Daily Current Capsules 25^th May 2022
Environment
Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders
What's the NEWS

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched the India chapter of the Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders to supercharge India's climate action and decarbonization efforts.

Know! about it

• Part of the World Economic Forum's Climate Action Platform, the alliance will continue efforts to achieve the vision outlined in the white paper released last year, ‘Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net Zero India', on India's low-carbon transition by 2070.
• It will bring together the government, businesses, and other key stakeholders to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious ‘Panchamrit' pledge, which includes the country's net-zero target by 2070.
• A collaboration between the management consultancy Kearney and the Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation, the alliance will serve as a high-level platform to support business leaders in planning and implementing plans and programmes to achieve climate targets, including net-zero economic growth.

World Economic Forum (WEF)

• It is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
• The WEF is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
• The meeting brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants - among which are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists - for up to five days to discuss global issues across 500 sessions.

Places in NEWS
PANGONG TSO
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of External Affairs of India has confirmed that China is building a second bridge on the Pangong Tso lake, not far from the site of one of the most intense friction points in the border standoff that began in May 2020.

Know! about the second bridge construction

• The second bridge, which is still under construction, is a permanent structure. A previous bridge, which came up around January, seemed to have been built to facilitate work on the new one.
• After completion, this second bridge will allow swift movement of armoured vehicles between the north and the south banks of Pangong Tso.
• The site of the bridge is around 20 km east of Finger 8 on the lake's north bank - which is where the Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes.
• The construction site is just east of an old ruin called Khurnak Fort, where China has major frontier defence bases. China calls it Rutong Country.
• Although it is being built in territory that is under China's control since 1958, the exact point is just west of India's claim line, which means India considers it its own territory.
• Pangong Tso
• Pangong Tso is a 135-km long landlocked lake. India has around 45 km of Pangong Tso under its control, while China has more than two-thirds. The site of the new bridge is near the halfway mark of the lake

Factoids
Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP)
What's the NEWS

• India's first ‘Olympic Values Education Programme' (OVEP) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was launched in Odisha by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in collaboration with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust (ABFT).

Know! about OVEP

• OVEP will be integrated into the school education system of Odisha. It will be a values-based curriculum, to be implemented initially in 90 schools of Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, catering to about 32,000 children.
• The OVEP is a practical set of resources designed by the IOC to introduce young people to the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship.
• The OVEP was developed in 2006 to adddress the challenges of sedentary lifestyles, lack of concentration and adolescents dropping out of school.

Government Schemes
SWACHH SURVEKSHAN (SS) - SS 2023
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the eighth edition of Swachh Survekshan (SS) - SS 2023 under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. The theme of SS 2023 is ‘Waste to Wealth'.

Know! about SS 2023

• In SS 2023, additional weightage has been given to source segregation of waste, enhancement of waste processing capacity of cities to match the waste generation and reduction of waste going to the dumpsites.
• Indicators have been introduced with additional weightage on emphasizing the need for phased reduction of plastic, plastic waste processing, encourage waste to wonder parks and zero waste events.
• Ranking of Wards within the cities is also being promoted through Swachh Survekshan 2023.
• The cities would also be assessed on dedicated indicators on the issues of ‘open urination' (Yellow Spots) and ‘open spitting' (Red Spots), being faced by the cities.
• Further, this year MoHUA is also promoting cleaning of back lanes of the residential and commercial areas.
• Swachh Survekshan was introduced by MoHUA in 2016 as a competitive framework to encourage cities to improve the status of urban sanitation while encouraging large scale citizen participation.

Personalities in NEWS
PRITHVIRAJ CHAUHAN
What's the NEWS

• There is controversy around a new Akshay Kumar film called ‘Prithviraj', with both the Gujjar and Rajput communities of Rajasthan laying claim over the 12th century king.

Know! all about Prithviraj

• Prithviraj belonged to the Chauhan or Chahamana dynasty of Ajmer which emerged after the decline of the Pratihara empire in the 11th century AD.
• He ascended the throne in 1177 or 1178, and very quickly expanded his kingdom, defeating many of the smaller Rajput states.
• However, he struggled against the Chalukyas of Gujarat, and was forced to look towards the Ganga valley instead.
• While Prithviraj's army was able to decisively defeat the invading Ghurids in the First Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) in 1191, he was defeated in the Second Battle of Tarain in the following year.
• The battle marked a watershed moment in the history of medieval India, paving the way for the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and the beginning of Muslim rule.
• Prithviraj was depicted in ‘Prithviraj Raso', a poem in Brajbhasha attributed to Chand Bardai, which is thought to have been composed in the 16th century.

Defence and Security
Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF)
What's the NEWS

• Two Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets fighter jets landed in Goa for trials on the Indian Navy's Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) to demonstrate their compatibility and suitability to operate from Indian aircraft carriers.

Know! about SBTF

 

• The demonstration is expected to continue up to the first week of June.
• These are part of demonstrations by the manufacturers to showcase the compatibility of their aircraft to fly from Indian Navy's aircraft carriers.
• Both the Rafale-M and F/A-18 are originally designed to operate from carriers with a catapult launch mechanism.
• India's first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant, which is in advanced stages of sea trials, is scheduled to be commissioned in August.

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