[GS3][Env and Eco] World Culture Festival NGT order, defiance, outcome

Issues 

Violations  : Yamuna floodplains destruction

• NGT has set up a committee : Report submitted by committee (government officials) including Secretary of Water Resource Department ,IIT professor and other experts : recommended 100-120 Crores fines should be imposed.
• NGT fines 5 crore which should be paid in a week : Order on 10 Mar 2016 but event can continue.
• Prima facie : Due to fine it looks some violation has been made.

Army deployed to build bridge for private event

• Legal part : Army can be deployed in : 
• to maintain law and order 
• in case of natural calamities
• maintain of essential services
• any other type of assistant which may be needed by civil authority.Therefore civil authority should decide whether to include army or not.
• If work is demeaning ,army can refuse the request.
• But in this case , building bridges using indigenous equipment can help in training. 

Criticism : 

• Safety rules also violated : Fire , People , structural , general security , environmental etc
• With that type of mega event only 5 crore is fined and that too when not paid ,asked offender to pay 25 lakh and rest in 3 weeks : Big mockery to NGT .
• NGT showed lack of legal will in case of big offenders. 
• No one commented that how much ecology can be restored ?
• Wrong Message can be deciphered: Powerful people , people patronage to government can easily violate environmental laws.
• Promoting extravaganza in the name of culture.

Facts : 

• Kumbh Mela is government Event.
• Ministry of Culture granted 2.5 crore to this event

Namdapha National park

October 2013 : 

• Center cleared a 157km Miao-VijayNagar road project that will connect Vijaynagar circle in Changlang district of Arunanchal Pradesh along the Indo-Myanmar border,100 km of which passes through Namdapha National Park.

About :

• Namdapha National Park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot and is located in Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India.
•  It is also the third largest national park in India in terms of area.
•  The area is also known for extensive Dipterocarp forests.
• The park is located in Changlang district of the Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, near its border with Myanmar.
•  The park is located between the Dapha bum range of the Mishmi Hills and the Patkai range

Fauna :  

•  Four big cat species occurre in the park: snow leopards, clouded leopards, common leopards and tigers
• Smaller carnivores include red panda, red fox

Perfluorotributylamine : Most Powerful Greenhouse Gas

History : 

1. The newly discovered gas, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), has been in use by the electrical industry since the mid-20th century such as transistors and capacitors.
2. Concentrations of PFTBA in the atmosphere are low – 0.18 parts per trillion in the Toronto area – compared to 400 parts per million for carbon dioxide. So PFTBA does not in any way displace the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal as the main drivers of climate change.

Occurrence 

The chemical, that does not occur naturally.Radiative efficiency describes how effective a molecule of a gas is at preventing long-wave radiation from escaping back into space. The higher the radiative efficiency, the greater that molecule can influence climate. This value is then multiplied by its atmospheric concentration in order to determine the total climate impact of a substance.PFTBA is a manmade chemical used for various applications in electronic equipment, electronic testing and as a heat transfer agent since the mid 20th century.

Effects

PFTBA remains in the atmosphere for about 500 years, and unlike carbon dioxide.A new greenhouse gas that is 7,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the Earth.

Desertification

Desertification 

It is a type of land degradation  in which a relatively dry land becomes increasingly arid , typically losing  its bodies of water as well as  vegetation and wildlife.

Causes : 

Number of factors which work individually or in combination causing desertification. The immediate cause is the removal of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors such as:

• Drought


• Climatic shifts

Terms - Env and Ecology

Blast Fishing

• Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. This often illegal practice can be extremely destructive to the surrounding ecosystem, as the explosion often destroys the underlying habitat (such as coral reefs) that supports the fish.

UN Convention on Climate Change

Warsaw : Poland Nov 2013

The annual climate talks begins at the National Stadium at Warsaw in Poland.This 19th conference of parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be crucial to ensure that sufficient technical and political ground is covered in order to meet the ambitious time frame set for a deal in 2015 in Paris.
Last year at COP18 in Doha, developing countries managed to get included a last minute

Env News: Nov 2013

Env & Ecology

1. The annual climate talks are all set to begin at the National Stadium at Warsaw in Poland.This conference of parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be crucial to ensure that sufficient technical and political ground is covered in order to meet the ambitious time frame set for a deal in 2015 in Paris. More
2. Super Typhoon Haiyan hits Philippines.(speed is more than 310 km/hr).Haiyan was earlier reported to be the most intense tropical storm in this area since Super Typhoon Tip (1979), and may even have exceeded the force of Tip.
3. HONEYBEES play a crucial role in pollination, which lies at the crux of fruit formation and seed setting in plants. Unfortunately, anthropogenic activities (human activities)are increasingly threatening their survival like that of Diesel exhaust from automobiles. It was also noticed that of all the chemicals in the diesel exhaust, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) appeared to be the most damaging to floral scents. 

