GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

India has unveiled the logo, theme and website for its presidency of the G20, which reflects the country’s message and overarching priorities to the world.

About the logo:

• The G20 logo, created with the four colors of India's national flag, comprises of earth sitting atop a lotus.
• The seven petals in the logo signify the seven seas and the coming together of seven continents at G20 India 2023.
• Theme: The earth reflects India's pro-planet approach to life and from this and derives the theme of G20 India 2023 – ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: One Earth, One Family, and One Future’.
  
  
  

Significance of the Logo:

• In Indian culture, both the goddesses of knowledge and prosperity are seated on a lotus. This is what the world needs the most today.
• Shared knowledge that helps us overcome our circumstances and shared prosperity that reaches the last person at the last mile. This is why the earth is place on lotus too.
• The seven petals on the lotus in the logo represent the seven continents.
• Seven is also the number of notes in the universal language of music. In music, when the seven notes come together, they create perfect harmony.

Recently, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has granted an in-principle (Stage 1) clearance for the diversion of 130.75 sq. km of forest in Great Nicobar Island for the mega Rs72,000-crore Infrastructure project.

• The Proposed Project:

  • The proposed mega infrastructure project involves the construction of;
    • A trans-shipment hub (the International Container Trans-shipment Terminal or ICTT) and,
    • Three other interlinked projects: a Greenfield international airport, a township and associated infrastructure, and a gas-diesel-solar power plant.
  • These will come up on the eastern side of the Great Nicobar Island, including Galathea Bay.

  What were the Concerns associated with the Project?

  • It has been found that 8, 52,245 trees will be cut for the project and about 130 square kilometers of forest land will be diverted.
  • Further, almost 300 hectares of land will be reclaimed by dredging the ocean.
  • The wildlife, including the giant leatherback turtle and the Nicobar megapode, a flightless bird endemic to the Nicobar Islands, will lose critical nesting grounds along the shores of Galathea Bay.
  
  
  
  

• More than 1,700 people will be affected due to the project, and most of the indigenous Nicobari and Shompen

Impacts:

• Loss of Biodiversity
• Human habitat destruction (Indigenous Tribes of Nicobar)
• Marine flora and fauna population reduction
  
  

Steps were taken to mitigate the Losses:

• Building Coral population: Proposed mitigation measures to compensate for these damages include coral translocation and reef restoration in Galathea Bay.
• Via Compensatory Afforestation: Authorities plan to balance the loss of 12-20 hectares of mangroves here by ‘re-densifying’ existing mangrove patches and planting mangroves in non-forest areas.
• Declaring Protected areas: Mitigation measures also include intent to declare new protected areas, as well as the drawing up of monitoring and action plans to study threatened wildlife.
• For example, the administration has envisaged a Megapode sanctuary on Menchal Island (1.29 square kilometers), a Coral wildlife sanctuary near Meroe Island (around 2.73 sq km), and a 13.75 sq. km leatherback turtle sanctuary at Little Nicobar Island.

Researchers of Annamalai University have discovered a new species of estuarine crab in the mangroves of Parangipettai near the Vellar River estuary in the Cuddalore district.

About the Species:

• The species has been named Pseudohelice Annamalai in recognition of Annamalai University’s 100 years of service in education and research. 
• This is the first-ever record of this genus, Pseudohelice, collected from high intertidal areas in front of the CAS.
• So far, only two species — Pseudohelice subquadrate and Pseudohelice Latreille.
  
     

• Features:
  • Pseudohelice Annamalai is distinguished by dark purple to dark grey coloring, with irregular light brown, yellowish brown, or white patches on the posterior carapace with light brown chelipeds. 
  • The new species is small and has a maximum width of up to 20 mm.
  • The species inhabits muddy banks of mangroves, and the burrows were located near the pneumatophores of  Avicennia
  • Burrows have a depth of 25-30 cm and are branched, with larger pellets around the entrance.
  • This species is not aggressive and can move fast like other intertidal crabs.
  • As many as 17 species of intertidal crabs have been recorded in the same region.

Significance of the Species:

• The occurrence of Pseudohelice in India links the distribution gap between the western Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
• The new species provides additional evidence of the geographic isolation of the eastern Indian Ocean for some marine organisms.

Location: The Vellar River Estuary

The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) of CSIR has begun field studies to put in place an early-warning system in the Himalayan States.

Details:

• Problem statement: The smaller number of seismometers makes it difficult to demonstrate the minimum threshold or the maximum distance from which early warning of natural disasters can be provided.
• In this regard, a few locations in Uttarakhand have been identified for the “densification” of seismometers and river gauges to take the total number to 100 from 60.

• Objective: To closely monitor the river flows in specific areas along the catchment to detect any sudden rise in water levels or flooding threshold that can lead to a hazard.
• The new system will take cognizance of the vibrations or “noise” recorded by the seismometers, which need not be due to earthquakes. The isolation of the noise from the required signal would increase the sensitivity of the early warning system.

Significance:

• Reduction of economic losses
• Mitigating the number of injuries or deaths from a disaster
• Protecting lives and property
• Safety of large infrastructure projects and hydroelectric power plants

Important measures are taken to reduce Himalayas’ vulnerability

• The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is India’s domestic plan for ecologically sustainable development to be implemented with its own resources.
• National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system: Eco-systems have an inherent capacity to withstand incremental changes in climate and landscape, leading to a natural carrying capacity of eco-system.
• The National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Eco-system (NMSHE) aims to Understand scientifically the complex processes affecting this ecosystem.
• The National Water Policy highlights the provisions for project planning, surface- and groundwater development, irrigation, and flood control.
• The work of flood forecasting and warning in India is entrusted to the Central Water Commission (CWC).

India's first privately developed rocket “Vikram-S” is set for launch.

Details:

• The maiden mission of Skyroot Aerospace, 'Prarambh', will be launched from ISRO's launchpad at Sriharikota.
• Collaborative support of ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) has made this mission ready in a short span of time.

Vikram-S rocket:

• It is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle.
• It will be carrying three customer payloads and help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.
• Skyroot's launch vehicles are named 'Vikram' as a tribute to the founder of the Indian space programme and renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai.

Significance:

• Skyroot Aerospace is set to become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space.
• It will herald a new era for the space sector which was opened up in 2020 to facilitate private sector participation.

Private Players in Space Sector:

• Research and Development Activities: It will allow ISRO to focus more on new technologies, exploration missions, and human spaceflight programmes.
• Fruitful Dissemination of Space Technologies: Allowing industries and others like students, researchers, or academic bodies greater access to space assets would lead to much better utilization of India's space resources.
• Global Technology Powerhouse: It will enable Indian Industry to be an important player in the global space economy.
• Cost-effective: The operating costs of setting up a base and launching space vehicles in India are comparatively much less than their counterparts like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Government’s Initiatives:

• New Space India Limited (NSIL): Announced in Budget 2019, it aims to use research and development carried out by ISRO over the years for commercial purposes through Indian industry partners
• IN-SPACE:
• IN-SPACe was launched to provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.
• It acts as a single-point interface between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and everyone who wants to participate in space-related activities or use India’s space resources.
• Indian Space Association (ISpA): ISpA aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry. ISpA will be represented by leading domestic and global corporations that have advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies.