FASTags for vehicles
Context : FASTags — a device to make automatic payments at toll booths and will work as Aadhaar to track vehicles.
Purpose : Allows the government to track the movement of vehicles across the country. and to make payments of tolls cashless without stopping at toll booths.
How its works :
- A FASTag uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to make cashless payments through a prepaid account linked to it.
- The tag is fixed to the windscreen of a vehicle and an RFID antenna in the canopy of the toll gate scans the QR code and the tag identification number, following which the boom barrier lifts to allow a vehicle to pass through it without the need for a vehicle to stop.
- Cameras at toll booths will take photos of passengers in a vehicle, which will be useful for the Ministry of Home Affairs as there will be a record of a vehicle’s movement.
Benefits : All States to adopt the technology so that the entire system can come under the National Toll Collection programme of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Users of State Highways, too, can avoid long queues and benefit from seamless travel.
FASTags will be mandatory for all vehicles at all National Highways from 1 December 2019.
Abhijit Banerjee on being conferred the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
Context : Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee, his wife Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer have jointly won the Economics Nobel for the year 2019 for their “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
About Economic Nobel prize :
- The prize, officially known as the ‘Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences In Memory Of Alfred Nobel’, wasn’t created by the prize founder, but it is considered to be part of the Nobel stable of awards.
- The prize was created by Riksbanken, the Swedish central bank, in 1968, and the first winner was selected a year later. So far, 81 Nobel laureates in economic sciences have been awarded.
- All awardees but the Peace Prize–winner will receive their awards on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896 in Stockholm. The winner of the Peace Prize receives the award in Oslo, Norway.
About Abhijit Banerjee :
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. Born in Kolkata, Dr. Banerjee’s parents were also economics professors. After his post-graduation from JNU, he obtained his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. He specialised in developmental economics.
Dr. Banerjee is the co-author of the award-winning Poor Economics. The book, which was co-authored by his wife and fellow Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo, delves deep into the lives of the world’s poorest and argues that poverty eradication begins with understanding the daily decisions facing the poor.
Dr. Banerjee was one of the economists consulted for formulating NYAY or Nyuntam Aay Yojana, a flagship scheme promised by Congress in its 2019 election manifesto that ambitiously aimed to provide basic income the poorest 20% of India’s population.
Air India becomes first in the world to use Taxibot on A320 aircraft
Context : Air India became the first airline in the world to use a Taxibot on a A320 aircraft with passengers onboard .
What is Taxibot :
Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway and vice versa.
Highlights :
- With Taxibot it is possible to tow an aircraft from the parking bay to the runway with its engines switched off.
- It is a pilot controlled semi-robotic towbarless aircraft tractor used as an alternate taxiing equipment.
- Taxibot saves precious fuel and reduces engine wear and tear.
- Taxibots will significantly bring down the consumption of fuel by as much as 85% used during taxiing of an aircraft.
- Taxibots will also help in decongesting boarding gates and the apron area by providing efficient push backs.
Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav
Context : Under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Matrix, 10th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was inaugurated in Madhya pradesh.
About :
- Madhya Pradesh, being the cultural capital of India is hosting the 10th chapter of the biggest cultural event of the country and a considerable count of craftsmen-artists-culture practitioners of different states of India are coming together at the heart of the country to showcase their art forms, works and exhibitions’.
- The old-age and authentic art forms, born at every corner of the country, crosses our national boundaries and reaches to the farthest corner of the world bringing appreciation and honor to the nation.
‘Foreign’ plastic invades Great Nicobar Island
In News
- About 10 countries including India contributed to the plastic litter in the Great Nicobar island. They were Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Myanmar, China and Japan.
- Major portion of the litter (40.5%) was of Malaysian origin. It was followed by Indonesia (23.9%) and Thailand (16.3%).The litter of Indian origin only amounted to 2.2%
- The overwhelming contribution from Indonesia and Thailand was likely due to its proximity to the island; the plastic is likely to have made its way to the island because of water currents via the Malacca Strait, which is a major shipping route.
- The huge quantities of marine debris observed on this island might be due to improper handling of the solid waste from fishing/mariculture activity and ship traffic.
- Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the severest threats to ocean ecosystems and its concentration has reached 5,80,000 pieces per square kilometre.
- Plastic represents 83% of the marine litter found.The remaining 17% is mainly textiles, paper, metal and wood.
C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration
Context: ‘Clean Air Cities Declaration’ was unveiled at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, an event that occurs once every three years and is designed to implement “substantive clean air policies by 2025”.
About C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration:
Through this Declaration, mayors commit to using their power and influence to reduce air pollution and work towards meeting the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines.
This means cities will continually reduce their local emissions, and advocate for reductions in regional emissions, resulting in continuous declines in air pollution levels that move towards the WHO guidelines.
Signatories of the declaration pledge to:
- Set ambitious pollution reduction targets within two years that meet or exceed national commitments, putting them on a path towards meeting World Health Organization guidelines;
- Implement substantive clean air policies by 2025 that address the unique causes of pollution in their cities; and
- Publicly report progress on achieving these goals.
Expected outcomes:
- If the 35 signatories reduce annual average PM2.5 levels to WHO guidelines (10 ug/m3) it could avoid 40,000 deaths each year.
- C40 research shows that if all C40 cities cleaned their transport, buildings and industry this would reduce GHG emissions by 87%, PM2.5 by nearly 50% and would avoid over 220,000 premature deaths per year.
Sources: the Hindu.