Kampala Declaration

A total of 48 African countries have agreed to adopt the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC) to address the nexus of human mobility and climate change in the African continent.

• The agreement was signed at the conference hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Uganda.
• The conference was supported by International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• The Kampala declaration is the first comprehensive, action-oriented framework led by Member States to address climate-induced mobility in a practical and effective manner. 

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

• Established – 1951
• About - A leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
• IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.
• India – India was granted an observer's status to IOM in the year 1991 and became a member state in 2008.

Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP)

• The Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) is modelled on the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP).
• It is India’s independent vehicle assessment on safety features and technologies.
• The new programme will be applicable to passenger vehicles with not more than 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kg.
• It will be based on the soon-to-be published Automotive Industry Standard 197, which lays down testing protocols.
• A rating from one star to five stars will be assigned to a vehicle after an evaluation of 3 parameters that include:
  1. Adult occupant protection
  2. Child occupant protection
  3. Safety assist technologies present in the car
• The programme is voluntary except in certain cases such as a base variant of a popular vehicle model (minimum clocked sale of 30,000 units), or when the Ministry recommends a model for testing based on market feedback or in the interest of public safety.

Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF) Act, 2023

The Union Cabinet has recently approved the introduction of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023.

• Established in – 2023
• Objectives – To seed, grow and promote research and development (R&D) and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories.
• Powers – It will act as an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country as per recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
• It replaced the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), established in 2008. 
• Functions – It will forge collaborations among the industry, academia, and government departments and research institutions, and create an interface mechanism for participation and contribution of industries and State governments in addition to the scientific and line ministries.
• National Testing Agency is responsible for conducting national level exams for admission in higher educational institutions related to engineering, medical.

Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE)

• MEE is defined as the assessment of how well protected areas (PAs) are being managed, primarily, whether they are protecting their values and achieving the goals and objectives agreed upon.
• MEE is the framework of the World Commission on Protected Areas of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
• India is the only nation in the world to have institutionalised and effectively completed five cycles of MEE of Tiger Reserves in the country.

5th cycle of MEE of Tiger Reserves

• It is jointly conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
• India has a network of 55 Tiger Reserves.
• Periyar Tiger Reserve achieved the top score of 94.53.

Global Gender Gap Report, 2023

India climbs 8 places from 135 to 127 in the recently released Global Gender Gap Report 2023.

• Published by – World Economic Forum
• It annually benchmarks the gender parity of 146 countries since its adoption in 2006.
• 4 key dimensions
  • Economic Participation and Opportunity,
  • Educational Attainment,
  • Health and Survival,
  • Political Empowerment.
• Range - The index provides scores between 0 and 1, where 1 shows full gender parity and 0 is complete imparity.
• Findings – Overall, the Southern Asian region has achieved 63.4% gender parity.
• No country has yet achieved full gender parity.
• Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world for the 14th consecutive year and the only one to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap.
• India - It had attained parity in enrolment across all levels of education. 
• It had closed 64.3% of the overall gender gap but had reached only 36.7% parity in economic participation.
• There was an increase in parity in wages and income but the shares of women in senior and technical roles dropped slightly compare to 2022.
• On political empowerment, India has registered 25.3% parity, with women representing 15.1% of parliamentarians, the highest for the country since the inaugural report in 2006.
• In sex rate at birth it is increased by 1.9% points compared to the 2022, index.
• Neighbouring Countries that ranks ahead of the India were Nepal, Srilanka, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Lakhpati Didi Initiative

The Ministry of Rural Development has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Ayush to collaborate in making Lakhpati Didis from the SHGs.

• Launched by – Ministry of Rural Development.
• Aim – To enable rural SHG women to earn at least Rs.1 lakh per annum.
• Lakhpati Didis are women with annual earnings of Rs. 1 lakh and more.
• In Union budget 2024-25, the target for Lakhpati Didi, which was initially set at 2 crore women, has been enhanced to 3 crore women.

Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022

• Enacted in – 1972.
• Objectives – To prohibit the hunting of wild animals and to protect and manage of wildlife areas and the species in these areas.
• To establish new protected areas such as National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• Importance – It paved the way for establishment of The National and State Board for Wildlife, Central Zoo Authority and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
• Earlier Amendments – 1982, 1991, 1993, 2002 and 2006.

2022 Amendment

• It empowers both the states and Centre to notify a conservation reserve.

