Why in news?

• The International Day for Monuments and Sites also known as World Heritage Day. is annually observed across the globe on 18th April to celebrate are spread awareness about the cultural heritage and diversity el the planet.
• The day airs to encourage local communities and individuals throughout the world to consider the importance of cultural heritage to their lives, identities and communities.
• The day also promotes awareness of the diversity and vulnerability of the heritage sites and the efforts required to protect and conserve them.
• The theme of International Day for Monuments and Sites 2022 is “Heritage and Climate”. The theme for activities to be organized is annually proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
• The 2022 theme ‘Heritage and Climate’ otters a platform to respond to questions the how to employ climate justice and equity to protect heritage and the ways to achieve equitable protection of vulnerable communities through crenate action while responding to the United Nations (UN)’s Decade of Action.

About ICOMOS

• ICOMOS, a non-governmental international organization dedicated to the conservation of the world’s monuments and sites established 18^th April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites in 1982 followed by united Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adoption during its 22nd General Conference.
• Headquarters- Paris, France
• The day was first observed first in 1983 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Heritage sites of India:

• The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ministry of Culture is the premier organization for archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage of India.
• At present, 3,691 monuments across India are protected by the ASI, with the highest number, 745, in Uttar Pradesh(UP).
• At present, 40 properties of India are inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage sites, which include the recently added Dholavira: A Harappan City (Gujarat) (2021) and Kakatiya Rudreshwas (Ramappa) Temple (Telangana) (2021).
• The 40 sites include 1 mixed site, 7 Natural sites and 32 cultural sites.

Why in news?

• Scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) have discovered a new species of shrimp which has been named “Actinimenes koyas” to honour Koyas, the local community on the Lakshadweep islands, Arabian Sea.
• Discovery:
• The new species was collected at a depth of 1.0-2.0 m from the coral atoll of Agatti Island, a part of the Lakshadweep group of islands by a team of scientists.
• The new species was discovered by the team during their work on documenting the aquatic genetic resources with special attention on fish and shell fish resources.

About Actinimenes koyas

• Actinimenes koyas, the new species is closely related to other shrimp species in morphological traits and it is distinguished from the other species by the structural variation in the fourth sternal plate with a median notch.
• The new species is associated with the sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica and this is the 2nd representative of the genus Actinimenes ourii and Horki described from the Arabian sea.

Why in news?

• London-based Cryptocurrency lender, Nexo has joined hands with global payments company Mastercard to launch the world’s first “crypto-backed” payment card. Electronic money firm DiPocket is Nexo’s card issuer.
• The card requires no minimum repayments, monthly, or inactivity fees. There are no FX fees for up to 20,000 euros per month. Interest remains at 0% for customers who maintain a loan-to-value ratio of 20% or below.
• This move by crypto and incumbent financial networks forces digital assets to become more mainstream.
• Initially, the card will be available in selected European countries. There are no restrictions on how much a customer can spend or withdraw from the open credit line and interest is only paid on the amount of credit actually used.

Why in news?

• The first portable solar rooftop system in India has been inaugurated at Swaminarayan Akshardham temple complex in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The 10 Photovoltaic PV Port system has been manufactured by New Delhi-based Servotech Power Systems Ltd and designed by the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The systems have been installed under the initiative of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to develop renewable energy cities across India.
• The PV Ports have been manufactured by New Delhi-based Servotech Power Systems Ltd (SPSL), a leading maker of high-end solar products like LEDs, oxygen concentrators and EV charging equipment under the Make in India project, it added.
• The PV Port system is highly cost-effective, requires low maintenance, has a long shelf life of 25-30 years, can be easily installed by a single person and is ideal for the Indian climate.

Why in news?

• Recently a movie “RRR” was released with lead charater of Alluri Sitarama Raju .
• Alluri Sitarama Raju, also known as Manyam Veerudu (Hero of the Jungles), was an Indian Revolutionary who fought for Indian Independence.
• He was born in Pandrangi Village in Bheemunipatnam, near the Coastal city of Visakhapatnam and led the Rampa Rebellion (1922-24) in Godavari Agency of Madras Presidency, British India.
• It was based on guerilla warfare and he mobilised tribals and forest dwellers against the British due to their oppressive Madras Forest Act, 1882.

