HIMACHAL PRADESH
HP’s 200cr cherry economy faced with parasitic disease
The spread of a parasitic disease in cherry trees has left horticulturists worried in Himachal Pradesh, raising concerns of a threat to the state’s Rs 200-crore, cherry-growing economy.
The infestation of phytoplasma parasites was first observed in cherry trees in June and July this year, but farmers were unfamiliar with it and did not worrt at the time. A team of scientists then in September confirmed the presence of phytoplasma parasites, which cause a systemic disease in cherry trees.
It was decided that the entire cherry-growing region, including Thanedar, Baghi and Narkanda, would be mapped in three categories — red, yellow and green. Based on severity of infection, red zone will be where more than 80% trees have died, yellow zone will be where more than 60% trees have died, and green zone will be where no infection has been found
INTERNATIONAL
Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)
Mangroves are one of the most productive ecosystems of the world. This tidal forest serves as a nursery ground for several organisms, protects the coastal erosion, sequestering the carbon and providing livelihood for millions of people besides harbouring array of faunal elements in its habitat.
Mangroves are distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical region of the world and are found in 123 countries.
Mangroves are among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics. They account for 3% of carbon sequestered by the world’s tropical forests.
Mangroves are the economic foundations of many tropical coastal regions. To sustain the blue economy, it is imperative to ensure the sustainability of coastal habitats, particularly mangroves for tropical nations, at the local, regional, and international levels.
With notable adaptive features, mangroves are natural armed forces of tropical and subtropical nations. They are the best option to fight against climate change consequences like sea levels rise and increasing frequency of natural calamities like cyclones and storm surges.
India has committed in its NDC – to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
NATIONAL
7 new airports in 8 years: Aviation brings the Northeast close to rest of India, puts it on the world map
Aerial connectivity in the Northeast has got a major boost with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the first Greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh — Donyi Polo Airport at Hollangi, Itanagar.
He had laid the foundation stone for this airport in February 2019 and state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) completed the work in time despite Covid. While the region had nine operational airports till 2014, seven more have been built since then taking the number up to 16 with pans for many more in coming years.
Northeast India is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government’s ambitious UDAN-regional connectivity scheme with several routes awarded for the region.
“Airports in five northeastern states, namely, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years. Aircraft movement in the North-East has also witnessed an increase of 113% since 2014, from 852 per week in 2014 to 1817 per week in 2022.
Airports in five northeastern states — Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland — have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years.
States’ revenue via stamp duty, registration up 35%
State governments’ revenue through stamp duty (SD) and registration charges (RC) touched Rs 94,847 crore in H1FY23, showing a rise of 35% against the same period of the last financial year.
According to a study by MotilalOswal Financial Services, average monthly revenue collection in H1 of 2022-23 was Rs 15,807 crore as compared to Rs 11,687 crore in the same period of 202122.
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu led the revenue collection, accounting for more than 40% of the total income generated. The surge in revenue is attributedlargely to revival of residential real estate sector since Covid. Property consultants indicated sales of housing units have shot up across metros and housing finance companies said demand for home loans in tier-2 and -3 cities and towns surged in past two quarters of this fiscal.
Only Bihar witnessed anegative growth of -73% to Rs 620 crore in the first half of 2022-23 compared to the same period of last fiscal.
India’s 1st privately built rocket set for suborbital launch with 3 payloads
India’s first privately developed rocket — Vikram-S — is undergoing final launch preparations at Isro’s launch pad in Sriharikota and is expected to be launched in a suborbital mission.
The mission is named ‘Prarambh’ — meaning ‘the beginning’. The rocket is developed by startup Skyroot Aerospace, which has the technical launch clearance from Space regulator IN-SPACe and is looking at a launch window between November 12 and 16.
Skyroot’s launch vehicles are named ‘Vikram’ as a tribute to the founder of the Indian Space programme Vikram Sarabhai.
Vikram-S is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which would carry three customer payloads and help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.
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