Daily Current Capsules

25th January 2022

Defence and Security/Indigenisation of Technology/GSIII

BOLLARD PULL TUG “BALBIR”

What’s the NEWS

 Contract for construction of 50Ton Bollard Pull Tugs was concluded
with M/s Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, Visakhapatnam in Feb 19.
 The Fourth tug in the series, “Balbir” has been delivered to Naval
Dockyard, Mumbai on 24 Jan 22.
Bollard Pull Tugs
 These tugs have been designed and built under the classification rules of
Indian Register for Shipping (IRS) with a service life of 20 years and are
capable of assisting large naval ships, including Aircraft Carrier and
Submarines in berthing, un-berthing, turning and manoeuvering in
confined waters and in harbour.
  They also provide afloat firefighting cover/assistance to ships
alongside/anchorage and have limited capability for Search and Rescue
operations.
 Induction of 50Ton Bollard Pull Tugs has significantly augmented the
auxiliary support services and enhanced the capability to meet high
operational requirements of Fleet assets of Indian Navy.
 With all major and auxiliary equipment/system sourced from
indigenous manufacturers, these tugs are proud flag bearers of “Make
in India, Make for the World” initiatives of Ministry of Defence
 Tugs “Veeran” and “Balraj” have been inducted on 22 Oct 21 and 31
Dec 21 at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam respectively and “Balram”
on 30 Oct 21 at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.

Economy/GSIII
Trade Defence Wing (TDW)

What’s the NEWS

 To address the needs of Indian exporters, the Directorate General of
Trade Remedies (DGTR) besides conducting investigations against
dumped and subsidised imports from other countries, also protects
 the interests of Indian exporters in investigations conducted by other
countries against Indian exports through its Trade Defence Wing (TDW).
Trade Defence Wing (TDW)
 The TDW was established in the year 2016, and has been the nodal point
for extending support and defending the interests of Indian exporters in
investigations undertaken by other countries against India.
 The TDW coordinates with various departments of the Central as well as
the State Governments and presents India’s defence.
 Consultations with investigating authorities of other countries,
particularly USA and EU authorities, are regularly held to explain,
reiterate and drive home the standpoint of the Indian government.
 The Trade Defence Wing (TDW) has been constantly striving to ensure
that minimal or no trade remedial measure is applied on Indian goods by
other countries.
 The sustained efforts of the Trade Defence Wing are reflected in the fact
that in majority of the preliminary and final findings issued during April
2021 – December 2021, by other investigating authorities on Counter
Vailing Duty (CVD) investigation / Reviews conducted on the exports
from India, minimal duty rates ranging from 3-6% have only been
imposed.
 The Trade Defence Wing (TDW) operations under the Department of
Commerce (DOC) has brought relief to the Indian exporters. It has
resulted in the reduction of anti-subsidy duty imposed on Indian
exporters from 11.67 per cent to 2.82 per cent

Countervailing duties (CVDs)

 CVDs are trade import tariffs imposed to nullify the adverse effects of
subsidies.
 They are imposed only under World Trade Organisation rules and are
also called anti-subsidy duties.
 They are levied if a country investigates and finds out that a foreign
country is subsidizing its imports to the home country thus harming
domestic suppliers.
 Then, as per WTO rules, the country can charge additional duties in
agreement with the GATT Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures and the GATT Article VI.

Anti-dumping duty
  Anti-dumping duties are levied on goods that are imported at a
substantially low price whereas countervailing duties are levied on
subsidized products in the originating or exporting country.

Prelims Factoids
KERALA BIRD ATLAS (KBA)

What’s the NEWS

 The Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA), the first-of-its-kind State-level bird atlas in
India, has created solid baseline data about the distribution and
abundance of bird species across all major habitats, giving an impetus to
futuristic studies.

Know! about the atlas

 Conducted as a citizen science-driven exercise with the participation of

over 1,000 volunteers of the birdwatching community, the KBA has been
prepared based on systematic surveys held twice over 60 days a year
during the wet (July to September) and dry (January to March) seasons
between 2015 and 2020.

 The KBA accounts for nearly three lakh records of 361 species, including
94 very rare species, 103 rare species, 110 common species, 44 very
common species, and 10 most abundant species.
  It is arguably Asia’s largest bird atlas in terms of geographical extent,
sampling effort and species coverage derived from the aggregation of
25,000 checklists.

 It was found that the species count was higher during the dry season than
in the wet season while species richness and evenness were higher in the
northern and central districts than in the southern districts.

 Most of the endemics were concentrated in the Western Ghats while

the threatened species were mostly along the coast. The survey ignored
the short duration passage of migrant species.

Prelims Factoids
GANODERMA- two species of fungi
associated with basal stem rot found

What’s the NEWS

 Researchers from Kerala have identified two new species of fungi from
the genus Ganoderma that are associated with coconut stem rot.

