Most Important CA for UPSC Prelims 2021 April-July Set-10

Table of Contents

It is a unique competition calling upon start-ups /entrepreneurs and students of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to develop innovative solutions to mitigate plastic pollution and develop alternatives to single use plastics.
Plastics that are thrown away after their first use are known as single-use plastics.
According to the United Nations, much of the plastics produced today are designed to be thrown away after first use.
The Environment ministry had first notified Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 with new provisions for effective and improved collection, segregation, processing, treatment and disposal of the plastic waste.
In March this year, MoEF&CC has unveiled the draft Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021 that proposes to ban several categories of single-use plastic items in three
Increasing the thickness of carry bags made of virgin plastic from 50 microns to 120 microns from 30 September 2021.
Ban on the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of specific single use plastic from January 1, 2022.
Ban on single use plastic items from July 1, 2022, increases which includes plates, cups, plastic/PVC banners less than 100 micron etc.

STATE OF FINANCE FOR NATURE REPORT

It is a report jointly produced by the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Economic Forum and the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD).
ELD, a global strategy for sustainable land management, is a global initiative established in 2011 by United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification supported by a broad network of partners across diverse fields of knowledge.
Report highlights importance of investing in nature based solutions (NBS) to meet global biodiversity and land degradation targets.
NBS are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits.
Key findings of the report
- More than half of the world’s total GDP is moderately/highly dependent on nature.
- Agriculture, food and beverages and construction are the largest sectors dependent on nature.
- USD 133 billion per year currently flows into NBS (using 2020 as base year), with public funds making up 86% and private finance 14%.
- Global biodiversity and land degradation targets can be met only if annual investments in NBS are tripled by 2030 and increased fourfold by 2050 from the current level of investments.
- Currently, Public sector spending for NBS is dominated by the United States and China, followed by Japan, Germany and Australia.
Suggestions provided by the report
- Reforming taxes, repurposed agricultural policies, trade-related tariffs and harnessing the potential of carbon markets could be used to create economic incentives to invest in NBS.
- aligned with the Paris Agreement, to be consistent with 1.5°C warming above preindustrial levels as well as halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity.
- Number of commercially viable projects and businesses that incorporate NBS. into their business model should be increased through technical support, economic and regulatory incentives.
- Availability of concessional finance needs to be scaled up to accelerate the transition to “net zero, nature positive” sustainable agriculture, forestry and other forms of NBS.

UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT’S CEO WATER MANDATE

NTPC Ltd has become a signatory to the prestigious United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate.
formed in 2007 to mobilize business leaders to advance water stewardship, sanitation, and the Sustainable Development Goals in partnership with United Nations, governments, peers, civil society, and others.
develops tools and resources, convenes stakeholders, and facilitates meaningful partnerships and on-the-ground collective actions that improve conditions in at-risk river basins around the world.

HEAT DOME IN NORTHERN AMERICA

Heat dome is an area of high pressure that parks over a region like a lid on a pot, trapping heat.
They are more likely to form during La Niña years like 2021, when waters are cool in the eastern Pacific and warm in the western Pacific.
That temperature difference creates winds that blow dense, tropical, western air eastward.
Warm air gets trapped in the jet stream—a current of air spinning counter-clockwise around the globe—and ends up on the U.S. West Coast.

MAHSEER

The Blue-Finned Mahseer, which was on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list as ‘critically endangered’, has now moved to the ‘least concern’ status.
The Mahseer (roughly translates as mahi – fish and sher – tiger, is also referred as “tiger among fish”). It is important indicator of freshwater
Out of 47 subspecies of Mahseer 15 are found in India and rest in other range countries in South Asia.
Mahseer prefers clean, fast flowing and well oxygenated waters for breeding and migration.
They are
Threats faced
- Sensitive to dissolved oxygen levels, water temperature and sudden climatic changes
- Pollution, habitat loss, over-fishing, construction of dams (impacting migration patterns) etc.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 does not explicitly draw attention to fish under the definition of ‘wild animal’

Project Mahseer

It was started in 1971 as a collaborative effort between Tata Power and Central Institute of Fisheries Education.
Around 5 lakh mahseer are bred at the Walvan Hatchery in Lonavala, Maharashtra.
An artificial lake has been created for the purpose by the Walvan Dam project under Tata Power.
The project has finally borne fruit after an effort spanning 50 years by getting the fish de-listed from Red list of IUCN.
It is a carnivorous reptile species that lived 240 million years ago and it might have been the largest predators in that ecosystems.

BHARITALASUCHUS TAPANI

It belongs to a genus and species previously unknown called Bharitalasuchustapani.
In Telugu, Bhari means huge, Tala means head, and Suchus is the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed deity.
Fossils have been found on the rocks of the Yerrapalli Formation (Rock formation in the Pranhita–Godavari Basin in Telangana).

RELEASE OF PERFORMANCE GRADING INDEX (PGI) 2019-20

The PGI (by Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education ) comprises 70 indicators to catalyse transformational change in the field of school education.
These are classified in two categories with a maximum score of 1,000.
It provides grades to the states and Union territories, as opposed to ranks.
Grading, by allowing several states and Union territories to be considered at the same level,
eliminates the phenomenon of one improving only at the cost of others, which casts a stigma of underperformance on the latter.
Pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritise areas for intervention
Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala topped with Meghalaya and Ladakh at the bottom.

QUACQUARELLI SYMONDS (QS) WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS (WUR)

IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, were the only Indian institutions that made it to the top 200 of the global rankings.
Globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology was ranked number-one,
University of Oxford
Stanford University and University of Cambridge shared the third spot.
QS uses six indicators to compile the ranking
Academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty/student ratio, international faculty ratio and international student ratio.