National
Shar Nyima Tsho Sum Namyig Lhakhang (Gonpa) at Gyangkhar village
⇒ Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, on 16 April 2023 inaugurated the Shar Nyima Tsho Sum Namyig Lhakhang (Gonpa) at Gyangkhar village in Arunachal Pradesh. Gyangkhar village is located at Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
- Gonpa (Gompa or ling) refers to a meditation room or temple.
Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu said:
- The Gonpa has a great historical importance for the well-being and betterment of humans, particularly for the people of Shar Nyima Tsho Sum and all Buddhists in general.
- The 11- 12th century Gonpa was on the verge of collapse but was renovated.
- The sacred place has been restored with new structure, other requisites, performing all rituals and blessings for the well-being and betterment of all sentient beings.
DRDO & Indian Navy Conduct Successful Trial of BMD Interceptor
⇒ Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal on April 21, 2023.
- The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of Nations having Naval BMD capability.
Prior to this, DRDO has successfully demonstrated land-based BMD system with capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.
National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways & Coasts, IIT M – Discovery Campus at Chennai
⇒ Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH inaugurated the NTCPWC-Discovery Campus of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) on 24th April 2023 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
About NTCPWC:
- Under the Sagarmala Programme, NTCPWC has been established in IIT Chennai at a cost of Rs 77 Crore.
- The National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) is the technology arm of the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, with a mandate to bring cutting-edge technology to the Port and Waterways sectors.
- Its key objectives including boosting ‘Make in India’ for Port, Coastal and Inland water transport and engineering by developing state-of-the-art technologies and application products besides fast-track innovations to tackle challenges.
- The Institute has world class capabilities for undertaking the 2D & 3D investigations of research and consultancy nature for the Port, Coastal, Waterway sector across all disciplines.
- Modelling of Ocean, determining the Coastal & Estuarine Flows, Sediment transport and morpho dynamics, planning of Navigation and Maneuvering, estimation of Dredging & Siltation, consultancy in Port and Coastal Engineering – designing the Structures and Breakwaters, Autonomous Platforms & vehicles, Experimental & CFD modelling of flow & Hull interaction, Hydrodynamics of multiple hulls, Ocean renewable energy coupled with port facilities are some of the areas where expertise has already been developed for the benefit of the country.
- The Chennai facility has 5 state-of-the-art labs, covering every aspect of design and development, simulation, analysis and production of marine and maritime solutions in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision.
The Mission of NTCPWC include:
- To create a pool of competent manpower equipped with state-of-the-art theoretical and practical knowhow.
Self-sufficiency in providing:
- Short term solutions through scientific studies
- Technology development
- Technical arm in identifying complex problems and solving issues
First Ever Census on Water Bodies in India
⇒ For the first time in the history of the country, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the nation.
The census was launched under the centrally sponsored scheme, “Irrigation Census” in convergence with the 6th Minor Irrigation Census in order to have a comprehensive national database of all water bodies.
About Census:
- The census provides a comprehensive inventory of India’s water resources, including natural and man-made water bodies like ponds, tanks, lakes, and more, and to collect data on the encroachment of water bodies.
- The Census also highlighted disparities between rural and urban areas and varying levels of encroachment and revealed crucial insights into the country’s water resources.
- The information on all important aspects of the water bodies including their type, condition, status of encroachments, use, storage capacity, status of filling up of storage, etc was collected.
- It covered all the water bodies located in rural as well as urban areas that are in-use or not in-use.
- The census also took into account all type of uses of water bodies like irrigation, industry, pisciculture, domestic/ drinking, recreation, religious, ground water recharge etc.
Key features/findings of the Census:
| ▪ 24,24,540 water bodies have been enumerated in the country, out of which 97.1% (23,55,055) are in rural areas and only 2.9% (69,485) are in urban areas. ▪ Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam which constitute around 63% of the total water bodies in the country. ▪ Top 05 States in terms of number of water bodies in urban areas are West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, whereas in rural areas, top 05 States are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam. ▪ 59.5% of water bodies are ponds, followed by tanks (15.7%), reservoirs (12.1%), Water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams (9.3%), lakes (0.9%) and others (2.5%). ▪ 55.2% of water bodies are owned by private entities whereas 44.8% of water bodies are in the domain of public ownership. |
| ▪ Out of all public owned water bodies, maximum water bodies are owned by Panchayats, followed by State Irrigation/State WRD. ▪ Out of all private owned water bodies, maximum water bodies are in hands of Individual owner/farmer followed by group of individuals and other private bodies. |
| ▪ Top 05 States which lead in the private owned water bodies are West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand. ▪ Out of all 'in use' water bodies, major water bodies are reported to be used in pisciculture followed by Irrigation. |
| ▪ Top 05 States wherein major use of water bodies is in pisciculture are West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh; ▪ Top 05 States wherein major use of water bodies is in irrigation are Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat. |
| ▪ 78% water bodies are man-made water bodies whereas 22% are natural water bodies. 1.6% (38,496) water bodies out of all the enumerated water bodies are reported to be encroached out of which 95.4% are in rural areas and remaining 4.6% in urban areas. |
| ▪ The information on water spread area was reported in respect of 23,37,638 water bodies. Out of these water bodies, 72.4% have water spread area less than 0.5 hectare, 13.4% have water spread area between 0.5-1 hectare, 11.1% have water spread area between 1-5 hectares and remaining 3.1% of water bodies have water spread area more than 5 hectares. |
Important Day
World Earth Day 2023
⇒ World Earth Day is celebrated every year on 22 April to raise awareness of environmental issues and promote action to safeguard the planet.
World Earth Day is also known as International Mother Earth Day. It is celebrated to raise awareness related to the environmental problems around the world and encourage actions that safeguard the planet.
Theme:
The theme for World Earth Day 2023 was “Invest in Our Planet,” focuses on encouraging companies to adopt sustainable practices. The theme is in continuation of the successful 2022 campaign.
- The theme encourages us all to invest in a better future for our planet by tackling environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and waste reduction.
History:
- Gaylord Nelson, a Senator from Wisconsin, US, established Earth Day in response to growing concerns around pollution, biodiversity loss, and other ecological problems. He was concerned about the fact after seeing the oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in early 1969.
- On April 22, 1970, over 20 million Americans participated in protests, rallies, and other events to demonstrate their support to protect the environment. This occurrence is broadly recognised as the inception of the modern environmental movement, which led to the establishment of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.
- The first Earth Day was observed in 1970 in the United States.