Environment current affairs

Iran plans to launch two domestically made satellites into orbit to gather information on its environment. The announcement was made by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. One Satellite named Payam would orbit the earth at about 600 kilometres (370 miles) above its surface. The second satellite Doosti would be tasked with the same purpose as Payam, with a focus on agriculture, and would orbit at an altitude of 250 kilometres. Both the satellites had been successfully tested and are ready for launch in the coming days. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran's plans for sending satellites into orbit would violate a 2015 UN Security Council resolution which endorsed an international accord on ending Tehran's nuclear programme.

United Nation Environment has awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for excellent work done by the Bureau in combating transboundary environmental crime. WCCB has been conferred this award in the Innovation category. The awards are given to outstanding individuals and/or government organizations/teams that demonstrate excellence and leadership in the enforcement of national laws to combat transboundary environmental crime in one of the eligibility criteria areas: collaboration; impact; innovation; integrity and gender leadership.

State-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) using plasma technology for the disposal of hazardous waste for the conservation of the environment and natural resources.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada for next 10 years to explore opportunities for collaborations in the field of Forestry Science and to work on various environmental issues like Climate Change, Forest Resource Management and Wildlife. The opportunities will be explored by organizations like Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education(ICFRE), Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Forest Survey of India (FSI), Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy and Directorate of Forest Education, Uttarakhand, and UBC, Canada.

The Government of India (GoI) has reconstituted Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), which is tasked with taking various measures to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR). The tenure of the last EPCA expired on 3rd October 2018. Former secretary Bhure Lal will continue to be the chairman of reconstituted Pollution watchdog EPCA. The purpose of the EPCA is to protect & improve the quality of the environment, and prevent & control the environmental pollution in the NCR. The EPCA is also mandated to enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the city as per the pollution levels.

China successfully sent six Yunhai-2 atmospheric environment research satellites and a test communication satellite of Hongyan constellation into orbit. They were launched by a Long March-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. It was the 297th mission of the Long March rocket series. The six Yunhai-2 satellites will study atmospheric environment, monitor space environment, prevent and reduce disasters and conduct scientific experiments. The test satellite, the first for the constellation Hongyan, meaning "swan goose"in Chinese, will be used to verify the function of mobile communications in low earth orbit (LEO).

India extended a financial grant of 35.5 million Nepalese rupees to Nepal for the construction of an educational campus to boost the learning environment of the students. The educational campus was jointly inaugurated by District Coordination Committee and Campus management committee on 22nd March 2019. It was made under the Development Partnership Programme which is administered by the Development Administration Partnership division of the Ministry of External Affairs. The building was constructed at Siddheshwar Education Public Campus in Ramechhap district. It consists of 12 class rooms, meeting hall, laboratory room and a library.

The 3rd Indo-German Environment Forum was held in New Delhi with the theme "Cleaner Air, Greener Economy". The one-day event focuses on challenges, solutions and necessary framework conditions of air pollution control, waste management and circular economy as well as implementation of NDCs and SDGs based on Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 of UN respectively. Around 250 representatives of ministries, business and science as well as non-governmental organizations participated in the forum, which is organized by the two environment ministries in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The Forum provided a platform for the bilateral exchange of high-level policy-makers and other key players on international environmental and climate policy and cooperation between the two countries.

The Union Environment ministry has constituted a 7-member committee to continuously monitor the short-term and long-term solutions to air pollution. It will be headed by C.K Mishra, the Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

UNESCO has included the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR) in the list of World Network of Biosphere Reserve (WNBR) at the 30th Session of the Man and Biosphere International Coordinating Council (ICC) in Palembang, Indonesia. With this, KBR has now become the India's 11th internationally designated WNBR and joined the list of other biospheres such as Nandadevi, Simlipal, Sunderbans, Nokrek, Pachmarhi and Nilgiri. The reserve, which is located in Sikkim, includes a range of ecoclines varying from subtropical to arctic, as well as vast natural forests in different biomes that support an immensely rich diversity of forest types and habitats resulting in high species diversity and endemism. The core zone of the biosphere alone has over 150 glaciers and 73 glacial lakes, the prominent one being the famous 26-km-long Zemu glacier. It is home to a number of globally threatened fauna including musk deer, snow leopard, red panda and Himalayan Tahr and many ethnic communities including Lepcha, Nepalese, and Bhutia.

Environment Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan launched a month-long plantation drive to Mark Van Mahotsav. It was part of Van Mahotsav celebrations, that is celebrated in the first week of July every year since 1950 in India. Van Mahotsav (Festival of Trees) is an annual tree-planting movement in India.

A Bilateral meeting between India and Germany 3rd Indo-German Environment Forum held in New Delhi. The outcomes of discussion made in Indo-German Working Group held in Delhi on 6th February 2019 taken up to higher alliance discussed in the forum. Additional Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Anil Kumar Jain called for strengthening the renewable alliances and climate between India and Germany as well as cooperation in field of environment. Delegates from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) of Germany attended the Indo-German Working Group discussion. About Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Union Minister: Harsh Vardhan Minister of state: Mahesh Sharma.

The national Green Tribunal (NGT) announced anyone found dumping electronic waste(e -waste) on the banks of river Ramganga in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh have to pay Rs one lakh as environment compensation. India is the fifth-largest producer of e-waste, discarding roughly 18.5 lakh metric tonnes of electronic waste annually.

Government e Marketplace (GeM) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) entered into a MoU to enable a fair and competitive environment in the e-Marketplace. Chairman CCI, A.K. Gupta, CEO GeM, S. Radha Chauhan were present on the occasion. GeM is a state-of-the-art national public procurement platform of Ministry of Commerce and Industries, that has used technology to remove entry barriers for bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-marketplace with a wide range of goods and services.

The United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) has released the sixth edition of the Global Environment Outlook (2019) titled 'Healthy Planet, Healthy People'. The report calls on the decision makers to take immediate action to address pressing environmental issues to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals as well as other internationally agreed environment goals, such as the Paris Agreement.