International Organisations
Build Back Better World (B3W)

Relevance In - Prelims (about B3W initiative and chin's BRI Project) + Mains (GS II international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• The G7 has unveiled a global infrastructure plan called "Build Back Better World (B3W) to counter Beijing's multi-trillion-dollar Belt And Road Initiative(BRI).

Know! about B3W

• "Build Back Better World" (B3W), will be a values-driven, high-standard, and transparent infrastructure partnership led by major democracies and intended to facilitate the building of infrastructure in poorer nations
• The adoption of the US-inspired "Build Back Better World" (B3W) project came after President Joe Biden and leaders met to address "strategic competition with China and commit to concrete actions to help meet the tremendous infrastructure need in low- and middle-income countries
• B3W initiative, will provide a transparent infrastructure partnership to help narrow the $40 trillion needed by developing nations by 2035
• "B3W will collectively catalyze hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure investment for low- and middle-income countries in the coming years," said the White House.
• It further said, the G-7 is more transparent with respect to its funding as opposed to China. The B3W project plans to put more emphasis on the environment and climate, labor safeguards, transparency, and anti-corruption.
• B3W investments would be led by "a responsible and market-driven private sector, paired with high standards and transparency in public funding".

47^th G7 summit -highlights

• The 47^th G7 summit is currently being held in Cornwall in the UK. Participants include the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US and representatives from the European Union.
• The new infrastructure plan is recognition of the growing challenge mounted by Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, a mammoth infrastructure project, with the most ambitious being the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), linking China's Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea.
• More than 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure.
• Given that many BRI projects have led to debt restructurings, it has faced strong domestic opposition in various countries. Chinese has faced accusations of operating as predatory lender.

Defence
Policy on archiving, declassification & compilation of war/operations histories

Relevance In - Prelims ( about policy on archiving, declassification and compilation/publication of war/operations histories)
What's the NEWS

• Defence Minister has approved the policy on archiving, declassification and compilation/publication of war/operations histories by the Ministry of Defence.

Know! about the Policy

• The policy envisages that each organisation under the Ministry of Defence such as Services, Integrated Defence Staff, Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard, will transfer the records, including war diaries, letters of proceedings & operational record books, etc., to the History Division of Ministry of Defence (MoD) for proper upkeep, archival and writing the histories.
• The responsibility for declassification of records rests with the respective organisations as specified in the Public Record Act 1993 and Public Record Rules 1997, as amended from time to time. According to the policy, records should ordinarily be declassified in 25 years.
• Records older than 25 years should be appraised by archival experts and transferred to the National Archives of India once the war/operations histories have been compiled.
• The History Division will be responsible for coordination with various departments while compiling, seeking approval and publishing of war/operations histories.
• The policy mandates constitution of a committee headed by Joint Secretary, MoD and comprising of representatives of the Services, MEA, MHA and other organisations and prominent military historians (if required), for compilation of war/ operations histories.
• The policy also set clear timelines with regard to compilation and publication of war/operations histories.
• The above-mentioned Committee should be formed within two years of completion of war/operations. Thereafter, collection of records and compilation should be completed in three years and disseminated to all concerned.
• The requirement of having war histories written with clear cut policy on declassification of war records was recommended by Kargil Review Committee headed by K Subrahmanyam as well as N N Vohra Committee in order to analyse lessons learnt and prevent future mistakes.
• Post Kargil War, GoM recommendations on national security also mentioned the desirability of authoritative war history.
• Timely publication of war histories would give people accurate account of the events, provide authentic material for academic research and counter the unfounded rumours.

Science & Technology
Electrocoagulation and Electroflotation Enhanced Membrane Module (ECEFMM) techniques
Relevance In - Prelims ( about (ECEFMM) techniques for waste water treatment)
What's the NEWS

• The technology developed at the Chemical Engineering Department in Jadavpur University, Kolkata, uses a combination of Electrocoagulation and Electroflotation Enhanced Membrane Module (ECEFMM) techniques for waste water treatment.

