• A rare low-altitude basalt plateau has been discovered in Thane region in Western Ghats (a global biodiversity hotspot and UNESCO World Heritage site in India).
• This is the fourth type of plateau to be identified in the region; previous three are laterites at high and low altitudes and basalt at high altitudes.
• 76 species of plants and shrubs from 24 different families have been found.
• Plateaus are dominant landscapes in Western Ghats. They are classified as a type of rocky outcrop.
• Rocky outcrops are geological features that protrude above the surface of surrounding land.
• They are formed by weathering that happens at different rates, causing the less weathered rock to remain exposed.
• They are found on all continents, in most climate zones and vegetation types.
• Significance of rocky outcrops
  • Support high levels of species diversity and endemism.
  • They have seasonal water availability, limited soil and nutrients, making them ideal to study effects of climate change on species survival.
  • They provide critical breeding sites for many top order mammalian and avian predators; nesting sites for colonial species such as seabirds, bats and swifts.

• The much-awaited quick response (QR)-based system for the sale of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), the raw material used for manufacturing drugs, has become operational from January.
• The new system will ensure that APIs sold in the market adhere to the set standards, thus maintaining the efficacy and genuineness of the manufactured drugs. The code can be scanned to obtain the details of the product.
• Manufacturers have for long been flagging the non-availability of quality APIs, claiming suppliers were re-labelling and re-packing the original product after its import.

• Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, held a meeting with representatives of various gram panchayats on the main campus yesterday.
• Pradhans and up-pradhans of Nauni Majhgaon, Oachghat, Shamrod, Daro Deoria and Kotla Panjola gram panchayats of Solan and Sirmaur districts attended the meeting, which aimed at roping in people of rural areas for the development of community projects.
• The VC said the main aim of the meeting was to understand the needs of these panchayats so that the university could develop community-based projects integrating their resources.
• Various subjects such as traditional beekeeping, plantation of multipurpose trees and fodder-based grasses, natural farming practices, millet production and traditional mud-based community structures for storing agricultural produce were discussed in the meeting.

• FITUR is one of the world’s largest international travel exhibitions at Madrid
• Ministry of Tourism, Government of India is participating in FITUR from 18^thto 22^nd January in Madrid which is one of the world’s largest international travel exhibitions.
• India’s participation at FITUR is significant to step up the recovery of inbound tourism to pre-pandemic levels.
• Ministry of Tourism has taken a space of 253 sq. mtr., with over 30 participants co-exhibiting with the India Pavilion to participate in the Exhibition.
• Incredible India organized various Culture Performances, Yoga Sessions, Mehndi and Bollywood Dance Performances.

• UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and S&P Global have launched Nature Risk Profile.
• NRP is aimed at enabling financial sector to measure and address nature-related risk by providing scientifically robust and actionable analytics on nature impacts and dependencies.
• Its methodology is based on Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in December 2022.
• GBF includes a target for governments to take legal, administrative or policy measures to encourage and enable businesses to regularly monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity.

• Directorate General of Foreign Trade has notified amended rules for extending Export Obligation under AAS.
• Move will help automate entire Export Obligation extension process with minimal human intervention and lead to ease of doing business.
• AAS is a duty exemption scheme issued by Government of India under Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 under the purview of DGFT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It exempts payment of import duties on raw materials/inputs required for manufacturing products for export.
• It allows duty free import of inputs, which are physically incorporated in an export product.
• It additionally allows packaging material, fuel, oil, catalyst which is consumed / utilized in production of export product.

• National Disaster Response Force day is observed on January 19 by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)
• The 18th National Disaster Response Force day was celebrated on January 19, 2023 by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
• The day has been celebrated on this day since 2006 when the rescue force was officially formed.
• The specialised, multi-skilled rescue force is made up of battalions from the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Assam Rifles.
• The NDRF is the primary agency responsible for conducting rescue operations during disasters like drowning, building collapses, landslides, devastating floods, earthquakes and cyclones.

About NDRF

• With 12 battalions and 13,000 NDRF personnel spread across the country, the NDRF has managed to save 1.44 lakh human lives and evacuated more than 7 lakh stranded individuals in its 17 years of service.
• In 2021 alone, the NDRF saved 12,000 lives in various rescue operations.

