UniFocus IAS ( UNIFOCUS UNIVERSAL )

In New Zealand, Cyclone Gabrielle lashes the country with torrential rains and winds. At least 46,000 homes have lost power in the storm, while hundreds of flights have been cancelled. A state of emergency has been declared in nine regions - affecting millions of people. In New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, authorities earlier evacuated thousands of people. Dozens of evacuation centres have also been set up in the city. Emergency services have also reported that people are trapped by the rising waters. Cyclone Gabrielle is hitting New Zealand's north just weeks after Auckland and surrounding areas endured record rainfall and flooding which killed four people. New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was among those stranded in the northern city today after flights to the capital Wellington, and elsewhere, were cancelled. New Zealand's meteorological agency, Metservice, said Whangarei, a city north of Auckland,  received 100.5mm of rain in the past 12 hours. Winds ...

  NISAR is a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the   Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)   with the goal to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging. This mission concept and the resulting partnership are in response to the   National Academy of Science’s 2007 survey   of Earth observational priorities for the next decade, known as the decadal survey. One of the top priorities identified in this survey was to gain data and insight in three Earth science domains: ecosystems, deformation of Earth's crust and cryospheric sciences. As NASA and ISRO discussed the possibility of a joint radar mission, it became clear that this goal was of great interest to the ISRO science community. ISRO identified science and applications that were complementary to the primary mission objectives: agricultural monitoring and characterization, landslide studies, Himalayan glacier studies, soil moist...

  India hosted the special negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in New Delhi, India, from February 8-11, 2023.  The round covered IPEF Pillars II (Supply Chains), III (Clean Economy), and IV (Fair Economy).   About Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF): In May 2022, the United States launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This framework will advance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness for our economies. Through this initiative, the IPEF partners aim to contribute to cooperation, stability, prosperity, development, and peace within the region.  This framework will offer tangible benefits that fuel economic activity and investment, promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and...

Government of India is taking several steps to promote generic medicines. As per Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters. Further, the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) had issued Circulars vide which all the Registered Medical Practitioners have been directed to comply with the aforesaid provisions. The National Medical Commission Act, 2019, empowers the State Medical Councils/ Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the Commission to take disciplinary action against a doctor for violation of the provision of the aforesaid Regulations. When complaints are received against the violation of code of ethics for doctors, such complaints are referred by EMRB (previously by erstwhile MCI) to the concerned State Medical Councils where the doctors/medical practitioners are registered. States are advised to ensure prescription of gener...

The Government is aware of the challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance, which is created by the overuse of antibiotics. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has taken following initiatives to promote judicious use of antimicrobials: MoHFW launched Red Line awareness campaign on Antimicrobials Resistance, urging people not to use medicines marked with a red vertical line, including antibiotics, without a doctor’s prescription. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released treatment guidelines for antimicrobial use in common syndromes which contain guidelines for use of antibiotics for viral bronchitis and low-grade fever. Antibiotics are included in Schedule H and H1 of the Drugs Rules, 1945. These drugs have specific caution labeling requirements and are sold only under the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner. The supply of a drug specified in Schedule H1 are recorded in a separate register at the time of the supply and such records are maintained f...

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is administering the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) which is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children. The Act provides for protection of children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with law by catering to their basic needs through care, protection, development, treatment and social re-integration. It defines standards of care and protection to secure the best interest of child. Under the JJ Act 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection, keeping their best interest in mind. They are also mandated to monitor the function of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs). Similarly, the Juvenile Justice Boards are empowered to take decisions regarding the welfare of children in conflict with law (Sections 04-09). At the national and state le...

The   black-tailed godwit   ( Limosa limosa ) is a large, long-legged, long-billed   shorebird   first described by   Carl Linnaeus   in 1758. It is a member of the   godwit   genus,   Limosa . There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and chest in breeding   plumage   and dull grey-brown winter coloration, and distinctive black and white wingbar at all times. Its breeding range stretches from Iceland through Europe and areas of central Asia. Black-tailed godwits spend (the northern hemisphere) winter in areas as diverse as the Indian subcontinent, Australia, New Zealand, western Europe and west Africa. The species breeds in fens, lake edges, damp meadows, moorlands and bogs and uses estuaries, swamps and floods in (the northern hemisphere) winter; it is more likely to be found inland and on freshwater than the similar bar-tailed godwit. The world population is ...

As per  NALSA report, Many undertrials are still in jail even after getting bail beause they are  unable to furnish bail bonds or surety . To help those undertrials who are bailed but not released, Supreme Court issued following guidelines: “1) The Court which grants bail to an undertrial prisoner/convict would be required to send a soft copy of the bail order by e-mail to the prisoner through the Jail Superintendent on the same day or the next day. The Jail Superintendent would be required to enter the date of grant of bail in the e-prisons software [or any other software which is being used by the Prison Department].  2) If the accused is not released within a period of 7 days from the date of grant of bail, it would be the duty of the Superintendent of Jail to inform the Secretary, DLSA who may depute para legal volunteer or jail visiting advocate to interact with the prisoner and assist the prisoner in all ways possible for his release.  3) NIC would make attempt...

