• Dr Niti Kumar, Senior Scientist from Division of Molecular Parasitology and Immunology, CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow has received SERB Women Excellence Award-2020.
• Award will be conferred by the President of India during National Science Day Celebrations on February 28, 2020, in Vigyan Bhawan.

• This award is given to women scientist below 40 years of age who have received recognition from national academies.
• The women researchers will be supported by research grant of 5 lakhs per annum for 3 years by Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India (SERB-DST).

• The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) is a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, established by an Act of the Parliament of India in 2009.
• The Board is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Science and Technology and shall have other senior government officials and eminent scientists as members.
• The Board was set up for promoting basic research in science and engineering and to provide financial assistance to scientists, academic institutions, R&D laboratories, industrial concerns and other agencies for such research.
• Supporting basic research in emerging areas of Science & Engineering are the primary and distinctive mandate of the Board.
• The Board structure, with both financial and administrative powers vested in the Board, would enable quicker decisions on research issues, greatly improving thereby our responsiveness to the genuine needs of the research scientists and the S&T system.
• The Board has schemes for funding extramural research, for providing grants for start-up research and for using the scientific expertise of retired scientists.
• The Board also has programmes for intensifying research in high priority areas, for supporting international travel of scientists, for giving assistance to professional bodies for conducting seminars and symposia, and for awarding fellowships.

• Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched ‘5G Hackathon' in association with government, academia and industry stakeholders.

• Aimed at shortlisting India's focused cutting edge ideas that can be converted into workable 5G products and solutions, the Hackathon will be spread across three phases
• The event will culminate in a grand felicitation ceremony at India Mobile Congress on the 16th of October this year.
• Winners of the various phases will share a total prize pool of 2.5 crore rupees.
• The 5G technology provides quantum leap over 4G in terms of speed, peak data rate, latency, spectrum efficiency and connection density.
• The Hackathon will convert innovating ideas into products and solutions in different verticals and develop India specific use cases around 5G.
• The 5G Hackathon is open to developers, students, start-ups, SMEs, academic institutions and registered companies in India and NRIs.
• Stakeholders can participate as individuals or as a team to present use cases for the 5G network in the Indian context.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the public-private fund of R&D) + Mains (GS III awareness in the field of Science and Technology
What's the NEWS

• In an effort to stimulate investment in research and development (R&D), the Department of Science and Technology is mooting a fund that will match the contributions made by private companies in R&D.

• The discussions were on with certain "large, private sector" companies and currently, a ₹40 crore target was on the anvil.
• The idea is to pool funds from a group of companies willing to invest in fundamental research, such as quantum computers or artificial intelligence, and whatever is invested government will match that
• The scheme will be coordinated through the department's Science and Engineering Research Board, which funds a variety of basic science projects in several universities.

• India is among the top five countries in terms of its output of scientific publications, it doesn't match up in investments.
• The total expenditure on R&D has tripled in the last decade in nominal however as a fraction of GDP, public expenditures on R&D has been stagnant - between 0.6-0.7% of GDP - over the past two decades.
• It is well below that in major nations such as the U.S. (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and Korea (4.2)
• Public sector institutions form the lion's share of India's investment in R&D.
• In 2004-2005, private sector accounted for 28% of India's research spend and in 2016-17 this increased to 40%.
• In most advanced economies, private R&D accounts for the bulk of investment in R&D.
• The government is the major source of funds for R&D, it's also the major user - in terms of money consumed by public sector enterprises or Central institutions.

• A presentation of the final proposal was made before the NTCA and the final notification will be made by the State government once the NTCA gives its formal approval.
• The approval from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is expected any time now.
• Once notified, Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka will have the rare distinction in the country of harbouring three tiger reserves.