• Rationalised Schedules – Reduces the number from 6 to 4
  • Schedule I — Animal species with highest level of protection including those which are critically endangered.
  • Schedule II – Animal species with a lesser degree of protection
  • Schedule III – Protected Plant species
  • Schedule IV – Specimens listed in the Appendices under CITES (scheduled specimens)
• Implementation of CITES – Introduced of new chapter for this and enables Centre to designate a management and scientific authority.
• Prohibit invasive alien species – Empowers Centre to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession or proliferation of such species.
• Surrender of captive animals – Persons shall voluntarily surrender any captive animals or its products to the Chief Wild Life Warden.
  • No compensation will be paid to the person for surrendering and such items become property of the State government.
• Extended functions of Zoos – It will also serve as the areas for ex-situ conservation, rescue centers and breeding centers apart from exhibition centres.
• Dilution of conservation – It allows low intensity, small-scale fishing in rivers and other water bodies in and around protected areas.
• Relaxes the norms on grazing of cattle and use of drinking water by the local communities living inside the protected areas until they are settled elsewhere.
• Allows transfer or transport of a captive elephant for a religious or any other purpose subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

GI Tagged products

Recently, Goan Cashews, Mahua liquor and Udangudi Panangkarupatti have received GI tag while Ayyampalayam Nettai have applied for the tag.

Goan Cashews - Goa

• Name derived from the Portuguese ‘caju’ or ‘kaju’ in Konkani.

• It has unique identity, flavour and taste due to overall climate of Goa and traditional farming practices.
• Cashew feni (brew) was awarded GI in 2009 as a speciality alcoholic beverage from Goa.

Udangudi Panangkarupatti – Tamil Nadu

• Karuppukatti is a hard and golden brown coarse sugar which is added to food items as sweetener.
• It is prepared from the sap (Pathaneer), extracted from the Palmyra tree.
• It is prepared in traditional way without any additional modern strategies and chemical additives like Triple super phosphate and phosphoric acid.
• It is unique due to presence of red sand dune soil of this region.
• Low groundwater and atmospheric moisture enriches high sucrose content and is suitable for long term storage.

Mahua liquor – Madhya Pradesh

• It is a traditional sweetened liquor with strong floral notes that has been made for ages by the tribal people of India.
• It is a pungent, potent drink that is usually brewed in unorganised, small-scale backyard stills.
• It is the only pot-distilled and fermented spirit in the world made from naturally sweet flowers.

Ayyampalayam Nettai – Tamil Nadu (yet to receive GI tag)

• It is a coconut variety is grown in coconut farms just above the dam, bordering the catchment area in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu.
• These century-old trees that have more than 60% oil content and an extremely sweet kernel have still not lost their crop yielding ability.
• It has oval shaped nuts that are drought resistant and disease resistant.
• This variety also promotes sustainable intercropping.

Dakar Declaration on Climate Change 2023

Recently, Ministers from 46 Least Developed Countries (LDC) issued a joint Dakar Declaration on Climate Change 2023.

• Aim – To outline the LDC’s expectation and priorities for 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that will be held in 2023 at Dubai, UAE.
• Dakar is the capital of Senegal, a Western African country.
• Dakar Declaration calls for
  • Urgent global emissions reductions.
  • Increased climate finance.
  • To operationalise Loss and Damage Fund.
• Global Stocktake to close the gaps in global climate action.
• Global Emission Reduction – To revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their NDCs to limit warming to 1.5°C.
• IPCC’s Synthesis Report for the 6th Assessment Reports cycle (IPCC AR6), shows that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to rise and that global warming is rapidly approaching 1.5°C.
• Climate Finance – Developed countries shall deliver at least doubling adaptation finance delivered by 2025 through public, grant-based financing.
• To create a new Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, greater than the current $100 billion per year floor.
• Operationalising Loss and Damage Fund – To operationalise UNFCCC centralised carbon market mechanism by 2024.
• To implement the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement of capacity building programme.
• Global Stocktake – To prepare a roadmap for the period after 2023 to implement the recommendations from the first Global stocktake.

Bokmal and Nynorsk

• The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 is awarded to the Norwegian author Jon Fosse for his innovative plays and prose.
• Fosse was born in 1959 in Norway and writes in Norwegian Nynorsk. (Bokmal and Nynorsk are the two different standards of writing in Norwegian language).
• His writings spans a variety of genres consisting of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations.
• His style of writing novels famously known as ‘Fosse minimalism’.
• His work has been translated into more than 40 languages.
• Notable works of Jon Fosse:
  • I Am the Wind
  • Melancholy
  • Boathouse
  • The Dead Dogs
  • A New Name: Septology VI-VII (finalist of the International Booker Prize, 2022)

Competition Commission of India

• Established in – 2003
• Nodal ministry – Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• Statutory body – Under Competition Act, 2002.
• Aim – To establish a competitive environment in the Indian economy by engaging with all stakeholders, the government, and international jurisdiction
• Raghavan committee – Based on the recommendations the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealed and replaced by the Competition Act, 2002.
• Composition – A Chairperson and not more than 6 Members.
• Appointed by – Central Government.
• Appellate mechanism – Competition (Amendment) Act 2009 provided for the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) to hear and decides appeals against the orders of the CCI.
• COMPAT has been replaced with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.
• Role – It acts as a Quasi-judicial body.
• Competition Commission Act, 2002 – It aims to remove all impediments to competition among strong groups, whether they be private or public.

