Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ARIES + about the objective of this conference)+ GSIII ( awareness in the field of science and technology + environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• ARIES , Nainital is going to organise an online international conference on Aerosol Air Quality, Climate Change and Impact on Water Resources and Livelihoods in the Greater Himalayas.

Know! about the conference

• The conference will deliberate on rapid increase in air pollution associated with industrialisation and urbanisation and its resultant impacts on regional and global air quality
• Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital an autonomous research institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India and Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, (HNBGU) (a central University) Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, are planning to jointly organize the three-day online international conference
• The international conference is being organized as a part of the celebration of Golden Jubilee Commemoration Year of DST.
• This is the first Online International conference to be held at ARIES, Nainital, during this Pandemic.
• The invited speakers in the conference are from different parts of the globe

Know! about the activities of ARIES

• ARIES, Nainital, started research activities in the field of atmospheric science and climate change about two decades ago.
• It has installed a battery of modern instruments at Manora Peak, a strategically important location in the Central Himalayan region, for in situ measurements of various optical, physical and chemical properties of aerosols and trace gases.
• The ARIES has also established both national and international collaborations in these areas.

Know! about Aerosols

• An aerosol is a tiny particle (solid or liquid) in the atmosphere.
• The smaller and lighter a particle is, the longer is stays in the air.
• Larger particles settle to the ground due to gravity after a few hours, whereas the smallest particles can stay in the atmosphere for weeks.

Know! about ARIES

• It is one of the leading research Institutes which specializes in observational Astronomy & Astrophysics and Atmospheric Sciences.
• The main research interests of Astronomy & Astrophysics division are in solar, planetary, stellar, galactic and extra-galactic astronomy including stellar variabilities, X-ray binaries, star clusters, nearby galaxies
• Research focus in Atmospheric Sciences division is mainly in the lower part of the atmosphere and covers the studies on aerosols and trace gases.

Greater Himalaya or Inner Himalaya, Central Himalaya or Himadri.

• It is the highest and northernmost section of the Himalayan mountain ranges.
• It extends southeastward across northern Pakistan, northern India, and Nepal before trending eastward across Sikkim state (India) and Bhutan and finally turning northeastward across northern Arunachal Pradesh state (India); The Great Himalayas contain many of the world's tallest peaks, including (from west to east) Nanga Parbat, Annapurna, Mount Everest, and Kanchenjunga.

International Relations
Turkey discovers large natural gas reserve off Black Sea


Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the Conflict between Greece and Turkey - geographical locations + about Aegean dispute)
What's the NEWS

• The country had made its biggest-ever discovery of natural gas after completing new exploration work in the Black Sea.
• The discovery of 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas comes amid a dispute with Greece over prospecting.

Know! about the Conflict between Greece and Turkey

• Turkey's new Black Sea find comes amid raised tensions between Ankara and Athens over oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
• Warships from both NATO members have been shadowing each other after Turkey sent a research ship to look for potential undersea oil and gas deposits in disputed waters.
• The Turkish drilling ship Fatih has been prospecting in the western Black Sea over the past month, close to where Romania has also found gas reserves.
• Turkey was drilling in the Turkish-occupied regions of Cyprus.
• The drilling regions comes under Greece inhabited exclusive economic zones.
• Turkey is the only member state of the United Nations that does not recognise Cyprus and is one of the few not signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Turkey is not a part of UNCLOS
• According to UNCLOS, exclusive economic zone extends to 200-miles.

The Aegean dispute

• The Aegean dispute is a set of interrelated controversies between Greece and Turkey over sovereignty and related rights in the region of the Aegean Sea.
• This set of conflicts has strongly affected Greek-Turkish relations since the 1970s

The Republic of Cyprus (Cyprus) and Turkey dispute

• Turkey is also at odd with Cyprus over energy exploration around the island.
• The Republic of Cyprus (Cyprus) and Turkey have been engaged in a dispute over the extent of their exclusive economic zones, ostensibly sparked by oil and gas exploration in the area.

Social Justice
National Council for Transgender Persons
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about national council for transgender persons) + Mains ( GS II Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes
What's the NEWS

• The Centre has constituted the national council for transgender persons, headed by the Union social justice minster and comprising representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the community.

