Assam CM unveiled North East’s 1st compressed biogas plant

Why In News

·        North East’s 1st compressed biogas plant in Assam: The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the first-ever compressed biogas plant project in northeast India took place at Domora Pathar in Sonapur.

Key Points

·        The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the first-ever compressed biogas plant project in northeast India took place at Domora Pathar in Sonapur under the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district, and the chief guest was chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

·        The plant, which is being built by businessmen Pankaj Gogoi and Rakesh Doley under the name Redlemon Technologies, is expected to begin operating in November 2023 and will have a 5 tonne-per-day production capacity for compressed biogas from raw materials like municipal solid wastes and cattle manure.

·        The Sonapur compressed biogas plant would significantly contribute to the Assam government’s goal of making a gradual transition to cleaner and greener energy.

·        The compressed biogas facilities, like the one being developed in Sonapur, would not only help with municipal solid waste management issues, but they would also give farmers another source of income because they would be able to sell livestock dung to the biogas producers.

·        The organic fertilisers that would be generated as a byproduct of methane in such compressed biogas facilities, he further expressed the expectation, would offer a safer alternative to chemical fertilisers currently used throughout the State.

·        In reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledges to reduce India’s carbon emissions on international platforms like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Chief Minister Sarma said Assam, like the other States, would do everything in its power to ensure that the nation is able to keep its commitments made on mitigating the effects of global warming.

National Science Day 2023 celebrated on 28th February

Why In News

·        On February 28 each year, National Science Day honours Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman as C.V. Raman, an Indian scientist and physician, for discovering the "Raman Effect."

Key Points

·        On February 28 each year, National Science Day honours Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman as C.V. Raman, an Indian scientist and physician, for discovering the “Raman Effect.”

·        Every year, it is celebrated to honour the value of science and to serve as a reminder of the influence it has had on humankind’s way of life. In honour of India’s G20 leadership, the event this year has the theme “Global Science for Global Wellness.”

·        Notably: In 1986, the Government of India, under then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, designated February 28 as National Science Day to commemorate the announcement of the discovery of the “Raman Effect”.

·        Raman was born to a family of Sanskrit scholars in Trichy (present-day Tiruchirapalli) in the Madras Presidency in 1888. At the age of only 16, He received a BA degree from Presidency College in Madras, and was placed first in his class.

·        While studying for his MA degree, at the age of 18, he got published in the Philosophical Magazine: this was the first research paper ever published by Presidency College.

What is the “Raman Effect”?

·        The Raman Effect refers to the phenomenon in which when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.

·        This happens due to the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.

·        In general, when light interacts with an object, it can either be reflected, refracted or transmitted. One of the things that scientists look at when light is scattered is if the particle it interacts with is able to change its energy.

·        The Raman Effect is when the change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its wavelength.

·        In their first report to Nature, titled “A New Type of Secondary Radiation,” CV Raman and co-author KS Krishnan wrote that 60 different liquids had been studied, and all showed the same result – a tiny fraction of scattered light had a different colour than the incident light. “It is thus,” Raman said, “a phenomenon whose universal nature has to be recognised.”

The importance of the discovery

·        CV Raman’s discovery took the world by storm as it had deep implications far beyond Raman’s original intentions. As Raman himself remarked in his 1930 Nobel Prize speech, “The character of the scattered radiations enables us to obtain an insight into the ultimate structure of the scattering substance.” For quantum theory, in vogue in the scientific world at the time, Raman’s discovery was crucial.

·        The discovery would also find its use in chemistry, giving birth to a new field known as Raman spectroscopy as a basic analytical tool to conduct nondestructive chemical analysis for both organic and inorganic compounds.

·        With the invention of lasers and the capabilities to concentrate much stronger beams of light, the uses of Raman spectroscopy have only ballooned over time.

India joins Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate

Why In News

·        India joins Agriculture Innovation Mission: India has joined Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate started by the US and the UAE to boost the development of climate-smart agriculture.

Key Points

·        India has joined a global initiative started by the US and the UAE to boost funding and assistance for the development of climate-smart agriculture and food systems.

·        The two countries together launched the Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C) in November 2021.

·        On the sidelines of the I2U2 – Israel, India, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates – Business Forum in Abu Dhabi, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dammu Ravi signed a letter stating India’s intention to join the AIM4C.

·        There was a first-ever I2U2 Business Forum.

·        The mission will serve as an example of the advantages of group dedication. It will seek to enhance investments in novel agricultural technology, smart agriculture, and the food chain.

·        Frameworks will be developed to encourage technical debates, knowledge, and expertise.

·        This will be accomplished by increasing investments at the national and international levels.

·        To develop information sharing and action-related infrastructure for governments, scientists, and other stakeholders.

Supreme Court on Menstrual leave and its global standing

Why In News

·        SC on Menstrual leave and its global standing: The Supreme Court declined to consider a PIL requesting menstruation leave for workers and students nationwide, citing the issue as one of policy.

