Current affairs 06 October 2024

India Surpasses $700 Billion in Forex Reserves.

• India has become the 4th economy in the world to surpass 700 billion US dollars in foreign reserves, joining China, Japan, and Switzerland.
• India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by 12.588 billion dollars to touch a new all-time high of 704.885 billion dollars.
• The RBI reports that gold reserves rose to $65.796 billion, and special drawing rights with the IMF increased to $18.547 billion.

Dept. of Posts, Amazon partnered to boost India’s E-commerce Logistics.

• The Department of Posts and Amazon have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen logistics, expand reach, and enhance parcel delivery across India.
• Building on a collaboration since 2013, Amazon utilizes DoP’s vast postal network to support e-commerce growth and job creation.
• The MoU focuses on operational enhancements, capacity sharing, and network utilization.

FCI launched ANNA DARPAN to revolutionize supply chain.

• Food Corporation has introduced ANNA DARPAN, a new microservices-based system, to optimize supply chain management across Mandis, Mills, and Depots.
• The project includes a cloud environment and centralized analytics, enabling FCI to leverage data insights for strategic decision-making.
• M/s Coforge Limited is engaged as the system integrator to oversee design, implementation, and maintenance.

IIT Madras developed new technique for enhanced Retinal Drug delivery.

• IIT Madras researchers have used mild laser-induced convection to improve drug delivery for conditions like retinal tears and diabetic retinopathy.
• The technique reduces the drug diffusion time in the retina from 12 hours to 12 minutes.
• Published in Wiley Heat Transfer Journal, the findings highlight safer, more effective drug delivery for retinal diseases.

Only 10% of Nations Meet Biodiversity Commitments Ahead of COP16.

• The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans Tracker by WWF reveals that just 33% of countries have updated their national targets to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
• Only 20 countries have fully revised their NBSAPs since COP15, and nine have submitted their updated plans, leaving 186 countries, including India, lagging.
• COP16 - October 21 - Colombia