• The Thousand Islands (officially Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta’s coast.
  
• It forms the only regency of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
  
• It consists of a string of 342 islands stretching 45 km (28 mi) north into the Java Sea at West Jakarta Bay and in fact north of Banten Province.
  

Source : The Hindu

Arunachal Pradesh is likely to become India’s prime producer of vanadium

• Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal.
  
• The elemental metal is rarely found in nature. It is recovered as a by-product from the slag collected from the processing of vanadiferous magnetite ores (iron ore).
  
• Vanadium is a high-value metal used in strengthening steel and titanium.
  

Global scenario:

• The largest deposits of vanadium of the world are in China, followed by Russia and South Africa.
  
• China, which produces 57% of the world’s vanadium, consumed 44% of the metal in 2017.
  

Indian scenario:

• India is a significant consumer of vanadium, but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal.
  
• According to data provided by the GSI, India consumed 4% of about 84,000 tonnes of vanadium produced across the globe in 2017.
  

Important Info :

Exploration in Arunachal Pradesh:

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) found promising concentrations of vanadium in the palaeo-proterozoic carbonaceous phyllite rocks in the Depo and Tamang areas of Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh.
• This was the first report of a primary deposit of vanadium in India, with an average grade of 0.76% V2O5 [vanadium pentoxide].
• Vanadium mineralisation in Arunachal Pradesh is geologically similar to the “stone coal” vanadium deposits of China hosted in carbonaceous shale. This high vanadium content is associated with graphite, with a fixed carbon content of up to 16%.

Source : The Hindu

With the start of LiDAR (Aerial Ground) Survey, High Speed Rail work gathered momentum for Delhi – Varanasi High Speed Rail Corridor

• The LiDAR survey for Delhi-Varanasi High Speed Rail Corridor started from Greater NOIDA where a Helicopter fitted with state of art Aerial LiDAR and Imagery sensors took the first flight and captured the data related to ground survey.
  
• National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited is adopting Light Detection and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) technology which provides all the ground details and data in 3-4 months wherein this process normally takes 10-12 months.
  
• The ground survey is a crucial activity for any linear infrastructure project as the survey provides accurate details of areas around the alignment.
  

Important Info :

Lidar?

• Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
• These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
• A lidar instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver.

Source : PIB

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a notification to facilitate the issuance of International Driving Permit (IDP) for Indian citizens whose IDP has expired while they are abroad

• There was no mechanism for its renewal while citizens were abroad and their IDP had expired. Now, with this amendment, it is proposed that Indian citizens can apply for renewal through the Indian Embassies/Missions abroad, from where  these applications would  move to the VAHAN portal in India, to be considered by the respective RTOs.
  
• IDP would be couriered to the citizen at his/her address abroad by the respective RTOs.
  
• This notification also removes the conditions of a Medical Certificate and a valid visa at the time of making the request for the IDP in India.
  

Important Info :

• Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has set up a central depository called Vahan to store data relating to all vehicles.
• Vahan’ is the National vehicle registry, which intends to collate all the information available with road transport authorities for easy access by both citizens and regulators.

Source : DD News

RBI has issued Risk Based Internal Audit (RBIA) Framework for Strengthening Governance arrangements of banks

To bring uniformity in approach followed by the banks, as also to align the expectations on Internal Audit Function with the best practices, banks are advised as under:

• Authority, Stature and Independence: The Head of Internal Audit (HIA) shall be a senior executive of the bank who shall have the ability to exercise independent judgement.
  
• Tenor for appointment of HIA: The HIA shall be appointed for a reasonably long period, preferably for a minimum of three years.
  
• Reporting Line: The HIA shall directly report to either the Audit Committee of the Board (ACB) / MD & CEO or Whole Time Director (WTD).
  
• Staff Rotation: Except for the entities where the internal audit function is a specialised function and managed by career internal auditors, the Board should prescribe a minimum period of service for staff in the Internal Audit function.
  
• The internal audit function shall not be outsourced. However, where required, experts, including former employees, could be hired on contractual basis subject to the ACB being assured that such expertise does not exist within the audit function of the bank.
  

