Tamil Nadu''s mission to save the critically endangered vultures

• The committee, which has a two-year tenure, will take steps for monitoring the conservation and recovery of existing vulture sites and mapping of vulture populations across the State for creating safe zones.
• It will work to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs (Diclofenac), the main reason for vulture fatalities.
• Prevention of poisoning of cattle carcasses, the principal food of vultures, is also one of the responsibilities of the newly formed committee.

In Tamil Nadu, four species of vultures are found —

• the Oriental white-backed vulture,
• the long-billed vulture,
• the red-headed vulture, and
• the Egyptian vulture.
• The first three are residents and can be found in the landscapes of the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam.
• There is evidence of Egyptian vulture breeding only at one site in Dharmapuri.

Vulture population:

• 96% of India’s vulture population declined between 1993 and 2003.
• Therefore, the Central government put into place two action plans to protect the species at the national level — the first in 2006 and the second, ongoing plan for 2020-2025.
• One of the important action points in this nationwide plan is the formation of State-level committees to save the critically endangered population of vultures.

Vulture species in India:

• 9 species of vultures are found in India.
• Of these nine species, 4 are listed as Critically Endangered species of Vultures and one as endangered species in IUCN red list of endangered species.

Species of Vultures found in India and their Conservation Status:

• Indian Vulture or Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus)-Critically Endangered
• Indian White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)-Critically Endangered
• Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogypscalvus)Critically Endangered
• Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)- Critically Endangered
• Egyptian Vulture (Neophronpercnopterus)- Endangered
• Cincerous Vulture (Aegypiusmonachus)- Near Threatened
• Bearded Vulture (Gypaetusbarbatus)-Near Threatened
• Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayansis)-Near Threatened
• Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)- Least Concern

Govt. to launch Swadesh Darshan 2 with chosen destinations from 15 States

• Fifteen States are part of the first phase which include Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
• The initiative is being taken as part of the first phase of the ‘Swadesh Darshan 2’.
• Some of the prominent places identified are Jhansi and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gwalior, Chitrakoot and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra.
• It is promoted as part of India’s new domestic tourism policy which moves away from theme-based tourist circuits and focuses on revving up destination tourism.
• The Swadesh Darshan Scheme was launched by the Centre in 2014-15 for the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.
• Under the scheme, the Ministry of Tourism provides financial assistance to State governments, Union Territory Administrations or Central Agencies for development of tourism infrastructure in the country.
• The Swadesh Darshan scheme is 100% centrally funded.
• According to the third Tourism Satellite Account for 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, the contribution of tourism to the employment of the country is 14.78%, 14.87 % and 15.34 % respectively.
• The total jobs generated by the by tourism are 72.69 million (2017-18), 75.85 million (2018-19) and 79.86 million (2019-20).

11% of world''s crypto, Web3 talent is in India: NASSCOM

• The study titled “The India Web3 Start-up Landscape, An Emerging Technology Leadership Frontier,” was aimed at promoting a broader understanding of the diverse possibilities with Web3 and the landscape of Web3 start-ups in the country.
• According to the study, in the last two years, Indian Web3 start-ups have grown to a 450-plus community with four unicorns.
• Between 2021-2022 alone, India registered more than 170 new Web3 start-ups, yielding over 50% CAGR growth since 2015.
• While global response to Web3 was still shaping up, India’s growing economy, demographic dividend, and exponential adoption of emerging technologies across sectors, positioned the country to become one of the highest growth markets for Web3 globally.
• Web 3.0 or Web3 is the third generation of the World Wide Web.
• It is an evolving term that refers to a “read-write-execute” web – with decentralization as its bedrock.
• It speaks about a digital world, built leveraging the blockchain technology, where people are able to interact with each other without the need of an intermediary.
• Web 3.0 will be driven by Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.
• It has now become a buzzword incorporating concepts such as blockchain technologies, metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Ministry of Panchayati Raj organizes two-day National Training Workshop on People’s Plan Campaign–2022 – Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas

• Ministry of Panchayati Raj organises People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) every year (Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas) from 2nd October to 31st December.

• This year also PPC–2022 was launched on 2October, 2022 to prepare District/ Block/ Gram Panchayat Development Plans for the year 2023–2024.

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• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has evolved thematic approach aggregating 17 Sustainable goals into 9 broad themes of Localised Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) at grassroots level.

• In this PPC 2022, Panchayats will prepare Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) on these 9 themes by adopting Whole-of- Government and Whole-of-Society approach.

• The Panchayat Development Plan aims to strengthen the role of elected representatives of Panchayats and SHG Women under DAY-NRLM in effective Gram Sabha.

• The Ministry’s Plan document terms GPDP as a catalyst for transforming rural India and describes it as a comprehensive participatory process which involves full convergence with schemes of all related Central Ministries, line departments related to 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM):

• DAY-NRLM aims at mobilizing rural poor households into Self Help Groups (SHGs) in a phased manner and provide them long-term support to diversify their livelihoods, improve their incomes and quality of life.
• Most of Mission’s interventions are being implemented and scaled up by the SHG women themselves who are trained as community resource persons (CRPs) – Krishi Sakhis, Pashu Sakhis, Bank Sakhis, Bima Sakhis, Banking Correspondent Sakhis etc.
• The Mission is also working on empowering the SHG women through awareness generation and behaviour change communication on issues like domestic violence, women’s education and other gender related concerns, nutrition, sanitation, health etc.

