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Prelim Bits 05-03-2018

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March 05, 2018

Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas program

  • The Odisha government has launched Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas (Our Village, our development) to reach out to the people in rural areas and involve themselves in the developmental activities.
  • Mobile video vans for ‘Ama Gaon Ama Vikas’ program will move across the State to highlight various welfare schemes at villages in the state.
  • Through these Wi-Fi enabled latest technology video wall vans, people can directly send their grievances to the Chief Minister’s Office at the Secretariat in Bhubaneswar.

Black tip Sharks

  • Black tip sharks that gather off the South Florida every year coast are shrinking in number.
  • The Blacktip Shark is widespread in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters.
  • The species are found over the following areas,
  1. In the western Atlantic it ranges from United States to southern Brazil
  2. In the eastern Atlantic it is known from the Mediterranean Sea southwards to central Africa
  3. In the Indian Ocean from South Africa to western Australia, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf
  4. In the Pacific Ocean it is recorded from throughout the Indo-Australian Archipelago
  5. In the eastern Pacific from California, USA, to Peru
  • Black tip Shark meat is primarily consumed locally and fins are dried and shipped to the Far East where they are used in preparing shark-fin soup.
  • It is a near threatened species under the IUCN red list.

Effect of Smartphones on Environment

  • Smartphones and data centres will be the most damaging information and communications technologies to the environment by 2040, a study has found.
  • ICT may account for 14% of the global footprint by 2040, or about half of the transportation sector worldwide.
  • Telecommunications networks and data centres consume a lot of energy to serve you and most data centres continue to be powered by electricity generated by fossil fuels.
  • Smartphones consume little energy to operate, 85% of their emissions impact comes from production.
  • Smartphones also have a short life which drives production of new models.

Kuthiyottam Ritual

  • The Kerala State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights registered a suo motu case in connection with the Kuthiyottam ritual.
  • The Kuthiyottam ritual is usually performed every year during the Pongala festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
  • The Attukal Pongala festival is the largest congregation of women for a festival in the world.
  • Pongala, which means 'to boil over’, is a ritual in which women prepare a pudding made from rice, jaggery, coconut and plantains cooked together, and offer it to the goddess.
  • Young boys undertake a seven-day penance before Pongala day by being within the temple, sleeping on the floor, observing strict diet restrictions and bathing three times a day.
  • The ritual also reportedly involves piercing the child’s side with a small hook and knotting a thread through it to symbolize their bond with the Goddess.

Urban Air Pollution Source

  • According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration-led study, chemical products that contain compounds refined from petroleum rivals motor vehicle emissions as the top source of urban air pollution.
  • Household cleaners, pesticides, paints and perfumes, lotions, paints and other products are some of examples of such chemical products.
  • The scientists focused on volatile organic compounds or VOCs that can escape into the atmosphere and react to produce either ozone or particulate matter causing health impacts, including lung damage.
  • The amount of VOCs emitted by consumer and industrial products is actually two or three times greater than estimated by current air pollution inventories.
  • The NOAA study covered North America, particularly United States of America.

Swajal Yojana

  • Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation launched the Swajal pilot project at Rajasthan recently.
  • Swajal is a community owned drinking water programme for sustained drinking water supply.
  • The project ensures the availability of clean drinking water to every household round the year and also generates employment.
  • Under the scheme, 90% of the project cost will be taken care by the Government and the remaining 10% of the project cost will be contributed by the community.
  • The Operations and management of the project will be taken care by the local villagers.

Map of the Day

North America - Physical Features

Note - No Landlocked country in North America

 

Source: PIB, The Hindu, Science daily

4 comments
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KRISHNA MANOHAR 6 years

scheme of a state gvt is not of much important for upsc and effects of mobile on environment topic too could be replaced by another valuable topic..

Umed Yadav 6 years

You're doing a commendable job. Please continue this initiative. 

Thank You!

IAS Parliament 6 years

Thank you. Keep Following.

MANISH KUMAR 6 years

I really enjoy reading the daily dose of current affairs from IAS Parliament. 

Thank u ....

IAS Parliament 6 years

Thank you. Keep Following.

Akash Sisodiya 6 years

Thank you!

And “MAP OF THE DAY”  is nice initiative.

IAS Parliament 6 years

There will be more in the upcoming days. Keep Following.

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