Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas’ (SVAMITVA) Scheme

• It is central sector scheme launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
• It was launched towards the objectives of socio-economic empowerment of the rural mass and making them self-reliant.
• The scheme aims to provide the ‘record of rights’ to village household owners in rural abadi areas and issuance of Property cards.
• The pilot phase of the Scheme was implemented during 2020–2021 in States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh and few border villages of Punjab & Rajasthan.
• Prime Minister will dedicate the Scheme of SVAMITVA to the entire nation on 24th April 2021.
• The Prime Minister will also launch distribution of e-property cards to 4.09 lakh property owners on this occasion. 

• Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare has recently chaired the “Reaching Zero” forum on malaria elimination to celebrate World Malaria Day.
• Every year, 25th April is observed as ‘World Malaria Day’.
• This year’s theme for the day is “Reaching the Zero Malaria target.’’

• Hong Kong is set to grant a site on the western Kowloon peninsula, close to the high-speed railway to the mainland, to Beijing’s national security office for its permanent base in the city.
• It constitutes the Chinese mainland portion of the Hong Kong region and is located north of Hong Kong Island and east of the mouth of the Pearl (Zhu) River Delta.

Stylophora Pistillata

• Stylophora Pistillata, a common stony coral in the Indo-Pacific region.
• It is listed as near threatened species under IUCN Red list.
• Recent study on the coral highlighted that several proteins are organized spatially – a process that’s critical to forming a rock-hard coral skeleton.
• The study highlighted that corals have survived global climate change over millions of years by the process called Bio mineralization.
• Bio mineralization is the study of processes that lead to the formation of hierarchically structured organic–inorganic materials generated by living organisms, such as shells, bone and teeth.

Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services (BEAMS)

• On the lines of Blue Flag certification for beaches India has also launched its own eco-label BEAMS (Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services).
• The objectives of BEAMS program is to:

1. Abate pollution in coastal waters,
2. Promote sustainable development of beach facilities,
3. Protect & conserve coastal ecosystems & natural resources,
4. Strive and maintain high standards of cleanliness,
5. Hygiene & safety for beachgoers in accordance with coastal environment & regulations.

Blue Flag Programme

• The Blue Flag Programme for beaches and marinas is run by the international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education).
• FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education) was established in France in 1985.

Blue Nature Alliance

• It is a global partnership of five core partners and few other Non-Profit Organisations launched on April 20, 2021.
• The core partners are Conservation International, The Global Environment Facility, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Minderoo Foundation and Rob and Melani Walton Foundation.
• The alliance aims to target seven ocean locations, they are as follows:

1. Antarctica
2. Seychelles
3. Canada
4. Palau
5. Western Indian Ocean
6. Fiji
7. Tristan da Cunha, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean

Marine Protection Atlas

• It was launched by the Marine Conservation Institute in 2012.
• The atlas was prepared to provide the best available information on marine protection all over the world.
• This will help the marine conservation communities to work together and protect at least 30% of the world ocean by 2030.
• It has been built based on the World Database on Protected Areas.

World Database on Protected Areas

• It holds the database on terrestrial and marine protected areas.
• It was a joint project between IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park

• It is also called the Darjeeling Zoo located in the town of Darjeeling in West Bengal.
• The zoo was opened in 1958, and an average elevation of 7,000 feet (2,134 m), is the largest high altitude zoo in India.
• It specializes in breeding animals adapted to alpine conditions, and has successful captive breeding programs for the snow leopard, the critically endangered Himalayan wolf and the red panda.
• The zoo serves as the central hub for Central Zoo Authority of India's red panda program and is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Snow leopards

• It act as an indicator of the health of the mountain ecosystem in which they live, due to their position as the top predator in the food web.
• In India, their geographical range encompasses:

1. Western Himalayas: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh.
2. Eastern Himalayas: Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

• Hemis National Park is the biggest national park in India and also has a good presence of Snow Leopard, known as Snow Leopard capital of the world.
• The snow leopard is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s Red List of the Threatened Species.
• In addition, it is also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
• It is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
• It is also listed in the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), affording the highest conservation status to the species, both globally and in India.

Global Energy Transition Index

• Recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the annual rankings of the.
• The index benchmarks 115 economies on the current performance of their energy systems across economic development and growth, environmental sustainability and energy security and access indicators and their readiness for transition to secure, sustainable, affordable and inclusive energy systems.
• Sweden has topped the Index for the third consecutive year and is followed by Switzerland and Finland in the top three.
• Argentina, China, India and Italy are among the major countries with consistent annual improvements.
• India has moved up two positions to rank 74th with improvements in all three dimensions of the energy triangle namely:

1. Economic development and growth.
2. Energy access and security.
3. Environmental sustainability.

World Economic Forum

• It is a Swiss non-profit foundation established in 1971, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Major reports published by WEF:

1. Global Competitiveness Report
2. Global IT Report
3. Global Gender Gap Report
4. Global Risk Report
5. Global Travel and Tourism Report