Four tiger cubs born in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park after 13 years

• It is located in the state of Maharashtra which was formerly known as Borivali National Park.
• The 2400-year-old Kanheri caves are sculpted out of the rocky cliff which lies within the park.
• Flora: Kadamba, Teak, Karanj, Shisham, and species of acacia, Ziziphus, euphorbias etc are found in this National Park.
• Fauna: Chital, Rhesus macaque, Bonnet macaque, Black-naped, Bengal Tiger etc.

Kanheri caves

• The Kanheri Caves are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, western outskirts of
• The Kanheri caves comprise more than 110 different rock-cut monolithic excavations and are one of the largest single excavations in the country.
• These excavations were primarily undertaken during the Hinayana phase of Buddhism but also have several examples of the Mahayana stylistic architecture as well as a few printings of the Vajrayana order.
• The name Kanheri is derived from ‘Kanhagiri’ in Prakrit and occurs in the Nasik inscription of the Satavahana ruler Vasisthiputra Pulumavi.
• They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century CE to the 10th century CE.
• The earliest reference to Kanheri is ascribed to Fa-Hein who visited India during 399-411 CE.

NALCO-BARC Releases India''s 1st Bauxite CRM

BARC B1201:

• It is the first of its kind Certified Reference Material (CRM) in India and 5th in the World.
• This new product will act as an import substitution for use by Industries, Research Laboratories and Academic Institutions as a calibration standard in evaluating analytical methods, the performance of Instruments, and data quality control in routine analysis of bauxite.

Bauxite

• Bauxite is an important ore that is used for making aluminium. It is not a specific mineral but a rock consisting mainly of hydrated aluminium oxides.
• The deposits of Bauxite are mainly associated with laterites and occur as capping on hills and plateaus, except in coastal areas of Gujarat and Goa.
• Bauxite is primarily used to produce alumina through the Bayer process.
• In India Odisha alone accounts for 53% of the country’s resources of bauxite and it is also found in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

A citizen science project documents unique sea slugs from Visakhapatnam coast

• Sea slugs belong to Phylum Mollusca and Class Gastropoda. They look like naked snails, i.e., without shells.
• Sea slugs are found in the sea and some slugs live on land as well.
• A unique species of nudibranch sea slugswere documented on the Visakhapatnam shore.
• These sea slugs are found in places with abundant prey bases which may vary from sponges, hydroids and algae.
• The nudibranchs are usually found in coral reefs and their presence is a significant indicator of a strong coral ecosystem.
• They mainly feed on algae and are usually seen in large numbers when there is an algal bloom.
• Most nudibranchs are active throughout the day, but some species are also nocturnal.

30-year celebration of ‘Project Elephant’ recently officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said that the DNA profiling of 270 of the 2,675 captive elephants in the country has been completed.

• The DNA profiling was started in August 2022 for Gaj Soochna Mobile Application for forest officials.
• DNA profiling is the process where a specific DNA pattern, called a profile, is obtained from a sample of bodily tissue.

Project Elephant

• It was launched in 1992 as a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme to protect elephants and improve their habitat and corridors, reduce Human-elephant conflict and ensure their welfare.
• Under this project, financial and technical support is given to wildlife management efforts by states for their free-ranging populations of wild Asian Elephants.
• Project elephant is mainly implemented in 16 States.
• Conservation status of Asian Elephant
  • IUCN: Endangered
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
  • CITES: Appendix I

ISRO''s LVM3 Successfully Places 36 OneWeb Satellites in Orbit

Launch Vehicle Mark- 3(LVM-3):

• It was previously known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark–III.
• The recent launching of 36 satellites was the sixth launch of India’s heaviest rocket LVM-3.
• It was the second dedicated commercial satellite mission undertaken by Space PSU NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for Network Access Associates Ltd (OneWeb).

GSLV

• It is a 3-stage space launch vehicle operated by the ISRO to launch satellites and other space objects into eosynchronous Transfer Orbits (GTO ~37,000 km).
• The third stage of this vehicle uses a Cryogenic engine, which uses liquefied oxygen and hydrogen as fuel.
• It has been designed for launching communication satellites.
• GSLV delivers satellites into a higher elliptical orbit - GTO.

NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)

• It is a Central Public Sector Enterprise established in 2019.
• It is the second commercial entity of the Department of Space (DoS) after Antrix Corporation Limited, which was set up in 1992 to market the products and services of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Mandate
  • Transfer technology to industry for producing commercially successful PSLV spacecraft launchers.
  • Outsource assembly of small satellites and the upcoming Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
  • To commercially exploit the R&D work done by ISRO centres and DoS constituents.

