Solution (a)

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB): It has been established by Government of India to coordinate with all matters relating to Medicinal Plants and Support Policies and Programs for growth of trade, export, conservation and cultivation. 

The board is working under Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homeopathy (AYUSH).

Article Link: NMPB and CSIR-NBRI Sign MoU for Promotion of Cultivation and Production of Medicinal Plants

Solution (a)

GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods and Services required by various Central and State Government Departments/ Organizations/ Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

It operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The procurement of goods and services by Ministries and the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is mandatory for goods and services available on GeM.

It also provides the tool of e-bidding and reverse e-auction to facilitate the government users achieve the best value for their money.

Article Link: New product category of Green Room Air Conditioners launched on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to mark the World Environment Day today

Solution (b)

Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI is an initiative of Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).

It is a global coalition of public and private organisations who are working to stimulate demand for low carbon industrial materials. In collaboration with national governments, IDDI works to standardise carbon assessments, establish ambitious public and private sector procurement targets, incentivise investment into low-carbon product development and design industry guidelines.

It is coordinated by UNIDO, the IDDI is co-led by the UK and India and current members include Germany and Canada.

Goals: 

• Encouraging governments and the private sector to buy low carbon steel and cement.
• Sourcing and sharing data for common standards and targets

Article Link: India, UK collaborate on industrial energy efficiency

Solution (c)

International Nitrogen Initiative Conference: It was set up in 2003 under sponsorship of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP).

Objective: To stimulate an exchange among policymakers and other relevant stakeholders of results, ideas and visions to improve future holistic management of reactive nitrogen.

The UK government is going to highlight the fact that Nitrous oxide has up to 300 times higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide in the run up to the UNFCC COP26 to be held at Glasgow in November this year.

Article Link: Eighth Global Nitrogen Conference focuses on sustainable development goals

Solution (d)

NASA has announced two new missions to Venus. These two sister missions both aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world, capable of melting lead at the surface. These include:

1. Davinci+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission will:

• Measure the planet’s atmosphere to gain insight into how it formed and evolved.
• Determine whether Venus ever had an ocean.
• Return the first high resolution images of the planet’s “tesserae” geological features (These features could be comparable to continents on Earth).

2. Veritas (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy):

• This mission will map the planet’s surface to understand its geological history and investigate how it developed so differently than Earth.
• It will use a form of radar to chart surface elevations and discover whether volcanoes and earthquakes are still happening.

Article Link: NASA plans two new missions to Venus, its first in decades