India: National Coal Index rises 3.83 points in September amid higher demand

National Coal Index

• The NCI is a price index which reflects the change in the price level of coalon a particular month relative to the fixed base year.
• This price index combines the prices of coal from all the sales channels- Notified Prices, Auction Prices and Import Prices.
• It has been rolled out on 4th June 2020 and the aim is to have an index that will truly reflect the market price.
• The base year is FY 2017-18.
• The concept and design of the Index as well as the Representative Prices have been developed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
• The Index is meant to encompass all transactions of raw coal in the Indian market.
• This includes coking and non-coking of various grades transacted in the regulated (power and fertilizer) and non-regulated sectors.
• The NCI''s upward movement indicates rising demand of coal because of upcoming festive season and winter in the country, which will encourage coal producer to take maximum benefit by further scaling-up domestic coal production to meet the growing energy demands.

Iia''s Observatory Captures Aurora From Hanle And Merak

Stable Auroral Arc

• It is a rare atmospheric phenomenon which was observed during a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm.
• Unlike auroras, which occur when charged particles from space hit the atmosphere causing it to glow, SAR arcs form differently.
• They are an indication of heat energy leaking into the upper atmosphere from Earth''s ring current system, a donut-shaped circuit carrying millions of amps around our planet.
• During the recent geomagnetic storm, the ring current was energised by hours of intense geomagnetic activity, with energy dissipating into these SAR arcs.
• This global event was registered in many parts of the world.

How does Aurora form?

• It is formed when the sun is ejecting charged particles from its corona, creating solar wind. When that wind slams into Earth''s ionosphere, the aurora is born.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the phenomenon is called the northern lights (aurora borealis), while in the Southern Hemisphere, it''s called the southern lights (aurora australis).
• The hemispheric asymmetry of the aurora is due in part to the sun''s magnetic field interfering with Earth''s magnetic field.

Tiger count rises to one from nil in J’khand’s Palamau Tiger Reserve

Palamu Tiger Reserve

• Location: Chhota Nagpur plateau region of
• The reserve forms a part of the Betla National Park.
• It is one of the first 9 tiger reserves created in the country at the inception of ‘Project Tiger’.
• It is the first reserve in the world in which a tiger census was carried out as a pugmark count, as early as 1932 under the supervision of J.W. Nicholson.
• Three rivers namely North Koyal, Auranga and Burhaflow through the valleys.
• The Reserve is very rich in minerals like Bauxite and Coal.
• Vegetation:
• It is primarily dominated by Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous, Sal Forest and its associates.
• Smaller patches of Northern tropical Moist Deciduous forests exist too in the Reserve.
• Flora:Shorea robusta, Acacia catechu, Madhuca indica, Terminalia tomentosa, Butea monosperma, Pterocarpus marsupium, Anogeisus latifolia, Indigofera pulchela etc.
• Fauna:Some keystone and principal species found in the reserve include Tiger, Asiatic Elephant and Leopard, Grey wolf, Wild dog, Gaur, Sloth bear and four horned antelope etc

Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Program (LLLAP) of the Department of Justice reaches more than 6 lakh people through 14 implementing agencies under the DISHA scheme.

Legal Literacy and legal Awareness Program

• Since 2012, Department of Justice (DoJ), Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India has been implementing Access to Justice Scheme in North Eastern States including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and in UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
• Major focus: Legal Empowerment of community, dissemination of simplified Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials in local languages and dialects and capacity development of Panchayati Raj Functionaries and Village Chiefs on formal justice delivery system.
• Aim: To empower the poor and disadvantaged sections of society to seek and demand justice services.
• The Programme also seeks to improve the institutional capacities of key justice service providers to enable them to effectively serve the poor and disadvantaged.
• Duration: DoJ has formulated a scheme on Access to Justice named ‘Designing Innovating Solutions and Holistic Access to Justice (DISHA)’ to be implemented during the period of 2021 to 2026.
• Objectives
• Use of Technology for enhanced delivery of legal literacy, its Knowledge Products and implementation of Innovative and Holistic ideas.
• Mainstreaming legal literacy through building and forging partnerships across Ministries and allied Departments, Institutions, Schools etc.
• Capacity Building and Utilization of Existing Grassroot/frontline Workers/ Volunteers.
• Developing of Indicators to measure Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness in India.Concurrent Evaluation and Assessment of Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programmes.

New species of wasp discovered in Kerala

Taeniogonalos dhritiae

• It is a new species of wasp discovered in the Ranipuram Hills area in the Western Ghats of Kerala.
• It is named after Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, a noted entomologist.
• It is a species in the family Trigonalyidae.
• While there are about 122 described species of Trigonalyidae in 16 genes worldwide, the knowledge of Indian Trigonalyidae is scanty, with only eight described species till date.
• These insects are hyperparasitoids (parasites of parasites) where females lay eggs on other parasitic wasps.
• The Trigonalyidae family is found in abundance in parts of Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia.

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

• ZSI is a premier research organization functioning under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• ZSI has been actively involved since its inception in 1916in the survey, exploration, and research leading to the expansion of our knowledge on the immensely rich faunal diversity of our country.
• ZSI headquarters is located in Kolkata and has 16 regional centers spread across the country.

Five new pulsars discovered with FAST.