Know! more about the council

• The council - India's first and formed under Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 - was announced in a gazette notification

The council has five main functions -

1. advising the central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons
2. monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons
3. reviewing and coordinating the activities of all the departments
4. redressing grievances of transgender persons
5. performing such other functions as prescribed by the Centre.

• The council will have joint secretary-level members from the ministries of health, home, minority affairs, education, rural development, labour and law.
• In addition, there will be a member from the department of pensions, Niti Aayog, National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women.
• Representatives from five states or Union Territories, on a rotational basis, will be members of the commission.
• The first such clutch comprises Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Gujarat.
• Five members of the community and five experts, from non-governmental organisations, have also been named to the commission.
• The tenure of the community members and expert shall be three years.

• The distinction between gender identity and sex characteristics is also not understood.
• To bring about changes in the existing governance regime, it is important to work and engage with the system.
• The aim will be to mainstream the trans community's concerns, focusing on livelihood issues as well as to raise awareness about the trans community, so that trans persons are accepted within families and in the larger society.

Social Issues
Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna


Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna and recent changes in it) + Mains (GS II Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes)
What's the NEWS

• The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has decided in favour of a slew of measures which include the extension of the ‘Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna' for another one year to provide relief to workers in view of the Covid pandemic.
• The two-year scheme had completed its period on May 31, this year.

Know! the measures and amendments taken in Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna'

• The ESIC also decided to extend the relaxation in eligibility criteria and enhancement of unemployment benefit under the ‘Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana' with retrospective effect from March 24 to December 31, 2020.
• Under the relaxed eligibility norm and enhancement, payment would now be made at 50 per cent of average wages payable for a maximum 90 days unemployment instead of 25 per cent earlier.
• Instead of the relief becoming payable 90 days after unemployment, it shall now become due for payment after 30 days.
• The claims for payment of unemployment benefit under its Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana run by the ESIC will be settled within 15 days from the date of an application.
• The insured person (IP) can submit the claim directly to the ESIC Branch Office instead of the claim being forwarded by the last employer and the payment shall be made directly to his bank account.
• The IP should have been insurable employment for a minimum period of two years before his/her unemployment and should have contributed for not less than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding to unemployment

Know! about Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (prior to recent changes)

• The ESIC is implementing the ‘Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyna Yojna' under which unemployment benefit is paid to the workers covered under the ESI Scheme.
• It is a welfare measure being implemented by the Employee's State Insurance (ESI) Corporation.
• It offers cash compensation to insured persons when they are rendered unemployed.
• The Scheme was introduced w.e.f. 01-07-2018. The scheme is implemented on pilot basis for a period of two years initially.

Benefits under the scheme

• The scheme provides relief to the extent of 25% of the average per day earning to be paid up to maximum 90 days of unemployment once in lifetime of the Insured Person.
• The maximum duration, for which an IP shall be eligible to draw the Relief under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) will be 90 days once in life time after a minimum of two years of Insurable Employment
• The claim for relief under the Atal Beemit Kalyaan Yojana will be payable after the three months of his/her clear unemployment.

Eligibility

• Employees covered under Section 2(9) of the ESI Act 1948.
• The Insured Person (IP) should have been rendered unemployed during the period the relief is claimed.
• The Insured Person should have been in insurable employment for a minimum period of two years.
• The Insured Person should have contributed not less than 78 days during each of the preceding four contribution periods.
• The contribution in respect of him should have been paid or payable by the employer.

Know! about ESIC

• Employees' State Insurance (abbreviated as ESI) is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers.
• The fund is managed by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) according to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act 1948.

• ESIC is a Statutory Body and Administrative Ministry is Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.

Defence
Launch of IAF Mobile Application ‘MY IAF'

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about MY IAF mobile app)
What's the NEWS

• The Indian Air Force has launched a mobile application ‘MY IAF' as a part of Digital India initiative.
• The application developed in association with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) provides career related information and details for those desirous of joining the Indian Air Force (IAF).
• The user friendly format of the app serves as a single digital platform interfacing the users with the details of selection procedure, training curriculum, pay and perks etc for both officers and airmen in the IAF.

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