National
27th Delhi Book Fair 2023
⇒ The 27th Delhi Book Fair was held from 29th July to 2nd August, 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Organized by:
The 27th edition of the Delhi Book Fair was organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in association with Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP).
- India Trade Promotion Organisation also organized the 22st Stationery Fair/6th Office Automation and 6th Corporate Gift Fair from 29th July to 2nd August at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Theme:
The theme of the book fair was ‘Books in Nation Building’.
Key Points:
- Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, participated in the much-awaited book fair of the city.
- A number of Conferences and Seminars, buyer-seller meets, book releases, book discussions, literary activities for children and meet-the-author were organized during the Fair.
About Delhi Book Fair:
- Book Fairs have a great role to play in promoting the reading habit among people of all age groups. Delhi Book Fair is playing a pivotal role in reiterating the might of the pen and the printed world and has come to be recognized as the biggest book bonanza keenly awaited by students, teachers, scholars, authors, intellectuals, librarians and book lovers.
- Apart from promoting literacy and reading habit, especially among children and youth, the fair presents a vast panorama of Indian books on a wide range of subject.
- The fair provides a unique platform for business-to-business transactions, establishing new contacts, entering into co-publishing arrangements, translation and copy right arrangements, reprinting of old and rare books, apart from providing retailing opportunities as a multitude of visitors to the fair.
'Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Memories Never Die' Book
⇒ Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah released the ‘Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Memories Never Die’ book in Rameshwaram, on 29 July 2023.
- This book is an English translation of the Tamil book ‘Ninaivugalukku Maranamillai’.
Written by:
The book is written by two people closest to APJ Abdul Kalam—his niece Dr. Nazema Maraikayar and the distinguished ISRO scientist Dr. Y. S. Rajan.
About Book:
- The release of the book ‘Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Memories Never Die’, readers across the country will definitely get an opportunity to know, understand and follow Dr. Kalam.
- In this book there is a complete and honest description of the incidents related to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This book gives a holistic and honest revelation of the life of Dr. Kalam from his early childhood till he breathed his last.
All India Tiger Estimation -2022 Report
⇒ On the occasion of the Global Tiger Day celebrated at the Corbett Tiger Reserve on 29 July 2023, a detailed Tiger report ‘All India Tiger Estimation -2022’ was released by Union MoS Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
» In 1973, the Government of India launched Project Tiger, an ambitious, holistic conservation project, aimed at safeguarding the nation’s tiger population and preserving biodiversity. Over the past fifty years, Project Tiger has achieved commendable success, making significant strides in tiger conservation.
- Initially covering nine tiger reserves spanning 18,278 sq km, the project has flourished into a remarkable accomplishment with 53 reserves spread across 75,796 sq km, effectively covering 2.3% of India’s total land area.
- India currently harbors almost 75% of the world’s wild tiger population.
The first phase of tiger conservation in the 1970s focused on enacting the Wildlife Protection Act and establishing protected areas for tigers and tropical forests. However, the 1980s saw a decline due to extensive poaching. In response, the government initiated the second phase in 2005, adopting a landscape-level approach, community involvement & support, implementing strict law enforcement, and using modern technology for scientific monitoring to ensure tiger conservation. This approach not only led to an increase in the tiger population, but also had several critical outcomes that included the designation of inviolate critical core and buffer areas, the identification of new tiger reserves, and the recognition of tiger landscapes and corridors.
Key Points:
- With significant changes in the spatial patterns of tiger occurrence and an increase in unique tiger sightings from 2461 in 2018 to 3080 in 2022, now more than 3/4th of the tiger population is found within protected areas.
- On April 9, 2022, during the celebration of 50 years of the Project Tiger at Mysusru, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi declared the minimum tiger population of 3167, which is the population estimate from the camera-trapped area. Now, further analysis of data, done by the Wildlife Institute of India, from both camera-trapped and non-camera-trapped tiger presence areas, the upper limit of the tiger population is estimated to be 3925 and the average number is 3682 tigers, reflecting a commendable annual growth rate of 6.1% per annum.
- Central India and the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains witnessed a notable increase in tiger population, particularly in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra.
- However, certain regions, such as the Western Ghats, experienced localized declines, necessitating targeted monitoring and conservation efforts.
- Some states, including Mizoram, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh, and Arunachal Pradesh, have reported disquieting trends with small tiger populations.
- The largest tiger population of 785 is in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Karnataka (563) & Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444).
- The tiger abundance within the Tiger Reserve is highest in Corbett (260), followed by Bandipur (150), Nagarhole (141), Bandhavgarh (135), Dudhwa (135), Mudumalai(114), Kanha (105), Kaziranga (104), Sundarbans (100), Tadoba (97), Sathyamangalam (85), and Pench-MP (77).
Various tiger reserves have shown remarkable growth, while others face challenges. Approximately 35% of the tiger reserves urgently require enhanced protection measures, habitat restoration, ungulate augmentation, and subsequent tiger reintroduction.
India’s Project Tiger has made tremendous progress in tiger conservation over the past five decades, but challenges like poaching is still a threat to tiger conservation. Continued efforts to protect tiger habitats and corridors are crucial for securing the future of India’s tigers and their ecosystems for generations to come.
International
ADB, India sign loan for expanding urban services in Rajasthan
⇒ On 28 July 2023, the Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $200 million loan as additional financing for the ongoing Rajasthan Secondary Towns Development Sector Project to expand water supply and sanitation systems and enhance urban resilience and heritage living in selected towns.
The ongoing project—approved in September 2020—has so far laid 1,451 kilometer (km) of water supply pipes, 1,110 km of sewer pipes, and connected 68,098 households to water services in selected secondary towns in Rajasthan.
Key Points:
- The additional financing will improve water supply systems in at least seven towns by converting all groundwater sources to surface water, replacing about 700 km of leaking water pipes, installing 1,400 km of new water supply pipelines, and providing 77,000 households connections with water meters. It will also establish three new water treatment plants.
- At least eight towns will be covered for improvement to sanitation systems by rehabilitating at least 580 km of sewers, building seven sewage treatment plants with co-treatment units to process fecal sludge and septage, and connecting at least 54,000 households to the sewage system.
Important Day
13th International Tiger Day 2023
⇒ Global Tiger Day, or International Tiger Day is celebrated every year on July 29th as a way to raise awareness about this magnificent but endangered big cat.
- This year the 13th International Tiger Day was celebrated on 29 July 2023.
The day is celebrated worldwide to promote comprehensive efforts in safeguarding tigers and their natural habitats, fostering harmonious coexistence between humans and these magnificent creatures.
History:
- International Tiger Day, or Global Tiger Day, was proposed for the first time in 2010 during the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia.
- Many countries agreed to join an agreement to safeguard tigers. Among these countries were thirteen tiger range countries including India, Russia, and China.
- At the Saint Petersburg Summit, the countries committed to a resolution to double the number of tigers by 2022, which is also the Chinese year of the tiger. Since then, International Tiger Day has been celebrated every year.