aditya
07:27
Physical & World Geography by UPSC Akhada PDF
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Monday, December 27, 2021
Government Schemes & Policies in India by UPSC Akhada PDF
aditya
06:50
Government Schemes & Policies in India by UPSC Akhada PDF
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Vision IAS Weekly Focus School Education: Mind is a Tabula Rasa PDF
aditya
06:39
Vision IAS Weekly Focus School Education: Mind is a Tabula Rasa PDF
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Saturday, December 25, 2021
The HINDU Notes – 25th December 2021
aditya
16:30
📰 Turtle trail to get a boost with mass tagging mission
1,556 Olive Ridleys tagged in exercise that began in Odisha in January 2021 after nearly 25 years.
•Scientists have resumed tagging of Olive Ridley sea turtles at Rushikulya rookery along Odisha coast, which would help them identify the migration path and places visited by the marine reptiles after congregation and nesting.
•Researchers of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) are carrying out tagging of Olive Ridley turtles at three mass nesting sites – Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth and Rushikulya. The exercise was undertaken in Odisha in January 2021 after a span of about 25 years and 1,556 turtles had been tagged.
•On Wednesday, the ZSI team tagged 22 turtles (11 male and 11 female) in association with Odisha Forest and Environment Department along the Rushikulya coast.
•“We are studying the path taken by turtles in the sea, if they keep coming to one nesting site for laying eggs, and the number of sites they visit over the years. Besides, the growth of turtles could be measured during the current study,” said Anil Mohapatra, ZSI scientist, who leads the research team at Gopalpur, on Thursday.
•Dr. Mohapatra elaborated, “the study would also reveal the inter-rookery movement of turtles in Odisha. The migration pattern to other countries would be recorded in detail.”
•The metal tags affixed to turtles are non-corrosive and they do not harm their body. The metal can be removed later. The tags are uniquely numbered containing details such as name of organisation, country-code and email address. “If researchers in other countries come across the tagged turtles, they would email their location in longitude and latitude to us. It would help us know their location. There is an established network working on turtles,” said the scientist.
•“We intend to tag 30,000 turtles over a period of 10 years. Last year, the turtles did not come for mass nesting to Rushikulya so we could not carry out much tagging. In Gahirmatha, 1,000 turtles were tagged last year. We can scale up tagging up to 10,000 in a year if proper mass nesting takes place,” he said.
•Dr. Mohapatra said, “even if we complete tagging of turtles in three years, we have to do rigorous monitoring of the marine reptiles. Initially, a 10-year time frame has been set for long-term monitoring. If we get encouraging results, the time frame can be extended.”
•Meanwhile, mass congregation of Olive Ridley sea turtles has been found to be very encouraging along Rushikulya coast. The mass nesting picked up after Cyclone Jawad crossed near the coast.
•“The condition for mass nesting is very conducive this year. There are chances of Olive Ridley turtles going to nearby places, including an island created between Purunabandh and Podumpeta for mass nesting. We have started awareness among locals to provide them disturbance-free ambience,” said Amlan Nayak, Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer.
📰 Population not the sole factor in J&K delimitation, say officials
Friday, December 24, 2021
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Daily Current Affairs, 23rd December 2021
aditya
19:38
1) Indian National Farmer’s Day : 23 December
•Kisan Diwas or National Farmers’ Day is celebrated across the nation on December 23 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the fifth Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh. He brought farmer-friendly policies and worked towards the welfare of the farmers. He was the fifth Prime Minister of India and served the country as Prime Minister from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980.
2) Jharkhand assembly passes Bill to prevent mob violence, lynching
•Jharkhand Assembly has passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, which aims at providing “effective protection” of constitutional rights and the prevention of mob violence in the state. After including one amendment, the Bill was passed and sent to the Governor for his assent. Once notified, Jharkhand will become the fourth state to bring in such a law after West Bengal, Rajasthan and Manipur.
