New Districts in Ladakh | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
News Today Logo

Also in News

Posted 27 Aug 2024

8 min read

New Districts in Ladakh

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced the creation of five new districts in Union Territory of Ladakh.

  • These districts are Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang.
    • Currently, Ladakh has only two districts: Leh and Kargil.

How Are Districts Created?

  • State government has the power to create new districts or alter or abolish existing ones in states. 
    • Changes can be made by passing an executive order or a law in state assembly.
  • Tags :
  • Ladakh
  • Leh
  • Zanskar
  • Drass
  • Kargil

Leptospirosis (Rat Fever)

A surge in Leptospirosis cases has affected almost all districts in Kerala.

About Leptospirosis

  • Infectious disease caused by pathogenic bacteria called Leptospires that are transmitted directly or indirectly from animals to humans. Thus, it is a Zoonotic Disease.
  • Bacteria enter body through cuts or abrasions on skin.
  • Human-to-human transmission occurs very rarely.
  • Most common in tropical and subtropical areas with high rainfall.
  • Initiative taken to control: Programme for Prevention and Control of leptospirosis by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • Tags :
  • Leptospirosis
  • Leptospires
  • Zoonotic Disease

Mass Wasting

Environmental scientists raised concern in a new study on high frequency of mass wasting events in Sedongpu Gully of Tibetan Plateau since 2017.

About Mass wasting

  • A geological event, mass wasting is the gravity-influenced movement of rock and soil down a slope.
    • Rapid earth movements triggered by rain or seismic activity E.g., Rock falls, slumps, and debris flows.

About  Sedongpu Gully

  • Located in Tibetan Plateau near Arunachal Pradesh Border.
  • It’s found in catchment of the Sedongpu glacier and its valley. 
  • It drains into Yarlung Zangbo or Tsangpo river.
  • Tags :
  • Mass Wasting
  • Sedongpu Gully
  • Tibetan Plateau
  • Yarlung Zangbo

Unified Lending Interface

Reserve Bank of India to launch ULI.

About ULI

  • It is a technology platform which would enable frictionless credit. 
  • It will facilitate a seamless and consent-based flow of digital information, including land records of various states, from multiple data service providers to lenders. 
  • It will have a common and standardised Application Programming Interface designed for a ‘plug and play’ approach.

Benefits of ULI

  • Enables borrowers to get benefit of seamless delivery of credit, quicker turnaround time without requiring extensive documentation.
  • Addresses credit demand gaps for agriculture and MSME sectors.
  • Tags :
  • Reserve Bank of India
  • Unified Lending Interface

Hoolock Gibbon

Assam allows for oil and gas exploration in Hollongapar Gibbon wildlife sanctuary.

About Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary (Jorhat, Assam)

  • Contains India’s only gibbons (hoolock gibbons), and North-eastern India’s only nocturnal primate (Bengal slow loris).
  • Only sanctuary in India to be named after gibbons as it contains largest density of gibbons.

About Hoolock Gibbon

  • Only ape found in India (in northeast).
  • Western hoolock gibbon: Found in all states of north-east, restricted between south of Brahmaputra river and east of Dibang river; Eastern Bangladesh and north-west Myanmar.
    • IUCN Status: Endangered.
    • Schedule 1 of WPA, 1972.
  • Eastern hoolock gibbon: Specific pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, and southern China and north-east Myanmar. 
    • IUCN Status: Vulnerable.
  • Tags :
  • Hoolock Gibbon
  • Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Bengal slow loris

Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI)

As per TRAI, there are 2,07,642 deployed PM-WANI Wi-Fi hotspots in country as on 22.07.2024, far short of 10 million public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022 and 50 million by 2030.

About PM- WANI

  • Launched by Department of Telecommunication in 2020.
  • Aims to enhance the proliferation of public WiFi hotspots to create robust digital communications infrastructure in country, especially in rural areas.
  • Encourages local shops and establishment to provide Wi-Fi for last-mile internet delivery which does not require a licence or charge a registration fee.
  • Consists of four parts: Public Data Office, Public Data Office Aggregator, App Provider, and Central Registry.
  • Tags :
  • PM-WANI
  • Department of Telecommunication

Wular Lake

Measures are being taken for cleaning siltation of critically silted Wular Lake.

About Wular Lake: 

  • Largest freshwater lake in India and second largest freshwater lake in Asia situated on foothills of Haramuk Mountain (J&K).
    • Main source of water is River Jhelum. 
  • Zain Lank: Small island in lake constructed by King Zainul-Abi-Din.
  • Ramsar Site: It was designated as Wetland of International Importance under Ramsar Convention.
  • Site for migratory waterfowl species:  Little Egzet , Cattle Egzet , Common Pochard etc.
  • Major problems:
    • Pollution from fertilizers, animals & human wastes, conversion of vast catchment into agriculture land and hunting pressure on waterfowl and migratory birds.
  • Tags :
  • Ramsar Site
  • Wular Lake
  • Zain Lank

Plea Bargaining

As per the Ministry of Law and Justice, only 0.11% of cases were resolved through plea bargaining in 2022.

About Plea Bargaining:

  • It is an agreement between defense and prosecution where accused pleads guilty for a lesser offense or a reduced sentence.
  • Introduced in 2006 as part of a set of amendments to CrPC.
  • In section 290 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, plea bargaining has been made time bound and application can be made within 30 days from date of framing of charge.
  • Application: Applies only to offenses punishable by up to seven years of imprisonment, with further restrictions excluding cases involving crimes against women, children, or socio-economic offenses.
  • Tags :
  • CrPC
  • BNSS
  • Plea Bargaining
Watch News Today