Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2023-24 Series II opens today

Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme:

• SGBs were introduced by the Government of India in 2015 under the Gold Monetization Scheme.
• SGBs are government securities issued by the RBI on behalf of the Government of India.
• They are substitutes for holding physical gold.
• Features:
  • SGBs are denominated in grams of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram.
  • Investors have to pay the issue price in cash, and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity.
  • Eligible Subscribers: The Bonds will be restricted for sale to resident Indian entities, including individuals (in his capacity as an individual, or on behalf of the minor child, or jointly with any other individual), HUFs, Trusts, Universities and Charitable Institutions.
  • Tenor: The tenor of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with an exit option in the 5th, 6th and 7th year, to be exercised on the interest payment dates.
  • Investment Limit:
    • Minimum: 1 gram of gold.
    • Maximum: 4 KG for individuals, 4 Kg for HUF and 20 Kg for trusts.
  • Interest: 2.5% per annum, paid on a half-yearly basis.
  • The interest on Gold Bonds shall be taxable as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
  • SGBs can be used as collateral for loans.

Rishi Sunak, Wife Akshata Murty Take A Break From G20, Visit Akshardham Temple

Akshardham Temple

• The Akshardham Temple, officially known as the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, is a Hindu temple complex located in Delhi, India.
• It is Located on the banks of the Yamuna River.
• It was officially opened to the public on 6th November 2005.
• It was inaugurated by the then President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
• Akshardham Temple God is Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781- 1830). However, it is also dedicated to great saints, devas and averts of Hindu Gods.
• Architecture:
  • It comprises of the main temple, beautifully laid out gardens, exhibitions, open courtyards and water bodies, each section presenting an intriguing aspect of Hindu religion and spirituality.
  • Constructed with pink sandstone and marble, Akshardham Mandir is the centre of the Akshardham Temple complex.
  • It is built in the traditional Hindu architectural style.
  • It follows the traditional Vastu shastra as well as Pancharatra Shastra.
  • The mandir and the entire complex display intricate carvings of flowers, animals, musicians, dancers and Hindu deities.

Fully Functional WTO Dispute Settlement System By 2024

World Trade Organization (WTO)

• WTO is an international organisation that promotes and regulates global trade among nations.
• The WTO was established on January 1, 1995, by replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
• Objective: Its main objective is to promote free and fair trade by eliminating barriers to trade, such as tariffs and quotas, and by ensuring that trade disputes are resolved through a transparent and predictable process.
• Functions: The WTO is responsible for:
  • setting the rules of international trade;
  • negotiating and implementing trade agreements;
  • providing a forum for trade negotiations;
  • monitoring national trade policies;
• The WTO also works closely with other international organizations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to promote global economic development and reduce poverty.
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and operates on a consensus-based decision-making process.

WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism

• The **Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU)**is the main WTO agreement on settling disputes.
• The **General Council of WTO convenes as the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)**to deal with disputes between WTO members.
• The DSB has the authority to:
  • establish dispute settlement panels;
  • refer matters to arbitration, adopt panel, Appellate Body and arbitration reports;
  • maintain surveillance over the implementation of recommendations and rulings contained in such reports;
  • authorise suspension of concessions in the event of non-compliance with those recommendations and rulings;
• Process:
  • Ideally disputes are resolved through negotiations.
  • If this is not possible, WTO Members can request the establishment of a panel to settle the dispute.
  • The panel will issue a report, which can subsequently be appealed before the WTO''s Appellate Body on questions of law.
• The Appellate Body:
  • Appeals are handled by the permanent seven-member Appellate Body which is set up by the DSB and broadly represents the range of WTO membership.
  • It hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought by WTO members.
  • The Appellate Body can uphold, modify or reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel.
  • If a WTO member does not comply with recommendations from dispute settlement, then trade compensation or sanctions, for example in the form of increases in customs duties, may follow.

