Why in news?

• As per Japan, the disputed islands are illegally occupied by Russia.
• Japan has called these islands – the Northern Territories – while Russia calls them the southern Kurils.
• Japan claims the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands in Kuril Island chain.
• Location: Chain of volcanic island archipelago stretches north across the Pacific Ocean from the Japan’s Hokkaido to the southernmost tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
• It separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean.
• Other features
• Vegetation: Ranges from tundra on the northern islands to dense forest on the larger southern islands
• Kuril Islands form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Why in news?

• Biliti Electric Inc (Biliti),based in California, United States of America, has announced its intention to establish the world’s largest electric three-wheeler manufacturing facility in
• The plant will be built in 2 phases over an area of 200 acres.
• Phase I of 13.5 acres with a capacity to produce 18000 Electric Vehicles (EV)per year will become operational in 2023 and the larger facility of 200 acres with a production capacity of 240000 EV per year will become operational in 2024.
• The facility will produce all the products of Biliti including the cargo model TaskmanTM and the passenger version UrbanTM. The facility is estimated to drive private investment of USD 150 million (around Rs 1,144 crore) and is expected to create more than 3000 jobs in Telangana.

Why in news?

• World Earth Day, also known as International Mother Earth Day, is celebrated every year on April 22. The Day will be celebrated all over the world to spread awareness for Earth’s wellbeing and to encourage people to support environmental protection.
• The day focuses on the global climate crisis that is worsening with each passing day. World Earth Day 2022 will mark the 52nd Anniversary of the day since it started being observed in 1970. Earth Day was renamed officially by the UN in 2009 as International Mother Earth Day.
• The theme of Earth Day 2022 is to ‘Invest in our planet’.
• Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970.This was when the peace activist John Mc Connell proposed to honour Mother Earth and the concept of peace during a UNESCO conference in San Francisco.

Why in news?

• On April 20, 2022, Russia had test-launched a new nuclear-capable Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) namely ‘RS-28 Sarmat’ for the 1st time from Plesetsk in northwest Russia and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula, nearly 6,000 km (3,700 miles) away.
• It is also called ‘Satan 2’. • It will replace the R-36M ICBM (55-18 ‘Satan’) in Russia’s arsenal.
• The Sarmat ICBM has been developed at the Makeyev State Rocket Center (part of Roscosmos) and is manufactured at the Krasmash enterprise.
• It is the most powerful missile with the longest range of destruction of targets in the world.
• Weighing over 200 tonnes and able to transport multiple warheads, it can hit any target on Earth.
• It is designed to elude anti-missile defence systems with a short initial boost phase.
• Sarmat is a three-stage, liquid-fueled missile with a range of 18,000 km and a launch weight of 208.1 metric tons, to be exact. The missile is 35.3 meters long and 3 meters in diameter.

Why in news?

• The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet(ACC) has approved the appointment of Eminent Physicist, Padma Shri, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood (AK Sood) as the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India(GoI) for a period of 3 years with effect from the date he assumes charge of the post, or until further orders.
• He will succeed renowned biologist K Vijay Raghavan, who retired on 2nd April 2022.
• Ajay Kumar Sood, the Honorary Professor of the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bengaluru, is well known for his research findings on Graphene and nanotechnology.
• He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
• He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2013 for science and Engineering.
• He holds 7 patents: 2 United States (US) and 5 Indian patents.

Roles of PSA

• Science & Technology (S&T) fundamentals with applied research in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, both in central and state governments
• Enabling future preparedness in emerging domains of science and technology
• Formulating and coordinating major inter-ministerial S&T missions
• Providing an enabling ecosystem for technology-led innovations and techno-entrepreneurship
• Driving innovation and technology delivery towards solving socio-economic challenges for sustainable growth
• Fostering effective public-private linkages for driving research and innovation

Office of PSA:

• Cabinet Secretariat established the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor(PSA) to the Government of India in November 1999.
• The office of PSA coordinates with several Ministries and advises the government on science and technology policies and interventions that are of strategic socio-economic importance.
• PM-STIAC is one of the catalysts for such tasks and also oversees the implementation of the tasks.
• It has 9 major missions, Natural Language Translation, Quantum Frontier, Artificial Intelligence, National Biodiversity Mission, Electric Vehicles, Bioscience for Human Health, Waste to Wealth, Deep Ocean Exploration, Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations (AGNIi).
• PSA’s office aims to provide pragmatic and objective advice to the Prime Minister and cabinet.

Why in news?

• Recently, RBI has extended the guidelines on LEI to large borrowers of NBFCs and Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs).
• LEI is a 20-character alpha-numeric code which is used to create a global reference data system that uniquely identifies every legal entity in any jurisdiction that is party to a financial transaction.
• LEI improves the quality and accuracy of financial data reporting systems for better risk management.

Why in news?

• Recently Clashes have erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Damascus Gate (Bab al-Amud).
• Damascus Gate is an Ottoman-era plaza that is the largest of the seven open gates to Jerusalem’s Old City, which lies in East Jerusalem.
• Al-aqsa in East Jerusalem is the third-holiest site of Islam. Jews call it Temple Mount, the holiest place for Judaism.
• Other areas of Conflict: Gaza Strip and West Bank are other areas of conflict as most of the Palestinians live in these places with Hamas having control over Gaza Strip.

Why in news?

• NITI Aayog and UNICEF India have signed a Statement of Intent (Sol) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on children.
• Sol seeks to formalize a framework to launch the first report on ‘State of India’s Children: Status and Trends in Multidimensional Child Development’.
• It will help in understanding the multidimensional attainments and deprivations among children.
• UNICEF India and NITI Aayog are developing a comprehensive measure to understand the multidimensional attainments and deprivations among children across health and nutrition, education, water and sanitation, household living standards; etc.

About UNICEF

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)is a special program of the United Nations (UN) devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.

• UNICEF was created in 1946 as International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by UN relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II.
• UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations in 1953.
  • The name was shortened to United Nations Children Fund but it is still referred to as UNICEF.
• It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
• UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
  • It strives to establish children’s rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.
• Awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965 for “promotion of brotherhood among the nations”.
• Headquarters: New York City.
  • It works in over 190 countries and territories with 7 regional offices.

Why in news?

• Launched by: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)
• It is a joint initiative to collaborate with Fintech Startup community to co-create and innovate solutions for financial inclusion.
• Fincluvation will be a permanent platform of IPPB to co-create inclusive financial solutions with participating start-ups.
• It will also allow the start-ups to work with IPPB and DoP experts to develop solutions and conduct pilots using the postal network and IPPB’s technology stack.
• IPPB (launched in 2018) was established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India.

Why in news?

• A two-day seminar and exhibition on the National Calendar of India has been scheduled on April 22-23, 2022 at Ujjain and Dongla, Madhya Pradesh (a place on the tropic of Cancer).
• Tropic of Cancer passes almost from the middle of India- covering eight states (from West to East) as: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
• Mahi river cuts it twice, with Udaipur (in Tripura) as the major closest city and Agartala as the closest capital city.
• Other close capital cities include: Ranchi (Jharkhand), Aizawl (Mizoram), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), and Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat).