Prelims – 20th Nov 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.
| Government has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India. These minerals are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE, Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium.
India’s Position in Mine and Mineral · India is highly dependent on imports of critical and deep seated minerals like o 100% dependency – lithium, cobalt, nickel, niobium, beryllium etc. o Very high dependency – copper, zinc, lead, gold etc. · India is the world’s 4th largest producer of iron ore and 2nd largest producer of coal as of 2021. · India is the 2nd largest producer of Aluminium globally. · India’s mineral demand is projected to rise by 3% in 2023. |
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.