Why in news?

• UNGA adopted a resolution suspending Russia from the UNHRC over its war in Ukraine.
• UNGA, by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, may suspend the rights of membership in the Council of a member of the Council.
  • Abstentions do not count and the resolution requires two-thirds of yes/no votes to be adopted.
• Before Russia, Libya was the last member to be suspended in 2011.
• India abstained from voting on resolution.
• Possible Implications of the decision
  • Strong and United International Response to further increase pressure on Russia and on countries which are neutral or aligned with Russia.
  • Risk of aggravating the divisions further to intensify the conflict and jeopardise peace efforts.
• The UNHRC, at Geneva, Switzerland, is an inter-governmental body within United Nations system, which is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.
  • Consists of 47 member states, elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of members of UNGA.
  • It replaced the former UN Commission on Human Rights. It was created by UNGA in 2006.

Why in news?

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes has amended the Income Tax rules to allow infrastructure debt funds (IDFs) to issue zero-coupon bonds.
• It will help in the mobilization of resources in a tax-efficient manner.
• A zero-coupon bond is a debt security instrument that does not pay interest.
• It is traded at deep discounts, offering full face value (par) profits at maturity. The difference between the purchase price of a zero-coupon bond and the par value indicates the investor’s return.
• Its value is inversely related to the rise in the interest rates.

Why in news?

• After decline in symptomatic Covid-19, INSACOG has started surveillance of sewage water samples across 55 sites to detect Sars-CoV-2 presence.
• INSACOG is a consortium of 38 laboratories established in 2020 to assess SARS-CoV-2 genomic variants from Indian patients.
• It was jointly established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
• It helps to correlate whole genomics sequencing (WGS) data with clinical/epidemiological data for advance preparedness for public health interventions.

Why in news?

• Google Pay has launched a new feature, ‘Tap to pay for UPI’ which makes use of NFCT.
• NFC is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that allows NFC-enabled devices to communicate with each other and transfer information quickly and easily with a single touch.
• NFC transmits data through electromagnetic radio fields, to enable communication between two devices.
• NFC-enabled devices must be either physically touching or within a few centimetres from each other for data transfer to occur.
• Nokia released the first NFC-enabled phone in 2007.

Why in news?

• Iga Natalia Swiatek of Poland wins Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Masters 1000 – Miami Open 2022, held in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States, from Mar 21 to Apr 3, 2022. Swiatek defeated Naomi Osaka of Japan in the Finals and also claimed WTA Women’s World Number 1 ranking. She also received the prize money of 646,110 United States Dollar (USD).
• The Miami Open 2022 is played in Hard courts Stadium and it was presented by ITAU,one of the largest banks in the world.
• Swiatek also continues her 17 consecutive winning streak dating back to her championship win at the Qatar Total Energies Open in February 2022, where she defeated Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
• She also became the first woman to win the opening three WTA 1000 tournaments in a season such as BNP Paribas Open – 2022, Qatar Total Energies Open – 2022 and Miami Open 2022.

Men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Masters 1000 – Miami Open 2022:

• Carlos Alcaraz Garfia of Spain wins ATP Masters 1000 – Miami Open 2022 by defeating World No. 8 Casper Ruud in the men’s singles final by the sets (7-5, 6-4).
• The 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz replaced Novak Djokovic as the youngest champion at the Masters 1000 tournament after the victory.
• He also became the first man from Spain to win the Masters 1000 tournament. He also became the first man from Spain to win the Miami Open title.

Why in news?

• In accordance with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III report released recently , titled ‘Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of climate change, global emissions can be halved by 2030 with major transitions in the energy sector.
• There is a need for immediate mitigation actions to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) otherwise it will be beyond reach.
• The report released worldwide was approved by 195 member governments of the IPCC through a virtual approval session that started on March 21. It is the third installment of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report (AR6), which will be completed in 2022.

