KERALA

In Kerala, devotees take part in Attukal pongala festival from their homes

In Kerala, amid the Covid-19 pandemic the devotees will take part in the Attukal pongala from their homes.

Pongala is the annual ritual of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram and holds the Guinness world record as the largest gathering of women.

Every year nearly 20 lakh devotees take part in the festival.

However, this time the authorities have decided to scale down the festival rituals by confining the ritual to the temple premises.

The devotees have been asked to offer the ritual at their homes to avoid crowding.

INTERNATIONAL

World Hearing Day: 03 March

World Hearing Day is a campaign held each year by the Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the World Health Organization (WHO) on 03 March.

The day aims to commemorate the power of hearing, spread the message to take timely action to protect auditory nerves, and adopt preventive measures.

The theme of the campaign for 2021 is Hearing Care for All.

World Wildlife Day: 03 March

The World Wildlife Day is observed every year on March 3 to celebrate and raise awareness about the world’s wild fauna and flora.

The day was proposed by Thailand and recognised in 2013 by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

March 3 has been chosen as it is the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973.

Theme 2021: “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet”.

NATIONAL

State of Environment Report 2021 – CSE

The Center for Science and Environment (CSE) released the ” State of Environment Report, 2021 “. Highlights: Impact by Covid 19:

The biggest concern: India will usher in a “pandemic generation”, 375 million children (from newborns to 14 years old) may suffer long-term effects.

Challenges can range from underweight, stunting and rising child mortality, to a decline in education and work efficiency.

More than 500 million children are forced to drop out of school globally, and India accounts for more than half of them.

The epidemic may plunge another 115 million people into extreme poverty, most of whom live in South Asia.

In terms of sustainable development, India ranks 117th out of 192 countries, which is currently second only to all South Asian countries except Pakistan. State of environment:

Between 2009 and 2018, India’s air, water and land pollution became more serious.

Among the country’s 88 major industrial clusters, 35 showed deterioration in the overall environment, 33 showed deterioration in air quality, 45 had serious water pollution, and in 17 had land pollution worsened.

Tarapur in Maharashtra has become the most polluted area.

These data clearly show that for many years, even in areas that have been identified as severe or severely polluted, there has been a lack of actions to control and reduce pollution. Performance of various states:

When ranking based on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals:

The best performing States are Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

The worst performing states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh.

Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) Jal Shakti

The Ministry of Jal Shakti announced the selection of 12 sites, which will be transformed into “Swachh tourist Destinations” in the Phase-IV. Highlights:

The Swachch Iconic Places initiative under the Swachch Bharat mission is a special cleanup initiative that focuses on specific iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country.

This initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, and the relevant state governments.

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has now selected another 12 sites to be included in the SIP programe (phase IV).

The 12 sites are: ♦ Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra ♦ Sanchi Stupa, Madhya Pradesh ♦ Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan ♦ Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan ♦ Ramdevra, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan ♦ Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana ♦ Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha ♦ Rock Garden, Chandigarh ♦ Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir ♦ Banke Bihari Temple, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh ♦ Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh ♦ Kalighat Temple, West Bengal ♦ The initiative aims to improve the experience of domestic and foreign tourists by improving the sanitation and cleanliness standards of the site and its surroundings.

City Innovation Exchange (CiX) Urban Ecosystem

Initiated the City Innovation Exchange (CiX) to promote the innovation of the urban ecosystem. About City Innovation Exchange (CiX) Platform:

The City Innovation Exchange (CiX) connects cities with innovators in the national ecosystem, designing innovative solutions for the urgent challenges they face.

The platform will simplify the discovery, design and verification of solutions through robust, transparent and user-centric processes, which will reduce the barriers for innovators and cities to find suitable solutions.

Based on the concept of “open innovation”, the platform will facilitate the exchange of ideas “‘outside in and inside out ” and enhance the skills and capabilities required to realize smart urban governance.

Through interaction with academia and companies/startups, the platform will enable the transfer of ideas from the “laboratory” to the actual environment, thereby benefiting the city.

Similarly, by helping urban governments interact with citizens, the platform will ensure the adoption of proven solutions that are impactful and sustainable.

The platform has more than 400 start-ups, 100 smart cities, more than 150 challenge statements and more than 215 solutions at the time of its launch.

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