Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 08 February 2024 | Download PDF

• Annual Flagship Event: The WSDS is the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
• Legacy: Instituted in 2001, the Summit series has a legacy of over two decades, aiming to make ‘sustainable development’ a globally shared goal.
• Global South Focus: It is the only independently convened international summit on sustainable development and environment, with a focus on the Global South.
• Objective: WSDS strives to provide long-term solutions for the benefit of global communities by assembling the world’s most enlightened leaders and thinkers on a single platform.
• 23rd Edition: WSDS 2024 marks the 23rd edition of the summit.
• Theme: The theme for WSDS 2024 is ‘Leadership for Sustainable Development and Climate Justice’.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

• Leading Think Tank: TERI is a leading think tank dedicated to conducting research for the sustainable development of India and the Global South.
• Multidimensional Organization: It is an independent, multidimensional organization with capabilities in research, policy, consultancy, and implementation.
• History: Established in 1974 as an information center on energy issues, TERI initiated research activities in 1982 with a focus on efficient utilization of energy and sustainable use of natural resources.

Focus Areas:

• Promoting efficient use of resources
• Increasing access to and uptake of sustainable inputs and practices
• Reducing the impact on the environment and climate.
• Location: TERI is headquartered in New Delhi.

• In 2023, India-China bilateral trade surged to a new peak, surpassing the previous year’s figures despite a temporary slowdown. 
• The Chinese envoy to India, Ma Jia, disclosed that trade between the two countries reached $136.2 billion. 

Key points:

• Ma Jia revealed that bilateral trade volume in 2023 saw a year-on-year growth of 1.5%, with India’s exports to China also experiencing a notable 6% increase. 
• The year 2022 witnessed a significant milestone in bilateral trade, with transactions amounting to $135.98 billion. 
• Notably, imports from China exceeded $100 billion, marking a 21% increase despite persistent tensions over the military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

• The Healthy Indian Project (THIP) has recently joined the Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) established by the World Health Organization (WHO). 
• This collaboration aims to provide reliable vaccine safety information to the Indian population, aligning with global efforts to ensure accurate immunization details.

Details:

• THIP is a prominent health information platform in India.
• This membership highlights THIP’s dedication to delivering credible and verified vaccine safety information to the people of India. 
• VSN, consisting of 110 websites from 45 countries and offering information in 43 languages, serves as a global network providing trustworthy vaccine safety information.

Key highlights:

• THIP’s inclusion in VSN enhances the credibility of its vaccine safety information. 
• Adherence to strict standards and regular evaluations ensure the accuracy and trustworthiness of THIP’s content.
• Membership in VSN grants THIP access to a broader audience, facilitating the dissemination of accurate vaccine information across diverse populations in India. 
• THIP, as a VSN member, plays a pivotal role in promoting public health initiatives in India. 

• The Biden administration introduces stricter standards to combat soot pollution, aiming to reduce fine particle matter emitted from various sources. 
• The initiative anticipates preventing thousands of premature deaths annually, receiving praise from environmental and public health groups.

Policy Details and Impact

• The new rule sets a maximum level of 9 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of air, down from the previous standard of 12 micrograms. 
• It imposes air quality targets for states and countries to meet, affecting various sources of pollution such as power plants, vehicles, industries, and wildfires.

Odisha Regional Specific News

• Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha presented a Vote on Account worth Rs 1.18 lakh crore for the initial four months of the 2024-25 fiscal year in the Odisha Assembly.

Key highlights:

• The highest allocation of Rs 24,764.28 crore is designated for the School and Mass Education department, followed by Rs 22,543.33 crore for the Panchayati Raj department.
• Allocations include Rs 19,729.33 crore for the Health department, Rs 13,267 crore for Water Resources, and Rs 10,950 crore for Works department.
• Allocations include Rs 700 crore for railway projects, Rs 6,194 crore for roads, and Rs 200 crore each for Nua-O programme and Biju Setu Yojana.

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recently inaugurated the new campus of the Iconic Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya in Bhubaneswar.
• The school offers free accommodation to residential students and boasts state-of-the-art amenities including classrooms, ICT labs, an e-library, modern science labs, and skill development facilities.

About:

• The Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan (OAVS) is an initiative of Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha.
• The Adarsha Vidyalaya aims to promote the rural talents by inculcating the 21st century learning skills through a holistic and integral approach.
• In alignment with the holistic development of talented rural students, the school provides coaching for various national-level competitions, facilitating their aspirations to pursue medical, engineering, law, and military careers.

The government plans to introduce a policy framework for teaching technical and medical education in Odia. 

Other initiatives are:

• Establishment of a Rs 10-crore corpus fund for Odia language research.
• Formation of an expert committee for standardizing Odia fonts.
• Recruitment of special Odia teachers in high schools.
• Financial assistance for schools and universities promoting education in Odia.
• Government assistance for publication of Odia books.
• Development of the Odia Learning Management System (OLMS) for online education.
• Enhancement of the Orissan Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies.
• Assistance of Rs 1 crore each to schools that have completed 100 years to promote education in Odia medium. 
• The public universities, established before the independence, will get an assistance of Rs 2 crore each for the purpose.

• A study conducted by researchers from NISER sheds light on Bhubaneswar’s waste disposal practices.
• Despite winning the smart city challenge in 2016, Bhubaneswar didn’t rank among the top cleanest cities.

Key findings:

• Findings reveal that 20% admitted to open waste disposal, 14% resorted to burning waste, while only 2% recycled and 1% composted it.
• Majority (57%) handed their waste to civic bodies, while 7% utilized dustbins.

The study underscores the urgent need for comprehensive waste management strategies, considering socio-economic factors and citizen participation to address Bhubaneswar’s waste disposal challenges effectively.

• A Filmmaking Workshop for Tribal Students in Koraput, Odisha, aims to empower Scheduled Tribe (ST) students through skill development in film-related courses. 
• It is a collaborative effort between the Central University of Odisha (CUO) and the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), initiated under the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav Programme.

All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Adda247.