Daily PIB 2nd March 2024

• World Wildlife Day: It is celebrated to promote sustainable practices that can help conserve biodiversity and raise public awareness of the need to protect and care for animals. It aims to raise awareness of the interconnectedness of all living things on our planet and to promote peaceful coexistence between humans and animals through activism, campaigning and education. It was first proposed by Thailand to the UN General Assembly in 2013.The idea was to set aside a day to promote awareness of wild animals and plants around the world. The General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2013, designating March 3 as World Wildlife Day in 2014. 

The CITES,a global agreement to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival, was signed on this day in 1973.Theme of WWD 2024: “Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation,” highlights the potential of technology to advance conservation efforts. 

• Nhava Sheva Port: The Port of Nhava Sheva lies to the east of the Port of Mumbai, about six nautical miles away across Thane Creek on the Arabian Sea. It is also commonly known as the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, as it is run by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. It is known to be the busiest port in India and deals with almost half of the country’s imports and exports.  

The Port of Nhava Sheva was commissioned in 1989 as a satellite port to relieve the Port of Mumbai from heavy congestion.As a small port in its early years, it only had single terminals for bulk cargos and containers.It has since expanded to include five privately-operated port terminals for containerized cargo handling and also a facility for handling bulk liquid cargo. 

It is recognized as one of the top 30 global container ports in terms of size and capacity. 

• Press and Registration of Periodicals Act (PRP Act), 2023: It has replaced the colonial era Press and Registration of Books Act dating back to 1867.The office of Press Registrar General of India – PRGI (erstwhile Registrar of Newspapers for India – RNI) shall be carrying out the purposes of the new Act. It provides for an online system for facilitating the registration of newspapers and other periodicals in the country. The new system replaces the existing manual, cumbersome processes involving multiple steps and approvals at various stages. 

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting launched the Press Sewa Portal, the online portal of the Press Registrar General, for receiving various applications as mandated by the new Act. 

All applications, including the intimation by the printer of a periodical, application for registration of a facsimile edition of a foreign periodical, the application by a publisher for obtaining a certificate of registration of a periodical, application for revision of certificate of registration, application for transfer of ownership of periodicals, furnishing annual statement by the publisher of a periodical, and procedure for desk audit for verification of circulation of a periodical will be online through the Press Sewa Portal. 

Notably, the PRP Act exempts books and journals from the purview of registration necessitated by the old PRB Act, focusing solely on periodicals, which are defined as publications, including newspapers, published and printed at regular intervals containing public news or commentary, but excluding scientific, technical, and academic books or journals.