Environment

. The salient features of the Draft National Water Policy (2012) are presented  below: Emphasis on the need for a national water framework law, comprehensive legislation for optimum development of inter-State rivers and river valleys, amendment of Irrigation Acts,  Indian Easements Act, 1882, etc. Water, after meeting the pre-emptive needs for safe drinking water and … Read more

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was conceived as a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries (which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn) to address their special energy needs. The ISA will provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar-resource-rich countries, through which the global community, including governments, bilateral … Read more

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent. But the developed world, especially in countries with … Read more

The special characteristics that enable plants and animals to be successful in a particular environment are called adaptations. Epiphytes are plants that live on the surface of other plants, especially the trunk and branches. They grow on trees to take advantage of the sunlight in the canopy. Most are orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and Philodendron relatives. … Read more

Air Quality Early Warning Systemis designed to predict extreme air pollution events and give alerts to take necessary steps as per Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Government of India. The air pollution system has been developed jointly by the scientists at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, India Meteorological Department and National … Read more

. It is an Integrated Conservation Mission for river Ganga, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in 2014 with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore.   Main pillars of the mission River front development o Conservation of Aquatic life and biodiversity Improvement of coverage of sewerage infrastructure in habitations on banks of Ganga. River … Read more

Inorganic plant nutrients are water soluble nitrates and phosphates that cause excessive growth of algae and otheraquatic plants. The excessive growth of algae and aquatic plants due to added nutrients is called Eutrophication.   Impact of Eutrophication on environment: Creation of dense blooms of noxious, foul-smelling phytoplankton known as Algal Blooms that reduce waterclarity and … Read more

. Virtual water (VW) is the water ‘embodied’ in a product, not in real sense, but in virtual sense. It refers to the water needed to produce a product. Every product has a unique water footprint defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual … Read more

A signatory to the Stockholm Declaration (1972) on Environment, India enacted laws to control water (1974) and air (1981) pollution soon after. But it was only after the Bhopal gas leak disaster in 1984 that the country legislated an umbrella Act for environmental protection in 1986. Exemptions All inland waterways projects and expansion/widening of national … Read more

The forest cover is broadly classified in 4 classes, namely very dense forest, moderately dense forest, open forest and mangrove. The classification of the cover into dense and open forests is based on internationally adopted norms of classification. It has not been possible to further segregate the dense forest into more classes owing to enormity … Read more