NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog and IEA launch ‘Renewables Integration in India 2021'

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the report highlights + about IEA) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development - energy)
What's the NEWS

• A report on "Renewables Integration in India 2021" was jointly launched NITI Aayog & IEA

Know! the report highlights

• The report is based on the outcome of three states workshops held with the Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat to understand the specific energy transition challenges faced by these renewable-rich states.
• The report uses IEA modelling results to show the effects of different flexibility options on the power system.
• The report highlights that India's power system can efficiently integrate renewables (175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030), but it would require identification of resources and proper planning, regulatory, policy and institutional support, energy storage and advance technology initiatives.
• Indian states need to employ a wide range of flexibility options - such as demand response, more flexible operation of coal based power plants, storage, and grid improvements - to transition to cleaner electricity systems.
• Larger shares of renewables can be better managed by shifting time of use in agriculture.
• Time of Use (ToU) tariffs will be an effective tool to incentivise demand side management and encourage flexible consumption.
• The joint report underscores IEA's commitment to provide support to India with its clean energy transition agenda.
• The report on renewables integration will serve as repository of vast knowledge for stakeholders in India.

The International Energy Agency (IEA)

• It is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
• The IEA was initially dedicated to responding to physical disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as serving as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors
• It is best known for the publication of its annual World Energy Outlook.
• In the decades since, its role has expanded to cover the entire global energy system, encompassing traditional energy sources such as oil, gas, and coal as well as cleaner and faster growing ones such as solar PV, wind power and biofuels.
• The IEA acts as a policy adviser to its member states, as well as major emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa to support energy security and advance the clean energy transition worldwide.
• The Agency's mandate has broadened to focus on providing analysis, data, policy recommendations and solutions to help countries ensure secure, affordable and sustainable energy for all.

Prelims Factoids
Norovirus outbreak
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Norovirus)
What's the NEWS

• Amid concerns over the massive spike in COVID-19 cases, a Norovirus outbreak has been reported in England.

Know! about Norovirus

• Norovirus is a group of highly contagious viruses that cause vomiting and diarrhoea. It is also called the winter vomiting bug.
• People infected with norovirus can shed billions of virus particles, but only a few of them can make people sick
• Norovirus can infect a person who consumed contaminated food or water or touched a contaminated surface and then put unwashed hands in the mouth.
• A person coming in direct contact with an infected person can also get infected.

• The virus spreads in the same way as human viruses enter the human body.
• There are different types of norovirus and a person gets infected with one type that does not provide him with immunity against the other types.
• Practising proper hand hygiene is one of the best ways to stop the spread of the virus..
• There is no specific medicine for norovirus.
• Drinking plenty of fluids can help relieve symptoms by replacing fluid lost from diarrhoea and vomiting.
• Norovirus is sometimes called the stomach flu or stomach bug. However, norovirus illness is not related to the flu which is caused by influenza virus

Prelims Factoids
Ashadha Purnima-Dhamma Chakra Day programme
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Ashadha Purnima-Dhamma Chakra Day)
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister on Saturday extended greetings on the occasion of Guru Purnima.
• He also shared a message at the Ashadha Purnima-Dhamma Chakra Day programme

Know! about the programme

• The full moon falling in the month of Ashadha is known as Guru Purnima.
• This year, Guru Purnima, which is observed on the full moon day in Ashadh month of the Hindu calendar, falls on July 24, which coincides with the lunar eclipse.
• It is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists to honour one's gurus or teachers who guide them through their lives towards the path of enlightenment.

Guru Purnima

• According to religious beliefs, Maharishi Ved Vyas, who gave the knowledge of all the four Vedas, was born on this day.
• In view of his contribution towards mankind, his birth anniversary is celebrated as Guru Purnima.
• Maharishi Ved Vyas had given the knowledge of the four Vedas to mankind for the first time.
• That is why he is given the title of first Guru.
• Worship of Lord Vishnu on the day of Purnima also has special significance.

Dharma Chakra Day.

• The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India is celebrating Ashadha Purnima on July 24, 2021 as Dharma Chakra Day.
• This day is celebrated keeping in mind the 'first sermon' given by Mahatma Buddha to his first five ascetic disciples on this day at the Deer Park at Rishipattan in present-day Sarnath near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

International Buddhist Confederation

• It is the biggest religious Buddhist confederation, based in Delhi, India.
• The architect of the International Buddhist Confederation is Lama Lobzang.
• This confederation is named as the first organization which unites Buddhists from the whole world.
• IBC represents the rich diversity of Buddhism and provides a platform for the global Buddhist community to share its wisdom and meaningfully participate in the ongoing global social and political discourse, while at the same time preserving and promoting its shared heritage.
• The IBC was formally registered on November 2, 2012, and as per statutory requirements under Indian law, a 10-member provisional Governing Body was formed, which has been working on IBC's formal structure.

