21st JUL, 2022

S
INDIA INKS PACT WITH NAMIBIA FOR CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION

A
India and Namibia have signed a MoU to reintroduce Cheetahs at the Kuno National Park(KNP) in Madhya Pradesh by August
15, 2022.

I
Namibia has the world’s largest population of cheetahs.
Cheetahs will arrive in India for a one-year trial period after lifting off of stay by SC in 2020.
KNP will receive first tranche of eight cheetahs by August 15 and separately,
India is also expected to get 12 cheetahs from South Africa. Restore India’s
open forests and
KNP has an adequate prey base, devoid of human settlements, has

N
grassland
capacity to sustain 21 cheetahs etc. Once restored, it can hold about 36
ecosystems and its
cheetahs.
habitat.
It will be the only wildlife sanctuary in the world to host all four major cat
species—lion, tiger, cheetah and leopard.

O
Cheetah is the only large carnivore that was declared extinct in India in
Significance
1952, mainly due to over-hunting and habitat loss.
of relocation

I
African Cheetahs (IUCN status: Vulnerable), are being considered for Enhance
reintroduction as Asiatic Cheetah (IUCN: critically endangered) are Increase the local community
low in numbers which is known to occur only in Iran now. species genetic livelihoods through
diversity. eco-tourism
Cheetah is a keystone species of dry forests, scrub forests, and savannahs.
prospects.
It was declared extinct in India in 1952 due to over-hunting and loss of

S
habitat.

I
INDIA OPENS OPIUM MARKET TO PRIVATE PLAYERS
For the first time, central government has allowed a private company, Bajaj Healthcare, to manufacture concentrated poppy straw (CPS)
alkaloids and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from unlanced poppy capsules.

V
CPS is a mechanised system under which entire harvest is cut by machine, transferred to factories for alkaloid extraction and
eliminates diversion of legally produced opium.
Significance of private players involvement
Boost domestic production of various alkaloids such as morphine and codeine.
Bring in modern technology to extract alkaloids.
Reduce imports of opium.
Offsetting the declining area under cultivation of poppy in India.
Opium is a natural substance obtained from poppy seeds and
its derivatives.
Alkaloids obtained from opium are used to make cough syrups,
cancer medicines and pain-management medicines.
Only 12 countries including India allow its cultivation legally for
medicinal use.
It is used illicitly for smoking, drinking, or eating as pills.
Due to potential for illicit trade and risk of addiction, opium poppy cultivation is strictly regulated.
At present, cultivation and processing of poppy and opium is controlled by provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances (NDPS) Act and Rules.

DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW | CHANDIGARH | GUWAHATI 1/4

 8468022022 www.visionias.in

AS PER MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (MHA), MAOIST VIOLENCE DOWN BY 77% SINCE
2009
According to Data provided by MHA:
Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has decreased from 2258 in 2009 to 509 in
2021.
Geographical spread of violence has reduced with only 46 districts reported
LWE related violence in 2021 as compared to 96 districts in 2010.

S
Deaths (civilians and security forces) have reduced by 85% from an all-time high
of 1,005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021.
LW Extremists, popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalism in India,
started as an agrarian rebellion in Naxalbari (West Bengal), 1967 against local
landlords.

A
Later, it has grown from discontented tribals displaced by development and
mining activities.

I
Initiatives in LWE affected areas:

NITI AAYOG RELEASES

National Policy and Action Plan (2015) envisages multi-pronged strategy of
security, development, ensuring rights and entitlement of local communities, etc.
Aspirational districts programme in 35 LWE affected districts. REPORT ON DIGITAL BANKS
(DBs)
SAMADHAN strategy.

N
Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme and Special Infrastructure Scheme
(SIS) for State Police. NITI Aayog in its report, has made a case for
Road Connectivity Project for LWE affected areas. setting up DBs and mooted for a
Eklavya Model Residential Schools for LWE affected areas. ‘full-scale’ DB license.
Report offers a template and roadmap
INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANISATION (ISRO) SETS

O
for licencing and regulatory regimes.

