10th SEP, 2022

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INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY (IRENA) RELEASES BIOENERGY FOR THE
ENERGY TRANSITION: ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY AND OVERCOMING BARRIERS REPORT

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Report aims to provide an overview of sustainable bioenergy developments.

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Bioenergy refers to electricity and gas that is generated from organic matter, known as biomass.
Bioenergy, including bioethanol, biodiesel and biomethane, can replace fossil fuels and decarbonise road transport and shipping.
Bioenergy contributes largest share (two-thirds) of renewables utilisation worldwide, when including traditional use of biomass.
Bioenergy sustainability is a complex topic and if not managed well itssupply chains and use could incur negative impacts also (refer
to the infographic).

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Barriers to bioenergy deployment
Institutional: Policy uncertainty, Weak institutional structures
Financial: Lack of access to affordable finance, low-level technology
readiness, Lack of infrastructure

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Supply chain: Lack of stable feedstock, Lack of qualified workers and
skills, Sustainability risks

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Lack of Information and public awareness.
Policy framework for sustainable bioenergy development includes
Sustainability-based target setting and long-term planning.
Cross-sector co-ordination for bioenergy.

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Sustainability governance supported by regulations, certificates and
partnerships. POTENTIAL ASPECTS RELATED TO
BIOENERGY SUSTAINABILITY

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Integration of bioenergy policy making with SDGs.
IRENA, founded in Bonn, Germany in 2009, is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a
sustainable energy future.
168 members including India.

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PRESIDENT OF INDIA LAUNCHES PRADHAN MANTRI TB (TUBERCULOSIS) MUKT BHARAT ABHIYAAN
The Abhiyan is aimed at TB elimination from the country by 2025 five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030.
It would bring together all community stakeholders to support those on TB treatment.
Key initiatives under the abhiyan
Ni-kshay 2.0 initiative: It is an upgraded version of Ni-kshay which is a web enabled application, which facilitates the monitoring of
universal access to TB patients' data by all stakeholders.
Ni-kshay Mitra: Enables people to adopt tuberculosis patients and take care of their nutritional, additional diagnostic, and
vocational needs.
Ni-kshay Mitra portal: For donors to provide various forms of support to those undergoing TB treatment.
About Tuberculosis (TB)
Caused by bacterium - Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
It is a preventable and curable communicable disease but could be fatal if left untreated.
More than 26% of Global TB cases are from India.
India experienced a 19% increase in TB cases in 2021 compared to the previous year
Initiatives taken:
National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination 2017-2025
National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP)- Centrally Sponsored Scheme and TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine

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MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (MORD) ANNOUNCED NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN TO

EXPAND SELF HELP GROUPS (SHGS) FOOTPRINT
In a bid to increase coverage of SHGs, MoRD announced a campaign to expedite inclusion of women who are left out of the
umbrella of SHGs under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
DAY-NRLM aims at mobilizing about 9-10 crore rural poor households into SHGs in a phased manner and provide them long-term
support such that they diversify their livelihoods, improve their incomes and quality of life.
As on August 31, more than 8.5 crore families have been linked with 78.33 lakh SHGs under DAY-NRLM.

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SHGs are informal groups of people belonging to similar socio-economic characteristics who come together to attain some
common goals.
Significance of SHGs: can facilitate empowerment, promote small savings among their members, resolve conflicts through collective
leadership, bring together formal banking structure and rural poor etc.

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Challenges faced: lack of resources, inadequate training facilities, ignorance about schemes among members, exploitation by strong
members, non-cooperative attitude of financial institutions etc.

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Initiatives taken: DAY-NRLM, SHG Bank linkage program by RBI, Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and Mahila Kisan
Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), as sub-schemes under DAY-NRLM etc.

INDO-PACIFIC ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK (IPEF) UNITED NATIONS GENERAL

MINISTERIAL SUMMIT CONCLUDES IN LOS ANGELES ASSEMBLY (UNGA) APPROVES

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The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), is a U.S.-led economic HIGH-LEVEL PANDEMIC SUMMIT
grouping of 14 countries in the Indo-Pacific region which make up over 40% of
the global GDP. UNGA voted to hold a summit of heads of state
next year to find fair, long-lasting solutions
Member states: US, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea,
for global inequities and inadequate

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Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Fiji, and Vietnam.
responses highlighted by COVID-19
The grouping is intended to counter the aggressive and non-transparent pandemic.

