Goa Affairs
Goa, which has 0.1% of Indias area, has 37% of its listed birds
During the last winter season, whenbirdersset out on their annualbirding expeditionacross Goa, they were delighted to have spotted four new species in the state. This has taken the number of listedbirdsfound in Goa to 481, which is almost 37% of the tally of birds listed across India, though it is the smallest state in terms of geographical area.
Malabar starling, chestnut winged cuckoo, great bittern and white browed fantail are the newest bird presence recorded in the state.
Goas recorded bird species roughly constitute 5% of the total 10,000-odd bird species listed globally.
Compare the geographically tiny states 481 to the 525 bird species listed in the vast state of Karnataka. This has helped make Goa a popular destination with birdwatchers from India and abroad.
Peru has the largest number of birds listed for any country in the world with its count standing at 2,000, while the recorded bird species in India are between 1,200 and 1,300, of which Goa has nearly 481.
National and International Affairs
Members will include officials from the MoCA, MOPSW, and the Ministry of Tourism (MoT).
Under the Namami Gange Programme, an agreement was signed for the development of a 35 MLD (Mega Liters per day) sewage treatment plant in Maheshtala (a city on the east bank of the Ganga). The project was signed in the form of a Hybrid Annuity PPP.
The Namami Gange program is a comprehensive conseration mission. It was approved by the Union Government as a “flagship program” in June 2014 to achieve the dual goals of effectively reducing pollution and protecting and rejuvenating the national river Ganges.
It is operated by the Ministry of <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/water-Resources“>Water Resources, River Development and Ganges Rehabilitation Department of Jal Shakti Ministry.
The program is implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and its state counterpart, the State Program Management Group (SPMG).
The National Ganga Council’s implementation wing is the NMCG (set in 2016; which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority – NGRBA).
It has a Rs. 20,000-crore corpus that is centrally funded and non-lapsable, and it includes nearly 288 projects.
India Rank 43rd World Competitiveness Index
The Ministries of , Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) and Civil Aviation (MoCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Development of Sea Plane Services in India.
Highlights:
European Space Agency to Launch Wood Satellite
The European Space Agency (ESA) has deliberate to launch the worlds first wood satellite. It is going to be launched from New Zealand. It will be launched from a Rocket Lab Electron rocket by the last of 2021. The satellite is the brainchild of Jari Makinen.
The satellite, WISA Woodsat, is a nanosatellite. It is 10cm on every side, length, height, and width.
The sensors of the satellite have been developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and designers have placed the timber in a thermal vacuum chamber to keep it dry.
A very thin aluminium oxide layer has been used to decrease the vapour coming from the wood and to defend it from the erosive outcomes of atomic Oxygen. The non-wooden external parts are made up of aluminium rails.
The Union Minister of <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmers Welfare delivered a speech at the 42nd session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The conference is held every two years. India is a founding member of FAO
Highlights:
The national planning framework developed by India’s FAO in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare of the Government of India adopts a multi sectoral approach.
India has provided technical expertise and assistance in cases of trans-boundary pests, primarily Fall Army Worm and Desert Locust.
The FAO also supported India’s proposal for an International Year of Pulses (2016) and an International Year of (2023).