Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 24 March 2022


Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

Centre launches water reuse project on World Water Day

  • On World Water Day, Union minister for Jal Shakti launched a Sujalam2.0grey water recycling project.
  • A staggering 31,000 million tonne of grey water a day isdischarged by rural India alone, which is enough to tide over droughtif evenly stored across the country.

About World Water Day:

  • It is held on 22ndMarch every year since 1993, it focuses on theimportance of freshwater.
  • 2022 theme is “Groundwater, making the invisible visible”.
  • Grey water is defined as the wastewater that includes water from baths, showers, hand basins, washing machines, dishwashersand kitchen sinks, but excludes streams from toilets.
  • More than 70 percent of freshwater across rural households in India gets converted to greywater.

Significance of grey water recycling:

  • It can prevent potential harm to the environment.
  • It also can reduce the demand for freshwater.
  • Reliable water resource as unlike rainwater harvesting, grey water is not dependent on unpredictable and variable rainfall.

Section 144 of CrPC

  • Section 144 has been imposed in Bodhan town in Telangana after protests turned violent over the installation of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at Ambedkar junction in the town by the Shiv Sena and BJP workers.

About:

  • Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area. According to the law, every member of such ‘unlawful assembly’ can be booked for engaging in rioting.  
  • Section 144 is imposed in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger of some event that has the potential to cause trouble or damage to human life or property. Section 144 of CrPC generally prohibits public gathering. 
  • Section 144 has been used in the past to impose restrictions as a means to prevent protests that can lead to unrest or riots. The orders to impose Section 144 have been conferred to Executive Magistrate when there is an emergency situation. 
  • Section 144 also restricts carrying any sort of weapon in that area where it has been imposed and people can be detained for violating it. The maximum punishment for such an act is three years.  
  • According to the order under this section, there shall be no movement of public and all educational institutions shall also remain closed and there will be a complete bar on holding any kind of public meetings or rallies during the period of operation of this order. 
  • Moreover, obstructing law enforcement agencies from dispersing an unlawful assembly is a punishable offence. Section 144 also empowers the authorities to block the internet access. 
  • 144 CrPC bars the conduct of certain activities or actions or events which are allowed to be done in regular course. It is imposed to ensure maintenance of peace and tranquillity in an area.  
  • Duration of Section 144 order
  • No order under Section 144 shall remain in force for more than two months but the state government can extent the validity for two months and maximum up to six months. It can be withdrawn at any point of time if situation becomes normal.

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Difference between Section 144 and curfew

  • Section 144 prohibits gathering of four or more people in the concerned area, while during the curfew people are instructed to stay indoors for a particular period of time. 
  • The government puts a complete restriction on traffic as well. Markets, schools, colleges and offices remain closed under the curfew and only essential services are allowed to run on prior notice.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

United Nations World Water Development Report 2022

  • Report is published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water, which combining efforts of UN entities and international organizations working on water and sanitation issues.
  • The report titled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’explains the challengesand opportunities associated with development, management and governanceof groundwater.

Key findings: 

  • Groundwater presently provides 50% volume of water withdrawn fordomestic use by global population and around 25% of all water used forirrigation.
  • An estimated four billion people live in areas that suffer from severephysical water scarcity for at least one month per year.
  • Development of groundwater could act as a catalyst for economic growthby increasing extent of irrigated areas and therefore improving agriculturalyields and crop diversity.
  • India is largest groundwater-user globally followed by China and Pakistan.
  • China, India, Iran, Pakistan and US account for about 70 percent of unsustainablewater footprint.

Steps need to be taken:

  • To collecting groundwater data for monitoring.
  • To strengthening environmental regulations for groundwater pollution.
  • Reinforcing human, material and financial resources by way of increasinggroundwater professionals among the staff of institutions as well as local andnational government.
  • To financing and supporting groundwater departments/agencies.

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World Air Quality report 2021

  • The World Air Quality report informed that, Bangladesh was the most polluted country in the world in 2021.
  • The report has been published by the Swiss-based air quality technology company IQAir.

Key highlights of the report:

  • In terms of particulate matter in the air, Bangladesh recorded an average PM2.5 level of 76.9 micrograms per cubic metre in 2021 against the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended maximum permissible level of 5 micrograms per cubic metre. 
  • Earlier, in 2018, 2019 and 2020 also Bangladesh was found to be the most polluted country in the world. However, the PM2.5 level has shown a decline in Bangladesh from 77.1 micrograms per cubic metre in 2020 which was even higher at 83.3 in 2019 and 97.1 in 2018. 
  • The data reveals that not a single country in the world managed to meet the WHO’s air quality standard in 2021. All over the world, 93 cities reported PM 2.5 levels at 10 times the recommended level.
  • IQAir analysed data from 6475 cities across 117 countries for air quality in 2021 to arrive at the conclusion. Countries and regions in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia suffered from the highest annual average PM2.5 concentration weighted by population.
  • In 2021, Central and South Asia had some of the world’s worst air quality and was home to 46 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, 70 percent of global air quality related deaths occur in this region.

Impact of air pollution: 

  • Air pollution is now considered to be the world’s largest environmental health threat, accounting for seven million deaths around the world every year.
  • Air pollution causes and aggravates many diseases, ranging from asthma to cancer, lung illnesses and heart disease.
  • The estimated daily economic cost of air pollution has been figured at USD 8 billion or 3 to 4 percent of the gross world product.

:ECONOMY::

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Government offers clarity on crypto tax provisions

  • Ministry of Finance notified that loss arising from transfer of a virtual digital asset(VDA) will not be allowed to be set off against the income arising from another VDA.

About:

  • VDA has been defined to mean any information or code or number or tokengenerated through cryptographic means or otherwise. And which can betransferred, stored or traded electronically.
  • VDA also specifically includes non-fungible token (NFT), or any other token of similarnature.
  • It also said that the cost of mining will not be treated as cost of acquisition in case ofVDA.
  • Mining is the process of generating crypto tokens.
  • Budget 2022-23 brought cryptocurrencies under the tax net through announcements like any income from VDA (including crypto)is taxable at 30 per cent, 1% Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) on payments towards virtual currencies beyond a certain amount etc.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

AquaMAP

  • It is a new water management and policy centre that was inaugurated recently at IIT Madras.
  • IIT Madras is collaborating with IIT Dharwad around the broad theme of ‘Data Science for WaterSecurity and Agriculture Sustenance’.

About:

  • AquaMAP aims at providing solutions for complex and challenging water problems by designingsmart and optimal water management practices and implementing them in the field (in villages andtowns).

Key activities of AquaMAP include:

  • Identify grand challenges in water/wastewater management.
  • Set up of a state-of-the-art Hydro-Informatics Laboratory.
  • Water and soil quality analysis: Creation of a digital twin of the Village for environmental management.
  • Waste management for Clean and Healthy Village.

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