WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation (PaTCoF) has won the “Earth Guardian Award” which was instituted by the NatWest Group.

About:

• PaTCoF is a non-profit organisation under the forest department that seeks to facilitate the conservation of tigers and biodiversity in the Parambikulam tiger reserve.
• Eight winners of the award were felicitated by the secretary-general of the “UN Convention on International Trade in the Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora”, Ivonne Higuero in a virtual ceremony on October 20, 2021.

About Earth Guardian Award

These awards were instituted by NatWest Group India. They are part of an initiative which recognises the efforts of individuals and institutions that are working to subvert climate change by conserving & preserving biodiversity in India.

Parambikulam Tiger Reserve

Parambikulam Tiger Reserve also includes erstwhile Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, which is spread across 391 square kilometres. It is a protected area in Palakkad district of Kerala. It was established in 1973. The sanctuary lies in the Sungam range of hills in between Anaimalai Hills and Nelliampathy Hills. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a part of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in 2010. Tiger reserve implements the Participatory Forest Management Scheme (PFMS).

Is it a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

The Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is currently under consideration for selection as a World Heritage Site, by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

Indigenous Peoples

The sanctuary is home to four different tribes of indigenous peoples namely, Malasar, Kadar, Mala Malarsar and Muduvar. These people are settled in six colonies. People of these tribal colonies are working as guides for treks and safaris. They are provided employment through several eco-tourism initiatives.

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the Assam Government has announced that Bhaskarabda, a Luni-Solar Calendar will be used as an official calendar.

• Presently, the official calendar of Assam government makes use of the Saka calendar and the Gregorian calendar.
• However, the Bhaskarabda calendar will also be used from now onwards.

About:

• Bhaskarabda, an era counted from the date of the ascension of a 7^th-century local ruler Bhaskar Varman.
• It is based on both the phases of the moon and the solar year.
• It began when Bhaskaravarman was crowned ruler of the Kamrupa kingdom.
  • He was a contemporary and political ally of northern Indian ruler Harshavardhana.
• The gap between Bhaskarabda and Gregorian is 593 years.

Type of Calendars:

• Solar:
  • Any dating system based on the seasonal year of approximately 365 1/4 days, the time it takes the Earth to revolve once around the Sun.
• Lunar:
  • Any dating system based on a year consisting of synodic months—i.e., complete cycles of phases of the Moon.
• Luni-Solar:
  • In the lunisolar calendar months are lunar but years are solar, it was used in the early civilizations of the whole Middle East and in Greece.

Bhaskarvarman (600–650):

• He belonged to the Varman dynasty and was the ruler of Kamarupa Kingdom.
  • Kamarupa was one of the most advanced kingdoms in India under Bhaskaravarman. Kamarupa was the first historical kingdom of Assam.
• His name has been immortalised in the accounts of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Xuanzang, who visited Kamarupa during his reign.
• He is known for his alliance with Harshavardhana against Shashanka, the first major ruler of Bengal (Karnasuvarna).

WHY IN NEWS?

The Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh is the latest entrant in India’s list of international Airports. The airport is expected to provide seamless connectivity to people from South east and East Asian countries for Buddhist Pilgrimage Tourism.

• Kushinagar is the centre of the Buddhist circuit, which consists of pilgrimage sites at Lumbini, Sarnath, Gaya and others.
• Key Points
• Kushinagar Airport and Cultural Diplomacy:
  • The inauguration of Kushinagar International airport is set to be a landmark in the India-Sri Lanka relations.
  • On the occasion of Aiprort’s inauguration, Sri Lanka will present to India photographs of two mural paintings:
    • One Mural Painting shows Arahat Bhikkhu’ Mahinda, son of Emperor Ashoka delivering the message of the Buddha to King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka.
    • The other shows the arrival of ‘Theri Bhikkhuni’ Sanghamitta, the daughter of the Emperor, in Sri Lanka, bearing a sapling of the ‘sacred Bodhi tree’ under which Siddhārtha Gautama is believed to have attained enlightenment.
  • The Buddhist circuit reflects the use of soft power in India’s foreign policy.
  • The emphasis on Buddhist diplomacy, will help counter increasing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka and improve people to people relations (especially in the context of the aftermath of Sri-lankan Civil War).
  • Further, the Buddhist faith, due to its emphasis on peaceful co-existence and its wide pan-Asian presence, lends itself well to soft-power diplomacy.

