• A fewer voters opted for the NOTA option this time. In the 2017 Assembly polls, 34,232 voters (0.9% of the votes polled) had pressed NOTA but this time only 24,861 voters (0.6%) exercised the option.
• The NOTA appear to have made a difference on three seats of Bhoranj, Shillai and Naina Devi where these votes were higher than the victory margin.
• The highest NOTA votes (669) were polled in Baijnath. The other seats to receive over 500 NOTA votes were Solan (634), Nalagarh (590), Darang (579), Chopal (550), Chamba (539), Shillai (525) and Anni (520).

What is NOTA?

• None Of The Above (NOTA) is a ballot option designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system.
• It was introduced in India following the 2013 Supreme Court directive in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India judgment.
• However, NOTA in India does not provide for a ‘right to reject’.
• The candidate with the maximum votes wins the election irrespective of the number of NOTA votes polled.

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried into space the first ever Arab-built lunar spacecraft. It was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
• The Rashid Rover was built by Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is being delivered by the HAKUTO-R lander, engineered by Japanese lunar exploration company ispace.
• The mission is due to arrive at Moon around April 2023. According to Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai on Sunday, the Rashid rover will provide ‘novel and highly valued data, images, and insights,’ as well as ‘collect scientific data on matters relating to the origin of the solar system, our planet and life.’

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a programme commemorating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary today through video conferencing.
• The programme will be held in Kamban Kalai Sangam, Puducherry, under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• During the Programme, Mr Modi will release a commemorative coin and postal stamp in honour of Sri Aurobindo. He will also address the gathering on the occasion.
• Sri Aurobindo, born on 15th August 1872, was a visionary who made lasting contributions to India’s freedom struggle. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – an endeavour to celebrate the glorious history of India’s people, culture and achievements on the occasion of 75 years of independence – is commemorating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary by organising year-long activities and programmes across the country.

About:

• Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta on 15^thAugust 1872. He was a yogi, seer, philosopher, poet, and Indian nationalist who propounded a philosophy of divine life on earth through spiritual evolution.
• He died on 5^thDecember 1950 in Pondicherry.
• Aurobindo’s pragmatic strategies to get rid of British rule marked him as “the Prophet of Indian Nationalism”.

Education:

• His education began in a Christian convent school in Darjeeling.
• He entered the University of Cambridge, where he became proficient in two classical and several modern European languages.
• In 1892, he held various administrative posts in Baroda (Vadodara) and Calcutta (Kolkata).
• He began the study of Yoga and Indian languages, including classical Sanskrit.

Indian Revolutionary Movement:

• From 1902 to 1910 he partook in the struggle to free India from the British.
• The partition of Bengal in 1905 provoked Aurobindo to leave his job in Baroda and plunge into the nationalist movement. He started the patriotic journal Bande Mataram to propagate radical methodsand revolutionary tactics instead of supplication.
• He was arrested thrice by the British — twice for sedition and once for conspiring to “wage war”.
• He was imprisoned in 1908 (Alipore Bomb case).
• Two years later he fled British India and found refuge in the French colony of Pondichéry (Puducherry), gave up overt political activities and embraced spiritual pursuits, soon to emerge as one of the most original thinkers, philosophers and spiritual masters.
• Hemet Mirra Alfassa in Pondicherry, and their spiritual collaboration led to “Integral Yoga”.
• Integral Yoga, is a yoga of Earth transformation. The aim of this yoga is not an escape from life or a shunning of worldly existence, but a radical change in our life even while living amidst it.
• Aurobindo’s Ideas on Second World War
• Several Indians saw the Second World War as an opportune moment to get rid of colonial occupation; Aurobindo, asked his compatriots to support the Allies and ensure Hitler’s defeat.

Spirituality:

• In Pondichéry he founded a community of spiritual seekers, which took shape as the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.
• He believed that the basic principles of matter, life, and mind would be succeeded through terrestrial evolution by the principle of supermind as an intermediate power between the two spheres of the infinite and the finite.

Literary Works:

• An English newspaper called Bande Mataram (in 1905)
• Bases of Yoga
• Bhagavad Gita and Its Message
• The Future Evolution of Man
• Rebirth and Karma
• Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol
• Hour of God

• Japan is elated and proud of its space startup that successfully launched a spacecraft to the moon recently, marking a significant step towards what would be a historic first, both for the nation and a private company.
• This has not been an easy task and got successful after multiple delays. Additionally, what makes it unique is the fact that it is the first successful venture to the moon by a private company.

About The Mission: ispace Inc’s HAKUTO-R  Mission:

• It took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Additionally, two inspections of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket led to two postponements, however, the mission crossed all hurdles efficiently.

Mission of Its Kind:

• What makes the mission unique is that soft landings on the moon have already been done by national space agencies of countries like Russia, China, and the United States, however, it is a new thing for a company to achieve this goal. Moreover, the mission is also a vital step taken in achieving space cooperation between Japan and the United States.