Transnational grid interconnections for "One Sun, One World, One Grid" conference held in New Delhi

One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) Initiative

• The idea for the OSOWOG initiative was put forth by the Prime Minister of India, at the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in October 2018.
• The initiative aims at connecting energy supply across borders.
• Vision: It aims to connect different regional grids through a common grid that will be used to transfer renewable energy power and, thus, realise the potential of renewable energy sources, especially solar energy.
• The project is being spearheaded by the governments of India and the UK in partnership with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the World Bank Group.
• It will bring together a global coalition of national governments, international financial and technical organisations, legislators, power system operators and knowledge leaders to accelerate the construction of the of the new infrastructure needed for a world powered by clean energy.
• When will it be completed? The grid is expected to be set up over the next few years by the ISA. Once operational, it will transport solar power to different countries.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

• The ISA is an intergovernmental organisation that was launched in 2015 by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris.
• ISA is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies.
• The ISA is guided by its ‘Towards 1000’ strategy, which aims:
  • To mobilise USD 1000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030;
  • To deliver energy access to 1000 million people using clean energy solutions;
  • To install 1000 GW of solar energy capacity;
  • To mitigate global solar emissions to the tune of 1000 million tonnes of CO2 every year;
• Vision: Let us together make the sun brighter.
• Mission: Every home, no matter how far away, will have a light at home.
• Headquarters: National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gurugram, India.

IAEA warns of nuclear safety threat as combat spikes near Ukraine power plant

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

• It is the world''s foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.
• It is widely known as the world''s "Atoms for Peace and Development" organization within the United Nations family.
• It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.
• History: Though established as an autonomous organisation, independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute, the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria.
• Functions:
  • The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
  • It applies nuclear safeguards– consisting of monitoring, inspection, information analysis, and other activities – to verify that nuclear activities remain peaceful and detect and deter their diversion, including to weapons-related purposes.
  • In particular, the IAEA implements comprehensive safeguards agreements mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which serve as a first line of defense against nuclear weapons proliferation.
  • The IAEA assists its Member States and promotes the exchange of scientific and technical information between them.
  • The IAEA enhances national, regional, and international capacities to respond to nuclear and radiological incidents, which is essential to minimising their impact.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

• It was an agreement signed in 1968by several of the major nuclear and non-nuclear powers that pledged their cooperation in stemming the spread of nuclear technology.
• With 191 States parties, it is the most widely adhered to treaty in the field of nuclear non-proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy and nuclear disarmament.
• Under the NPT, non-nuclear-weapon States parties have committed themselves not to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices while nuclear-weapon States parties have committed not to in any way assist, encourage or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State party to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
• Nuclear-weapon States parties under the Treaty are defined as those that manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967.
• There are five nuclear-weapon States parties to the Treaty.
• Only Israel, India, and Pakistan have never been signatories of the Treaty, and North Korea withdrew from the Treaty in 2003.

Tonga volcano triggered seafloor debris stampede

Hunga-Tonga volcano

• Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai is a volcanic island in Tonga.
• It is located about 30 km south of the submarine volcano of Fonuafoʻou and 65 km north of Tongatapu, the country''s main island.
• The volcano is part of the highly active Tonga–Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji.
• The island arc is formed at the convergent boundary where the Pacific Plate subducts under the Indo-Australian Plate.
• It is along with the caldera rim of a much larger submarine edifice in the western South Pacific Ocean.
• It has erupted regularly over the past few decades.

Volcano

• It is an opening on the surface of a planet that allows material warmer than its surroundings to escape from its interior.
• When this material escapes, it causes an eruption, which can be explosive in nature.

Over 2,000 dead in Morocco earthquake, aid pours in from across the world

Morocco

• It is a mountainous country in western North Africa that lies directly across the Strait of Gibraltar.
• It retains much of its ancient architecture and even more of its traditional customs.
• Morocco’s largest city and major Atlantic Ocean port is Casablanca, an industrial and commercial centre.
• Capital: Rabat
• It borders Algeria to the east and southeast, the Western Sahara to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north.
• It is the only African country with coastal exposure to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Two small Spanish enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, are situated on the country’s northern coast.
• Major mountain ranges: Atlas and Rif
• Spoken Languages: Arabic and Amazigh (Tamazight).
• Religion: Predominantly Islam with a rich Islamic heritage.
• Political System: Morocco has a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses.
• Economy: The Moroccan economy remains heavily dependent on the export of raw materials.

