• CISF Raising Day 2023 is celebrated on 10 March every year but this year the date got revised to 12 March.
• It is annually observed as the Raising Day when the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was set up under the Union ministry of Home Affairs.
• CISF is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces in India and is responsible for providing security to various public sector undertakings, airports, and other important installations.
• The CISF was set up under the act of the Parliament of India on March 10, 1969.
• Since then, CISF Raising Day is being celebrated on March 10 each year.
• However, in 2023, the date was revised to 12th March.

• The Prime Minister whilw inaugurating the 3rd Session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) gave an example of Bhunga houses of Kutch which survived the earthquake to a large extent.

ABOUT BHUNGA HOUSES OF KUTCH

• They are traditional houses, a unique type of round mud hut walled with thatched roof.
• After the devastating earthquake of 1819, the people of Kutch came up with an innovative circular design of bhungas to minimize the damage to their lives as well as properties.
• The reworked design of bhungas that is about 200 years old stood very firm during the earthquake of 2001 when it was very close to the epicenter.
• These houses are commonly called ‘Architecture without Architect’ because of the superior architectural knowledge gained by the locals through the years.
• The design of the house is such that it keeps the interior cool in summers and warm in winters and they are tremendously strong and can withstand natural calamities like desert storms and earthquakes.

• Department of Land Resources is organizing a National Conference on implementation of ULPIN.
• Bhu-Aadhaar or ULPIN is a 14-digit alpha-numeric number generated based on latitude and longitude coordinates of each land parcel.
• It is part of Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme.
• ULPIN is an authoritative source of information on any parcel of land or property to provide Integrated Land Services to the citizens.

• Freddy (active for 33 days now) is on track to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone.
  • Current record is held by Hurricane/Typhoon John (1994) which lasted for 31 days.
• The storm first developed off the North Australian coast in early February and then tracked across the entire Indian Ocean before striking the east coast of Madagascar on February 21, 2023.
• It then crossed the Mozambique Channel and made landfall in Mozambique’s Inhambane province near Vilankulo, where it stalled and dropped a huge amount of rain before doubling back and nearly hit the west coast of Madagascar again.
• Long life of Freddy is fuelled by energy provided from warm ocean surface.
• Also, there has been not much land interaction.
• Conditions favourable for Tropical cyclone
  • Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C.
  • Presence of Coriolis force.
  • A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation.
  • Upper divergence above sea level system.

• In a first, Gujarat set to shift 10 Indian grey wolves (Canis lupus pallipes ) from a conservation breeding centre to forested areas in an attempt to check population of wild herbivores.
• Indian wolf is a subspecies of grey wolf inhabiting semi-arid and arid areas extending from Indian subcontinent to Israel.
• Threats to the spcies include habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, retaliatory killing coupled with disease threats.
• IUCN status: Least Concern

• Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) is a state-of-the-art satellite instrument producing data that will be used in health studies to examine the health effects of various types of air pollution.
• It is a joint effort between NASA and Italian space agency.
• Its measurements of sunlight reflecting off airborne particles will help determine abundance, size and optical properties of certain pollutants in the atmosphere.
• Three-year mission will focus on several primary target areas including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Spain, Beijing and New Delhi.

• Japan has become the latest member to join Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA).

ABOUT MPIA

• MPIA (formed in 2020) is an alternative system for resolving WTO disputes that are appealed by a Member in the absence of a functioning WTO Appellate Body.
• WTO members can resort to MPIA under Article 25 of WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding.
• Any member can join MPIA (India not a member yet) by notifying the Dispute Settlement Body (composed of representatives of all WTO Members).
• In a dispute between members, MPIA will supersede the previous appeal processes and also apply to future disputes between members.
• WTO’s dispute settlement process functioning is impacted since 2019 in the backdrop of USA blocking appointments to Appellate Body.
• There are two main ways to settle a dispute once a complaint has been filed in WTO:
  1. Parties find a mutually agreed solution, particularly during the phase of bilateral consultations.
  2. Through adjudication, including the subsequent implementation of the panel and Appellate Body reports.
• There are three main stages to WTO’s dispute settlement process:
  1. consultations between the parties;
  2. adjudication by panels and, if applicable, by Appellate Body; and
  3. implementation of the ruling.

• The PM felicitated awardees of the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar during the 3rd Session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR).
  • The main theme of the session is “Building Local Resilience in a Changing Climate”.
• Awardees for the Year 2023
  • Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA)
  • Lunglei Fire Station, Mizoram

About the Award

• Aims to recognize the excellent work done by individuals and Institutions in India in the field of Disaster Management like Prevention, Mitigation, Preparedness, Rescue, Response, Relief, Rehabilitation, Research/ Innovations or Early Warning.
• Eligibility
  • Only Indian nationals and Indian institutions are eligible to apply for the award.
  • For institutions, voluntary organisations, corporate entities, academic/research institutions, response/ uniformed forces or any other institution may apply as an institution for the award.
  • The candidate for the award must have worked in the area of Disaster Management related work in India.
  • The application must be accompanied by details of the work done in disaster management and must highlight achievements.
  • Any individual and institution can nominate an individual or institution for the award.
  • The awards are announced on 23rd January each year, on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
  • It carries a cash prize of 51 lakhs and a certificate in the case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakhs and a certificate in the case of an individual.

• Minister for MSME launched the Scheme to enhance Domestic and Global Competitiveness of MSMEs through the application of various Lean Techniques.
• Scheme is to create awareness about LEAN Manufacturing practices and incentivize MSME to attain LEAN levels. The Scheme is a business initiative to reduce “waste” in manufacturing.
• It provides for building awareness of lean manufacturing practices in MSME clusters as well as cost sharing of consultant’s fees with MSME units who opt for such interventions.
• Under the scheme, the Centre’s contribution will be 90 per cent of the implementation cost for handholding and consultancy fees as against 80 per cent previously.
• Lean Manufacturing Techniques are adopted with the objective of
  • reducing waste,
  • increasing productivity,
  • introducing innovative practices for improving overall competitiveness,
  • inculcating good management systems and imbibing a culture of continuous improvement.
• Under the scheme, MSMEs will implement LEAN manufacturing tools like 5S, Kaizen, KANBAN, Poka Yoka
• Nodal Agency: National Productivity Council (NPC)
  • National Productivity Council of India, established in the year 1958, is an autonomous organization under Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Eligibility: The Scheme is open to Micro, Small or Medium as per the definition of the MSME Act. (The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.)
  • The units are required to form a Mini Cluster of 10 or so units.
  • All MSMEs registered with the UDYAM registration portal will be eligible to participate.
  • Also open to SFURTI and Cluster Development Program Schemes.

• Hundreds of Tibetans carrying flags of Tibet took out a march here to mark the 64th anniversary of their Uprising Day.
• It was the first big protest by Tibetans in Dharamsala, the headquarters of Tibetan government-in-exile.

BRIEF HISTORY

• The communist government of China in 1949 launched an armed invasion, during which it took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan people.
• The Tibetan people felt compelled to stage an uprising in Tibet’s capital Lhasa on March 10 in 1959 as a result of a rising oppression under the domination of China which remains an indelible mark in the history of the Tibetan nation.