Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 31st July 2024

 

National News

Goa launches ‘Goem Vinamulya Vij Yevjan’ Scheme 

• Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant has launched the ‘Goem Vinamulya Vij Yevjan’ in the state. 
• ‘Goem Vinamulya Vij Yevjan’ scheme is in alignment with the Prime Minister’s Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. 
• It aims to increase solar rooftop potential and empower residential homes to generate their own electricity. 
• The Goem Vinamulya Vij Yevjan has an initial investment of Rs 35 crore. Goa Energy Development Agency will cover the balance cost of rooftop installations up to 5kW. 
• This support is for consumers who have used 400 or fewer units in the past year. 

About Goa 

• Formation – 30 May 1987
• Capital – Panaji
• Chief Minister – Pramod Sawant
• Governor – S. Sreedharan Pillai 

Sports 

India to host T20 Asia Cup 2025, 2027 edition in ODI format in Bangladesh 

• India will host the next edition of the men’s Asia Cup cricket tournament in T20 format in 2025 as a pre-cursor to the T20 World Cup scheduled in the country in 2026. 
• Traditionally, the Asia Cup serves as a preparatory event for the global tournament and is played in the same format as the upcoming World Cup. 
• In 2023, the Asia Cup was hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board but was conducted in a ‘Hybrid Model’ due to India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan. As a result, India’s matches were held in Sri Lanka. 
• The 2027 Asia Cup will be held in ODI format in Bangladesh as the 50-over World Cup is scheduled in South Africa in the same year. 
• The T20 Asia Cup in India and 50-over continental event in Bangladesh in 2027 will comprise of 13 games each as there are 26 matches allocated in the said period. 

Important day 

July 30 – World Day Against Trafficking In Persons

• The World Day Against Trafficking In Persons is observed on July 30 every year. 
• Objective – To raise awareness, take global action, and support victims of human trafficking. 
• Theme 2024 – Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking 
• According to the Global Report of Trafficking in Persons (GLOTIP) by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), children are twice as likely as adults to face violence during trafficking. 
• The United Nations General Assembly established the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons back in 2013.
• This step was taken as a part of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was adopted in 2010. Its objective was to fight against human trafficking in the United Nations’ broader development and security agendas. 

31 July – World Ranger Day 

• World Ranger Day is celebrated worldwide on 31 July to commemorate Rangers killed or injured in the line of duty and to celebrate the work Rangers do to protect the planet’s natural treasures and cultural heritage. 
• Theme 2024 – 30 by 30 
• The history of World Ranger Day dates back to the International Ranger Federation (IRF), a group founded in 1992 with the aim of advancing and backing the efforts of park rangers across the globe.
• This day was initially marked in 2007 as a tribute to eight rangers who died in a tragic incident while serving in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Over the years, World Ranger Day has expanded to become a globally acknowledged event to honor the work of rangers and highlight the obstacles they encounter in their roles. 

Science and technology news 

150% customs duty on lab chemicals alarms scientists 

• Three digits have thrown scientists across the country into a tizzy. Budget documents, made public earlier this week, show that the basic customs duty on laboratory chemicals, a criti cal component of re- search, has been hiked to 150% from the existing 10%. 
• Imported chemicals, reagents, and enzymes come under the category of laboratory chemicals. and are vital to experimen- tal research across nearly every domain of scientific research. Most of them are niche products and can be expensive. 
• The issue sparked out- rage on social media with estimates by researchers that chemicals that usually cost 1 lakh would now cost 2.5 lakh. 
• The Customs Department defines laboratory chemicals as "all chemicals, organic inorganic, whether or not chemically defined, imported in pack- ings not exceeding 500 grams or 500 millimeters and which can be fied with reference to the purity, makings or other to show them to be meant for use solely as laboratory chemicals".
• Santosh Chauhan, a scientist at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), who high- lighted the issue on X, posted: "Please tell me this is a misprint...lab chemicals custom duty increased from 10% to 150%? How do we do research and whether funding agencies will compensate by reducing expectations or providing more funds?" 
• He also attached a picture of an email from Merck Life Sciences, a pro- minent supplier of speciality chemicals, that says rates of laboratory chemicals would now invite a 150% hike and those of 'plastics', a 25% hike from the existing 10%. 
• Several scientists to whom The Hindu spoke, while perturbed by the rates, said it was likely that the number was a "mis- print" or that exemptions would be made for chemicals specifically used for re- search and development. Heads of scientific organizations said that "matters were under flux" and that it would be some time before clarity could emerge. 
• Misprint or not? "This is quite a significant problem and we will be writing to the science secretaries for some clarifica- tion. It initially seemed like a misprint as most of the changes in customs duties for other items were in the range of 10% or 15% and this seemed like an out-lier," said the director of a prominent lab affiliated with the Department of Atomic Energy, who declined to be identified. 
• "During COVID, we started to procure many more vital reagents and chemicals locally as the market dynamics changed. However, there are a vast number of chemicals that are necessary to research and must be imported because there aren't manufacturers." 
• Indian Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, told The Hindu that the science Ministries. were aware of the issue and "it would be solved". He did not respond to queries on how these duties were imposed. Requests for clarification from the Department of Science and Technology unanswered. 
• For several years now, publicly funded research and development organi- sations, which have a specific registration certificate from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, are exempt from customs duties. A notifica- tion on July 27 extended this until March 2029.
• "There may be clarifications and exceptions, but it certainly hinders the ease of doing science," said Binay Panda, Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University.