News-Sep 2013

• India has decided not to give in to U.S. pressure to agree to discussions on phasing out refrigerant gases under the Montreal Protocol.
  
  
  
  • To do so, the Indian government has agreed to set up a Indo-U.S. working group on climate change, which will discuss the issue of refrigerant gases, besides other areas of collaboration and discussions. The joint working group will be headed by Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on the Indian side, while Todd Stern, Special Envoy on Climate Change, will lead the U.S. team.
  
  
  • Since 2009, India has stood firm that the HFCs — used for refrigeration — should be dealt with like all other greenhouse gases under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. They have contested that the Montreal Protocol is only meant to address ozone-depleting substances and argued that the developed world is keen on pushing costly and not fully tested proprietary technologies to fast growing economies through this route.
  
  
  • But the Indian position was weakened when New Delhi signed the recent G20 communiqué that welcomed bringing mitigation of HFC emissions under the Montreal Protocol. 

Fauna

1. The Great Indian Bustard, one of the endangered flying bird species in the world, will soon be tracked by satellite by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to understand the movement of this rare bird and its preferred habitat,Gujarat and Rajasthan.Great Indian bustard is amongst one of the largest flying bird species found in the world today. It can easily be distinguished by its black crown on the forehead contrasting with the pale neck and head.The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recognised it as critically endangered in 2011.Distinguishable by its brownish body and wings marked with black, brown and grey, the Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972, and its international trade is prohibited.The Rajasthan government recently launched its own project Great Indian Bustard, at a cost of over Rs. 12 crore, to identify and provide secure breeding enclosures, in a bid to arrest its decreasing population.

Environment Realted

1.  The study was conducted in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund For Nature (WWF) and Wildlife Institute of India for counting of Bengal Tiger in SunderBans and the counting came out to be 103.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

The 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), concluded in Bangkok, Thailand, after granting better protection to hundreds of threatened animal and plant species.
The eight countries accused of failing to do enough to tackle the illegal trade in elephant ivory escaped sanctions. The conference found that Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and top markets China and Thailand are making insufficient efforts to curb the trade. However, the nations avoided sanctions after 6 of them submitted draft action plans in response and China and Tanzania committed to do so by a specific date.
Possible punishment option: Under the convention, member states can halt trading with offender countries in the 35,000 species covered by the convention.   

CITES is (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is also known as the Washington Convention.

It is an international agreement b/w governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. 

Currently 178 nations are members of CITES, Headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland. 

CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN.

It is an effort towards regulation of cross-border trade in wild animals and plants b/w countries to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. 

Although it is legally binding on all Parties to the agreement to implement the Convention, it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Carbon Credit

• Carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit One Tonne of Carbon dioxide or the mass of another greenhouse gas with a carbon dioxide equivalent equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
• The mechanism was formalized in the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement between more than 170 countries, and the market mechanisms were agreed through the subsequent Marrakesh Accords.
• Carbon credit facility has been introduced with an aim to allow market mechanisms to drive industrial and commercial processes in the direction of low emissions or less carbon intensive approaches,this approach can be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners and around the world.
• The carbon credits can also be traded on exchanges like Carbon Trade Exchange, which is like a stock exchange for carbon credits. If it is traded internationally then each transfer is validated by the UNFCCC.
• Currently there are 5 exchanges trading in carbon allowances:
  1. The European Climate Exchange
  2. NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe
  3. PowerNext
  4. Commodity Exchange Bratislava
  5. The European Energy Exchange

Environmental Performance Index

Environmental Performance Index

• Started by Planning Commission
• Objective: To measure of environmental well-being of states. 
  Analysis of data supplied by 35 states and union territories.
• Reflects states’ performance on 16 Green Indicators under 5 categories 

5 Categories:

1. Air Pollution (nitrogen and sulfur oxides, respiratory SPM)
2. Forest (total forest area, increase/decrease in forest cover, afforestation efforts)
3. Water Quality (domestic waste water, surface water quality, ground water extraction)
4. Waste management (municipal solid waste, biomedical and hazardous waste handling capacity)
5. Climate change preparation (use of renewable sources of energy, mini hydro, electricity intensity of state GDP, disaster preparedness, energy efficiency) 

Best Performers

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Sikkim
3. Himachal Pradesh
4. Madhya Pradesh
5. Maharashtra 

A score of one means the state is characterized by cleaner environment.

Mercury Treaty

Objective: The Treaty aims at reducing global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment.

Nations will be asked to ink the treaty next October in Minamata, Japan, in honour of the town’s inhabitants who for decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination.