Know! about ECEFMM techniques

• Electrocoagulation is a waste water treatment technique that uses electrical charge for changing the particle surface charge, allowing suspended matter to form aggregates, and electroflotation is the separation of suspended particles from water using hydrogen and oxygen bubbles generated by passing electricity through water.
• In the developed module, electrocoagulation and electrofloatation are adjoined with membrane in a single indigenous setup.
• The turbulence created because of the hydrogen bubbling through the feed medium or the waste-water resists the deposition of oil over the membrane.
• The synergistic effect of hydrogen bubbling and rotation of the membrane module creates substantial turbulence within the solution and on membrane surface.
• On application of electric field during membrane separation, membrane fouling is substantially reduced, and membrane longevity is also enhanced by restricting the membrane ageing for prolonged time period.
• Thus, it requires less frequent membrane replacement, thereby reducing the maintenance costs to a great extent.
• This technology developed with support from the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies programme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India requires minimal manpower and does not need high-end technical adequacy for its operation, thus reducing the operational expense to a large extent.
• The recovered spent oil after oily wastewater treatment can be further used as an industrial burner oil, furnace oil, mould oil, hydraulic oil and so on.

Science & Technology
Colchicine

Relevance In - Prelims ( about Colchicine)
What's the NEWS

• Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), and Laxai Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad, have been given the regulatory approval by DCGI to undertake a two-arm phase-II clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of the drug Colchicine in improvement of clinical outcomes during the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
• The partner CSIR institutes in this important clinical trial are the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad and CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu.

Know! about Colchicine

• Colchicine in combination with standard of care will be an important therapeutic intervention for Covid patients with cardiac co-morbidities and also for reducing proinflammatory cytokines, leading to faster recovery.
• A number of global studies have confirmed now that cardiac complications during course of COVID-19 infections and post-covid syndrome are leading to loss of many lives, and it is essential to look for new or repurposed drugs.
• India is one of the largest producers of this key drug and if successful, it will be made available to the patients at an affordable cost.
• This drug can be made available to large population of India based on the results of this trial and regulatory approval.
• Recent clinical studies have reported in leading medical journals about colchicine being associated with a significant reduction in the rates of recurrent pericarditis, post-pericardiotomy syndrome, and peri-procedural atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery and atrial fibrillation ablation.

Social Justice
World Day Against Child Labour

Relevance In - Prelims ( about World Day Against Child Labour + about Pencil Portal) + Mains ( GS II Social Issues and Social Justice )
What's the. NEWS

• Union Minister of Women and Child Development has Appealed to Citizens to report the instances of Child Labour on PENCIL Portal or by calling on Childline-1098.
• On the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour the Minister stated that Every child has a right to education and a happy childhood.
• On World Day Against Child Labour the Minister appealed to every citizen to report instances of child labour on PENCIL Portal https://pencil.gov.in/or call on Childline-1098.
• The World Day Against Child Labour is observed on 12thJune every year around the world.
• The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.

Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCiL) portal

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched Platform has launched the Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCiL) portal to rehabilitate child labour in the country.
• The PENCiL portal is an online platform that aims at engaging the Central Government, State Government, District, civil society and the public in eradicating child labour to achieve the target of child labour free society
• This portal enables the citizens to raise a complaint and report incidents of child labour through effective tracking and monitoring mechanism. Let us look in detail about the PENCiL Portal in this article.
• The main objective of PENCiL Portal is to build a strong authentication mechanism for implementing and monitoring both the enforcement of the legislative provisions and effective implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme
• It aims to facilitate convergence and provides better coordination between the Governments departments and the general public.

