Uttarakhand
- Uttrakhandkhand Govt to press for changes in CAMPA.
- Unhappy with the curbs imposed under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act for the utilisation of funds accumulated under Compensatory Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), state Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat said amendments should be made to the Act so that states could have the right to utilise the funds according their needs.
- Uttarakhand continues to have against the Central Government was its inability to release accumulated funds for the state.
- In 2016, the CAF Act was introduced detailing the setting up of National Compensatory Afforestation Fund at Centre and the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund in the states. The states have to deposit money collected from agencies as compensation for cutting trees and this is deposited in the National CAF, to be released to the states. The states are expected to receive 90 per cent of the share.
Gk byte– CAMPA
- CAMPA Act or Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority bill is an Indian legislation that seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure expeditious utilization in efficient and transparent manner of amounts realised in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose which would mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land.
- CAMPA Fund – Forests are an important natural resource and provides us with a variety of ecological services, the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 mandates that non-forest land, equal to the size of the forest being diverted be afforested. But, since afforested land cannot become a forest overnight, loss of goods and services like timber, bamboo, fuelwood, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, water recharge, and seed dispersal are still experienced.
- Moreover, the newly afforested land will take around 50 years to start delivering the comparable goods and services which the diverted land gave just before diversion.
- To compensate the losses suffered in the interim, the Net Present Value (NPV)of the diverted forest are computed for a period of 50 years, and recovered from the “user agency” that is diverting the forests. The NPV for every patch of forest is computed by an expert committee.
- At present, the NPV value varies depending upon the quality of forests. It ranges from Rs 4.38 lakh per hectare for low quality forests to Rs 10.43 lakh per hectare for very dense forests. An expert committee has recently recommended increasing it to Rs 5.65 lakh and Rs 55.55 lakh for poor quality and very dense forests respectively.
INTERNATIONAL
- North Korea claims successful test of its first intercontinental missile
- North Korea has claimed that it has successfully test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 into waters near Sea of Japan. The claim was confirmed by United States. The launch appeared to be North Korea’s most successful missile test since its ballistic missile programme gathered pace in the late 1990s. The successful test also marks North Korea’s the final step in becoming confident and powerful nuclear state that can strike anywhere on Earth.
- Based on missile’s height and trajectory path, US scientists claim that missile could potentially be powerful enough to reach Alaska. The missile had reached an altitude higher and flew longer than any of the North Korea’s previous similar tests. The missile had landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. US has strongly condemned the launch and added that it will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. The ICBM testing represents a new escalation of the threat to US and its allies and partners, the region and the world.
- North Korea will be 8th nation in the world to successfully test ICBM. Other countries that have ICBM technology are US, Russia, China, UK, France, Israel and India.
- Gk byte – Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
- An ICBM is a missile launched by a land-based system that is intended to carry nuclear payloads. To qualify as an ICBM, a missile must have a minimum range of 5,500km. The most significant difference between an ICBM and other ballistic missiles is its greater range and speed. It enables countries to strike exceptionally distant targets with minimum warning.
- An intermediate-range ballistic missile(IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,500 km (1,864–3,418 miles), between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
Ballistic missile vs. Cruise missile
- A ballistic missile is launched directly into the high layers of the earth’s atmosphere. It travels well outside the atmosphere and then the warhead detaches and falls back to earth. It follows the path of a ball thrown upwards which falls down. Since it depends on gravity to reach its target, it’s called a ballistic missile.
A cruise missile does exactly according to its name. It cruises, over land or over water. Its working is similar to a jet engine powered airplane.
National
- Prime Minister Modi’s Israel Visit: Important Takeaways.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to Israel which is the first by an Indian prime minister to Israel resulted in the signing of seven agreements on areas including space, tech and agriculture. The other prominent takeaways of the visit are the following:
- OCI card
Prime Minister Modi has assured faster facilitation of OCI cards for Jewish Citizens of Indian origin in Israel. He also assured that the OCI card will be given even to those people of Indian origin who had served in the Israeli government’s compulsory army service.
- Air Connectivity
The launch of a new Air India flight connecting India and Israel was announced, the flight is expected to connect Delhi/Mumbai with Tel Aviv.
- Israeli flower named after PM Modi
As a special gesture, a new fast growing Israeli Crysanthumun flower was named “MODI” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the Indian Premier’s visit to the Danziger flower farm, which is one of the leading floriculture companies of Israel having founded in 1953.
- Strategic partnership
India and Israel have announced that they have elevated their ties to a strategic partnership as India has identified Israel as a major development and technological partner. Both countries have also agreed to combat growing radicalization and terrorism and expand co-operation in cyber security.
- Indian Cultural Centre
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the establishment of an Indian Cultural Centre in Israel to enhance people-to-people contacts between the two countries. Israel’s has also voiced its strong support to promote the practice of yoga by designating June 21 as International Yoga Day.
- Israel India Innovation Initiative Fund (I4F)
The $40 million Israel India Innovation Initiative Fund has been launched as a five-year technology fund with an aim at growing the business relationship between both the countries. The similar type of fund had boosted Israel’s ties with that of the US in the past 40 years.
- India and Israel have signed Total 7 agreements on areas including space, tech and agriculture.
- MoU for setting up of India-Israel Industrial R&D & Technological Innovation Fund (I4F)
- MoU for conservation of water in India
- MoU on State Water Utility Reform in India
- India-Israel Development Cooperation- 3-year work program in Agriculture (2018-2020)
- Plan of cooperation regarding cooperation in atomic clocks
- MoU regarding cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link.
- MoU regarding cooperation in electric propulsion for small satellites.
- Karnataka launches ‘Elevate 100’ scheme for start-ups
- The Karnataka government has launched the ‘Elevate 100’ scheme to identify and nurture innovative start-ups.
- The aim is to identify 100 most innovative start-ups in the state to elevate them to the next level of success.
- The Elevate scheme is the brainchild of the start-up cell, Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS).