General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2019

Aug 2019

Mar 23, 2022

New Delhi World's Most Polluted Capital City

New Delhi was ranked the world's most polluted capital city for a second consecutive year followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh), N'Djamena (Chad), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Muscat (Oman).
Of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021, 12 were in India.
The annual PM2.5 concentration averages in 48 per cent of India's cities exceeded 50 Ig/m3 or more than 10 times the World Health Organization's (WHO) air quality guidelines.
These startling facts came to light in the 2021 World Air Quality Report according to which, only three per cent of cities and no single country has met the latest WHO PM2.5 annual air quality guidelines.
IQAir's 2021 World Air Quality Report is the first major global air quality report based on updated annual WHO air quality guidelines for PM2.5.

Mar 22, 2022

How Cyclone Asani Got its Name and Sri Lanka's Role in Naming It

Cyclone Asani, which is expected to form over the north Andaman Sea, is the year's first cyclone and the first to form in the month of March in nearly two decades. Expected to bring heavy rainfall in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the cyclone was named 'Asani' by Sri Lanka. In Sinhala, which is one of the official languages, and the most widely-spoken in the country, 'Asani' translates to 'wrath.'
In all, there are six regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) authorised to issued advisories for and name tropical cyclones. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), is among the six RSMCs, and provides advisories to a dozen countries, besides India. These are: Bangladesh, Iran, Malvides, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen.
According to a list posted by the IMD in April 2020, there are 169 names that can be used for nomenclature of cyclones; each country has proposed 13 titles. These are listed country-wise, and the nations are arranged alphabetically. The names are picked sequentially in such a way that the countries, one after the other, get to decide names.
This time, it was Sri Lanka's pick, and hence Cyclone Asani came to be known as such. India allots names for cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Mar 18, 2022

Delhi Govt. Launches 'My EV' Portal for Registering and Purchasing E-autos

The Delhi government launched an online 'My EV' (My Electric Vehicle) portal for the purchase and registration of electric autos in Delhi. It is accessible to all users on the website of the transport department of Delhi. Under the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, a 5% interest rate subvention will be provided on the purchase of e-autos on loans and become the first state to provide such a facility. The web portal was developed with the collaboration of the Delhi government and Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL).
CESL empanelled six Financial Institutions (FIs) – Mahindra Finance, Akasa Finance, Mannapuram Finance, RevFin, and Prest Loans to provide loans to EVs at attractive terms. The Interest subvention on the purchase of EVs is in addition to the applicable purchase incentive of INR 30,000 and scrapping incentives of up to INR 7,500 under the Delhi EV Policy. The consumer will be able to avail of up to INR 25,000 additional benefits.

Nitin Gadkari Launches India's First Green Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, launched the world's most advanced technology – developed green hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), Toyota Mirai in New Delhi.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd and International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) are conducting a Pilot Project to study and evaluate the world's most advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) Toyota Mirai which runs on hydrogen, on Indian roads and climatic conditions.
This is a first of its kind project in India which aims to create a Green Hydrogen based ecosystem in the country by creating awareness about the unique utility of Green Hydrogen and FCEV technology.
Green Hydrogen can be generated from renewable energy and abundantly available biomass. Introduction and adoption of technology to tap into the green hydrogen's potential will play a key role in securing a clean and affordable energy future for India.

Mar 17, 2022

Rejuvenation Project of 13 Rivers

Ministry for Forest, Environment, and Climate Change announced the project for the rejuvenation of 13 major rivers in the country.
The 13 Rivers that will form part of the rejuvenation project include:
Himalayan Rivers: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Yamuna, and Brahmaputra.
Deccan or Peninsular Rivers: Narmada, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, & Cauvery.
Inland drained Category River: Luni
These 13 rivers cover nearly 57.45% of India's geographical area.
The river rejuvenation project seeks to achieve the following four goals:
Sustainable management of rivers and their landscapes
Biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration
Improving sustainable livelihoods
Knowledge management
The cost of the project is projected to be 19,342.62 crores and will take five years to be implemented.

Mar 15, 2022

Mumbai Becomes First South Asian City to Detail Net-zero Roadmap

Mumbai announced detailed plans to zero out carbon emissions by 2050, a target that puts it two decades ahead of India's national goal and makes it the first city in South Asia to set such a timeline.
In the plan announced, India's financial center, home to south Asia's biggest corporations, stock bourses and the central bank, proposed exhaustive changes to the way it manages energy, water, air, waste, green spaces and transport for its 19 million residents.

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