Why in news?

• Recently, Rajya Sabha passed the Constitutional (SC/ST) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to omit Bhogta community of Jharkhand from SC list and include them in ST list along with other communities.
• Under Article 341 and 342 of the Constitution, the first specification of SCs/STs in relation to a particular State/ UT was notified by the President, after consultation with the Governor of the State concerned.
• These orders can be modified subsequently only through an Act of Parliament.

Why in news?

• For the first time, since wide availability of satellite images, Scientists observed breakup of Conger Ice Shelf in eastern Antarctica.
• It is happening due to rising temperatures with both North and South Pole seeing warmer than average temperature despite opposite seasons.
• Also, a new research highlighted that Antarctica is approaching a climate tipping point by 2060– when Antarctic ice could begin melting at a runaway rate.
• Climate tipping points are points where any small change could push the earth system into abrupt or irreversible change.
• Globally, we have 9 climate tipping points-
• Amazon rainforest-Frequent droughts
• Arctic sea ice-Reduction in area
• Atlantic circulation-in slowdown since 1950s
• Boreal forest Fires and pests
• Coral reefs-Large-scale die-offs
• Greenland ice sheet-Ice loss accelerating
• Permafrost -thawing
• West Antarctic ice sheet-Ice loss accelerating
• Wilkes Basin, East Antarctica-Ice loss accelerating

About Antarctica

• 5^th largest continent, Antarctica holds 90% of the Earth’s total ice volume and 70% of its fresh water.
• Critical to global ecosystem sustainability, it absorbs as much as 62% of global heat and 40% of all carbon dioxide produced by human activities.
• Also, it is a rich source of minerals (oil and gas), marine life (finfish, krill, squid) and genomic resources of indigenous biodiversity.
• Melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is enough to increase sea level by more than 60 m.

Why in news?

• The International T ransgender Day of Visibility (TDOV)occurs annually on March 31 to raise awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, while also celebrating their contributions to society.
• The day is dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as celebrating their contributions to society.

History of the Day:

• The day was founded by US-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Michigan in 2009.As a reaction to the lack of LGBT recognition of transgender people, citing the frustration that the only well-known transgender-centred day was the Transgender Day of Remembrance which mourned the murders of transgender people but did not acknowledge and celebrate living members of the transgender community.
• The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was held on March 31, 2009.It has since been spearheaded by the U.S.-based youth advocacy organization Trans Student Educational Resources.

Why in news?

• Olympic silver medallist weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu won the 3rd edition of the BBC Indian Sportswoman of The Year award 2021. Chanu created history last year when she became the first Indian weightlifter to clinch a silver medal at the Summer Olympics.
• Chanu won the gold medal in the 48kg division at the 2017 World Championships in Anaheim and followed up with Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.

Other awardees:

• The BBC Emerging Player award was presented to 18-year-old cricketer Shafali Verma, who has recently been playing at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. In 2021, Verma became the youngest Indian cricketer, male or female, to play in all three formats for the national team.
• The first Indian woman to have won a medal at the Olympics in 2000, former weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was presented the ‘BBC Lifetime Achievement’ award. Olympians and the Paralympians from the Tokyo Games were also honoured in this edition of BBC ISWOTY.

Why in news?

• The Maharas htra government has introduced a scheme that allows prisoners to obtain personal loans from banks of up to Rs. 50,000 to help their families improve their living conditions and meet expenses related to their legal matters. It will be a first of its kind initiative in our country.
• The Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank would provide loans up to 50,000 under the scheme at a 7% interest rate. The scheme would be implemented in Yerawada Central Jail in Pune, Maharashtra, on a pilot basis.
• The decision was taken in a meeting presided over by Dilip Walse Patil, Home Minister of Maharashtra and a Government Resolution (GR) was also issued.

About the scheme

• It is the first innovative scheme in India that offers prisoners a loan based on the income earned while working in a prison. It needs no guarantor and will be disbursed on a personal bond.
• This type of loan is called a “khavti” loan, and benefits approximately 1,055 prisoners.
• The loan facility will be determined by the bank based on the prisoner’s loan limit, duration of punishment, the possibility of relief, the prisoner’s age, the estimated annual working day, and the minimum daily income.
• The lending bank will be fully responsible for ensuring that the loan amount is used to serve the needs of the family concerned or to pay the fees of their lawyers or for other legal matters.
• In addition, 1% of the amount collected by the bank from loan repayment will be donated to the Prisoners’ Welfare Fund on an annual basis.

