Economy
DIPAM signs an agreement with World Bank for advisory services on Asset Monetization

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the agreement on asset monetisation + about DIPAM) + Mains ( GS III Economic developments)
What's the NEWS

• Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) which mainly handles government's disinvestment programme has signed an agreement with World Bank
• Under the agreement, World Bank is to provide advisory services to DIPAM for asset monetization.

Know! about DIPAM

• DIPAM is mandated with facilitating monetization of non-core assets of government CPSEs under strategic disinvestment or closure and enemy property of value of INR 100 crores and above.
• DIPAM has a framework for monetizing non-core assets.

Know! about the agreement

• The World Bank advisory project, approved by the Finance Minister, is aimed at analyzing public asset monetization in India and benchmarking its institutional and business models against international best practices as well as supporting development of operational guidelines and capacity building for their implementation.
• It is expected that this project would facilitate and accelerate the non-core asset monetization process and help unlock the value of these un-used/ marginally used assets which has the potential to substantially augment financial resources for further investments and growth.
• The amount raised through the sale of non-core assets would form part of the disinvestment proceeds.
• The government has set a target of raising Rs 2.10 lakh crore from disinvestment in the current financial year. Of this, Rs 1.20 lakh crore is to be raised through CPSE disinvestment.

Know! all about Disinvestment and DIPAM

• The Department of Disinvestment was set up as a separate Department on 10th December, 1999 and was later renamed as Ministry of Disinvestment form 6th September, 2001.
• From 27th May, 2004, the Department of Disinvestment is one of the Departments under the Ministry of Finance.
• The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) from 14th April, 2016.

Objective of DIPAM

• Promote people's ownership of Central Public Sector Enterprises to share in their prosperity through disinvestment.
• Efficient management of public investment in CPSEs for accelerating economic development and augmenting Government's resources for higher expenditure
• List CPSEs on stock exchanges to promote people's ownership through public participation and improving efficiencies of CPSEs through accountability to its shareholders.
• To bring in operational efficiencies in CPSEs through strategic investment, ensuring their greater contribution to economy.
• Adopt a professional approach for financial management of CPSEs in the national interest and investment aimed at expanding public participation in ownership of CPSEs.
• Decisions on the recommendations of Administrative Ministries, NITI Aayog, etc. for disinvestment including strategic disinvestment.

Defence
Phase 2 of Exercise MALABAR 2020 in Western Indian Ocean

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the exercise MALABAR 2020)
What's the NEWS

• The second phase of Exercise Malabar 2020 will be conducted in the Northern Arabian Sea from 17 to 20 November 2020.
• The Phase 1 of Exercise Malabar 2020, was conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 03 to 06 November 2020,
• The second phase will involve coordinated operations of increasing complexity between the navies of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

Second phase of Exercise Malabar 2020

• Phase 2 of Exercise MALABAR 2020 will witness joint operations, centered around the Vikramaditya Carrier Battle Group of the Indian Navy and Nimitz Carrier Strike Group of the US Navy.
• These exercises include cross-deck flying operations and advanced air defence exercises by MIG 29K fighters of VikramadityaandF-18 fighters and E2C Hawkeye from Nimitz.
• US Navy's Strike Carrier Nimitz will be accompanied by cruiser Princeton and destroyer Sterett in addition to P8A maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
• The Royal Australian Navy will be represented by frigate Ballarat along with its integral helicopter. JMSDF will also participate in the exercise.

Know! about the Malabar Exercise

• The Malabar series of exercises, which began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992, has seen increasing scope and complexity over the years.
• The 24th edition of MALABAR, which is being presently undertaken, highlights enhanced convergence of views amongst the four vibrant democracies on maritime issues, and showcases their commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order.

Health
Vaccine Derived Polio Virus

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Emergency Use Listing + Type 2 vaccine derived polio)
What's the NEWS

• The World Health Organisation has added a vaccine to its Emergency Use Listings.
• The vaccine added is the nCOP2 developed by Bio Farma of Indonesia.
• The vaccine has been developed to treat derived polio virus strain.

Know! about Emergency Use Listing

• WHO publishes Emergency Use Listing procedure and roadmap to make new medical products more readily available during health emergencies
• WHO published the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure to streamline the process by which new or unlicensed products can be used during public health emergencies.
• The EUL replaces the Emergency Use Assessment and Listing (EUAL) procedure, which was used during the West Africa Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016.
• The EUL concerns three product streams (vaccines, therapeutics and in vitro diagnostics), each of which has specific requirements for products to be eligible for evaluation under the EUL procedure.

