30th JUL, 2021

NEWS TT DAY
NEWS DAY
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INDIA’S 14 TIGER RESERVES SET GLOBAL STANDARD IN TIGER CONSERVATION
On the occasion of Global Tiger Day, 2021, Ministry of

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Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) announced
Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS) accreditation for

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14 out of India’s 51 tiger reserves (refer infographic).
The theme for this year International Tiger Day is- "Their
Survival is in our hands”.
CATS are globally accepted conservation tool that sets best
practices and standards to manage tigers and assessments to

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benchmark progress.
It was launched in 2013, implemented across 125 sites,
including 94 in India.
Global Tiger Forum and WWF India are implementing
partners of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for

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CATS assessment in India.
Tiger Status and conservation steps:

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India achieved the target of doubling the tiger population 4
years ahead of St. Petersburg Declaration on tiger
Conservation in 2010.
Project Tiger to provide central assistance to tiger States for
tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves in India.

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IUCN status: Endangered
Madhya Pradesh has the country's highest number of big cats

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followed by Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

PM ADDRESSES THE EDUCATION COMMUNITY TO MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF NA-

TIONAL EDUCATION POLICY (NEP) 2020

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NEP 2020 replaced National Policy on Education
(NPE), 1986, which replaced the 1968 policy.
Key Highlights of NEP 2020 (refer infographic)
Universalization of education from pre-school to
secondary level with 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio
(GER) in school education by 2030.
GER in higher education to be raised by 50 percent by 2035.
Mother tongue to be a medium of instruction till 5th grade.
Multiple initiatives launched in the education sector
Academic Bank of Credit to provide multiple entries and exit options for students in higher education.
Vidya Pravesh, a three month play based school preparation module for Grade 1 students.
Indian sign language as a subject at secondary level.
NISHTHA 2.0, an integrated programme of teacher training designed by the NCERT.
SAFAL (Structured Assessment For Analyzing Learning Levels), a competency-based assessment framework for Grades 3, 5 and 8
in CBSE schools.
National Digital Education Architecture to strengthen digital infrastructure for Education.
National Education Technology Forum to promote the use of technology.
1st Year Engineering Programmes in 5 Indian Languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu. Marathi and Bangla).

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ASTRONOMERS DETECT LIGHT BEHIND BLACK HOLE FOR FIRST TIME

For the first time astronomers directly witnessed flares of X-ray radiation originating from behind a black hole deep in space.
This light behind black hole shows it as a warping space, bending light and twisting magnetic fields around itself (see infographic).
Besides proving Einstein’s predictions of how gravity bends light

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around black holes, the X-ray echoes contain information
Hot, spinning disk
about what is happening around a black hole.
XMN-Newton has made the first ever observation
Flare
of light coming from behind a black hole of gas falling into
black hole
Extremely bright
The astronomers want to use this to create a 3D map of the flash of X-rays
lasting 2.5 hours Corona produces
black hole surroundings. bright flares of
Corona X-ray light
The study of a supermassive black hole by astronomers found

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60 million km high
unexpected ‘luminous echoes’ – smaller, and of different colour Black hole above black hole, X-ray reflect off
producing X-rays the disk
to bright flares, bent around due to gravitational pull from black 10 million times the mass of our Sun
Diameter 30 million km

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Light echoes
holes. X-ray echoes from
behind the black
About Black Hole hole are bent around
it by extreme gravity

Black hole is an astronomical object where the gravitational

pull is so much that even light can’t escape it.
They are predicted to vary from as small as one atom to black holes with mass more than million Suns.

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Black holes are considered to have four main types as- Miniature, Intermediate-mass, Stellar and Supermassive.

NEW BILLS PASSED BY LOK SABHA OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES

Inland Vessels It will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917 to provide for a (OBCS) AND ECONOMICALLY
WEAKER SECTION (EWS) GET

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Bill, 2021 uniform regulatory framework for Inland vessel navigation

QUOTAS UNDER ALL INDIA

across the country.
With only 0.5% modal share of Inland waterways

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transportation in India as compared to 42% in
Netherlands, 8.7% in China, the new bill strengthens QUOTA (AIQ) SCHEME FOR
procedures governing the inland vessels. MEDICAL COURSES
Major Provisions Union Health Ministry has announced 27%

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The Govt will prescribe classification, standards of design, reservation for OBCs and 10% quota for EWS
construction and crew accommodation, and type and periodicity in AIQ scheme for undergraduate (UG) and
of surveys, for mechanically propelled inland vessels. postgraduate (PG) state-run Medical and

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A mandatory certificate of survey, registration and Dental colleges.
insurance policy for vessels before operation. AIQ scheme was introduced in 1986 for
It will ensure safe carriage of goods and passengers through domicile-free, merit-based opportunities to
students from any state to study in a good
Navigation safety standards.
medical college in any other state.

