Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park

• Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park is a deer national park located in Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
• It is the largest green lung space in the city of Hyderabad.
• Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park in Vanasthalipuram, a home for chital-the spotted deer, black buck, antelopes, python, butterflies, porcupine, doves, wild boar, hare and different species of birds. The highlight is the deer conservation at the Park.
• This space is a natural habitat for the deer; apparently this was a hunting spot for Nizams.
• The leaves of deciduous trees fall in autumn and with a change of season, the leaves are back. It is a sight to see the lush green landscape during the rainy reason.
• The park was named after Mahavir, a Jain saint, in commemoration of his 2500th nirvan anniversary in the year 1975. The place where the park is located was once a private hunting ground for the Nizam, rulers of Hyderabad.

UNICEF Report- Neonatal Deaths

• The released UNICEF report states that over 6, 00,000 children died within the first month of their birth in 2016.
• The country’s neonatal mortality rate at 25.4 deaths per 1,000 live births makes it 12th worst among 52 “lower middle-income countries” that pose risk for newborns.
• Even among states the difference is stark. For instance, Kerala and Goa‘s neonatal mortality stands at 10/1000 live births, whereas Bihar and Uttrakhand neonatal mortality rate is 44. 
• The causes for the death are preventable and treatable as 80% of these fatalities happen for no serious reason.
• India is currently not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target for neonatal mortality of 12 by 2030.
• The study also points out that India had made positive stride in Under-5 mortality rate (under-five mortality fell to 39 from 43 in the previous year).

Tropical Cyclone Gita:

• Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita was the most intense tropical cyclone to impact Tonga since reliable records began. The second named storm and first major tropical cyclone of the 2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season,
• Gita originated from a monsoon trough that was active in the South Pacific in early February 2018.
• India has contributed USD one million for the rehabilitation efforts in Tonga after the Tropical Cyclone Gita caused massive destruction in the Pacific island nation.
• The India-UN Development Partnership Fund was set up as a partnership between India and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
• Managed by UNOSSC, the fund will support Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and transformational sustainable development projects across the developing world. Focusing on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States, United Nations agencies will implement the Fund’s projects in close collaboration with partnering governments.

Olive Ridley turtles:

• Also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, Olive turtles are a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• They are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers.
• The olive ridley is classified as Vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and is listed in Appendix I of CITES.
• The Convention on Migratory Species and the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles have also provided olive ridleys with protection, leading to increased conservation and management for this marine turtle.

Operation greens

• Operation Greens aims to promote farmer producers organisations, agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management.
• The operation aims to aid farmers and help control and limit the erratic fluctuations in the prices of onions, potatoes and tomatoes.
• It was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech.
• Operation Green (OG) wants to replicate the success story of Operation Flood, in fruits and vegetables, starting with three basic vegetables—tomatoes, onions and potatoes (TOP).
• The main objective of OG is to reduce price volatility in these commodities, and thereby helping farmers augment incomes on a sustainable basis, as also provide these basic vegetables to consumers at affordable prices.

Endangered languages:

• The endangered languages include, 11 from Andaman and Nicobar Islands- Andamanese, Jarawa, Lamongse, Luro, Muot, Onge, Pu, Sanenyo, Sentilese, Shompen and Takahanyilang, 7 from Manipur- Aimol, Aka, Koiren, Lamgang, Langrong, Purum, and Tarao, and 4 from Himachal Pradesh- Baghati, Handuri, Pangvali, Sirmaudi. Mandi, Parji and Pengo from Orissa, Koraga and Kuruba from Karnataka, Gadaba and Naiki from Andhra Pradesh, Mra and Na from Arunachal Pradesh, Tai Nora and Tai Rong from Assam, Bangani from Uttarakhand, Kota and Toda from Tamil Nadu, Birhor from Jharkhand, Nihali from Maharashtra, Ruga from Meghalaya and Toto from West Bengal.

Kambala:

• Kambla in its traditional form is non-competitive with buffalo pairs made to race one after another in paddy fields, which is considered a thanksgiving to the Gods for protecting the animals from diseases.
• Over the years, it has however become an organised sport with animal rights activists claiming that the buffaloes run in the race due to fear of being beaten, which the organizers dismiss, saying no violence is involved and that several modifications had been made to ensure that it is an animal friendly event.

World Congress on Information Technology

• The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2018 is being held in Hyderabad, India. The event is organised by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance.
• The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is the largest and the most reputable international event among worldwide IT leaders. It brings together high-level officials from different countries, heads of multinational organizations, universities and scientific research centers, non-governmental organizations’ representatives and many more.
• The event includes discussions of legal, political and economic trends affecting IT business processes, presentations of innovative solutions, B2B meetings and so on.
• The WCIT has been held since 1978. Previous hosting countries were Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, USA, Greece, Australia, China, Spain, Japan, England, France, Denmark, Mexico, Brazil.
• The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of associations from the information and communications technology (ICT) industry around the world.
• WITSA was founded in 1978 as the World Computing Services Industry Association, and participates in advocacy in international public policy that affects the “global information infrastructure”.
• WITSA’s motto is “Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital Age”. It voices the concerns of the international IT industry in organisations such as the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the G8.

Tuidimjang:

• Myanmar is constructing a dam, called Tuidimjang, on the Twigem river flowing into Myanmar from Manipur.
• Since, Tuidimjang dam is being constructed across a river close to the boundary with India, it has stoked fears of submergence and water scarcity among border villagers in Kengjoi subdivison of Manipur’s Chandel district.
• The topography of the area is such that nearby Indian villages will be submerged if the dam comes up. The villagers, dependent on the river, are already facing water scarcity.

Theatre Olympics

• India is hosting the 8th Edition of Theatre Olympics ‘The Biggest Theatre Celebration of the World’.
• The Theatre Olympics was established in 1993 in Delphi, Greece, as the first international theatre festival.
• With the tagline ‘Crossing Millennia’, this is an initiative to connect the cultural past with the present and future, bringing the richness and diversity of theatre heritage to the experiments and research of contemporary theatre.
• The first country to host the Theatre Olympics was Greece in 1995.
• The Theatre Olympics, being held in India for the first time, is being organised by National School of Drama, under the aegis of Ministry of Culture.

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)

• It is a project initiated in June 2009 which aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing at the Police Station level.
• This will be done through adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system around “investigation of crime and detection of criminals”.
• CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Plan of Govt. of India.