3) Odisha CM inaugurated Odisha’s longest bridge ‘T-Setu’ in Cuttack
•Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated the state’s longest bridge, ‘T-Setu’, built over the Mahanadi River in Cuttack District, Odisha. The bridge in the shape of the English alphabet ‘T’ was constructed at a cost of Rs 111 crore. The 4-km-long bridge connecting Gopinathpur in Badamba, Baideswar in Banki to Singhanath Pitha in Cuttack, will cut the distance between Badamba and Banki Baideshwar by almost 45 km.
•Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone T-setu on February 28, 2014. But, due to some technical issues, construction work was delayed and started in 2018. The bridge will facilitate communication for some five-lakh people from nearby localities. It will also improve agriculture, business and tourism activities in the area. It will benefit devotees, who are visiting Baba Singhanath’s Bali Makar Jatra in Badamba block.
4) IOCL acquired 4.93% stake in Indian Gas Exchange
•Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has announced that it has acquired a 4.93 per cent equity share in Indian Gas Exchange Limited – the country’s first automated national level gas exchange. The Board of Indian Oil at its meeting held on 20 December 2021 has accorded approval for the acquisition of 36,93,750 equity shares of the face value of Rs. 10/- each equivalent to 4.93 per cent of the share capital in Indian Gas Exchange Limited (IGX).
•The acquisition of an equity stake in IGX is a strategic opportunity for the country’s top oil refiner to become part of India’s natural gas market. IGX is a subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). Indian Gas Exchange is the country’s first automated national level gas exchange, that ensures transparent price discovery in natural gas and facilitates the growth of natural gas in India’s energy basket.
5) Advance tax collection rises 54% to Rs 4.60 lakh crore
•According to the finance ministry, advance tax collection increased by 53.50 per cent to Rs 4.60 lakh crore so far this fiscal year, indicating a recovery in the economy. Direct tax collections for 2021-22, as of December 16, show that net collections are at Rs 9.45 lakh crore compared to Rs 5.88 lakh crore over the year-ago period, representing an increase of 60.8 per cent.
•The cumulative advance tax collections for the primary, second and third quarter of 2021-22 stand at Rs 4,59,917.1 crore as on December 16, 2021, towards advance tax collections of Rs 2,99,620.5 crore for the corresponding interval of 2020-21, displaying a development of about 53.5 per cent.
6) NPCI partners with Udemy Business to encourage skill employees
•National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has signed a partnership agreement with Udemy Business, to encourage innovative learning and skill development for employees of NPCI. The 3-year partnership with Udemy Business will offer courses on in-demand skills such as tech, domain, behavioural, and leadership skills to all NPCI employees. Through the mission ‘Talent Development for All’ of NPCI, it provides capacity-building programmes in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), etc.
•Under its vision of ‘Talent Development for All’, NPCI is betting big on the capability building of its employees and has increased its budget for Learning & Development (L&D) by seven times. The three-year association with Udemy Business will offer courses on in-demand skills such as tech, domain, behavioural, and leadership skills to all NPCI employees, who will now be able to access challenging assignments to enable experiential learning.
7) NITI Aayog tie-up with UN WFP to diversify food basket
•NITI Aayog has signed a Statement of Intent with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The partnership focuses on mainstreaming millets and supporting India in taking lead globally in knowledge exchange using the opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets. The government of India observed 2018 as a year of millets.
8) India successfully tests ‘Pralay’ missile off Odisha coast
•India successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the indigenously-developed, surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’ off the Odisha coast. The solid-fuel, battlefield missile developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle from the Indian ballistic missile programme. The missile, launched from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island.
9) WADA report: India among world’s top three dope violators country
•India is among the world’s top three dope violators country in the world. Indian athletes were involved 152 times in dope-related activities in the year 2019. The report has revealed the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has put India into the top-three of the world’s biggest violators behind Russia (167) and Italy (157). Brazil (78) is at fourth and Iran (70) fifth positions.
