Environment - Current Affairs for July, 2015

It is commonly called the corpse flower because it smells like rotting meat that helps attract pollinators such as beetles and flies. Moreover, it only last for few days.

The objectives of schemes are reducing the dependence of villagers on the forest and reduce the man-animal conflict and achieve sustainable development of these villages.

Cyclonic storm named Komen over the northeast Bay of Bengal is moving northwestwards. Met department said the cyclonic storm has made landfall and is in the process of crossing Bangladesh coast between Hatia and Sandwip. Northern part of the cloud band already lies over land.

Quoting the latest report on the state of forests in India, Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar on 30th July’15 said that the total forest cover in the country is 697,898 square kilometres which is over 21 percent of its total geographical area. Among the metropolitan cities, Delhi tops with 180 square kilometres of forests followed by Bengaluru with 97 square kilometres, Hyderabad with 88 square kilometres. Mumbai has over 86 square kilometres of forest area while Chandigarh‘s forest cover stands at 34 square kilometres.

The application provides site-specific information on air quality and the weather forecast for the next 24 hours in Delhi, Pune and Mumbai.

Towering 20-storey skyscrapers and industrial development in Bangkok have contributed to the subsidence, the report said. Water resource experts said the capital, which stands between 0.5 and two metres above sea level, is sinking at a rate of 10 milimetres per year. The National Reform Committee has proposed a number of measures to arrest the problem, including reforms to urban development and better water resources management.

He is an internationally recognised evolutionary ecologist and a distinguished professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, was elected a fellow of the London-based society.

As per the statement made by the Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) the MoU signed on June 30 by US Ambassador Richard Verma and MNRE Secretary Upendra Tripathi, is part of a new initiative under the US-India 'Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE)' that combines the resources of several US agencies and Indian ministries.

Chuka Lhyakhmo stands for Clean River. Operation Chuka Lhyakhmo, is an initiative of District Police Kargil in collaboration with District Administration aiming to clean river Suru and make people aware about the importance and relevance of a neat and clean Suru River.

Flood Hazard Atlas will help people know the level of water flow through early warning system. The concerned authority will get alert and places of evacuation and relief camps will be identified. Also, people of a particular area will be alerted based on rain and waterfall. Lakhs of people are rendered homeless in Assam due to flood almost every year. All flood prone areas have been divided into 3 categories and accordingly district administrations will prepare action plan on relief and evacuation in advance.

This enhanced public awareness and involvement in air quality improvement. Air Quality Index would be available for 10 cities of the country. Further 46 cities with million plus population and other 20 state capitals would be covered in the next couple of years.