Environment/GSIII
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)

What's the NEWS

• The 19^th Meeting of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was held under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change

• The 5^th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation which is currently underway will help in taking correct policy decision.
• We have 51 Tiger Reserves in the country and efforts are being made to bring more areas under Tiger Reserve network.
• The tiger reserves are not just for tigers because more then 35 rivers originates from these areas which are crucial for water security.
• Today 14 Tiger Reserves have been accredited under CA|TS and NTCA is working on getting other Tiger Reserves evaluated for CA|TS accreditation
• The environment minister unveiled the Action Plan for introduction of Cheetah in India, that has become extinct in independent India.
• The union minister also released a Water Atlas, mapping all the water bodies in the tiger bearing areas of India.
• Landscape wise information have been outlined in this water atlas which include, the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic plain landscape, Central Indian Landscape and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats landscape, North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra flood plains and Sundarbans.

• NTCA has been constituted under section 38 L (1) of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Further, as per the section 38 L, sub section 2 of the said Act, the authority consists of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests ( as Chairperson), the Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (as Vice-Chairperson), three members of Parliament, Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests and other members.
• The authority derives its power from section 38 O (1) of WLPA, 1972 and functions under the guidance of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and members.
• It was established in December 2005, following a recommendation of the Tiger Task Force, constituted by the Prime Minister of India for reorganised management of Project Tiger and the many Tiger Reserves in India.
• A programme for protection called, 'Tiger Protection Program' (popularly known as Project Tiger) was started in 1973, by the Government of India in co-operation with WWF.

• CA|TS is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation.
• CA|TS is organised under seven pillars and 17 elements of critical management activity.
• CA|TS was developed by tiger and protected area experts.
• Officially launched in 2013, CA|TS is an important part of Tx2, the global goal to double wild tiger numbers by the year 2022.
• The long-term goal of CA|TS is to ensure safe havens for tigers.

How Does CA|TS Work And Who Is Using It?

• Sites taking part will initially be ‘registered' (standards not yet attained) then, when all required standards are met, ‘approved' (standards achieved).
• An approved site has achieved excellence in tiger site management.
• Sites are evaluated through an assessment and independent review process.
• Of the 13 tiger range countries Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Russia have registered and rolled out CA|TS, whilst discussion is ongoing with Bhutan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and China.

Know! about IGRUS

• Indira Gandhi RashtriyaUranAkademi(IGRUA)was established by the Government of India in the year 1986 at Fursatganj Airfield, presently in the district of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
• IGRUA is an Autonomous Body established under the Societies Registration Act 1860 and is administered by a Governing Council under the Ex-officio Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• IGRUA offers a training environment, superior to any other flying training institution in the country.
• An all India entrance examination, wombat aptitude test for the selection of trainees is conducted with the help of specialized software to verify psychomotor skills and finally an interview.
• During the year 2021, IGRUA piled up 19000 hours of flying as against an average yearly flying output of 15000 per year during the previous five years while it was 11641 hours in 2020.
• IGRUA has already set foundation to hit a target of 25000 flying hours in 2022 by inducting a record 121 cadets in 2021 and expanding the fleet strength in 2022.
• IGRUA has stretched its wings into a variety of other initiatives in aviation, such as drone training course to become professional RPAS pilots on micro & small category drones, ‘Train the Instructor' course for drone instructors and English Language Proficiency (ELP) course.

• Union Minister for Ministry of Food Processing Industries, launched six, One District One Product (ODOP) brands under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme

• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has signed an agreement with NAFED for developing 10 brands of selected ODOPs under the branding and marketing component of the PMFME scheme.

• Out of these, six brands namely Amrit Phal, Cori Gold, Kashmiri Mantra, Madhu Mantra, Somdana, and Whole Wheat Cookies of Dilli Bakes were launched today.
• The brand Amrit Phal for amla juice has been exclusively developed under the ODOP concept for Gurugram, Haryana.
• Cori Gold brand has been developed for coriander powder which is the identified ODOP for Kota, Rajasthan.
• Brand Kashmiri Mantra brings out the essence of spices from Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
• Brand Madhu Mantra has been developed under the ODOP concept for honey from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
• Whole wheat cookies, is the second product developed under the brand Dilli Bakes.
• Brand Somdana has been developed under the ODOP concept of milletsfrom Thane, Maharashtra.
• Through this initiative under the PMFME scheme, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries aims to encourage the micro food processing enterprises (MFPEs)
• MFPs are encouraged to come forth and avail branding support under this initiative including use of marketing rights of these brands from NAFED

• Launched under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme that aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and to promote formalization of the sector and provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.
• With an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore over a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, the scheme envisions to directly assist the 2,00,000 micro food processing units for providing financial, technical, and business support for up-gradation of existing micro food processing enterprises.

