Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to confer 4th National Water Awards in New Delhi

• The first edition of the National Water Awards was introduced by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in 2018.
• They have provided a good opportunity for start-ups as well as leading organizations to engage and deliberate with senior policymakers on how to adopt the best water resources management practices in India.
• These awards have been instituted to recognize and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by States, Districts, individuals, organizations, etc across the country in attaining the vision of a ‘Jal Samriddh Bharat’.
• It covers 11 categories Best State’, ‘Best District’, ‘Best Village Panchayat’, ‘Best Urban Local Body’ etc.
• The award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize.
• The cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rank winners are Rs.2 lakhs, Rs.1.5 lakhs, and Rs.1 lakh, respectively.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti.

NITI Aayog and the United Nations in India sign the Government of India - United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (GoI-UNSDCF 2023-2027)

GoI-UNSDC framework

• It represents the UN development system’s collective offer to the Government of India, in line with the national vision for development, for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, promoting gender equality, youth empowerment and human rights.
• It is built on four strategic pillars derived from the 2030 Agenda – People, Prosperity, Planet and Participation.
• The four interlinked pillars have six outcome areas focusing on Health and Well Being; Nutrition and Food Security; Quality Education; Economic Growth and Decent Work; Environment, Climate, WASH and Resilience; and Empowering People, Communities, and Institutions.
• It will have a specific focus on SDG localisation and South-South cooperation, in line with India’s leadership towards the implementation and acceleration of the SDGs; and India’s championing of South-South cooperation.
• The implementation and monitoring: It will be co-led by the Government of India and the United Nations, India through a Joint Steering Committee.

NaBFID lists maiden bonds of ₹10,000 crore

NaBFID

• It was set up in 2021, by an Act of the Parliament (The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Act, 2021).
• It is a specialized Development Finance Institution in India.
• Objectives: Addressing the gaps in long-term non-recourse finance for infrastructure development, strengthening the development of bonds and derivatives markets in India, and sustainably boosting the country’s economy.
• It shall be regulated and supervised by RBI as an All-India Financial Institution (AIFI)

Development Finance Institution (DFI)

• These are organizations owned by the government or public institutions to provide funds for infrastructure and large-scale projects, where it often becomes unviable for large banks to lend.
• They provide two types of funds- Medium (1-5 years) and Large (< 5 years).

Pune’s IUCAA team develops space telescope to capture ultraviolet imaging of Sun

Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)

• The telescope is one of the seven payloads on Aditya-L1.
• Features
  • It is unique because it will provide full disk images of the sun in 2000 to 4000 A wavelength range which has never been obtained.
  • It will allow us to record images in this wavelength crucial for maintaining the Ozone and Oxygen content in the atmosphere of the Earth.
  • It will also measure the UV radiation hazardous for skin cancer.
  • It will address fundamental questions such as the existence of a higher-temperature atmosphere above the cooler surface of the Sun and the origin and variation of near-ultraviolet radiation and high-energy solar flares.
  • It will help in the measurement of solar radiation from Hard X-ray to Infrared, as well as in-situ measurements of particles in the solar wind, including the Sun’s magnetic field at the L1 point.
• It is expected to last five years.
• Funding: ISRO funded the initial Rs 25 crore required for the hardware, a small portion of the overall project.

Aditya-L1 Mission

• It is India''s first dedicated scientific mission to study the Sun.
• The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point, L1, which is 1.5 million km from the Earth towards the Sun.
• A satellite around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without occultation/eclipses.
• Aditya-L1 carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle detectors.
• The satellite will be launched by a PSLV-XL launch vehicle from Sriharikota.

Carnivorous alligator gar, the latest threat for Srinagar’s idyllic Dal Lake?

