Geography Coverage from Jan 2019 to December 2019
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Disaster Management
Earthquake in Afghanistan
Context-A massive earthquake of 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Afghanistan. Tremors were felt in Delhi-NCR and other parts of north India.
• Tremors were felt in parts of northern India including Delhi and the National Capital Region on Friday evening following an earthquake in the Hindukush region of Afghanistan, and in Pakistan • The earthquake hit 51 km southwest of Jurm, northern Afghanistan, and was more than 200 km deep
What is an earthquake?
• An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane. The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter. • Sometimes an earthquake has foreshocks. These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake that follows. Scientists can’t tell that an earthquake is a foreshock until the larger earthquake happens. The largest, main earthquake is called the mainshock. Mainshocks always have aftershocks that follow. These are smaller earthquakes that occur afterwards in the same place as the mainshock. Depending on the size of the mainshock, aftershocks can continue for weeks, months, and even years after the mainshock!
What causes earthquakes and where do they happen?
• The earth has four major layers: the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust. The crust and the top of the mantle make up a thin skin on the surface of our planet. • But this skin is not all in one piece – it is made up of many pieces like a puzzle covering the surface of the earth. Not only that, but these puzzle pieces keep slowly moving around, sliding past one another and bumping into each other. We call these puzzle pieces tectonic plates, and the edges of the plates are called the plate boundaries. The plate boundaries are made up of many faults, and most of the earthquakes around the world occur on these faults. Since the edges of the plates are rough, they get stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. Finally, when the plate has moved far enough, the edges unstick on one of the faults and there is an earthquake
Why does the earth shake when there is an earthquake?
• While the edges of faults are stuck together, and the rest of the block is moving, the energy that would normally cause the blocks to slide past one another is being stored up. When
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the force of the moving blocks finally overcomes the friction of the jagged edges of the fault and it unsticks, all that stored up energy is released. • The energy radiates outward from the fault in all directions in the form of seismic waves like ripples on a pond. The seismic waves shake the earth as they move through it, and when the waves reach the earth’s surface, they shake the ground and anything on it, like our houses and us!
How are earthquakes recorded?
The cartoon sketch of the seismograph shows how the insrument shakes with the earth below it, but the recording device remains stationary (instead of the other way around). (Public domain.)
• Earthquakes are recorded by instruments called seismographs. The recording they make is called a seismogram. The seismograph has a base that sets firmly in the ground, and a heavy weight that hangs free. • When an earthquake causes the ground to shake, the base of the seismograph shakes too, but the hanging weight does not. Instead the spring or string that it is hanging from absorbs all the movement. The difference in position between the shaking part of the seismograph and the motionless part is what is recorded.
How do scientists measure the size of earthquakes?
• The size of an earthquake depends on the size of the fault and the amount of slip on the fault, but that’s not something scientists can simply measure with a measuring tape since faults are many kilometers deep beneath the earth’s surface. So how do they measure an earthquake? • They use the seismogram recordings made on the seismographs at the surface of the earth to determine how large the earthquake was (figure 5). A short wiggly line that doesn’t wiggle very much means a small earthquake, and a long wiggly line that wiggles a lot means a large earthquake. The length of the wiggle depends on the size of the fault, and the size of the wiggle depends on the amount of slip. www.abhimanuias.com , [email protected] Corporate office: Dainik Bhaskar Building, 2nd Floor, Sector 25-D, Chandigarh
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• The size of the earthquake is called its magnitude. There is one magnitude for each earthquake. Scientists also talk about theintensity of shaking from an earthquake, and this varies depending on where you are during the earthquake.
How can scientists tell where the earthquake happened?
• Seismograms come in handy for locating earthquakes too, and being able to see the P wave and the S wave is important. • Body waves are generated due to the release of energy at the focus and move in all directions travelling through the body of the earth. There are two types of body waves. They are called P and S-waves.
• P-waves: are the first to arrive at the surface. They travel through gaseous, liquid and solid materials. P-waves vibrate parallel to the direction of the wave. • S-waves: arrive at the surface with some time lag. S-waves can travel only through solid materials. The direction of vibrations of S-waves is perpendicular to the wave direction in the vertical plane. Hence, they create troughs and crests in the material through which they pass.Surface waves are considered to be the most damaging waves. • Surface waves: The body waves interact with the surface rocks and generate new set of waves called surface waves. These waves move along the surface. The surface waves are the last to report on seismograph. They cause displacement of rocks, and hence, the collapse of structures occurs. Surface waves are divided into two different categories: Love and Rayleigh.
1. Love waves: have a particle motion, which, like the S-wave, is transverse to the direction of propagation but with no vertical motion. Their side-to-side motion causes the ground to twist from side to side.
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2. Rayleigh waves: create a rolling, up and down motion with an elliptical and retrograde particle motion confined to the vertical plane in the direction of propagation.
The shadow zone is the area of the earth from angular distances of 105° to 145° from a given earthquake that does not receive any direct P waves or S waves. The entire zone beyond 105° does not receive S- waves. The shadow zone of S-wave is much larger than that of the P-waves.
The shadow zones have led seismologists to conclude that interior of the earth is not homogeneous. The concepts of change in medium and density has been identified with the help of shadow zones. The shadow zone of P waves led to identification of boundary between mantle and core. Further, it has also been deduced that outer core is made of liquid, as S waves cannot travel through liquid mediums and P waves are refracted by the liquid core.
SCOJTEX- 2019:
Published On - 11/17/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues
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What is it? Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue.
The latest edition is being held in India.
Key facts:
• Hosted by NDRF. • Aim to rehearse the disaster response mechanism, share knowledge, experience, technology & also for mutual coordination, etc. • The participants of all 08 member countries namely China, India, Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan shall be participating in this exercise. • Main focus shall be to test the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of Inter- governmental interaction for immediate response.
About SCO:
What is it? The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, also known as the Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai.
Founding members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The cooperation was renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation after Uzbekistan joined the organisation in 2001.
The SCO’s main goals are: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
Presently, the SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;.
The SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Mongolia.
The SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Amazon rainforest fires: Macron calls for 'international crisis' to lead G7 discussions
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Published On - 8/23/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues
Context-France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said the fires in the Amazon are an “international crisis” and called for them to be top of the agenda at the G7 summit, prompting a furious response from Brazil’s leader.
Forest fires in Amazon
• Fires in Amazon rainforest have increased by 84 per cent this year, according to satellite data released by Brazil's space research agency • The National Institute for Space Research, Brazil detected 72,000 fires between January and August, 2019, the highest since 2013. The fire caused an hour-long daytime blackout in the city of Sao Paulo owing to smoke coming from a forest burning 2,700 kms away.
What is causing the Amazon rainforest wildfires?
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• The Amazon rainforest has been fire-resistant for much of its history because of its natural moisture and humidity but NASA has said drought and human activities are causing wildfires. • Dry season provides favourable conditions for wildfires in Brazil, but they are also often caused by fires meant to clear the land for cattle ranching. • The country saw 88 per cent increase in deforestation in June 2019, according to data published by the research agency. But, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed the data saying it's a season when farmers use fire to clear land. • In Mato Grosso and Para, where Brazil’s agricultural frontier has expanded and pushed into the forest basin, more deforestation has been recorded and wildfires have increased. • Cattle ranching is the largest driver of deforestation in every Amazon country, accounting for 80 percent of current deforestation rates.
Why is the Amazon rainforest so important to life on Earth?
• The Amazon is often referred to as the planet's lungs. • This is because it produces 20 percent of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. • The rainforest is considered vital in slowing global warming and is also home to uncountable species of fauna and flora. • The Amazon is the largest rainforest on the planet.
'Strengthening Forest Fire Management in India’, Report jointly prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the World Bank
Key findings
Forest fires in India are both widespread and concentrated
• At least 60 percent of districts in India are affected by forest fires each year. • While states in the Northeast account for the greatest share of fire detections, the largest area affected by fire is in the Central region
Fire potential and behavior is shaped by a combination of natural and social factors
• India’s monsoons are largely responsible for the seasonal nature of forest fires in the country. Forest fires peak during the dry months of March or April before the arrival of the monsoon. • Nearly all forest fires in India, as in other parts of the world, are caused by people as important goods and services obtained from forests (such as fodder for their livestock) are generated or gathered through the aid of fire. • Shifting societal and cultural practices also play a role, as with the use of fire in traditional shifting cultivation (jhum).
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A vacuum exists at the level of national policy
• A cohesive policy framework with a clear strategic direction provides the foundation for successful Forest Fire Prevention and Management (FFPM) which is absent at the policy level. • Though MoEFCC had issued national guidelines on FFPM in 2000, they are no longer being implemented. • A shortage of dedicated funding for FFPM at the central and state level has been a perennial issue, which has been documented by the Comptroller and Auditor General in various states.
India has developed robust detection systems for forest fires
• Using satellite data, Madhya Pradesh was the first state to develop an SMS-based system to alert field staff of active fires burning in their area. Since then, Forest Survey of India (FSI) has rolled out a nationwide system. • Satellite-based detection has helped fill a gap left by under-resourced ground detection. As these satellite systems continue to be upgraded, they would benefit from greater integration, including the increased collection of field-based reporting for verifying satellite-derived fire alerts, as well as improved data sharing between the states and FSI.
Post-fire management is not being treated as part of the FFPM process
• Post-fire data collection is an essential part of the fire management process and crucial to producing informed FFPM plans and policies.
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• A lack of standard protocols for collecting and reporting information on fires, including their causes, has made it impossible to aggregate data across states.
• The states will need help from MoEFCC and the research community in developing standard methods and protocols for assessing ecological impacts and economic damages from fire.
Forest fires in India tripled in the last four months (Forest survey of india)
1. The number of forest fires shot up to 14,107 from 4,225 between November 2018 and February 2019 according to the Real Time Forest Alert System of the Forest Survey of India (FSI). 2. The Forest Alert System is part of the Large Forest Fire Monitoring Programme that was launched by the FSI on January 16, 2019 using near real time data from the SNPP-VIIRS satellite. 3. Between January 1, 2019, and February 26, 2019, 209 out of 558 forest fires occurred in the five southern states of India — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala. That is 37 per cent of the fires.
Reasons for recent higher forest fire in southern states -
• Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka — the three southern states which recorded a 217 to 401 per cent increase in incidences — spent only 60 per cent of the funds meant to contain fires.
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• It is not just the state forest departments. The Centre too has come under criticism for not releasing enough funds for prevention and management of forest fires. • While India loses Rs 1,176 crore a year to forest fires, a mere Rs 45-50 crore is allocated per annum under the Forest Fire prevention and Management Fund, which remains unspent
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought: 17 June
Published On - 6/17/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues
Context: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on June 17 every year.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2019 theme is ‘Let’s Grow the Future Together’ (Reflecting on 25 years of progress and envisaging to the next 25) encouraging people against depleting the land of its inbuilt resources.
Desertification and the Sustainable Development Goals:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development declares that “we are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations”. Specifically, Goal 15 states our resolve to halt and reverse land degradation.
What is Desertification?
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• Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. • It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world‘s land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.
Facts for Prelims:
About UNCCD: Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
Concerns for India:
• India has witnessed increase in the level of desertification in 26 of 29 states between 2003-05 and 2011-13, according to the State of India’s Environment (SoE) 2019 in Figures. • Twenty-one drought-prone districts, of the 78 in the country that were identified by the Indian Space Research Organisation, have more than half of their areas under desertification. • Of these nine have also witnessed over two per cent increase in the area under desertification between 2003-05 and 2011-13. • More than 80 per cent of the country’s degraded land lies in just nine states: Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. • Top three districts with highest area under desertification or land degradation are Jaisalmer, Rajasthan (92.96 per cent during 2011-13 and 98.13 per cent during 2003-05), Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh (80.54 per cent during 2011-13 and 80.57 per cent during 2003-05) and Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir (78.23 per cent during 2011-13 and 78.22 per cent during 2003-05).
Main reasons that cause desertification in India are:
• Water erosion (10.98 per cent). • Wind erosion (5.55 per cent). • Human-made/settlements (0.69 per cent). • Vegetation degradation (8.91 per cent). • Salinity (1.12 per cent). • Others (2.07 per cent).
COLOUR CODED WEATHER WARNING
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Context
• Recently Indian Meteorological Department issued a yellow weather warning for rain in Himachal Pradesh. • The weather department forecast thunderstorm with hail in isolated places of mid hills, including Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, Solan and Sirmaur.
About
Colour coded weather warning:
1. It is issued by the country’s apex weather agency Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) from Ministry of Earth Sciences. 2. Its objective is to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather which has the potential to cause damage, widespread disruption or danger to life. 3. As per the regular practice, warnings are uploaded in the website every day. District wise rainfall forecast along with warnings with colour coded alerts are also uploaded and updated thrice daily in the website.
Four colour codes:
• The Four colour codes are issued to indicate various categories of warnings. The meaning of these codes are:
Red:
• Take action. • Extremely bad weather is expected. • People need to take action to keep themselves and others safe. • Widespread damage, travel and power disruption and risk to life are likely. People must avoid dangerous areas and follow the advice of the emergency services and local authorities.
Amber:
• Be prepared. • There is an increased likelihood of extremely bad weather, which could potentially cause travel delays, road and rail closures, and interruption of power supply. • Amber means people need to be prepared to change plans and protect themselves, their family and community from the impacts of the severe weather based on the forecast from the Met Office. • There could be risk to life and property.
Yellow:
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• Be updated. • Severely bad weather is possible over the next few days, plan ahead thinking about possible travel delays and disruption of day-to-day activities possible. • It indicates the weather may change or worsen in the next few days.
Green:
• No action required. • No severe weather concerns. • No advisory is issued.
India sets up private sector alliance for DRR
Published On - 3/24/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues
News
• India has set up private sector alliance for disaster resilient communities, known as ARISE, an initiative supported by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).
ARISE
• ARISE stands for the UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies. • It is a UNISDR-led network of private sector entities, whose members voluntarily commit to align with the Sendai Framework. • Already 140 companies worldwide are members of ARISE. • Its members share information, experience, activities, and projects, while the level of involvement and resources is at the discretion of each member. • Most activities and interactions are a local and regional level, and ARISE is structured accordingly.
Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP)
Published On - 3/9/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues
• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the “Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP)” for Flood Management Works in entire country and River Management Activities and works related to Border Areas for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 with a total outlay of Rs.3342.00 crores.
Salient features:
• The Scheme “FMBAP” has been framed by merging the components of two continuing XII Plan schemes titled “Flood Management Programme (FMP)” and “River Management Activities and Works related to Border Areas (RMBA)”. The aim of the Scheme is to assist the State Governments to provide reasonable degree of protection against floods in critical www.abhimanuias.com , [email protected] Corporate office: Dainik Bhaskar Building, 2nd Floor, Sector 25-D, Chandigarh
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areas by adopting optimum combination of structural and non-structural measures and enhancing capabilities of State / Central Government officials in related fields. • The works under the scheme will protect valuable land from erosion and flooding and help in maintaining peace along the border. The Scheme aims at completion of the on-going projects already approved under FMP. Further, the scheme also caters to Hydro- meteorological observations and Flood Forecasting on common rivers with the neighbouring countries. The Scheme also includes survey and investigations, preparation of DPR etc. of water resources projects on the common rivers with neighbouring countries like Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, Sapta Kosi-Sun Kosi Projects in Nepal which would benefit both countries.
22 permanent global positioning system (GPS) stations to identify seismically hazardous zones
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has launched 22 permanent global positioning system (GPS) stations across major cities of India to identify seismically hazardous zones and encourage mapping activities.
• These 22 stations are part of the 35 stations planned by GSI to establish and maintain a network of continuously operating 35 permanent GPS stations.
Ministry of Mines has also launched ‘Bhuvisamvad’ app to facilitate interaction between geo- scientists and university and college students
• These 22 stations are part of the 35 stations planned by GSI to establish and maintain a network of continuously operating 35 permanent GPS stations. • Ministry of Mines has also launched ‘Bhuvisamvad’ app to facilitate interaction between geo-scientists and university and college students
‘Red Atlas Action Plan Map’
It is a first of its kind ready reckoner map, prepared by Union Ministry of Earth Sciences to aid state government of Tamil Nadu in effective flood mitigation in Chennai which witnessed the worst deluge in 2015.
• The atlas is aimed at flood mitigation, preparedness, operations and management aspects. • The over 200-page atlas was prepared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in association with TN State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and Greater Chennai Corporation.
Coastal Flood Warning System App (CFLOWS-Chennai)’-
• The CFLOWS-Chennai is a complete webGIS-based decision support system. It can be used both for mitigation planning operations before flooding as well as in real time to for aspects like relief work.
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• CFLOWS is an integrated system that involves coupling models of regional weather forecasts, storm surges and captures about 796 flood scenarios.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue- ‘SCOJtEx-2019’ will be conducted in New Delhi.
• The joint exercise is being hosted by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). • The SCOJtEx will be followed by a meeting between SCO experts and officials of ministries responsible for prevention as well as elimination of emergency situations. • It aims to rehearse the disaster response mechanism, share knowledge, experience and technology for mutual coordination. • All the eight SCO member countries will be participating- India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. • Representatives from Brazil, Mongolia, South Africa, International Search & Rescue Advisory Group, ASEAN Coordination Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA) Centre are invited as observers. • Other participants include representatives from embassies of all SCO member nations, heads of state disaster response forces (SDRF) and representatives of other stakeholders.
