• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, has recently ratified the ban of seven Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) listed under Stockholm Convention.
• With the decision, India is sending out a positive message to the world that it is active in this area & do not tolerate health & environmental hazard.

Stockholm Convention

• It is a global treaty to protect human health and environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which are identified chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate in living organisms, adversely affect human health/ environment and have the property of long-range environmental transport (LRET).
• India had ratified the Stockholm Convention on January 13, 2006 as per Article 25(4), which enabled it to keep itself in a default "opt-out" position such that amendments in various Annexes of the convention cannot be enforced on it unless an instrument of ratification/ acceptance/ approval or accession is explicitly deposited with UN depositary.
• Considering its commitment towards providing safe environment and addressing human health risks, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had notified the 'Regulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants Rules, on March 5, 2018 under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• The regulation inter alia prohibited the manufacture, trade, use, import and export seven chemicals namely

1. Chlordecone
2. Hexabromobiphenyl
3. Hexabromodiphenyl ether and Heptabromodiphenylether (Commercial octa-BDE)
4. Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and Pentabromodiphenyl ether (Commercial penta-BDE)
5. Pentachlorobenzene
6. Hexabromocyclododecane
7. Hexachlorobutadiene

• These seven chemicals were already listed as POPs under Stockholm Convention.
• The ratification process would enable India to access Global Environment Facility (GEF) financial resources in updating the NIP.
• The Cabinet further delegated its powers to ratify chemicals under the Stockholm Convention to Union Ministers of External Affairs (MEA) and Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) in respect of POPs already regulated under the domestic regulations thereby streamlining the procedure.

• Union Minister for Science & Technology has inaugurated the “DBT-BIRAC Clean Tech Demo Park” at Barapullah drain site, near Sundial Park, Sarai Kale Khan, New Delhi in a virtual event recently.

DBT-BIRAC Clean Tech Demo Park

• It will be used to demonstrate innovative Waste-to-Value technologies with support from Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a DBT PSU.
• This park will be managed by the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC), a public-private-partnership incubator set up jointly by DBT, BIRAC and Tata Power.
• DBT has undertaken several initiatives under Swachh Bharat Mission for the development, demonstration and promotion of innovative clean waste-to-value technologies including biomethanation, constructed wetlands, algal treatment and water membrane filtration. 
• The DBT-DESMI project in collaboration with Denmark for cleaning of floating debris from Barapullah nallah, and the LOTUS-HR project in collaboration with Netherlands are already successfully demonstrated at the Barapullah site.
• Technologies developed by Startups at different locations in the Country will be demonstrated on this site.

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways formulated the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE) for North Eastern Region and Sikkim.

The SARDP-NE programme has been divided into 3 parts:

1. Phase A
2. Phase B
3. Arunachal Pradesh Package

The scheme, SARDP-NE was formulated with the following objectives:

1. Up-gradation of National Highways connecting State Capitals to 2/ 4 lane;
2. Providing connectivity to 88 District Headquarter towns of NER by at least 2-lane road;
3. Providing road connectivity to backward and remote areas of NE region to boost socio - economic development;
4. Improving roads of strategic importance in border areas;
5. Improving connectivity to neighbouring countries.

• Union Minister for Education virtually inaugurated the Gyan Circle Ventures recently.

Gyan Circle Ventures

• It is a MeitY funded Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Sri City (Chittoor), Andhra Pradesh. 
• It would function as a Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) incubation center as approved by the Ministry of Information Technology (MeitY).
• Gyan Circle Ventures will serve as a hub for innovation and startups by providing support, in various phases, via investments, infrastructure and mentoring. 
• Notably, the TBI would have an Advisory Committee comprising leading Industrialists, entrepreneurs and technical experts.
• It would enable incubatees to leverage these expert mentors and networks from both academia and the industry.

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 applies to:

1. Any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments, including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj;
2. Any person who is a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion; and
3. Any other person domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion, unless it is proved that any such person would not have been governed by the Hindu law or by any custom or usage as part of that law in respect of any of the matters dealt with herein if this Act had not been passed.

• Recently, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as the Deputy Governor of the RBI.
• The Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee (FSRASC), recommend names for the appointment.
• FSRASC includes the cabinet secretary, RBI governor and the financial services secretary, interviewed the candidates for the role of the deputy governor.
• The Governor and not more than four Deputy Governors of the RBI are appointed by the central government under the RBI Act.
• The Governor and Deputy Governors hold office for periods not exceeding five years.
• The term of the Governor may be fixed by the government at the time of his appointment and are eligible for reappointment.

• Recently, Television Rating Point (TRP) rigged ratings, a fraud busted in Mumbai.
• The police investigates into accusations of tampering of BARC data, that households were being paid to manipulate the TRP.
• TRP is recorded by the Broadcast Audience Research Council using Bar-O-Meters that are installed in televisions in select households.
• As on date, the BARC has installed these meters in 44,000 households across the country.
• Selection of households where Bar-O-Meters are installed is a large-scale face-to-face survey and it is done annually.
• As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, these households rotate every year.
• Anyone who watches television for more than a minute is considered a viewer.
• BARC India is a Joint Industry Company founded by stakeholder bodies that represent Broadcasters, Advertisers, and Advertising and Media Agencies.

• Odia poet Nityanand Nayak to be conferred the prestigious Sarala Puraskar  for his poetry work ‘Setebelaku Nathiba’.
• It is recognised as the foremost literary award of Odisha.
• It has been annually awarded by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT).
• This award is one of the finest contributions of IMPaCT to glorify Odia literature.
• The award comprises of a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.
• Jnanpith Award, is the highest literary award in India.

• The Ministry of External Affairs appointed the next Indian Ambassador to the Holy See.
• The Holy See is the name given to the government of the Roman Catholic Church, which is led by the pope as the bishop of Rome.
• The Vatican City is called the Holy See.
• The term as used by the United Nations refers not to the city of Vatican but to the government of the Roman Catholic Church.
• It is this government, not Vatic Vatican City, which is represented at the UN.

• Recently, PM launches Jan Andolan Campaign on COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour.
• The campaign aims to promote Covid-19 appropriate behaviour ahead of the upcoming festive season and reopening of economy.
• It urges people to wear mask, wash hands & follow social distancing.
• Jan Aushadhi Campaign aims to create awareness among public regarding generic medicines.