What Is HAKUTO: More About This Mission:

• HAKUTO is a term used for a white rabbit that resides on the moon, as per Japanese folklore. The ispace craft intends to deploy a tiny NASA satellite into the orbit of the moon to look for water deposits prior to its touch in the Atlas Crater.
• Additionally, the M1 lander will station two robotic rovers, a baseball-sized device from the JAXA space agency, and the four-wheeled Rashid explorer. The Rashid explorer is crafted by the United Arab Emirates.

About ispace:

• The ispace is a privately funded organization based in Tokyo. It shares a contract with NASA to ferry payloads to the lunar surface from the year 2025. It aims to create a permanently staffed lunar colony by the year 2040.

About:

• The Meitei script was once patronised by Meitei rulers but which fell into disuse with the advent of Hinduism and eventually disappeared.
• The earliest epigraphic record of the script is a stone inscription from Khoibu village which was erected on the orders of Meidingu Kiyamba (1467-1508).
• The Meitei Mayek or Meitei script evolved with time and this led to conflict between various proponents. The inscriptions on the coins of the 7th and 8th Century were perhaps in the 18-letter script, which, with the advent of Hinduism in the 17th century during the reign of Meidingu Pamheiba (1709-1748), was perhaps expanded to the 36-letter script.
• With the advent of Hinduism, Bengali scripts became so popular that stone inscriptions in the 18th and 19th century were in Bengali script.

Recent developments

• The Manipur Official Language Act, 1979, was enacted with the definition of Manipuri language as “Meiteilon written in Bengali script and spoken by the majority of Manipuri population”
• By an Amendment Act of 2021, the definition of “Manipuri language” was modified as “Meiteilon in Meetei Mayek and spoken by the majority of Manipur population” with a proviso that for 10 years, both the Bengali and Meitei Mayek scripts shall be allowed.

About:

ASEAN’s five points Consensus are

• It states that there shall be an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar.
• All parties shall exercise utmost restraint; constructive dialogue among all parties concerned shall commence to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.
• A special envoy of the ASEAN Chair shall facilitate mediation of the dialogue process, with the assistance of the secretary-general of ASEAN.
• ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance through the AHA Centre (ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management).
• The special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned.

ASEAN

• It is a group of   Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was established in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok declaration.
• Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Presently ASEAN comprises 10 member states namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
• It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.

About:

• Objective: For implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country.
• Established in:2013
• Established by: Union Finance Ministry.
• Type: It is a non-lapsable corpus fund.

Schemes of Ministry of Women and Child Development under Nirbhaya Fund:

• One Stop Centre Scheme (Sakhi Centres):
• It is being implemented across the country since 1st April 2015. It aims at establishing Centres to facilitate women affected by violence.
• It provides First aid, Medical aid, Police assistance, Legal aid and counselling support.
• Women Helpline (181):
• The Department of Telecommunication has allocated the number 181 to all States/UTs for Women Helpline.
• This helpline number will link the One Stop Centres being established by the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
• Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs):
• These will act as a link between police and community and help women in distress.
• Haryana launched the scheme in 2016, thereby becoming the first state to launch it.

Schemes of other Ministries/Departments under Nirbhaya Fund:

• Integrated Emergency Response Management System:
• The project aims to provide round the clock security to women passengers in all Railway Stations by strengthening of Security Control Rooms of Railways with Security Helpline, Medical Facilities, RPF and police, installation of CCTV cameras, etc.
• Ministry in charge: Railways.
• Central Victim Compensation Scheme (CVCF):
• It has been created with a corpus of Rs.200 crores under section 357A CrPC.
• It will support States/UTs in providing fund towards compensation to the victim or her dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crimes (including survivors of rape and acid attack).
• Ministry in charge: Home affairs.
• Emergency Response Support System (ERSS):
• ERSS envisages an integrated computer aided emergency response platform to respond to distress calls and ensure speedy assistance to the distressed persons.
• It aims to integrate all emergency numbers to 112 with state of art technology.
• Ministry in charge: Home affairs.

Major Highlights

• About the Conference:
• The UN-Water Summit on Groundwater will take place on 7-8 December 2022 at UNESCO HQ, Paris.
  • The conference was organised by UN-Water, UNESCO and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre.
  • The summit was organised to raise awareness on groundwater conservation at the global stage.
  • It also marked the completion of the “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible” campaign run by UN-Water throughout 2022.
• UN 2023 Water Conference:
• The UN 2023 water conference in New York City offers unprecedented potential for progress on SDG 6(Sustainable Development Goal 6 is about clean water and sanitation for all) and all water-related goals of the 2023 agenda.
• Groundwater management:
• It needs to apply five acceleration instruments to ensure that this succeeds:
  • Governance
  • Data and information
  • Innovation
  • Capacity development
  • Finance
• Coalition: 
• A coalition was formed on transboundary water cooperation.
• Transboundary waters accounted for 60 percent of the freshwater that flowed globally.
• Only 32 countries have 90 percent or more of their transboundary basin and aquifer area covered by operational agreements.
• The gap between water supply and demand is increasing. So the combination of these three facts can represent a huge potential for future conflicts or it can be a driver of mutually beneficial cooperation.
• South Asia: 
• South Asia was the largest consumer of groundwater in the world today.
• As of today, in the region, we are drawing over 600 billion cubic metres of groundwater every year — both from transboundary aquifers and from water sources that are very ancient.
• This groundwater once drawn for use cannot be recharged back.
• South Asia hosts not more than five percent of the global land cover.
• But it hosts more than a third of the irrigated land and more than a fourth of the global population.
• About 85 percent of the water required for irrigation to produce food and 90 percent of drinking water is drawn from groundwater in south Asia.
• The huge extraction of groundwater is also drying out the rivers. This is another big challenge for this region.

