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By admin: June 13, 2022

‘Abnormal’ dinosaur egg found in India

Tags: Science and Technology

Researchers from Delhi University have discovered a unique set of fossilized dinosaur eggs in Dinosaur Fossils National Park in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, with one egg nesting inside another.

• Eggs within eggs are a rare phenomenon, found only in birds and never in reptiles.

• This discovery brings to the new links between reptiles and avian evolution.

• The findings of discovery are published in the journal 'Scientific Reports'.

• The Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Central India is long known for its dinosaur fossils.

• Scientists found evidence of 52 titanosaurid sauropod nests near Padalia village near Bagh town in Madhya Pradesh.

• One of these nests contained 10 eggs, one of which was an "abnormal" egg.

• About Dinosaur

• Dinosaurs of the Sauropod family were among the largest animals ever found on land and were found in India millions of years ago.

• Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles.

• Fossils of these animals have also been found in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya.

• Most Dinosaurs died out by the end of the Cretaceous period.

• Modern birds are a type of dinosaur because they share a common ancestor with non-avian dinosaurs.

• Dinosaur fossils have been discovered on all seven continents.

• All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct about 66 million years ago.

• The earliest known dinosaurs look during the Triassic period (about 250 to 200 million years ago).

• One of the biggest dinosaurs was the Argentinosaurus.

• Lizards, turtles, snakes and crocodiles are all descendants of dinosaurs.

• Dinosaurs could not survive and became extinct due to climate change.

Microplastics found in Antarctica for first time

Tags: Popular Science and Technology

Scientists have found microplastics in fresh ice in the Antarctic for the first time.

• Scientists have warned that the microplastics in the fresh snow of Antarctica would accelerate the process of melting of ice. 

• The researchers found an average of 29 microplastic particles per litre of melted snow.

• There were 13 different types of plastic found.

• The findings, published in The Cryosphere Journal, point to a serious threat to the Antarctic region.

• Impact of microplastic on environment

• Studies have shown that microplastics negatively impact the health of the environment, as well as limit the growth, reproduction and normal biological functions of organisms.

• Studies show that the global usage of plastic is set to increase by three fold by the year 2060. 

• Microplastics have been discovered inside fish and under Arctic ice in the deepest ocean depths.

• Microplastics if found in humans have negative health effects.

• In 2019, Alex Aves, a PhD student at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, collected ice samples from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

• The researchers found in the laboratory that every sample from even remote sites on the Ross Ice Shelf contained plastic particles.

• Microplastics were found in ice samples from 19 sites in the Ross Island region of Antarctica.

• What are Microplastics?

• These are defined as plastics less than five millimetres in diameter.

• They are small plastic particles that result from commercial product development and the breakdown of larger plastics.

• Microplastics are non-degradable and insoluble in water.

• As a pollutant, microplastics can be harmful to the health of the environment, humans and organisms.

World Day Against Child Labour 2022

Tags: Important Days

World Day Against Child Labour, also known as Anti Child Labour Day, is observed on 12th June every year.

• The day aims to raise awareness about the exploitation of children engaged in child labour.

• It aims to bring together governments and civil society organizations to combat child labour.

• The day also focuses on what more needs to be done to eliminate child labour.

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is celebrating Elimination of Child Labour Week in honour of World Day Against Child Labour in 75 places from 12 June. 

• Theme of the year 2022 - 

  • "Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour".

  • The theme of the day focuses on increasing investment in social security schemes and systems to develop sound social security mechanisms to protect against child labour.

  • A total of 160 million children are still engaged in child labour, some of whom are under the age of five.

• History of the day

• The International Labor Organization (ILO) started celebrating World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 with the aim of highlighting the plight of children who are victims of child labour.

• The day serves as a catalyst to take forward the global movement against child labour. 

• The eradication of Child Labour is part of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (Target 8.7).

• Constitutional Provisions

• According to Article 21(A) and Article 45 of the constitution children of the age six to 14 years have the Right to Education.

• As per provision of Article 24, a child below the age of 14 years cannot be employed in any mine, factory or hazardous workplace.

• Significance of the day

• The day focuses on providing dignity to the lives of children affected by child labor and ensuring support for their education, medical services and other needs.

• Many campaigns and seminars are organized on this day.

e-Vidhan system in Uttar Pradesh

Tags: State News National News

A delegation of MLAs from Gujarat visited the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly on 9th June to learn about the e-Vidhan system for paperless proceedings which has been recently adopted by the UP State Legislative Assembly.

• Uttar Pradesh is one of the few state legislatures in India to have implemented the digital assembly system, and its last session was fully digitised.

• Earlier in May, a training program was organized to familiarize the delegates with the technology.

• What is the E-Vidhan System?

• The E-Vidhan System is also called The National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA).

• It is a system to digitize the legislative bodies of all the Indian states and Parliament through a single platform.

• It consists of a website and a mobile app.

• House proceedings, starred/unstarred questions and answers, committee reports etc. will be available on the portal.

• By 2023, the proceedings of all the Legislative Assemblies, both the Houses of Parliament and the State Assemblies and Legislative Councils will be available on a single platform.

