• India reiterated its commitment on conserving tortoises and fresh water turtles in the country during the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 19) at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said this in a press release. The 19th Meeting is being held at Panama City from 14th November to 25th November 2022.
• At CoP 19, India’s proposal for induction of fresh water turtle Batagur kachuga earned wide support of the parties in CoP 19 of CITES. It was widely appreciated by the parties and well accepted when introduced.
• CITES lauded and recorded the works done by the India in the area of conservation of tortoises and fresh water turtles and efforts made in combating wildlife crime and illegal trade of turtles in the country.
• The resolution documents submitted by the CITES Secretariat on tortoises and fresh water turtles specifically mentioned the commendable result achieved by the country in operations such as those initiated by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau namely Operation Turtshield, which resulted in nabbing many criminals involved in poaching and illegal trade of fresh water turtles and substantial seizures made by the agencies in different part of the country.

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct its annual joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise “Samanvay 2022” from November 28 to 30 at Agra.
• The objective of the exercise is to assess the efficacy of institutional disaster management structures and contingency measures. It will comprise a seminar on disaster management and a “multi-agency exercise” involving static and flying aspects of several assets needed for the HADR operations.
• ASEAN representatives and several stakeholders within the country will participate in the three-day exercise.
• The armed forces, National Disaster Response Force, Defence Research and Development Organisation and Border Roads Organisation will also be part of the “Samanvay 2022”.
• The exercise is expected to contribute to the evolution of institutional frameworks for effective communication, interoperability, cooperation and their application for successful conduct of the HADR operations.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the capability demonstration planned during the exercise on November 29.

• As Egypt hosted COP27, Mumbai has become the first Indian city to be added to the A-list in the 5th Annual Cities Report published by The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-profit organisation that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states, and regions – recognises the important role that cities play in taking bold actions to mitigate and adopt to climate change.
• The organisation says that Mumbai was able to attain despite the challenging global economic situation. Designed to encourage and support cities to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s Cities A-List is based on environmental data disclosed by cities to CDP-ICLEI Track.
• In fact, 122 cities across the globe have been named as leaders in environmental action and transparency in 2022 by CDP. For the first time, this includes cities from several countries in the Global South, including Mumbai; cities that are often among those most affected by the impacts of climate change.

India’s financial hub

• Mumbai is the most populous city in India, and, globally, the 7th largest in terms of population. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, Mumbai is separated from the mainland by Thane Creek and Harbour Bay. The city is vulnerable to climate change-induced hazards, such as sea level rise, heavy rainfall, storm surges, increasing heat, and tropical cyclones. It is also susceptible to landslides, due to heavy rain that causes many fatalities and physical damage each monsoon season.
• The city has recently released its first-ever Climate Action Plan in 2022, ‘Towards a Climate Resilient Mumbai’. It outlines the aims to reach net-zero carbon neutrality by 2050 – the most significant step taken in its climate journey thus far.
• The Climate Action Plan has laid down a 30-year roadmap for the city to tackle the challenges of climate change, by adopting inclusive and robust mitigation and adaptation strategies. The action plan sets short, medium, and long-term climate goals aimed at achieving zero emission of greenhouse gases or a net-zero target for 2050.
• Recent CDP data shows that 80 percent of cities face climate hazards, from drought to floods, which are expected to be more intense and frequent by 2025 for 25 percent of cities. Hence the need for strong climate action is urgent. A-List cities are demonstrating their climate leadership through concerted and effective action; just as national governments have been asked to do at COP27. They are taking more than three times as many mitigation and adaptation measures as non-A List cities.
• For the first time, over 1,000 cities (1,002 in total) received a rating for their climate action from CDP in, a rise on the 965 cities scored in 2021. In 2022, just over one in ten cities scored by CDP (12% of such cities) received an A. What is clear is that a momentum in city climate disclosure and action is gradually building up. In this context, Mumbai is setting an example in India by showing how emission reduction targets and adaptation plans can change the face of the city.
• Other cities from Global South that have also made it onto the A-List for the first time are: Lima (Peru), Quito (Ecuador) and Yaounde IVth Commune (Cameroon. The Middle East also sees its first A-List cities, including Amman (Jordan) and Kadikoy in (Turkey). Brazil, Chile, and the Philippines have returned to the cities A-List for the first time since 2020.

