Current Affairs 17th-20th August 2019

Important Current Affairs

Current Affairs 17th-20th August 2019

Centre plans to make India free of single-use plastics

The Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced a massive public campaign to make India free of single-use plastics at the function ordered by the Indian Consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Ministry conducted a series of meeting with all the stakeholders including state governments gathering to eliminate the use of single-use plastic. It also suggested shopkeepers provide eco-friendly bags to their customers.

Government's measure to avoid single-use plastics:
Narendra Modi-led government has urged people to use jute and cloth bags to protect the environment. About 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated every day in the country and out of which only 13,000-14000 tonnes are collected.
The government also urged the shopkeepers to stop selling the plastic bags and used to sell jute and cloth bags. It also directed the Customers should adopt ways to reduce plastic usage in use to abolish plastic usage.

PM announced the road map for farmer welfare

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the roadmap for the welfare of farmers. The NDA government, in its second term, aims to double the income of the farmers. It also aims to provide house, electricity connection, optical fiber network and broadband connectivity to every house in all the villages across the country.
Under the welfare of the farmers plan, 1.5 lakh wellness centers will be created at villages. It also aims to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers which can affect the health of the soil.

Aadi Mahotsav is being celebrated at Leh Ladakh

The Aadi Mahotsav, a National Tribal Festival, is celebrated at Polo Ground in Leh-Ladakh. It is a 9-day event that starts from 17th August to 25th August. It is celebrated with a theme of 'A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce'. The festival was inaugurated by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik and Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs.

Participants:
Around 160 Tribal artisans from more than 20 states across the country are participating to showcase their masterpieces in the festival. The event will have two reputed local cultural troupes presenting Ladakhi folk dances, Flower Dance, Abex Dance/song, Ghazal Dance, Aleyatoo will regale the visitors.
The product range comprises of Tribal Textiles, Tribal Jewellery, Tribal Paintings, Black pottery, foods, forest produces from all around India.

About Aadi Mahotsav:
The event Aadi Mahotsav is the Adivasi way of life is guided a natural simplicity with crudest tribal handicraft, tribal textiles manufactured from Jammu & Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South will win people’s heart.
For the first time, the tribal artisans will accept payment through major credit/debit cards training has been conducted by the State Bank of India.

Online revenue payment system launched by CM of Odisha

Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik launched online revenue payment. The main aim is to provide people with an easier way to make their land revenue payments-online on 73rd Independence Day on August 15, 2019, at Bhubaneswar. This online payment system was developed at the National Informatics Centre- Bhubaneswar, Odisha. This is an initiative of the State revenue department of Odisha under the “5-T mantra”. 
The 5T mantras are based on Technology, Transparency, Teamwork, Time and Transformation. Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman dedicated as part of his 150th birth anniversary. The talisman is inscribed on a brass plate in both English and Odia language with a neat sketch of the Father of the Nation. Veteran freedom fighters Bhavani Charan Patnaik and Nilamani Samal were present. The newly constructed Kharavel Bhavan built at a cost of Rs.128crore by L&T(Larsen & Toubro) on 8.3acres of land in Bhubaneswar was inaugurated by the CM. Around 11 departments of the state government will function in this building. It has a lounge and a conference hall for the CM.
The building was named after Kharavela who was a king of Kalinga.

Fifth Meeting Of BRICS Minister Of Environment Held In Sao Paulo, Brazil

Fifth BRICS Minister of Environment Meeting held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is preceded by the 2-day meeting of BRICS Joint Working Group on Environment. The Indian delegation led by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar.
Prakash Javadekar stated that India achieved its Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs)under the Paris Agreement, reduction of energy intensity by 25 %, increment of forest cover by nearly 15,000 sq km, Swachh Bharat Mission initiative, Waste Management Rules.
The initiatives of BRICS countries and reaffirmed India’s support to BRICS cooperation.

The BRICS Ministers delegations to join at 14th CoP (Conference of Parties ) scheduled to be held from  2 – 13 September 2019 and contribute to the efforts to combat desertification and land degradation.
India free of the single-use plastic campaign. The massive campaign that will be launched to make India free of single-use plastic. The Ministers of BRICS countries underlined the” Partnership on Urban Environmental Sustainability Initiative (PUESI)”. This is used to share knowledge & experience on major issues such as waste management, cogeneration, reverse logistics, sanitation, urban air quality, urban green areas.
BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Cooperation Platform was highlighted for innovations, knowledge sharing and capacity building
It was adopted for improvement of the river ecosystem and tackling marine waste.

The Ministers agreed to support the development of Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework & they urged developed countries to meet their commitment under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and its Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement to provide means of implementation of climate finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support.
Brazil was led by Mr. Ricardo Salles, Minister of Environment. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Dmitry Kobylkin led the Russian delegation, while the Chinese delegation was led by Mr. Huang Runqiu, Vice-Minister of Ecology and Environment and the South African delegation was led by Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms. Barbara Creecy.

Scientists found two new fish species

The Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered two new species of freshwater fish in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh. Both the fishes were less than seven centimeters.

Glyptothorax gopii:
Glyptothorax gopii, a new species of catfish was found in Mizoram’s Kaladan river. This species measured 63 mm standard length without caudal fin. It has an axe-shaped anterior nuchal plate which makes it distinct from other species of the genus Glyptothorax.

