Why in news?

• In an effort to test one’s high-altitude endurance, a new challenge called “Soul of Steel” will be launched in India. Spearheaded by venture CLAW Global, which is run by veterans and supported by the Indian Army, the challenge will take place in the state of Uttarakhand and is similar to the “Ironman triathlon” long-distance triathlon challenge in Europe.
• The expedition will officially launch on January 14th, and will include 12 Indian participants and six international teams, with the age group for applicants being between 18 and 30 years.

Details

• The idea behind the “Soul of Steel” challenge, according to Major Vivek Jacob (Retd.) of CLAW Global, is “pooling of skillsets and creating a challenge that will unlock the human ability to survive, stabilize and thrive in high altitude areas.”
• The challenge will also provide life skill training, youth development, and global promotion of adventure tourism in Uttarakhand, in addition to showcasing the skills of veterans.
• Stages of the Challenge The challenge will be divided into four stages.
• Location-The general area of the expedition will be the Nanda Devi national park, which has several peaks that are over 7000 feet tall. During the actual challenge, various situations will be presented to the participants through navigation points that they must cross.

About CLAW Global

• CLAW Global was established in January 2019 by Major Jacob, a para special forces officer who had to retire from the Army after 14 years of service due to a combat skydive injury. In August 2021, a group of differently-abled people led by CLAW Global trekked up to Kumar post on Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield.

• The Himachal Pradesh Forest department has refused to give clearance to four hydro power projects till a cumulative impact assessment (CIA) study on the Ravi River basin is conducted to know their impact on ecology and wildlife of the region.
• The department has categorically told the directorate of energy (DoE), the nodal agency for hydro power in the state, that due to non-availability of a CIA study, a pre-condition imposed by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for clearance under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), “it is not possible to process these cases.”
• The four projects, which have been allotted by the state government and proposed to come up on Ravi river in the tribal Bharmour region of Chamba district, are 4.98 MW Ghator Top, 24 MW Jai Bani Mata, 2.5 MW Jay Kartikay and 5MW Rudraveer

• HP govt has restored the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for Himachal Pradesh government employees with immediate effect.
• As was promised by the Congress in its election manifesto, the government approved the long standing demand of the employees in its first Cabinet meeting here on Friday.
• The decision will benefit around 1.36 lakh employees of the state who are under New Pension Scheme. With the restoration of the scheme, Himachal has become the third Congress-ruled state to restore the Old Pension Scheme.
• The Congress government further gave in-principle approval to its two other major poll promises – a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to women aged 18-60 and generating one lakh job opportunities in a year – and formed Cabinet sub-committees to work out the modalities for their implementation. These committees will submit their reports to the Cabinet in one month.

Why in news?

• The world’s longest river cruise, the MV Ganga Vilas, which will travel 3,200 km over 27 river systems in five states in India and Bangladesh in 51 days, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, January 13, 2022.

Key Points

• The first cruise ship ever built in India, the MV Ganga Vilas, set out from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and will go via Bangladesh to Dibrugarh in Assam.
• Besides connecting National Waterway 1 (NW1) which includes Ganga and National Waterway 2 (NW2) on Brahmaputra, the cruise will cross 27 river systems.
• The 51-day cruise has 50 stops planned, including major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam.
• These destinations include world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and world heritage sites.
• The luxury cruise has three decks, 18 suites, a capacity for 36 passengers, and all the luxuries facilities.
• 32 Swiss tourists have signed up for the entire duration of the inaugural trip.

• Sweden’s state-owned mining company says it has identified more than 1 million tonnes of rare earth minerals in the northern area of Kiruna. The REE deposits were discovered in Arctic region of Kiruna, Sweden (home to world’s largest underground iron-ore mine).
• Rare earth minerals are vital to making many high-tech goods. They are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, portable electronics, microphones and speakers.
• REE are a set of seventeen metallic elements – fifteen lanthanides on periodic table and scandium and yttrium. The 17 Rare Earthsare cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y).
• REE shares some common properties such as high luster, high electrical conductivity as well as some distinguishing properties, present in few REE, such as luminescence, magnetism etc.
  • Also, Heavy REE (higher atomic weights) are less common as compared to Light REE.
• Although REE are fairly distributed across different geographies, the extraction of REE is most challenging part, because of complex processing and intensive environmental effects.
  • At present more than 80% of the world’s rare earths processing capacity is in China.

REE production in India

• India produces only 1% of global output despite having around 6% of world’s reserves.
• Steps taken by India
  • Set up Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL),
  • Bilateral agreements like Australia-India Critical Minerals Investment Partnership.

Why in news?

• As part of Samudrayaan Mission, under MoES, a self-propelled manned submersible (MATSYA 6000) will carry three persons to a depth of 6000 meters for exploration of deep-sea resources.
• MATSYA 6000 is being developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai.
  • It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency.
  • It is being developed under Deep Ocean Mission (DOM).