PM Modi announces launch of Global Biofuel Alliance

Global Biofuels Alliance

• It is an India-led Initiative to develop an alliance of Governments, International organisations and Industry to facilitate the adoption of biofuels.
• A total of 19 countries and 12 international organisations have so far agreed to join the alliance, including both G20 members and non-member countries.
• India, Brazil and the US is the founding members of the alliance.
• This Alliance will be aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector.
• Significance of the alliance
  • It will place emphasis on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, developing concrete policy lesson-sharing and providing technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide.
  • It will support worldwide development and deployment of sustainable biofuels by offering capacity-building exercises across the value chain, technical support for national programs and promoting policy lessons-sharing.
  • It will facilitate mobilising a virtual marketplace to assist industries, countries, ecosystem players and key stakeholders in mapping demand and supply, as well as connecting technology providers to end users.
  • It will also facilitate the development, adoption and implementation of internationally recognised standards, codes, sustainability principles and regulations to incentivise biofuels adoption and trade.

Biofuel

• It is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil.
• Different Generations of Biofuel
  • First generation: It is produced from consumable food items containing starch (rice and wheat), sugar (beets and sugarcane) for bioalcohols, or vegetable oils for biodiesel.
  • Second generation: It is mainly obtained from non-food feedstocks such as forest/industry/agricultural wastes and waste or used vegetable oils.
  • **Third generation:**It is known as ‘algae fuel’ and is derived from algae in the form of both biodiesel and bioalcohols.
  • Fourth generation: Like the third generation, 4G biofuels are made using non-arable land. However, unlike the third, they do not need the destruction of biomass.

Konark Wheel replica serves as backdrop of PM Modi''s welcome handshake with G20 leaders

Konark Temple wheel

• The Konark wheel was built during the 13th century under the reign of King Narasimhadeva-I.
• The wheel with 24 spokes is also adapted into India''s national flag and embodies India''s ancient wisdom, advanced civilisation, and architectural excellence.
• The rotating motion of the Konark Wheel symbolises time, Kalachakra as well as progress and continuous change.
• It serves as a powerful symbol of the wheel of democracy that reflects the resilience of democratic ideals and commitment to progress in society.

Konark Sun temple

• It is located on the eastern shores of India.
• It is the culmination of Kalingan temple architecture, with all its defining elements in complete and perfect form.
• It was built in 1250 CE by King Narasimhadeva I (r. 1238-1264 CE) of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
• The temple in its present state was declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1984.
• The word ''Konark'' is a combination of two Sanskrit words, Kona(corner or angle) and arka (the sun).
• It thus implies that the main deity was the sun god, and the temple was built in an angular format.
• The temple follows the Kalinga or Orissa style of architecture, which is a subset of the Nagara style of Hindu temple architecture.

G20 Summit: ‘India-Middle East-Europe'' economic corridor, a modern-day spice route, announced.

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

• The project includes India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and the US.
• The project will aim to enable greater trade among the involved countries, including energy products.
• The IMEC comprises of an Eastern Corridor connecting India to the Gulf region and a Northern Corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe.
• It will include a railway and ship-rail transit network and road transport routes.
• The corridor will include a rail link as well as an electricity cable, a hydrogen pipeline and a high-speed data cable.
• In the coming times, it will be a major medium of economic integration between India, West Asia and Europe.
• The rail and shipping corridor is part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII)
• Significance
  • It would increase prosperity among the countries involved through an increased flow of energy and digital communications.
  • The project would help deal with the lack of infrastructure needed for growth in lower- and middle-income nations.

PGII

• It is a collaborative effort by G7 nations to fund infrastructure projects in developing nations.
• It is a developmental initiative aimed at narrowing the infrastructure gap in developing countries as well as help towards accelerate progress on SDGs globally.
• The infrastructure plan was first announced in June 2021 during the G7 Summit in the UK.
• Collectively, it aims to mobilise nearly $600 billion from the G7 by 2027 to invest in critical infrastructure that improves lives and delivers real gains for all of our people.”