Source : RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the operationalisation of the payment infrastructure development fund (PIDF) scheme

• The scheme is intended to subsidise deployment of payment acceptance infrastructure in tier-3 to tier-6 centres, with a special focus on the north-eastern states of the country.
  
• An advisory council (AC) under the chairmanship of RBI deputy governor BP Kanungo has been constituted for managing the PIDF.
  
• The fund will be operational for three years effective from January 1, 2021 and may be extended for two more years.
  
• The implementation of targets shall be monitored by the RBI with assistance from card networks, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the Payments Council of India (PCI).
  

Important Info :

Contribution to the fund:

• The PIDF presently has a corpus of Rs 345 crore, with Rs 250 crore contributed by the RBI and Rs 95 crore by the major authorised card networks in the country.
• The authorised card networks shall contribute in all Rs 100 crore.
• The card issuing banks shall also contribute to the corpus based on the card issuance volume — covering both debit and credit cards — at the rate of `1 and `3 per debit and credit card issued by them, respectively.
• Besides, the PIDF shall also receive annual contributions from card networks and card issuing banks.

Source : The Hindu

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up an academic advisory council with former deputy governor N S Vishwanathan as the chairperson to advise the full-time director of the central bank’s College of Supervisors (CoS)

• As part of the measures to further strengthen Supervision over regulated entities, Reserve Bank had set up a College of Supervisors (CoS) to augment and reinforce supervisory skills among its regulatory and supervisory staff both at entry level and on a continuous basis.
  
• While the CoS was functioning in a limited way in virtual mode since May 2020, it is now being fully operationalised. This will further contribute to effective oversight of the regulated entities by augmenting and ensuring a consistent quality of supervisory resources pool.
  
• The CoS will have a full-time Director supported by an Academic Advisory Council (AAC).
  
• The AAC will identify areas where skill building/up-skilling are required, plan and develop curricula of all programmes, benchmark the programmes with international standards/best practices, develop appropriate teaching methods, etc.
  
• S. Viswanathan, Former Deputy Governor, RBI has been appointed as the Chairperson of AAC.
  
• Rabi Narayan Mishra, former Executive Director, RBI has been appointed as the Director of CoS.
  

Source : Business Standard

The Reserve Bank of India introduced the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for Large Value Transactions in Centralised Payment Systems

• The LEI is a 20-digit number used to uniquely identify parties to financial transactions worldwide.
  
• It was conceived as a key measure to improve the quality and accuracy of financial data systems for better risk management post the Global Financial Crisis.
  
• The RBI has now decided to introduce the LEI system for all payment transactions of value Rs.50 crore and above undertaken by entities (non-individuals) using RBI-run Centralised Payment Systems viz. Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).
  
• The LEI has been introduced by the RBI in a phased manner for participants in the over the counter (OTC) derivative and non-derivative markets as also for large corporate borrowers.
  
• The RBI as the preparation for the wider introduction of LEI across all payment transactions, issued directions to the member banks.
  
• In India, LEI can be obtained from Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd. (LEIL), which is also recognised as an issuer of LEI by the Reserve Bank under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
  

Source : The Hindu

In a bid to help the women residing in congested slums during their menstruation days, a ‘period room’ has been set up at a public toilet in Maharashtra’s Thane city

• Equipped with several basic facilities, the period room aims to facilitate menstrual hygiene among women dwelling in slums.
  
• The facility is set up keeping in mind the women living in small houses, who do not have a separate bathing section. Many times they find it difficult to change during periods. This facility will be a boon for such women and go a long way in promoting good hygiene.
  
• Claimed to be the first-of-its-kind initiative, the much-needed facility has been set up by the Thane Municipal Corporation in collaboration with an NGO, at a slum in Shanti Nagar locality of Wagle Estate area in Thane.
  
• The 45,000 rupees low-cost facility will be replicated in all 120 community toilets in the city.
  

Source : All India Radio

World Hindi Day was observed on 10th January

• The day is commemorated every year with the objective to promote use of Hindi language abroad.
  
• On this day in 2006, the First World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur with the aim to promote the language worldwide.
  
• Since then, every year 10th January is being observed as the World Hindi Day.
  

