KERALA

World Bank sanctions $125 million loan to Kerala

As part of the state’s Resilient Kerala Program, the World Bank (WB) has sanctioned 125 million USD to the state to support the state’s preparedness against natural disasters, climate change impacts, disease outbreaks and pandemics.

The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on two key areas. First, it will incorporate disaster risk planning in the master plans of urban and local self-governments to ease financial constraints on the state government when faced with unexpected shocks. Second, it will help make the health, water resources management, agriculture and road sectors more resilient to calamities.

The program is part of a programmatic series of the bank-financed operations in the state. The first Resilient Kerala Development Policy Operation (DPO) approved in June 2019 had undertaken several initiatives. It had helped the state draft a river basin conservation and management act, which will conserve and regulate water resources and ensure their sustainable management, allocation and utilization. It had also introduced climate-resilient agriculture, risk-informed land use and disaster management planning. The program laid the foundations for a five-year state partnership framework.

The support to key sectors under the program include sustainable fiscal and debt management through establishing a debt management unit in the finance department to support the state’s efforts to scale down its debt-to-GSDP ratio to a sustainable trajectory, providing timely and adequate assistance to vulnerable households, disaster and climate-resilient urban development, create resilient public health systems, ensure an integrated and sustainable water resources management, ensure sustainable and resilient food systems and create a climate-resilient road infrastructure.

INTERNATIONAL

The United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan form the Group of Four or Quad Group

The United States, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform aimed at improving regional connectivity. The two sides intend to cooperate to expand trade, establish transit links, and strengthen business-to-business ties by recognizing the historical opportunities of opening up prosperous inter-regional trade routes.

The strategic location of Afghanistan is touted as a competitive advantage for the nation.

Afghanistan is bounded to the east and south by Pakistan, to the west by Iran, to the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, and to the northeast by China.

NATIONAL

Geo Imaging Satellite to be Launched in August – ISRO

The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is back into its launch activity fully at Sriharikota with the planned orbiting of geo imaging satellite GISAT-1 onboard GSLV-F10 rocket on August 12. GISAT-1 to be placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10 and, it will be placed in the final geostationary orbit that is about 36,000 km above earth’s equator) using its onboard propulsion system.

About the satellite:

The 2,268-kg GISAT-1 was initially slated to be launched from Sriharikota in Nellore district (100kms north of Chennai) of Andhra Pradesh on March 5 last year, postponed a day before the blast-off due to technical reasons.

According to ISRO, GISAT-1 will facilitate near real-time observation of the Indian sub-continent, under cloud-free conditions, at frequent intervals. The earth observation satellite provides the country with real-time images of its borders and enable quick monitoring of natural disasters.

First National Dolphin Research Centre of India

The First National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) of India and Asia will be established upon the bank of the Ganges river around Patna University.

Highlights:

About 1,455 dolphins have been sighted during a survey done in 2018-19 in the river Ganga by the teams of experts. The Gangetic dolphin is considered the National aquatic animal of India, but it frequently falls prey to illegal poaching. The presence of dolphins in the Ganga river gives a sign of a healthy ecosystem as dolphins live at least in 5 ft to 8 ft deep water.

IUCN Status of the Gangetic dolphin has been declared as an endangered aquatic animal. This is one of the four freshwater dolphins species globally. Another three species are found in the Yangtze River, the Indus River in Pakistan and the Amazon River globally.

Single Largest Solar Park of India

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has approved the establishment of a 4750 MW renewable energy park at Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat, for NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd. This will be India’s largest solar park. This park will be used by NTPC REL to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale.

Highlights:

♦ It intends to build a total of 60 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2032.

♦ Currently, it has 66 GW of installed capacity in 70 power projects, and another 18 GW is under construction.

♦ It also commissioned India’s largest 10 MW floating solar energy on the reservoir of Andhra Pradesh’s Simhadri Thermal Power Plant.

♦ The 100 MW floating solar project at the Ramagundam Thermal Power Plant Reservoir in Telangana is in the advanced stages of implementation.

♦ The deployment of photovoltaic panels on the surface of bodies of water is referred to as floating solar plants.

Map Services Enabled in UMANG App

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) enables map services in “UMANG App”.

MeitY has enabled map services in the UMANG App through an MoU with MapmyIndia which is a private firm.

The integration of UMANG with MapmyIndia Maps will enable the citizens to find government facilities nearest to their location, such as blood banks, mandis and more, at the click of a button.

They can also see these on the most detailed and interactive street and village level maps of India, by MapmyIndia.

People can also view the driving distance, get directions, and turn voice & visual guidance to locations, including traffic and road safety alerts during their navigation.

UMANG app has started to provide map functionality through MapmyIndia services like Mera Ration, eNAM, Damini etc.,

Final Destination for Kerala PSC Notes and Tests, Exclusive coverage of KPSC Prelims and Mains Syllabus, Dedicated Staff and guidence for KPSC Kerala PSC Notes brings Prelims and Mains programs for Kerala PSC Prelims and Kerala PSC Mains Exam preparation. Various Programs initiated by Kerala PSC Notes are as follows:-

For any doubt, Just leave us a Chat or Fill us a querry––