ART AND CULTURE/ HISTORY                                                   

1. The importance of December 27 for India’s National Anthem              

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                        

1. What is Accession Day, the new public holiday for Jammu and Kashmir                                                                                           

ECONOMY                                                                                          

1. Andaman and Nicobar islands to get India’s first water aerodromes    

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                

1. India State of Forest Report 2019                                                     

2. India improves Sustainable Development Goals Index score by three positions                                                                                          

3. Madhya Pradesh gets its first elephant colony                                 

ART AND CULTURE/ HISTORY

The importance of December 27 for India’s National Anthem

GS PAPER - 01 ART AND CULTURE - The Freedom Struggle - its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.

Context :

• On December 27, 1911, the National Anthem was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Congress.

National Anthem:

• Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the country’s National Anthem by the Constituent Assembly of India on January 24,1950.

• Jana Gana Mana is the first stanza of the Bengali hymn ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

• It was first published under the title “Bharat Vidhata” in TattvaBodhini Patrika in January,1912.

• The song was translated into English in 1919 with the title “Morning Song of India”.

• A slightly varied version of the song was adopted by Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army in 1941 as the national anthem, called ‘Shubh Sukh Chain’.

• The respect to the National Anthem is a Fundamental duty in India. According to Article 51A (a) of the Constitution “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem”.

                                                                                                                  Source :- Indian Express

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

What is Accession Day, the new public holiday for Jammu and Kashmir

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Context :

• From 2020, people in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a public holiday on October 26 for the first time.

• The day, which will be observed as Accession Day, marks the signing of the Instrument of Accession by the last Dogra ruler of J&K, Maharaja Hari Singh, with the then Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten.

Background :

• According to the Indian Independence Act,1947,British India was divided into India and Pakistan and the roughly 580 princely states that had signed subsidiary alliances with the British had their sovereignty restored to them.

• In essence,these princely states were given the option to remain independent or to join the Dominion of India or Pakistan.

• According to Section 6(a) of the Act,before joining India or Pakistan, these states had to sign an Instrument of Accession, in which they would specify the terms on which they were becoming part of the new dominions.

Instrument of Accession for J&K:

• The Instrument of Accession(IoA) is a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, on October 26, 1947.

• The accession declared that the state accedes to India.It gave India’s Parliament the power to legislate in respect of J&K only on the matters of defence, external affairs and communications.

• Apart from defence, communications and external affairs,the IoA mentions ancillary subjects that include elections to the dominion legislature.

                                                                                                                  Source :- Indian Express

ECONOMY

Andaman and Nicobar islands to get India’s first water aerodromes

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Context :

• Airports Authority of India(AAI) is in the process of seeking environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change for water aerodromes in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Water Aerodromes:

• A water aerodrome is an area of open water that can be used by seaplanes as well as amphibious aircraft to land and take off.

• Such aircraft are expected to take people across water faster and more safely than local boats

• Moreover,depending on the volume of traffic,water aerodrome may have a terminal building on the shore or on a jetty where planes can dock, and bays where they can be parked.

• The water drones are present in some island nations especially in the richer ones like the British Virgin Islands.

• Also,there are few in Canada, including Yellowknife on the Great Slave Lake, Tofino on Vancouver Island and Whitehorse on Schwatka Lake.

Guidelines for setting up water Aerodromes:

• The water aerodrome could be set up near locations of tourist and religious importance.

• The water aerodrome cannot be used for scheduled air transport services without licence.

• An entity seeking to set up a water aerodrome has to take approvals from various authorities including the Ministries of Defence, Home, Environment and Forests and Shipping.

Significance :

• The water Aerodromes will promote tourism as well as connect places of religious importance.

• It will enhance air connectivity in the country by allowing amphibian planes which can operate in both land and water.

• It will create employment in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

                                                                                                                         Source :- Livemint ; Financial Express

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

India State of Forest Report 2019

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change has released the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2019.

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) :

• The India State of Forest Report 2019 has been prepared by Forest Survey of India(FSI).

• The report is a biennial Publication.

• The ISFR assesses the forest and tree cover, bamboo resources, carbon stock and forest fires.

• The 2019 report for the first time has assessed the qualitative nature of the forest cover, including listing its biodiversity and the type of plants and trees found.

