📰 Current Affairs

The Convention on Wetlands was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

India officially signed and acceded to the Ramsar Convention on February 1, 1982.

Tamil Nadu has the highest number of Ramsar sites in India with 16 designated wetlands.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated globally every year on February 2.

Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan were designated as India's first Ramsar sites in 1981.

The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the Ramsar List where ecological character changes have occurred due to human interference.

The United States dropped the first atomic bomb, named Little Boy, on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

Three days later, on August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb named Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was opened for signature in 1968 and entered into force in 1970.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted in 2017 and entered into force on January 22, 2021.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established in 1957 with headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) banning all nuclear explosions was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996.

Cabinet Secretariat was formally created in 1950, replacing the Secretariat of the Executive Council under the Government of India Act 1935.

Cabinet Secretary is the administrative head of the Cabinet Secretariat and ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board.

Cabinet Secretary ranks 11th in the Indian Order of Precedence, serving as the highest-ranking civil servant in India.

Cabinet Committees are standing or ad-hoc extra-constitutional bodies established under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961.

Article 77(3) of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India.

Inter-State Council was established in 1990 under Article 263 of the Constitution following recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission (1983).

The historic Mullaperiyar Lease Agreement was signed on October 29, 1886, for 999 years between Travancore State and the British Secretary of State.

British military engineer Colonel John Pennycuick designed and constructed the Mullaperiyar Dam between 1887 and 1895.

The dam is located in the Idukki district of Kerala at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers, benefiting five southern districts of Tamil Nadu.

In May 2014, a 5-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court permitted Tamil Nadu to raise the water storage level to 142 feet.

Under Article 262 of the Indian Constitution, Parliament has the power to adjudicate disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers.

The Inter-State River Water Disputes Act was enacted by Parliament in 1956 under Article 262 of the Constitution.

Tamil Nadu enacted the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2003 to ensure long-term macro-fiscal stability.

Article 293 of the Indian Constitution governs borrowing procedures and limits for State Governments.

Revenue Deficit arises when current revenue receipts fall short of current revenue expenditures.

Fiscal Deficit measures the total borrowing requirements of the government in a financial year.

Article 202 mandates the laying of the Annual Financial Statement (Budget) before the State Legislative Assembly.

Under the 15th Finance Commission recommendations, Tamil Nadu's share in the central tax pool was fixed at 4.079%.

Article 243-I mandates the establishment of a State Finance Commission every five years to review local body finances.

Tamil Nadu presented its first-ever exclusive Agriculture Budget in the year 2021.

Kuruvai is the short-term paddy cultivation season in Tamil Nadu, lasting from June to September.

Samba is the medium-term paddy season in Tamil Nadu, extending from August to January.

El Niño refers to the abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Article 202 of the Indian Constitution mandates the Governor to lay the Annual Financial Statement before the State Legislature.

The Kalaignarin Anaithu Grama Oruginaintha Velan Valarchi Thittam was launched in Tamil Nadu for integrated agricultural development in all village panchayats.

Tamil Nadu presented India's first-ever separate Agriculture Budget for the state in the year 2021-22.

The Wildlife Protection Act was enacted by the Indian Parliament in 1972 to protect wild animals and plant species.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Act was enacted in the year 1882 to provide for the protection and management of forests in the State.

Article 48A of the DPSP instructs the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife.

Fundamental Duty under Article 51A(g) obligates every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests and wildlife.

Project Elephant was launched by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1992 to assist states in wild elephant management.