UPSC NEWS DIARY FOR TODAY (09 August, 2022) | DAY LONG CURRENT AFFAIRS DIGEST FOR UPSC

”UPSC News Diary For Today” is every day published in the evening between 6-7 PM and contains all current affairs articles from the day on a single platform. ”UPSC News Diary For Today” covers various topics from UPSC Syllabus and is very helpful and time managing for UPSC Aspirants. The framing of this daily current affairs compilation article is easy to read and understandable also.

In the ”UPSC News Diary For Today” article, we focus on both UPSC Preliminary and Mains exam-oriented current affairs & prepare a gist of daily important news articles from leading National Newspapers, PIB, and other various official sources.

Undavalli Caves

• Undavalli Caves lies in the Undavalli village in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
• From the city of Vijayawada the caves are located at the distance of 8 km and 32 km from Guntur. These caves are located at the top of the high hills facing the Krishna River.
• These four stories caves are said to be found in the 7th century.
• They are associated with the Vishnukundin Kings of AD 420 – 620.
• These exotic caves of Undavalli were dedicated to the Anantapadmanabha and Narisimhaswami.
• According to the historical evidences Madhava Reddy who ruled this region as the subordinate under the Reddies of Kondaveedu gifted the caves to the temple of Anantha Swamy.
• It is also believed that these caves were used by the Buddhist monks as the rest houses.

The Office of the Vice-President (Article 63)

• The Vice-President of India is the second highest constitutional office in the country.
• He serves for a five-year term, but can continue to be in office, irrespective of the expiry of the term, until the successor assumes office.
• The Constitution is silent on who performs the duties of the Vice-President, when a vacancy occurs in the office of the Vice-President of India, before the expiry of his term, or when the Vice-President acts as the President of India.
• The only provision in the Constitution is with regard to the Vice-President’s function as the Chairperson of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), which is performed, during the period of such vacancy, by the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, or any other member of the Rajya Sabha authorised by the President of India.
• The Vice-President may resign his office by submitting his resignation to the President of India. The resignation becomes effective from the day it is accepted.
• The Vice-President can be removed from office by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), passed by a majority of its members at that time and agreed to by the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
• A resolution for this purpose may be moved only after a notice of at least a minimum of 14 days has been given of such an intention.

ISRO’s SSLV Satellite

Why SSLV mission could not succeed?

• The ISRO’s first small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV), carrying the earth observation satellite EOS-02 and a co-passenger student spacecraft AzaadiSAT, did not launch as planned on Sunday.
• The mission could not succeed because the SSLV-D1 placed the satellites in an elliptical orbit rather than a circular one, leaving them unusable.
• SSLV-D1 put the satellites into a 356 km x 76 km elliptical orbit rather than a 356 km circular orbit.
• The divergence was caused by the logic’s failure to recognise a sensor failure and proceed with a salvage step.

What is Lipidomics?

• Lipidomics is an analytical method that provides detailed insights into the fatty acid profiles in blood plasma.
• Fatty acids occur in the human organism mainly as part of complex molecules, called lipids.
• Based on their molecular structure, they are classified into numerous different lipid classes and types.
• The sum of all of them within an organism is called the lipidome.
• Understanding the lipid metabolism plays an important role in better deciphering cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. However, little is known about the molecular relationships.

Wetlands in India

Wetlands in India- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Wetlands in India in News

• Recently, total 15 Indian Wetland Sites were designated as the Ramsar Sites of International Importance under Ramsar Convention.
• So far, 64 wetlands covering an area of 12,50,361 ha have been designated as Ramsar Sites of International Importance from India.
  • Out of 64 Ramsar sites, 38 were designated in the last 7 years, i.e., from 2014 to till date.

List of Ramsar Wetland Sites in India

What is a Wetland in India?

• According to the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, an area of marsh, fen, peat land or water; whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters, are considered as wetlands.

Wetlands in India- Area under Wetlands

• As per the National Wetland Inventory & Assessment, 2011, Space Applications Centre- ISRO Ahmedabad identified approximately 2.0 lakhs water bodies/wetlands (>2.25 hectares) across the country covering an area of approximately 10 million ha.
• These includes lakes/ponds, ox-bow lakes, high altitude & riverine wetlands, waterlogged areas, tanks, reservoirs, lagoons, creeks, sand beaches, corals, mangroves, mud flats, salt pans, aquaculture ponds, salt marshes, etc.