This simulation exercise will be conducted as per the methodology and guidelines of International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), a network of disaster-prone and disaster- responding countries as well as organizations dedicated to operational field coordination and urban search and rescue (USAR).
International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure in New Delhi
Union Cabinet has approved establishment of International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) along with its supporting Secretariat Office in New Delhi.
• It will serve as platform where knowledge is generated and exchanged on different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure. • It will bring together technical expertise from multitude of stakeholders. • In doing so, it will create mechanism to assist countries to upgrade their practices and capacities, with regard to infrastructure development in accordance with their risk context and economic needs.
First Resilient Kerala Program
This New Program is part of Central government’s support to Kerala’s ‘Rebuild Kerala Development Programme’ which aimed at building a Green and Resilient Kerala.
Program will support Kerala with:
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• Resilient and sustainable agriculture as well as enhanced agriculture risk insurance. • Improved resilience of core road network • Unified and more updated land records in high risk areas • Risk-based urban planning and strengthened expenditure planning by urban local bodies (ULBs) • Strengthened fiscal and public financial management capacity of state
The Government of India, Government of Kerala and World Bank recently signed a Loan Agreement of $250 Million for First Resilient Kerala Program which seeks to enhance State’s resilience against impacts of natural disasters and climate change.
Unique flood hazard atlas
Published On - 6/21/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues
Odisha has come out with a unique flood hazard atlas aided by satellite imagery, which is expected to help the coastal state manage floods more efficiently.
• Atlas would serve as a useful resource of information for policy makers, planners and civil society groups. • Atlas is compiled on basis of historic flood inundation captured via satellite imagery over 18 years period from year 2001 to 2018. • The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hyderabad had undertaken a study on Odisha’s flood hazard zonation.
Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)
GFDRR is a global partnership which helps developing countries to better understand and reduce their vulnerability to climate change and natural hazards.
• It involves a grant-funding mechanism, which is managed by World Bank. This grant funding supports disaster risk management projects throughout the world. • India was unanimously chosen by member countries as next co-chair of Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for fiscal year 2020. • In addition to this, GFDRR in cooperation with UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and EU also organized 4thedition of World Reconstruction Conference (WRC) 2019 in Geneva.
World Reconstruction Conference (WRC)
• It is a global forum which provides a platform to assess, collect, and share experiences about disaster recovery and reconstruction and also to take forward the policy dialogue. • Theme for 4th edition of WRC was “ Inclusion for Resilient Recovery,”
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Climate Naming of Cyclones Published On - 9/24/2019 | Geography | Atmosphere Context: Tropical Storm Hikaa develops into Cyclone. How are cyclones named? Each Tropical Cyclone basin in the world has its own rotating list of names. For cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the naming system was agreed by eight member countries of a group called WMO/ESCAP and took effect in 2004. How the names are chosen? The member countries submitted eight names each. The first cyclone after the list was adopted was given the name in the first row of the first column — Onil, proposed by Bangladesh. Subsequent cyclones are being named sequentially, column-wise, with each cyclone given the name immediately below that of the previous cyclone. Once the bottom of the column is reached, the sequence moves to the top of the next column. So far, the first seven columns have been exhausted. Why name cyclones? • Makes it easier for the media to report on these cyclones, heightens interest in warnings, and increases community preparedness. • Easier to remember than numbers and technical terms. Why eastern coast of India is more vulnerable? In addition to the storms that originate in the southeast Bay of Bengal and the adjoining Andaman Sea, breakaway typhoons over the Northwest Pacific move across the South China Sea into the Bay of Bengal, intensifying into cyclones. In contrast, Arabian Sea cyclones are mostly their own formations and they also generally move north-west, away from India’s west coast. Besides, the Arabian Sea is colder than the Bay of Bengal, which inhibits the formation and intensification of the cyclonic system in the former. Warm sea surface temperature is an ideal platform for cyclones. Facts for prelims: Cyclones are given many names in different regions of the world – They are known as typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean; hurricanes in the West Indian islands in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean; tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA.; willy-willies in north-western Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Mapping lightning across India Published On - 9/8/2019 | Geography | Climate Context: For the first time, a report- Mid- Monsoon 2019 Lightning Report- has mapped lightning strikes across the country, and the lives they have claimed. It has been prepared by Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), a non- profit organisation that works closely with India Meteorological Department (IMD).
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Lightning strikes have caused at least 1,311 deaths in the four-month period between April and July this year. Need for and significance of forecasts: • It is possible to predict, 30-40 minutes in advance, when a lightning strike heads towards Earth. • The prediction is possible through study and monitoring of the in-cloud lightning strikes. Timely dissemination of this information can save several lives. What is lightning, and how does it strike? It is a very rapid — and massive — discharge of electricity in the atmosphere, some of which is directed towards the Earth’s surface. These discharges are generated in giant moisture-bearing clouds that are 10-12 km tall. How does it strike? 1. The base of these clouds typically lies within 1-2 km of the Earth’s surface, while their top is 12-13 km away. 2. Temperatures towards the top of these clouds are in the range of minus 35 to minus 45 degrees Celsius. 3. As water vapour moves upward in the cloud, the falling temperature causes it to condense. Heat is generated in the process, which pushes the molecules of water further up. 4. As they move to temperatures below zero degrees celsius, the water droplets change into small ice crystals. They continue to move up, gathering mass — until they are so heavy that they start to fall to Earth. 5. This leads to a system in which, simultaneously, smaller ice crystals are moving up and bigger crystals are coming down. 6. Collisions follow, and trigger the release of electrons — a process that is very similar to the generation of sparks of electricity. As the moving free electrons cause more collisions and more electrons, a chain reaction ensues. 7. This process results in a situation in which the top layer of the cloud gets positively charged, while the middle layer is negatively charged. 8. The electrical potential difference between the two layers is huge — of the order of a billion to 10 billion volts. In very little time, a massive current, of the order of 100,000 to a million amperes, starts to flow between the layers. 9. An enormous amount of heat is produced, and this leads to the heating of the air column between the two layers of the cloud. This heat gives the air column a reddish appearance during lightning. As the heated air column expands, it produces shock waves that result in thunder. How does this current reach the Earth from the cloud? While the Earth is a good conductor of electricity, it is electrically neutral. However, in comparison to the middle layer of the cloud, it becomes positively charged. As a result, about
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15%-20% of the current gets directed towards the Earth as well. It is this flow of current that results in damage to life and property on Earth. There is a greater probability of lightning striking tall objects such as trees, towers or buildings. Once it is about 80-100 m from the surface, lightning tends to change course towards these taller objects. This happens because air is a poor conductor of electricity, and electrons that are travelling through air seek both a better conductor and the shortest route to the relatively positively charged Earth’s surface. El Nino and Disease Outbreak Published On - 3/17/2019 | Geography | Climate • Recently, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared that “currently, warm El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions are prevailing over equatorial Pacific Ocean” and their models indicate that “the sea surface temperature anomalies are likely to remain near to the El Nino threshold value during the next two months.” • El Nino in 2015-16 increased the outbreak of diseases in the regions of its influence. Important points: • Major diseases like chikungunya, dengue, malaria, hantavirus, rift valley fever, cholera, plague and zika are affected by the weather events induced by El Nino. The scientists analysed certain disease outbreaks in the 2015-16 period and tried to correlate them with higher temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns characteristic of the El Nino. • They found that in regions like Southeast Asia, Tanzania, western United States and Brazil — which are generally affected by the El Nino — the spread of diseases came after shifts in rainfall, temperature and vegetation. • There was either excess of droughts or floods in this period which created the environmental conditions that favoured the growth and propagation of disease causing microorganisms and their carriers. • The study’s analysis indicates that the intensity of disease activity increased by 2.5-28 per cent during El Nino events than in other periods in the affected regions. For instance, plague in regions like Colorado and New Mexico and cholera in Tanzania were impacted by above normal rainfall. • Similarly, excess land surface temperatures in Brazil and Southeast Asia aided the spread of dengue. El Nino, in itself, is a difficult phenomenon to track and study, which makes its consequences even more difficult to understand. What is El Nino? • El Nino is a climatic cycle characterised by high air pressure in the Western Pacific and low air pressure in the eastern. In normal conditions, strong trade winds travel from east to west across the tropical Pacific, pushing the warm surface waters towards the western Pacific. The surface temperature could witness an increase of 8 degrees Celsius in Asian waters. At the same time, cooler waters rise up towards the surface in the eastern Pacific
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on the coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. This process called upwelling aids in the development of a rich ecosystem. ‘Bomb Cyclone’ Published On - 3/17/2019 | Geography | Climate • A powerful bomb cyclone has impacted several part of the US causing heavy floods. About Bomb Cyclone: • Bomb cyclones" or "weather bombs" are wicked winter storms that can rival the strength of hurricanes and are so called because of the process that creates them: bombogenesis. • It's a meteorology term that refers to a storm (generally a non-tropical one) that intensifies very rapidly. • Bomb cyclones tend to happen more in the winter months and can carry hurricane-force winds and cause coastal flooding and heavy snow. How bombogenesis works? • A storm undergoes bombogenesis when it is central low pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. • Storms occur when a rising column of air leaves an area of low pressure at the Earth's surface, which in turn sucks in the air from surrounding areas. As that air converges, the storm starts to spin faster and faster which leads to higher wind speeds. The closer you are to the centre of the storm, the stronger the winds. • If a storm is strong enough or deepens (drops in pressure) rapidly enough, its winds can reach hurricane-force, or 74 mph (119 km/h) or higher. Of the 43 North Atlantic storms that achieved hurricane-force winds during the winter of 2013-2014, 30 underwent bombogenesis. • Bombogenesis tends to occur when a strong jet stream high in the atmosphere interacts with an existing low-pressure system near a warm ocean current like the Gulf Stream. The jet stream pulls air out of the storm's rising column of air, causing the surface low to deepen. • Bombogenesis tends to occur more often in winter in what are called mid-latitude (or extra-tropical) cyclones. These storms are driven by the collision of warm and cold air masses, whereas as tropical cyclones are driven by convection, or the transfer of heat upward (though they can also undergo rapid intensification and sometimes the term bombogenesis is used to describe that process as well). • The western North Atlantic is one of the prime areas for bombogenesis since cold air over North America collides with warm air over the warmer ocean water (which holds onto heat for longer than land does) in the colder months, giving rise to nor'easters (so-called because the winds along the coast are blowing from the northeast), according to the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang. The moisture from the ocean combined with the cold air can lead to heavy snows.
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• Bombogenesis is also common in the northwest and southwest Pacific and the South Atlantic. Weather bombs seem to be more common in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. Cyclone KYARR Published On - 10/29/2019 | Geography | Cyclones Context-According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Goa, the Cyclone Kyarr, which has been gaining momentum in the past few days, has further intensified into super cyclone. • The Super Cyclonic Storm ‘KYARR’ over the Arabian Sea lay centered at about 980 km west of Mumbai at 5.30 am on Tuesday. It is very likely to move west northwestwards till the evening of October 30 and then move towards Gulf of Aden off south Oman Yemen coasts. KYARR cyclone • It is the first Super Cyclonic storm in Arabian Sea in last 12 years after Cyclone Gonu ravaged the Oman coast in 2007 • Kyarr is the ninth super cyclone to have developed in the North Indian Ocean, after Super Cyclone Gonu in 2007. What is a cyclone? • Cyclone is a weather phenomenon. Cyclone refers to many different types of storms. It is a system of winds rotating inwards to an area of low barometric pressure, with an anticlockwise or clockwise circulation. What are cyclones, hurricanes typhoons? • Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are all the same weather phenomenon, but they have got different names in different parts of the world. For example - Hurricane in the Atlantic, Typhoon in the Pacific and Cyclone in the Indian Ocean. How are cyclones classified? cyclones are classified on the basis of the wind speed. The lowest official classification used in the North Indian Ocean is a Depression, which has 3- minute sustained wind speeds of between 20–31 mph (31–49 km/h). • Deep Depression: If the depression intensifies further then it will become a Deep Depression, which has speeds of between 32–38 mph (50–61 km/h). • Cyclonic storm: If the Deep Depression develops gale force wind speeds of between 39– 54 mph (62–88 km/h), it is called a Cyclonic storm and the IMD assigns a name to it. • Severe Cyclonic Storm: Severe Cyclonic Storms have storm force wind speeds of between 55–72 mph (89–117 km/h) • Very Severe Cyclonic Storm: Very Severe Cyclonic Storms have hurricane-force winds of 73–102 mph (118–166 km/h). • Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm: Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storms have hurricane- force winds of 166–221 km/h (104–137 mph).
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• Super Cyclonic Storm: The highest classification used in the North Indian Ocean is a Super Cyclonic Storm, which have hurricane-force winds of above 138 mph (222 km/h). Naming of cyclones: • Each Tropical Cyclone basin in the world has its own rotating list of names. • For cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the naming system was agreed by eight member countries of a group called WMO/ESCAP and took effect in 2004. • These eight countries are – Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand • The first cyclone after the list was adopted was given the name in the first row of the first column — Onil, proposed by Bangladesh. • Subsequent cyclones are being named sequentially, column-wise, with each cyclone given the name immediately below that of the previous cyclone. • Once the bottom of the column is reached, the sequence moves to the top of the next column. • So far, the first seven columns have been exhausted, and Fani (again proposed by Bangladesh) is the top name in the last column. • The next cyclone will be named Vayu. When all the names in list are exhausted, the eight countries will propose fresh lists of names. • The lists for storms in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins are, however, rotated when the names in the list get exhausted. Exception are, however, made in certain cases — if a storm causes excessive death and destruction, its name is considered for retirement and is not repeated; it is replaced with another name. • According to the naming system, Hikka is the name given to a cyclone that follow Cyclone Vayu Why naming of cyclones is done? • Appending names to cyclones makes it easier for the media to report on these cyclones, heightens interest in warnings, and increases community preparedness. • Names are easier to remember than numbers and technical terms and hence can reach greater masses. • If public wants to suggest the name of a cyclone to be included in the list, the proposed name must meet some fundamental criteria. The name should be short and readily understood when broadcast. Further, the names must not be culturally sensitive and should not convey any unintended and potentially inflammatory meaning.
When did we start naming Cyclones? • Names have been given to Atlantic storms for the past few hundreds of years. Initially, people living in the Caribbean Islands would name the storms after the saint of the day from the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for the day on which the hurricane/cyclone occurred.
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• The tradition continued till World War II, when forecasters and meteorologists started using female names to identify the storms. • In 1953, the US weather service officially adopted the idea and created a new phonetic alphabet (international) of women's names from A to W, leaving out Q, U, X, Y and Z. Subsequent protests by women's liberation bodies in the 60s and 70s helped change the naming procedure for the storms to include male names in 1978. • The year's first tropical storm was given the name beginning with the letter "A", the second with the letter "B" and so on through the alphabet. In even-numbered years, odd- numbered storms got men's names and in odd-numbered years, odd-numbered storms got women's names. • The naming of tropical cyclones is a recent phenomenon. The process of naming cyclones involves several countries in the region and is done under the aegis of the World Meteorological Organization. • For the Indian Ocean region, deliberations for naming cyclones began in 2000 and a formula was agreed upon in 2004. Eight countries in the region - Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand - all contributed a set of names which are assigned sequentially whenever a cyclonic storm develops. Cyclonic storm Hikka formed in the Arabian Sea, Published On - 9/25/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues Context-Cyclonic storm Hikka, that has been formed in the Arabian Sea, will reach Oman coast by the early morning of September 25. What is cyclone • The word Cyclone is derived from a Greek word cyclos, meaning coiling of snake. Tropical cyclone is a deep low pressure area wherein the central pressure falls 6 to 8 hPa (hectopascal) from the surroundings.Strong winds spiral around the centre and pick up speeds of 62 kmph or more. These winds rotate counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Naming of cyclones: • Each Tropical Cyclone basin in the world has its own rotating list of names. • For cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the naming system was agreed by eight member countries of a group called WMO/ESCAP and took effect in 2004. • These eight countries are – Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand • The first cyclone after the list was adopted was given the name in the first row of the first column — Onil, proposed by Bangladesh. • Subsequent cyclones are being named sequentially, column-wise, with each cyclone given the name immediately below that of the previous cyclone. • Once the bottom of the column is reached, the sequence moves to the top of the next column. • So far, the first seven columns have been exhausted, and Fani (again proposed by Bangladesh) is the top name in the last column. • The next cyclone will be named Vayu. When all the names in list are exhausted, the eight countries will propose fresh lists of names. • The lists for storms in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins are, however, rotated when the names in the list get exhausted. Exception are, however, made in certain cases — if a storm causes excessive death and destruction, its name is considered for retirement and is not repeated; it is replaced with another name. • According to the naming system, Hikka is the name given to a cyclone that follow Cyclone Vayu Why naming of cyclones is done? www.abhimanuias.com , [email protected] Corporate office: Dainik Bhaskar Building, 2nd Floor, Sector 25-D, Chandigarh
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• Appending names to cyclones makes it easier for the media to report on these cyclones, heightens interest in warnings, and increases community preparedness. • Names are easier to remember than numbers and technical terms and hence can reach greater masses. • If public wants to suggest the name of a cyclone to be included in the list, the proposed name must meet some fundamental criteria. The name should be short and readily understood when broadcast. Further, the names must not be culturally sensitive and should not convey any unintended and potentially inflammatory meaning. When did we start naming Cyclones? • Names have been given to Atlantic storms for the past few hundreds of years. Initially, people living in the Caribbean Islands would name the storms after the saint of the day from the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for the day on which the hurricane/cyclone occurred. • The tradition continued till World War II, when forecasters and meteorologists started using female names to identify the storms. • In 1953, the US weather service officially adopted the idea and created a new phonetic alphabet (international) of women's names from A to W, leaving out Q, U, X, Y and Z. Subsequent protests by women's liberation bodies in the 60s and 70s helped change the naming procedure for the storms to include male names in 1978. • The year's first tropical storm was given the name beginning with the letter "A", the second with the letter "B" and so on through the alphabet. In even-numbered years, odd- numbered storms got men's names and in odd-numbered years, odd-numbered storms got women's names. • The naming of tropical cyclones is a recent phenomenon. The process of naming cyclones involves several countries in the region and is done under the aegis of the World Meteorological Organization. • For the Indian Ocean region, deliberations for naming cyclones began in 2000 and a formula was agreed upon in 2004. Eight countries in the region - Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand - all contributed a set of names which are assigned sequentially whenever a cyclonic storm develops.
