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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 November 2021

::NATIONAL::

After oxygen cylinders, it’s everyday-use portable oxygen cans that are now witnessing brisk sales across the country, with escalating air pollution levels and increased travel and outdoor activities. It is also being used by those recovering from COVID-19.

About:

Sales of these portable oxygen cans, according to industry experts, have doubled post-Diwali, and going by the current trend they are expected to triple in the coming weeks.
Delhi-NCR alone claims to bring in 65% of the sales, while Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune also are witnessing a steady climb in demand for this product.
This when medical doctors are not ready to give an all-clear for the product, stating that it can actually delay medical intervention and lead to a false sense of well-being.
According to doctors, these cans are not useful and they should not be recommended.
Technically, a patient in need of oxygen will require at least 1 litre per minute. While these portable oxygen spray cans can have up to 12 litres of oxygen, they will last for about 10 minutes or even less. They shouldn’t be seen as a medical intervention.

These awards were instituted in the year 1954 and announced every year on the occasion ofRepublic Day except for brief interruption(s) during the years 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997.

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The award is given in three categories, namely,
Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service;
Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order; and
Padma Shri for distinguished service.
The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.
They are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year.
Even self-nomination can be made.
It can also be given to foreigners.

A direct flight between Srinagar and Sharjah operated by budget airline GoFirst (formerly known as GoAir) was denied permission to enter Pakistan.
With this refusal, experts have said Pakistan has violated the first freedom of air under theChicago Convention.

About:

Following the Chicago Convention in 1944, the signatories to the convention decided to set rules that would act as fundamental building blocks to international commercial aviation.
As a part of these rules, initially, six ‘freedoms of air’ were decided.
These freedoms or rights — which still operate within the ambit of multilateral and bilateral treaties that allow them — grant airlines of a particular country the privilege to use and/or land in another country’s airspace.
The first freedom of air grants the right to an airline of one country to fly over a second country and land in a third country.
In case of the GoFirst flight, the airline — an Indian carrier — was using the airspace of Pakistan — the second country — and was landing in the UAE — the third country.

The global goal to halve the fuel consumption of new light-duty vehicles by 2030 from 2005 levels is stalling, according to International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) update.

Key highlights:

The average rated fuel consumption of new light-duty vehicles fell by only 0.9 per cent between 2017 and 2019, according to GFEI 2021.
This is far smaller than the 1.8 per cent annual average reduction between 2010 and 2015.2019 is the latest year for which data is available in the report.
According to the report, total improvements are lower than the 2.8 per cent yearly fuel economy improvements needed to meet the target.

A number of factors were responsible for the slowing pace of improvement between 2017 and 2019. These included:

Stagnating fuel economy standards in the US and the EU up to 2019
The rising market share of SUVs, which can use almost one-third more fuel than a medium-sized car
The rising cost of squeezing out further efficiency gains from mature technologies
The slow adoption of electric cars to compensate for larger vehicles

About:

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) was founded in 2009 with the purpose of promoting and supporting government action to improve energy efficiency of the global light-duty vehicle fleet.
GFEI is a partnership between the IEA, UNEP, the International Transport Forum of the OECD (ITF), the International Council onClean Transportation (ICCT), the University of California-Davis and the FIA Foundation.
It has a target of improving average fuel economy of light duty vehicles by 2030 for new vehicles (compared with a 2005 baseline),and includes electric and hybrid technology.

Financial Inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs.

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Number of bank branches per 100,000 adults in India rose to 14.7 in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015, which is higher than Germany,China and South Africa.
India is now ahead of China in financial inclusion metrics, with mobile and internet banking transactions rising to 13,615 per 1,000 adults in 2020 from 183 in 2015 and the number of bank branches inching up to 14.7 per 1 lakh adults in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015, which is higher than Germany, China and South Africa, according to a report.
States with higher financial inclusion/ more bank accounts have also seen a perceptible decline in crime along with a meaningful drop in consumption of alcohol and tobaccos.
Under the non-frills accounts scheme, the number of persons with deposit accounts at banks has significantly increased, becoming comparable with emerging economy peers and even some of the advanced economies.
In terms of the use of digital payments also, there is noteworthy progress.

The Indian Army has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG-N), Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

About:

This MoU will facilitate exchange of knowledge and collaboration in the fields emerging technologies for development of GIS and IT based Enterprise Resource Planning Software, Training Content, Telecasting of Audio-Visual Content, Research and Knowledge Partnership, Technical Support and Upgradation for Resources Developed under a holistic partnership for projects which have the prior approval of Army Management Studies Board (AMSB).
The MOU will leverage the relative advantage of BISAG-N to support training and evolving innovative solutions to boost operational capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces.
BISAG-N which is an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India will act as a medium of exchange of knowledge and collaboration in the fields of emerging technologies.