Current series...

♦ Mock drill for Tsunami:  

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) along with 23 countries participates in the two-day Indian Ocean-wide mock drill which will simulate tsunamis generated by two large undersea earthquakes. ITEWC will participate in the drill as National Tsunami Warning Centre (NTWC) and also Regional Tsunami Advisory Service Provider (RTSP) for the Indian Ocean region, and would issue bulletins to all the 23 participating countries. The mock drill, organised under the auspices of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, is aimed at testing the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS). During the drill, ITEWC will disseminate bulletins to control rooms of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), coastal States, NDRF, the Coast Guard, the Indian Navy and critical coastal installations such as ports and power plants.

♦ Greenhouse gases increase in atmosphere:

World Meteorological Organisation’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin warned the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013 due to surge in levels of carbon dioxide. Consequently, the gas-absorbing oceans were hit by unprecedented acidification. Between 1990 and 2013 there was 34 per cent increase in radiative forcing - the warming effect on our climate - because of long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. In 2013, concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 142 per cent of the pre-industrial era (1750), and of methane and nitrous oxide 253 per cent and 121 per cent respectively. Level of CO2 increased more between 2012 and 2013 than during any other year since 1984.

♦ Feroza Begum died

Firoza Begum, Bangladeshi Nazrul Sangeet legend, died at Dhaka. She had mesmerised Bengalis with her voice for seven decades. Begum was educated in Calcutta in undivided India and was closely linked with poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Nazrul Sangeet or Nazrul Geet refers to songs written by Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul was a revolutionary during Indian independence movement.

♦ IndARC to support climate studies:

Data given by IndARC, the Indian observatory in the Arctic Ocean, is expected to help scientists to understand the Arctic climate process and its influence on the Indian monsoon system.

Note: IndARC is India’s first underwater moored observatory in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway and the North Pole. IndARC was designed and developed by scientists from the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO), National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and was deployed on July 23, 2014. The observatory is anchored at a depth of 192 m and has an array of 10 state-of-the-art oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at various depths in the water. The sensors are programmed to collect real-time data on seawater temperature, salinity, ocean currents and other vital parameters of the fjord. The Kongsfjorden (an inlet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, an island which is part of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean) is considered a natural laboratory for studying the Arctic climate variability. The data collected by IndARC would be used for climate modelling studies to understand the influence of the Arctic processes on the Indian monsoon system. The research station is relevant as it is predicted that melting of the Arctic glaciers will trigger changes in weather patterns and ocean currents that could affect other parts of the world.

♦ National Mission for Clean Ganga:

Ministry of Water Resource launched web portal on Ganga rejuvenation programme to connect it with the public. The bilingual website has a provision to receive feedback from the public, where suggestions can be given about the Ganga Rejuvenation Plan.

Note: National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has started the Mission Clean Ganga to save Ganga through four different sectors; waste water management, solid waste management, industrial pollution control, and river front development. NGRBA was set up through the Gazette notification of the Government of India in 2009. The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) is the nodal Ministry for the NGRBA. The authority is chaired by the Prime Minister and has as its members the Union Ministers concerned, the Chief Ministers of the States through which Ganga flows, viz., Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, among others. NGRBA functions include development of a Ganga River Basin Management Plan, regulation of activities aimed at prevention, control and abatement of pollution, to maintain water quality and to take measures relevant to the river ecology in the Ganga basin states. It is mandated to ensure the maintenance of minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga and abate pollution through planning, financing and execution of programmes. The programme include: a) Augmentation of Sewerage Infrastructure b) Catchment Area Treatment c) Protection of Flood Plains and d) Creating Public Awareness. NGRBA has been mandated as a planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for strengthening the collective efforts of the Central and State governments for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of river Ganga so as to ensure that by the year 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial effluent will flow into the river Ganga. The NGRBA is fully operational and is also supported by the state level State Ganga River Conservation Authorities (SGRCAs) in five Ganga basin States which are chaired by the Chief Ministers of the respective States. Under NGRBA programme, projects worth Rs. 4607.82 crore have been sanctioned up to 31st March 2014. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, is the implementing wing of NGRBA.

Namami Gange: It is an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission, for which a sum of Rs 100 crore has been allocated for development of ghats and beautification of river fronts at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna, and Delhi in the current financial year.

Facts about Ganga:

Length             : 2,525 sq. km.

Source             : Gaumukh (Gangotri Glacier)

Ganga Basin               : More than one million sq. km

Drainage area : 861,404 sq. km

Tributeries                  : 14 (Batwa, Chambal, Damodar, Gandak, Ganga, Ghagra,

Gomti, Hindon, Kali, Khan, Kosi, Kshipra, Ramganga and

Yamuna)

Position                       : East longitudes 7330 & 890, North longitudes 2230 & 3130.