State of the Climate in Asia Report, 2020

• This report was launched by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Carbon dioxide

• The report highlighted that the increase in CO2 from 2019 to 2020 was slightly lower than that observed from 2018 to 2019 but higher than the average annual growth rate over the last decade.
• This is despite the approximately 5.6% drop in fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 2020 due to restrictions related to the pandemic.

Methane

• For methane, the increase from 2019 to 2020 was higher than that observed from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average annual growth rate over the last decade.

Nitrous Oxides

• For nitrous oxides also, the increase was higher and also than the average annual growth rate over the past 10 years.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) shows that from 1990 to 2020, radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs) increased by 47%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of this increase.
• Concentration of CO2, the most significant greenhouse gas, reached 413.2 parts per million in 2020 and is 149% of the pre-industrial level.
• Methane (CH4) is 262% and nitrous oxide (N2O) is 123% of the levels in 1750 when human activities started disrupting earth’s natural equilibrium.

• The Qutb Shahi tombs complex has been on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites since 2010 

The Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs, Charminar

• Located in the city of Hyderabad, capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs and Charminar are the landmarks that symbolize the Qutb Shahi Dynasty.
• The monuments of the Qutb Shahi period represent different building typologies; Golconda is a fortified citadel and an early capital city of the Qutb Shahi dynasty.
• It is an ensemble of military structures, ramparts, gates, bastions, armoury; religious structures such as mosques, temples; residential structures such as palaces; water systems such as canals, fountains and landscaped gardens.
• The tombs of Qutb Shahis are a mausoleum complex, a royal necropolis which comprises the tombs of the Royal family and the officials who faithfully served them and also mortuary bath and mosques.
• Charminar on the other hand, is a ceremonial Gateway built to celebrate the foundation of Hyderabad, a new Millennial City, in 1591 A.D. 

• A rare butterfly species, called the Silver Forget-Me-Not (FMN), has been spotted twice inside the Srivilliputhur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.

Silver Forget-Me-Not (FMN)

• The Silver FMN was earlier recorded in Chinnar, Kerala, in 2019; in Andaman & Nicobar Islands between 2015 and 2017 and in Sikkim, West Bengal and the Northeast States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura between 2005 and 2020.
• The species is not known to be migratory in nature.
• Indigosa is its food plant and probably, the Silver FMN is overlooked due to its resemblance to the Common FMN.

Silver FMN Vs Common FMN

• Both are silver in colour with a spot on the forewing.
• The slight variation in the discal bands, colour of the Upper wing and position of the spot determines the species.
• The common FMN is bluish-silver with a spot in the middle of its two straight discal bands.
• The Silver FMN is pale silvery with slightly curved bands and the spot is near the upper band.

Green-Term Ahead Market (G-TAM)

• It is a new market segment for trading in renewable energy following the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) approval on a day-ahead basis.
• The GDAM will enable electricity generation and distribution companies to buy or sell renewable energy through open access.
• The Green Day-ahead market will operate in an integrated way with the conventional day-ahead market.
• The Exchanges will offer the market participants to submit bids together for both conventional and renewable energy through the separate bidding windows.
• National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC), POSOCO, as the Nodal Agency, has set up the latest technologies and communication infrastructure for facilitating the Green Day Ahead Market.

Day-Ahead-Market (DAM)

• It is a physical electricity trading market for deliveries for any/some/all 15 minute time blocks in 24 hours of next day starting from midnight.
• The prices and quantum of electricity to be traded are determined through a double sided closed auction bidding process

National Fund to Control Drug Abuse

• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recommended that the National Fund to Control Drug Abuse (NFCDA) be used to carry out de-addiction programmes, rather than just policing activities.
• The World Health Organisation defines ‘Drug Abuse’ as the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs.
• The fund was created in accordance with a provision of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act), 1985.
• Objectives - The funds can be utilized to meet the expenditure incurred in connection with the measures taken for,

1. Combating illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or controlled substances;
2. Controlling the abuse of narcotic drugs & psychotropic substances;
3. Identifying, treating, rehabilitating addicts;
4. Educating public against drug abuse; and
5. Supplying drugs to addicts where such supply is a medical necessity.

Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is one of the smallest WS (Wildlife Sanctuary) of Assam.
• Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) is located in northern Assam’s Baksa and Udalguri districts bordering Bhutan.
• The Sanctuary is bordered by the Barnadi river and Nalapara river to the west and east respectively.
• Barnadi was establishes specifically to protect the Pygmy Hog and Hispid Hare.

Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary

• Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants.
• The sanctuary is covered by southern tropical dry deciduous and thorn forests.
• Some of the important flora consists of Albizia amara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species which is a regeneration of Santalum album.
• Apart from Elephant, some of the animals found in the sanctuary are: sloth bear, panther, cheetal, chowsingha, sambar, porcupine, wild boar, jungle cat, jackal, jungle fowl, starred tortoise and slender loris.

Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFC)

• Nonbank financial companies (NBFCs), also known as nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs) are entities that provide certain bank-like and financial services but do not hold a banking license.
• NBFCs are not subject to the banking regulations and oversight by federal and state authorities adhered to by traditional banks.
• Investment banks, mortgage lenders, money market funds, insurance companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, and P2P lenders are all examples of NBFCs.
• Since the Great Recession, NBFCs have proliferated in number and type, playing a key role in meeting the credit demand unmet by traditional banks.
• Generally, these institutions are not allowed to take traditional demand deposits—readily available funds, such as those in checking or savings accounts—from the public.
• This limitation keeps them outside the scope of conventional oversight from federal and state financial regulators.
• Nonbank financial companies fall under the oversight of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which describes them as companies "predominantly engaged in a financial activity" when more than 85% of their consolidated annual gross revenues or consolidated assets are financial in nature.

Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission

• India’s largest scheme to scale-up health infrastructure.
• The Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission is aimed at ensuring a robust public health infrastructure in both urban and rural areas, capable of responding to public health emergencies or disease outbreak.
• In a bid to increase accessibility, the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, an addition to the National Health Mission, will provide support to 17,788 rural Health and Wellness Centres in 10 ‘high focus’ states and establish 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centres across the country.
• It will ensure access to critical care services in all districts of the country with over five lakh population through ‘Exclusive Critical Care Hospital Blocks’.
• The remaining districts will be covered through referral services.
• Integrated public health labs will also be set up in all districts, giving people access to “a full range of diagnostic services” through a network of laboratories across the country.
• The Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission also aims to establish an IT-enabled disease surveillance system through a network of surveillance laboratories at block, district, regional and national levels.
• All the public health labs will be connected through the Integrated Health Information Portal, which will be expanded to all states and UTs.
• The mission will set up other infrastructure, including a national institution for one health, four national institutes for virology, a regional research platform for WHO’s South East Asia region, nine bio safety level-III laboratories, and five regional centers for disease control.

Monsoons in India

• The term monsoon has been derived from the Arabic word mausin or from the Malayan word monsin meaning ‘season’.
• Monsoons are seasonal winds which reverse their direction with the change of season.
• The monsoon is a double system of seasonal winds – They flow from sea to land during the summer and from land to sea during winter.
• Monsoons are peculiar to Indian Subcontinent, South East Asia, parts of Central Western Africa etc..
• They are more pronounced in the Indian Subcontinent compared to any other region.
• Indian Monsoons are Convection cells on a very large scale.
• They are periodic or secondary winds which seasonal reversal in wind direction.
• India receives south-west monsoon winds in summer and north-east monsoon winds in winter.
• South-west monsoons are formed due to intense low pressure system formed over the Tibetan plateau.
• North-east monsoons are associated with high pressure cells over Tibetan and Siberian plateaus.
• South-west monsoons bring intense rainfall to most of the regions in India and north-east monsoons bring rainfall to mainly south-eastern coast of India (Southern coast of Seemandhra and the coast of Tamil Nadu.).
• Countries like India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar etc. receive most of the annual rainfall during south-west monsoon season where as South East China, Japan etc., during north-east rainfall season.
• This year the South West monsoon has retrieved later than usual.
• The Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) take into account five conditions while making forecasts about the monsoon in April every year.
• The Sea Surface Temperature (SST) gradient between the north Atlantic and the north Pacific (conditions during December of the previous year and January of present year).
• SST of the equatorial south Indian Ocean (conditions during February and March of the present year).
• Mean Sea Level pressure in East Asia (conditions during February and March of the present year).
• The surface air temperature over northwest Europe (conditions during January of the present year).
• The warm water volume of the equatorial Pacific Ocean (conditions during February and March of the present year).

Iconic Tourist Site

• Ministry of Tourism has identified 20 sites has Iconic Tourist Sites in India.
• The Ministry shall be developing the sites in a holistic manner with focus on issues concerning connectivity to the destination, better facilities/experience for the tourists at the site, skill development, and involvement of local community, promotion & branding and by bringing private investment.
• The development of Iconic Tourist sites scheme is awaiting approval of the Ministry of Finance.
• The initiative is aimed at enhancing India’s soft power.
• The monuments taken up for development under the initiative fall under the jurisdiction of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and State Archaeology Departments.
• The Ministry will carry out interventions at these monuments in collaboration with the ASI and State Government.
•  All development plans will have elements of universal accessibility, cleanliness at the monuments, use of Green Technology and enhanced security for the tourists.
• The 20 sites identified include:
• Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh),
• Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra),
• Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar (Delhi),
• Colva (Goa),
• Amer Fort (Rajasthan),
• Somnath and Dholavira (Gujarat),
• Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh),
• Hampi (Karnataka),
• Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu),
• Kaziranga (Assam),
• Kumarakom (Kerala) and
• Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar)
• Konark Sun Temple (Odisha)
• Kevadia (Gujarat)
• Golconda Fort (Telangana)

Swachh Iconic Places (SIP)

• The initiative aims at enhancing the experience of both domestic and foreign visitors by improving the sanitation and cleanliness standards at and around the sites.
• The objective of SIP is to achieve a distinctly higher level of Sanitation/Cleanliness at these places, especially on the peripheries and in approach areas.
• This project is being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti in association with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and the concerned State/UT governments.
• Ministry of Jal Shakti has announced the selection of the following Twelve (12) iconic sites.
• Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
• Sanchi Stupa, Madhya Pradesh
• Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan
• Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan
• Ramdevra, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
• Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana
• Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha
• Rock Garden, Chandigarh
• Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir
• Banke Bihari Temple, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
• Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh
• Kalighat Temple, West Bengal