Comprehensive Current affairs 8 November 2020

Second National Water Awards to be conferred.

Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenationis organising the 2ndNational Water Awards (NWAs) 2019 Distribution Ceremony through virtual platform.

The awards are given to motivate the individuals/organizations who are doing commendable work in the field of water resources conservation and management.

Also, it strives to create awareness among the people about importance of water and motivate them to adopt the best water usage practices.

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The award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize.

The NWAs focuses on the good work and efforts made by individual and organisations across the country, and the government’s vision for the path to a ‘JalSamridh Bharat’.

 The event provides a good opportunity to start-ups as well as leading organisations to engage and deliberate with senior policymakers on how to further accelerate the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan’ in India.

The event also provides an occasion for all people and organisations to further cement a strong partnership and people engagement in water resources conservation and management activities.

Habeas Corpus petition.

Recently, Bombay High Court rejected Arnab Goswami's habeas corpus petition forimmediate release.

Habeas Corpus essentially means "you must have the body". This petition filed under Article 32 prays before thecourt to direct a particular individual or authority who has detained a person to produce the detenu before the court.

•This petition leads the court to determine validity of such detention. •Habeas corpus writ is a bulwark of individual liberty against arbitrary detention.

•It can be issued against both public authorities as well as private individuals.

United Nations Industrial Development Organisations.

United Nations Industrial Development Organisations (UNIDO) has been closely working with India to implement UN’s activities in harmony with national policy priorities and development strategies.

The UNIDO Regional Office in New Delhi acts as a focal point to promote UNIDO’s mandate of inclusive and sustainable industrial development in India.

As UNIDO Representative has said that Regional Cluster concept of economic development is playing an important role in Indian success story.

India is doing pretty well in the energy environment sector with lot of innovation.

22% funds for migrant scheme left unused.

Latest data shows only 78% funds for scheme i.e., Rs 38,921 crore out of Rs 50,000 crore used.

Garib Kalyan RojgarAbhiyaan (GKRA) launched on 20th June, 2020.

It is a 125-day Abhiyan with a mission toaddress the issues of returnee migrant workers and similarly affected rural population by Covid-19 pandemic.

25 work areas have been identified for employment in villages, for development of various works like ruralhousing for the poor, Plantations, provision of drinking water through Jal Jeevan mission, Panchayat Bhavans etc

Shivalik Elephant Reserve.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently asked the Uttarakhand Government to consider avoiding sensitive areas of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve while exploring land suitable to use for the expansion of Dehradun’s Jolly Grant Airport.

Highlights:

• The area proposed for the expansion, is a part of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve and it falls within a 10-km radius of Rajaji National Park.

• Children and social activists have tied protective strings around the trees marked to be cut, similar to the Chipko movement of the 1970s, when villagers in Chamoli hugged trees to stop contractors from felling them.

• The expansion will threaten hundreds of species of fauna in Thano (near Rajaji National Park) and the elephant corridor nearby.

• The State also falls in seismic Zone IV and V, as per the Earthquake Zoning Map, and uprooting Thano will lead to soil erosion, a factor that exacerbated the 2013 Kedarnath floods, endangering countless lives.

 • The social activists had criticised Chardham Pariyojana on environmental grounds. It is a programme taken up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for connectivity improvement for Chardham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri) in

Uttrakhand. The Supreme Court upheld the 2011 order of the Madras High Court (HC) on the Nilgiris elephant corridor, affirming the right of passage of the animals and the closure of resorts in the area.

About Shivalik Elephant Reserve:

• It was notified in 2002 under the ‘Project Elephant’. Project Elephant was launched by the Government of India in the year 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with following objectives are to protect elephants, their habitat & corridors, to address issues of man-animal conflict and welfare of captive elephants.

• The Kansora-Barkot Elephant Corridor is located near to it. It is considered to have one of the highest densities of elephants found in India.

• The Indian elephant (Elephas Maximus) occurs in the central and southern Western Ghats, North-east India, eastern India and northern India and in some parts of southern peninsular India. As per the Elephant Census, 2017, Karnataka has the highest population of Indian elephants.

• It is included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).

• It is ‘Endangered’ as per the IUCN Red List.

Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus).

A study conducted by scientists of the Zoological Survey of India on the Himalayan brown bear has recently predicted a significant reduction in suitable habitat and biological corridors of the Himalayan brown bear due to climate change.

Highlights:

 • The study titled ‘Adaptive spatial planning of protected area networks for conserving the Himalayan brown bear’ was carried out in the Western Himalayas.

• It has predicted a decline of about 73% of the bear’s habitat by the year 2050. The total habitat loss can make 8 out of 13 PA completely uninhabitable by 2050.

• The western Himalaya where significant brown bear population is distributed is most vulnerable to global warming as this elevation belt is getting warmer faster than other elevation zones of Himalayas.

• To keep a check on this, scientists have recommended preemptive spatial planning of PAs in the Himalayan region for the long-term viability of the species.

• The spatial planning of PAs is aimed at minimising the risks and uncertainty of climate change.

• Spatial Planning is an activity centered on making decisions relating to the location and distribution of land use activities. It allows monitoring of changes, both in climate and socio-economic situations.

About Himalayan Brown Bear

• Its range is North-western and central Himalaya, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and Bhutan.

• Its habitat is High altitude open Valleys and Pastures.

• Its protected status are IUCN Red List- Critically endangered, CITES - Appendix I and Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 - Schedule 1.

• It is an Omnivorous animal. Its threats are Human-animal conflict, rapid habitat loss, poaching for fur, claws and organs and, in some rare cases, Bear Baiting.

Gov Tech-Thon 2020.

Gov-Tech-Thon 2020, 36 hours, pan-India virtual hackathon organized by IEEE, National Informatics Centre (NIC)and Oracle, under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, witnessed a successful conclusion on 1st November, 2020.

The virtual hackathon received registrations from over 1300 aspirants forming 390 teams. The hackathon webpage witnessed over 15,000 visitors in 2 weeks.

The five challenges seeking innovative solutions from Gov Tech-Thon 2020 were

Suggest alternate crops or crop rotation for farmers during different seasons using artificial intelligence technology, considering the terrain and local challenges to increase the productivity.

Seed supply chain is a complex ecosystem involving various stakeholders. Address the issues of poor seed quality effectivelybytracing the seeds using BlockChain technology.

A mobile / web-based application for scanning, resizing and uploading documents (as required) in a single flow.

A tool for monitoring online exams from homes / institutions through a combination of remote-supervision software and web cam. System should ensure necessary authentication, control, fraud detection and compliance, using appropriate technology like AI / ML etc.

A self-learning tool for automating Vehicle Fitness Test procedures transparently.

To promote growing crops vertically to feed the growing population

The forthcoming decades pose multiple challenges of global food security, bio-energy supply, drastic climatic change, water shortages and sustained economic growth.

Unarguably, the demand for food will continue to grow. Food production must more than doubleitself in the next 40 years.Japan has been one of the early pioneers in vertical farming.

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Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers.

It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.

Advantages:

Vertical farming uses significantly less water and pesticides than traditional agricultural methods.

Being indoors, the crops aren't subject to seasons and hence give high productivity year-round. Lettuces, tomatoes and green crops can be produced through this practice.

Disadvantages:

The initial cost for establishing the verticalfarming system is too high.

To findings Pollination would be very difficult and costly.

Need to involve higher labour costs due to involve skilledworkforce will be unavailable initially.

Uninterrupted power supply required for vertical farming technology.