Threat to Groundwater

• Degradation from human activities, often associated with poor land, agricultural, and waste management threatens:
• Current uses of groundwater and
• Human and ecosystem health
• Limits benefits of future generations
• The problem is more pronounced in South Asia because much of the groundwater is heterogenous. Some 70 percent of groundwater is hosted only in 30 percent of land cover in south Asia and the rest is hosted in areas covered by Himalayan rivers.
• Water pollution is another issue as much of the groundwater is polluted by contaminants like arsenic and Fluoride. More than 400 million people are exposed to these pollutants. So, it is not just a quantity issue but also a water quality issue in India.

Significance

• Ground water has become an increasingly important natural resource catering to the fresh water requirements of various sectors in India.
• Ground water has steadily emerged as the backbone of India’s agriculture and drinking water security.
• Groundwater is the principal water source for a fourth of the world’s population. India is the world’s largest groundwater user; nearly 250 cubic kilometres was taken out in 2017.
• About 90% of this was used for irrigation, the rest went to towns and villages.

• India has about 27 per cent of its area under conservation and can comfortably reach the target of protecting 30 per cent of land and water by 2030, according to a senior delegate negotiating for the country at the COP15 biodiversity conference here in Canada.
• According to the J Justin Mohan, the Secretary of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), that India is already a member of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC), a group of 113 countries that aims at bringing 30 per cent of the geographical area under conservation by 2030, also known as 30X30 target.
• With our protective area network comprising reserved forests, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, mangroves, Ramsar sites, eco-sensitive zones, and community reserves, India has already achieved about 27 per cent of the area under conservation.
• India is focusing on more areas to be brought under conservation through biodiversity heritage sites and Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMS). India can comfortably achieve the targets of 30X30 in 2030.

What is 30×30 target?

• In the spirit of Stockholm+50, to build on 50 years of multilateral environmental action to achieve the urgent action needed to secure a healthy planet, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People is taking concrete steps towards moving into a new phase to support implementation of the global goal to protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and at least 30 per cent of the world’s ocean by 2030.
• The 30×30 target is a global target, which aims to halt the accelerating loss of species, and protect vital ecosystems that are the source of our economic security.
• The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which is now supported by nearly 100 countries, is evolving into a new phase to support implementation of the global goal.
• The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People was officially launched in January 2021 at the One Planet Summit (OPS) on biodiversity. The coalition is currently co-chaired by France and Costa Rica, with the United Kingdom as ocean co-chair.
• India joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People in October 2021.
• Adopting a global ‘30×30’ target within a new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is a key part of the solution to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
• The HAC for N&P will continue to work, together with all Parties, towards the adoption of this target at the CBD’s fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) later this year.
• It currently works closely with the Global Ocean Alliance on the 30×30 target, as well as with the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature.

Why 30×30?

• In order to address both the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis, there is growing scientific research that half of the planet must be kept in a natural state. Some papers have suggested that the number should be even higher, and some have suggested slightly lower.
• Despite this, experts agree that a scientifically credible and necessary interim goal is to achieve a minimum of 30 per cent protection by 2030.
• There is a wealth of scientific data documenting the need for increased spatial targets in order to help achieve goals related to biodiversity conservation, which help justify the 30×30 target both at a global level and a regional level.
• When the Aichi Targets were established in 2010, roughly 13 per cent of the world’s terrestrial areas were protected while very few protections existed in the ocean.
• Currently, an estimated 15 per cent of the world’s land and 7 per cent of the ocean are protected. In order to achieve the goal of protecting at least 30 per cent by 2030, we will need to double the current land protections and more than quadruple current ocean protections.

• Amitabh Sharma of Manali has been elected as an executive member of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
• Sharma’s appointment has delighted winter sports lovers in Manali, who are hopeful that he will play a crucial role in promoting winter sports in the region.
• Six-time Olympian and Arjuna awardee Shiva Keshavan of Manali has also been elected to the IOA Athletes Commission as part of a 10-member panel.
• Roop Chand Negi, Secretary General of Ski and Snowboard India, Ludar Thakur, president of HP Winter Games Association, Secretary Pintu Sood and Roshan Thakur, president of HP Ice Skating Association, today congratulated both Sharma and Keshavan for the achievement.