Prelim Bits 21-04-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Abhilekh Patal Portal

The Prime Minister praised Abhilekh patal, a portal with over 1 Crore Pages of Historical Records of the National Archives.

• Abhilekh Patal Portal for Access to Archives and Learning is an initiative of NAI to make its rich treasure of Indian Archival Records available to one and all at the click of a button.
• Abhilekh Patal contains the reference media of more than 2.7 million files held by the National Archives of India.
• Abhilekh Patal is a full-featured web-portal to access the National Archives of India’s reference media and its digitized collections through the internet.
• It is ‘work-in-progress’ and both the reference media and the digital data will be regularly augmented.
• The National Archives of India is the repository of the non-current records of the Government of India and is holding them in trust for the use of records creators and general users.
• It is an Attached Office of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
• Set up on 11 March 1891 in Calcutta (Kolkata) as the Imperial Record Department, it was transferred to The New Capital to New Delhi in 1911.
• The present building at the crossing of Janpath and Rajpath was completed in 1926.

References

1. PIB │ PM praises Abhilekh patal portal
2. Abhilekh Patal │Portal for access to archives and learning

One World TB Summit 2023

At the One World TB Summit, Prime Minister reiterated India’s commitment to spearhead TB elimination effort.

• The One World TB Summit, organized by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Stop TB Partnership, provided an opportunity to showcase India’s TB learnings for the.
• The PM unveiled the Annual India TB Report 2023, which is a compilation of the country’s efforts towards making India TB-free by 2025.
• The PM also launched the TB-Mukt Panchayat initiative to leverage the support of over 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats to raise awareness about TB.

Ni-kshay portal tracks the entire cascade of care for each TB patients and new shorter treatment regimen for TB.

TB Mukt Gram Panchayat Abhiyaan

• Objectives – Community and political participation are critical to realize the goal of TB elimination.
• Guided by this approach, TB Champions have been identified and sensitized on TB at the Panchayat level through the program.
• To ensure their participation in the program, awareness activities at the Panchayat level have been organized in the presence of local Panchayat leaders.
• Key Strategies – Case finding- Active and Passive (including post TB, post-COVID and other vulnerable groups).
• Community Awareness activities.
• Community Support activities (Ni-kshay Sambal Yojana).
• Public health action for current PwTB including TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) to contacts.

References

1. The Hindu │A new edge to the fight against tuberculosis
2. The Hindu │ India committed to end tuberculosis by 2025

CLEANaction

Clean energy coalition of WWF says all forms of renewable power are better than fossil fuels.

• The Coalition Linking Energy and Nature for action (CLEANaction) is a partnership to protect nature during the energy transition.
• It aims to highlight the need for new renewable energy generation projects to be carefully assessed for their impacts on biodiversity.
• CLEANaction urged governments to consider the impact on nature at the earliest stage by evaluating the renewable energy value chain (from sourcing material to disposal).
• It also urges the governments to develop national regulatory schemes that require energy developers to contribute to national conservation targets.

Findings

• Solar and wind energy – These transitions help achieve International Energy Agency’s standards of a power system capable of holding global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• The impact of wind energy is minimal compared to other major energy technologies, such as fossil fuels, bioenergy and nuclear energy.
• Projects – Construction of renewable energy projects, such as hydropower dams, leads to the inundation of vast swathes of natural habitat and alters natural flow regimes and downstream habitats.
• The report noted, adopting the right mix of low-carbon technologies to meet energy demands can help stabilise global temperatures.
• Bioenergy – In all its forms, including biomass, biofuel and biogas, has a larger biodiversity impact per unit of energy than that of wind and solar.

References

1. Down To Earth │ Wind, solar cleaner for energy transitions than other renewables.

2. WWF │ CLEANaction

Census of Waterbodies in India

The Ministry of Jal Shakti released the first census of waterbodies in India.

• The census defines a waterbody as “all natural or man-made units bounded on all sides with some or no masonry work used for storing water for irrigation or other purposes.
• Waterbodies are usually of various types known by different names like tank, reservoirs, ponds and bundhies etc.
• A structure where water from ice-melt, streams, springs, rain or drainage of water from residential or other areas is accumulated or water is stored by diversion from a stream, nala or river will also be treated as waterbody.
• The waterbodies census was conducted along with the 6th Minor Irrigation Census for 2017-18.
• The results of the census have been released recently.

Findings

• The most number of waterbodies are ponds, followed by tanks, reservoirs, water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams, lakes, and others.
• West Bengal has the highest number of ponds and reservoirs, whereas Andhra Pradesh has highest number of tanks.
• Tamil Nadu has the highest number of lakes and Maharashtra is the leading state with water conservation schemes.
• No encroachment on waterbodies was reported from West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

Reference

1. The Indian Express │ Bengal tops list of States with most ponds and reservoirs

Hakki Pikki Tribe

More than 181 members of the Hakki Pikki community from Karnataka are stuck in violence-hit Sudan.

• The Hakki Pikki is a tribe that lives in several states in west and south India, especially near forest areas.

• Hakki Pikkis (Hakki in Kannada means ‘bird’ and Pikki means ‘catchers’) are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters.
• They live majorly in Davangere, Mysuru, Kolar, Hassan and Shivmogga districts of Karnataka.
• In different regions, they are known by different names, such as Mel-Shikari in northern Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• Hakki Pikki people are believed to hail originally from the bordering districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Hakki Pikkis lived in forest areas, leading a nomadic life for 9 months a year and coming back to their permanent camps for 3.
• Customs – Hakki Pikkis in Karnataka follow Hindu traditions and celebrate all Hindu festivals and they are non-vegetarians.
• The eldest son in a family is not supposed to cut his hair so that he can be identified easily.
• The society is matriarchal, where the groom gives dowry to the bride’s family and monogamy is the norm.

References

1. The Indian Express │ Hakki Pikkis caught in Sudan conflict
2. India Today │Who are the Hakki-Pikki tribes?