Why in news?

• On 7th March, Gujarat government marked 100 years of the Pal-Dadhvav killings.
• Pal-Dadhvav massacre took place in the Pal-Chitariya and Dadhvaav villages of Sabarkantha district part of War state (was princely state in Gujarat).
• The movement was to protest against the land revenue tax (lagaan) imposed on the peasants by the British and feudal lords.
• British officer Major H.G. Sutton from Mewad Bhil Corps ordered to open fire at the innocent tribals.

Why in news?

• Assam’s Manas National Park witnesses sharp rise in tiger, rhino population.

About Manas National Park

• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tiger Reserve, Elephant Reserve, Biosphere Reserve, National Park and also a Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Located in the Himalayan foothills, it is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan.
• It spans the Manas River and is bounded to the north by the forests of Bhutan.
• Manas river is a major tributary of Brahmaputra River, which passes through the heart of the national park.
• It provides habitat to rare and endangered species, including tiger, greater one-horned rhino, swamp deer, pygmy hog and Bengal florican.

Why in news?

• Introduced by: National Health Authority (NHA)
• GCP aims to expedite insurance claim adjustments for empaneled hospitals treating AB PM-JAY beneficiaries.
• Under it, Hospitals with good records will be instantly reimbursed 50% of the bill for any treatment under scheme through this channel.
• Currently, the empanelled hospital receives payment once its claim is approved and paid by the State Health Agency (SHA) which is 15 days for non-portability claims and 30 days for portability claims.
• Significance of GCP
• Timely and judicious adjustments of claims raised by hospitals, which is key to the effective implementation of AB PM-JAY scheme.
• Encourage greater participation of hospitals in providing treatment to AB PM-JAY beneficiaries.

 About AB PM-JAY:

• It is an insurance scheme that offers cashless and paperless annual healthcare services benefits of up to Rs. 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
• It is the world’s largest Government funded health assurance scheme. > Beneficiary families under AB-PMJAY are identified from the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011
• Launched in 2018, it is implemented by NHA (attached office of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare).
• It is implemented in all States and UTs barring West Bengal, NCT of Delhi and Odisha.

Why in news?

• Ministry of Coal said that imports of all grades of Non-Coking Coal has come down by around 20% during April to December 2021 as compared to the corresponding months of 2020.
• Non-Coking Coal does not have any caking properties and it is mainly used as thermal coal for power generation.
• It has higher ash content.
• It is used in industries like cement, fertilizer, glass, ceramic, paper, chemical and brick manufacturing.
• Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is used to create coke, one of the key irreplaceable inputs for the production of steel

Why in news?

• It has been launched by: RBI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• UPI123pay is a three-step method to initiate and execute services for users which will work on Feature phones.
• It can be used to make digital payments without the need for an internet connection.
• Users can perform a few offline steps and easily make UPI payments.
• This helps in digital innovations which will further deepen the digital ecosystem and financial inclusion in the country.
• Additionally, RBI launched DigiSaathi – a 24×7 Helpline to address the queries of digital payment users across products.

Why in news?

• India’s largest reclining statue of Lord Buddha is being constructed in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. The 100 feet long and 30 feet high statue depicts Lord Buddha in a sleeping posture. The statue is being built by Buddha International Welfare Mission.
• The sculptors from Kolkata are building the statue with fibreglass.
• The construction of the statue was started in 2019 and it will be open for devotees from February 2023.
• Bodh Gaya is an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhism and is visited by devotees from all over the world.

Why in news?

• National Dam Safety Authority, has been constituted that seeks to maintain standards related to dam safety, prevent dam-related disasters and resolve inter-state issues related to dams.
• The Centre also constituted a 22-member National Committee on Dam Safety which is headed by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC)(Present Chairman – R.K. Sinha) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• According to the National Register of Large Dams, there are 5,264 completed large dams in the country, while 437 were under construction.

