Catalhoyuk was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, Turkey.
The city existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC.
Catalhoyuk is the best example of an early Neolithic town where humans began to swap a nomadic hunter-gatherer existence for a lifestyle centered on farming, i.e. the transition to a fully settled existence has been satisfactorily achieved.
In 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
According to recent studies it is found that the ancient city has faced modern day urban problems like Overcrowding, Violence, Infectious diseases, and Environmental degradation.
Catalhoyuk’s residents lived in clay brick structures akin to apartments, entering and exiting through ladders that connected the living areas of houses to the roofs.
After death, residents were buried in pits dug into the floors of the homes.
Desertification
Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry the land region becomes increasingly arid.
Desertification leads to losing bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife.
Desertification and land degradation are major threats to agricultural productivity in our country.
Around 40 to 70 per cent of the land has undergone desertification in eight states, Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh
The highest increase in land degradation is observed in Lunglei district of Mizoram (5.81 percent increase from 2003-05 to 2011-13)
Loss of soil cover, mainly due to rainfall and surface runoff, is one of the biggest reasons for desertification.
It is responsible for 10.98 percent of desertification in the country.
Other main reasons include, wind erosion (5.55 per cent), human-made or settlements (0.69 per cent), vegetation degradation (8.91 per cent) and salinity (1.12 per cent)
UNCCD
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is established in 1994.
It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
The main agenda of this convention is to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.
India a signatory to UNCCD for the first time will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September 2019.
Other two major conventions of United Nations are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Co2 Emissions of Bitcoins
According to recent studies it is found that the use of Bitcoin, a popular virtual currency emits over 22 megatons of carbon dioxide annually.
For a Bitcoin transfer to be executed and validated, a mathematical puzzle must be solved by an arbitrary computer in the global Bitcoin network.
The network, which anyone can join, rewards the puzzle solvers in Bitcoin.
The computing capacity used in this process known as Bitcoin mining has increased rapidly in recent years.
The power consumption of hardware behind the bitcoin network is about 46 TWh (Terra Watts).
Yoga Locator App
AYUSH Ministry has launched Yoga Locator app as a part of International Yoga day celebrations.
The app will help to locate yoga events around the city, also provides a list of Yoga training centres and instructors near the user’s location.
The app enables yoga instructors to register themselves and reach out to people who want to pursue a yoga course.
The app will be available permanently and it will give information to people about yoga activities happening in the user’s vicinity throughout the year.
