Nitin Gadkari lays Foundation Stone of the world''s largest and unique Divyang Park - Anubhuti Inclusive Park.

• It is the world’s first inclusive disabled park.
• Location: Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• The park will be developed by Nagpur Improvement Trust in an area of 90 thousand square feet.
• The park will have adapted facilities for all 21 types of disabilities, including a touch and smell garden, hydrotherapy unit, water therapy, and independent room for differently abled children, mothers, etc.

''Angel Tax'' provisions in Finance Bill will not impact startups

• The Finance Bill 2023 has proposed some changes that will remove the exemption for foreign funds and non-resident investors, who will now have to pay Angel Tax on the difference between capital raised and the fair value of securities sold.

Angel Tax:

• What is it? It is levied on the capital raised via the issue of shares by unlisted companies from an Indian investor if the share price of issued shares is seen in excess of the fair market value of the company.
• The excess funds raised at prices above fair value is treated as income, on which tax is levied.
• It derives its genesis from section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• It was introduced in 2012 to prevent black money laundering through share sales.
• The Angel Tax is levied at a rate of 30.9% on net investments in excess of the fair market value.
• In 2019, the Government announced an exemption from the Angel Tax for startups on fulfillment of certain conditions. These are,
• The startup should be recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as an eligible startup.
• The aggregate amount of paid-up share capital and share premium of the Startup cannot be more than ₹25 crores. This amount does not include the money raised from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Venture Capital Firms, and specified companies.
• For angel investors, the amount of investment that exceeds the fair market value can be claimed for a 100% tax exemption. However, the investor must have a net worth of ₹2 crores or an income of more than ₹25 Lakh in the past 3 fiscal years.
• Eligibility Criteria for Startup Recognition:
• The Start-up should be incorporated as a private limited company or registered as a partnership firm or a limited liability partnership.
• Turnover should be less than INR 100 Crores in any of the previous fiscal years.
• An entity shall be considered a Start-up up to 10 years from the date of its incorporation.
• The Start-up should be working towards innovation/ improvement of existing products, services, and processes and should have the potential to generate employment/ create wealth.
• An entity formed by splitting up or reconstruction of an existing business shall not be considered a “Startup”.

Bharat Electronics and Delhi Metro launch first ever Indigenous

• It is India’s first indigenously developed Train Control and Supervision System.
• It is a computer-based system that will manage train operations including basic functioning such as running and halting.
• The i-ATS has been jointly developed by the DMRC and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) under the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ initiatives for Metro Rail Transit Systems.
• It will reduce the metro’s dependence on foreign vendors for metro operations.
• The i-ATS technology has been developed to be flexible enough to work with different signaling vendors’ systems with suitable changes.
• The development of i-ATS is a huge step forward in CBTC (Communication Based Train Control) based signaling system for the metro railways since the ATS is an essential component of the CBTC signaling system.
• With the launch of i-ATS, India became the sixth country with its own ATS products after France, Germany, Japan, Canada, and China.

ISRO announces opportunities to analyse AstroSat

• It is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory.
• It is the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical, and UV spectral bands simultaneously.
• AstroSat, with a lift-off mass of 1515 kg, was launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on September 28, 2015, into a 650 km orbit inclined at an angle of 6 degrees to the equator.
• The spacecraft control center at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru, manages the satellite during its entire mission life.
• The minimum useful life of the AstroSat mission is around 5 years.
• Scientific Objectives:
• To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes.
• Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars.
• Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy.
• Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky.
• Perform a limited deep-field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet region.

Commercial cultivation of liquorice begins in Palampur

Mulethi:

• Mulethi, commonly known as licorice, is a sweet-tasting perennial shrub.
• Scientific name: Glycyrrhiza glabra
• The roots have a sweet taste due to the presence of glycyrrhizin, which is 50 times sweeter than sucrose.
• It has been traditionally known and used as medicine in Ayurveda (known in Ayurveda as ‘Yashtimadhu’) for rejuvenation.
• Uses:
• Herbal medicines use Mulethi for its natural sweetness.
• It is also used in traditional medicines against chest and lung diseases.
• It is used to flavor candies, tobacco, and alcohol, artificial and natural sweeteners.
• Health Benefits:
• It has anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-bacterial
• It is known to boost immunity due to the increase in the production of macrophage and lymphocytes.
• Mulethi herb can treat asthma, cough, cold, sore throat, and other respiratory ailments.
• It helps in weight loss as it contains flavonoids that help to reduce excessive fats accumulated in the body.
• It helps improve the digestive system, lessens the acidic level in the intestines, and also helps to detox our body.
• Distribution:
• The plant thrives in a dry and sunny climate and is cultivated in subtropical and warm temperate regions.
• Countries producing licorice include Iran, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey.
• It is also cultivated in Punjab and Sub Himalayan tracts in India.

