GOA
Goa’s ecological balance needs community-based governance
Wild pigs and monkeys are the talk of the day. Goa’s CM is pondering on declaring wild pigs as vermin, while orchard owners are asserting that monkeys too are a pest. These are two of the many animals involved in the humongous human-wildlife conflict haunting the Indian countryside, a conflict in which thousands of people are killed each year and losses of property run to tens of thousands of crores.
The roots of this problem go back more than a thousand years with the conquest of Britain by William the Conqueror in 1066. He parcelled England’s land among a handful of feudal Lords. These Lords enclosed the village commons, impoverishing the peasantry. All humans, barring rare exceptions, have indulged in hunting since our species originated as group hunters three lakh years ago. Nonetheless, the domineering British Lords reserved hunting for themselves branding peasants hunting to fill their bellies as poachers and summarily hanging them. The fallout of these authoritarian measures was that Britain’s forests and wildlife were wiped out by the 14th century.
When the British became Lords of India they were intent on looting its resources. Their tool in this plunder was the forest department, an agency created to confiscate the tree wealth nurtured by our farmers and forest-dwellers by taking over community lands.
The result mirrored what had happened in Britain and India’s forest wealth was rapidly depleted by the end of 19th century. Goa was spared this fate under the Portuguese rule.
The Portuguese also tried to dismantle community control, but since this led to serious loss of agricultural production and revenue, they permitted its continuance. So, Goa retained its green mantle till the end of Portuguese rule in 1961. On being integrated into the Indian Union the new regime has consistently attempted to take power away from people and dismantle comunidades triggering an erosion of Goa’s natural heritage.
The foresters with their colonial legacy stepped into Goa clear cutting natural forests to raise exotic tree plantations. With the promulgation of Wildlife Protection Act in 1972 the entire countryside came in the foresters’ grip with farmers and forest-dwellers becoming victims of conflict with wildlife. Goans too are suffering with wild pigs, monkeys and gaur the major problem species inflicting huge losses of crops and livestock.
INTERNATIONAL
World Breastfeeding Week – 1st Week of August
The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is marked once a year within the initial week of August, between one to seven August, to lift awareness on the importance of breastfeeding for mothers and infants.
Highlights:
The theme of the planet Breastfeeding Week 2021 is “Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility”. The annual week is organized by WABA, the UN agency and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund since 1991. Breastfeeding provides each kid with the most effective potential to begin in life. It delivers health, biological process and emotional advantages to each youngster and mother. And it forms a part of a property food system. However, whereas breastfeeding could be an action, it’s not continually simple. Mothers would like support – each to urge started and to sustain breastfeeding.
NISER – Joint Mission of ISRO and NASA
The ISRO-NASA joint mission NISER (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, aimed at making international dimension of land floor adjustments using superior radar imaging, is proposed to be launched in early 2023.
dual-band (L-band and S-band) radar imaging mission with the functionality of full polarimetric and interferometric modes of operation to have a look at minor adjustments inland, vegetation and cryosphere.
NASA is creating L-band SAR and related structures, whilst ISRO is creating S-band SAR, spacecraft bus, the launch automobile and associated launch services. The essential scientific goals of the mission are to enhance the perception of the influence of local weather trade on Earth’s altering ecosystems, land and coastal processes, land deformations and cryosphere. NISER is one of the integral collaborations of the ISRO and NASA. India and the U.S. had agreed upon this mission in then-President Barack Obama’s go-to India in 2015.
NATIONAL
First Indian Women to Win Two Olympic Medals
PV Sindhu, a 26-year-old badminton player, has turned out to be the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals after defeating ‘He Bingjiao’ of China.
Highlights:
♦ Sindhu defeated ‘He Bingjiao’ via 21-13, 21-15 in the women’s singles bronze medal match at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
♦ She is the 1st Indian girl to win Olympic silver and the first Indian girl to finish on the podium two instances at the Olympics.
♦ At the Rio Olympics, Sindhu had won women’s singles badminton silver in her Olympics debut.
Operation Blue Freedom – Team CLAW
The Government of India has accorded sanctions to Team CLAW to steer a team of individuals with disabilities to scale Siachen ice mass and make a replacement record for the most important team of individuals with disabilities.
This is the land record expedition a part of ‘Operation Blue Freedom Triple World Records’ being undertaken.
Triple Elemental World Records could be a series of world records being tried by the team in 2021 of collectives of individuals with disabilities achieving nice feats toward land, in air and underwater.
Team CLAW: Team CLAW (Conquer Land Air Water) could be a team of ex-Indian Special Forces commandos.
Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana by Government of India
A ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ for distribution of aids and helpful devices to ‘Divyangjan’ beneath the ADIP theme and to Senior voters beneath the ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ was unionized by the Ministry of Social Justice and authorisation, Government of India.
Key Points:
♦ Objective: To help the impoverished disabled persons in procuring sturdy, refined and scientifically factory-made, modern, customary aids and appliances which will promote their physical, social and psychological rehabilitation, by reducing the consequences of disabilities and enhancing their economic potential.
♦ Implementation: Through implementing agencies like NGOs, National Institutes beneath the Ministry of Social Justice & authorisation and ALIMCO (a PSU that manufactures artificial limbs).
Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana:
Coverage: Senior voters, happiness to BPL class and full of any of the age-related disability/infirmity Low vision, disability, Loss of teeth and locomotive incapacity.
Assistance is provided within the type of distributing Assisted-living devices which may restore close to normalcy in their bodily functions, overcoming the disability/infirmity manifested free-of-cost.
Funding: Central Sector theme. The expenditure for implementation of the theme are met from the “Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund “.
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