Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Category: Environment
- India emitted 2,299 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2018, a 4.8% rise from the previous year.
- India’s emissions growth was higher than that of the United States and China — the two biggest emitters in the world — and this was primarily due to a rise in coal consumption.
- China, the United States, and India together accounted for nearly 70% of the rise in energy demand.
- India’s per capita emissions were about 40% of the global average and contributed 7% to the global carbon dioxide burden.
- The U.S., the largest emitter, was responsible for 14%.
- As per its commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, India has promised to reduce the emissions intensity of its economy by 2030, compared to the 2005 levels.
- It has also committed to having 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and, as part of this, install 100 GW of solar power by 2022.
HINI
Category: Science
- In a matter of three weeks, the number of influenza A (H1N1) cases and deaths in India has risen sharply.
- Rajasthan continues to report the most number of cases and deaths, followed by Gujarat.
- Delhi has the third most number of cases.
SWIFT
Category: Economy
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined Punjab National Bank (PNB) Rs 2 crore after finding it in violation of compliance with regulatory directions regarding SWIFT operations.
- Swift is a global messaging software used for transactions by financial entities.
- The fine comes in the backdrop of the massive Rs 14,000 crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank (PNB) owing to the misuse of this messaging software.
- SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.
- It is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions through a standardized system of codes.
- SWIFT assigns each financial organization a unique code that has either eight characters or 11 characters.
- It is only a messaging system – SWIFT does not hold any funds or securities, nor does it manage client accounts.
- Prior to SWIFT, Telex was the only available means of message confirmation for international funds transfer. Telex was hampered by low speed, security concerns, etc.
- To circumvent these problems, the SWIFT system was formed in 1974.
Bioacoustics
Category: Environment
- Bioacoustics is the study of animal sound production, dispersion and reception.
- It is being used worldwide to not only monitor threats to biodiversity but also study animal behaviour and diversity.
- The field of bioacoustics is still in its nascent stages in India.
Forex Swap
Category: Economy
- The Reserve Bank of India successfully executed a $5 billion forex swap auction in order to facilitate faster transmission of interest rates and improve liquidity in the banking system.
- It bought the targeted $5 billion as part of the long term dollar/ rupee swap auction with a three-year tenor.
- The amount of dollars get mopped up via these operations will reflect in the RBI’s foreign exchange reserves for the tenor of the swap while also reflecting in the RBI’s forward liabilities.
- Meanwhile, the system gets rupee equivalent liquidity for the same amount and for the same duration, improving the liquidity.
- While the primary objective of using auction based foreign exchange swap is to infuse the rupee liquidity through an alternate channel, there could be other collateral benefits at the same time.
APG
Category: International
- The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (also known as the APG) is the FATF-style regional body for the Asia-Pacific region.
- It is an inter-governmental (international) organisation founded in 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand.
- The APG consists of 41 member jurisdictions and a number of observer jurisdictions and international/regional observer organisations.
- The APG has two Co-Chairs: one permanent and one two-year term rotating Co-Chair. The permanent Co-Chair is Australia.
