of separate job card for differently abled individuals in households.

Government steps to increase the efficiency of MGNREGA:

• National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app to track attendance of MGNREGS workers.
• Geo-MGNREGA for geo-tagging of completed works under MGNREGS.
• Project "UNNATI" to enhance skills of MGNREGS workers.
• Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS) for speedy payments and reduce rejections.

LNG as a Transportation Fuel in Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle(M&HCV): NITI Aayog report

• NITI Aayog report on LNG as a transportation fuel in medium and heavy commercial vehicles.
• Outcome of bilateral cooperation between NITI Aayog and the Embassy of Netherlands for energy transition and decarbonizing agenda.
• LNG is a clear, colourless, non-toxic liquid formed when natural gas is cooled to -162 degrees Celsius for shipping and storage.

Need for LNG push in M&HCV sector:

• Achieving Net Zero by 2070 through CO2 emission reduction.
• Reducing oil import dependency.
• Rapidly expanding trucking market in India.
• Contributing to a gas-based economy with a 15% share of natural gas in the primary energy mix by 2030.

Challenges in the adoption of LNG:

• High initial cost compared to traditional diesel trucks.
• Lack of availability of LNG retail outlets.
• Market hesitancy.

Recommendations in the report:

• Demand aggregator for deployment of LNG-based vehicles to reduce costs with higher order volumes.
• Fiscal incentives like bringing LNG under GST, revised depreciation schedules, toll fee exemption, production-linked incentives.
• Non-fiscal incentives like preferential right of way, "ECO" labels, priority lane access, fuel cards, etc.

Government initiatives to promote LNG as transport fuel:

• Modification of Central Motor Vehicles Rules (1989) in 2017.
• Draft LNG policy to increase LNG usage in transportation and mining sector.
• Retrofitting of diesel vehicles to LNG-fueled vehicles.

Scientists develop world’s first 3D-printed brain tissue that functions like human brain

Significance for Research Programmes:

• Aid research programmes for scientists focused on treatments of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
• Helps understand how brain cells and parts of the brain communicate in humans.
• National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing: In 2020, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released “National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing” to tap its potential.
• Utilizes computer-aided designing to make prototypes or working models of objects by laying down successive layers of materials like plastic, resin, thermoplastic, metal, fiber, or ceramic.

Benefits of 3D Printing:

• Enables quick and cost-effective prototyping.
• Allows designers to iterate designs swiftly, reducing time-to-market for new products.
• Creates complex designs that would be challenging to achieve otherwise.
• More efficient as it uses only materials necessary for object being printed, minimizing waste.
• Reduces need for large inventories and streamlines supply chain by producing parts as needed.

Applications of 3D Printing:

• Construction: India’s first 3D-printed post office was created in Bengaluru.
• Construction: First pedestrian bridge was 3D printed in Spain using micro-reinforced concrete.
• Medical and Dental: Creating patterns for casting metal dental crowns and manufacturing tools for creating dental aligners.

Digitalization of land records to boost India's GDP by 1.5%: Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj

• Digitization of land records is the process of transforming physical documents into digital formats.
• Computerization of Land Records is completed in 95.08% of villages.

Significance of Digitalisation:

• Facilitates the supply of capital and credit for agriculture.
• Helps in mitigating court cases involving land disputes.
• Useful for central and state governments in bringing out land reforms.
• Reduces interface between citizens and Government functionaries, increasing transparency.

Government initiatives for improving land digitalisation:

• Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP).
• Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or Bhu-Aadhaar.
• SVAMITVA scheme.
• National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS).

Way forward:

• Use of emerging technologies like Blockchain.
• Review of registration act to further improve land digitalisation efforts.