Alligator garfish

• It is a close relative of the bowfin species
• It is known for its crocodile-like head and razor-sharp teeth.
• It is a ray-finned euryhaline fish and is one of the biggest freshwater fish in North America and the largest species in the ‘gar’ family.
• This garfish grows rapidly and has a life span of 20-30 years.
• They can even sustain in the cold waters they mostly live in is 11-23 degrees Celsius.
• Geographical distribution: Normally found in northern and central America and also in Mexico.
• Threats: It is a predator fish and a carnivore; it can eat all types of fish and therefore poses a threat to native species and the overall ecosystem.

Dal Lake

• It is a lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It is surrounded by the Pir Panjal mountains.
• The lake is part of a natural wetland which covers 21.1 square kilometres (8.1 sq. mi), including its floating gardens.
• The floating gardens, known as “Raad” in Kashmiri, blossom with lotus flowers during July and August.
• The wetland is divided by causeways into four basins; Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal and Nagin (although Nagin is also considered an independent lake).
• Islands:
  • Dal Lake includes 3 islands, 2 of which are marked with beautiful Chinar trees.
  • The island located on the Lakut Dal is known as Roph Lank(Silver Island) and is marked by the presence of majestic Chinar trees at the four corners, thus known as Char-Chinari (Four Chinars).
  • The second Chinar Island, known as Sone Lank (Gold Island), is located on the Bod Dal (Big Dal) and overlooks the holy shrine of Hazratbal.
• Dal Lake is also popular for the floating market (known as Raad) where vendors have their own Shikaras and approach tourists.

MP govt to club Nauradehi & Durgavati sanctuaries to create state’s 7th tiger reserve

Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary

• It covers nearly 1197 km² area across three districts, i.e., Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur, of Madhya Pradesh.
• It is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
• The entire Sanctuary is situated on a plateau, forming part of the upper Vindhyan range and has a connecting forest patch with Veerangana Durgawati Sanctuary in Damoh district towards the east, which extends up to Bandhavgarh National Park.
• The Sanctuary is classified under Deccan peninsula biogeographic region.
• Three fourth of sanctuary falls in the Yamuna, and one-fourth of the sanctuary falls in the Naramada basin.
• Wildlife Corridor: It acts as a corridor for Panna Tiger Reserve and Satpura Tiger Reserve while indirectly connecting Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve via Rani Durgawati Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Vegetation: Dry deciduous type
• Flora: The chief floral elements include Teak, Saja, Dhaora, Bhirra, Ber, Amla etc.
• Fauna: The chief faunal element includes Nilgai, Chinkara, Chital, Sambhar, Black Buck, Barking deer, Commom Langur Rhesus Macaque, Fresh water Turtles, Spotted Grey Creeper, Cranes, Egrets, Lapwings etc.

Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuary

• Location: Rani Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh.
• It is named after Rani Durgavati, a queen of the Gond people.
• The sanctuary was notified by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1996.
• The Singorgarh Fort is located within the sanctuary
• Vegetation: The vegetation is predominantly tropical mixed dry deciduous forest.
• Flora: Pterocarpus marsupium, Terminalia alata, Anogeissus latifolia, Madhuca indica, Butea monosperma, and Lagerstroemia parviflora are the most common trees in the sanctuary.
• Fauna:
  • It hosts 18 species of mammals, including the leopard, wolf, jackal, Indian fox, striped hyena, and sloth bear.
  • Besides these, the sanctuary is also home to 177 species of birds, 16 species of fish and reptiles, and 10 species of amphibians.

RBI Imposes Rs20 Lakh Penalty on Manappuram Finance

Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)

• An NBFC is a company registered under the Companies Act 1956engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by the Government or local authority or other marketable securities of a like nature.
• They offer various banking services but do not have a banking license.
• They provide banking services like loans, credit facilities, TFCs, retirement planning, investing and stocking in the money market.
• Generally, these institutions are not allowed to take traditional demand deposits—readily available funds, such as those in checking or savings accounts—from the public.
• NBFCs also provide a wide range of monetary advice like chit-reserves and advances.
• Regulation:
  • NBFCs are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank of India.
  • The RBI has the authority to issue licenses to NBFCs, regulate their operations, and ensure that they adhere to the established norms and regulations.
• Banks vs NBFCs: NBFCs lend and make investments and, hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however, there are a few differences as given below,
  • NBFC cannot accept demand deposits;
  • NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself;
  • Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks.
  • Unlike banks, NBFCs are not subjected to stringent and substantial regulations.
• Examples of NBFCs include investment banks, mortgage lenders, money market funds, insurance companies, equipment leasing companies, infrastructure finance companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, and P2P lenders.