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trade and economic policies of China in the Indo-pacific.
It is also expected to hold negotiations
Members are required to sign up to all of the components within a module, but
towards a global pandemic treaty (GPT).
do not have to participate in all modules.
India has chosen to opt out from joining the trade pillar only as it is In December 2021, World Health Assembly
apprehensive of the possibility of binding conditionalities on matters like (WHA) agreed to start a global process to

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labour and public procurement. draft the pandemic treaty.
Focus areas of IPEF and key decision taken

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A GPT would aim to foster an
Pillar Key Decisions taken all-of-government and all-of-society
approach, strengthening national, regional and
Mitigate and prevent future supply chain disruptions and global capacities and resilience to future
Resilient secure critical sectors and key products for manufacturers. pandemics.

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economy Use data to improve supply chain logistics and invest in It is expected to cover aspects like data
(supply chain) new training and development opportunities to upskill sharing and genome sequencing of
workers. emerging viruses and equitable
Clean economy Advance cooperation on clean energy and climate-friendly distribution of vaccines and drugs and
(clean energy, technologies. related research throughout the world.
decarbonisation, Expand investment opportunities and spur innovation Benefits of a GPT
and and promote usage of low- and zero-emissions goods and
infrastructure) services. Early detection and prevention of
pandemics.
Fair economy Level playing field for businesses and workers by
(anti-corruption, preventing and combating corruption, curbing tax evasion, Resilience and response to any future
anti-money and enhancing transparency. pandemics, in particular by ensuring
laundering and Strengthening shared approaches to implementing universal and equitable access to medical
tax), anti-corruption and tax measures. solutions, such as vaccines, medicines and
Connected diagnostics.
economy High-standard provisions in areas that are foundational to
resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth, Focus on the “One Health" approach,
(High-standard
rules in the including labor, environment, digital economy, agriculture connecting the health of humans, animals
digital economy, etc. and the planet.
strong labor and Advance food security and sustainable agricultural Ensure higher, sustained and long-term
environment practices.
standards etc.) political engagement at global level.

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FIRST-EVER DISBURSEMENT APPROVED UNDER ANY PRODUCTION-LINKED INCENTIVE

(PLI) SCHEME
The Empowered Committee headed by CEO, NITI Aayog, approved incentives
under the PLI scheme for Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (under PLI schemes for 13 different sectors includes
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY)). auto components, automobile, aviation,
chemicals, electronic system, food
Scheme offers incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large
processing, medical devices, metals &
investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic

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mining, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy,
components.
telecom, textiles and apparel, and white
Scheme extends an incentive of 4% to 6%, on net incremental sale of goods.
manufactured goods covered under target segments, for a period of 5 years.
About PLI Schemes

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These are a cornerstone of the government’s push for accomplishing the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Objective is to:
Make domestic manufacturing globally competitive.

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Create global champions in manufacturing.
Boost existing capacities in domestic manufacturing for sunrise and strategic sectors.
Reduce import bills and Enhance export capacity.
Employment generation.
PLI schemes envisages providing on average 5% of the production value as an incentive to approved investors.

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The PLI scheme is implemented by the concerned Ministries/ Departments and will be within the overall financial limits prescribed.
Union Budget 2021-22 announced an outlay of INR 1.97 lakh crores for the PLI schemes for various sectors.

ALSO IN NEWS

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Many states have sought an extension of the PMGKAY beyond September 30th.

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The PMGKAY was introduced by the Centre during the first nationwide lockdown due to
Covid-19 in March 2020 to provide 5kg of free food grains per month to the poor.
This is in addition to the subsidized ration provided under the National Food Security Act,
Pradhan Mantri Garib
2013 to families covered under the Public Distribution System.
Kalyan Anna Yojana

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(PMGKAY) Initially launched only for 3 months, the scheme has been extended subsequently since then.

