Rajpath all set to be renamed Kartavya Path

• The avenue is part of the larger Central Vista project, where a new triangular Parliament Building, along with the Central Secretariat and several other Government offices are being rebuilt.
• Called Kingsway during British rule, it was built as a ceremonial boulevard by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, the architects of New Delhi, in around 1920.
• Running from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill through Vijay Chowk and India Gate, the avenue is lined on both sides by huge lawns, canals and rows of trees.
• Following the independence of India, the road was given its Hindi name of ‘Rajpath’ in place of its English designation. This represented a mere translation than a renaming since ‘Rajpath’ in Hindi broadly means king’s way.
• The construction work for the Central Vista Redevelopment Project started in February 2021, with the new Parliament building and redevelopment of central vista avenue as its first phase.

Dr Mansukh Mandaviya lays foundation stone for NCDC branches in six states

• The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Currently, NCDC has eight branches in States with focus on one or few diseases, these will be repurposed and new branches are being added with the mandate for integrated disease surveillance activities, dealing with Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), multi-sectoral and entomological investigations etc.

Difficult to implement, The idea of climate reparation..

• The demand for compensation for loss and damage from climate disasters is an extension of the universally acknowledged “Polluter Pays” principle that makes the polluter liable for paying not just for the cost of remedial action, but also for compensating the victims of environmental damage caused by their actions.
• In the climate change framework, the burden of responsibility falls on those rich countries that have contributed most of the greenhouse gas emissions since 1850, generally considered to be the beginning of the industrial age.
• Historical responsibility is important because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, and it is the cumulative accumulation of this carbon dioxide that causes global warming. A country like India, currently the third largest emitter, accounts for only 3% of historical emissions. China, which is the world’s biggest emitter for over 15 years now, has contributed about 11% to total emissions since 1850.
• The Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damages, set up in 2013, was the first formal acknowledgment of the need to compensate developing countries struck by climate disasters.

India-Bangladesh trade, now set for CEPA boost

• In 2021-22, Bangladesh has emerged as the largest trade partner for India in South Asia and the fourth largest destination for Indian exports worldwide. Exports to Bangladesh grew more than 66 per cent from $9.69 billion in FY 2020-21 to $16.15 billion in FY 2021-22.
• India is Bangladesh’s second biggest trade partner, and its largest export market in Asia. Despite Covid-19 related disruptions, bilateral trade grew at an unprecedented rate of almost 44 per cent from $10.78 billion in 2020-21 to $18.13 billion in 2021-22.
• India’s main exports to Bangladesh are raw cotton, non-retail pure cotton yarn, and electricity, and its main imports from the country are pure vegetable oils, non-knit men’s suits, and textile scraps.

Cincinnatus, the Roman emperor Boris Johnson compared himself

• Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (519 BC to 438 BC) was a Roman emperor whose name is invoked to refer to an honourable and principled figure.
• the story of Cincinnatus is about the Aequians, powerful enemies of Rome that were threatening to invade the city. Unable to deal with the crisis, the Roman Senate decided to bring in Cincinnatus to fight off the attack. He had been living a life away from power, and the senate was prepared to give him powers to exercise a dictatorship for securing a victory.
• when he learned of the call, Cincinnatus “left his plow standing in the field” and left to lead the Romans to victory against the Aequians. However, 15 days later when his goal was accomplished, he went back to his farm and let go of extraordinary power.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Vice-Chairman Arun Haldar directed bankers to meet the targets set by the Central Government

• The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is an Indian constitutional body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
• It has been established with a view to provide safeguards against the exploitation of Scheduled Castes to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution.
• Article 338 of the Indian constitution deals with National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
• The first Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was set up in August 1978.
• Consequent upon the Constitution (Eighty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been replaced by
  • National Commission for Scheduled Castes and
  • National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Seat belts mandatory for all passengers in car, violators to be fined: Gadkari

• The announcement was made only two days after former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry died in a car accident near Mumbai, and police probe later revealed that he was not wearing a seat belt.
• The Union minister said that a fine already is in place for those not wearing the seat belt while on the front seats. However, the new rule will impose a penalty on for not fastening the belt even if passengers are sitting on the rear (backside) seats in a vehicle.
• In February 2022, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposed that all the front-facing seats, including the rear-middle seat, must have a Y-shaped seat belt.

Bharat Biotech’s intra-nasal COVID vaccine gets emergency use approval

• Bharat Biotech''s ChAd36-SARS-CoV-S COVID-19 (Chimpanzee Adenovirus Vectored) recombinant nasal vaccine has been approved by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for primary immunization against COVID-19 in 18+ age group for restricted use in emergencies.
• This is India’s first intranasal vaccine for COVID-19.
• The product – iNCOVACC – is stable at 2-8°C for easy storage and distribution.
• iNCOVACC has the double benefit of enabling faster development of variant-specific vaccines and easy nasal delivery that enables mass immunisation to protect from emerging variants of concern. It promises to become an important tool in mass vaccinations during pandemics and endemics.
• iNCOVACC was developed in partnership with Washington University St. Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored constructs and evaluated them in preclinical studies for efficacy.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina holds talks with PM Modi to strengthen ties

• The India-Bangladesh delegation level talks were led by both leaders. Issues related to connectivity, energy, water resources, trade and investment, border management and security, development partnership and regional and multilateral matters were on the agenda.
• Two leaders jointly unveiled Unit-I of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project following bilateral and delegation level talks in Delhi. The project is being constructed under India’s concessional financing scheme. It will add 1320 MW to Bangladesh’s National Grid.
• Seven MoUs, including on water resources, railways, science and technology, space technology were exchanged following the talks. This includes an MoU between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh Television on cooperation in the field of broadcasting.
• Prime Minister Modi announced that an important agreement on water sharing from the Kushiyara River has been signed. This will benefit Southern Assam in India and Sylhet region in Bangladesh.

India & UK conducts Counter Ransomware Exercise for 26 Nations

• The exercise has been conducted as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative- Resilience Working Group which is being led by India under the leadership of National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC).
• The theme of the exercise is based on Energy Sector in which the respective National Cyber Crisis Management Teams of the CRI Partner Nations will have to deal with a ransomware attack on multiple electricity distribution companies.
• The aim to organise this virtual Cyber Exercise on Ransomware Resilience is to simulate a large, wide-spread cyber security incident affecting organisations within a country.
• National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) coordinates with different agencies at the national level for cyber security matters.