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Heat Waves: Environment for UPSC Exams

Heat Waves:

• A Heat Wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western parts of India.
• Heat Waves typically occur between March and June, and in some rare cases even extend till July.
• The extreme temperatures and resultant atmospheric conditions adversely affect people living in these regions as they cause physiological stress, sometimes resulting in death.
• As per Indian Metrological Department(IMD):
• Heat Wave need not be considered till maximum temperature of a station reaches atleast 40C for Plains and atleast 30C for Hilly regions.
• When normal maximum temperature of a station is less than or equal to 40*C Heat Wave Departure from normal is 5C to 6C Severe Heat Wave Departure from normal is 7C or more.
• When normal maximum temperature of a station is more than 40C Heat Wave Departure from normal is 4C to 5C Severe Heat Wave Departure from normal is 6C or more
• When actual maximum temperature remains 45C or more irrespective of normal maximum temperature, heat waves should be declared.
• Health Impact of Heat Waves:
• Heat Cramps: Ederna (swelling) and Syncope (Fainting) generally accompanied by fever below 39C.
• Heat Exhaustion: Fatigue, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps and sweating.
• Heat Stoke: Body temperatures of 40C or more along with delirium, seizures or coma. This is a potential fatal condition

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Ramsar Convention: Environment for UPSC Exams

Ramsar Convention:

• The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
• It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.
• Every three years, representatives of the Contracting Parties meet as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), the policy-making organ of the Convention.
• The most recent COP12 was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 2015.
• COP13 will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2018.
• The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other organisations known as International Organization Partners (IOPs).
• Birdlife International
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
• Wetlands International
• WWF International
• Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)
• These organizations support the work of the Convention by providing expert technical advice, helping implement field studies, and providing financial support.
• The IOPs also participate regularly as observers in all meetings of the Conference of the Parties and as full members of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel.
• The 2nd of February each year is World Wetlands Day, marking the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971.
• The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.
   

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CITES: Environment for UPSC Exams

CITES:

• CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments.
• The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
• It is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.
• It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force in 1975.
• Participation is voluntary, and countries that have agreed to be bound by the Convention are known as Parties.
• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework respected by each Party, which must adopt their own domestic legislation to implement CITES at the national level.
• Roughly 5,000 species of animals and 29,000 species of plants are protected by CITES against over-exploitation through international trade. Each protected species or population is included in one of three lists, called Appendices.
• The Appendix that lists a species or population reflects the extent of the threat to it and the controls that apply to the trade.
• Species are proposed for inclusion in or deletion from the Appendices at meetings of the Conference of the Parties (CoP), which are held approximately once every three years, the most recent of which was COP 17 in Johannesburg, South Africa from 24 September to 5 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Center.
• Appendix I, about 1200 species, are species that are threatened with extinction and are or may be affected by trade.
• Appendix II, about 21,000 species, that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but may become so unless trade of such species is subject to strict regulation.
• Appendix III, about 170 species, are species that are listed after one member country has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade in a species. The species are not necessarily threatened with extinction globally.

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Larsen Ice Shelf: Environment for UPSC Exams

Larsen C:

• The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long, fringing ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
   
• It is named for Captain Carl Anton Larsen, the master of the Norwegian whaling vessel Jason, who sailed along the ice front in 1893.
   
• The Larsen Ice Shelf is a series of shelves that occupy distinct embayments along the coast from north to south, the segments are called Larsen A (the smallest), Larsen B, and Larsen C (the largest) by researchers.
   
• Further south, Larsen D and the much smaller Larsen E, F and G are also named.
   
• The breakup of the ice shelf since the mid-1990s has been widely reported, with the collapse of Larsen A in 1995 and Larsen B in 2002 being particularly dramatic.
   
• Larsen C has developed a rift 175 kilometres long and half-a-kilometre wide. A chunk of the shelf is poised to break off soon. When that happens, the ‘chunk’ will be an iceberg over 5,000 sq. km across and 350m high – more than four times the height of Delhi’s Qutub Minar and over an area one-and-a-half times the size of Goa.
   
• If the glaciers held in check by Larsen C spilt into the Antarctic Ocean, it would lift the global water mark by about 10 cm, the researchers said.
   
• Larsen C is the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica, with an area of about 50,000 km2.