Cyclone Fani- an unusual storm Published On - 5/3/2019 | Geography | Disasters and Management issues News Cyclone Fani • A powerful cyclonic storm named Fani (pronounced Foni) is headed towards the Odisha coast.. • It is not just a severe cyclone but an “extremely severe cyclone”.
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• Expected to generate storms with wind speeds as high as 200 km per hour, it has the potential to cause widespread damage in Odisha and neighbouring states. • The last time such a powerful cyclonic storm had emerged in the Bay of Bengal at this time of the year, in 2008, it had killed more than 1.25 lakh people in Myanmar. • However India has impressively managed disasters caused by cyclones, most remarkably during Cyclone Phailin of 2013, which was even stronger than the approaching Fani. • Fani is, thus, unusual, and that is mainly because of the place it originated, very close to the Equator, and the long route it has taken to reach the landmass. How are they formed? • Cyclones are formed over slightly warm ocean waters. • The temperature of the top layer of the sea, up to a depth of about 60 metres, need to be at least 28°C to support the formation of a cyclone. • This explains why the April-May and October-December periods are conducive for cyclones. • Then, the low level of air above the waters needs to have an ‘anticlockwise’ rotation (in the northern hemisphere; clockwise in the southern hemisphere). • During these periods, there is a ITCZ in the Bay of Bengal whose southern boundary experiences winds from west to east, while the northern boundary has winds flowing east to west. • This induces the anticlockwise rotation of air. • Once formed, cyclones in this area usually move northwest. As it travels over the sea, the cyclone gathers more moist air from the warm sea, and adds to its heft. What strengthens them? • A thumb rule for cyclones is that the more time they spend over the seas, the stronger they become. • Hurricanes around the US, which originate in the vast open Pacific Ocean, are usually much stronger than the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, a relatively narrow and enclosed region. • The cyclones originating here, after hitting the landmass, decay rapidly due to friction and absence of moisture. Cyclone Fani in Odisha: In situ origins • A big difference between the strengths of cyclones in April-May and October-December is that the former originate in situ in the Bay of Bengal itself, barely a few hundred kilometres from the landmass. • On the other hand, cyclones in October-December are usually remnants of cyclonic systems that emerge in the Pacific Ocean, but manage to come to the Bay of Bengal. • They are considerably weakened after crossing the southeast Asian landmass near the South China Sea.
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• These systems already have some energy, and gather momentum as they traverse over the Bay of Bengal. • April-May is not the season for typhoons in the west Pacific Ocean. Most of the typhoons in west Pacific in northern hemisphere form between June and November. • That is why almost all the cyclones in the Bay of Bengal in April-May period are in situ systems. What’s unusual with Fani? • The in situ cyclonic systems in the Bay of Bengal usually originate around latitude 10°, in line with Chennai or Thiruvananthapuram. • Fani, on the other hand, originated quite close to the Equator, around latitude 2°, well below the Sri Lankan landmass. • The forecast landfall on the Odisha coast is at a latitude of almost 20°. • It has traversed a long way on the sea, thus gaining strength that is unusual for cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal in this season. • It was initially headed northwestwards, towards the Tamil Nadu coast, but changed course midway, and swerved northeast away from the coastline to reach Odisha. • If it had remained on its original course, and made a landfall over the Tamil Nadu coastline, Fani would only have been a normal cyclone, not the extremely severe cyclone it has now become. How does IMD calculate monsoon level? • The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expresses the projected rainfall in terms of Long Period Average (LPA). • The LPA is the average rainfall recorded during the months from June to September, calculated during the 50-year period from 1951 to 2000. • LPA is kept as a benchmark while forecasting the quantitative rainfall for the monsoon season every year. • The LPA of the monsoon season over the entire country is 89 cm. • Like the countrywide figure, IMD maintains an independent LPA for every homogeneous region of the country. • E.g. 143.83 cm, 97.55 cm, 71.61 cm, and 61.5 cm for East and Northeast India, Central India, South Peninsular India, and Northwest India respectively. • Going by this, IMD maintains five rainfall distribution categories on an all-India scale. These are: • Normal or Near Normal - when there is +/-10% departure of actual rainfall i.e. between 96-104% of LPA • Below normal - when departure of actual rainfall is less than 10% of LPA i.e. 90-96% of LPA • Above normal - when actual rainfall is 104-110% of LPA • Deficient - when departure of actual rainfall is less than 90% of LPA
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• Excess - when departure of actual rainfall is more than 110% of LPA Magnetic north pole drifting fast towards Russia Published On - 2/10/2019 | Geography | Shape and Motions of Earth • Recently there are news that the magnetic north pole is drifting fast from the Canadian Arctic and towards Russia. About Poles: • The Earth has two pairs of north and south poles. The geographic poles are defined by the axis around which the planet rotates and are fixed. • The Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet — well, almost — and this behaviour defines its magnetic north and south poles, which are not static. A compass point towards magnetic north. • The Earth’s magnetic behaviour is far more complex than that of a simple bar magnet. Its north poles and south poles move around sometimes erratically. Over large periods of time, they change their locations significantly, sometimes even interchanging their positions. • The last time it so happened, with the magnetic north pole getting somewhere near where the magnetic south pole currently is, was about 780,000 years ago. But this time period is not fixed either. • The origin of Earth’s magnetism lies in its outer core, a more than 2,000-km layer of liquid iron and some other metals like nickel, that surrounds the central core, or the innermost part. This liquid iron is in constant motion due to Earth’s rotation and various other reasons, and this motion produces a magnetic field. • The magnetic north pole, or south pole, does not coincide with the geographical north or south pole. Currently, the magnetic north pole is located somewhere over northern Canada, a fact discovered in 1831 by Sir James Clark Ross. Since then the magnetic north pole has been moving across the Canadian Arctic towards Russia, and has moved hundreds of miles over the last several decades. Why it is moving faster? • The movement of liquid iron and other metals in the outer core of the Earth is known to influence the magnetic field, but this movement is chaotic and turbulent. Scientists do not fully understand how the movement happens or why. The study of the phenomena happening inside the earth can only be done indirectly or through computer modelling, because of the extremely hot temperatures prevailing there. Scientists hope that this acceleration in the shifting of magnetic north pole would throw some new insights into the phenomena happening deep inside the Earth’s surface. The consequences • The entire transportation sector, especially aviation and shipping, depends on correctly knowing the position of magnetic north to chart out their navigation paths. Similarly, it is
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crucial for militaries, who need to know this for firing their missiles or for other purposes. Knowing the magnetic north is vital for a number of civilian applications as well. BLACK HOLES Published On - 4/11/2019 | Geography | Space Context: The first photograph of a black hole was revealed by scientists recently. What is a black hole? • A black hole is an object in space that is so dense and has such strong gravity that no matter or light can escape its pull. Because no light can escape, it is black and invisible. • There’s a boundary at the edge of a black hole called the event horizon, which is the point of no return — any light or matter that crosses that boundary is sucked into the black hole. It would need to travel faster than the speed of light to escape, which is impossible. • Anything that crosses the event horizon is destined to fall to the very centre of the black hole and be squished into a single point with infinite density, called the singularity. If black holes are invisible, how can we detect or photograph them? 1. By looking for the effects of their extreme gravity, which pulls stars and gases toward them. 2. Also, while anything past the event horizon is invisible, outside that boundary there is sometimes a spiral disk of gas that the black hole has pulled toward — but not yet into — itself. 3. The gases in that accretion disk are heated up as they accelerate toward the black hole, causing them to glow extremely brightly. The colours they glow are invisible to us, but are detectable with an X-ray telescope. 4. Scientists have also detected the gravitational waves generated when two black holes collide. light surrounding the black hole right to the edge of the event horizon, which is the goal of the Event Horizon Telescope. How big are black holes? Small black holes are called stellar-mass black holes. They have masses similar to those of larger stars — about five to 20 times the mass of the sun. The other kind is supermassive black holes, which are millions to billions of times more massive than the sun. That’s the kind the Event Horizon Telescope has been trying to photograph, as bigger objects ought to be easier to see. There is some evidence that black holes between these two sizes exist, but that has yet to be confirmed. While black holes are very massive, that doesn’t mean they take up a lot of space. Because they’re so dense, they’re actually quite small. According to NASA, a black hole 20 times the mass of the sun could fit inside a ball 16 kilometres wide — the width of the Island of Montreal at its widest point. Where are black holes found?
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Supermassive black holes are found at the centre of most galaxies, including our own Milky Way. The one in our galaxy is called Sagittarius A* and is one of those the Event Horizon Telescope has been attempting to photograph. Sagittarius A* isn’t the only black hole in our galaxy, though. Earlier this year, astronomers discovered another 12 within three light-years of it, suggesting there could be upwards of 10,000 black holes around the galactic centre. Where do black holes come from? Supermassive black holes are believed to form at the same time as the galaxy that surrounds them, but astronomers aren’t sure exactly how. Stellar mass black holes form when a star with a mass greater than three times that of our sun runs out of fuel. It explodes into a supernova and collapses into an extremely dense core that we know as a black hole — something predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Einstein’s theory also predicts the size and shape of the black holes that the Event Horizon Telescope is trying to photograph. Tropical Cyclone Idai Published On - 3/21/2019 | Geography | Atmosphere Tropical Cyclone Idai has caused huge deaths and economic losses in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Cyclone Idai made landfall on Mozambique and later moved in a westerly direction. Idai is the deadliest Tropical cyclone witnessed in 2019. Idai originated from a tropical depression that formed off the eastern coast of Mozambique and made landfall in Mozambique. The depression later reemerged into the Mozambique Channel and was upgraded into Moderate Tropical Storm. Hurricane Dorian Published On - 9/12/2019 | Geography | Climate It was an extremely powerful and destructive Category 5 hurricane. It was the first major hurricane of 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. • The hurricane devastated northwestern Bahamas, caused catastrophic damage to Grand Bahama and Abaco Island and also caused significant damage to Southeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. • Bahamas is a country within Lucayan Archipelago (or Bahama Archipelago), in Caribbean. Bahama Archipelago is an island group that comprises of Commonwealth of The Bahamas and British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos Islands India has announced an immediate humanitarian assistance of $1 million to help people in The Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian Cyclone Fani Published On - 5/1/2019 | Geography | Climate According to The India Met Department (IMD) Cyclone Fani in South East Bay of Bengal intensifed from a severe cyclonic storm into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ as it approaches coastal Tamil Nadu by 30 April.
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A very severe cyclonic storm means Fani will get ‘category three’ storm status on five-step Saffir- Simpson scale (or Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale). • It was formed at low pressure region in south east of Sumatra (Indonesian island), which further intensified into a depression. • The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale classifies hurricanes or Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms into five categories or 1 to 5 rating based on intensities of their sustained winds. Tropical Cyclone- They are also known as Hurricanes (in Atlantic), Typhoons (in Western Pacific and South China Sea), Willy-willies (in Western Australia). Bomb Cyclone or Bombogenesis Published On - 3/21/2019 | Geography | Climate Bomb Cyclone or bombogenesis refer to a rapidly intensifying area of low-pressure winter storm when there is a pressure drop by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. The decrease of the pressure intensifies the storm. This pressure drop intensification and subsequent winter storms result in strong winds, beach erosion and coastal flooding, especially with high tide. Bomb Cyclone is caused by a collision of warm air and cold air which develop into rotating storm- like pattern and lead to an explosive deepening of pressure. Worldwide about 40 to 50 ‘bomb cyclones brew each year. The bomb cyclone swept has through the US Great Plains resulting in blizzard conditions, hurricane-like winds, snow and heavy rain and subsequent flooding. “Anthropocene” – new epoch Published On - 5/24/2019 | Geography | Earth Geology A team of scientists have voted to declare “Anthropocene” as a new chapter in the Earth’s geological history- the new epoch. • Coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to denote the present geological time interval, Anthropocene has been used to describe humanity’s large impact on the environment. • The move signals the end of the Holocene epoch, which began 12,000 to 11,600 years ago. • The result builds on an informal vote taken at the 2016 International Geological Congress in Cape Town, and lays the groundwork for a formal proposal by 2021 to the International Commission on Stratigraphy. 24th World Energy Congress Published On - 9/14/2019 | Geography | Energy The World Energy Congress is a triennial event and has been running since 1924. With over 150 countries represented, WEC is world’s largest and most influential energy event that covers all aspects of energy agenda. • It is a global flagship event of World Energy Council.
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• It offers a unique platform for global energy leaders to explore new energy futures, new strategies and critical innovation areas. • The congress enables dialogue amongst Ministers, CEOs, policy-makers and industry practitioners on critical developments in energy sector. The 24th World Energy Congress was held in Abu Dhabi, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Chillai kalan Published On - 12/25/2019 | Geography | Monsoons and Climate in India Context-North India Faces Intense Cold Wave, "Harshest Winter" Begins In Kashmir. The most severe part of the winter in Kashmir consists of three months. It is divided into three parts called the Chilas:- The Chillai Kalan, the Chillai Khurd, and the Challai Bache. • Chillai Kalan is a Persian word that in literal sense means ‘major cold’. December 21 marks the beginning of Chillai Kalan every year and thus, begins the period of harsh cold and continues till January 31. In this 40-day period, nights are chilly and day temperatures thrive in single digit. Historically, during this period, Kashmiris stay indoors surviving on dried preserved food and enjoying folklore and traditional music. • Chillai-Kalan is followed by a 20-day long Chillai-Khurd (small cold) that occurs between January 31 and February 19 and a 10-day long Chillai-Bachha (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 2. Significance • The ongoing harsh winter conditions don’t let the snow to melt and thus, tourists can view snow in the form of ice even when it hasn’t recently snowed on hill stations and if anything, this just adds up to the place’s attraction for tourists. • Chillai Kalan plays a very important role in the lives of Kashmiri people. Snowfall is essential for a good harvest of fruits and vegetables. Locals even term it as encashing the severity of weather’. • Snow also adds up to the glaciers in the Himalayas and thus is an important source of water for not only the locals but a recharge for many Himalayan rivers. Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecast Model (CFS) Published On - 10/6/2019 | Geography | Monsoons and Climate in India India’s new monsoon model, called the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecast Model (CFS) was in news due to its failure to forecast the excess rainfall received during August-September 2019. It was deployed by the IMD (India Meteorological Department) under National Monsoon Mission (NMM). Coupled Forecast Model (CFS) • It is a dynamical model which is also called Climate Forecast Model (CFS). It has been developed based on a climate model developed by National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), U.S. and it has been implemented on Prithvi High Performance Computers (HPC) at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
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• The Dynamical models employ a different approach to forecasting monsoon i.e. they roughly relies on capturing the interactions between land, ocean and atmosphere and tracking how the changes in each affect other. • The land, atmosphere and ocean state at a particulate time (generally March) is mathematically simulated on supercomputers and extrapolated into monsoon months. National Monsoon Mission (NMM): It was has launched by Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). The Ministry has bestowed the responsibility of execution and coordination of this mission to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. The Objective of the mission it to build an ocean atmospheric model for – • Improved prediction of monsoon rainfall on extended range to seasonal time scale of up to 16 days to about one season • Improved prediction of rainfall, temperature as well as extreme weather events on short to medium range time scale up to 15 days Strait of Hormuz Published On - 6/17/2019 | Geography | Oceans and Seas It is the waterway separates Iran and Oman, linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. • The Strait is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just two miles (three km) wide in either direction. • About 30 per cent of crude and other oil liquids passed through the waterway in 2016 • With global oil consumption standing at about 100 million bpd, that means almost a fifth passes through the Strait. • Most crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq — all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — is shipped through the waterway. • It is also the route used for nearly all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the world’s biggest LNG exporter, Qatar. National maritime heritage museum Published On - 6/11/2019 | Geography | Oceans and Seas India and Portugal will cooperate in setting up of a national maritime heritage museum at ancient Indian site of Lothal in Gujarat. • Lothal (literally means the mound of dead) was one of port cities of Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization). • Museum Project will be implemented by Union Ministry of Shipping through its Sagarmala programme, along with involvement of State government, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other stakeholders. Chagos Archipelago Published On - 5/22/2019 | Geography | Oceans and Seas
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The United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) passed a non-binding resolution asking United Kingdom (UK) to return Chagos Archipelago in Indian Ocean. • Chagos Archipelago, a group of seven atolls comprises of more than 60 islands in Indian Ocean. It is located about 500 km south of Maldives. • Since 18th century when the French first settled in islands, it had been part of Mauritius only. • In 1801, all of the islands of French colonial territory in region were ceded to British. • The US also established a military base on island of Diego Garcia which is largest of all islands.
