Recently, the Meghalaya Government has claimed that a detoxing pilot project has brought the Lukha river back from the dead. Important points: The Lukha River was considered toxic beyond redemption a decade ago owing to contamination due to acid mine drainage and run-off from the coal mines Phytoremediation method was used to detoxify the river, where Algae was used …

The first stretch of rail link between Nepal and India is ready to resume on the neighbouring country’s first-ever broad gauge passenger service (Jainagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway project). Important points: The rail link between Nepal and India has been popular since the early 20th century. In 1937, the British had built a narrow gauge line to ferry cargo, mainly …

Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) unanimously voted for recognising a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a Universal Human Right. If recognised by all, the right will be the first of its kind in more than 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the UN General Assembly …

Recently, Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021 was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The Index considers data from 109 countries and 5.9 billion people. Highlights of the report: 3 billion people are multidimensionally poor. About half (644 million) are children under age 18. Nearly 85% live in Sub-Saharan …

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch ‘Lucy’, its first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan Asteroids. Important points: The solar-powered mission is estimated to be over 12 years long, during which the spacecraft will visit eight asteroids covering a distance of about 6.3 billion km to deepen the understanding of the “young solar system”. The …