  The   Dawoodi Bohras   are a religious denomination within the   Ismā'īlī   branch of   Shia Islam . Their largest numbers reside in   India ,   Pakistan ,   Yemen ,   East Africa , and the   Middle East , with a growing presence across Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Australia. Most estimates put the worldwide population to be one million. The Dawoodi Bohras are known to be a close-knit community who, like all Muslims, follow the tenets of Islam; namely reciting the Quran, observing the five daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, performing the pilgrimages of Hajj and Umra and offering Zakat. Whilst adherence to traditional values is important for the community, they are also known for their mercantilism and having a modernist approach to their lifestyles. The cultural heritage of this denomination is found in the traditions of the Fatimid Imams; direct descendants of the Islamic proph...

The Reserve Bank has directed financial institutions and National Payments Corporation of India, NPCI to allow access to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to foreign nationals and NRIs visiting India. In a notification issued from Mumbai today, the facility should currently be extended only to travellers from the G-20 countries, at select international airports for their merchant payments. It added that the facility will gradually be enabled across all entry points in the country. It may be recalled that RBI, in its recent statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies issued on Wednesday had proposed to permit all inbound travellers to access UPI for their merchant payments. RBI had said that UPI has become a prevalent payment instrument for retail electronic payments in India. It added that an enhancement has been made to provide UPI access to non-resident Indians who have international mobile numbers linked to their NRE / NRO accounts. RBI has said that the access should be made ...

DHARA which stands for Driving Holistic Action for Urban Rivers, the annual meeting of the members of the River Cities Alliance (RCA), is being organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) from 13 th   to 14 th   February in Pune. The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will deliver the keynote address on the inaugural day of the event while the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore will deliver the valedictory address on day two. DHARA 2023 will provide a platform for senior officials including Commissioners, Addl. Commissioners, Chief Engineers and Senior Planners of the 95-member river cities in India to co-learn and discuss solutions for managing local water bodies. The event has strong synergies with the Urban20 (U20) initiative under the ambit of India’s G20 Presidency. One of the thrust areas of U20 is to promulgate urban water security. He...

Lithium has been listed as one of the critical or nearcritical elements in various recent studies based largely on its importance in green technologies. It was one of the 15 mineral commodities studied by participating countries in the International Strategic Minerals Inventory (ISMI) of the 1980s and 1990s (Anstett and others, 1990). The National Research Council (2008) concluded that lithium, although not critical at the time of the 2008 assessment, could potentially become critical depending on the level of growth of new uses, such as hybrid vehicle batteries. In the U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Strategy (2010), lithium is included as 1 of 16 key elements. The 2011 joint report of the American Physical Society Panel on Public Affairs and the Materials Research Society on energy-critical minerals included lithium as 1 of 29 key elements for green technology. Uses and Applications: Lithium has many uses. Worldwide lithium consumption in 2013 by end use was estimated ...

Geological Survey of India has for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of  5.9 million tonnes in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir (UT). This report along with 15 other resource bearing geological reports (G2 & G3 stage) and 35 Geological memorandums were handed over to respective state governments during the 62 nd  Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting held on 09 th  February 2023. Out of these 51 mineral blocks, 5 blocks pertains to gold and other blocks pertains to commodities lke potash, molybdenum, base metals etc. spread across 11 states of Jammu & Kashmir (UT), Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.. The blocks were prepared based on the work carried out by GSI from field seasons 2018-19 to till date. Apart from these, 17 reports of Coal and Lignite with a total resource of 7897 million tones were also handed over...

Elephants in India: Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) once ranged over a vast area from the Tigris and Euphrates in West Asia to South East Asia (Olivier, 1978). However, their present distribution is confined to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam (Santiapillai, 1987; Sukumar 2011). Though the number of Asian elephants in the wild is estimated to be 45,826-53,306 (IUCN AsESG 2016, unpublished), they are threatened because of the loss, shrinkage and degradation of their habitat. Fragmentation of available habitats has confined most of the populations to small islands. In addition, the threat from poaching for ivory has considerably depleted the number of tuskers, most often leading to a highly skewed sex ratio. Developmental programmes and encroachment within and around elephant habitats has also led to the loss of the elephants’ traditional movement paths. All these factors have contributed to increased...

SSLV-D2: On  10 FEB 2023 , Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) successfully launched three satellites into their intended orbits. In its second developmental flight, the SSLV-D2 vehicle placed EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 satellites into their intended 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of 37 degrees. It took-off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 09:18 hours IST and took about 15 minutes to inject the satellites. SSLV is the new small satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO to cater the launch of small satellites up to 500 kg to Low Earth Orbits on ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. It is configured with three solid stages 87 t, 7.7 t and 4.5 t respectively. SSLV is a 34 m tall, 2 m diameter vehicle having a lift-off mass of 120 t. A liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) achieves desired velocity for the insertion of the satellites into the intended orbit. SSLV is capable of launching Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to...

