03-11-21 Daily-Tamilnadu-TNPSC Current Affairs

Heavy rains lashing acrossTamil Naduhave yielded the 90 reservoirs in the state a combined storage of 88% of their total holding capacity. Half of the 14,138 Irrigation tanks in the state have more than 50% storage as on Monday. About 20,000 cusecs of water will be released from Mettur reservoir in Salem district on Tuesday morning. Initially about 5,000 cusecs will be released and it will be stepped up in due course, said officials.

The state received excess rainfall of 43% between October 1 and November 8, with 12 districts – Ariyalur, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Erode, Karur, Namakkal,Pudukkottai, Sivaganga, Tirunelveli, Thiruvarur, Trichy and Villupuram – registering more than 60% increase compared to the corresponding period last year. The delay in the retreat of the southwest monsoon and continuous rainfall till October end had already brought copious inflow into most water bodies. The seamless entry of northeast monsoon is adding to the storage, said a senior official. Incidentally, some 527 irrigation tanks in certain parts of the state like Tirunelveli, Dharmapuri, and Namakkal have nil storage owing to diversion of water from supply channels, poor desilting and encroachments.

The combined storage of all the reservoirs stood at 197.5 tmcft water as against a total capacity of 224.297tmcft water. With an inflow of 27,600 cusecs of water into Mettur, the dam is fast filling up. Surplus water is being released from Kabini andKrishnarajasagarreservoirs in Karnataka as both are brimming. The storage in Mullaperiyar dam on Monday was 6.735tmcft water as against a total capacity of 10.57 tmcft water. Nadu has been drawing 1,867 cusecs through tunnels.

The Indian government has released a draft mediation bill for public comment, which aims to protect petitioners’ rights to approach competent adjudicatory forums.

Highlights:

Pre-litigation mediation is included in the Draft Mediation Bill.

The bill protects litigants’ rights to seek urgent remedy from competent adjudicatory forums and courts.

The bill states that the successful outcome of mediation is now legally enforceable in the form of a Mediation Settlement Agreement.

The Mediation Settlement Agreement is the result of the parties’ mutual agreement. As a result, it has been allowed to be challenged on limited grounds.

According to the bill, the mediation process protects the confidentiality of the mediation.

It also grants immunity from disclosure in certain circumstances.

At the COP 26 Climate Meeting in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson jointly inaugurated the ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ (OSOWOG) initiative.

Highlights:

The goal of this project is to create a “trans-national electrical grid” that will supply to people all over the world.

‘The Sun Never Sets,’ is OSOWOG’s vision. At any one time, it is a constant in some geographical region in the world.

This is India’s most ambitious project to date, and it has huge economic implications. It has been taken up as part of the World Bank‘s technical support program.

The International Solar Alliance will also be used in this strategy (ISA).

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been approved by the WHO, with the technical advisory team recommending the India-made vaccine for emergency use in anyone aged 18 and up.

Highlights:

This is a significant step forward in India’s fight against Covid-19.

Covaxin is a vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research.

It is totally “made in India.” Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-SK Bio/Serum Institute of India, Johnson 7 Johnson Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm have all had their Covid-19 Vaccines authorized by the WHO for emergency use.

Last month, the technical advisory panel requested additional clarity from Bharat Biotech for its final risk assessment, which caused the emergency listing to be postponed.

Covaxin has been recommended for emergency use listing by the technical advisory group, which met to make the final decision.

The QS World University Rankings for 2022 have been issued by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds).

Highlights:

For the fourth year in a row, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has topped the rankings.

Peking University in China is ranked second, followed by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong.

The only two Indian institutes in the Top-50 are the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) (42nd regionally) and IIT Delhi (45th regionally).

IIT Madras, which was ranked 50th last year, has dropped four places to 54th. India has 118 universities, followed by China, which has 126 institutions.

PM Narendra Modi has proposed a five-fold strategy for India to play its role in helping the world to get closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in a global Climate meet (COP26) in Glasgow.

Highlights:

Prime Minister Modi dubbed his plan ‘Panchamrita,’ which literally translates to ‘five ambrosia.’

Panchamrita is a traditional method of combining five natural foods: milk, curd, ghee, honey, and jaggery.

In Ayurveda, a procedure known as panchmrita is used. It’s also employed in Hindu and Jain religious ceremonies.

India has a Population of 17% of the world’s population. However, it only accounts for 5% of total emissions. India is ranked fourth in the world in terms of capacity.

Panchamrita
By 2030, India plans to grow its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts.

Until 2030, India will be able to cover 50% of its energy needs with renewable energy.

By 2030, India will have reduced carbon emissions by one billion tonnes.

By 2030, India will have reduced its carbon intensity by 45 percent.

By 2070, India will have achieved net-zero emissions.