Short News Articles

Polity and Governance

Kalyana Karnataka Utsav

Kalaburagi city is all set to host a three-day Kalyana Karnataka Utsav.

About:

• Kalyana Karnataka Utsav, the first of its kind, began as a low-key affair in Kalaburagi with multiple cultural events.
• Details of the event:
• ·The utsav is being organised by the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB).
• It is a three-day festival with more than 10,000 people is expected to visit.
• Local artists from six districts of Kalyana Karnataka region and Bollywood and Sandalwood singers will perform in the cultural events.

Economy

India’s first Municipal Bond Index

The NSE Indices Limited has launched India’s first ever Municipal Bond Index.

• Nifty India Municipal Bond Index was launched at a SEBI workshop on Municipal Debt Securities at Bengaluru.

About the Index:

• The Nifty India Municipal Bond Index tracks the performance of municipal bonds issued by Indian municipal corporations across maturities and having investment grade credit rating.
• The index includes municipal bonds issued as per the Securities Exchange Board of India Issue and Listing of Municipal Debt Securities Regulations, 2015.
• The index is computed using the total return methodology including price return and coupon return.
• The index has a base date of January 01, 2021, and a base value of 1000, which will be reviewed quarterly.
• It is expected to act as a benchmark for asset managers and be a reference index tracked by passive funds in the form of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), index funds and structured products.
• Presently, the index has 28 municipal bonds issued by 10 issuers all having credit rating in the AA rating category.

Environment

Great Backyard Bird Count 2023

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) 2023 has been conducted across 35 States and Union Territories from February 17-20.

About the event:

• India was among 190 countries that participated in GBBC 2023, an annual event that brings bird enthusiasts, students and nature enthusiasts together for counting birds they see around the places where they live, work or study.
• Birdwatchers across 35 States and Union Territories uploaded more than 46,000 bird lists, making India take the second spot after the United States of America.

Key findings:

• The preliminary report released more than 46,000 checklists and a total of 1,067 avian species were uploaded on e-Bird, an online platform to record bird observations.
• West Bengal reported the highest number of species with 489 speciesfollowed by Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka followed with 426, 407, 397 and 371 species respectively.
• Tamil Nadu and Kerala took the eighth and ninth spots with 349 and 325 species.
• Bird Count India (BCI):
• BCI is an informal partnership of organisations and groups working together to increase collective knowledge about bird distributions and populations.

Environment

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD)

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is modern techniques used for water-sensitive urban designs for Bhutan’s Cities.

About the Design:

• Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is an emerging urban development paradigm aimed to minimise hydrological impacts of urban development on the environment.
• In practice, the WSDU integrates stormwater, groundwater water supply and wastewater management to:
  • Protect existing natural features and ecological processes
  • Maintain natural hydrologic behaviour of catchments
  • Protect water quality of surface and ground waters
  • Minimise demand on the reticulated water supply system
  • Minimise wastewater discharges to the natural environment
  • Integrate water into the landscape to enhance visual, social, cultural and ecological values.