Garra Simbalaraensis:
Garra Simbalaraensis was found in Himachal Pradesh’s Simbalbara river. Garra simbalaraensis measured 69 mm standard length without caudal fin. It has a yellowish-grey colour fading ventrally.
Garra simbalbara ensis has a prominent unilobed and rounded proboscis with tubercles that help the fish in manoeuvrability.

Other discoveries:
The recent discoveries include Garra compressa in 1998, yersglanis jayarami in 1999, G. elongatain 2000, Glyptothorax senapatiensis in 2015, G. tamangi in 2016, and G. chindwinensis and Olya parviocula in 2018. These species were all found in north-eastern India.

Manipur Govt launches School Fagadaba scheme

Chief Minister (CM) of Manipur, N Biren Singh launched “School Fagadaba” (Make education better) scheme.
The main aim of the scheme is to improve the infrastructure, quality education and overall improvement of government schools.The regular attendance of teachers, biometric devices would be installed in every Government school in the state.The teachers posted in these schools stay at the place of their posting for at least 3 years.
The 60 Assembly constituencies in the state selected under the 1st phase of the scheme.The state also set a target to increase enrollment of students from 26,000 at present to around 44,000 in the next academic session.The additional infrastructures like a modern school campus, sufficient school furniture, outdoor gymnasium, separate toilets for boys and girls, drinking water facilities will be provided to these schools as per the Right to Education (RTE) norms.

Ladakh seeks tribal area status

Leaders of Ladakh have appealed to the Centre to declare the region a tribal-area status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The move comes as the people are concerned to protect their land, culture, and identity after the abrogation of article 370 and the announcement of Ladakh as a Union Territory.

Sixth Schedule:
The Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution provides provisions for the administration of tribal areas in four north-eastern states namely Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. The schedule includes Articles 244(2) and 275(1). It provides for the administration of tribal areas in the states after setting up the autonomous district and regional councils. The states are provided with special provisions in terms of governance, powers of the president and the governor, type of local bodies, alternate judicial mechanisms, financial powers, etc.

Sadbhavana Diwas observed on 20 August

Sadbhavana Diwas is celebrated on 20 August every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. This year will be the 75th Birth Anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
On this day national integration, peace, love, affection and communal harmony among all Indians are encouraged. Shri Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944, in Bombay. Mr Rajiv Gandhi youngest Prime Minister of India.

Rajiv Gandhi
He was the youngest Prime Minister of the country. He became Prime Minister at the age of 40. Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister. He served from 1984-89.
He contributed greatly to the development of the country. He announced a National Policy on Education in 1986 to modernise and expand higher education programs across India. He founded a central government based institution namely Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System in 1986 for the upliftment of the rural section of the society providing them free residential education from 6th till 12 class. Due to his efforts MTNL established in 1986 and also created public call offices (PCOs) for spreading telephones in rural areas.

Chandrayaan 2 entered Moons Orbit

Indian's first-ever mission aimed for a soft landing on the Moon's south polar region, Chandrayaan-2, was inserted into Moon's orbit on 20 August. The entry was confirmed by the Indian Space Agency, ISRO. Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22 and had left the Earth's orbit on August 14. Before reaching the final orbit, the spacecraft will now undergo four-orbit manoeuvres about 100 km from the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-2 was precisely inserted in the defined orbit. Following its entry in the lunar orbit, there will be four more orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the moon's surface.

Constant monitor:
Various research and monitoring centres such as The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu has been continuously monitoring the health of the spacecraft.

Aim:
The mission will help scientists to gain a better understanding of the origin. The detailed topographical studies, comprehensive mineralogical analyses, and a host of other experiments on the lunar surface that will be conducted on the Moon will help mankind to understand the evolution of the Moon.

India is the top emitter of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the world: Greenpeace Report

India is the largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide in the world as per the data released by environmental NGO Greenpeace 2019. Anthropogenic sulphur dioxide chemical is produced from the burning of coal and it is known to largely contribute to air pollution. The analysis of NASA data released by Greenpeace . India has over 15 per cent of all anthropogenic sulphur dioxide (SO2) hotspots in the world. 
The SO2 hotspots were detected by OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite.

Impact of SO2 Emission
The air gets polluted due to the SO2 emission and air pollution occurs. The largest source of SO2 in the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial facilities.
Air pollution became a huge public health concern. Around 91 percent of the world's population living in areas where air pollution exceeds the limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Around 4.2 million people are dying prematurely every year.

Famous SO2 Spots in India
The majority of the plants in India lack flue-gas desulfurization technology which leads to reduce air pollution.
The main SO2 hotspots in India includes Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Korba in Chhattisgarh, Talcher and Jharsuguda in Odisha, Neyveli and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Kutch in Gujarat, Ramagundam in Telangana and Chandrapur and Koradi in Maharashtra.

How to control the SO2 emission?
India should against coal power plants and should not give them a free hand to continue polluting the atmosphere and cause a public health emergency.
Environment Ministry introduced SO2 emission limits for coal power plants in December 2015. They set the initial deadline to control SO2 emissions from power generation by December 2017.
The deadline later extended till December 2019.Ministry of Power and power plant operators in Delhi-NCR. The power plants across the country through a Supreme Court order.