Why in news?

• This year, April 21 will mark the 400th birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.
• He was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind Sahib, the sixth Sikh guru. He was 9th of 10 Sikh Gurus.
• Also known as “Hind ki Chaddar” (Protector of Hindu Religion) because he sacrificed his life to save Kashmiri pandits and Hindu religion.
• For this, he was executed in 1675 in Delhi on the orders of Aurangzeb.
• His 115 hymns are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Why in news?

• State Bank of India has raised the MCLR for the first time in three years.
• MCLR instituted by RBI with effect from April 1, 2016.
• It is the lowest interest rate that a bank or lender can offer.
• Brings transparency in financial institutions while determining their interest rates.
• Calculated based on four components:
  • Marginal cost of funds,
  • Negative carry-on account of cash reserve ratio,
  • Operating costs and
  • Tenor premium.
• Tenor means that the amount of time left for the repayment of a bank loan.

Why in news?

• The Ministry of Ayush and the World Health Organisation (WHO) established the world’s first and only Global Centre- GCTM to harness the potential of traditional medicine (TM) from across the world through modern science and technology.
  • It helps to implement WHO’s Traditional Medicine Strategy (2014-23) to strengthen the role of TM in pursuing the goal of universal health coverage.
  • As per WHO, Traditional Medicine refers to sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that have been used over time to maintain health as well as prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness.
• Five goals of GCTM
  • Create a database of traditional knowledge systems using technology.
  • Create international standards for testing and certification of TMs.
  • To evolve as a platform where global experts of TMs come together and share experiences.
  • Mobilize funding for research in the field of TMs.
  • Develop protocols for holistic treatment of specific diseases to benefit patients from both traditional and modern medicine.
• Significance of GCTM
  • Improve overall health of the communities’ world over. It helps to advance the SDG 3 target of ensuring health and promoting wellbeing for all of all ages.
  • It will promote cooperation and synergy between traditional medicine and modern allopathic medicine.
  • Recognises India’s potential to provide leadership in traditional medicine.
  • Position AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and experiences indigenous to different cukures that have been used Homeopathy) systems across the globe.

Why in news?

Key launches during the conference:

• A ‘virtual hub for collaborations on urban transformation’ in partnership between Smart Cities Mission and world Economic Forum to leverage emerging technologies and innovations.
• Urban Outcomes Framework 2022, Artificial Intelligence Playback for Cities & AMPLIFI (Assessment and Monitoring Platform for Liveable, Inclusive and Future-ready urban India) portal.
• Also MoHUA stated that all smart cities will get Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) by August 15, 2022.
  • ICCC provide services to dtizens in areas of traffic management, health, water etc.
  • 80 smart cities already have ICCC.

About Smart Cities Mission (SCM)

• It is a centrally sponsored scheme (launched in 2015) to drive economic growth and improve quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology.
• 100 cities have been selected through a two-stage National competition.
• Central Government to provide financial support to the extent of 48000 crores over 5 years i.e. on an average 100 crores per city per year.
• An equal amount is to be provided by State/Urban Local Bodies. Emphasis has been given on public private partnerships.
• Implementation: By a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPY) created for the purpose.
• Period of implementation of SCM has been extended up to June 2023.

Why in news?

• As per IMD, quantitatively, monsoon seasonal rainfall from June to September is likely to be 99 percent of the Long Period Average (LPA).
  • LPA of rainfall is the rainfall recorded over a particular region for a given interval (like month or season) average over a long period like 30 years, 50-years etc.
  • It acts as a benchmark while forecasting the quantitative rainfall for that region for a specific month or season.
• Large excess, excess, normal, deficient, large deficient rainfall are categories of rainfall used to describe realised rainfall averaged over various temporal scales like daily, weekly, monthly etc for spatial scales like districts, states operationally.
• Major factors governing inter-annual variation of south west monsoon are El nino Southern oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).
  • ENSO is a periodic fluctuation (i.e., every 2-7 years) in sea surface temperature (El Nino) and air pressure of the overlying atmosphere (Southern Oscillation) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
  • IOD refers to the difference in sea-surface temperatures in opposite parts of the Indian Ocean. During positive IOD, monsoon rainfall is considerably good as compared to the negative IOD period.