Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant India and Russia have stepped up their cyber security cooperation in the backdrop of cyber-attack on Kudankulam nuclear power plant built by global nuclear major Rosatom.  Indian authorities have appraised Russia that necessary steps have been taken to prevent similar incidents in future on the Indo-Russian joint venture.  History of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant: In 1988, during Rajiv Gandhi period a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for construction of nuclear power plant in India was signed between two countries India and Soviet (Russia).  But due to several factors from political and economic crisis the project has been put on hold since there was a breakup in soviet and moreover with the objection from US stating that the agreement signed didn’t meet up with the current Terms and Conditions from the group of nuclear suppliers.  Previously before 2004 the water reactor equipment was brought through roads as their mode of transport from Tuticorin port and due to various difficulties of damages incurred during its transportation. It decided to select a Naval point base and come up with an idea to develop a small port near the tip of the country and they felt the best place would be Koodankulam in southern part of Tamil Nadu and then a small port become operational on January 14, 2004. The main purpose of its construction is toreceive baggage’s carrying oversized light water reactor from ships anchored at a few distance of half a km from its port. In 2007 a MOU was signed between India and Russia and when Russian president Vladimir Putin visited India he had discussion with Manmohan Singh and both countries have planned to promote the use of nuclear energy to certain heights. Need for Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project: The KNPP reactors are being set up without sharing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Site Evaluation Study and Safety Analysis Report with the people, or the people’s representatives or the press.  No public hearing has been conducted for the first two reactors either. There is absolutely no democratic decision-making in or public approval for this project The important issue of liability for the Russian plants has not been settled yet. Defying the Indian nuclear liability law, Russia insists that the InterGovernmental Agreement (IGA), secretly signed in 2008 by the Indian and Russian governments, precedes the liability law and that Article 13 of the IGA clearly establishes that NPCIL is solely responsible for all claims of damages. The quality of construction and the pipe work and the overall integrity of the KNPP structures have been called into question by the very workers and contractors who work there in Koodankulam. There have been international concerns about the design, structure and workings of the untested Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors. Even when the KNPP projects function normally without any incidents and accidents, they would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water. Already the southern coastal belt is sinking with very high incidence of cancer, mental retardation, down syndrome, defective births due to private and government sea-sand mining for rare minerals including thorium. The KNPP will add many more woes to our already suffering people. The coolant water and low-grade waste from the KNPP are going to be dumped in to the sea which will have a severe impact on fish production and catch.  This will undermine the fishing industry, push the fisher folk into deeper poverty and misery and affect the food security of the entire southern Tamil Nadu and southern Kerala. More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations.  It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam. Facts and reasons for shutdown of Koodankulam Nuclear power plant: No proper canvassing has been given with the public in and around Nuclear power plant about the issues and construction of power plant. The opinion suggested regarding the plant by the Russian Scientist was made hidden and no Site Evaluation Study has been given to the public. According to Tamil Nadu Government act 828 – There should be no building other than power plant building till 2 km and 2 – 5 Km area should be a sterilization zone and the fact towards the people and their house location was hidden. According to AERB report within 5 Km there should not be population more than 20,000 and within 10 Km no area should be populated with 10,000 peoples but near to KNPP within 3 Km itself 20,000 people live in a village and 12,000 people from Idithankarai village and 450 families from Kasa village are being populated. Moreover within 10 Km there should be only less populated peoples but it doesn’t meet up with the criteria. Bad condition of the pipe, Local contractor, politicians, low priced goods are some reason of statement that comes in day today news from various Medias by taking this issue into consideration. Malware attack: The NPCIL admitted that computer systems at the Kudankulam nuclear power station had been infected with malware since early September 2019. The NPCIL infection is said to be caused by Dtrack. Dtrack is a Trojan virus that creates backdoors into computer networks. This was originally developed and commonly used by North Korean hackers with state backing. However, there are many variations of Dtrack, and the code may have been adapted by another group. Way Forward: Ramping up security across the power grid should be a strategic priority for the government. A holistic plan must be devised and implemented to prevent disastrous cyber attack . Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. JOIN NOW