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Zingiber Pseudosquarrosum: Environment for UPSC Exams

Zingiber Pseudosquarrosum

• Scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have found a new species of Zingiber (commonly referred as Ginger) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
   
• The species Zingiber pseudosquarrosum, new to science, belonging to genus Zingiber, was already used by the local Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups ( PVTGs) of the Andamans for its medicinal values.
   
• The fresh extract of fleshy tuberous roots is used to treat abdominal pain and anti-helminthic troubles by Nicobarese and certain other tribal communities.
   
• Like other species of Gingers, this new species is edible and can be propagated vegetatively from the rhizome.
   
• Species belonging to genera Zingiber are monocotyledonous flowering plants whose rhizomes are widely used as a spice or a traditional medicine.
   
• There are 141 species of genus Zingiber are distributed throughout tropical Asia, including China, Japan and tropical Australia. Of these, 20 are reported from India, which include seven from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
   
• Most of the species of these Gingers are endemic to India.

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Government Plan Programme Policies for UPSC Exam

::Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana::

“Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana” (PMKSY will have an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore over a period of five years (2015-16 to 2019-20). The allocation for the current financial year is Rs. 5300 crore. The major objective of the PMKSY is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet ko pani), improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water, enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop), enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices by exploring the feasibility of reusing treated municipal based water for peri-urban agriculture and attract greater private investment in precision irrigation system. The scheme also aims at bringing concerned Ministries/ Departments/ Agencies/ Research and Financial Institutions engaged in creation/use/recycling/potential recycling of water, brought under a common platform, so that a comprehensive and holistic view of the entire "water cycle" is taken into account and proper water budgeting is done for all sectors namely, household, agriculture and industries.

The programme architecture of PMKSY aims at a 'decentralized State level planning and execution' structure, in order to allow States to draw up a District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan (SIP). DIP will have holistic developmental perspective of the district outlining medium to long term developmental plans integrating three components namely, water sources, distribution network and water use application of the district to be prepared at two levels - the block and the district. All structures created under the schemes will be geotagged. The programme will be supervised and monitored at the national level by an Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister with Union Ministers of all concerned Ministries. A National Executive Committee (NEC) is to be constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee programme implementation, allocation of resources, inter ministerial coordination, monitoring and performance assessment, addressing administrative issues etc. At the state level the scheme is to be administered by a State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) to be Chaired by the Chief Secretary of the respective States. The committee will have all authority to sanction the project and also monitor the progress of the scheme. At the district level their shall be a district level implementation committee for ensuring last mile coordination a the field level.

It is expected that PMKSY will provide convergence to existing schemes of water management, thus bringing efficiency to the use of water.

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Government Plan Programme Policies for UPSC Exam

::National Skill Development Mission::

The National Skill Development Mission will provide a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country. The Mission will have a three-tiered, high powered decision making structure. At its apex, the Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction. The Steering Committee, chaired by Minister in Charge of Skill Development, will review the Mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the Governing Council. The Mission Directorate, with Secretary, Skill Development as Mission Director, will ensure implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments. The Mission will also run select sub-missions in high priority areas. Further, the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Directorate of Training will function under the overall guidance of the Mission. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) provides a natural home for the Mission, organically linking all three decision making levels and facilitating linkages to all Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.
The majority of India’s vast population is of working age. Urgent and effective action to Skill India is needed to capture the demographic potential of India’s youth. Based on data from the 68th Round of NSSO, it is estimated that only 4.69 percent of India’s total workforce has undergone formal skill training, compared with 52 percent in the USA, 68 percent in the UK, 75 percent in Germany, 80 percent in Japan and 96 percent in South Korea. Despite efforts to hasten and scale up skilling through the creation of the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) in 2009, the launch of the NSDC in the same year, and creation of the NSDA in 2013, progress to date has been sporadic. India continues to face a skilling challenge of vast proportions. Based on the Census 2011 and NSSO (68th Round) data, it is estimated that 104 million fresh entrants to the workforce will require skill training by 2022, and 298 million of the existing workforce will require additional skill training over the same time period.
Acknowledging the formidable scale of this challenge, the government has notified the creation of the first dedicated Department of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on 31st July, 2014, which became a full-fledged Ministry on 9th Nov, 2014, with NSDA, NSDC and NSDF under its purview. Further, the Training and Apprenticeship verticals, comprising of the entire network of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Apprenticeship Training schemes, were transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on 16th April, 2015. These changes have paved the way for a new skilling ecosystem, with closer coordination across the public and private sectors.