Mercury is found in products ranging from electrical switches to thermometers to light-bulbs, to amalgam dental fillings and even facial creams, and large amounts of the heavy metal are released from small-scale gold mining, coal-burning power plants, metal smelters and cement production.

Mercury poisoning affects the body’s immune system and can lead to problems including psychological disorders, loss of teeth and problems with the digestive, cardiovascular and respiratory tracts. It also affects development of the brain and nervous system and poses the greatest risk to fetuses and infants.

As per UNEP : 

• Concentrations in deeper waters have increased by up to 25%
• Much human exposure to mercury is through the consumption of contaminated fish.
• Around 200 tonnes of the substance are deposited in the Arctic every year.

Dongria Kondh

The Dongria Kondh, a primitive tribal group [now termed as particularly vulnerable tribe], has been protecting more than 7 sq. km. of the sacred undisturbed forests on top of the mountain, where the proposed mining lease area of the Lanjigarh bauxite mining lease is located. They consider the land and forests sacred to their deity. Diversion of these sacred areas for mining will undermine the customary rights of the Dongria Kondhs to protect their sacred places of worship and thereby amount to a violation of their fundamental right to manage their own affairs in the matter of religion and fundamental right to conserve the culture of their own. It was also in direct violation further of the specific provisions of the Forest Rights Act.

As per Govt. the Lanjigarh bauxite mining lease is located in Scheduled Areas as referred to in Clause (1) of Article 244 of the Constitution. Circumscribing or extinguishing of forest rights in such areas shall not be in conformity with the provisions of the clause-5 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution.

Endangered Species

• River dolphin is a critically endangered species in India and therefore, has been included in the Schedule I for the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Lion tailed Macaque : The lion-tailed macaque, or the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.And is now removed from World's 25 most endangered species.
• Western Hoolock : The western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) is a primate from the Hylobatidae (gibbon) family. The species is found in Assam,Bangladesh and in Myanmar west of the Chindwin River.And is now removed from World's 25 most endangered species.
• The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has strongly recommended that sea cucumber, a marine organism found in the coral reef areas, be retained in Schedule I Category of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 on Feb 2013. Schedule I contains the list of most endangered species and gives them highest level of protection.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put vultures on its list of ‘critically endangered’ species.
• Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), also known as the Indian vulture (44,000) 
• Why Vulture numbers were fast declining in India?
• Diclofenac , a painkilling drug administered to cattle, is the main cause of mass extinction of vultures. 
• Vultures, which have a digestive system robust enough to even digest disease-causing pathogens found in rotting meat of dead, do not have a critical enzyme that breaks down diclofenac and die of renal failure after eating carcasses of cattle administered the drug. 
• Vultures feeding on cattle either die from acute kidney failure within a few days or lose their ability to reproduce. 
• Endangered species are the King cobra, Indian crocodile (mugger), South Andaman krait and four kinds of turtles namely, Red-crowned Roofed Turtle, Bengal Roof Turtle, Jaggedshelled turtle and Hawksbill turtle. These species were identified to be extinct forever.
• Manipur-brow antlered deer(Sangai) or dancing deer : Endangered species

NAPCC (National Action Plan on Climate Change)

• NAPCC is a comprehensive action plan which outlines measures on climate change related adaptation and mitigation while simultaneously advancing development
• It has 8 missions : 
• I. National Solar Mission
  Objective:
  
• Make solar energy competitive with fossil-based energy options.
• Launch an R&D programme facilitating international co-operation to enable the creation of affordable, more convenient solar energy systems.
• II. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
  
• The Energy Conservation Act of 2001 provides a legal mandate for the implementation of energy efficiency measures through the mechanisms of The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the designated agencies in the country.
• A number of schemes and programmes have been initiated which aim to save about 10,000 MW by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2012.
• III. National Mission on Sustainable Habitats
  Objective:
  
• Make habitats sustainable through improvements in energy efficiency in buildings, management of solid waste and a modal shift to public transport.
• IV. National Water Mission
  Objective:
  
• Conserving water, minimizing wastage, and ensuring more equitable distribution and management of water resources.
• Optimizing water use efficiency by 20% by developing a framework of regulatory mechanisms.
• V. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
  Objective:
  
• Empowering local communities especially Panchayats to play a greater role in managing ecological resources.
• VI. National Mission for a Green India
  Objective:
  
• To increase ecosystem services including carbon sinks.
• To increase forest and tree cover in India to 33% from current 23%.
• VII. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
  Objective:
  
• Make Indian agriculture more resilient to climate change by identifying new varieties of crops (example: thermally resistant crops) and alternative cropping patterns.
• Make suggestions for safeguarding farmers from climate change like introducing new credit and insurance mechanisms and greater access to information.
• 
  VIII. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge on Climate Change
  Objective:
  
  • Work with the global community in research and technology development by collaboration through different mechanisms. It also has its own research agenda supported by climate change related institutions and a Climate Research Fund.
  • Encourage initiatives from the private sector for developing innovative technologies for mitigation and adaptation.