Biofuel & 3Es

Biofuel & 3Es Biofuel are being supported by many governments for a range of perceived benefits including improved domestic energy security, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when compared with fossil‐fuel counterparts, and economic development and employment generation, particularly in rural areas.  Life‐cycle, cost‐benefit, and systems analyses, however, indicate that the expansion of biofuels can have complex effects on, and interactions with, land use and food and fuel prices. Department of Biotechnology has been promoting R&D for biofuel technology development recognizing the need for clean and renewable energy for transportation.  Government of India has recently in June 2018 announced new policy on Biofuels and an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel is proposed by 2030. Department has taken significant efforts in this direction with major focus on 2nd generation biofuels. Economic Security & Biofuels: Replacing fossil fuels with biofuels—fuels produced from renewable organic material—has the potential to reduce some undesirable aspects of fossil fuel production and use, including conventional and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutant emissions, exhaustible resource depletion, and dependence on unstable foreign suppliers. Demand for biofuels could also increase farm income. On the other hand, because many biofuel feedstocks require land, water, and other resources, research suggests that biofuel production may give rise to several undesirable effects.  Potential drawbacks include changes to land use patterns that may increase GHG emissions, pressure on water resources, air and water pollution, and increased food costs.  Depending on the feedstock and production process and time horizon of the analysis, biofuels can emit even more GHGs than some fossil fuels on an energy-equivalent basis. Biofuels also tend to require subsidies and other market interventions to compete economically with fossil fuels, which creates deadweight losses in the economy. Economic models show that biofuel use can result in higher crop prices, though the range of estimates in the literature is wide. For example, a 2013 study found projections for the effect of biofuels on corn prices in 2015 ranging from a 5 to a 53 percent increase . The National Research Council’s (2011) report on the RFS included several studies finding a 20 to 40 percent increase in corn prices from biofuels during 2007 to 2009.  A National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) working paper found a 2 to 3 percent increase in long-run corn prices for each billion gallon increase in corn ethanol production on average across 19 studies.  Higher crop prices lead to higher food prices, though impacts on retail food in the US are expected to be small (NRC 2011).  Higher crop prices may lead to higher rates of malnutrition in developing countries.  Environmental Security & Biofuel The replacement of fossil fuels with fuels generated from biomass would have significant and positive climate-change effects by generating lower levels of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Bioenergy crops can reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions by directly removing carbon dioxide from the air as they grow and storing it in crop biomass and soil.I In addition to biofuels, many of these crops generate co-products such as protein for animal feed, thus saving on energy that would have been used to make feed by other means. The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme launched in October 2018 aims to establish an ecosystem for production of compressed biogas (CBG) from various waste biomass sources in the country. Energy Security & Biofuels: Substantial potential exists to expand both food and fuel supply in a sustainable fashion. These include: Boosting yields of food crops and residues; Freeing up farmland through yield improvements; Reducing losses and waste in the food chain; Freeing up pastureland through better livestock management. Further biofuel potential could also be unlocked through: Afforestation using fast-growing trees; Algae cultivation from organic waste or carbon dioxide. Way Forward: Part of this potential can be harnessed through “first-generation” technologies, which produce biofuel from crops like sugar cane, maize and palm oil. More can be harnessed through “second-generation” technologies, which convert lignocellulose from farm and forest residues, grasses and wood.  More still can be harnessed through “third-generation” technologies to produce biofuel from algae. Due to rising oil prices and depleting fossil fuel reserves, interest in biofuels has increased over the last decades, with first-generation (1G) biofuels falling behind coal, oil, and gas in several performance dimensions. Advanced biofuels (2G, 3G) can contribute to sustainable transportation. Their manufacturing involves microorganisms, predominantly bacteria, yeasts, and algae. Such biofuels can replace liquid and gaseous transportation fuels. current challenges are the use of lignocellulosic biomass (2nd-generation biofuels), which is available abundantly, by thermal or enzymatic methods.  Hopes are placed on 3rd-generation biofuels, i.e., energetic compounds obtained from microorganisms like algae or cyanobacteria from sunlight. These technologies have not yet reached commercial maturity, and metabolic engineering can support research efforts.

