ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: D

• HOME Minister recently met with the Meira Paibis as part of his meetings with various civil society groups.
• The Meira Paibis, also known as Imas or Mothers of Manipur, are Meitei women who represent a powerful moral force in Manipur’s civil society.
• It is a women’s social movement in Manipur formed in 1977.
• They come from various sections of society in the Imphal valley and are widely respected for their activism.
• They Paibis are loosely organized, led by groups of senior women, and lack rigid hierarchy or overt political leanings.
• Role: initially focused on fighting alcoholism and drug abuse has now expanded to countering human rights violations and the development of society at large.

ANSWER: A

• The Power ministry recently established UTPRERAK, a Centre of Excellence to Accelerate Adoption of Energy Efficient Technologies in Indian Industry.

About UTPRERAK

• The Unnat Takniki Pradarshan Kendra (UTPRERAK) is the CoE to Accelerate Adoption of Energy Efficient Technologies and seeks to play a catalytic role in improving the energy efficiency of the Indian industry.
• It is also named as Advanced Industrial Technology Demonstration Centre (AITDC)
• It has been set up by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
• The Centre is mandated to become the key reference and resource institution on industrial energy-efficient technologies.
• It will demonstrate and showcase energy-efficient technologies in key industry sectors.
• It will act as an exhibition cum information centre and knowledge repository.
• It will be a knowledge exchange platform where best practices from across various key sectors can be diffused among industry professionals through workshops and seminars.
• It is expected to provide intensive training to more than 10,000 energy professionals from the industry.

ABOUT BUREAU OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY

• It is a statutory body set up under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act of 2001, under the Union Ministry of Power.
• Objective – to develop policy and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles within the overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act (EC Act), 2001 and to reduce energy intensity in the Indian economy.

ANSWER: C

• With the El Nino phenomenon almost certain to affect the Indian monsoon this year, high hopes are pinned on the development of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and its ability to counterbalance the El Nino effect.
• IOD is defined by the difference in sea surface temperature between the eastern and western sides of the Indian Ocean.
  • The IOD was identified as an independent system in 1999.

RELATION BETWEEN EL NIÑO-SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) AND IOD

• The air circulation in the Indian Ocean is from west to east, and in opposite directions at the upper level.
• In a normal year warm water from the west Pacific cross over to the Indian Ocean and make the air rise and strengthening the air circulation.
• During EL nino, the western side of the Pacific is cooler than normal because of which the Indian Ocean side also gets cooler and helps in the development of positive IOD.
• Similarly negative IOD is associated with LA-Nina.
• Researchers believe that while external factors such as ENSO can trigger IOD, many times is caused by the local circulations.
• A positive IOD helps rainfall along the African coast, and Indian subcontinent while suppressing it in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the opposite happens during a negative IOD.
• The impact of IODs is much weaker as compared to ENSO but they can subdue the impact of ENSO.

ANSWER: A

• The 64^th GEF council meeting was recently held in Brasilia, Brazil.
• The GEF Council approved the disbursement of $1.4 billion to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises.
  • Of this, $653 million has been set aside for biodiversity and this would be used to help countries update their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, biodiversity programmes and meet the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
  • The Framework was adopted at Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 in 2022.

ABOUT GEF

• GEF is a multi stakeholder partnership to tackle various environmental issues established during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit of UNFCCC.
• GEF funding is provided by participating donor countries and is mobilized through a replenishment process every four years.
• It serves as “financial mechanism” to five conventions-
  • Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
  • UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
  • Minamata Convention on Mercury.
• The GEF Assembly is composed of all 185 member countries, or participants including India.
• The GEF Council is the main governing body, with 32 members appointed by constituencies of GEF member countries.
• Secretariat- Washington, D.C.

ANSWER: D

• National Statistics Day is commemorated annually on June 29 to honor the significant contributions made by Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (celebrated on his birthday) in the fields of statistics and economic planning.
• He is often hailed as the ‘father of Indian statistics’.
• The theme of National Statistics Day, 2023 is “Alignment of State Indicator Framework with National Indicator Framework for Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals”.
• The first National Statistics Day was celebrated on June 29,

ANSWER: C

• The Burmese peacock softshell turtle eggs have recently hatched in Myanmar.
• Burmese peacock softshell turtles , also known as Nilssonia Formosa, is endemic to Myanmar.
• It is one of five species in the genus Nilssonia.
• It is an oviparous species, meaning it lays eggs externally which then hatch after an incubation period.
• IUCN red list status: Critically Endangered
• Threats: highly sought after in East Asian food markets, habitat loss, accidental captures by fishermen, etc.

ANSWER: D

• Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan while presiding over the second meeting of the High-Powered Committee of the State Implementing Agency for the project directed that all departments concerned should make efforts for the successful implementation of the bulk drug park project proposed at Haroli in Una district.