21th Nov Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam

M-STRiPES

• M-STRiPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) is an app developed by Wildlife Institute of India.
• The app will be used for the first time in All India Tiger estimation.
• It is already in place in some national parks but it has been made mandatory for the fourth All-India Tiger estimation.
• It is expected that the app would ensure more robust estimate by eliminating human errors in the survey.

World Congress on Information Technology

• The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is a premier global forum that is to be held for the first time in India, at Hyderabad.
• The congress’s objective is to create awareness of the shift in technology and serve as a forum for people to experience the change.
• The 22nd edition of WCIT focus on technology led disruption in IT field and it also showcases latest trends, technologies, strategic discussions on building the digital future.
• It is being organized by the Nasscom’s India Leadership forum.

Infrastructure Status for Logistics sector

• The union Finance Ministry has recently granted the “Infrastructure” status to the Logistics sector.
• It is being given at the time when the integrated logistics sector development is needed and logistics cost is very high compared to developed countries.
• The implications of getting infrastructure status include

1. It will get longer maturity loans compared to typical manufacturing sector
2. It will be eligible for slightly higher equity ratios while applying for loans
3. It will have certain advantages and flexibility while applying external commercial borrowing
4. It will allow doing refinancing with specialized lenders like IDFC, IIFCL etc

• It is expected that it will improve efficiency and reduce the cost of capital in transportation and warehousing, thereby reducing the cost of logistics.

International Court of Justice

• Election to the seat of Judge of International Court of Justice was recently held.
• India’s nominee Justice Dalveer Bhandari has been re-elected to ICJ after Britain withdrew its candidate Christopher Greenwood from the election.
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ), established in 1946 is the principal judicial body of the UN.
• The Court is composed of 15 judges with the tenure of 9 years serving in their individual capacities.
• Candidates are first nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
• From the list of candidates, judges are elected by an absolute majority in both the General Assembly (97 votes) and Security Council (8 votes).
• Elections are being held once in 3 years when one-third of the judges getting retired.
• Although the judges do not represent their nations but act as independent agents, there cannot be more than one judge of each nationality.
• It has two primary functions,

1. To settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with established international laws, and
2. To act as an advisory board on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations.

Namami Barak Festival

• It is a three day river fest, held recently in the State of Assam.
• It is organized in three districts of Barak valley with the main function organized in Silchar.
• It is to showcase the potential and possibilities of Barak valley.
• The polo game was organized as part of this festival.
• The first polo club in the world was formed at Assam’s Silchar in 1834 by a lieutenant in the Indian army.
• But the sport is no more played in the Assam state.
• Players from Manipur, which is known as the home of polo, were invited for the festival.
• The oldest polo ground in the world is the Imphal Polo Ground in Manipur.
• The festival will ensure a boost in trade and economic activities in this part of Assam

World Fisheries Day

• World Fisheries Day is being celebrated every year on November 21st to commemorate the establishment of World Fisheries Forum (WFF) in 1997.
• WFF advocates for a global mandate of sustainable fishing practices and policies.
• In India, it is celebrated fourth consecutive year by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries.

Source: The Hindu, PIB