Current Affairs – 3rd August 2021

1.     INDIAN ROCK PYTHON

• News: The Backyard Sports Club in Sector 59 here had an unexpected visitor on Sunday – a six-foot-long Indian Rock Python. The reptile, entangled in a cricket net, was rescued by Wildlife SOS.
• About Indian Rock Python or Python Molurus:
  • Python molurus is a large, nonvenomous python species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
  • It is known by the common names Indian python, black-tailed python, Indian rock python, and Asian rock python.
  • It is generally lighter colored than the Burmese python and reaches usually 3 m (9.8 ft).
  • The rock python’s color pattern is whitish or yellowish with the blotched patterns varying from tan to dark brown shades.
  • This varies with terrain and habitat. Specimens from the hill forests of Western Ghats and Assam are darker, while those from the Deccan Plateau and Eastern Ghats are usually lighter.
  • All pythons are non-venomous.

2.     KRISHNA RIVER DISPUTE

• News: Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana on Monday offered to send a water dispute case filed by Andhra Pradesh against Telangana for mediation, while saying, in the background of the Assam-Manipur border flare-up, that the people of the two States were “brothers”, who should not even “dream” of doing harm to each other.
• About Krishna River:
  • The Krishna River is the fourth-biggest river in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Godavari and Brahmaputra.
  • The river is almost 1,288 kilometres (800 mi) long. The river is also called Krishnaveni.
  • It is one of the major sources of irrigation for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
  • The Krishna river originates in the Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar at an elevation of about 1,300 metres (4,300 ft), in the state of Maharashtra in central India.
  • It is one of the longest rivers in India. The Krishna river is around 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) in length (282 kilometres (175 mi) in Maharashtra).
  • It is one of the most suitable arable basins in the world as 75.6% area of the Krishna basin is under cultivation because of the availability of water.
  • The river’s source is at Mahabaleshwar near Jor village in the extreme north of Wai Taluka, Satara District, Maharashtra in the west, and it empties into the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi (near Koduru) in Andhra Pradesh on the east coast.
  • The Left Bank Tributaries of the river: Bhima, Dindi, Peddavagu, Musi, Paleru, Munneru
  • The Right Bank Tributaries of the river:Koyna, Panchganga, Dudhaganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra
• About Interstate River Water Disputes Act:
  • The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted under Article 262 of Constitution of India on the eve of reorganization of states on linguistic basis to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley.
  • Article 262 of the Indian Constitution provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-state rivers that arise among the state/regional governments.
  • This Act further has undergone amendments subsequently and its most recent amendment took place in the year 2002.
  • River waters use / harnessing is included in states jurisdiction (entry 17 of state list, Schedule 7 of Indian Constitution). However, union government can make laws on regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys when expedient in the public interest (entry 56 of union list, Schedule 7 of Indian Constitution). When public interest is served, President may also establish an interstate council as per Article 263 to inquire and recommend on the dispute that has arisen between the states of India.
  • IRWD Act (section 2c2) validates the previous agreements (if any) among the basin states to harness water of an interstate river/ river valley.
  • This act is confined to states of India and not applicable to union territories.
  • Only concerned state governments are entitled to participate in the tribunal adjudication and non government entities are not permitted.
  • Any river water sharing treaty made with other countries, has to be ratified by the Parliament per Article 253 after deciding the share of the Indian riparian states per Article 262 to make the treaty constitutionally valid or enforceable by the judiciary as India follows dualist theory for the implementation of international treaties/laws. Indian government has signed Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, Ganga water sharing treaty with Bangladesh, etc. without the ratification by the Parliament and the consent of concerned riparian states per Article 252.

3.     COAL MINES IN INDIA

• News: The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) has set the stage for mining 5 million tonnes of coal per annum from the Suliyari block in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh. APMDC officials did ‘bhoomi puja’ on Monday.