Economy
Bad Bank


Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Bad Banks) + Mains ( GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• The Government is apprised with regard to incorporation of a Bad Bank with all the regulatory approvals in place.
• The government has launched a Bad Bank with all the regulatory approvals

What's the need and role of Bad Bank

• The high level of provisioning by public sector banks of their stressed assets calls for measures to clean up the bank books.
• An Asset Reconstruction Company Limited and Asset Management Company would be set up to consolidate and take over the existing stressed debt and then manage and dispose of the assets to Alternate Investment Funds and other potential investors for eventual value realization.
• Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has apprised with regard to incorporation of the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) that NARCL has been registered with the Registrar of Companies
• The Reserve Bank of India, being the regulator of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs), has already prescribed a regulatory framework for the functioning of ARCs and there are well-laid norms for transfer of stressed assets by banks and non-banking finance companies to ARCs.

Know! about BAD BANKS

• It is an asset reconstruction company (ARC) or an asset management company that takes over the bad loans of commercial banks, manages them and finally recovers the money over a period of time.
• The bad bank is not involved in lending and taking deposits, but helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans.
• The takeover of bad loans is normally below the book value of the loan and the bad bank tries to recover as much as possible subsequently.

International Organisation
The World Day for International Justice (WDIJ)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about WDIJ + about ICC)
What's the NEWS

• World Day for International Justice, also referred to as Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day, is an international day celebrated throughout the world on July 17 as part of an effort to recognize the emerging system of international criminal justice.
• It is observed to promote international criminal justice and as a way of supporting the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) .
• This day is the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998.
• With the help of this treaty, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established.
• In 1998 since that day, about 139 countries have signed the ICC's treaty and nearly 80 States, representative of every region of the world, have ratified it. (India has neither signed nor ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Know! about International Criminal Court (ICC)

• The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague, Netherlands.
• It is the first permanent and independent international judicial institution
• It is capable of trying individuals accused of the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights which include the crime of genocide, a war of crimes, and crimes against humanity.
• The ICC lacks universal territorial jurisdiction and may only investigate and prosecute crimes committed within member states, crimes committed by nationals of member states, or crimes in situations referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council.
• It is intended to complement existing national judicial systems, and it may, therefore, exercise its jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals.

Miscellaneous
The State of Food Security Nutrition in the World 2021 (SOFI) report

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about SOFI -report highlights) + Mains ( GS II Social Issues - data and facts can be used to substantiate questions of social issues and social justice (GS II)
What's the NEWS

• The report studied the impact of Covid-19 pandemic-induced income loss on food intake and malnutrition.
• This report presents the first global assessment of food insecurity and malnutrition for 2020 and offers some indication of what hunger might look like by 2030 in a scenario further complicated by the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• It is an annual flagship report jointly prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO to inform on progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and to provide in depth analysis on key challenges for achieving this goal in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• The report targets a wide audience, including policy-makers, international organizations, academic institutions and the general public.

Report Highlights - World Specific

• The biggest impact of Covid-19 on food security has been on almost all low-and middle-income countries.
• More than half of the world's undernourished are found in Asia (418 million) and more than one-third in Africa (282 million).
• Compared with 2019, about 46 million more people in Africa, 57 million more in Asia, and about 14 million more in Latin America and the Caribbean were affected by hunger in 2020.
• Globally, the world is not on track to achieve sustainable development goals (eliminating poverty (SDG 1) and hunger (SDG 2)) targets for any of the nutrition indicators by 2030.
• Around 11.8 crore more people faced hunger in 2020 than in 2019, an increase of 18%.
• There has been a significant dip in people's affordability for healthy food due to a loss in income.
• Nearly one in three people in the world (nearly 3 billion) did not have access to adequate food in 2020.
• There is a gap in access to food among men and women.
• Nearly a third of the world's women of reproductive age suffer from anaemia.

Report Highlights - India Specific

• In the year 2020, about 17.3% of children under the age of five years suffered a wasted growth with low weight for height, the highest among countries.
• About 31% of children have low height for age (stunted) which is an improvement from 41.7% in 2012 but is still higher than many other countries in the world.
• The country has observed an increase in the prevalence of obesity among the adult population from 3.% in 2012 to 3.9% in 2016.
• The prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age has only marginally improved from 53.2%in 2012 to 53% in 2019.

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