Important Daily Facts of the Day

India Italy elevate ties sign MoU on defence cooperation (GS Paper 2, International Relation)

Why in news?

• Recently, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melonichose India as her inaugural international visit as a matter of strategic choice. Her visit is the first high level bilateral visit from Italy in the past 5 years.
• India and Italy are celebrating the 75th anniversary of their bilateral relations in 2023.

 

Key Highlights:

• Ending the chill in the bilateral relationship in the past few years, India and Italy announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to the level of strategic partnership while also concluding a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation.
• Indian PM announced the establishment of a ‘Startup Bridge’ between India and Italy, and said that both countries have laid special emphasis on increasing cooperation in areas like Renewable Energy, Green Hydrogen, IT, semiconductors, telecom and space.
• The two countries also concluded a Declaration of Intent (DOI) on migration and mobility.

 

Ukraine-Russia conflict:

• On the occasion, the Indian PM mentioned the Ukraine-Russia conflict and said India is fully prepared to contribute to any peace process.

 

Indo-Pacific:

• He also welcomed Italy's active participation in the Indo-Pacific, saying the move will help in identifying concrete themes for enhancing our cooperation in Indo-Pacific.
• Italy has decided to join the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI).

 

Economic front:

• On the economic front, the two leaders expressed their intention to further advance India-Italy cooperation, including in the framework of the respective Make in India and Made in Italy frameworks.
• PM Modi invited Italian defence companies to actively participate in Make in India initiative.

 

Other issues:

• Both countries also agreed on working shoulder to shoulder on issues such as terrorism and separatism.
• In the context of COVID-19 and future global health challenges, the two countries agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of disease control.

Ornamental fish aquaculture to help women in Lakshadweep islands

 (GS Paper 3, Economy)

Why in news?

• Community-based ornamental fish aquaculture, using local resources, is expected to help women in the Lakshadweep islands to take the first step towards self-reliance through concerted activities.

Initiative by NBFGR:

• In what is being described as the first-of-its-kind experiment, as many as 82 islanders, 77 of them women, were selected and underwent intensive training.
• They have formed groups for ornamental fish aquaculture with technical support from the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR).
• The NBFGR maintains a germplasm resource centre for marine ornamental organisms on Agatti Island for conservation as well as boosting livelihood sources for the islanders.
• To expand the activity, in addition to the two species of ornamental shrimps, captive-raised clownfish seeds were also supplied.

 

Way Forward:

• The NBFGR project team will monitor the units and provide technical inputs till the organisms reach the marketable size.

 

Fossil fuels firms failed to curb methane emission

(GS Paper 3, Environment)

Why in news?

• According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annualMethane Global Tracker report, fossil fuel companies emitted 120 million metric tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in 2022, only slightly below the record highs seen in 2019.
• These companies have done almost nothing to curb the emissions despite their pledges to find and fix leaking infrastructure.
• The report has come after energy giants such as Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and others reported record profits in 2022 as the Russia-Ukraine war drove up oil and natural gas prices. 

What are the findings of the report?

• The energy sector accounts for around 40 per cent of the total average methane emissions from human activity, as oil and natural gas companies are known to release methane into the atmosphere when natural gas is flared or vented. The greenhouse gas is also released through leaks from valves and other equipment during the drilling, extraction and transportation process.
• More than 260 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas (mostly composed of methane) is wasted through flaring and methane leaks globally today. Although it’s impossible to avoid all of this amount, the right policies and implementation can bring 200 bcm of additional gas to markets.
• In the oil and gas sector, emissions can be reduced by over 75 per cent by implementing well-known measures such as leak detection and repair programmes and upgrading leaky equipment.
• It further mentioned that 80 per cent of the available options to curb the release of methane could be implemented by the fossil fuel industry at net zero cost.

 

Impact on global temperatures:

• Ultimately, reducing 75 per cent of the wastage of natural gas could lower global temperature rise by nearly 0.1 degree Celsius by mid-century.
• This would have the same effect on the soaring global temperatures as immediately stopping greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles such as cars, trucks, buses and two- and three-wheeler vehicles across the world. However, fossil fuel companies have done little to tackle the problem.

 

How are methane emissions driving climate change?

• Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is responsible for 30 per cent of the warming since preindustrial times, second only to carbon dioxide. A report by the United Nations Environment Programme observed that over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
• In recent years, scientists have repeatedly sounded the alarm regarding the increasing amount of methane in the atmosphere.
• In 2022, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the atmospheric levels of methane jumped 17 parts per billion in 2021, beating the previous record set in 2020.