Expressing concern over increasing instances of illegal loan apps, Finance Ministry has made

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following decisions:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prepare ‘whitelist’ of all the legal loan Apps, ensure registration of
payment aggregators within a timeframe and monitor mule and rented account that may be
used for money laundering.

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The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will ensure that only whitelist Apps are
hosted on App Stores.
Illegal loan apps
Ministry of Corporate Affairs will identify shell companies and de-register them to prevent
their misuse.
It was launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and US Agency for
International Development (USAID) to:
Enhance carbon sequestration,
Support local communities,
Strengthen climate resilience of agriculture.
It will be implemented in seven states: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil
Trees Outside Forests in Nadu, and UP.
India Initiative It will bring together farmers, companies, and private institutions in India to rapidly expand
tree coverage outside of traditional forests by 28 lakh hectares.
A strain of bird flu (Eurasian H5N1) was documented in cetaceans, a group of marine mammals
that includes dolphins, porpoises and whales.
Cetaceans are often referred to as sentinels of ocean health, providing insight into marine
ecosystem dynamics.
They tend to be social and live in groups. Cetaceans are distributed in all the world’s oceans
Cetaceans from far polar reaches to Equator.

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Cetaceans breathe while moving through water and spend only a short time at surface.
They use vertical strokes when they swim, instead of horizontal strokes like a crocodile or fish.

The UWaIS portal has been launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs with help from
National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.
It will provide satellite images of water bodies to various cities to plan their rejuvenation. 219
cities have been handed over UWaIS.
The Ministry has also shortlisted 76 start-ups under the ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-Up

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Urban Waterbody Challenge’.
Information System They will be provided financial support of up to ₹ 20 lakh each to work in the fields of water
(UWaIS) supply, used water management, water body rejuvenation, etc.

ZEVTC, global forum, was formed in 2020 to accelerate the pace of the global transition to zero

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emission vehicles (ZEVs).
At COP26, India, represented by NITI Aayog, participated in the fourth ministerial dialogue of the

Zero-Emission Vehicle
Transition Council (ZEVTC)
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ZEVTC.
It brings together ministers and representatives of some of the world’s largest automobile
markets to collectively address key challenges in the transition to ZEVs, to enable faster,
cheaper, and easier transition to EVs for all.

An intense series of eruptions on sun may trigger a strong geomagnetic storm on Earth.

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Geomagnetic storms are major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere, area around planet
controlled by its magnetic field.
It occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from solar wind into space
environment surrounding Earth.

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Geomagnetic storm Impact: Disrupt navigation systems such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and create
harmful geomagnetic induced currents (GICs) in power grid and pipelines.

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According to a recent study by ICMR, efficacy of Imipenem – a wide spectrum antibiotic – in
treating disease-causing E. coli bacteria dropped steadily from 86% in 2016 to 64% in 2021.
E. coli are a large and diverse group of bacteria that are found in environment, foods, and
intestines of people and animals.

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Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick.
Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections,

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E. coli (Escherichia coli) respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses.
It is a common pathogen in ICUs worldwide.

Dara Shikoh
Vice-President released the Arabic Version of Majma Ul-Bahrain of Dara Shikoh.

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Majma-ul-Bahrain (which means ‘Confluence of Two Oceans’) throws light on the similarities
between Hinduism (Vedanta) and Islam (Sufism).
He was eldest son of Shah Jahan and was executed after losing the war of succession against his
brother Aurangzeb.
He is described as a “liberal Muslim” and showed keen interest in Sufi mysticism and was
initiated into the Kadiri order of Sufis by his pir (spiritual guide), Mulla Shah.
Personality in News He translated into Persian the Bhagavad Gita as well as 52 Upanishads, which were earlier
known only to a few upper caste Hindus.
Other Famous works: Safinat-ul-Awliya, Risala-i-hak Numa, Shathiyat or Hasanat-ul-Arifin and
Iksir-i-Azam, Jug Bashist and Tarjuma-i-Akwal-i-Wasili.

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