16 Dec 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Minority Rights Day
2. India Energy Week
3. Fossil lizards and snakes indicate climate of Late Miocene hominid locality of 
Haritalyangar, Himachal Pradesh

1. Minority Rights Day

Syllabus: GS 2, Social Justice.

Mains: Welfare schemes for the vulnerable sections of the population.

Prelims: Minority Rights Day.

Context: Minority Rights Day celebrated at the National Commission for Minorities.

Details:

• Minority Rights Day is observed every year on 18th December. National Commission for Minorities (NCM) celebrated it on December 16, 2022. 
• The United Nations on December 18, 1992, adopted and broadcasted the Statement on the individual’s Rights of Ethnic/Linguistic/Religious Minorities. 
• The observation of the Day upholds the right to freedom and equal opportunities for the minorities in the country. It also creates awareness about minorities’ rights.
• Intellectuals from the 6 minority communities (Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain and Zoroastrians) of India were invited to represent their community and share the challenges faced by their community. They further shared their expectations from the State and recommended improvements in the existing schemes and programmes.
• The need to generate awareness about targeted schemes for education and employment was also emphasised during the event. It was suggested that religious leaders should be roped in for this purpose.
• It was also reiterated by the commission that peace and communal harmony should be maintained in the society irrespective of religious, linguistic and other differences thereby maintaining the dignity of the minority communities by safeguarding their rights.

For more information on Minority Protection in India, read here: Minority Protection and India

2. India Energy Week

Syllabus: GS 3, Indian Economy.

Mains: Energy.

Prelims: India Energy Week 2023.

Context: Curtain Raiser Programme of the First edition of India Energy Week 2023 was held in Bangalore.

Details:

• The Curtain Raiser of India’s flagship Energy Event “India Energy Week 2023 “(IEW 2023), was organized at Bengaluru.
• The event marks the beginning of a number of events being hosted in the run-up to India Energy Week 2023. Some of these events are “Dancing charge Electric Vehicles”, a “car rally of Sustainable Fuel Vehicles”, etc that will display India’s efforts to achieve a cleaner and greener energy future.
• India Energy Week 2023 will be organized during India’s G20 Presidency, under the tagline “Growth, Collaboration, Transition”, from 6-8 February 2023 in Bengaluru. 
• The flagship event will feature more than thirty energy ministers, fifty CEOs and ten thousand plus delegates from across the world. 
• It will provide a unique opportunity to represent India as both an engine of global economic growth and a driver for global consumption, supported by a conducive and investment-friendly environment, and a skilled workforce.
• It was highlighted during the event that energy is crucial for the country’s economic growth and India has taken several measures in exploration, production, biofuels, refinery sector, green hydrogen, etc.
• The Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Hardeep S. Puri said that the major challenge for the country is to meet the energy demands of the fast-emerging economy.
• India is also looking forward to establishing the International Biofuel Alliance during its G20 presidency.

3. Fossil lizards and snakes indicate climate of Late Miocene hominid locality of
Haritalyangar, Himachal Pradesh

Syllabus: GS 3, Environment and Ecology.

Prelims: Fossil discovery in Haritayalnagar, Himachal Pradesh.

Context: Remains of fossil lizards and snakes have been recently discovered in Haritalyangar, Himachal Pradesh.

Details:

• In Haritalyangar, Himachal Pradesh, remains of fossil lizards and snakes were recently discovered. It was discovered in a late Miocene hominid locality of India, dated 9.1 million years.
• The discovery indicates a seasonally wet sub-humid to semi-arid climate in the area with a mean annual temperature of around 15–18.6°C during that period. This is similar to the current conditions of the area.
• It should be noted that lizards and snakes are cold-blooded squamates whose distribution, richness, and diversity are highly dependent on temperature and climatic conditions. Thus the presence of squamates is regarded as an excellent indicator of past climates, particularly ambient temperatures.
• Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, Panjab University (PU) Chandigarh, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) Rupnagar, Punjab, and Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia have jointly documented the taxa – Varanus, Python, a colubrid and a natricid from this region for the first time. 
• The occurrence of taxa Varanus in Haritalyangar is significant because varanids have a limited fossil record in Asia. Moreover, the fossil Python from South Asia also remains poor except for the earliest record from Pakistan and Kutch, Gujarat. 
• A co-existence of two iconic squamates – Varanus and Python, highlights a wider distribution of the clade in this southern Asian region.

Read the previous PIB articles here.

December 16th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here