• ELSA-d the world’s first commercial mission to demonstrate a space debris removal system was launched recently from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration Mission (Elsa-d)

• It was developed by Astroscale, a Japanese-UK company.
• The mission will be operated from the UK’s in-orbit servicing control centre (IOCC) at Satellite Applications Catapult in Harwell, near Oxford.
• ELSA-d is a small satellite designed to find, rendezvous and clamp on to an unwanted satellite.
• It will then push it into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it will burn up.
• The removal of space debris is the key to space sustainability, which will ensure that new satellites can be operated without the risk of colliding with old ones.
• The European Space Agency estimates 3,600 working satellites are in orbit, and more than 28,000 pieces of debris are being tracked by the US Space Surveillance Network.

• US has recently lifted sanctions and visa restrictions imposed by Donald Trump's administration on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who are investigating American military and intelligence officials for potential war crimes in Afghanistan and had also opened a probe against alleged crimes by American ally Israel in Palestinian territories.

International Criminal Court (ICC)

• The ICC is a permanent judicial body based at The Hague in the Netherlands.

• It was created by the 1998 Rome Statute (ICC's founding and governing document).
• The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002 when the Statute came into force.
• The forum was established as a court of last resort to prosecute offences that would otherwise go unpunished.
• Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC is not part of the United Nations system.
• International Court of Justice (ICJ) mainly hears disputes between nations, ICC, on the other hand, prosecutes individuals.

It has jurisdiction over four main crimes:

1. Genocide
2. Crimes against humanity
3. War crimes
4. Crime of aggression

• 123 nations are States Parties to the Rome Statute and recognise the ICC’s authority.
• The notable exceptions to this are the US, China, Russia, and India.

Switch Delhi campaign

• To promote the use of electric vehicles in the Capital, Delhi Government has launched the ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign.
• It will educate people about the benefits of electric vehicles (EV) and urge them to make a switch.
• Under the campaign, awareness will be created about the benefits of electric vehicles and how it can contribute to making Delhi clean and pollution-free.

• India has recently pushed back its deadlines for coal-fired power plants to adopt new emission norms by up to 3 years and allowed utilities that miss the new target to continue operating after paying a penalty.
• Previously, the Environment Ministry has ordered that the deadline for these plants to install Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) units, it includes

1. Plants near populous regions and New Delhi will have to comply by 2022,
2. Utilities in less polluting area shave up to 2025 to comply or retire units.

Thermal Power Plants

• Thermal power companies produce 3/4th of the country’s electricity.
• They account for 80% of industrial emissions of particulate matter, sulphur- and nitrous-oxides - Causes lung diseases, acid rain and smog.
• According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Thermal power plants account for more than 60 per cent of total industrial emissions of particulate matter; 45 per cent of SO2; 30 per cent of NOx; and more than 80 per cent of mercury, in the country.
• These are also responsible for 70 per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries, according to an analysis by the green think tank.

• The e-Committee Supreme Court has prepared the draft vision document for Phase III of the e-Courts Project under the auspices of the Supreme Court of India.

E-Courts Project

• The e-Courts Project was conceptualized on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted by eCommittee, Supreme Court of India with a vision to transform the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.
• It is one of the National e-Governance projects being implemented in District and Subordinate Courts of the Country.
• The project is visioned and implemented by the eCommittee, Supreme court of India along with Department of Justice and NIC( National Information Centre).
• It is a Pan-India Project, monitored and funded by Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice.
• The objectives of the project is to provide designated services to litigants, lawyers and Judiciary through universal computerisation of district and subordinate courts, as well as the upgradation of ICT infrastructure of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.

World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF)

• WCCF was established in London in 2012 with eight cities, it has 43 participating member cities.
• Participating member cities include London, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Lisbon, San Francisco, Shanghai, etc.
• Delhi is invited this year but it is not a part of member cities.
• The Chief Minister of Delhi will represent Delhi and India at the World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF).
• It enables the policy makers of member cities to share research and intelligence, and explores the vital role of culture in their future prosperity.
• The activities of the World Cities Culture Forum are organised and delivered by BOP Consulting, a specialist consulting firm, on behalf of the Greater London Authority, London’s Municipal Government.
• Delhi will also be part of the World Cities Culture Report - the most comprehensive global dataset on culture in cities.
• World Cities Culture Report is published by the forum every three years, with data and details on innovative projects from cities across the world.

Monetary Policy Committee

• An RBI-appointed committee led by the then deputy governor Urjit Patel in 2014 recommended the establishment of the Monetary Policy Committee.
• The government moved the interest rate-setting role from the RBI governor to the six-member MPC in 2016.
• As per the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the central bank is required to organise at least four meetings of the MPC in a year.
• The Governor of RBI is ex-officio Chairman of the committee.
• The committee comprises six members (including the Chairman) - three officials of the RBI and three external members nominated by the Government of India.
• Decisions are taken by majority with the Governor having the casting vote in case of a tie.
• The MPC determines the policy interest rate (repo rate) required to achieve the inflation target (4%).
• Recently RBI announced that (MPC), which decides on key interest rates, will meet six times during the financial year 2021-2022.

ACT-Accelerator

• It was launched in the month of April, 2020 at an event co-hosted by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), the President of France, the President of the European Commission, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• It brings together governments, scientists, businesses, civil society, and philanthropists and global health organizations.
• The participants include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CEPI, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Gavi, The Global Fund, Unitaid, Wellcome Trust (London), the WHO and the World Bank.
• The ACT-Accelerator is organized into four pillars of work:

1. Diagnostics.
2. Treatment.
3. Vaccines.
4. Health system strengthening.

• Each pillar is vital to the overall effort and involves innovation and collaboration.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty addressing climate change.
• It signed by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
• It established a Secretariat headquartered in Bonn and entered into force in 1994.
• The Kyoto Protocol, which was signed in 1997 and which entered into force in 2005, was the first implementation of measures under the UNFCCC until 31 December 2020.
• The protocol was superseded by the Paris Agreement, which entered into force in 2016.
• As of 2020, the UNFCCC has 197 signatory parties, its supreme decision-making body, the Conference of the Parties (COP), meets annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change.

Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is an Act implemented by the Parliament of India for the preservation of biological diversity in India.
• It provides mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge.
• According to the act

1. State Governments can notify in the official gazette, in consultation with ‘local bodies’, areas of biodiversity importance as BHS.
2. State Governments can frame schemes for compensating or rehabilitating anyone economically affected by such notification.
3. State Biodiversity Boards (SBB) may invite suggestions for declaration of BHSs, through the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and other relevant community institutions.