28th JAN, 2023

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INDIA ISSUES NOTICE TO PAKISTAN SEEKING MODIFICATION TO INDUS WATERS
TREATY (IWT)

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India issued the notice in view of Pakistan’s non compliance in
"Questions" "Differences" "Disputes"

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resolving disputes over Kishenganga (on Kishenganga River,
tributary of Jhelum) and Ratle hydropower projects (on Chenab They are They are They are referred to the
handled by the resolved by a court of arbitration, a
River), both in Jammu and Kashmir. two Indus neutral expert seven-member arbitral
India is allowed to construct hydroelectric power facilities on Waters appointed by tribunal whose chair is
tributaries of Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions Commissioners the World Bank appointed by the World
bank
under IWT, 1960.

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Dispute redressal mechanism provided under Article IX of IWT is a
graded mechanism. It’s a 3-level mechanism. (See infographic) IWT, water sharing treaty,
signed in 1960 by India and
World Bank’s (WB) role is largely procedural and limited to Pakistan with WB as a
designating neutral experts (NE) or chair of court of arbitration third-party guarantor.
(CoA).

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It delimits the rights and
India has invoked Article XII (3) of treaty i.e., a provision to amend obligations of both
Treaty. countries concerning the

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Treaty can be amended or terminated only with duly ratified treaty use of waters on Indus River
System.
between two countries.
It allocates Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to
Development of dispute
Pakistan and Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India.
2015: Pakistan sought appointment of NE to examine technical

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Maximum area of Indus Basin is in Pakistan followed by India,
objections to Kishanganga and Ratle HEPs.
China and Afghanistan.
2016: Pakistan approached WB for CoA constitution.

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Whereas, India asked for appointment of NE and argued that Pakistan’s request for CoA violated graded mechanism of dispute
resolution in Treaty.
2022: WB resume process of appointing NE and Chairman for CoA.

IEEFA PROJECTS EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF BATTERY STORAGE ASSETS IN INDIA

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Study by Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), US-based think tank, has projected exponential growth in India’s
Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
BESS are rechargeable batteries that can store energy from different sources and discharge it when needed.
It consists of one or more batteries and can be used to balance the electric grid, provide backup power, and improve grid stability.
Lithium-ion batteries, which are used in mobile phones and electric cars, are currently dominant storage technology for large scale
plants to help electricity grids ensure a reliable supply of renewable energy.
Significance of BESS INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE BESS
Ensures peak-time power supply. National Mission on Transformative
Round-the-clock power to overcome intermittent nature of renewable energy. Mobility and Battery Storage
promote clean, connected, shared,
Less requirement of expensive transmission and distribution network upgrades.
sustainable and holistic mobility
Faster responses for balancing grid (voltage and frequency regulation) than coal-fired initiatives.
power plants. Production Linked Incentive
Issues with BESS scheme for domestic battery storage
Absence of Time-of-Day (ToD) pricing structure in India hampering investment. Under production.
ToD, cost of electricity depends on time of day (expensive power during peak demand India’s draft national electricity plan
and less expensive during off-peak). projects 51.5 GW of BESS installations
Low mineral reserve of Lithium cobalt. by 2031-2032.

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INDIA’S FIRST SOLAR MISSION LIKELY TO BE LAUNCHED BY MID- 2023: ISRO

CHAIRMAN
Indian Institute of Astrophysics,
Bengaluru handed over the primary
payload i.e., Visible Emission Line
Coronograph (VELC) of Aditya L1 to
ISRO for integration with other

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payloads. (refer image)
Aditya-L1 is first Indian space mission
to observe Sun and solar corona.
It’ll be inserted in a halo orbit
around Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of

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Sun-Earth system, which is about
1.5 million km from Earth.

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It’ll be propelled by Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL. About Lagrange point (L1)
Significance of Aditya L1 At Lagrange points, gravitational pull
Provide information to understand of two large masses (like Sun and
Earth) precisely equals centripetal
the problem of coronal heating,

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force required for a small object to move
coronal mass ejection, etc. with them.
Observe in-situ particle and plasma L1 has advantage of continuously
environment providing data for viewing Sun without any occultation/
study of particle dynamics from eclipses.
Sun. There are five Lagrange points, three

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are unstable (L1, L2, L3- lie along the
Aid in studies on drivers of space line connecting two large masses) and
weather, and measure magnetic field

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two are stable (L4, L5). (See image)
of corona.
Other solar missions: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, European Space Agency’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, China’s Kuafu-1
solar probe etc.

MINISTRY OF TEXTILES CLEARED 15 R&D PROJECTS UNDER NATIONAL TECHNICAL

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TEXTILE MISSIONS (NTTM)

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These 15 research &development projects include key
strategic areas such as Speciality fibre, Protective
textiles, High-Performance Textiles, Geotextiles, Medical
Textiles, Sustainable Textiles, and Textiles for Building

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Materials.
NTTM is being implemented over a period of four years
(FY 2020-21 to 2023-24). It has four components namely
Research, Innovation and Development for
development of protective fibre, application-based
research in different Technical Textiles (TT) such as
geotextiles, etc.
Promotion and Market Development aim at taking
domestic market size to $40-50 billion by 2024.
Export Promotion ensures 10% average growth in
exports upto 2024.
Education, Training, Skill Development for
Technical education related to TT at higher levels.
TT are textiles materials and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than
aesthetic characteristics.
They are used individually or as a component/part of another product to enhance its functional properties.
TT is a knowledge-based research-oriented industry.
TT are broadly classified into 12 different categories. (refer image)

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CENTRE PREPARES RS. 41,000 CRORE INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TRANSHIPMENT

PORT (ICTT) IN GREAT NICOBAR ISLAND (GNI)
As part of holistic development of GNI, Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW)
has invited Expression of Interest for building ICTT at Galathea Bay.
In 2021, entire Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was denotified to make way for ICTT. It is
India's nesting site for giant leatherback turtles.
Kolkata-based Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port is nodal agency for implementation.

