Current Affair 1:

Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY)

 

Read introduction:

Current Affair 2:

Sea cucumbers

 

Sea cucumbers belong to Class Holothuroidea of Phylum Echinodermata. These marine animals, benthic in nature, are distributed across the seas in the tropics.

In India, there are approximately 200 species reported from the shallow waters dwelling in habitats such as seagrass meadows, coral reefs, rocky shores, sandy shores, and mudflats.

Within India, sea cucumbers have been reported from the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep; Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and Ennore in Tamil Nadu; Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat; Malvan coast in Maharashtra; and Kakinada Bay in Andhra Pradesh.

Current Affair 3:

Six Risk Tipping Points according to UN report

 

News:

A United Nations University report released today finds that drastic changes are approaching if risks to our fundamental socioecological systems are not addressed.

The Interconnected Disaster Risks Report 2023 published by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) warns of six risk tipping points ahead of us:

1. Accelerating extinctions
2. Groundwater depletion
3. Mountain glaciers melting
4. Space debris
5. Unbearable heat
6. Uninsurable future

Systems are all around us and closely connected to us: ecosystems, food systems, water systems and more. When they deteriorate, it is typically not a simple and predictable process. Rather, instability slowly builds until suddenly a tipping point is reached and the system changes fundamentally or even collapses, with potentially catastrophic impacts.

A risk tipping point is defined in the report as the moment at which a given socioecological system is no longer able to buffer risks and provide its expected functions, after which the risk of catastrophic impacts to these systems increases substantially.

Current Affair 4:

Northwestern, Central, and South-Central India Set to Become Heat Wave Hotspots

 

News:

Northwestern, central, and south-central India are emerging as future heat wave hotspots and could witness a four-to-seven-fold increase in heatwave frequency in mid-term and long-term future, a new government study has found.

The country's south-central region is expected to see the largest increase among the three-heat wave-prone zones, the study added.

A study by the Mahamana Centre of Excellence in Climate Change Research under the Department of Science and Technology, analyzed future changes in heat wave characteristics over India for mid-term (2041-2060) and long-term (2081-2099) future under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios respectively.

Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) are used to capture future trends on how concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will change in future as a result of human activities. In the RCP 4.5 scenario, emissions peak during the mid-century and decline at the end of the century, while the RCP 8.5 is the highest baseline scenario in which emissions rise throughout the century.

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