Sakhalin oil field Published On - 10/27/2019 | Geography | Energy Context- Recently Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today visited Sakhalin oil field in Russia • ONGC Videsh Limited has 20% stakes of Sakhalin-1 since 2001, as a part of Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision of developing energy links with Russia • Shri Pradhan visited the Rig “Krechet” which is the biggest and most powerful land rig in the world. It is a covered rig to allow people to work in extreme temperature (-40 degree Celsius in winter)- it drills up to 14 KM in horizontal drilling.
Significance • Sakhalin is an important development in the annals of long lasting friendly relationship between India and Russia. • The remote far east areas of Russia is also significant as India has its largest investment overseas in this project. • This also marks an important achievement towards securing India's energy security as production from the field is expected to last for over 30 years. • OVL is holding 20 percent equity in the project and proposes to make about 2.8 billion US dollars investment, when the project is slated to be fully developed in 2006. PRAKASH Portal www.abhimanuias.com , [email protected] Corporate office: Dainik Bhaskar Building, 2nd Floor, Sector 25-D, Chandigarh
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Published On - 10/5/2019 | Geography | Energy Context-The Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and the Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs jointly launched PRAKASH (Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony) . • The Portal aims at bringing better coordination for coal supplies among all stakeholders viz - Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Coal India, Railways and power utilities The Portal is designed to help in mapping and monitoring entire coal supply chain for power plants, viz – • Coal Stock at supply end (mines), • coal quantities/ rakes planned, • coal quantity in transit and • coal availability at power generating station Benefits of Portal to the Stakeholders The portal makes available following information on a single platform - • Coal company will be able to track stocks and the coal requirement at power stations for effective production planning • Indian Railways will plan to place the rakes as per actual coal available at siding and stock available at power stations. • Power stations can plan future schedule by knowing rakes in pipe line and expected time to Reach. • Stock at power generating station • Ministry of Power /Ministry of Coal/ CEA/ POSOCO can review overall availability of coal at thermal power plants in different regions Present mechanism to review coal supply situation consists of an inter-ministerial group which has officials from Ministries of Power, Coal, Railways, CEA, power utilities and coal companies. This group holds weekly meetings to review coal supply situation as well as railway logistics. It was observed that this mechanism faced several issues such as scattered information, correctness of data from different organizations, timely availability of data etc. This often led to difficulties in decision making • To address such situations, Ministry of Power asked CEA for establishment of a transparent mechanism to monitor the coal availability at loading site (CIL,SCCL), placement of rakes by Railways (CRIS) and availability of coal at power stations (NTPC / DVC /State utilities) and also directed NTPC to facilitate CEA for portal development. • PRAKASH Portal is developed by NTPC and sources data from different stakeholders such as Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and coal companies. All reports are available in PDF/Excel format. However, to present information in a user friendly method, the Portal gives graphical representation of reports with details shown on the map of India. Currently, the Portal will make available four reports as detailed below -
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Daily Power Plant Status • This report gives Station data related to power generation, coal receipt, consumption and stock. • Report can be generated utility wise, state wise and sector wise (default utility-wise). Periodic Power Plant Status • Report gives Station data related to power generation, coal receipt, consumption and stock for selected period. • Coal materialisation based on dispatch by coal company is available. Plant Exception Report • This report gives materialisation and rakes in pipeline through Rail. Coal Dispatch Report • Report gives coal subsidiary wise dispatch for particular period. • It also gives source wise details of coal dispatch. • Dispatch trend is also shown. • Plant wise and siding wise details are available. National thermal power corporation limited • NTPC is India’s largest energy conglomerate with roots planted way back in 1975 to accelerate power development in India. • Since then it has established itself as the dominant power major with presence in the entire value chain of the power generation business. • From fossil fuels it has forayed into generating electricity via hydro, nuclear and renewable energy sources. • NTPC became a Maharatna company in May 2010, one of the only four companies to be awarded this status. • NTPC ranked 492nd in the ‘2019, Forbes Global 2000’ ranking of the World’s biggest companies. Prepaid payments by discoms to generator companies Published On - 3/24/2019 | Geography | Energy Government sets up committee to explore prepaid payments by discoms to generator companies A committee containing chairmen of distribution companies of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, representatives from Power Ministry and Power associations was set up under the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to explore the prepaid payments by state electricity distribution companies to power plants. Key Points i. The aim of the committee is to study the working capital cycles of power distribution companies and generation companies so as to identify the gaps which are contributing to the stress in the sector. ii. The Committee will also suggest a mechanism for the prepaid system of transactions after
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Geography | Udaan by Abhimanu IAS studying the regulations with respect to payment mechanism and transaction across the power sector value chain. iii. In order to put in place a bill discounting mechanism ahead of General Elections, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister is also looking at the recommendation made by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha simultaneously. iv. PK Sinha committee had suggested that Financial institutions like REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) and PFC (Power Finance Corp) may discount receivables from discoms and make payment to generators. BEE Star Ratings Published On - 3/12/2019 | Geography | Energy • Ministry of Power, Government of India expanded its ambitious Standards & Labelling (Star Rating) program for Energy Efficient for Appliances to cover the Microwave Ovens and Washing Machines (with revised parameters) in the country. About Star Labelling Programs: • The Star Labelling Programs has been formulated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The program will now include these two appliances for grant of Star Rating in terms of their energy performance. Initially, the program for above two appliances will be implemented on a voluntary basis and will be valid up to 31st December 2020. • This initiative will promote advancement of technology and energy efficiency in Microwaves Ovens which is becoming a popular household gadget. • As regard to the launch of revised program for Washing Machines, he commended BEEs efforts to revise the criteria for inclusion of water efficiency in addition to energy performance for grant of Star Rating. What is BEE Star Rating? • Star ratings are provided to all the major kind of appliances in the form of labels. These star ratings are given out of 5 and they provide a basic sense of how energy efficient each product is, just in a single glance. • The manufacturers are officially required to put these labels as per the Standards and Labelling Program introduced in 2006. • The prime importance of these Star Ratings is to educate and inform consumers about how energy efficient each product is. This also makes the manufacturer responsible for creating products which are highly energy efficient as consumers may eventually prefer better rated products. • The BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. It assists in developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy. BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies, and other organizations to identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the Energy Conservation Act.
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Analysis: • The size of Indian Microwave Oven market stood at 1.21 million units in year FY 2017-18 and is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 2%. Whereas, the size of Indian Washing Machine market stood at 6.1 million units in year FY 2017-18 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 8% fuelled by a growth in urbanization. Therefore, it is important to optimize energy performance of Microwave Ovens and Washing Machines. This will create awareness amongst the domestic consumers to encourage transition towards energy efficient microwave ovens and Washing machines. • There is an estimate that over 3.0 Billion Units of electricity at consume-end through adoption of Star Rated Microwave Ovens and Washing Machines by 2030. This would be equivalent to Green House Gases (GHG) reduction of 2.4 Million-ton of CO2 by the year 2030 through these initiatives. Srinagar- Alusteng - Drass- Kargil – Leh Transmission System Published On - 2/4/2019 | Geography | Energy • Indian Prime Minister has dedicated the 220 kV Srinagar- Alusteng - Drass- Kargil – Leh Transmission System to the Nation, a step that would ensure quality power supply to Ladakh round the year. • This would give huge boost to the tourism sector and enhance socio-economic development of Ladakh. About Srinagar- Alusteng - Drass- Kargil – Leh Transmission Line: • Built at a height of around 3000-4000 meters, this approx. 335 km long transmission line has been constructed byPOWERGRID.In this project, the four new State-of-the-Art 220/66 kV Gas Insulated Sub-stations built at Drass, Kargil, Khaltsi and Leh will help to ensure 24x7 quality power in all weather conditions. Funding provisions have been in the ratio of 95:05 (95% Govt. of India share and 5% J&K state share). Benefits to the region: • The implementation of this project was also aimed to supply power to the people of Ladakh in harsh winters and evacuation of surplus power of Kargil & Leh Hydel stations of NHPC in summers. It is a flagship project of Government of India, under PMRP scheme which was aimed to improve reliability & quality of power supply in Ladakh region of J&K by connecting with National Grid. • This will not only help evacuate power in summers, but will also supply power to the region in winters when temperatures dip and hydro electricity generation do not match up. The project will meet the power demand of Ladakh region at economical rates. • With quality electricity available at reasonable rates, hospitality industry in Ladakh will get a boost, as their reliance on diesel sets will reduce. This will also attract tourists looking for affordable stay in all weathers. About POWERGRID:
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• POWERGRID is one of the World’s Largest Power Transmission Utility, and has a wide network of 150,874 circuit kilometers transmission lines, with 238 Sub-stations and transformation capacity of 351,106 MVA. National grid of India Published On - 2/4/2019 | Geography | Energy Why in News? PM Modi recently dedicated the 220 kV Srinagar- Alusteng – Drass- Kargil – Leh Transmission Line to the Nation. With this, Ladakh is now connected to the National Grid. The project has been completed by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a Navratna Company of Government of India, under Ministry of Power. Benefits of this project: It will result in minimizing the massive use of diesel generating sets during winters, and thus will help in protection of beautiful environment, of pristine Ladakh region. This would also give huge boost to the tourism sector and enhance socio-economic development of Ladakh. What is National Grid? It is the high-voltage electric power transmission network in mainland India, connecting power stations and major substations and ensuring that electricity generated anywhere in mainland India can be used to satisfy demand elsewhere. • The National Grid is owned, operated, and maintained by state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India. • It is one of the largest operational synchronous grids in the world with 307.8 GW of installed power generation capacity. • The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are not connected to the National Grid. Benefits of a National Grid: • Better availability resulting in lesser power cuts. • More stability in power. Cross border transmission links: Presently, India is importing electricity from Bhutan with synchronous transmission links while exporting power to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar with asynchronous transmission links between the National Grid, and the electricity grids of these countries. PACEsetter Fund programme Published On - 9/23/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy Context: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy awards grants to four projects in second round of PACEsetter Fund programme. PACEsetter fund: • Constituted by India and the USA in 2015. • It is a INR 50 crore (USD 7.9 million) fund jointly capitalized by the Governments of the Republic of India and the United States of America.
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• It is a joint fund to provide early-stage grant funding to accelerate the commercialization of innovative off-grid clean energy products, systems, and business models. • The Fund will award grants for direct support of innovative technology, business models, and programs including but not limited to: rural energy services companies (full scale integrated operators); rural distribution companies/franchisees; operations/maintenance companies; technology implementers/ system integrators; and enterprises. Eligibility: To be eligible, projects must be focused on improving the viability of off grid renewable energy businesses and organizations, under served individuals and communities in India without access to grid connected power or with limited or intermittent access less than 8 hours per day using small scale (under 1 megawatt) clean energy systems. Background: Energy access is crucial for improving the quality of life for India’s citizens and their economic conditions, and 24/7 energy availability remains a priority for the Indian government. Off-grid, clean energy technologies, combined with innovative financing models, market-based solutions, and policy alignment, have tremendous potential to become a transformative agent of economic opportunity and rural development. Ocean energy declared as Renewable Energy Published On - 8/24/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy Context: The government has approved a proposal to declare ocean energy as Renewable Energy. Accordingly, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has clarified to all the stakeholders that energy produced using various forms of ocean energy such as tidal, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion etc. shall be considered as Renewable Energy and shall be eligible for meeting the non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO). Potential of oceans as a renewable energy source: Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, making them the world’s largest solar collectors. The ocean can produce two types of energy: thermal energy from the sun’s heat, and mechanical energy from the tides and waves. These energies are non-polluting, reliable, and very predictable. 1. Tidal energy: Tidal Energy, also known as Tidal Power is classified as an alternate energy or better known as the renewable source of energy. It is one of the forms of hydropower energy that exercises energy of the oceanic tides to generate electricity. 2. Ocean wave energy: It uses the power of the waves to generate electricity. Unlike tidal energy which uses the ebb and flow of the tides, wave energy uses the vertical movement of the surface water that produce tidal waves.
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3. Ocean thermal energy: The sun’s heat warms the surface water a lot more than the deep ocean water, and this temperature difference creates thermal energy. 4. Ocean current energy: The energy of ocean currents under the surface is comparable to the wind above it. Underwater turbines — large propellers tethered to the seabed — are used to derive power from this source. 5. Osmotic energy: This technique — the most surprising — produces energy from the movement of water across a membrane between a saltwater reservoir and freshwater reservoir. .
SARAL – ‘State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index’ Published On - 8/23/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy Context: SARAL – ‘State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index’ was recently launched. The Index evaluates Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development. SARAL is the first of its kind index to provide a comprehensive overview of state-level measures adopted to facilitate rooftop solar deployment. About the index: SARAL has been designed collaboratively by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Ernst & Young (EY). SARAL currently captures five key aspects: 1. robustness of policy framework 2. implementation environment 3. investment climate 4. consumer experience 5. business ecosystem Key findings: • Karnataka has been placed at the first rank. • Telangana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have got 2nd, 3rd and 4th rank respectively. What is rooftop solar? Rooftop solar installations — as opposed to large-scale solar power generation plants — can be installed on the roofs of buildings. As such, they fall under two brackets: commercial and residential. This simply has to do with whether the solar panels are being installed on top of commercial buildings or residential complexes. What are the benefits? • Rooftop solar provides companies and residential areas the option of an alternative source of electricity to that provided by the grid.
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• While the main benefit of this is to the environment, since it reduces the dependence on fossil-fuel generated electricity, solar power can also augment the grid supply in places where it is erratic. • Rooftop solar also has the great benefit of being able to provide electricity to those areas that are not yet connected to the grid — remote locations and areas where the terrain makes it difficult to set up power stations and lay power lines. What is the potential for rooftop solar in India? The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has pegged the market potential for rooftop solar at 124 GW. However, only 1,247 MW of capacity had been installed as of December 31, 2016. That is a little more than 3% of the target for 2022, and 1% of the potential.
IRENA report ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’ Published On - 6/9/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy • International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released a report titled ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’. • For the study, IRENA analysed eight major solar PV markets from 2010 to 2018. These countries include China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Important highlights: • Costs from all commercially available renewable power generation technologies declined in 2018. The global weighted-average cost of electricity declined 26% year-on-year for concentrated solar power (CSP), followed by bioenergy (-14%), solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind (both -13%), hydropower (-12%), geothermal and offshore wind (both -1%), the report finds. • Continuing cost declines, meanwhile, underline renewable power as a low-cost climate and decarbonisation solution. Within IRENA’s global database, over three-quarters of the onshore wind and four-fifths of the utility-scale solar PV project capacity due to be commissioned in 2020 should provide lower-priced electricity than the cheapest new coal-fired, oil or natural gas option, the report notes. • Onshore wind and solar PV power are now, frequently, less expensive than any fossil-fuel option, without financial assistance. • New solar and wind installations will increasingly undercut even the operating-only costs of existing coal-fired plants. • Low and falling technology costs make renewables the competitive backbone of energy decarbonisation – a crucial climate goal. • Cost forecasts for solar PV and onshore wind continue to be revised as new data emerges, with renewables consistently beating earlier expectations. • Along with reviewing cost trends, the report analyses cost components in detail. The report draws on IRENA’s cost database of around 17 000 renewable power generation projects and 9 000 auction and power purchase agreements for renewable power.
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About IRENA: • The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy. • IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity. • With a mandate from countries around the world, IRENA encourages governments to adopt enabling policies for renewable energy investments, provides practical tools and policy advice to accelerate renewable energy deployment, and facilitates knowledge sharing and technology transfer to provide clean, sustainable energy for the world’s growing population.
Dispute on Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) Published On - 4/26/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy • Renewable power companies have moved the Delhi High Court, seeking to exempt the renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the goods and services tax (GST). • The case will also have implications on priority sector lending certificates, used widely in the banking sector. These certificates current attract a GST rate of 12 per cent. • Securities are defined as neither goods nor services under GST laws and hence are not taxable under the indirect tax regime. • For this purpose, the definition of securities is taken from a provision under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act. • Clause (h) of the section 2 of the Act defines securities as shares, scrips, stocks, bonds, debentures, debenture stock or other marketable securities of a like nature in or of any incorporated company or other body corporate derivatives. • According to companies, RECs fall under the definition of securities. About RECs: • RECs are widely used in the renewable purchase obligations by companies and states. • Launched in 2010, RPOs make it obligatory for distribution companies, open-access consumers and captive power producers to meet part of their energy needs through green energy. Pre-defined RPO target for all states, currently ranges from 3 per cent to 10 per cent of the total energy requirement of the states. RPO is divided in two parts- solar RPO and non-solar RPO. • The states or utilities that are unable to fulfil their RPO can buy RECs, which represents 1mw-hour of power produced from a renewable energy source.
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• There are around 12,000 projects under REC mechanism with a total capacity of 5,383 MW. • The issue will have repercussion for priority sector lending certificates (PSLCs). These certificates are a tool for promoting comparative advantages among banks while they meet their priority sector lending obligations. Banks with a comparative advantage in lending to the priority sector earn these certificates, while those falling short of the target are required to buy these papers. Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) Published On - 2/24/2019 | Geography | Resources • Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has unveiled its new product, the Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG), an innovative solution to meet the ever-increasing need for drinking water worldwide, today at Aero India 2019. About Atmospheric Water Generator: • Atmospheric Water Generator can be used to generate water straight from the humidity present in the atmosphere. The day is not far when drinking water becomes the most precious commodity on the planet. Groundwater, currently the main source of drinking water, is being depleted at alarming and unsustainable rates even as the search for alternate water sources continues. • BEL's Atmospheric Water Generator employs a novel technology to extract water from the humidity present in the atmosphere and purify it. • It uses heat exchange for condensing the atmospheric moisture to produce pure, safe and clean potable water. • The AWG comes with a Mineralisation Unit, which is used to add minerals which are required to make the water potable. • The AWG is configurable in static and mobile (vehicular) versions and is available in 30 litres/day, 100 litres/day, 500 litres/day and 1,000 litres/day capacities. • The Atmospheric Water Generator can be used to provide drinking water in community centres and public places like health care centres, schools, colleges, offices, railway stations, bus stands, airports, sea ports, off-shore oil rigs, military establishments, remote field areas and remote establishments and residential complexes. • The Atmospheric Water Generator is being manufactured by BEL in collaboration with CSIR-IICT and MAITHRI, a start-up company based in Hyderabad. • It is on display at the BEL stall at Hall-E at Aero India 2019. BEL has, as part of the Government of India's Start-up India Initiative, extending its support to start-up Companies. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facility Published On - 2/12/2019 | Geography | Resources • In a boost to energy security of the country, PM recently dedicated to the nation, 1.33 MMT Visakhapatnam Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facility of Indian Strategic
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Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL). The cost of the Project is Rs. 1125 crore. The Facility has the largest underground storage compartment in the country. About Strategic Petroleum Reserve: • A strategic petroleum reserve is like a piggy bank. Just that it is used to store crude oil instead of coins and currency notes. The objective is the same — to save for stormy and rainy days. Government has to stay prepared with emergency stores of crude oil to tide over severe supply shocks of this critical fuel. Strategic petroleum reserves are essentially huge stockpiles of crude oil to keep the wheels of the country running in crunch situations. • Many major global oil consumers such as the US, China and Japan have built massive strategic reserves of oil over the years, and India too embarked on the path in the last decade. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd, a special purpose vehicle under the Oil and Gas Ministry, has constructed three strategic petroleum reserves in huge underground rock caverns at Visakhapatnam on the East Coast, and at Mangaluru and Padur on the West Coast. • These facilities, with total capacity of 5.33 million tonnes, can meet about 10 days of India’s crude oil requirements. The new facilities approved last week can provide additional supply for about 12 days. Asia LPG Summit Published On - 2/7/2019 | Geography | Resources • 2nd edition of the Asia LPG Summit is being held in New Delhi. The summit is being organized by the World LPG Association (WLPGA) in association with major Indian public- sector oil companies (OMCs) Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, and Bharat Petroleum. Objectives of the summit: • The summit will offer a unique opportunity to the global LPG industry to interact with development agencies, NGOs and non-profit organizations who have facilitated last-mile access to LPG for the beneficiaries. • The summit will also bring together academia and private sector to exchange their views on the use of LPG and how pathbreaking initiatives such as ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ can bring remarkable socio-economic transformation. About World LPG Association: • The World LPG Association (WLPGA) is the authoritative global voice for the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry and the worldwide industry association which represents the interests of the LPG industry globally. The WLPGA promotes the use of LPG to foster a cleaner, healthier and more prosperous world. • With over 200 members headquartered in more than 125 countries, the WLPGA represents the interests of private and public companies from the entire LPG value chain under one umbrella. • The WLPGA provides a platform for the exchange of best practices, facts and figures among its members.
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• The Association regularly organises interactive meetings between technical experts, members and key stakeholders to demonstrate the benefits of LPG. • The WLPGA was officially granted Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1989. Publications such as its Annual Statistical Review have become LPG industry references. Methanol-blending in petrol Published On - 1/25/2019 | Geography | Resources • Methanol may be made from hydrocarbon or renewable resources, in particular, natural gas and biomass respectively. It can also be synthesized from CO2 (carbon dioxide) and hydrogen. Methanol economy will help India use its vast reserves of coal while driving import substitution. Research in converting carbon dioxide to methanol is promising and can be a game-changer for methanol economy. India imports methanol from Saudi Arabia and Iran at present.Methanol (M-15) blended with petrol and used in the existing BS-IV standard cars reduces carbon dioxide emission. Why Methanol? • Methanol is a clean burning drop in fuel which can replace both petrol & diesel in transportation & LPG, Wood, Kerosene in cooking fuel. • It can also replace diesel in Railways, Marine Sector, Gensets, Power Generation and Methanol based reformers could be the ideal complement to Hybrid and Electric Mobility. Methanol Economy is the “Bridge” to the dream of a complete “Hydrogen based fuel systems”. • Methanol can be produced from Natural Gas , Indian High Ash Coal , Bio-mass, and flared gases and India can achieve (through right technology adaptation} to produce Methanol. Currently Methanol accounts for almost 9% of transport fuel in China. They have converted millions of vehicles running on Methanol. China alone produces 65% of world Methanol and it uses its coal to produce Methanol. NITI Aayog releases Report on the Composite Water Management Index 2.0 Published On - 8/26/2019 | Geography | Water • NITI Aayog first launched and conceptualized the Composite Water Management Index in 2018 as a tool to instil a sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states. • It provided actionable guidance to States on where they were doing well absolutely and relatively and what they needed to focus on to secure their water
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Key Findings
• CWMI 2.0 ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17. • Gujarat (continues to hold on to its rank one in the reference year (2017-18), followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. • In North-Eastern and the Himalayan States, Himachal Pradesh has been awarded rank 1 in 2017-18 followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura and Assam. • For the first time, Union Territories have submitted their data and Puducherry has been declared the top performer. • 80% of the states have shown improvement in their water management scores over the last three years. Importance of report • The CWMI is an important tool to assess and improve the performance of States and Union Territories in efficient management of water resources. • The index would provide useful information for the States and also for the concerned Central Ministries/Departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources. CWMI 2.0 ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17. • It is a tool to instill the sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states.
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• This was a first ever attempt at creating a pan-India set of metrics that measured different dimensions of water management and use across the lifecycle of water. • The report was widely acknowledged and provided actionable guidance to States on where they were doing well absolutely and relatively and what they needed to focus on to secure their water future. NITI Aayog( National Institution for Transforming India)
• Planning Commission was replaced by a new institution – NITI AAYYOG on January 1, 2015 with emphasis on ‘Bottom –Up’ approach to envisage the vision of Maximum Governance, Minimum Government, echoing the spirit of ‘Cooperative Federalism’. Objectives
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• To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on a continuous basis, recognizing that strong States make a strong nation. • To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. • To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy. • To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress. • To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international like-minded Think Tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions. • To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners. • To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda. • To maintain a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders. NITI Aayog Hubs 1. Team India Hub acts as interface between States and Centre. 2. Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds the think-tank acumen of NITI Aayog. • The Aayog planned to come out with three documents — 3-year action agenda, 7-year medium-term strategy paper and 15-year vision document. Importance • The 65 year-old Planning Commission had become a redundant organization. It was relevant in a command economy structure, but not any longer. • India is a diversified country and its states are in various phases of economic development along with their own strengths and weaknesses. • In this context, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to economic planning is obsolete. It cannot make India competitive in today’s global economy. Jal Shakti Abhiyan Published On - 7/3/2019 | Geography | Water Context: Jal Shakti Abhiyan for Water Conservation Launched. Key facts: • It is a time-bound, mission-mode campaign that would focus on 1,592 “water-stressed” blocks in 257 districts. • The campaign will run through citizen participation during the monsoon season, from 1st July, 2019 to 15th September, 2019.
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• The 1,592 blocks, identified as “water-stressed” as per the Central Ground Water Board’s 2017 data, include 313 critical blocks, 1,000-odd over-exploited blocks and 94 blocks with least water availability (for states without water-stressed blocks). • Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a collaborative effort of various Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. • Under the campaign, teams of officers from the central government will visit and work with district administration in water stressed blocks, to ensure five important water conservation interventions. • These will be water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, reuse, bore well recharge structures, watershed development and intensive afforestation. • Other measures: These water conservation efforts will also be supplemented with special interventions including the development of Block and District Water Conservation Plans, promotion of efficient water use for irrigation and better choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras. • A large-scale communications campaign has also been planned alongside the JSA involving mass mobilisation of different groups including school students, college students, swachhagrahis, Self Help Groups, Panchayati Raj Institution members, youth groups (NSS/NYKS/NCC), defence personnel, ex-servicemen and pensioners, among various others. Jal Shakti Abhiyan Published On - 7/1/2019 | Geography | Water • As India faces a deficit monsoon season and widespread water shortages, the government is launching a pan-Indian campaign — the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan” — targeting water-stressed areas for stocktaking and conservation initiatives. • The campaign, to be launched on July 1 by Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, has roped in 255 bureaucrats across different departments and ministries, nominating them for one water-stressed district each.
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About Jal Shakti:The campaign would be coordinated by 255 central IAS officers of Joint or Additional Secretary-rank.
• The campaign would run from July 1 to September 15 in States receiving rainfall during the south-west monsoon, while States receiving rainfall in the retreating or north-east monsoon would be covered from October 1 to November 30. Overall, 313 blocks with critical groundwater levels would be covered, along with 1,186 blocks with over-exploited groundwater and 94 blocks with low groundwater availability. • To accelerate water harvesting, conservation and borewell recharge activities already being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and the Integrated Watershed Management Programme of the Rural Development Ministry, along with existing water body restoration and afforestation schemes being undertaken by the Jal Shakti and Environment Ministries. • Block and district-level water conservation plans would be drafted, and Kisan Vigyan Kendras would hold melas to promote better crop choices and more efficient water use for irrigation. Clean drinking water to all by 2024 Published On - 6/14/2019 | Geography | Water
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• The Central government has decided to increase coverage of piped water to households from the current 18 percent to 100 percent by 2024. There is formulation of a plan under ‘Nal Se Jal’ (water from tap) mission to provide tap water to 14 crore households was underway. However, water is a state subject as per the Constitution and union government sought collective efforts and a public movement to achieve the target.
RUCO initiative Published On - 8/14/2019 | Geography | Energy • The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had launched RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil), an initiative that will enable collection and conversion of used cooking oil to bio-diesel. • Under this initiative, 64 companies at 101 locations have been identified to enable collection of used cooking oil. • FSSAI wants businesses using more than 100 litres of oil for frying, to maintain a stock register and ensure that UCO is handed over to only registered collecting agencies. The government has launched a ‘Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO)’ sticker and a phone app to enable the collection of used cooking oil. Restaurants and hotels interested in supplying used cooking oil can affix the sticker to show availability. World Biofuel Day Published On - 8/9/2019 | Geography | Energy • Every year 10 August is observed as World Biofuel Day with aim to create awareness about importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels. • It is being observed by Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas since 2015. • Theme 2019: ‘Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)’ • Its objective is to create awareness about importance of non-fossil fuels (or environment- friendly fuels) as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and to highlight various efforts made by Government of India in biofuel sector. Important Biofuel categories in India • Bioethanol : Ethanol produced from biomass such as sugar containing materials, starch containing materials and cellulosic materials. • Biodiesel : a methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acids produced from non-edible vegetable oils, acid oil, used cooking oil/animal fat and bio-oil. • Advanced biofuels : Fuels which are produced from lignocellulosic, non-food crops (i.e. grasses, algae), or industrial waste and residue streams having low CO2 emission/high GHG reduction and do not compete with food crops for land use. Examples- Fuels like Second Generation (2G) Ethanol, Drop-in fuels, algae based 3G biofuels, bio-CNG, bio- methanol, Di Methyl Ether (DME) bio-hydrogen, drop in fuels with MSW as the source / feedstock material Urja Ganga Gas Pipeline Project
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Published On - 7/21/2019 | Geography | Energy The project was launched in October 2016 with an aim to provide piped cooking (PNG) gas to residents of eastern region of the country and CNG gas for the vehicles. • The project envisaged laying 2,050-km pipeline connecting Jagdishpur (UP) to Haldia (West Bengal) by 2018. It covers five states including UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. • The project is being implemented by state-run gas utility GAIL • GAIL has built a network of trunk pipelines covering the length of around 11,000 km. With Urja Ganga project, this number will further increase by 2540 km. Global Energy Transition Index 2019 Published On - 3/30/2019 | Geography | Energy The Global Energy Transition index 2019 report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The index compares the energy sectors of 115 countries and analyses their readiness for energy transition. The index benchmarks the countries energy systems based on an “energy triangle”, comprised of energy security and access, economic development and growth, environmental sustainability and how well they are set-up to succeed in the future. • Sweden has topped the index and is followed by Switzerland and Norway in the top three. • India has moved up two places to rank 76th and the report states that India is amongst the countries with high pollution levels and has a relatively high CO2 intensity in its energy system. • India scores well in the area of regulation and political commitment towards energy transition. • The report suggests a ground of optimism regarding India despite the current outdated energy system not being ready for the transition because an enabling environment is being built to support the future transition. National Gas Grid Published On - 2/16/2019 | Geography | Energy The government is implementing various projects of about 14,239 Km gas pipelines which would add to the existing 16,788 Km natural gas pipeline. Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has been recognised as the authority to grant authorization to the entities for the development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in Geographical Areas. Objectives : • Remove regional imbalance within the country with regard to access for natural gas and provide clean and green fuel throughout the country. • Connect gas sources to major demand centres and ensure availability of gas to consumers in various sectors. • Development of City Gas Distribution Networks in various cities for the supply of CNG and PNG.
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• The National Gas Grid together with providing gas connections to households will provide better infrastructure for automobiles using gas. • The National Gas Grid will also aid in renewing of the fertilizer sector and also give a boost to the Power and Automotive sector. Gandhi Solar Park" At UN Headquarters Published On - 9/27/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy Context-Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated a 50 kilowatt ''Gandhi Solar Park'' at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York, on the second leg of his visit to the United States. Gandhi Solar Park • The 50 kilowatt Gandhi Solar Park is the first of its kind symbolic Indian effort at the UN, which brings to focus India’s attempt to walk the talk on climate change and climate action. • The roof-top solar park was built at a cost of US $1 million. It has 195 solar panels and each panel is powered to reach the max of 50 KWn of power generation, which will take the park’s annual output to 86,244 KWh. • The annual output by the solar park will equal 61 metric tonnes of CO2, 30,242 kg of coal burned and carbon sequestered from 1,008 tree seedlings grown for 10 years. Gandhi Peace Garden • The 'Gandhi Peace Garden' was also inaugurated on the occasion by PM Modi at the State University of New York at Old Westbury in Long Island. • Approximately, 150 trees were planted in the peace garden to honour Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. The Gandhi Peace Garden is a crowd-sourced project with people adopting the trees in the memory of their loved ones.
”Gandhi Solar Park” Published On - 9/25/2019 | Geography | Renewable Energy PM inaugurated the solar park at UN Headquarters New York City, United States (US) during a special commemorative event that celebrated the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. • At a contribution of about $1 million, India has gifted solar panels that have been installed on the roof of UN Headquarters. • The gesture highlights India’s willingness to go beyond the talk on climate change.
Danakil depression Published On - 11/6/2019 | Geography | Earth Geology Context-According to a recent study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on October 28, says that active and naturally occurring life cannot be sustained at Danakil. What is Danakil depression ?
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• Embedded in the horn of Africa is a region called the Afar Triangle,a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction: a place where three tectonic plates join. • The Depression overlaps the borders of Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is part of the great East African Rift Valley. • A rift valley is where the Earth's tectonic plates move apart, creating new crust. Here the plates are moving apart along three deep rifts at a rate of 1-2cm per year. • Danakil is dotted with lava lakes that bubble inside the volcanic calderas of the Dallol area, and hot springs and hydrothermal pools permeate the air with the distinct rotten- egg smell of sulfur. The youngest volcano, called Dallol, is relatively new. It first erupted in 1926. The whole region is more than 100 meters below sea level, making it one of the lowest places on the planet • The climate here can only be described as cruel. But against all odds, people do live here. The Afar people call it their home. What Formed the Danakil Depression?
• This region of Africa, which spans about 40 by 10 kilometers in area, is bordered by mountains and a high plateau. • It formed as Earth pulled apart at the seams of plate boundaries. • It's technically called a "depression" ?and was shaped when three tectonic plates underlying Africa and Asia began moving apart millions of years ago. At one time, the
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region was covered by ocean waters, which laid down thick layers of sedimentary rock and limestone. • Then, as the plates moved further apart, a rift valley formed, with the depression inside. Currently, the surface is sinking as the old African plate splits into the Nubian and Somali plates. As this happens, the surface will continue to settle down and that will change the shape of the landscape even more. Past studies • In 2016, scientists ventured here to find out if anything could survive in such harsh conditions. • Any microorganisms living here will be extremophilic microbes of a major interest to astrobiologists. • Extremophile microbes can adapt to environmental conditions that are too extreme for everything else. Recent study • Now, a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on October 28, says that active and naturally occurring life cannot be sustained at Danakil. • It identifies two barriers: magnesium-dominated brines that cause cells to break down; and an environment having simultaneously very low pH and high salt, a combination that makes adaptation highly difficult. Dam Safety Bill 2019 Published On - 8/1/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure Context: Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha have expressed deep reservations about the Centre’s decision to introduce the Dam Safety Bill, 2019, asserting that the legislation, which is ostensibly aimed at providing uniform safety measures across the country, would undermine the powers of State governments since water is a State subject. Concerns raised: 1. The bill is too focused on structural safety and not on operational safety. 2. There is inadequate compensation to the people affected by dams. 3. There is need for an independent regulator as well as for a precise definition of stakeholders. 4. Many states say it encroaches upon the sovereignty of States to manage their dams, and violates the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution. They see it as an attempt by the Centre to consolidate power in the guise of safety concerns. Why Centre is introducing this Bill? Though the subject does not fall under the purview of Parliament, the Centre has decided to introduce this bill mainly because dam safety is an issue of concern in the country. And there are no legal and institutional safeguards in this regard. Highlights of Dam Safety Bill, 2019:
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1. The Bill provides for proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the country to ensure their safe functioning. 2. The Bill provides for constitution of a National Committee on Dam Safety which shall evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations as may be required for the purpose. 3. The Bill provides for establishment of National Dam Safety Authorityas a regulatory body which shall discharge functions to implement the policy, guidelines and standards for dam safety in the country. 4. The Bill provides for constitution of a State Committee on Dam Safety by State Government. HC Order on Chennai-Salem Highway Published On - 4/12/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure Why in news? The Madras High Court has quashed the land acquisition proceedings for the proposed Chennai- Salem greenfield corridor. What is the project proposal? • The Chennai-Salem greenfield corridor is a 277.3 km long, 8-lane highway project, proposed to connect Salem to Chennai. • The proposed highway passed through Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem districts of Tamil Nadu. • This is an agrarian region comprising reserved forest areas and several industrial zones. • A feasibility study for the project pegged the total cost at Rs 9,106 crores. • In addition, a tentative cost for rehabilitation and resettlement had been worked out to Rs 415 crores.
What was the proposed objective? • There are three existing routes between Salem and Chennai:
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1. Ulundurpet to Chennai 2. Walajah to Chennai 3. the Chennai – Tiruvannamalai – Harur – Salem routes • The government argues that the first two existing stretches are facing abnormal delays due to increasing traffic volume. • The second stretch may not reduce travel time even if a bypass route was introduced. • Thus a direct Salem - Chennai highway may be the only solution to ease traffic and reduce the travel time. • It was stated that the corridor would mostly involve drylands, but the land acquisition cost may not be very high when compared to the benefits. Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Published On - 3/11/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Salient features: • An approximately over 50-feet corridor will directly connect Ganga’s Manikarnika and Lalita Ghat to the Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga Temple • The riverfront will upgrade ghats on Ganga river • The corridor will have waiting rooms for the pilgrims to rest • On the way, pilgrims and travellers will see newly built museum and depicting Varanasi’s ancient history and culture • There will be new Yagyashalas for religious functions like havan and yagya • The Kashi Vishwanath corridor will reportedly have lodgings for priests, volunteers and pilgrims • The enquiry centre at the corridor will help the tourists about the city and its other places of attractions and amenities • Just before the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the corridor will culminate in a big, majestic square • Food street which will serve tourists and pilgrims luscious Banarasi and Awadhi dishes • A new Bhogshala will be constructed for offerings to the presiding deity • For gatherings, meetings and temple functions, an auditorium will be constructed which will facilitate these events Historical Background: • It is after 1780 AD that the city is going through any transformation. Then, Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore renovated the temple and the area surrounding it. in 1853, Sikh King Ranjit Singh gifted gold plating to the temple. Kaleshwaram Multipurpose Lift Irrigation Project Published On - 6/21/2019 | Geography | irrigation
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• The world’s largest irrigation and drinking water system—Kaleshwaram Multipurpose Lift Irrigation Project—was inaugurated by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. • The project will provide water for drinking and irrigation purpose to about 45 lakh acres in 20 of the 31 districts in Telangana, apart from Hyderabad and Secunderabad. • The cost of the project is Rs 80,000 crores but is expected to rise to Rs 1 lakh crore by the time it is completely constructed. About Project: • This project is unique because Telangana will harness water at the confluence of two rivers with Godavari by constructing a barrage at Medigadda in Jayshankar Bhoopalpally district and reverse pump the water into the main Godavari river and divert it through lifts and pumps into a huge and complex system of reservoirs, water tunnels, pipelines and canals. • The project has set many records with the world’s longest water tunnels, aqua ducts, underground surge pools, and biggest pumps. By the time the water reaches Kondapochamma Sagar, the last reservoir in the system about 227 kms away in Gajwel district, the Godavari water would have been lifted to a height of 618 metres from its source at Medigadda. • ‘Samudrayaan’ project • Published On - 9/4/2019 | Geography | Minerals • Context: India to undertake deep ocean mining with ‘Samudrayaan’ project. • About Samudrayaan: • It is a pilot project of the Ministry of Earth Sciences for deep ocean mining for rare minerals. • It proposes to send men into the deep sea in a submersible vehicle for ocean studies. • The project is expected to become a reality by 2021-22. • The project has been undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). •
• What are PMN? • Polymetallic nodules (also known as manganese nodules) are potato-shaped, largely porous nodules found in abundance carpeting the sea floor of world oceans in deep sea. • Composition: Besides manganese and iron, they contain nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, molybdenum, cadmium, vanadium, titanium, of which nickel, cobalt and copper are considered to be of economic and strategic importance. • Potential: It is envisaged that 10% of recovery of that large reserve can meet the energy requirement of India for the next 100 years. It has been estimated that 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean.
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Population Research Centres (PRCs) Published On - 6/5/2019 | Geography | Population issues Context: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) recently organized a two-day orientation workshop for Population Research Centres (PRCs) to highlight various features of Health Ministry’s flagship schemes and for their concurrent monitoring. About Population Research Centres (PRCs): • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) established a network of Population Research Centres (PRCs) with the mandate to provide, inter alia, critical research based inputs related to the Health and Family Welfare Programs and Policies at the national and state levels. • Their main role is to undertake research projects relating to family planning, demographic research and biological studies & qualitative aspect of population control, with a view to gainfully utilize the feedback from these research studies for plan formulation, strategies and modifications of on- going schemes. Functioning: Autonomous in their functioning, these PRCs are provided 100 per cent central assistance in the form of grant-in-aid on a year-to year basis. • Activities of PRCs are monitored by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through regular periodical progress reports and meeting, seminars etc. Besides, guidance is also provided by various institutions as well as committees both at State and national level constituted by the Ministry from time to time. • Administratively, these PRCs are under the control of their host University/Institutions where they are located. • However, as the PRCs are established as well as fully funded by the Ministry of health & family Welfare, they are governed by the guidelines issued by the Ministry from time to time. State of the World Population 2019 Published On - 4/12/2019 | Geography | Population issues • According to State of the World Population 2019, India accounts for over one-sixth of the world’s population in 2019 (1.37 billion out of 7.71 billion) and has grown at a rate (1.2% per year between 2010 and 2019) that is just over the world growth rate (1.2%). Important highlights: • While India’s life expectancy at birth is lower than the world’s (69 years to 72), it scores higher than the global average in terms of access to healthcare during childbirth, and also has a much lower adolescent birth rate. • Between 2006 and 2107, 86% of births in India were attended by skilled health personnel, as compared to 79% across the world. • India’s maternal mortality ratio in 2015 was 174 deaths per lakh live births (down from 448 in 1994) while the global MMR in 2015 was 216. And while 28 of every 1,000 Indian adolescent women (age 15-19) gave birth between 2006 and 2017, the global adolescent
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birth rate was over one-and-a-half times that of India, at 44 per 1,000. India’s fertility rate in 2019 is 2.3 births per woman, compared to 2.5 worldwide. • China, the world’s most populous country at 1.42 billion, has a population growth rate of 0.5% per year between 2010 and 2019, which is less than half of that in India or in the world. Report on Groundwater depletion Published On - 1/25/2019 | Geography | Resources • According to recently released report, in more than half of the world’s groundwater systems, it could take over 100 years for groundwater systems to completely respond to current environmental change. Important highlights of report: • Groundwater, found underground in the cracks and pore spaces in soil, sand and rock, is the largest source of usable freshwater in the world, and is relied on by more than two billion people as a source of drinking and irrigation water. • Groundwater resources are replenished predominantly through rainfall in a process known as recharge. At the same time, water exits or discharges from groundwater resources into lakes, streams and oceans to maintain an overall balance. • If there is a change in recharge, for example due to a reduction in rainfall as a result of climate change, the levels of water in the ground will begin to change until a new balance is achieved. • Groundwater systems take a lot longer to respond to climate change than surface water, with only half of the world’s groundwater flows responding fully within ‘human’ timescales of 100 years. This means that in many parts of the world, changes in groundwater flows due to climate change could have a very long legacy. This could be described as an environmental time bomb because any climate change impacts on recharge occurring now, will only fully impact the baseflow to rivers and wetlands a long time later. • It is essential that the potential for these initially hidden impacts is recognised when developing water management policies, or climate change adaptation strategies for future generations. • In general, groundwater in wetter, more humid locations may respond to climate change on much shorter timescales, whereas more arid locations where water is scarcer naturally have much longer groundwater response times. • The pinpointing of locations is significant as for many parts of the world, especially where surface water supplies are less available, the domestic, agricultural, and industrial water needs can only be met by using the water beneath the ground. Geochemical Baseline Atlas Published On - 11/16/2019 | Geography | Soil and Vegetation
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Context-Recently CSIR- National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad has brought out the ‘Geochemical Baseline Atlas’ of India for environment management purpose. • The 44 maps of oxides and trace elements over the entire nation aim to document the concentration and distribution of the chemical elements in the soils of India. • The map trace elements from top soil i.e. top 25 cm depth and bottom soil at 100 cm depth from the year 2006 to 2011. Across India, over 545 samples were collected. Significance • Both human activities and natural processes are continuously modifying the chemical composition of our environment. These maps will form the backbone for environment management. • It will help in finding out future contaminations due to industries across the country. Government and policymakers can leverage it in planning the land use accordingly. • The new geochemical baseline atlas will help the country to assess the presence of toxic chemicals in soil and how it varies from place to place. It also helps in identifying how soil pollution is contributing to groundwater contamination.” • “Mineral elements are necessary for crop growth. The map will also support in choosing the right soil that’s rich in certain micronutrient elements required for each plant growth.” • Soil is a vulnerable geological medium which sustains the human activities. Hence, according to experts, it is important to determine the present abundance and spacial distribution of the chemical elements across the earth’s surface. “The baseline map of India will help to plan the land use in different parts of the country. For example, a toothpaste manufacturing industry, which use high concentration of Strontium, cannot be in a place where soil is already having high baseline concentration of Strontium About National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) • The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), a constituent research laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established in 1961 with the mission to carry out research in multidisciplinary areas of the highly complex structure and processes of the Earth system and its extensively interlinked subsystems. • NGRI has the mandate to conduct research for public-good science to enable government agencies, public and private sector stakeholders to make informed decisions about use of geo-resources sustainably and improve preparedness and resilience to natural hazards • The research activities fall broadly under three themes: Geodynamics, which revolve round investigating and modeling fundamental aspects of the Earth system and processes, Earthquake Hazards, which encompass features on the surface and subsurface of crust which may potentially endanger lives and properties through catastrophes like earthquakes and landslides as well as deterioration in pollution levels of groundwater and soil, changes in climatic conditions and associated environmental issues. The
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theme Natural Resources comprise of implementation of techniques to identify primary geo-resources, which are the pillars of human civilization and fount of economic growth like groundwater, hydrocarbons as well as alternate energy sources and minerals. • This is the third map among the series of maps published by NGRI,Earlier, The Gravity map of India and Seismic map of India were released by the research institute. • The geochemical data presented in these maps will be a part of the Global Map to be prepared by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGC)
Okjokull glacier Published On - 8/19/2019 | Geography | Geomorphology Okjokull is 1st Icelandic glacier to lose its status as glacier and in next 200 years countries all main glaciers are expected to follow same path. • The glacier was officially declared dead by Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) when it was no longer thick enough to move. • Iceland has marked its 1st-ever loss of a glacier to climate change as Okjokull which was once was glacier has been reduced to a small patch of ice atop a volcano. • Scientists warn that hundreds of other ice sheets on subarctic island risk same fate. • Iceland loses about 11 billion tonnes of ice/year. Scientists fear that all of island country’s 400-plus glaciers will be gone by 2200. Europe’s Highest Volcano Mount Etna Published On - 6/4/2019 | Geography | Geomorphology With an elevation of 3,326 m (10,912 ft), it is the highest peak in Italy (south of Alps) and is the highest active volcano in Europe outside the Caucasus. • It is also the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, other being Mount Vesuvius, near Naples and Mount Stromboli, one of the Aeolian Islands. • The United Nations has designated Mt. Etna as a Decade Volcano due to its history of recent activity and nearby population. • In June 2013, it was added to the list of The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites. 7th Economic Census 2019 Published On - 5/19/2019 | Geography | Industry It is being conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) to provide disaggregated information (numerical or non-numerical information collected from multiple sources) on various structural and operational aspects of all establishments in country. • The fieldwork for 7th EC will be commencing from June 2019. • It is a complete count of all establishments and units located within geographical boundaries of country.
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• The first Economic Census was undertaken in 1977. The 2nd edition was carried out in 1980 followed by 3rd EC in 1990. The 4th EC took place in 1998 while 5th EC was held in 2005. The Sixth edition of Economic Census was conducted in 2013. Chenani-Nashri tunnel renamed Published On - 10/30/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure Chenani-Nashri tunnel renamed renamed after Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee . • It is also known as the Patnitop tunnel. It is the longest tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir and is located on National Highway (NH) 44. • The tunnel bypasses snow-bound upper reaches and provides a safe, all- weather route to commuters travelling from Jammu and Udhampur to Ramban, Banihal and Srinagar. • It also boasts features like Integrated Traffic Control System (ITCS), Video Surveillance System, FM Rebroadcast System, Entrance Detection Control System and Active Firefighting System. Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu Published On - 10/22/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure • The bridge has been constructed at an altitude of 14,650 feet in forward area of Ladakh region. • It has been built on strategically important road Durbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldie in sub sector north in eastern Ladakh. It is 45 km east of Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. • It will also reduce travel time by about half and help in development of border areas and villages across Shyok River. • The Bridge has been built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Urja Ganga Gas Pipeline Project- PIB news Published On - 7/18/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure About the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project: The gas pipeline project aims to provide piped cooking gas to residents of Varanasi and later to millions of people in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. Significance: According to GAIL, with the Urja Ganga project, 20 lakh households will get PNG connections. Background: GAIL has built a network of trunk pipelines covering the length of around 11,000 km. With Urja Ganga project, this number will further increase by 2540 km.
Dibang Multipurpose Project Published On - 7/15/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure Dibang MPP, a storage based hydro-electric project is the largest ever Hydro Electric Projects to be constructed in India. • The envisaged height of Concrete Gravity Dam is 278 metres and on completion it will be highest dam in India. • Project is located on Dibang River, in Lower Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh.
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• TheMain objective behind construction of Dibang MPP is flood moderation as it shall prevent sizeable downstream area from floods. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved expenditure on pre-investment activities and various clearances for Dibang Multipurpose Project (MPP) in Arunachal Pradesh for an amount of Rs.1600 crore. Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh Published On - 2/15/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure Sela Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between the Tawang and West Kameng Districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The pass connects Tawang for rest of India. Key Facts about the Sela Tunnel Project The important facts about the Sela Tunnel project are: • Constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). • The project involves the construction of a road for a total distance of 12.04 km which consist of two tunnels of 1790 and 475 meters. • The project once completed will reduce the travelling time from Tezpur to Tawang by more than one hour. • The project will also aid travellers in by-passing the dangerous snow-covered Sela top at a height of 13,700 feet. It will aid the swift and fast movement of army troops in Tawang which is a strategically-located district located near the border of China.The tunnel project will also boost the tourism industry and economic activities in the region as well as north-eastern states. Renukaji dam multipurpose project Published On - 1/9/2019 | Geography | Infrastructure Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh has signed an agreement for construction of Renukaji Dam Multi-Purpose Project. Three projects are proposed to be constructed on the Yamuna and two of its tributaries, Tons and Giri, in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh of the Upper Yamuna Basin. These include Lakhwar project on the Yamuna in Uttarakhand, Kisau on the Tons in Uttarakhand and Himachal, and Renukaji on the Giri in Himachal Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project Published On - 8/7/2019 | Geography | irrigation Union Government has approved Rs 4,900 crore Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project for interlinking of Kosi and Mechi rivers of Bihar. • It envisages diversion of part of surplus water of Kosi river through existing Hanuman Nagar barrage to Mechi River of Mahananda basin. Mechi River is important tributary of Mahananda River. • Its basin is mostly deficient in providing adequate water for irrigation.It will give relieve large swathes of north Bihar (especially Seemanchal region) from menace of recurring floods.
