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Posted 22 Jun 2024
8 min read
National Testing Agency (NTA)
Government announced the formation of a high-level committee to provide recommendations for improving the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
About NTA
- Established by Ministry of Education (MoE) as a premier, specialist, autonomous and self-sustained testing organization
- Purpose: To conduct entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.
- Registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
- Chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by MoE.
- Tags :
- National Testing Agency
- Ministry of Education (MoE)
Articles Sources
e-SAKSHI Portal
Government held a training workshop on e-SAKSHI Portal for revised fund flow procedure under MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme).
- e-SAKSHI portal is an end-to-end solution for efficient and transparent implementation of the MPLAD scheme.
About MPLADS
- Type: Central Sector Scheme.
- Ministry: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- An amount of Rs. 5 crore is allotted to each MP for recommending developmental works for creating durable community assets based on locally felt needs.
- Funds are non-lapsable and are carried forward to next year.
- Atleast 15% of MPLADS entitlement is allocated for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5% for areas inhabited by Scheduled Tribe population.
- Tags :
- MPLADS
- e-SAKSHI
- Member of Parliament
Articles Sources
Nord Stream
New Study reveals thousands of tonnes of methane may have dissolved in the Baltic Sea.
- In 2022, the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines suddenly began leaking at four locations.
About Nord Stream
- Comprises a network of offshore pipelines (Nord Stream 1 and 2) supplying natural gas from Russia to northern Germany.
- Pipelines pass through the territorial waters and/or Exclusive Economic Zones of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
- Impacts of Nord Stream’s Leakage: The high concentration of methane in water may have promoted the growth of methanotrophic bacteria.
- This bacteria uses methane as their sole source of carbon and energy.
- Tags :
- Nord Stream
- Gas Pipeline
Cyber mercenaries
UN chief has warned about the rise of malicious and illegal cyber activities through “Cyber Mercenaries”.
About Cyber Mercenaries
- Cyber mercenaries are described as a person, group of persons, or private actors that are hired to carry out cyber offensive or defensive operations to take action on particular cyber networks and infrastructure.
- These enable spying on networks, computers, phones, or devices connected by the internet.
- Examples of cyber mercenaries include Lazarus, Ocean Lotus group, NSO group etc.
- Use of cyber mercenaries is considered as a ‘grey-zone’ activity due to absence of agreed international conventions regulating the domain.
- Tags :
- Grey-zone Warfare
- Cyber Mercenary
Articles Sources
Output from agriculture and allied sectors
NSO releases ‘Statistical report on value of output from agriculture and allied sectors (2011-12 to 2022-23)”.
Key highlights
- Agriculture and allied sector accounted for 18.2% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) at current prices in 2022-23.
- Share of various sub-sectors are Crop (54.3%), Livestock (30.9%), Forestry (7.9%), and Fishing and aquaculture (6.9%).
- Output trend of sub-sectors (2011-12 to 2022-23):
- Crop: Declined from 62.4% to 54.3%.
- Livestock: Increased steadily from ₹487.8 thousand crore to ₹878.5 thousand crore.
- Forestry: Increased from ₹149 thousand crore to ₹223 thousand crore.
- Fishing: Increased steadily from ₹80 thousand crore to ₹195 thousand crore.
- Tags :
- Agriculture
- Livestock Sector
- GVA Agriculture
- Allied Sector
- Fishing
Gas Flaring
Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report has been released by the World Bank.
- Report is compiled with the help of World Bank's Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership.
Key Findings
- Global gas flaring in 2023 has increased by 7% from 2022 leading to a rise of 23 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
- Major Contributor: Russia, Iran, Iraq, USA, etc.
About Gas Flaring
- Refers to burning of the natural gas associated with oil extraction.
- Reasons:
- Safety Concern (de-pressurise the equipment)
- Economical (logistical issues in transporting gases from oil fields are located in remote and inaccessible places).
- Key Measures taken: Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 (ZRF) initiative (World Bank)
- Tags :
- Gas Flaring
UP-PRAGATI Accelerator Programs (UPPAP)
KisanKraft Limited has joined the Low Methane Rice Project (LMRP) under UPPAP to promote the Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) in Uttar Pradesh.
- LMRP is an initiative of World Bank’s 2030 Water Resource Group (WRG).
- The WRG is a multi-donor trust fund hosted by the World Bank Group.
About UPPAP
- Aims to bring about significant agricultural advancements and boost incomes across the state by promoting water-use efficiency and low-carbon practices through technological and institutional innovations.
- Launched by Uttar Pradesh Multi-Stakeholder Platform, and is supported by 2030 WRG.
- Its implementation is being supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Tags :
- UP-Pragati
- Water Resource Group
- Low Methane Rice Project (LMRP)
Mirage 2000
Qatar offered to sell 12 Mirage 2000 fighter aircrafts to India.
About Mirage 2000
- Manufacturer: Dassault Aviation, France.
- It is a single engine delta-wing multirole aircraft.
- It is supersonic combat aircraft with maximum speed of Mach 2.2.
- Mirage 2000 can carry laser guided bombs, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and has a Thomson-CSF RDY (Radar Doppler Multi-target) radar on board.
- First commissioned in Indian Air Force in 1985 which gave it the name ‘Vajra’.
- It played a decisive role in 1999 Kargil war and operation Bandar of 2019.
- Tags :
- Mirage 2000
- Supersonic Aircraft
News Today (Jun 22, 2024)