•In 2019, 152 (17 per cent of the world total) Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were reported in India. The maximum dope offenders are from bodybuilding followed by weightlifting (25), athletics (20), wrestling (10), and boxing.
10) Divya Hegde won UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment 2021
•Divya Hegde, an Indian Climate Action Entrepreneur from Udupi, Karnataka, has won UN Women’s Award for Leadership Commitment at the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards Ceremony. She has been recognized for her sustained efforts in advancing gender equality through climate action efforts with her organization, Baeru Environmental Services.
11) Tusshar Kapoor released his debut book ‘Bachelor Dad’
•Tusshar Kapoor has written his first book titled ‘Bachelor Dad’. The actor became a single father to son Laksshya Kapoor via surrogacy in 2016. He has shared his journey of being a single father in the new book. The actor has shared his journey of the ‘slightly unconventional road to fatherhood’ in his debut book, Bachelor Dad. On the cover of the book, he can be seen carrying his son.
•Announcing the book, Tusshar wrote, “I WROTE A BOOK! Becoming a father has been one of the most cherished moments of my life and my first book, Bachelor Dad, talks about how I took a slightly unconventional road to fatherhood.”
VISION IAS MAINS 365 Classroom Study Material in Hindi Oct 2021-Nov 2021 PDF
aditya
10:00
VISION IAS MAINS 365 Classroom Study Material in Hindi Oct 2021-Nov 2021 PDF
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The HINDU Notes – 23rd December 2021
aditya
09:50
📰 Troubled waters: On Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody
More efforts should be made to wean away fishermen from trawlers
•The arrest of 68 Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities between December 18 and 20 and the impounding of 10 boats for “poaching” in territorial waters have again raised concerns about the fate of the men. It is a matter of comfort and relief that the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka is working to secure their early release. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, in his communication to the External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, on Monday, has underscored the need to get back 75 fishing boats too from Sri Lanka. Fishermen from Tamil Nadu getting arrested and released later has become a routine affair, but there have been cases of deaths. In January 2021, four fishermen from Ramanathapuram district lost their lives after their vessel collided with a Sri Lankan naval craft. There was a similar case in October in which a fisherman died. This is why the Palk Bay fishing dispute needs a resolution soon. The fact that many rounds of discussions — at the levels of the fishermen and the governments of the two countries — have not led to any tangible improvement in the situation should not deter the pursuit of sustained engagement to sort out a problem that involves humanitarian and livelihood issues.
•The bone of contention between the two countries has been the use of bottom trawlers by the Tamil Nadu fishermen, a practice opposed in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province on the ground that trawling damages the marine ecosystem. This practice has been banned in Sri Lanka and there have been agitations for stringent enforcement of the law. More than anything else, the fishermen of Tamil Nadu should take into account the fact that their counterparts on the other side of the Palk Strait are still struggling to pick up the threads of their lives after a brutal civil war. Given that an ambitious ₹1,600 crore scheme of replacing in three years 2,000 bottom trawlers with deep-sea fishing boats equipped with long lines and gill nets continues to be a disappointment, both the Central and Tamil Nadu governments need to take up fresh initiatives to get the fishermen on board. The main reason for failure is the component of cost to be borne by the fishermen, accounting for 30% of the unit cost of ₹80 lakh; the two governments take care of the remaining 70%. Apart from increasing the unit cost at least to ₹1.2 crore, which will be at the same level as that of a similar scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), the Governments must increase their share of subsidy. They should also motivate the fishermen to adopt sea cage farming and sea/ocean ranching, which were all covered under the PMMSY. Such an approach is essential as the fishermen find it hard to restrict themselves to India’s territorial waters, given the limited marine wealth and area on the Indian side. But, the priority now for New Delhi should be in securing the swift release of the 68 fishermen.
📰 As a regional leader, not a victim of circumstance
