Daily Current Affairs: 26th October 2021

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics covered

1. Greenhouse Gas Bulletin
2. NIPUN Bharat
3. Facts for Prelims
4. Places in News

1 . Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

Context: A report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the increase in CO2 from 2019 to 2020 was slightly lower than that observed from 2018 to 2019 but higher than the average annual growth rate over the last decade. This is despite the approximately 5.6% drop in fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 2020 due to restrictions related to the pandemic.

About the Report

• The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin – one of WMO’s flagship reports – provides details on atmospheric abundance of the main long-lived greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
• The Bulletin is based on observations and measurements from WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch and partner networks, which includes atmospheric monitoring stations in remote Polar regions, high mountains and tropical islands. These stations have continued to function despite COVID-19 restrictions hampering resupplies and rotation of staff in often harsh and isolated locations
• It is published annually

Key Findings of the report

• Concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most significant greenhouse gas, reached 413.2 parts per million in 2020 and is 149% of the pre-industrial level. Methane (CH4) is 262% and nitrous oxide (N2O) is 123% of the levels in 1,750 when human activities started disrupting earth’s natural equilibrium.
• For methane, the increase from 2019 to 2020 was higher than that observed from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average annual growth rate over the past decade.
• For nitrous oxides also, the increase was higher and also than the average annual growth rate over the past 10 years.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) shows that from 1990 to 2020, radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs) increased by 47%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of this increase.
• Roughly half of the CO2 emitted by human activities today remains in the atmosphere. The other half is taken up by oceans and land ecosystems. The Bulletin, as the WMO report is called, flagged concern that the ability of land ecosystems and oceans to act as ‘sinks’ may become less effective in future, thus reducing their ability to absorb CO2 and act as a buffer against larger temperature increase.
• The Bulletin shows that from 1990 to 2020, radiative forcing — the warming effect on our climate — by long-lived greenhouse gases increased by 47%, with CO2 accounting for about 80% of this increase. The numbers are based on monitoring by WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network.
• “At the current rate of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, we will see a temperature increase by the end of this century far in excess of the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels

About World Meteorological Organisation

• WMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with 193 Member States and Territories.
• It is the UN system’s authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.
• As weather, climate and the water cycle know no national boundaries, international cooperation at a global scale is essential for the development of meteorology and operational hydrology as well as to reap the benefits from their application. WMO provides the framework for such international cooperation.
• he International Meteorological Organization (IMO) finds its origins in the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress, which tasked a Permanent Meteorological Committee to draft the rules and statutes of an international meteorological organization to facilitate the exchange of weather information across national borders. The task was completed in Utrecht in 1878 and the IMO came into being at the International Meteorological Congress held in Rome the following year. In 1950 IMO formally became the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
• Its mandate is in the areas of meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. Since its establishment, WMO has played a unique and powerful role in contributing to the safety and welfare of humanity. It has fostered collaboration between the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of its Members and furthered the application of meteorology in many areas.
• The Organization plays a leading role in international efforts to monitor and protect the environment through its Programmes.

2 . Nipun Bharat

Context : Govt panel to oversee NIPUN Bharat progress

About NIPUN Bharat

• National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), was launched for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.
• The National Mission which has been launched under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha
• The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE) will be the implementing agency at the national level and will be headed by a Mission Director.
• The mission will focus on children of age group of 3 to 9 years including pre-school to Grade 3. The children who are in Class 4 and 5 and have not attained the foundational skills will be provided individual teacher guidance and support, peer support and age appropriate and supplementary graded learning materials to acquire the necessary competencies.
• The goals and objectives of the mission are required to be achieved by all Govt., Govt. Aided and Private Schools so that universal acquisition of FLN skills can be achieved by 2026-27.

Foundational literacy

The pre-existing knowledge of language helps in building literacy skills in languages. The key components in Foundational Language and Literacy are:

• Oral Language : Development Includes improved listening comprehension; oral vocabulary and extended conversation skills. The experiences in oral language are important for developing skills of reading and writing.
• Decoding : Involves deciphering written words based on understanding the relationship between symbols and their sounds
• Reading Fluency : Refers to the ability to read a text with accuracy, speed (automaticity), expression (prosody), and comprehension that allows children to make meaning from the text. Many children recognise aksharas, but read them laboriously, one-by-one.
• Reading Comprehension : Involves constructing meaning from a text and thinking critically about it. This domain covers the competencies of understanding texts and retrieving information from them, as well as interpreting texts.
• Writing : This domain includes the competencies of writing aksharas and words as well as writing for expression

Foundational Numeracy

Foundational Numeracy means the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts in daily life problem solving. The major aspects and components of early mathematics are:

• Pre-number concepts : Count and understand the number system
• Numbers and operations on numbers : Learn conventions needed for mastery of Mathematical techniques such as the use of a base ten system to represent numbers
• Shapes and Spatial Understanding : Perform simple computations in her/his own way up to three-digit numbers and apply these to their day to life activities in different contexts
• Measurement : Understand and use standard algorithms to perform operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on numbers up to three digits
• Data Handling : Identify and extend simple patterns starting from repeating shapes to patterns in numbers, interpret simple data/information in his/her daily life activities

3 . Facts for Prelims

Yadadri Temple

• Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple or simply known as Yadadri or Yadagirigutta temple, (also known as Pancha Narasimha Kshetram and Rishi Aradhana Kshetram) is a Hindu temple situated on a hillock in the small town of Yadagirigutta in the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of the Indian state of Telangana.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award

• The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in the field of cinema.
• It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• The recipient is honoured for their “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema” and is selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry.
• The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000 (US$13,000)
• Actor Rajinikanth was conferred with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
• He received the prestigious award from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for his stupendous contribution to Indian cinema.

4 . Places in News

Palk Strait

• Palk Strait, inlet of the Bay of Bengal between southeastern India and northern Sri Lanka.
• It is bounded on the south by Pamban Island (India), Adam’s (Rama’s) Bridge (a chain of shoals), the Gulf of Mannar, and Mannar Island (Sri Lanka).
• The southwestern portion of the strait is also called Palk Bay.
• The strait is 40 to 85 miles (64 to 137 km) wide, 85 miles long, and less than 330 feet (100 metres) deep. It receives several rivers, including the Vaigai (India), and it contains many islands on the Sri Lankan side.
• The port of Jaffna, the commercial centre for northern Sri Lanka, lies on the strait.
• The shoals and numerous islands long have limited transit through the strait to smaller vessels.
• In addition, periods of unrest in northern Sri Lanka have disrupted shipping across the strait between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu state in India.

SUDAN

Why in news?

Sudan’s military seized power on Monday, dissolving the transitional government hours after troops arrested the Prime Minister.

About Sudan 

• Sudan is located in a volatile region, bordering the Red Sea, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa.
• Several of its neighbours, including Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan have been affected by political upheavals and conflict.
• Sudan is geographically located at the crossroads of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and stretches across the Red Sea.
• Sudan shares borders with seven countries including Libya and Egypt to the North, Chad to the West, the Central African Republic to the South-West, South Sudan to the South, Ethiopia to the South-East and Eritrea to the East.
• With an area of 1,886,068 km² (728,215 sq mi), it is the third-largest country on the continent (after Algeria and Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the fifteenth-largest in the world.
• The White and Blue Niles meet in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, and merge to become the Nile River that flows all the way to the Mediterranean Sea via Egypt.
• Sudan has a Sahelian belt with the desert in the far north,  fertile land in the Nile valleys, the Gezira and across the rest of the country from Darfur to Kassala via Blue Nile and Kordofan States for farming and livestock herding.
• Sahel, semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south.