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Prelim Bits 05-06-2018

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June 05, 2018

World Environment Day

  • World Environment Day is celebrated on every 5th June of the year.
  • The theme for this year’s Environment Day, organised in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme, is “Beat plastic pollution”
  • India is the global host nation for the 43rd edition of this event..
  • India leads the charge in battling plastic pollution on World Environment Day.
  • According to the Central Pollution Control Board, India generates about 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day, of which about 40% remains uncollected.
  •  About 70% of the plastic packaging products become “waste” in a short span of time.
  • While plastics have a wide variety of applications, the global rally is against the so-called “single use” or disposable plastic — used in bottles, cups, wrapping paper and bags.
  • Together, they account for over half the plastic produced.

Juvenile fishing

  • According to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kerala’s fisheries sector is suffering a huge economic loss owing to uncontrolled juvenile fishing.
  • Apart from loss to the economy, juvenile fishing badly affects the biological factors of fish ecosystem.
  • Unfavorable climatic conditions following El Nino had badly affected the spawning and growth pattern of oil sardine.
  • Hatching from egg to larvae and growing from fry (post-hatching stage) to fingerling (when fins get extended and scales developed fully) to reach adulthood, it takes time.
  • However before they attain adulthood, they are captured.
  • According to an estimate, one-fourth of small fish in the process gets discarded.

Badshahi Ashurkhana

  • Telangana government and Aga Khan Trust are working to restore the Ashurkhana monument.
  • Badshahi Ashurkhana is a Shia Muslim mourning place, near Charminar in Hyderabad, India.
  • It was constructed in memory of martyrdom of Imam Hussain, and is used during the festival of Moharram.
  • It was built by Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1611, three years after building the Charminar.
  • The Ashoorkhana turns into a pilgrimage site when alams (battle standards) are installed to commemorate the battle of Karbala in 680 A.D. Ashoora or 10th day of Muharram is when the battle took place.
  • The monument was lost for several decades when Emperor Aurangzeb’s forces turned it into a bandikhana to keep wheeled vehicles.

WASP-127b

  • WASP-127b is a giant gaseous exoplanet with partly clear skies and also shows strong signatures of metals in its atmosphere.
  • Scientists have identified traces of multiple metals, along with possible signs of water in WASP-127b.
  • It is one of the least dense exoplanets ever found.
  • WASP-127b has a radius 1.4 times larger than Jupiter but has only 20 per cent of its mass.
  • It takes just over four days to orbit its parent star and its surface temperature is around 1127 degree Celsius.
  • The observations of WASP-127b reveal the presence of a large concentration of alkali metals in its atmosphere, allowing simultaneous detections of sodium, potassium and lithium for the first time in an exoplanet.

E-WASTE

  • E-waste is that which is discarded in the form of electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part or rejects during manufacturing or repairing processes.
  • They also include equipment discarded by consumers.
  • It includes
  1. Computers, laptops, telephones, printers including cartridges etc.
  2. Consumer electrical items and electronics such as air-conditioners, television sets, refrigerators, washing machines etc
  • According to a report by the United Nations, over 1 million poor people are involved in manual recycling operations in India.
  • The unorganized sector consists of an assortment of small and informal businesses that are not governed by any stringent health and environmental regulations.
  • Factors like the social bondage among recyclers, economics of recycling and the prevailing scales of operations contribute to a flourishing informal sector.

 

Source: PIB, The Hindu

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