Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 03 January 2024 | Download PDF

• Painted stork is a shorebird.
• Distribution: endemic to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
• Habitat: freshwater marshes, lakes, flooded fields, irrigation canals, rivers, etc.
• Threats: Habitat loss, hunting, pollution, invasive species and diseases.
• Conservation status: IUCN: NT

• Nearly one-fifth of the district court complexes in the country lack separate toilets for women, according to a report published by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court recently.
• The report named ‘State of the Judiciary’ — underscored the necessity of women-friendly toilets, stating that sanitary napkin vending machines have been provided at only 6.7% of the toilets meant for women.
• The report also revealed that most district courts did not have toilets for transgender persons and emphasised the need for “gender-inclusive toilets” in every court complex.

• • India’s KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd.) will invest ₹211 crore over a five-year-period for exploration of five lithium blocks in Fiambala area of Argentina. 
  • An exploration and development agreement is expected to be signed with CAMYEN, a state-owned miner in Argentina’s Catamarca province
• Chile and Argentina account for 30-35% of the world’s lithium supplies. 

• Mount Merapi is an active stratovolcano 
• It is located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 
• It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. 
• Indonesia, situated on the subduction zone (the Indo-Australian Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate), part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, experiences frequent volcanic and seismic events.

• The government appointed former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission
• It will recommend the tax revenue sharing formula between the Centre and States for the five-year period beginning April 2026.

About FC

• It is a constitutional body constituted every 5 years by the President of India under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution to define the Centre-states financial relations.
• The First Commission was established in 1951 under The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951.
• Individual commissions operate under the terms of reference (ToR) which are different for every commission, and they define the terms of qualification, appointment and disqualification, the term, eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission.
• As per the constitution, the Commission consists of a chairman and four other members.

• The Union Home Ministry declared Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir (TeH) an “unlawful association” under Section 3 of the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
• The TeH is one of the constituents of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and was founded by separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani

About UAPA

• UAPA was passed in 1967. 
• It aims at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.
• Unlawful activity refers to any action taken by an individual or association intended to disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
• The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if the Centre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette, declare it so.
• It has death penalty and life imprisonment as highest punishments.
• Under UAPA, both Indian and foreign nationals can be charged.

Odisha Regional Specific News

The annual bird census is about to begin in the Chilika Lake.

About Chilika Lake:

• It is a brackish water lake and a shallow lagoon with estuarine character spread across the districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam in the state of Odisha.
• It is connected to the Bay of Bengal by a 32 km long and 1.5 km wide channel that mostly runs parallel to the Bay separated by a narrow spit.
• It is located at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km2.
• It is the largest wintering ground for migratory waterfowl found anywhere on the Indian sub-continent.
• In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.
• The Nalaban Island within the lake is notified as a Bird Sanctuary under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Odisha is one of the 17 states with a high prevalence of sickle cell disease. 
• As many as 20 districts in Odisha were included in the 278 districts of 17 states for implementation of the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination
• The districts where the programme is being implemented are Angul, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Rayagada.

About Sickle cell Disease

• Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic single-gene disorder causing a debilitating systemic syndrome characterised by chronic anaemia, acute painful episodes, organ infarction, and chronic organ damage, and by a significant reduction in life expectancy.
• Sickle cell is more common in the tribal population of India but occurs in non-tribals too.

• The three-day-long World Odia Language Conference has commenced.
• The Odia language conference will subsequently be held at the state, national, and international levels
• The conference will help promote Odia language in the state and outside.

• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya laid the foundation stone for NCDC’s branches in 6 states including Odisha, regional branch in Assam and BSL-3 labs in 2 states.
• The regional branches of NCDC will help in combating diseases with regional variations like CCHF, KFD, Scrub typhus. 
• Further, state branches and BSL-3 laboratory will augment the capacity of region/state for preparedness and response especially for outbreak prone diseases by high-risk pathogens.

• Students in Odisha will now have to sign anti-drug declaration forms during admission to higher educational institutions (HEIs) — public universities, government and non-government aided colleges (both technical and general).
• The declaration prohibits the students from carrying, selling and consuming not just drugs but also tobacco products and alcohol within their campuses. 
• Besides, students are expected to report to the HEI authorities of any instances of drug/alcohol/tobacco consumption and sale by any student or staff on the premises or nearby.

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