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• This is the second major river interlinking project in the country to be approved by Central Government after the Ken-Betwa project in Madhya Pradesh. Mount Agung Volcano Erupts Published On - 4/24/2019 | Geography | Map Work The active volcano of Indonesia Mount Agung has erupted again, spewing volcanic ash into the sky to a height of 2km. Mount Agung is an active volcano in Bali of Indonesia. Two other volcanoes popular with tourists Mount Bromo in East Java and Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta also continues to erupt. • Mount Agung stratovolcano is the highest point on Bali; it dominates the surrounding area, influencing the climate, especially rainfall patterns. The most important temple on Bali, Pura Besakih, is located high on the slopes of Mount Agung. • Mount Bromo is an active volcano and part of the Tengger massif, in East Java, Indonesia. The name Bromo is derived from Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god. • Mount Merapi is an active volcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces, Indonesia. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Published On - 11/6/2019 | Geography | Minerals The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India • Major aim is to develop reliable indigenous technologies to solve the various engineering problems associated with harvesting of non-living and living resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). • NIOT has developed niche technologies to mine manganese nodules from deep sea, has developed several deep sea systems like remotely operable vehicles, etc. • NIOT will be the nodal institution for implementing the proposed Deep Ocean Mission, which encompasses all the areas of Ocean technology like development of manned submersible, offshore large scale desalination, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), extensive survey of the oceans, acquisition of new ships etc. NIOT is working towards developing a deep-sea mining system and other technologies for harnessing resources from the ocean to meet India's growing mineral needs and increase self- sufficiency in the near future. Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL) Published On - 8/1/2019 | Geography | Minerals Union Ministry of Mines has set up joint venture company namely Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL) to ensure a consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals to Indian domestic market. • It is JV of National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd (MECL). The equity participation between NALCO, HCL and MECL is in ratio of 40:30:30.
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• It will carry out identification, acquisition, exploration, development, mining and processing of strategic minerals overseas for commercial use and meeting country’s requirement of these minerals. • Help in building partnerships with other mineral rich countries like Australia and those in South America and Africa, where Indian expertise in exploration and mineral processing will be mutually beneficial bringing about new economic opportunities. Strategic minerals play substantial role to play in development and security of the nation and play critical role in the development of the national economy. • In India, there are twelve minerals identified as strategic minerals including Lithium, Cobalt, Tungsten, Vanadium, Nickel etc. • India is having very low domestic resource bases of these strategic minerals and is highly dependent on imports to meet is supply demand. State of World Population 2019 report Published On - 4/13/2019 | Geography | Population issues The United Nations Population Fund has released the State of World Population 2019 report. • India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion. • India’s population in 2019 stood at 1.36 billion. The population has grown from 942.2 million in 1994 and 541.5 million in 1969. • In comparison, China’s population stood at 1.42 billion in 2019, growing from 1.23 billion in 1994 and 803.6 million in 1969. China’s population grew at an average annual rate of 0.5 per cent between 2010 and 2019 • In India, total fertility rate per woman is 2.3 in 2019 dropping from 3.7 in 1994 • The life expectancy at birth in 1969 was 47 years, growing to 60 years in 1994 and 69 years in 2019. • Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country dropped from 488 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1994 to 174 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015. The report for the first time has published data on women’s ability to make decisions over three key areas: sexual intercourse with their partner, contraception use and health care. The Report Looking ahead to future challenges highlights the threat to women’s and girls’ reproductive rights posed by emergencies caused by conflict or climate disasters. PRAKASH Portal for monitoring coal supply to power plants Published On - 10/3/2019 | Geography | Resources PRAKASH– Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony Portal The objective of Portal is to bring better coordination for coal supplies among all stakeholders. • The portal is developed by NTPC (Electric power distribution company). It sources data from different stakeholders such as CEA (Central Electricity Authority), Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and coal companies.
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• The portal is designed to help in mapping as well as monitoring entire coal supply chain for power plants, coal stock at supply end (mines), coal quantities/rakes planned, coal quantity in transit and coal availability at power generating station. • The Union Ministries of power and coal, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (PSOCL) can review overall availability of coal at thermal power plants in different regions. The portal is for transparency and better coordination among stakeholders, including Coal India Ltd (CIL), Indian Railways, power utilities as well as ministries of coal and power, for coal supplies to power plants. It is designed in a way to help in mapping and monitoring entire coal supply chain for power plants. National Centre for Clean Coal Research and Development Published On - 9/16/2019 | Geography | Resources Union Ministy of Science & Technology inaugurated the National Centre for Clean Coal Research and Development (NCCCR&D) at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru. • It is a national consortium on clean coal research and development led by IISc. The partner of IISc includes IIT- Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati, Bombay, and Hyderabad. • The consortium will work on identifying existing gaps in clean coal technology as major problem being faced by Indian power plants is high level of pollutants and low thermal efficiency. • The new centre would address several critical Research & Development (R&D) challenges towards development of clean coal technologies in tandem with developing supercritical power plant technologies, both at materials and system level. • The centre will also address challenges such as development of low emission combustion and gasification, and achieve high cycle efficiencies with reduced pollutants. Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum products pipeline Published On - 9/10/2019 | Geography | Resources India and Nepal jointly inaugurated South Asia’s first cross-border petroleum products pipeline from Motihari (in Bihar) in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal. • The Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum products pipeline is a 69-kilometre pipeline with a capacity of 2 million metric ton (MMT) per annum. • It will provide cleaner petroleum products at an affordable cost to people of Nepal. • It is envisaged to put in place a mechanism for assured, continuous, cost effective, quality and eco-friendly supply of petroleum products to Nepal. • In the first phase, the pipeline will be used to supply diesel from India. • India’s largest refiner the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) built the pipeline, with an investment of more than Rs.324 crore, in collaboration with Nepal Oil Corporation Ltd (NOCL).
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The India-Nepal are also working to build additional storage facility at Amlekhgunj Depot (in Nepal) which will supplemet the storage of petroleum products in Nepal towards which NOCL has committed estimated cost of Rs.75 crore. Graphite reserves in Arunachal Pradesh Published On - 5/14/2019 | Geography | Resources The Geological Survey of India (GSI) in its report revealed that about 35 % of India’s total Graphite reserves is found in Arunachal Pradesh. • As per the reports China is undertaking huge graphite mining activities across the border in Tibet Autonomous Region. • Road and infrastructure development towards the (Sino-India) international border should act as a boon for exploration and extraction of mineral at the same time meeting India needs and reducing imports. Graphite: • It is the most stable allotrope of Carbon, with standard entropy being zero It is the only non-metal element which is a good conductor of electricity • It is also known as a dry lubricant for its greasy feel. Global Energy & CO2 Status Report Published On - 3/30/2019 | Geography | Resources The Global Energy & CO2 Status Report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA). • China, the US and India together accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the rise in energy demand and energy demand worldwide grew by 2.3 per cent last year. • The rise in energy demand was driven by a robust global economy and stronger heating and cooling needs in some regions. • Natural gas was the fuel of choice and it witnessed the biggest gains accounting for 45 per cent of the rise in energy consumption. Gas demand growth was especially strong in the US and China. • Majority of coal-fired generation capacity was concentrated in Asia, with 12-year-old plants on average, decades short of average lifetimes of around 50 years. • China remains the leader in renewables, both for wind and solar, followed by Europe and the US. Special stamp on Ice Stupa Published On - 3/22/2019 | Geography | Resources India Post released a special stamp cover on Ice Stupa in Leh . Ice stupa is an initative of of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh founded by Sonam Wangchuk who spearheaded the Ice Stupa initiative. • Ice Stupas refer to the artificial glaciers which freeze and hold the water that keeps flowing and wasting away down the streams and into the rivers throughout the winter. Instead, the water from these artificial glaciers melt in the springtime, just when the fields need
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Ice Stupas are aimed at reducing water crisis in the region and also to convey a message to the world that how the Mountain people are forced to do such innovative ideas to solve the water crises. New rules for oil and gas exploration permits Published On - 3/10/2019 | Geography | Resources The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has released the new rules for oil and gas exploration permits: • New rules provide complete marketing and pricing freedom for oil and gas in future bid rounds irrespective of the basins. Future bids for Oil and gas acreage or blocks will be awarded primarily on the basis of exploration work commitment. • Companies are required to pay a share of revenue from oil and gas produced in Category- I sedimentary basins such as Krishna Godavari, Mumbai Offshore, Rajasthan or Assam where commercial production has already been established. • Companies will be charged only prevalent royalty rates on oil and natural gas in the less explored Category-II and III basins. • Further concessional royalty rates will be applicable if production is commenced within four years for on land and shallow water blocks, and five years for deep water and Ultra- deepwater blocks from the effective date of the contract. The new rules are being introduced to increase exploration activities, attract domestic and foreign investment in unexplored and unallocated areas of sedimentary basins, and enhance domestic production of oil and gas. Govt. announced streamline projects to fully utilize its share of water under Indus Water treaty Published On - 2/23/2019 | Geography | Resources Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas ( Eastern Rivers)averaging around 33 million acre feet ( MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use. The waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic , non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty. • India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of waters of Eastern rivers. However, about 2 MAF of water annually from Ravi is reported to be still flowing unutilized to Pakistan below Madhopur. • To stop the flow of these waters that belong to India for its utilization in India, govt has announced following projects: 1. Resumption of Construction of Shahpurkandi project: This project will help in utilizing the waters coming out from powerhouse of Thein dam to irrigate 37000 hectares of land in J&K and Punjab and generate 206 MW of power. 2. Construction of Ujh multipurpose project: This project will create a storage of about 781 million cu m of water on river Ujh , a tributary of Ravi for irrigation and power generation
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in India itself and provide a total irrigation benefits of 31,380 ha in Kathua, Hiranagar and Samba district of J&K apart from providing water for the district Kathua of J&K. 3. The 2nd Ravi Beas link below Ujh: This project is being planned to tap excess water flowing down to Pakistan through river Ravi, even after construction of Thein Dam, by constructing a barrage across river Ravi for diverting water through a tunnel link to Beas basin. PETROTECH - 2019 Published On - 2/12/2019 | Geography | Resources PETROTECH - 2019 is considered to be India’s flagship hydrocarbon conference. PETROTECH- 2019, the 13th International Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition is being organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India. • It show case the recent market and investor friendly developments in India’s oil and gas sector. Over 95 Energy Ministers from partner countries and 7000 delegates from around 70 countries are expected to be part of PETROTECH -2019. • The PETROTECH-2019 Exhibition will have over 13 country pavilions and around 750 exhibitors from over 40 countries, with exclusive areas on the Make in India and Renewable Energy theme. • Held at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. India becomes Second Largest LPG Consumer and Importer Published On - 2/6/2019 | Geography | Resources India is now the second largest consumer and importer of the LPG in the world. This is attributed to government initiatives to push for cleaner alternatives to traditional cooking fuels such as firewood and cow dung. Import of LPG The import of LPG grew by 12.5 per cent over the past five years to 12 million metric tons (13 million tons) in 2018-19. India now stands at the second position when it comes to the import of LPG surpassing Japan. India is at second place behind China. The exporters of LPG to India include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iran. Consumption of LPG Number of active LPG consumers in India has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent – from 14.8 crore in 2014-15 to 22.4 crore in 2017-18. LPG penetration in rural areas has resulted in an average growth of 8.4 per cent in LPG consumption, making India the second largest consumer of LPG in the world at 22.5 million tonnes. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas estimates that LPG consumption would grow to 30.3 million tonnes by 2025 and 40.6 million tonnes by 2040. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has made a significant contribution towards enhancing the penetration of LPG, especially in rural areas. The renewed targets under the Pradhan Mantri
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Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to provide LPG connections to 8 crore households before March 31, 2020. Asia LPG Summit Published On - 2/5/2019 | Geography | Resources • The second edition of the Asia LPG Summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas at New Delhi. • The theme ‘LPG – Energy for Life’ will deliberate over series of subjects including how India’s successful Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana can become a viable model for other countries to replicate particularly those striving to provide clean cooking fuel to its people. • Organized jointly by the major Indian oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum together with the World LPG Association (WLPGA). World LPG Association World LPG Association (WLPGA) is the authoritative voice of the global LPG industry representing the full LPG value chain. WLPGA was established in 1987 and granted Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1989. WLPGA aims: • Demonstrate the benefits of LPG and inform, educate and influence all stakeholders. • Support the development of LPG markets. • Promote compliance with standards, good business and good safety practices. • Identify innovation and facilitate knowledge transfer. Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Published On - 12/20/2019 | Geography | Transport The third phase aims at consolidation of 1,25,000 km of connectivity that primarily aiming at rural links connecting Gramin Agricultural Markets. • The funding pattern is set between the centre and state as 60:40. • In the north-eastern states it is set as 90:10. • Under the scheme, so far 53,491 rural road works have been completed under the scheme. • This connects 97.27% of feasible habitations and adds up to 6 lakh kilometres of roads across the country. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana • The scheme was launched in 2000. It was completely funded by the central government. • In 2015, under the recommendation of the 14th finance commission, the project was funded by both centre and state in the ratio 60:40. Fourth Phase of UDAN scheme launched Published On - 12/5/2019 | Geography | Transport
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The Union Government of India has launched the fourth round of UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) to enhance the connectivity to regional areas of the country. • This phase is to focus on Hilly states, North East Region, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Islands. • The Viability Gap Funding provided for Category 2 and 3 aircrafts (> 20 seats) has now been enhanced to all flights in the states of HP, Uttarakhand, J&K, North Eastern states and the islands. Also, the phase will allow operation of helicopter and sea planes. • The phase also plans to promote short-haul routes, meaning no monetary support will be given to operators with stages more than 600 kms. Previous phases of UDAN • In phase 1, around 43 airports were constructed under the scheme. It includes water aerodromes and heliports as well. • In phase 2, around 30 airports were constructed and in phase 3, 33 airports were constructed. The Ministry of Civil Aviation aims to operationalize 1000 routes and more than 100 airports in the next 5 years. Loktak Inland Waterways Project Published On - 12/2/2019 | Geography | Transport • Government of India approved development of Loktak Inland Waterways improvement project under its objective of promoting the beautiful region Northeast which holds a lot of opportunity for tourism purposes. • It is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast. The lake is located at Moirang in Manipur. • It is famous for phumdis floating over it which are formed naturally. • Located on this phumdi, Keibul Lamjao National Park is the only floating national park in the world and is an integral part of Loktak Lake. NuGen Mobility Summit-2019 Published On - 11/27/2019 | Geography | Transport The conference is the largest automotive technology event in country so far. The event is being organized by International Center of Automotive Technology (ICAT) on relevant topics of Alternate Fuel Systems and e-Mobility. • Theme of event is setup around new generation topics like: e-mobility, Hydrogen Mobility, Connected Vehicles and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). • It focuses on developing new technological solutions according to global requirements. International Center of Automotive Technology (ICAT) • It is a division of NATRIP (National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project) Implementation Society (NATIS) under Department of Heavy Industries of Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. • It has facilities for vehicle homologation and also testing laboratories for vibration, noise, harshness and passive safety.
