Union Minister of Earth Sciences dedicates India’s first multi-petaflop supercomputer 'Pratyush' to nation
- The supercomputer named as ‘Pratyush’ meaning the Sun, will be a national facility for improving weather and climate forecasts and services.
Topic- GS-3-Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology
Three-days Flamingo festival begins at Pulicat area
- Three days Flamingo festival has begun at area around Pulicat Lake area (on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu).
- Nearly 80 varieties like flamingos, which arrive from as far off as Siberia and the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, were present in the lake.
- It was because of the biodiversity in the lake that the location of the proposed Dugarajapatnam port was shifted to Tupilipalem village so that there would be no threat to the habitat of the winged visitors.
- Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish water lake or lagoon in India, after Chilika Lake.
- It straddles the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states with over 96% of it in Andhra Pradesh and 4% in Tamil Nadu situated on the Coromandal Coast in South India.
- The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary.
- The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal and is home to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
East Coast of India
- Coast along the Orissa= Utkal Coast
- Coast along the Utkal Plain to Andhra Plain= Andhra Coast
- Coast along the south of Andhra Plain= Tamil Nadu Coast
- Andhra coast and Tamil Nadu cost together= Coromandal Coast
West Coast of India
- Konkan Coast= Coast along Maharashtra and Goa
- Malabar Coast= Coast along Karnataka and Kerala
Topic- GS-1- Indian Culture
GS-1- Indian Geography
Source- The Hindu
Mankidia denied habitat in Simlipal
- Mankidia, one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Odisha, were denied habitat rights inside the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR).
- Mankidia, a marginalised group that critically depends on making rope with siali fibre that’s richly available in Similipal, would now be deprived of the non-timber forest produce.
- Under the historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, as the State Forest Department has objected on grounds that tribals could be attacked by wild animals, especially tigers.
- Habitat rights would create barriers for free movement of tigers and other animals.
PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups)
- 75 tribal groups have been categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)s.
- PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands.
- Mankidia is one of the tribe in PVTG.
- The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” exclusively for them.
- Under the scheme, Conservation-cum-Development (CCD)/Annual Plans are to be prepared by each State/UT for their PVTGs based on their need assessment, which are then appraised and approved by the Project Appraisal Committee of the Ministry.
Simlipal National Park
- It is a national park and a tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district in the Indian state of Odisha.
- It is part of the Similipal-Kuldiha-Hadgarh Elephant Reserve popularly known as Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve, which includes three protected areas — Similipal Tiger Reserve, Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Simlipal National Park derives its name from the abundance of semul (red silk cotton trees) that bloom here.
Forest Rights Act
- The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a key piece of forest legislation passed in India on 18 December 2006.
- It has also been called the Forest Rights Act, the Tribal Rights Act, the Tribal Bill, and the Tribal Land Act.
- Eligible People-
(a) Those who “primarily reside in forests” and who depend on forests and forest land for a livelihood.
(b) Either the claimant must be a member of the Scheduled Tribes scheduled in that area or must have been residing in the forest for 75 years.
- Ownership - to land that is being farmed by tribal or forest dwellers as on 13 December 2005, subject to a maximum of 4 hectares
- ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family as on that date, meaning that no new lands are granted.
(b) Use rights
- To minor forest produce (also including ownership), to grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
(c) Relief and development rights
- To rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection.
(d) Forest management rights
- To protect forests and wildlife
Topic- GS-1- Social Issues
Source- The Hindu
For carbon sink target, India looks at catchment area plan
- Indian have committed to a target of creating an additional carbon sink the equivalent of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes carbon dioxide by 2030 under Paris Agreement.
- India now anticipates that it might not be able to meet that through forests alone.
- It is now looking at the soil of catchment areas as an additional alternative to bridge the gap.
- Catchment areas, the alternative that is being planned, can be natural carbon sinks that, if properly managed, can sequester substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the form of organic carbon in the soil.
- A carbon sink is a system that absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Total emission of Greenhouse emissions over a period of time by any individual, group, organization etc.
- Reduction of emission of GHGs to compensate for the emission of GHGs made elsewhere or, offset emission of GHGs.
- It is basically a carbon market.
- The countries are given permission to emit certain tonnes of GHGs.
- They in turn distribute this quota within their own units.
- Those unit who hasn't utilized the emission quota can trade it with other players, privately or in international market.
Paris Climate Accord-
- The Paris climate accord or Paris climate agreement, is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.
- The agreement was adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015.
- The contributions that each individual country should make in order to achieve the worldwide goal are determined by all countries individually and called "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs).
India’s target in Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)
- India had promised to reduce its emissions intensity- greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP- by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030.
- It had also promised to ensure that at least 40 percent of its energy in 2030 would be generated from non-fossil fuel sources, like solar, wind or bio-fuels.
- In addition, it had said it would rapidly increase its forest cover so that an additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide is created by the year 2030.
Topic- GS-3- Environment
Source- Indian Express
India’s second FTII to be set up in Arunachal
- Arunachal Pradesh would get its first Film and Television Institute, being set up by the Union Government.
- This would be the second such one in the country.
- The first Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was set up in Pune, an autonomous institute operating under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
Topic- Important for PCS Exams
Source- The Hindu