• Rajasthan got its fifth tiger reserve as National Tiger Conservation Authority gave its final approval to Dholpur-Karauli Reserve.
  • It will be India’s 54^th Tiger Reserve.
• The Karauli-Sarmathura-Dholpur sanctuary in Rajasthan has been officially designated areas as Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve.

• The other four tiger reserves in Rajasthan: Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve, Mukandra Hills Tiger Reserve, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and Sariska Tiger Reserve.

• The new tiger reserve will span 1,058 sq km, including 368 sq km of core area and 690 sq km of buffer.
• The forest areas designated to be declared as a tiger reserve currently have nine tigers.

Note-

• Project Tiger, launched in 1973, has expanded its coverage to 53 tiger reserves across 18 of our tiger range states covering a total area of 75,796.83 sq km(2.3% of India’s geographical area).

• The African Union has suspended Niger’s membership in the wake of the military coup.
• Earlier The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had also imposed sanctions on the country.

ABOUT AFRICAN UNION

• The African Union (AU) is a continental body made up of the countries of the African Continent.
• It was officially launched in 2002 in Durban, South Africa and replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was founded in 1963.
• The African Union is made up of 55 member states.
• Headquarters: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Aim- To promote unity, cooperation, and development among African nations while advancing the continent’s interests on the global stage.
• The highest decision-making body is the Assembly, which consists of the heads of state and government of member countries.
• AU Member States are divided into five geographic regions which were defined by the OAU in 1976.

• Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has launched AI model named SeamlessM4T.
• SeamlessM4T is the first all-in-one multimodal and multilingual AI translation model that allows people to communicate effortlessly through speech and text across different languages.
• This single model can perform speech-to-text, speech-to-speech, text-to-speech, and text-to-text translations for up to 100 languages depending on the task.
• It supports
  • Speech recognition for nearly 100 languages
  • Speech-to-text translation for nearly 100 input and output languages
  • Speech-to-speech translation, supporting nearly 100 input languages and 36 (including English) output languages
  • Text-to-text translation for nearly 100 languages
  • Text-to-speech translation, supporting nearly 100 input languages and 35 (including English) output languages.
• Compared to approaches using separate models, SeamlessM4T’s single system approach reduces errors and delays, increasing the efficiency and quality of the translation process.

• Methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C is an extant gammaproteobacterial methanotroph that can grow at low methane concentrations in the range from 200 ppm to 1,000 ppm.

• It exhibits greater methane consumption rates at both low and high methane compared to other methanotroph strains.
• These features make this strain a promising candidate for methane removal technology at emission sites with enriched methane in air like- landfills, paddy fields, and oil and gas wells.

ABOUT METHANOTROPHS

• Methanotrophs are bacteria for which methane is their carbon and energy source.
• Such bacteria naturally convert methane to CO2 and biomass, a value-added product and a cobenefit of methane removal.
• Typically, methanotrophs grow best at around 5,000 to 10,000 ppm methane, but methane in the atmosphere is 1.9 ppm.

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has rolled out an indigenous star-rating system for crash testing cars under which vehicles will be assigned between one to five stars indicating their safety in a collision.
• It is called the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP).

• It will come into effect from October 1, 2023.
• The objective of the programme is to help consumers make an informed decision before purchasing a car, thereby spurring demand for safer cars.
• Under the Bharat NCAP, cars voluntarily nominated by automobile manufacturers will be crash tested as per protocols laid down in the Automotive Industry Standard 197.
  • In certain cases cars may be subjected to a crash test such as for a base model of a popular variant (minimum clocked sale of 30,000 units), or when the MoRTH recommends a model for testing based on market feedback or in the interest of public safety.
• The programme is applicable to passenger vehicles with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3,500 kgs.
  • Only the base model of a particular variant will be tested.
• Cars will be assigned a rating between one star to five stars after being evaluated on three parameters — adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and safety assist technologies present in the car.

• The recent discovery of two sculptures at Basrur, near Kundapura, in Udupi, Karnataka district has proved that the ancient Mylara cult existed in the coastal region.

FIRST SCULPTURE

• A mutilated but unique sculpture was found in a well at Basrur.
• It shows a royal hero sitting on the horse, holding a sword and a bowl in his right and left hands respectively.
  • But there is no Mylaladevi on the back of the horse.
  • The horse shown in sitting posture is also a uniqueness of this sculpture which resembles belonging to the 15th centry A.D.

SECOND SCULPTURE

• Another tiny stone tablet containing Mylara and Mylaladevi sitting on an ornate horse and both of them holding swords in their right hands was found in another water body, a tank.
• The sculpture resembles belonging to 17th century.

ABOUT BASRUR

• It was a historical trading city of the Medieval period.
• Trading guilds like Uhayadesi, Nanadesi and others actively participated in the trade.
• Basrur was a great centre of various cults.

ABOUT MYLARA CULT

• It is a religious tradition centered around the worship of deity named Mailara, who is believed to be a manifestation of Lord Shiva.
• Mylara cult was very popular in the Deccan, particularly Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

• The Cabinet meeting chaired by CM enhanced the support price of apple, mango and citrus fruits being procured under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) from Rs 10.50 per kg to Rs 12 per kg for 2023-24.
• Henceforth, the support price of apple, orange and mango would be Rs 12 per kg, bringing all fruits on a par.
• The support price of kinnow and malta, too, was increased to Rs 12 per kg from Rs 9.50 per kg while the support price of galgal and lemon was increased from Rs 8 per kg to Rs 10 per kg.

• World Water Week is a global event which is organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute every year since 1991.
• The programme will be held from August 20 to 24 at the Waterfront Congress Center.
• The theme for 2023 is “Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World”.

• WHO’s first ever Global Summit on Traditional Medicine was inaugurated as part of the G20 Health Minister’s Meeting in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• The theme of the summit was “Towards Health and Well-being for All”.
• WHO’s Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is headquartered in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

• The last known survivors of Piripkura indigenous tribe were found in deep within the Amazon Forest in Brazil.

ABOUT PIRIPKURA

• The Piripkura tribe is a secluded indigenous group found in Mato Grasso region in Brazil.
• They have deliberately avoided contact with mainstream society.
• They are committed to maintaining their traditional way of life.
• The Piripkura tribe’s population is estimated to consist of merely three individuals.
• Threats– Illegal logging, mining activities etc.