National Single Window System, NSWS Portal For Various Central, State And UT Clearances Today Hit A New Milestone By Crossing 75,000 Approvals

National Single Window System

• The platform was soft launched in September 2021 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It is a one-stop digital platform that aims at allowing investors to apply for various pre-operations approvals required for commencing a business in the country.
• It makes the business registration process easier, allowing the beneficiary to get significant approvals online, without having to run to the government offices for approvals and can avail themselves of services with just a click.

Significance

• It would become a “one stop shop” for state and Central government compliances and bring transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the ecosystem.
• It will also offer a Know Your Approvals service to inform businesses of the details of all the approvals they need to obtain as well as a common registration form, document repository and e-communication module.
• It will provide strength to other schemes e.g. Make in India, Startup India, PLI scheme etc.

Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur to launch Y20 Summit India’s logo, website, and themes at a curtain raiser event in New Delhi today

• The Y20 is the official youth engagement group for the G20 (Group of 20), the forum for the world’s largest and most advanced economies.
• The Y20 is a process which brings together young leaders from across the globe, to discuss and debate global challenges and agree policy recommendations they would like to see G20 leaders take forward.
• The list of policy recommendations is known as a communiqué, which is announced publicly at the Y20 Summit and presented to world leaders as part of the official G20 summit.
• India is hosting the Y20 summit for the first time.
• In Youth 20 Engagement Group, India’s key focus is to bring young leaders from all across the globe together and discuss ideas for a better tomorrow and draft an agenda for action.
• The activities to be undertaken by Y20 during India’s presidency will focus on global youth leadership and partnership.
• In a run-up to the final Youth-20 Summit, for the next eight months, there will be Pre summits on the five Y20 themes along with various discussions and seminars at different Universities across the country.

With over 5,000 delegates, Purple Fest set to break stereotypes

• It aims to showcase how we can come together to create a welcoming and inclusive world for everyone.
• It is aimed at furthering the spirit of inclusion, the Purple Fest will feature a variety of exciting live performances, sporting events, grand exhibitions, immersive experience zones, accessible movie screenings, & discussions on vital subjects like inclusive education, tourism, employment, & independent living.
• Who is organising Purple Fest?
  • The Purple Fest will be hosted by the Goa State Commission for Persons with Disabilities in association with the Directorate of Social Welfare and Entertainment Society of Goa.
• When is Purple Fest Goa?
  • Purple Fest Goa will be held from January 6-8, 2023, in Panjim, Goa.

PM Modi Chairs National Conference Of Chief Secretaries

• The three-day conference of Chief Secretaries began on January 5, 2022.
• The conference is focused on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the States.
• It will lay the ground for collaborative action for achieving a Viksit Bharat with a thrust on growth and job creation and inclusive human development.
• It will be another key step towards further boosting the partnership between the Centre and the State Governments.
• The discussion during the conference will be held on six identified themes.
• These are Thrust on MSMEs, Infrastructure, and Investments, Minimising Compliances, Women''s Empowerment, Health and Nutrition, and Skill Development.
• The first such conference of Chief Secretaries was held in Dharamshala in June 2022.

Haryana sugarcane farmers kick off agitation seeking higher support price

• What is it? Fair and remunerative price (FRP) is the minimum price at which rate sugarcane is to be purchased by sugar mills from farmers.
• Who determines it? The FRP is fixed by Union government (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)) on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• Rules: The ‘FRP’ of sugarcane is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.
• Methodology: Recommended FRP is arrived at by taking into account various factors (cost of production, demand-supply situation, domestic & international prices, inter-crop price parity etc.
• Benefits: FRP assures margins to farmers, irrespective of whether sugar mills generate a profit or not.
• This will be uniformly applicable all over the country. Besides FRP, some states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and TN announce a State Advised Price, which is generally higher than the FRP.

Decennial census exercise postponed till September 2023

• As per norms, a census can be conducted only three months after the freezing of boundary limits of administrative units such as districts, sub-districts, tehsils, talukas and police stations.
• The finalisation of boundaries of administrative units entails covering all jurisdictional changes between two consecutive censuses.

Census

• It is a process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, evaluating, publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding the population.
• It is being conducted at an interval of 10 years.
• In India, the census was first started under British Viceroy Lord Mayo in 1872 and the first synchronous census in India was held in 1881.

India’s census?

• Nodal Ministry: The decennial Census is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner**, Ministry of Home Affairs.**
• Census is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, of 1948.
• The population census is a Union subject under Article 246 of the Indian Constitution.
• It is listed as serial number 69 of the seventh schedule of the constitution.

