Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 26 March 2024 | Download PDF

• In response to the recent turmoil in Haiti, the Indian government has launched Operation Indravati to evacuate its citizens from the violence-stricken country to the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Key points:

• Haiti has been grappling with a state of emergency triggered by recent violent attacks.
• Haiti, a Caribbean country, has plunged into chaos due to gang warfare. 
• Gang control in Haiti’s capital has reached 80%, according to the UN, with fighting ongoing in the remaining areas.
• Capital: Port-au-Prince

• The Pushpak, also known as the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), is India’s first uncrewed flying testbed for this ambitious project that aims to significantly reduce payload delivery costs to low Earth orbit.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced a successful landing experiment as part of its ongoing efforts to develop reusable space launch vehicles.

Project Cost:

• The total cost of the Pushpak (RLV-TD) project was approximately ₹95 crore.

Objectives of the Project:

• Primary Objective: Develop a TSTO reusable launch vehicle to achieve an 80% reduction in payload delivery costs to low Earth orbit.
• Testing Objectives: Evaluate key technologies such as hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight, and air-breathing engine propulsion.

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has instructed mutual fund companies to halt new investments in schemes that invest in overseas exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from April 1, 2024. 
• SEBI’s decision stems from the fact that investments in these foreign ETFs are nearing the mandated limit of $1 billion.

About:

• An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of security that tracks an index, commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets, similar to an index fund. 
• Unlike regular mutual funds, ETFs are traded like common stocks on stock exchanges. 
• The price of an ETF changes throughout the day as it is bought and sold on the stock exchange.
• The trading value of an ETF is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks it represents.
• ETFs are known for their high daily liquidity and low fees compared to mutual fund schemes, making them appealing to individual investors.
• They are also considered more tax efficient.
• There are five main types of ETFs: equity ETFs, bond ETFs, commodity ETFs, international ETFs, and sectoral/thematic ETFs.

India is facing a concerning birth rate decline, as indicated by the Lancet’s forecast of a fertility rate drop to 1.29 by 2050.

Key points:

• By 2050, one in five Indians will be a senior citizen, posing challenges as there will be fewer younger individuals to care for the aging population.
• The declining total fertility rate (TFR) in India, currently at 1.29, well below the replacement rate of 2.1, is a major factor driving this trend.
• Globally, the TFR has decreased significantly over the last 70 years, from around five children per woman in 1950 to 2.2 children in 2021.
• In India specifically, the TFR has dropped from 6.18 in 1950 to 1.91 in 2021, reflecting a diminishing working-age population.
• Factors contributing to this decline in fertility rates include family planning programs, behavioral changes promoting smaller families, economic factors influencing family size decisions, increased female literacy and workforce participation, and urban influences on rural trends.

The declining trend in fertility rates is not unique to India, as it is a global phenomenon:

• Worldwide, researchers estimate that by 2050, about 76% of countries (155 out of 204) will have fertility rates below replacement level.
• Looking ahead to 2100, this trend is expected to continue, with 97% of countries and territories (198 out of 204) projected to have fertility rates below replacement level.
• Without intervention, populations in these locations are predicted to shrink, highlighting the need for measures such as ethical and effective immigration to offset the decline.

Arvind Kejriwal has been detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

ED:

• • The ED is a government agency in India tasked with enforcing economic laws and combating economic crimes. 
  • It operates under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. 
  • The ED’s focus includes investigating and prosecuting cases involving money laundering, foreign exchange violations, corruption, and economic offenses. 
  • Its primary goal is to reduce the generation and circulation of black money and ensure compliance with laws related to foreign exchange and prevention of money laundering. 
  • The agency was originally established as an “enforcement unit” within the Department of Economic Affairs on May 1, 1956, to handle violations under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. 
• In 1957, this unit was officially renamed the Enforcement Directorate.

The main objective of the Enforcement Directorate is to enforce three key Acts of the Government of India: 

• the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA); the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA); and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA).
• The Enforcement Directorate is headquartered in New Delhi and is headed by the Director of Enforcement. 
• It has regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Delhi, each headed by a Special Director of Enforcement.

• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has acquired a 56% stake of the SP Group and a 39% stake of Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) in Gopalpur Port Limited (GPL) for Rs 3,080 crore.

Key points:

• GPL is located on the east coast of India and has a capacity to handle 20 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum).
• Gopalpur Port supports the growth of mineral-based industries in its hinterland, such as iron and steel, alumina, and others.
• The port is well connected with its hinterland through National Highway NH16 and a dedicated railway line connecting it with the Chennai-Howrah main line.
• APSEZ, part of the Adani Group, is the largest port developer and operator in India with seven strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast, and seven on the east coast.

• ECoR achieved a significant milestone by loading 250 million tonnes of freight in the 2023-24 financial year, surpassing all previous records in Indian Railways history.

Key points:

• ECoR is the first railway zone in India to exceed 200 million tonnes of freight loading for the fifth consecutive time.
• It is also the first railway zone in the country to reach the milestone of 250 million tonnes of freight loading in a single financial year.
• The East Coast Railway is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. 
• It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) suggests that focusing on boosting the prey base and encouraging voluntary village relocation could facilitate the revival of the tiger population relocation project in Odisha’s Satkosia reserve. 
• The NTCA’s report on the ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India – 2022’ highlights the need for an enhanced conservation approach to potentially restart the tiger relocation project in Satkosia.

About:

• Established in 1976, it is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, including the Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, wild dogs, and various species of birds and reptiles.
• The Satkosia reserve in Odisha, spanning 963.87 sq km across Angul, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, and Boudh, has a core area of 523.61 sq km and a buffer area of 440.26 sq km. However, it has been without tigers for over two years since a tigress disappeared in 2022.
• The All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) – 2022 and All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE) – 2023-24 surveys failed to detect any tigers in the reserve, despite an effort of 18,886 trap nights during the 2022 headcount.
• To revive the tiger population, a pair of tigers, Sundari and Mahavir, was introduced from Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh under the inter-state tiger reintroduction program in 2018. However, the NTCA halted the project due to Mahavir’s death and Sundari’s departure to Kanha after 28 months in Satkosia’s Raigoda enclosure.
• Satkosia Tiger Reserve has two wildlife sanctuaries: Satkosia Gorge Wildlife Sanctuary and Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary. The area is also part of the Mahanadi elephant reserve.

• Every year on March 24th, World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is observed worldwide to raise awareness about the devastating health, social, and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. 
• This day commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, a disease that still affects millions globally.

It aims to:

• Raise Awareness:
  • 1. World TB Day serves as a platform to educate individuals, communities, policymakers, and healthcare professionals about the signs, symptoms, transmission, prevention, and treatment of tuberculosis.
  • Mobilize Resources:
    1. World TB Day mobilises resources from governments, international organisations, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders to support TB research, innovation, and implementation of evidence-based interventions aimed at ending the TB epidemic. 
• Empower Communities: 

• 1. Empowering communities and engaging affected individuals as advocates and agents of change are key components of TB control efforts. World TB Day encourages community involvement, active participation,
• Promote Partnerships: 
  1. Collaboration and partnerships among governments,non-governmental organisations, academia, communities, and affected individuals are essential to achieve the ambitious targets set for ending TB.

Theme:

• The theme for World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2024 is “Yes! We can end TB!”

• The first unit of the 1320 MW Talcher Thermal Power Project (TTPP) is set to be operational by November 2026.
• The project is considered one of the most modern power plants with minimal pollution hazards.

Key points:

• • The total cost of the project is Rs 11,843 crore, with 30% financed through equity and the remaining 70% through loans.
  • The project, managed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), includes two ultra supercritical units of 660 MW each.
  • The plant’s design includes features like high-efficiency electrostatic precipitators to reduce carbon emissions and efficient ash handling mechanisms.
  • The plant aims to minimize sulphur dioxide emissions and will dispatch slurry to void coal mines at Talcher for ash handling.
• Odisha will receive 50% of the power generated, with Assam, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu receiving more than 11% each.

• Additionally, 15% of the power will be unallocated and distributed to consumers according to the Central government’s directives.
• The cost of power per unit from this project is estimated to be around Rs 3.76.

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.