• Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change has submitted three nominations from India for Wetland City Accreditation (WCA) under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
• Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) & Udaipur (Rajasthan) are the first three Indian cities for which nominations have been submitted for WCA based on the proposals received from respective State Wetlands Authorities in collaboration with the Municipal Corporations.

ABOUT THE CITIES

• Indore– Founded by Holkars, Indore is the cleanest city in India and the recipient of India’s Smart City Award 2023 for its best sanitation, water and urban environment.
  • Sirpur Lake, a Ramsar Site in the city, has been recognised as an important site for water bird congregation and is being developed as a Bird Sanctuary.
  • A strong network of more than 200 wetland mitras is engaged in bird conservation and sensitising local community to protect Sarus Crane.
• Bhopal- One of the cleanest cities in India that has proposed conservation zones around the wetlands in its draft City Development Plan 2031.
  • Bhoj Wetland, Ramsar Site is the city’s lifeline, equipped with the world-class wetlands interpretation centre, Jal Tarang.
  • Additionally, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation has a dedicated Lake Conservation Cell. A network of more than 300 wetland mitras is engaged in wetland management and conservation of Sarus Crane.
• Udaipur- Located in Rajasthan, the city is surrounded by five major wetlands, namely, Pichola, Fateh Sagar, Rang Sagar, Swaroop Sagar, and Doodh Talai.
  • These wetlands are an integral part of the city’s culture and identity, help maintain the city’s microclimate, and provide a buffer from extreme events.

ABOUT WETLAND CITY ACCREDITATION (WCA)

• The Ramsar Convention during COP12 held in the year 2015 approved a voluntary Wetland City Accreditation system under Resolution XII.10 which recognizes cities which have taken exceptional steps to safeguard their urban wetlands.
• It also seeks to encourage cities that are close to and dependent on wetlands to develop and strengthen a positive relationship with these valuable ecosystems.
• To be formally accredited, a candidate for the Wetland City Accreditation should satisfy the standards used to implement each of the six international criteria mentioned Operational Guidance for WCA of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
• Since Ramsar COP13, 43 cities from 17 countries have been officially recognized as “Wetland Cities”.

• Punjab has become the first state in India to map all 784 accident black spots on the Mappls App, a navigation system developed by MapMyIndia.
• Punjab Police teamed-up with MapmyIndia for real-time traffic updates and alerts on Mappls App about Black and Blind spots.
• Citizens can receive voice alerts in Punjabi near critical areas marking Punjab as the first state to Map accident-prone sites Road Safety
• An accident blackspot is a place where road traffic accidents have historically been concentrated.

• Jharkhand Chief Minister recently declared that the qualifying age for old-age pension will be reduced from 60 to 50 for Dalits and tribals.
• Also, 75% of jobs will be reserved for locals in companies that set up offices in the state.

• B.R. Kamboj has been honoured with the prestigious M.S. Swaminathan Award.
• He is presently the Vice Chancellor of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University.
• Prof Kamboj has published about 300 research papers and articles in national and international journals, books and technical magazines.
• M S Swaminathan Award was instituted in 2004 with the objective to recognise the lifetime contributions of eminent persons who have made great impacts and outstanding contributions to agricultural research and development and to the overall food security and sustainability of agriculture, with special reference to India.

• Nadia Calvino has been named the new president of the European Investment Bank.
• She is the first woman and the first Spaniard to lead this prestigious institution.

ABOUT EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

• EIB is long-term lending institution of European Union owned by its member states.
• Founded in Brussels in 1958.
• It is now based in Luxembourg (since 1968).
• It is also engaged in multilateral financing and works closely with other EU institutions to implement EU policy.
• While almost 90% of EIB lending occurs within the EU, most of the remaining lending occurs in outside markets such as Southeast Europe and Iceland.
• The organization is funded by 27 member states whose contributions are based on their GDPs.
• EIB’s activities focus on four priority areas including-
  • innovation and skills,
  • access to finance for infrastructure,
  • smaller businesses and
  • climate & environment.

• Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) along with National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) has launched ‘SMART 2.0’ (Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research among Teaching professionals) program.
• It aims to promote robust clinical studies in priority areas of Ayurveda with Ayurveda academic institutions/hospitals across the country through mutual collaboration.
• The objective of ‘SMART 2.0’ is to generate a tangible evidence to demonstrate efficacy and safety of Ayurveda interventions using interdisciplinary research methods and translating it into public health care. Under the ‘SMART 1.0’, around 10 diseases were covered with the active participation of teaching professionals from 38 colleges.

