• India has become net copper importer for fifth year in a row.
  • India used to be a net exporter until FY18.
• India imported 2,75,341 tonnes of copper in the previous financial year. These include both refined and finished copper.
  • Refined copper is the end product where impurities are removed from copper ore.
  • Finished copper refers to copper that has been processed and shaped into its final form such as wires, tubes, pipes, sheets
• Reasons for increased demand–
  • government’s thrust on infrastructure
  • strong rebound in economic activities in sectors like real estate, consumer durables and electric vehicle manufacturing.
• Domestic manufacturing
  • India’s total refined copper production capacity is about 7.85-lakh tonnes. Out of this
    • Hindalco has about 5-lakh tonne capacity.
    • Hindustan Copper roughly has a capacity of about 70,000 tonnes.
    • Sterlite Copper has 4 lakh tonnes per annum (LTPA) capacity (but it is not operational since 2018).

About Copper

• Copper is 3^rd most used industrial metal after steel and aluminium.
• It is resistant to corrosion and does not rust.
• It is a good electrical conductor and is
• Uses- automotive and defence industries, as well as in the electrical industry for the manufacture of wires, electric motors, transformers, and generators.
• Top copper producing countries (as of 2022): Chile, Peru, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Largest copper mines in India: Malanjkhand (MP), Khetri and Kolihan(Rajasthan)

• A new Jupiter-size exoplanet with the highest density known till this date (~14 g/cm3) and mass 13 times than that of Jupiter, has been discovered by an international team of scientists led by Prof. Abhijit Chakraborty at the Exoplanet Research Group of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
• ISRO said that the discovery of this massive exoplanet was made using the indigenously made PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search spectrograph (PARAS) at the 2 m telescope of PRL at its Gurushikhar Observatory in Mt. Abu by measuring the mass of the planet precisely.
• The newly discovered exoplanet is found around the star called TOI4603 or HD 245134 and is located 731 light years away.
  • It orbits very close to its host star at a distance less than 1/10th the distance between our Sun and Earth and completes one revolution in mere 24 days
• NASA’s The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) initially declared TOI4603 as a possible candidate to host a secondary body of unknown nature.
• The planet falls into the transition mass range of massive giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfs with masses ranging from 11 to 16 times the mass of Jupiter.
  • Less than five exoplanets are currently known in this mass range so far.

ABOUT EXOPLANETS

• An exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system.
• Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit galactic center and are untethered to any star.
• Compositions of exoplanets range from very rocky (like Earth) to very gas-rich (like Jupiter and Saturn).

• The three-day district-level Piplu fair in Kutlehar Assembly of Una was inaugurated.
• The fair is organised on the occasion of Nirjala Ekadashi.
• Devotees from Una, Hamirpur, Kangra and Bilaspur district pay reverence to Nar Singh deity at the temple located in Piplu village.
• They also offer a part of their agriculture produce to the deity, seeking blessings for good health and prosperity.

• Justice Mamidanna Satya Ratna Sri Ramachandra Rao was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court
• Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla administered him the oath of office at the Raj Bhawan here in the presence of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
• The Chief Secretary conducted the proceedings of the oath-taking ceremony and read out the Warrant of Appointment issued by the President of India.

• Goa got its statehood on May 30^th, 1987.
• On this day Goa was declared a state separate from Daman and Diu.
• 2023 marks the 36^th anniversary of statehood of Goa.
• After it received its statehood, Panaji was given the status of the capital of Goa and Konkani language became the official language.

• World No Tobacco Day is annually observed on May 31, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote awareness about the detrimental consequences of tobacco usage and advocate for policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption.
• The primary goal of this initiative is to educate the public about the health hazards associated with tobacco use, encompassing both smoking and smokeless tobacco products.
• Theme for World No Tobacco Day 2023 is “We need food, not tobacco”.
• The 2023 global campaign aims to raise awareness about alternative crop production and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers and encourage them to grow sustainable, nutritious crops.

• After announcing that that COVID-19 was no longer a global health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that “Disease X” can lead to an “even deadlier” pandemic.

ABOUT DISEASE X

• Disease X is not real yet and has not been identified in any human beings.
• It represents a hypothetical, unknown pathogen that could cause a future epidemic.
• The name was adopted by the WHO in 2018 on their shortlist of blueprint priority diseases to ensure that their planning was sufficiently flexible to adapt to an unknown pathogen.
• Disease X could also be zoonotic, meaning that it could be caused by germs jumping from animals to humans.

PRIORITY LIST

• Apart from Disease X, Covid-19, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, MERS-CoV and SARS, Nipah and henipaviral diseases, Rift Valley fever and Zika are other diseases on WHO’s priority diseases list.

• Girish Chandra Murmu, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, has been re-elected as the External Auditor of the World Health Organization (WHO) for a four-year term from 2024 to 2027.
  • The re-election took place during the 76^th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
• He was also elected as the External Auditor for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in March 2023.
• Additionally, the CAG of India holds the position of External Auditor for other international organizations like Food and Agriculture Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, and Inter-Parliamentary Union.
• Function of the External Auditor of the WHO- To conduct independent audits and provide assurance on the financial statements, compliance with regulations, effectiveness of operations, and risk management within the organization.

• As many as 35 hatchlings of the gharial, a crocodile species, were spotted at the Satkosia gorge by the Mahanadi River in eastern Odisha recently.
• The gorge is located within the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, which is designated as a United Nations Protected area.
  • It is also designated as a Ramsar site in 2021.
• Odisha houses all three species of crocodiles- Gharial, Mugger and Saltwater

ABOUT GHARIALS

• Scientific name- Gavialis gangeticus
• They are genetically weaker than saltwater crocodiles and muggers.
• Gharials are found majorly in Chambal River, a tributary of Yamuna River.
• Threats– Alteration of habitat, depletion of prey base, poaching for use of body parts etc .
• Protection status
  • IUCN red list status: Critically Endangered
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972- Schedule 1

• Amid ongoing clashes in Manipur, hundreds of women representing the Hmar, Kuki, Mizo, and Zomi tribes gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and demanded fair and decisive action from the central government to resolve the ongoing ethnic tensions in Manipur.

BACKGROUND

• Tribal clashes first broke out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
• Demographically, Meiteis made up around 53% of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.
• Tribals Nagas and Kukis make up around 40% of the population and live in the hill districts.