Why in News?

• Recently, The Assam Cabinet approved the construction of elephant underpasses in 7 jumbo corridors between Azara and Kamakhya railway stations along the boundary of Deepor Beel.

About Deepor Beel:

• Deepor Beel is a permanent freshwater lake and also a bird sanctuary in Kamrup district, Assam.
• It is a riverine wetland, lying in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River, it lies to the south of the main river channel.
• It was designated as a Ramsar site in 2002 for sustaining a range of aquatic life forms besides 219 species of birds and it is the only Ramsar site in Assam.
• This lake is a staging site on migratory flyways and some of the largest concentrations of aquatic birds in Assam can be seen, especially in winter.
• Some globally threatened birds are supported, including Spot-billed Pelican, Lesser Greater Adjutant Stork  and Baer’s Pochard.
• The 50 fish species present provide livelihoods for many surrounding villages, and nymphaea nuts and flowers, as well as ornamental fish, medicinal plants, and seeds of the Giant water lily Euryale Ferox, provide major revenue sources in local markets.
• In 2021, the Environment Ministry notified it as an Eco-sensitive zone.

Why in News?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is recently chaired the national conference of Chief Secretaries in New Delhi.

About National Conference of Chief Secretaries:

• The three-day conference of Chief Secretaries began on January 5, 202
• The conference is focused on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the States.
• It will lay the ground for collaborative action for achieving a Viksit Bharat with a thrust on growth and job creation and inclusive human development.
• It will be another key step towards further boosting the partnership between the Centre and the State Governments.
• The discussion during the conference will be held on six identified themes.
• These are Thrust on MSMEs, Infrastructure, and Investments, Minimising Compliances, Women’s Empowerment, Health and Nutrition, and Skill Development.
• The first such conference of Chief Secretaries was held in Dharamshala in June 2022.

Why in News?

• The first-of-its-kind inclusive festival in India, ‘Purple Fest: Celebrating Diversity’ is set to begin on January 6, 2023 in Goa.

About Purple Fest:

• It aims to showcase how we can come together to create a welcoming and inclusive world for everyone.
• It is aimed at furthering the spirit of inclusion, the Purple Fest will feature a variety of exciting live performances, sporting events, grand exhibitions, immersive experience zones, accessible movie screenings, & discussions on vital subjects like inclusive education, tourism, employment, & independent living.
• Who is organising Purple Fest?
  • The Purple Fest will be hosted by the Goa State Commission for Persons with Disabilities in association with the Directorate of Social Welfare and Entertainment Society of Goa.
• When is Purple Fest Goa?
  • Purple Fest Goa will be held from January 6-8, 2023, in Panjim, Goa.

Why in News?

• Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur will launch the themes of the Y20 summit, logo, and website in New Delhi on January 6 in the curtain raiser event of Y20 Summit India.

About Y20 Summit:

• The Y20 is the official youth engagement group for the G20 (Group of 20), the forum for the world’s largest and most advanced economies.
• The Y20 is a process which brings together young leaders from across the globe, to discuss and debate global challenges and agree policy recommendations they would like to see G20 leaders take forward.
• The list of policy recommendations is known as a communiqué, which is announced publicly at the Y20 Summit and presented to world leaders as part of the official G20 summit.
• India is hosting the Y20 summit for the first time.
• In Youth 20 Engagement Group, India’s key focus is to bring young leaders from all across the globe together and discuss ideas for a better tomorrow and draft an agenda for action.
• The activities to be undertaken by Y20 during India’s presidency will focus on global youth leadership and partnership.
• In a run-up to the final Youth-20 Summit, for the next eight months, there will be Pre summits on the five Y20 themes along with various discussions and seminars at different Universities across the country.

Why in News?

• National Single Window System, NSWS Portal for various Central, State, and UT clearances has hit a new milestone by crossing 75 thousand approvals.

About National Single Window System (NSWS):

• The National Single Window System (NSWS) is a digital platform to guide you in identifying and applying for approvals according to your business requirements.
• The portal hosts applications for approvals from 26 Central Departments and 19 State Governments. These approvals can be applied through NSWS.
• NSWS is providing a single interface to apply for all G2B clearances from various Ministries and Departments as well as eliminating duplication of work by auto-populating form fields across different approvals based on single investor profile.
• The platform is built to serve as an advisory tool to identify approvals based on user input and is to be used for guidance purpose only.
• The NSWS initiative is an epitome of the ‘Whole of Government’ approach with different Central ministries/departments, states and UTs coming together to facilitate investor related clearances on a single portal, with transparency and accountability, enhancing ease of doing business exponentially.

• National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) in association with Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) organised Astro Tourism – A Sky Gazing event at Delhi’s India Gate.
• The event was inaugurated by Minister of State for Culture, Arjun Ram Meghwal. The program will continue for next two days with various activities.
• Meghwal said, the programme will help in developing scientific temper among the people.
• The Astro Tourism event includes various activities like Astro Talks by expert Astronomers, Exhibition on Astronomy, Storytelling related to celestial objects, Experience of using telescope to see craters of Moon, Astronomy Activities, Photographic Panel Exhibition, and Astro-Photography.
• This three-day program will be a great learning experience for children of all age groups

What is Astro tourism?

