Prelims – 19th Oct 23

Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
• It lies alongside the northern tip of the River Ganga, flowing thru the districts of Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor.
• It has a variety of landforms and is a mixture of different habitats such as wetlands, marshes, dry sand beds and gently sloping ravines.
• Fauna: Swamp Deer, Leopard, Wild Cats, Wild Otter, Pythons etc.
• Under Crocodile Breeding Projects, baby crocodiles are released in the Ganga River near Hastinapur.
• Under the aegis of the World-Wide Fund (WWF), the Turtle Rehabilitation Program also has its centre near the Hastinapur Sanctuary.
• It is a part of the “Asia Flyway” project, and many migratory Birds, both local and foreign, flock in numbers near the numerous water bodies present in the region.

Critical Minerals

• It is a metallic or non-metallic element that has two characteristics.
  • It is essential for the functioning of our modern technologies, economies or national security and
  • There is a risk that its supply chains could be disrupted.
• The ‘criticality’ of minerals changes with time as supply and society’s needs shift.
• Applications:
  • They are used to manufacture advanced technologies, including mobile phones, computers, fibre-optic cables, semiconductors, banknotes, and defence, aerospace and medical applications.
  • Many are used in low-emission technologies, such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, and rechargeable batteries.
  • Some are also crucial for common products, such as stainless steel and electronics.
• Examples: antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, lithium, vanadium etc.
• Top Producers: Chile, Indonesia, Congo, China, Australia and South Africa.

CHAMPIONS 2.0 Portal

• Champions portal is a single-window grievance redressal portal for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
• The CHAMPIONS stands here for the Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing Output and National Strength. Accordingly, the name of the system is CHAMPIONS.
• It was launched on June 1, 2020, by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
• It is created in a Hub & Spoke Model.
• The Hub is situated in New Delhi in the Secretary MSME’s office. The spokes will be in the States in various offices and institutions of the Ministry.
• As per the operational requirements, the MSME Ministry had earlier expanded the scope of the portal by onboarding 25 ministries/departments/ government institutions, 32 state governments, 58 banks/
• New Features:
  • The revamped portal will now incorporate AI-driven chatbots and will be available in 11 languages, including Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Kannada.
  • The portal will also have a real-time feedback mechanism for its analysis.