Regulatory Framework for Wetland Conservation in India

• Environment Ministry has notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 as regulatory framework for conservation and management of wetlands across country.
• It aims to conserve, manage and maintain the ecological character of the wetlands without restricting its wise use.

National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA)

• About: NPCA is being implemented for conservation and management of identified wetlands (includes lakes) in the country on cost sharing basis between Central Government and respective State Governments.
• Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is implementing the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA).
• Scope: The scheme covers various activities such as-
  • Interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater,
  • Shoreline protection,
  • Lake front development,
  • In-situ cleaning i.e., desilting & de-weeding,
  • Storm water management,
  • Bioremediation,
  • Catchment area treatment,
  • Lake beautification,
  • Survey & demarcation,
  • Bio-fencing,
  • Fisheries development,
  • Weed control,
  • Biodiversity conservation,
  • Education and awareness creation,
  • Community participation, etc.

Implementation of NPCA

• Four-pronged approach of preparing Brief Documents, filling Ecosystem Health Cards, instituting Wetland Mitras and formulating Integrated Management Plans based on the health and specific threats facing the wetlands, is in place for conservation and management of wetlands.
• Under the NPCA scheme, the central assistance is based on the proposals received from the State Governments in the form of Integrated Management Plans including brief documents, in conformity with the guidelines and budget availability.
• Performance: So far, MoEF&CC has sanctioned proposals for conservation of 164 wetlands across the country and released an amount of about Rs. 1066.43 Crores as central share.
• Dedicated Web Portal (https:// indianwetlands.in) for Wetlands: It is a publicly available informationand knowledge platform in order to-
  • Facilitate Knowledge sharing,
  • Information dissemination,
  • Host capacity building material, and
  • Provide a single-point access data repository for processing information and making it available to the stakeholders in an efficient and accessible manner.

Centre for Wetlands Conservation and Management (CWCM) 

• About: CWCM has been established under the Environment Ministry’s National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM).
• Mandate:
  • to serve as a knowledge hub and to enable exchange of knowledge between wetland users, managers, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners and
  • to assist the national and State/ UT Governments in the design and implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks, management planning, monitoring and targeted research specifically related to wetlands.

Ramsar Sites- 10 New Indian Wetlands added to the List

PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)

PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY) in News

• Government has modified the earlier scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS) with nomenclature ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)’.

Analysis Of Sansad TV Discussion: ”Jal Jeevan Mission”

PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)    

• About: (PMAAGY) aims at mitigating gaps and providing basic infrastructure in villages with significant tribal population in convergence with funds available under different schemes in Central Scheduled Tribe Component.
• Implementation Period: ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)’ will be implemented during 2021-22 to 2025-26
• Parent Ministry: ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)’ is being implemented by Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Coverage: PMAAGY is envisaged to cover 36,428 villages having at least 50% ST population and 500 STs across States / UTs with notified STs during the period.
• Funding: A sum of ₹20.38 lakh per village as ‘gap-filling’ has been provisioned for approved activities including administrative expenses under PMAAGY.
  • An amount of Rs. 7,276 cr has been approved by the Cabinet for the scheme in next 5 years.
• Role of States/UTs: States/UTs are encouraged for convergence of resources as Central/State Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) funds and other financial resources available with them for saturation of infrastructure and services in the villages identified under PMAAGY.

PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)- Key Objectives

• Integrated Socio-Economic Development: The main objective of PMAAGY scheme is to achieve integrated socio-economic development of selected villages through convergence approach. It includes the following components-
  • Preparing Village Development Plan based on the needs, potential, and aspirations;
  • Maximizing the coverage of individual / family benefit schemes of the Central / State Governments;
  • Improving the infrastructure in vital sectors like health, education, connectivity and livelihood;
• Mitigating Gaps: PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY) envisions to mitigate gaps in prominent 8 sectors of development viz.
  • Road connectivity (Internal and Inter village /block),
  • Telecom connectivity (Mobile /internet),
  • School,
  • Anganwadi Centres,
  • Health Sub-Centre,
  • Drinking water facility,
  • Drainage and
  • Solid waste management.

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) | Revamped Scheme of RGSA Extended

Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables

Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables in News

• Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare laid the foundation stone of the Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables in Chandauli (Uttar Pradesh).

