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National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) scheme implemented for conservation and management of wetlands (includes lakes) in the country on cost sharing basis between Central Government and respective State Governments Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) provided financial assistance to the States/Union Territories under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) and National Lake …

PARIVESH Portal provides a “single window” solution for an expeditious, transparent and effective decision making without compromising on  environmental safeguards PARIVESH is a web based, role-based workflow application which has been developed for online submission and monitoring of the proposals submitted by the proponents seeking for Environmental (EC), Forest (FC), Wildlife (WL) and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances. It automates the entire tracking of proposals at each stage …

Lebanon was thrown into mass confusion after its government at the last minute delayed the start of daylight saving time by a month. Meanwhile, Greenland has chosen to stay with daylight saving time forever. What is daylight saving time? Daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of setting the clocks forward …

Shri Bhupender Yadav launches Aravalli Green Wall Project, a major initiative to green 5 km buffer area around the Aravalli Hill Range in four states The Aravalli Green Wall Project is part of the Union Environment Ministry’s vision to create green corridors across the country to combat land degradation and desertification. The project covers states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi – where …

A U.K.-based startup claims to have developed biotransformation technology that can alter the state of plastics and make them biodegradable without leaving behind any microplastics. What is biotransformation technology? Biotransformation technology is a novel approach to ensure plastics that escape refuse streams are processed efficiently and broken down. Plastics made using this technology are given …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed a $3 billion bailout plan for Sri Lanka’s struggling economy. What is a bailout? Bailout is a general term for extending financial support to a company or a country facing a potential bankruptcy threat. It can take the form of loans, cash, bonds, or stock purchases. A bailout may or may not …

India’s first cable-stayed bridge and the first-of-its-kind in the country, is currently under construction and will soon be completed. The Anji Khad bridge is being constructed in the Reasi district of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This is a 80 km long bridge. The idea was first conceived in 2002 and was declared a …

Recently, the Indian Patent Office rejected an application by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to extend its patent on the drug bedaquiline.  What is Bedaquiline? Bedaquiline is a drug in tablet form used to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). What is drug-resistant TB? As of 2017, India accounted for around one-fourth of the world’s burden of multi-drug-resistant …

India is considering translocating some tigers to Cambodia. India signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia to assist it with all technical details and knowledge regarding the reintroduction of the tiger in the country. How did tigers go extinct in Cambodia? Due to habitat destruction and poaching. The last tiger spotted on a camera trap in Cambodia was in 2007. …

This quote is part of a passage/essay written by Bhagat Singh. In this passage, Bhagat Singh outlines why reason, rather than blind faith, should drive anyone who believes in progress. Usage of the term faith: first, as a synonym for religious beliefs (‘old faiths’) and second, simply as faith (complete trust or confidence in someone or something) itself. Meaning …

Lights at public places and some temples in different cities including Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi were turned off between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. as part of the global ‘Earth Hour’ event. Earth Hour was launched in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund and its partners in Sydney, Australia. Earth Hour is described …

The Parsi community in India, which follows Zoroastrianism, celebrated Nowruz on March 21, marking the beginning of the New Year. Nowruz begins on the first day of the Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian solar calendar at the spring equinox, and continues for 12 days. In 1079 AD, a Persian king Jalaluddin Malekshah introduced …

Five people have died and three others are infected with the Marburg virus  in Tanzania. Marburg virus disease (MVD), earlier known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal hemorrhagic fever. Marburg, like Ebola, is a filovirus and both diseases are clinically similar. Rousettus fruit bats are considered the natural hosts for the Marburg virus. However, African green …

The British government recently said that it would provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. What is depleted uranium? Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the process of creating enriched uranium, which is used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. In comparison to enriched uranium, depleted uranium is much less radioactive and is incapable of generating a nuclear …

Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been unanimously elected as the head of New Development Bank (NDB). The New Development Bank (NDB) was formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank. It is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The Agreement on the New Development …

Action plans under Swacch Bharat amounting to ₹3226 crore of Central Share (CS) assistance on remediation of legacy waste dumpsites have been approved so far. Although the term “legacy waste” has not been defined in any official government document in India, it typically refers to aged municipal solid waste in landfills or There is no information on how old waste …

With a roaring sound, LVM3, the heaviest payload rocket of the Indian Space Research Organisation carrying 36 OneWeb satellites on board, took off at 9.20 a.m. on Sunday from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here. The satellites separated successfully from the rocket and were dispensed …

The conviction, on Thursday, March 23, 2023, of Congress leader and now former Member of Parliament from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi by a Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Surat, Gujarat, and the issuance of a notification the next day by the Lok Sabha Secretariat of Mr. Gandhi’s disqualification raise some important …

Recently, an MP (Member of Parliament) was sentenced to two years in jail in a 2019 Defamation Case over his remarks about another political leader by the Surat Court. The case was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500, dealing with defamation. What do IPC sections 499 and 500 say? Section 499 of …

North Korea claimed on Friday it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone able to unleash a “radioactive tsunami”, as it blamed recent U.S.-South Korea exercises for a deteriorating regional security situation. Pyongyang carried out military drills of its own in response this week, the Korean Central News Agency said, including test-firing …