Spread of Buddhism in Sri Lanka

• Buddhism was first brought to Sri Lanka by a mission sent out from eastern India during the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (c. 273–232 BCE).
• The leader of the mission to Sri Lanka, Mahendra (Mahinda), is described as Ashoka’s son.

About Buddhist Circuit:

• In 2014-15, the Ministry of Tourism launched the Swadesh Darshan scheme with a vision to develop theme-based tourist circuits on the principles of high tourist value.
  • The Ministry has identified Buddhist Circuit as one of the fifteen thematic circuits for development under the scheme.
• The Buddhist circuit is a route that follows in the footsteps of the Buddha from Lumbini in Nepal to Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh in India, where he died.
  • Buddhist pilgrims consider Kushinagar a sacred site where, they believe, Gautama Buddha delivered his last sermon and attained ‘Mahaparinirvana’ or salvation.
• Investing in the Buddhist Circuit is the result of first-time collaboration between the Government of India’s Ministry of Tourism, the State Governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the private sector, Buddhist monasteries and sects, and the World Bank Group.

WHY IN NEWS?

India is ranked at 71^st position in the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021 of 113 countries.

• Earlier, India was ranked 101^st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021.

About the Index:

• Developed by:
  • The GFS Index was designed and constructed by London-based Economist Impact and is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.
  • The 2021 GFSI is the tenth edition of the index. It is published every year.
• Calculation:
  • It measures the underlying drivers of food security based on the following factors:
    • Affordability
    • Availability
    • Quality and Safety
    • Natural Resources and Resilience
  • It considers 58 unique food security indicators including income and economic inequality – calling attention to systemic gaps and actions needed to accelerate progress toward United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.
• Findings of the Report (India and World):
  • Top Rankers:
    • Ireland, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, France and the US shared the top rank with the overall GFS score in the range of 77.8 and 80 points on the index.
  • India’s Rank:
    • Overall Position: India held 71^stposition with an overall score of 57.2 points on the GFS Index 2021 of 113 countries
    • In Comparison to Neighbouring Countries: It fared better than Pakistan (75^thposition), Sri Lanka (77^th Position), Nepal (79^th position) and Bangladesh (84^th position). But the country was way behind China (34^th position).
      • However, over the past 10 years, India’s incremental gains in overall food security score were lagging behind that of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
        • India’s score improved only by 2.7 points to 57.2 in 2021 from 54.5 in 2012 when compared with Pakistan by 9 points (to 54.7 in 2021 from 45.7 in 2012).
      • Pakistan scored better than India in the food affordability category and Sri Lanka was even better. On the remaining 3 factors, India scored better than Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
    • Concerns:
      • Global food security has decreased for the second year in a row after seven years of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving zero hunger by 2030.
      • While countries have made significant strides toward addressing food insecurity in the past ten years, food systems remain vulnerable to economic, climatic, and geopolitical shocks.
    • Suggestions:
      • Action is imperative at all levels–local, national, and global–to end hunger and malnourishment and ensure food security for all.
      • To meet these present and emerging future challenges requires that investments in food security are sustained – from innovation in climate-resilient crop yields to investing in programs to assist the most vulnerable.

WHY IN NEWS?

• NITI Aayog has launched the Geospatial Energy Map of India which will provide a holistic picture of all energy resources of the country.
• The map has been developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Energy Ministries of the Government of India.
• The map will help to identify and locate all primary and secondary sources of energy and their transportation/transmission networks to provide a comprehensive view of energy production and distribution in a country, which would further help in planning and making investment decisions.

