19.02.22

Indian Armys Bent-Toed Gecko

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A team of researchers recently discovered a new species of bent-toed gecko or lizard, from Umroi Military station in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya.

The new species of Gecko or lizard belongs to the family ofCyrtodactylus exercitus(exercitus means army, in Latin).

It has been named to honour the valour of Indian Army for their services to India.

These new species was discovered as part of efforts of research team, to uncover herpetofaunal diversity of North East India.

Genus Cyrtodactylus

The genus Cyrtodactylus is represented by about 320 species across the world. It is the third most speciose vertebrate genus worldwide. Members of the genus range from South Asia to Melanesia. There is high diversity of the species in south Asia. North East India has now become home to 16 species of bent-toed gecko.

The new species of bent-toed gecko or Cyrtodactylus, from family of Cyrtodactylus khasiensis, was discovered from Lunglei District of Mizoram. It is named as Cyrtodactylus lungleiensis. These geckos can be differentiated from other such species by a bent toe, which is similar to that of birds toe. The bent-toed geckos reside only in the wild amid rocks, bushes, and woods. This is the third discovery of a Cyrtodactylus species in Mizoram.

Assam: Project Arohan

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This project will be launched to provide guidance to students and boost their skills.

For this project, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met Anita Rajan, CEO of Tata STRIVE, to sought their cooperation on this project.

Tata STRIVE is a skill development programme of Tata Trusts.

Tata STRIVE

Tata STRIVE is an initiative of the TCIT. It was launched with the aim of Tata STRIVE started working under the parent head of Tata Trusts in FY 2017-18. It was started working a result of strategy of Simplification, synergy and scale of Tata Group. This move recognises close synergies between Tata STRIVE and broader community interventions of Tata Trusts. This initiative is skilling youth from underprivileged backgrounds by means of innovations in technology, methodology and pedagogy. Since 2014, 6.5 Lakh Individuals have experienced the advantage of Tata STRIVE.

New legal aid clinic for transgenders

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TheOdishaState Legal Services Authority (OSLSA), along with NGO Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII), launched a legal aid clinic for transgender people.

Under the initiative, various facilities such as support in terms of legal literacy, access to entitlements and services, including transgender identity cards, and protection and justice in cases of human rights violations will be provided to transgenders.

The legal aid clinic, the first-of-its-kind in Odisha and third in India, will benefit the transgender community in availing of free legal aid services.

A large proportion of violence and discrimination was perpetrated by general public (37%), followed by parents, sibling and other biological family members (17%).

T.N. Neutrino Observatory-Recent Developments

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Tamil Nadu has told the Supreme Court that it does not want the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) to be built in a vulnerable ecological zone in the Western Ghats, at the cost of wildlife and biodiversity, along with local opposition and public outcry against the project.

The proposal for the observatory, according to the Tamil Nadu government, would create permanent damage to the Western Ghats.

In June 2021, the Chief Minister met with the Prime Minister and requested that the project not be implemented. In September 2021 a delegation led by Member of Parliament T.R. Balu met with the Ministers of Industries and Forests to communicate the States opposition to the proposal.

According to the State, this corridor connects the Periyar Tiger Reserve on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border and the Mathikettan Shola National Park.

The project area also has ecological ties to the Srivilliputhur Meghamalai Tiger Reserve, which is located in the eastern habitats. It is home to tigers from the area, which assists in a genetic spread. The tigers movement would be affected by even the smallest disturbance. The area is also a significant watershed and catchment zone for the rivers Sambhal and Kottakudi.

Though the experiments in the observatory would be done a kilometer underground excavations, transporting, and tunneling would jeopardize the zones ecology.

So, going through with the implementation of the project will cause harm to this area.

The India Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a particle physics research project being constructed in Theni, Tamil Nadu, to study atmospheric neutrinos. This project is noteworthy because it is expected to give exact measurements of neutrino mixing parameters. The project has a multi-institutional partnership and is one of Indias most significant experimental particle physics programmes.

If and when this project will be completed, the worlds largest magnet will be used in the magnetized iron calorimeter experiment, which will be four times larger than the 12,500-tonne magnet used in the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nearly three-fold increase in very heavy rain incidences in Kerala since 2015: IMD data

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Nearly a three-fold increase was witnessed in incidences of very heavyrainfallacross districts ofKeralasince 2015, according to data maintained by theIndia Meteorological Department. While the coastal state experienced 43 very heavy rainfall events in 2015, the number of such extreme weather events increased to 115 in 2021, the weather office data showed.
Very heavy rainfall events are categorised as days that experience rainfall between 115.6 and 204.4 mm.

Forty-three incidences of very heavy rainfall were registered in 2015, of which 19 were in June; year 2016 registered 23, of which 16 alone were in June; 2017 registered 38 such events, with September witnessing 14 incidences.
The year 2018 registered 163 such events, with August recording 74 such events, June 35 and June 34. Next year, there were 117 incidences, with 71 being registered in August and 22 in July July.
In 2020, 110 events of very heavy rainfall were witnessed, 40 being recorded in August, followed by 26 in September and 20 in July. The year 2021 recorded 115 such incidences, of which 51 were recorded in May alone.

