Jal Shakti Ministry
- Union government has created a new ministry, Jal Shakti to provide safe drinking water to people.
- It has been created by reorganizing the earlier Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
- Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has also been added to it.
- Jal Shakti ministry will ensure clean water and top class irrigation water facilities for the farmers.
UN- Habitat Assembly
- The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development.
- UN-Habitat was established in 1978 and maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.
- It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
- The first UN-Habitat Assembly was held in Nairobi, Kenya.
- India is elected as an executive board member in the assembly.
Microbiome
- The human microbiota is the aggregate of microorganisms (community of bacteria, viruses and fungi) that live on the skin or in the gut, nose or reproductive tract.
- Microbiomes start forming at birth and are different depending on whether babies were born vaginally or via C-section.
- And they change with age and different exposures, such as a course of antibiotics that can wipe out friendly bacteria along with infection-causing ones.
Heat waves
- A heat wave is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries.
- A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual weather in the area and relative to normal temperatures for the season.
- Intense heat waves are becomingly increasingly frequent due to effects of climate change globally.
- The weather forecasters declare a heatwave when maximum temperatures reach the threshold value of 40 degree Celsius in the plains and 30º C in hilly areas.
- Indian government is yet to consider heatwaves a natural disaster.
Orangutan
- Orangutans are not native to India, recently India’s only orangutan which was brought from Singapore was died in Nanda Kannan Zoo, Odisha.
- Orangutans are not migratory animals and stay rooted in their area, they suffer more due to deforestation.
- Orangutans, with distinctive red fur, are the largest arboreal mammal, spending most of their time in trees.
- According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there are three species of orangutans — Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli.
- Identified as the third species of orangutan in November 2017 is the Tapanuli orangutan.
- All three kinds of orangutans are listed as “Critically Endangered” by the United Nations-affiliated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Source: The Hindu, Indian Express, Down to Earth
