Reliance becomes first Indian company to hit Rs 20 lakh crore valuation

About Market Capitalisation:

• Market Capitalization, or Market Cap, is a term used to represent the market value of a company based on its current share price and the total number of its outstanding shares. 
• It can be calculated by multiplying the number of outstanding shares of a company by the current price of its shares. 
• It represents the market’s perception of a company’s worth and indicates its size and significance in the financial markets. 
• On the basis of market cap, companies may be classified as large-cap, mid-cap, or small-cap companies.
• Large-cap companies are usually stable, reputable, and well-established businesses that have a significant market share. They have market caps of INR 20,000 crore or more. 
• Mid-cap companies have a market cap ranging from INR 5,000 crore to INR 20,000 crore.
• Small-cap companies operate at a smaller scale than large-cap and mid-cap companies. Consequently, their market cap is also lower (less than INR 5,000 crore). 
• Why is market capitalization important?
• It allows potential investors to understand the true value of companies and the size of one company in relation to another. 
• It helps investors predict the future performance of the stock of a company because it reflects what the market is willing to pay for the stock.

What is Free float market capitalisation?

• While calculating the total market capitalization of a company, all the shares, including the ones publicly traded as well as those held by promoters, government, or other private parties, are multiplied by the stock price.
• But in the free-float market capitalisation, we exclude shares held by private parties like promoters, trusts, or the government.
• We only consider shares held and traded by the public and multiply them by the share price to arrive at the free-float market capitalisation of a company.

Andhra Pradesh government bans fishing within a 5 km radius of Hope Island to check the death of Olive Ridley turtles

About Olive Ridley Turtles:

• They are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
• It gets its name from the olive-green colouration of its carapace (shell). 
• Scientific Name: Lepidochelys olivacea
• They are best known for their unique mass nesting, called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• Distribution:
• They are mainly found in the warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans.
• Odisha’s Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is known as the world’s largest rookery (a colony of breeding animals) of sea turtles.
• Features:
• An adult typically measures between 62 and 70 cm in length and weighs about 35-45 kg. 
• They have one to two visible claws on each of their paddle-like flippers. 
• They are omnivorous, meaning they feed on both plants and animals.
• They are solitary, preferring the open ocean.
• These turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean and migrate thousands of kilometres between feeding and mating grounds in the course of a year.
• Conservation Status:
• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule 1
• CITES: Appendix I

Key Facts about Hope Island:

• It is a tadpole-shaped island, located off the coast of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, in the Bay of Bengal. 
• Hope Island is so named for providing a natural haven to sailors against the forces of wind and tide against the weary traveller. 
• This island is young, as it was formed in the late 18th century, by the waters of the Koringa River, which is a distributary of the River Godavari.
• The area between Kakinada coast and Hope Island is known as Kakinada Bay.
• It acts as a natural barrier from storm surges and is a natural breakwater for the Kakinada coast. 

AI integration in e-Jagriti portal to help reduce pending cases in consumer courts: Govt

About e-Jagriti Portal:

• It is an initiative of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
• It is a portal for consumer commissions.
• This portal has been designed to further improve the customer experience.
• It provides a simple, fast, and cost-effective consumer dispute redressal software solution at all levels.
• It is envisaged to integrate consumer grievance platforms, namely, the Online Case Monitoring System (OCMS), E-Daakhil, the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) Case Monitoring System, CONFONET website, mediation application, on a single platform.
• The e-Jagriti platform has case filing, online fee payment, case monitoring modules for seamless disposal of cases by all the Commissions, has Smart search facility on archived consumer complaints/cases/judgements using AI technology for metadata and keyword creation, and Voice-to-text conversion of judgements, case history and other details using AI / ML technology.
• The portal will integrate a Virtual court facility for a convenient and accessible resolution of consumer complaints, reducing the time of disposal, multiple hearings, and physical court appearances, bringing effective and fast decisions & disposals in all Consumer Commissions.

Key Facts about the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC):

• It is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
• Its head office is in New Delhi.
• The Commission is headed by a sitting or retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India or a sitting or retired Chief Justice of the High Court.
• Section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, posits that the National Commission shall have jurisdiction to entertain a complaint valued at more than two crores and also have appellate and revisional jurisdiction from the orders of State Commissions or the District, as the case may be.
• Any person aggrieved by an order of NCDRC may prefer an appeal against such an order to the Supreme Court of India within 30 days.

Parasitic creeper preys on Chengalpet forests, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

About Cuscuta Dodder:

• It is native to North America.
• It is a parasitic vine without roots, has already infested acres of trees in the reserve forests and has begun to spread inside India’s oldest bird sanctuary.
• It is the holoparasitic plant that builds a canopy on the host plant and casts thousands of tendrils to form a dense spectacle before it strangles and eventually kills it.
• As per a technical paper published by the National Research Centre for Weed Science, in India, Cuscuta poses a serious problem in oilseeds, pulses and fodder crops in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Orissa, West Bengal and parts of Madhya Pradesh under rain fed as well as irrigated conditions.
• Legislation in 25 countries has listed the dodder as a ‘declared noxious weed’ with seeds and plant material denied entrance. In the United States, it is the only weed seed whose movement is prohibited in every state.
• The seeds of Cuscuta are spheroid and have a hard coat, which aids them to survive up to 50 years in dry storage and at least 10 years in the field.
• Unlike root parasites, Cuscuta seeds do not require a specific stimulant to induce germination.

Fourteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties

About the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species:

• It also known as the Bonn Convention, is an environmental treaty under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme.
• It provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats. 
• It was signed in Bonn, Germany, on 23 June 1979.
• It is the only global and UN-based intergovernmental organisation established exclusively for the conservation and management of terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range.
• The parties to the convention acknowledge the importance of conserving migratory species, and the need to pay special attention to species whose conservation status is unfavourable.
• Activities by CMS Parties may range from legally binding treaties(called Agreements) to less formal instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding.
• The Conference of Parties (COP) is the decision-making organ of this convention. 
• It has two Appendices. 
• Appendix I lists endangered migratory species and includes prohibitions regarding the take of these species.
• Appendix II lists species that have an ‘unfavourable conservation status’ (as per the conditions set out in the Convention) and encourages range states to draft range-wide agreements for the conservation and management of these species

PM Modi launches ''Muft Bijli Yojana'' to provide 300 units of electricity per month: Here''s how to apply

About PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana:

• In this scheme, the central government will provide 300 units of free electricity per month to its beneficiaries by investing worth ₹75,000 crores.
• The free electricity scheme was earlier announced by the Finance Minister in an interim budget speech.
• Target: It aims to light up 1 crore households.
• Under the scheme, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats shall be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions. 
• The Central Government will guarantee no financial burden on the people by providing significant subsidies directly to their bank accounts and offering highly concessional bank loans.
• Expected benefits:
• Savings of up to fifteen to eighteen thousand rupees annually for households from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to the distribution companies;
• Charging of electric vehicles;
• Entrepreneurship opportunities for a large number of vendors for supply and installation;
• Employment opportunities for the youth with technical skills in manufacturing, installation and maintenance.