KARNATAKA

Karnataka Coast reels under power outages; both units of Udupi power shut down

The coast, which was a cauldron due to soaring temperatures from the past fortnight, has turned into a frying pan with unscheduled power outages hitting consumers after the 1200 MW coal-based Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) shutting down both of its units due to technical snags four days back.
The unscheduled load shedding is carried out during the peak hours between 6am to 9am and 6 pm and 8 pm. On an average Mescom needs 1200 MW (25 million units) per day during the summer months and currently it is getting 800 Mw to 900 MW (about 21 million units) from Load Dispatch Centre. From the past three days, there have been load shedding lasting one to two hours, both in the mornings and evenings. These power outages are not area specific and Mescom decides to cut power, after getting instructions from the LDC, in areas which draw maximum power.

This financial year, Bescom is the largest beneficiary of power generated from UPCL at 50%, Hescom is next at 12%, Gescom (11), Cesc (14) and Mescom gets 13% of the power generated from UPCL. UPCL is critical to the state’s power needs as it meets 12-18% 0f the state’s energy needs. It was 5-8% higher in the earlier years, but solar power has changed the equation. The Udupi Power Project supplies 90% of the power it generates to the State of Karnataka and 10% to the State of Punjab.

INTERNATIONAL

World Poetry Day is on 21st March

World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21 every year in the world. Highlights:

During the UNESCO meeting held in Paris in 1999, it was decided to designate March 21 as “World Poetry Day”. One of the main goals of Poetry Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetry and provide opportunities for endangered languages to be heard in the community. The day also encourages the oral tradition of poetry recitation and poetry teaching. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated March 21 as World Poetry Day for the first time at the 30th General Assembly held in Paris in 1999.

World Forestry Day is on 21st March

:In this year, the United Nations celebrated International Day of Forests on March 21. Since 2012, this day has been celebrated. The purpose of this day is to raise people’s awareness and importance of forests. The day also focused on the importance of trees outside the forest. Likewise, celebrate this day to save the forest. Highlights:

The idea of the International Day of Forests was put forward at the 23rd Congress of the European Agricultural Federation.

March 21 is chosen as the International Forest Day because it is the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere and the autumnal equinox in the southern hemisphere. When the earth enters its first spring, the vernal equinox will occur.

More than 13 million hectares of forest are lost every year. Large-scale deforestation causes 12% to 18% of world carbon emissions.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 21st March as the World Forests Day. The United Nations Forum on Forests and the Food and Agriculture Organization are the main organizers of Forest Day.

Forest day is observed to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. The theme of each International Forest Day is selected by the Forest Partnership.

World Water Day is on 22nd March

Every year, March 22 is World Water Day. It focuses on the importance of fresh water. Highlights:

World Water Day has been commemorated since 1993, and its purpose is to raise awareness of the 2.2 billion lives without safe water.

The theme of 2020 is “Water and Climate Change”, which aims to explore the interrelationship between water and climate change.

The theme of 2021 World Water Day is Valuing Water. At the beginning of the decade, this was a timely reminder of the importance of water, which will define the success of our sustainable development goals, which are planned to be completed in 2030.

The main focus of Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030 – access to water and sanitation for all.

In addition to this, the International Decade of Action for Sustainable Water Development (2018-2028) has also been observed. These observations prove that water and sanitation measures are the key to poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental sustainability

NATIONAL

Water Quality Information Management System – Jal Shakti

The Water Quality Information Management System (WQMIS) is launched by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. About Water Quality Information Management System (WQMIS):

The Ministry (as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission) has launched WQMIS in addition to the framework and guidelines for testing, monitoring and surveillance of drinking water quality.

WQMIS is an online portal that provides detailed information about laboratories for this purpose. It also allows people to access data about water quality.

The guide details the tasks to be surveillanced and monitored at the state, district, block/street, and village level.

The guidelines were developed in consultation with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

The basic water quality parameters specified in the guidelines are pH, total dissolved solids, turbidity, chloride, total alkalinity, total hardness, sulphate, iron, total arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, and total coliforms bacteria, escherichia coli or heat-resistant coliform bacteria.

Key Facts of NDHM Sandbox Environment

The central government has planned to evaluate the results of the first phase of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) to expand the project, which had previously spent 118.2 million rupees. Under this task, the “NDHM sandbox environment” was also established to promote innovation and build trust. Highlights:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) in August 2020. Since then, the mission has been in Chandigarh, Dammam and Diu, Ladakh, Dadra and Initiated by Nagar Haveri’s joint territory, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

The Ministry of Health of the Union is taking care of the execution of tasks in the six Union territories. As of March 15, 2021, the central government has issued 9,97095 health IDs in accordance with the plan.

The health ID issued under the task allows people to track the patient’s health and share data with verified doctors or healthcare providers after informed consent. It also provides a voluntary opt-out option, where users can delete their data at any time.

The government has also developed the “NDHM Sandbox Environment” to promote innovation, participation and build trust. The sandbox environment has been developed as a closed ecosystem. The system allows the technology or product to be tested in a closed environment according to the NDHM standard.

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