New electrolyte found can help better ammonia synthesis

• Recently, Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) Mohali, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have introduced a new electrolyte called (NaBF4) which can help make electrochemical ammonia synthesis more efficient.
• The electrochemical ammonia synthesis is largely limited by the poor solubility of nitrogen (N2) in the aqueous electrolyte environment as well as the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction.
• Scientists have introduced a new electrolyte called (NaBF4), which not only acts as an N2 carrier in the medium but also works as a full-fledged “co-catalyst” along with active material transition metal-doped nanocarbon (MnN4) to deliver high-yield of ammonia (NH3) at absolutely ambient experimental conditions
• This new aqueous electrolyte can help make electrochemical ammonia synthesis more efficient will be useful for industries producing green energy or hydrogen.

Sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF4)

• It is a salt that forms colourless or white water-soluble rhombic crystals and is soluble in water but less soluble in organic solvents.

Electrolyte

• An electrolyte is a substance that forms a solution that conducts electricity when dissolved in a polar solvent. Cations are positively charged ions and Anions are charged ions.
• Acids, bases, and salts are the most commonly known electrolytes.

Assam approves road underpasses in jumbo corridors

• Recently, The Assam Cabinet approved the construction of elephant underpasses in 7 jumbo corridors between Azara and Kamakhya railway stations along the boundary of Deepor Beel.
• Deepor Beel is a permanent freshwater lake and also a bird sanctuary in Kamrup district, Assam.
• It is a riverine wetland, lying in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River, it lies to the south of the main river channel.
• It was designated as a Ramsar site in 2002 for sustaining a range of aquatic life forms besides 219 species of birds and it is the only Ramsar site in Assam.
• This lake is a staging site on migratory flyways and some of the largest concentrations of aquatic birds in Assam can be seen, especially in winter.
• Some globally threatened birds are supported, including Spot-billed Pelican, Lesser Greater Adjutant Stork and Baer''s Pochard.
• The 50 fish species present provide livelihoods for many surrounding villages, and nymphaea nuts and flowers, as well as ornamental fish, medicinal plants, and seeds of the Giant water lily Euryale Ferox, provide major revenue sources in local markets.
• In 2021, the Environment Ministry notified it as an Eco-sensitive zone.

Rubber plantations in Tripura affecting monkeys, vegetation, suggests paper

• The report highlighted that culturing natural rubber in the last century has brought significant economic benefits for growers. But excessive rubber plantations are adversely affecting various wildlife and plant species

Natural Rubber

• Natural rubber is a polymer made up of a chemical molecule called isoprene.
• It is a native of the Amazon basin which was introduced to countries in the tropical belts of Asia and Africa in the late nineteenth century.
• Climatic conditions required for Rubber
  • Rubber trees require moist and humid climates with heavy rainfall of more than 200 cm.
  • It grows well in equatorial climates and temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius.
  • Rubber trees require well-drained, weathered soils.

Rubber plantations in India:

• India is the world’s largest producer and the third-largest user of natural rubber.
• Rubber Growing Areas in India
  • Traditional Areas: Primarily in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari District and Kerala.
  • Non-traditional regions: Coastal Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra’s Konkan Region, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, the northeastern provinces, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, among other places.

Endangered Asian elephant has lost most of its optimal habitat in Nilgiri Reserve: Study

• The study said that human settlements and crop cultivation have hindered the movement of the elephants, keeping them confined to the hilly areas, considered sub-optimal habitats.
• IUCN status of Elephant: Endangered
• Wildlife( protection) act 1972: Schedule 1

NBR

• It harbours a wide spectrum of ecosystem types such as tropical evergreen forests, Montane sholas and grasslands, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and thorn forests.
• The major part of the core areas spread over Kerala and Tamil Nadu States.
• This range of ecosystem occurs from hilly terrain to the meadows extending from 300 to 2670 m constituting an excellent habitat for the flora, fauna and other microbial forms.
• The varied habitats of the NBR house a sizeable number of species of animals and plants including a large number of endemics having special relevance to conservation.
• Fauna: Animals like Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiri langur, slender loris, blackbuck, tiger, gaur, Indian elephant and marten are found here.
• Tribal Population: Tribal groups like the Todas, Kotas, Irullas, Kurumbas, Paniyas, Adiyans, Edanadan Chettis, Cholanaickens, Allar, Malayan, etc., are native to the reserve.
• Protected Areas within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve are
  • The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Bandipur National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Mukurthi National Park and Silent Valley.