Daily Current Affairs for State Exams: 25 August 2021

Daily Current Affairs 25/08/2021

India's first Smog Tower inaugurated in Delhi

Why in News

• Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi inaugurated the "country's first smog tower" at Connaught Place in Delhi.

Key Points

About Smog Tower:

• Developed by: Tata Projects Limited built the tower with technical support from IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay, which will analyse its data.
• NBCC India Ltd is the project management consultant.
• The DPCC (Delhi Pollution Control Committee) is the nodal agency for the tower.
• The tower was raised at a height of 24.2 metres.
• The tower can filter around 1,000 cubic metres of air per second.
• It is expected to have an impact on a 1 km radius from the centre of the tower.
• A total of 40 fans have been installed at the bottom of the tower — air will be sucked in from the top, filtered and released through the fans at the bottom.

Background:

• In November 2019, an expert panel estimated that the capital will need 213 such anti-smog towers.
• Following this, the Delhi cabinet approved the smog tower project in October 2020.
• "IQAir", a Switzerland-based air quality technology company that measures air quality levels of selected cities based on PM2.5 concentration, ranked Delhi the world's most polluted capital for the third straight year in 2020.
• Note: Another 25-metre-tall smog tower, built by the central government at Anand Vihar, is expected to become fully operational by September 7.

Steps Taken to control Pollution in Delhi:

• Introduction of BS-VI vehicles
• Electric vehicles
• Odd-Even as an emergency measure
• Implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan
• Development of the National Air Quality Index (AQI)
• Use of Green Crackers

Source: Indian Express

New Geospatial Planning Portal, ‘Yuktdhara’

Why in News

• Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh launched a new Geospatial Planning Portal, ‘Yuktdhara’.
• It will help in facilitating new MGNREGA assets using Remote Sensing and GIS (Geographic Information System) based information.
• Yuktdhara is a new portal under

Key Points

About ‘Yuktdhara’:

• Objective: Yuktdhara platform will serve as a repository of assets (Geotags) created under various national rural development programmes i.e. MGNREGA, Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Per Drop More Crop and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana , along with field photographs.
• It is definitely a culmination of untiring joint efforts of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Ministry of Rural development made towards realising a Government to Government (G2G) service for rural planning in support of decentralized decision making. 

About Bhuvan:     

• Bhuvan, is the national Geo-portal developed and hosted by ISRO comprising Geo Spatial Data, Services and Tools for Analysis.
• It has many versatile features, for Example (1) Visualization of Satellite Imagery and Maps (2) Analysis (3) Free Data Download and (4) Download Reports to name a few.
• The Satellite Imageries are of Multi-sensor, Multi-platform and Multi-temporal in nature and can be visualized in 2D and 3D.
• Varieties of thematic maps are also hosted for analysis of various natural resources themes.
• Geoportal Bhuvan has become a de-facto geospatial platform for a number of developmental planning activities in the country.

Source: PIB

Earthquake Observatories

Why in News

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh said that India is going to have 35 more Earthquake Observatories by the end of 2021 and 100 more such Observatories by 2026.
• He announced it while addressing the inaugural ceremony of Joint Scientific Assembly of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) - International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI).

Key Points

About Earthquake Observatories:

• National Center for Seismology is the nodal agency of the Government for monitoring of earthquake activity in the country.
• At present, India has only 115 Earthquake Observatories.
• The most important aspect is to be able to accurately predict the time of the earthquake. This work is done by Earthquake observatories.

Earthquakes in India:

• The Indian subcontinent is considered as one of the world's most disaster-prone areas in terms of earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, floods, and tsunamis.
• According to seismic zoning mapping, India is divided into 4 zones.
• These zones are divided on the basis of the estimation of the intensity of the earthquake. India is divided into Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, and Zone 5.
• While Zone 2 is the least dangerous, Zone 5 is the most dangerous.
• According to the country’s current seismic zone map, 59% of India’s land area is under a moderate to severe seismic hazard warning, which means that India is prone to earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above.

Some of the major earthquakes in the Indian Subcontinent:

• Shillong (1897), Kangra (1905), Bihar-Nepal border (1934), Assam-Tibet border (1950), Bhuj (2001), Kashmir (2005), Sikkim (2011) and Manipur (2016).

Source: PIB

NeoBolt, India’s first indigenous motorized wheelchair vehicle

Why in News

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has developed India’s first indigenous motorised wheelchair vehicle, NeoBolt.

Key Points

About NeoBolt:

• It empowers wheelchair users with a convenient, safe and low-cost mode of outdoor mobility when compared to cars, auto rickshaws or modified scooters.
• It can be used even on uneven terrains.
• It has a maximum speed of 25 kmph and travels up to 25 km per charge.
• It is powered by a lithium-ion battery.
• It has been commercialized through a start-up called ‘NeoMotion.’

Note:

• The start-up has also developed and commercially launched ‘NeoFly,’ a personalized wheelchair designed to enhance health and lifestyle.
• NeoFly is the first Indian Wheelchair that is customized to the user

Source: The Hindu

Maritime Partnership Exercise between Indian Navy and the Philippine Navy

Why in News

• Two ships of the Indian Navy, namely INS Ranvijay and INS Kora carried out a Maritime Partnership Exercise with BRP Antonio Luna of the Philippine Navy on 23 Aug 2021 in the West Philippine Sea.

Key Points

• India and The Philippines share a very robust defence and security partnership built over several years and spanning across all domains.
• Both navies remain committed to further strengthening bilateral collaboration in the maritime domain towards a collective aim of ensuring a stable, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Source: PIB

Congressional Gold Medal

Why in News

• Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney from New York has reintroduced legislation in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi for his contributions made through his methods of non-violence.
• If given the award, Gandhi would become the first Indian to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

Key Points

About Congressional Gold Medal:

• It is the highest civilian award in the United States.
• The first recipients of the medal were participants of the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War.

Source: Indian Express

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