• State of Global Water Resources 2022 report was recently released by World Meteorological Organization.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• The volume of water flowing through the rivers was lower than the normal.
  • In 2022, over 50 per cent of the global catchment areas experienced deviations from normal river discharge conditions.

• Anomalies in soil moisture and evapotranspiration also matched the deviations noted in river discharge conditions.
• The effect on the hydrological cycle are leading to droughts and extreme rainfall events and the erratic water cycles unleashed widespread disruption, burdening livelihoods and economies.
• The ongoing melting of snow, ice and glaciers compounded the threat, exacerbating the risk of extreme weather events such as floods.
• These events cast long-term consequences on the water security of millions.
• Nearly four billion people are already experiencing severe water scarcity for at least a month every year.
• The Asian Water Tower (AWT), the world’s largest reservoir of ice and snow after the Arctic and Antarctic regions, saw significant glacial melting in 2022.
  • This altered the natural downward flow of major rivers — the Indus, Amu Darya, Yangtze and Yellow River — in the region.
• Recommendation-
  • The report called for enhanced data sharing to enable meaningful early warnings and more coordinated water management policies that are integral to climate action.

ABOUT WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION (WMO)

• The World Meteorological Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation and specialised agency of the United Nations.
• It was set up in 1950, originating from the International Meteorological Organisation (IMO).
• Its mandate spans issues pertaining to weather, climate, and water resources.
• Membership- 187Members states and 6 member Territories
• Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
• WMO is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.
• It handles international cooperation and coordination on the state of the Earth’s atmosphere.

• The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is observed annually on October 13^th.
• It brings global attention to the critical issues of disasters and inequality.
• The history of International Day for Disaster Reduction dates back to 1989 when the United Nations General Assembly established the day to promote a culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction across the globe.
  • Since then, the day is observed annually on 13^th
• The theme of UN International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2023 is “Fighting inequality for a resilient future.”

• Three new indigenously developed technologies are developed under the Intelligent Transportation System Endeavor for Indian Cities initiative.
• These were launched by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• These technologies are: CMOS Sensor based Camera for Industrial Application, Thermal sensor Camera for Intelligent Transportation System-(TvITS) and Online Sucro Crystal Imaging System (OSIS).
• The CMOS Sensor based Camera for Industrial Vision Applications (iViS) is an indigenous technology for automated inspection and identification of objects.
  • It supports AI based applications employing Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques.
• The Thermal Sensor based Camera (TvITS) is an AI powered thermal sensor based smart vision camera for road traffic applications.
  • It can provide data of stationery as well as of moving objects with high accuracy even in a completely dark environment in all weather conditions.
  • The modular design provides ease of operation and changing of lenses per need.
• The Online Sucro Crystal Imaging System (OSIS) is a system developed using the industrial camera for measurement of crystal size in sugar industries.
  • It is a very important quality parameters which is required by the sugar industries.

• Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has recently launched two portals–
• DoNER Data Analytics Dashboard–
  • It has data of 112 schemes across 55 Departments and Ministries
  • It will help in Data-driven decision-making; Ease of operations; Centralized monitoring, etc.
  • It will keep a close watch on NER Aspirational districts, North East border districts and the most backward districts in NER.
• Poorvottar Sampark Setu portal–
  • it generates a curated list of Ministers who can be nominated for a fortnightly visit of Union Ministers to North east region.
  • This initiative is set to redefine the landscape of Ministerial visits, meticulously crafted to elevate their efficacy, transparency, and profound influence.
  • Its fundamental mission is to unequivocally ensure that the benefits of Central Government Schemes should reach to every citizen in the North East Region of India.

• Recently the milestone of 1 million certifications of Passport to Earning (P2E) programme was reached.
• UNICEF’s global learning-to-earning solution, Passport to Earning (P2E), has skilled and certified more than one million young people in India in areas of financial literacy and digital productivity.
• This milestone marks a major step towards helping them gain skills relevant to the future of work and life.
• Notably, 62% of all young learners who benefitted from P2E courses in India are adolescent girls and young women.
• In India, aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, P2E provides free access to certificate courses in digital productivity, financial literacy, employability skills, and other in-demand, job-ready skills.
• The P2E solution also offers provisions for online, hybrid, and offline learning models.
• The digital learning platform aims to deliver long-term sustainable skilling to 5 million youth in the age group of 14-29 in India by 2024 and then connect them to opportunities in job, self-employment and entrepreneurship to be financially independent.

