Daily Current Affairs 06 June 2020 With Video Lecture

Urban Forest scheme to develop 200 ‘Nagar Van’ across the country in next five years On World Environment Day, the govt. announced implementation of the Nagar van scheme to develop...

Chetan Apurav
June 6, 2020
1,160

Urban Forest scheme to develop 200 ‘Nagar Van’ across the country in next five years

On World Environment Day, the govt. announced implementation of the Nagar van scheme to develop 200 Urban Forests across the country in next 5 years.
Participation from Executive Director, United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification, (UNCCD), Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw & Executive Director United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP), Ms. Inger Andersen.
India is endowed with rich biodiversity having several species of animals and plants and hosts 4 of the 35 global bio-diversity hotspots containing several endemic species.
However, increasing population, deforestation, urbanisation & industrialisation have put our natural resources under tremendous pressure causing loss of biodiversity.
Biodiversity is vital for survival of all life form on this planet and is a key to providing various ecological services. Biodiversity conservation has traditionally been considered confined to remote forest areas but with increasing urbanisation a need has arisen to safeguard and save biodiversity in urban areas also. Urban forest is the best way to bridge this gap. The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has therefore, appropriately adopted Nagar van as the theme of WED celebrations 2020 to promote and conserve biodiversity in urban landscapes.

CSIR and Atal Innovation Mission sign a Letter of Intent to Foster Innovation in the Country

CSIR a premier R&D organization with focus on science and technology that enables innovation-driven industry and nurture transdisciplinary leadership has come together with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), a G.o.I flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship have come together to collaborate in areas of mutual interest. Towards promoting innovation in the country in various sectors, a letter of intent was signed today between the two organizations, in presence of Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairperson, Niti Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog and Dr Shekhar C Mande, DG CSIR and other senior officials from both the organizations.
Major areas of mutual interest, among others include:
- Supporting world class start-ups through CSIR Incubators under Atal Innovation mission initiatives and jointly work on new models of innovation, including setting up of CSIR Innovation Parks. CSIR with its strong patent portfolio and knowledge base and world class researchers and AIM that has been working on policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy together can boost and strengthen innovation ecosystem of the country.
- Stimulating innovation and research in the MSME industry by CSIR in collaboration with ARISE. In this context, while ARISE initiative of AIM, works to stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry, CSIR has been working very closely with MSME where in many of its technologies and know-how have supported the MSME industry. Together they have the potential to transform and stimulate the MSME sector in the country.
- Creating problem solving mind-set across schools in India through close cooperation between Atal Tinkering Labs and Jigyasa. There is natural synergy between Atal Tinkering Laboratories that have been working to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds and CSIRs ´JIGYASA’ a Student-Scientist connect program where in >3 lakhs students across the country have been exposed to science and technology. The coming together of the two will enhance the opportunities for students and stimulate their scientific thinking and temperament.
- The joint initiatives and collaboration will be implemented through development of Work Plans, which describe specifically the activities to be carried out under this collaboration.

CNS develops low-cost catalyst for hydrogen generation from water

Scientists from The Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CNS), have found out a low cost and efficient way to generate hydrogen from water using Molybdenum dioxide as a catalyst.
Molybdenum dioxide (MoO₂) nanomaterials annealed in hydrogen atmosphere can act as efficient catalysts to reduce the energy input to bring about water splitting with great efficiency.
Molybdenum dioxide has the potential to replace the currently employed catalyst Pt, which is expensive and has limited resources. MoO₂ is a conducting metal oxide that is one of the low-cost catalysts with good efficiency and stability for hydrogen evolution.
The researchers were able to grow MoO₂ directly on to tin oxide substrates for direct use as a catalyst in electrochemical cells, avoiding the need for any further electrode fabrication process. It can also be obtained as powder in high yield from cheaper precursors in an aqueous medium. Their research has been published in Chemistry- a European scientific journal.
Hydrogen, the future of clean and sustainable energy as it can be generated from water & produces water on energy generation without any carbon footprint.
Hydrogen can be directly used as a fuel like natural gas or as input for fuel cells.
It is an alternative to fossil fuels, underlining the necessity of low-cost catalysts for its production.

Reserve Bank sets up a Rs.500 crore Digital Payments Infra Fund

The RBI announced a Rs.500 crore Payment Infra. Development Fund (PIFD) to support and improve the development of Digital Payments Ecosystem in the rural & north east districts of
The objective is to encourage acquirers to deploy Points of Sale infra. in both physical and digital modes in tier-3 to tier-6 centres and north eastern states.

Current COVID19 Situation in India

QUIZ TIME

On WED 2020, The government has decided to launch which of the scheme for urban areas?