• An excessive algal and plant growth in the Muttukadu Estuary is posing a serious problem to the environment and fish species.
• Microcystis aeruginosa, a species of cyanobacteria that can form harmful algal blooms, has affected the water quality of the Muttukadu backwaters.
• These algae produce hepatotoxin, called ‘microcystin’, which in high concentrations could be fatal to fishes, humans, birds and other aquatic organisms.
• Muttukadu Estuary is located near Chennai, Tamil Nadu and runs parallel to the east coast, the Bay of Bengal.

Eutrophication

• Eutrophia is a greek word which means adequate & healthy nutrition.
• Eutrophication is a syndrome of ecosystem, response to the addition of artificial or natural nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates through fertilizer, sewage, etc that fertilize the aquatic ecosystem.
• It is primarily caused by the leaching of phosphate and or nitrate containing fertilisers from agricultural lands into lakes or rivers.

Algal Bloom

• Some algae and blue-green bacteria thrive on the excess ions and a population explosion covers almost entire surface layer is known as algal bloom.
• As Algal Bloom covers the surface layer, it restricts the penetration of sunlight and reduces the oxygen level.
• Due to reduced oxygen level, fishes and other aquatic organism suffocate and they die.

• The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd, has recently commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25MW on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
• This is also the first solar project to be set up under the Flexibilisation Scheme, notified by the Government of India in 2018.
• The 2000MW coal-based Simhadri Station is the first power project to implement an open sea intake from the Bay of Bengal which has been functional for more than 20 years.
• NTPC is also planning to set up a hydrogen-based micro-grid system on a pilot basis at Simhadri.
• NTPC is India's first energy company to declare its energy compact goals as part of the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE).

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently launched the Ubharte Sitaare Fund

Ubharte Sitaare Fund

• The fund will aid the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which could be future champions with good export potential.
• The fund has been set up by EXIM Bank and SIDBI.
• The fund is expected to identify Indian enterprises with potential advantages by way of technology, products or processes along with export potential, but which are currently underperforming or unable to tap their latent potential to grow.
• The fund is a mix of structured support, both financial and advisory services through investments in equity or equity like instruments, debt (funded and non-funded) and technical assistance (advisory services, grants and soft loans) to the Indian companies.
• The fund will go a long way in making India a major exporting hub.

Jalakanyaka

• A new marine algae species with an umbrella-like cap, which has been named Jalakanyaka, has been discovered on Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• The new algae species has been named ‘Acetabularia jalakanyakae’, after the Sanskrit word ‘Jalakanyaka’ meaning the ‘goddess of oceans’ or ‘mermaid’.
• This species is the 1st of the genus Acetabularia to be discovered in India.
• It is also the first of its kind on the Island.
• Algal diversity is one of the highest in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• The whole plant is made up of just one cell with only one nucleus.
• Threats - Rising seawater temperature decreases oxygen concentration in water, dangerously affecting all organisms that depend on oxygen to live, including this species.

• August 20, 2021 marks the centenary of the Malabar rebellion or the Moplah (Muslim) riots of 1921.
• Malabar rebellion had been an uprising of Muslim tenants (Moplahs) against local Hindu landlords (Jenmis) and British rulers.
• The uprising, which began as part of the Khilafat Movement, took place in regions which are under the Malappuram district, Kerala.
• It was an armed revolt led by Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji.
• It has been perceived as one of the 1st nationalist uprisings in southern India. It has even been described as a peasant revolt.
• In 1971, the Kerala government had included the participants of the rebellion in the category of freedom fighters.
• Impacts - The rebellion of Mappilas inspired by religious ideology and a conception of an alternative system of administration - Khilafat government - dealt a blow to the nationalist movement in Malabar.
• Fanaticism of rebels, foregrounded by the British, fostered communal rift and enmity towards the Congress.

Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021

• It seeks to dissolve certain existing appellate bodies and transfer their functions (such as adjudication of appeals) to other existing judicial bodies.
• The Chairperson and Members of the Tribunals will be appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a Search-cum-Selection Committee. 
• The Committee will consist of

(i) The Chief Justice of India, or a Supreme Court Judge nominated by him, as the Chairperson (with casting vote),

(ii) Two Secretaries nominated by the central government,

(iii) The sitting or outgoing Chairperson, or a retired Supreme Court Judge, or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court, and

(iv) The Secretary of the Ministry under which the Tribunal is constituted (with no voting right). 

Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India

• It was published by the Space Applications Centre under ISRO in June 2021.
• Report Highlights – In 2018-19, 29.7% of the country’s Total Geographical area (97.85 million hectares) became degraded.
• Land degradation within dry land regions (arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions) is termed as ‘desertification’.

• Most of the degraded area is contributed by Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
• India witnessed an increase in the level of desertification in 28 of 31 states and Union territories between 2011-13 and 2018-19.
• In Goa and Odisha, desertification declined between 2003-05 and 2011-13.
• Land degradation and desertification was declining in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana in 2018-2019.

Impact of Insecticides and Herbicides

• Planktons are tiny organisms found in water and as they can’t propel themselves are transported by the currents.
• The major groups of planktons are phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacterioplankton, microplankton and virioplankton.
• A recent study has examined the impact of herbicide glyphosate and the insecticide called imidacloprid on the bacterioplankton communities.
• Bacterial communities provide useful ecosystem services like the decomposition of organic matter and the cycling of nutrients.
• These services can be impaired if microbiomes are severely affected by excessive pesticide usage.
• Study observations - Bacterial cell density increased, albeit slightly, due to glyphosate and carbon substrate utilisation witnessed negligible effect with the introduction of both glyphosate and imidacloprid.

AK-203 Assault Rifles

• In February 2019, India and Russia has signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to set up a joint enture — Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) at Korwa in Uttar Pradesh for manufacturing AK-203 rifles.
• In 2015, India and Russia had concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for at least 200 Ka-226T twin-engine utility helicopters.

FDI in Insurance Sector

• The Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was passed by Parliament in March which increased the FDI limit in the sector from 49% to 74% under automatic route.
• According to the new rules Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2021, applications for FDI in an insurance company promoted by a private bank would be cleared by the RBI and IRDAI.
• This is to ensure that the 74% limit of overseas investment is not breached.