Interconnect usage charges (IUC)

Interconnect usage charges (IUC) Reliance Jio announced that it is ending interconnect usage charges (IUC) for all domestic voice calls, which is in line with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) directions to move towards Bill and Keep (BAK) regime which is coming into force from January 2021. In short, it means that Jio will make its voice calls free for all types of calls. In 2019-end, when TRAI had extended the deadline to abolish IUC charges, Jio had started charging its subscribers at 6 paise per minute if they were making mobile calls to the customers of other telcos such as Airtel, Vodafone Idea, etc. Initially, Jio asked its subs to buy top-up plans – valued between Rs 10 and Rs 100 – to pay for IUC charges, but later, these charges were merged in the recharge plans.  Though Jio compensated its subs with giving out data of the equivalent value. Interconnect usage charges – Bill and Keep: The new regime, where zero termination rate is payable, is known as bill and keep. A termination charge was paid to the operator on whose network the call terminated by the originating network. Trai had then said it has to keep the interests of 2G/3G subscribers in mind. It had further said traffic imbalance between an only 4G operator (Reliance Jio) and other operators had reduced from the peak of approximately 60 billion minutes per month in December 2017 to 40 billion minutes per month in June 2019. It had earlier expected this imbalance to be corrected by 2020 but since it did not happen the regulator extended the rate by a year. Advantages of Bill & Keep (BAK): Fosters Cost Recoveries from Operations Rather than Competitors Increased Usage and Support for Innovative Tariff Plans. Does not impact profits. Eliminates on-net and off-net pricing discrepancies Facilitates Competition. Avoids predatory pricing. Is Future Proof as it supports convergence of voice and data networks

India’s Two-Front Challenge

India’s Two-Front Challenge India’s Two-Front Challenge – : China’s premeditated aggression and intrusions on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, is a manifestation of its geopolitical intent to constrain, intimidate and dominate India.  China has employed force levels unmatched since 1962 against India, which it regards as a future strategic rival.  The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) transgressions in Ladakh has also brought about greater physical proximity between and increased prospects of strategic and operational collusion between the militaries of China and Pakistan. “Such developments should leave no doubt in the minds of Indian strategic planners and defence policymakers that India faces a two-front challenge.  China- Pakistan: Till recently, any mention of a two-front war evoked two contrasting opinions. India’s military was firmly of the view that a collusive China-Pakistan military threat was a real possibility, and we must develop capabilities to counter this challenge. China has always looked at Pakistan as a counter to India’s influence in South Asia. China, through its chequebook diplomacy, wants to exercise this hegemony over the South-Asian neighbours. In this pursuit, China would want to drain India’s economic resources on the border confrontation. Thus, a two-front war scenario can be a strategy by China to undermine India’s role in its neighbourhood. Military cooperation is growing, with China accounting for 73% of the total arms imports of Pakistan between 2015-2019. India & Issues Related to Two-front War Scenario: The political class in general and the mainstay of the country’s strategic community felt that a two-front threat was being over-hyped by the military to press for additional resources and funds.  They argued that historically, China has never intervened militarily in any India-Pakistan conflict and that the economic, diplomatic, and political ties between India and China rule out any armed conflict between the two countries. As a result, Indian strategic thinking was overwhelmingly focused on Pakistan and the security considerations emanating from there. India’s Two Front Challenge – Way Forward: In the Indian military’s thinking, while China was the more powerful — and therefore strategic — foe, the chance of a conventional conflict breaking out was low. The reverse was true of Pakistan, with a greater likelihood of conflict along the western border possibly triggered by a major terror attack emanating from Pakistan. The Chinese intrusions in Ladakh in May this year, the violence that resulted from clashes between the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army, and the deadlock in negotiations have now made the Chinese military threat more apparent and real.  The direct result of this, then, is the arrival of a worrisome two-front situation for New Delhi. Even if the current India-China crisis on the border is resolved peacefully, China’s military challenge will occupy greater attention of Indian military planners in the months and years to come.

