• The Prime Minister paid tribute to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia on his birthday (March 23, 1910 – October 12, 1967).
• Ram Manohar Lohia was a prominent figure in socialist politics and in the movement towards Indian independence.
• He was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party and editor of its mouthpiece Congress Socialist.
• He was a committed supporter of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle against British rule and participated in the Quit India movement in 1942.
• He held the position of secretary of the Foreign Department of the All-India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.), the Congress Party’s highest body.
• He formed the Socialist Party (Lohia) in 1956 and became editor of the journal, Mankind.
• In 1963 Lohia became a member of the Lok Sabha after a by-election in Farrukhabad (Lok Sabha constituency).
• He also won the Lok Sabha general election of 1967 from Kannauj (Lok Sabha constituency) but died a few months later.

• Long-tailed duck species have been spotted at iconic Wular Lake in Kashmir after 116 years.
  • Wular Lake (a Ramsar site), one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, is located at Haramuk Mountain’s base.
  • It has a total area of 200 sq km.
  • The river Jhelum is the primary supply of water for the lake.

About Long Tailed Ducks

• Long-tailed ducks are slim, colourful sea ducks with long tails.
• Habitat range: Occur all the way around Arctic and Antarctic.
• Prefer to spend winter near major bodies of water.
• It eats marine invertebrates like crabs & molluscs.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable.

• 100^th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter was celebrated on 23^rd March 2023.
• He was born in Sindh region of United India.
• He was a revolutionary and a freedom fighter during the Indian Independence Movement.
• Also known as Bhagat Singh of Sindh, he joined Swaraj Sena (a youth organization).
• He distributed anti-British literature and also joined the Quit India Movement in 1942.
• In 1942, he attempted to derail and loot the British train loaded with weapons to crush the ongoing Balochistan agitation.
  • But he was caught and hanged at the young age of 19 years.

• World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is observed on 24th March every year to spread awareness about the disease.
• India aims to make the nation TB-free by 2025, whereas the Global Target for TB elimination is 2030.
• Theme for 2023: Yes! We can end TB!
• Significance – On this day in 1882, Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB
• As per WHO World Health Organisation, every day, over 4100 people lose their lives to TB and about 28,000 people fall ill with this disease.
• India accounts for roughly 28% of TB cases in the world, as per the Global TB Report 2022.

About Tuberculosis

• Tuberculosis is an infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• The most common affected organs are lungs, pleura (lining around the lungs), lymph nodes, intestines, spine, and brain.
• It is an airborne infection that spreads through close contact with the infected, especially in densely populated spaces with poor ventilation
• Symptoms: Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
• Treatment: TB is a treatable and curable disease. It is treated with a standard 6-month course of 4 antimicrobial drugs that are provided with information, supervision and support to the patient by a health worker or trained volunteer.
• Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid and rifampicin, the 2 most powerful, first-line anti-TB drugs.
  • MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-line drugs such as Bedaquiline.
• Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a more serious form of MDR-TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs, often leaving patients without any further treatment options.

• Home Minister recently inaugurated the Vedic Portal and inaugurated a virtual museum — ‘Kala Vaibhav’ — built by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
• Portal aims to communicate message enshrined in the Vedas. It will help common people to have a general understanding about the Vedas.
• Portal will be a one-stop solution for the user, who would like to search any information regarding the Vedic heritage.
• Audio visual recording of four vedas –Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda have been uploaded on the portal.
• The portal has over 18 thousand mantras of the four vedas with a duration of over 550 hours.
  

About Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)

• Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts(IGNCA) was established in 1987 as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, as a centre for research, academic pursuit, and dissemination in the field of the arts.
• IGNCA has a trust (i.e. Board of Trustees), which meets regularly to give general direction about the Centre’s work.
• The Executive Committee, drawn from among the Trustees, functions under a Chairman.
• IGNCA is the nodal coordinating agency with support of Archeological Survey of India and National Museum as associate bodies for Project Mausam (Ministry of Culture).

• Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) Forest Department has relocated a sarus crane, U.P.’s State bird, from Mandka village in Amethi to Raebareli’s Samaspur Bird Sanctuary.

About Sarus Crane (Grus Antigone)

• It world’s tallest flying bird.
• The birds are predominantly gray, with long, pale red legs. Their naked head is red, as is their neck.
• The Sarus crane is known for its ability to live in association with humans, inhabiting open, cultivated, well watered plains, marshlands and jheels. These areas suit them well for foraging, roosting and nesting.
• These birds nest on the ground.
• They are found in open wetlands in South Asia, seasonally flooded Dipterocarpus forests in Southeast Asia, and Eucalyptus -dominated woodlands and grasslands in Australia.
• Global Distribution
  • Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Viet Nam, Bangladesh.
• In the Indian subcontinent, it is found in northern and central India, Terai Nepal and Pakistan.
• It was once a common site in the paddy fields of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Assam.
• Their population is now on the decline in India, a majority of which are in Uttar Pradesh.
• Threats-
  • Loss of habitat, due to drainage of wetlands, agricultural expansion and human development.
  • The use of pesticides, as well as collisions with wires
  • Also commonly targeted by humans hunting and egg collecting.
• Conservation Status
  • They are classified as vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red list of threatened species.
  • Listed in Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Samaspur Bird Sanctuary

• It is situated in the RohaniyaDevelopment block of the Rae Bareli district.
• It was created in 1987 with the aim of protection and conservation of the wetland with special emphasis to the local and migratory birds, conservation of their natural habitat including aquatic plants and animals.
• More than 250 varieties of birds can be seen here.

• The Centre has rejected the Rs 22-crore project submitted by the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department to the Urban Development Department for the revival of the dried Dal Lake here.
• The lake, located at a distance of about 11 km from Dharamsala in Tota Rani village near Naddi, though small, is a natural water body, vital for the ecosystem of the surrounding hills.
• The lake, a famous tourist spot located in the Naddi area, is located at a height of 1,775 metre and is surrounded by deodars. There is a Shiva temple on its banks. However, silt from the adjoining mountains had reduced its depth.

• It is Multilateral Air exercise held twice a year in United Kingdom
• This time Air Forces from India, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, USA, UK and Singapore participated.
• It aims to train both pilots and other air specialists in planning and executing complex airborne missions.

• Shaheed Diwas is celebrated across India on 23rd March since 1931 to remember the sacrifices made by three freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Rajguru – who died while leading India’s fight for freedom from British rule.
• The three freedom fighters were hanged by the British Government in 1931.
• The trio was found guilty of the murder of deputy police superintendent JP Saunders in 1928, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.

• Recently, Home Minister e-inaugurated Mata Sharda Devi Temple dedicated to Goddess Sharda Devi and announced that the government of India will attempt to build a Kartrapur-style corridor to Sharda Peeth as an important step in the direction of discovery of Sharda-civilization and promotion of Sharda-script.
• Sharda peeth is an abandoned Hindu temple and ancient center of learning.
• It is located at Neelum Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir across Teetwal village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district along the Line of Control.
• It is one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas and is considered to be the abode of the Hindu Goddess Saraswati.
• Sharda peeth is the most revered religious place for Kashmiri Pandits.