 They have also genotyped the two fungi species, named Ganoderma
keralense and G. pseudoapplanatum and identified genetic biomarkers.

 The DNA barcodes have been made publicly available in DNA sequence
repositories so that future studies can use it for early detection of the
 pathogen. The research was published in the journal Mycologia.

 The butt rot or basal stem rot of coconut is known by several names in
different parts of India: Ganoderma wilt (Andhra Pradesh), Anaberoga
(Karnataka) and Thanjavur wilt (Tamil Nadu), to mention a few.

 The infection begins at the roots, but symptoms include discolouration

and rotting of stem and leaves. In the later stages, flowering and nut set
decreases and finally the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) dies.

Defence
AT4 anti-armour weapon

What’s the NEWS

 Swedish defence major Saab’s AT4 anti-armour weapon had been

selected by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force through a
competitive programme for a single-shot weapon.

Know! about the weapon

 The Indian armed forces are a new customer for AT4. This order includes
the AT4CS AST, which can be fired from confined spaces such as from
inside buildings, bunkers and other urban environments. It weighs around
 9 kg and has an effective range of 200 m.

 The AT4 systems are combat-proven across the world. They are
lightweight, single-shot, fully disposable and truly characterised by its
ease of use and handling.

 The AT4CS AST offered a tandem warhead with a breach or blast mode,
which was optimised to defeat enemies within buildings and to destroy
structures, which could create a point of access into them.

 Operated by a single soldier, this single-shot system had proven efficacy

against structures, landing craft, helicopters, armoured vehicles and
personnel.

Economy/GSIII
NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS (NFTs)

What’s the NEWS

 French luxury fashion brand Hermès is suing American digital artist

Mason Rothschild who created the MetaBirkins series of NFTs (Non-
Fungible Tokens), a rapidly growing part of the cryptoworld.

Know! about NFT

  An NFT is a unique, irreplaceable token that can be used to prove
ownership of digital assets such as music, artwork, even tweets and
memes.

 The term ‘non-fungible’ simply means that each token is different as

opposed to a fungible currency such as money (a ten-rupee note can be
exchanged for another and so on).

 Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are also fungible, which

means that one Bitcoin can be exchanged for another. But an NFT cannot
be exchanged for another NFT because the two are different and therefore
unique. Each token has a different value, depending on which asset it
represents.

 NFT transactions are recorded on blockchains, which is a digital public

ledger, with most NFTs being a part of the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs
became popular in 2021, when they were beginning to be seen by artists
as a convenient way to monetise their work.

 One of the other attractions is that NFTs are a part of a new kind of
financial system called decentralised finance (DeFi), which does away
with the involvement of institutions such as banks.

 For this reason, decentralised finance is seen as a more democratic

financial system because it makes access to capital easier for lay people
by essentially eliminating the role of banks and other associated
institutions.

Agriculture/GSIII
Government to Promote Drone use in
Agriculture – Financial Support Being
Extended Under ‘Sub-Mission on
Agriculture Mechanization’

What’s the NEWS

 In a major boost to promote precision farming in India, the Union
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has issued guidelines to
make drone technology affordable to the stakeholders of this sector.
Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization” (SMAM)
 The guidelines of “Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization”
(SMAM) have been amended which envisages granting upto 100% of
the cost of agriculture drone or Rs. 10 lakhs,whichever is less, as grant
for purchase of drones by the Farm Machinery Training & Testing
Institutes, ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and State Agriculture
Universities for taking up large scale demonstrations of this technology
on the farmers’ fields.
 The Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) would be eligible to
receive grant up to 75% of the cost of agriculture drone for its
demonstrations on the farmers’ fields.
 A contingency expenditure of Rs.6000 per hectare would be provided to
implementing agencies that do not want to purchase drones but will hire
drones for demonstrations from Custom Hiring Centres, Hi-tech
Hubs, Drone Manufacturers and Start-Ups.
 The contingent expenditure to implementing agencies that purchase
drones for drone demonstrations would be limited to Rs.3000 per hectare.
  The financial assistance and grants would be available until March 31,
2023.
Custom Hiring Centers
 In order to provide agricultural services through drone application, 40%
of the basic cost of drone and its attachments or Rs.4 lakhs, whichever
less would be available as financial assistance for drone purchase by
existing Custom Hiring Centers which are set up by Cooperative
Society of Farmers, FPOs and Rural entrepreneurs.
 The new CHCs or the Hi-tech Hubs that will be established by the
Cooperative Societies of Farmers, FPOs and Rural entrepreneurs with
financial assistance from SMAM, RKVY or any other Schemes can also
include Drone as one of the machines along with other agricultural
machines in the projects of CHCs/Hi-tech Hubs.

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