History of NDRF

• India saw a series of natural disasters in the later 1990s and early 2000s.
• These included the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, the Gujarat earthquakes in 2001, and the Mumbai floods in 2005 among others. While Indian Armed Forces were deployed for rescue and recovery missions, there was a need for a dedicated rescue operation-focused response force.
• Therefore, the Disaster Management Act of 2005 was enacted.
• The act formulated the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as the apex body for natural disasters and the NDRF as the specialised rescue force under the NDMA’s mandate.

• The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project, signed in 2018 , will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
• The Friendship pipeline from India will start supplying diesel to Bangladesh from June.
• The 131.5  kilometer  long pipeline has been constructed for importing diesel from India, 126.5 km of which is in Bangladesh and 5 km in India.The IBFPL project aims to facilitate the transportation of imported fuel oil and reduce its transport costs for Bangladesh
• Pre-commissioning of Diesel Imports The pre-commissioning of diesel imports through this pipeline is currently underway.The international pipeline will carry diesel from the Siliguri based marketing terminal of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC)
• The pipeline has a capacity of one million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) and is being built under grant assistance from the government of India.
• It will enable fuel oil products to be exported from India’s Siliguri Marketing Terminal in West Bengal State to Bangladesh
• Dhaka-Delhi agreement on fuel oil- According to the Dhaka-Delhi agreement, fuel oil would be transported to Bangladesh for 15 years through the pipeline in the first phase and the term would be extended on the consensus of the countries.

• The Bhopal Declaration was released after a two-day meeting of Think-20 under G20 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The Declaration was made by more than 300 intellectuals from India and abroad

About Think 20

• The Think 20 (T20) is a forum of think tanks from G20 countries that provides policy recommendations to the leaders of the G20. It was created in 2012 to bring the expertise of think tanks from around the world to bear on the G20’s policy-making process, and it meets annually in the lead-up to the G20 summit.

Bhopal Declaration

• Emphasis on promoting traditional medicine systems like AYUSH
• Encouragement of value-oriented development in infrastructure
• Appeal for more inclusive development and care for all sections of society
• Special attention to children and development led by women
• Focus on bridging the gap between North and South
• Importance of localization in achieving G-20 sustainable development goals
• Necessity of triangular cooperation between government, society, and private organizations

• The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022, released by the NGO Pratham, records the impact of school closures in 2020 and 2021, as well as the return to school of children in 2022.

Key findings

• The overall enrolment figures increased from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022, despite school closures during the pandemic.

Enrollment figures

• Overall enrolment figures for the 6 to 14 years age group increased from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.
• The proportion of children in this (3-16 years) age group who are not currently enrolled also dropped to its lowest level ever to 1.6% from 2.8% in 2018.
• Government schools have seen a sharp increase in children enrolled from 65.6% in 2018 to 72.9% in 2022, reversing another trend of a steady decrease in student enrolments seen since 2006.

Literacy levels

• Children’s basic literacy levels have taken a big hit, with their reading ability as compared to numeracy skills worsening much more sharply and dropping to pre-2012 levels.
• The percentage of children in Class 3 in government or private schools who were able to read at the level of Class 2 dropped from 27.3% in 2018 to 20.5% in 2022.
• This decline is visible in every State, and for children in both government and private schools.
• The percentage of children enrolled in Class 5 in government or private schools who can at least read a Class 2-level text fell from 50.5% in 2018 to 42.8% in 2022.
• The drops in basic reading ability are smaller for Class 8 students.
• The ASER reading test assesses whether a child can read letters, words, a simple paragraph at Class 1 level of difficulty, or a story at Class 2 level of difficulty.

Arithmetic skills

• The percentage of Class 3 students who were able to do at least subtract dropped from 28.2% in 2018 to 25.9% in 2022.
• The proportion of children in Class 5 across India who can carry out division has also fallen slightly from 27.9% in 2018 to 25.6% in 2022.
• The performance of Class 8 students in basic arithmetic is more varied.
• Nationally, the proportion of children who can do division has increased slightly, from 44.1% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2022.
• The ASER 2022 report highlights the widening learning gaps in foundational skills in reading and arithmetic that have emerged as a result of the pandemic and school closures.
• The report shows that despite an increase in enrollment figures and a decrease in the proportion of children not currently enrolled, there has been a significant decline in basic literacy and arithmetic skills, reversing several years of improvement.
• The report emphasizes the need for urgent interventions to address these learning gaps and support children’s continued learning and development.