Environment

Points 

• NAPCC (National Action Plan on Climate Change) comprises, inter alia, of eight National Missions in specific areas of Solar Energy, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture and Strategic knowledge for Climate Change
• The Indian Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy Database (IREEED), will disseminate renewable energy and energy efficiency policies, regulations, and incentive programs for the benefit of project developers, businesses, and consumers.
  
  GREEN INDIA SCHEME
• The National Mission for Green India is a new initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) which is implemented throughout the country.
• The mission aims to increase forest & tree cover on 5 million ha area, improve quality of forest cover on another 5 million ha area, ameliorate forest based livelihood of local communities and also to improve ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity & hydrological services.

WetLands

• World Wetlands Day (WWD) was observed sporadically across India on February 2.
• Wetlands are nature’s water storage and water purification zones, they are also a paradise for wildlife, fishing, angling and bird-watching, water sports, relaxation and rejuvenation. 
• However, with booming population and burgeoning urbanisation, these self-sustaining water bodies have become increasingly filthy and unfit for human utilisation.
• Wetlands such as mangroves, bogs, freshwater swamps are home to a wealth of biodiversity. Wetlands fulfil vital roles in carbon storage, pollution control and protection from natural hazards such as floods and storms.
• The National Wetland Atlas, prepared by Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has classified 67,429 wetlands in India occupying 60 million hectares, including paddy cultivation
• Chilika Lake in Odisha is about to become the first lake from Asia to adopt the “Ecosystem Health Report Card” — an effective means of tracking and reporting the health of a wetland. The Chilika will join the elite club of iconic wetlands like Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A) and the Great Barrier Reef (Australia).

Eco Sensitive Zone

• The need for creation of eco fragile zones was proposed at the 21^st meeting of Indian Board for Wildlife in 2002 when “Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002” was adopted. It was proposed that land falling within 10 kms of the boundaries of National Parks and Sanctuaries should be notified as eco-fragile zones.
•  The purpose is to create some kind of “Shock Absorber” for the protected areas which would also functions as a transition zone from highly protected areas to areas involving lesser protection
•  The activities in the eco-sensitive zones would be of a regulatory nature rather than prohibitive nature, unless and otherwise so required.
• The range can be go beyond 10km
• A fragile ecosystem area where the conservation or preservation of the natural environment is sustained by state controls and/or grants.
• The MoEF had said that if the States did not submit site-specific proposals by February 15, it would declare 10-km area around wildlife sanctuaries and national parks of a State as eco-sensitive zones.
• As per the MoEF guidelines, commercial mining; setting up of industries causing pollution; commercial use of firewood; use or production of any hazardous substance; establishment of hydroelectric projects; and discharge of effluents and solid waste in natural water bodies or terrestrial area are prohibited. Moreover, activities such as wood felling; setting up of sawmills, hotels or resorts; and night traffic in the zone would be restricted.

Canopy

• In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.
• For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns.
• Shade trees normally have a dense canopy that blocks light from lower growing plants.

Photo Voltaic System

• Photovoltaic systems (PV system) use solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. A system is made up of one or more photovoltaic (PV) panels, a DC/AC power converter (also known as an inverter), a racking system that holds the solar panels, electrical interconnections, and mounting for other components.

Transgenic Plants

• A transgenic crop plant contains a gene or genes which have been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring them through pollination. 
• The inserted gene sequence (known as the transgene) may come from another unrelated plant, or from a completely different species: transgenic Bt corn, for example, which produces its own insecticide, contains a gene from a bacterium.
•  Plants containing transgenes are often called genetically modified or GM crops, although in reality all crops have been genetically modified from their original wild state by domestication, selection and controlled breeding over long periods of time.

Stem Cells

• Stem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells
• In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues.
• Highly plastic adult stem cells are routinely used in medical therapies, for example in bone marrow transplantation use to cure leukemia.
• One concern of treatment is the risk that transplanted stem cells could form tumors and become cancerous if cell division continues uncontrollably.

Cyano Bacteria

• Scientists at University of California have engineered a bacteria which could help grow chemical derivatives for fuels and plastics. They have used Cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae) to convert carbon dioxide into 2,3 butanediol, a chemical that can be used to make paint, solvents, plastics and fuels
• Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green bacteria or blue-green algae, and Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria

Organic Fertigation

• Fertigation is a practice of conjunctive application of fertilizers and water to crop plants.
• How it is done : Soluble fertilizers like urea, potash and a wide variety of fertilizer mixtures available in the market are nicely mixed with irrigation water, filtered and then passed through the irrigation unit.