Current Affair 1:

System for Pension Administration (Raksha) {SPARSH} initiative

 

News:

SPARSH is an initiative of Ministry of Defence which aims at providing a comprehensive solution to the administration of pension to the defence pensioners in line with the Government’s vision of ‘Digital India’, ‘Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)’ and ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’.

The system is administered by Defence Accounts Department (DAD) through the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), and caters to all the three Services and allied organisation.

SPARSH has fundamentally re-engineered the process of pension disbursement – from generation of the Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) to Direct Benefit Transfer of pensions, with the motto of right pension delivered at the right time.

Current Affair 2:

First-Ever International Finance Facility for Education

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News:

On Saturday, 17 September at the United Nations Transforming Education Summit, world leaders backed the establishment of the first-ever innovative guarantee fund specifically designed to invest in the education of the world’s poorest children and youth­—the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd).

IFFEd will directly address the devastating global education crisis and learning inequalities that have been exacerbated by the deadly combination of COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts.

It targets the urgent needs of lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) which are home to more than half of the world’s children and youth and where 3 out of 4 young people leave school without the basic skills to thrive.

Donor governments and multilateral development banks have come together to launch IFFEd and provide an initial $2 billion in additional affordable funding for education programs to be disbursed starting in 2023.

 

Current Affair 3:

Important economic indicators: RBI report

 

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YIELD PER HECTARE – FOODGRAINS: Rice and Wheat

 

Current Affair 4:

Air pollution contributing to the ‘insect apocalypse’?

 

There is an ‘insect apocalypse’ underway across the world. The threats to insects include habitat loss, climate change, land-use change and insecticides. But there appears to be another insidious contributor: polluted air.

Insects have an essential role to play in our ecosystem. They pollinate many of our fruits, flowers and vegetables, contributing significantly to the productivity of at least 75 per cent of global crop species. Their services are vital for India’s food security.

Insects keep pests in check. For example, ladybird preys on aphids, that damage crops. Insects are also food sources for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Moreover, given their diversity and abundance, it is inevitable that insects are intimately involved in all terrestrial and freshwater food chains and food webs.

1. Caterpillars, aphids, caddisfly larvae and grasshoppers are herbivores, for instance, turning plant material into tasty insect protein that is far more easily digested by larger animals.
2. Others, such as wasps, ground beetles and mantises, occupy the next level in the food chain, as predators of the herbivores. All of them are prey for a multitude of birds, bats, spiders, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals and fish, which would have little or nothing to eat if it weren’t for insects.
3. In their turn, the top predators such as sparrowhawks, herons and osprey that prey on the insectivorous starlings, frogs, shrews or salmon would themselves go hungry without insects.

How could pollution hurt insects?

1. Air pollutants can mess with the insects’ ability to sniff flowers, lowering pollination services.
2. Flowers release odour as chemicals called volatile organic compounds, which help insects locate flowers. Pollutants could react with and change the scents of flowers, making them harder to find.
3. One study found that honey bees exposed to low medium and high air pollutant concentrations had an impaired ability to recollect odour.
4. Pollutants might also mess with social bonds. Insects use odours for a huge variety of interactions with each other and their environment.
5. For example, insects use airborne odours to attract a mate. “If pheromone communication is disrupted similarly, it could result in insects struggling to find mates, which could have ramifications for insect biodiversity

 

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