Community fishing banned at Assam Ramsar site

Community fishing banned at Assam Ramsar site The Kamrup (Metropolitan) district administration has prohibited community fishing at Deepor Beel, a wetland on the south-western edge of Guwahati and Assam’s only Ramsar site. Fishing at Deepor Beel, a wetland on the south-western edge of Guwahati and Assam’s only Ramsar site. The prohibition order under Section 144 of the Cr.PC underlines the possibility of community fishing on January 3 and will remain beyond the mid-January Magh or Bhogali Bihu that is preceded by mass fishing in many parts of the State. “Some people from the villages around and adjoining Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary such as Keotpara, Mikirpara, Paspara, Azara, Tetelia, in tandem with people from various fringe parts of Guwahati city are likely to venture out to organise community fishing on January 3, 2021 and even after that also,” said an order from Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Guwahati. “And whereas such ventures are absolutely illegal under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which will also cause irreparable as well as irretrievable damage to the ecosystem of the sanctuary as presented by the divisional forest officer (Guwahati Wildlife Division),” said the order effective from January 1-31. District officials said the order was necessary to prevent fishing, excavation and construction in and around the wetland that has been shrinking over the years. Wide range of species Deepor Beel was designated a Ramsar site in 2002 for sustaining a range of aquatic life forms besides 219 species of birds. A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea shore. According to hydrological experts, the area of the wetland was about 6,000 hectares in the late 1980s. Satellite imagery has revealed that its area has shrunk by at least 35% since 1991. Deepor Beel officially has an area of 4,014 hectares or 15.5 square miles. “One of the reasons the wetland is in a precarious state is that it is losing connectivity with small rivers like Kalmoni, Khonajan and Basistha that used to flow via the Mora Bharalu channel through Guwahati,” said Bibhav Talukdar of green group Aaranyak. Expansion of the city, encroachment upon the natural channels through Guwahati and from the hills around, and a municipal waste dump at Boragaon almost on the edge of the wetland were the other factors. Assam had 3,513 wetlands and a majority of them had water with low turbidity. Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. join now

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary The Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is one of the oldest in India, Kanchipuram district – 86 kms from Chennai About 250 years ago the locals noticed that this area comprising several lakes and ponds attracted a large number of birds. About Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary The landlords used it as a hunting ground, but the farmers observed that the water from the lake helped to increase their agricultural yield as the bird droppings contributed to the urea content. The farmers then teamed up to protect the birds Responding to repeated complaints about hunting expeditions by British soldiers, the Collector granted legal protection to the birds in 1798.  The area was recognised as a Sanctuary in 1936 and was named a Reserve in 1962 by the Madras Forest Act. It was upgraded to a wildlife sanctuary in 1972 by the Wildlife Protection Act. Till date the local community holds low key functions and marriages during the breeding season of the birds marking their exemplary link with the ecosystem. A tank having a compact grove of Barringtonia and Acacia nilotica trees Dry evergreen scrub and thorn forests. These sanctuaries are famous for their breeding heronry including cormorants, egrets, grey heron, open-billed stork, darter, spoonbill, white lbnis, night herons, grebes, grey pelican etc.  Many migratory birds like garganey teals, shovellers, pintails, stilts, sandpipers etc. Visit the sanctuary in winter. A variety of resident birds like coots, moorhen and terns can also be seen. Vedanthangal is the oldest water bird sanctuary in the country. Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. JOIN NOW

