Exercise Nomadic Elephant

• The 16th edition of India-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise NOMADIC ELEPHANT commences at Foreign Training Node, Umroi, Meghalaya.
• The aim of the Exercise is to enhance joint military capability of both sides to undertake counter insurgency operations in a Sub Conventional scenario under Chapter VII of the United Nations Mandate.
• The exercise will focus on operations in the semi-urban and mountainous terrain.
• It will enable both sides to share their best practices in Tactics, Techniques and Procedures of conducting joint operations.
• The exercise will also facilitate developing inter-operability, bonhomie and camaraderie between the two armies.

Exercise Maitree

• Exercise MAITREE is the joint military exercise between India and Thailand.
• The 13th edition of it, is scheduled to be commenced at Fort Vachiraprakan in Tak Province of Thailand.
• Aim of Exercise MAITREE is to foster Military Cooperation between India and Thailand.
• Exercise MAITREE will enable the two sides to share their best practices in Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for conduct of joint operations.
• The Exercise will facilitate developing inter-operability, bonhomie and camaraderie between soldiers of both the countries.

Global INDIAai Summit 2024

• It is a two-day summit held at the New Delhi, with over 1000 GPAI delegates, AI experts, and practitioners are participants of it.
• The Summit will focus on key pillars of the AI ecosystem, including Compute Capacity, Foundational Models, Datasets, Application Development, Future Skills, Startup Financing and Safe and trusted AI.
• The experts, delegates, industry and start-up veterans, AI practitioners, academicians, students, and officials from Central and State Governments can participate at this event.
• India is currently the lead chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) for 2024.
• IndiaAI Mission – It aims to build a comprehensive ecosystem that fosters AI innovation.
• The Global INDIAai Summit is focusing on the 7 key pillars of the IndiaAI Mission, which was approved in March 2024 with a budget of USD 1.25 billion.
• The 7 key pillars of the IndiaAI Mission are:
  1. IndiaAI Compute Capacity
  2. IndiaAI Innovation Centre
  3. IndiaAI Datasets Platform
  4. IndiaAI Application Development Initiative
  5. IndiaAI FutureSkills
  6. IndiaAI Startup Financing
  7. Safe & Trusted AI
• Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) – It is a multi-stakeholder initiative with 29 member countries.
• It aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• As GPAI's Lead Chair, India is convening global AI experts to discuss key issues and promote trustworthy AI.

Elmo

Researchers from Birbal Sahni institution of Palaeosciences conducted the study by using the fossil pollen and carbon isotope data from the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM-2) period.

• Researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institution of Palaeosciences (BSIP) conducted the study, focusing on the Panandhro Lignite Mine in Gujarat, India.
• The study used fossil pollen and carbon isotope data from the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM-2) period, which occurred about 54 million years ago.
• It is also known as H-1 or Elmo.
• Key findings of the study:
• High atmospheric CO2 concentrations (over 1000 ppmv) near the palaeo-equator led to significant decreases in rainfall.
• This decrease in rainfall caused an expansion of deciduous forests.
• Implications for the present and future:
• Unprecedented increases in greenhouse gases could lead to decreased rainfall in equatorial regions.
• This could cause a shift in vegetation patterns.
• India's biodiversity hotspots (Western Ghats, northeast India, and the Andamans) could see evergreen forests replaced by deciduous forests.
• The study highlights the importance of understanding the relationship between CO2 levels and the hydrological cycle for future conservation efforts in biodiversity hotspots.
• This research is particularly relevant because the Indian plate was near the equator during the ETM-2 period, making it a valuable "natural laboratory" for studying equatorial climate-vegetation relationships.
• Birbal Sahni Institution of Palaeosciences (BSIP) – Is an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology.

Sampoornata Abhiyan

NITI Aayog is launching ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan’, a 3-month campaign to undertake a sustained effort to achieve saturation of 6 key indicators in Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks across the country.

• Sampoornata Abhiyan is a 3-month campaign that starts from 4th July and ends at 30th September 2024.
• It is a campaign launched by the NITI Aayog.
• It aims to undertake a sustained effort to achieve saturation of 6 key indicators in Aspirational Districts and 6 key indicators in Aspirational Blocks across the country.
• The initiative focuses on the development of specific Districts and Blocks.
• It seeks to achieve saturation in each of the 6 identified indicators in the 112 Aspirational Districts and 500 Aspirational Blocks.
• Sampoornata Abhiyan’ will focus on the following 6 identified Key Performance Indicator (KPIs) across all Aspirational Blocks, which are:
  1. Percentage of pregnant women registered for Antenatal Care (ANC) within the first trimester.
  2. Percentage of persons screened for Diabetes against the targeted population in the Block.
  3. Percentage of persons screened for Hypertension against the targeted population in the Block.
  4. Percentage of pregnant women taking Supplementary Nutrition under the ICDS Programme regularly.
  5. Percentage of Soil Health Cards generated against the soil sample collection target.
  6. Percentage of SHGs that have received a Revolving Fund against the total SHGs in the block.
• The 6 identified KPIs across Aspirational Districts under ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan’ are:
  1. Percentage of pregnant women registered for Antenatal Care (ANC) within the first trimester.
  2. Percentage of pregnant women taking Supplementary Nutrition under the ICDS Programme regularly.
  3. Percentage of children fully immunized (9-11 months) (BCG+DPT3+OPV3+Measles 1).
  4. Number of Soil Health Cards distributed.
  5. Percentage of schools with functional electricity at the secondary level.
  6. Percentage of schools providing textbooks to children within 1 month of the start of the academic session.
• NITI Aayog will collaborate with the following to ensure the effective and rapid development of these Districts and Blocks:
  • Central Ministries and Departments and
  • Governments of States and Union Territories.
• This collaboration will focus on improved planning and implementation, capacity building, and establishing systems for enhanced and sustainable service delivery.
• Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme
• The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) covering 112 Districts was launched in the year 2018 to ensure the speedy development of the relatively backward and remote areas of the country.
• ADP has had a measurable and tangible impact on improving key indicators that uplift the lives of its citizens.
• Building on the success of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP), the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP) was launched by the Hon’ble PM in 2023.
• It aims for the saturation of essential government services in 500 Blocks across the country in multiple domains such as:
  • Health, nutrition, education, drinking water and sanitation and
  • Agriculture, water resources, financial inclusion, and basic infrastructure.

International Plastics Treaty

133 civil society groups demand greater transparency in appointment of technical experts in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), which decide the rules in the international plastics treaty.

• International Plastics Treaty aims to forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024 addressing the full lifecycle of plastic.
• It began by UN Member States endorsing a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in Nairobi.
• It is a legally binding agreement led by United Nations to address plastic pollution.
• The resolution aims to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024.
• The agreement will cover the full lifecycle of plastics, including production, design and disposal.
• Draft global legally binding agreement to be completed by the end of 2024.
• Over 90% of the plastic that pollutes our planet is made up of single-use plastics such as plastic cutlery and micro plastics.
• Potential Benefits of a Circular Economy Approach:
  • 80% reduction in plastics entering oceans by 2040.
  • 55% reduction in virgin plastic production.
  • 70 billion USD in government savings by 2040.
  • 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Creation of 700,000 additional jobs, mainly in the global south.