Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites)

• Four more wetlands from India get recognition from the Ramsar Secretariat as Ramsar sites recently.
• With this, the number of Ramsar sites in India is increased to 46.
• Uttar Pradesh, with 8 Ramsar Sites, has the most number of Ramsar Sites in India.

Montreux Record

• It is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.
• It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.
• At present, there are two Indian sites Loktak Lake, Manipur and Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan are on the Montreux Record.

Increase of Peacock in Kerala

• During recent years, the Indian Peafowl, an arid-land species, have been found to be expanding in Kerala, a region falling under humid tropics.
• Birds can be regarded as a bioindicator of environmental change as they are very sensitive to vagaries of climate.
• The increasing sightings of the Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) are an indicator of the changing climate in Kerala.

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

• It is commonly seen in scrub jungles and forest edges, with an affinity towards dry deciduous forests, semi-desert areas and semi-arid biomes.
• The Indian peafowl is a native of India and some parts of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• The Arakan hills prevented their spread further east while the Himalayas and the Karakoram did so northwards.
• As our national bird, the peacock has the utmost level of legal protection.
• It comes under Section 51 (1-A) of Schedule I of the Wild (Life) (Protection) Act, 1972, with imprisonment that may be extended up to seven years, along with a fine that shall not be less than Rs 10,000.
• Since 2014, Indian Peafowl have been protected under Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• They are now listed under the ‘Least Concern’ (LC) category of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red Data list.

Financial Inclusion Index

• Financial Inclusion Index is released by RBI once in a year in the month of July.
• It is to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country.
• It comprises of 3 parameters -  Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) .
• It incorporates details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector in consultation with the government and respective sectoral regulators.
• It has no base year as it reflects the cumulative efforts of various sectors towards financial inclusion in the country.
• Its value ranges from 0 to 100 in which 0 represents financial exclusion and 100 reflects complete financial inclusion.

Land Use Statistics

• Union Agricultural Minister in his recent speech in Lok Sabha revealed the land use statistics data for the year 2017-18.
• It highlights the following facts about the agricultural landholdings in the country.

1. The national average of geographical area available for agriculture was 55.03 %.
2. The States of Haryana (85.03%) and Punjab (84.09%) have a maximum amount of available geographical area under agriculture.
3. It was as low as 4.86% in Jammu and Kashmir, 5.06% in Arunachal Pradesh, 39% in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and 9.09% in Chandigarh.
4. Total agricultural land consists of net area sown, current fallows, culturable waste and land under miscellaneous tree crops.

• 2011 census data revealed that there was a decline (7%) in the number of cultivators and an increase (26%) in the number of agricultural labourers between 2001 and 2011.

National Monetisation Pipeline

• NITI Aayog has finalised the National Monetisation Pipeline framework for financial year 2021-22 to 2024-25.
• It serve as a roadmap for the asset monetization of various brownfield infrastructure assets across sectors including roads, railways, aviation, power, oil and gas, and warehousing.
• Central ministries were given a target of Rs 2.5 trillion for monetising their assets over three years starting 2021-22 (FY22).

Congressional Gold Medal

• The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress.
• It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions.
• Recently, a resolution has been reintroduced in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi for his contributions made through his methods of non-violence.
• If given the award, Mahatma Gandhi would become the first Indian to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest civilian award in the US.

Receptor Binding Domain (RBD)

• It is a short immunogenic fragment from a virus that binds to a specific endogenous receptor sequence to gain entry into host cells.
• RBD is a critical component of the viral spike glycoprotein that is found on coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
• The binding of the RBD on the spike domain is a critical step that allows coronaviruses to bind to target body receptors (such as ACE2 on respiratory epithelial cells) and enter cells to cause infection.
• The RBD is therefore an important target for neutralizing antibodies, either through engineered vaccination or convalescent plasma of recovered patients.

EEHV-1 Herpesvirus

• (ElHV-1) is a type of herpesvirus, which can cause a highly fatal haemorrhagic disease when transmitted to young Asian elephants.
• It has a very high mortality rate in Asian elephants, which kills up to 80% of severely affected individuals.
• The disease can be treated with the rapid application of antiviral drugs, but this has only been effective in around a third of cases.
• It is one of the most deadly viral infections in elephants worldwide but is most commonly found in Asian elephants. EEHV can strike without warning.
• When infected with the virus, elephants usually show symptoms of sudden illness which include reduced appetite, swollen glands on both sides of the face and nasal discharge.
• Unlike the common herpes-simplex viruses, which attacks the skin and lies latent in nerve cells, the elephant virus attacks endothelial cells the cells that line blood vessels, the heart and other organs.

Parole

• It is a system of releasing a prisoner with suspension of the sentence.
• The release is conditional, usually subject to behaviour, and requires periodic reporting to the authorities for a set period of time.
• Parole is not a right, and is given to a prisoner for a specific reason, such as a death in the family or a wedding of a blood relative.
• It may be denied to a prisoner even when he makes out a sufficient case, if the competent authority is satisfied that releasing the convict would not be in the interest of society.

Furlough

• It is similar to parole, but with some significant differences. It is given in cases of long-term imprisonment.
• The period of furlough granted to a prisoner is treated as remission of his sentence.
• Unlike parole, furlough is seen as a matter of right for a prisoner, to be granted periodically irrespective of any reason, and merely to enable the prisoner to retain family and social ties, and to counter the ill-effects of prolonged time spent in prison.

National Automobile Scrappage Policy

• It aims to reduce the population of old and defective vehicles, bringing down vehicular air pollutants, improving road and vehicular safety.
• Highlights of the policy

1. Old vehicles will have to pass a fitness test before re-registration and as per the policy government commercial vehicles more than 15 years old and private vehicles which are over 20 years old will be scrapped.
2. Old vehicles will be tested at authorized Automated Fitness Center and will not be scrapped merely on the basis of age.
3. Emission test, braking system, safety components will be tested and the vehicles which fail in the fitness test will be scrapped.
4. If the old vehicle passes the test, the owner can continue to use it, but the charges for reregistration will be much steeper.
5. The state governments may be advised to offer a road-tax rebate of up to 25% for personal vehicles and up to 15% for commercial vehicles to provide incentive to owners of old vehicles to scrap old and unfit vehicles.
6. Vehicle manufacturers will also give a discount of 5% to people who will produce the 'Scrapping Certificate' and registration fees will be waived off on the purchase of a new vehicle.