Prelims Factoids
Devika River National Project
Relevance In - Prelims ( about Devika river rejuvenation project + National River Conservation Plan
What's the NEWS

• Union minister Jitendra Singh reviewed the ongoing work on the Devika river rejuvenation project here in Jammu and Kashmir
• The work on the Rs 186.74-crore project under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) started in March 2019 and was scheduled to be completed in two years

Devika Rejuvenation Project

• The Devika project, which was formally launched in early 2019.
• Under the Centrally funded Rs.190 crore National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) Devika project, bathing "ghats" (places) on the banks of the Devika River will be developed, encroachments will be removed, natural water bodies will be restored and catchment areas will be developed along with cremation ground.
• The project includes the construction of three sewage treatment plants of 8 MLD, 4 MLD and 1.6 MLD capacity, sewerage network of 129.27 km, development of two cremation ghats, protection fencing and landscaping, small hydropower plants and three solar power plants.
• On completion of the project, the rivers will see reduction in pollution and improvement in water quality.
• The Devika river also holds great religious significance as it is revered by Hindus as the sister of river Ganga.

Know! more about Devika River

• Devika river originates from the hilly Suddha Mahadev temple in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir and flows down towards western Punjab (Pakistan) where it merges with the Ravi river.
• The river holds religious significance as it is revered by Hindus as the sister of river Ganga.

National River Conservation Plan

• NRCP is a centrally funded scheme launched in 1995 aimed at preventing the pollution of rivers.
• Programs for river conservation are being implemented under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and NGRBA (National Ganga River Basin Authority).

Know! about the inception of NRCP

• The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase - I which was taken up as 100% centrally funded scheme and aimed at preventing the pollution of river Ganga and to improve its water quality. The plan was started in June 1985.
• The program of river cleaning was extended to other major rivers of the country under two separate schemes of GAP Phase - II and the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP).
• Yamuna and Gomati Action Plans were approved in April 1993 under Ganga Action Plan Phase - II.
• Programs of other major rivers were subsequently approved in 1995 under NRCP.
• After launching of NRCP in 1995, it was decided to merge GAP II with NRCP.

National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)

• A new and more comprehensive vision for clean-up and conservation of the Ganga, led to the establishment of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in 2009.
• The NGRBA has been given a mandate to develop a multi-sector program for ensuring pollution abatement in the Ganga.
• The NGRBA has been established as a collaborative institution of central and state governments.
• It is chaired by the Prime Minister, with membership comprising of key GoI ministers and the Chief Ministers of the five basin states.
• NGRBA also has nine members representing civil society. Each of the five states has also constituted a State Ganga River Conservation Authority (SGRCA), to coordinate and implement the NGRBA Program at the state level.
• The central Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been designated as the nodal agency for the program.
• The NGRBA is constituted under the Environment Protection Act of 1986, which gives it strong regulatory and enforcement powers.

Prelims Factoids
PROJECT O2 for INDIA

Relevance In - Prelims ( about ‘Project O2 for India')
What's the NEWS

• The second wave of COVID-19 saw an increase in demand for medical oxygen in different parts of the country.
• While meeting the current demand, manufacturing medical oxygen also became important to ensure we have adequate supply in the future.

Know! all about the Project

• ‘Project O₂ for India' of the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India, is to enable stakeholders working to augment the country's ability to meet this rise in demand for medical oxygen.
• Under Project O₂ for India, a National Consortium of Oxygen is enabling the national level supply of critical raw materials such as zeolites, setting up of small oxygen plants, manufacturing compressors, final products, i.e. oxygen plants, concentrators, and ventilators.
• The consortium is not only looking forward to providing immediate to short-term relief but also working to strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem for long-term preparedness.
• A committee of experts has been evaluating critical equipment such as oxygen plants, concentrators, and ventilators, from a pool of India-based manufacturers, start-ups, and MSMEs (in partnership with FICCI,MESA, etc.).
• The manufacturing and supply consortium also includes Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL); Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE); C-CAMP, Bengaluru; IIT Kanpur (IIT-K); IIT Delhi (IIT-D);IIT Bombay (IIT-B), IIT Hyderabad (IIT-H); IISER, Bhopal;Venture Center, Pune; and more than 40 MSMEs.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS