Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh has been declared as the 56th Tiger Reserve of the country

November 20, 2024

1 Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh has been declared as the 56th Tiger Reserve of the country

Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh has been notified as the 56th tiger reserve of the country . The Chhattisgarh government on the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) notified Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in Manendragarh-Chirmiri- Bharatpur , Koriya, Surajpur and Balrampur districts of Chhattisgarh. Spread over a total area of 2829.38 sq km, this tiger reserve includes 2049.2 sq km of core/critical tiger habitat, which includes Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary . Its buffer area is 780.15 sq km. It is the third largest tiger reserve in the country after Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve of Andhra Pradesh and Manas Tiger Reserve of Assam . Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve has become the 56th tiger reserve to be notified in the country. With this notification, Chhattisgarh now has 4 tiger reserves, which will strengthen the conservation of the species with technical and financial support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority under Project Tiger.

2 K. Sanjay Murthy will be the new Comptroller and Auditor General

The Center has appointed IAS K. Sanjay Murthy as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India . This will be effective from the date he assumes charge of his office. Sanjay Murthy will replace Girish Chandra Murmu who was appointed as CAG in August 2020. K. Sanjay Murthy is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. He was working as the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education. In this role, Murthy oversaw policies related to higher education. It is worth noting that the President has appointed Murthy under Article 148 of the Constitution. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is empowered to audit all departments of the Union and State Government . These include departments like Railways, Defense, Indian Post and Telecommunications . Apart from this, CAG can also audit more than 1500 public commercial enterprises, more than 400 non-commercial autonomous bodies, and various bodies and authorities funded by the Central Government. This also includes local bodies and Panchayat Raj institutions. The CAG is empowered under Article 149 of the Constitution to inspect any office or organisation falling within its purview, investigate all transactions made within them, question the executive and call for any documents, papers or records.

3rd G20 Summit: Global Compact against Hunger and Poverty

Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Monday (local time) announced a global alliance to fight hunger and poverty while opening the G20 summit of major economies . This initiative has been supported by more than 80 countries. Issues like trade, climate change and international security are being discussed in this two-day G20 summit held at the Modern Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro . This discussion is taking place at a time when the newly elected US President Donald Trump is talking about bringing many major policy changes after taking office in January. These include issues like imposing trade tariffs and resolving the Ukraine war. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the efforts made by India to tackle poverty and hunger in his address during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He said that India has lifted 25 crore people out of poverty. The G20 includes 19 countries and 2 organizations (European Union and African Union). Brazil is going to host its 19th meeting.

4 ‘One Day One Genome’ initiative launched to fully utilize India’s microbial potential

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Council of Biotechnology Research and Innovation (BRIC) have launched the ‘ One Day One Genome ‘ initiative to showcase India’s vast microbial potential . Amitabh Kant, India’s G-20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog, announced the launch of the ‘One Day One Genome Initiative’ on BRIC’s first Foundation Day to be held at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi on 9 November 2024. The ‘One Day One Genome’ initiative will highlight different bacterial species found in our country and showcase their critical role in environment, agriculture and human health . Microorganisms are vital to our ecosystem . They play a vital role in all kinds of biogeochemical cycles, soil formation, mineral purification, decomposition of organic wastes and methane production as well as toxic pollutants. Cumulatively they help maintain the same condition on our Earth. In agriculture, they help in nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, maintaining soil fertility, controlling pests and weeds and unwanted reactions. Microorganisms associate symbiotically with plants and help them in nutrient and water absorption. They are indispensable parts of human body. This initiative is coordinated by the Council of Biotechnology Research and Innovation and National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (BRIC-NIBMG). The aim of this initiative is to make fully annotated bacterial genomes isolated in the country freely available to the public. It will be complemented with detailed graphical summaries, infographics and genome assembly/annotation details.

5 ISRO successfully launched satellite GSAT 20 on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the US

Indian Space Research Organization – ISRO successfully launched the state-of-the-art communication satellite GSAT20 from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral , USA . ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said that this was a very successful launch. This satellite will provide broadband service in remote areas and provide internet service during flight in passenger planes . This satellite will work for 14 years . This is the first time that ISRO has launched a satellite from SpaceX rocket through its commercial branch New Space India Limited. The weight of GSAT-20 satellite is 4 thousand 700 kilograms . Even India’s Bahubali rocket LVM-3 cannot carry it, so Space-X was chosen for its launch. Till now India was dependent on France ‘s Ariane Space for the launch of such a heavy satellite .

6 India is the fastest growing economy among the G20 countries

Among the G20 countries, India’s economy is expected to grow at the fastest pace in 2024 with a growth rate of 7 percent. In terms of growth rate among G20 countries , Indonesia is second this year after India with a growth rate of 5 percent and China is third with 4.8 percent . Russia is fourth with a GDP growth rate of 3.6 percent and Brazil is fifth with 3 percent. At the same time, the Africa region is sixth with a growth rate of 3 percent and the US is seventh with a growth rate of 2.8 percent. In 2024, other western countries like Canada are expected to have GDP growth of 1.3 percent, France, European Union and UK with a GDP growth rate of 1.1 percent. Italy and Japan’s growth rate is expected to be 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. Australia’s GDP growth rate is estimated to be 1.2 percent this year. Among developed countries, Germany is expected to perform the worst at 0 percent.

7 The 55th meeting of GST will be held on 21 December in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

The 55th meeting of the GST Council will be held on 21 December in Jaisalmer , Rajasthan . The GST Council meeting to be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to change the tax slab of many items. Actually, earlier this meeting was to be held in the first week of November, which is going to be held in December. In this meeting, the Finance Ministers of the states will also present their suggestions related to the budget for the next financial year 2025-26, which will be presented in Parliament on February 1, 2025. In this meeting of the GST Council, it is likely that health insurance premium up to Rs 5 lakh can be exempted from GST. However, GST will continue on the premium of policies with a cover of more than Rs 5 lakh. This can give a boost to the health and life insurance market, especially for those who have at least health life insurance cover. Tax is levied in the country under four main slabs of GST (5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent, and 28 percent). Actually, lower rates or exemptions of GST are applicable on essential items, while higher tax rates are levied on luxury items.

8 Competition Commission of India imposes Rs 213 crore 14 lakh fine on Meta over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update

The Competition Commission of India has imposed a fine of Rs 213 crore 14 lakh on social media platform Meta over WhatsApp ‘s 2021 privacy policy update . The Commission has also directed WhatsApp not to share user data with other applications owned by Meta for the next five years. The Commission has said that sharing user data for any purpose other than WhatsApp service will not be imposed as a condition for using WhatsApp in India.

9 Jyothi Surekha Vennam won gold in the women’s compound event at the GT Open in Luxembourg

Jyothi Surekha Vennam, the reigning Asian Games champion in archery, won the gold medal in the women’s compound event at the GT Open in Luxembourg . Playing for the first time in the GT Open, Jyothi Vennam performed brilliantly throughout the competition. She won the title yesterday by defeating Belgium ‘s Sarah Priels with 147-145 points. Meanwhile, Abhishek won the silver medal in the men’s compound event . Despite scoring 150 points in the final match, he missed the gold medal due to a few points short. His opponent Mike Schlosser of the Netherlands took the top spot by hitting a perfect shot in the final match.

10 National Naturopathy Day

National Naturopathy Day is celebrated every year on 18 November in India . The day aims to promote positive mental and physical health through a drug-free system, known as naturopathy. Various awareness camps, workshops, seminars and conferences are organized on this day. Many naturopathy colleges, organizations and hospitals organize public awareness and medical camps during this week to educate people about naturopathy and its benefits.