Key Points

·        The Supreme Court of India declined to consider a PIL requesting menstruation leave for workers and students nationwide, citing the issue as one of policy.

·        It was emphasised that menstrual pain leave had various “dimensions” and that, despite the fact that menstruation was a biological event, such leave could discourage businesses from hiring female staff.

·        Only a few nations, mostly in Asia, allow women who experience painful periods to take time off work to heal.

·        Spain became the first nation in Europe to enact legislation providing for paid menstruation leave.

·        Companies have begun providing paid time off in various other nations despite not being obligated to by law.

Rundown of the global situation:

·        The left-wing government of Spain wrote the law, which offers paid leave for period pain as long as the patient has a note from a physician. The law makes no mention of how long this leave must be taken.

·        Spanish unions have criticised the measure, stating that rather than emancipating women, menstruation leave may encourage companies to give men the upper hand when hiring.

·        In 2003, a law was passed in Indonesia granting women the right to two days of unpaid menstruation leave each month.

·        Due to ignorance of the law or a conscious decision to ignore it, many employers only provide one day of menstrual leave per month, while others provide no leave at all.

·        According to a 1947 regulation in Japan, employers are required to grant women the menstrual leave they want, for as long as they require it.

·        It does not mandate that they pay women during menstrual leave, but a 2020 survey by the labour ministry found that about 30% of Japanese businesses do.

·        But, hardly many women use the law to their advantage. Just 0.9% of eligible employees have taken menstruation leave, according to the survey of almost 6,000 companies.

·        Women have the right to one day of unpaid menstruation leave each month in South Korea. If an employer refuses, they could be fined up to 5 million won ($3,844).

·        According to a 2018 survey, more women than in Japan took time off, at a rate of just over 19 percent.

·        Women in Taiwan are granted three days of menstruation leave per year by the Act of Gender Equality in Work, which is in addition to the required 30 days of ordinary sick leave.

·        Every month, women are only permitted to take one day off.

·        Menstrual leave recipients receive only half their regular pay, similar to sick leave.

Other Countries on Menstrual leave

·        In 2015, Zambia enacted a rule allowing women to skip work on the day of their menstruation without providing advance warning or a certificate from a doctor.

·        Although while the rule is widely supported and understood, not all companies voluntarily follow it on what is clandestinely known as “Mother’s Day.”

·        Some businesses and institutions have started providing women with menstrual leave before they were required to by law.

·        These include the French furniture company Louis, the Indian food delivery service Zomato, and the Australian pension fund Future Super, which offer six, ten, and twelve additional days, respectively.

·        Chani, a Los Angeles-based astrological company, similarly advertises on its website that it provides “unlimited menstrual leave for persons with uteruses.”

Britain, EU reach agreement on Northern Ireland post-Brexit trade

Why In News

·        Britain and the EU have reached an agreement on new trade rules in Northern Ireland in an attempt to resolve a thorny issue that has fueled post-Brexit tensions in Europe and on the island of Ireland.

Key Points

·        The Britain and the European Union(EU) agreed on a new trading arrangement for Northern Ireland, a move aimed at ending years of friction caused by Brexit and allowing greater cooperation between both sides at a time of mounting geopolitical risk to Europe from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

·        The U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet in Windsor, near the royal castle here, to shake hands on a new agreement that allows British goods destined for Northern Ireland to enter without customs checks, while creating a separate process for goods going to Ireland through the province.

·        The deal also gives the Northern Ireland assembly the power to ask the U.K. government to veto new EU regulations or laws that would apply to the province.

Significance of This Deal:

·        The deal effectively left Northern Ireland in the EU’s customs union and subject to some of the bloc’s laws and rules over which the people of Northern Ireland had no say.

·        It also meant that goods traveling within two parts of the U.K. would be subject to EU customs checks and different tax regimes.

Placing of customs border by the Britain:

·        Under its Brexit divorce deal, Britain agreed to place a customs border within its own country to avoid creating a hard border between Ireland, an EU member, and the British province of Northern Ireland.

·        Both sides feared doing so would inflame sectarian tensions in the region between unionists, who favor continued British rule, and republicans, who want political union with the rest of Ireland.

The US Role In This Agreement:

·        The U.S., which helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, had also been urging the U.K. and EU to reach a deal to avoid jeopardizing the pact, which brought peace to Northern Ireland after years of conflict.

·        President Biden hailed the agreement as “an essential step to ensuring that the hard-earned peace and progress of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is preserved and strengthened.”

The Further Course of This Agreement:

·        Mr. Sunak now will have to sell the agreement to both his Conservative Party and pro-U. K. unionists in Northern Ireland.

·        They have complained that a 2019 Brexit divorce deal left Northern Ireland cut off from the rest of Britain, causing political paralysis in the province and threatening its peace.

·        If Mr. Sunak, who took over as prime minister in October, meets with success, his leadership will be given a big boost. If he fails, he will be only the latest Conservative prime minister to be undone by Brexit.