GBBC India is coordinated by the Bird Count India (BCI). The BCI has been associated with the GBBC for 10 years.   Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) was the first online citizen-science project (also referred to as  community science ) to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time.  The Hindu Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)

The First G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting concluded in Bengaluru today on a positive note with all G20 countries showing interest and commitment to constructively work towards the objective of the three priority areas of Arresting Land Degradation, Accelerating Ecosystem Restoration and Enriching Biodiversity; Promoting a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy and Encouraging Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy. The  first meeting of Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG)  marks the beginning of constructive discussions within G20 countries for a sustainable future, led by India’s G20 presidency.  The three-day meeting of the ECSWG from 9-11 February, 2023 was led by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. PIB

Brazil, India, and the United States, as leading biofuel producers and consumers, will work together during the next few months towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance along with other interested countries. This Alliance will be aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector. It will place emphasis on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing and provision of technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide. It will also emphasize the already implemented best practices and success cases. The Alliance shall work in collaboration with and complement the relevant existing regional and international agencies as well as initiatives in the bioenergy, bioeconomy, and energy transition fields more broadly, including the Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy...

Article 348(1)(a) of the Constitution of India states that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court, shall be in English language. Clause (2) of the Article 348 of the Constitution states that notwithstanding anything in sub-clause (a) of clause (1), the Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of the President, authorize the use of Hindi Language, or any other language used for any official purposes of the State, in proceedings in the High Court having its principal seat in that State. The Cabinet Committee’s decision dated 21.05.1965 has stipulated that consent of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India be obtained on any proposal relating to use of a language other than English in the High Court. Under Article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the district and subordinate judiciary in the States vest with the concerned High Court.  As regards, use of Hindi or regional language in lower courts, it is decided by the High Cou...

According to production data of Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database(FAOSTAT), India is the highest milk producer i.e., rank first position in the world contributing twenty-four percent of global milk production in the year 2021-22. The milk production of India has registered fifty-one percent increase during the last eight years i.e., during the year 2014-15 and 2021-22 and increased to twenty-two crore tonne in the year 2021-22. PIB

  As per latest report published by International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) Germany and FiBL Switzerland in 2022, the Global Organic Market has been growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.7 % during last six years (2015-2020). In value terms, the market size has grown from US $ 84 billion in 2015 to US $ 129 billion in 2020 suggesting that the demand for chemical free organic produces has increased in the international market. The data on domestic consumption of organic product is not available.  But it is fact that demand of organic products in the domestic market is increasing with rising health consciousness and more inclination towards organic farming. According to IMARC report Indian India organic food market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 25.25% during 2022-2027. Two types of organic certifications systems have been developed for quality assurance of organic products in country. Third Party Certification by Accredited Certificat...

  The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched a flagship network project ‘National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture’ (NICRA) during 2011. NICRA is the unique project which brings all sectors of agriculture viz., crops, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, natural resource management and extension scientists on one platform. The major objectives of NICRA are (i) to undertake strategic and applied research on climate change adaptation and mitigation; (ii) to validate, demonstrate and assess the impact of climate resilient technologies on farmers' fields; and (iii) to strengthen the capacity of scientists, farmers and other stakeholders on climate resilient agriculture. About 57 ICAR Institutes, 16 State Agriculture Universities, Indian Institute of Technology (Chennai) & NGOs are involved in strategic research. The state of art research infrastructure was developed like high-throughput phenotyping pl...

  Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MoSJE) has formulated a scheme “National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem” (NAMASTE). The process of extending the Scheme to all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of the country has been initiated. Main features of the Scheme to be implemented in all ULBs are:- Identification:  NAMASTE envisages identifying the Sewer/Septic Tank Workers (SSWs). Occupational Training and distribution of PPE Kits to SSWs. Assistance for Safety Devices to Sanitation Response Units (SRUs). Extending Health Insurance Scheme Benefits  to identified SSWs and their families under the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). Livelihood Assistance : The Action Plan will promote mechanization and enterprise development by providing funding support and subsidy (capital +interest) to the sanitation workers, to procure sanitation related equipments. IEC Campaign : Massive campaigns would be undertaken jointly by the ULBs & N...

Definition of safai karamchari as per National Commission of Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993 is   “Safai Karamchari”   means a person engaged in or employed for, manually carrying human excreta or any sanitation work”. This act has since lapsed in 2004 and there has been considerable changes in the activities/status of safai karamcharis. Definition of safai karamcharis as per Article of Association of National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation is  “Safai Karamchari”  means a person, including his/her dependents, engaged in or employed for any sanitation work and includes waste pickers, but excludes domestic worker and manual scavengers. As per mandate of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis identification of safai karamcharis has not to be done by them. Sanitation is a state subject and no central data is maintained in this regard. Commission submits its Annual Report on status of safai karamaharis and recommends to take necessary action for welf...