1) 5th cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE): India is the only country in the world that has institutionalized the MEE process
- The MEE results suggested an overall improvement in the management effectiveness of the tiger reserves.
- In the 5th cycle, there are 12 Tiger Reserves that have scored 90% and above and thus a new category of ‘Excellent’ has been added. None of the tiger reserves was graded as ‘Poor’.
- The report, however, points out that the headline indicator — ‘carbon capture and climate change’ — has received the lowest score in the current cycle, as there is no mandate for it in Tiger Conservation Plans.
- Periyar reserve has obtained an MEE score of 94.3% followed by Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, Bandipur in Karnataka and Nagarhole in Karnataka.
- Two newly declared tiger reserves, Ramgarh Visdhari and Ranipur, have not been included in the current cycle of MEE.
2) Periyar Tiger Reserve: It is located in the Western Ghats of Kerala.
- It was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1978. Highest peak is Kottamala (2016m).
- Two main rivers, Pamba and Periyar, drain the reserve.
- It is home to many tribal communities, including the Mannans and the Palians.
- It Is also being considered the habitat of the elusive Nilgiri Tahr.
3) State Energy Efficiency Index Report 2021-22: It is developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE).
- SEEI 2021-22 has an updated framework of 50 indicators aligned with national priorities.
- 5 states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Telangana – are in the Front Runner category (>60 points)
- Telangana and Andhra Pradesh showed the most improvement since the last index.
4) UN Democracy Fund: It was created by the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2005 as a United Nations General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around the world.
- It is used to empower civil society, promote human rights, and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes. India is a founding member of UNDEF.
- Funding: It subsists entirely on voluntary contributions from Governments
- Advisory Board: It is constituted by the Secretary-General and includes
- UN Member States who have made the largest cumulative financial contributions to the Fund over the previous three years, International civil society organizations and Individuals serving in a personal capacity. India is the 4th highest donor
5) LANGUAGE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has envisaged a special project called ‘The Language Friendship Bridge’, which plans to train five to 10 people in the official languages of Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Indonesia.
- As of now, the ICCR has zeroed in on 10 languages: Kazakh, Uzbek, Bhutanese, Ghoti (spoken in Tibet), Burmese, Khmer (spoken in Cambodia), Thai, Sinhalese and Bahasa (spoken in both Indonesia and Malaysia).
- ICCR, is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India’s global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people.
- It was founded on 9 April 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India.
