January 2023 Weekly Current Affair - 1 with solutions - UPSC Attempt Free

• VVP was announced in the Union Budget FY 2022-23.
• VVP is aiming at enhancing infrastructure in villages along India’s border with China, in states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Activities under the VVP include building infrastructure such as housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, providing decentralised renewable energy, direct-to-home access for Doordarshan and educational channels, and support for livelihood generation.

The Niger River is the main river of West Africa, extending about 4,180 km (2,600 mi). Its drainage basin is 2,117,700 km² in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria, discharging through a massive delta, known as the Niger Delta, into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded by the Nile and the Congo River. Its main tributary is the Benue River.

• Countries considered as safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list.
• While the words ‘grey’ and ‘black’ list do not exist in the official FATF lexicon, they designate countries that need to work on complying with FATF directives and those who are non-compliant, respectively.
• At the end of every plenary meeting, FATF comes out with two lists of countries.
• The grey countries are designated as “jurisdictions under increased monitoring”, working with the FATF to counter criminal financial activities. For such countries, the watchdog does not tell other members to carry out due-diligence measures vis-a-vis the listed country but does tell them to consider the risks such countries possess.

• The Election Commission of India has developed a prototype for a Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine which would enable remote voting by migrant voters.
• Remote Electronic Voting Machines (RVM) can handle multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth.
• Among the laws and rules which would need an amendment to implement remote voting is The Representation of People’s Act of 1950 and 1951, The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. 

Indian Patents Act, 1970:

• It replaced the Indian Patents and Designs Act 1911.
• The Act was amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005, wherein product patent was extended to all fields of technology including food, drugs, chemicals and microorganisms.
• After the amendment, the provisions relating to Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMRs) have been repealed, and a provision for enabling grant of compulsory license has been introduced.
• The provisions relating to pre-grant and post-grant opposition have also been introduced.

Article 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act prevents the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance from being patented as an invention unless it enhances the efficacy of the substance repetitively. This prevents what is known as “evergreening” of patents.
In respect of each of the main areas of intellectual property covered by the TRIPS Agreement, the Agreement sets out the minimum standards of protection to be provided by each Member. 

• Ethylene glycol is a colourless and odourless alcoholic compound that can be fatal if consumed in high concentrations.
• The sweet-tasting ethylene glycol is a syrupy or viscous liquid at room temperature
• It is mostly used as an automotive antifreeze and as a raw material for manufacturing polyester fibres. It is also found in several products such as hydraulic brake fluids, stamp pad inks, ballpoint pens, solvents, paints, cosmetics and plastics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  

• Tamil Nadu government launched Nilgiri Tahr conservation project, an initiative for the conservation of the Nilgiri Tahr, the State animal.
• Under the Nilgiri Tahr project, the government plans to develop a better understanding of the Nilgiri Tahr population through surveys and radio telemetry studies; reintroduce the Tahrs to their historical habitat; address proximate threats; and increase public awareness of the species. The project is to be implemented from 2022 to 2027.
• According to the order, there are multiple references to the Nilgiri Tahr in Tamil Sangam literature dating back to 2,000 years. The late Mesolithic (10,000-4,000 BC) paintings highlight the significance of the Tahr in folklore, culture and life. It was designated as the State animal in recognition of its ecological and cultural significance.
• The animal is endemic to the Western Ghats. It is protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972.
• It is an endangered species and the sole Caprinae species found in the tropical mountains of southern India. The animal inhabits meadows with steep cliffs at elevations between 300 metres and 2,600 metre above sea level. It is estimated that there are 3,122 Nilgiri Tahrs in the wild.

The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper, and Don. 
The Colorado River is a major river in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. 

• The Non-nuclear aggression agreement is a bilateral and nuclear weapons control treaty between the two South Asian states, India and Pakistan, on the reduction (or limitation) of nuclear arms and pledged not to attack or assist foreign powers to attack on each’s nuclear installations and facilities.
• The treaty barred its signatories to carry out a surprise attack (or to assist foreign power to attack) on each other’s nuclear installations and facilities. The treaty provides a confidence-building security measure environment and refrained each party from “undertaking, encouraging, or participating in directly or indirectly, any action aimed at causing destruction or damage to any nuclear installation or facility in each country”. Starting in January 1992, India and Pakistan have annually exchanged lists of their respective military and civilian nuclear-related facilities.

