Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 November 2020

::NATIONAL::

National Portal for Transgender Persons

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment e-launched a National Portal for Transgender Persons.

About the portal:

The National Portal for Transgender Persons has been developed within 2 months of Notification of Transgender Persons (Protectionof Rights) Rules, 2020 on 29 September, 2020.
The Portal would help a transgender person in applying for a Certificate and Identity card digitally from anywhere in the country.
The most important benefit is that it helps the transgender person to get the I-Card without any physical interface and without having to visit any office.Through the Portal, they can monitor the status of their application that ensures transparency in the process.
Getting Transgender Certificate and Identity Cards as per their self-perceived identity which is an important provision of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

Garima Greh

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment e-inaugurated a Garima Greh:a Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ in Vadodara, Gujarat.

About:

The Scheme of ‘Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ includes shelter facility, food, clothing, recreational facilities, skill development opportunities, yoga, meditation/prayers, physical fitness, library facilities, legal support, technical advise for gender transition and surgeries, capacity building of trans-friendly organizations, employment and skill-building support, etc.
The Nodal Ministry has taken the first step in improving the conditions of Transgender persons and has identified 10 cities to set up the 13 Shelter Homes and extend the facilities to Transgender persons, in association with selected 13 CBOs in the country on pilot basis.
The cities include Vadodara, New Delhi, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Manipur, Chennai, Raipur, Mumbai, etc.
The scheme will rehabilitate a minimum of 25 transgender persons in each homes identified by the Ministry.
This is a pilot project, and on its successful completion, similar schemes will be extended to other parts of the country.

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::ECONOMY::

Government bans 43 more apps

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued an order under section 69A of the InformationTechnology Act blocking access to 43 mobile apps.
Action was taken based on inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial tosovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.
It was based on comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center underMinistry of Home Affairs.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India, US extend nuclear energy partnership by another decade

India and the US have extended the memorandum of understanding for cooperation on nuclear energy by another decade.
This was announced in a joint statement issued to mark 10 years of cooperation of the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) between the two countries.
The joint statement recognised India’s commitment in November 2010 to establish the GCNEP with a vision to promote safe, secure, and sustainable nuclear energy for the service of mankind through global partnership.
It also acknowledged the importance of nuclear security, including the security of radioactive sources, and called for actions to address continuing and evolving nuclear security challenges.
This is with the objectives of advancing implementation of nuclear security commitments and building a strengthened, sustainable and comprehensive global nuclear security architecture.

Nuclear materials and facilities:

The importance of security of nuclear materials and facilities was highlighted in the joint statement.
This includes protection of radioactive sources including during transportation, combating illicit trafficking, nuclear forensics, nuclear security culture, information security, international cooperation, and synergy between nuclear safety and security.
The central role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in strengthening the nuclear security framework globally was also emphasised upon.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Desalination plants

In worldwide desalination is seen as one possible answer to stave off water crisis.
Maharashtra announced the setting up of a desalination plant in Mumbai,becoming the fourth state in the country to experiment with the idea.

What are desalination plants?

A desalination plant turns salt water into water that is fit to drink.
The mostcommonly used technology used for the process is reverse osmosis where anexternal pressure is applied to push solvents from an area of high-soluteconcentration to an area of low-solute concentration through a membrane.
Themicroscopic pores in the membranes allow water molecules through but leave saltand most other impurities behind, releasing clean water from the other side. Theseplants are mostly set up in areas that have access to sea water.

How widely is this technology used in India?

Desalination has largely been limited to affluent countries in the Middle East and has recently started making inroads in parts of the United States and Australia.
InIndia, Tamil Nadu has been the pioneer in using this technology, setting up two desalination plants near Chennai in 2010 and then 2013.
The two plants supply 100million litres a day (MLD) each to Chennai. Two more plants are expected to be setup in Chennai.
The other states that have proposed these plants are Gujarat, whichhas announced to set up a 100 MLD RO plant at the Jodiya coast in Jamnagar district.
There are also proposals to set up desalination plants in Dwarka, Kutch,Dahej, Somnath, Bhavnagar and Pipavav, which are all coastal areas in Gujarat.Andhra Pradesh, too, has plans of setting up a plant.

Is it ecologically safe?

The high cost of setting up and running a desalination plant is one reason why the Maharashtra government has over the last decade been hesitant in building such a plant.
Desalination is an expensive way of generating drinking water as it requires a high amount of energy.
The other problem is the disposal of the by-product highly concentrated brine of the desalination process.
While in most places brineis pumped back into the sea, there have been rising complaints that it ends upseverely damaging the local ecology around the plant.

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Sports

Diego Maradona

Legendary Argentine footballer, Diego Maradona, widely regarded among the greatest football players of all time passed away yesterday following a heart attack.
The 60-year-old had been hospitalised at the start of November, days after celebrating his birthday.
Maradona was hospitalised after he complained of regularly being fatigued.
His tests at the La Plata clinic revealed a blood clot in Maradona's brain, which doctors later revealed was operated on successfully.

About:

Diego Armando Maradona (30 October 1960 – 25 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.
Maradona's vision, passing, ball control and dribbling skills were combined with his small stature (1.65 metres (5 ft 5 in)), which gave him a low centre of gravity allowing him to maneuver better than most other football players; he would often dribble past multiple opposing players on a run.
His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition.
In addition to his creative abilities, he possessed an eye for goal and was known to be a free-kick specialist.
Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro" ("The Golden Kid"), a name that stuck with him throughout his career.