KALASA‐BANDURI PROJECT (States) A day after the Centre’s notification of the Mahadayi inter‐State water dispute tribunal award, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said on Friday that the State government would expedite the Kalasa‐Banduri nala drinking water and hydro power projects in the region. Kalasa‐Banduri project was planned in 1989; raised an objection to it. Kalasa‐Banduri Nala Project is undertaken by the Government of to improve drinking water supply to the three districts of Belagavi, Dharwad, and Gadag. It involves building across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert water to the Malaprabha river (a tributary of ). Malaprabha river supplies the drinking water to Dharwad, Belgaum, and Gadag districts. The cost of the Kalasa‐Banduri Nala project on the Mahadayi basin has risen from about ` 94 crores (2000) to `1,677.30 crores (2020) due to the ongoing inter‐State river water dispute. Mahadayi or Mhadei, the west‐flowing river, originates in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (), of Karnataka. It is essentially a rain‐fed river also called Mandovi in Goa. It is joined by a number of streams to form the Mandovi which is one of two major rivers (the other one is Zuari river) that flows through Goa. The river travels 35 km in Karnataka; 82 km in Goa before joining the Arabian Sea. The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was set up in 2010. Goa, Karnataka and are parties to the tribunal. MISSION PURVODAYA (States) Purvodaya in steel sector is aimed at driving accelerated development of Eastern through establishment of integrated steel hub. Eastern states of India (Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal) and Northern part of Andhra Pradesh collectively hold ~80% of the country’s iron ore, ~100% of coking coal and significant portion of chromite, bauxite and dolomite reserves. There is presence of major ports such as Paradip, Haldia, Vizag, Kolkata etc., with >30% of India’s major port capacity. In India’s march towards a $5 trillion economy, the 5 Eastern states can play a major role where steel sector can become the catalyst. This Eastern belt has the potential to add more than 75% of the country’s incremental steel capacity envisioned by the National Steel Policy. It is expected that out of the 300 MT capacity by 2030‐31, over 200 MT can come from this region alone, driven by Industry 4.0.

The proposed Integrated Steel Hub, encompassing Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Northern Andhra Pradesh, would serve as a torchbearer for socio‐economic growth of Eastern India. The objective of this hub would be to enable swift capacity addition

and improve overall competitiveness of steel producers both in terms of cost and quality. The Integrated Steel Hub would focus on 3 key elements:

1. Capacity addition through easing the setup of Greenfield steel plants 2. Development of steel clusters near integrated steel plants as well as demand centres. 3. Transformation of logistics and utilities infrastructure which would change the socio‐ economic landscape in the East Growth of steel industry through such a hub would lead to significant employment opportunities across the entire value chain and will play a significant role in overall socio‐ economic growth of Eastern India, thus reducing the disparity between the East and other regions of the country. MAHARASHTRA DECLARES 5% QUOTA FOR MUSLIMS (States) Reviving the DF Government’s stalled move of 2014, Maharashtra Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik on Friday announced that the State Government would soon come out with a legislation according 5 per cent reservations to Muslims in educational institutions in the state.

It may be recalled that on November 14, 2014, the Bombay High Court had stayed an ordinance promulgated by the then Congress‐led DF government ahead of the State Assembly polls extending 16 per cent reservations to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims, saying that they were not in conformity with the law laid down by the Supreme Court in three cases.

However, a HC bench, headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah, had allowed reservations to Muslims in educational institutions, on the ground at that their educational achievements were "abysmally low" and that there was a need to draw them into the "mainstream of secular education". The court had ruled that admissions given to Muslims on the basis of such reservations this year would not be disturbed and students would be allowed to continue their courses.

With the ordinance promulgated by the DF Government having lapsed, Muslims no longer enjoy any reservations in the State.

RED SNOW IN ANTARCTICA (Environment)

“Red snow” or “watermelon” is a phenomenon that has been known since ancient times. Aristotle is believed to be one of the first to give a written account of red snow, over 2,000 years ago. In History of Animals, Aristotle wrote: “And, by the way, living animals are found in substances that are usually supposed to be incapable of putrefaction; for instance, worms are found in long‐lying snow; and snow of this description gets reddish in colour, and the grub that is engendered in it is red, as might have been expected, and it is also hairy.”

What Aristotle described as worms and grub, the scientific world today calls algae. The Greek philosopher was right: it is the algae that give the snow its red tinge. This alga species, Chlamydomonas Chlamydomonas nivalis, exists in snow in the polar and glacial regions, and carries a red pigment to keep itself warm .