• The principle of collective responsibility is the basic principle of parliamentary form of government. The essence of parliamentary system of government is its responsibility to the legislature.
• Under the principle of Collective responsibility, individual members of the government are held accountable for the actions and decisions of government as a whole.
• The principle of collective responsibility is present under article 75(3) of the Indian Constitution, which deals with the special provisions of this principle. Article 75(3) provides that the council of ministers shall be put together accountable to the Lok Sabha.

FAO is the custodian UN agency for 21 SDG indicators and is a contributing agency for a further 5. In this capacity, FAO is supporting countries’ efforts in monitoring the 2030 Agenda.

• Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and one of the largest religious monuments in the world.
• It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century.
• It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.
• The temple is constructed in the Dravidian style and the sculptures depict episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

• The issue of the old pension scheme (OPS) versus the new pension scheme (NPS) has dominated news since a long time now. Some state governments recently announced their plan to implement the old pension scheme (OPS) by replacing the National Pension Scheme (NPS).
• National Pension System (NPS) is a pension cum investment scheme launched by Government of India to provide old age security to Citizens of India. It brings an attractive long-term saving avenue to effectively plan your retirement through safe and regulated market-based return. The Scheme is regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). National Pension System Trust (NPST) established by PFRDA is the registered owner of all assets under NPS.
• Any individual citizen of India (both resident and Non-resident) in the age group of 18-70 years (as on the date of submission of NPS application) can join NPS.

• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for several capital acquisition projects of the Indian defence forces. This includes the procurement of next-generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy.
• A Corvette is the smallest class of naval ships and it falls below the warship class of a frigate. These are highly agile ships and are categorised as missile boats, anti-submarine ships, coastal patrol crafts and fast attack naval vessels. The word corvette itself is derived from French and Dutch origin. Corvettes date back to the 18th and the 19th century when they were extensively used in the naval warfare duels that were fought at high seas.
• The Indian Navy at present has the Kamorta Class Corvettes, which are also known as Project 28. These ships have an anti-submarine role and are manufactured at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata. The four Kamorta Class Corvettes that the Indian Navy possesses are named INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan and INS Kavaratti.

It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation.

• It was established in August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration)by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Its chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
• Members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Operation Jackpot was a codename for three operations undertaken by Bengali Mukti Bahini in former East Pakistan against the Federation of Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

• Red Sanders is a flora-species that is endemic to a distinct tract of forests in Eastern Ghats region of Andhra Pradesh and fall under ‘endangered list’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
• Red Sanders is also listed in Appendix-II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• Its rich hue and therapeutic properties are responsible for its high demand across Asia, particularly China, for use in cosmetics, medicinal products and high-end furniture/woodcraft.
• The export of Red Sanders from India is prohibited as per the Foreign Trade Policy.

• Cooperatives are organisations formed at the grassroots level by people to harness the power of collective bargaining in the marketplace. This can mean different kinds of arrangements, such as using a common resource or sharing capital, to derive a common gain that would otherwise be difficult for an individual producer to get.
• In agriculture, cooperative dairies, sugar mills, spinning mills etc. are formed with the pooled resources of farmers who wish to process their produce.
• Cooperatives are a state subject under the Constitution, meaning they come under the state governments’ jurisdiction, but there are many societies whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state.
• Cooperatives of more than one state are registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act (MSCS) of 2002. Their board of directors has representation from all states they operate in. Administrative and financial control of these societies is with the central registrar, with the law making it clear that no state government official can wield any control over them.
• Through the 97th constitutional amendment, Part IXB (The Co-Operative Societies) was inserted into the Constitution. The right to form cooperative societies was included as Right to Freedom under article 19 (1), Part-3 of the Constitution.
• In addition to this, Article 43-B (Promotion of Cooperation societies) was also inserted as one of the Directive Principles of State Policy under Part 4 of the Constitution of India.