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Pollution standards on discharge. It comprises 15% of UG seats and 50% of PG
Fix manning requirements with inquiry into all accidents. seats in government medical colleges.
Central Government will maintain electronic database Initially, there was no reservation in the
on Inland Vessels. AIQ scheme up to 2007.
A Development Fund for emergency preparedness, In 2007, reservation for SCs (15% of AIQ
containment of pollution and boosting Inland navigation. seats) and STs (7.5% of AIQ seats) was
made under the scheme.
Airport Economic It seeks to amend the Airports Economic Regulatory Article 15 and Special Provisions for Education
Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008, which established the Airport Based on the provisions under Article 15(5),
Authority of India Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). 27% OBC reservation in higher-educational
(Amendment) Bill, AERA regulates tariffs and other charges for aeronautical institutions including central government
2021 services rendered at major airports in India. medical institutions was implemented in
Major provisions 2006-07.
But it didn’t include medical and dental
Extend the definition of “major airports''.
course seats under the all-India quota
The government may designate any airport as a for OBCs in states.
major airport by a notification. In 2019, through the Constitution (One
The 2008 Act designates an airport as a major airport Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 10%
if it has annual passenger traffic of at least 35 lakh. reservation for EWS was extended in
Grouping of airports and notify the group as a major higher-educational institutions under
airport. Article 15 (6) (b).
With this, the Bill seeks to group profitable airports But it also excluded medical and dental course
with non-profitable ones. seats under the all-India quota for EWS.
Article 15 (5) provides for special provisions for the
advancement of any socially and educationally backward
[Note: The Rajya Sabha has passed the Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill. It was passed classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the
in Lok Sabha previously. Please refer News Today edition of 27th July.] Scheduled Tribes for admission to educational institutions.

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REAL TIME GROSS SETTLEMENT (RTGS) & NATIONAL ELECTRONIC FUND TRANS-
FER (NEFT) PAYMENT SYSTEMS OPENED FOR NON-BANKS
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Non-Banks (like Prepaid
Payment Instrument issuers, card networks, White label ATM operators) to
participate in its Centralised Payment Systems (CPS).

CPS in India comprise of Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and

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National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) systems, both owned and
operated by the RBI.
Till now, only Banks were allowed to use both payment systems.
Apart from banks, very few select non-banks have been approved to

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participate in CPS- clearing corporations of stock exchanges, select
financial institutions (NABARD, EXIM Bank) etc.

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With it, Non-Banks will be allotted a separate Indian Financial System
Code (IFSC); a current account will be opened with the RBI in its core
banking system (e-Kuber); a settlement account maintained with the RBI etc.
Advantages for non-banks
Reduction in cost of payments

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Minimise dependence on banks
Reduce time taken for completing payments
Facilitate better settlement risk management
Ensure expanding access and participation of non-banks, leading to

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diversity and resiliency of the payments ecosystem etc.

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ALSO IN NEWS
Recently, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman asserted that no tribal should be
evicted without settlement of land rights claims.

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Tribal Land Rights
Constitutional Guarantee to protect tribal land rights under Schedule 5 and 6.

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Tribal Land Rights and
National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC)
Law to recognize land rights of tribals on forests (Forest Rights Act, 2006).
NHRC
It is a statutory body under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (in conformity with Paris
principles of 1991), it works for the promotion and protection of human rights.

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The metaverse is closely related to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies
currently being developed by Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft in addition to Facebook.
It is used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent,
shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe.
Roblox, a game targeted at children is often considered an example of a metaverse.
Metaverse
AR uses a real-world setting to augment user’s experience while VR is completely virtual.

CRISIL’s Deficient Rainfall
Impact Parameter (DRIP)
Real Estate Regulatory
Authority (RERA)
DRIP index (developed in 2002) is an effective gauge of the impact of deficient monsoon on
agriculture.
The higher the CRISIL DRIP score, the more adverse the impact of deficient rains.
DRIP is a better indicator than percentage deviation of rainfall from normal as it captures both
shock (deviation from normal) as well as vulnerability of a region (measured as percentage of
un-irrigated area).
In a step towards implementation of the RERA, West Bengal has notified the rules governing it,
under section 84 of the Real Estate Regulation & Development (RERD) Act, 2016
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had ruled that West Bengal’s separate real estate regulation
is repugnant to the RERD Act, 2016 and is unconstitutional.
RERD Act 2016 seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate
industry.

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 Under it, RERA was established for regulation and promotion of the Real Estate sector.

TINSUKIA
Baghjan (Assam)
Baghjan, a village in Tinsukia district of Assam, is
yet to recover from a 5 month long oil well fire that
happened in 2020.
The fire incident damaged the Maguri-Motapung

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Wetland, a critical habitat for numerous species,
and Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve (part of
Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot).

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Armenia
Armenia (Capital: Yerevan)
Places in news is a landlocked country in the
Trans-caucasia region.

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Separated from Soviet
Union in 1991, it has been in
conflict with Azerbaijan
over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region since 1988.

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Alaska
Recently, an 8.2 magnitude
earthquake struck south of
the Alaska Peninsula, largest
in the last half century

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history of the USA.
Alaska (49th state of USA),

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lying in the Northwest
extreme of the North
America, shares its border
with Canada.

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