Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 31 January 2024 | Download PDF

• The Union Ministries of Labour & Employment and Women & Child Development have initiated a joint survey to explore and enhance women’s participation in the workforce.
• The announcement was made by Union Minister Smriti Irani during an event themed “Women in the workforce for Viksit Bharat.”

Survey Objectives:

• The survey aims to assess the prevalence of women-friendly practices within companies across the country.
• Concerns expressed by international agencies, including the International Labour Organization, have prompted this initiative.

Increasing Women Participation:

• The latest data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reveals a positive trend. 
• In 2017-18, the women participation rate was 23.3%, and by 2022-23, it has significantly increased to 37%.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

• The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is a crucial initiative conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). 
• This quarterly survey is designed to gather data and generate estimates related to key employment and unemployment indicators at both the national and state levels.
• The PLFS was launched in April 2017.

• Results of a first-of-its-kind, four-year-long estimation exercise on India’s snow leopard population were made public.
• India is home to an estimated 718 snow leopards.

Key Points:

• The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) initiative started in 2019.
• Collaborative efforts involved the World Wide Fund for Nature-India, the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru, and the Wildlife Institute of India.
• The Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), an autonomous body of the Union Environment Ministry, employed software and statistical methods to estimate the number of individual cats.

Geographical Distribution

• Ladakh emerged with the highest estimated number of snow leopards (477), followed by Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51), Arunachal Pradesh (36), Sikkim (21), and Jammu and Kashmir (9).
• These estimates provide crucial insights into the distribution of snow leopards across various mountainous terrains in India.
• The current estimate positions India’s snow leopard population at 10% to 15% of the global population.

Conservation Status and Threats

• IUCN Red list Status: Vulnerable
• Listed in Schedule-I species of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
• Threats to the species include free-ranging dogs, human-wildlife conflicts, and poaching.

• India has nominated the “Maratha Military Landscapes” for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List for 2024-25.
• This nomination highlights a network of forts showcasing the strategic military powers during the Maratha rule.

List of Nominated Forts:

• The 12 forts included in this nomination are the forts of Salher, Shivneri, Lohagad, Khanderi, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Vijaydurg and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra and Gingee in Tamil Nadu.

Significance:

• The “Maratha Military Landscapes” evolved between the 17th and 19th centuries.
• These landscapes represent an exceptional fortification and military system envisioned by Maratha rulers.
• The forts vary in hierarchies, scales, and typological features, reflecting integration with distinctive landscapes—Sahyadri mountain ranges, Konkan Coast, Deccan Plateau, and Eastern Ghats.

• The Philippines and Vietnam signed crucial agreements on Tuesday to address incidents in the South China Sea and enhance cooperation between their coast guards.
• The alliance is expected to draw disapproval from China, which asserts extensive claims over the South China Sea.

Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea

• The South China Sea is a hotspot for territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines, and other nations.
• China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its sovereign territory.
• The Philippines, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian nations claim various islands, islets, reefs, and shoals around their coasts.
• Approximately $5 trillion in international trade flows through the South China Sea annually.

About:

• The South China Sea is situated just south of the Chinese mainland and is bordered by the countries of Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
• The South China Sea is one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world.
• More than half of the world’s fishing vessels are in the South China Sea, and millions of people depend on these waters for their food and livelihoods.
• The major island and reef formations in the South China Sea are the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Pratas, the Natuna Islands and Scarborough Shoal.

Nine-dash line

• In 1947, the Kuomintang party, ruling the country at the time, introduced the concept of the “nine-dash line” on a map.
• This line was a territorial demarcation outlining China’s claimed waters and islands in the South China Sea.

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently upgraded its forecast for global economic growth.
• This positive adjustment applies to the two largest economies, the United States and China, attributing it to a faster-than-expected easing of inflation.
• The IMF forecast global growth of 3.1% in 2024, 0.2 percentage point higher than its October projection. 
• The historical average for the 2000-2019 period was 3.8%. Global trade was expected to expand by 3.3% in 2024 and 3.6% in 2025, well below the historical average of 4.9%.

• Startup Utsav 2024, organized by Startup Odisha—an initiative by the MSME department of the state government—is a forthcoming event in Bhubaneswar scheduled for January 31. 
• The event aims to recognize and celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in the state.

• The Indian government has decided to immediately shut down District Agro Met Units (DAMUs) across 199 districts, a joint initiative of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Key Points:

• DAMUs were established at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in 2018.
• These units provided agro meteorological services, including weather forecasts and advisory support to farmers from sowing to harvest, offering localized solutions in both local and English languages.

• Internationally Acclaimed Linguist and Writer Debi Prasanna Pattanayak to receive the first World Odia Language Award.
• The award will be presented during the first World Odia Language Conference.
• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will honor Pattanayak for his lifelong dedication to Odia language research.

Recognition and Rewards

• Dr. Pattanayak is renowned as a scholar, researcher, linguist, and writer.
• He is the founder director of the Indian Language Institute.
• Pattanayak has been honored with the Padma Shri for his dedicated efforts towards the development of Indian languages.

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recently inaugurated the LAccMI bus service in Deogarh, Angul, and Dhenkanal districts.
• The initiative aims to connect 440 panchayats in these districts, benefitting over 27 lakh people in rural areas.

About:

• LAccMI was one of the 20 new initiatives with a cumulative outlay of Rs 7,202 crore announced by the state government in the 2023-24 budget.
• LAccMI stands for location accessible multimodal initiative (LAccMI).
• It is aimed at establishing a sustainable, affordable, and safe transportation network.
• This initiative seeks to create a seamless public transport network.
• Every Gram Panchayat (GP) will connect to the main block at affordable prices.

• The Orissa high court has set a deadline of 4 weeks to check its pollution level.
• Recently,the Odisha government collaborated with IIT, Guwahati, for a comprehensive study on the physical and mathematical aspects of rejuvenating the Brahmani River Delta.

About:

• Location: A major east-flowing river among peninsular rivers in India.
• Aliases: Known as Dhamra in its lower reaches.
• Formation: Created by the confluence of the Sankh and South Koel rivers near Rourkela in Odisha.
• Origin of Sources: Both Sankh and South Koel rivers originate in the Chota Nagpur Plateau.
• Basin Boundaries: Bounded by the Chota Nagpur plateau (north), Mahanadi basin (west and south), and Bay of Bengal (east).
• Geographical Flow: Passes through Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, draining 39,033 sq. km before outfalling into the Bay of Bengal.
• Length: Total length of 799 km, with 541 km within Odisha.
• Wildlife Sanctuary: Forms the Brahmani delta, the site of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, renowned for estuarine crocodiles.

All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Adda247.