Source : All India Radio

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The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the Government of India and Government of Japan, on a Basic Framework for Partnership for Proper Operation of the System Pertaining to “Specified Skilled Worker”.

PIB:

• The MOC would set an institutional mechanism for partnership and cooperation between India and Japan on sending and accepting skilled Indian workers, who have qualified the required skill and Japanese language test, to work in fourteen specified sectors in Japan.
  
• These Indian workers would be granted a new status of residence of “Specified Skilled Worker” by the Government of Japan.
  
• Implementation Strategy: Under this MOC, a Joint Working Group will be set up to follow up the implementation of this MOC.
  
• Major Impact: It would enhance people-to -people contacts, foster mobility of workers and skilled professionals from India to Japan.
  

Source : PIB

The new Director General, Border Road Organisation (BRO), Lt General Rajeev Chaudhry briefed Government of India about the Chattergala tunnel

• The proposed Chattergala tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir will connect district Kathua with district Doda enroute the new Highway via Basohli-Bani through Chattergalla to touch Bhaderwah and Doda.
  
• This is going to be a historic landmark project providing all-weather alternate road connectivity between the two distant regions and reducing the travel time from Doda to Lakhanpur on the Punjab border to just around four hours.
  
• It is going to be a 6.8 Km long tunnel. The tunnel is likely to take about 4 years for completion after the execution work starts and its construction cost is around Rs. 3,000 crore.
  

Source : Times of India

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India is organizing ‘Udyog Manthan’ in association with Quality Council of India, National Productivity Council, and Industry bodies.

• Udyog Manthan is a marathon of focused sector-specific webinars for promoting Quality and Productivity in Indian Industry.
  
• It is being held from January 4, 2021 to March 2, 2021.
  
• The webinar series comprising 45 sessions will cover various major sectors in manufacturing and services. Udyog Manthan will identify challenges, opportunities; draw upon solutions and best practices.
  
• Participants will include representatives from industry, testing and standardization bodies. The discussions will be live streamed on YouTube for all those interested in following the sessions.
  

Source : DD News

Union Minister for Science & Technology inaugurated one of the seven labs of the world called as the centralized network lab of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) established at Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.

• The CEPI centralized laboratory at DBT-THSTI Faridabad is first of its kind in India and one of the seven in the world
  
• THSTI is an institute of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). This is the only laboratory of such kind in India and is also accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) (ISO 17025:2017).
  
• CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organizations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
  
• The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India is implementing the Ind-CEPI mission titled ‘India Centric Epidemic Preparedness through Rapid Vaccine Development: Supporting Indian Vaccine Development Aligned with the Global Initiative of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)’.
  
• Ind-CEPI Mission aims to strengthen the development of vaccines for the diseases of epidemic potential in India as well as build coordinated preparedness in the Indian public health system and vaccine industry to address existing and emergent infectious threats in India.
  

Source : PIB

Bird flu has been reported among wild geese in Himachal Pradesh, crows in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and ducks in Kerala. In Haryana, around one lakh poultry birds have died mysteriously in the last few days.

• Avian influenza or bird flu is a highly contagious viral disease caused by Influenza Type A viruses which generally affects poultry birds such as chickens and turkeys.
  
• There are many strains of the virus – some of them are mild and may merely cause a low egg production or other mild symptoms among chickens, while others are severe and lethal.
  
• Wild aquatic birds such as ducks and geese are the natural reservoir of Influenza A viruses and the central players in the ecology of these viruses.
  

History of bird flu among humans:

• It was in 1997 when humans are first known to have contracted bird flu following an outbreak in a live bird market of Hong Kong. It was the H5N1 strain of the virus.
  
• Subsequently, several other strains of the virus such as H5N2 and H9N2 spread from animals to humans, thus becoming a global public health concern.
  

Does it spread easily to humans?

• No, it does not. Generally, people coming in close contact with infected alive or dead birds have contracted the H5N1 bird flu, and it does not usually spread from person to person.
  
• There is also no evidence, that the disease can be spread to people through properly prepared and cooked poultry food. The virus is sensitive to heat, and dies in cooking temperatures.
  

Important Info :

Symptoms:

• Unlike in birds, where it generally infects the gut, the avian influenza attacks the respiratory tract of humans and may cause severe respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).
• Its early symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, and sometimes abdominal pain and diarrhoea.