Highlights from Report:

• The report cautioned that limiting warming to around 1.5°C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest, and be reduced by 43% by 2030. Methane also needs to be reduced by about a third.
• The global temperature will stabilize when carbon dioxide emissions reach net zero.
• For 1.5°C (2.7°F) net zero carbon dioxide emissions to be achieved globally in the early 2050s;
• For 2°C (3.6°F), it is to be achieved in the early 2070s.
• In 2010-2019, the average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history.
• The steps to limit global warming include substantial reduction in fossil fuel use, widespread electrification, improved energy efficiency, and use of alternative fuels (such as hydrogen).
• The implementation of effective policies, regulations, market instruments, infrastructure and technology can reduce 40-70% greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and also improve health and well-being.

About IPCC

• IPCC is the United Nations (UN) body for assessing the science related to climate change.
• It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.
• It was established by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988. It has three working groups:
  • Working Group I– Deals with the physical science basis of climate change; Working Group II- Deals with impacts, adaptation and vulnerability;
  • Working Group II– Deals with the mitigation of climate change.
  • Working Group III report provides an updated global assessment of climate change mitigation progress and pledges, and examines the sources of global emissions.
    • AR6 Working Group III includes 278 authors from 65 countries.

Why in news?

• According to the latest data (5 April 2022) released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Chhattisgarh has been ranked first among states with the lowest unemployment rate of 0.6 percent in the country.
• The overall Unemployment rate in India has decreased to 7.6 percent (March 2022) from 8.10 percent in February 2022.
• As per the data, Haryana has the highest unemployment rate at 26.7 per cent.

Reasons for Decline:

• The Chhattisgarh government had adopted a new model of development on lines of Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of ‘Gram Swaraj’ envisaging inclusive development of the state and launched various schemes including Suraji Gaon Yojana, Narva-Garva-Ghurva-Bari programme, Godhan Nyay Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana etc. for boosting the rural economy.
• The state government has also set up the ‘Chhattisgarh Employment Mission’ intending to create around 15 lakh new employment opportunities in the next five years.

States with Highest Unemployment rate

• Haryana – 26.7%
• Rajasthan- 25%
• Jammu and Kashmir- 25%
• Jharkhand- 14.5%

States with Lowest Unemployment rate

• Chhattisgarh- 0.6%
• Madhya Pradesh- 1.4%
• Karnataka- 1.8%
• Gujarat- 1.8%

Why in news?

• The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has launched a pilot project in Uttarakhand to implement the One Health Framework by the One Health Support Unit.

• The objective of the One Health Support Unit is to develop a One Health roadmap based on the experience gained from the pilot project’s implementation.
• An Inter-ministerial One Health committee has also been established that will help in the One Health Support Unit’s implementation.
• A Project Steering Committee (PSC) has also been constituted. Based on this committee’s recommendations, the district and state level one health committees need to be constituted.

• Under this pilot project, activities like data collection on disease outbreaks, management, prevalence, and development of surveillance plans, laboratories network integration, development and implementation of communication strategies across various sectors and data integration of the National Digital Livestock Mission’s digital architecture will be undertaken.
• The “One Health India” program will be working with various stakeholders from across various sectors to improve human health, livestock health, environmental health, and wildlife health through the usage of finance and technology.

Why in news?

• Sarhul is the festival of the New Year celebrated in the state of Jharkhand by the tribal communities as part of the local Sarna religion. It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Chaitra, three days after the appearance of the new moon.
• It is also a celebration of the beginning of spring. The word ”Sarhul” is connected with tree worship. It is a festival where nature is venerated. In the year 2022, it falls on 04 April, Monday.

About the festival:

• Sarhul is celebrated by many tribes in Jharkhand, but most notably the Munda, Ho, and Oraon tribes. While nature veneration is an important aspect of the festival, there are also many cultural programmes that are enjoyed along with it.
• Among these many cultural events is “Baa Porob”, the festival of flowers and the worship of the Sal Tree as well as a special Sarhul dance.
• The festivities around Sarhul are made even more special with the many festive delicacies that are cooked and enjoyed, such as the rice dish called ”handia”’, a baked or dried fish dish called ”fish sukha”.

Why in news?

• The 2021 Saraswati Samman is given to Professor Ramdarsh Mishra for his Hindi Poetry collection ‘Mein to Yahan Hun:
• Instituted in 1991 by KK Birla Foundation, Saraswati Samman is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the country.
• The eligible languages of work for the award are 22 Scheduled Languages of India.
• It carries a citation, a plaque, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh.