Chhattisgarh gets Centre’s nod for World Bank funded school project

• If it goes through, the initiative will allow the Chhattisgarh government to borrow $300 million over a period of five years at significantly lower than market rates, and repay it over a period of 20 years.
• An in-principle nod means that the Centre has no objection to the State borrowing money from an external financial institution such as the World Bank. This is not the final approval but it paves the way for the State to proceed with subsequent discussions.
• The World Bank has been associated with India’s school education system since 1994, according to its website. One of its more recent projects, inked in 2021, is the $500 million Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Programto improve the quality and governance of school education in six Indian States. That list, however, does not include Chhattisgarh.

Odisha wants to finish implementing Forest Rights Act by 2024

• Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is also known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
• The Act recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.
• The Act further enjoins upon the Gram Sabha and rights holders the responsibility of conservation and protection of bio-diversity, wildlife, forests, adjoining catchment areas, water sources and other ecologically sensitive areas as well as to stop any destructive practices affecting these resources or cultural and natural heritage of the tribals.

Ex-NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is new G-20 Sherpa

• Who are they? A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit meeting such as the G8, G20, the Nuclear Security Summit etc.
• Task: The Sherpa engages in planning, negotiation and implementation tasks through the Summit. They coordinate the agenda, seek consensus at the highest political levels, and participate in a series of pre-Summit consultations to help negotiate their leaders’ positions.
• Who are appointed Sherpas? Sherpas are career diplomats or senior government officials appointed by the leaders of their countries.
• Etymology: The term is derived from the Nepalese Sherpa people, who serve as guides for mountaineers in the Himalayas.

Colombo Security Conclave agrees to tackle common threats

• A road map for cooperation was discussed at the meeting attended by India, the Maldives, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. Representatives of Bangladesh and the Seychelles — the two observer nations in the conclave — also shared their views on the occasion.
• The five broad areas of cooperation to strengthen regional security are –
  • maritime safety and security,
  • countering terrorism and radicalisation,
  • combating trafficking and transnational organised crime,
  • cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure and technology, and
  • humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Monsoon temperatures now higher than in summer, says CSE report

• At an all-India level, average temperatures during the season are 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than the average summer temperatures (March to May) when compared from 1951 to 1980. In the past decade, 2012-2021, this anomaly has risen to 0.4 degrees Celsius.
• India’s average temperature has risen 0.62 degrees Celsius from 1901 to 2020, according to India Meteorological Department records.
• However, in a breakdown of this rise, the CSE analysis shows it has translated to summer temperatures rising slower than not only monsoon but even post-monsoon (October-December) and winter (January and February) temperatures.
• The increase in these two seasons are 0.79 degrees and 0.58 degrees, respectively, whereas summer temperatures has risen only 0.49 degrees. This year, India saw record pre-monsoon temperatures in northern and western regions, in the absence of rain.
• These numbers had a bearing on heatwave deaths. From 2015 to 2020, 2,137 people had reportedly died of heat stroke in the States in northwest but the southern peninsula region had reported 2,444 deaths due to excess environmental heat, with Andhra Pradesh alone accounting for over half the reported casualties.

Derecho, a storm that turned the sky green in the US

• As the storm hit, it turned the skies green, with even many experienced storm chasers claiming to have never witnessed such atmospheric optics.
• A derecho, according to the US’s National Weather Service is “a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm” that is associated with a “band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms”. The name comes from the Spanish word ‘la derecha’ which means ‘straight’. Straight-line storms are those in which thunderstorm winds have no rotation unlike a tornado. These storms travel hundreds of miles and cover a vast area.
• Being a warm-weather phenomenon, a derecho generally – not always – occurs during summertime beginning May, with most hitting in June and July.
• For a storm to be classified as a derecho it must have wind gusts of at least 93 km per hour; wind damage swath extending more than 400 km. The time gap between successive wind damage events should not be more than three hours.

Understanding sub-categorisation of OBCs and Justice G Rohini Commission

• The Commission, constituted nearly five years ago, has got 10 extensions so far, and now has until January 31 next year to submit its report.
• The idea of sub-categorisation of OBCs is to create sub-categories within the larger group of OBCs for the purpose of reservation. OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
• For OBCs, the debate arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among the over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of the 27% reservation.
• The argument for creating sub-categories within OBCs is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.

India has been elected to the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)

• India has served as a member of the ICH Committee twice — from 2006 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2018. India will now be a part of two prominent Committees of UNESCO — Intangible Cultural Heritage (2022-2026) and World Heritage (2021-2025).
• According to UNESCO, the core functions of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage are to promote the objectives of the convention, provide guidance on best practices and make recommendations on measures for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.
• The Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention comprises 24 members and is elected in the General Assembly of the Convention according to the principles of equitable geographical representation and rotation.
• States Members to the Committee are elected for a term of four years.