• Other states that implemented this system

• Nagaland became the first state to implement NeVA, in March 2022.

• The Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh implemented the pilot project of NeVA in 2014.

• Although both the houses of Parliament are not fully digital yet, governments across the world are moving towards adopting digital mode.

• In December 2021, the Government of Dubai became the world’s first government to go 100 percent paperless.

• Significance 

• There has been a significant shift towards digitization by the government in recent years.

• NeVA aims to streamline the information related to various state legislatures and eliminate the use of paper in day to day functioning.

• The idea of "one nation one legislative platform" was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021.

• A digital platform provides the necessary technological boost to our parliamentary system and at the same time connects all the democratic units of the country.

Tata Steel unveils 7 mn pound green investment plan for UK steel tube mill

Tags: Economy/Finance

Tata Steel has unveiled a 7-million pound investment plan for its Hartlepool Tube Mill in north-east England.

• It will cut carbon emissions, improve capacity and reduce costs to strengthen its UK business.

• The investment will allow the Hartlepool site to process coils of steel delivered from Tata's Port Talbot steel making site in South Wales.

• The all-steel product manufacturing on site employs approximately 300 people to produce 200,000 tons of steel tubes a year.

• These are 100 percent recyclable.

• This will improve efficiency and reduce overall CO2 emissions from steel processing as well as reducing the total costs across the business.

• The new project is expected to take more than a year to complete.

• It is the second major investment announced by the Indian company in the UK this year after an investment plan for its site at Corby in the north-eastern England region.

• Tata Steel's ambition in the UK is to produce net-zero steel by 2050 and reduce CO2 emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

• What is Green Investment?

• The business practices that have a favourable impact on the natural environment are called green investment.

• Green investing focuses on companies or projects committed to the conservation of natural resources, pollution reduction, or other environmentally conscious business practices.

PM will inaugurate the Sant Tukaram Shila Mandir at Dehu in Pune

Tags: Popular National News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Sant Tukaram Shila Mandir in the temple town of Dehu in Pune district on 14 June.

• About the Shila Mandir

• The shila refers to a rock that is currently in the Dehu Sanatan temple complex, and has been the starting point of Wari, the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur for centuries.

• Bhakti saint Tukaram sat on this rock for 13 consecutive days when challenged about the authenticity of the abhyangas he had written.

• About Sant Tukaram

• Tukaram was born in Maharashtra. His full name was Tukaram Bolhoba Ambile.

• He was a 17th-century poet-saint who lived with Maratha ruler Shivaji Maharaj.

• His poetry was dedicated to Vithoba or Vitthala, an avatar of Vishnu (Hindu God).

• He is best known for his Marathi Abangas (dohas), a rich legacy of gathas (devotional poetry).

• He was also instrumental in laying the foundation of Maratha nationalism.

• He emphasised community based worship through spiritual melodies called Kirtans.

• The Warkari sect

• Sant Tukaram and his works are at the heart of the Varkari sect spread across Maharashtra.

• His message about a casteless society and his denial of customs had given rise to a social movement.

• Sant Tukaram has credit for starting the Wari pilgrimage.

India’s first Covid-19 vaccine for animals

Tags: Science and Technology

The Agriculture Ministry recently unveiled India’s first Covid-19 vaccine for animals.

• The name of the vaccine is 'Ancovax' and it can protect animals against the Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2.

• How does it work?

• Ancovax can be used in dogs, lions, leopards, rats and rabbits.

• It has been developed by the Hisar-based National Research Centre on Equines. 

• It is an inactivated vaccine developed using an infectious part of the delta variant.

• It uses Alhydrogel as an adjuvant to boost the immune response.

• This is the first Covid-19 vaccine for animals developed in India.

• Last year there were reports from Russia that it too had developed a vaccine against animals such as dogs, cats, minks and foxes.

International Albinism Awareness Day 2022

Tags: Important Days

13th June is International Albinism Awareness Day. 

• The day is celebrated to create awareness among people about the prevention of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism and the rights of people with albinism.

• The purpose of this day is to raise awareness among people about the rights of people suffering from albinism.

• What is Albinism?

• It is a congenital disorder that occurs in humans due to the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, eyes and hair.

• This disease is caused by a lack of pigmentation (melanin) in the hair, skin and eyes, which makes a person sensitive to the sun and bright light.

• People with albinism can be visually impaired and have a higher risk of developing skin cancer.

• Theme of 2022

• The theme for the year 2022 is "United in Making Our Voice Heard".

• History of the day 

• In the mid-2000s, there were reports of violent attacks and murders on people with albinism in Tanzania.

• The belief behind the attacks that people with albinism possessed magical powers resulted in the deaths of 70 people in 2015.

• Because of this, the Tanzania Albinism Society (TAS) and other NGOs came together to advocate for the rights of people with albinism.

• The United Nations Human Rights Council took the initiative to stop attacks and discrimination against people with albinism on December 18, 2014.

• The Council decided to observe International Albinism Awareness Day on 13 June every year.

• International Albinism Awareness Day was first observed in 2015.