• Sarbananda Sonowal, India’s Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, reportedly declared the country’s first-ever National Centre of Excellence for Green Port and Shipping an initiative by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping for greener solutions.
• India is working on increasing the share of renewable energy to 60% of the power demand of each of the major ports from a share of below 10%. This will be via wind- and solar-generated generated power.
• The authorities of Paradip Port, Deendayal Port Kandla, Paradip, Thoothukudi and Cochin Shipyard Limited, and V.O Chidambaranar Port have decided to extend their support to the ministry in setting up this centre. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is going to be the implementation and also the knowledge partner for the project.
• The Minister also mentioned that the centre would provide policy and regulatory support to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways to develop a regulatory framework and facilitate the adoption of an alternate technology roadmap for Green Shipping. This will help foster a circular economy (CE) and carbon neutrality in India’s shipping sector. He then thanked the project stakeholders for hedging the resources toward a critical aspect of the industry.
• By 2030, the major ports have aimed to lower Carbon emissions per ton of cargo, reportedly handled by 30%.
• The Maritime Vision Document 2030, released by India’s prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a 10-year blueprint of India’s vision of a vibrant blue economy and sustainable Maritime sector.
• India got selected as the first nation under the IMO Green Voyage 2050 assignment to conduct a pilot project on Green Shipping.

• Shimla has joined the league of cities having a waste-to-energy plant.
• In the pipeline for many years now, the plant located on the outskirts of the city has started generating power from the garbage.
• The plant has been set up by Elephant Energy, an Australian company, in Private Public Partnership mode with Shimla Municipal Corporation,” said Municipal Commissioner Ashish Kohli.
• “We are providing roughly 100-ton garbage to the plant every day and the plant will generate 1.7MW electricity from it,” said Kohli.
• Apart from generating electricity, the plant ensures the cash-strapped MC doesn’t have to pay anything for disposing of the garbage it collects from within the Municipal limits and nearby areas.“We just gave land to the company for setting up the plant.
• The company has set up the plant on its own and is disposing our waste free of cost. Other ULBs pay close to Rs 2,000 per to waste management plants for disposing of one ton garbage,” said Kohli, adding that Shimla MC was the only ULB in the state to have a waste-to-energy plant.
• The MC collects around 80 ton waste every day from Shimla and around 20 ton waste is gathered from the neighbouring places. All this waste, both dry and wet, is transported to the plant in Bhariyal, a few km away from the city.
• While the dry waste is most suitable for the producing energy, the MC is giving both dry and wet waste to the company.
• “The company has installed dryers to dry up the wet waste and use it for producing energy,” said Project Coordinator DP Singh. He further said that disposing garbage through waste-to-energy plant is relatively environment friendly.
• “If the waste is burnt at low temperatures, it releases carcinogenic gases into the environment. In the waste-to-energy plants, the waste is burnt at 700 to 800 degree temperatures, converting it into synergic gases,” said Singh.
• The project coordinator further said that the plant would start transmitting power to the nearby electricity grid.
• “There’s a power purchase agreement in place with the Electricity Department. The department will purchase power at over Rs 7 per unit. That’s how the company will recover its investment and recurring cost,” said Singh, adding that the transmission of power to the grid would start in the next couple of days

• With the increase in the number of anaemic children in Himachal by almost 2 per cent, 11 lakh children from six months to 10 years will be screened and given iron-rich syrup and tablets as per their age group.
• As per the recently released National Family Health Survey-V data, the prevalence of anaemia among children between five months and 59 months has increased from 53.7 to 55.4 per cent as compared to the previous National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
• The children found moderate and severe anaemic during the campaign will be given therapeutic dose of supplements.
• The number of total children screened till today is 3,45,002, studying in 14,081 schools. The number of children suffering from mild anaemia is 87,691 and those with severe anaemia is 2,247. All children are being managed as per the guidelines for the Anaemia Mukt Himachal.
• The Anaemia-Mukt Himachal is being implemented in all blocks of all districts. Children will be tested for anaemia through digital hemoglobinometer at schools, Anganwadi centres and medical officers at Primary Health Centres.
• Himachal stood at the third place with 56.9 per cent coverage in 2020-21 and in 2022-23 (up to June 2022) Himachal was on eighth rank with a coverage of 59.4 per cent.
• At present, Himachal is conducting Test-Treat and Talk (T3) camps being organised by the Health Department. The campaign is being observed in coordination with the Department of Women and Child Development and Education Department.
• There are many causes of anaemia of which iron deficiency accounts for about 50 per cent of anaemia in schoolchildren and 80 per cent in children between two and five years of age. The reduction of anaemia is one of the important objectives of the Poshan Abhiyaan launched in March 2018.

• A contingent of Indian Special Forces troops are currently engaged in a bilateral joint training Exercise GARUDA SHAKTI with Indonesian Special Forces at Sangga Buana Training Area,in  Karawang in Indonesia.
• The Exercise is the eighth edition of the series of bilateral exercises under this banner and this is a part of military-to-military exchange programs.
• The exercise which commenced on 21st  November 2022 aims at enhancing understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the Special Forces of both armies.

• Indian wildlife biologist Dr Purnima Devi Barman was recently awarded with Champions of the Earth award in the Entrepreneurial vision category, UN’s highest environmental She is the founder of the Hargila Army and senior project manager of the Avifauna Research and Conservation Division, Aaranyak.
• The Champions of the Earth is an appreciation for innovative ways implemented by the awardees across the world to support nature’s extraordinary capacity for renewal.