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Bird and Butterfly Survey: Environment for UPSC Exams

Bird and Butterfly Survey

• The Forest Department began a four-day bird and butterfly survey at the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) recently. This is for the first time since 2008 that a bird survey is being organised in the wildlife reserve.
   
• According to forest officials, the endeavour is being undertaken simultaneously in 25 camps that have been set up in the Periyar, Thekkady, and Vallakkadavu forest ranges.
   
• Spearheaded by the PTR Research range, the survey has been organised in association with the Trivandrum Natural History Society and the Kottayam Nature Society.
   
• The distinctive features of PTR attract a lot of birds. This is the converging place of almost all the ecosystems in the Western Ghats, including evergreen forests, lush meadows, deciduous forests, and the extensive Thekkady lake.
   
• The last butterfly survey in the PTR was conducted in 2014 during which over 250 species of butterflies had been recorded. These included rare ones such as Palm King, Baby Five-ring, Evershed’s Ace, Spotted Royal, and Pale Green Awlet.

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"Housing for All by 2022" Mission - National Mission for Urban Housing

“Housing for All by 2022” aimed for urban areas with following components/options to States/Union Territories and cities:-

a) Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource;

b) Promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy;

c) Affordable housing in partnership with Public & Private sectors and

d) Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

Central grant of Rs. one lakh per house, on an average, will be available under the slum rehabilitation programme. A State Government would have flexibility in deploying this slum rehabilitation grant to any slum rehabilitation project taken for development using land as a resource for providing houses to slum dwellers. Under the Credit Linked Interest Subsidy component, interest subsidy of 6.5 percent on housing loans availed upto a tenure of 15 years will be provided to EWS/LIG categories, wherein the subsidy pay-out on NPV basis would be about Rs.2.3 lakh per house for both the categories. Central assistance at the rate of Rs.1.5 lakh per house for EWS category will be provided under the Affordable Housing in Partnership and Beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement. State Government or their para statals like Housing Boards can take up project of affordable housing to avail the Central Government grant.

The scheme will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme except the credit linked subsidy component, which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme. The Mission also prescribes certain mandatory reforms for easing up the urban land market for housing, to make adequate urban land available for affordable housing. Houses constructed under the mission would be allotted in the name of the female head of the households or in the joint name of the male head of the household and his wife. The scheme will cover the entire urban area consisting of 4041 statutory towns with initial focus on 500 Class I cities and it will be implemented in three phases as follows, viz. Phase-I (April 2015 - March 2017) to cover 100 Cities to be selected from States/UTs as per their willingness; Phase - II (April 2017 - March 2019) to cover additional 200 Cities and Phase-III (April 2019 - March 2022) to cover all other remaining Cities. However, there will be flexibility in covering number of cities in various phases and inclusion of additional cities may be considered by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in case there is demand from States and cities and have capacity to include them in earlier phases. Credit linked subsidy component of the scheme would be implemented across the country in all statutory towns from the very beginning.

Dimension of the task at present is estimated at 2 crore. Exact number of houses, though, would depend on demand survey for which all States/Cities will undertake detailed demand assessment for assessing actual demand by integrating Aadhar number, Jan Dhan Yojana account numbers or any such identification of intended beneficiaries. A Technology Sub-mission under the Mission would be set up to facilitate adoption of modern, innovative and green technologies and building material for faster and quality construction of houses. The Technology Sub-Mission will also facilitate preparation and adoption of layout designs and building plans suitable for various geo-climatic zones. It will also assist States/Cities in deploying disaster resistant and environment friendly technologies. The Technology Sub-Mission will coordinate with various regulatory and administrative bodies for mainstreaming and up scaling deployment of modern construction technologies and material in place of conventional construction. The Technology Sub-Mission will also coordinate with other agencies working in green and energy efficient technologies, climate change etc.

The Technology Sub-Mission will also work on the following aspects: i) Design & Planning ii) Innovative technologies & materials iii) Green buildings using natural resources and iv) Earthquake and other disaster resistant technologies and designs. In the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Mission will provide flexibility to States for choosing best options amongst four verticals of the Mission to meet the demand of housing in their states. The process of project formulation and approval in accordance with Mission Guidelines would be left to the States, so that projects can be formulated, approved and implemented faster. The Mission will provide technical and financial support in accordance to the Guidelines to the States to meet the challenge of urban housing. The Mission will also compile best practices in terms of affordable housing policies of the States/UTs designs and technologies adopted by States and Cities with an objective to spread best practices across States and cities and foster cross learning. The Mission will also develop a virtual platform to obtain suggestions and inputs on house design, materials, technologies and other elements of urban housing.