Five-hundred Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST)

• It is a radio telescope in China''s Guizhou Province.
• It is the world''s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, with a receiving area equivalent to 30 football fields.
• It measures 500 meters in diameter.
• Scientific Goals:
• Detect neutral hydrogen at the edge of the universe; reconstruct the images of the early universe;
• Discover pulsars, establish a pulsar timing array, and participate in pulsar navigation and gravitational wave detection in the future;
• Join the International Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Network to obtain hyperfine structures of celestial bodies;
• Perform high resolution radio spectral survey. Detect weak space signals;
• Participate in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
• FAST uses a data system developed at ICRAR (International Center for Radio Astronomy) in Perth, Australia, and at ESO (European Southern Observatory) to manage the huge amounts of data it generates.

Pulsars

• Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that blast out pulses of radiation at regular intervals ranging from seconds to milliseconds.
• Pulsars have strong magnetic fields that funnel particles along their magnetic poles, accelerating them to relativistic speeds, which produce two powerful beams of light, one from each pole.
• Because the poles of the magnetic field aren''t aligned with the axis of spin of the pulsar, the beams of particles and the light they produce are swept around as the pulsar rotates.
• The periodicity of pulsars is caused by these beams of light crossing the line of sight on Earth, with the pulsar appearing to ''switch off'' at points when the light is facing away from us.
• The time between these pulses is the ''period'' of the pulsar.

Neutron star

• When a massive star explodes as a supernovaat the end of its life, its core can collapse into a tiny and superdense object with not much more than our sun’s mass.
• These small, incredibly dense cores of exploded stars are neutron stars.

Climate change is bad for health but climate services save lives

Climate Services report 2023

• Less than 25 per cent of health ministries across the world utilise climate information and services to monitor health risks related to climate sensitivity.
• It highlights health protection as a priority in almost all countries and identifies the need for high-quality information for better decision making.
• While extreme heat causes the greatest mortality of all extreme weather, heat warning services are provided to health decision makers in only half of the affected countries;
• Climate change mitigation leading to reducing air pollution can save lives; and
• Investments to improve the capabilities of the health sector to safeguard the most vulnerable are insufficient.

World Meteorological Organization

• It is originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873.
• It was established in 1950.
• It is the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology(weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.
• Currently it has a membership of 187 countries.
• Governance Structure:
• Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress, which consists of representatives of all members.
• It meets at least every four yearsto set general policy and adopt regulations.
• A 36-member Executive Council meets annually and implements policy.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

India set to boost surveillance capabilities with Israeli Hermes 900 Starliners drones

Hermes 900 Starliner

• It is an Israeli-made medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
• It is the larger variant of the Hermes 900.
• Features:
• It has a wingspan of 17m and a maximum take-off weight of 1,600kg.
• The aircraft has a service ceiling of 30,000ft and offers a flight endurance of up to 36 hours.
• The aircraft’s automatic take-off and landing (ATOL) capability allows it to take-off and land in near-zero visibility environments.
• An active de-icing system is installed for removing ice from surfaces to ensure safe operation in icing conditions.
• It can carry a range of multi-sensor payloads weighing up to 450kg for multiple applications.
• The onboard imaging sensors capture real-time imagery/video and provide wide-area persistent surveillance during both the day and night.
• It is equipped with a terrain avoidance warning system (TAWS) for terrain prediction and obstacle avoidance.
• It is equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a ground moving target indicator (GMTI) radar, and maritime patrol radar to detect, locate and acquire targets.
• It can also carry electronic warfare payloads to provide airborne electronic attack capability.

Trekker from Delhi found dead on Parvati river banks in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu

Parvati River

• The Parvati River, also known as the Parbati River, is located in the Parvati Valley of Himachal Pradesh.
• It is a major tributary of the Beas River.
• It is named after the Hindu goddess Parvati, who was the wife of Lord Shiva.
• Course:
• It originates from the Man Talai Glacier below the Pin Parbati Pass.
• The river flows in a gradual curve from the north-northwest to the west-southwest, past the pilgrimage center of
• It flows for approximately 150 km before merging into the Beas River at Bhuntar, which is located 10 km south of Kullu.
• The river is fed by the melting glaciers and the South West monsoons.
• Tributaries: The streams of Tos, Dibibokori, and Tichi feed this river along with many other tributaries.
• The river is very well known for carrying silver ore in the river sand.
• The river has fine first-growth forests in its upper reaches, which are being degraded as a consequence of the development of its vast hydroelectric potential.

Govt begins process of constituting Sixteenth Finance Commission

Finance Commission

• It is a constitutional body for giving recommendations on the distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the Statesand amongst the States
• The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under Article 280 of the Constitution.
• It is constituted at the end of every fifth year or earlier, as deemed necessary by the President.
• Parliament may, by law, determine the requisite qualifications for appointment as members of the Commission and the procedure for their selection. On account of this, The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951, was passed.
• Mandate: It is the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the President as to:
• the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds;
• the principles which should govern the grants-in-aidof the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
• the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State;
• any other matter referred to the Commission by the President in the interests of sound finance.
• Composition: It consists of a Chairman and four other membersappointed by the President.
• Qualifications of members: The Chairman of the Commissionis selected from among persons who have had experience in public affairs, and the four other members are selected from among persons who
• are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as judges of a High Court; or
• have special knowledge of the financesand accounts of Government; or
• have had wide experience in financial mattersand in administration; or
• have special knowledge of economics
• **Tenure of members:**Every member will be in office for the time period as specified in the order of the President and is eligible for reappointment.
• The recommendations of the Finance Commission are not binding on the government.