Light House Projects

What is Light House Projects Light House Projects (LHPs) under Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India) at six sites across six States on 1st January 2021. Prime Minister will also announce winners under Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators – India (ASHA-India) and give out annual awards for excellence in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) Mission. Certificate course on innovative construction technologies named NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing) and a compendium of 54 innovative housing construction technologies identified through GHTC-India.  Union MoS (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs, along with Chief Ministers of Tripura, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh will be present on the occasion. . Light House Projects The Light House Projects (LHPs) showcase the best of new-age alternate global technologies, materials and processes in the construction sector for the first time in the country at such a large scale.  They are being constructed under GHTC-India which envisages to provide an ecosystem for adoption of innovative technologies in the housing construction sector in a holistic manner.  The LHPs are being constructed at Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). They comprise about 1000 houses at each location along with allied infrastructure facilities.  These projects will demonstrate and deliver ready to live houses at an expedited pace within twelve months, as compared to conventional brick and mortar construction, and will be more economical, sustainable, of high quality and durability. These LHPs demonstrate a variety of technologies, including Prefabricated Sandwich Panel System in LHP at Indore, Monolithic Concrete Construction using Tunnel Formwork in LHP at Rajkot, Precast Concrete Construction System in LHP at Chennai, 3D Volumetric Precast Concrete Construction System in LHP at Ranchi, Structural Steel Frame with Light Gauge Steel Infill Panels in LHP at Agartala and PVC Stay In Place Formwork System in LHP at Lucknow.  The LHPs will serve as live laboratories for facilitating transfer of technology to the field and its further replication.  This includes planning, design, production of components, construction practices and testing for both faculty and students of IITs, NITs, other Engineering colleges, Planning and Architecture colleges, builders, professionals of private and public sectors and other stakeholders. Light House Projects challenge: The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has instituted a challenge for States/ UTs to select six sites across the country for constructing the Lighthouse projects under GHTC-India.   MoHUA encourages all States/ UTs to participate in this challenge proactively. The winning six States/ UTs that score the highest marks across the prescribed criteria will be awarded lighthouse projects.  The States/ UTs will receive Central Assistance to construct these projects as per PMAY (U) guidelines. In addition to this, a Technology Innovation Grant (TIG) for the States/ UTs is provisioned to offset the impact of any additional cost implication due to the use of new technology and to absorb the issues related to economies of scale and other related factors.  The selected sites for lighthouse projects will be used as an ‘open laboratory’ for live demonstration and will receive due attention from academia (Civil Engineering, Planning, Architecture), practitioners (Public/ Private), policy makers (Central/ State) and media apart from felicitation/ recognition in Grand Expo-cum-Conference. The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has already launched a “Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC- India)”.  Which is the best UPSC Test Series Check Now The challenge has three components viz. Conduct of Grand Expo-cum-Conference, ii) Identifying Proven Demonstrable Technologies from across the globe and iii) Promoting Potential Technologies through the establishment of Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators- India (ASHA-I) for incubation and accelerator support.  Out of the three, the second component intends to identify and pilot ‘Proven Demonstrable Technologies’ from around the world in actual housing projects in different parts of the country.  The shortlisted global technology providers will be invited to plan and construct light house projects within the framework of PMAY (U) on pre-selected sites provided by States/UTs across six identified PMAY. The Selected States/ UTs will enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) with MoHUA to execute these Light house projects in their States/ UTs under GHTC-India. Tthe Ministry will also be doing the Technology Meets during the Construction year. This will encourage the potential beneficiary to visit the sites to see the ongoing work for adaptation. The States/UTs have given an enthusiastic response and are participating in this unique Challenge with zeal. Government Innititives: ASHA-India Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators – India (ASHA-India) aims to promote domestic research and entrepreneurship by providing incubation and acceleration support to potential future technologies.  Under ASHA-India initiative, five ASHA-India Centers have been set up for providing incubation and acceleration support. The potential technology winners under acceleration support will be announced by the Prime Minister.  The technologies, processes and materials identified through this initiative will provide a major fillip to young creative minds, start-ups, innovators and entrepreneurs. PMAY-U Mission Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) Mission has been designed to achieve the vision of “Housing For All by 2022”. In order to recognize the outstanding contribution by States, UTs,Urban Local Bodies and beneficiaries, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has introduced annual awards for excellence in implementation of PMAY-Urban.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBhrLZ8t_dY Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. JOIN NOW

