An updated list of Indian amphibians was released by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) recently.
The current list bears the names of 432 amphibian species from India along with their IUCN status.
In the list 19 species are being treated as critically endangered and 33 species as endangered.
ZSI was established in 1916 to promote survey, exploration and research leading to the advancement in our knowledge of various aspects of exceptionally rich life.
It has its genesis in the establishment of the Zoological Section of the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1875.
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) had been established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERC) Act, 1998.
CERC is the Central Commission for the purposes of the Electricity Act, 2003 which has repealed the ERC Act, 1998.
The Commission consists of a Chairperson and four other Members including Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority who is the ex-officio Member of the Commission.
Major functions of CERC under the Act, inter-alia, are
to regulate the tariff of generating companies owned or controlled by the Central Government,
to regulate the tariff of other generating companies having a composite scheme for generation and sale of electricity in more than one State,
to regulate the inter-State transmission of electricity and to determine tariff for such transmission of electricity, etc.
Kinnar Akhara
Kinnar Akhara is a group of transgender saints pursuing religious activities.
It has emerged as a very significant feature at Prayagraj Kumbh.
The group, which had attended the Ujjain Kumbh in 2016, has been taking part in the holy baths at the ongoing Kumbh Mela along with the other akharas.
Akharas in India literally means a wrestling ring in Hindi.
Adi Shankaracharya was the founder of seven major Indian Akharas known as Mahanirvani, Niranjani, Juna, Atal, Avahan, Agni and Anand Akhara.
Sea Vigil 2019
It is a defense exercise conducted along the coastline by the Navy in coordination with the Coast Guard and other stakeholders.
It will aim to test the country's preparedness to thwart any attempt by anti-national elements to carry out an attack on its territory or against its citizens by infiltrating through the sea route.
The exercise will provide an opportunity to stakeholders to assess the capability and preparedness of individual organizations, identify deficiencies if any and address them on priority.
Oxfam report 2019
It is an annual report by anti-poverty the development charity Oxfam.
According to it, the world’s richest 26 billionaires own as much wealth as the 3.8 billion people in the bottom half of humanity.
Globally, billionaires’ fortunes rose by 12% to $900 billion, or $2.5 billion a day in 2018.
The poorest half of the world’s population saw their wealth decline by 11%.
India’s top 9 billionaires own as much as the country’s poorest half.
13.6 crore Indians, who make up the poorest 10% of the country, continued to remain in debt since 2004.
India’s richest 1% pays just 0.5% extra tax on their wealth could raise enough money enough to increase the government spending on health by 50%.
Women and girls are hardest hit by rising economic inequality.