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Indian Leather Development Programme

The ‘Indian Leather Development Programme’ (ILDP) a central sector scheme, is under implementation with an approved outlay of Rs. 990.36 crore, during 12th Plan period with the following six sub-schemes:

up-gradation/modernization of leather units as investment grant @30% to small & micro units
1) Integrated Development of Leather Sector (IDLS) - Assistance is provided for technology and @20% to other units through nationalized banks with maximum assistance of Rs.2 crore for each product line.
2) Human Resource Development (HRD) - Assistance is provided for placement linked skill development training to unemployed persons @ Rs. 15,000 per person and for skill up-gradation training to employed workers @ Rs. 5,000 per employee. For training of trainer’s assistance@ Rs. 2 lakh per trainer is provided. The placement of 75% of trained persons is mandatory for availing assistance related to skill development training component.
3) Mega Leather Cluster scheme - The sub-scheme aims at providing infrastructure support to the Leather Industry by establishment of Mega Leather Cluster. The minimum land area required for Mega Leather Cluster is 25 acres to be set up without tanneries and 40 acres with tanneries. Assistance upto 50% of the project cost is provided by the Government of India under the scheme, excluding cost of land and with maximum assistance limited to Rs. 125 crore.
4) Support to Artisan scheme - Assistance is provided for Support to Artisans for formation of Self-help groups (SHGs), product development, capacity building, providing centralized common facilities centers and marketing linkages.
5) Leather Technology, Innovation & Environmental Issues - Assistance is provided for up-gradation/installation of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) @ 50% of the project cost. Pilot Projects under Technology Benchmarking for leather units, organizing Environment Related Workshops and Pilot projects for Solid Waste Management are also eligible for assistance under the scheme.
6) Establishment of Institutional Facilities – Providing infrastructure by way of establishment of two new branches of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), with assistance of Rs. 100 crore for each branch, in the States of Punjab and Gujrat.

Leather industry and tanning activity in particular, all over the World is linked to environmental concerns. Footwear and Leather products sector has high employment potential and there is a demand for skilled and trained workforce in the footwear manufacturing, design, marketing and retails sector.

To address the human resource constraint and environmental concerns being faced by Indian Leather Industry, two sub-schemes of the Indian Leather Development Programme (ILDP), namely ‘Human Resource Development’ and ‘Leather Technology, Innovation and Environmental Issues’, respectively, are under implementation, during the 12th plan period, the details of which are as under:

(i) Human Resource Development (HRD) – During 12th Five Year Plan, total 3,73,916 unemployed persons have been trained and 3,00,113 trainees have been given placement in leather and footwear industry, so far. Further, under Placement Linked Skill Development Training, a target of 1,44,000 unemployed persons has been set for 2016-17. In addition 6000 workers have been provided skill up-gradation training. The total funds released under HRD sub-scheme of ILDP during 12th Five year Plan is Rs. 542.56 crore.

(ii) Leather Technology, Innovation & Environmental Issues - During 12th Five Year Plan, assistance has been provided to 2 CETP projects having Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) technology at SIDCO-II and Dindigul (Tamil Nadu) out of 6 the CETPs approved during 11th Five Year Plan. Rs. 2.27 crore and Rs. 12.53 crore have been released for these projects respectively. One Project of Solid Waste Management in Calcutta Leather Complex has been completed with GOI assistance of Rs. 95.12 lakh under ILDP.

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Kyoto Protocol: Environment for UPSC Exams

Kyoto Protocol

• The The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
• Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities."
• The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords." Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012.
• In Doha, Qatar, on 8 December 2012, the "Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol" was adopted:
• New commitments for Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol who agreed to take on commitments in a second commitment period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020;
• A revised list of greenhouse gases (GHG) to be reported on by Parties in the second commitment period; and
• Amendments to several articles of the Kyoto Protocol which specifically referenced issues pertaining to the first commitment period and which needed to be updated for the second commitment period.uring the second commitment period, Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020; however, the composition of Parties in the second commitment period is different from the first.
• During the second commitment period, Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020; however, the composition of Parties in the second commitment period is different from the first.
• Under the Protocol, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms
• Emission Trading
• Clean Development Mechanism
• Joint Implementation
• The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. In the first commitment period, the Fund was financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities.