In Kerala, the total incidences of heavy rain (64.5-115.5 mm per day) in 2015 were 360 across 10 months, with the maximum being recorded in June (116), followed by July (61).

Upper Bhadra Project- New National Project

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Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai announced that the high-powered committee of central government gave national project statusto Upper Bhadra Project.

This is the first project from state to getthis status.

This status of national project will change irrigation scenario of
central Karnataka.

It will help the state in getting Rs 12,500 crore from the Centre.

It will speed up the ambitious irrigation project and help in transforming central Karnataka from being water scarce to water rich state.

Upper Bhadra Project

This project was launched with the aim of irrigating 2,25,515 hectares by means of micro-irrigation in drought-prone districts of Chitradurga, Chikkamagaluru, Davangere and Tumakuru. It will fill up 367 tanks under drought prone taluks of three districts through Chitradurga and Tumakuru branch canals. This project was launched with the objective of providing sustainable irrigation facility in Kharif season. Its other objectives include recharging groundwater table and diluting chemical contaminants of which Fluoride is predominant. It is worth Rs 16,125 crore project.

The Upper Bhadra Project is being undertaken by Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Ltd. It is a major lift irrigation scheme under implementation in Karnataka. In the first stage, this project would lift water, from Tunga to Bhadra. While in second stage, it would life water from Bhadra reservoir and provide it to a tunnel near Ajjampura. Water will be provided through gravity canal in Tungabhadra sub-basin of Krishna basin.

KCR to lay stone for two LI projects

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Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will address a public meeting inNarayankhed after laying foundation for Sangameshwara and Basaveshwara lift irrigation (LI) projects.

Prior to his visit to Maharashtra,KCRhad addressed two public meetings, one at Jangaon and the other at Yadadri Bhuvanagiri where he sharply criticised the Modi government for spreading hatred on religious lines.

MinisterT Harish Rao, who was expected to accompany KCR to Maharashtra, stayed back to monitor the arrangements for the CMs public meeting at Narayankhed. Sangameshwara and Basaveshwara would be built at a cost of 4,427 crore to provide irrigation water to 3.84 lakh acres in Andole, Sangareddy, Zaheerabad and Narayankhed constituencies.

MoHUA Approval to A.P under Garbage Free Cities

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Under the Garbage Free Cities vision, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved Rs 235 crore to Andhra Pradesh, the largest one-time approval of money for legacy dumpsite restoration.

The Centre will contribute Rs 77.66 crore towards this initiative, with the state covering the remainder.

What are legacy dumpsites

Legacy dumpsites, according to the housing and urban affairs ministry, are a severe environmental danger and contribute to air and water pollution. Legacy dumpsites are nothing but mineralized and decomposed organic waste which is mixed with sand, silt, and fragments of demolition and construction waste.

Cleaning these dumpsites is essential not only for changing the countrys landscape but also for addressing public health and environmental problems.

About the mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 on October 1, 2021, with the goal of achieving Garbage Free Cities by the year 2026.

One of the primary aims of the Mission is to clean 16 crore metric tonnes of legacy garbage dumpsites which are occupying almost 15,000 acres of municipal land.

At present 118 metric tonnes of uncleaned legacy wastes is present across the state occupying over 463 acres of land.

Conclusion

At present, dumpsite clearance is a priority with more than 260 cities from five different states and Union Territories have submitted their legacy waste clean-up action plans to the government, showing their dedication towards the vision of garbage-free cities.

Goa-based biodiversity contests pique national, global interest

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Goa-based youth organisation, Abhivyakti Panaji, recently organised a national-level competition to raise awareness aboutbiodiversityand ecological conservation. The competition was held over 45 days and it saw participation from individuals from 18 states and union territories.

The photographs, memes and posters related to biodiversity and ecological conservation, which were shared by Abhivyakti Panaji on its online platforms, have generatedinterestfrom over 20 countries across the globe.

The programme Rashtriy Yuva Jagruti, was organised for the fifth year in association with the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) from January 1 to February 19. It comprised competitions of photography and creating digital posters, reels, memes, monologues and micro tales.

Maharashtra: Over 1 lakh second appeals filed by citizens in 2021 to get information

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Theinformationreceived from theState Information Commissionerhas suggested that as many as 1,00,433 second appeals have been filed by citizens acrossMaharashtrain 2021 in their pursuit to get the required information from the variousgovernment agencies. This is around 20% rise over the last three years (2018, 19 and 20) which saw an average of 80,000 appeals each year. Ideally, the applicants should get information at first instance and should not even have to make the first appeal with the information officers of concerned government departments.

However, the statistics suggest that on one hand, when the purpose of theRTIAct is to combat corruption and irregularities to benefit common citizens, unfortunately on the other hand so many second appeals are indicative of the fact that the government departments are refusing information to the applicants on a very large scale compared to earlier years.

The Information commissioners on eight benches across Maharashtra are responsible for the growing pendency as well as the refusal of information to the citizens, alleged social activist Jeetendra Ghadge, whose RTI application to the state chief information commissioner’s office has revealed that the overall pendency of appeals had risen from 32,950 in 2018 to 87,577 in 2021.