Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 17 July 2024 | Download PDF

• India will host the second Asia Pacific (APAC) ministerial conference on civil aviation. 
• This event will be jointly organized by the Indian government and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

About ICAO:

• Establishment:
  • Intergovernmental specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).
  • Established in 1947 by the Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944), known as the Chicago Convention.
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
• Purpose:
  • Promote safe and orderly development of international civil aviation
  • Set standards and regulations for aviation safety, security, efficiency, and environmental protection
  • Serve as a forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 193 member states
  • Promote regional and international agreements to liberalize aviation markets
  • Help establish legal standards
• Assembly:
  • Delegates from all member countries
  • Meets every three years
• Air Navigation Commission: Appointed by the Council to address technical matters.

• The Ministry of Culture is hosting the 2024 World Heritage Young Professionals Forum as part of the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee and the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme.

About World Heritage Young Professionals Forum:

• • Platform for Youth and Heritage Experts:
    • Fosters intercultural learning and exchange
    • Opportunity for youth to learn about each other’s heritage
    • Discuss common concerns in preservation
    • Discover new roles in heritage conservation
  • Forum Focus:
    • Specific topic linked to World Heritage
    • Aligned with Host Country’s World Heritage properties
  • Sub-Themes Tackled:
    • Achievements and challenges of the World Heritage Convention
• Climate change impact on World Heritage sites

• • Innovative technologies for promoting World Heritage
  • Sustainable tourism and development through young entrepreneurship.

• The UK Home Office has announced the details for the second and final ballot of 2024 for the India Young Professional Scheme.

About India Young Professional Scheme:

• Conception and Launch:
  • Part of an India-U.K. Migration and Mobility MoU signed in May 2021.
  • Announced at the G20 summit in Bali in November 2021.
  • Formally launched in February 2023.
• Key Features:
  • Permits up to 3,000 degree-holding citizens aged to live and work in each other’s countries for two years.
  • India is the first visa-national country to benefit from this scheme.
• Eligibility:
  • Indian citizens aged between 18 and 30 years.
  • Must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
  • Must have £2,530 in savings.
  • Must not have any children under 18 who live with them or whom they financially support.
  • Must be selected in the India Young Professionals Scheme ballot.
  • Cannot have previously been in the UK under this scheme or the Youth Mobility Scheme visa.

• The U-WIN portal, modeled after the Covid-19 vaccine management system Co-WIN, is set to launch nationwide by the end of August.

About U-WIN portal:

• Electronic Registry for Immunizations:
  • Maintains a digital record of routine immunizations.
  • Currently in pilot mode across all states and Union Territories, except for West Bengal.
• Target Population:
  • Captures vaccination events for pregnant women and children under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).
  • Records vaccination events for children aged 0-5 years and pregnant women.
• Timely Administration of Vaccines:
  • Ensures timely administration of vaccine doses.
  • Digitally records every vaccination event.
• E-Vaccination Certificate:
  • Generates a uniform QR-based, digitally verifiable e-vaccination certificate.
  • Accessible anytime by citizens through a single click, similar to the Covid vaccination certificate.
• Single Source of Information:
  • Records pregnancy details and outcomes, newborn registration, and immunizations at birth.
  • Updates vaccination status and delivery outcomes in real-time.
• Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs: Facilitates the creation of ABHA IDs for comprehensive health record maintenance.
• Support for Frontline Workers:
  • Enables frontline workers to digitally record all vaccination events for children and pregnant women.
  • Ensures complete, accurate, and easy record maintenance.

• The Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project (FishMIP) report projects that exploitable fish biomass will decline by more than 10% by mid-century in many regions, especially under high-emissions scenarios.

About FishMIP Initiative:

• The Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project (FishMIP) was officially launched in 2013.
• Provides knowledge to industry and governments for effective planning of adaptive and resilient seafood sectors under climate change.
• Collaborated with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to understand long-term impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and fisheries using state-of-the-art numerical models.
• In 2024, FishMIP 2.0 was established to:
  • Increase the reliability of modelling projections.
  • Address a broader set of policy-related questions relevant to food security and marine resource management.
  • Maintain climate change as the overarching theme.

• The Ratna Bhandar of the 12th Century Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, opened after 46 years.
• The opening coincided with the Rath Yatra festival.

Historical Inventory:

• • The Ratna Bhandar had been previously opened in 1905 by the British administration for inspection and later in 1926 for documentation purposes.
  • Subsequently, it was reopened in 1978 under the administration of the then Odisha Governor Bhagabat Dayal Sharma, with the process of inventory taking 70 days.
• The last inventory in 1978 revealed 454 types of gold ornaments (12,883 ‘bhari’) and 293 types of silver ornaments (22,153 ‘bhari’).

Contents of the Ratna Bhandar:

• The treasures housed within the Ratna Bhandar are categorized into three types:
  • Bhitar Bhandar: Contains items never used.
  • Ceremonial Articles: Used exclusively for rituals.
  • Daily Use Articles: Items used in everyday temple activities.

• Under a species augmentation initiative by the Hirakud Wildlife Division, 115 spotted deer from Sambalpur zoo are set to be released into the Debrigarh sanctuary. 
• This translocation program, carried out for the first time in Debrigarh, aims to boost the spotted deer population in the sanctuary while alleviating overcrowding in the zoo, thus making room for new animals.

About Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located in the Bargarh district of Odisha, and situated near the Hirakud Dam.
• Hirakud Dam is built across the Mahanadi River. It is the longest earthen dam in the world.
• Flora: The vegetation in the sanctuary is predominantly dry deciduous forest, with a mix of teak, sal, bamboo, and other plant species.
• Fauna: Four-horned antelope, Indian leopard, Indian elephant, sambar, chital, gaur, etc.
• It is an important site for in situ conservation of wildlife and its habitat in the state of Odisha.
• In 2016, the Union government approved the Odisha government’s proposal to declare boundary periphery areas of Sunabeda and Debrigarh wildlife sanctuaries as eco-sensitive zones (ESZ).

• Four Royal Bengal Tigers are set to arrive at Sambalpur Zoo in Odisha from various zoos across the country.

About Royal Bengal Tiger:

• Geographical Range: Primarily found in India; also in Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and China.
• Unique Habitat: The only tiger species living in mangrove forests, particularly in the Sundarbans mangroves of West Bengal.
• Preferred Environments: Commonly inhabit mangroves, marshes, and grasslands.

Physical Characteristics:

• Binomial Name: Panthera Tigris.

Size and Weight:

• Males: Weigh 200-300 kg, stand 8-10 feet tall.
• Females: Weigh 100-181 kg, stand 8-9 feet tall.
• Sensory Abilities: Possess six times the night vision of humans and five times the hearing ability.
• Behavior and Social Structure
• Swimming Ability: Adapted to swimming, can hunt in water due to mangrove habitat.
• Social Care: Unlike lions, male Royal Bengal Tigers allow females and cubs to eat first after a kill.
• Reproduction: Tigresses deliver 4-5 cubs per litter with a gestation period of about 3 months.

Conservation Status:

• IUCN Status: Listed as an endangered subspecies by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
• Major Threats: Poaching and habitat conversion to agriculture, roads, and other human-controlled spaces.

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