• Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on 22^nd April to raise awareness about the need to protect our planet and its environment.
  • In 2009, the United Nations designated 22nd April as International Mother Earth Day.
• The theme for Earth Day 2023 is “Invest in our planet,” with a clear motto of ‘everyone accounted for, everyone accountable.’
• It calls on businesses, investors, financial markets, and governments to lead the way in building a healthier and more equitable global system.
• Earth Day was first observed in 1970 as a response to environmental degradation caused by issues such as smog, polluted rivers, and oil spills.
• Earth Day is globally coordinated by EARTHDAY.ORG, a non-profit organization formerly known as Earth Day Network. It aims to build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and the planet.
• The landmark Paris Agreement, which brings almost 200 countries together in setting a common target to reduce global greenhouse emissions, was also signed on Earth Day 2016.

• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh, marked the National Panchayati Raj Day.
• The Prime Minister inaugurated an integrated e-GramSwaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at the Panchayat level.
  • The objective of eGramSwaraj–GeM Integration is to enable the Panchayats to procure their goods and services through GeM leveraging the eGramSwaraj platform.

About National Panchayati Raj Day

• National Panchayati Raj Day is observed on 24^th April every year to commemorate the 73rd constitutional amendment that came into effect on the same day in 1993.
  • The first National Panchayati Raj Day was celebrated in 2010.

About 73^rd constitutional amendment

• 73^rd amendment accorded panchayats a constitutional status as the third tier of local self-governance in India.
  • Although some states such as Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal had already recognized panchayats as local self-governance institutions, the 73rd and 74th amendments made this a pan-India phenomenon.
• This Act added a new chapter into the Constitution called ‘Part IX: The Panchayats’.
• This Act made the Panchayati Raj institutions in the country constitutional bodies.
• Under Article 243-B, it has become compulsory for every state to establish panchayats in their territories.
• Article 243-G makes it mandatory for the state governments to devolve powers, responsibilities and authority to the panchayats.
• The gram panchayats have a fixed tenure of 5 years.
• State election commissions have been provided with the mechanism to conduct independent elections to the village panchayats.
• Article 243-D gives provisions for the due representation of women and SC/STs.
• The State Finance Commission should also evaluate the financial position of the panchayats every five years.

• PWD Minister recently inaugurated a bridge over Pabbar river in Rohru.
• Built at a cost of Rs 19 crore, thousands of people from half a dozen panchayats adjoining Rohru would be benefited by this bridge.
• The panchayats would now be connected directly with the main market in Rohru. Earlier, the people of these panchayats had to come to Rohru by traveling an additional distance of 10 to 12 kilometres via Samoli.
• The Pabbar River is a tributary of the Tons river and finally drains into the river Yamuna.
  • The river begins from the Dhauladhar range.

• West Bengal has notified four new Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS):
  • Char Balidanga and state Horticulture Research and Development Station campus in Deypara.
  • Char Balidanga comprises two islands on the Hooghly with tropical riverine vegetation of tall grasses and swampy flat lands.
  • Namthing Pokhar: It is a Himalayan natural wetland.
  • Amkhoi Fossil Park: It has unique geological and paleo-botanical features and is the first wood fossil park in West Bengal.
• BHS are areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems having rich biodiversity.

• A group of 14 trekkers, including 13 US nationals, were recently stranded at Pindari glacier after an avalanche hit Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district.

About Pindari Glacier

• It is located in the Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand in the Kumaon Himalayas.
• It lies on the edge of Nanda Devi (7816 meters), which is the highest peak in India.
• Zero Point of Pindari Glacier is situated at an altitude of 3660 meters above sea level.
• It is the source of the Pindari River, which meets the Alakananda River at Karnaprayag in the Garhwal district.
• On the right side of the Pindari Glacier lies the Kafani Glacier.

• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister recently announced that Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary will be developed as a second home for cheetahs within six months.

About Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is situated in northwestern Madhya Pradesh, with one of its boundaries running along the border of Rajasthan.
• The sanctuary was notified in 1974 and is spread over an area of 368 sq. km.
• A major part of the sanctuary consists of vast open landscapes with sparse vegetation and rocky terrain, with small patches of dense forests.
• River Chambal flows through the sanctuary, dividing it into two parts.
• The principal tree species found in the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary are Khair, Salai, Kardhai, Dhawda, Tendu, Palash
• Flora: The principal tree species found here are Khair, Salai, Kardhai, Dhawda, Tendu and Palash.
• Fauna- Herbivores like Chinkara, Nilgai and Spotted Deer, and carnivores like the Indian Leopard, Striped Hyena and Jackal are found in good numbers in the region.
• It also has a good population of crocodiles, fish, otters and turtles.
• Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and the reservoir is also a designated Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA)

• PM recently praised the completion of Bihar portion of Barauni-Guwahati pipeline under Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project.

About Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project

• The project is also known as Jagdishpur – Haldia & Bokaro – Dhamra Pipeline Project (JHBDPL) project.
• It was launched in 2016 and will cater to the energy requirements of five states namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
• Total length of pipeline under Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project is 3,384 km, out of which 766 km of pipeline is in Odisha state and the balance 2,618 km is in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal & Assam.
• This pipeline will connect six districts in Bihar to the National Gas Grid.
• The project will provide access to clean natural gas for industries, CNG for vehicles and PNG for homes, promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
• The seven main station cities include Varanasi, Patna, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as the major beneficiaries of the project.
• The main trunk of the pipeline ends at Haldia (West Bengal) and Dhamra (Odisha).
• The project is being implemented by GAIL.

• DRDO and Indian Navy recently successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha.
• India entered an elite club of nations with the capability to fire a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) interceptor from a naval platform.
• Prior to this, DRDO has successfully demonstrated land-based ballistic missile defence system with capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.

India’s Ballistic Missile Defence Programme

• India launched the BMD program after Kargil war in 1999 to counter the enemy nation’s widening spectrum of ballistic missiles that usually delivered both conventional and nuclear warheads.
• At present, the BMD system includes the endo-atmospheric Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor and the exo-atmospheric Prithvi Air Defence (PAD)

Advanced Air Defence Missile

• Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile is for lower altitude interception.
• Developed by the DRDO, with the Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
• It was first tested in 2007 and designed to knock down hostile missiles in the endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 15-40 KM.
• The endo-atmospheric missiles are the ones that operate within the earth’s atmosphere that covers an altitude below 100 KM.

Prithvi Air Defence missile

• It was originally tested in 2006 and is capable of intercepting and destroying missiles at exo–atmospheric altitudes ranging from 50 to 180 kilometres.
• The Pradyumna interceptor has already replaced the Prithvi Air Defence BMD.
• Exo-atmospheric missiles are capable of completing missions in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

• 4th India-CARICOM ministerial meeting was held recently.

About CARICOM

• CARICOM is a grouping of twenty countries:
  • Fifteen Member States– Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
  • and Five Associate Members– Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
• CARICOM came into being in 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
• CARICOM is the oldest surviving integration movement in the developing world.
• The CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, is the principal administrative organ of the Community and is headed by a Secretary General who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Community.

• India’s rank in the recently released World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2023 has improved by six places to 38 out of 139 countries.
  • Singapore topped the index.
• Significant investments in both soft and hard infrastructure as well as technology has led to an improvement in India’s port performance.

About LPI

• LPI is a benchmarking tool created to help countries identify challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics.
• LPI 2023 ranks countries on six dimensions of trade – including customs performance, infrastructure quality, and timeliness of shipments.
• The LPI 2023, for the first time, measures the speed of trade with indicators derived from big datasets tracking shipments.