India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC)

EU-India Trade and Technology Council has recently conducted workshop on marine plastic litter monitoring.

• The decision to establish an EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was first announced by the European Commission President and India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in April 2022.
• It was formally launched in February 2023, its first ministerial meeting was held in May 2023.
• It is a key forum to deepen the strategic partnership on trade and technology between the two partners.
• TTC is part of a joint effort to steer the EU and India closer towards strategic autonomy by reducing the EU's dependence on China and India's reliance on Russia.
• This TTC is the second such bilateral forum for the EU, after the one launched with the United States (US) in June 2021, while being the first for India.

Equine Piroplasmosis

ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar of Haryana has been recently designated as a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Reference Laboratory for Equine Piroplasmosis.

• Equine piroplasmosis is a tick-borne protozoal disease of horses, mules, donkeys and zebra.
• Causes – It is a blood-borne disease caused by protozoal parasites, Theileria equi or Babesia caballi.
• Symptoms – Affected animals show loss of weight and fever is sometimes intermittent.
• A rare peracute form where horses are found either dead or moribund has been reported.
• The disease that can affect horses, mules, donkeys and zebra.
• It is not a zoonotic, hence cannot be transmitted to humans. (Statement 2 is incorrect)
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRC Equine) – Is a premier institute established under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research for conducting research on equine health and production.
• It is situated at hisar, Haryana. (Statement 3 is incorrect)
• ICAR-NRC has been accorded Reference Laboratory Status for Equine Piroplasmosis by the World Organisation for Animal Health.
• Equines – It is one of the mammal family of Equidae (order Perissodactyla) that includes the modern horses, zebras, and asses, as well as more than 60 species known only from fossils.
• India possesses 1.17 million equines and major population of equidae comprising donkeys, mules and ponies.
• It provide livelihood to the rural societies living in arid, semi-arid and hilly regions, especially in the foot hills of Himalayas, through transport and draught.
• Remaining small population of equines is used in army, police, border security force, racing industry and sports.

Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT)

C-DOT and C R Rao AIMSCS has recently signed an agreement for “Side Channel Leakage Capture Infrastructure and Analysis (SCLCIA) Solution.

• Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) was established in August 1984 as a premier and autonomous Telecom R&D centre of Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
• It is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• It is a registered 'public funded research institution' with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology.
• The chairman of the governing council is the minister of communication and information technology.
• C-DOT and C R Rao AIMSCS sign agreement for “Side Channel Leakage Capture Infrastructure and Analysis (SCLCIA).
• The agreement is signed under the C-DOT Collaborative Research Program (CCRP) for the Indian start-ups and academic institutions for collaborative development of SCLCIA, led by C-DOT.
• SCLCIA includes development of infrastructure (software and related hardware development) for capturing side channel data leakages through real-time power usage change from an FPGA while running a cryptographic algorithm implementation on it.
• C. R. Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science (AIMSCS) – The institute is named after the most celebrated statistician of our times, Padma Vibushan Prof. C. R. Rao.
• The institute stands testimony to the ideology of Prof. Rao in promoting research from grass root levels and his vision to strengthen the research community in India.
• It is the first of its kind in the country which is solely focussed on advanced research and applications in the areas of cryptography and information security. (Statement 2 is incorrect)

Centralized Pension Payments System (CPPS)

• The CPPS is a paradigm shift from the existing pension disbursement system that is decentralized, with each Zonal/Regional Office of EPFO maintaining separate agreements with only 3-4 banks.
• It is a decentralized system that enables the pensioners to receive their pension from any bank, any branch, anywhere in the country.
• It aids to transform the EPFO into a more robust, responsive and tech-enabled organization, committed to serving the needs of its members and pensioners better.
• The pensioners need not visit the bank for any verification at the time of commencement of pension and the pension shall be immediately credited upon release.
• It would also ensure disbursement of pension throughout India without any need for transfer of Pension Payment Orders (PPO) from one office to another even when the Pensioner moves from one location to another or changes his bank or branch.
• The new CPPS system will be fully rolled out as part of EPFO’s ongoing IT modernization project Centralized IT Enabled System (CITES 2.01) by January 2025.
• It will benefit more than 78 lakh EPS pensioners of EPFO. 

Extreme Weather Events

An assessment by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment was recently that indicates Climate change-induced extreme weather events occurred on more number of days in 2024.

• An extreme weather event is rare at a particular place and time of year, with unusual characteristics in terms of magnitude, location, timing, or extent.
• The characteristics of what is called extreme weather may vary from place to place in an absolute sense.
• Key facts about extreme weather event – Extreme heatwaves in 2003 and 2010 accounted for 80% of weather-related deaths in Europe from 1970-2019.
• Extreme temperatures of 40°C and even 50°C are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide.
• Limiting global warming to 1.5°C instead of 2°C could significantly reduce the number of people affected by extreme weather.
• Every degree of global warming is projected to cause a 7% increase in extreme daily rainfall.
• Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C instead of 2 °C could result in around 420 million fewer people being frequently exposed.
• Examples – Of extreme weather and climate events include, but are not limited to, heatwaves, cold waves, heavy precipitation, drought, tornadoes and tropical cyclones.
• Salient features about the assessment – The assessment was released by the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth.
• The frequency of extreme weather events increase in 2024 and also became more intense, causing greater damage.
• Central India recorded the highest number of extreme weather days in 2024 (218 days).
• Madhya Pradesh saw the most number of days with extreme weather (176) days, among the states and Union territories.
• Kerala recorded the highest fatalities at 550, followed by Madhya Pradesh (353) and Assam (256).
• The largest affected crop area (more than 60%) was in Maharashtra and most houses damaged due to extreme weather events was in Andhra Pradesh.