Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 14 April 2022

::NATIONAL::

State Energy and Climate Index

Gujarat has topped NITI Aayog State Energy and Climate Index-(SECI) Ro¬und 1 among larger states.

Key highlights:

This index aims to rank states and union territories on six para¬meters —

1.   discoms performance,
2.   access affordability and reliability of energy,
3.   clean energy initiatives,
4.   ene¬rgy effiiciency,
5.   environmental sustai¬nability and
6.   new initiatives.

Gujarat was followed by Kerala and Punjab, according to the government think tank’s report.
States like Chh¬attisgarh, Madhya Prad¬esh and Jharkhand were placed at the bottom.
The rep¬ort said the performance of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha has greater scope for improvement in terms of clean ene¬rgy initiatives, energy efficiency, environmental su¬st¬ain¬ability and new initiatives.
Among the smaller states, Goa topped the index, follow¬ed by Tripura and Manipur.

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Odisha’s Barbara forestset for ecotourism push

Barbara forest is significant as it is known as Asia’s largest Teak and Sal forest.

About:

It is located near Chilika lake in coastal Odisha and is inhabited by Sahara tribes.
Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment,sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education”.
It aims to support Forest & Wildlife conservation by providing alternative livelihood to Forestdependent communities in State.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

World’s stockpile of usable nuclear weapons is increasing

The number of nuclear warheads in usable stockpiles is rising, warns the Norwegian nuclear watchdog, Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor.

About:

The aim of the report is to track theprogress being made to eradicate the world of nuclear weapons, as set out in the treatyon the prohibition of nuclear weapons(TPNW), which came into force in 2021.
TPNW is a legally binding instrument toprohibit nuclear weapons, leadingtowards their total elimination.
However, the world’s nine nuclear-armedstates (China, France, India, Israel, NorthKorea, Pakistan, Russia, United Kingdom,United States) are yet to join.

Key findings of the report

World’s nine nuclear-armed states has acombined arsenal of 12,705 warheads atthe beginning of 2022.
Approximately 90% of the world’s nuclearwarheads are owned by Russia and US.
Countries including China, India, NorthKorea and Pakistan, continued toincrease their stockpiles last year and, atthis rate, could soon reverse the overall paceof decline in nuclear weapons.
Chemicals containing the cyclohexylgroup, such as cyclohexyl isocyanate,are commonly used in agriculture andthe pharmaceutical industry.

Sri Lanka announces defaulting on all its external debt

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt, which have brought widespread suffering to the country’s 22 million people in the most painful downturn since independence in 1948.

Background:

Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis, with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation.
The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the crash of the tourism sector.Tourism contributes to around 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s GDP.
Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel. The country is facing long power cuts.

Government’s delay in taking IMF help:

Typically, when a country is going through foreign exchange crisis, they approach the IMF for help.

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::ECONOMY::

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved continuation of revamped Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA).
It is a scheme for improving the governance capabilities of Panchayati Raj institutions, till 2025-26.

Financial implications:

The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs.5911 crore with the Central Share of Rs.3700 crore and that of State Share of Rs.2211 crore.

Major impact of the scheme:

The scheme started in 2018-2019.
The approved scheme of RGSA will help more than 2.78 lakh Rural Local Bodies including Traditional Bodies across the country to develop governance capabilities to deliver on SDGs through inclusive local governance with focus on optimum utilisation of available resources.
The key principles of SDGs, i.e., leaving no one behind, reaching the farthest first and universal coverage, along with gender equality will be embedded in the design of all capacity building interventions including trainings, training modules and materials.
Priority will be given to subjects of national importance principally under themes, namely: (i) Poverty free and enhanced livelihood in villages, (ii) Healthy Village, (iii) Child Friendly Village, (iv) Water Sufficient Village, (v) Clean and Green Village, (vi) Self-Sufficient Infrastructure in Village, (vii) Socially Secured Village, (viii) Village with Good Governance, and (ix) Engendered Development in Village.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Micro-swimmers

Recent research is aiming at moving microbots/micro-swimmers into the bloodstream to deliverdrugs.

About:

These micro-swimmers are microbots, made from two-dimensional compound poly (heptazineimide) carbon nitride.
They range from 1-10 micrometre (a micrometre is one-millionth of a metre) in size, and canself-propel when energised by shining light.
These ions move around the particle and make the fluid around it, causing the microbots(micro-swimmers) swim.

How microbotsswim?

The PHI carbon nitride microparticles are photocatalytic.
The particles are nearly spherical, and the incident light illuminates one-half of the sphere, leaving the other dark.
As photocatalysis is light-driven, it occurs only on the brightened hemisphere.

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