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Transhipment port is a hub that handles voluminous cargo between multiple vessels. Cargo
at these ports is transported away to another port, rather than being shipped inland via rail,
road or waterway.
Salient features of ICTT

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Strategic location in terms of proximity (40 nautical miles from Malacca Strait) to
International Trade Route (Singapore, Colombo).

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Availability of natural water depth of more than 20 meters.
Potential to capture transhipment cargo from all ports in proximity including domestic
ones.
Significance of ICTT

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Reduce logistics inefficiencies and push to allied businesses such as ship supplies and
repair, warehousing etc. Additionally, MoPSW has inaugurated National
Logistics Portal-Marine, Single Window Logistics
Save US $200-220 million a year on transhipment cargo. Portal, to improve efficiency and transparency
by reducing logistics costs.
Create an opportunity to become a large hub for Asia-Africa, Asia-US/Europe container It was envisaged by MoPSW and Ministry of

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traffic trade. Commerce & Industry.
NLP covers all modes of transport in
GNI is southernmost of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indira Point on southern tip of this waterways, roadways, and airways along with

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Island is India’s southernmost point. an E-marketplace.

COAL INDIA LTD (CIL) TO LAUNCH MANUFACTURED SAND (M-SAND) PROJECTS

CIL facilitates processing of waste overburden at its open cast mines under overburden (OB) rocks-to- M-Sand initiative.
During opencast mining, overlying soil and rocks are removed as waste to extract coal and OB is layered in dumps.

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OB rocks are used in levelling up land for the construction of roads and railway tracks.

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M sand is produced by crushing rocks, and quarry stones to a stipulated size of 150 microns. It is different from River Sand. (refer
image)
Sand Mining Framework (2018) prepared by Ministry of Mine envisages M-Sand from crushed rock fines (crusher dust), sand
from OB of coal mines.
Benefits of M- Sand

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More cost-effective than using natural sand.
Reduce the need for mining natural sand, which can have negative environmental impacts.
Reduce the amount of water required for construction projects, as it does not require washing before use.
Help maintaining water table.
Sand is classified as a ‘minor mineral’ under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act, 1957, and administrative
control vests with State Governments.

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ALSO IN NEWS
It is reported that India proposes to develop 130 model villages along Line of Actual Control.
In the backdrop of Chinese setting up model villages along India and Bhutan borders, VVP is
developed.
VVP has been announced in Union Budget 2022.
Vibrant Village It envisages coverage of border villages on Northern border having sparse population,
Programme (VVP)

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limited connectivity and infrastructure, which often get left out from development gains.

Exercise
Veer It is bilateral Air exercise between Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japan Air Self Defence Force
Guardian (JASDF).
2023

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Green comet is approaching close to Earth after 50,000 years.

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Comets are frozen remnants of solar system's origin made of ice, rock, and dust.
Termed as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), Green Comet could be visible with telescopes and binoculars.
The green colour of the comet is thought to arise from presence of diatomic carbon – pairs of
carbon atoms that are bound together – in head of comet.
Molecule emits green light when excited by ultraviolet rays in solar radiation.

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Green comet It could be at a distance of 2.5 light minutes from Earth, meaning a “mere” 27 million miles.
Comet’s orbit indicates that it comes from edge of Oort cloud- theoretical spherical cloud of
predominantly icy planetesimals.

MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), and

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Meta have announced the list of 120 startups and innovators for XR Startup Program.
XR Startup Program includes an Accelerator and a Grand Challenge.

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Accelerator Program is supporting 40 early-stage start-ups Working in Extended Reality.
Grand Challenge will encourage early-stage innovators in sectors like Education, Learning and
Skills, Healthcare, Gaming and Entertainment, etc.
XR (Extended Reality)
Startup Program XR refers to all real-and-virtual combined environments generated by computer technology

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and wearables.
It includes representative forms such as augmented reality, mixed reality, virtual reality etc.

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DRDO tested the HSTDV, powered by a scramjet engine.
HSTDV will serve as a critical building block for hypersonic weapons (Speed > 5 mach or 5 times
speed of sound).
Scramjet engine (supersonic-combustion ramjet) is one which can operate at hypersonic

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Hypersonic Technology speeds.
Demonstrator Vehicle Like ramjet engine, scramjet uses atmospheric air for oxidiser and compresses incoming air
(HTDV) before it enters combustion chamber.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated National Summit on Quality of Biologicals.
Biologicals are those classes of medicines which are produced through biotechnology in a living
system such as microorganism, plant cell, or animal cells.
These include vaccines, growth factors, immune modulators, monoclonal antibodies, as well as
products derived from human blood and plasma.
Biologicals are generally proteins purified from living culture systems or from blood, whereas
Biologicals other medicines are considered as ‘small molecules’ and are either made synthetically or
purified from plants.
Kashmir’s Pashmina (Cashmere) Shawl was used as canvas for contemporary art at a French
exhibition.
French connection goes back to gifting of Kashmiri Kani shawl by French Emperor Napoleon
Bonaparte to his wife Josephine in the 18th century
Pashmina Shawl is known for their signature intricate buta or paisley patterns.
Pashmina Shawls is made from Pashm - fleece of Changthangi Goat, native to Jammu & Kashmir
Kashmir’s Pashmina and Ladakh.
Pashmina Shawls has been assigned Geographical indication (GI) tag.

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