• The Union government has recently launched the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG).

Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG)

• INSACOG is a platform for scientists, virologists, experts studying diseases and government officials to interact and track the genomic variations of the novel corona virus.
• The overall aim of the INSACOG is to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis through a multi-laboratory network.
• This vital research consortium will also assist in developing potential vaccines in the future.
• It comprises 10 labs namely DBT-NIBMG Kalyani, DBT-ILS Bhubaneswar, ICMR-NIV Pune, DBT-NCCS Pune, CSIR-CCMB Hyderabad, DBT-CDFD Hyderabad, DBT-InSTEM/ NCBS Bengaluru, NIMHANS Bengaluru, CSIR-IGIB Delhi, and NCDC Delhi.
• DBT-NIBMG as the Co-ordinating Unit of Genome Sequencing Consortium and will closely work with a Nodal Unit of NCDC.

• The Central Government has recently approved the expansion of interest subvention scheme to raise ethanol manufacturing capacity to 1,000 crore litres by including grain-based distilleries in addition to just molasses-based units.
• The decision will facilitate capacity addition and greater ethanol blending will immensely help in import substitution, savings of foreign exchange and environment sustainability.

Ethanol Blending in India

• Ethanol blending is the practice of blending petrol with ethanol.
• In India, ethanol is mainly derived by sugarcane molasses, which is a by-product in the conversion of sugar cane juice to sugar.
• The practice of blending ethanol started in India in 2001 and ethanol blending first found mention in the Auto fuel policy of 2003.
• The Ethanol Blending Program (EBP) was started in 2003.
• The blending percentage of ethanol in petrol has gone up from 1.53% in 2013-14 to 5% in 2019-20 and estimated to be 8.5% in 2020-21.
• The Government has setup an ambitious target of 10% ethanol blending by 2022 and 20% ethanol blending by 2030.

• President of India has recently conferred the Platinum award for Excellence in Digital Governance to the E-committee of Supreme Court of India.

eCourt Project

• The eCourts Integrated Mission Mode Project 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.

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with Indian Navy conducted the successful maiden test trial of SAHAYAK-NG, from IL 38SD aircraft of Indian Navy off the coast of Goa.

SAHAYAK-NG

• It is India’s first indigenously designed and developed Air Dropped Container.
• The air droppable container will enhance Indian Navy’s operational logistics capabilities and provide critical engineering stores to ships which are deployed more than 2000 kilometres from the coast.
• It reduces the requirement of ships to come close to the coast to collect spares and stores.
• The newly developed GPS aided air dropped container is having the capability to carry a payload that weighs up to 50 kg and can be dropped from heavy aircraft.
• SAHAYAK-NG is an advanced version of SAHAYAK Mk I.

• The Union Cabinet has recently approved the export of the Akash Missile to “friendly countries” and constituted a committee, headed by the Defence Minister, for faster approval of export of defence platforms.

Akash Missile

• It is a surface-to-air missile with a range of 25 kms.
• The Akash missile was inducted into the IAF in 2014 and in the Indian Army in 2015.
• The export version of Akash will be different from the system currently deployed with the Indian armed forces.
• Akash is an important missile of the country with over 96 per cent indigenisation.

Highest Meteorological Centre (MC) in India

• Recently, the Union Minister of Earth Sciences has inaugurated highest Meteorological Centre (MC) in India.
• The Leh centre is the second MC located in the Himalayas after Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The centre will give weather forecasts about tourist places such as Nubra, Changthang, Pangong Lake, Zanskar, Kargil, Drass, Dha-Baima (Aryan valley) and Khalsi.

Dedicated Freight Corridor

• Recently, 351-km section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) has been inaugurated.
• It starts at Sahnewal (Ludhiana) in Punjab and ends at Dankuni in West Bengal
• The EDFC route has coal mines, thermal power plants and industrial cities.
• The EDFC route covers Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal
• The World Bank is funding a majority of the EDFC.
• Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) starts at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and ends at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai.
• The WDFC covers Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, it touches all major ports.
• It is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Data on Police Organisations

• The Data on Police Organisations is being published by BPR&D since 1986.
• It shows different aspects of policing in the country like

1. Woman police,
2. Police expenditure,
3. Constabulary ratio,
4. Transport facilities,
5. Communication facilities,
6. Representation of various castes
7. Police training centres.

• The Government of India established BPR&D, under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1970.
• It replaced the Police Research and Advisory Council (1966), with the primary objective of modernization of the police force.

Disturbed Areas under AFSPA

• A disturbed area is the one which is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA.
• It can be invoked in places where the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary.
• An area can be considered to be disturbed due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
• Once declared ‘disturbed’, the region is maintained as disturbed for a period of three months straight, according to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976.
• The government of the state can suggest whether the Act is required in the state or not.
• Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh are the four states in North Eastern India which are declared as disturbed areas under AFSPA.

Anaemia

• Anaemia is the condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity of haemoglobin.
• It can make one feel tired, cold, dizzy, irritable and short of breath, among other symptoms.
• A diet which does not contain enough iron, folic acid or vitamin B12 is a common cause of anaemia.
• According to the National Family Health Survey 2019-20 Indian women and children are overwhelmingly anaemic, and the condition is the most prevalent in the Himalayan cold desert.