1. Bandipur
2. Biligiri Ranganatha Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve
3. Nagarahole
4. Bhadra
5. Anshi-Dandeli

• The sanctuary will be renamed as Malai Mahadeshwara Hill Tiger Reserve (MMH TR) with a core area of 670.95 sq km spread across Malai Mahadeshwara Reserve Forest, Hanur Reserve Forest and Yediyarahalli Reserve Forest.
• The State Board for Wildlife had given its concurrence to declare M.M. Hills sanctuary as a tiger reserve in January 2019.
• This is a unique geographical zone that acts as a bridge between the Western and Eastern Ghats.
• Being part of Mysore Elephant Reserve, these forests also support nearly 300 elephants.
• There are about 285 bird species documented in this landscape as per a 2014 survey.
• The forests are important not only for tiger, elephants and leopards but also chitals, honey badgers, smooth-coated otter, striped hyena, wild dogs, sloth bear, grizzled giant squirrels, Mahseer fish, etc.

Relevance IN - Prelims (India- US bilateral relations -important takeout) + Mains (GS II Bilateral relation )
What's the NEWS

• India and the US inked three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on US President Donald Trump's maiden visit
• The two countries have decided to take their ties to a comprehensive global partnership level.

Know! the important takeaways

• The agreements were signed in the health and oil sectors. An MoU was signed on mental health between the health departments of the countries.
• In the field of health a memorandum of understanding on the safety of medical products was signed between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization with the US Food and Drug Administration.
• A letter of cooperation was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Exxon Mobil India LNG Limited and Chart Industries Inc, US.
• Helicopter deals worth $3 billion were also finalized, in yet another sign of India's shift to the US for military supplies from its traditional supplier, Russia.
• The two countries also agreed on new mechanism to contain drug trafficking.

Environment
Dolphin population in Odisha's Gahirmatha halves: Annual census

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Irrawaddy dolhins+ about Gahirmata marine century + about Chilka lake)
What's the NEWS

• An annual census found the number of dolphins at Odisha's Gahirmatha marine sanctuary has nearly halved over a year, pushing down the state's overall count.

Total 233 dolphins spotted across Odisha

• In 2020 -233
• In 2019 - 258
• In 2015 -270

Know! more about the findings of Annual Census 2020
Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary and its nearby areas within Bhitarkanika National Park

• The January 2020 census spotted only 62 of the marine mammals at Gahirmatha - also the world's largest rookery of sea turtles - down from 126 found last year.
• Gahiramatha is located within Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha's Kendrapara district.
• During the dolphin census forest officials sighted 60 Irrawaddy dolphins and only two bottle-nose dolphins in Gahirmatha.
• Officials conducted a dolphin census for the first time in Gahirmatha in 2015.
• The census in 2016 and 2017 had been cancelled due to bad weather. The 2020 census was the fourth such dolphin census undertaken in the marine sanctuary.

Chilika lake

• The population of Irrawaddy dolphin has increased in Chilika lake and other water bodies of the State. As many as 146 Irrawaddy and 17 Bottle-Nose were sighted in Chilika.
• Chilika - spread across Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts - had been designated a Ramsar site in 1981.
• A Ramsar site is a wetland site which comes under the Ramsar Convention of 1971 and allows for measures to conserve biodiversity in these areas.
• Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water (mixture of saline and fresh water) lagoon of India, spread over the districts of Odisha State on the east coast of India.
• It is the largest coastal lagoon in India, located at the mouth of the Daya River, which is flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km.

Know! about Gherries

• In 2019, the Odisha High Court had ordered the state government to initiate the demolition of illegal prawn gherries in Chilika Lake to restore the wetland's ecology.
• Gherries are encroached areas used for illegal prawn cultivation inside wetland areas. Illegal prawn farming has choked Chilika's biodiversity.

Know! about Dolphins

• The dolphin has been included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
• The sea mammal is also included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and in Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species.
• It is also categorised as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List.

Irrawaddy Dolphin

• It is not a true river dolphin and prefers to live in estuaries and brackish water near coasts and besides the Irrawaddy River, it is also found in India's Ganges, and Southeast Asia's Mekong River.
• Irrawaddy dolphins are classified as ‘Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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