UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 10-02-2021

Immunity Passports

• “Immunity Passport” or “Risk-free Certificate” would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection. It attests that its bearer is immune to a contagious disease.
• Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 could serve as the basis for an “immunity passport”.
• In a bid to ease travel restrictions amid the pandemic, countries like Denmark, Israel, UK, etc have announced ‘digital corona passport.’
• With the novel coronavirus, the proposed certificates would attest one of three things: that the holder has been vaccinated; has tested negative for the virus or has recovered from it.
• Governments and organisations across the world are considering digital travel passes, either through an app or part of a digital wallet.
• This passport will tell authorities that you have been vaccinated or have tested negative for Covid, and are eligible for travel.

Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority

• It was set up under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), as a statutory body under the Companies Act, 2013.
• It aims to administer the Investor Education and Protection Fund to promote Investor’s Education, Awareness and Protection.
• It takes various initiatives to fulfil its objectives through Investor Awareness Programmes and various other mediums like Print, Electronic, Social Media, and Community Radio etc.                                
• Secretary of the MCA is the Chairperson of the Authority and Joint Secretary of the MCA is the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.

Investor Education and Protection Fund

• It is a fund set up to help promote investor awareness and protection of investor interests.
• It is a fund where unclaimed dividend, refunded application money, matured company deposits and debentures, as well as the interest on them, is used, provided it is not claimed within seven years.

National Monsoon Mission

• Under the National Monsoon Mission (NMM), a state-of-the-art weather and climate prediction models are developed.
• These include models for short range to medium range (1-10 days), extended range (10 days to 30 days) and seasonal (up to one season).

• National Monsoon Mission is a state-of-the-art dynamical prediction system for monsoon rainfall on different time scales.
• It was launched by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in 2012.
• It is executed and coordinated by Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
• It aims to improve the monsoon prediction over India on all time scales and hence it is implemented for the whole country which includes all the States and UTs.
• Climate Forecast System (CFS) of National Centres for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), US has been identified as the basic modelling system for the above purpose.

Models

• MoES has considered to use the following numerical models :
  1. American model Climate Forecast System (CFS) developed by NCEP, NOAA National Weather Service, USA.
  2. Unified Model (UM), developed by the United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO), UK.
• CFS model is a coupled ocean-atmosphere modelling system.
• It combines data from ocean, atmosphere and land for providing long range forecasting (seasonal prediction of Indian Monsoon).
• Model developments on CFS will be implemented by IITM, with atmospheric initial conditions from NCMRWF and Ocean initial conditions from INCOIS.
• UM model will be utilized for short to medium range prediction.

Lalandar Shatoot Dam

• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by India and Afghanistan for the construction of Lalandar Shatoot Dam in Afghanistan.
• The project is a part of the New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan.
• The Lalander dam is proposed to be constructed on the Kabul river basin, to meet the safe drinking water needs of Kabul City, provide irrigation water to nearby areas, etc.
• This is the second major dam being built by India in Afghanistan, after the India- Afghanistan Friendship Dam [Salma Dam] in 2016.

Einsteinium

• Berkeley Lab’s scientists have reported some of the properties of element 99 in periodic table called “Einsteinium”, named after Albert Einstein.
• It was discovered in 1952 in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb (the detonation of a thermonuclear device called “Ivy Mike” in the Pacific Ocean).
• [When Ivy Mike was detonated in 1952, as part of a test at island Elugelab on the Eniwetok Atoll in the South Pacific, it was 500 times more destructive than the explosion that occurred at Nagasaki.]
• It is difficult to create and is highly radioactive.
• Einsteinium-254 is the more stable isotope of the artificial element, has a half-life of 276 days.
• The most common isotope of the element, Einsteinium 253 has a half-life of 20 days.
• Because of its high radioactivity and short half-life of all einsteinium isotopes, even if the element was present on Earth during its formation, it has most certainly decayed.
• This is the reason that it cannot be found in nature and needs to be manufactured using very precise and intense processes.

Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

• Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) has been approved for the period of next four years starting from 2021-22.
• [Seed Funding is a very early investment to a business to help it grow.]
• It will be implemented with effect from 1^st April 2021.
• It will provide seed funding to eligible startups through eligible incubators across India.
• It will provide financial assistance to start ups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.

Production-Linked Incentive Scheme

• The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme was introduced in 10 more key sectors.
• Apart from inviting foreign companies to set shop in India, it encourages local companies to set up or expand existing manufacturing units.
• The scheme aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units.
• It would boost domestic manufacturing and cut down on import bills.
• This would enhance India’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Enhancing Exports – Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• To know more about Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, click here. 

Source: PIB, The Indian Express, The Hindu