1) Sarna code: Jharkhand Government is seeking recognition of Sarna religious code for tribals.
- Sarna followers are nature worshippers who do not consider themselves Hindus and have been fighting for a separate religious identity for decades.
- So far, the census surveys have included them as “others” in the religion column.
- Believers of Sarna faith do not practice idol worship, nor do they adhere to the concept of the Varna system, heaven-hell, etc.
- Holy grail of Sarna faith is “Jal (water), Jungle (forest), Zameen (land)” and its followers pray to trees and hills
2) TRAI released Draft Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Ninth Amendment) Regulations, 2023: TRAI has proposed changes to Mobile Number Portability (MNP) rules to prevent SIM-swap fraud.
- Need for changes: Mobile connections are being fraudulently ported out by criminals/fraudsters by way of fraudulent SIM Swaps/replacement.
- Suggested changes
- Telcos will need to check if the request is coming from a number that has undergone a SIM swap 10 days prior to the request to port.
- In such cases, unique porting code for the request would not be allocated.
- Donor operator (network from which customer is porting out) to send the demographic details of customer seeking MNP to porting operator (network to which the customer is porting).
3) Methane: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) released a report on Methane emissions in livestock and rice systems.
- Methane is colorless, odorless and tasteless greenhouse gas (GHG).
- It is the 2nd most prevalent GHG emitted by human activities.
- Methane emissions from anthropogenic activities contribute about 0.5 degrees rise to observed global warming.
- Its Global Warming Potential (GWP) is 27-30 over 100 years (CO2’s GWP is 1).
4) Green Ammonia: Green Ammonia from Egypt imported through VOC Port, Tamil Nadu for the first time.
- Green ammonia is made using 100% renewable and carbon-free source.
- Blue Ammonia, refers to the ammonia for which by-product CO2 has been captured and stored, reducing climate impact.
- Grey/Brown Ammonia refers to the ammonia produced using fossil fuels.
- Ammonia (NH3) is a pungent gas widely used to make fertilisers.
- Produced through Haber-Bosch process in which hydrogen and nitrogen are reacted together at high temperatures and pressures.
- Ministry of Power has notified Green Ammonia Policy in 2022
Places in News:
1) Lough Neagh: The demand has been made in the UK to bring the Lough Neagh lake under Public Ownership.
- It is a Ramsar Site and the largest freshwater lake in the UK.
- It is also home to the largest commercial wild eel fishery in Europe.
- Lake is facing threats due to blue-green algal bloom (due to Cyanobacteria) caused by:
- Rising water temperature
- Invasive species (Zebra Mussels) and
- Eutrophication (water runoff having excess nutrients from fertiliser)
