Current Affairs for IAS Exams -03 January 2023

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 January 2023

::NATIONAL::

50 centrally protected monuments ‘missing’

• As many as 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments are missing, according to a submission made in Parliament by the Ministry of Culture.

About:

• Finding is part of a submission made byMinistry of Culture (MoC) to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for a report titled ‘Issuesrelating to Untraceable Monuments and Protection of Monuments in India’.
• As per Archaeological Survey of India (ASI),these monuments have become untraceable due to rapid urbanisation, submergenceby reservoirs/dams, difficulties in tracing in remote locations, non-availability oftheir proper location etc.
• ASI, an attached office of MoC, is in charge ofprotection and maintenance of CPMs whichhave been declared so under provisions ofAncient Monuments and Archaeological Sitesand Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958.

Recommendations by Standing Committee:

• Physical survey of all CPMs mustmandatorily be carried out by ASI from time to time.
• Thorough assessment of securityrequirements and budgetary allocationrequired for the same.
• Involving Local Panchayats and police insafeguarding monuments.
• Use satellite imagery to try and tracemonuments which are untraceable atpresent.

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Annual General Meeting of Nehru Memorial Museum & Library Society

• The Prime Minister has chaired the Annual General Meeting of Nehru Memorial Museum & Library Society (NMML) Society where he emphasised on encouraging research, scholarship among the youth and making history more appealing. The Prime Minister also discussed ways to make the PM-Sangrahalaya more popular among youngsters.

About Nehru Memorial Museum & Library Society (NMML):

• The Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
• It was established in 1964 in the memory of First Prime Minister (PM) of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964).
• It is located in the Teen Murti House, Delhi (the official residence of the first PM).
• Administration:Prime Minister of India is the President of the NMML.
• It is responsible for all the key decisions regarding the functioning of the memorial.
• Units:It has four major constituents namely –

1.    Memorial Museum,
2.    Library on modern India,
3.    Centre for Contemporary Studies and
4.    Nehru Planetarium.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Wassenaar Arrangement

• India will assume the chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement from 1st January for one year. 

About:

• The 42-member Wassenaar Arrangement is a is a voluntary Multilateral Export ControlRegime(MECR)that monitors transfers of conventional weapons and dual-use goods. 
• India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017 as its 42nd participating state.
• MECR are voluntary and non-binding agreements. It prevents proliferationof Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which includes nuclear, radiological,chemical, biological or other weapon.

Other MECR includes:

• NuclearSupplierGroup (NSG),1975: Prevents nuclear proliferation byimplementing guidelines for nuclearand nuclear-related exports. India is not a member. 
• AustraliaGroup, 1985: Ensures that exports do notcontribute to development ofchemical or biological weapons.India is a member.
• MissileTechnologyControlRegime(MTCR), 1987: Prevent proliferation of missile andunmanned aerial vehicle technologycapable of delivering WMD.India is a member.
• ZanggerCommittee,1971: Formed following coming into forceof Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT). It maintains a Trigger Listof nuclear-relatedstrategic goods.India is not a member.

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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on assuming office as the President of Brazil. 

About:

• Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and the largest in Latin America.
• To the north, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana; to the south, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay; 
• To the east, the Atlantic Ocean; And to the west, Peru and Bolivia. 
• The capital of Brazil is Brasilia. 
• Brazil occupies almost half of the South American territory. 
• Brazil has borders with all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador. The most important cities in Brazil are São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. 

Landforms of Brazil:

• Brazil is divided into five primary geographic areas: The Southern Highlands, the Norther Guiana, Brazilian Highlands central and east, the massive Amazon River Basin, Pantanal wetland areas of the southwest. 
• Guiana Highlands:The Guiana Highlands composed mainly of flat-topped mountains extending in a roughly east-to-west direction across the north of the country. 
• Guiana has approximately a territorial extension of 214,970 square kilometers. They are home to Brazil ‘s highest point. The Guiana Highlands feature plunging waterfalls and deep waterfalls.

::Economy::

Blockchain to be used to push farm exports

• India’s natural farming could soon get a technological push through blockchain, as the government plans to use the technology across all export-driven crops to increase the country’s food shipments and incentivise farmers to take up chemical-free processes.
• The Niti Aayog has launched a pilot project in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh government on apple farming, to ensure quality production while also monitoring the produce across the entire storage and supply chain.

About:

• India ranks second in fruits and vegetable production in the world,after China, but its share in global fruits and vegetable market is just1%.
• Lack of quality produce and traceability has hampered India’s foodexports apart from disincentivising growers.
• Blockchain will help bridge this gap by removing redundant processes,ensuring quality control and monitoring produce across entire storageand supply chain.
• IoT sensors will be used to generate crop data and its storage,distribution of grown crops to food processing companies, supply ofprocessed food to wholesalers and retailers and its storage.
• Other opportunities of using blockchain technology in agricultureSelf-executing smart contracts: Especially in agricultural insurance,green bonds, and traceability, together with automated payments.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Lumpi-ProVacInd

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed Lumpi-ProVacInd vaccine forLumpy Skin Disease (LSD).

About:

• Vaccine has been jointly developed by ICAR’s National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) at Hisar,Haryana and Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) at Izatnagar, UP.
• It is a homologous, live attenuated vaccine to protect cattle against LSD virus.
• LSD is a viral disease, caused by Capripoxvirus, that affects cattle. It does not affect humans.
• It is genetically related to goatpox and sheeppox virus family.
• It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as certain species of flies and mosquitoes, orticks.

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