🔆e-FAST India Initiative

✅Recently, NITI Aayog has announced the launch of the ‘NITI GearShift Challenge’ as part of the e-FAST India initiative

✅e-FAST was born from the recognition of the urgent need to decarbonize road-based freight transportation in India to realize its 2070 net zero commitments.

✅It was launched in September 2022.

✅It aims to galvanize the transition towards cleaner and greener freight transportation.

✅The platform facilitates active collaborations at both the national and international levels, supports ideation and development of pilot programs on a scalable basis, and explores technology integration and associated research.

✅It is a platform that facilitates deliberation, debates and collaboration between different stakeholders including the government, Original Equipment Manufacturers, Logistics Service Providers, Shippers, and industry experts to enable the development and adoption of electric technology in the freight sector at scale.

🔆Population Pyramids

✅The population pyramid (The age-sex pyramid)
The age-sex structure of a population refers to the number of females and males in different age groups. A population pyramid is used to show the age-sex structure of the population. The shape of the population pyramid reflects the characteristics of the population.
The left side shows the percentage of males while the right side shows the percentage of women in each age group. The following three diagrams show different types of Population Pyramids.

✅Expanding Population
The age-sex pyramid in such a case is a triangular-shaped pyramid with a wide base and is typical of less developed countries. These have larger populations in lower age groups due to high birth rates.

✅Constant Population
Here, the age-sex pyramid is bell-shaped and tapered towards the top. This shows birth and death rates are almost equal leading to a near-constant population.

✅Declining Population
This pyramid has a narrow base and a tapered top showing low birth and death rates. The population growth in developed countries is usually zero or negative.

📍International Conventions:
✅  Paris Convention (1883): Protects industrial property internationally.
✅  Berne Convention (1886): Governs international copyright protection.
✅  Patent Cooperation Treaty (1970): Simplifies global patent application processes.
✅  Budapest Treaty: Ensures recognition of microorganism deposits in patent procedures.
✅  Marrakesh Treaty: Facilitates access to published works for visually impaired persons.
 
📍Laws Governing IPR in India:

✅  Patents Act, 1970: Governs patent filings and protection.
✅  Designs Act, 2000: Protects industrial designs.
✅ Trademarks Act, 1999: Regulates trademark registration.
✅  Geographical Indications Act, 1999: Protects GIs specific to regions.
✅  Copyright Act, 1957: Ensures protection of creative works.
✅  CIPAM (Cell for IPR Promotion and Management): Implements National IPR Policy.

🔆Bhakti Saint & their time period

✅Shankara (788 - 820 AD)
✅Ramanuja (1017-1137 A.D)
✅Basava (12th Century)
✅Madhva (1238-1319 AD)
✅Ramanada (15th century)
✅Kabir (1440-1510 AD)
✅Chaitanya (1468-1533 AD)
✅Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1538 AD)
✅Purandara (15th century)
✅Dadu Dayal (1544-1603 AD)
✅Surdas (1483-1563 AD)
✅Vallabhacharya (1479-1531 AD)
✅Shankaradeva (1499-1569 AD)
✅Mirabai (1498-1563 AD)
✅Haridas (1478-1573 AD)
✅Tulasidas (1532-1623 AD)
✅Namdeva (1270-1309 AD)
✅Jnanesvar (1275-1296 AD)
✅Eknath (1533-1599AD)
✅Tukaram (1608 - 1650AD)

🔆Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve:

✅Location: the junction of the Eastern and the Western Ghats in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, in the Erode District of Tamil Nadu.
✅Its area is contiguous with the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka), and BR Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka).
✅Together, these reserves-forming the Nilgiris biosphere landscape, have the biggest tiger population in the world, at over 280 tigers.
✅Vegetation: It consists of southern tropical dry thorn forests, mixed deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, and Riparian forests.
✅Climate: subtropical and dry.
✅Rivers: Bhavani, Moyar, and Noyyal
✅Tribal Communities: Irula and Kurumba
✅Flora: Albizia amara, Chloroxylon swietenia, Gyrocarpus jacquini, Neem, Tamarind, Sandalwood, Randi dumetorum, Zizyphus, and associates.
✅Fauna: The major species are Elephant, Tiger, Panther, Sloth bear, Gaur, Black Buck, Spotted deer, Wild boar, Black naped hare, Common langur Nilgiri langur, Striped neck mongoose, and Bonnet macaque.

🔆 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)  :

✅ Origin - Shanghai Five (1996) : China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
✅ 2001 :  Adding Uzbekistan as a sixth member , The Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
✅ 2015 : The SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. 
✅ 2016 : India and Pakistan signed the memorandum of obligations in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), thereby starting the formal process of joining the SCO as full members.
✅ 2017: India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members
✅ 2021: It was announced that Iran would become a full member of the SCO.
✅ Headquarter - Beijing, China
🔸 Members - China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Iran, and Uzbekistan
🔸Observers - Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia
🔸Dialogue Partners - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Egypt, Nepal, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia
✅  Structure :
🔸 The Council of Heads of State
🔸 The Council of Heads of Government
🔸 The Council of Foreign Ministers
🔸 The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure
✅ Significance - Addresses security issues in Asia with primarily Asian members.
✅ 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit : Hosted By India
✅ SCO Summit 2024(24th)  - Astana, Kazakhstan
🔸Belarus has become the 10th member state of the SCO