Why in news?

• Maharashtra State Environment Minister inaugurated the tap-in tap-out service on the Gateway of India to Churchgate route in an effort to make commuting across Mumbai
• Minister stated during the event that Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) is India’s first fully digital bus service.
• According to Lokesh Chandra,BEST’s General Manager (GM), this is the country’s first-ever 100 percent digital bus service, with the goal of increasing the digitalisation of the bus ticketing system.
• It provides travellers with comfort and convenience because they can tap-in using their smart card or the ‘Chalo’ app on their cellphones.
• If the tourist taps out using the app, they will receive a receipt on their phone, and if they used the smart card, they will be able to collect their ticket.

Why in news?

• United Nations (UN)’s English Language Day is annually observed across the globe on 23rd April to spread awareness and promote the history, culture and achievements associated with the English language. The day also promotes books, poetry and literature in the English Language.
• The English Language Day, 23rd April also marks the birth and death anniversary of William Shakespeare, an English playwright, poet and actor, colloquially as “The Bard” or “The Bard of Avon”.
• UN’s English Language Day was first observed by the United Nations’ Department of Global Communications in 2010 as a part of its initiative to establish language days to promote and celebrate the 6 official languages of the UN.
• UN language days aims to increase awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the 6 official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) among the UN community.

Why in news?

• Argentina acknowledges Indian support for resolving Falklands dispute issue.
• It remains the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina, who waged a brief but bitter war over the territory in 1982.
• Location: It is located in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina.
• They consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, together with about large number smaller islands.
• Ranges of hills run east-west across the northern parts of the two main islands, reaching 2,312 feet at Mount Usborne in East Falkland.
• The coastal topography features many drowned river valleys that form protected harbours.
• The islands vegetation is low and dense in a landscape with no natural tree growth.

Why in news?

• Palli in Jammu becomes India’s first carbon-neutral panchayat.
• Carbon neutrality means having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks.
• Removing carbon oxide from the atmosphere and then storing it is known as carbon sequestration.

Why in news?

• Pranahita Pushkaralu festival organised on banks of Pranahita river concludes.
• Pranahita is largest tributary of the Godavari River.
• It originates in Madhya Pradesh, merges with Godavari River at Kaleshwaram, Telangana.
• Kaleshwaram is called Triveni Sangamam as it’s the confluence point for Godavari, Saraswathi and Pranahita rivers.
• Godavari river rises from Trimbakeshwar in the Nashik district of Maharashtra and flows for most of its course generally eastward across broad plateau of Deccan (peninsular India).

Why in news?

• Move comes in the backdrop of Indonesia, world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, facing domestic shortages which is leading to price controls and export curbs.
• Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil, comes from the fruit of oil palm trees. It is an efficient crop, producing more oil per land area than any other equivalent vegetable oil crop.

Reasons behind palm oil crisis in Indonesia

• Domestic shortage, amid rising demand and weak output from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Mandatory blending of palm oil in diesel.
• Supply side disruptions in other cooking oils
  • Sunflower oil – owing to Russia Ukraine war as both the countries account for nearly 80% of the global trade in sunflower oil.
  • Soyabean oil – owing to supply issues due to dry weather in South America.

Impact on India

• Food Inflation as Indonesia has been India’s top supplier of palm oil.
• Edible oils such as palm oil are a key raw material for FMCG and a rise in the prices of these commodities impacts consumer goods beyond food products such as soaps, shampoos, etc.

Steps taken by government for promoting Oil Palm

• National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) under which Mini Mission – II (MM – II) was dedicated to oil palm area expansion and productivity increases.
• Centrally Sponsored Oil Palm Development Scheme.

Why in news?

• India has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to re-classify Sri Lanka as a lower-income country and give Sri-Lanka emergency funding similar to one granted to Ukraine under the emergency support programme, Rapid Financing Instrument(RFI).
• Objective is to assist the country in debt restructuring as it will help Sri Lanka become party to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the ‘Common Framework for debt treatment beyond the DSSI’ (Common Framework).
  • The above are joint initiatives by the WB, IMF and G-20 for least-developed countries and Low Income Countries respectively to help them sustain debt challenges brought forward by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Debt restructuring is defined as an event in which the debtor is in financial difficulty and the creditor grants concession to debtor in accordance with a mutual agreement.
• Sovereign debt crisis occurs when a country is unable to pay its bills and country’s leaders ignore these indicators for political reasons.
• To solve the sovereign debt crisis, the IMF helps in identifying sovereign debt risks and provides policy advice, provides technical support on formulating debt management strategy and developing their local currency bond markets etc.

Why in news?

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has named Sir David Attenborough, English natural history broadcaster and naturalist, as the recipient of the Champions of the Earth Award 2021 under the Lifetime Achievement category, for his dedication to research, documentation, and advocacy for the protection of nature and its restoration.

About Sir David Attenborough

• Sir David Attenborough is well known for his innovative educational television programs, especially the nine-part Life series forming the Life collection.
• His well-known documentaries include The Green Planet and A Plastic Ocean.
• His noted works include the Life series: Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990) and others.
• The year 2022 marks the 50 years since the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, which was one of the first international meetings on the environment.

UNEP’s Champions of the Earth Awards

• The UNEP’s Champions of the Earth Awards honours individuals, groups, and organizations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment.
• This is the United Nations(UN)’s highest environmental honour.
• Since its foundation in 2005, the Champions of the Earth award has honoured 101 laureates, including 25 world leaders, 62 individuals and 14 organizations.

Why in news?

• Every year on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day is observed to promote the love of reading. April 23 is significant in world literature because it commemorates the death on this date of prominent writers such as Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare.
• This date was an obvious option for UNESCO’s General Conference, which was convened in Paris in 1995, to pay a worldwide tribute to books and authors on this day, urging everyone to read.
• Guadalajara, Mexico, will be the World Book Capital in 2022, with a year-long programme focusing on the role of books and reading in inspiring social change, combating violence, and cultivating a culture of peace.
• Every year on April 23 – the anniversary of the deaths of three great authors of world literature, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega– we honour their enthralling ability to inspire creativity, knowledge, and alter minds.

Why in news?

• In view of Improving pandemic situation, RBI decided to reduce WMA for States and UTs to ₹ 47,010 crore from ₹ 51,560 crore.
  • Considering COVID-19 related uncertainties, RBI had raised WMA limit in 2021.
• Under RBI Act 1934, WMAs are temporary advances given by the RBI to Centre and States to tide over any mismatch in receipts and payments.
  • States/Centre pay interest linked to the repo rate on WMA withdrawals.
  • WMA is not part of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) because they get paid within the year itself.
• Two types of WMA – normal and special.
  • While normal WMA are clean advances, Special WMA or Special Drawing Facility (SDF) is provided against the collateral of government securities held by state.
  • After the state has exhausted SDF limit, it gets normal WMA.
• In addition to WMA, the Over Draft facility is also provided whenever financial accommodation to a State exceeds its SDF and WMA limits.
• There is a State-wise limit for the funds that can be availed via WMA. These limits depend on factors such as total expenditure, revenue deficit and fiscal position of the State.
• Limits for WMA are decided by the government and RBI mutually and revised periodically.