Current Context : Recently, a rare Indian Painted Frog was spotted at Telangana’s Kawal Tiger Reserve.

ABOUT INDIAN PAINTED FROG

• It is also known as ‘Sri Lankan bullfrog’ or ‘painted globular frog’.
• It is a narrow-mouthed frog that is part of the Microhylidae family.
• Scientific Name: Uperodon taprobanicus
• Distribution: It is found in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, southern and eastern India, and Nepal up to an altitude of about 1300 metres.
• In India : West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
• IUCN Red List: Least Concern

ABOUT KAWAL TIGER RESERVE:

• Location : Northeastern part of Telangana (Old Adilabad district),
• It forms part of the Deccan peninsula-central highlands.
• Rivers: Godavari and Kadam, which flow towards the south of the sanctuary.
• Corridor: It has connectivity to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra in the north and to the Indravati Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh towards its north-eastern side.
• Vegetation: Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest.

Flora: Teak is found extensively, along with Bamboo.

Current Context : India celebrated the Birth Anniversary of eminent Freedom Fighter and India’s first women Chief Minister (Uttar Pradesh, 1963) Sucheta Kriplani on June 25.

ABOUT SUCHETA KRIPLANI (1908 – 1974)

• Born in Ambala district of Haryana.
• She was one of the fifteen eminent women that were part of the drafting committee.

CONTRIBUTIONS

• She was a founder of the All India Mahila Congress, founded in 1940 during Freedom Fight Movement.
• She participated in Quit India Movement.
• She also participated in several relief activities, including the 1934 Bihar earthquake, the 1946 Noakhali pre-Partition riots, etc.
• On October 2, 1963, she became the 4th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces) and the first woman Chief Minister of India.

Current Context : Congress Leader, Rahul Gandhi will hold the post of  Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, which was remained vacant for the past 10 years.

ABOUT LOP

• Leader of the largest opposition party with not less than one tenth seats of the total strength of the Lok Sabha is recognised as the LoP.
• The leader of Opposition in both the Houses were accorded statutory recognition in 1977 with THE SALARY AND ALLOWANCES OF LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT ACT, 1977 and are entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.
• The office of leader of the opposition is not mentioned in the Constitution but in the Parliamentary Statute.
• 10% criteria for choosing Leader of Opposition is not a statutory provision but a parliamentary convention.

Current Context : International Dairy Federation Asia Pacific Regional Dairy Conference -2024 is held from June 26 to 28 in Kochi.

• It is jointly organised by Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the International Dairy Federation (IDF).
• Theme of the event : ‘Farmer-centric innovations in dairying’,
• Objective was to collectively address key issues affecting the dairy sector, particularly in the Asia Pacific region and globally.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL DAIRY FEDERATION

• IDF is a recognized international authority which contributes actively to the development of science-based standards for the dairy sector.
• Aim : to promote and enhance the image, trade, production and consumption of milk and milk products worldwide.
• Members : 43 member countries.
• Founded in 1903, in Brussels, Belgium.

Current Context : Recently, International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russia’s Chief of Army Valery Gerasimov  and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu on allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.

ABOUT ICC

• It is a permanent judicial body.
• It investigate, prosecute and try individuals charged with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
• Founding Treaty: Rome Statute.
• Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands.
• Members: 123 countries are States Parties.
• India is not a member of ICC.
• It is an independent international organization, and is not part of UN system.

Current Context : India Airforce is participating in HOPEX exercise held in Egypt.

• It is a joint military exercise between Indian Air Force (IAF) and Egyptian Air Force.
• Aim – to promote bilateral and regional cooperation.
• It includes participation of C-17 Globemaster, IL-78 tankers and Rafale fighter jets.

Current Context : Ladakh has achieved full functional literacy under the ULLAS – Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram or New India Literacy Programme (NILP).

• Functional literacy means the ability to use literacy skills for personal and community’s functioning and development.

ABOUT ULLAS

• It is Centrally sponsored scheme.
• Implemented from 2022-2027.
• It is launched by Ministry of Education to cover all aspects of Education for All.
• Objective : to empower those adults aged 15 years and above from all backgrounds who could not get due schooling.
• Consists of five components: Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Critical Life Skills, Basic Education, Vocational Skills, and Continuing Education.
• Vision : to make Bharat – Jan Jan Saakshar
• Implemented through volunteerism through online mode.

Celebrated on June 27 as Micro-Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day.

• Aim : to appreciate and encourage the contribution of small and medium-sized businesses worldwide.
• Theme : MSMEs and the SDGs.
• On 6 April 2017, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution to observe 27 June as the Micro Small Medium Enterprise(MSME) Day.
• The first MSME Day was observed on 27 June 2017.

Current Context : Recently, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) introduced eSakshya (e-evidence) application.

ABOUT ESAKSHYA APP

• It is a mobile-based application to help police to record scene of crime, search and seizure in a criminal case and upload the file on the cloud-based platform.
• Developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) will be available to all police stations.
• On this application police official will have to upload a selfie after the procedure is complete.

Current Context : Recently, Ministry of Defence signed 350th contract under iDEX for miniaturised satellite.

• Contract is signed for the design and development of a ‘miniaturised satellite capable of carrying electro-optical, infrared, synthetic aperture radar and hyperspectral payloads up to 150 kgs’.

ABOUT INNOVATIONS FOR DEFENCE EXCELLENCE (IDEX)

• Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Defence was signed with SpacePixxel Technologies Pvt Ltd.
• Established by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) under the Department of Defence Production.
• Its objective is to create an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes & academia.