Treatment:

• Antiviral drugs, especially oseltamivir, improve the prospects of survival in humans.
• Among poultry birds, vaccination strategies advised by the World Organisation for Animal Health can be used to prevent the flu.

Source : Indian Express

The Supreme Court clarified the position of law on the interplay of vertical and horizontal reservations. The decision in Saurav Yadav versus State of Uttar Pradesh dealt with issues arising from the way different classes of reservation were to be applied in the selection process to fill posts of constables in the state.

• Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to as vertical reservation. It applies separately for each of the groups specified under the law.
  
• Horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
  
• The horizontal quota is applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
  
• The interlocking of the two types of reservation throws up a host of questions on how certain groups are to be identified. For example would an SC woman be put in the category of women or SC?
  

Important Info :

Saurav Yadav case:

• The court ruled that if a person belonging to an intersection of vertical-horizontal reserved category had secured scores high enough to qualify without the vertical reservation, the person would be counted as qualifying without the vertical reservation, and cannot be excluded from the horizontal quota in the general category.
• It argued that if both vertical and horizontal quotas were to be applied together then the overall selection would have candidates with lower scores.

Source : Indian Express

A geophysical survey, namely, Magneto-telluric (MT) is being conducted over the Delhi region.

• The National Capital Region of Delhi experienced 4 small earthquakes during April – August 2020. These earthquakes were followed by a dozen of micro-events (M<3.0) including, a few aftershocks.
  
• All these events were located by the National Seismological Network (NSN), being operated and maintained by National Seismological Centre (NCS), Ministry of Earth Sciences.
  
• Subsequently, NCS initiated the Magneto-telluric (MT), a geophysical survey over the Delhi region. This survey is carried out in collaboration with Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun.
  
• Magneto-telluric (MT) is a geophysical method which uses natural time variation of the Earth’s magnetic and electric fields to understand geological (underground) structure and processes.
  
• These measurements are conducted across three major seismic sources, namely Mahendragarh-Dehradun Fault (MDF), Sohna Fault (SF) and Mathura Fault (MF).
  
• These measurements will ascertain the presence of fluid, which generally enhances the possibility of triggering of earthquakes.
  

Source : DD News

On 7th January 2021, Prime Minister Modi will flag off the world’s first Double Stack Long Haul 1.5 Km long Container Train hauled by electric traction from New Ateli -New Kishangarh

• Double Stack Long Haul Container Train Operation will have an enhanced axle load of 25 tons.
  
• It has been designed for DFCCIL by RDSO’s wagon department. Trial runs of BLCS-A and BLCS-B wagon prototypes have been completed.
  
• The design will maximize capacity utilization and uniform distributed and point loading.
  
• These wagons on a long-haul double stack container train on the WDFC can carry four times in terms of container units compared to the current traffic on Indian Railways.
  

Source : Financial Express

Prime Minister Modi will dedicate to the nation the 306 Km New Rewari – New Madar Section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) on 7th January 2021

• The New Rewari – New Madar section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor is situated in Haryana (approx. 79 Km, in Mahendragarh and Rewari districts) and Rajasthan (approx. 227 Km, in Jaipur, Ajmer, Sikar, Nagaur and Alwar districts).
  
• It consists of nine newly built DFC stations in which six are crossing stations viz. New Dabla, New Bhagega, New Sri Madhopur, New Pachar Malikpur, New Sakun and New Kishangarh while the other three  in New Rewari, New Ateli and New Phulera are junction stations.
  

Important Info :

Significance:

• The opening of this stretch will benefit various industries in Rewari – Manesar, Narnaul, Phulera and Kishangarh areas of Rajasthan & Haryana and will also enable better usage of the container depot of CONCOR at Kathuwas.
• This section will also ensure seamless connectivity with the western ports of Kandla, Pipavav, Mundhra, and Dahej situated in Gujarat.
• With the inauguration of this section, seamless connectivity between the WDFC and EDFC will be achieved. Earlier the 351-km New Bhaupur- New Khurja section of the EDFC was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister on 29th December 2020.

Source : Hindustan Times

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