• The Supreme Court has clarified that tribunals functioning under the strict parameters of their governing legislations cannot direct the government to make policy.

 WHAT ARE TRIBUNALS?

• Tribunals are judicial or quasi-judicial institutions established by law.
• They intend to provide a platform for faster adjudication as compared to traditional courts, as well as expertise on certain subject matters.
• History-
  • The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was established in 1941 as the first Tribunal in India.
    • The objective was to reduce the workload of courts, expedite adjudication of disputes, and build expertise on tax matters within the Tribunal.
  • The 42^nd amendment to the Constitution was passed which empowered Parliament to constitute-
    • Article 323-A– administrative tribunals (both at central and state level) for adjudication of matters related to recruitment and conditions of service of public servants, and
    • Article 323-B– other tribunals for adjudication of certain subject matters including industrial disputes, taxation (such as levy and collection of taxes), and foreign exchange.
  • Composition
    • The Supreme Court has noted that the members of a tribunal may be selected from departments of the central government as well as from various other fields of expertise.
    • The presence of expert members (technical members) along with judicial members is a key feature of tribunals which distinguishes them from traditional courts.
    • Only persons with a judicial background (such as Judges of the High Court and lawyers with the prescribed experience who are eligible for appointment as High Court Judges) may be considered for appointment as Judicial Members.

• Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport has achieved global recognition at the 2023 Prix Versailles, with its Terminal 2 (T2) earning the prestigious “Special Prize for an Interior” and being hailed as one of the world’s most beautiful airports.
• Renowned fashion designer Elie Saab, leading the Prix Versailles 2023 world judges panel, announced Bengaluru airport as the sole Indian recipient of this esteemed recognition, positioning it among the world’s elite airports.

ABOUT PRIX VERSAILLES AWARDS

• The Prix Versailles awards celebrate outstanding achievements in architecture and design on a global scale.
• The Prix Versailles, established in 2015, focuses on “intelligent sustainability” and looks at the ecological, cultural and social impacts of each project under consideration for a world title.
• At the intersection between multiple disciplines, the members of the Prix Versailles World Jury are tasked with awarding twenty-four World Titles from among the ninety-six projects named Selected Sites (in the categories of Airports, Campuses, Passenger Stations and Sports) or Continental Laureates (in the categories of Shops & Stores, Shopping Malls, Hotels and Restaurants).

• India recently sent relief material worth $1 million for the people affected by a volcanic eruption in Papua New Guinea.
• A major volcanic eruption of Mount Ulawun in Papua New Guinea resulted in widespread damage and destruction in the island nation.
• Papua New Guinea lies in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horse-shoe shaped band of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
  • It is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
• Mount Ulawun is Papua New Guinea most-active and tallest volcano, towering to a height of 2,334 meters (7,657 feet) above sea level.
  • Its last major eruption was in 2019.
  • It is a basaltic-to-andesitic stratovolcano.

• Chilla-i-Kalan is a Persian term that means ‘major cold’ and it refers to the 40-days of harsh winter in Kashmir.
• It starts from December 21 and ends on January 30.
• During the 40 day ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’, it is said earth goes dead, air and water are the coldest.
• It will be followed by a 20-day-long ‘Chila-i-Khurd’ or small cold (January 31 and February 19) and 10-day-long ‘Chilla-i-Bacha’ or baby cold (February 20 to March 2).

• National Farmer’s Day, or Kisan Diwas, is observed on December 23 in India to recognise farmers as the backbone of the country.
• The day commemorates the birth anniversary of India’s former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
• During his short time in office (1979-80), Singh launched various welfare initiatives focused on improving the well-being and empowerment of farmers.
• Recognising his contributions, the Government of India officially declared December 23 as National Farmer’s Day in 2001, acknowledging Singh’s remarkable transition from a farmer to the leader of the nation.
• The theme for Farmer’s Day 2023 is ‘Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Security and Resilience’.

• The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched Project PRAYAS to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration for Indian workers and students.
• The project, PRAYAS (Promoting Regular & Assisted Migration for Youth and Skilled Professionals), was launched in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.
• The objective of the project is to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration for aspiring Indian migrant workers and students through policy recommendations in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and state governments, thus strengthening international migration governance.

ABOUT IOM

• IOM is a UN agency dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration.
• Established- 1951
• Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
• IOM works in four broad areas of migration management—Migration and development, facilitating migration, regulating migration, and Forced migration.
• It has 175 member states including India.

• In an unusual sighting, the white-bellied sea eagle, an enormous raptor common to coastal habitats, was spotted in Mukkombu, Tiruchi, Tamil nadu.