• According to John Barentine of the International Dark-Sky Association, “Astrotourism is any kind of tourism that involves the night sky or visiting facilities related to astronomy like observatories, and combining that with a broader sense of ecotourism where interaction with nature is what the visitor experience is about

More about Astro tourism:

• The Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh Webinar series titled “Astro- Tourism: The Next Frontier of Nature-based Tourism” held on 06^thFebruary, 2021 focused on promoting nature-based tourism which is emerging strongly in a post – COVID world, the major thrust of the webinar was sustainable and responsible travel.
• The webinar focused on exploring the evolution of Astro-tourism as one of the most authentic and environment-friendly ways of travelling along with its immense potential to bring positive social, economic and conservation benefits to remote communities.
• Recently, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Department of Science & Technology (DST)has announced the setting up of India’s first Dark Sky Reserve in Hanle, Ladakh.

Why in News?

• The sugarcane farmers in Haryana sat on dharnas outside the sugar mills across the State recently kicking off the agitation to seek hike in the crop’s support price.

About Fair and remunerative price (FRP):

• What is it?Fair and remunerative price (FRP) is the minimum price at which rate sugarcane is to be purchased by sugar mills from farmers.
• Who determines it?The FRP is fixed by Union government (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)) on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• Rules: The ‘FRP’ of sugarcane is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.
• Methodology:Recommended FRP is arrived at by taking into account various factors (cost of production, demand-supply situation, domestic & international prices, inter-crop price parity etc.
• Benefits:FRP assures margins to farmers, irrespective of whether sugar mills generate a profit or not.
• This will be uniformly applicable all over the country. Besides FRP, some states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and TN announce a State Advised Price, which is generally higher than the FRP.

Why in News?

• Recently, the Union government informed States that the decennial census exercise has been postponed till September 2023 and the date of freezing of administrative boundaries has been extended till June 30, 2023.

More about Census

• Census is a process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, evaluating, publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding the population.
• India will soon begin preparations for what is one of the world’s largest head-count exercises.
• The Census is the enumeration of the population of the country and it is being conducted at an interval of 10 years.
• It was first started under British Viceroy Lord Mayo in 1872.
• The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881.
• Who conducts this exercise?
  • The responsibility of conducting the decennial Census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• Structure of data:
  • In the Census, data is collected on demographic and various socio-economic parameters like education, SC/ST, religion, language, marriage, fertility, disability, occupation and migration of the individuals.
  • 2011 marks the first time biometric information was collected.

Difference between the National Population Register (NPR) and the Census 

• The process of NPR and Census will begin simultaneously, the two databases are not the same.
• The decennial census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on the different characteristics of the people of India.
• While NPR only contains demographic information, more details are required for the census like information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, and housing and household amenities among others.

National Population Register (NPR):

• NPR was first done in 2010 and was later updated in 2015 when it was linked with Aadhar.
• It already has a database of 119 crore residents.
• It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
• A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.
• The Registrar General India shall act as the “National Registration Authority”, it is also the country’s Census Commissioner.

• The wildlife wing of the state Forest Department has started using drones to stop farmers from cultivating land in and around the wildlife sanctuary in the Pong wetland in Kangra district.
• A large number of local farmers are cultivating the fertile land for the past several years despite a ban on human activities in the sanctuary area.
• Inquiries reveal that farmers of over 30 gram panchayats are cultivating the land on the banks of the Pong wetland for the past several years. The wildlife authorities, which are the custodian of the wetland, have been unable to check illegal cultivation.
• However, to curb the illegal activity, Raginald Royston, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Wildlife, Hamirpur, had recently convened a meeting with panchayat representatives and local farmers and conveyed to them that the cultivation of land in the sanctuary area violated Sections 29 and 31 of the Wildlife Protection Act. He said legal action would be taken against the offenders, who were still cultivating the land.
• According to the DFO Wildlife Department had put a stop on illegal cultivation around the sanctuary during the current rabi season. It had been able to check illegal cultivation through drones, frequent patrolling, organising awareness camps and by making public announcements.
• Meanwhile, farmers submitted a memorandum to the DFO, requesting him to allow them to cultivate the land, which is the source of their livelihood. The DFO assured them of exploring a long-term solution to the issue.
• The farmers had cultivated the land in and around the sanctuary, ploughed fields with tractors and were preparing to sow wheat crop but were stopped by the wildlife authorities.
• The Union Government had in 1999 notified the wetland area as a wildlife sanctuary under the Indian Wildlife Act, 1972. Farmers use tractors to sow crops, spray pesticides on them and use combine machines for harvesting. All these activities are considered dangerous and inimical to foreign migratory birds, which throng the wetland in a large number with the onset of winter.

• Kuldeep Singh Pathania, five-time Congress MLA from the Bhattiyat Assembly constituency in Chamba district, was unanimously elected Speaker of the 14th Vidhan Sabha of Himachal Pradesh.
• Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur had moved the proposal for Pathania’s election as Speaker.
• The BJP had decided not to field a candidate for the Speaker’s post and hence Pathania was elected unanimously with a voice vote.
• He is the 16th Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha.