About:

Tamil Nadu- State level committee:

• The committee, which has a two-year tenure, will take steps for monitoring the conservation and recovery of existing vulture sites and mapping of vulture populations across the State for creating safe zones.
• It will work to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs (Diclofenac), the main reason for vulture fatalities.
• Prevention of poisoning of cattle carcasses, the principal food of vultures, is also one of the responsibilities of the newly formed committee.

In Tamil Nadu, four species of vultures are found —

• the Oriental white-backed vulture,
• the long-billed vulture,
• the red-headed vulture, and
• the Egyptian vulture.

• The first three are residents and can be found in the landscapes of the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam.
• There is evidence of Egyptian vulture breeding only at one site in Dharmapuri.

Vulture population:

• 96% of India’s vulture population declined between 1993 and 2003.
• Therefore, the Central government put into place two action plans to protect the species at the national level — the first in 2006 and the second, ongoing plan for 2020-2025.
• One of the important action points in this nationwide plan is the formation of State-level committees to save the critically endangered population of vultures.

Vulture species in India:

• 9 species of vultures are found in India.
• Of these nine species, 4 are listed as Critically Endangered species of Vultures and one as endangered species in IUCN red list of endangered species.

Species of Vultures found in India and their Conservation Status:

• Indian Vulture or Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus)-Critically Endangered
• Indian White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)-Critically Endangered
• Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogypscalvus)– Critically Endangered
• Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)- Critically Endangered
• Egyptian Vulture (Neophronpercnopterus)- Endangered
• Cincerous Vulture (Aegypiusmonachus)- Near Threatened
• Bearded Vulture (Gypaetusbarbatus)-Near Threatened
• Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayansis)-Near Threatened
• Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)- Least Concern

• If realised, Cyclone Sitrang will be the first cyclone to develop in the Bay of Bengal in October since 2018, and will be called Sitrang, as named by Thailand. The last October cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was Titli in 2018.

About:

• The months of October-November and May-June see storms of severe intensity develop in the North Indian Ocean — comprising the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea — with an average of five developing in a calendar year.
• In the past 131 years, October saw 61 storms develop in the Bay of Bengal, according to the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC).
• The east coast, notably Odisha, has faced many of its severest storms in October, including the Super Cyclone of 1999.

Formation:

• After the withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon, there is a rise in ocean heating, which leads to rise in sea surface temperature over the Bay of Bengal.
• The atmospheric moisture availability over the ocean region, too, is higher.
• So, when remnant systems from the South China Sea reach the Bay of Bengal, they get conducive conditions, aiding the formation and intensification of cyclones in October.
• In some years, ocean-atmospheric factors hinder this phenomenon.
• For instance, in 2020, weak La Nina conditions along the equatorial Pacific Ocean prevented a cyclonic formation near India’s coasts.

Cyclones in the Arabian Sea:

• In comparison with the Bay of Bengal, only 32 storms have developed in the Arabian Sea in October since 1891.
• Climatologically too, the IMD states that of the five storms formed in the North Indian Ocean in a calendar year, four are in the Bay of Bengal and one in Arabian Sea.

• Country’s first ‘Migration Monitoring System’, which provides updated information on migrant pregnant women, lactating mothers and children instantly on a single system, was inaugurated in Mumbai.
• Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha launched the system developed by Department of Women and Child Development.
• The Department has created a website-based Migration Tracking System (MTS) to track the movements of vulnerable seasonal migrant beneficiaries through individual unique identification numbers.
• He said that due to this system, the information of seasonal migrant women and children will be available immediately.
• He continued saying that this will make it easier for the beneficiaries to get the benefits of the government schemes.
• The system is available on the website  https://mahamts.in/login and MahaMTS App is available in Google Play Store.

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch Chandrayaan-3, its third mission to the moon, in June 2023.
• ISRO has made Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) more robust so that it does not have any problems.
• The space agency has also lined up the first test flight of the ‘abort mission’ for Gaganyaan, the country’s first human spaceflight, early next year.
• Somnath said, ISRO also plans to fly Indian astronauts into orbit by the end of 2024 after carrying out successful abort missions and uncrewed test flights.

 About Gaganyaan:

• Gaganyaan is a mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Under the Gaganyaan schedule: Three flights will be sent into orbit, there will be two unmanned flights and one human spaceflight.
• The Gaganyaan system module, called the Orbital Module will have three Indian astronauts, including a woman.
• It will circle Earth at a low-earth-orbit at an altitude of 300-400 km from earth for 5-7 days.

About Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

• The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2 of July 2019, which aimed to land a rover on the lunar South Pole.
• The subsequent failure of the Vikram lander led to the pursuit of another mission to demonstrate the landing capabilities needed for the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission proposed in partnership with Japan for 2024.
• It will have an orbiter and a landing module. However, this orbiter won’t be loaded with scientific instruments like the Chandrayaan-2.
• Its job will only be confined to carry the lander to the moon, oversee the landing from its orbit and communicate between the lander and the earth station.”

