01.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

James Webb Space Telescope

• The James Webb Space Telescope is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
• The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror (about 6 times larger in area than the Hubble Space Telescope).
• JWST will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
• The James Webb Space Telescope will not be in orbit around the Earth, like the Hubble Space Telescope is - it will actually orbit the Sun, 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2.
• A Lagrange point is a location in space where the combined gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as Earth and the sun or Earth and the moon, equal the centrifugal force felt by a much smaller third body. ... They are also called Lagrangian points and libration points.
• This space-based observatory is named after James E. Webb (1906- 1992), NASA's second administrator.

Foodstuff and Water Sources

• The global market for foodstuffs is depleting water sources in many parts of the world quicker than they can naturally be refilled.
• The complex trade is increasing pressure on non-renewable groundwater, mainly used for irrigating crops such as rice, wheat and cotton.
• Pakistan, the US and India are the countries exporting the most food grown with unsustainable water.
• Around 43% of the water used to irrigate crops around the world comes from underground aquifers, as opposed to rivers and lakes. Many of these sources are being used up quicker than they can be refilled from rainfall.
• The vast majority of the world's populations live in countries that source nearly all their staple crop imports from nations who deplete significant amounts of groundwater to irrigate these foodstuffs.
• The researchers found that some 11% of the non-renewable groundwater used for irrigation is embedded in the the global food trade. Two-thirds of this are accounted for by Pakistan, the US and India.

South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)

• The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, set up in 2001, brings together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar (Joined February 2017), Nepal and Sri Lanka (No Pakistan yet) in a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade among member countries, and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
• Since 2001, SASEC countries have implemented 46 regional projects worth more than $9 billion in the energy, economic corridor development, transport, trade facilitation, and information and communications technology sectors.
• The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves as the Secretariat for the SASEC member countries, and is the lead financier of the SASEC programme.
• Considering the progress made by India in the above areas, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been partnering with Indian Customs for sharing best practices and technical expertise with other countries under the SASEC umbrella. This form of South-South collaboration will support harmonizing the systems and processes within the sub-region thereby creating a conducive environment for intra-regional trade in SASEC to flourish.

World Customs Organisation

• The WCO, established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations.
• The CCC was intially a Customs Committee set up by a group of a few European Governments based on the principles of the GATT. The name ‘WCO’ was adopted in 1994 to reflect its status as a truly global intergovernmental institution.
• Today, the WCO represents 181 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade. As the global centre of Customs expertise, the WCO is the only international organization with competence in Customs matters and can rightly call itself the voice of the international Customs community.
• The ‘Revised Kyoto Convention’ (RKC) is the legal instrument of the WCO that aims to simplify and harmonize international customs procedures globally, in order to achieve faster, more predictable and efficient customs clearances.

GARV and SAMVAD

• GARV: Data in respect of about 6 lakh villages, with more than 15 lakh habitations having 17 crore people, has been mapped for tracking progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of these villages. Status of village-wise works sanctioned under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and release of funds to the States for these projects has also been mapped in ‘GARV-II’ to monitor progress of works in each village.  The progress is required to be updated by the implementing agencies of the States on day to day basis. All data would be made available in public domain to ensure transparency, enhance accountability of various stakeholders and facilitate view of near real time progress.
• SAMVAD: Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’ which has been created to enhance participation of public at large. The feedback and suggestions from the people would be automatically forwarded to the concerned Managing Director(s) and Superintending Engineer(s) of DISCOMs through SMS & e-mail on their dashboard for online monitoring and further action.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

• Ministry of Power has decided to take electrification of all UE villages as Mission mode and set target of electrification by June, 2017.
• Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the Nodal Agency for implementation of the scheme under the overall guidance of MoP.
• REC has engaged RECPDCL for monitoring of UE villages. RECPDCL has deputed engineers in field Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) at Block level in all the states where work has started.
• At present, there are total 18058 nos. of un-electrified villages in India out of which 8143 villages have already been awarded.
• The monitoring of villages is being carried out in 12 stages designated as milestones of a village.
• Total 200 Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas have been deployed in 11 states where work has already been awarded.