India Water Impact Summit
- It is organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga).
- The summit’s focus is to host multi-country dialogue to build up India's international collaborations in the water sector.
- The primary purpose of this conference is to have comprehensive analysis and review of river rejuvenation and local river.
- The theme of the fifth edition of the summit was based on the concept of "Arth Ganga", river conservation synchronised development.
- The 'Arth Ganga' initiative would economically enhance the villages which are situated near the Ganges.
NB-IoT Network
- Skylotech India has partnered with BSNL to launch a satellite-based narrowband IoT network in India.
- This is the world’s first satellite-based NB-IoT network.
- It will connect with BSNL’s satellite ground infrastructure and provide pan-India coverage, including Indian seas.
- This technology supports the Telecom Department and NITI Aayog’s plan of bringing indigenous IoT connectivity to India’s core sectors.
- It will transform India’s lives and domestic industries like agriculture, railways and fisheries.
- Also, Skylo would help provide critical data for the logistics sector to enable effective distribution of Covid-19 vaccine in 2021.
Aerosols in IGP
- Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is located south and upwind of the Himalayan foothills.
- A team under the Dept. of Science & Technology Climate Change program has found that high aerosol loading in IGP has increased the high rainfall events in the foothills of the Himalayan Region.
- They have found that the particulate emissions can alter the physical and dynamical properties of cloud systems.
- These alterations, in turn, amplify rainfall events over orographic regions downwind of highly polluted urban areas.
- The team found clear associations between high precipitation events, high aerosol loading, and high moist static energy (MSE) values.
- (MSE of an air mass includes the potential energy due to its height above the ground and the latent heat due to its moisture content).
Beresheet 2
- Israel launched the Beresheet 2 project (Beresheet means "Genesis").
- This project will be made up of three adjacent spacecrafts.
- It aims at landing an unmanned craft on the moon in 2024, after a previous such mission had crashed into the lunar surface.
- The original Beresheet was a spacecraft built by Israeli NGO SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
- It had reached the moon in April 2019, but suffered an engine failure as it prepared to land.
- Israel would become the fourth nation to land on the moon, only after Russia, the US and China.
Molnupiravir
- The antiviral drug Molnupiravir, or MK-4482/EIDD-2801, has been shown to stop the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in 24 hours.
- This is the first oral drug to rapidly block SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
- The drug stops replication of the copies of the virus’s RNA in the cell.
- Indian researchers plan to apply to the drug regulator to conduct human trials with the drug.
Emissions Gap Report 2020
- This annual report is released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
- It measures the gap between anticipated emissions and levels consistent with the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming this century to well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C.
- The year 2020 is on course to be one of the warmest on record, while wildfires, storms and droughts continue to wreak havoc.
- The findings from the report are:
- Record high GHG emissions: These emissions continued to grow for the third consecutive year in 2019.
- Record carbon emission: Fossil CO2 emissions dominate total GHG emissions and consequently the growth in GHG emissions.
- Forest fires increasing GHG emissions: Since 2010, GHG emissions have grown at 1.3% per year on average.
- G20 countries: They account for the bulk of emissions.
- Slowing GHG emission rate: This is happening. But, GHG emissions are declining in OECD economies and increasing in non-OECD economies.
- Consumption-based emissions: Rich countries have higher consumption-based emissions than territorial-based emission.
- COVID-19 impact: CO2 emissions could decrease by about 7% in 2020 compared with 2019 levels due to COVID-19.
- Other GHGs level: Although CO2 emissions will decrease in 2020, the resulting atmospheric concentrations of major GHGs and nitrous oxide continued to increase in both 2019 and 2020.
- Net zero level: 126 countries covering 51% of GHG emissions have net-zero goals that are formally adopted, announced or under consideration.
- Another major UNEP report is Global Environment Outlook.
Source: ANI, Economic Times, PIB, First Post, The Indian Express, Down To Earth
