• The first shipments on a newly-launched railway line from the Myanmar border to the key commercial hub of Chengdu in western China were delivered last week.

Transport Corridor

• It involves a sea-road-rail link.
• This passage connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China, and is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China.
• Goods from Singapore reached Yangon Port, arriving by ship through the Andaman Sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean, and were then transported by road to Lincang on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border in Yunnan province.
• The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor.
• The one-way journey saves 20 to 22 days.

Other Plans of China

• Kyaukphyu Port - China also has plans to develop another port in Kyaukphyu in the Rakhine state of Myanmar including a proposed railway line from Yunnan directly to the port, but the progress there has been stalled by unrest in Myanmar.
• Gwadar Port - Chinese planners have also looked at the Gwadar port in Pakistan as another key outlet to the Indian Ocean that will bypass the Malacca Straits.
• Gwadar is being developed as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to the far western Xinjiang region, but has been slow to take off amid concerns over security.

UNSC Resolution 2593

• The resolution demanded that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any country and reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan.
• The resolution adopted by a vote of 13 in favour with two abstentions (Russian Federation and China).
• The resolution also urged Talibans’ to assist the safe evacuations of all Afghan nationals wishing to leave the country.
• It specifically mentions individuals designated by the UNSC resolution 1267, which includes the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

• The Meghalaya government has recently scrapped an agreement with private power developers to execute the proposed 210 MW Umngot hydroelectric project following protests.

Umngot River

• It flows both in India & Bangladesh.
• It separates East Khasi Hills District from Jaintia Hills District by creating a boundary in between the two.
• It is the natural boundary between Ri Pnar (of Jaintia Hills) with Hima Khyrim (of Khasi Hills).
• Over the river hangs a single span suspension bridge called Dawki Bridge.
• Umngot River is considered as the cleanest river in India and in some parts is as transparent as crystal and you can actually see the river bed.
• Umngot River is also called by the name Dawki River, which has greenish-bluish color transparent water.
• The Umngot River passes through the village of Mawlynnong in Meghalaya, close to India’s border with Bangladesh, which is touted as “Asia’s Cleanest Village".

Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund

• It is an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), for providing growth capital to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), through equity/quasi-equity/equity like structured instruments.
• This will facilitate them to move towards listing on the Stock Exchanges and in becoming National and International Champions by growing beyond the bracket of MSME.
• The Fund is to be anchored by NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL).
• NVCFL is a wholly owned subsidiary of The National Small Industries Corporation.
• Structure of the fund - SRI Fund will have a Mother Fund / Daughter Fund structure with a corpus of INR 10,000 crore as Mother Fund.
• Govt. of India will be the sole anchor investor and provide an initial budgetary support of Rs. 10,000 crore to the Mother Fund in phased manner.
• Mother Fund will provide funds only to the Daughter Funds for onward investment as growth capital, while the investment in MSMEs will be done by the Daughter Funds.
• Both the Mother and Daughter Funds will be duly registered as Alternate Investment Funds with SEBI.
• Fund Life - The SRI Fund will have a life of 15 years and it will be a revolving fund.

The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Act 2021

• Factoring business is a business where an entity acquires the receivables of another entity for an amount.
• Factor can be a bank, a registered non-banking financial company or any company registered under the Companies Act.
• Receivables are the total amount that is owed or yet to be paid by the customers (referred as the debtors) to the assignor for the use of any goods, services or facility.
• The Act allowed participation of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in the TReDS platform.
• It will bring in over 9,000 NBFCs into the factoring business against the current participation of just 7 NBFCs.
• The act removes the threshold of NBFCs in which 50% of the gross assets/net income from factoring business.
• It also amended the definitions of "receivables", "assignment", and "factoring business" to bring them at par with international definitions.
• TReDS is an electronic platform for facilitating financing of trade receivables of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. 

Effects of Antibiotics in soil

• Carbon in soils exposed to manure from cows administered with antibiotics, travelled into the above-ground plant material, to the roots of the plants, into the soil and respired back out as CO2 much faster than any of the others.
• This means that when antibiotics are used, less carbon is stored in the soil and more is lost to the atmosphere as CO2
• It can change soil microbiome and decrease their ability to store carbon
• It also affects soil respiration and elemental cycling
• It also caused changes in the soil's fungal and bacterial ratios as well as altered the bacterial community structure.

• Sri Lanka has recently declared a state of emergency over food shortages as private banks run out of foreign exchange to finance imports.
• The emergency regulation allows government officials to seize food stocks held by traders and arrest people who hoard essential food.
• Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves fell to $2.8 billion at the end of July 2021, from $7.5 billion in November 2019.
• Tourism was the only vital source of foreign exchange earnings, but that too suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• It has more foreign debt payments of $1.5 billion each due in the next 12 months. It has already paid $1.3 billion so far.

Attingal Outbreak

• The uprising happened in 1721 in the State of Travancore.
• The East India Company came to Attingal calling for the pepper from Nedumangad, one of the most sought-after spices in Europe.
• EIC got the permission to build a fort called Anjengo in 1694 from the queen.
• They also got exclusive rights to buy pepper at a much cheaper rate than what the Dutch were offering.
• Following the civilian unrest, the queen ordered the British to stop the construction of the fort but they refused. It was the first instance of rivalry between Native ruler and EIC.
• After crushing the native troops, the fort became full settlement of the English.
• William Gyfford was appointed as the new officer of the settlement to rein in corruption as some officers were indulging in private trade.
• By the 1720s, the British dictated the terms of merchandise in Attingal.
• The natives were fed up with the unethical trade practices of the British and mocking of their religious practices by British.

Cyanobacteria

• Scientists have identified a set of genes in cyanobacteria that can help boost energy yield from photosynthesis, and also pave way for a sustainable biotech production.
• Cyanobacteria are aquatic and photosynthetic and are often called blue-green algae.
• They have the distinction of being the oldest known fossils, more than 3.5 billion years old.
• The cyanobacteria have also been tremendously important in shaping the course of evolution and ecological change throughout earth's history.
• The oxygen atmosphere that we depend on was generated by numerous cyanobacteria during the Archaean and Proterozoic Eras.
• The other great contribution of the cyanobacteria is the origin of plants. The chloroplast with which plants make food for themselves is actually a cyanobacterium living within the plant's cells.
• Dead and dying cyanobacteria, which contain preformed toxins saccumulate on the surface of bodies of water and are ingested by livestock.
• The bacterial species share with plants an enzyme called rubisco, which plays a key role in photosynthesis.