DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Agreement on Migration and Mobility between Italy and India: GS II – International Issues
About:
- The agreement is expected to improve people-to-people relations between Italy and India while enhancing collaboration on matters pertaining to irregular migration.
- It promotes collaboration and exchange by facilitating movement for a range of groups, including businesspeople, skilled workers, students, and young professionals.
Important clauses:
- Indian students wishing to pursue post-academic or vocational training in Italy and gain professional experience are eligible to apply for a 12-month temporary residency.
- Workers’ Reserved Quotas: Under the current Flows Decree, the agreement specifies quotas for both seasonal and non-seasonal Indian workers, with a reserved quota range spanning the years 2023–2025.
- The annual “Flow Decree” (Decreto Flussi) issued by the Italian government establishes the cap on the number of non-EU nationals who are permitted to work and conduct self-employment in Italy.
Execution:
- Unless discontinued, the agreement will automatically renew for a further five years.
- Its implementation will be overseen by a Joint Working Group (JWG), which will meet on a regular basis to assess progress and suggest helpful measures for efficient execution.
About:
- Jutting out of southern Europe into the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, Mediterranean, and other waterways is the boot-shaped peninsula known as Italy.
Associated Nations:
- Italy shares international boundaries with Austria, France, San Marino, Slovenia, the Holy See (Vatican City), and Switzerland.
- Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Greece, Libya, Malta, Montenegro, Spain, and Tunisia are among the countries with whom Italy shares sea boundaries.
- Republic is the type of government.
- Rome is the capital.
- Currency: Euro
- Principal Mountains: Apennines and Alps
- Principal Rivers: Tiber, Po, Adige, and Arno
What Other Fields Does Italy and India Cooperate in?
Historical Connections:
- Italy and India are young nations with long histories. Italian port cities played a significant role in the spice trade as trading hubs.
- In the thirteenth century, the Venetian trader Marco Polo visited India as part of his eastern journeys and produced a report on his adventures.
Political:
- India and Italy established diplomatic ties in 1947.
- Italy and India upgraded their connection to a Strategic Partnership in March 2023.
Financial:
- In 2022–2023, the two nations’ bilateral commerce was valued at USD 14.25 billion.
- Italy ranks among India’s top five EU trading partners.
- The primary products that India ships to Italy are iron ore, leather, textiles, motor vehicles, chemicals, jewels, and jewellery in addition to ready-made clothing.
- Italy is a major importer of engineering goods, machine tools, metallurgical products, and general and speciality machinery.
Safety:
- A forum called the India-Italy Military collaboration Group (MCG) was created to strengthen defence collaboration between the two nations.
Source: The Hindu
2 – Beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra Are Added to PM-Kisan: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
What is the Bharat Sankalp Yatra of Vikasit?
About:
- It’s a national programme to increase awareness through outreach initiatives in order to reach government scheme saturation. of India, encompassing all Nagar Panchayats, Urban Local Bodies, and Gramme Panchayats.
- With the active participation of numerous Ministries and Departments of the Government of India, State Governments, and the Central Government, the campaign is being launched using a whole of government strategy. Institutions and Organisations.
Goals:
- Reach out to those who are less fortunate and who qualify for different programmes but have not yet benefited from them.
- distributing information and raising awareness of programmes.
- interaction with government programme beneficiaries through their sharing of personal narratives and experiences.
- enrollment of prospective recipients using information gathered during the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.
What is the PM-Kisan, or PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana?
About:
- It was introduced to help land-holding farmers with their financial demands.
- It started operating in December 2018.
Benefits to the finances:
- Farmers’ families nationwide receive a financial reward of Rs 6000/-per year, paid into their bank accounts in three equal installments every four months via the Direct reward Transfer (DBT) system.
The Scheme’s Scope:
- The programme was originally designed to assist Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs) with holdings of up to two hectares of land; however, its purview was expanded to include all landholding farmers.
Finance and Execution:
- The Indian government provides all of the money for this central sector scheme.
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is in charge of carrying it out.
Goals:
- to augment the small- and marginal-farmers’ financial needs in order to purchase different inputs that would guarantee healthy crops and yields that are appropriate for the expected farm revenue at the end of each crop cycle.
- to keep them safe from moneylenders so they can continue their farming endeavours and avoid them becoming victims of such costs.
PM-KISAN App for Mobile:
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology worked with the National Informatics Centre to create and design it.
Module for Physical Verification:
- As per the guidelines specified under the system, a yearly physical verification of 5% of the beneficiaries is required.
What Difficulties Does PM-Kisan Face?
Required Elements and Aadhaar Connection:
- Farmers now have difficulties in meeting these requirements due to the complexity of the mandated land seeding laws and the obligation to connect Aadhaar with operational bank accounts.