• It also created a national forest inventory for the first time on produce from forest

Key Highlights :

• Increase in forest Cover :

  • The country’s forest cover includes all patches of land with a tree canopy density of more than 10% and more than 1 hectare in area, irrespective of land use, ownership and species of trees.

  • The total forest cover of the country is 7,12,249 sq km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country.

  • The top five states to have shown an increase in forest cover include Karnataka (1,025 sq km) > Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) > Kerala (823 sq km) > J&K (371 sq km) > Himachal Pradesh (334 sq km).

  • The 2019 survey has found an increase of 5,188 sq km in total forest and tree cover in the country.

  • Tree and forest cover together made up 24.56% (8,07,276 sq km) of India's area. In the last assessment it was 24.39%.

  • The nation’s tree and forest cover has largely hovered from 21-25% and is short of the National Forest Policy, 1988, which envisages 33% to be under such cover.

•  Decrease of Forest Cover :

  • Total forest cover in the North Eastern region is 1,70,541 sq km, which is 65.05% of its geographical area.

  • There has been a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45%) in the region. Except Assam and Tripura, all the States in the region show decrease in forest cover.

  • The loss in the North East is attributed primarily due to the traditional farming practice of Shifting Cultivation.

•  Forest Cover in Tribal Districts :

  • The total forest cover in the tribal districts is 4,22,351 sq km, which is 37.54% of the geographical area of these districts.

  • There has been a decrease of 741 sq km of forest cover within the Recorded Forest Area/ Green Wash (RFA/GW) in the tribal districts and an increase of 1,922 sq km outside.

  • There has been a decline in tree cover inside forests due to tribal populations getting “land titles” (patta) and there has been a rise in trees outside the forest area due to an increase in tree plantation and afforestation activities.

•  Increase in Tree Cover :

  • Tree cover includes all patches of trees less than 1 hectare.

  • The tree cover of the country is estimated as 95,027 sq km which is 2.89% of the geographical area.

  • Maharashtra has had the highest increase in tree cover and a large part of that is due to horticulture.

•  Mangroves and Bamboo Cover:

  • Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10%) as compared to the previous assessment.

  • The total bamboo bearing area of the country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km.There is an increase of 3,229 sq km in bamboo bearing area as compared to the previous estimate.

•  Carbon Stock :

  • The total carbon stock of the country was estimated at 7124 million tons, which is an increase of 42.6 million tons from the last assessment.

  • It implies that India is on the right track to achieve its Paris Agreement commitment of 2.5 -3 billion carbon sinks.

• Wetlands :

  • The total number of wetlands located within the RFA/GW is 8.13%.

  • Amongst the States, Gujarat has the largest area of wetlands within RFA in the country followed by West Bengal.

                                                                                                   Source :- The Hindu; Down To Earth

India improves Sustainable Development Goals Index score by three positions

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Niti Aayog has released the sustainable development goals index 2019-20.          

Key Highlights :

• India's composite score improved from 57 in 2018 to 60 in 2019-20 with major success in water and sanitation, power and industry.
   

  • However, nutrition and gender equality continue to be problem areas for India, requiring a more focused approach from the government

• The ranks of 14 states have dropped in the index compared to 2018.

• All states and union territories except for Delhi have scored above 65.

State wise Analysis :

• Kerala has the top rank with a score of 70 followed by Himachal Pradesh with 69 points. Further, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana shared the third spot with each state scoring 67 on the Index.

• Bihar has emerged as the worst performer with the lowest score of 50. Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh are also some of the worst-performing states on the index.

• Uttar Pradesh has shown maximum improvement followed by Odisha and Sikkim

• Union Territory :

  • Chandigarh has topped the list with the score of 70 followed by Puducherry with 66.

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

Madhya Pradesh gets its first elephant colony

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Recently,Madhya Pradesh has got its first elephant colony in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve:

• Bandhavgarh National Park is located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh.It was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993.

• The park resides on the extreme north eastern border of Madhya Pradesh and the northern edges of the Satpura mountain ranges.

• The park derives its name from the most prominent hillock of the area, which was said to be given by Hindu Lord Rama to his brother Lakshmana to keep a watch on Lanka.

• The park is also mentioned in the ancient books of the ‘Narad Pancharatra’ and the ‘Shiv Purana’ that this place is being associated with Ramayana.

• There are a large number of tigers in the core zone of the Park.There are more than 22 species of mammals and 250 species of birds.

                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

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