Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 29 April 2022

::NATIONAL::

Ministry of Agriculture is organizing a campaign on ‘Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari’ to create awareness on various schemes and their benefits for the farming community across the country.

About:

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare will organize demonstration on farm machinery through their FMTTIs (Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute) at different locations across the country.
FMTTIs will also impart training to the women farmers simultaneously. Along with the physical field visits, online webinar will also be organised to provide interface between innovators and industries.
The Ministry will organise field visits to Sunflower cultivation sites in Ambala Kurukshetra (Haryana) Fatehgarh Saheb (Punjab) and mustard farms in Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur (JK).
Kisan Goshti, programmes will also be organised to make farmers aware about the benefits of cultivation of cash crops.
During the week-long campaign, farmers are being made aware about key schemes and their perspectives, how to avail benefits of the welfare schemes.

A massive fire broke out at the Bhalswa landfill site in north Delhi, one of the major dumpsites of Delhi along with Ghazipur and Okhla.

About:

The frequency of landfill fires has increased with the rise in temperature.
As per the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) data India had 3,159 such dumpsites, or landfills, containing 800 million tonnes of rubbish in 2020.
These dumpsites release noxious gases such as methane,hydrogen sulphide and carbonmonoxide, leading to frequent fire incidents which contribute 11% of Particulate Matter.

Technologies for Urban Dumpsites

Trommel machines: mechanical sieving machines which separate the waste into three components as:

1.   Plastic and combustible wastes for use as fuel,
2.   Construction and demolition material, and
3.   Enriched soil and inert material.

Bioremediation, i.e., use of microorganisms, plants, or microbial or plant enzymes to detoxify contaminants in the soil and other environments.
Bioreactor Landfills to accelerate decomposition by adding liquids to help bacteria breakdown the waste.

The report titled “Global Land Outlook 2 land Restoration for recovery and resilience” released by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Key observations

Humans have transformed more than 70 % of the earth’s land area from its natural state causing environmental degradation.
Modern agriculture is major factor for degradation land.
Approx. 69 gigatonnes of carbon emission from 2015 to 2050 due to land use change and soil degradation and a slowing in growth of agricultural yields.
Carbon stocks could also rise by a net 17 gigatonnes between 2015 and 2050 due to gains in soil carbon and reduced emissions.
Up to 40 per cent of the planet’s land is degraded, directly affecting half of humanity and affect half of global GDP.

Recommended Measures

Conservation agriculture (low- or no-till farming), agroforestry and silvopasture, improved grazing management and grassland rehabilitation, forest plantations.

German-funded consortium of carmakers and battery producers announced Europe’s first BatteryPassport Project.

About:

Battery Passport is a digital representation of a battery that conveys information about all
applicable ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance norms) and lifecycle requirementsbased on a comprehensive definition of a sustainable battery.
Batteries could carry a QR code linking to an online database where EV owners, businesses or regulators could access information on the battery’s composition.
A European Commission proposal due to be discussed later this year states that rechargeable electric vehicles, light transport and industrial batteries sold in Europe must disclose their carbon footprint from 2024 and comply with a CO2 emissions limit from 2027.
They must also disclose the content of recycled raw materials in those batteries from 2027, followed by requirements to use a minimum share of recycled cobalt, lithium, nickel and lead from 2030.

Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India announced the Digital India RISC-V Microprocessor (DIR-V) Program.

Key highlights:

The government has set a timeline to commercially roll out the first indigenous chipsets by 2023-24.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) have developed two microprocessors named Shakti (32 bit) and Vega (64 bit) using open source architecture.
The DIR-V programme will consolidate and leverage the ongoing efforts in the country with an integrated multi-institutional and multi-location team, finalize the formal architecture and target performance of chipsets, support original equipment makers and design win in India and abroad.
The DIR-V initiative is part of the government’s ₹76,000 crore effort to build a semiconductor ecosystem in the country.

Significance:

India will use semiconductors worth $70-80 billion to manufacture electronics products worth $300 billion by 2026, according to the government’s vision document.
The Centre is aiming to make the country self reliant in the semiconductor segment, shortages of which has led to an increase in input costs for products and services, in turn leading to increasing inflation.

The Union Cabinet approved the amalgamation of Consultancy Development Centre (CDC) along with its manpower, moveable assets and liabilities with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

About:

CSIR and CDC are two separate autonomous bodies under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology.
CSIR was set up in 1942 under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 as a National R&D organization for scientific industrial research for India’s economic growth and human welfare.
CDC was set up in 1986 as a society with the support of DSIR for developing, strengthening and promoting consultancy skills and capabilities in the country.
CDC was approved as an Autonomous Institution of DSIR by Union Cabinet in 2004.
CDC is located in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.