Russia promises to remove all hurdles choking new route linking Saint Petersburg with Mumbai

International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)

• INSTC is a multi-modal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran and onward to northern Europe via St. Petersburg in Russia.
• The corridor includes seaports on the Persian Gulf and in the Caspian region, as well as road and rail routes.
• Aim: The main purpose of the corridor was to reduce carriage costs and transit time between India and Russia. The transit time is expected to reduce to almost half, once the corridor becomes fully functional.
• Development:
  • It was first mooted in 2000. The idea was to build a transport corridor linking Russia’s Baltic Sea coast to India’s western ports in the Arabian Sea via Iran.
  • Russia, India and Iran signed preliminary agreements to develop the 7,200-km-long International North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) in 2002.
  • Three years later, Azerbaijan signed up for the project.
  • This agreement was eventually ratified by 13 countries — India, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine.
• Route: The multimodal route begins in Mumbai, India and goes to Bandar Abbas and Bandar-e-Anzali in Iran, then crosses the Caspian Sea to reach Astrakhan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg in Russia.

IIT Madras researchers devise a mathematical model that promises equal benefits to both farmers & agri-firms

Prospect Theory

• It is a psychology theory that describes how people make decisions when presented with alternatives that involve risk, probability, and uncertainty.
• The theory was introduced by two psychologists, Daniel Kahneman, and Amos Tversky, to describe how humans make decisions when presented with several choices.
• It holds that people make decisions based on perceived losses or gains.
• Prospect theory assumes that losses and gains are valued differently, and thus individuals make decisions based on perceived gains instead of perceived losses. Individuals are particularly averse to losing what they already have and less concerned to gain.
• Also known as the "loss-aversion" theory, the general concept is that if two choices are put before an individual, both equal, with one presented in terms of potential gains and the other in terms of possible losses, the former option will be chosen.
• For example, most people prefer winning $50 with certainty rather than taking a risky bet in which they can toss a coin and either win $100 or nothing.
• Applications:
  • The theory finds application in behavioural finance and economics.
  • It is used to evaluate various aspects of political decision-making in international relations.

India examining recommendation to impose countervailing duty on Chinese steel imports

Countervailing duty (CVD)

• It is a specific form of duty that the government imposes to protect domestic producers by countering the negative impact of import subsidies.
• CVD is thus an import tax by the importing country on imported products.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) permits the imposition of CVD by its member countries.
• Why is CVD imposed?
  • Foreign governments sometimes provide subsidies to their producers to make their products cheaper and boost their demand in other countries.
  • To avoid flooding the market in the importing country with these goods, the government of the importing country imposes CVD, charging a specific amount on the import of such goods.
  • The duty nullifies and eliminates the price advantage enjoyed by an imported product.
  • The duty raises the price of the imported product, bringing it closer to its true market price
• Who administers CVD in India?
  • The countervailing measures in India are administered by the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), in the commerce and industry ministry’s department of commerce.
  • While the department of commerce recommends the CVD, the department of revenue in the finance ministry acts upon the recommendation within three months and imposes such duties.

Anti-dumping duty (AD)

• It is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
• Dumping is a process wherein a company exports a product at a price that is significantly lower than the price it normally charges in its home (or its domestic) market.

Countervailing duty v/s Anti-dumping duty

• AD is imposed to prevent low-priced foreign goods from damaging the local market. On the other hand, CVD will apply to foreign products that have enjoyed government subsidies, which eventually leads to very low prices.
• While the AD duty amount depends on the margin of dumping, the CVD amount will completely depend upon the subsidy value of the foreign goods