India abstains from UNSC resolution against Russian aggression on Ukraine.

Voting in United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

• Article 27 of the UN Charter states that:
  • Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote.
  • Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members.
  • Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.

Right to Veto

• The creators of the United Nations Charter conceived that five countries — China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) [which was succeeded in 1990 by the Russian Federation], the United Kingdom and the United States —, because of their key roles in the establishment of the United Nations, would continue to play important roles in the maintenance of international peace and security.
• They were granted the special status of Permanent Member States at the Security Council, along with a special voting power known as the “right to veto”.
• It was agreed by the drafters that if any one of the five permanent members cast a negative vote in the 15-member Security Council, the resolution or decision would not be approved.
• All five permanent members have exercised the right of veto at one time or another.
• If a permanent member does not fully agree with a proposed resolution but does not wish to cast a veto, it may choose to abstain, thus allowing the resolution to be adopted if it obtains the required number of nine favorable votes.

Ahom Kingdom

• They created a new state by suppressing the older political system of the bhuiyans (landlords).
• The Ahom state depended upon forced labour.
• Those forced to work for the state were called paiks.
• Ahom society was divided into clans or khels.
• A khel often controlled several villages.

Chaolung Sukapha

• He was a 13th century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries.
• The Ahoms ruled the land till the province was annexed to British India in 1826 with the signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo.
• Battle of Alaboi and Saraighat
• In 1669, Aurangzeb dispatched the Rajput Raja Ram Singh I to recapture territories won back by the Ahoms.
• The battle of Alaboi was fought on August 5, 1669 in the Alaboi Hills near Dadara in North Guwahati.
• The battle of Saraighat was a naval engagement fought on the Brahmaputra River near Saraighat between the Mughal Empire and the Ahom Kingdom in 1671.

UNEA: Uruguay, Costa Rica back formation of science-policy panel to manage chemicals, waste.

United Nations Environment Assembly

• Hosted by the UN Environment Programme, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) brings together representatives of the 193 Member States of the UN, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to agree on policies to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
• The theme for this year is “strengthening actions for nature to achieve the sustainable development goals”.
• This highlights the pivotal role nature plays in our lives and in social, economic, and environmentally sustainable development.
• Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, UN Environment Programme is led by a Senior Management Team that's chaired by our Executive Director.
• It releases the Global Environment Outlook report (GEO).

Marine biologists have welcomed the Tamil Nadu government’s recent decision to go ahead with the establishment of a conservation reserve for the elusive dugong (Dugong dugon), a sirenian species native to parts of the Indian littoral.

Dugong

• The dugong (Dugong dugon) is the only herbivorous mammal that is strictly marine.
• It has a range spanning some 37 countries, including tropical and subtropical coastal and inland waters.
• The Dugong, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

Sloth Bears

• Sloth bears are present in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
• Until recently they were also known to occur in Bangladesh, but their continued existence there is uncertain.
• Adult sloth bears travel in pairs.
• They are excellent in climbing trees and running faster than humans. Sloth bear mothers carry their cubs up trees as the primary defense against attacks by predators instead of sending them up trees.
• The cubs can be threatened by predators such as tigers, leopards, and other bears.
• Sloth bears are adept in hunting termites and ants.
• As per the IUCN Red List, the Sloth bear is listed as vulnerable.
• No fewer than 20,000 sloth bears survive in the forests of India and Sri Lanka.
• It is listed in Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Sloth bears can be found in a wide range of habitats like wet and dry tropical forests, shrublands and grasslands below 1500 m in the Indian subcontinent.