WHY IN NEWS?

• India beat Nepal, 3-0, to win the 2021 SAFF Championship final title, at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives.
• This is the eighth SAFF Championship title claimed by the Indian men’s national football team. Previously the team had won the title in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015. Sunil Chhetri , Suresh Singh Wangjam and Sahal Abdul Samad were the goal scorer for the Indian team in final.
• Top Scorer in the championship Sunil Chhetri (Captain) – 5 goals. Meanwhile, Sunil Chhetri scored his 80th international strike at the championship to equal his score with iconic Lionel Messi and became the second-highest goal-scorer in international football among active players.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Navrang Saini has been given the additional charge as the Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
• The post fell vacant after M.S. Sahoo retired after a five-year tenure on September 30. Saini is a Whole Time Member of IBBI.
• The government has assigned additional charge of Chairperson to Mr Saini in addition to his existing duties.
• This will be for three months or till the joining of a new incumbent to the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, it said in a release on October 13.

WHY IN NEWS?

• India has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a sixth term on October 14, 2021, with an overwhelming majority.
• The new three-year term of India will be effective from January 2022 to December 2024. India received 184 votes of the 193 votes cast in the election.
• The elections were held for a total of 18 seats and countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the 47 UN member council. The headquarters of the UNHRC is in Geneva, Switzerland.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The 8^th Edition of joint military exercise between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army, Exercise MITRA SHAKTI was conducted in Sri Lanka.

• The 7^thedition of the Mitra Shakti exercise was held in Pune, Maharashtra in 2019.

 About:                                     

• It is based on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in semi-urban terrain.
• It is the largest bilateral exercise being undertaken by the Sri Lankan Army and it forms a major part of India and Sri Lanka’s growing defence partnership.
• The joint exercise is designed for incorporating the current dynamics of the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations through tactical exercises and practical discussions.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be hosted by the UK from 31^st October to 12^th November.

• Earlier, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its assessment report on Earth’s climate, highlighting heat waves, droughts, extreme rainfall and sea-level rise in the coming decades.
• COP 26 Goals: According to the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC), COP26 will work towards four goals:

Net Zero by 2050:              

• To secure Global Net-Zero by Mid-Century and keep 1.5 Degrees within reach.
• Countries are being asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century.
• To deliver on these stretching targets, countries will need to:
  • Accelerate the phase-out of coal
  • Curtail deforestation
  • Speed up the switch to electric vehicles
  • Encourage investment in renewables.
• Adapt to Protect Communities and Natural Habitats:
  • Countries will work together to ‘protect and restore ecosystems and build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.’

Mobilise Finance:

• Developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least USD100bn in climate finance per year.

Work Together to Deliver:

• Another important task at the COP26 is to ‘finalise the Paris Rulebook’.
• Leaders will work together to frame a list of detailed rules that will help fulfil the Paris Agreement.

Suggestions for India:

• Update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
  • (NDCs detail the various efforts taken by each country to reduce the national emissions)
• Sector by sector plans are needed to bring about development.
  • Decarbonisation of the electricity, transport sector and starting to look at carbon per passenger mile is needed.
• Aggressively figure out how to transition the coal sector.

Conference of Parties (COP)

About:

• The Conference of Parties comes under the UNFCCC which was formed in 1994. The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
  • COP is the apex decision-making authority of UNFCCC.
• It laid out a list of responsibilities for the member states which included:
  • Formulating measures to mitigate climate change.
  • Cooperating in preparing for adaptation to the impact of climate change.
  • Promoting education, training and public awareness related to climate change.

Meetings:

• COP members have been meeting every year since 1995. The UNFCCC has 198 parties including India, China and the USA.
  • Generally it meets in Bonn, the seat of the secretariat, unless a Party offers to host the session.

Presidency:

• The office of the COP President normally rotates among the five United Nations regional groups which are – Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and Others.
• The President is usually the environment minister of his or her home country. S/he is elected by acclamation immediately after the opening of a COP session.