Terms associated with CCI

• Gun jumping – If the combining parties close a notified transaction before the approval, or have consummated a reportable transaction without bringing it to the Commission’s knowledge, it is seen as gun-jumping.
• The penalty for gun-jumping was a total of 1% of the asset or turnover.
• Cartel – An association of producers, sellers, distributors, traders or service providers who, by agreement amongst themselves, limit, control or attempt to control the production, distribution, sale or price of, or, trade in goods or provision of service.
• Cartelisation – It is one of the horizontal agreements that shall be presumed to have appreciable adverse effect on competition.

Uniform Civil Code

The Uttarakhand passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) 2024 Bill in the Assembly.

• UCC – It seeks to create a uniform set of laws to replace the distinct personal laws of every religion pertaining to subjects such as marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance.
• It is defined in Article 44 as part of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), in part of Part IV of the Constitution – “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”.
• Shah Bano Begum case, 1985 – The Court observed that “it is a matter of regret that Article 44 has remained a dead letter” and called for its implementation.
• Goa – It is the 1st state in India that had a uniform civil code regardless of religion, gender and caste.
• But it was inherited from the Portuguese Civil Code, 1867 when it joined the Indian Union in 1961.
• Uttarakhand – It became the first Indian state to introduce and implement UCC after India’s Independence.
• However, according to section 2 of the code, the law does not apply to Scheduled Tribes of the state.

Paintings in News

• Subika paintings – They are from Manipur and are based on stories and events from the Hindu epic and Puranas.
  • It is intricately linked to the Meitei community’s.
• Basohli painting – A traditional art form that originated in Basohli, Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Basohli painting of Kathua district is the 1st independent GI tagged product from Jammu region.
  • Basohli and Kangra 2 contrasting schools of Pahari, is a miniature painting
• Pichwai paintings – Originated in 17th century in Rajasthan, a unique blend of Rajasthani, Mughal, and Hindu motifs.
  • The devotees of the Vallabhacharya sect in the early 20th century revived the art.
  • Kamal Kunj is one of the world’s largest Pichwai paintings.
• Thangka paintings - Belongs to Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Ladakh and Himachal.
  • It is deriving from the pattachitra painting as well as the Buddhist practice of drawing mandalas on the ground.
• Pattachitra – It means "picture on cloth" was born in Odisha and West Bengal both holding separate GI tag.

Large Hadron Collider

• LHC is single stage proton-proton machine.
• It energizes the protons by accelerating them through a narrow circular pipe.
• Large - It is the world’s largest powerful particle accelerator (27 km long circular pipe).
• Hadron - The particles used here are Hadrons
• Collider - It accelerates 2 beams of particles in opposite directions and smashes them head on
• Hadrons - A hadron is a subatomic particle that contains quarks, antiquarks, and gluons.
• Built by – European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)
• A proton is made to move by turning on one hemisphere of magnets and turning off the other, such that the magnetic field acting on the proton causes it to move clockwise.
• Eventually, the protons move at 99.999999% of the speed of light.
• Goals
  • To understand the fundamental structure of matter
  • To discover Higgs boson and determine how particles acquire mass.
  • To search for possible new generations of quarks or leptons.
  • To confirm/disprove the elementary nature of quarks/leptons.
  • To discover direct evidence for the particle responsible for the dark matter in the Universe.
• Higgs Boson - Sometimes referred to as the God particle Higgs Boson was first discovered by the ATLAS and CMS detectors in 2012 and is considered as the last remaining piece of the standard model of particle physics.

Advantages of Volcanoes      

• Volcanism creates new landforms.
•  Volcanic rocks yield very fertile soil upon weathering and decomposition.
• The Kimberlite rock of South Africa, the source of diamonds, is the pipe of an ancient volcano.
• In the vicinity of active volcanoes, waters in the depth are heated from contact with hot magma giving rise to springs and geysers.
• They help to stabilize the heat of the core part of our planet.
• They form new land forms after the drying process of liquid lava.
• The lava contains different minerals which enriches existing soil.
• It facilitate moderation of climate and receive higher rainfall than flat areas.

