IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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The Indian Grey Hornbill: The fig disperser

News

• The Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) is a fairly common hornbill species found only in the Indian subcontinent. It is a medium-sized hornbill with a beak to tail length of about 50 cm.

Indian Grey Hornbill

• Unlike a lot of other birds, the male and female look similar, though the females have a smaller casque.
• These birds are known to be arboreal, i.e. spend most of their time on tall trees, but may descend for food and to collect mud pellets for nesting.
• They play an essential role in the ecosystem as prime dispersers of seeds. They are cavity nesters, making use of big hollows in trees as nesting sites.
• These gentle giants are threatened primarily by habitat loss in the city and the cutting down of large trees, which is important for both food and nesting.

Data: Southwest monsoon 2019 causes flood in 10 States

News

• In 2019, two meteorological sub-divisions Konkan and Goa, and West M.P. received their highest southwest monsoon rainfall in 119 years.
• After a drought-hit 2018 season, this year’s monsoon has caused floods in 10 States including Kerala and Bihar.

Monsoon rainfall

• India received an average monsoon rainfall of 968.3 mm in 2019, a departure of +10% from the Long Period Average rainfall (LPA was reduced from 887.5 mm to 880.6 mm this year).
• Konkan and Goa (4,385.8 mm) and West M.P. (1,383 mm) subdivisions received their highest monsoon rainfall since 1901. Rainfall across sub-divisions was high In 27 of the 36 sub-divisions, the rainfall was higher in 2019 compared to 2018.
• In 2019, five other divisions saw relatively high rainfall: Madhya Maharashtra 2nd highest monsoon rainfall since 1901; East Rajasthan 3rd highest; Andaman & Nicobar Islands 4th highest; Coastal Karnataka 6th highest; and Saurashtra & Kutch 7th highest.
• For the second consecutive year, the northeastern region saw lower-than-usual rainfall. With 1114.8 mm of rain, the Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura division experienced its 4th lowest monsoon rainfall since 1901.
• The 2019 season also saw relatively lower rain in four other sub-divisions: Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh 11th lowest rainfall since 1901; Jharkhand 13th lowest; West U.P. 17th lowest; Gangetic West Bengal 20th lowest

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Delhi’s tap water fails to meet BIS test; not safe to drink

News

• With a new investigation of Delhi tap water showing that it is not safe to drink, the Centre has announced plans to test the quality of piped drinking water in the states and release Swachh Pani rankings early next month.
• It is also trying to build a consensus to make quality standards for tap water a mandatory requirement.

Not safe to drink

• A team from the Bureau of Indian Standards has been sent to state capitals to collect samples of tap water to see if they meet quality standards, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister told.
• Delhi has already failed that test. A BIS investigation of 11 tap water samples collected from various parts of the city including the minister’s home at Janpath and his office in Krishi Bhavan, both in central Delhi shows that the capital’s water does not comply with quality standards.
• Preliminary lab testing found that all the samples failed to meet the 42 parameters (including odour, PH levels, total dissolved solids and metal content) that make up the BIS standard.
• Currently, it is mandatory for bottled water manufacturers to meet the BIS quality standard. However, the BIS standard for tap water is voluntary for the public agencies which supply and distribute piped water.

Manmohan Singh to join first batch of pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib

News

• President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, while former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has agreed to be a part of the first ‘jatha’ (batch) of pilgrims to the Sikh shrine of Kartarpur Sahib across the border in Pakistan.

Kartarpur corridor

• Kartarpur Sahib is a revered shrine of the Sikh community. It is at this place Guru Nanak Dev, founder of the religion, settled down and lived for 18 years until his death.
• Though the shrine is merely 4.7 km away, pilgrims from India have to take a circuitous route through Lahore to reach there.
• In November last, India and Pakistan agreed to build a Kartarpur corridor to connect Kartarpur Sahib with Dera Nanak Sahib on the Indian side.
• The corridor is expected to be inaugurated on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

After Maradu, CRZ violation by Kapico Kerala Resorts in Vembanad Lake to come up in Supreme Court

News

• After the Maradu illegal apartments case, the case of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations by Kapico Kerala Resorts in Vembanad Lake would come up before the Supreme Court shortly.

Violations

• The Bench has listed the Special Leave Petition of the resort group.
• The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) had turned down the application of the resort group as it was found that the resort was constructed in the No Development Zone in Nediyathuruthu island in Vembanad.
• It was by making use of a 2018 notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change that post-facto clearance could be obtained for projects in coastal areas that the group applied for permission.
• The island was marked as a filtration pond in Map 32 A of the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan of the area and hence it fell under CRZ-I Category. The entire island is a No Development Zone, which could be equated to environmentally sensitive area, being a breeding ground for fish and marine life.
• As the island comes under Zone 1, the CRZ application of the group cannot be considered neither under the CRZ notification of 1991 nor under the 2011 notification, contended the authority.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

ITC, Pune cooperative team up to recycle chips, biscuit packets, help waste pickers

News

• Nearly 650 waste pickers from Pune are benefiting from a new model of waste collection being implemented on a pilot basis across 10 wards of the city.

First-of-its kind project, aim: at making use of multilayered plastic

Multilayered plastic

• Earlier destined for landfills, multilayered plastic (MLP) waste, most commonly used in food packaging, is not being segregated and sold in the same way as high value plastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
• The initiative, the first of its kind in the country, is being spearheaded by ITC Limited, which is partnering with SWaCH, a cooperative society of nearly 3,500 waste pickers in Pune that provides door-to-door collection of waste from 8.2 lakh residential and commercial establishments in the city.

Doklam: one motorable road complete, second to be constructed by March 2021

News

• A new motorable road built by the Border Roads Organisation has reduced the duration for moving Indian troops to Dokala, on the edge of the Doklam plateau near Sikkim where India and China were locked in a 73-day standoff in 2017.

Motorable road

• The road, previously a mule track, was completed last year and goes from Bheem base to Dokala.
• The BRO is planning to construct another motorable road on the Flag Hill-Dokala route by March 2021.
• These roads are expected to streamline the movement of Indian troops to the sensitive region.
• The 33.80-km Flag Hill-Dokala road is currently a foot track.
• The road would be 6-metre wide, out of which 4.5 metre of the width would be covered in asphalt.
• Indian and Chinese armies held ceremonial Border Personnel Meetings (BPM) at Nathu La, Bum La, Kibithu and eastern Ladakh to celebrate the Chinese national day.

The 2017 stand-off between India and China in the Doklam had begun after the Chinese army tried to build a road in the area disputed by China and Bhutan and it was resolved diplomatically.

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