Fifth Scorpene-class submarine Vagir delivered to Indian Navy

• Vagirwas launched into water on November 12, 2020 and commenced sea trials on February 1, 2022.
• It is having "superior stealth features" like advanced acoustic absorption techniques.
• The sixth and last of the Scorpène-class submarines, Vagsheer, was launched into water in April 2022 and is expected to be delivered to the Navy by end 2023.
• Six Scorpene submarines are being built under Project-75 by MDL under technology transfer from Naval Group of France under a $3.75 billion deal signed in October 2005.
• The project is about four years behind schedule.
• The first submarine INS Kalvariwas commissioned in December 2017, second submarine INS Khanderi in September 2019, third one INS Karanj in March 2021 and the fourth one INS Vela joined service in November 2021.

EU Adopts Global Minimum 15% Tax on Big Business

• European Union members have agreed to implement a minimum tax rate of 15% on big businesses in accordance with Pillar 2 of the global tax agreement framed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2021.
• Under the OECD’s plan, governments will be equipped to impose additional taxes in case companies are found to be paying taxes that are considered too low.
• This is to ensure that big businesses with global operations do not benefit by domiciling themselves in tax havens in order to save on taxes.
• Pillar 1 of the OECD’s tax plan, on the other hand, tries to address the question of taxing rights.
• Large multinational companies have traditionally paid taxes in their home countries even though they did most of their business in foreign countries.
• The OECD plan tries to give more taxing rights to the governments of countries where large businesses conduct a substantial amount of their business.
• As a result, large U.S. tech companies may have to pay more taxes to governments of developing countries.

Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to be moved in RS today

• Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides for the use of international carbon markets by countries to fulfil their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
• Carbon markets are essentially a tool for putting a price on carbon emissions— they establish trading systems where carbon credits or allowances can be bought and sold.
• A carbon credit is a kind of tradable permit that, per United Nations standards, equals one tonne of carbon dioxide removed, reduced, or sequestered from the atmosphere.
• Carbon allowances or caps, meanwhile, are determined by countries or governments according to their emission reduction targets.
• A United Nations Development Program released recently noted that interest in carbon markets is growing globally, i.e, 83% of NDCs submitted by countries mention their intent to make use of international market mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Types of carbon markets

• There are broadly two types of carbon markets:
  • compliance markets and
  • voluntary markets

Voluntary markets:

• Voluntary markets are those in which emitters— corporations, private individuals, and others— buy carbon credits to offset the emission of one tonne of CO 2 or equivalent greenhouse gases.
• Such carbon credits are created by activities which reduce CO 2 from the air, such as afforestation.
• In a voluntary market, a corporation looking to compensate for its unavoidable GHG emissions purchases carbon credits from an entity engaged in projects that reduce, remove, capture, or avoid emissions.
• For Instance, in the aviation sector, airlines may purchase carbon credits to offset the carbon footprints of the flights they operate. In voluntary markets, credits are verified by private firms as per popular standards. There are also traders and online registries where climate projects are listed and certified credits can be bought.

Compliance markets:

• Compliance markets— set up by policies at the national, regional, and/or international level— are officially regulated.
• Currently, compliance markets mostly operate under a principle called ‘cap-and-trade”, most popular in the European Union (EU).
• Under the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) launched in 2005, member countries set a cap or limit for emissions in different sectors, such as power, oil, manufacturing, agriculture, and waste management.
• This cap is determined as per the climate targets of countries and is lowered successively to reduce emissions.
• Entities in this sector are issued annual allowances or permits by governments equal to the emissions they can generate.
• If companies produce emissions beyond the capped amount, they have to purchase additional permit, either through official auctions or from companies which kept their emissions below the limit, leaving them with surplus allowances.
• This makes up the ‘trade’ part of cap-and-trade.

Nations adopt Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

• The framework has 23 targets that the world needs to achieve by 2030.
• The countries will monitor and report every five years or less on a large set of indicators related to progress.
• The Global Environment Facility has been requested to establish a Special Trust Fund to support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (“GBF Fund”).

Conservation, protection and restoration:

• Countries committed to protecting 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030, fulfilling the deal’s highest-profile goal, known as 30-by-30.
• The deal also aspires to restore 30% of degraded lands and waters throughout the decade, up from an earlier aim of 20%.
• And the world will strive to prevent destroying intact landscapes and areas with a lot of species, bringing those losses “close to zero by 2030”.

Money for nature:

• Signatories aim to ensure $200 billion per year is channelled to conservation initiatives, from public and private sources.
• Wealthier countries should contribute at least $20 billion of this every year by 2025, and at least $30 billion a year by 2030.

