UPSC Current Affairs
- The GIB is an avian species, which was classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2011. The biggest threat to these birds is the overhead power lines as the GIB frequently collide with them and get killed.
- Recently , the Supreme Court (SC) has constituted an expert committee to balance the conservation and protection of the endangered GREEN INDIAN BIRD population with the Country’s international commitments to promote renewable sources of energy .
- The Supreme Court on March 21 constituted a seven-member committee to find a balance between conservation measures for the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and efforts to generate renewable energy in the same regions.
- The development came during the hearing of the case, M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India, which goes back to 2019. Although the top court had given a judgment in the case in 2021, it continued to hear the case to ensure a smooth implementation of its ruling. The Supreme Court had ordered the installation of bird diverters where overhead power lines already exist, while leaving the door open for the conversion of overhead cables into underground power lines and the installation of underground power lines for future projects.
- Havana Syndrome refers to a set of mental health symptoms that are said to be experienced by US intelligence and embassy officials in various countries.
- The Central government has told the Karnataka High Court that it will look into the matter of the ‘Havana Syndrome’ in India.
- A petitioner had approached the Karnataka High Court requesting a writ of mandamus for an enquiry on Havana Syndrome in India and the prevention of high-frequency microwave transmission in India.
- It typically involves symptoms such as
(i) hearing certain sounds without any outside noise being present;
(ii) nausea, vertigo and headaches, memory loss and issues with balance
- The investigation claims that members of a Russian military intelligence unit, called 29155, could have targeted the brains of US officials by using “directed energy” weapons. The 29155 unit, which has been operational for more than a decade, has been previously accused of carrying out foreign assassination, subversion, and sabotage.
- Since the Cuban incident, American intelligence and foreign affairs officials posted in various countries have reported symptoms of the syndrome.
- Greater exposure to high-powered microwaves not only interferes with the body’s sense of balance but also impacts memory and causes permanent brain damage.
- In early 2018, similar accusations began to be made by US diplomats in China. Another incident had previously been reported by a USAID employee at the US Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in September 2017.
Hundreds of houses have been flooded in several coastal areas of Kerela , due to high sea waves also known as swell waves , Since Sunday (March 31) .
- Causes :
- It is caused by waves formed by ocean swells, which originate from distant storms such as hurricanes or prolonged periods of intense gale winds (usually in the southern part of the Indian Ocean).
- These storms transfer significant energy from the air into the water, resulting in the formation of extremely high waves.
- These waves can travel vast distances from the storm center until they reach the shoreline.
- Kallakkadal occurs without precursors or any kind of local wind activity and as a result, it has been very difficult for the coastal population to get an advance warning.
- However, early warning systems like the Swell Surge Forecast System —launched by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in 2020 gives forewarning seven days in advance.
- THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Disaster Management Authority says that the cause of the sea rage in various districts of the state is the ‘Kallakkadal’ (kallan meaning thief and kadal means sea) phenomenon .
According to the e-journal Legal Service India, a first information report (FIR) is the information given to a police officer in writing as per the provisions of Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
All an information has to do to file an FIR is to visit the local police station and furnish information , orally or in writing , about the commission of an offence . Further , anyone can file an FIR – the person approaching the police does not necessarily have to be the victim of or an eyewitness to an offence .
Such delays in filing FIRs can lead to delays in investigations and , by extension, in the administration of Justice .
This is where a ZERO FIR comes in .
Unlike an FIR, which is restricted by jurisdiction , a ZERO FIR can be filed in any police station, regardless of whether the offence was committee under the jurisdiction of that particular police station .
After a police station registers a ZERO FIR , it has to transfer the complaint to a police station that has the jurisdiction to investigation the alleged offence . Once a ZERO FIR is transferred the police station with the appropriate jurisdiction assigns it a serial number , thereby converting it into a regular FIR .