TNPSC BITS - January 06 PDF

January – 06 TNPSC BITS ❖ Tamil Nadu CM has laid the foundation stone for Sir John Marshall statue and inaugurated Indus Valley Civilization conference. ❖ Salman Rushdie's controversial book "The Satanic Verses", which was banned by the Rajiv G...

January – 06 TNPSC BITS ❖ Tamil Nadu CM has laid the foundation stone for Sir John Marshall statue and inaugurated Indus Valley Civilization conference. ❖ Salman Rushdie's controversial book "The Satanic Verses", which was banned by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1988, is now available at a Delhi bookstore. ❖ Honda Motor and Nissan Motor have agreed to commence full-scale talks for a potential merger in Japan. ❖ The Veteran director-writer Sai Paranjpye will receive the Padmapani Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival (AIFF) 2025. TAMIL NADU Making G.Os public on govt website - Tamilnadu ❖ Many of government departments have not published a single government order (G.O.) issued by them in their section for years. ❖ The Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Home, and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj are far ahead of many other departments with regard to the publication of G.O.s. ❖ The Tamil Development and Information department has not published any order in nearly the last 20 years. ❖ The Public (Elections) department is another that has not hosted a single order for years together. ❖ Its last G.O. published on the site was in May 2015.  ❖ The Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi department, almost for the last six years, has not published any G.O. in its section. ❖ As for the top performers, the Environment, Climate Change and Forests department, in 2024, published around 110 orders in its section. ❖ The Home, Prohibition and Excise department had carried about 60 orders; the RD&PR department, 54 orders; and the Water Resources department, 30. Excavation in Kodumbalur ❖ The Tiruchi Circle ASI has taken up an excavation at the habitation mounds at Kodumbalur in Viralimalai taluk of Pudukkottai district. ❖ Kodumbalur, about 40 km from Tiruchi, has several ASI-maintained monuments. ❖ It is including the Moovar temple, built by Bhuti Vikramakesari, the Irukkavel chieftain who was believed to have been a political ally of Parantaka II, also known as Sundara Chola (CE 956-973). ❖ Kodumbalur finds mention in the Sangam literature Silappadikaram. ❖ It is one of the 32 sites we had identified for taking up excavations in the Tiruchi Circle under the ASI’s Looking Beyond - Vision Statement for Excavations by 2035 NATIONAL LEADS 2024 ❖ The sixth LEADS (Logistics Ease Across Different States) report of 2024 was unveiled by the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry.  ❖ The index is an indicator of the efficiency of logistical the services necessary for promoting exports and economic growth. ❖ Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Delhi are among the 13 states and Union Territories that have been categorised as “achievers” in the logistics index chart 2024. ❖ 16 states and UTs including Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, have been categorised as "fast movers" in the report. ❖ The other states and UTs in the “achievers” category are Chandigarh, Haryana, Telangana, UP, Uttarakhand, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. ❖ Those in the “aspirers” category include Kerala, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Ladakh. ❖ LEADS was conceived on the lines of the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) of the World Bank in 2018. Unlawful content on Internet ❖ The Union Ministry of Home Affairs and various State governments have roped in around 54,800 persons as cybercrime volunteers to flag unlawful content on the Internet. ❖ The Cyber Volunteer Framework enables citizens to enrol as cyber volunteers for reporting unlawful content, dissemination of cyber hygiene, and as cyber expert to aid law enforcement. ❖ The report had stated that 54,833 cyber volunteers have been enrolled, including 22,942 for reporting unlawful content, 22,071 awareness promoters and 9,819 experts.  ❖ On an average, the cybercrime portal linked with the nodal police stations in the States and banks, receives 67,000 calls every day and security agencies identify around 1,500-2,000 mule accounts that are used to defraud people daily. ❖ From January to March, 2024, there were at least 1,10,925 cybercrime complaints involving platforms such as WhatsApp (43,797 complaints), Telegram (22,680), Instagram (19,800), Facebook (20,766) and YouTube (3,882). SC on State consent for CBI ❖ The Supreme Court has held that CBI does not require the sanction of a state government to register a case under a Central legislation against a Central government employee working within the territory of the state concerned.  ❖ It includes the Prevention of Corruption Act and others. ❖ There are two types of consent for a probe by the CBI - General and Specific. ❖ When a state gives a general consent (Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946) to the CBI for probing a case, the agency is not required to seek fresh permission every time it enters that state in connection with investigation or for every case. ❖ If not, CBI needs to seek case-wise consent for investigation from the concerned state government. ❖ If specific consent is not granted, the CBI officials will not have the power of police personnel when they enter that state. INTERNATIONAL HMPV Outbreak in China ❖ China is witnessing a concerning rise in the respiratory illnesses, with Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV). ❖ The respiratory infections caused by influenza A, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. ❖ It affects particularly among children under the age of 14. ❖ First identified in 2001, HMPV belongs to the Pneumoviridae family, closely related to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). ENVIRONMENT India’s emissions inventory ❖ India recently submitted its latest report detailing its greenhouse gas emission (GHG) inventory and the efforts it has taken to curb emissions.  ❖ Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developing countries are obliged to submit a detailed report on their efforts towards climate action. ❖ Between 2005 and 2020, India’s emissions intensity of GDP reduced by 36%. ❖ India’s total GHG emissions were 2,959 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. ❖ After counting the absorption by forestry sector and land resources, the country’s net emissions were 2,437 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. ❖ The total national emissions (including land use, land-use change, and forestry) fell 7.93% compared to 2019. ❖ On the other hand, it has increased by 98.34% since 1994. ❖ CO2 accounted for 80.53% of emissions, followed by methane (13.32%), nitrous oxide (5.13%) and others 1.02%. ❖ The emissions were highest from the energy sector at 75.66%. ❖ Agriculture contributed 13.72% emissions while Industrial Process and Product Use and Waste sector contributed 8.06% and 2.56%, respectively. ❖ In the energy sector, electricity production alone accounted for 39% of emissions. STATES 2024 Elephant Population – Assam ❖ Assam has recorded an elephant population of 5,828 during the Elephant Population Estimation 2024. ❖ This is an increase from the last such survey in 2017 with 5,719 elephants. ❖ 82% of the total population/4,777 elephants are within the five elephant reserves in the state.  ❖ The highest density was prevailed in Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve. ❖ The population stood at 5,620 in 2011, 5,281 in 2008 and 5,246 in 2002. Chhattisgarh’s Green GDP Initiative ❖ In a first in India, the Chhattisgarh has introduced a plan that connects the eco system services of its forests with the Green Gross Domestic Product (Green GDP).  ❖ The move is aimed to highlight the direct link between significant environmental contributions of biodiversity and the state’s economic progress. ❖ The action plan is designed to ensure that economic development is achieved while preserving the pristine environment for future generations. ❖ Chhattisgarh with 44 per cent of its land covered by forests. IMPORTANT DAYS World Braille Day 2024 - January 04 ❖ It aims to raise the awareness about the importance of Braille as a means of communication for blind and partially sighted people. ❖ This day is a tribute to Louis Braille, the visionary behind the braille system. ❖ In 1829, he published his maiden book which was written in Braille. ❖ The Braille system was finally accepted by the Institute in Paris in 1854. MISCELLANEOUS Removing upper garment in temple ❖ The head of the Kerala’s Sivagiri Mutt was calling the practice of men having to remove their shirts while entering many temples as an “evil practice”. ❖ The Sivagiri Mutt is a major pilgrimage centre of the Kerala’s Ezhava Hindu community.  ❖ The Mutt was founded in 1904 by revered social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. ❖ He fought against the superstitions and championed the right of those from lower castes to enter temples. ❖ In Kerala, many prominent temples still have a dress code for the faithful. District-Level Climate Risk Assessment ❖ IIT Guwahati, IIT Mandi and the Centre for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP) has released the report “District-Level Climate Risk Assessment for India: Mapping Flood and Drought Risks Using IPCC Framework”.  ❖ 51 districts fall into the ‘Very High’ flood risk category, and another 118 districts fall into the ‘High’ flood risk category. ❖ These are primarily in Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir. ❖ 91 districts fall in the ‘Very High’ drought risk category and another 188 districts in the ‘High’ drought risk category. ❖ These are primarily in Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Maharashtra. ❖ 11 districts are at ‘Very High’ risk of both flood and drought. 