14th Tribal Youth Exchange Programme held in New Delhi

• Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan has been organizing Tribal Youth Exchange Programme since 2006 for the development and main streaming of Tribal Youth in collaboration and financial support from Department of Left Wing Extremism (LWE), Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.
• During this financial year 2022-23, 26 Tribal Youth Exchange Programmes are being organized by NYKS across the country.
• The aim of this programme is to sensitize LWE Tribal Youth to Rich Cultural Heritage of India.
• It also aims to enable them to appreciate the concept of unity in diversity, expose them to development activities and industrial advancement and at help the tribal youth to develop emotional linkages with their peer groups in other part of the country and enhance their self-esteem.

AK-203 assault rifles production to begin by year-end

• Under an over ₹5,000 crore contract, over 6.1 lakh AK-203 assault rifles will be manufactured in India with technology transfer from Russia.
• The Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited was set up in 2019 to produce the Russian-origin Kalashnikov assault rifles in Korwa Ordnance Factory in Amethi district.
• AK203 is the advanced version of the Kalashnikov assault rifle family, the first of which was the AK-47.
• The AK-203 assault rifles will replace the INSAS rifles that have been in service for over three decades.
• The weapon fires 7.62×39 cartridges and weighs 3.8 kg without ammo.
• The modern version of the Russian-origin rifle has an effective range of 300 metres or more than three football fields, is lightweight and robust.
• As per a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India figures amongst the key arms importing destination globally.
• India has for decades been Russia’s largest arms importer, with Russian weapons accounting for nearly 70% of India’s military arsenal.
• The two nations have earlier collaborated to manufacture the BrahMos missiles, which are a key component of India’s missile defence systems.
• Furthermore, the defence trade between India and Russia has crossed $15 billion since 2018, in the backdrop of some big deals including the $5.43 billion S-400 long range air defence systems.

What is avian flu, the disease afflicting viral TikTok emu Emmanuel?

• Avian influenza is a disease caused by an influenza A virus, affecting birds across many species.
• It can have significant consequences for the poultry industry, due to its potential impact on bird health, production and even international trade.
• Although avian influenza does not usually infect people, it is considered a zoonotic virus. That means it can be transmitted to humans through contact with infected birds, and sporadic cases have been seen when outbreaks happen in poultry.
• Some avian influenza viruses are more pathogenic than others.
  • Pathogenic means disease-causing, so if highly pathogenic avian influenza gets into a poultry farm, it can cause sudden and significant mortality.
• Symptoms:
  • Avian influenza infections in humans can cause a range of clinical symptoms, from mild upper respiratory symptoms to severe pneumonia.
• Some strains of avian influenza, such as highly pathogenic H5N1 and H7N9, can cause significant disease in humans, and in some instances even death.
• Treatment:
  • Recommended standard treatment for humans is with antiviral drugs, and will depend on individual circumstances and severity of the symptoms.

Classification of Influenza:

• The influenza virus, which causes illness, is classified by WHO into four types: A, B, C, and D.
• According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only the influenza A and B viruses are known to cause epidemics.
• The C type virus usually causes mild respiratory illness, while the D type virus typically affects cattle and is not known to infect humans.
• Only the influenza A virus is divided into subtypes and the subtype is based on two proteins on the surface of the virus, hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N).

Impact of influenza:

• Humans can be infected with avian, swine and other zoonotic influenza viruses, such as
  • Avian influenza virus subtypes A (H5N1), A (H7N9), and A (H9N2)
  • Swine influenza virus subtypes A (H1N1), A (H1N2) and A (H3N2)
• According to the WHO, influenza is known to affect 5-10% of adults and 20-30% of children across the world every year.

Indigenous UAV Rustom-2 to complete user trials by August 2023

• Rustom-2 is also known as Tapas-BH (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon 201).
• It has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, with the production partners being Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd.
• It is powered by a small turbofan engine. The engine is Russian TRDD-50MT originally designed for cruise missiles.
• It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payload and capable of auto landing, among others.
• Its navigation was done using GAGAN satellites through the onboard SATCOM system.
• High endurance UAVs are a priority requirement for the Indian armed forces especially in view of the stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) Collaborate for innovations in Financial Product and Services

• The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• It was set up to promote and facilitate an environment that accelerates innovation across the financial sector.
• RBIH will provide the platform to anchor a shared vision among all financial ecosystem stakeholders and aid them in crafting forward-looking innovation strategies while addressing the most pressing issues in the Indian financial sector.
• The organisation serves as a focal point to position India as a global innovation hub for a network of financial services providers, fintech innovation hubs, policymakers, technologists, academia, and the investor community.
• The network will be empowered to ideate, incubate new capabilities, and enable access to sustainable, secure, and frictionless financial services for over a billion Indians.

Sri Lankan Author Shehan Karunatilaka Wins Booker for ''The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida''

• The Booker Prize for Fiction, formerly known as the Booker–McConnell Prize and the Man Booker Prize, is a literary prize.
• It was established in
• Objective:
  • To promote the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written in English.
• Eligibility:
  • The Booker Prize awards any novel originally written in English and published in the UK and Ireland in the year of the prize, regardless of the nationality of their author.
  • The novel must be an original work in English (not a translation)
  • It must be published by a registered UK or Irish imprint; self-published novels are not eligible.
• Prize Money:
  • The winner receives £50,000 as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the shortlisted authors. In this case, thanks to the award being shared, the prize money would be split between the two winners.
• Organizations involved:
  • Man Group:Man Group is an active investment management firm founded in 1783. It has sponsored the Man Booker Prize since 2002
  • The Booker Prize Foundation: It is a registered charity established in 2002. Since then it has been responsible for the award of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and for the Man Booker International Prize since its inauguration in 2005.