Goaltide Daily Current Affairs 2021
Current Affair 1:
UNESCO Science Report (USR)
USR is one of the flagship publications of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and is published every 5 years.
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The USR-2021 is the seventh in the series of UNESCO Science Reports, which was first launched in 1993. The sub-theme for this edition of USR is ‘The race against time for Smarter Development’ and it lays emphasis on the performance and efforts of the countries towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets set for 2030. |
The latest USR observes that the governments need to increase their commitment towards Research & Development (R&D) to aid this transition.
Look at few data:
East & Southeast Asia which includes major Research spending countries like China, Japan & South Korea account for the highest spending with 714.52 PPP $ billion in 2018, an increase of 28% from their spending in 2014.
Most patents in India concern pharmaceuticals and information technology. About 85% of assignees of patents issued by the Indian Patent Office and US Patent and Trademark Office are foreign inventors, commonly represented by multinational corporations specializing in digital technologies.
Current Affair 2:
Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2020’ report.
Recently, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released the ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2020’ report. In brief, we will cover few points in the report.
- The trend in cost declines continued for solar and wind power in 2020, despite the impact of the global pandemic and the disruptions caused by the spread of COVID-19 virus.
- Renewable power generation costs have fallen sharply over the past decade, driven by steadily improving technologies, economies of scale, competitive supply chains and improving developer experience.
- Costs for electricity from utility-scale solar PV fell 85% between 2010 and 2020
About International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
It is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.
IRENA was officially founded in Bonn, Germany, on 26 January 2009.
With a mandate from countries around the world, IRENA encourages governments to adopt enabling policies for renewable energy investments, provides practical tools and policy advice to accelerate renewable energy deployment, and facilitates knowledge sharing and technology transfer to provide clean, sustainable energy for the world’s growing population.
Currently it has 164 members, India is the 77th Founding Member of IRENA. It has its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
IRENA is an official United Nations observer.
Global scenario:
Current Affair 3:
New type of ancient human discovered in Israel
Researchers working in Israel have identified a previously unknown type of ancient human that lived alongside our species more than 100,000 years ago.
They believe the remains uncovered near the city of Ramla represent one of the "last survivors" of a very ancient human group. The finds consist of a partial skull and jaw from an individual who lived between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago.
The team members think the individual descended from an earlier species that may have spread out of the region hundreds of thousands of years ago and given rise to Neanderthals in Europe and their equivalents in Asia. The scientists have named the newly discovered lineage the "Nesher Ramla Homo type".
Current Affair 4:
European Green Deal
"Fit for 55": under this heading, the EU Commission will specify the implementation of the European Green Deal on 14 July. This refers to the more ambitious climate policy announced, with 55 instead of 40 percent emission reduction by 2030 (relative to 1990), and net-zero emissions in 2050.
Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, the European Green Deal will transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring:
- no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050
- economic growth decoupled from resource use
- no person and no place left behind
The European Green Deal provides an action plan to:
- boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy
- restore biodiversity and cut pollution
The EU will also provide financial support and technical assistance to help those that are most affected by the move towards the green economy. This is called the Just Transition Mechanism. It will help mobilise at least €100 billion over the period 2021-2027 in the most affected regions. The Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) is a key tool to ensure that the transition towards a climate-neutral economy happens in a fair way, leaving no one behind.
Current Affair 5:
India's First Anti-Enforcement Injunction Order
The concept of anti-suit injunction and anti-enforcement injunction is gaining prominence worldwide including in India. Recently, the Delhi High Court has ruled in the country’s first anti-anti-suit-injunction (AASI). This is likely the first case globally where an AASI was granted after an anti-suit-injunction (ASI) was already passed by a foreign court.
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On May 3, 2021, the High Court pronounced a decision in favour of US-headquartered technology company, InterDigital in its battle against Chinese multinational, Xiaomi Corporation. This judgement confirmed its October 9, 2020 order where it granted an ad interim AASI against Xiaomi, directing it to not pursue or enforce the injunction it had secured from the Wuhan Court. |
Anti-Suit Injunctions (“ASI”) are court orders restraining a defendant from commencing, advancing, or pursuing its claim in another jurisdiction or forum; or a court order directing the defendant to terminate or suspend proceedings initiated in an alternate forum, especially where the alternate forum is a foreign jurisdiction.
It is important to note that ASI are orders made against the party-Defendant, in personam i.e., it is directed towards an individual party and not the Court in the alternate jurisdiction. Thus, ASI can be said to be a powerful and important tool to prevent a party involved in the proceedings from initiating parallel proceedings in different foreign jurisdictions and avoid possible conflicts in the judgments.
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