About National Dam Safety Authority

• The Dam Safety Act has been passed by the Parliament in December 2021 which states that National Dam Safety Authority will work closely with state-level dam safety organisations and owners of dams for standardising safety-related data and practices.
• Under the Act, the National Dam Safety Authority has been constituted on 18th February, 2022 which will be headed by a chairman and assisted by 5 members to lead its 5 wings -policy and research, technical, regulation, disaster & resilience and administration & finance.
• The Authority will be headquartered in the National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi and will be supported by 4 regional offices.
• Functions:
• The authority resolves any issue between the State Dam Safety Organisations of states or between a State Dam Safety Organisation and any owner of a specified dam in that state.
• The Dam Safety Act also provides an institutional architecture for dam safety in India.

Why in news?

• India’s first 100 percent women-owned ‘FLO (FICCI Ladies Organisation) Industrial Park (FIP)’ in Hyderabad, Telangana powered by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) Ladies Organisation (FLO) in partnership with Telangana government was inaugurated with the commencement of operations by 25 women-owned and operated units represent 16 diverse Green Category Industries at the Park.
• It is the flagship project at a national level with participation open to Chapter Members, and the national members of FLO.

About FIP:

• FIP in Hyderabad, Telangana is around 50 acres and was established by FLO in association with Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) with an investment of Rs.250 crore. The FIP began operations with 25 Green Projects in Hyderabad.
• The FIP includes amenities from the electronic sector to packaging, medical services, wellness, engineering and food processing to demonstrate the power of women entrepreneurs.
• The park will also offer a home environment for women entrepreneurs including creches and playschools.
• This paves way for female entrepreneurs to run and operate their business from this park.

About FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO)

• Establishment – 1983 (a division of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI)) Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
• President – Ujjwala Singhania

Why in news?

• For the second consecutive year, Indi has been termed as ‘partly free’ country in terms of democracy and free society, according to the annual report.
• The report titled “Freedom in the World 2022 – The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule” by Freedom House, a US-based NGO that ‘assesses political rights and civil liberties.
• India scored 66 out of 100 in 2022.
• The country had scored 67 in 2021. India was a free country till 2020 when its score was 71.
• In Internet freedom, India scored a mere 49,the same score as that of Uganda. Here too, the score has come down. The reasons are – the increasing internet shutdowns by governments, low internet penetration and poor infrastructure.
• India’s freedom scores are similar to that of Bolivia, Hungary and Albania. The countries that have scored the worst include South Sudan, Syria, Tibet, Turkmenistan, Eritrea and North Korea.
• Sixty-nine countries are currently not free worldwide. This makes the situation worse than in 1973 when only 63 countries were not free.
• Apart from the worst scorers, the list also includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Thailand and Qatar. This is an increase from the last year when only 54 countries were not free.
• At the same time, there is an increase in free countries from 82 to 85, compared to 2021. In this category, Finland, Sweden and Norway have achieved a perfect 100, besides New Zealand, Canada, Uruguay, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and Denmark.

Key points of the reports

• In 2022, 85 countries were termed as free, 56 as partly free and 69 as not free.
• The Freedom in the World 2022 evaluated the state of freedom in 195 countries and 15 territories during the calendar year 2021.

About the report:

• The report used 25 indicators, grouped into the categories of political rights and civil liberties to determine whether the country or territory has an overall status of Free, Partly Free, or Not Free.
• The report is published every year since 1973 to assess the political rights and civil liberties of a country through a series of surveys and analyses.

Why in news?

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)successfully launched a military satellite, Noor-2, into orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometres (311 miles) from the earth. This is the second military satellite launched by the Islamic Republic.
• The first military satellite, Noor, was launched in April 2020 at an orbit of 425km (265 miles) above the earth’s surface. Noor means light in the Persian language.
• Putting the second satellite in space would be a major advance for Iran’s military, raising concerns about the country’s nuclear and missile programs.
• The three-stage Qased, or “Messenger”, the carrier launched the Noor 2, from the Shahroud spaceport.