Social Justice/GSII
International Day of Persons with Disabilities

What's the NEWS

• On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities i.e. 3rd December, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment confers National Awards on Individuals, Institutions, Organizations, State/District etc for their outstanding achievements and work done towards empowerment of Persons with Disabilities every year.

• The Government has enacted the Right to Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 which came into effect from 19.04.2017.
• The Act provides for 4% reservation in government jobs for persons with disabilities.
• In January 2021, the Ministry has identified 3566 posts suitable for persons with disabilities.
• The Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan (Accessible India Campaign) was launched by the Government on 03.12.2015 to provide universal accessibility to persons with disabilities so that they can live a meaningful life with dignity.
• Public buildings, transport system and information and communication technology have been included under this campaign.
• The Department has developed a Mobile APP to address those problems in a quick and systematic manner as possible.
• The Government has set up Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre to promote the empowerment of hearing-impaired persons and to create sign language in India.
• The Institute, among other functions, is continuously preparing sign language dictionaries that have so far included more than 10,000 words.
• The Government is implementing a unique Disability Identity Card project with the objective of creating a National Database for Persons with Disabilities.
• The Government is also establishing a Centre for Disability Sports Centre at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, which will be completed by mid-2022.

• It is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992.
• It has been observed with varying degrees of success around the planet.
• The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities.
• It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

• Child Adoption Resource Information & Guidance System (CARINGS) is an online platform, building bridges and creating links through a robust web-based management system designed to bring transparency in the adoption system and also curtailing delays at various level.
• The adoption of children takes place through the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS), a web-based application under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and under Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) 1956.
• Adoptions under HAMA do not come under the purview of Central Adoption Resource Authority.
• There are no Authorised Foreign Adoption Agencies (AFFA) in India
• Various advisories have been issued by the Government including the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and CARA, to all the States and UTs for addressing the child care and safeguard during the COVID-19 pandemic and for ensuring ease of the adoption process, including promotion of legal adoptions in the country.

• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.
• It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
• CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.
• CARA primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies.

• Congress leader Shashi Tharoor moved a private member's Bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to establish permanent Benches of High Courts in State capitals.
• In Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh, the State High Court is situated outside the capital city.
• The private member's Bill was moved in the Lok Sabha after a gap of nearly two years.
• "Establishment of permanent benches of high courts at state capitals Bill" had been pending since 2019.
• As many as 153 private members' Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday, including one that sought compulsory teaching of the Bhagavad Gita in educational institutions.

• A private member's bill in a parliamentary system of government is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch.
• An MP who is not a minister is a private member.
• The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in which a "private member" is any member of parliament (MP) who is not a member of the cabinet (executive).
• While both private members and ministers take part in the lawmaking process, Bills introduced by private members are referred to as private member's Bills and those introduced by ministers are called government Bills.
• While a government Bill can be introduced and discussed on any day, a private member's bill can only be introduced and discussed on Fridays.
• Government Bills are backed by the government and also reflect its legislative agenda.

What's the NEWS

• In a major discovery, the longest in-country migration route of lesser floricans, the endangered birds of the bustard group, has been tracked for the first time from Rajasthan to Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.

• The mystery of the fast-disappearing birds may soon be resolved with the help of satellite transmitters fitted on them.
• The telemetry exercise was undertaken in the Shokaliya landscape of Ajmer district to trace the journey of lesser floricans from their breeding grounds to their places of origin, presumably in down South.

• Lesser florican, taxonomically classified as Sypheotides indicus, is a small and slender bird species belonging to the bustard group, found in tall grasslands, for which Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has launched a recovery programme.
• The endangered bird is observed in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and some other regions during the monsoon season, when it breeds and later disappears with its chicks to unknown places.
• The bird is listed as "critically endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species and its population has been identified as "decreasing".

• Zographetus Dzonguensis, a butterfly species new to science, was found at Dzongu in Sikkim, a stronghold of the indigenous Lepchas of Sikkim.
• It was found in the Namprickdang area, Noom Panang Village in upper Dzongu, North District, Sikkim.
• The team of researchers who discovered the species have proposed the English name ‘Chocolate-bordered Flitter' as it has a chocolate coloured border around both the wings.
• The new species of butterfly, now named the Chocolate-bordered Flitter, also carries the scientific name Zographetus dzonguensis, after Dzongu in north Sikkim, the place where it was discovered.
• It is a golden yellow butterfly with brown borders and spots. The physical appearance of the species differ slightly and the internal structures of the males also differ slightly.
• Its closest relatives are Zographetus pangi in Guangdong, and Zographetus hainanensis in Hainan, both in southeastern China, close to Hong Kong
• It is mentioned on the ‘Butterflies of India' website which is maintained by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru.

Environment Conservation/Infrastructure Development-Energy/GS III
ONGC inks MoU with SECI to develop renewable, ESG projects

What's the NEWS

• To realize its green energy objectives, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Know! about CCUS

• Carbon capture, utilisation and storage, or CCUS, is an important emissions reduction technology that can be applied across the energy system
• CCUS technologies also provide the foundation for carbon removal or "negative emissions" when the CO2 comes from bio-based processes or directly from the atmosphere.
• It is a technology that can capture and make effective use of the high concentrations of CO₂ emitted by industrial activities.
• Consequently, it has a key role to play in decarbonization and the addressing the challenge of global climate change.

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