ABOUT CCRAS

• CCRAS is an apex organization for the formulation, co-ordination, development and promotion of research on scientific lines in Ayurveda, functioning under the Ministry of Ayush.

ABOUT NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR INDIAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE

• A statutory body constituted under NCISM Act, 2020.
• It consists of 29 members, appointed by the central government.
• Major Functions
  • Framing policies for regulating medical institutions and medical professionals of Indian System of Medicine
  • Assessing the requirements of healthcare related human resources and infrastructure.
  • Ensuring compliance by the State Medical Councils of Indian System of Medicine of the regulations made under the Bill
  • Ensuring coordination among the autonomous boards.

• PM recently paid tributes to Rani Velu Nachiyar on her birth anniversary.

About Rani Velu Nachiyar (3^rd Jan 1730 – 25^th Dec 1796)

• Also known as Veeramangai, she was the princess of the Ramnad Kingdom of Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu.
• She is revered as the first queen to fight against the British colonial power in India.
• In collaboration with Hyder Ali and Gopala Nayaker, she waged war against British.
• She was proficient in languages like French, English, and Urdu.
• Nachiyar became queen of the Sivaganga estate (present-day Tamil Nadu) in 1780 after her husband Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar’s death.
  • She ruled until 1790.
• She went on to produce the first human bomb as well as establish the first army of trained women soldiers in the late 1700s.

• The North Western Railway is taking proactive measures to ensure the safe operation of trains amidst challenging visibility conditions.
• The Indian railways have installed Fog PASS device.

ABOUT FOG PASS DEVICE

• It is a GPS based navigation device which helps the loco pilot to navigate during dense fog conditions.
• It provides on-board real-time information (Display as well as voice guidance) to Loco Pilot regarding Location of fixed landmarks such as Signal, Level Crossing gate (Manned & Unmanned), Permanent Speed Restrictions, Neutral Sections.
• It is suitable for train speeds up to 160 KMPH and has built-in rechargeable battery back-up for 18 hours.
• It is portable, compact in size, light in weight (not more than 1.5 Kg including battery) and of robust design.
• It is suitable for all types of locomotives and sections like single line, double line, electrified as well as non electrified sections.
• It will remain unaffected by weather conditions like fog or rain.

• A polar bear has reportedly died due to bird flu in Alaska as the H5N1 virus spreads across the globe.
• It was the first polar bear case reported who died due to bird flu.

ABOUT POLAR BEERS

• Scientific Name- Ursus maritimus
• It is the largest bear and the largest land carnivore in the world.
• Polar bears are primarily found in the Arctic region, and their habitat is closely tied to sea ice.
  • Note- They are not found in the Antarctic.
• They have a thick layer of blubber and dense fur that insulates them from the cold.
• Polar bears are strong swimmers and divers which enables them to swim from one iceberg to another and to hunt seals in sea. They can also swim underneath ice sheet in search of food.
• Polar bears do not hibernate like the brown and black bears do.
  • Instead they remain active throughout winter in spite of freezing cold.
• Protection status
  • IUCN Red List- Vulnerable

• Sikki artisans suffer livelihood losses amid climate change & state apathy.

About Sikki grass

• Sikki, also known as ‘Kaincha’or ‘Golden Grass’ for its colour, belongs to the zizanoides grass family.
• Scientifically called Chrysopogon zizanioides, it finds mention in ancient Sanskrit texts such as the Ramayana, where it is referred to as viran, sugandhimool, ushir and nalad.
• This grass grows indigenously in the Tarai regions of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• It has an average height of 3-4 feet.
• Uses
  • While the stem is used to make artefacts, the roots are used for extracting oil that is used both for perfumery and medicinal purposes.
  • In the hilly terrains, it is also now grown to arrest soil erosion.
  • However, what Sikki is most known for is its handicraft.
  • It is used to make traditional items such as multipurpose baskets, ornaments, show pieces and many more utility items that are still considered valuable in rural India.
• Sikki craft is a labour and time intensive craft.
• Sikki got the geographical identification tag in 2018.
• Issues
  • Lack of state patronage
  • climate change has impacted the quality of the grass.