# India – Russia relations

• Russia and India are looking at ways to bypass the sanctions imposed by the United States and European countries, said Russian foreign minister sergey Lavrov after meeting S. Jaishankar.
• Sergey Lavrov arrived on Thursday after visits by senior officials of the US, EU and UK to India this week, who cautioned India against trying to circumvent the financial sanctions put in place by them.
• Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India has already started buying the cheaper Russian oil on offer.

# Antarctica bill

• The government on Friday introduced the Antarctica bill in the lok sabha that envisages regulating visits and activities to Antarctica as well as potential disputes that may arise among those present on the continent.
• The bill also prescribes penal provisions for certain serious violations.
• The bill was introduced by science minister Jitendra singh on Friday.
• Jitendra singh remarked in Parliament that India had been a signatory to the Antarctica treaty since 1983 and that encumbered India to specify a set of laws governing the portions of the continent where it had its research bases.

# Olive Ridley turtles

• A record number of 4.92 lakh Olive Ridley turtles have crawled to the Rushikulya coast in Odisha.
• Scientists have tagged more than 6000 turtles to gather more information about thair breeding behavior and migration.
• ‘Arribada’ is a Spanish word meaning “arrival by sea” and refers to the mass nesting behavior exhibited by Kemp Ridley and and Olive Ridley sea turtles.

# GST collections

• India’s gross goods and services tax (GST) collections hit a record ₹1, 42,095 crore in March, surpassing the January high of ₹1, 40,986 crore.
• The March GST revenues, for transactions undertaken in February, were 15% higher than a year earlier.