15-11-22 Daily-Himachal Pradesh-HPPSC Current Affairs

The has decided not to seek the renewal of permission from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest for the culling of monkeys as only five simians have been killed since 2016, owing to religious beliefs.

It was after holding a detailed discussion with experts and wildlife officials last week that the Forest Department decided not to push the case for further renewal of the earlier notification, declaring monkeys as vermin in 93 tehsils across the state. The earlier notification, allowing scientific culling of monkeys across the state, including Shimla, had expired over two and a half years ago.

As per the official records, only five monkeys have been killed in the state since they were declared as vermin. So, we felt there was no justification in seeking the renewal of the order from the Centre, said Rajiv Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator Forest (Wildlife).

Moreover, decline in the number of monkeys from 1.36 lakh in the 2019 Census was also taken into consideration before arriving at the decision, he added.

TheUnion Home Ministryhas said resolute implementation of the national policy and action plan led to a 55 per cent reduction in violent incidents perpetrated by theNaxalsand 63 per cent indeathsover a period of eight years.

According to the annual report 2021-22 of theMinistry of Home Affairs, there has been an overall 55 per cent reduction in violent incidents (from 1,136 to 509) and 63 per cent reduction (397 to 147) inLeft Wing Extremism(LWE) related deaths in 2021 as compared to 2013.

In comparison to 2020, the year 2021 saw a decline of 24 per cent (665 to 509) in incidents of violence and 20 per cent (183 to 147) in the resultant deaths, the report said.

Owing to the improved LWE scenario, the list of LWE affected districts has been revised twice in the last three years. The number of LWE affected districts was reduced to 90 in April 2018 and then to 70 in July 2021.

In 2021, Chhattisgarh (255 incidents and 101 deaths) remains the worst affected state followed by Jharkhand (130 incidents and 26 deaths), Odisha (32 incidents and three deaths), Maharashtra (31 incidents and six deaths) and Bihar (26 incidents and seven deaths).

Supreme Court order upholding theEWSquota clears the way for more attempts by governments to provide above 50% quota in government jobs and educational institutions on grounds of social and educational backwardness as well as economic deprivation.

All the three judges in favour of the amendment wrote separate but concurrent verdicts while the minority verdict was written by Bhat on behalf of himself and the CJI. The majority held that keeping SCs/STs/OBCs out of EWS quota is not violative of the Equality code and does not in any manner cause damage to the basic structure of theConstitution. They also said that the breaching of the 50% ceiling for quota is not violative of the Constitution.

Higher exposure to airpollutantscan cause narrowing of blood vessels in those already having an underlying heart condition, thus exposing them to serious Health risks, including aheart attack, according to astudypublished in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

The study says prolonged exposure to PM2.5 or fine particulate matter can lead to a sudden, temporary squeezing of the arteries which can lead to heart attack.
The findings are based on an analysis of test reports of 287 patients suffering from Non-Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease or NOCAD (defined as less than 50% diameter stenosis) who underwent coronary angiography followed by a coronary provocation test at a hospital in Rome in which a drug is injected to check whether the coronary arteries are hyper-responsive.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed in principle to admit East Timor as the groups 11th member.

The half-island nation, officially called Timor Leste, will also be granted observer status at high-level ASEAN meetings, the bloc said after regional leaders met in Phnom Penh for a summit.

The East Timorese voted for independence from a brutal occupation by neighbouring Indonesia in a 1999 U.N.-supervised , and the country was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2002, making it Asias youngest Democracy.

The resource-rich country of 1.3 million people immediately started the process of accession to ASEAN, but only formally applied for membership in 2011.