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A recent global report released on World Oceans Day on June 8 highlights the alarming impact of Noise Pollution on marine wildlife due to the increasing number of marine vehicles and underwater surveys. The report, by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), provides practical guidance on reducing noise pollution from shipping, seismic airgun surveys, and pile driving.

The report emphasizes that anthropogenic noise can cause direct injuries and auditory threshold shifts in marine animals, impairing their Communication, ability to detect threats, and find food, sometimes resulting in death. It also states that marine wildlife, including migratory species and their prey, rely on Sound for essential life functions such as communication, prey and predator detection, and orientation.

Regarding seismic airgun surveys, the report emphasizes the need for quieter alternatives like Marine Vibroseis, which produces controlled, lower-frequency seismic signals, reducing the threats posed to marine life. Mitigation measures are also outlined for situations where these alternatives cannot be employed.

The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry is in the process of setting up a Index (HDI) for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) to assess their social and economic situation following implementation of various welfare programmes for them across the country.

HDI is a statistical tool used to measure the overall achievement in social and economic dimensions of the targeted beneficiaries. There are around 28 lakh PVTGs in the country, as per the latest data shared by the States.

“The index will concentrate on the PVTG Population which is estimated to be around 28 lakh. The aim is to understand how government schemes have benefited the PVTGs to uplift their lifestyles and livelihood. The research work will also look into the areas where improvement is required.

Munda said under the PVTGs Mission, 15,000 crore rupees will be spent in three years, focusing on improving basic facilities in the far-flung villages such as clean drinking water, sanitation, improved access to Education, Health, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. He said, there are one lakh 12 thousand tribal-dominated villages in the country and the government has set a target to develop 36,000 villages as a model village.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has granted approval for Indias proposal to establish a memorial wall at the United Nations Headquarters, dedicated to honouring fallen peacekeepers. The resolution received overwhelming support from nearly 190 countries, marking a remarkable achievement for Indias initiative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed their appreciation for the approval. The Prime Minister took to Twitter to thank the countries for their support, stating, Delighted that the Resolution to establish a new Memorial Wall for fallen Peacekeepers, piloted by India, has been adopted in the UN General Assembly. The Resolution received a record 190 co-sponsorships. Grateful for everyones support.

The resolution welcomed the initiative of member states to establish at a suitable and prominent place at United Nations Headquarters in New York a memorial wall to honor the memory of fallen peacekeepers, giving due consideration to the modalities involved, including the recording of the names of those who have made the supreme sacrifice.

India is the third-largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping, with over 6,000 military and Police personnel deployed across various missions worldwide. Indian peacekeepers have made significant sacrifices, with 177 personnel having lost their lives, the highest number among all troop-contributing countries.

The Centre on Monday told theSupreme Courtthat its notification of May 28 delegating powers to collectors of some of districts to grant to members of the minority community from Afghanistan,Pakistanand Bangladesh was not related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and that such exercise had been done earlier too since 2006.

By the notification, the Centre has delegated power to grant citizenship in such cases to the collectors of 13 more districts Morbi, Rajkot, Patan and Vadodara in Gujarat; Jalore, Udaipur, Pali, Barmer and Sirohi in Rajasthan; Durg and Balodabazar in Chhattisgarh; Faridabad in Haryana; and Jalandhar inPunjaband to the Home secretaries ofHaryanaand Punjab. Now, district collectors of 29 districts and home secretaries of 9 states can exercise such powers.

A Chinese spacecraft “Shenzhou XII” with three crew members docked with China’s new space station module Tianhe 1. This follows the launch of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, which delivered critical supplies to the space station.

Highlights:

About six hours after taking off from the Jiuquan launch centre in the Gobi Desert, the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft connected with the Tianhe space station module.

The three-man crew will spend three months on the Tianhe module, which will orbit the Earth at 340km to 380km altitude.

This is the first of two manned space missions scheduled for this year, as part of a intense launch schedule aimed at completing the Chinese space station by 2022.

