Current Affairs

 

News :-

Recently, the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit was held in Kampala, the capital of Uganda on 19 and 20 January.

About NAM Summit:

• The 19th NAM Summit was held under Uganda's leadership in Kampala. Uganda has taken over as chair from Azerbaijan, to run until 2027.

Theme:

• ‘Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence.’

 Key discussions at the summit:

• Israel-Hamas war

• India’s “Vishwaa Mitra” initiative

• A call for multipolar world

About Non-Aligned Movement:

• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an alliance of developing nations that refuses to identify with any major superpower.

• It was established in 1961 at the height of the Cold War. Whereas it started with the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia in 1955.

News :-
    Recently, the meeting for review of progress of Atal Bhujal Yojna was held at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.

About Atal Bhujal Yojna:

• Atal Bhujal Yojana is a central sector scheme which was launched in 2019.

Duration:

      Period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25), Increased by 2 years in May, 2023.

Objective: 

The major objective of the Scheme is to improve the management of groundwater resources in select water stressed areas in identified states.

• The scheme is being taken up in 8220 water stressed Gram Panchayats of seven 

states: Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Scheme components : It has two major components:

• Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Component for strengthening institutional arrangements for sustainabl groundwater management in the States including improving monitoring networks, capacity building, strengthening of Water User Associations, etc.

• Incentive Component for incentivising the States for achievements in 

improved groundwater management practices namely, data dissemination, preparation of water security plans, implementation of management interventions through convergence of ongoing schemes, adopting demand side management practices etc.

• The scheme is being funded by the Government of India and the World Bank on a 50:50 basis.

• Total cost of scheme is Rs. 6,000 crore, Out of this, Rs. 3,000 is loan from the World Bank and Rs. 3,000 crore is matching contribution from the Government of India.

News:-

• The Union government is promoting nature tourism at 16 Ramsar sites, including Chilika Lake and Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, to support conservation and local economies.

About Sultanpur National Park:

• Formerly known as Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, it spans 1.42 sq km consisting primarily of marshy lakes and floodplains.

Location: 

• The Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary is located in the Gurgaon district of Haryana, 46 km from Delhi.

 

• Biodiversity: The vegetation is characterized by tropical and dry deciduous types such as grasses, dhok, khair, tendu, jamun, neem, berberis, and species of Acacia.

• Over 320 bird species have been recorded at Sultanpur, making it a vital wintering ground. Some iconic species found here are the Common Hoopoe, Purple Sunbird, Black Francolin, Little Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Siberian Crane and Greater Flamingo.

 

• Other migratory birds that flock seasonally include Common Teal, Common Greenshank and Ruff.

• While large wild mammals are absent, the park's terrestrial fauna is represented by animals like the nilgai.

• Sultanpur National Park is an ecologically significant protected wetland that provides habitat to an array of resident and migratory birds.

Conservation efforts: 

• The Haryana government has carried out some development works at the sanctuary like the construction of mounds, widening of paths, and digging four tube wells. Efforts are being made to improve vegetation in the area by planting more trees.

News :-

Recently, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a leading Indian public policy think tank, had its FCRA license canceled, culminating in a series of government actions since IT raids in September 2022.

About FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) :

Purpose:

• FCRA stands for Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which is a law enacted by the Parliament of India to regulate the acceptance and utilization of foreign contributions by individuals, associations, and companies.

      

     Prohibition: The Act prohibits the receipt of foreign contributions "for any activities detrimental  to the national interest".

Registration: Organizations require the government’s permission to receive funding from abroad.

Implementation: The Act is implemented in convergence with various Union government Ministries and agencies, State authorities, and a network of formal and informal institutions and individuals.

 

Registration certificate renewal: Every person with a registration certificate must renew it within six months before it expires.

Administrative expense limit: The limit for using foreign donations for administrative purposes has been reduced from 50% to 20%.

 

Voluntary surrender of registration certificate: The central government can allow a person to surrender their registration certificate.

Suspension period: The government can suspend the registration of a person for up to 360 days, instead of 180 days.

• In a first-of-its-kind model of convergence, Kanger Valley National Park is working with a coalition of various organizations and government departments to prepare a landscape-based ecological restoration plan for the national park.

About Kanger Valley National Park:
Location:

• It is located in Jagdalpur, in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh state.
• It is located on the banks of the KholabaRiver (tributary of the Godavari River).
• The National Park derives its name from the Kanger River, which flows in its length.

• It got the status of a national park in 1982.
• The entire Park constitutes the core area and there is no buffer zone.
• Topography: It is noted for its highly heterogeneous land formations, ranging from low, flat, and gentle areas to steep slopes, plateaus, valleys, and stream courses.
• It is home to three exceptional caves, famous for their amazing geological structures: Kutumbasar, Kailash, and Dandak-Stalagmites and Stalactites.

 

A recent study has uncovered two potential new species of lamprey fish in California waters.

About Lamprey Fish:

• Lampreys are boneless, jawless fish with eel-like bodies that date back over 350 million years.

• They belong to a relic (primitive) group of jawless fish called Agnathans.

• They live in coastal and fresh waters and are found in temperate regions around the world, except Africa.

 

Features:

• They range from about 15 to 100 centimetres (6 to 40 inches) long.

• Unlike "bony" fish like trout, cod, and herring, lampreys lack scales, fins, and gill covers.

• They breathe through a distinctive row of seven pairs of tiny gill openings located behind their mouths and eyes.

• Like sharks, their skeletons are made of cartilage.

• Lamprey’s jawless mouth is a circular, fleshy sucker filled with hundreds of small teeth and a rasping tongue.

The Prime Minister recently broke down in tears while addressing a crowd during an event to dedicate homes constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban Scheme.

About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) Scheme:

• PMAY-U, being implemented since June 2015, is one of the major flagship programmes being implemented by the Government of India under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

Objective: 

 

To provide all weather pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries in the urban areas of the country by the year 2022, through States/UTs/Central Nodal Agencies.

• The scheme covers the entire urban area of the country, i.e., all statutory towns as per Census 2011 and towns notified subsequently, including Notified Planning/ Development Areas.

• The scheme is being implemented through four verticals:

• Beneficiary Led Construction/ Enhancement (BLC)

• Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP)
• In-situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR)
• Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).

• In August 2022, the Union Cabinet approved the continuation of PMAY-U up to 31st December 2024, with all verticals except CLSS, for the completion of already sanctioned houses till 31st March 2022.

Funding: The credit linked subsidy component will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme while other three components will be implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).