NEW DEADLINES FOR IMPORTANT MISSIONS

It studies the prevailing gaps, the

I
niches that remain underserved, and
As per new deadlines, ISRO’s first solar mission (Aditya L1) and third lunar mission the global regulatory best practices in
(Chandrayaan-3) is set to take place in first quarter of 2023. licencing digital banks.
However, first abort demonstration for ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission is scheduled
Report highlights the challenges
for later 2022.

S
presented by the ‘partnership model’
Earlier in 2018, ISRO had already conducted a pad abort test, under which astronauts of neo-banking–which has emerged in
can escape from spacecraft in case an emergency arises at launch pad. India due to a regulatory vacuum and in

I
For abort missions, ISRO has developed test vehicles that can send the systems the absence of a digital bank license.
higher to a certain extent, simulate failure and check escape system.
About Digital Bank (DB):
Gaganyaan’s escape mission included five “quick-acting” solid fuel motors along
with a high burn rate propulsion system, and fins for stability. This system will be A DB would be a bank defined in the
separated from crew module. Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and

V
shall have its own balance sheet and
Missions Details legal existence.
It will study about Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds Such a bank is different from
and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry Digital Banking Units (DBUs)
out round-the-clock imaging of Sun. —announced by Finance Minister
Aditya 1 (meant to observe only solar corona) was renamed as (Budget 2022-23)—which are set up
Aditya-L1 (Lagrangian Point 1). to push digital payments, banking
Aditya L1 mission and fintech innovations in
Lagrange Points are positions in space where gravitational
underserved areas.
forces of a two-body system (like Sun and Earth) produce
enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. DBs principally rely on the internet
Other solar missions: European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter, and other proximate channels like
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. Near Field Communication to offer
their services and not physical
Chandrayaan-3 It is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2, which aimed to land a rover
branches.
mission on lunar South Pole.
Significance: Improve outreach of
It seeks to demonstrate indigenous capability to undertake financial inclusion, ease of transferring
human space flight missions to Low Earth Orbit. money within the country or
Gaganyaan As part of it, two unmanned missions and one manned internationally etc.
mission mission is approved by Government. Concerns: Prone to malware attacks or
Until now, only US, Russia and China have managed to send phishing, digital illiteracy, lack of
manned missions to outer space. internet connectivity etc.

DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW | CHANDIGARH | GUWAHATI 2/4

 8468022022 www.visionias.in

DELHI HIGH COURT REFUSES TO PERMIT UNMARRIED WOMAN TO TERMINATE

PREGNANCY AT 23 WEEKS
Recently, an unmarried women has moved the Supreme Court pointing out the lack of clear provision for unmarried women
desiring abortion under the Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) (Amendment) Act, 2021.
India’s law on abortion
Section 312 of Indian Penal Code, 1860, criminalises voluntarily “causing miscarriage” even when the miscarriage is
with pregnant woman’s consent, except when miscarriage is caused to save woman’s life.

S
MTP Act, 1971 liberalise access to abortion and allowed pregnancy termination by medical practitioner in two stages.
One doctor opinion required for Pregnancy Termination up to 12 weeks from conception, and two doctors’ opinion for
pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks.
MTP Act, 2021 expanded access to safe and legal abortion services by expanding time period for termination.

A
One doctor opinion for pregnancies termination up to 20 weeks, and two doctors for pregnancies between 20 and 24
weeks.

I
Under second category, Section 3B of Rules, 2003 specified seven categories of women eligible for seeking termination
(survivors of rape; minors; mentally ill women etc).
An unmarried woman, who is pregnant out of a consensual relationship, is not specified among those categories.

ALSO IN NEWS

N
RBI will soon implement CBDC in phases for wholesale and retail segments.
CBDCs are typically digital tokens (but in the form of a legal tender issued by the central bank)
whose monetary value would be identical to that of a country’s physical fiat money and would
be exchangeable one-to-one with such fiat money.

O
It is not comparable with private virtual currencies or cryptocurrency.
Central Bank Digital It would enhance storage, cost and operational efficiency of money.

I
Currency (CBDC)
In Bahamas, sand dollar (their own domestic CBDC) has been in use.
Centre has cut windfall tax on crude producers, scraps petrol exports levy.
Windfall tax is a one-off tax imposed by a government on a company.
It is levied on an unforeseen or unexpectedly large profit, especially unfairly obtained.