India Israel Relations: India Israel FTA Soon

Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables

• About: Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables will act as a place where seeds and plants of improved vegetables will be cultivated and distributed to the farmers.
  • Farmers can also sponsor the development of plants for themselves.
• Role of Israel: The technology for the Center is provided by Israeli experts under the India-Israel Action Plan (IIAP) with funds for building infrastructure for demonstration purposes from Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
• Locations: Centers of Excellence (CoEs) are being set up in the States based on Israeli technologies.
• Significance: These Centers of Excellence act as demonstration and training centers for the latest technologies in the field of Horticulture.
  • They also serve as a source of planting material for fruits and vegetables in protected cultivation.
• Why Chandauli (U.P): The climate of Chandauli district, which is known as the rice bowl of UP, is suitable for setting up the Center of Excellence for Vegetables.
  • There are 9 agro-climatic zones in the State which are favourable for the cultivation of various horticultural crops throughout the year.
• Key Activities:
  • Seedling production of tomato, pepper, brinjal, chilli, cucumber, tomato, pepper, brinjal, chilli and exotic vegetables is proposed to be done in the hi-tech climate controlled greenhouse to be set up in the Center of Excellence for Vegetables.
  • Cultivation of cucumber, cauliflowers, baby corn, sweet corn and exotic vegetables is proposed in the open field.
  • Along with micro-irrigation in the open, a trial demonstration of farming with fertigation and chemigation systems will be done.
  • There will also be a demonstration of installation of seepage, sprinkler irrigation and other plastic culture applications.

11th Agriculture Census Launched

Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables- Benefits to Farmers

• Farmers will get a lot of benefit in increasing the production of vegetables.
  • By using the latest methods of farming, farmers will be able to get better yield and also export vegetables.
• Nursery of other agricultural produce including vegetables will be prepared at this Center of excellence to promote the Agriculture sector globally.
  • This will not only benefit the farmers here, but will help the district be known globally in the field of vegetables and agriculture.

India-Israel Cooperation in Agriculture Sector- Key Points

• Indo-Israeli Agriculture Project: It is based on the concept of establishing Centers of Excellence which provide a platform for a rapid transfer of technology to the farmers with the aim of increasing productivity and improving the quality of produce.
  • The first stage of the Indo-Israeli Agricultural Cooperation Project started in 2008 following the signing of a three-year Action Plan.
  • The plan was later on extended to include the 2012-2015 period.
  • Within this framework, the State of Israel was requested to share best practices and knowhow, and provide capacity building through professional training programs to be conducted both in Israel and in India.
• INDO-ISRAEL Centres of Excellence: They are established under Indo-Israeli Agriculture Project with collaboration between Indian Agriculture Ministry and MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation.
  • About: Indo-Israel Centres of Excellence provide a platform for a rapid transfer of technology to the farmers with the aim of increasing productivity and improving the quality of produce.
  • Significance: The Centres of Excellence generate knowledge, demonstrate best practices, and train farmers.
  • Performance: Agriculture Minister informed that 29 Centers of Excellence are functioning in 12 States. These Centers of Excellence are-
    • Producing more than 25 million vegetable plants, and over 387 thousand quality fruit plants and
    • Can train more than 1.2 lakh farmers per year.
  • INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence: this is a new concept aimed at creating a model ecosystem in agriculture across eight states, alongside 13 Centers of Excellence within 75 villages.
    • INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence program will promote the increase of net income and better the livelihood of the individual farmer, transforming traditional farms into modern-intensive farms based on IIAP standards.
    • A large-scale and complete value chain approach with economic sustainability, embedded with Israeli novel technologies and methodologies will be tailored to local conditions.
    • Focus Areas: The INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence program will focus on-
      • Modern Agriculture infrastructure,
      • Capacity Building,
      • Market linkage.

Digital Technology in Agriculture

Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine

Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine in News

• Recently, the Government of India has established Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H), as a subordinate office under Ministry of Ayush.

Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H)

• About: The Commission was initially established as Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine (PCIM) in 2010 and was registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860 later in the same year.
• Parent Ministry: Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) functions as a sub-ordinate office under Ministry of AYUSH.
• Formation of PCIM&H: It is created by merging Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) and the two central laboratories namely-
  • Pharmacopoeia Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM), Ghaziabad and
  • Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory (HPL)
• Key Functions:
  • The Commission is engaged in development of Pharmacopoial Standards for Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathic drugs.
  • PCIM&H is also acting as Central Drug Testing cum Appellate Laboratory for Indian systems of Medicine & Homoeopathy.

Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine- Key Objectives

• Quality standards
  • To develop Pharmacopoeias for drugs/formulations of ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’
  • To develop Formularies of ‘Indian Medicine’
  • To revise/update/amend the published Pharmacopoeias and Formularies as may be deemed necessary
  • To publish compendia supplementary to Pharmacopoeias/Formularies of ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’ and other related scientific/regulatory information pertaining to functional area of PCIM&H
• Apex Laboratory
  • To act as Central Drug Testing cum Appellate Laboratory for ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’
  • To impart Capacity Building Training to Drug Regulatory Authorities and personnel engaged in Quality Control pertaining to ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’
  • To nurture and promote awareness on Quality assurance of drugs/formulations of ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’ and drug research
• Repositories of authentic reference materials
  • To maintain an authentic Reference Raw Materials (RRM) Repository of raw materials used in ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’
  • To maintain an authentic Reference Chemical Markers (RCM) Repository of chemical moieties with established therapeutic significance for drugs/formulations of ‘Indian Medicine’ and ‘Homoeopathy’
• Miscellaneous
  • To exercise any activity so as to propagate/promote/improvise implementation/ enforcement of provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules thereunder as well as other laws/schemes/programmes of ‘Government’, relevant to functional area of PCIM&H.

National Ayush Mission (NAM)- Key Points

• About: National AYUSH Mission (NAM) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of AYUSH, launched in 2014.
  • National AYUSH Mission is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Union Government.
• Implementation: National AYUSH Mission (NAM) launched during 12th Plan for implementing through States/UTs.
• Mandate: NAM aims to promote AYUSH medical systems through-
  • Cost effective AYUSH services,
  • Strengthening of educational systems,
  • Facilitate the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani & Homoeopathy (ASU &H) drugs and
  • Sustainable availability of ASU & H raw materials.

National Ayush Mission (NAM) | National Ayush Mission Scheme

The Bonn conference

• The aim of the Bonn conference, also called the 56th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (unfccc), was to take forward the action items announced at the 26th Conference of Parties (cop26) to the unfccc in Glasgow, UK, last November, and advance some of the more technical and operational discussions related to implementation of provisions under the Paris Agreement, 2015, in time for cop27 scheduled this November in Sharm el Shaikh, Egypt.
• The conference was led by two technical committees—the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation.
• The meet was also the starting point for technical discussions on “the global stocktake”, a formal assessment of progress towards goals under the Paris Agreement. But tensions between the developed and developing worlds began even before the conference commenced.

Second UN Ocean Conference

• Leaders from more than 20 countries convened in Lisbon, Portugal in the last week of June to address the global “ocean emergency”.
• At the second UN Ocean Conference, countries made major commitments to support ocean health and blue economies amid an increasing incidence of climate change induced impacts.
• Focus was also on small island nations that face the brunt of ocean destruction, and how they can mitigate the impacts.
• In a first, Fiji committed to protecting more than 8 per cent of its waters by 2024, while Indonesia was hailed as a model for coral reef restoration.
• Rich countries also made large-scale commitments to support island nations.
• A 2021 proposal by Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama to create an interconnected “safe swim way” that will be off-limits to industrial fishing fleets, got funding of US $150 million from international non-profits.
• Europe and the UK also announced major funding grants.

Risk of vaccine inequity in monkeypox fight

• The World Health Organization (who) has termed the ongoing monkeypox outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern”.
• However, with the outbreak continuing to spread to more than 50 countries, the body has urged vaccination for at-risk populations.
• As the US and the EU scramble for vaccines, developing nations are at risk of missing out on doses.
• Africa, where monkeypox is spreading to countries where it is not already endemic, may be “sidelined” again as seen during the covid-19 pandemic.
• The reason for this inequity is that there is only one vaccine for monkeypox, Jynneos, made by Bavarian Nordic, a Danish company. The company will send 2 million doses to the US by the end of 2022, and provide only 5 million doses for the rest of the world.
• As per reports quoting company executives, its manufacturing facility is shut since 2021, and is unlikely to restart operations this year.

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