• Goan cashew has been given the geographical indication (GI) tag.
• It is native to northeast Brazil and was introduced to Goa by Portuguese in 1570.
• It occupies largest area among horticultural crops in Goa.
• It requires well-drained deep sandy loam soils.

ABOUT GI TAGS

• A GI tag is conferred upon products originating from a specific geographical region, signifying unique characteristics and qualities.
• Essentially, it serves as a trademark in the international market.
• It is given by the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai.
• GI tag stands valid for 10 years, and can be renewed from time to time for a further period of 10 years each.

• A long-lost tectonic plate called ‘Pontus’ has been rediscovered 20 million years after disappearing.
• The plate is known only from a few rock fragments from the mountains of Borneo and the ghostly remnants of its huge slab detected deep in Earth’s mantle.
• It was once a quarter of the size of the Pacific Ocean.
• Scientists have dubbed it the “Pontus plate” because at the time of its existence, it sat under an ocean known as the Pontus Ocean.
• Mechanism
  • Tectonic plates constantly move against one another, and the crust in oceanic plates is denser than continental plates, so oceanic plates get pushed under continental plates in a process called subduction and disappear.
  • Sometimes, however, rocks from a lost plate get incorporated into mountain-building events.
  • These remnants can point to the location and formation of ancient plates.

ABOUT TECTONIC PLATES

• Tectonic plates are large, rigid pieces of the Earth’s lithosphere, which is composed of the crust and uppermost mantle.
• They are typically composed of both continental and oceanic crust, and their thickness can vary from about 6 to 70 kilometers.
• There are primarily seven major tectonic plates: the African Plate, Antarctic Plate, Eurasian Plate, North American Plate, South American Plate, Pacific Plate, and Indo-Australian Plate.
• Additionally, there are several minor plates and microplates.

• The central government recently launched a nationwide state-of-the-art National Survey Network of the Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS).

ABOUT

• It is capable of providing real time location-based mapping services with an accuracy of + / – 3cm.
• It also host an array of different positioning services targeted to cater to requirements for different segments of geospatial and scientific community.
• CORS stations are permanent installations and continuously stream satellite observations to a central server, forming a CORS Network.
• The Survey of India has set up more than 1,000 CORS stations across India.
• The CORS network is available 24X7 throughout the year.
• Users of the data can subscribe to the nationwide network on a monthly or yearly basis.
• In addition to the geospatial sector, the CORS-based precision services will also boost auto navigation and machine control-based solutions in the agriculture, mining, construction, transport and civil aviation sectors.
• CORS data will also aid in various scientific studies like upper atmosphere and space weather studies, meteorology and weather forecast, plate motion and tectonic studies, seismology and hydrology.

• Israel’s use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon has put civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries as per Human Rights Watch.
• Human Rights Watch verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations.

 ABOUT WHITE PHOSPHOROUS

• White phosphorus is a waxy, yellowish-to-clear chemical with a pungent, garlic-like odour.
• White phosphorus ignites when exposed to atmospheric oxygen and continues to burn until it is deprived of oxygen or exhausted. Its chemical reaction can create intense heat (about 815°C/1,500°F), light, and smoke.
• White phosphorus, which can be used either for marking, signaling, and obscuring, or as a weapon to set fires that burn people and objects, has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire.
• It can cause severe burn injuries that are slow to heal.
• White phosphorus weapons are not banned, but their use in civilian areas is considered a war crime.
• Positively is applications include- use in fertilisers, food additives and cleaning compounds.

• The Global Hunger Index 2023 was released recently by Irish NGO Concern Worldwide and German NGO Welt Hunger Hilfe.
• It is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• It is based on four indicators that together capture the multidimensional nature of hunger–
  • Undernourishment: The share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient;
  • Child Stunting– The share of children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition;
  • Child Wasting- The share of children under the age of five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition; and
  • Child Mortality– The share of children who die before their fifth birthday, reflecting in part the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

INDIA RELATED FINDINGS

• India with a score of 28.7 was ranked 111^th of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023.
  • In 2022, India ranked 107th out of 121.
• Child stunting is prevalent at 35.5%.
• Highest child wasting rate in the world at 18.7%.
• The prevalence of undernourishment in India is 6%.
• The under-five mortality rate stands at 3.1%.

OTHER FINDINGS

• The GHI ranked Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka at 102nd, 81st, 69th, and 60th, respectively.
• South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara recorded the highest regional hunger levels, both with a GHI score of 27.

CRITICISM BY MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

• 3 out of 4 indicators of GHI are related to health of children and cannot be representative of entire population.
• 4^th indicator (Undernourishment) is based on telephone-based opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3000.