Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 12 April 2022

::NATIONAL::

Time Release Studies

Shri Vivek Johri, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), presented a set of Time Release Studies (TRS) conducted by the department.

About:

TRS are essentially a performance measurement tool for assessing the cargo clearance process of the international trade, as recommended by the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the World Customs Organization (WCO).
It adopts average cargo release time, i.e., the time taken from the arrival of the cargo at the customs station to its eventual release for import or export, as the case may be.
The National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2022 covered 15 major Customs formations, including four port categories - seaports, air cargo complexes (ACCs), inland container depot (ICDs) and integrated check posts (ICPs), and is based on the sample period between 1st – 7th January 2022.
NTRS 2022 and the Custom House level Time Release Studies, which have been conducted using the same data set, obtained from the customs automated system and following the same methodology, have found strong affirmation for the four-fold ‘path to promptness’, namely:

i.   advance filing of import documents enabling pre-arrival processing,
ii.   risk based facilitation of cargo,
iii.   benefits of trusted client program - Authorized Economic Operators, and

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Parliament can stop NGOs from receiving foreign funds said by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court said that, Parliament can prevent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from receiving foreign donations as “no right inheres in the citizen to receive foreign contributions”.
Upholding the amendments in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010.

The apex court also made the following observations:

It is open to a sovereign democraticnation to completely prohibitacceptance of foreign donation on theground that it undermines theconstitutional morality of the nation.
Foreign contributions can have a materialimpact on the matter of socioeconomicstructure and polity of the country.
Foreign aid can create the presence of aforeign contributor and influence thepolicies of the country.
Foreign contributions can influence politicalideology and should be at a minimum level.

Recent Amendments in FCRA include:

Furnishing of Aadhaar numbers byoffice-bearers of NGOs is mandatory forregistration.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Centibillionaire’s club

This month, Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported that Gautam Adani’s net worth had reached $100 billion.
It is an accomplishment that makes the industrialist the only Indian member of an exclusive global group called the centibillionaire’s club.

What is this club and who are its members?

The club refers to people whose net wealth is $100 billion or above.
Although Bill Gates did have a net worth of over $100 billion in 1999 for a brief period, the term centibillionaire did not gain currency until the flamboyant founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, increased his wealth to $112 billion in 2017.
It is since then that he was referred to as the world’s first centibillionaire.
Today, the club has 10 members, with Musk on top and Bezos next, followed by Arnault, Gates, and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway. Adani is tenth on the list and $3 billion below the person above him, Oracle’s Larry Ellison — whose net wealth is $103 billion.

The Global Wind Report 2022

The Global Wind Report 2022 suggests that despite significant growth in wind power, at the current rates of installation the world will have less than two-thirds of the wind energy capacity required to limit warming to 1.5°C and achieve a net zero pathway by 2030.
Global Wind Energy Council is the international tradeassociation for the wind power industry.

About India’s Wind Energy Sector:

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has estimated 140 GW wind energy capacity (30 GW offshore wind target) isneeded by 2030.
Globally, India ranks 4th in installed wind capacity with 40.1 GW as of January 2022. Wind currently accounts for 10.2% ofrenewable generation capacity.
World Bank has mapped 174 GW of fixed and floating offshore wind potential off India’s coastline; the strongest resource is foundoff Tamil Nadu, while good resource is also available off Gujarat.

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::ECONOMY::

‘e-BCAS project’

The meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Civil Aviation Ministry discussed about ‘e-BCAS project’.

About:

Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, BCAS establishes, develops, implements maintains, and reviews the National Aviation Security Programme.
It also safeguards civil aviation operations against acts of unlawful interference and threat, taking into account the safety, regularity, and efficiency of flights.
It has now undertaken e-BCAS, an initiative under e-Governance for automation of internal processes. This will be an online platform for facilitation of stakeholders.
It will leverage strength of existing processes and organizational structure, with the objective to make entire activities transparent, user-friendly, and efficient.
It will digitize the office processes, facilitate fast approvals, and ensure ease of doing business, by technological integration across various divisions and processes.
Under e-Sahaj module, issuance of security clearance will be provided. Under the e-training module, 16 training courses are being run for aviation security training and certifications.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet technology

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
The test successfully demonstrated the reliable functioning of all critical components involved in the complex missile system and met all the mission objectives.

About:

The SFDR-based propulsion enables the missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds.
SFDR is a missile propulsion system that includes a thrust modulated ductedrocket with a reduced smoke nozzle-less missile booster.
It utilises a solid fuelled air-breathing Ramjet Engine. Unlikesolid-propellant rockets, the Ramjet takes up oxygen from the atmosphereduring flight. Thus, it is light in weight and can carry more fuel.
A ramjet is a form ofair-breathing jet engine thatuses the vehicle’s forwardmotion to compress incomingair for combustion without arotating compressor.
Ramjets work mostefficiently at supersonicspeeds around Mach 3(three times the speed ofsound) and can operate upto speeds of Mach 6.

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