S
It is only levied in public interest.
Windfall tax It was announced to control rising domestic oil price and to meet domestic need for petrol.

I
NITI Aayog and the World Food Programme (WFP), India, have launched the ‘Mapping and
Exchange of Good Practices’ initiative for mainstreaming millets in Asia and Africa.
About Millets
Millets are coarse grains and a repository of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.

V
Three major millet crops currently growing in India are jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and
ragi (finger millet).
Major producers include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Millets Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has endorsed India’s call for declaring 2023 as the
“International Year of Millets”.
Extreme temperatures have hit Europe with the UK hitting its highest ever temperature above
40°C.
This has resulted in wildfires, drought, and hundreds of heat-related deaths.
The rising global temperature, which this year led to deviations above the normal by as much as
15 degrees in Antarctica, and by more than 3 degrees in the north pole, have induced changes in
old wind patterns.
Heatwaves In Europe These changes turned western Europe into what has been described as a “heat dome” — a low
pressure area that began to attract hot air from northern Africa.
An aneurysm is an abnormal swelling or bulge in the wall of a blood vessel, such as an artery.
It can occur anywhere throughout the circulatory system, but most commonly develop along
the aorta (the body’s main artery that runs the length of the trunk) and in blood vessels of the brain.
Aneurysms are potentially fatal if they rupture.
Aneurysm Causes include smoking, age, high cholesterol, obesity, hypertension or tissue disorders.

DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW | CHANDIGARH | GUWAHATI 3/4

 8468022022 www.visionias.in

Recently, Second meeting of Steering Committee of KBLP was held in New Delhi.
It is the first project under National Perspective Plan for interlinking
of rivers and has been deemed as “National Project”.
It envisages transferring water from Ken River to Betwa river, both
tributaries of Yamuna.
Project lies in Bundelkhand, a drought-prone region, which
Ken-Betwa Link Project
spreads across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
(KBLP)
Daudhan dam, to be built on the Ken river will involve a

S
submergence of about 7.6% of the total Panna Tiger Reserve area.

A British firm recently claimed that it has produced the world's first bioplastic vinyl record, which
it hopes will reduce the need for highly toxic Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC).
Bioplastics are derived from sources such as sugars and starches, rather than oil or gas, and do

A
not create any toxic waste in their production.
These are 100% degradable, equally resistant and versatile, already used in agriculture, textile
Bioplastics

I
industry, medicine, in the container, packaging market etc.

The community is demanding the status of Scheduled Tribe (ST) and is based out of Trans-Giri a
tribal area of Himachal Pradesh.
Criteria for the scheduled tribe
indications of primitive traits,

N
distinctive culture,
geographical isolation,
Hatti community shyness of contact with the community at large,
backwardness.

O
China is planning to build another
highway (G695) through Aksai Chin,

I
running along the India border and
connecting Xinjiang with Tibet.
About Aksai Chin:
It is a disputed border area between India

S
and China.
For India, it is part of Ladakh Region.

I
Aksai Chin
Presently, it is administered by China
as part of Hotan Country.
Indian discovery of road and objection to Chinese presence in the sector was one of the
factors leading to the Indo- China War in 1962.

V
After the war, China retained control of about 38,000 sq. km of territory in Aksai Chin.

Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

FSM is experiencing an outbreak of
Covid-19, after two and a half years of
successfully protecting itself from the
virus.
Political & Boundaries:
It is a sovereign island nation and an
associated state of the United States.
Divided into 4 island states: Chuuk ,
Kosrae, Pohnpei (Ponape) and Yap
Places in News
Location: Spread across the western Pacific Ocean.
Maritime neighbours: Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Guam.
Capital: Palikir
Geography:
Terrain: Vary from high mountainous islands to low, coral atolls and volcanic outcroppings
Climate: Tropical
Highest point- Dolohmwar and lowest point- Pacific Ocean

DELHI | JAIPUR | PUNE | HYDERABAD | AHMEDABAD | LUCKNOW | CHANDIGARH | GUWAHATI 4/4