Why in news?

• Mumbai has announced detailed plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making it the first city in South Asia to set such a timeline.
• Plan lists changes across domains like Investments in housing, Electrifying public transport, Flood-resistant drainage, rooftop solar capacities etc.

About Net zero:

• It refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere.
• India has announced to reach net zero emissions by 2070.

Why in news?

• National Education Policy 2020 recommends that every State will be encouraged to strengthen existing or establish “Bal Bhavans’:

About National Bal Bhawan

• It is an autonomous body under, Ministry of Education, which aims at enhancing the creative potential of children by providing them various activities, opportunities and common platform to interact, experiment, create and perform.
• Since 1956, it has brought in children across gender, class, caste divides to nurture their curiosity and imagination.
• Works as a nodal agency for all affiliated Bal Bhavans.

Why in news?

• The festival of Phool Dei is celebrated in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand every year in the flowering season (March-April) to mark the onset of spring.
• It takes place on the first day of the Chaitra season as per the Hindu calendar.
• Children, particularly young girls, go into farms, forests and gardens to collect fresh flowers to offer to the local deities.
• The celebration is indirectly rooted in a sense of affection and protection towards nature, especially local flowers and trees.

Why in news?

• An extremely rare and critically endangered sawfish was caught in fishing nets in Karnataka.
• Sawfish have a long-flattened head and body and an elongated snout, much like that of the saw shark, that forms a long flat blade edged with strong teeth.
• Habitat: shallow water in subtropical and tropical regions of the world. They are bottom dwellers.
• Sawfishes are ovoviviparous fishes (that is, fertilized eggs grow within the body of female sawfishes, and the young are born alive).
• Conservation Status (as per IUCN):
• Large tooth sawfish: Critically Endangered
• Dwarf Saw Fish: Endangered
• Green Sawfish: Critically Endangered
• Smalltooth Sawfish: Critically Endangered
• Narrow Sawfish: Endangered

Why in news?

• The testing was carried out at Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).
• The successful test of the solid booster stage has given sufficient confidence to proceed with the first developmental (fight of SSW (SSLV-01). > ISRO usually declares a launch vehicle operational after two successful development flights.

About SSLV

• It is a three-stage all solid vehicle with the capability to launch up to 500 kg satellite mass into 500 km low earth orbit (LEO).
• It aims to cater to the emerging market for the launch of small satellites into LEDs.
• It Is the smallest vehicle at 110-ton mass at ISRO.
• Advantages of SSLV
• Reduced turnaround time (take only 72 hours to integrate, unlike the 70 days taken now).
• Cost-effective- cost will be only around Rs 30 crore
• Requires lesser infrastructure and manpower, as it can be assembled by a team of team of six experts within seven days.
• Unlike the PSLV and GSLV, the SSLV can be assembled both vertically and horizontally.
• Accommodate multiple satellites e.g., nano, micro, and small satellites.
• New Space India Limited, PSU under Department of Space will be the sole nodal agency responsible for providing end-to-end SSLV Launch services for customer satellites horn contractual, technical, programmatic, launch campaign etc.

Why in news?

• Armand Gustav “Mondo” Duplantis, the American-Swedish pole vaulter ‘representing Sweden’ breaks his own pole vault World record by clearing 6.19-meters (m) at the Belgrade Indoor Meeting 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Previously at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix 2020, Glasgow, Duplantis set the World record of 6.18m.
• Duplantis secured Gold medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020 in pole vault event by clearing 6.02m.

Why in news?

• The Union minister for power has inaugurated the Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Center (Virtual SGKC) and Innovation Park in yet another digitisation effort aimed at advancing smart grid technologies and building capacity in the power distribution sector.
• The Union government’s new Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Centre, which is housed within the POWERGRID centre in Manesar, is the first of its type. This platform also hosts the solutions that are physically present at SGKC’s Manesar
• This comprises advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart houses, microgrids, and the Outage Management System (OMS), among other things.
• The Virtual SGKC, which was established by Union Minister RK Singh, would provide a digital footprint of the SGKC’s physical setup, which was felt to be necessary during COVID-19.
• With backing from the Union Ministry of Power and technical aid from USAID, POWERGRID designed and created the Virtual SGKC.
• The platform, as it stands now, coexists with the physical infrastructure and offers remote access to all of SGKC’s current offerings, as well as others. Currently, the platform hosts more than 50 solutions from more than 30 technology partners across eight theme areas, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and IoT.
• The SGKC was formed by POWERGRID with backing from the power ministry and National Smart Grid Mission for demonstration and progress of frontier smart grid technologies, according to the Union ministry.

Why in news?

• The state government of Maharashtra has announced to set up the country’s first medical city named as ‘Indrayani Medicity’ in Pune, to provide all kinds of specialised treatment under one roof.
• It will come up in 300-acre of land area in Khed taluka of Pune. The project is estimated to attract investment worth over Rs. 10,000 crore.
• Indrayani Medicity will have hospitals, centres for medical research, pharmaceutical manufacturing, wellness and physiotherapy, and will be the first-of-its-kind city in the country to have all the treatments available at one place.

Key points:

• The Medicity will have about 24 separate hospital buildings, each housing one department. The Medicity will not only benefit Pune but will also be useful for people from neighbouring districts who come to the city for better treatment.
• There will be medical education and research institutes, and treatment will be provided at affordable rates to citizens.
• The proposed Medicity will have separate departments for trauma critical, heart disease, kidney, brain disease, dentistry, paediatrics, ophthalmology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, urology, haematology, organ transplantation, gynaecology, cardiology and psychiatry and separate super-speciality hospitals will be set up for all departments such as cancer, AYUSH etc.
• The Medicity will be set up by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA). The entire facility is likely to have over 10,000 to 15,000 beds.

Why in news?

• World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on March 15 every year.
• The day marks an opportunity to urge that all consumers’ rights be recognised and safeguarded, as well as to protest market abuses and social injustices that jeopardise those rights. The day highlights the power of consumers and their rights for a fair, safe and sustainable marketplace for everyone.
• This year the International Consumer Rights Day will be celebrated on the theme of “Fair Digital Finance.” The Department of Consumer Affairs will commemorate this day with multiple events being held in New Delhi.
• History of the day:
• World Consumer Rights Day is inspired by President John F Kennedy’s special message to the US Congress that was delivered on 15th March 1962. In this message he formally addressed the issue of consumer rights becoming the first world leader to do so.
• The consumer movement first marked that date in 1983 and now uses the day every year to mobilise action on important issues and campaigns.

Why in news?

• Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying called for a roadmap for conservation of Halari breed of Donkey.

About Halari Donkey

• Native to Saurashtra region of Gujarat.
• Currently it is in a threatened state and requires immediate steps towards conservation to reverse the declining trend in the population (Numbers declined from 1200 in 2015 to 439 in 2021-22 in its native tract).
• Challenges in conservation:
• Unavailability of Halari Donkey male for breeding,
• Disincentives to rearers with no avenues for streamlining the livelihoods (based on donkey milk).