• A major international environmental conference has just concluded in Montreal, Canada, promising to take urgent action to protect and restore the world’s biodiversity.
• Signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a 1993 agreement, meet every two years — not annually like the climate meetings — to work on a global plan to halt biodiversity loss and restore natural ecosystems. The Montreal meeting was the 15th edition of this conference, hence the name COP15 — or the 15th Conference of the Parties to the CBD.
• The Montreal Conference has delivered a new agreement called the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which contains four goals and 23 targets that need to be achieved by 2030. The GBF is being compared to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change that is guiding global climate action.
• The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the CBD were both outcomes of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit — as was the third member of the family, the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), which deals specifically with the issue of land degradation.

• A recent article says the endangered Asian Elephant has lost most of its “optimal” habitat: flat terrain that is easily negotiable.
• The WG [Western Ghats] is an escarpment running north–south along the western coastline of India, interrupted towards the south by the low-lying Palghat Gap that separates the northern from the southern elephant populations. This gap has been transformed by agriculture for several centuries, is 3 km at its narrowest, and 40 km at its widest.
• The Palghat Gap is a break in the Ghats that is “relatively flat and consequently easily negotiable by elephants”. However, human settlements and crop cultivation have hindered the movement of the elephants, keeping them confined to the hilly areas, considered sub-optimal habitats.
• Over thousands of years, elephants roamed freely across South-East Asia, all the way to China, but “anthropogenic pressures” have restricted them to mountain chains. Ironically, most elephant reserves in India are found in mountainous habitats.

• HSN stands for Harmonised System of Nomenclature code. It is mandatory for both B2B and B2C tax invoices on the supplies of Goods and Services.
• This was introduced in 1988 by the World Customs Organization (WCO). This was introduced for a systematic classification of goods both national and international. This is a 6-digit code that classifies various products. India has been using HSN codes since 1986 to classify commodities for Customs and Central Excise.
• HSN codes apply to Customs and GST. The codes prescribed in the Customs tariff are used for the GST purposes too. HSN is used all over the world. There are different HSN codes for various commodities.
• HSN codes remove the need to upload details about the goods which makes filing of GST returns easier.
• HSN code is required for anything from animal products, mineral products, plastic articles to footwear, arms and ammunition and machinery.

• The Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) will be establishing India’s largest liquid waste treatment plant. The plant will adopt the phytorid technology for its operation.
• Phytorid technology involves the treatment of wastewater under a sedimentation process to eliminate solid matter after which, the water is made to flow in a serpentine motion into a sub-surface chamber containing multiple barricades.
• Further, saplings are planted atop a porous medium containing gravel and stones which helps to eliminate the organic matter.

• A recent study has found that termites decompose wood at a much higher rate in warmer conditions. For every 10 degrees Celsius increase in temperature, their decomposition activity goes up by almost seven times, it added.
• The study also revealed that as the Earth gets warmer, termites will rapidly spread across the world. This could, in turn, lead to a further rise in global temperatures, because these small insects while consuming deadwood release carbon into the atmosphere.
• The researcher also observed that these wood-eating termites were able to survive in warm and dry conditions, unlike microbes that need water to grow. Therefore, with “tropicalization (i.e., warming shifts to tropical climates), termite wood decay will likely increase as termites access more of Earth’s surface.”
• Although these insects are already found in colder areas, they play a limited role in the decaying of wood in comparison to fungi and bacteria.
• As a tree grows older, certain parts of it die and become dead wood, which is eventually decomposed by microbes and insects like termites. The decaying of dead wood results in the release of not only a variety of nutrients but also carbon.
• According to the study, termites release carbon from dead wood in the form of carbon dioxide and methane, two of the most important greenhouse gases. So, an increase in termite population and their faster decomposing activity can cause more greenhouse emissions, resulting in a hotter planet.

• The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act) regulates the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites of national importance. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Culture, functions under this Act. The Act protects monuments and sites that are more than 100 years old, including temples, cemeteries, inscriptions, tombs, forts, palaces, step-wells, rock-cut caves, and even objects like cannons and mile pillars that may be of historical significance.
• According to the provisions of AMASR Act, ASI officials are supposed to regularly inspect the monuments to assess their condition. Apart from various conservation and preservation operations, ASI officials can also file police complaints, issue show cause notices for the removal of encroachments, and communicate to the local administration the need for demolition of encroachments.

• United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. UNFPA is formally named the United Nations Population Fund. The organization was created in 1969, the same year the United Nations General Assembly declared “parents have the exclusive right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.”
• UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services – including voluntary family planning, maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education.