EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
2nd July 2021
Taal Volcano
Recently, the Philippine seismological agency has called for the evacuation of thousands of people near Taal Volcano.
Taal Volcano
- It is located on south of Manila in Philippines.
- It is in a caldera system located in southern Luzon Island.
- It sits in a picturesque lake, has been belching sulphur dioxide and creating a thick haze over the capital and several surrounding provinces.
- It is one of the most active volcanoes in a nation hit periodically by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire".
- It is formed by the subduction of the Eurasian Plate underneath the Philippine Mobile Belt.
Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition
Recently, the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition has come up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arrest the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.
LEAF Coalition
- It is an ambitious new public-private initiative designed to accelerate climate action by providing results-based finance to countries committed to protecting their tropical forests.
- It is an initiative with initial participation from the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States.
- It offers the financial assurance needed for countries to start prioritizing policies and investments that reduce deforestation and protect their tropical forests.
Objectives of LEAF Coalition
- It is a step towards concretising the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.
- It aims to mobilize at least $1 billion in financing to the benefit of billions of people depending on them, and to support sustainable development.
- It provides a model for aggregating support from governments and companies for high-quality, verified Emissions Reductions.
- Its objective is to raise global climate ambition and contribute to halting and reversing tropical deforestation by 2030.
REDD+ Mechanism
- It is a mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
- Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results-based actions.
- REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)
Recently, the 7th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) was hosted by the French Navy at La Reunion in Italy.
Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)
- It was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008.
- It seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the IOR by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues.
- The chairmanship of IONS has been held by India (2008-10), UAE (2010-12), South Africa (2012-14), Australia (2014-16), Bangladesh (2016-18) and Islamic Republic of Iran (2018-21).
- It holds biennial meetings among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region.
Objectives of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)
- It endeavours to generate a flow of information between naval professionals that would lead to common understanding and possibly cooperative solutions on the way ahead.
- It acts as a security construct for the Indian Ocean region.
- It also conducts numerous other activities like workshops, essay competitions and lectures to promote its objective.
Members of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)
- South Asian Littorals: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and United Kingdom (British Indian Ocean Territory)
- West Asian Littorals: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
- East African Littorals: France (Reunion), Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.
- South East Asian and Australian Littorals: Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste.
- Observers: China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain.
Guindy National Park
The Guindy National Park provides a number of ecosystem services to the people of one of India’s biggest metropolises.
Guindy National Park
- It is a tiny protected area measuring just 270.57 hectares (ha) located in the heart of Chennai’s metropolitan area.
- It serves as the green lungs to a great metropolitan city in Tamil Nadu.
- It is India’s eighth-smallest national park and one of the very few national parks located inside a city.
- It gained statutory recognition as a medium zoo from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in 1995.
- The area where the national park is located was once spread across five sq km.
- Guindy National Park was originally a game reserve and a garden space was carved out of the Guindy forest and the Guindy Lodge was built by William Langhome (1672-1678).
- The residence of the governor helped to develop the area of St Thomas Mount as a salubrious place for rest and recreation.
- The rest of the forest area was owned by a British citizen known as Gilbert Rodericks.
- In 1978, this small area, popularly known as Guindy Deer Park, was declared as a national park and the park then started playing a major role in the ecological environment of Madras.
Flora and Fauna in Guindy National Park
- It is one of the last homes of a relict vegetation.
- It consists of tropical dry evergreen forest type of the Coromandel Coast.
- The ecosystem consists of the rare tropical dry evergreen scrub and thorn forests that receive about 1,200 millimetres rainfall annually.
- A large portion of the area is under mixed dry deciduous scrub jungle.
- The entire vegetation looks dry during summers as leaves fall off in deciduous vegetation.
- The near threatened blackbuck, considered the flagship species of the park, was introduced in 1924 by Lord Willingdon.
- Toddy cat, civet cat, jungle cat, pangolin, hedgehog, shrew and black-naped hare are found mostly during the night.
- The floral biodiversity is mainly responsible for the bird biodiversity as there are dense forests, open scrub, grasslands and water bodies that cater to the needs of different bird species.
Kalbeliya Dance
Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the traditional art and artists and the chendavia app has provided support to Kalbeliya Dance.
Kalbeliya Dance
- It is the snake dance from the state of Rajasthan.
- It is a piece of art performed by the Kalbeliya tribe.
- The word Kalbeliya is a blend of two words which are ‘Kal’ means snake and ‘Beliya’ means friends.
- It is listed under UNESCO's representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity from the year 2010.
- Both men and women participate in Kalbeliya dance.
- Kalbeliya tribe is a nomadic tribe who was basically snake-charmers from Rajasthan and has been tabooed as the scheduled and the untouchable caste.
- The tribe has been living and following the same routine, traditions and their lifestyle since the medieval times.
- The men used to earn money through all these activities and the women of this tribe used to occasional dance on the streets on festivals with an aim to earn the extra money from the rich.
Costume for Kalbeliya Dance
- The ladies wear long heavily embroidered mirror worked black skirt called as Lehnga and a silver thread worked Choli and Chunris.
- The women deck up with heavy silver jewelries that include beautifully carved jhumka, neck piece and tikka.
Instruments used in Kalbeliya Dance
- It is accompanied by the traditional instruments of Rajasthani folk music like the morchang, dufli, dholak, khanjari, khuralio.
