Relevance IN - Prelims ( about World Wildlife day + about CITES)
What's the NEWS

• On 20 December 2013, at its 68^th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in its resolution decided to proclaim 3 March, the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973, as World Wildlife Day, which was proposed by Thailand to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora.

• The UNGA resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar.
• World Wildlife Day has now become the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife.
• World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2020 under the theme "Sustaining all life on Earth", encompassing all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world's biodiversity.
• This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 14 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life both on land and below water to halt biodiversity loss.

• CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.
• It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975.
• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild, and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 35,000 species of animals and plants.
• States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention ('joined' CITES) are known as Parties.
• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties - in other words they have to implement the Convention - it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.
• The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines.

• Appendix I lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants.
• They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research.
• Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.
• Appendix III is a list of species included at the request of a Party that already regulates trade in the species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation
• International trade in specimens of species listed in this Appendix is allowed only on presentation of the appropriate permits or certificates.
• Species may be added to or removed from Appendix I and II, or moved between them, only by the Conference of the Parties
• But species may be added to or removed from Appendix III at any time and by any Party unilaterally

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the discovered ink and its objective)
What's the NEWS

• CSIR-National Physical Laboratory has developed a bi-luminescent security ink which glows in red and green colours when illuminated by two different excitation sources at 254 nano meters (nm) and 365 nm, respectively.
• The ink was prepared in a batch of 1kg and given to Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas, a unit of Security Printing Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL), New Delhi.
• The ink is found comparable to the standards that are in use. The formulation can be used to check the authenticity of passports, Government documents, tamper evident labels, identity cards, etc.

Prelims Factoids
Nomination dossiers of ‘Dholavira
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Dholavira)
What's the NEWS

• Government of India has submitted two nomination dossiers namely ‘Dholavira: A Harappan City' and ‘Monuments and Forts of Deccan Sultanate' for inclusion in the World Heritage List for the year 2020.
• Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has submitted the proposal of ‘Group of Monuments at Mandu' in the year 2019.

Know! about Dholavira

• Dholavira is an archaeological site of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India,
• Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of an ancient Indus Valley Civilization/Harappan city.
• It consisted of a bipartite ‘citadel', a ‘middle town' and a ‘lower town', two ‘stadia', an ‘annexe', a series of reservoirs all set within a fortification running on all four sides.
• Dholavira's location is on the Tropic of Cancer. It is one of the five largest Harappan sites and most prominent archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization.
• It is also considered as having been the grandest of cities of its time. It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch.

Bilateral Relations
India outshines Russia, Poland to bag USD 40 million defence deal in Armenia
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the defence deal + about Swathi weapon) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• In a big boost to Make in India' defence goals, India has managed to secure a deal in Armenia to supply four weapon locating radars beating the competing bids from Russia and Poland.

Know! more about it (swathi weapon)

• The contract worth over USD 40 million to supply four Swathi weapon locating radars has been signed with Armenia and supplies have also started.
• The contract is for four Swathi weapon locating radars which provide fast, automatic and accurate location of enemy weapons like mortars, shells and rockets in a 50 km range.
• The radar can simultaneously handle multiple projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations.
• The Indian Army is also using the same radars for its operations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir where this system is used to trace the source of attack by Pakistani positions. T
• The system was handed to the Indian Army on a trial basis in 2018.

Prelims Factoids
8-day Vasantotsav begins in Gandhinagar

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Vasantotsav)
What's the NEWS

• The Eight day cultural fair called Vasantotsav was inaugurated at Sanskruti Kunj in Gandhinagar.

Know! more about the fest

• The annual festival is organised by the department of Youth and cultural Affairs, Government of to celebrate the rich diverse heritage of the country.
• This year the theme of the festival is Ek Bhaart Shreshth Bharat.Artists from across India have come to Gujarat to participate in the festival.
• Chhattisgarh being the pair state of Gujarat, the festival was kicked off with the performance Panthi dance,which is a folk dance form of the of Chhattisgarh.
• Along with dance performances, several stalls have been set up to showcase and sale various local traditional handicraft of different states.

Government Schemes
Cabinet approves Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Swatch Bharat Mission Grameen) + Mains ( GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet, has approved the Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM (G)] till 2024-25, which will focus on Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus), which includes ODF sustainability and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).
• SBM (G) Phase-II will also be implemented from 2020-21 to 2024-25 in a mission mode with a total outlay of Rs. 1,40,881 crores.

This different verticals of financing

• from the budget of D/o Drinking Water and Sanitation
• funds being released under 15thFinance Commission
• MGNREGS and revenue generation models particularly for solid and liquid waste management.

Know! more about the programme

• Under the program, provision for incentive of Rs.12,000/- for construction of Individual Household Toilet (IHHL) to the newly emerging eligible households as per the existing norms will continue.
• Funding norms for Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) have been rationalized and changed to per capita basis in place of no. of households.
• The programme will be implemented by the States/UTs as per the operational guidelines which will be issued to the States
• The fund sharing pattern between Centre and States will be 90:10 for North-Eastern States and Himalayan States and UT of J&K; 60:40 for other States; and 100:0 for other Union Territories, for all the components.

The SLWM component of ODF Plus will be monitored on the basis of output-outcome indicators for four key areas:

• plastic waste management,
• bio-degradable solid waste management (including animal waste management),
• greywater management and
• fecal sludge management.

Statics of Rural Sanitation

• The rural sanitation coverage in the country at the time of launch of SBM (G) on 02.10.2014 was reported as 38.7%.
• More than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed since the launch of the mission; as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves ODF as on 2^nd October, 2019.
• The approval by the Cabinet to SBM Phase II will help the rural India effectively handle the challenge of solid and liquid waste management and will help in substantial improvement in the health of the villagers in the country.

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