Who is Purnima Devi Burman?

• Barman is an Indian wildlife biologist working in Assam to protect storks. Her love for birds was born when was sent to live with her grandparents on the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Assam at the age of five. Barman’s grandmother, a farmer, started taking her to nearby paddy fields and wetlands to teach her about the birds there, which cultivated her passion.
• After gaining a Master’s degree in Zoology, Barman started a PhD on the greater adjutant stork. She decided to delay her thesis after seeing that many of the birds in the region were nearing extinction and decided to focus on keeping the species alive.
• She began campaigning to protect the stork in 2007, focusing on the villages in Assam’s Kamrup district, where the birds were most concentrated.

Why is Burman’s work important?

• The greater adjutant stork is the second-rarest stork species in the world. Their population has dropped to 1,200 today, less than 1 per cent of what they numbered a century ago, due to the destruction of their natural habitat. The urbanisation of rural areas is speeding up and wetlands where the storks thrive have been drained, polluted and degraded, replaced by buildings, roads and mobile phone towers.

How is Burman saving the storks?

• Barman had to change perceptions of the bird as a bad omen, bad luck or a disease carrier among people in Assam. She assembled a group of village women to help her and named the group as the ‘Hargila Army’ after the stork, known as ‘hargila‘ in Assamese (meaning ‘bone swallower’).
• In 2017, Barman began building tall bamboo nesting platforms for the endangered birds to hatch their eggs and a couple of years later the first greater adjutant stork chicks were born.
• The Hargila Army has helped communities plant 45,000 saplings near stork-nesting trees and wetland areas to support future stork populations and they are planning to plant 60,000 saplings next year. Hargila Army also works to reduce pollution in rivers by organising cleaning drives on the banks of rivers and in wetlands.
• The number of nests in the villages of Dadara, Pachariya, and Singimari in Kamrup District have increased from 28 to more than 250 after Burman stared her conservation programme, making this the largest breeding colony of greater adjutant storks in the world.

• The Tamil Nadu government issued a notification declaring the Arittapatti village near Melur in Madurai district as a biodiversity heritage site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
• The site is situated in an area of 193.21 hectare and is the first Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) to be notified in the state.
• According to a statement, the Arittapatti village is surrounded by a chain of seven barren granite hillocks that act as a watershed and support close to 72 lakes, 200 natural spring pools and three check dams. The Anaikondan lake built during the reign of the Pandiyas in the 16th century is one among them.
• The village has a rich biological and historical significance with the presence of around 250 bird species, including three flagship raptor species – Laggar Falcon (Falco jugger), Shaheen Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) and wildlife such as Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), Python (Python molurus) and Slender Loris (Loris spp).
• The site also features various megalithic structures, Tamil Brahmi Inscriptions, Jain Beds and 2200-year-old rock-cut temples adding to its historical value.
• According to an order issued by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forest, the notification will strengthen the biodiversity and conservation efforts with the participation of local communities. It was added that the initiatives will also help preserve the rich biological and historical repository of the area.

• Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), India’s Port, in association with the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, developed a Continuous Marine Water Quality Monitoring Station (CMWQMS) and launched an Electric Environmental Monitoring Vehicle (EV) on November 21 at the Port.
• The monitoring station and vehicle were inaugurated by Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPA, in the presence of Unmesh Sharad Wagh, Dy. Chairman, JNPA, along with all the HoDs of JNPA.
• Speaking at the occasion, Sanjay Sethi said,  “JNPA is committed to achieving leadership in sustainability and creating value for the trade – depicted across the economic, social, and environmental parameters.”
• JNPA always thrives on being an environmentally responsible port. The Continuous Marine Water Quality Monitoring Station and launch of E- Vehicles is yet another step towards commitment to sustainable development.
• The continuous water quality system and electric monitoring vehicle will assist in managing the marine water and air quality in the port area, regulating the environmental quality within the port area.
• Through this, JNPA will be able to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of vehicles, in addition to checking compliance with Environmental Quality around the port estate through water quality stations data, such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, conductivity, nitrate, salinity, turbidity, and TDS of marine water a database on marine water quality is essential for maintaining hygienic standards in the marine environment.
• The E- Vehicle also substantiates the ongoing ambient air and noise monitoring activities at JNPA.
• JNPA has initiated various environmental upgradations and Green Port Initiatives like a Sewage Treatment Plant, Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS), Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Facility, LEDs lamps replaced in the Port area and township, E RTGCS, Shore power supply, Rejuvenation of Water Body near Sheva Temple and Sheva Foothill at JNPA, Initiative for the ease of Traffic at Centralized Parking Plaza, Port Green Cover including Mangroves Management, Oil Spill Response, etc.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Port has also installed Solar Panels of around 4.10 MWp. 38% of avg. Power requirement is from renewable energy, and has also switched to LED lights at the Port area to lower energy consumption & decrease carbon footprint.