March 29, 2024

Environment


The principal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi has initiated action on the Netravati Waterfront Promenade Development Project in Mangalore. KEY POINTS The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has acknowledged the importance of the environmental and social issues related to the project and has taken action by forming a committee to investigate and provide a thorough report. The concerns raised by the local chapter of the National Environmental Conservation Foundation (NECF) regarding the impact of the project on the community have been taken into consideration. The project has been criticised for its potential negative effects on the....Read More

India launched 'Operation Indravati' to evacuate its citizens from violence-torn Haiti to the Dominican Republic. ABOUT THE OPERATION: India does not have an embassy in Haiti and the situation in the country is being monitored by the Indian mission at Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The name “Operation Indravati” is derived from the Indravati River, which flows through the Indian states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. In the past, India has conducted several successful evacuation operations, including Operation Raahat in Yemen (2015) and Operation SankatMochan in South Sudan (2016). The Dominican Republic, where the evacuated Indians are being....Read More

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) manufacturer - GoodEnough Energy is set to inaugurate the country's largest BESS Gigafactory for grid stability in Jammu & Kashmir. The main goal of the factory is to ensure stability of the power grid. Initially, the factory will have a capacity of 7GWh, which will increase to 20 GWh by 2027. Importance of GigaFactory GoodEnough Energy aims to support India's goal of achieving Net-Zero emissions. It plans on achieving this by providing their services to various industries that have high CO2 emissions, such as Molding Industries, automation, mining, hospitals, refineries, Malls, and shopping complexes. With....Read More

The Supreme Court froze the Assam government’s move to withdraw a nearly 26-year-old notification constituting the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary. The Assam Cabinet had recently withdrawn the notification issued by the State Forest Department in 1998. The government reasoned that declaration of the sanctuary was made without settling the rights of the people living in villages in the area, including Thengabhanga, Murkata and Mayong. The Assam government has established a committee to redraw the boundary of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary ABOUT POBITORA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Covering an area of 38.81 sq km, the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary was notified by the Assam forest....Read More

Dubai inaugurated the first-ever “India by the Creek” festival, bringing the vibrant culture of India to Al Seef Park. Al Seef Park, on the Dubai Creek, has been a bustling center of trade for centuries, a vital link between the two regions. This three-day celebration highlighted the long-standing historical and cultural connections between India and Dubai. ”India by the Creek” offered a diverse array of programmes, featuring musical performances, literary discussions, poetry readings, and interactive workshops. Renowned Indian figures, including academics, writers, musicians, and the legendary band Indian Ocean, graced the stage throughout the fest.Read More

The first phase of the Atmospheric Research Testbed in Central India (ART-CI) was inaugurated in Sehore district, located about 50km northwest of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The testbed, works of which began in early 2018, is equipped with high-end instruments to record several vital parameters that will be fed into improving the weather models besides facilitating advanced studies on the Indian monsoons. Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) is spearheading the research activities at this first-of-its-kind testbed facility built at a cost of Rs 125 crore. Nearly 25 high-end instruments like the aethalometer for aerosol studies, cloud condensation nuclei....Read More

Samudrayaan

The Samudrayaan mission is scheduled to explore the bed of the ocean by 2025 end. So far, countries such as the S., Russia, China, France and Japan have carried out successful deep-ocean crewed missions. ABOUT SAMUDRAYAAN MISSION Samudrayaan, or the deep ocean mission, was initiated in 2021. The mission entails undertaking a crewed expedition to reach a depth of 6,000 metres to the ocean bed in the central Indian Ocean using Matsya6000, designed to accommodate a crew of three members. Matsya-6000 has been developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai. The submersible will be equipped with a suite....Read More

Global Seed Vault

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, in Norway, saw its largest number of new contributors in one day and now holds over 1.2 million seed varieties from 111 seed banks in77 countries. The vault has been stockpiling most of the world's crop seeds in below-freezing conditions, in an effort to maintain food diversity and protect plant species from extinction. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is situated in permafrost caverns on an island located within the European mainland and the North Pole. The facility was established 16 years ago in 2008, through a partnership between the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, the Norwegian....Read More

The Union Minister for Jal Shakti launched the fifth edition of "Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain-2024" campaign. The campaign, themed "Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti," emphasises the integral role of women in water conservation and management. The campaign comes under the National Water Mission, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in collaboration with Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation. National Water Mission is one of eight National Missions under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Focused interventions of the campaign includes- water conservation and rainwater harvesting, enumerating, geo-tagging & making inventory of all water bodies;....Read More

Golden Langur

There are an estimated 7,396 golden langurs in India, the latest survey of the primate has revealed. The comprehensive population estimation of the endangered primate was carried out in two phases by the Primate Research Centre NE India (PRCNE), Assam Forest Department, Bodoland Territorial Council, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), and Conservation Himalayas. The entire distribution range of the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) covers the Manas Biosphere Reserve and all fragmented forests in the western part of Assam. ABOUT GOLDEN LANGUR (TRACHYPITHECUS GEEI) Gee’s golden langur is also known as golden leaf monkeys, or more simply....Read More

© 2024 Civilstap Himachal Design & Development