NASA and Israel Partner to Launch ULTRASAT, the First Israeli Space Telescope, in 2026

• ULTRASAT is an ultraviolet observatory with a large field of view, that will investigate the secrets of short-duration events in the universe, such as supernova explosions and mergers of neutron stars.
• It is planned to launch into a geostationary orbit around Earth
• NASA will provide the launch opportunity, Flight Payload Adapter, and other launch-related responsibilities for ULTRASAT.

Geostationary orbit

• Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth above the equator from west to east following Earth’s rotation – taking 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds – by travelling at the same rate as Earth.
• This makes satellites in GEO appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position.
• To perfectly match Earth’s rotation, the speed of GEO satellites should be about 3 km per second at an altitude of 35 786 km. This is much farther from Earth’s surface compared to many satellites.
• This particular orbit is used for meteorological and communications satellites.
• The geostationary orbit is a special case of the geosynchronous orbit, which is any orbit with a period equal to Earth’s rotation period.

Fresh negotiations on UN High Seas Treaty begin in New York. Here’s what to expect

• It is known as the ‘Paris Agreement for the Ocean’, and the treaty to deal with Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictionhas been under discussion for several years.
• The proposed treaty concerns the ocean existing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) that lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles into the sea (Countries have special rights for exploration till 200 nautical miles).
• The treaty was to be negotiated under the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

• UNCLOS became effective on 16th November 1982.
• It superseded the four Geneva Conventions of April 1958, which respectively concerned the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the high seas, fishing and conservation of living resources on the high seas.
• As per UNCLOS, the sea is divided into 4 parts:
  • Territorial waters
  • Contiguous Zone
  • Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
  • Continental Shelf

ICAR develops wheat that can beat the heat

• It is the third HD variant wheat variety which looks most promising.
• With the same yields as HD-3410, plant height of just 95 cm and strong stems.
• It is the least lodging-prone and most amenable for early sowing.
• This variety, sown this time at IARI’s trial fields on October 22, has reached the pollination stage.
• IARI has registered HD-3385 with the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA).

Wheat

• Wheat is the second most important cereal crop in India after rice.
• It is the main food crop, in the northern and north-western parts of the country.
• It is a Rabi crop that requires a cool growing season and bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
• Temperature:Between 10-15°C (Sowing time) and 21-26°C (Ripening & Harvesting) with bright sunlight.
• Rainfall:Around 75-100 cm.
• Soil required:Well-drained fertile loamy and clayey loamy (Ganga-Satluj plains and black soil region of the Deccan).

Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority

• The Govt. of India enacted “The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers'' Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001”.
• To implement the provisions of the Act the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare established the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers'' Rights Authority in 2005.
• The Chairperson is the Chief Executive of the Authority. Besides the Chairperson, the Authority has 15 members.

Putin says Russia suspending participation in New START treaty, last nuclear weapons pact with U.S.

• It is known as The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
• It is the last remaining nuclear arms deal between Russia and the United States of America, and it was extended for five years in 2021.
• Objective: The New START caps the number of nuclear warheads well below Cold War limits.

Timeline of this treaty

• New START continues the bipartisan process of verifiably reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals begun by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
• The treaty was signed by US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Prague in 2010.
• New START replaced the 1991 START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, and superseded the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), which terminated when New START entered into force.
• Both Russia and the United States announced that they met New START limitations by Feb. 5, 2018.
• Importance: New START is the first verifiable U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty to take effect since START I in 1994.

Two endangered pink dolphins rescued from shallow Colombia river

• It is the Amazon River dolphin which is also known as the pink river dolphin or boto and lives only in freshwater.
• It is found throughout much of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela.
• The river dolphin is smaller than other types of saltwater dolphins, and the species has excellent hearing.
• Pink dolphins must live in warm, shallow water areas because they have very little blubber.
• Unlike ocean-dwelling dolphins, pink dolphins have a hump instead of a dorsal fin.
• Generally, these dolphins become more pink as they age, which has led to the species becoming known as the ‘pink dolphin.’
• These animal species use echolocation which lets the animal determine the size and shape of any surrounding item or object.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Endangered