About Deep Ocean Mission

• DOM aims to explore deep ocean for resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources. It will be a mission mode project to support Blue Economy initiatives.
  • Blue Economy is sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods etc. Its size in India is about 4% of the GDP.
• DOM (MoES as nodal ministry) was approved in 2021 and will be implemented over a period of 5 years.
• Major components of DOM
  • Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible.
  • Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services
  • Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity.
  • Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration.
  • Energy and freshwater from Ocean.
  • Advanced Marine station for Ocean Biology

Why in news?

• Votive stupas (offered in fulfillment of a vow) were discovered near Sarai Tila mound within premises of Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar.
• Stupa, Sanskrit for heap, is a mound-like (hemispherical) burial structure containing relics of Buddhist monks.
  • g. Sanchi Stupa built over Buddha relics.

Architectural features of Stupa

• A hemispherical mound or anda’s shaped dome
• A square railing or harmika
• Central pillar supporting a triple-umbrella form (chattra), representing three jewels of Buddhism. >
• Enclosure wall with decorated gateways (toranas) at cardinal directions.
• A circular terrace (medhi) for ritual circumambulation.

About Nalanda Mahavihara

• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with archaeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution from 3rd century BCE to 13th century CE.
• Gautam Buddha as well as Mahavira stayed at Nalanda.
• Other famous scholars at Nalanda Nagarjuna, Dharampala, Dinnaga, Jinamitra Santaraksita etc.
• Imminent pilgrim monks like Hiuen Tsang and l-tsing also visited.
• It prospered under Gupta Dynasty, Harsha of Kannauj and Pala Dynasty.
• It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal.

Why in news?

• Ram Setu, also known as Adam’s bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
  • Recently, Tamil Nadu assembly also passed a resolution urging Centre to resume work on Sethusamudram Ship Canal project (SSCP).

• National heritage status is sought in the backdrop of SSCP that envisages dredging of a ship channel across the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka.
  • Two channels were suggested – one across Adam’s Bridge and another through Palk Bay.
  • SC, in 2007, had stayed the work for project and Centre was also willing to explore another route to SSCP without damaging Ram Setu.
• Significance of SSCP
  • Reduce steaming distances between east and west coasts of India.
  • Strengthen national security by improving navigation for Indian coast guards and naval ships.
• Concerns raised against SSCP
  • Would destroy natural barrier between Bay of Bengal and Palk Bay.
  • Oil and marine pollution associated with shipping traffic will aggravate ecological stress in region.
  • Adam’s bridge holds religious sentiments for the people.
  • Threats to coral reef platforms in Gulf of Mannar.

Why in news?

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has specified the identity standards for basmati rice.
• The comprehensive regulatory standards will be enforced from August 1, according to a statement from the Union Health Ministry.
• These standards apply to brown basmati rice, milled basmati rice, parboiled brown basmati rice, and milled parboiled basmati rice and are intended to establish fair practices in the trade of basmati rice and protect consumer interest, both domestically and globally.

 Standards for Quality and Identity

• As per the standards, basmati rice must possess the natural fragrance characteristic of basmati rice and be free from artificial coloring, polishing agents and artificial fragrances.
• The standards also specify various identity and quality parameters for basmati rice such as average size of grains and their elongation ratio after cooking, maximum limits of moisture, amylose content, uric acid, defective/damaged grains and incidental presence of other non-basmati rice.

About Basmati rice

• Basmati rice is a premium variety of rice cultivated in the Himalayan foothills of the Indian sub-continent and is known for its long grain size, fluffy texture, and unique inherent aroma and flavor.
• India accounts for two thirds of its global supply.
• Uniqueness is attributed to agro-climatic conditions as well as method of harvesting, processing and ageing of rice.

Adulteration and Standardization

• Being a premium quality rice and fetching a price higher than the non-basmati varieties, Basmati rice is prone to various types of adulteration for economic gains which may include, among others, undeclared blending of other non-basmati varieties of rice.
• Therefore, in order to ensure the supply of standardized genuine Basmati rice in domestic and export markets, FSSAI has implemented these regulatory standards, which have been framed through extensive consultations with the concerned government departments/agencies and other stakeholders.

Why in news?

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has listed Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) under Schedule III of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, including it on the list of protected plants.
• This move is aimed at protecting the plant from being destroyed or uprooted, which has become a major threat to the flowering areas. The new order also includes strict penalties for those found guilty of destroying or uprooting the plant. Environmentalists have welcomed this move, and have called on the Forest department to ensure the protection of the areas where Neelakurinji blooms.

Penalties for destroying the plant

• As per the new order, those who uproot or destroy the Neelakurinji plant will invite a fine of ₹25,000- and three-years’ imprisonment.
• The cultivation of Neelakurinji and its possession is also not allowed. This is a significant move, as it will help in protecting the plant and its habitats.

About Neelakurinji plant

• Neelakurinji is an endemic plant found in a small stretch in the Western Ghats, from the Mangaladevi hills to the Nilgiris hills. The most popular Neelakurinji is Strobilanthes kunthiana which blooms once in 12 years.
• However, some other rare varieties of Neelakurnji are also found in the Western Ghats region. The blooming of Neelakurinji is a major attraction for tourists, who flock to the locations where it blooms. However, this has also led to the destruction and uprooting of the plant, which is a major threat to the flowering areas.