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Sloth Bear: Environment for UPSC Exams

Sloth Bear

•  The sloth bear also known as the labiated bear, is an insectivorous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent.
• The Indian Sloth Bear (Melursus Ursinus) can easily be recognized by his shaggy black coat, long muzzle, protruding lip and by a white V-shaped patch on the chest.
• His diet consists of fruits, berries, grasses, flowers, honey, insect larvae and other insects. He has a particular proclivity to “vacuum” up termites and ants using his long snout.
• For over 400 years, the Sloth Bear had been a target for human exploitation. A nomadic tribe known as the Kalandars began ‘dancing’ sloth bears for the emperors during the Mughal era.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable.
• Sloth bears breed during spring and early summer and give birth near the beginning of winter.
• The sloth bear is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides for their legal protection. International trade of the sloth bear is prohibited as it is listed in Appendix I of the
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
• They are threatened by habitat loss and are sometimes captured for use in performances or hunted because of their aggressive behaviour and destruction of crops

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Olive Ridley Turtle: Environment for UPSC Exams

Olive Ridley Turtle

• The olive ridley sea turtle also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They can also be found in warm waters of Atlantic ocean.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable.
• They are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
• These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• Growing to about 2 feet in length, and 50 kg in weight, the Olive ridley gets its name from its olive colored carapace, which is heart-shaped and rounded.
• They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers. The coast of Orissa in India is the largest mass nesting site for the Olive-ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica
• Olive-ridleys face serious threats across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities such as turtle unfriendly fishing practices, development and exploitation of nesting beaches for ports, and tourist centres.
• Though international trade in these turtles and their products is banned under CITES Appendix I, they are still extensively poached for their meat, shell and leather, and their eggs, though illegal to harvest, have a significantly large market around the coastal regions.
• However, the most severe threat they face is the accidental killing of adult turtles through entanglement in trawl nets and gill nets due to uncontrolled fishing during their mating season around nesting beaches.
• To reduce accidental killing in India, the Orissa government has made it mandatory for trawls to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), a net specially designed with an exit cover which allows the turtles to escape while retaining the catch.

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Automotive Mission Plan, 2016-26

The Automotive Mission Plan [AMP 2026] envisages creation of 65 million jobs.

The salient features of the Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26 [AMP 2026] are:-

(i) The Indian Automotive industry to be a top job creator – 65 million additional jobs.
(ii) The Indian Automotive industry to be the prime mover of Manufacturing sector and “Make in India” Programme.
(iii) The Indian Automotive industry to aim at increasing exports of vehicles by 5 times and components by 7.5 times.
(iv) For success of AMP 2026, there is a need of coordinated and stable policy regime for the automotive sector.
(v) Specific interventions are envisaged to sustain and improve manufacturing competitiveness and to address challenges of environment and safety.

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SWAYAM Prabha-Educational Contents through DTH

Government has approved a project to launch the ‘SWAYAM Prabha’-a project for operationalising 32 Direct to Home (DTH) Television Channels for providing high quality educational content to all teachers, students and citizens across the country interested in lifelong learning. There will be new content of four hours every day, which would be telecast six times a day allowing the student to choose the time of his/her convenience.

The main features of SWAYAM Prabha would be as under:-

(i) Curriculum based course contents covering diverse disciplines such as arts, science, commerce, performing arts, social sciences and humanities subjects, engineering, technology, law, medicine, agriculture etc.
(ii) Covers all level of education: School education, undergraduate, postgraduate, engineering, out of school children, vocational courses and teacher training.  The 32 channels are proposed to be launched before September 2016. Initially the programmes will be in English but with the passage of time the programmes will be launched in regional languages also.

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Microbeads : Environment for UPSC Exams

Microbeads

• Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than five millimeters in their largest dimension.

• They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene.

• They are used in exfoliating personal care products, toothpastes and in biomedical and health-science research.

• Microbeads can cause plastic particle water pollution and pose an environmental hazard for aquatic animals in freshwater and ocean water.

• In the US, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 phases out microbeads in rinse off cosmetics by July 2017. The Netherlands was the first country to ban cosmetic microbeads in 2014.

