Current Affairs for IAS Exams -24 February 2023

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 24 February 2023

::NATIONAL::

National Single Window System

• National Single Window System, NSWS Portal for various Central, State, and UT clearances has hit a new milestone by crossing 75 thousand approvals. 

About:

• The National Single Window System (NSWS) is a digital platform to guide you in identifying and applying for approvals according to your business requirements.
• The portal hosts applications for approvals from 26 Central Departments and 19 State Governments. These approvals can be applied through NSWS.
• NSWS is providing a single interface to apply for all G2B clearances from various Ministries and Departments as well as eliminating duplication of work by auto-populating form fields across different approvals based on single investor profile.
• The platform is built to serve as an advisory tool to identify approvals based on user input and is to be used for guidance purpose only.
• The NSWS initiative is an epitome of the ’Whole of Government’ approach with different Central ministries/departments, states and UTs coming together to facilitate investor related clearances on a single portal, with transparency and accountability, enhancing ease of doing business exponentially.

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare review elimination of Kala-Azar 

• Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, chairs a high-level meeting with State Governments to review elimination of Kala-Azar from the country by 2023.

About:

• As per MoHFW, there has been a 98.7 percent decline in cases of Kala-azar from 44,533 in 2007 to 834 in 2022 in India.
• Kala-azar (Black Fever Disease) is a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) caused by a protozoan parasite of genus Leishmania andspread by infected female sandfly bites.
• In India, Leishmania donovani is the only parasite causing the disease.
• It is considered as the second deadliest parasitic killer in world after Malaria.
• It is endemic in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
• India contributes 11.5 percent of total cases reported globally.
• It is a treatable and curable disease. Anti-leishmanial medicines are available for treatment.

Measures taken by the government so far:

• National Kala Azar Elimination Programme was launched to control this disease.
• National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) for prevention and control of Malaria, Dengue, Lymphatic Filariasis, Kala-azar, etc.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Y20 Summit

• Youth Affairs and Sports Minister will launch the themes of the Y20 summit, logo, and website in New Delhi  in the curtain raiser event of Y20 Summit India.

About:

• The Y20 is the official youth engagement group for the G20 (Group of 20), the forum for the world’s largest and most advanced economies.
• The Y20 is a process which brings together young leaders from across the globe, to discuss and debate global challenges and agree policy recommendations they would like to see G20 leaders take forward.
• The list of policy recommendations is known as a communiqué, which is announced publicly at the Y20 Summit and presented to world leaders as part of the official G20 summit. 
• India is hosting the Y20 summit for the first time. 
• In Youth 20 Engagement Group, India’s key focus is to bring young leaders from all across the globe together and discuss ideas for a better tomorrow and draft an agenda for action. 
• The activities to be undertaken by Y20 during India’s presidency will focus on global youth leadership and partnership. In a run-up to the final Youth-20 Summit, for the next eight months, there will be Pre summits on the five Y20 themes along with various discussions and seminars at different Universities across the country.

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Lithium mining 

• India has identified two lithium mines and one copper mine in Argentina for a possible acquisition or long-term lease.
• KABIL, a joint venture formed through the participation of National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Hindustan Copper (HCL) and MECL, aims to ensure consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals in the domestic market.
• Mining process
• Lithium is found in cedemine rock formation and in brine form, which is called salar in Latin America. The other alternative is its liquid form. 
• Argentina, Chile and Bolivia forms Lithium Triangle.
• In South America, lithium is typically extracted from the salt flats by pumping brine into ponds and processing the lithium salts that crystallise once the water has evaporated. 
• Australia is top lithium producer globally.
• It requires time and investment to set up, but thereafter, the production is cheaper than the hard-rock mining practiced in Australia.

::Economy::

Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme(RB- IOS)

• As per Annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes 2021-22, the volume of complaints received under RBI ombudsman schemes rises 9.39 percent.

About:

• Originated in Sweden an ombudsman is an official of the government who deals with complaints made by ordinary citizens against public organizations. 
• It refers to an officer appointed by the Legislature to handle complaints against a service or administrative authority.

Key highlights:

• RB-IOS aims to provide cost-effective grievance redressal mechanism to customers for deficiency in certain banking services.
• It integrates existing three Ombudsman schemes of RBI namely, Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006; Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018; and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019.
• It adopts ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach by making RBI Ombudsman mechanism jurisdiction neutral.
• It includes under its ambit Non-Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks with deposit size of ₹50 crore and above.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF4)

• Recently, Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) Mohali, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have introduced a new electrolyte called (NaBF4) which can help make electrochemical ammonia synthesis more efficient.

Sodium tetrafluoroborate

• Sodium tetrafluoroborate is an inorganic compound with formula NaBF4.
• It is a salt that forms colorless or white water-soluble rhombic crystals and is soluble in water but less soluble in organic solvents.

Key findings:

• The electrochemical ammonia synthesis is largely limited by the poor solubility of nitrogen (N2) in the aqueous electrolyte environment as well as the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction.
• Scientists have introduced a new electrolyte called (NaBF4), which not only acts as an N2 carrier in the medium but also works as a full-fledged “co-catalyst” along with active material transition metal-doped nanocarbon (MnN4) to deliver high-yield of ammonia (NH3) at absolutely ambient experimental conditions
• This new aqueous electrolyte can help make electrochemical ammonia synthesis more efficient will be useful for industries producing green energy or hydrogen.

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