Shaheed Diwas is observed on March 23 to commemorate the sacrifice made by three freedom fighters.
On March 23, 1931, the three young revolutionaries namely Bhagat Singh, ShivaramRajguru and SukhdevThapar were hanged by the British for allegedly killing the then Assistant Superintendent of Police John Saunders in Lahore in 1928.
Bhagat Singh stood out for his bravery and exceptional patriotism and for his contribution to India’s independence from the British colonial rule.
Pulsars
Pulsars are super dense, rapidly spinning neutron stars left behind when a massive star explodes.
Pulsar emits regular pulses of radio waves like X-rays, Gama rays and have highly intense magnetic and electric fields.
Recently NASA has discovered a pulsar PSR J0002hurtling through space at nearly four million kilometers an hour.
Ice Stupa
Ice Stupa project is a survival technique conceptualized to reduce problems of Ladakhi farmers in spring.
Ice stupas freeze the stream water vertically in the form of huge ice towers or cones of 30 to 50m height that look very similar to the local sacred mud structures called Stupa or Chorten.
Each stupa has the capacity to store at least 30-50 lakh litres of water, this is apart from the naturally saved water in the slopes of mountains.
Lokpal
A Lokpal is an anti-corruption authority or body of ombudsmen who represents the public interest in India.
The concept of an ombudsman is borrowed from Sweden.
The Lokpal has jurisdiction over central government to inquire into allegations of corruption against its public functionaries and for matters connected to corruption.
The Lokpal is responsible for enquiring into corruption charges at the national level while the Lokayukta performs the same function at the state level.
Recently Retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose is appointed as the first Lokpal of India by the Lokpalcommittee.
Appointment of Lokpal Chairman and Committee
Eligibility -A person “Who is or has been a Chief Justice of India, is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court (or)
An eminent person of impeccable integrity and outstanding ability having special knowledge and expertise of not less than 25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management”.
Composition-Under the 2013 Act, the Lokpal should consist of a chairperson and such number of members, not exceeding eight, of whom 50% should be judicial members.
The selection procedure for these posts is the same as that for the chairperson.
The Act states that not less than 50% of the members of the Lokpal should be from among persons belonging to the SCs, the STs, OBCs, minorities and women.(The same rules apply members of the search committee)
Appointment -A search committee will prepare a panel of candidates, a selection committee will recommend names from among this panel, and the President will appoint these as members.
Salaries, allowances and service conditions of the Lokpal chairperson will be the same as those for the Chief Justice of India and those for other members will be the same as those for a judge of the Supreme Court.
Lokayuktas
Every State shall establish a body to be known as the Lokayukta for the State, if not so established, constituted, by a law made by the State Legislature.
If not established, they have to be established within one year from the date of the commencement of the Act.
This is as per Section 63 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act.
The establishment of Lokayukta and any appointment falls within the domain of the States.
Forest Certification
Forest certification is a global movement initiated in 1990s after Rio Earth Summit.
It is a market-based non-regulatory conservation tool designed to promote sustainable management of forests and trees outside forests by an independent third party.
Forest certification has been accepted as an efficient tool for forest management world over.
As several developed countries have put trade restrictions on import of non-certified timber, non-timber forest products and wood-based goods into their countries, getting sustainable forest management certificates has become mandatory for exports.
