Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 29 February 2024 | Download PDF

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India’s first indigenously built hydrogen fuel cell ferry boat. 
• This vessel, part of the Harit Nauka initiative, was built at the Cochin Shipyard. 
• It’s a 24-metre catamaran that can carry 50 passengers in a fully air-conditioned space.
• This initiative aligns with India’s commitment to net-zero emissions, showcasing the potential of green hydrogen as a sustainable fuel source.
• The launch of this ferry marks a significant stride in India’s technological prowess and is expected to provide impetus for using hydrogen in marine applications. 
• The vessel’s technology is fully home-grown and can be replicated in other parts of the country for urban mobility applications.

• More than a month after India and Nepal signed an agreement on long-term power sharing, the two sides have not managed to make any forward movement on the stalled negotiations over the landmark Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP).

About:

• The PMP is aimed at generating around 6,480 MW energy (to be divided equally between two sides), along with water for irrigation of 1,30,000 hectares of land in Nepal and 2,40,000 hectares of Indian territory, respectively. 
• The project is stalled because the Indian and the Nepali sides are unable to come to a consensus on sharing of benefits. 
• While electricity is divided equally, India gets the lion’s share of irrigation and flood control benefits. 
• On the other hand, Kathmandu feels water is ‘white gold’ and India should pay Nepal for it.

Details:

• The Sharda River, also called Kali River and Mahakali River, originates at Kalapani in the Himalayas at an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) in the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.
• It flows along Nepal’s western border with India and has a basin area of 14,871 km2.
• The Pancheshwar Dam, a joint venture of India and Nepal for irrigation and hydro-electric power generation was proposed on this river.

Read more about the Mahakali treaty.

• South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to visit India this year, as announced by South Korean envoy Chang Jae-bok.

Key points:

• The two countries are hopeful of concluding ongoing negotiations to upgrade the existing CEPA. The last round of talks on the CEPA upgrade was held in January in Delhi
• The existing CEPA was made in 2009 and became effective in 2010. 
• Negotiations for an upgraded CEPA were held in 2016 and 2017 but halted during the pandemic.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to pay bilateral visits to South Korea and Japan from March 5 to 8. 
• He will co-chair the 10th India-Republic of Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul.
• There will be discussions on defence, defence production, and economic cooperation.
• South Korea is going to launch its space administration very soon and is looking to cooperate with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in low orbit satellites.

Read more about the India- South Korea Relations

The tragic death of 19-year-old child actress Suhani Bhatnagar from dermatomyositis, a rare disorder that causes inflammation in muscles, came in the same month as Rare Disease Day. The last day of February every year is consecrated to support crores of individuals who, because of their rare medical conditions, have long been neglected and stigmatised.

Global Perspective 

• According to the World Health Organization, rare diseases afflict 1 or less per 1,000 population. 
• Barely 5% of the over 7,000 known diseases worldwide are treatable. 
• Most patients typically receive only basic treatment that alleviates symptoms. 
• Some require exorbitantly priced antidotes and supportive medication throughout their lives, which they can’t afford.

Rare Diseases in India 

• India accounts for one-third of the global rare disease incidence, with over 450 identified diseases. 
• These range from widely known ones such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Gaucher’s disease to lesser-known ones such as Mucopolysaccharidosis type 1 and Whipple’s disease. 
• Roughly about 8 crore-10 crore Indians suffer from one rare disease or another; over 75% are children. 
• Yet these diseases are largely overlooked. Resource constraints apart, India languishes near the bottom on awareness, diagnosis, and drug development for rare diseases.

Way forward:

• State governments must introduce social assistance programmes and develop satellite centres under the CoEs. 
• Public and private companies could be co-opted for funding; 
• CSR initiatives and partnerships can be leveraged to meet shortfalls.

• • The number of Ultra-high Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) in India increased 6% annually to 13,263 last year on rising prosperity.
• UHNWIs are defined as individuals having a net worth of $30 million and more.

Key points:

• • Real estate consultant Knight Frank India released ‘The Wealth Report 2024’. 
  • The report highlights that the number of UHNWIs in India grew from 12,495 individuals in 2022 to 13,263 in 2023.
  • The number of affluents in India is expected to grow further to reach nearly 20,000 by 2028.
• This represents a remarkable surge in India’s UHNWI population, catapulting by 50.1% within the next five years.

• 90% of Indian UHNWIs are expecting to witness an increase in their wealth during 2024.

Odisha Regional Specific News

• As many as six artistes from Odisha will receive the prestigious Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the years 2022 and 2023.
• It is a national honour bestowed on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in the field of performing arts.

Awardees for 2023

• Sangita Gosain: Renowned vocalist and scholar Sangita Gosain will be honoured for her significant contributions to Odissi music.
• Snehaprava Samantaray: A former lecturer at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, will receive the Akademi Award for her excellence in Odissi dance.
• Debasish Pattnaik: Will be awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar-2023 for his promising achievements in Odissi dance as a young artist.
• Alok Bishoyi: A talented folk dancer and musician, will also be honoured with the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.

