Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 January 2023

::NATIONAL::

States fall short of targets to improve forest cover

• India is lagging behind in the targets to increase the number and quality of tree- and forest-cover plantations set in the Green India Mission, according to a recent data accessed via the Right To Information Act.

About Green India Mission:

• National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• GIM was launched in the year 2014 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• The Mission has clear targets for different forest types and ecosystems.
• Activities under Green India Mission will be implemented under convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and the National Afforestation Programme (NAP).

Key objectives:

• Increased forest/tree cover on 5 million hectares (mha) of forest/non-forest lands and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 mha (a total of 10 mha).
• Improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration as a result of treatment of 10 mha.
• Increased forest-based livelihood income of about 3 million households living in and around the forests.
• Enhanced annual CO2 sequestration by 50 to 60 million tonnes in the year 2020.

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ONGC to map India’s geothermal resources

• ONGC plans to map the geothermal energy sources of India in search of clean energy.

Key highlights:

• Move comes at a time when India has set an ambitious target of 500 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 and net zero carbon emission by 2070.
• Geothermal energy is an energy source that is stored in the form of heat beneath earth’s surface.

Magma in inner layer of earth heats nearby rocks and underground aquifers, as a result

• hot water is released through geysers, hotsprings, steam vents,underwater hydrothermal vents, and mud pots.
• Hot water and steam can be piped up through underground wells and used to generate electricity in a power plant.
• As per preliminary investigations undertaken by Geological Survey of India, there are around 300 geothermal hot springs in India. 
• Puga and Chumathang in eastern Ladakh are the most promising geothermal sites.
• Other sites include Cambay in Gujarat, Tattapani in Chattisgarh, Khammam in Telangana & Ratnagiri in Maharasthra.
• Total geothermal power potential is estimated to be 10 gigawatt (GW).

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::INTERNATIONAL::

UNDP India launches campaign to drive

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) started a campaign to drive an inclusive circular economy as part of its initiative to promote sustainability. 

Key highlights:

• It is launched in partnership with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and willfocus on:
• End-to-end management of plastic waste by promoting segregation of wasteat source and collection of segregated waste.
• Setting up Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) or Swachhata Kendras forrecycling all kinds of plastic waste along the value chain.
• Social Inclusion of 20,000 Safai Saathis or waste pickers through access togovernment welfare schemes and linkages etc.
• Building capacities of Urban Local Bodies for adopting MRFs model forplastic and dry waste management.
• Initiative is a scale-up of existing partnership under UNDP’s flagship PlasticWaste Management Programme to develop a sustainable model for plasticwaste management in India.
• It promotes collection, segregation, and recycling of all plastics to move towardsa circular economy.

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M1 Abrams tanks

• United States President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he will send 31 state-of-the-art M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine to help its troops push back Russian forces. It is more powerful than many Soviet-era tanks.

About M1 Abrams tanks:

• It is the United States main battle tank.
• The first M1 tank was manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) in 1978 and was delivered to the US Army in 1980.
• It was named in honor to General Abrams, commander of US forces during the Vietnam War.
• The export version of the Abrams is used by the armies of Australia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Poland, and Saudi Arabia.

Key features:

• It uses a powerful and complex turbine engine that produces 1,500 horsepower and requires four persons to operate.
• It is one of the heaviest tanks in service at nearly 62 metric tons.
• The M1 tanks have a maximum speed of 45
• Armement: The Abrams is armed with a 120 mm main gun and .50 caliber and 7.62 mm machine guns.
• It can destroy tank-size targets at a range of 2 km while firing on the move.

::Economy::

Advertising Standards Council of India issues new disclaimernorms for TV, digital ads

• Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) updated its Guidelines for Disclaimers made inadvertisements.

About:

• ASCI is a voluntary, self-regulatory organization comprising members from marketing,creative, media, and allied companies in India.
• ASCI has had disclaimer guidelines since 2016.

Key highlights of new guidelines:

• Use of disclaimer should be kept to a minimum and avoid long and complex format.
• Duration and readability of a disclaimer should be clear to consumers.
• There should not be more than one disclaimer in a single frame of an ad.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Doomsday Clock

• Atomic scientists reset the “Doomsday Clock” moving its hands to 90 seconds to midnight - closer than ever before to the threat of annihilation.

About Doomsday Clock:

• The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic timepiece showing how close the world is to ending. Midnight marks the theoretical point of annihilation.
• Apocalyptic threats could arise from political tensions, weapons, technology, climate change or pandemic illness.
• The hands of the clock are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on the scientists’ reading of existential threats at a particular time.
• A Chicago-based non-profit organization called the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists updates the time annually based on information regarding catastrophic risks to the planet and humanity.
• The clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists, including Albert Einstein, who had worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first nuclear weapons during World War Two.

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