HIMACHAL PRADESH
- HP CM advocates policies for sustainable growth
- Himachal Chief Minister advocated for formulating a holistic, inclusive and consistent development policy for sustainable development of Himalayan states.
- He said that about 66 per cent geographical area of Himachal Pradesh is covered by forests and if ecologically viable and scientific silviculture practices are allowed, the state can earn additional annual revenue of about Rs 4000 crore.
- However, due to national laws and orders of courts, the state is neither able to get full revenue from its forest wealth, nor undertaking developmental activities on larger geographical area. Therefore, Himachal Pradesh should be suitably compensated for being deprived of revenue worth crores of rupees for being denied harnessing its forest wealth.
- The Chief Minister urged the Finance Commission and the Union Government to provide adequate grant to revenue deficit states so that after overcoming post devolution deficit, they have adequate funds for capital investment.
- The Chief Minister further said that Article 275 and 280 of Indian Constitution makes provision of adequate grant of economically weak and revenue deficit states.
- Thakur also said that the Himachal Government is endeavouring to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2022, instead of 2030 and also to enhance the “ease of living” level of its people.
INTERNATIONAL
- NASA announced a new mission to explore Saturn’s largest moon
- NASAannounced a new mission to explore this fascinating world with a helicopter drone. The mission, called Dragonfly is the latest in NASA’s New frontier program. NASA has earlier launched explorations of Pluto, Jupiter, the asteroid Bennu, and now, Titan.
- Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, has a lot in common with Earth. It has a thick, nitrogen-dense atmosphere and features like rivers, lakes, mountains, and, potentially volcanoes. The atmosphere of Titan is four times as dense as the Earth’s and there’s less gravity which makes it a prime location in the solar system to deploy a drone.
- G20 Summit
- TheGroup of 20 (G20) nations summit concluded in Osaka, Japan. The summit was held on 28-29 June 2019. The primary aim of the summit is to promote international financial stability. The ongoing trade war between China and the United States topped the agenda.
- The G20 is an international leaders’ forum comprising19 countries and the European Union. The grouping represents more than 80% of the world’s economic output and two-thirds of its people.
The G20 countries are Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Turkey, USA, Republic of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UK and European Union.
US and Trade Highlights:
♦ The United States reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because it disadvantages American workers and taxpayers.
♦ US withdrew the imposed sanctions on Turkey for buying Russian-made S-400 missiles.
♦ US withdrew its ban on US companies selling high-tech components to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. China will also be buying more US farm goods. US won’t raise tariffs on Chinese goods for now. China and the US have agreed to restart trade talks and will have discussions on specific issues.NATIONAL
- India’s fertilizer sector among most energy efficient in world: Report
- A first of its kind of environmental rating of Indian fertilizer industry done by the Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has found that the country’s fertilizer sector is among the best in the world in energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
- The report – ‘Grain by Grain’ – is the complete assessment of the environmental performance of fertilizer industry in India. This is the seventh rating project undertaken by GRP.
- India’s wild tiger population up by 33%
- India recorded a 33% increase in tiger numbers in the span of four years between 2014 and 2018, the All India Tiger Estimation Results released.
- Madhya Pradesh has the highest number with 526 tigers, followed by 524 in Karnataka and 442 in Uttarakhand. Madhya Pradesh has overtaken Karnataka, which had recorded the highest numbers in 2014 with 406 tigers.
- Tiger occupancy—forests occupied by tigers—has reduced significantly in the northeast from 9,901 sqkm to 3,312 sqkm. Occupancy has also reduced in the Shivalik range.
- Nepal which released its tiger numbers also recently has managed to double its numbers from 121 in 2009 to 235 in 2018; Bangladesh has about 114 tigers, new numbers for China, Malaysia and Russia are not available. Wild tigers are almost extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
- BYPL, a power distribution company, launched energy saving app ‘Susthome’
- Power discom BYPL partnered with several private bodies to launch a number of initiatives including a ‘behavioral energy saving app’
- The main aim is to cut down on electricity consumption.
- The behavioral app — Susthome
- It is developed by BYPL and TERI
- It will track consumers energy consumption patterns, analyze and compare it with that of similar homes in the vicinity and show energy saving potential,
It holds the enlisted consumers in reducing their energy consumption, carbon footprint and electricity bills.