- The most traditional and important instrument used is the ‘been or poongi’ which is a wood wind instrument used by snake charmers.
Folk Dances of Rajasthan
- More dances of Rajasthan Bhavai Dance, Chakri Dance, Chari Dance, Drum Dance, Fire Dance, Gair Dance, Gavari Dance, Ghoomar Dance, Kachhi Ghodi, Kathak Dance, Kathputli, Khayal Dance, Terah Taali, Walar Dance.
Heat Dome
Recently, in the Portland city in Oregon, US, temperatures as high as 46 degree Celsius were recently registered.
- The temperatures being reported from the Pacific Northwest and some parts of Canada are part of a “historic” heat wave as a result of a phenomenon referred to as a “heat dome”.
Heat Dome
- It is essentially a mountain of warm air built into a very wavy jet stream, with extreme undulations.
- It develops when there is a large poleward shift in the jet stream, which becomes wavy and elongated.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that to understand what causes a heat dome, one should liken the Pacific ocean to a large swimming pool in which the heater is turned on.
- The portions of the pool close to the heating jets will warm up faster once the heater is on and therefore, the temperature in that area will be higher.
- In the same way, the western Pacific Ocean’s temperatures have increased in the past few decades and are relatively more than the temperature in the eastern Pacific.
- The strong change in ocean temperature from the west to the east is what a team of scientists believe is the reason for the heat dome.
- The reason that the planet Venus is the hottest in the Solar System is because its thick, dense cloud cover traps the heat at the surface, leading to temperatures as high as 471 degree Celsius.
Heat Wave
- A heat wave is a period of unusually hot weather that lasts for more than two days.
- The NWS notes that heat waves can occur with or without high humidity and have the potential to cover a large area, exposing a high number of people to hazardous heat.
- A heatwave is an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area at that time of year, which may be accompanied by high humidity.
Link between Heat Waves and Climate Change
- The heatwaves are extreme weather events, but research shows that climate change is making these events more likely.
- A small increase in the Earth's average temperature can dramatically impact climate extremes, both hot and cold, increasing their chances of occurring exponentially.
- The extreme heat events are occurring more frequently with more severity, and therefore they will likely push the average temperatures higher for years to come.
- If greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly curtailed, the coldest and warmest daily temperatures are expected to increase by at least 5 degrees F in most areas by mid-century rising to 10 degrees F by late century.
Impact of Heat Waves
- Human Health: The extreme heat is one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths.
- The Heat stress occurs in humans when the body is unable to cool itself effectively.
- Hot days are also associated with increases in heat-related illnesses including cardiovascular and respiratory complications, kidney disease etc.
- Agriculture: Some crops require cool night temperatures, and heat stress for livestock rises when animals are unable to cool off at night.
- The heat-stressed cattle can experience declines in milk production, slower growth, and reduced conception rates.
- Energy: While higher summer temperatures increase electricity demand for cooling, at the same time, it also can lower the ability of transmission lines to carry power, possibly leading to electricity reliability issues during heat waves.
Digital India Programme
Recently, the Prime Minister has celebrated 6 years of Digital India Programme.
- The Government of India had launched National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) in 2006 to take a broader dimension for wider sectoral applications with emphasis on citizen-centric services.
- 31 Mission Mode Projects covering various domains were initiated under National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).
- The Government of India has launched the Digital India programme in 2015 in order to transform the entire ecosystem of public services through the use of information technology.
Features of Digital India Programme
- It is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
- It is an ambitious programme of Government of India projected at Rs 1,13,000 crores.
- It provides the intensified impetus for further momentum and progress for e-Governance.
- The source of funding for most of the e-Governance projects at present is through budgetary provisions of respective ministries/departments in the central or state governments.
Objectives of Digital India Programme
- Development of a stable and secure digital infrastructure;
- Delivering government services digitally; and
- Universal Digital Literacy
Significance of Digital India Programme
- The objective is achieved by strengthening online infrastructure and improving internet connectivity or to make India digitally empowered in the field of technology.
- It includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks and improve digital literacy.
- It is empowering the common citizen by reducing the gap between government and people, system and facilities, problems and solutions.
- It gives opportunity for all, facility for all, participation of all and everyone's access to the government system.
Initiatives under Digital India
Infrastructure
- AADHAR: One of the key strengths of ‘Digital India’, wherein every resident of the country is given a unique identity number.
- Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL): It is the custodian of Digital India and the creation of the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) has been mandated in India.
- CERT-IN: It is formed with the intention to secure Indian cyberspace.
- Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana: It is one of the flagship programs of the Power Ministry and is designed to provide a continuous power supply to the entire rural India.
- Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (DISHA): This aims to provide IT training to 52.5 lakh persons.
Services
- Accessible India Campaign and Mobile App: It is launched for achieving universal accessibility for enabling people with disabilities to gain access to equal opportunity.
- Agrimarket App: It aims to keep farmers abreast with the crop prices and avoid distress sale.
- BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money): It makes payment easy and quick using UPI.
- Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS): It aims for nationwide networking infrastructure for the evolution of an IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system.
Empowerment
- Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS): It is a bank led model which allows online interoperable financial inclusion transaction at PoS through the Business correspondent of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication.
- Digidhan Abhiyaan: It aims to enable citizens and merchants to undertake real time digital transactions through the DIGIDHAN Bazaar.
- PAHAL (DBTL): It aims to reduce diversion and eliminate duplicate or bogus LPG connections.
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