Daily Current Capsules 05^th November 2020

Infrastructure Development
13^th Urban Mobility India Conference 2020

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about UMI conference - objective + about shared mobility) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions + GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• The 13^th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference is being organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 9^th November 2020.
• The day-long Conference will be held on-line through Video Conference/Webinar.
• The main theme of this year's event is "Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility" with focus on innovative measures taken at national and international level to address the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic to provide accessible and convenient transport to the people.

12^th UMI Conference 2019

• The 12^th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference was held from 15^th to 17^th November, 2019 at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow.
• The theme of the conference was "Accessible and Liveable Cities".
• The Institute of Urban Transport (India) provided the technical and logistics support in organizing the conference.
• More than 1,000 delegates, including foreign delegates from 10 countries and International organizations, students, urban transport experts, practitioners, resource persons, researchers, scholars and senior government officials from 30 States and Union Territories across India attended the Conference.

Benefits of Urban Mobility

• With rapidly increasing mobility, needs and availability of technology, there is expected shift from vehicle ownership to vehicle sharing and public transport, with higher emphasis on multimodal seamless connectivity and clean mobility.
• These emerging trends are likely to bring a paradigm shift in the expectations of the commuters and our cities need to adapt to the rapidly changing mobility needs.
• To address these issues, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India issued the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 (NUTP).
• The objective of the policy is to ensure safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable access for the growing number of city residents to jobs, education, recreation and such other needs within our cities.

Know! more about Urban Mobility India (UMI) conference

• The primary objective of the conference is to disseminate information to the cities, whose officials attend the conference to help them keep up-to-date with latest and best urban transport practices globally.
• The conference provides an opportunity to interact with other professionals, technology and service providers, both domestic and international, so that the delegates can carry home ideas to develop their urban transport along a sustainable path.
• The event brings together national and international experts, technology and service providers, policy makers, practitioners and officials from the urban transport sector under one roof.

Environment
WWF Water Risk Filter report


Relevance IN - Prelims ( about WWF Water Risk Filter report highlights and about WWF) + Mains ( GS III environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• About 30 Indian cities will face increasing "water risks" in the next few decades according to a new report released by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

WWF Water Risk Filter report highlights

• Nearly 30 Indian cities, including Jaipur, Indore, Amritsar, Pune, Srinagar, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kozhikode and Visakhapatnam will face acute "water risks."

• Globally, the report estimates that "hundreds of millions of people in cities across the globe could face dramatically increased water risks.
• 100 cities will witness a massive rise in water risks by 2050.
• The list also includes cities such as Beijing, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Mecca and Rio de Janeiro.
• Almost half of these cities are in China, with other hotspots in South Asia, Middle East, South America and Africa.
• These cities overall, are home to 350 million people. Globally, populations in areas of high-water risk could increase to 51 per cent by 2050.

Navigating risks in India -suggestions

• The report suggests that the Smart Cities initiative in India could aid an integrated urban water management framework.
• A multi-stakeholder engagement and ownership involving local communities will play a key role in creating and conserving a sustainable water infrastructure and rejuvenating urban freshwater systems.
• Cutting water consumption and nature-based solutions to conserve water will help reduce water risks.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

• It is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment.
• It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States.
• WWF is the world's largest conservation organization, with over five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries and supporting around 3,000 conservation and environmental projects.
• They have invested over $1 billion in more than 12,000 conservation initiatives since 1995.
• WWF is a foundation with 55% of funding from individuals and bequests, 19% from government sources (such as the World Bank, DFID, and USAID) and 8% from corporations in 2014.
• WWF aims to "stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
• The Living Planet Report has been published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation.
• In addition, WWF has launched several notable worldwide campaigns, including Earth Hour and Debt-for-Nature Swap, and its current work is organized around these six areas: food, climate, freshwater, wildlife, forests, and oceans.

International Organisations
India, GCC Troika hold annual Political Dialogue

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about GCC) + Mains ( GS II Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests
What's the NEWS

• India and the GCC Troika held their annual Political Dialogue today in virtual mode.
• External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar led the Indian delegation.
• Senior representatives from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar also participated in the meeting.

Know! about GCC

• The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates - except Iraq.
• The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
• All current member states are monarchies, including three constitutional monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain), two absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia and Oman), and one federal monarchy (the United Arab Emirates, which is composed of seven member states, each of which is an absolute monarchy with its own emir).

Defence
Enhanced version of PINAKA Rocket System successfully Flight Tested

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Enhanced Pinaka system + about Pinaka system)
What's the NEWS

• Enhanced PINAKA rocket, developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been successfully flight tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha

Know! about Enhanced Pinaka system

• Development of Enhanced Pinaka system was taken up to achieve longer range performance compared to earlier design with reduced length.
• The design and development has been carried out by Pune based DRDO laboratories, namely Armament Research and Development Establishment, ARDE and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, HEMRL.
• A total of six rockets were launched in quick succession and the tests met complete mission objectives.
• All the flight articles were tracked by Range instruments such as telemetry, radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems which confirmed the flight performance.
• Enhanced version of the Pinaka rocket would replace the existing Pinaka Mk-I rockets which are currently under production.

Know! about Pinaka

• Pinaka is a multiple rocket launcher produced in India and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army.
• The Pinaka, a multi-barrel rocket-launcher (MBRL) system named after Shiva's bow, can fire a salvo of 12 rockets over a period of 44 seconds.
• One battery of Pinaka system consists of six launch vehicles, accompanied by loader systems, radar and links with network-based systems and a command post. The system is mounted on a Tatra truck for mobility.
• The development of the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket systems was started by the DRDO in the late 1980s, as an alternative to the Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher systems of Russian make called like the ‘Grad', which are still used by some regiments.
• After successful tests of Pinaka Mark-1 in the late 1990, it was first used successfully in the battlefield during the 1999 Kargil War.
• While the Mark-1 has a range of 38 km, the enhanced version of Mark-1 tested on Wednesday has a range of 45 km and some key additional features.
• DRDO has also developed and successfully tested the Mk-II and guided variants of the Pinaka, which has a range of around 60 km, while the Guided Pinaka system has a range of 75 km and has integrated navigation, control and guidance system to improve the end accuracy and enhance the range.
• The navigation system of Guided Pinaka missile is also aided by the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• A total of six rockets were launched in quick succession and the tests met complete mission objectives.

Prelims Factoids
Luhri Stage-I Hydro Power Project

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Luhri Stage-I Hydro Electric Project -location)
What's the NEWS

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister has approved the investment of Rs.1810.56 crore for 210 MW Luhri Stage-I Hydro Electric Project located on river Satluj which is situated in Shimla &Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh. This project will generate 758.20 million units of electricity annually.

Luhri Stage-I Hydro Electric Project

• This project is being implemented by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) on Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (BOOM) basis with active support from Government of India and State Government.
• Government of India is also supporting this project by providing grants of Rs. 66.19 crore for enabling infrastructure which has helped in reducing in power tariff.
• The Luhri Stage-I Hydro Electric Project shall be commissioned within a span of 62 months.
• The power generated from the Project will help in providing Grid stability and will improve the power supply position.
• SJVN has forayed into the fields of Renewable Energy, Power Transmission and Thermal power generation. It has envisaged Internal Growth Targets of total installed capacity from all sources of 5000 MW by 2023, 12000 MW by 2030 and 25000 MW by year 2040.

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