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Prelim Bits 28-07-2017

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July 28, 2017

Sagar Vani

  • Sagar Vani is an app developed by Ministry of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forests & Climate Change, on the occasion of Foundation Day of Ministry of Earth Sciences.
  • It is an integrated Information dissemination system serving fishermen community with the advisories and alerts towards their livelihood as well as their safety at Sea.
  • The information to be disseminated is given by INCOIS under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
  • The system also has facility to provide access to various stakeholders NGOs, State Fishery Departments, Disaster Management Authorities; they will further disseminate these ocean information and alerts to the user community.

Soil Health Card scheme

  • Soil Health Card is a report that recommends ways to improve the soil quality, appropriate dosage of nutrients for improving soil health and its fertility and analyse the nutrient level. 
  • The card reviewed for every 2 years to examine nutrients deficiencies.
  • The salient features of SHC include adoption of uniformed approach towards samples collection, testing in laboratories and coverage for all the land in the country.
  • Under this scheme 12 soil health parameters such as primary nutrients (NPK), secondary nutrients (such as sulphur) and micronutrients (boron, zinc, copper etc.), are being analysed.
  • Secondary nutrients and micronutrients analysis are compulsory.
  • It gives crop-wise recommendation of appropriate dosage of fertilizers and nutrients.
  • The scheme is implemented on 50:50 sharing pattern between centre and state.

Green Climate Fund

  • Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) has recently been signed between Green Climate Fund (GCF) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
  • With this agreement, NABARD has become the first entity from India to be accredited as Direct Access Entity (DAE) to GCF.
  • The signing of AMA is an essential first step for accessing the GCF resources to help safeguard the lives, property and livelihoods of people against climate change impact.
  • GCF is an international mechanism set up at the Conference of the Parties-16 (COP-16) in Cancun in 2010.
  • As per the international agreement, advanced economies should provide an annual assistance of $100 billion, through public and private sources, by 2020 — the deadline is now extended to 2025.
  • It supports both climate change adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries.

CCI and TRAI

  • Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are fighting on the question of which agency to monitor anti-competitive tariffs in the telecom sector.
  • CCI is a statutory body, established in 2003, responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India.
  • The Competition Act is implemented mainly to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition in India.
  • TRAI is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India.
  • One of its main objectives is to provide a fair and transparent environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition in the market.
  • TRAI regularly issues orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability.

Alternat0ive Investment Fund

  • SEBI recently allowed Category III Alternative Investment Funds to participate in the commodity derivatives market.
  • Harmony Hedge Fund became the first category III Alternative Investment Fund and first institutional investor to register on Multi Commodity Exchange.
  • Anything alternate to traditional form of investments gets categorized as alternative investments.
  • AIF are privately pooled investment fund, in the form of a trust or a company or a body corporate or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) which are not presently covered under the jurisdiction of any regulatory agency in India.

Typhoon “Noru”

  • The typhoon ‘Noru’, originated in south-east of Japan had marked the beginning of the Monsoon season in the North-West Pacific.
  • This is only the second time since 1950 that the first typhoon of the season materialised in the North-West Pacific.
  • It is predicted that the typhoon may usurp the Indian monsoon during this period.
  • The Indian monsoon flows will be pulled across the peninsular tip into the Bay of Bengal to feed the Pacific storms.

Nirbhaya Fund

  • Government of India has set up a dedicated fund called Nirbhaya Fund for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country.
  • Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal authority for appraisal of the schemes received under Nirbhaya Fund.
  • Ministry of Finance has set up an Empowered Committee to assist Ministry of Women and Child development in approving the Schemes.
  • The concerned Ministries take up the sanction and implementation of the schemes approved by the Ministry.
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