ABOUT WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE (ICTHYOPHAGA LEUCOGASTER)

• The white-bellied sea eagle is a large diurnal bird of prey.
• It has a body length of 75-85 cm (29.5-33 in) and a wingspan of 178–218 cm (70-85.8 in).
• The raptor is found in India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, southern China, the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania, among other countries.
• They live primarily in terrestrial habitats near the ocean, especially coasts, islands, and estuaries, but they also live in forested areas with access to smaller bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds, and rivers.
• As its name implies, the bird of prey is rarely seen away from the seashore, and as a result, has a diet of aquatic species like fish, eels, crustaceans and sea snakes.
• It is also known to steal or pirate food from other raptors, and occasionally feed on carrions.
• IUCN red list status- ‘least-concern’

• The Union Home Ministry has approved the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the Parliament complex.

ABOUT CISF

• CISF is an armed force of the Union established under Central Industrial Security Force Act, 1968, after the recommendation of the Justice Mukherjee Commission.
• CISF has 74 other formations including 12 reserve battalions and 08 training institutes.
• CISF provides security to the premises staff along with the security of property and establishments.
• CISF is providing security to the strategic establishment, including the Department of Space, the Department of Atomic Energy, the Airports, the Delhi Metro, the ports, the historical monuments and the basic areas of Indian economy such as petroleum and natural gas, electricity, coal, steel and mining.
• Presently, CISF is also providing security to the protected persons classified as Z Plus, Z, X, Y.
• CISF is the only force with a customized and dedicated fire wing.

• ISRO has been awarded the 2023 Leif Erikson Lunar Prize by the Exploration Museum in Iceland’s Husavik for its successful Chandrayaan-3 mission.
• The award celebrates the first soft-landing of a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and “ISRO’s indomitable spirit in advancing lunar exploration and contributing to understanding celestial mysteries,”.

ABOUT LEIF ERIKSON AWARD

• The Leif Erikson Award is an annual prize given by the Exploration Museum since 2015.
• It is named after Leif Erikson — a Norse explorer thought to be the first European to set foot on continental America, almost four centuries before the expedition of Christopher Columbus.

ABOUT ISRO

• ISRO, previously the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), was set up in 1962.
• Later, on August 15, 1969, ISRO superseded INCOSPAR and was subsequently brought under Dept of Space in 1972.
• It is the national space agency of India.
• It operates as the primary research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India while the Chairman of ISRO also acts as the executive of DoS.
• Headquarters- Bengaluru

ABOUT CHANDRAYAAN-3

• Chandrayaan-3 was India’s third mission to the moon, and the second attempt to carry out a soft-landing on the lunar surface.
• ISRO managed to place the Vikram lander on the lunar surface and roll out the robotic rover, Pragyaan.
• Both instruments collected data and beamed it back to Earth for 15 days — before being put to sleep as the lunar night set in.
• Additionally, the Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload — which is meant to observe the Earth — operated from within the propulsion module of the spacecraft.

• There are a total of 10 “black tigers” in India, all exclusively found in Odisha’s Similipal TR.
• These “melanistic tigers” have been documented only in the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha.
• As per the 2022 cycle of the pan-India tiger estimation exercise, the Similipal Tiger Reserve has 16 tigers, out of which 10 exhibit melanism.
• The coat colouration and patterning causing the wild cats to appear dark stem from a single mutation in the Transmembrane Aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep) gene.
• Tigers in the Similipal Tiger Reserve form an isolated population in eastern India, with very limited gene flow between them and other tiger populations.
• Such isolated and inbred populations are highly susceptible to extinction, even over short periods.

ABOUT SIMILIPAL TIGER RESERVE

• STR is located within the Mayurbhanj District, Odisha.
• It was declared a ‘Tiger Reserve’ in the year 1956 and included under the national conservation programme ‘Project Tiger’ in 1973.
• The STR was included as a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO in the year 2009.
• Flora– Northern tropical moist deciduous with some semi-evergreen patches. About 1078 species of plants, including 94 species of orchids, are found here.
• Tribes- Kolha, Santhala, Bhumija, Bhatudi, Gondas, Khadia, Mankadia and Sahara.
• Fauna: Leopard, Gaur, Elephant, Langur, Barking and Spotted Deer, Sloth Bear Mongoose, Flying Squirrel, Porcupine, Turtle, Monitor Lizard, Python, Sambar, Pangolin etc.
• It is the only landscape in the world that is home to melanistic tigers.
• The Similipal Tiger Reserve has been identified as a distinct conservation cluster due to its genetic composition and provided a financial support of ₹ 32.75 crore for wildlife conservation, habitat management, human resource, and infrastructure development under the centrally sponsored scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH).