Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 December 2022

::NATIONAL::

UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage Sites

• Gujarat’s Vadnagar town, iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, and rock cut sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura have been added to the list.
• UNESCO tentative list is an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination.

Vadnagar town:

• Vadnagar is a municipality under Mehsana district of Gujarat.
• It is a multi-layered and multi-cultural mercantile settlement with its history stretching back tonearly 8th Century BCE.
• It is an L-shaped town with Sharmishtha Lake located on its north-eastern edge.
• At Vadnagar, two major ancient trade routes crossed each other.

Sun Temple at Modheraand its ad joining monuments:

• Located on left bank of the river Pushpavati, a tributary of river Rupan in Mehsana district of Gujarat.
• Built in Maru-gurjara architectural style of 11th century (under patronage of Solanki dynasty).
• It consists of main temple shrine (garbhagriha), a hall (gadhamandapa), an outer hall or assembly
• hall (Sabhamandapa or rangamandapa) and a sacred pool (Kunda), which is now called Ramakunda. It built with bright yellow sandstone.
• Sculptures features include life-sized figures belonging to three groups of deities: Adityas,Lokapalas, and Devis.

Rock cut sculptures and Reliefs of Unakoti,Unakoti Range

• It is located in north- eastern region of Tripura. ‘Unakoti’ literally translates as “one less than a crore”.
• It provides evidence of ancient Saiva worship in Tripura from 8th-9th centuries CE.
• Famous for its colossal rock cut panels depicting Hindu deities.
• Images found at Unakoti can be classified into rock-cut images and loose sculptures.
• Famous figures and sculptures include Unkotiswara Kala Bhairav, Gangadhara, depictions ofBoddhisattavas, chaturmukhalinga and one Eka-mukalinga etc.
• Streamlet at Unakoti forms three kundas, a big part of the annual Ashokashtomi Mela

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Centre sounds Covid alert, asks states to track positive samples

• Union Health Ministry has directed all states and UTs to ramp upgenome sequencing as sudden surge in COVID cases in countries likeJapan, USA, China etc. pose a threat of another wave of COVID pandemic.

Key highlights:

• Genome sequencing means deciphering the exact order of basepairs in an individual.
• A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA. 
• It includes allchromosomes, which houses DNA, and genes (specific sections of
• DNA).
• Genome sequencing to track variants will be done through IndianSARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network.
• It is a consortium of National Laboratories to monitor the genomicvariations in SARS-CoV-2 (virus that causes COVID-19) aidingunderstanding of how virus spreads and evolves, providesinformation to aid public health response etc.
• It is jointly initiated by Union Health Ministry of Health, and Department of Biotechnology with Council for Scientific & Industrial Research and Indian Council of Medical Research.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

International Financial Services Centres Authority

• The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for mutual assistance and cooperation in the area of sustainable finance.

About IFSCA

• The IFSCA is a statutory authority established under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 (“IFSCA Act”) with a mandate to develop and regulate the financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centres (‘IFSC’). 
• GIFT-IFSC is the maiden IFSC in India. The IFSCA aims to develop a strong global connect and focus on the needs of the Indian economy as well as to serve as an international financial platform for the entire region.

About CEEW

• The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is one of Asia’s leading not-for-profit policy research institutions. 
• The Council uses data, integrated analysis, and strategic outreach to explain – and change – the use, reuse, and misuse of resources. It prides itself on the independence of its high-quality research, develops partnerships with public and private institutions, and engages with the wider public. 
• In 2021, CEEW once again featured extensively across ten categories in the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. The Council has also been consistently ranked among the world’s top climate change think tanks.

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Urban 20 (U20) Summit

• Under the G20, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is organizing the Urban 20 event in Ahmedabad.

About:

• It is a city diplomacy initiative launched on December 12, 2017, at the One Planet Summit in Paris.
• Urban-20 (U20) provides a platform for cities from G20 countries to facilitate discussions on various important issues of urban development including climate change, social inclusion, sustainable mobility, and affordable housing, and propose collective solutions.
• C40 Cities (C40) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) convene the U20 under the leadership of a Chair city that rotates annually, based in the G20 host country.
• The U20 2023 Cycle will be chaired by the City of Ahmedabad.
• Ahmedabad will showcase its unique urban development and climate change initiatives and rich culture and heritage to the participants.

::Economy::

Environmental-Social-Governance 

• Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs has launched a programme to create Impact Leaders in the areas of Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG). 

About:

• IICA is an autonomous institution under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. 
• The event was attended by 50 budding ESG Professionals who are senior corporate officials enrolled in the programme across the globe.
• ESG (Environmental, social, and corporate governance) is a term that has been coined to refer to specific data designed to be used by investors for evaluating the material risk that the organization is taking on based on the externalities it is generating.Broadly the ESG can be categorised as follows:

1.    Environmental aspect: Data is reported on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, deforestation, pollution, energy efficiency and water management.
2.    Social aspect: Data is reported on employee safety and health, working conditions, diversity, equity, and inclusion, conflicts and humanitarian crisesand is relevant in risk and return assessments directly through results in enhancing (or destroying) customer satisfaction and employee engagement.
3.    Governance aspect: Data is reported on corporate governance such as preventing bribery, corruption, diversity of Board of Directors, executive compensation, cybersecurity and privacy practices, management structure, executive pay, diversity in leadership, manner in which the leadership responds to and interacts with shareholders, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Vainu Bappu Observatory

• Stellar discoveries of the 40-inch telescope at the Vainu Bappu Observatory in Kavalur highlighted at 50-year celebrationmade recently. 

About Vainu Bappu Observatory:

Vainu Bappu Observatory is considered one of the most renowned observatories in India it is Located on Javadi Hills at Kavalur, Tamilnadu

• The 40-inch telescope was installed in 1972 and started producing important astronomical discoveries soon after. More than a generation of astronomers were trained at this telescope as well.
• The telescope in the observatory is under the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST)

Who is Vainu Bappu?

• He was an Indian astronomer who helped to establish several astronomical institutions in India including the Vainu Bappu Observatory which is named after him.
• He has played a significant role in astronomy with major discoveries like the presence of rings around the planet Uranus, a new satellite of Uranus, and the presence of an atmosphere around Ganymede which is a satellite of Jupiter. 

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