Current Affair 1:

Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

 

The 26th Global Meeting of the Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was held from July 3-9, 2022, at the city of Chetumal in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula.

About:

The IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) is a worldwide network of biologists, wildlife managers, government officials, independent researchers, non-government (NGO) representatives, farmers, traders, tanners, fashion leaders, and private companies actively involved in the conservation of the world's 23 living species of alligators, crocodiles, caimans and gharials in the wild.

The CSG works closely with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and other international intergovernmental bodies to promote crocodilian conservation and legal trade that does not threaten the survival of these important reptiles.

The CSG network of experts advises governments and wildlife management agencies, evaluates the conservation needs of crocodilian populations, initiates research projects, conducts surveys of wild populations, provides technical information and training, initiates conservation programs, etc.

It was founded in 1971 and its main mission is to assist IUCN and Species Survival Commission (SSC) in the conservation, management and sustainability of crocodiles across the globe.

 

Current Affair 2:

Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022 (GP 2022)

 

The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022 (GP 2022) took place in Indonesia from May 23-28, 2022. The theme this year was ‘From Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development for All in a COVID-19 Transformed World’.

About:

The UN General Assembly recognizes the Global Platform as the global multi-stakeholder forum to review progress on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

At the Platform, governments, UN system and all stakeholders get together to share knowledge and discuss the latest developments and trends in reducing disaster risk, identify gaps and make recommendations to further accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction has been organized and convened by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and hosted by the Government of Indonesia.

he 7th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) in Bali has released the Bali Agenda for Resilience (BAR) with the aim of keeping the world from facing 1.5 disasters a day by 2030.

 The BAR captures the way forward in seven points: Just read once.

1. Reconfigure Risk Governance. To ensure that risk management is a shared responsibility across sectors, systems, scales and borders.
2. Legislated DRR Public Finance. To weigh the cost of disasters against investments in resilience, with legislated budgetary targets and tracking.
3. Meeting the Climate Ambition. To scale up DRR to raise and achieve the climate ambition, to accelerate comprehensive disaster and climate risk management.
4. "Nothing about us without us." A participatory and human rights-based approach, with leadership of women and young professionals.
5. Universal early warning coverage. An end-to-end people-centred early warning value chain, with multi-hazard approaches.
6. Build back better, greener, equitable. Post-COVID recovery as an opportunity to reset the development pathway towards a greener and more resilient future.
7. Strengthen Midterm Review. To understand challenges and obstacles, and possible course corrections to accelerate Sendai implementation.

About Sendai Framework:

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) was the first major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda and provides Member States with concrete actions to protect development gains from the risk of disaster.

The Sendai Framework works hand in hand with the other 2030 Agenda agreements, including The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the New Urban Agenda, and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals.

It was endorsed by the UN General Assembly following the 2015 Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR).

The Sendai Framework is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.

Current Affair 3:

Can synthetic biology offer solutions to environmental challenges?

 

The Earth’s biodiversity is deteriorating at an unprecedented rate. Researchers and environmentalists consider synthetic biology or ‘synbio’ as a potential tool to preserve biodiversity and restore the natural ecosystem.

Now, the question is: What is synbio and how could it be used to preserve our biodiversity and ecosystem?

 

Synthetic biology or synbio is a broad and dynamic field of innovation encompassing the design and construction of new biological parts that redesign existing natural biological systems to address real-time and real-world problems.

It aims at the (re-)design and fabrication of biological components and systems that do not already exist in the natural world. Synthetic biology combines chemical synthesis of DNA with growing knowledge of genomics to enable researchers to quickly manufacture catalogued DNA sequences and assemble them into new genomes.

It is a proliferating area of science that could influence everything from what we eat to how we treat diseases.

This technology is already being put into use for sustainable production of bioenergy, drugs, and food. An interesting  application of synbio is its usage for the capture of carbon dioxide from industrial emissions.

The captured gas is then recycled to fuels using microorganisms. Potentially, such transformations comprise benefits ranging from protecting threatened species to providing synthetic alternatives to wildlife products.

These capabilities have ripple effects and they benefit researchers pursuing avenues that were not economically viable or scientifically feasible. They also help us resolve some of society’s most imperative problems from infectious disease to drug development to sustainability.

 

Current Affair 4:

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

 

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.

But, NGRBA has since been dissolved, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council).

So, from now,

National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga = National Ganga Council).  NO CONFUSION.

So, now we will study National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga. We go through all provisions of the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016.  See below. Everything will be clear.

Function of Empowered Committee: The Empowered Task Force on River Ganga shall co-ordinate and advise on matters relating to rejuvenation, protection and management of River Ganga and its tributaries.

There are also provisions of State Ganga Committees and District Ganga Committees in every specified district.

 

 

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