Ministry of Heavy Industries announces Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024

About Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024:

• It aims to further accelerate the adoption of Electric Vehicles in the country. It is a fund limited scheme with a total outlay of Rs. 500 crore for the period of 4 months.
• It is for faster adoption of electric two-wheeler (e-2W) and three-wheeler (e-3W) to provide further impetus to the green mobility and development of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing eco-system in the country. 
• Eligible EV categories
• Two Wheelers (electric) (e-2W)
• Three-wheeler (electric) including registered e-rickshaws & e-carts and L5 (e-3W)
• The scheme will be applicable mainly to those e-2W and e-3Ws registered for commercial purposes. Further, in addition to commercial use, privately or corporate owned registered e-2W will also be eligible under the scheme.
• To encourage advance technologies, the benefits of incentives, will be extended to only those vehicles which are fitted with advanced battery.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Heavy Industries

SM REITs can help investors bet on high-value assets

About Small and Medium Real-Estate Investment Trusts:

• These are specialised real estate investment trusts that differ from conventional REITs in their scale and focus.
• Aim: To regulate the fractional ownership industry and safeguard investor interests, incorporating both commercial and residential properties within the new framework.
• The minimum subscription size of this scheme unit will be 10 lakh and treated as one unit. The SM REIT scheme requires a minimum of 200 unit holders, excluding the investment manager, its related parties and associates.
• An investment manager responsible for setting up an SM REIT is required to have a net worth of at least ₹20 crore, and a separate trustee will be appointed for oversight.
• The micro REITs will be able to list with an asset value of at least Rs 50 crore and a maximum of Rs 500 crore.
• These funds are to be used for acquiring and managing real estate assets, generating income for the investors. The ownership of these assets will be structured through one or more schemes, each operating under special purpose vehicles (SPVs).
• While traditional REITs primarily invest in large-scale commercial properties, such as office buildings and shopping malls, SM REITs concentrate on smaller and medium-sized properties with lower value.

Union Minister Shri Anurag Thakur launches Prasar Bharti - Shared Audio Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination (PB-SHABD)

About PB-SHABD:

• Prasar Bharti - Shared Audio Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination (PB-SHABD) platform has been designed to provide daily news feeds in video, audio, text, photo and other formats to the subscribers from media landscape.
• It is powered by the vast network of Prasar Bharati reporters, correspondents and stringers, the service would bring you the latest news from different parts of the country.
• It will be a single point source of news content for all organizations. SHABD service is being offered free of cost for the first year as an introductory offer and will provide news stories in all major Indian languages across fifty categories.
• The shared feeds can be used for customized storytelling across different platforms. As an introductory offer, the services would be available free of cost and help the smaller newspapers, TV channels and digital portals immensely.

What is Prasar Bharti?

• It is the Public Service Broadcaster of the country.
• It is a statutory autonomous body established in 1997 under the Prasar Bharati Act.
• Objective: To conduct public broadcasting services intended to inform and entertain the public.
• It comprises the Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, which were earlier media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Headquarter: New Delhi

Meet Devin: World’s 1st fully autonomous AI software engineer and here''s what it can do

About Devin AI:

• It is the world’s first AI software engineer.
• What can Devin do?
• The AI agent comes with some advanced capabilities in software development, including coding, debugging, problem-solving, etc.
• It uses machine learning algorithms to constantly learn and improve its performance and adapt according to new challenges.
• In simple words, Devin can build and deploy apps end-to-end and can also train and fine-tune its own AI models. It can plan and execute complex engineering tasks that would require thousands of decisions.
• It can recall relevant context at each step, self-learn over time, and even fix mistakes. This software engineer has the ability to proactively collaborate with the user.
• It reports progress in real-time, is capable of accepting feedback, and works along with the user through design choices as needed.
• Performance
• On the SWE-Bench benchmark (a benchmark for evaluating large language models on real-world software issues found on GitHub), Devin correctly resolved 13.86 per cent of the issues without any assistance.
• It is capable of augmenting efficiency and speed within software development processes by automating repetitive tasks, instantly generating code, expediting project timelines, and cutting down development expenses substantially. It is immune to human errors or inconsistencies.

Lab to monitor sea water quality and testbed to track monsoon systems inaugurated

About Atmospheric Research Testbed:

• It is established by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), MoES at Silkheda for better understanding on processes governing monsoon convection.
• ART-CI will have an extensive set of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments that will provide continuous observations of convection, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, radiation, microphysics to capture major modes of variability.
• Phases
• In the first phase, an ART would be set up in central India to study convection, land-atmosphere interactions and precipitation processes. It is expected to provide a sound basis for other research testbed programs in climatologically interesting and important areas.
• In the second phase, ART is to be set up in the northeast/eastern part of the country to study severe thunderstorm processes.
• Objectives
• It is for better understanding on processes governing monsoon convection and land-atmosphere interactions over the monsoon core region and to measure relevant meteorological parameters using the state-of-the-art observational systems.
• To organize intense observational campaigns along with weather prediction model runs for testing hypotheses and to improve physical parameterizations in the models related to convection and land surface processes. 
• Outreach, Training and Dissemination of ART-CI data sets. The testbed will be made into an international facility for intense observational campaigns and testing physical parameterization schemes including sensitivity runs.
• It has nearly 25 high-end instruments like the aethalometer for aerosol studies, cloud condensation nuclei counter, laser ceilometer to measure cloud sizes, micro rain radar to calculate raindrop size and its distribution have been installed.
• A Ka-band cloud radar and a C-band doppler weather radar will also help track the movement of rain-bearing systems over this zone.