Big companies report impacts on biodiversity:

• Companies should analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.
• The parties agreed to large companies and financial institutions being subject to “requirements” to make disclosures regarding their operations, supply chains and portfolios.
• This reporting is intended to progressively promote biodiversity, reduce the risks posed to business by the natural world, and encourage sustainable production.

Harmful subsidies:

• Countries committed to identify subsidies that deplete biodiversity by 2025, and then eliminate, phase out or reform them.
• They agreed to slash those incentives by at least $500 billion a year by 2030, and increase incentives that are positive for conservation.

Pollution and pesticides:

• One of the deal’s more controversial targets sought to reduce the use of pesticides by up to two-thirds.
• But the final language to emerge focuses on the risks associated with pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals instead, pledging to reduce those threats by “at least half”, and instead focusing on other forms of pest management.
• Overall, the Kunming-Montreal agreement will focus on reducing the negative impacts of pollution to levels that are not considered harmful to nature, but the text provides no quantifiable target here.

Monitoring and reporting progress:

• All the agreed aims will be supported by processes to monitor progress in the future, in a bid to prevent this agreement meeting the same fate as similar targets that were agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, and never met.
• National action plans will be set and reviewed, following a similar format used for greenhouse gas emissions under U.N.-led efforts to curb climate change.

Bihar hooch tragedy: Eight more die in two other districts; over 30 dead

• Hooch is a commonly used term for poor quality alcohol, derived from Hoochinoo, a native Alaskan tribe that was known to produce very strong liquor.
• Unlike branded liquor which is produced in factories with sophisticated equipment and rigorous quality control, hooch is made in more crude settings without any quality checks.
• All that matters is to produce alcohol that will intoxicate, and hooch surely does that. The only problem is that if prepared incorrectly, it can kill.
• Importantly, it is near impossible to tell whether hooch is safe to consume before actual consumption.

Alcohol

• Alcohol is produced using two basic processes:
  • fermentation and
  • distillation
• When heated, yeast reacts with sugar (from grain, fruits, sugarcane, etc.) to ferment and produce a mixture containing alcohol.
• However, as this process continues and the alcohol levels rise (with more of the sugar getting converted to alcohol), the conditions become toxic for the yeast itself, eventually ending the process of fermentation.
• Thus, to make anything stronger than beer or wine (above 14-18% ABV or alcohol by volume), distillation is key.
• Distillation is the process of physically separating the alcohol from the rest of the mixture using evaporation and condensation.
• Since different parts of the mixture have different boiling points, theoretically, if one heats the mixture up to a correct temperature, it will be possible to separate only the alcohol from the water and other remnants.
• This will be far more potent than any fermented beverage. All spirits (such as whiskey, vodka, gin, etc) are made using this technique.

Hooch

• Hooch-makers also use this principle.
• First, they heat water, locally available yeast, and sugar or fruit (often fruit waste) to produce a fermented mixture in a large pot.
• Once sufficient fermentation has occurred, they distill this fermented mixture to produce concentrated alcohol using a rudimentary setup.
• Often, this setup includes a big vat where the fermented mixture is boiled, a pipe that captures and carries the alcoholic fumes, and another pot wrapped in a wet cloth (to make it cooler), where concentrated alcohol condenses.
• Distillation can be done repeatedly in order to increase the alcohol content of the final product.

Effects

• Methanol or methyl alcohol can cause impaired vision, high toxicity and metabolic acidosis, a condition in which the body produces excessive acid that cannot be flushed out by kidneys.
• The treatment for this is to intravenously administer Fomepizole and ethanol. However, fomepizole can be expensive and unavailable in many parts of India.
• In such cases, doctors administer a mixture of ethanol and water (1:1 ratio).
• Ethanol inhibits methanol’s conversion into toxins and helps in flushing it out of the body either naturally or through dialysis.

Nitin Gadkari Launches First-ever ‘Surety Bond Insurance’ for Infrastructure Projects

• Surety bond can be defined in its simplest form as a written agreement to guarantee compliance, payment, or performance of an act. Surety is a unique type of insurance because it involves a three-party agreement. The three parties in a surety agreement are:
• The party that purchases the bond and undertakes an obligation to perform an act as promised.
• The insurance company or surety company that guarantees the obligation will be performed. If the principal fails to perform the act as promised, the surety is contractually liable for losses sustained.
• The party who requires, and often receives the benefit of the surety bond. For most surety bonds, the obligee is a local, state or federal government organization.