• Microbeads are washed down the drain, can pass unfiltered through the sewage treatment plants and make their way into rivers and canals, resulting in plastic particle water pollution.

• A variety of wildlife, from small fish, amphibians and turtles to birds and larger mammals, mistake microbeads for their food source.

• This ingestion of plastics introduces the potential for toxicity not only to these animals but to other species higher in the food chain.

• Greenpeace refers to it as a “toxic time bomb”. Once in the marine environment microplastics can both release and absorb toxins, which can then move throughout the foodchain.

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Climate Financing Initiatives : Environment for UPSC Exams

Climate Financing Initiatives

• Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing, which may be drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing.

• It is critical to addressing climate change because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions, notably in sectors that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases.

• It is equally important for adaptation, for which significant financial resources will be similarly required to allow countries to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Different types of climate finance initiatives:

• Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral body of governments, civil society, banks etc. acting as a financial mechanism to environmental conventions like UNFCCC etc.

• Green Climate Fund was created by UNFCCC in 2011 as an operating entity of financial mechanism of the UNFCCC.

• Carbon taxes and cess by the national governments.

• Clean Development Mechanism – It involves investment by developed countries in emission reduction projects in developing countries

• Joint Implementation (JI) - JI enables developed countries to carry out emission reduction projects in other developed countries.

• Perform Achieve Trade (PAT) - It is a market-based trading scheme under National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). It involves trading in energy efficiency certificates to offset emissions.

• Climate Bond Initiative- It is an international, investor- focused not-for-profit organization It's the only organisation working to mobilize $100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions.

• Green Bond- The capital for green bond is raised to fund ‘green’ projects like renewable energy, emission reductions etc. First Green Bond was issued by World Bank in 2007. There is no standard definition of green bonds as of now.

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Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules)-2016

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules), 2016

• Environment minister has recently unveiled draft rules for the prevention of cruelty to dogs, seeking to make dog breeders and sellers accountable.

• The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2016, propose to make it mandatory for all dog breeders and dog breeding establishments to register themselves with the animal welfare bodies of state governments.

• They also define the breeding requirements/conditions for sale, the requirements to be met by the breeders and the establishments used for breeding or housing dogs.

• They address issues such as health requirements and housing facilities for dogs, conditions for their sale, breeding, micro-chipping and vaccination.

• The rules also make it mandatory for dog breeders to maintain proper records of dogs, their breeds, micro-chip numbers, sale and purchase, death and rehabilitation etc.

• As per rules, every dog breeder would be required to submit yearly reports to the state boards regarding animals sold, traded, bartered or given away in the previous year.

• An inspector authorised by the State Board can inspect the establishment.

• Non-compliance of the proposed Rules will lead to cancellation of the registration of the dog breeder.

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Aerosol : Environment for UPSC Exams

• The Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere. When these particles are sufficiently large, we notice their presence as they scatter and absorb sunlight. Their scattering of sunlight can reduce visibility (haze) and redden sunrises and sunsets.
• An aerosol is a colloid of fine solid particles or liquid droplets, in air or another gas.
• Aerosols can be natural (fog, forest exudates and geyser steam) or artificial (haze, dust, particulate air pollutants and smoke).
• Aerosols interact both directly and indirectly with the Earth's radiation budget and climate.
• As a direct effect, the aerosols scatter sunlight directly back into space.
• As an indirect effect, aerosols in the lower atmosphere can modify the size of cloud particles, changing how the clouds reflect and absorb sunlight, thereby affecting the Earth's energy budget.
• Aerosols also can act as sites for chemical reactions to take place (heterogeneous chemistry). The most significant of these reactions are those that lead to the destruction of stratospheric ozone.
• During winter in the Polar Regions, aerosols grow to form polar stratospheric clouds. The large surface areas of these cloud particles provide sites for chemical reactions to take place. These reactions lead to the formation of large amounts of reactive chlorine and, ultimately, to the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere.
• Three types of atmospheric aerosol have a significant effect on Earth's climate: volcanic; desert dust; and human-made.
• Volcanic aerosol forms in the stratosphere after an eruption as droplets of sulfuric acid that can last up to two years, and reflect sunlight, lowering temperature.
• Desert dusts, mineral particles blown to high altitudes, absorb heat and may be responsible for inhibiting storm cloud formation.
• Human-made sulfate aerosols, primarily from burning oil and coal, affect the behavior of clouds.

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