Awardees for 2022

• Niranjan Rout: In the category of Odissi dance, Niranjan Rout, a revered guru, has been selected for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
• Arupa Gayatri Panda: Has been chosen to receive the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in the category of dance for Odissi.

Details

• The General Council selected ninety-two (92) artists from the field of Music, Dance, Theatre, Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/ Theatre, Puppetry and Overall contribution/scholarship in the Performing Arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the years 2022 & 2023.
• The General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi unanimously elected six (6) eminent personalities in the field of performing arts as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna). 

About:

• The Akademi Awards have been conferred since 1952. 
• The honour of Akademi Fellow carries a purse money of Rs.3,00,000/- (Rupees three lakhs) while the Akademi Award carries a purse money of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh), besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.

• Public sector giants Coal India Limited (CIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) have signed a joint venture agreement to set up an ammonium nitrate plant based on surface coal gasification technology.

Key points:

• The plant will be set up in Odisha’s Lakhanpur area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. 
• It will initially produce 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate per day. 
• The annual production is slated at 6.60 lakh tonnes which requires 1.3 million tonnes of coal.
• The coal for the plant will be supplied by CIL. 
• BHEL will bring to the table indigenously developed pressurised fluidised bed gasification (PFBG) technology for this purpose.
• Ammonium nitrate is a major ingredient in manufacturing bulk explosives which CIL uses in large quantities in its open-cast mining operations, a major source of its coal production.
• The upcoming plant’s backward integration would help in securing the raw material, reducing import dependence of ammonium nitrate and promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

SCG:

• CIL will pursue alternative uses of coal for environment friendly ventures like coal gasification in future after fulfilling the requirement of the power sector. 
• Surface Coal Gasification (SCG) is a promising technology that converts coal into valuable Syn gas. 
• On further processing, this produces synthetic natural gas that can be used as alternative natural gas. 
• Additionally, it can be used as feedstock for downstream chemicals production which are currently being imported and for power generation as well.

Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates paid a visit to Odisha and interacted CM and also with locals and came to know of the schemes implemented in Odisha mainly MUKTA and JAGA Mission.

About:

MUKTA Mission

Overview: The Mukhya Mantri Karma Tatpar Abhiyan (MUKTA) was implemented by the Odisha Government to strengthen migrant labourers and the urban workforce against economic vulnerabilities.

Scope: MUKTA is functional across 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Odisha, impacting approximately 1.7 million people.

Key Features: MUKTA adopts a bottom-up approach where the needs of each area are analysed and development projects are undertaken accordingly. It also ensures accessibility to funds and instant payments through the Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT) payment systems.

Infrastructure: Development Revamping infrastructure and city beautification are some of the key tasks undertaken by the workforce.

JAGA Mission

Overview: The JAGA Mission, also known as the Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission, aims at transforming the slums into liveable habitat with all necessary civic infrastructure and services34.

Scope: Since 2018, the JAGA Mission has been functional across 114 ULBs of Odisha where it positively impacts approximately 1.7 million people.

Key Features: The mission provides land rights, slum upgradation, housing and mainstreaming to the urban poor through collaboration with various partners and stakeholders3. It also adopts a bottom-up, people-centred design4.

Infrastructure Development: The mission focuses on the development and restructuring of slums. These areas need infrastructure to become more habitable and the initiative provides 9 basic infrastructures such as paver block road, storm water drainage, street lights, parichay centres, open space development, child play area, individual electricity connection, individual pipe water connection and individual household toilets to all slum households4

• On February 28, 2024, Odisha’s Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, launched a series of projects in Balasore, amounting to Rs 2200 crore.
• The Chief Minister inaugurated the Smriti Pith at Shankhari, dedicated to Manmath Das and Manoj Das. He praised their contributions to history and literature and expressed gratitude to their families for their support in establishing this memorial.
• During the event, the Chief Minister introduced the ‘Lav’ scheme, which grants tribal communities in Nilgiri communal forest rights over minor forest produce.
• Reflecting on proposals from the people of Balasore, the Chief Minister announced the launch of various projects worth Rs 22 billion. He also inaugurated the city bus service for Balasore city.

• President Murmu laid the foundation stones for a Central Government Holiday Home and Sports Complex in Rairangpur, her hometown.

Key points:

• The President inaugurated the Eklavya Model Residential School in Barsahi, located in the tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district.
• President announced the launch of a national mission aimed at eradicating sickle cell anaemia, a disease affecting generations of the tribal community.
• President Murmu emphasized the importance of women empowerment for a strong society.

Tribes of Odisha:

Odisha officially recognizes a total of 62 distinct tribes as Scheduled Tribes. These tribal communities collectively make up around 22.84% of the state’s total population

Among these 62 tribes, 13 hold the designation of “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” (PVTGs). 

The PVTGs added in Odisha are:

• Birhor
• Bondo
• Chuktia Bhunjia
• Didayi
• Juang
• Kharia
• Dongria Khond
• Kutia Khond
• Lanjia Saora
• Lodha
• Mankidia
• Paudi Bhuyan,Saora

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