• India suffered an income loss of $159 billion, 5.4 per cent of its gross domestic product in the service, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction sectors due to extreme heat in 2021, according to the Climate Transparency Report 2022 compiled by an international partnership of organisations.
• Climate change-induced extreme weather events are causing significant economic losses across all sectors, with agriculture being the most vulnerable, accounting for 16 per cent of Indian GDP, and providing nearly half of the employment, the report stated.
• Several areas of Hindukush Karakoram Himalaya, the main driver of the Indian monsoon and a source of 10 major Asian rivers, experienced reduced snowfall and glacial retreat.
• Heat exposure in the country led to the loss of 167 billion potential labour hours, a 39 per cent increase from the period between 1990 and 1999.
• Extreme events such as cyclones, flash floods, floods and landslides damaged crops over 36 million hectares — a $3.75 billion loss to farmers — between 2016 and 2021.
• It is feared that the annual damage from tropical cyclones and river flooding at 3°C global warming would be 4.6 to 5.1 times than what it would be experienced at the 1.5°C level.
• Labour productivity is projected to decline by five per cent from the 1986-2006 reference period as a result of 1.5°C of global warming — 2.1 times at 2.5°C level and 2.7 times at 3°C level.
• Increased precipitation, along with change in land use with increased urbanisation, is the main cause of increase in surface run-off in India. Prolonged waterlogging may alter the soil moisture content in many places, the report stated.
• Two-thirds of Indian agriculture is rain-fed, and thus highly prone to changes in rainfall, the report pointed ominously.
• At 1.5°C level, the national maize and wheat yield is projected to decrease by three per cent and five per cent, respectively. This loss may increase by a magnitude of 2.5 times for maize and 3.2 times for wheat at 3°C of warming.
• In India, local precipitation is projected to increase by 6 per cent from the reference period of 1986-2006 at 1.5°C of warming. Under a 3°C warming scenario, precipitation will increase by 3 times the precipitation anticipated at 1.5°C of warming.
• The rainfall pattern in India has changed in the past 30 years impacting many economic activities such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
• Snowfall in India is expected to decrease in the 1.5°C scenario by 13 per cent when compared with the reference period’s snowfall levels. At 3°C, the decrease is expected to be 2.4 times the 1.5°C scenario.

• Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella formally received the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award from India’s consul general T.V Nagendra Prasad in San Fransisco, US for his distinguished service. Nadella was named one of 17 awardees earlier this year.
• Along with Satya Nadella, IT veteran Tata Sons’ CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai also received the Padma Bhushan award.
• He also discussed with India’s consul general T.V Nagendra Prasad on the critical role digital technology plays in empowering inclusive growth in India.
• He plans to visit India in January 2023, his first visit to the country in nearly three years.
• Nadella was appointed as Microsoft’s CEO in 2014 and he is the only third CEO of Microsoft after the company’s founders Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Earlier in 2021, he was also appointed as the company’s chairman, making him responsible for setting the tone for Microsoft’s future.
• He is known for revolutionizing Microsoft’s cloud business, from lagging behind Amazon to bagging multi-billion dollar US Defense Department contracts.

• A top IOC official announced  that the IOC is in talks with ten potential bidders to host the Summer Olympic Games.
• The 10 bid projects are “at very various phases and are building their objectives according to their own regional or national schedules,” De Kepper said, without naming the possible bidders.
• The following three Olympic Games will take place in 2024 in Paris, 2028 in Los Angeles, and 2032 in Brisbane.
• “We are currently working with 10 interested NOCs and regions across four continents,” IOC director general Christophe de Kepper said at the Association of National Olympic Committees meeting in Seoul, Xinhua reports.
• Egypt, India, Indonesia, Britain, and South Korea are among the nations that have indicated interest in hosting the Olympics in 2036.

• The Fifth Khelo India Youth Games -2022 will be held in Madhya Pradesh. The games will be held from 31st January to 11th February next year.
• This was announced by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur at an event in New Delhi in presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
• The Khelo India Youth Games will be held at eight locations. More than 8 thousand 500 athletes and sportspersons are expected to participate in the sporting event.
• Khelo India Youth Games was stared in 2016 and provided a very effective platform to the youth of the country to showcase their performance and talents in sports.
• The games will be held at different places of the State including at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain and Jabalpur.
• On the occasion, Madhya Pradesh Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Nisith Pramanik were also present.
• The upcoming edition of the Khelo India Youth Games will feature a total of 27 disciplines.
• Water sports being included for the first time in the history of the games.

• UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned from the post just six weeks after her appointment. Speaking outside the door of her Number 10 Downing Street office today, Truss accepted that she could not deliver the promises she made when she was running for Conservative leader, having lost the faith of her party. She said there will be a Conservative leadership election to be completed within the next week. Earlier in the day, Conservative Party officials had gathered at Downing Street while a growing number of her own lawmakers called on her to quit.
• Ms Truss becomes the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, just for 45 days. George Canning previously held the record, serving 119 days in 1827 when he died.
• Appointed on the 6th of last month, forty-seven-year-old Truss was forced to sack her Finance Minister and closest political ally, Kwasi Kwarteng, and abandon almost all her economic programme after their plans for vast unfunded tax cuts crashed the pound and British bonds. Truss’s premiership came under renewed pressure after the Home Secretary resigned and a chaotic vote on fracking. There was fury yesterday around the vote and the methods used to get MPs to vote with the government.
• Meanwhile, Liz Her former leadership rival Rishi Sunak is the bookmakers’ favourite to take over in No 10, followed by Penny Mordaunt and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
• Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed he will not stand to be the next Conservative leader and UK Prime Minister.

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of over one thousand 337 crore rupees on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets. The Commission has also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.
• In its order, the CCI said, Google has perpetuated its dominant position in the online search market resulting in denial of market access for competing search apps.
• Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android Operating System to protect its position in online general search.

About Competition Commission of India (CCI)

• The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.