Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 31 December 2022

::NATIONAL::

No action plan by MoEF&CC to handle plastic waste

• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has mechanisms to assess the generation of plastic waste, but none for its collection and safe disposal, found a compliance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India December 21, 2022.

About:

• Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016, provides statutory framework for plastic waste management in an environmentally sound mannerthroughout the country.

Key findings

• PWM Rules, 2016, could not be implemented effectively due to a lack of an action plan by the MoEF&CC.
• No uniform framework to implement Extended Producer’s Responsibility (EPR).
• Delay in taking initiatives for elimination of Single Use Plastic.
• Absence of guidelines and standards for monitoring of plastic pollution.
• No uniform method for assessment of plastic waste generation within a state.

Measures can be taken: 

• A system for effective data collection in relation to generation, collection anddisposal of plastic waste.
• Carry out a comprehensive assessment of quantity of plastic waste beinggenerated and collect data according to parameters like population size,geographical size of area etc.
• Local bodies may expedite process of notifying their bye-laws byincorporating PWM Rules.

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Pralay Missile 

• In a major boost to the striking capabilities of the Indian armed forces against China, the defense ministry has cleared a proposal to purchase 120 Pralay missiles for the Indian Air Force and Army.
• These missiles will be a part of India’s future Rocket force.

About the missile: 

• Pralay is a surface-to-surface missile (SSM) with a range of 150-500 kilometers. It can carry a warhead of anywhere between 350-700 kilograms.
• The missile has a quasi-ballistic trajectory, a trajectory where the missile flies lower than a ballistic trajectory and maintains high speed throughout the flight. The missile is also capable of maneuvering during the flight. It increases the chances of the missile successfully penetrating enemy defences.
• Pralay will primarily be used to hit targets like ammunition dumps, petrol, oil and lubricants depots (POL), command and control nodes, air bases, and hardened targets. 
• Pralay’s high terminal velocity will enable it to take out hardened targets.
• The missile comes in a canisterised configuration.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Haemophilia B

• U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said its experimental gene therapy for the treatment of haemophilia B, a rare inherited blood disorder, met its main goal in a late-stage study.

About:

• Data from the study showed that a single dose of the therapy was superior to the current standard of care in helping reduce the bleeding rate in patients with moderately severe to severe forms of haemophilia B.
• The disorder hampers the body’s ability to make a blood-clotting protein called factor IX.
• Pfizer’s therapy, fidanacogeneelaparvovec, is designed to help patients produce factor IX themselves after a one-time treatment, as opposed to current treatments, which focus on regular infusions of the protein.
• The drugmaker licensed its hemophilia B gene therapy from Roche’s Spark Therapeutics unit in 2014 for a $20-million upfront payment.

Hemophilia B:

• Hemophilia B, once known as Christmas disease, is an inherited bleeding disorder. 
• It happens when a gene that helps blood clot mutates or changes.
• People with hemophilia B don’t have the usual amount of a blood protein that helps blood clot. This protein is a clotting factor.
• Hemophilia B is a rare inherited bleeding disorder. 

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India Australia Economic and Cooperation Trade Agreement 

• The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement has come into effect recently. 
• ECTA provides an institutional mechanism toencourage and improve trade between two countries and covers almost all tariff linesdealt by India and Australia.
• After India-UAE Comprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement, ECTA will be the second trade agreement for India that willbe operationalised this year.

ETCA is expected to:

• Raise bilateral trade to USD 45-50 billion innext five years.
• Create an additional employment of atleast 10 lakhs jobs in India.
• Create opportunities for investment,promotion of start-ups.

Key features of ECTA:

• India will benefit from preferential marketaccess provided by Australia on 100% of its tariff lines, including all labour-intensivesectors of export interest to India, such asGems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather,footwear etc.
• Australia has offered wide rangingcommitments in several servicessub-sectors like IT, ITES, Health, Education.
• A separate Annex on Pharmaceuticalproducts which will enable fast-trackapproval for patented, generic and biosimilar medicines.

::Economy::

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Enhancing Coking Coal Production

• Recently Ministry of Coal has identified more Blocks to Enhance Coking Coal Production.

About:

• Coal is a fossil fuel and is the altered remains of prehistoric vegetation that originally accumulated in swamps and peat bogs.
• The quality of each coal deposit is determined by: varying types of vegetation from which the coal originated; depths of burial; temperatures and pressures at those depths; and length of time the coal has been forming in the deposit.
• Coking coal is a high-quality coal that is low in impurities and has a high carbon content, which makes it ideal for use in the metallurgical process.
• Coking coal is used to produce coke, which is a porous, solid carbon material that is used as a fuel and a reducing agent in the production of iron and steel.
• Largest coal-producing countries in the world: China (3.7 billion tonnes), India (783 million tonnes), United States (640 million tonnes), Indonesia (616 million tonnes).

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Mytellastrigata 

• Fishermen of Pulicat and Ennore are worried over the spread of an invasive species of mussel that is a threat to the prawns of both waterbodies. 

About:

• Known as kakkaaazhi among the fishermen, the marine biologists identified these species as Mytellastrigata or Charru mussels which are Native to South America.
• These mussels have invaded tidal wetlands in several parts of the world, including Vembanad in Kerala. This is spreading due to the discharge of ballast waters from ships visiting the ports of Kattupalli.
• After Cyclone Vardah in December 2016, the mussels began to intensify and spread far north towards the Pulicat waters.
• Human interference in the wetlands, pollution and nature’s actions have triggered the rapid spread of the species.
• Threats: These mussels spread like a carpet over the river bottoms and thus preventing prawns from grazing or burying themselves in the sediment.
• Its spread is wiping out the locally prevalent yellow clams and green mussels.

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