- Access to PM-Kisan benefits may be impeded for farmers, particularly those residing in distant areas, by technological difficulties in meeting the Aadhaar linking and land planting requirements.
Outreach and Awareness:
- It’s possible that a large number of eligible farmers are still ignorant of the PM-Kisan programme or lack enough knowledge of the application procedure.
- Outreach programmes may find it difficult to connect with every member of the farming community, especially in isolated or marginalised areas, despite best efforts.
Accessibility of Technology:
- Farmers’ capacity to interact with the online processes necessary for PM-Kisan enrollment and compliance may be hampered by disparities in technological access, particularly smartphones and internet connectivity.
The Way Ahead:
- For simplicity and efficiency, conduct a thorough evaluation of the Aadhaar linking requirements and the obligatory land seeding laws.
- Make use of technology to develop platforms that are easy to use for smooth compliance.
- Create community-based engagement initiatives to assist farmers who are at risk.
- Work together with NGOs, agricultural services, and local government to find and assist qualified farmers who are not aware of PM-Kisan benefits.
Source: The Hindu
3 – ISRO’s X-ray polarimeter satellite: GS II – Science and Technology
What is an XpoSat, or X-ray polarimeter satellite?
Goal:
- XPoSat is intended to investigate X-ray polarisation in the medium X-ray band, providing information on the geometry and radiation mechanisms of astronomical sources.
- Understanding the physics underlying these celestial bodies depends on this research.
Payloads:
- POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) are the two primary payloads carried by the satellite.
- About forty brilliant celestial sources will be observed by POLIX, while XSPECT will investigate the electromagnetic spectrum produced by various materials.
Progress:
- Completely constructed by the Raman Research Institute and the UR Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO, two Bengaluru-based organisations, XPoSat’s construction started in 2008 and a formal agreement was inked with ISRO in 2015.
Worldwide Setting:
- As far as X-ray polarisation in the medium X-ray band is concerned, XPoSat is just the second mission in the world. Launched in 2021, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) was the first space agency mission of its kind.
Contribution of the Nation:
- After the 2015 launch of AstroSat and the recently launched solar mission Aditya-L1, XPoSat will be India’s third space-based observatory. Its launch is regarded as a major advancement in Indian space science and astronomy.
How Will X Ray Study Celestial Objects and What Does It Mean?
- Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 0.01 to 10 nanometers is known as X-rays.
- An electric field and a magnetic field vibrating perpendicular to one another define electromagnetic radiation.
- The orientation of these two fields as the radiation travels across space is referred to as electromagnetic radiation polarisation.
- When X-rays scatter, they can become polarised. Additionally, polarised X-rays are generated when a magnetic field bends the path of a charged particle travelling quickly.
- Astronomers can learn about the direction and intensity of magnetic fields in astronomical objects by measuring the polarisation of X-rays with equipment such as POLIX. This in turn offers important new understandings of the properties and dynamics of pulsars, the areas surrounding black holes, and other X-ray-emitting cosmic events.
Source: The Hindu
4 – Details of Lithium Reserves in India: GS I – Geography Issues
What is the lithium atom?
About:
- An alkali mineral known as “white gold” is lithium. It is the lightest metal in the periodic table, a delicate, silvery-white metal.
Principal attributes:
- Elevated Reactivity
- Minimal Density
- Superior Electrochemical Characteristics
Top Producers and Occurrence:
- Minerals such as lepidolite, petalite, and spodumene naturally contain lithium.
- Lithium metal or its derivatives are produced by refining the recovered material from these minerals.
- China, Argentina, Chile, and Australia are the world’s leading producers of lithium.
- Australia led the globe in the production of lithium mines in 2022. China came in third, followed by Chile.
- A vast lithium deposit believed to contain 18 million tonnes of lithium was recently found beneath the Salton Sea in California, United States.
Uses:
- Batteries: Rechargeable batteries, which power computers, cellphones, electric cars, and other gadgets, depend on lithium as a key component.
- Glass and ceramics: Glass and ceramics are strengthened with lithium compounds to increase their heat resistance and durability.
- Medicine: Mood stabilisers like lithium are used to treat bipolar disorder.
- Lubricants: High-pressure and high-temperature applications employ lithium greases.
Lithium reserves in India:
Lithium finds increased dramatically in 2023:
- Large reserves (estimated at 5.9 million tonnes) discovered in the Salal-Haimna areas of the Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir.
- There are other reserves in the Jharkhand regions of Giridih and Koderma.
- However, India has put up two blocks of lithium for auction: one in J&K and another in Chhattisgarh. The majority of India’s domestic needs, in areas such as the production of lithium-ion batteries and other energy storage solutions, are fully supplied by imports. The estimated value of the import bill is ₹24,000 crore.
Source: The Hindu
