Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

Eklavya Model Residential Schoolswere started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas and to avail of opportunities in higher education and employment.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Microsoft signed an MoU to support the digital transformation of schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and Ashram Schools.

About Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS):

Presently we have 190 EMRS functioning with plan to have one such school in each block with above 50% STpopulation or above 20,000 tribals by 2022.

WHO, GAVI, CEPI and the UNICEF as the implementing partners.
COVAX is an initiative that was started to ensure the poorest of countries too had access to the vaccine.
The initiative was started by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission and the government of France in April 2020.
However, the initiative has not succeeded in its goal so far due to over-dependence on a few manufacturers,advance booking of vaccines and fund shortage.

India has lost its $3-billion bet on Iran, with Tehran showing the door to New Delhi in the giant Farzad-B gas field in Farsi block after a decade of negotiations with a consortium of Indian state-run oil companies that discovered the asset in 2008.
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a $1.7 billion deal for bringing the discovery to production with Petropars.
Farzad-B is the second Indian investment proposal to come unstuck in Iran despite commitments by the top leadership of both countries.
Teheran last year dropped India’s $2-billion offer and decided to build the Chabahar railway link on its own.
Farzad-B negotiations have been dogged by stalemates since the beginning.

World Wide Fund in a recent report said that more than 70 per cent habitat of the snow leopard, over 12 Asian countries,remains un-researched.

About Snow leopards:

In India, they occupy the western and eastern Himalayas.
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN- Red Data list.
Apart from the state animal of Himachal Pradesh, it is also the National Heritage Animal of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Conservation programs:

Project Snow Leopard: It was launched in 2009 to promote an inclusive and participatory approach to conserve snow leopards and their habitat.
WWF-India selected the regions of Kargil in the Ladakh, North Sikkim and Western ArunachalPradesh as focus areas for snow leopard conservations.

Recently, Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) allowed National Stock Exchange (NSE) to withdraw Rs 6,085crore deposited by it in an escrow account.

About:

It is an account where funds or assets are held in trust by a third party whilst two or more parties complete a transaction.
It offers benefits like overcoming uncertainty on ability to meet obligations and facilitating custody of cash,securities and other collaterals based on the transaction type.

This technology is being used for the first time in India to stop plastic from entering the river Yamuna.
It is anon-invasive solution to stop plastic from entering the oceans.
The bubble screen is created by a specially designed air tube which is placed diagonally on the bed of the canalor river.
It brings waste to the surface, channels the plastic onto the banks where it can be extracted.
Ships and fish can pass through the air bubbles, but plastics will be stopped.