Know! about Type 2 vaccine derived polio

• Novel oral polio vaccine type 2 is expected to become a key tool in addressing type-2 vaccine derived polio and could significantly impact on progress in polio eradication.
• Type 2 vaccine derived polio is currently affecting a number of countries, notably in Africa but also in some parts of the Middle East and Asia (including Somalia, Pakistan and the Philippines).
• Over the past five years, a total of 423 cases have been detected in 19 countries.
• It occurs when routine immunization coverage is low or when supplementary immunization activities are poorly conducted and not enough children are reached with the vaccine.
• As a result, a population is left under-immunized and the vaccine virus is able to circulate among unvaccinated children and undergo genetic changes.
• Hence, the main risk factor is low vaccination coverage. A fully immunized population is protected against both vaccine-derived and wild polioviruses.
• The best measure against vaccine-derived poliovirus is to ensure high-quality outbreak response. If a population is fully immunized against polio, it will be protected against both wild polio and vaccine-derived polio.
• One of the key actions to address the current vaccine-derived polio emergency is to roll out the novel OPV type 2 (nOPV2).
• The vaccine is currently in Phase II clinical trials. With the streamlining of the WHO emergency use procedure and the roadmap published today, access to the vaccine could become possible as early as the second quarter of 2020.

Infrastructure Development
Gujarat Maritime cluster ports

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Gujarat Maritime cluster ports ) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• Many facilities are getting ready in Gujrat like Gujarat Maritime Cluster, Gujarat Maritime University and country's first CNG Terminal at Bhavnagar.
• Gujarat Maritime cluster ports to be built in GIFT city would be a dedicated system to address Ports to sea based Logistics.
• These clusters would help in strengthening the cooperation between the government, industry and educational institutions and will also help in value addition in this sector.
• India's first Chemical Terminal was established in Dahej, India's first LNG terminal was established, now India's first CNG terminal is going to be installed at Bhavnagar Port.

Know! all about Gujarat Maritime cluster ports

• A maritime cluster is an agglomeration of firms, institutions, and businesses in the maritime sector that are geographically located close to each other.
• The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), a nodal agency of the Gujarat government, has been trying to develop such a cluster at GIFT City in the state capital Gandhinagar through its subsidiary Gujarat Ports Infrastructure and Development Company Ltd (GPIDCL).
• This cluster will initially consist of Gujarat-based shipping lines, freight forwarders, shipping agents, bunker suppliers, stevedores, and ship brokers with chartering requirements.
• In the second stage, the cluster would attempt to bring Indian ship owners, ship operators, Indian charterers and technical consultants scattered in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi to Gujarat. Thereafter it would target to attract global players in the maritime sphere.
• This project will try to bring back businesses that have migrated over the years to foreign locations due to the absence of the right ecosystem in the country.

Defence
Navy's Scorpene class submarine Vagir with superior stealth features launched

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Scorpene class submarine Vagir + about Project 17)
What's the NEWS

• Indian Navy's fifth Scorpene class submarine Vagir, having superior stealth features like the advanced acoustic absorption technique, was launched at the Mazagon Dock in south Mumbai.
• Vagir is part of the six Kalvari-class submarines being built in India.
• The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built as part of Indian Navy's Project-75.

Know! more about these submarines

• These submarines can undertake missions like anti- surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance
• Vagir is named after the Sand Fish, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
• The first Vagir, a submarine from Russia, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 3, 1973, and was decommissioned on June 7, 2001 after almost three decades of service to the nation.
• The state-of-art technology used in the submarine has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic absorption techniques, low radiated noise levels, and hydro- dynamically optimised shape and also the ability to attack the enemy using precision guided weapons
• The attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on surface

Know! about Project-75

• Two submarines of the ongoing Project-75 Scorpene programme at MDL, Kalvari and Khanderi, have been commissioned into the Indian Navy.
• The third submarine, Karanj, is in the last phase of rigorous sea trials.
• The fourth Scorpene, Vela, has commenced her sea trials, whilst the sixth and last submarine, Vagsheer, is being readied for boot together.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS