24 Nov 2021: PIB Summary & Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Lachit Diwas
2. ACROSS
3. O - SMART Scheme
4. India - Bangladesh: Fifty Years of Friendship
5. The Monster Black Hole
6. The 5th World Congress on Disaster Management
7. Light - Touch Regulation of PM - WANI Framework
8. First International Conference on Hydrogen Energy Policy

1. Lachit Diwas

Context: The Prime Minister paid tribute to the bravery of Lachit Borphukan on the occasion of Lachit Diwas.

Who was Lachit Borphukan?

• Lachit Borphukan was a military commander in the Ahom kingdom and he is known for his immense contribution in leading the Battle of Saraighat in 1671 defeating the Mughals.
• He was given the title Borphukan which means one of the five councillors in the Ahom kingdom having both executive and judicial powers.
• He is regarded as the protector of Assamese culture and tradition for his remarkable contributions towards preserving the unique culture.
• Lachit conducted training sessions on guerrilla tactics to empower his troops and prevented the expansion of the Mughal empire in Assam.

Read more about Lachit Borphukan in the link.

Lachit Diwas:

• Every year the birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan is celebrated as Lachit Diwas to pay homage to his heroic leadership and compassion for the downtrodden sections of society.

2. ACROSS

Context: The Atmosphere and Climate Research Modelling Observing Systems and Services (ACROSS) scheme has been extended by the cabinet till the period of next Finance Commission cycle.

Important Facts:

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences took an integrated approach to control extreme weather events and brought programs like IMD, INCOIS, IITM under the umbrella scheme “ACROSS”.
• There are eight sub-schemes under “ACROSS” scheme and they are implemented through the operating units: IMD, IITM (Institute of Tropical Meteorology), NCMRWF (National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting), INCOIS (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services).

Significance:

• This scheme offers highly advanced Monitoring, Detection and Early Warning of calamities like tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, dust storms, heavy rain, snow fall, cold and heat waves.
• The climate services provided by the umbrella scheme benefit agriculture, aviation, tourism industries. Besides public weather services, environmental services, hydro meteorological services are also provided under the scheme.
• The whole process from forecast to delivery requires huge labour thereby resulting in employment generation.

3. O – SMART Scheme

Context:

The continuation of the Ocean Services, Modelling, Application, Resources and Technology has been approved by the cabinet. This scheme operates under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Schemes under O-SMART

• Ocean Technology, Ocean Modelling and Advisory Services (OMAS)
• Ocean Observation Network
• Ocean Non-living Resources
• Marine living resources and ecology
• Coastal research
• Operation and Maintenance of Research Vessels

Objectives:

• To improve oceanographic research and forecasting services
• Develop ocean technology
• Exploratory surveys for sustainable use of ocean resources

Important Achievements under the scheme

• India has been considered as the pioneer for investing in the International Seabed Authority to carry out research in deep sea mining of polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal sulphides in the Indian Ocean Region.
• A low-temperature thermal desalination facility has been installed in the Lakshadweep islands.
• The O-SMART scheme has enabled the expansion of ocean activities of India from the Arctic to the Antarctic region accompanied by satellite based monitoring systems and observations.
• An early warning system to detect oceanic disasters like tsunami, storm surges has been established at INCOIS, Hyderabad that extends services to the countries of the Indian Ocean region. This was recognised by UNESCO.

4. India – Bangladesh: Fifty Years of Friendship

Context: The Centre for land warfare studies conducted a seminar to commemorate the friendship between India and Bangladesh that spans fifty years.

Areas of focus:

• Emphasis has been placed on further progress of India-Bangladesh bilateral relations by promoting tourism and employing soft power diplomatic tools.
• There is an emerging need for better connectivity and economic collaboration between the two old friends.
• Both the countries are eager to work together towards maintaining peace and stability in the region.

  The Book Launch:  

• The book titled “Bangladesh Liberation@50 Years: Bijoy with Synergy: India – Pakistan War 1971” was launched and highlights the important historical accounts authored by writers from India and Bangladesh.
• This book provides a precise description of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and India’s role in liberating Bangladesh.

To know more about India – Bangladesh Relations, check the link.

5. The Monster Black Hole

Context: A group of Indian astronomers from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences which is an autonomous institute under DST, GOI has identified a new state of black hole that can open avenues to understand the role of gravity in the evolution of galaxies.

About the Observation:

• An active galaxy with X-ray emission 10 times brighter than the normal was observed and located 5 billion light-years away.
• The study unleashed the function of a strong gravity in the formation, interaction and evolution of the early universe.
• The astronomers monitored a black hole named OJ 287 which displayed repeated optical brightness that confirmed the presence of a binary black hole.

Important facts:

• There exists a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the centre of every galaxy.
• These black holes consume enough materials and eject a jet of plasma called blazars that travels at the speed of light.
• The Indian astronomers witnessed a significant change in the spectral state of these blazars which is unusual. This led to an inference that interlinks the role of strong gravity and the evolution of galaxies.

Central Region of OJ 287 binary SMBH system

Image source: PIB

6. The 5th World Congress on Disaster Management

Context: The 5th World Congress on Disaster Management was organised by the Disaster Management Initiatives and Convergence Society (DMICS) with a central theme of Technology, Finance and Capacity for Building Resilience to Disasters in the contexts of COVID-19.

About the Event:

• This event aimed at bringing researchers, policymakers and practitioners across the world to a common platform to discuss the challenges and risks of various disasters.
• Enormous attention was given to the promotion of science, policy and practices to head towards a disaster-resilient future.

Background of the Congress (WCDM):

• The first World Congress on Disaster Management was organised in the year 2008 in Hyderabad with an intention to build a strong network of tackling the disasters with the involvement of its various stakeholders across the scientific community and government.
• The WCDM is now a global conference on disaster management outside the UN framework.

7. Light – Touch Regulation of PM – WANI Framework

Context: A light touch regulation of the PM – WANI scheme will help the entrepreneurs to establish Wi-Fi hotspots for the public and result in additional revenue for themselves.

This scheme will ensure affordable broadband access extending the scope of the Digital India vision.

To know more about PM – WANI, check PIB dated Dec 9, 2020.

8. First International Conference on Hydrogen Energy Policy

Context: The Central Board of Irrigation and Power along with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had organised the first International Conference on Hydrogen Policy.

Objectives:

• In order to frame a proper policy for the promotion of hydrogen energy and infrastructure development, this international conference was organised and encouraged the researchers to develop hydrogen energy with a low cost of production for electrolysers.
• This was intended towards the decarbonisation plans of India and its shift towards clean energy as India put forth its ambitious targets at the COP26.
• The conference focuses on the target of net zero emissions by 2070.
• India is all set to enhance hydrogen energy with a noble objective to export it to the rest of the world.

Important Highlights:

• The conference witnessed the engagement of experts from industries, stakeholders of power organisations and speakers from Germany, Japan and Sweden.
• A roadmap to shape the hydrogen policy included a thorough discussion on the technologies to be adopted, their application, challenges and to increase research and innovation.
• The technical committee of the conference selected relevant research papers to develop hydrogen energy production through recommendations made by the experts of the committee.

Read previous PIB here.

November 24th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here