International Day of Mathematics 2024: Date, Theme, History, and Significance

About International Day of Mathematics:

• International Day of Mathematics, or Pi Day, is celebrated on March 14 every year to recognize the mathematical constant, Pi.
• The theme of International Day of Mathematics 2024 is ''Playing with Math''.
• Why March 14?
• The approximate value of Pi is 3.14.The date, when written in the format of month/day (3/14), matches the first three digits of the mathematical constant. 
• History:
• The first Pi Day was celebrated in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium.
• In 2009, the United States House of Representatives designated March 14 as Pi Day.
• UNESCO marked Pi Day as the ‘International Day of Mathematics'' during its general conference in 2019.
• Mathematician and physicist Albert Einstein, known for the "General Theory Of Relativity," was born on Pi Day in 1879.

What is Pi (π)?

• Pi is a mathematical constant that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. 
• It is an infinitely long, irrational number, and its exact value cannot be known.
• Pi is roughly equal to 3.14, or 22/7.
• History:
• Pi has been known for nearly 4,000 years and was discovered by the ancient Babylonians.
• One of the first calculations of pi was carried out by Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (287 B.C. to 212 B.C.).
• It also has a symbol, ‘π.’The symbol π was devised by British mathematician William Jones in 1706.
• Applications: It is used in a wide variety of mathematical and scientific calculations, including geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and more.

Methane emissions from fossil fuels remain high despite progress, US tops list of emitters: IEA

About Global Methane Tracker:

• It is an annual report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
• It is based on the most recently available data on methane emissions from the energy sector and incorporates new scientific studies, measurement campaigns, and information collected from satellites.
• Highlights of Global Methane Tracker 2024:
• Methane emissions from fuel use in 2023 were close to being the highest ever at 120 million tonnes (Mt). This is a small rise compared to 2022.
• Bioenergy, a form of renewable energy generated by plant and animal waste, caused another 10 million tons of emissions.
• Of the 120 Mt of methane that escaped into the atmosphere, around 80 million tons of methane emissions came from just 10 countries, The United States leads in methane emissions from oil and gas operations, and is “closely followed” by Russia. China, on the other hand, leads in emissions from coal operations.
• While studies suggested emissions are falling in some regions, overall emissions remain far too high to meet the world’s climate goals.
• The world needs to slash methane emissions from fossil fuels by 75 percent by 2030 to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
• The IEA estimated that this goal would require about $170 billion in spending. This is less than 5 percent of the income generated by the fossil fuel industry in 2023.

New scorpion species with 8 eyes and 8 legs found in Thai National Park

About Euscorpiops Krachan:

• It belongs to the subgenus Euscopiops and has been named Euscorpiops Krachan after the national park in Thailand, where it was found.
• Scorpions in this genus have limited distribution ranges with a high degree of endemism. They can be found mainly in mountain areas, particularly in places with numerous rock crevices.
• Features:
• They are very small in comparison to most other species of the subgenus, reaching just over 1 inch in length.
• They are brownish in colour; however, females are darker than males.
• They also have eight eyes and eight legs.
• Other scorpions of the Scorpiops genus hunt through ''ambush or sit-and-wait type of foraging''. It is believed that the new species employs similar strategies while hunting. 

NITI Aayog Launches ‘Vocal for Local'' Initiative Fostering Grassroots Entrepreneurship and Self- reliance

About ‘Vocal for Local’ Initiative:

• It is an initiative of NITI Aayog under its Aspirational Blocks Programme to encourage a spirit of self-reliance among the people and propel them towards sustainable growth and prosperity.
• As a part of this initiative, local products from 500 aspirational blocks have been mapped and consolidated under the Aakanksha brand.
• Aakanksha is an umbrella brand, which could be supplemented into multiple sub-brands that have the potential to create an international market.
• In order to encourage these products, a dedicated window for the Aspirational Blocks Programme under the brand name Aakanksha has been established on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
• The partners will also provide technical and operational support for the facilitation of e-commerce onboarding, establishing linkages, financial/digital literacy, documentation/certification, and skill enhancement, among others.

Key Facts about Government e-Marketplace (GeM):

• It is an online platform for public procurement, launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
• It is a one-stop portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
• The purchases made through GeM by Government users have been authorised and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance under the General Financial Rules, 2017.
• The platform is owned by GeM SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle), which is a 100% Government-owned, non-profit company under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Key Facts about Aspirational Blocks Programme:

• It is on the lines of the Aspirational District Programme that was launched in 2018 and covers 112 districts across the country.
• This new programme is aimed at improving performance of blocks lagging on various development parameters.
• This will enable holistic development in those areas that require added assistance.
• The programme will initially cover 500 districts across 31 States and Union Territories. 
• Over half of these blocks are in six States: Uttar Pradesh (68 blocks), Bihar (61), Madhya Pradesh (42), Jharkhand (34), Odisha (29), and West Bengal (29).

Lyme disease reported in Kerala''s Ernakulam

About Lyme Disease:

• It is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.
• Transmission:
• It is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black-legged ticks, often referred to as deer ticks.
• Lyme disease cannot spread:
• between humans
• from pets to humans
• through air, food, or water
• Lice, mosquitoes, fleas, and flies also do not transmit it.
• It is prevalent in wooded and grassy areas worldwide, particularly during warmer months. It is most commonly reported in North America, Europe, and some parts of Asia.
• Symptoms:
• Early symptoms of Lyme disease start between 3 to 30 days after an infected tick bite you.
• It commonly manifests with symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic "bull''s-eye" red rash called erythema migrans (EM).
• Erythema migrans serves as a hallmark sign, aiding in the early diagnosis and management of this tick-borne illness.
• Left untreated, it can lead to more severe complications affecting the joints, heart, and nervous system.
• Treatment:
• The standard treatment for Lyme disease is antibiotics, such as doxycycline or amoxicillin, especially in the early stages.
• In later stages, intravenous antibiotics may be required.