The three astronauts are the first to live in the main living module, where they will conduct experiments, test equipment, perform maintenance, and prepare the station for the arrival of two laboratory modules next year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the risk that children working in informal processing face as a result of discarded electronic devices, or E-Waste, in its report Children and Digital Dumpsites. It is the world’s first WHO report on electronic waste and child health.

Approximately 12.9 million Women work in the informal waste sector, exposing them to toxic e-waste (such as nickel, lead, and mercury) and putting themselves and their unborn children at risk.

Children are especially vulnerable to the toxic chemicals found in e waste because of their smaller size, less developed organs, and rapid rate of Growth and development.

The Ministry of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture in its third advance estimates, released on Thursday pegged Indias overall foodgrains output at a record 330.53 million tonnes in the 2022-23 crop year, as against the actual output of 315.61 million tonnes in the previous crop year.

The wheat production is also estimated to set a record at 112.74 million tonnes in the ongoing 2022-23 crop year (July-June), higher by five million tonnes from the previous year on increased acreage and yield despite unseasonal rains.

Besides wheat, a record output has been estimated in rice, maize, oilseeds, and sugarcane.

The foodgrain basket comprises wheat, rice, nutri-coarse and pulses. The production of wheat in the country is estimated at 112.74 million tonne, which is higher by 5 million tonne as compared to previous years production, the agriculture ministry said.

Wheat production had declined to 107.74 million tonnes due to heat wave in key growing states in 2021-22 crop year. The previous record of 109.59 million tonnes in wheat output was achieved during the 2020-21 crop year.

For the first time, Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has come forward to take steps to boost the Unani system of medicine in the country as it cleared a Rs 45 crore worth proposal envisaging upgradation and establishment of various facilities of the alternate medicine system at major metros Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chennai and Bengaluru and Silchar in Assam.

The Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) has been sanctioned a total amount of Rs. 35.52 crores while National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM), Bengaluru has been allocated Rs. 9.81 crores for the task to be executed under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK), a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS). A centre for fundamental research in Unani Medicine at National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders, Hyderabad will be established at a cost of Rs. 16.05 crores while a Rs. 8.15 crores preclinical laboratory facility has been planned at Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine, Chennai.

In a landmark technological advancement using (AI), researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) have developed a possible solution to traffic snarls on Indian roads through the use of a probe-based approach for real-time re-timing of traffic signals. This is probably the first time a probe-based, demand-responsive signal control has been developed for Indian conditions.

The researchers conducted a study in which travel-time data from four sample-probe vehicles were used to calculate Green and Red timings for each signal cycle. A signal cycle is the time between one green signal to the next green signal or one red signal to the next red signal for a selected movement.

The traffic composition in India is very different from that in the Western countries. In India, the traffic is usually referred to as belonging to the category of mixed traffic conditions, with a variety of vehicle classes juxtaposed with lane-free movement.

The Rupee Vostro Account system is a financial arrangement that enables to conduct transactions in Indian rupees with domestic banks. The term vostro is derived from the Latin phrase in nostro vostro, which translates to in our account, in your account. In this context, the domestic bank is referred to as the vostro bank, and the foreign bank is the nostro bank.

The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) regulates the Rupee Vostro Account system, which allows foreign banks to maintain accounts with domestic banks to facilitate trade and Investment activities in India. The system provides a secure and transparent mechanism for foreign banks to conduct transactions in Indian rupees without having to set up a local branch in India.

The Ministry of is celebrates National Panchayat Awards Week from 17th to 21st April, 2023, as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) 2.0, leading up to National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April, 2023. In order to commemorate this occasion in a meaningful manner and to align with the AKAM 2.0 guidelines of taking a whole-of-Society and whole-of-government approach, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has developed a series of Thematic Conferences centered around the theme Panchayaton ke Sankalpon ki Siddhi ka Utsav to increase the reach of AKAM 2.0 and positively impact the lives of all Indians

The Awardee Panchayats under various categories of National Panchayat Awards2023 namely, (i)Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar(DDUPSVP) for the performance under individual LSDG themes