Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 January 2023

::NATIONAL::

SPRINT Initiative

• Indian Navy signs agreement for autonomous armed boat swarms under SPRINT Initiative.

About SPRINT Scheme:

• ‘SPRINT’ Scheme is an initiative to promote development of niche defence technologies by domestic companies.
• The task of development of this technology is one of the 75 challenges that have been introduced by the Indian Navy under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav last year.
• To achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, Naval Innovation and IndigenisationOrganisation (NIIO), in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), aims to induct at least 75 new indigenous technologies/products into the Indian Navy till august 2023.
• This collaborative project is named SPRINT {Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC)}.
• It was launched by Prime Minister in July, 2022.
• It will transform Navy from a ‘Buyer’s Navy’ to a ‘Builder’s Navy.

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Joshimath crisis

• The Uttarakhand government banned construction work in and around Joshimath over land subsidence that has resulted in cracks in 561 homes there leading to protests by panicked locals.

About:

• Joshimath, at an altitude of 1890 metres is a town in the Garwhalhimalayas, and an important waystation on both the pilgrim and trekking circuits. 
• It is bounded by the Karmanasa and Dhaknala streams on the west and the east.
• The Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers on the south and the north.
• The first instance of subsidence in Joshmiath was reported in 1976 Mishra Commission report.

Natural factors for subsidence:

• Joshimath almost sits on the VaikritaThurst (VT), a tectonic fault line and is also very close to main geological fault lines, Main Central Thrust (MCT), and Pandukeshwar Thrust (PT).
• It falls in Zone V of the Seismic Zonation Map.
• The area around it is covered with a thick layer of overburden material making it vulnerable to sinking.
• High snowfall and highly weathered gneissic rocks makes the area prone to landslides.
• The impact of extreme rainfall events impacting the stability of the slope.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

International Kite Festival 2023

• The International Kite Festival 2023 started in Ahmedabad recently. 
• The festival is being organized by Gujarat Tourism on the G20 theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future. Apart from Ahmedabad, the International Kite festival will also be organized in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Dwarka, Somnath, Dhordo, and Kevadia.

About:

• Ahmedabad first hosted the International Kite Festival on the occasion of Uttarayan in 1989.
• Apart from Ahmedabad, the International Kite festival will also be organized in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Dwarka, Somnath, Dhordo, and Kevadia.
• After a gap of 2 years, skies over the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad will be adorned with colorful unique Kites.
• More than 800 kite flyers from across India and the world will participate and display their unique creations in this Festival.
• This year, kite enthusiasts from different countries will fly Kites at the same time attempting to create a Guinness World Record for the maximum number of kite flyers.
• A special Parade by international and national kite flyers, a theme pavilion displaying the history of kites, and workshops on making and flying kites are among the major attractions of the festival this year.

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G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion

• The first G20 meeting for global partnership for financial inclusion, starting in Kolkata.

About:

• It will focus on topics like digital financial inclusion, reducing remittance costs, and finance for the SME sector.
• The symposiums will deliberate on unlocking the digital financial inclusion infrastructure and the policy perspective, as India has revolutionised the digital payments mechanism. 
• Many G20 countries are interested in adopting India’s digital financial inclusion infrastructure.
• The G20 meet will emphasise the discussion on reducing the high costs of remittances for workers outside India. 12 international speakers will attend the G20 meeting. 
• Institutions like NABARD will highlight the rural area coverage of innovative financial products and services.

::Economy::

New Umbrella Entity (NUE) network

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is said to have put on hold licensing of the New Umbrella Entity (NUE) network, a fintech institution planned as a rival to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). 
• Six groupings, which included Facebook, Google, Amazon, Flipkart and others, had applied for NUE licences.

About:

• As envisaged by the RBI, an NUE will be a non-profit entity that will set-up, manage and operate new payment systems, especially in the retail space such as ATMs, white-label PoS; Aadhaar-based payments and remittance services. 
• In addition to this, they will develop new payment methods, standards and technologies as well as operate clearing and settlement systems.
• The entity formed shall be a company incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 2013. Currently, the umbrella entity for providing retail payments systems is NPCI, which is a non-profit entity, owned by banks.
• A promoter will hold at least 25% and up to 40% of the operator. Only those entities that are owned and controlled by Indian citizens with at least three years of experience in the payments segment can become promoters of NUEs.
• Foreign companies can own a maximum of 25%, so are teaming up with local players.
• According to the RBI guidelines, the entity will have minimum paid-up capital of Rs 500 crore, with no single promoter group holding over 40 per cent investment in the capital.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

African Swine Fever

• The district administration of Damoh in Madhya Pradesh has killed 700 pigs in the last two days amid fear of African Swine Fever in the area. 

About:

• African swine fever (ASF) is a highly infectious and fatal haemorrhagic disease of pigs that is caused by a complex DNA virus of the genus Asfivirus and Asfarviridae African suids family. 
• The disease is among the most devastating pig diseases worldwide including Africa. Although the disease was first reported in the 19th century, it has continued to spread in Africa and other parts of the world.
• It is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa but has spread to many other regions of the world, including Asia and Europe.
• It is not known to affect human beings. 
• There is no cure or precaution available for the infection and no approved vaccine So the only way to stop it spreading is by culling the animals.
• African Swine Fever can be spread through:

1.    Direct contact with infected pigs, faeces or body fluid
2.    Indirect contact via fomites such as equipment, vehicles or people who work with pigs between pig farms with ineffective biosecurity.
3.    Pigs eating infected pig meat or meat products.
4.    Biological vectors - ticks of the species Ornithodoros. 

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