Why in News ?

Two species of monals were sighted together by local wildlife enthusiasts in upper Siang district of central Arunachal Pradesh. Monals is a colour pheasant.

About:

• One discovered species is While Himalayan monal also called as Lophophorus impejanus. It is widely distributed from Afghanistan to northeast India
• While, other is Sclater’s monal which is also called as Lophophorus sclateri. It is found in southern China and northern Myanmar. It is listed as vulnerable by IUCN (International Union of Conservation of Nature). It was sighted near Komji Lipik at 2,850 metres.
• Birds were sighted on Mount Eko Dumbing at 4,173 metres above mean sea level.

Monal bird

Monal bird belongs to genus Lophophorus of pheasant family called Phasianidae. Male birds have colourful, iridescent plumage with plump physique. They prefer like roots, bulbs and insects as diet. Males are polygamous during mating. They mate with several females. Females only mate with selected male and enter into monogamous relationship. They are listed as vulnerable due to habitat destruction and hunting.

Why in News ?
In QS World University Rankings 2020, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati was ranked at 41^st in ‘Research Citations per Faculty’ category.

About:

• IIT Guwahati has also obtained global 395th rank in World University Ranking.
• Its ranking has improved from 470 in QS World University Ranking 2021 to 395th to this edition as a result of strong improvement in ‘Citations per Faculty’ category.
• In this category, IIT Guwahati improved its score from 77.9 in 2021 to 94.8 in 2022.
• IIT Guwahati was ranked in 12 different subject categories with a break into 51-100 range in Petroleum Engineering.

Why in News ?

Union government has appointed Anup Chandra Pandey, as Election Commissioner. He is a retired IAS officer if 1984 batch from Uttar Pradesh cadre. He will serve the office for around three years and will retire in February 2024.

About:

• He has been appointed to position after retirement of former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora.
• Thus, Election Commission now restores to its full strength of three members. Other members of the panel are CEC Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
• It will now which will now oversee upcoming crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand in 2022.

Why in News ?

NITI Aayog and Piramal Foundation launched ‘Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaan’ to provide home-care support to asymptomatic covid-19 patients or patients with mild symptoms.

About:

• Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyan
• This campaign was launched in 112 Aspirational Districts to assist district administrations in providing home-care support to COVID-19 patients.
• It will provide covid home-care support to 20 lakh citizens.
• It is a part of special initiative in which civil societies, local leaders and volunteers will work with district administrations to address emerging problems across key focus areas of Aspirational Districts Programme.
• It will be led by district magistrates in partnership with over one thousand local NGOs. NGOs will enlist & train about one lakh volunteers to connect with patients through inbound and outbound calls.
• Campaign will also be supported by Piramal Foundation. It will work with district magistrates to support training of NGOs and volunteers.
• NGOs will mobilize local volunteers to provide home-care support to affected people and Volunteers will be trained to support 20 affected families by educating caretakers to follow COVID protocols, provide psychosocial support etc.

Significance of campaign

This is a significant initiative which will provide long-term support to India’s poorest communities in Aspirational Districts by addressing impact of COVID-19. It will play a key role in district preparedness to manage nearly 70 percent of COVID cases at home. Thus, it will reduce pressure on health system. It will also carry capacity building of citizens for correct usage of Oxygen concentrators supplied to these districts.

Why in News ?

Recently, the Union Minister of Panchayati Raj released a Model Panchayat Citizens Charter.

About:

• It is prepared by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR)in collaboration with National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
  • NIRDPR is an autonomous organisationunder the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• It has been developed for the delivery of the services across the 29 sectors, aligning actions with localised Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• It is expected that the Panchayats utilising this framework, and with the due approval of Gram Sabha, would draw up a Citizens Charter, detailing the different categories of services rendered to the citizen by the Panchayat, the conditions for such serviceand also the time limit for such service.
• It will help in making the citizens aware of their rightson the one hand, and to make the Panchayats and their elected representatives directly accountable to the people, on the other hand.

World Food Safety Day

Why in News ?

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually attended the World Food Safety Day (7^th June) celebrations organized by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

About:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant organizations.
• It was first celebrated in 2019, to strengthen the commitment to scale up food safety made by the Addis Ababa Conference and the Geneva Forum in 2019 under the umbrella of “The Future of Food Safety”.

Aim:

• To draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

2021 Theme:

• Safe Food for a Healthy Tomorrow.

Why in News ?

• Indian Navy will receive the first set of three of the 24 MH-60 ‘Romeo’ multi-role helicopters from the US in July this year. India and the US had inked a deal worth $2.4 billion (Rs 16,516 crore) in February 2020 to buy 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters from Lockheed Martin.
• The first batch of Indian pilots has reached the US for training on the helicopters that are scheduled to arrive in India in July 2022. The pilots would undergo training first in the Pensacola in Florida, US, and then in San Diego in California, US.

About:

• The MH-60 Romeo helicopters would be equipped with multi-mode radars and night vision devices, and they would be armed with Hellfire missiles, torpedoes, and precision-guided weaponry.
• The MH-60 helicopters have been designed to operate from cruisers, aircraft carriers destroyers, and frigates. MH-60 helicopters are built to target submarines, ships, and conduct search and rescue operations at sea. The MH-60 will replace Sea Kings.

Why in News ?

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed three types of cost-effective ventilators and an oxygen concentrator.

About:

• 3 ventilators have been named as Prana, VaU and Svasta while oxygen cylinder has been named as Shwaas.
• All three are user-friendly and fully automated along with touch-screen specifications. It meets all safety standards.
• VSSC will transfer the Technology for commercial production of these three ventilators and one oxygen concentrator.
• Ventilators are likely to be priced around ₹1 lakh as compared to mini conventional ventilators which are priced around ₹5 lakh.

About Prana, VaU, Svasta and Shwaas

• Prana ventilator will deliver respiratory gas to patient by automated compression of Ambu bag.
• Svasta ventilator will work without electric power.
• VaU is a low-cost ventilator similar to commercial high-end ventilators in use.
• Shwaas oxygen cylinder is capable of supplying 10 litres of enriched oxygen per minute and is adequate for two patients at a time. It enhances oxygen gas content by selectively separating nitrogen gas from ambient air through Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA). PSA is commonly used for production of oxygen from the air.

Why in News ?

• Weyan, a remote village in Bandipora district of Jammu & Kashmir became India’s first village to vaccinate all its adult population against COVID-19.

About:

• This successful vaccination drive in village was the result of healthcare workers.
• Village, located 28 kilometres away from Bandipora district, has an adult population of 362.
• In village, distance of 18 kilometres is required to cover by foot as there is no motorable road.
• Village was covered under ‘J & K model’, which is a 10-point strategy to vaccinate entire population.
• Under the model, first strategy is booth-level management which involves preparation of eligible population list. It is followed by “Vaccine on Wheels” under which health officials reaches out to people in far-flung areas to vaccinate them.

Why in News ?

Foreign Minister of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, was elected as new President of UN General Assembly (UNGA).

About:

Abdulla Shahid won against Afghanistan’s former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul with three-fourth majority. He fetched 143 votes while Rassoul got 48 votes out of 191 votes polled. Maldives will occupy office of President of UNGA for the first time.

Election to UNGA President:

Election to UNGA presidential post is held annually. It is rotated amongst various regional groupings. 76th UNGA session for 2021-22 was the turn of Asia-Pacific group.