Current Affairs 14 October 2022
| Content Coal India Ltd (CIL) ISRO The Interpol · Snow leopard Main Exam Enrichment |
| General Studies 2 |
Coal India Ltd (CIL)
Coal India Ltd (CIL) to set up 1190 MW Solar Power Project in Rajasthan
Coal India Limited (CIL) the state-owned coal mining corporate came into being in November 1975. With a modest production of 79 Million Tonnes (MTs) at the year of its inception CIL, today is the single largest coal producer in the world and one of the largest corporate employer with manpower of 248550 (as on 1st April, 2022)
CIL is a Maharatna company – a privileged status conferred by the Government of India to select state-owned enterprises in order to empower them to expand their operations and emerge as global giants. The select club has only ten members out of more than three hundred Central Public Sector Enterprises in the country.
CIL has ten fully owned Indian subsidiary companies, Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL), CIL Navi Karniya Urja Limited for development of non-conventional/clean & renewable energy and CIL Solar PV Limited for development of solar photovoltaic module.
Unmatched Strategic Relevance:
Contributes to 85% of total domestic coal production and 75% of total coal based generation. CIL contributes to 55% of total power generation and meets 40 % of the primary commercial energy requirements of the country.
| General studies 3 |
Science and Technology section
ISRO proposes dedicated satellites for supporting agricultural sector
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed dedicated satellites for supporting the country’s agriculture sector, the Chairman of the space agency S. Somanath said
Mr. Somanath said a minimum of two satellites will be needed to guarantee adequate coverage of the entire agricultural area of the country. They will aid a gamut of farm related activities related to crop forecasting, pesticide application, irrigation, soil data, and generation of critical data related to drought.
The satellites will be owned by the Department of Agriculture and not by ISRO.
Current deficiencies include a discontinuity in earth observation missions, low utilisation of available remote sensing data, technology gaps and absence of a streamlined mechanism for data processing and dissemination as required by the industry
Mr. Somanath suggested that an ‘Earth Observation Council’ be created for addressing the current deficiencies in earth observation capabilities and data utilisation. Such a council can tackle shortcomings in this area in a centralised manner.
Athlete Biological Passport (ABP)
A powerful anti-doping tool that monitors selected biological variables over time to reveal the effects of doping rather than attempting to detect the doping substance or method itself. It works against doping through enhanced target testing and analysis, investigations, deterrence, and as indirect evidence for use of prohibited methods or substances.
Internal Security
The Interpol-International Criminal Police Organisation
Context-The Interpol General Assembly meeting in Delhi
What is the Interpol?
Set up in 1923, the Interpol is a secure information sharing platform that facilitates criminal investigation of police forces across the globe through collection and dissemination of information received from various police forces.
How is the Interpol organised?
The head of Interpol is the President who is elected by the General Assembly. He comes from one of the member nations and holds office for four years.
All contact of a country’s law enforcement agency with Interpol is through the highest investigating body of the land. The CBI assumes this role in India
What is the Red notice? It is a structured communication issued by the Interpol to all membernations notifying the name(s) of persons against whom an arrest warrant is pending in a particular country.
Environment
Snow leopard
Context-Wildlife officials in Arunachal Pradesh await results of a survey to ascertain the presenceof the elusive snow leopard in the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve
The snow leopard has never been spotted nor recorded in the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Namdapha is the known home of three other large cats — tiger, leopard and clouded leopard. The belief that the national park is also the habitat of the snow leopard is based on the claim of a hunter from the Lisu ethnic community that he possessed the skin of the carnivore
Snow Leopard capital of the world: Hemis, Ladakh.
The snow leopard is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s Red List of the Threatened Species.
It is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) Programme
The GSLEP is a high-level inter-governmental alliance of all the 12 snow leopard range countries.
The snow leopard countries namely, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
It majorly focuses on the need for awareness and understanding of the value of Snow Leopard for the ecosystem.
Main Exam Enrichment
The message of “Har Din Har Ghar Ayurveda” should be part of every Indian’s life: Shri Sarbananda Sonowal
Addressing the gathering, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ayush, said, “The message of “Har Din Har Ghar Ayurveda” should be part of every Indian’s life. He emphasised that, only if nature is persevered, we humans can survive. We need to take this seriously; this should be the biggest duty of human society towards nature. Traditional medicine is science in itself. Let us understand the power, wealth and possibilities inherent in nature and move forward.”