Why in news?

• The researchers from China have developed a microwave machine ‘Relativistic Klystron Amplifier (RKA)’ to jam/destroy satellites or sensitive electronics in satellites in space. It will function as a high-powered laser weapon.
• The device can generate a wave burst of 5 Megawatts (MW) in the Ka-band. This band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum used for civil and military purposes.
• RKA can be mounted onto satellites for attacking enemy assets in space.
• Notably, China is currently denying that their RKA is a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW), which is a system that uses concentrated electromagnetic energy to destroy enemy equipment in a physical conflict.
• However, if RKA were built at scale, it could generate beams strong enough to go through metallic objects moving at high speeds.

Why in news?

• An independent impact assessment of Ujjwala programme has found that:
• PMUY helped in avoiding at least 1.8 million tonnes of PM2.5 emissions in 2019.
• Biomass burning in household cooking could be contributing 30-40% of outdoor air pollution.

About Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• It was launched in 2016 by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to provide LPG connection to the rural and deprived households that were using traditional fuels like wood, cow-dung cakes, or coal for cooking purposes.
• It aims to reduce premature deaths due to Indoor air pollution.
• Ujjwala 2.0 was launched in 2021, with an aim to provide deposit-free LPG connections to those low-income families who could not be covered under the earlier phase of PMUY.
• Eligibility Criteria for PMUY
• An adult woman belonging to a poor household and not having LPG connection in her household, will be eligible under UJJWALA 2.0.
• The beneficiaries should belong to any of the following categories:
• Eligible as per SECC 2011 list
• Belongs to SC/ST households, be a beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest dwellers, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, People residing in riverislands. ‘1- If she is not falling in the above 2 categories, then she can stake her claim to be a beneficiary under Poor household by submitting 14-point declaration.

About Indoor air pollution:

• It refers to chemical, biological and physical contamination of indoor air.
• WHO fact sheet on household air pollution due to indoor pollutants states that 3.8 million premature deaths occur annually.
• Indoor pollutants recognised: NOx, S02, ozone (03), CO, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PM, radon and microorganisms
• Impacts: Risks of stroke, ischaemic heart diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, lung cancer.

Other steps taken for Indoor air pollution:

• Unnat Chulha Abhiyan, National Biomass Cook stoves Initiative, Promoting solar cookers, Neerdhur etc.

Why in news?

• An ancient musical Instrument from Narasinghapettai, a village in Thanjavur, has been granted Geographical indication (GI) tag.
• It is highly complex musical instrument, dating back to the 13th century.
• Nagaswaram is made of ‘aacha maram; a tree known for its sturdy features.
• ‘Aacha’ wood, which is naturally water-resistant, is procured specifically from the Cauvery River basin for making the instrument.
• Artisans use drilling machines to make the nagaswarams that are played widely in functions like weddings and temple festivals.

Why in news?

• Technique involves luring of animals into an enclosure by chasing them through a funnel like fencing.
• Earlier, it was utilised to capture wild elephants for training and service.

Keoladeo National Park

• KNP, popularly known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, is located in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
• It was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO In 1985.
• It is designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1981.
• It is known as the breeding ground for the rare and elusive Siberian crane.

Why in news?

• This year marks the 10th anniversary of the report which evaluates levels of happiness by taking into account factors such as GDP, social support, personal freedom, and levels of corruption in each nation.
• The goal behind the report is to identify key determinants of well-being.
• The report 2022 ranked India 136th while Finland topped the charts for the fifth year in a row.
• The rankings of WHR 2022 use data from the Gallup World Poll surveys from 2019 to 2021.
• Among the bottom-five countries on the index are conflict-torn Afghanistan, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Botswana.
• Bhutan not listed in the 2022 WHR.
• Also, India was one among the countries that witnessed, over the past 10 years, a fall in life evaluations by more than a full point on the 0 to 10 scale.
• Criticism of the report: Happiness cannot be quantified based on a set of indices on a small area of the population and generalized.

United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network

• SDSN, set up in 2012, mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Climate Agreement.

Why in news?

• DCI and Cochin Shipyard signed an agreement to build India’s first domestically-manufactured high-capacity dredger.
• Dredging is the process of desiking river bodies, or removal of soil, mud, and dirt at the shores or the bottom.
• It will help in bringing down the logistic costs of cargos.
• DCI is a premier dredging organization catering to the dredging and allied services to Major Ports, Minor Ports, Indian Navy etc.
• Currently, 70% of our dredging requirement is for maintenance dredging (maintaining water bodies previously dredged), while the rest accounts for capital dredging (desilting for new projects).

Why in news?

• India at the UNSC advocated for the BTWC saying that it is important to ensure its implementation in letter and spirit.

About BTWC or Biological Weapons Convention (BWC):

• It was the first multilateral treaty categorically banning a class of weapon.
• The treaty prohibits the development, stockpile, production, or transfer of biological agents and toxins of “types and quantities” that have no justification for protective or peaceful use.
• Membership: 183 (including India) .

Why in news?

• Recent deaths of more than 95 Himalayan griffon vultures (Near Threatened) and a steppe eagle in Assam have been attributed to pesticide poisoning due to carbofuran.
• Habitat of Himalayan griffon vultures: western China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, east through the Himalayan mountain range in India, Nepal and Bhutan, to central China and Mongolia.

About Carbofuran:

• It is a pesticide that is widely used to control insects and nematodes on a variety of agricultural crops
• Its extensive use for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes has been directly responsible for the environmental contamination and human health issues.

Why in news?

• National Payments Commission of India (NPCI) has launched a new UPI service called UPI Lite.
• The feature will allow to make faster near real-time small value payments without an internet connection via the money added in the wallet.
• Upper limit of a payment: Rs 200.
• According to NPCI, at least 75 per cent of the total volume of retail transactions (including cash) in India are below Rs 100 transaction value.
• Further, 50 per cent of the total UPI transactions are having a transaction value of up to Rs 200. This is why NPCI will only allow offline transactions upto Rs 200.
• Total limit of UPI Lite balance: Rs 2,000.
• With UPI lite, users will have the option to scan any QR code and make the payment without internet.

Why in news?

• Since 2013, the International Day of Forests (IDF) has been observed annually on March 21 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests.
• The IDF 2022 was observed on the theme ‘Forests and sustainable production and consumption’.
• It is being organized by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with Governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests and other relevant organizations in the field.
• This year’s caters to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12e. Responsible Consumption and Production.
• On this day, Countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.
• The theme for each IDF is chosen by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.

Celebrations:

• FAO along with International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and IUFRO World Congress 2024, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) conducted a high-level panel discussion to celebrate IDF 2022.
• FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• IUFRO is a world-wide organization devoted to forest research and related sciences
• SLU is a governmental agency and international university. It is Sweden’s host organization of the IUFRO World Congress 2024 on 23-29 June in Stockholm, in collaboration with IUFRO and the Nordic and Baltic partner countries.

Some statistics about Forests:

• It is estimated that more than half the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) depends on ecosystem services, including those provided by forests.
• More than half the total world population is estimated to use non-timber forest product support their well-being and livelihoods.
• Forests cover nearly one-third of the Earth’s land surface and provide people with goods and help combat climate change, protect biodiversity, soils, rivers and reservoirs.
• The world has lost 420 million hectares of forest, an area bigger than India, since 1990, and deforestation continues at about 10 million hectares per year, mainly due to agricultural expansion.
• According to a UN estimate, more than 1.6 billion people are directly dependent on forests for food, medicines, shelter, energy, shelter, income etc.