Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

The Union Cabinet approved an interest subvention of Rs 4,573 crore for new distilleries producing ethanol, which can be used for doping in petrol, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.
The government was targeting to more than double the blending of ethanol in petrol to 20 per cent by 2030, for which domestic capacity has to be augmented.
India will need about 1,000 crore litres of ethanol for doping in petrol by 2030 against the current capacity of 684 crore litres.
The cabinet has approved a modified scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country for producing first-generation ethanol from feed stocks such as cereals (rice, wheat, barley, corn and sorghum), sugarcane and sugar beet.
The government would bear interest subvention for five years, including a one-year moratorium against the loan availed by project proponents from banks, at the rate of 6 per cent per annum or 50 per cent of the rate of interest charged by banks, whichever is lower.
The government has also approved a Rs 3,000-crore project to turn Paradip Port into a world-class port by setting up a dock. The Paradip port handles about 115 million tonnes (mt) of cargo which is likely to increase substantially to about 400mt by 2030.

The Central Vigilance Commission recently sent a list of 80-plus suggestions, gathered from the general public for bringing a “systemic improvement”, to various ministries and departments for possible implementation.
The suggestions include minor administrative and behavioural changes — like government officers not answering phone calls — to major policy shifts like getting each department to conduct inquiries through a third party, linking salary of a government servant to his performance in some way and job rotations at banks to check irregularities. In several cases, corrupt practices in schemes and systems have been red flagged for action.
The vigilance sought suggestions on “systemic improvements” of government departments as part of its “preventive vigilance” focus, rather than a “punitive vigilance” approach.
The commission has picked out 83 of these suggestions as “doable” and sent to relevant ministries from the departments of financial services and personnel and training, to the ministries of railways, power and telecom. Besides, recommendations have been sent to all ministries.
The CVC has asked the ministries concerned to inform it of the status of implementation or otherwise of the recommendations made.

The government announced that it would open three missions in Estonia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic in 2021.
Cabinet approved opening of Indian Missions in these countries.
It will help expand India's diplomatic footprint, deepen political relations, enable growth of bilateral trade,investment and economic engagements, facilitate stronger people-to-people contacts, bolster politicaloutreach in multilateral fora and help garner support for India's foreign policy objectives.
Indian mission in these countries will also better assist the Indian community and protect their interests.

The Union Cabinet approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan on peaceful uses of outer space.
The MoU, which was signed between the two sides shall enable India and Bhutan to pursue cooperation in potential interest areas such as remote sensing of the earth, satellite communication and satellite based navigation, space science and planetary exploration, use of spacecraft and space systems and ground system and application of space technology.
Cooperation with Bhutan through this MoU would lead to a joint activity in the field of application of space technologies for the benefit of humanity.
India and Bhutan have been discussing establishing formal space cooperation.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) said it has become an associate member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) works closely with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board in setting up the standards for strengthening the securities markets.
The IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation have been endorsed by Financial Stability Board as one of the key standards for sound financial systems.
The membership of IOSCO would provide IFSCA the platform to exchange information at the global level and regional level on areas of common interests.
Further, the IOSCO platform would enable IFSCA to learn from the experiences and best practices of the regulators of other well established financial centres.
The first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in the country has been set up at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar.

Geoengineering has steadily shifted over the last few decades from the margins towards the mainstream of climate discourse.
It is a deliberate, large-scale intervention carried out in Earth's natural systems to reverse the impacts of climate change.
This involves techniques to physically manipulate global climate to cool the planet. These techniques fall primarily under three categories:

1. Solar radiation management,

2. carbon dioxide removal and

3. weather modification.

Some examples of geoengineering: carbon capture and storage, ocean fertilisation or dumping of iron or urea to stimulate phytoplankton growth to absorb more carbon; cloud brightening or spraying saltwater to make clouds more reflective etc.