Why in news?

• The Government of India and Australia has committed to invest USD 6 million jointly to explore Lithium and Cobalt mines in Australia in the next six months.
• Last year 2021, a Government to Government (G2G) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Government of India and the Government of Australia through Ministry of Mines and Critical Minerals Facilitation Office (CMFO) respectively for co-operation in the field of mining and processing of Critical and Strategic Minerals.
• Following which a detailed collaborative framework has been signed between Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) and Australia’s Critical Minerals Facilitation Office (CMFO) for carrying out a joint due diligence of select greenfield and brownfield projects, identifying lithium and cobalt mineral assets for investment and acquisition of the assets in Australia.
• Engagements are also underway with other source countries (primarily Latin-American countries) such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile etc., which are endowed with lithium and cobalt in hard rock formations and in brine.
• The MoU includes building an Australia-India partnership in the critical mineral ecosystem; development of a robust and commercially-viable critical mineral supply chain to support sustainable production: and ensure reliable supplies of the materials needed to fuel sectors such as transport, energy, telecommunications, medicine, aviation and defence.

About Lithium policy in India:

• Lithium is a key component in the battery used in Electric Vehicles (EV).
• India, through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, is offering Rs 18,100 crore incentives for companies to build battery cells locally for Electric Vehicles (EV).
• China and Hong Kong are the biggest lithium battery suppliers to India.

About Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL)

• KABIL is a joint venture company set up with the participation of three Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) namely, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) and Mineral Exploration Company Limited (MECL).
• The objective is to ensure a consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals to the Indian domestic market and ensuring mineral security of the Nation by Import substitution.

Why in news?

• The first scientific population estimate of Indian peninsular wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) has revealed that only 3,100 members of the species are left in the country.
• Indian wolf is a subspecies of grey wolf.
• It is one of the common large carnivores found in scrub, grasslands and agro-pastoral regions of semi-arid India.
• Highest concentration is currently in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
• Threat- Hunting, encroachment and land conversion, growing man-animal conflict.
• Conservation status
• Endangered species in Schedule I of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Appendix 1 of CITES.
• IUCN- Least Concern

Why in news?

• Geological Survey of India (GSI) has identified two geological heritage sites in the Indian Himalayan Region of India.
• Siwalik Fossil Park, Himachal Pradesh, displays a rich collection of vertebrate fossils recovered from the Siwalik rocks of the area of Plio-Pleistocene age.
• Stromatolite bearing Dolomite / Limestone of Buxa Formation at mamley, Sikkim, provides one of the rare examples of early life in Sikkim Himalaya.
• Geological Survey of India (GSI) declares geo-heritage sites/ national geological monuments for protection and maintenance. These sites are preserved in the respective States.

Why in news?

• Maiden edition of IONS Mari time Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) was conducted at Goa and in Arabian Sea with the aim to enhance interoperability in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations among member navies.
• It witnessed participation of 15 out of the 25 member nations of IONS.

About IONS

• IONS, established in 2007, is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the fad Indian Ocean Region (IOR) by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues.
• It has enabled discussions on regional maritime issues, promoted, friendly relationships, and significantly improved maritime security cooperation in the IOR.
• Inaugural IONS Seminar was held by the Indian Navy in 2008.
• IONS includes 24 nations that permanently hold territory that lies within the IOR.

Importance of IONS for India

• Strengthening and deepening relations with Indian Ocean littoral states.
• Establishing its leadership potential and aspirations of being a net-security provider.
• Fulfilling India’s vision of a rules-based and stable maritime order in IOR.
• Counter-balance the increasing presence of China in the region.

Why in news?

• ISRO is building up an orbital debris tracking capability under the ‘network for space objects tracking and analysis (NETRA)’ project which is an early warning system to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
• At present, we have a Multi Object Tracking Radar at Sriharikota range, but it has a limited range.
• A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted.
• The radar, which will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size. It will be indigenously designed and built.
• Space Debris is any piece of machinery or debris left by humans in space—principally in Earth orbit. These include dead satellites, fragments of rocket bodies and spacecraft etc.
• Currently, an estimated 20,000 objects including satellites and space debris are crowding low-Earth orbit.
• It can be a hazard to active satellites and spacecraft; Potential collision threat to space station; Earth orbit could even become Impassable if the risk of collision grows too high.
• Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects, including orbital junk.