Faceless Tax Scheme

Faceless Tax Scheme The Central Government introduced the Faceless Assessment Scheme to provide greater transparency, efficiency and accountability in Income Tax assessments.  All provisions introduced under Faceless Assessment, under the Income Tax Act, 1961, are introduced to- (a) Eliminate the interface between the Assessing Officer and the assessee during the course of proceedings, to the extent that is technologically feasible; (b) Optimise the utilisation of resources through the economies of scale and functional specialisation; and (c) introduce a team-based determination of arm’s length price with dynamic jurisdiction. Significance of Faceless Tax Scheme : The government’s faceless tax assessment scheme, an attempt to remove individual tax officials’ discretion and potential harassment for income tax payers, has managed to deliver about 24,000 final orders since its introduction in August 2020. Indicating that the scheme was up and running robustly, many as 800 cases have also concluded the faceless appeals process since it was implemented on September 25, 2020. “The system has now stabilised. Even though the last date for passing orders in scrutiny cases is March 31, we have already passed final orders more than 24,000 cases. The faceless appeals systems are now in place and after hearing parties, more than 800 cases have seen orders being passed through the faceless manner,” he “The scheme allows for appropriate cases where a certain hearing is necessary, so then after following protocols, a hearing is given.  The very fact that more than 24,000 final orders have been passed through the faceless system demonstrates that the system has stabilized.” Challenges: “In the faceless regime, the main objective is to remove physical interaction as much as possible, and hence, the taxpayers may not have the opportunity to explain (in person) business-related complexities and explain various positions they have taken while filing their income-tax returns.  These facilities are available in the existing system,” PwC India had noted last month in a report titled ‘Faceless Interface — a paradigm shift in administration of the income tax law’. Advising taxpayers to ensure that appropriate documents with factual matrix are available and filed, and their written submissions are comprehensive          Read Also Digital Tax Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. contact us

Deepor Beel

Deepor Beel The Expert Team constituted by the Planning Commission, Government of India, to review the status of implementation of the National Wetland Conservation and Management Programme (NWCMP) of the Ministry of Environment & Forests, by visiting selected wetlands in the country, made an on-the-spot review and assessment of the Deepor Beel near Guwahati in Assam.  •  Deepor Beel (Beel means wetland or large aquatic body in Assamese) located about 10 km Southwest of Guwahati city is considered one of the large and important riverine wetlands in the Brahmaputra Valley of lower Assam, India. Deepor Beel is an open lake basin connected with a set of inflow and outflow channels. Deepor Beel has both biological and environmental importance besides being the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati city. It is considered one of the staging sites for migratory birds in India; and some of the large congregations of aquatic birds in Assam during winter. Because of the richness of avian fauna it enjoyed, Deepor Beel has been selected as one of the Important Bird Area (IBA) sites by Birdlife International. Deepor Beel has also been designated as a Ramsar Site in November 2002. Deepor Beel Wet Lands: The wetlands are actually land areas covered by water, either temporarily or permanently. Marsh, fen and peatland come under this category. They play a key role in the hydrological cycle and flood control, water supply and providing food, fibre and raw materials. They not only act as a source of water but also as ecosystems that prevent land degradation and desertification. In 2011, ISRO come out with a national wetlands atlas on the basis of satellite images, mapping over two lakh wetlands covering around 4.63% of the total geographic area of India. The list of 26 wetlands of India under Ramsar Convention. Globally, there are 2,220 wetlands in the Ramsar list. National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) : It was launched by UPA Government in 2013 by merging two erstwhile schemes viz. National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) to run a single integrated programme for 12th plan.  The idea was that a single programme would help promote better synergy and avoid overlap of the administrative functions. The principal objectives of the new scheme were holistic conservation & restoration of lakes & wetlands for achieving desired water quality enhancement, besides improvement in biodiversity and the ecosystem. The scheme was also expected to contribute to reduction of pollution loads and improvement in biodiversity apart from implementation of comprehensive Management Action Plans. Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. contact us

Lampedusa Island

Lampedusa Island Administratively Lampedusa island is part of the autonomous region of Sicily in Italy. It is located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, 105 miles (170 km) southwest of Licata, Sicily.Lampedusa’s greatest length is about 7 miles (11 km); its greatest width about 2 miles (3 km). It rises to 436 feet (133 metres) above sea level. Lampedusa Island : Significance 13 people died when an overloaded migrant boat capsized near the island of Lampedusa near Italy. The European migrant crisis also known as the refugee crisis, is a period beginning in 2015 characterised by high numbers of people arriving in the European Union (EU) from across the Mediterranean Sea or overland through Southeast Europe following Turkey’s migrant crisis.  It is part of a pattern of increased immigration to Europe from other continents. Immigrants from outside Europe include asylum seekers and economic migrants.   Reason For Migration: War  Weapon of Mass Migration Human rights violations Economic hardship Climate change refugees. Political Reasons Enroll today with the best civils service academy and take your first step towards your Civils journey. Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries, collaborations, or support. We’re here to help. contact us