28 March 2024, The Hindu
Priest can give CAA eligibility certificate, says govt. helpline (GS Paper- 1, Constitution, Amendments etc)
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- A local priest may issue an “eligibility certificate” under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 to validate the religion of an applicant, according to a response received by The Hindu through the Union Home Ministry’s helpline on CAA.
- The certificate, a mandatory document, is to be enclosed along with an affidavit and other documents that the applicants are to upload on the CAA portal. “The reasons for which applicant wishes to acquire Indian citizenship” must also be stated.
- The certificate is to be issued by a “locally reputed community institution”.
- The person issuing the certificate will have to specify their name and confirm that the applicant belongs to one of the six communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and are known to them.
Now, boys can learn Mohiniyattam at Kalamandalam (GS Paper- 1, Indian Culture)
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- In a historic move, Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed university for arts and culture, has opened its doors for boys to learn Mohiniyattam. The institution has lifted gender restrictions to enrol in its Mohiniyattam courses.
- The decision was taken unanimously in the governing council meeting of the Kalamandalam on Wednesday. The admission for the Mohiniyattam course will be open from next academic year onwards.
- The decision came in the wake of a controversy in which dancer Kalamandalam Sathyabhama allegedly made derogatory remarks against dancer R.L.V. Ramakrishnan.
2024 records hottest-ever January and February (Prelims Facts, Environment)
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- Year 2024's January and February month were the hottest January and February ever. This is in continuation of a streak: the last seven months of 2023 also marked record highs for those months.
- Records have been set and broken in successive years, which means that the world is heating up. Not only are temperatures rising, but they are also rising at a faster rate than ever before.
- The gap between the record temperatures set in 2023 and 2024 and the old records from previous years which were broken are considerably wide, showing that the rise in temperature is rapid.
- In February 2024, the average temperature was 13.54°C, the warmest ever for any February. The previous record was set in 2016 when the average temperature touched 13.42°C. That record broke the previous record of 13.33°C, set in 2020.
- In January 2024, the average temperature was 13.14°C, again the warmest ever for any January. The previous record was set in 2020 when it touched 13.02°C. That broke the previous record of 12.99°C, which was set in 2016.
On sustainable building materials (GS Paper- 3, Environment)
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- India is witnessing an unprecedented construction boom, with over 3,00,000 housing units erected annually. This growth brings economic opportunities and improved living standards but also poses significant environmental challenges.
- The building sector, a major energy consumer, accounts for over 33% of India’s electricity usage, contributing to environmental degradation and climate change. The India Cooling Action Plan forecasts an eight-fold increase in cooling demand between 2017 and 2037, emphasising the need for thermal comfort while reducing active cooling demand.
- India has significant untapped potential for innovative building materials. Interdisciplinary collaborations with sustainability experts to delvelop deeper into integrated design and optimise strategies like building orientation, Window Wall Ratio (WWR), U-value (rate of heat transfer) of walls, roofs and window assemblies, glazing performance, active cooling systems, etc., can unlock the potential for a sustainable built environment.
Why are Rohingya refugees risking their lives at sea? (Prelims, International Events)
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- The dramatic rescue of dozens of Rohingya refugees from the Indian Ocean last week after a wooden boat capsized of the Indonesian coast has once again drawn attention to the plight of the refugees who are increasingly embarking on dangerous sea journeys to seek a better life.
- As per the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 4,500 Rohingya refugees set off on dangerous journeys across the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea last year. Of these, 569 people lost their lives or went missing, marking the highest death toll since 2014.
- The Rohingya are a Muslim minority ethnic group with their roots in the Arakan kingdom in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The Rohingya are culturally and religiously distinct from the majority Buddhist population in Myanmar.
- Myanmar has refused to recognise the Rohingya denying them citizenship since 1982, thus making them the world’s largest stateless population.
- With the option of returning to Myanmar virtually impossible, an increasing number of Rohingya have been undertaking dangerous journeys across the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea to Muslim-majority nations of Indonesia and Malaysia.
ICMR set to bring in evidence-based norms for lung cancer management (GS Paper- 2, Health, Education, Human Resource)
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- The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), understanding the gap of evidence based norms for lungs cancer management, is now all set to launch a systematic review and meta-analyses which, it notes, will play a crucial role in synthesising existing evidence to inform decision-making in the management of lung cancer to guide clinical practice and improve patient outcomes.
- The Council has launched an expression of interest (EoI) from researchers who are interested in conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
- According to the World Health Organisation, lung cancer is a significant public health concern, causing a considerable number of deaths globally. Smoking tobacco (including cigarettes, cigars, and pipes) is the primary risk factor for lung cancer, but it can also affect non-smokers.
‘India achieves 16% decline in new TB cases since 2015’ (GS Paper- 2, Health, Education, Human Resource)
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- India’s efforts to ensure early tuberculosis detection and treatment initiation, along with a host of community engagement efforts has resulted in a decline of 16% in incidence (new TB cases emerging each year) and a 18% reduction in mortality, since 2015.
- The incidence rate in India had fallen from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 199 per lakh population in 2022, while the mortality rate had declined from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 23 per lakh population in 2022, according to the India TB report 2024 released by the Union Health Ministry, stating that the country has set 2025 as the target for eliminating the disease.
- The Centre added that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) embarked on a journey towards accelerating TB elimination, guided by the National Strategic Plan 2017–25.
RBI modifies norms for lenders having exposure to AIFs (GS Paper- 3, Indian Economy)
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- The Reserve Bank of India MUMBAI (RBI) has modified norms for regulated entities (REs) concerning their investments in Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).
- As per the fresh directive, REs need to only set aside provisions to the extent their investment in an AIF scheme is further invested by the AIFs in a debtor’s company, and not the entire investment in the AIF scheme.
- Investments by REs in AIFs through intermediaries such as fund of funds or mutual funds are not included in the scope of the circular.
- The RBI had in December prevented REs from making investments in AIFs having downstream investments either directly or indirectly in any debtor’s company of the REs.
Study unravels the recipe that gives Kashmiri rice variety unique aroma (GS Paper- 3, Science & Technology)
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- Recently, scientists at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Srinagar, reported that altitude and temperature play an important role in the development of cultivation of mushk budiji, an indigenious rice variety distinguished by its rich aroma and unique test.
- In a study recently published in Nature Scientific Reports, they have reported identifying around 35 aromatic compounds in the variety at altitudes between 5,000 and 7,000 feet across the valley.
- Mushk budiji was on the verge of extinction for some time due to various factors. Chief among them was the prevalence of rice blast disease, its low yield, and lack of profitability. But a revival programme launched in 2007 by SKUAST scientists saw the crop make a slow comeback.
