General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2019

Aug 2019

Jan 11, 2020

Environment Ministry Notifies New Wetland Rules

In a major decision, the union environment ministry notified the new Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 which prohibit a range of activities in wetlands like setting up and expansion of industries, waste dumping and discharge of effluents.
Environmental experts, however, are unhappy as they felt the new wetland rules seriously weakens the existing regulations.
The new rules will replace the 2010 version of the rules. The draft of the Wetland Rules was first presented by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in April 2016. But they were severely criticized by conservationists who had alleged that the draft rules don't mention anything about a national regulator and don't list specific activities prohibited in these ecologically sensitive areas.

IEA Launches First In-Depth Review Of India's Energy Policies

In partnership with NITI Aayog, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released the first in-depth review of India's energy policies.
The report highlights the achievements of India's energy policies and provides recommendations to support the government's goals of promoting well-functioning energy markets and boosting deployment of renewables.
Dr Fatih Birol (Executive Director of the IEA) presented the key findings of the IEA in-depth review of India's energy policies in New Delhi in the presence of Shri Pralhad Joshi (Minister of Coal), Shri Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel), Shri R K Singh (Minister for Power and Renewable Energy), Dr Rajiv Kumar (Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog), Shri Amitabh Kant (CEO of NITI Aayog), key energy secretaries, ambassadors, think tanks and the media.

10 New Bird Taxa Discovered In Islands Of Wallacea

Birds are the best known class of animals, and since 1999, only five or six new species have been described each year on average. Recently, a joint research team from NUS and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) made a quantum leap in the discovery of cryptic avian diversity by uncovering five bird species and five subspecies new to science.
The team, led by Associate Professor Frank Rheindt from NUS Biological Sciences, found the birds in three small island groups off Sulawesi, Indonesia. The islands are situated in Indonesia's Wallacea region, an archipelago at the interface between the Oriental and Australian biogeographical realms, named after Sir Alfred Wallace, who was the most famous historical collector exploring the area.

Jan 10, 2020

Australia Bushfire Crisis: 24 Killed, Over 6 Mn Hectares Of Land Burned

Australia's raging bushfire crisis, one of the worst in its history, has killed 24 people, burned over six million hectares of land, reduced to ashes hundreds of homes and pushed many species towards extinction. Authorities on March issued fresh warnings and evacuation orders in the country's southeast as hot and windy conditions threatened to regenerate huge bushfires.
Around 23 fires were still burning in Victoria, according the state's emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp.

Chinese PADDLEFISH is Extinct

According to the country's fisheries experts native to China's Yangtze River, the Chinese paddlefish, one of the largest freshwater fish species which had survived for millions of years, has been declared extinct, but haven't been spotted since 2003.
The fish could grow up to 7 metres in length and weigh as much as 450 kg and is known for its silver-coloured body and long snout.

Jan 09, 2020

2019 7th warmest year recorded in country since 1901: IMD

2019 was recorded as the seventh warmest year since 1901, but the heating was substantially lower than the highest warming observed in 2016.
In its report for 2019, the IMD said 1,562 people died due to extreme weather events -avalanches floods, heat wave and thunderstorms. The figure is based on media reports and government agencies.
Bihar was the most adversely affected state during the year, which reported about 650 lives due to heavy rain and floods, heat wave, lightning, thunderstorm and hailstorm.

Jan 08, 2020

Indian Cobra Genome Sequenced In Search For New Antivenom

A large international team of researchers affiliated with corporate and academic institutions has sequenced the genome of the Indian cobra. In their paper published in the journal Nature Genetics, the group describes their goal of using the sequenced genome to develop an antivenom.
Every year, approximately 5 million people around the world are bitten by venomous snakes—approximately 400,000 lose limbs and 100,000 lose their lives. Scientists have identified what they call "the big four" of snakes—the four species of venomous snakes that inflict the most harm.

Jan 07, 2020

First-of-its kind turtle rehab centre comes up in Bihar

A first-of-its-kind rehabilitation centre for freshwater turtles will be inaugurated in Bihar's Bhagalpur forest division in January 2020. The rehab centre, spread over half a hectare, will be able to shelter 500 turtles at a time.
The need to build such a centre was felt after several turtles were found severely wounded and sick when rescued from smuggles by rescue teams.
Many turtles were severely injured, sick or dead, while being rescued from smugglers. This centre will play a significant role in treating these animals and their proper upkeep before being returned to their natural habitat.
Their tied feet were found and many of them tightly shut in a small pressure cooker used for cooking food on one occasion.

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