Bond insurance

• It will act as a security arrangement for infrastructure projects and will insulate the contractor as well as the principal.
• The product will cater to the requirements of a diversified group of contractors, many of whom are operating in today’s increasingly volatile environment.
• The product gives the principal a contract of guarantee that contractual terms and other business deals will be concluded in accordance with the mutually agreed terms. In case the contractor doesn’t fulfil the contractual terms, the Principal can raise a claim on the surety bond and recover the losses they have incurred.
• Unlike a bank guarantee, the Surety Bond Insurance does not require large collateral from the contractor thus freeing up significant funds for the contractor, which they can utilize for the growth of the business.
• The product will also help in reducing the contractors’ debts to a large extent thus addressing their financial worries.

CAQM Sub-Committee for invoking actions under GRAP holds emergency meeting

• Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) clocked 410 recently as per the AQI Bulletin provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

GRAP

• It is a set of emergency measures that kick in to prevent further deterioration of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold.
• The GRAP was first notified in January 2017 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Stage 1 of GRAP is activated when the AQI is in the ‘poor’ category (201 to 300).The second, third and fourth stages will be activated three days ahead of the AQI reaching the ‘very poor’ category (301 to 400), ‘severe’ category(401 to 450) and ‘severe +’ category (above 450)

CAQM

The Commission is a statutory body which was first formed by an ordinance in October 2020.

Composition:

• Chairperson: To be chaired by a government official of the rank of Secretary or Chief Secretary. He will hold the post for three years or until s/he attains the age of 70 years.
• It will also have five ex officio members who are either Chief Secretaries or Secretaries in charge of the department dealing with environment protection in the States of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Three full time technical members.
• Three members from non-government organisations.
• Technical members from CPCB, Indian Space Research Organisation, and NITI Aayog

Powers and functions:

• Restricting activities influencing air quality.
• Investigating and conducting research related to environmental pollution impacting air quality, preparing codes and guidelines to prevent and control air pollution,
• Issuing directions on matters including inspections, or regulation which will be binding on the concerned person or authority.

Indian Navy’s INSV Tarini to participate in 50th edition of Cape Town to Rio Race 2023

• INSV Tarini will start for an expedition to Cape Town, South Africa for participating in the 50th edition of Cape to Rio Race 2023.
• This ocean sailing race will be flagged off from Cape Town on 02 Jan 23 and will culminate at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The race is one of the most prestigious Trans-Atlantic ocean races.
• Transiting from Goa to Rio de Janeiro via Cape Town and back, INSV Tarini would be covering a distance of almost 17,000 nautical miles (approx. 30,000 km)
• The crew, over a period of 5-6 months in this trans-oceanic voyage is expected to face extreme weather and rough sea conditions of the Indian, Atlantic and the Southern oceans.

Tarini

• It is the second sailboat of Indian Navy after INSV Mhedi.
• It is known for circumnavigating the globe with an all-women officer crew in the historic expedition titled ''Navika Sagar Parikrama'' in 2017.

Govt to enhance electric vehicles'' testing facilities from next fiscal

• Currently, the International Centre for Automotive Technology and the Automatic Research Association of India (ARAI) are providing testing facilities for electric vehicles in India.

National Testing House

• It was originated in the year 1912, as “Government Test House” at Alipore, Calcutta, with the primary objective of assisting and guiding the indigenous manufacturers on the production of engineering goods with Quality Testing.
• Presently it is functioning as a subordinate office under, of India, Ministry of Consumers Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Department of Consumer Affairs.
• It is Registered in the Government e Market (GeM) as a service provider in the category "Testing and Calibration Service" to meet the testing needs of all Government departments and PSUs.
• It imparts its services to the nation through seven of its regional branches located at Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Guwahati and Varanasi.
• It is also expanding its services for water testing and fertiliser testing, among others, including rock phosphate.

ATL Marathon 2022-23: Atal Innovation Mission calls for applications

• ATL Marathon is a flagship innovation challenge under Atal Innovation Mission’s Atal Tinkering Labs program.
• This is a national-level innovation challenge for young innovators across India who can solve community problems of their choice, and develop innovative solutions in the form of working prototypes or, minimum viable product (MVP).
• The theme for this edition of ATL Marathon is “India’s G20 Presidency”.
• AIM has designed the problem statements based on G20’s working group inspiring recommendations on internationally relevant issues in respective areas of focus.
• This marathon will create a huge opportunity for students to innovate not just for the better India but for the world by resolving global problems in various sectors.

Atal Tinkering Lab

• Vision: To cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India.
• Objective: To foster curiosity, creativity, and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mind-sets, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
• In order to foster inventiveness among students, ATL can conduct different activities ranging from regional and national level competitions, exhibitions, workshops on problem solving, designing and fabrication of products, lecture series etc. at periodic intervals.