India ranks 135 out of 146 in Global Gender Gap Index

• The country is the worst performer in the world in the “health and survival” sub-index in which it is ranked 146. The Global Gender Report, 2022, which includes the index, says it will now take 132 years to reach gender parity, with the gap reducing only by four years since 2021 and the gender gap closed by 68.1%.
• India ranks 146 in health and survival, 143 in economic participation and opportunity, 107 in educational attainment and 48 in political empowerment. The report notes that India’s score of 0.629 was its seventh-highest score in the past 16 years.
• India ranks poorly among its neighbours and is behind Bangladesh (71), Nepal (96), Sri Lanka (110), Maldives (117) and Bhutan (126). Only the performance of Iran (143), Pakistan (145) and Afghanistan (146) was worse than India in South Asia.
• The Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks gender parity across four key dimensions or sub-indices — economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
• It measures scores on a 0-to-100 scale, which can be interpreted as the distance covered towards parity or the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed.

Scientists Develop New Mechanism To Inactivate COVID-19 Virus, Block Entry Into Cells

• Indian scientists have developed a new class of synthetic peptides that can not only block the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into cells but also clump the virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect the living cell.
• This novel mechanism provides an alternative to make viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive, promising a new class of peptides as antivirals.
• Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science in collaboration with researchers from the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology have exploited this approach to design these peptides.

WHO’s Science Council launches report calling for equitable expansion of genomics

• The report argues that it is not justifiable ethically or scientifically for countries with lesser resources to gain access to such technologies long after the rich countries do.
• The field of genomics tries to use human genetic material to study and research cures and treatments for medical conditions, and is used in a wide range of applications in animal sciences, and agriculture.
• After the WHO constituted the Science Council of experts in April 2021 to provide guidance on the science and research strategy of the organisation, it identified genomics as the focus of its first report.
• The report calls for expanding access to genomic technologies, particularly in low- and middle-income nations, by addressing shortfalls in financing, laboratory infrastructure, materials, and highly trained personnel.

India has achieved clean energy targets before deadline, says R. K. Singh

• India has installed 162 GW (1 GW is 1,000 MW) of renewable energy capacity, which is 41% of the 402 GW of electricity installed.
• “We reached this target on November 2021 and what our Prime Minister did was ask us to raise our ambition and so in Glasgow (at the UN COP-21) our Prime Minister committed to installing 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, which would then be 50% of the installed capacity.” Mr. Singh said.
• In 2015, India committed to ensuring that 40% of its energy would be from renewable sources by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

Sydney Energy Forum

• Ministers from the United States, Japan, India, Indonesia, and the Pacific Island nation of Samoa are attending the forum along with leaders of major companies that are committed to low emissions technologies.
• The forum will “foster connections between investors, business and government with a focus on innovations in key clean energy technologies such as solar, hydrogen, critical minerals and batteries”.

Tamil Nadu sets up climate change missions in all 38 districts

• The missions will be headed by the Collectors as Mission Directors.
• The District Forest Officers will function as Climate Officers. The missions will help strengthen the government’s climate response at the grassroots, said Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forest.
• The missions will create strong policy support across all sectors of governance, devise strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and bench-mark industries to move towards green manufacturing. They will also promote eco-friendly technologies, such as solar and wind energy technologies, biodegradable packaging and e-vehicles.
• The Collectors will have to prepare district-level climate change mitigation and adaptation plans, build capacity and provide inputs for low-carbon, climate-resilient development plans.
• Another key deliverable is strengthening the ''Meendum Manjappai'' campaign against the use of single-use plastics. The Collectors will also work towards strengthening Climate Smart Villages and creating bio-shields in coastal areas.
• The government has initially sanctioned ₹3.80 crore for 38 district missions which will function under the supervision of the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission.

First I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA) Leaders'' Virtual Summit

• The Leaders will discuss the possible joint projects within the framework of I2U2 as well as the other common areas of mutual interest to strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in the respective regions and beyond.
• The I2U2 Grouping was conceptualized during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the four countries held on 18th October last year. Each country also has Sherpa-level interactions regularly to discuss the possible areas of cooperation.
• I2U2 is aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security.
• It intends to mobilize private sector capital and expertise to help modernize the infrastructure, and low carbon development pathways for the industries, improve public health, and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.

RBI sets up mechanism to settle trade payments in Indian rupee

• The central bank has put in place this additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports and imports in rupee. The move is aimed at promoting growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in Indian rupee.
• Before putting in place this mechanism, authorized dealer banks were required to take prior approval from the Foreign Exchange Department of RBI.
• Under the framework, all exports and imports may be denominated and invoiced in rupee.
• Authorized Dealer (AD) banks in India have been permitted to open rupee Vostro accounts. Accordingly, for settlement of trade transactions with any country, AD bank in India may open special rupee Vostro accounts of correspondent banks of the partner trading country.

Cabinet approves Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road new rail line project

• The total length of the new rail line will be 116 kms. The project will be completed by 2026-27.
• Ambaji is a famous important pilgrimage destination and is one of the 51 Shaktipeeths in India and attracts millions of devotees from Gujarat as well as other parts of the country and abroad every year. The construction of this line will facilitate easy travel for these millions of devotees.
• Further, the devotees visiting the Ajitnath Jain temple (one of the 24 holy Jain Tirthankaras) at Taranga Hill would also be greatly benefitted by this connectivity.
• This railway new line between Taranga Hill-Ambaji- Abu Road will connect these two important religious sports with railway’s main network.
• The alignment of the proposed doubling will traverse through Sirohi district of Rajasthan and Banaskantha and Mahesana districts of Gujarat. This project will also provide alternative route for existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line.

International child sexual exploitation (icse) initiative

• Interpol is the world’s largest international police organisation with 195 member countries, and is headquartered in Lyon, France.
• Each member country hosts an Interpol National Central Bureau that connects their national law enforcement to it and in India, the CBI is that nodal agency.
• The ICSE database uses video and image comparison to analyse Child Sex Exploitation Material (CSEM) and make connections between victims, abusers and places.
• As of July 2022, over 30,000 victims of child abuse and over 13,000 criminals have been identified by the Interpol using this database and software.
• India is the 68th country to have access to this database and software. Interpol’s website said that on average, the database helps identify seven child victims everyday globally.

''Lavender Scare'', and its linkage to NASA''s James Webb

• The telescope has been named after James Webb, who ran the US space agency from 1961 to 1968, and allegedly had a role to play in the “Lavender Scare” at NASA.
• The Lavender Scare was the marginalisation of LGBTQ employees working in the US government’s offices during the 1950s and 1960s. It is often described as a “witch-hunt”, where those suspected of being from the LGBTQ community were fired from their jobs.
• One such case was of NASA’s Clifford Norton. Norton was fired in 1963 for “immoral, indecent, and disgraceful conduct” after being interrogated for allegedly being a homosexual man.
• James Webb, as the head of NASA during that period, is alleged to have played a role in the dismissal of LGBTQ employees for their identity. In 2021, four astronomers in the US wrote about the demand for renaming the telescope in ‘Scientific American’.