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Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal Published On - 9/13/2019 | Geography | Transport This is the 2nd of three Multi Modal Terminals (MMTs) being constructed on river Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). In November 2018, PM Modi inaugurated first MMT at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. • The Rs.290 crore multi-modal cargo terminal has been built by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on River Ganga at Sahibganj. • It will have a cargo storing capacity of 3 million tonne (MT) per year, a stockyard and parking and berthing space for two vessels. • It will open up industries of Jharkhand and Bihar to global market and provide Indo-Nepal cargo connectivity through waterways route. • It will play an important role in transportation of domestic coal from local mines located in Rajmahal area (in Sahibganj district) to other thermal power plants located along National Waterway-1 (NW-1). The convergence of Road-Rail-River Transport at Sahibganj through the new Multi Modal Terminals will connect this part of hinterland to Haldia (in Kolkata), to North-East states via Bangladesh by river-sea route and further to Bay of Bengal. Char Dham Highway Published On - 8/16/2019 | Geography | Transport It is a proposed two-lane (in each direction) express National Highway in state of Uttarakhand. The two lane highway will have a minimum width of 10 metre. • The proposed Char Dham Expressway National Highway project will connect 4 holy places in Uttarakhand states viz.- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri • Project includes 900 km national highways which will connect whole of Uttarakhand state. The Supreme Court had directed Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to form high- powered committee by 22 August 2019 so as to look into environmental concerns. Operation Number Plate Published On - 8/15/2019 | Geography | Transport Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Indian Railways launched a Special Drive with a Code Name – Operation “Number Plate” to identify and verify all vehicles parked in Railway premises, circulating area, parkings and even in the ‘No Parking’ areas for longer duration • The unidentified vehicles are considered as a serious threat to security and safety of passengers and other stake holders of railways. It has been conducted specifically in view of forthcoming celebrations of Independence Day on 15th August 2019. • This was conducted as a special drive from 9th August to 11th August at 466 Railway Stations all over Indian Railways India’s 1st National Time Release Study (TRS) for enabling faster movement of cargo Published On - 8/1/2019 | Geography | Transport
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It is an initiative for accountable governance that will measure rule based and procedural bottlenecks including physical touchpoints in clearance of goods, from time of arrival until physical release of cargo. • It is part of India’s strategic commitment to improve global trade will be conducted between 1- 7 August 2019. • It aims to identify and address bottlenecks in trade flow process. To take corresponding policy and operational measures required to improve effectiveness and efficiency of border procedures, without compromising efficient trade control. • National TRS will have standardized operations and procedures across all ports and will also establish baseline performance measurement. • Exercise will be conducted at same time across 15 ports including sea, air, land and dry ports which together accounts for 81% of total Bills of Entries for import and 67% of Shipping Bills for export filed within India. • The study is conducted by Department of Revenue, under Union Ministry of Finance. Based on results of TRS, government agencies associated with cross border trade will be able to diagnose existing and potential bottlenecks which act as barriers to free flow of trade and thus enabling them to take remedial actions for reducing cargo release time. The initiative is on ground lead by Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs (CBIC). FASTag Published On - 7/20/2019 | Geography | Transport • It is an electronic toll connection device which is installed in vehicle (mostly attached to windscreen) to help drivers to drive through toll plazas without having to stop. • FASTag uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to enable direct toll payments while vehicle is moving. • The toll fare is deducted directly from prepaid of saving bank account linked to FASTag. Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has decided to declare all lanes in all toll fee plazas on National Highways across country as dedicated ‘FASTag lanes‘ from 1 December 2019. Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2019 Published On - 7/17/2019 | Geography | Transport The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has been passed by Rajya Sabha. The bill seeks to amend Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008. • AERA is a regulator that has powers to set tariffs charged at airports. • It was established by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008. • It is an independent economic regulator for protection of interests of airports, airlines and passengers. At present as per the Act, AERA is responsible for determining- • the tariff for aeronautical services at different airports every 5 years • the development fees of major airports
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• the passengers service feet The Bill seeks to amend definition of major airport as any aerodrome which has or is designated to have annual passenger traffic of over 35 lakh instead of existing 15 lakh. Currently, major airports with an annual capacity to handle 15 Lakh passengers come under purview of AERA. Sagarmala project Published On - 7/14/2019 | Geography | Transport The prime objective is to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. It will address challenges by focusing on three pillars of development, 1. Supporting and enabling Port-led Development through appropriate policy and institutional interventions and providing for an institutional framework for ensuring inter- agency and ministries/departments/states’ collaboration for integrated development, 2. Port Infrastructure Enhancement, including modernization and setting up of new ports, and 3. Efficient Evacuation to and from hinterland. • The Union Ministry of Shipping has been appointed as the nodal ministry for this initiative. • To implement this, State governments would set up State Sagarmala committees, headed by the chief minister or the minister in charge of ports. • At the central level, a Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) will be setup to provide equity support to assist various special purpose vehicles (SPVs) setup for various projects. TRI-NETRA technology for detecting obstructions on tracks Published On - 6/25/2019 | Geography | Transport TRI-NETRA is abbreviation for Terrain Imaging for Drivers Infrared, Enhanced, Optical & Radar Assisted system. • It comprises of infrared camera, optical camera and radar assisted imaging system for assisting loco pilots in identifying obstructions on tracks, mainly in foggy conditions. • This device is making an attempt during fog via ultrasonic waves by help of which it will be able to detect any obstruction on tracks. • The field trials being undertaken is for proof of concept and its testing on all parameters will be done after its procurement. Indian Railways is conducting extensive trials of Tri-Netra technology so as to be sure that it is perfect in detecting any obstruction on tracks during fog. National Freight Index (NFI) Published On - 6/21/2019 | Geography | Transport Rivigo, a Gurgaon-based tech-enabled logistics start-up has launched National Freight Index (NFI) that will provide live freight rates for different lanes and vehicles across the country. • NFI is barometer of road freight market in India and is based on Rivigo rate exchange.
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• It will provide live spot rates on more than 7 million lane and vehicle type combinations in India. This will be a step towards easing logistics sector crisis and also streamlining sector. • NFI will give historical spot price movements of country’s road freight industry. In India actual freight rates are in Rupee per ton-km and in terms of relative movement with respect to a base month, and this would be updated by NFI in real time. Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) Published On - 6/20/2019 | Geography | Transport India now has a state-of-the-art Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (C- ATFM) in New Delhi. • It is a system that integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC (Air Traffic Control) Automation System, flight updates and flight update messages so as to provide safe and orderly flow of traffic. • C-ATFM system has actively connected top 36 airports of India that are handling traffic. These airports are physically connected to this network and rests of the airports are connected through internet. C-ATFM system is primarily meant to balance capacity against demand so as to achieve optimum utilization of airport, airspace and aircraft. Traffic Index 2018 Published On - 6/16/2019 | Geography | Transport Traffic Index 2018 is published by TomTom, an Amsterdam-based company. It defined in terms of the additional time taken to reach a destination as opposed to when the road would have been clear of traffic. • It offers traffic solutions, uses location technology to collect traffic information, and has been publishing city rankings for eight years. • The index factors for peak hours, accidents, inclement weather, construction work and all other factors likely to cause disruptions. • The latest index ranks 403 cities across 56 countries, including 13 new cities. • Mumbai has been ranked the most traffic-congested city in the world for the second straight year, and Delhi at fourth place. World’s largest aircraft-ROC complete first fight Published On - 4/17/2019 | Geography | Transport The world’s largest aircraft-ROC took off over the Mojave Desert in California , the first flight for the carbon-composite plane built by Stratolaunch Systems Corp. • The aircraft has a world-record wingspan of 385 feet and is 238 feet long. It is wider than any airplane on the planet. • The plane is designed to drop rockets and other space vehicles weighing up to 500,000 pounds at an altitude of 35,000.
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The company seeks to cash in on higher demand in coming years for vessels that can put satellites in orbit, competing in the United States with other space entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and United Launch Alliance - a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
NuGen Mobility Summit 2019 Published On - 4/8/2019 | Geography | Transport The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) will be organizing a NuGen Mobility Summit, 2019, at Manesar, NCR. • The objective of the Summit is to provide a platform for sharing new ideas, learnings, global experiences, innovations and future technology trends for faster adoption, assimilation and development of advanced automotive technologies for a smarter and greener future. • The summit will help in building a platform for bringing together all stakeholders in the automotive industry to understand global advancements in technologies. • It wil to bring together the automotive OEMs, professionals, researchers, academic experts, vehicle system suppliers, test equipment supplier, quality managers, product planners, component developers, SAE members and students from all over the world. • International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), Manesar is a division of NATRIP Implementation Society (NATIS) under the Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India. National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage Published On - 3/15/2019 | Geography | Transport Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage and Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will be the head the steering committee. Objectives: • Transformative mobility and Phased Manufacturing Programmes for Electric Vehicles and its Components and Batteries. • Will determine the contours of Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) which will be launched to localize production across the entire EV value chain. • Focus on localisation with a clear Make in India strategy for the electric vehicle components as well as battery. The other members of the steering committee headed by the Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant are Secretaries from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Heavy Industry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, and Director General, Bureau of Industrial Standards. Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) Published On - 2/23/2019 | Geography | Transport
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Union Government approved construction of Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) to connect the national capital with Meerut through Ghaziabad. The RRTS would enable to cover the 82 kilometre-stretch in less than 60 minutes by high-speed and green public transit. The project would be undertaken by a Special Purpose Vehicle the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) as joint ownership of the Centre and State Governments with equal contribution. Regional Rapid Transport System Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) is a rail-based high-speed regional transit system. RRTS will be implemented for the first time in India in the New Delhi-Meerut stretch. It aims to provide the fastest, comfortable and safest mode of commuter transport in the National Capital Region (NCR). Of the total 82.15 Kms stretch 68.03 kilometers would be elevated and 14.12 km would be underground. Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is first of the three prioritized corridors planned for implementation in Phase-1 and other two are Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat Corridors. First ever diesel-to-electric converted locomotive Published On - 2/23/2019 | Geography | Transport First ever diesel-to-electric converted locomotive at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Diesel-to-Electric Converted Locomotive • The 10,000HP freight locomotive was converted from two units of old diesel locomotives of 2600 HP each with indigenous technology. • The conversion was achieved in record time with the help of engineers from Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Chittaranjan Locomotive Works(CLW), and BHEL. • The conversion has proved to be cost effective as it requires half of the rehabilitation cost of old locos and it is also environment-friendly with enhanced traction power to double the average speed of goods train. The Indian Railways has undertaken Mission 100 per cent electrificationof all broad gauge lines of Indian Railways and it will make Indian Railways the largest electrified rail network in the world. DLW has developed a new prototype electric locomotive converted from diesel locomotive as part of the Indian Railways Mission 100 per cent electrification and de-carbonization agenda. The Future of Rail Report Published On - 2/1/2019 | Geography | Transport The Future of the Rail Report was prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in association with the International Union of Railways (UIC). Findings of the Report
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The report provides a specific focus on India, The important findings of the Future of Rail Report are: • Indian railways will account for nearly 40% of total global rail activity by 2050. • The Investments in Indian urban rail infrastructure is estimated to reach nearly $190bn by 2050. • The report notes that India can save up to $64bn on fuel expenses by that time. • The report predicts bright prospects for Indian Railways. The report notes that the rail sector carries 8% of passengers across the world and 7% of global freight movement but it utilises 2% of the total transport energy demand in the world, signifying its efficiency. Train 18 now named Vande Bharat Express Published On - 1/28/2019 | Geography | Transport • Train set has been manufactured by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), acknowledging its made-in-India status • It is India's first semi-high speed train equipped with world class passenger amenities. • It can achieve high speeds (max speed of 160 kmph) due to faster acceleration & deceleration and will reduced journey time by 25% to 45%. • It has been provided with ‘State of the Art’ passenger amenities like On-board wifi entertainment, GPS based passenger information system, CCTVs, bio-vacuum toilets, rotating chairs in executive class, etc. at par with global standards and also have provision of Divyang-friendly facilities. • It has intelligent braking system with power regeneration for better energy efficiency thereby making it cost, energy and environment efficient. UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) III Published On - 1/18/2019 | Geography | Transport • The third round of bidding under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for domestic routes concluded recently and 15 airlines had bid for a total 111 routes. • The UDAN scheme aims to stimulate regional connectivity with flights covering distances up to 800 km through a market-based mechanism. • The government is expected to compensate for the loss to airlines with a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of about Rs. 3,000 per seat. • The scheme is a component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) which was released on June 15, 2016. Genetic Study on Lakshadweep Island’s Natives Published On - 5/7/2019 | Geography | Tribes It was conducted by a team of researchers at CSIR’s (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) • They studied major islands of Kadmat, Andorth, Chetlat, Agatti, Kalpeni, Bitra, Kiltan and Minicoy of Lakshadweep.
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• They analyzed DNA samples of 557 individuals from eight major islands for mitochondrial DNA and 166 individuals for Y chromosome markers. • It shows that majority of human ancestry in Island of Lakshadweep is largely derived from South Asia with minor influences from East and West Eurasia. Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) Published On - 12/25/2019 | Geography | Water ABY seeks to promote Panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with primary focus on demand side management. • The scheme will also help in supplying water to every house hold by 2024. • Nodal Agency: Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. • The scheme will be implemented in identified areas covering 8,350 villages in 78 districts of 7 states- Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. • The implementation period for plan is over a period of five years from 2020 to 2025. Two major components of Atal Jal Yojana: 1. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Component- for strengthening institutional arrangements for sustainable ground water management in States. 2. Incentive Component for incentivising the States– for achievements in improved groundwater management practices such as implementation of management interventions through convergence of ongoing schemes, adopting demand side management practices among others. Union Cabinet had recently approved Rs.6,000 crore rupees for Atal Bhujal Yojana. Out of total outlay of Rs.6000 crore, 50% shall be in form of World Bank loan (will be repaid by Government of India) and remaining 50% shall be through Central Assistance from regular budgetary support. ‘Jaldoot’ Exhibition Published On - 9/19/2019 | Geography | Water It is a travelling exhibition arranged by Regional Outreach Bureau, Pune under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is a Travelling Exhibition on Jalshakti Abhiyan. Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a collaborative effort of various Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. • It is a time-bound, mission-mode campaign that would focus on 1,592 “water-stressed” blocks in 257 districts. • The campaign will run through citizen participationduring the monsoon season, from 1st July, 2019 to 15th September, 2019. Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) Published On - 8/29/2019 | Geography | Water The Composite Water Management Index report aims to create awareness among people and governments about the realities of water crisis in the country.
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1. CWMI aims to enable effective water management in Indian states in the face of this growing crisis. 2. The index would provide useful information for the states and concerned Central ministries and departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources. 3. NITI Aayog has ranked all states in the index on the composite water management, comprising 9 broad sectors with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of ground water, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance. • Gujarat is ranked one in the reference year (2017-18). It is followed byAndhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. • In North Eastern and Himalayan States, Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged number 1 in 2017-18 followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura and Assam. • In terms of incremental change in index (over 2016-17 level), Haryana holds number one position in general States and Uttarakhand ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States. • On an average, 80% of the states assessed on the Index over the last three years have improved their water management scores, with an average improvement of +5.2 points. Composite Water Management Index 2019 Published On - 8/23/2019 | Geography | Water It was launched by NITI Aayog in 2018 as a tool to assess and improve the performance of States/ UTs in efficient management of water resources. • It is first ever attempt at of creating pan-India set of metrics that measured different dimensions of water management and use across the lifecycle of water. • Ranking of states/UTs is based on key 9 themes which are further subdivided into 28 indicators. The nine themes are- 1. Source augmentation and restoration of waterbodies (weightage:5%) 2. Groudwater augmentation (15%) 3. Major and medium irragation-supply side management (15%) 4. Watershed development-Supply side management (10%) 5. Participatory Irrigation practices- Demand Side Management (10%). 6. Sustaiable on-farm water use practices- Demand side management (10%). 7. Rural drinking water (10%). 8. Urban water supply and sanitation (10%) and Policy and Goverance (15%). • Gujarat was ranked first in the reference year (2017-18), followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. • Haryana holds number one position in general States and Uttarakhand ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States. Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha Drive
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Published On - 8/9/2019 | Geography | Water Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) launched Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha drive to create awareness about Water Conservation among all school students in the country. • It is a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach aimed at promoting water conservation activities for School Students. • It seeks to make students competent, conscientious and committed water citizens of nation by making water conservation essential for students so that they can understand importance of water and enabling them to participate in water conservation activities in their day to day lives. • The programme is implemented by Department of School Education & Literacy, MHRD. Five Major Objectives: 1. Educate students learn about conservation of water 2. Sensitize Students about impact of scarcity of water 3. Empower Students to learn to protect natural sources of water 4. Help every Student to save at least 1 litre of water per day 5. Encourage Students towards judicious use and minimum wastage of water at home and school level. Meghalaya became 1st state to have ‘State Water Policy’ Published On - 7/13/2019 | Geography | Water Objective: • To recognize water resources as a common pool resource (CPR) as these are susceptible to overuse • To provide safe and hygienic water for drinking, domestic needs and sanitation • Livelihood development to all residents of state Community Participation: Among other things, draft State Water Policy of Meghalaya seeks to protect and improve management of water resources while actively involving community participation. Jal Shakti Abhiyan Published On - 7/1/2019 | Geography | Water Jal Shakti Abhiyan- a campaign for water conservation and water security in 1592 stressed blocks in 256 districts. It is a collaborative effort of various Union Ministries and State Governments, being coordinated by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS). Campaign is centred on 5 aspects 1. Water conservation and rainwater harvesting 2. Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks 3. Reuse of water and recharging of structures such as bore well 4. Watershed development 5. Intensive afforestation
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Special Intervention: Water conservation efforts will also be supplemented with special interventions such as • Development of Block and District Water Conservation Plans • Promotion of efficient water use for irrigation • Better choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras. With this initiative government aims to provide drinking water to every household on priority and in a sustainable manner. It is also expected to bring positive change in people for water conservation. Central Water Commission (CWC) Published On - 5/19/2019 | Geography | Water Central Water Commission (CWC) which functions as an attached office of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India, monitors total water storage available in 91 major reservoirs across country. • According to recent figures released by CWC, total water storage available is only 22 % (it was 24% in May 2019) of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. • The drought advisory is issued to states when water level in reservoirs is about 20% less than the average of live water storage figures of past 10 year. Governance Issues
CJI under RTI Published On - 11/15/2019 | Governance Issues | Accountability and Tranperancy Context- Recently Supreme Court ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. • A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and including Justices N V Ramana, D Y Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta, and Sanjiv Khanna, upheld a Delhi High Court ruling of 2010, and dismissed three appeals filed by the Secretary General and the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court Background • It all started in 2009 with an RTI application filed by the well-known activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal with the apex court’s Central Public Information Officer (CPIO). • Agrawal sought disclosure of the SC collegium’s notes about the appointments of three SC judges: justices R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu and A.K. Ganguly.
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