Biotransformation technology and its promise to turn plastics biodegradable

• Biotransformation technology is a process which alters the state of plastics and makes them
• The technology would digest the plastic packaging waste naturally with the help of microbes without leaving behind any microplastics.
• It ensures that plastic which escaped refuse streams is fully biodegraded in the natural environment.
• Plastics made using this technology are given a pre-programmed time during which it looks and functions like conventional plastics.
• After expiry and exposure to the external environment, it self-destructs and biotransforms into bioavailable wax.
• This wax is then consumed by microorganisms, converting waste into water, CO2, and biomass.
• The technology attacks the crystalline and amorphous region of the polymer structure, rapidly turning it into a wax-like material.
• This wax-like material is no longer plastic and is not harmful to the environment.

Sacred Hopi site in Arizona awarded ICOMOS Water and Heritage Shield

• The purpose of the Shield is to help the public become aware of the significance of water and indigenous sacred sites all over the world and the right to cultural and historical memory.
• The Sípàapu is a rocky dome made of limestone as well as a spring located on the Little Colorado river, a tributary of Colorado.
• Little Colorado joins the main stem of the river within the Grand Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The ancestors of the Hopi dwelled throughout the Grand Canyon before the 1250 Common Era.
• Little Colorado, especially the confluence, is sacred not only to the Hopi but also to other Native American groups such as the Navajo and Zuni.
• The Hopi consider the Sípàapu to be the place from where their ancestors emerged from another world into this one.

International Committee On Monuments and Sites:

• It is a global non-governmental organization associated with UNESCO
• Its mission is to promote the conservation, protection, use and enhancement of monuments, building complexes and sites.
• It is an Advisory Body of the World Heritage Committee for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO.
• As such, it reviews the nominations of cultural world heritage and ensures the conservation status of properties.
• It also contributed to a series of resource manuals jointly prepared by the Advisory Bodies (ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

Hopi Tribal people

• The Hopi are known as one of the oldest living cultures in documented history, having migrated north to Arizona in the 12th century.

Export benefits under RoDTEP extended to certain textile items

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme:

• The RoDTEP scheme would refund to exporters the embedded central, state and local duties or taxes that were so far not been rebated or refunded.
• It was launched in January 2021 as a replacement for the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS).
• Under this scheme, a rebate will have to be claimed as a percentage of the Freight On Board value of exports.
• Rebates will be issued in the form of a transferable duty credit/ electronic scrip (e-scrip) which will be maintained in an electronic ledger by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

Freight on Board

• It is also called Free on Board (FOB) is a term used to indicate who is liable for goods damaged or destroyed during shipping.
• FOB origin means the buyer is at risk and takes ownership of goods once the seller ships the product.
• FOB destination means the seller retains the risk of loss until the goods reach the buyer.

Centre allots only 17 VDVKs to Telangana

Van Dhan Vikas Yojna:

• The Van Dhan Scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED.
• It was launched on 14th April 2018 and seeks to improve tribal incomes through the value addition of tribal products.
• Implementation:
  • The scheme will be implemented through the Ministry of Tribal Affairs as Nodal Department at the Central Level and TRIFED as Nodal Agency at the National Level.
  • At the State level, the State Nodal Agency for MFPs and the District collectors are envisaged to play a pivot role in scheme implementation at the grassroots level.
  • Locally the Kendras are proposed to be managed by a Managing Committee (an SHG) consisting of representatives of Van Dhan SHGs in the cluster.
• A typical Van Dhan Vikas Kendra constitutes 10 tribal Van Dhan Vikas Self Help Groups (SHG), each comprising of upto 30 MFP gatherers or tribal handicraft artisans i.e. about 300 beneficiaries per Kendra.
• The initiative is expected to provide an enhanced livelihood to about 25 lakh tribal gatherers in the country.

Sundarbans Get 90 Spotted Deer From Parmadan Forest

Bibhutibhusan Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Bibhutibhusan Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as Parmadan Forest is an animal sanctuary in the North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.
• It is situated on the banks of river Ichamati.

Sundarban Tiger Reserve

• The Sundarbans is located on the delta of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers in the Bay of Bengal.
• In 1973 it was declared a tiger reserve under Project Tiger.
• It is a part of the world’s largest delta and home to the largest mangrove forests.
• **Flora:**The vegetation of the area is moist tropical forests and tidal forests.
• **Fauna:**It is home to Royal Bengal Tiger, Estuarine Crocodile, Gangetic Dolphin, Water Monitor Lizard etc.

Project Tiger

• It is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi''s tenure.
• Aim: Ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage