UTTARAKHAND

Considering the importance of forests in conserving the whole ecosystem, International Day of Forests is marked every year on March 21.

Gearing up for the day, the forest department and some social organisations have launched various awareness programmes to enhance the green cover in the State.

As per the statistics, the total forest cover in Uttarakhand is 24,295 square kilometres, which is about 47 per cent of the state’s total geographical area. Combined with trees and other plantations, nearly 60 per cent geographical area is said to be under green cover.

A marginal growth has been observed in the expansion in the last five years while the state has six national parks, six wild life sanctuaries and world heritage site of Nanda Devi national park and Valley of Flowers. Speaking to The Pioneer, the state’s principal chief conservator of forests Jairaj said, “To mark the International Day of Forests, we have launched various programmes to make people aware of the importance of forests. In schools, some contests shall be held to sensitise the children towards preserving our ecosystem, of which forests are an important part.”

To reduce the human-wildlife conflict, increasing depletion of trees and forest resources for human needs and encroachment by humans in forest land, zero tolerance must be adopted, said scientists from Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya.

INTERNATIONAL

World Sparrow Day is a day designated to raise awareness of the house sparrow and then other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations, observed on 20 March.

It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world.

· International Day of Happiness is celebrated as 20 March

The United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness (on 20th March) as a way to recognize the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.
The theme for IDH 2018 is “Share Happiness” – focusing on the importance of relationships, kindness and helping each other.
The World Happiness Report 2018 was also released recently that ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants.
Finland was ranked as the happiest country in the list and Burundi in East Africa is the unhappiest place in the world.
India ranks 133rd in the report after Pakistan (75th), China (86th) and Nepal (101st).

Singapore has been dubbed the world’s most expensive city to live in for the fifth year running.

The city state marched in ahead of New York, London and Los Angeles, which didn’t even feature in the top 10 priciest places in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living 2018 survey.

The EIU’s annual ranking compares the prices of over 150 items in 133 cities around the world, such as bread, wine, cigarettes and petrol.

Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi also featured among the top 10 cheapest locations this year.

The Indian Navy and the French Navy have conducted bilateral maritime exercises since May 1993.

Since 2001, the exercises have been named VARUNA and there have been fifteen editions of the same till date.

This year too VARUNA-18 would be conducted in three sea areas, namely, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and South Western Indian Ocean.

· India and EU Signed Agreement On Sharing Earth Observation Data

India and the European Union (EU)have signed an agreement that will enable them to share earth observation data from each other’s satellites.
The pact was inked in Bengaluru.
The Copernicus programme provides a wide range of applications like climate change, land, ocean, and atmosphere monitoring as well as support in forecasting, management and mitigation of natural disasters.
Under this arrangement, Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO will share data from its earth observation satellites.

NATIONAL

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has developed an android based mobile application called Tribal Diaries for internal monitoring as also connecting with officers/officials concerned with implementation of schemes / programmes for tribal development.

This application provides an opportunity for visual feedback in terms of photographs, videos, uploading reports of official tours / inspections and sharing of best practices etc.

The first National workshop on POSHAN Abhiyaan involving all the states and union territories is being held on 20th March at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra,New Delhi.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is organising the day long workshop with participation from all the states/UTs.

With an aim to providing first-and-last-mile connectivity, railway PSU IRCTCannounced a partnership with cab aggregator Ola, giving commuters an option book taxi on its app.
The tie-up, a six-month pilot project, will give customers access to Ola booking services when they visit the IRCTC Rail Connect App and on its website.
The Ola cab facility will provide all the services offered.