TNPSC Current Affairs August 13, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs August 13, 2020 (13/08/2020)

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Topic: Welfare Oriented Govt Schemes and their Utilities

PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry recently said over 5 lakh applications had been received under the PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme for street vendors since it started on July 2 and 1 lakh loans had been sanctioned already.

Implementing agency:

Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs signed MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in order to engage SIDBI as the Implementation Agency for the scheme.

SIDBI will manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).

Overview of the scheme:

It is a special micro-credit facility plan to provide affordable loan of up to ₹10,000 to more than 50 lakh street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March 2020. The scheme is valid until March 2022.

Small Industries Development Bank of India is the technical partner for implementation of this scheme.

It will manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.

Loans under the scheme:

Under the scheme, vendors can avail working capital loan of up to ₹10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments within one year.

On timely/early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on six-months basis.

There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Technology

Krishi Megh

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare virtually launched the Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services). Krishi Megh is the data recovery centre of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research).

Details:

Krishi Megh has been set up under the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP).

The data recovery centre has been set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad.

Significance and benefits of Krishi Megh:

Built to mitigate the risk, enhance the quality, availability and accessibility of e-governance, research, extension and education in the field of agriculture in India.

Krishi Megh is equipped with the latest artificial intelligence and deep learning software for building and deploying of deep learning-based applications through image analysis, disease identification in livestock, etc.

It enables the farmers, researchers, students and policymakers to be more equipped with the updated and latest information regarding agriculture and research.

National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP):

The project is funded by both the government of India and the World Bank.

The overall objective of the project is to provide more relevant and high-quality education to the agricultural university students that is in tune with the New Education Policy – 2020.

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Topic: Welfare Oriented Schemes and their Utilities and General Administration

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

The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has put calls for proposals to the One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative on hold till further notice.

About the initiative:

OSOWOG initiative was proposed by India to set up a framework for facilitating global cooperation which aims at building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources that can be easily shared.

Objective: To build global consensus about sharing solar resources among more than 140 countries of West Asia and South-East Asia.

The vision is ‘The Sun Never Sets’ and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time.

This grid shall be interconnected with the African power pools also at the later stage.

It has been taken up under the technical assistance program of the World Bank.

Potential and benefits of the initiative:

India would generate 40% of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030 and has called for connecting solar energy supply across borders giving the mantra of ‘One World One Sun One Grid’.

The proposed integration would lead to reduced project costs, higher efficiencies and increased asset utilization for all the participating entities.

This plan will require only incremental investment because it will not require a parallel grid infrastructure due to working with existing grids.

It will help all the participating entities in attracting investments in renewable energy sources as well as utilizing skills, technology and finances.

Resulting economic benefits would positively impact poverty alleviation and support in mitigating water, sanitation, food and other socio-economic challenges.

It will allow national renewable energy management centers in India to grow as regional and global management centers.

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Topic: Geographical Landmarks

Perseids Meteor Shower

The Perseids meteor shower will be active from 17th-26th August 2020. This is an annual celestial event and is considered the best meteor shower, as many bright meteors and fireballs shoot through the sky making it easy for people to watch it from Earth.

 

 

Key facts:

Meteor: It is a space rock or meteoroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids.

Most are pieces of other, larger bodies that have been broken or blasted off. These come from comets, asteroids, planets and the Moon.

When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors.

As the space rock falls towards the Earth, the resistance—or drag—of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot.

As it passes through the atmosphere, it leaves behind streaks of glowing gas (shooting star) that are visible to the observers.

Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak. This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material.

When a meteoroid survives its journey through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite.

Meteor Shower:

When Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, it is called a meteor shower. Comets, like Earth and the other planets, also orbit the sun. Unlike the nearly circular orbits of the planets, the orbits of comets are usually quite lop-sided.

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Topic: Places in News

Hornbill Habitat Loss

A study based on satellite data has indicated a high rate of deforestation in major hornbill habitats in Arunachal Pradesh and a part of Assam.

Key facts:

The study fine-scale satellite imagery to assess Papum Reserve Forest (RF) adjoining Pakke Tiger Reserve (Pakhui Tiger Reserve) in Arunachal Pradesh.

The results show the loss and degradation of critical hornbill habitat in the biologically rich forests of the Indian Eastern Himalaya.

According to the Global Forest Watch 2020 report, Arunachal Pradesh lost 1,110 sq.km. of primary forest from 2002-2019.

These areas are affected by illegal logging and ethnic conflict. The forests are under pressure due to agricultural expansion, conversion to plantations or logging.

Papum Reserve Forest:

 

 

Papum Reserve Forest is geographically situated in the south west of East Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh.

Hornbills:

The hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia. India is home to nine species of hornbills. The northeastern region has the highest diversity of hornbill species within India.

 

 

Papum RF is a nesting habitat of three species of hornbills: the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), wreathed hornbill (Aceros undulatus) and the Oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris), Wreathed and Oriental Pied. The 862 sq.km.

Pakke reserve houses a fourth species, the Rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis) species are found here.

The great hornbill is the state bird of Arunachal Pradesh and Kerala.

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Topic: Books and Authors

Connecting, Communicating, Changing

The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has released the book titled “Connecting, Communicating, Changing” in New Delhi.

The book comprising a collection of speeches by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar released the e-version of the book.