Current Affair 1:

What is the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme?

 

News:

Under the Bharat NCAP, cars voluntarily nominated by automobile manufacturers will be crash tested as per protocols laid down in the soon-to-be-published Automotive Industry Standard 197. The programme is applicable to passenger vehicles with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kgs.

Cars will be assigned a rating between one star to five stars after being evaluated on three parameters — adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and safety assist technologies present in the car.

Though Bharat NCAP is voluntary, in certain cases, cars may be subjected to a crash test such as for a base model of a popular variant (minimum clocked sale of 30,000 units), or when the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recommends a model for testing based on market feedback or in the interest of public safety.

Officials of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways say that automobile manufacturers have offered a total of 30 car models for crash testing under Bharat NCAP, without revealing the names of the auto companies willing to participate.

The objective of the programme is to help consumers make an informed decision before purchasing a car, thereby spurring demand for safer cars.

The testing protocols adopted by the Bharat NCAP are modelled on the Global NCAP, which is a project of the U.K.-based NGO, Towards Zero Foundation. It serves as a platform for cooperation among new car assessment programmes worldwide.

Current Affair 2:

Bio-Economy

 

News: India is set to achieve $150 billion Bio-Economy by 2025, which stood at over $100 billion in 2022.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the bioeconomy is "the production, use and conservation of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation to provide information, products, processes and services to all economic sectors with the aim of moving towards a sustainable economy".

The circular bioeconomy

The bioeconomy aims to drive both sustainable development and circularity. In particular, the principles of the circular economy — reuse, repair and recycle — are a fundamental part of the bioeconomy. Through reuse, repair and recycling, the total amount of waste and its impact is reduced. It also saves energy, minimizes pollution of soil, air and water, thus helping to prevent damage to the environment, climate and biodiversity.

Examples of bioeconomy

Food systems occupy the largest niche in the bioeconomy. To these systems, which include sustainable agriculture, sustainable fishing, forestry, and aquaculture, as well as food and feed manufacturing, are added bio-based products and bioenergy.

Bio-based products include bioplastics, biodegradable clothing and other products related with eco-design. Like biomass — one of the renewable energies —, bioenergy improves the security of energy supply, reduces energy dependence, and creates new opportunities for growth and employment.

Current Affair 3:

Global Biodiversity Framework Fund ratified

 

News:

The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) was finally ratified and launched at the Seventh Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Vancouver, Canada.

Governments, non-profits, and the private sector can now contribute their funds here to ensure that the world meets the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) formulated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by 2030.

It is a special trust fund under the GEF, to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at COP15 last year.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), with four goals and 23 action-oriented targets, was adopted early Monday morning at the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of Parties on the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) or COP15, chaired by China and hosted by Canada from December 7 to December 19.

 

The fund will mobilize and accelerate investment from governments, philanthropy, and the private sector to support nations in the conservation and sustainability of wild species and ecosystems whose health is threatened by wildfires, flooding, extreme weather, and human activity, including unsustainable industrial agriculture, consumption and production pressures, and urban sprawl.

History:

At COP15, the parties acknowledged that it is essential to mobilise substantial financial resources to protect nature and the planet. As part of the agreement, the GEF was requested to establish the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, a special trust fund to support the implementation of the Agreement.

Current Affair 4:

Debt-Fossil Fuel Trap

 

No need to learn lot about new report. Just two three lines for knowledge.

The Debt-Fossil Fuel Trap report has been released by the anti-debt campaigner’s Debt Justice and partners in affected countries.

Global south countries have been facing increasingly high debt over recent years, with external debt payments increasing by 150% between 2011 and 2023, reaching their highest levels in 25 years.

The Global South refers to various countries around the world that are sometimes described as “developing,” “less developed” or “underdeveloped.” Many of these countries – although by no means all – are in the Southern Hemisphere, largely in Africa, Asia and Latin America

Debt Justice calculates that there are 54 countries in debt crisis, many of which have been forced to reduce public spending during the pandemic to keep up with payments.

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