• As part of the Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav (AKAM) celebrations across the country, the Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA has launched "Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research (SAAR)" program, a joint initiative of MoHUA, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and leading Indian academic institutions of the country.
• Under the program, 15 premier architecture & planning institutes of the country will be working with Smart Cities to document landmark projects undertaken by the Smart Cities Mission.
• The documents will capture the learnings from best practices, provide opportunities for engagement on urban development projects to students, and enable real-time information flow between urban practitioners and academia.

Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research (SAAR)" program highlights

• Since the start of the Mission in 2015, the 100 Smart Cities have been developing a total of 5,151 projects with an investment of Rs. 2,05,018 crore.
• The first activity envisaged under SAAR is to prepare a compendium of 75 landmark urban projects in India under the Smart City Mission.
• These 75 urban projects are innovative, multi-sectoral, and have been implemented across geographies.
• The 75 projects covered in the compendium are distributed across 47 Smart Cities.
• The partner institutes documenting the projects include inter alia Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Center for Environment Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad, Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi, and School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal.
• MoHUA and NIUA will facilitate linkages between the Institutions and Smart Cities for specific landmark projects that are to be documented under the program.
• The SAAR project includes 75 urban projects distributed across 47 Smart cities.

• Union Minister of Science & Technology launched the theme of National Science Day (NSD) 2022 ‘Integrated Approach in S&T for Sustainable Future'

• National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated every year on 28 February to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect'. Government of India designated 28 February as National Science Day (NSD) in 1986.
• On this day Sir C.V. Raman announced the discovery of the 'Raman Effect' for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930. On this occasion, theme-based science communication activities are carried out all over the country.
• Department of Science and Technology (DST) acts as a nodal agency to support, catalyze and coordinate celebration of the National Science Day throughout the country
• The DST instituted the National Awards for Science Popularization in 1987
• These awards are presented every year on National Science Day along with the SERB Women Excellence Award by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) supporting basic research in frontier areas of science and engineering.
• It provides grants to women scientists below 40 years of age who have received recognition from any one or more of the National Academies such as Young Scientist Medal, Young Associateship and so on.
• AWSAR award, an initiative of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India to recognize the dissemination of Indian research in Science, Technology & Innovation being pursued by PhD Scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows in popular science writing format, is also presented on the day.

• Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports unveiled the Logo and Mascot of the 25th National Youth Festival to be held in Puducherry from 12th -16th January 2022.

• Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports also unveiled the tag-line of the National Youth Festival, Shaksham Yuva Shashakth Yuva meaning Capable Youth- Forceful Youth, Able Youth- Strong Youth.
• National Youth Festival is organized by the Government of India every year in collaboration with one of the States from January 12^th to 16^th to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda i.e. 12^th January.
• The basic objective of the NYF is to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to showcase their talents in various activities to cover almost all socio-cultural aspects of life, providing an opportunity to amateur young artists to express themselves.

Environment/Prelims Factoids
Over a Million Birds Flock to Chilika, Largest Wintering Ground in Indian sub-continent

What's the NEWS

• Chilika Lake, Asia's largest brackish water lagoon, witnessed over 10.74 lakh birds, including uncommon Mongolian gull, visiting the waterbody in Odisha this winter, according to a census report released

• Spread over Puri, Ganjam and Khorda districts, Chilika Lake covers an area of around 1,100 sq km. However, compared to around 11.40 lakh birds of 190 species last year, 10,74,173 winged guests of 183 species to the lake were counted during the exercise
• As per the Water Bird Status Survey-2022 conducted in the Chilika, 10,74,173 water birds (107 species) and 37,953 individuals (76 wetland dependent species) were counted in the entire lagoon.
• Last year, the count in the Chilika was over 12 lakh. Members who were part of the census also reported sighting the Mongolian gull.
• The census was undertaken jointly by the Odisha State Wildlife Organisation, the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) and the Bombay Natural History Society.
• The increase in numbers for the greater flamingo at Nalabana mudflat indicates that the restoration at Nalabana is effective.
• This year's greater flamingo count was the highest in the last decade. It is largely due to appropriate management of mudflats.

• Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km2.
• It is the biggest lake of India. It is the largest salt water lake in India.
• Chilika Lake hosts birds migrating from thousands of miles away from the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea, remote parts of Russia, Mongolia, Central and Southeast Asia, Ladakh and the Himalayas.

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