4.     E – RUPI

• News: e-RUPI is a QR code or SMS string-based e-voucher, which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries
• About E – RUPI:
  • e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless person- and purpose-specific digital payment solution
  • The e-RUPI voucher is going to play a huge role in making DBT more effective in digital transactions in the country and will give a new dimension to digital governance.
  • This will help everyone in targeted, transparent and leakage-free delivery.
  • E-RUPI is a symbol of how India is progressing by connecting people’s lives with technology.
  • The voucher system will enable all beneficiaries, including feature phone users, to benefit through this mechanism and it will also be an excellent tool for the corporates, through which they can extend employee and community welfare schemes
  • It is a QR code or SMS string-based e-voucher, which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries.
  • The users of this seamless one-time payment mechanism will be able to redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the service provider.
  • It has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India in collaboration with the department of financial services, health ministry and the National Health Authority.
  • These vouchers are like e-gift cards, which are prepaid in nature. The code of the cards can be shared either via SMS or the OR code can be shared. These e-vouchers will be person and purpose-specific. Even if one does not have a bank account or a digital payment app or a smartphone can benefit from these vouchers.
  • These vouchers will be used mostly for health-related payments. Corporates can issue these vouchers for their employees.

5.     FOOD FORTIFICATION

• News: In a push back against the Centre’s plan to mandatorily fortify rice and edible oils with vitamins and minerals, a group of scientists and activists has written to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), warning of the adverse impacts on health and livelihoods.
• About Food Fortification:
  • Food fortification is the process whereby nutrients are added to food to maintain or improve the quality of the diet of a group, community, or population. Food fortification is required due to insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals, due to the consumption of predominantly processed foods.
  • Commercial food fortification adds trace amounts of micronutrients to foods during processing, which helps consumers achieve the required levels of micronutrients in their diet. Fortification of table salt with iodine is an example of a sustainable and relatively cost-effective public health strategy.
  • Other examples of fortification include B-group vitamins, Fe, and Zn in wheat flour and cooking oil fortification with vitamin A.
  • However, fortification may be more effective for urban consumers, who frequently buy commercially processed and fortified foods, but for rural consumers, it is difficult to access the value of fortified foods.
• About Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition:
  • The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is an independent non-profit foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. GAIN was developed at the UN 2002 Special Session of the General Assembly on Children.
  • GAIN is an organization driven by the vision of a world without malnutrition. To achieve its goal, GAIN mobilises public-private partnerships and provides financial and technical support to deliver nutritious foods to those people most at risk of malnutrition. It is an example of multistakeholder governance.
  • GAIN supports market-based nutrition solutions in nutrition interventions areas including: large scale food fortification; maternal, infant and young child nutrition; and agriculture and nutrition:
    • Large Scale Food Fortification: Fortification of staple foods and condiments is a proven, cost-effective and simple nutrition intervention to tackle micronutrient malnutrition, or the lack of the essential micronutrients people need to grow and live healthy lives. GAIN works with governments to fortify everyday staple foods and condiments such as flour, salt and oil with vitamins and minerals, like iron, vitamin A, iodine and folic acid, that help prevent disease and encourage good health.
    • Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition: GAIN works to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition and stunting, by focusing on the first 1,000 days, from conception to 24 months, and supporting improved complementary feeding practices – within the context of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and continued breastfeeding to two years of age and beyond. The program in 2014-15 reached over 580,000 women and children, with a cumulative reach since its inception of over 19 million.
    • Agriculture and Nutrition: GAIN uses the agriculture value chain to identify opportunities for nutrition intervention at each stage – from food production to storage, processing to distribution, retail, marketing and food preparation. The marketplace is seen as a pivotal entry point for improving dietary diversity.
    • Business Partnerships and Alliances: GAIN tries to build stakeholder partnerships with governments, civil society and the private sector. The work with businesses take place at the global level and at the local level. In developing countries, GAIN works with the small and medium-sized enterprises that play a crucial role in the local food systems.
    • Monitoring Learning and Research: Through this unit, the organization seeks to strengthen the impact of its programs through better design and implementation, based on the review, generation, translation, and use of evidence for decision making. The unit also identifies and addresses priority evidence gaps related to programming areas, with the ultimate goal of informing GAIN’s strategy, supporting advocacy and contributing to the global evidence base.