Prelim Bits 03-06-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme (EIACP)

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), envisages to celebrate the World Environment Day 2023 with a thrust on the Mission LiFE.

EIACP

• The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) came into existence as a plan programme in 1983.
• ENVIS has been subsumed within the revamped scheme of Environment Education, Awareness, Research and Skill Development.
• ENVIS is renamed as EIACP (Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme).
• EIACP serves as a one stop platform for dissemination of environmental information, policy formulation on environment and facilitation of alternate livelihoods through green skilling.
• The programme is one of the Central Sector sub-scheme being implemented in alignment with Mission LiFE.
• EIACP Hub on Status of Environment Related Issues is hosted by the Indian State Level Basic Environmental Information Database (ISBEID).
• The ISBEID is a centralised database maintained by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India for all the States.
• EIACP conducts Environmental Awareness Programs to School Children, Colleges and Universities on Environmental Important Days like, World Environment Day, World Earth Day, etc.

Reference

1. PIB │EIACP
2. EPTRI │EIACP

Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus)

Encroachment pushes Himalayan brown bears into Kashmir’s villages.

• Description – The Himalayan brown bear is the largest mammal found in Kashmir.
• It is considerably smaller than the Grizzly and the Kodiak bears.
• Behaviour – This is the least arboreal (living in trees) bear and is largely terrestrial as an adaptation to life in the rolling uplands above the tree line.
• It hibernates (Meaning) in winter.
  • Hibernation is the condition or period of an animal or plant spending the winter in a dormant state.
• Distribution – Through the Western Himalayan states of Jammu & Kashmir Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand (3000-5000 m).
• It is found from northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, west China and Nepal.
• Populations are present in the Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh) and the Deosai National Park, Pakistan.
• They may also be present in south and western Ladakh, in the upper Suru and Zanskar valleys.
• Habitat – It is not primarily a forest animal and inhibits alpine scrub and meadows above the tree line although it is occasionally found in subalpine forests.
• Threats – They are threatened by habitat destruction due to various anthropogenic pressures such as habitat encroachment, tourism, and grazing pressure.
• The Himalayan brown bear population has been steadily declining in the past century with only an estimated 500-750 bears left in India.

Brown bears are distributed worldwide and include the famous Grizzly of North America.

Reference

1. Down To Earth │Himalayan Brown Bear

Petroleum Coke (Pet Coke)

Government permits import of pet coke as raw material for lithium-ion batteries.

• Petcoke is a by-product created when bitumen found in tar sands, is refined into crude oil.
  • Bitumen is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum.
• It is a carbon-rich solid material derived from a thermo-based chemical engineering process.
• It is a spongy, solid residue from oil distillation that can be burned for fuel similar to coal.
• The process splits long chain hydrocarbons of petroleum into shorter chains that takes place in coker units.
• There are two distinctive grades of Petroleum Coke viz. Calcinable or Green Petcoke and Fuel Grade Petcoke.
• Production – Calcinable grade coke or Green Petcoke, also referred as RPC is produced at Koyali, Barauni, Bongaigaon, Digboi and Guwahati refineries of IndianOil.
• Fuel Grade Petcoke is produced at Panipat, Paradip, Koyali and Haldia refineries of IndianOil.
• Petcoke, a by-product from oil refining and a substitute for coal is referred by India due to the surge in the global prices of coal.
• The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war resulted in a hike in the price of commodities such as coal, and crude oil.
• Indian firms are also buying Petcoke from Venezuela because the country is offering the same at a discounted rate of 5-10% lower than the US.
• The world’s biggest consumer of Petcoke, India imports over half of its annual Petcoke from the US which is around 27 million tonnes.
• Applications – It is used as a feed stock or for fuels and is used in making cement, lime kilns, gasification units, and industrial boilers.
• It is used as a carbon source in Electrodes for electrometallurgical industries, Synthetic Graphite, Aluminium Anodes, TiO2 pigments, Carbon Raiser.
• Difference between Coke and Coal:

 Reference

1. Business Standard │ Pet coke as raw material for lithium-ion batteries

Myristica swamps  

Climate change and human intervention threaten the Myristica swamps of Kerala.

• Myristica swamps are freshwater swamps predominated by members of the Myristicaceae family.

• The evergreen trees have evolved to live in the waterlogged conditions of the swamps.
• They have two types of roots, knee roots (pneumatophores) and stilt root.
• They have evolved over millions of years and are comprised of old-growth trees.
• Location – In India, these unique habitats occur in the Western Ghats and a smaller distribution exists in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Myristica swamps are seen next to rivers and help in retaining water and act as a sponge, ensuring perennial water availability.
• Important Species – Gymnocranthera canarica and Myristica fatua — belonging to the primitive Myristicaceae family.

References

1. The Hindu │ Climate change threaten the Myristica swamps
2. Conservation India │ Conserving Threatened Myristica Swamps

Smart Bandage

A new ‘smart bandage’ raises the bar for treating chronic wounds.

• The smart bandage is a soft stretchable polymer that helps the bandage maintain contact with and stick to the skin.
• The bioelectronics system consists of biosensors that monitor biomarkers in the wound exudate.
• Data collected by the bandage is passed to a flexible printed circuit board, which relays it wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet for review by a physician.
• A pair of electrodes control drug release from a hydrogel layer as well as stimulate the wound to encourage tissue regrowth.

• Working of smart bandages - Biosensors determine the wound status by tracking the chemical composition of the exudates, which changes as the wound heals.
• Additional sensors monitor the pH and temperature for real-time information about the infection and inflammation.
• A pair of electrodes, the same electrodes that stimulate the tissue, control the release of drugs from a hydrogel layer.
• The wireless nature of the device sidesteps the problems of existing electrical stimulation devices, which usually require bulky equipment and wired connections, limiting their clinical use.

Reference

1. The Hindu │ Smart Bandage