Sustainable Developmental Goals Index 2019
GS-Paper-3 Environment SDG PT-MAINS
The SDG India Index (NITI AAYOG) dashboard displays overall & detailed info on the progress made by States & UTs on Global Goals of the United Nations including their incremental progress from 2018, using interactive visualizations.
The SDG index shows that Kerala is on the first rank for 2019 followed by Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The report attributes the improvement in India's performance to several welfare programs including Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Ujjwala Yojana.
Imp Points
Analysis
NITI Aayog has released the second edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index (SDG Index 2.0).
Methodology Followed
National Analysis
State/UT Wise Analysis
How will the Index will be useful to States/UTs?
Significance and analysis:
Source: TH
Information about Country of Origin by the sellers made mandatory on GeM to promote Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat
Source: PIB
Financing for Compressed Bio-Gas plants to be brought under Priority Sector Lending
Context
About SATAT
CBG potential of Tamil Nadu
About Biogas
Importance of CBG
Source: PIB
Study of optical properties of super-massive black-hole
GS- PAPER-3 S&T PT-MAINS
Through 153 nights, 17 scientists from 9 countries in Europe and Asia including researchers from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital (PT), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India took 2263 image frames and observed the changes in a very high energy gamma-ray emitting blazar ‘1ES 0806+524’ using seven optical telescopes in Europe and Asia.
A blazar is a feeding super-massive black-hole (SMBH) in the heart of a distant galaxy that produces a high-energy jet viewed face-on from Earth. Blazars are one of the most luminous and energetic objects in the known universe with a jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light directed very nearly towards an observer.
Blazars are among one of the most favourite astronomical transient objects because they emit radiation in the complete electromagnetic (EM )spectrum, and their flux and polarization are highly variable.
Recent news
The first photograph of a black hole was revealed by scientists recently.
What is a black hole?
If black holes are invisible, how can we detect or photograph them?
How big are black holes?
Small black holes are called stellar-mass black holes. They have masses similar to those of larger stars — about five to 20 times the mass of the sun. The other kind is supermassive black holes, which are millions to billions of times more massive than the sun. That’s the kind the Event Horizon Telescope has been trying to photograph, as bigger objects ought to be easier to see. There is some evidence that black holes between these two sizes exist, but that has yet to be confirmed.
While black holes are very massive, that doesn’t mean they take up a lot of space. Because they’re so dense, they’re actually quite small. According to NASA, a black hole 20 times the mass of the sun could fit inside a ball 16 kilometres wide — the width of the Island of Montreal at its widest point.
Where are black holes found?
Supermassive black holes are found at the centre of most galaxies, including our own Milky Way. The one in our galaxy is called Sagittarius A* and is one of those the Event Horizon Telescope has been attempting to photograph.
Sagittarius A* isn’t the only black hole in our galaxy, though. Earlier this year, astronomers discovered another 12 within three light-years of it, suggesting there could be upwards of 10,000 black holes around the galactic centre.
Where do black holes come from?
Supermassive black holes are believed to form at the same time as the galaxy that surrounds them, but astronomers aren’t sure exactly how.
Stellar mass black holes form when a star with a mass greater than three times that of our sun runs out of fuel. It explodes into a supernova and collapses into an extremely dense core that we know as a black hole — something predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Einstein’s theory also predicts the size and shape of the black holes that the Event Horizon Telescope is trying to photograph.
For WHITE DWARFS read: https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/dwarfs1.html
Source: AIR
Ashadhi Bij, the Kutchi New Year
Source: PIB
ULV sprayer through drones
To overcome the limitation of importing equipment, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW), under Make in India initiative, has taken up the challenge to indigenously develop a vehicle mounted ULV sprayer for locust control.
What is ULV(Ultra-Low volume) sprayer?
Ultra-low volume application of pesticides has been defined as spraying at a Volume Application Rate (VAR) of less than 5 L/ha for field crops or less than 50 L/ha for tree/bush crops. VARs of 0.25 – 2 l/ha are typical for aerial ULV application to forest or migratory pests.
ULV spraying is a well-established spraying technique and remains the standard method of locust control with pesticides and is also widely used by cotton farmers in central-southern and western Africa. It has also been used in massive aerial spraying campaigns against disease vectors such as the tse-tse fly.
A major benefit of ULV application is high work rate (i.e. many hectares can be treated in one day). It is a good option if all (or some) of these conditions apply:
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Importance of drones to control locusts
Source: PIB
Government declares Minimum Support Price for Mature Dehusked Coconut
Homogeneous Development
Source: PIB
YUKTI 2.0
About YUKTI 1.0
About YUKTI 2.0
Source: PIB
Purchasing Power Parities and the size of Indian Economy: Results from the 2017 International Comparison Program
International Comparison Program (ICP)
WORLDWIDE STATUS
REGIONAL STATUS: ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
Source: PIB
NDRF
The NDRF was set up in accordance with Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. It is meant to “meet the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation” for any threatening disaster situation. Although Section 46 includes a clause regarding grants made by any person or institution, provisions for such donations had not been made.
Contribution to NDRF
Source: PIB
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