Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has formulated National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a medium term national level strategy to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country.
The overall objective is to ensure a comprehensive management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.
The NCAP focuses on collaborative and participatory approach covering all sources of pollution and coordination between relevant Central Ministries, State Governments, local bodies and other stakeholders.
A separate component on ‘Technology Assessment Cell’ has been envisaged under NCAP to evaluate the technologies for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.
National Tobacco Control Policy
Union government is planning to propose a policy for enforcing various provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products.
As of now Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act, 2003 (COTPA 2003), lies with the States/Union Territories.
At present there is a National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) with one objective of ensuring effective implementation of the provisions under COTPA, 2003.
There are State and District Level Coordination Committees under NTCP to oversee its implementation.
Milk under price stabilisation fund
To create additional domestic demand for milk the agriculture ministry has sought inclusion of the milk under the Price Stabilisation Fund scheme.
If milk is included in the Price Stabilisation Fund, it would enable states to distribute milk through the public distribution system.
The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) was set upunder the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Famers Welfare (DAC&FW) and later transferred to Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA).
It aims to help regulate the price volatility of important agri-horticultural commodities like onion, potatoes and pulses were also added subsequently.
Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh
In the Budget 2017-18, an exclusive fund called “Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh” (RRSK) has been made.
The fund has a corpus of Rs.1 lakh crore over a period of 5 years.
This fund will be used for giving a major boost to safety related works for improving safety of tracks, rolling stock and proliferation of other safety technologies and training of staff.
Bomb Cyclone
It’s a weather term that applies to a massive winter storm that struck off the U.S. Southeast, the storm has dumped freak snow in this region.
This storm will usually stay out to sea and blow with high winds gusts exceeding 100 kmph.
Bomb cyclones draw air from Polar Regions after they leave it means extra cold Arctic air this is based on polar vortex.
Storm intensity is measured by central pressure the lower the pressure, the stronger.
A storm is considered a “bomb” when the pressure drops rapidly at least 24 millibars in 24 hours,Millibar is the unit of atmospheric air pressure.
Polar Vortex
The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles.
It always exists near the poles, but weakens in summer and strengthens in winter.
The term "vortex" refers to the counter-clockwise flow of air that helps keep the colder air near the Poles.
Many times during winter in the northern hemisphere, the polar vortex will expand, sending cold air southward with the jet stream.
This occurs fairly regularly during wintertime and is often associated with large outbreaks of Arctic air in the United States.
Polar vortex is not a feature that exists at the Earth’s surface and it is not confined to the U.S.
Portions of Europe and Asia also experience cold surges connected to the polar vortex.
