07 Jan 2022: PIB Summary & Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Water Awards
2. First Advance Estimates of National Income (2021-22)
3. A star with a heartbeat
4. Mobile Honey Processing Van

1. National Water Awards

Syllabus: GS 3, Environment & Ecology, Conservation

Prelims: About the Jal Jeevan Mission, National Water Awards

Mains: Significance of water resource management

Context: The third edition of the National Water Awards (2020) was announced in order to provide impetus to better water management in the country. 

The objective of the awards:

• The National Water Awards were instituted to recognise and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by States, Districts, individuals, organizations across the country in achieving the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’. 
• The intentions behind organizing such awards are in alignment with the mission of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ to all rural households by 2024 under the Jal Jeevan Mission. 

About the National Water Awards:

• This award was launched by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2018 to provide opportunities to start-ups as well as leading organizations to engage with policymakers on how to adopt the best water resources management practices in India.
• In the best state category, Uttar Pradesh has been awarded the first prize followed by Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. 
• India’s current water requirement is estimated to be 1100 billion cubic meters per year which is going to rise up to 1447 billion cubic meters by 2050. Therefore, it becomes imperative to establish a meticulous water management system. 
• The initiatives like the water awards will inspire the stakeholders to adopt a holistic approach towards the conservation and judicious use of water resources along with the awareness among people.
• About 57 awards to States, Organizations, individuals, etc. have been distributed and classified into 11 different categories.

2. First Advance Estimates of National Income (2021-22)

Syllabus: GS 3, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Prelims: IIP, GDP

Mains: Importance of the National Income estimates to assess the economic growth of the country. 

Context: The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the First Advance Estimates of National Income at both Constant (2011-12) and Current prices for the financial year 2021-22 along with the expenditure components of the GDP in accordance with the release calendar of National Accounts.

Important facts related to the First Advance Estimates:

• The First Advance Estimates of GDP was introduced in 2016-17 to provide important inputs relating to the Union Budget.
• It is based on limited data and compiled using the benchmark indicator method which makes an estimate based on the data of the previous year (2020-21 in this case) that are extrapolated from the relevant indicators reflecting the performance of sectors. 
• Sector-wise estimates have been compiled using the following indicators:
  • Index of Industrial Production (IIP) of first 7 months
  • Financial performance of Listed Companies in the Private Corporate sector available up to quarter September 2021.
  • First Advance Estimates of Crop production
  • Accounts of State and Central governments
  • Bank Deposits & Credits
  • Net Ton Kilometres and Passenger kilometres for Railways
  • Passengers and Cargo handled by civil aviation
  • Cargo handled at major seaports
  • Sales of commercial vehicles 
• The total tax revenue used for GDP compilation includes non-GST revenue and GST revenue. 
• The Budget estimates of tax revenue for 2021-22 are available on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and Controller General of Accounts websites. These websites have been used for estimating taxes on products at current prices. 

Read more about National Income in the linked article.

3. A star with a heartbeat

Syllabus: GS 3, Science and Technology, Achievements of Indians in science & technology

Prelims: Characteristics of the heartbeat star

Context: A group of Indian Scientists have spotted a peculiar binary star that shows a heartbeat but no pulsations. The team included 33 scientists from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) which is an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. 

Details of the finding:

• The star spotted has been named HD73619 in Praesepe (M44), located in the Cancer constellation which is one of the closest open star clusters to the Earth. 
• There are 180 stars known to have heartbeats. The term heartbeat is rooted from the fact that the stars resemble the path similar to the pattern of human heartbeat in the electrocardiogram.
• These heartbeat stars are binary systems where each star travels in a highly elliptical orbit around the common centre of mass. 
• The distance between the two common stars varies to a great extent as they orbit around each other.
• It has been observed that the stars at the closest proximity with the binary systems exhibit a sudden increase in brightness with an amplitude of several parts per thousand (ppt). 
• The scientists inferred that the pulsation activity of these stars is due to the oscillations in the component stars when they are closest to each other. Chemically this makes it evident that such oscillations happen due to the abundance of heavier elements on their surface. 
• The newly discovered heartbeat star is accompanied by a weak magnetic field or no magnetic field. 

Importance of the discovery:

• This discovery is of vital importance for the study of inhomogeneities due to spots in non-magnetic stars.
• This also helps in the advancement of the understanding and investigation of pulsation variability of the stars. 
• It offers the knowledge of the nature of elements present on the surface of these stars. 
• This research has been a result of the Nainital-Cape survey which is one of the longest ground-based surveys to search and study the pulsation variability of the stars. This study was carried out in collaboration with the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. 
• This is an exemplary step that reveals India’s progress in the field of space sciences and its growing engagement with international communities in the same context.

4. Mobile Honey Processing Van

Syllabus: GS 3, Economy, Food processing and related industries in India

Prelims: KVIC, National beekeeping and honey mission

Mains: Government initiatives to double the income of farmers

Context: The KVIC has launched an innovative mobile honey processing van to support the farmers facilitating honey processing up to 300 kg capacity in 8 hours. 

About the mobile van:

• The mobile van is equipped with a testing laboratory that would examine the quality of honey.
• This initiative is in line with the Prime Minister’s dream of “Sweet Kranti” (Sweet Revolution) through the expansion of honey production in the country.
• This will also ensure that the farmers get fair prices and will generate employment for the youth to earn extra income by beekeeping activities. 

Read more about the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission in the linked article.

Read previous PIB here.

January 7th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here