Pangolins

• They are among the most trafficked wild mammals globally.
• Features – When threatened, they uses keratin scales as armour to defend itself against predators.
• 2 species in India – Indian Pangolin, found across the subcontinent and the Chinese Pangolin.
• Distribution - Indian Pangolin is widely distributed in India, except the arid region, high Himalayas and the North-East. 
• The species also occurs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
• Protection status of both species
  • Schedule I - Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
  • Appendix I - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).
  • IUCN Status
    • Indian Pangolin - Endangered
    • Chinese Pangolin - Critically Endangered

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)

• Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) was setup under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2021.
• Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has recently announced the implementation of the Stage 3 of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
• The GRAP has 4 categorises that includes:
  1. Stage I - ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300).
  2. Stage II - ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400).
  3. Stage III - ‘severe’ (AQI 401-450).
  4. Stage IV - ‘severe plus’ (AQI above 450).
• The Commission will be the sole authority with jurisdiction over matters defined in the Ordinance (such as air quality management).
• In case of any conflict, the orders or directions of the Commission will prevail over the orders of the following:
  • Respective state governments,
  • Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),
  • State PCBs and
  • State-level statutory bodies.
• Functions of the Commission includes:
  • Co-ordinating actions taken under the Ordinance by concerned state governments (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh).
  • Planning and executing plans to prevent and control air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).
  • Preparing various action plans such as increasing plantation and addressing stubble burning.
  • Investigate, conducts research and issue directions related to environmental pollution impacting air quality.
• The Commission is required to form sub-committees on
  • Monitoring and identification,
  • Safeguarding and enforcement and
  • Research and development. 
• These sub-committees will be headed by a member, the chairperson and a technical member respectively.

Gupteswar Forest

• Gupteswar forest in Odisha declared as Bio-Diversity Heritage site (BHS).
• The forest has been declared as the 4th BHS. The other 3 are Mandasaru BHS, Mahendragiri BHS, and Gandhamardan BHS.
• The limestone caves of Gupteswar are adorned with eight species of bats out of the total 16 species found in southern Odisha.
• Among them, two species Hipposideros galeritus and Rhinolophus rouxii are under the near-threatened category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Umiam Wetland

• As per the Asian Waterbird Census, 2024, there are over 155 water birds found at the wetland areas of Umiam Lake.
• Umiam Lake (Barapani Lake) is the largest artificial lake in Meghalaya.
• The name, Umiam, which means ‘water of tears’, derives from a local legend of 2 sisters who wished to descend from their abode in heaven.

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is situated at the tri-junction of Sikkim, Bhutan and West Bengal.
• The Pangolakha range in the east separates Sikkim from Bhutan.
• It is home to various species, including red pandas, snow leopards, Himalayan musk, deer, goral and black bears.
• The area includes Lake Tsongmo, a biodiversity hotspot for migratory birds.
• Major rivers like Rangpo and Jaldhaka originate from nearby lakes within the sanctuary.

• Recently 3 indigenous products of Arunachal Pradesh such as Yak churpi, Khamti rice & Tangsa textile received GI tag.

• Yak churpi – It is the first ever yak milk product, Arunachal Yak Churpi, to receive the Geographical Indication.
• Churpi is prepared from the milk of Arunachali yak, a unique breed found in West Kameng and Tawang districts of the state.
• It is reared by tribal yak pastoralists known as Brokpas who migrate along with their yaks to higher reaches during summers and descend to mid-altitude mountainous regions in winters.
• Yaks cannot survive in lower altitude during summer and thus, they need to be taken beyond 13,000 ft.
• The naturally fermented yak milk product, will give a major boost to the pastoral production system and yak rearing in the country.
• Churpi is an excellent source of proteins and is frequently used as a substitute for vegetables by tribal yak herders in the vegetation-starved cold and hilly mountainous regions of the state.
• It is also mixed with vegetable or meat curry and is consumed with rice as a staple food in tribal.
• Khaw Tai – Is a chewy sticky rice variety of Namsai region being cultivated by traditional Khampti tribal farmers in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is also called as Khamti rice.
• Tangsa textile – Textile products of the Tangsa tribe of Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh are famous for their exotic designs and colours.

Right to be forgotten

• Right to be Forgotten – It is the right to remove or erase content so that it’s not accessible to the public at large.
• It empowers an individual to have information in the form of news, video, or photographs deleted from internet records so it doesn’t show up through search engines, like Google.
• Origin - The Right to be Forgotten originates from the 2014 European Court of Justice.
• Thereafter, it was included in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in addition to the right to erasure.
• Section 43A of the IT Act, 2000 – It says that organizations who possess sensitive personal data and fail to maintain appropriate security to safeguard such data, may be obligated to pay damages to the affected person.
• IT Rules, 2021 does not include this right.
• However, it lays down the procedure for filing complaints with the designated Grievance Officer to have content exposing personal information about a complainant removed from the internet.
• Supreme Court – In 2017 Puttaswamy case, it held that the right to be forgotten was inherent to the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution by referring to the European Union Regulation of 2016.
• However, the court also recognized that such a right can be restricted by the right to freedom of expression and information or for compliance with legal obligations.