WHY IN NEWS?

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered all encroachments to be removed from Gujarat’s Banni grasslands within six months.

About Banni Grassland:

Location:

• Banni is the largest grassland of Asia situated near the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
• It is spread over 2,618 kilometres and accounts for almost 45% of the pastures in Gujarat.

Ecosystem and Vegetation:

• Two ecosystems, wetlands and grasslands, are mixed side by side in Banni.
• Vegetation in Banni is sparse and highly dependent on rainfall.
  • Banni grasslands, traditionally, were managed following a system of rotational grazing.
• Banni is dominated by low-growing plants, forbs and graminoids, many of which are halophiles (salt tolerant), as well as scattered tree cover and scrub.
• The area is rich in flora and fauna, with 192 species of plants, 262 species of birds, several species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

WHY IN NEWS?

• First phase of India’s first mission mode e-governance project, MCA21 was launched on May 24, 2021 by Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Anurag Thakur. This version of MCA21 is data analytics driven.

About MCA21 Version 3.0

• MCA21 version 3.0 was highlighted during budget 2021-2022. This project makes use of new technologies to streamline corporate compliance and experiences of stakeholders. It will be implemented in two phases for which second and third phase will be launched in October 2021. First phase of the project consists of new email services for MCA officers, revamped website, eBook and e Consultation.

Aim of the Project

Version 3.0 of MCA 21 was launched to:

• Promote Ease of Doing Business,
• Strengthen the enforcement,
• Facilitate seamless integration and
• Exchange data among regulators and
• Enhance user experience.

What is MCA21?

It is an online portal of corporate affairs ministry. Launched in 2006, the portal has made all the information related to company, accessible to stakeholders and general public.

WHY IN NEWS?

• India has exported first consignment of GI-certified Shahi Litchi from Bihar to United Kingdom by air route.

What is GI Tag?

• Geographical indication (GI) tag is given to an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product such as handicraft and industrial goods which are originating from definite geographical territory. The tag provides an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially linked to place of its origin. It also helps growers to get premium price of product as no other producer can misuse name to sale similar goods.

Registered GIs

• Darjeeling tea, Kangra paintings, Tirupati laddu, Nagpur orange and Kashmir pashmina are some of the examples of registered GIs in India.

About Shahi Litchi

• Shahi litchi is an agricultural product from Bihar which got the GI Tag in 2018. It was the fourth agricultural product to get GI certification from Bihar in 2018. Other 3 products from Bihar with GI Tag are Magahi Paan, Jardalu mango and Katarni rice. GI registration for Shahi Litchi registered with Muzaffarpur-based Litchi Growers Association of Bihar.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chairman of WHO Executive Board, Dr Harsh Vardhan, chaired 74th World Health Assembly in virtual mode.

About World Health Assembly

• World Health assembly is key decision-making body of WHO. Assembly is attended by delegations from Member States of WHO. It focuses on specific health agenda, prepared by Executive Board. Primary functions of the assembly include- determining policies of Organization, appointing Director-General, supervising financial policies, and reviewing & approving proposed programme budget. Health Assembly is held in Geneva, Switzerland annually.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Recently the 12^thAnnual Day of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) was observed on 20th May.

About:

Statutory Body:

• Competition Commission of India is a statutory bodyresponsible for enforcing the objectives of the Competition Act, 2002.
• CCIwas established by the Central Government with effect from 14^th October 2003, but it became fully functional on 20^th May, 2009.

Composition:

• A Chairpersonand 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.

Formation of CCI:

• The CCIwas established under the provisions of the Competition act 2002
• The Competition Act, 2007, was enacted after amending Competition Act, 2002, that led to the establishment of the CCI and the Competition Appellate Tribunal.
• The government replaced the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT)with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Recently, the United Arab Emirates announced an offer to host the 28^thsession of Conference of Parties (COP 28) to the UNFCCC in Abu Dhabi in 2023.
• COP 26 was postponed in 2020 and will take place in Glasgow, UK in November 2021.

About UNFCCC:
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development also known as the Earth Summit, the Rio Summit or the Rio Conference.

• India is among the select few countries to have hosted the COP of all three Rio conventions on climate change (UNFCCC), biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity) and land (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification).

• The UNFCCC entered into force on 21^stMarch 1994, and has been ratified by 197 countries.
• It is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
• The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. It is located in Bonn, Germany.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Nuclear Scientist and former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, SriKumar Banerjee passed away at 75 on May 23, 2021 due to heart attack after he recovered from COVID-19.

Who was Srikumar Banerjee?

• He was a veteran nuclear scientist who led nuclear establishment when India and USA signed their nuclear deal and legislated Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill.

Background

• The leading global expert in nuclear processes joined Metallurgy department of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1968 after completing B. Tech in metallurgy from IIT, Kharagpur. In 1974, he was awarded his Ph. D for his work at BARC. He was the director of BARC from 2004 to 2010. He had wide knowledge of usage of specialized alloys in nuclear processes.

His contributions in Atomic energy

• Srikumar had headed establishment of atomic energy in India, when political and expert fraternity was in doubt that India will lose its nuclear autonomy if it signed 123 Pact or the US – India Civil Nuclear Agreement, with US. But he was convinced that India would gain.

Awards

• He was conferred “Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for science and technology” in 1989 and in 2005 he was conferred Padma Shri award.

• According to National Hurricane Centre, Miami, subtropical storm Ana is drifting northeast across the Atlantic Ocean after causing rain to Bermuda. Thus, first named Atlantic storm will cause no damage to land and will dissipate soon.

About Atlantic hurricane:

• Atlantic hurricane, also called as tropical storm, is a tropical cyclone forming in Atlantic Ocean. It forms usually in months of June and November. Hurricane is different from cyclone or typhoon based on their location, only.  Hurricane storm occurs in Atlantic Ocean and north-eastern Pacific Ocean, typhoon in north-western Pacific Ocean while cyclone in South Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean.

WHY IN NEWS?

• Government of Democratic Republic of Congo has launched an evacuation plan for “eastern city of Goma” after volcano Mount Nyiragongo erupted.

About Mount Nyiragongo:

• It is one of the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes. It has an elevation of 3,470 m in Virunga Mountains which are associated with Albertine Rift. Volcano is located inside Virunga National Park, in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Main crater of volcano is about two kilometres wide and is comprises of lava lake. The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls – one at about 3,175 m (10,417 ft) and a lower one at about 2,975 m (9,760 ft). Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira are together responsible for 40 percent of historical volcanic eruptions in Africa.

WHY IN NEWS?

• World Turtle Day was celebrated on May 23, 2021. It is observed to raise awareness among people about turtle & tortoise and their habitats. Celebration of the day is sponsored by a non-profit organisation “American Tortoise Rescue (ATR)” since 2000.
• Theme for 2021 is- ‘Turtle Rocks!’

Aim of World Turtle Day

• World Turtle Day is celebrated every year on May 23 with the aim of bringing attention to turtles and tortoise besides increasing knowledge and respect for them. This day also encourages human action to help the turtles and tortoise survive and thrive. The day is considered among most effective of species awareness days which increases search for information on turtles online.