Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 05 December 2023 | Download PDF

National and International News

• 118 countries pledged to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 at COP-28.
• India is notable for not signing the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge.
• China, with the largest renewable energy capacity, is also absent from the pledge.

Key point

• The Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge commitment aims for a global installed renewable energy generation capacity of 11,000 GW.
• The pledge also targets doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements to over 4% by 2030.

• The Supreme Court has ordered the Bihar government to clear unauthorized constructions from the floodplains of the Ganga, especially in and around Patna.
• The State shall also ensure no further construction takes place 

Key impacts

• Illegal constructions on Ganga’s floodplain produce waste, noise, and sewage.
• Unauthorized structures harm biodiversity and threaten dolphins, a Schedule I species.
• Permanent encroachments pose an environmental threat to the Ganga’s habitat.
• Deleterious impacts on biodiversity and dolphin survival are observed.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, designates dolphins as Schedule I species.
• Urgent action is needed to address the destructive consequences of these unauthorized activities.

In 2022, India accounted for 66% of malaria cases in the WHO Southeast Asia Region, noted the World Malaria Report, 2023, published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Key highlights

• Almost 46% of all cases in the region were due to Plasmodium vivax, a protozoan parasite 
• The WHO Southeast Asia Region accounted for about 2% of malaria cases globally, 
• These malaria cases declined by 76% from 23 million in 2000 to about five million in 2022.
• Malaria case incidence in this region decreased by 83%, (from about 18 cases per 1,000 population at risk in 2000 to about three cases per 1,000 population at risk in 2022)
• In 2022, there were an estimated 249 million cases globally, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of 233 million in 2019 by 16 million cases.

The Education Ministry is gearing up to restart the fourth phase of the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN)

About GIAN

• Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in Higher Education was launched in 2015. 
• It is a program of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
• GIAN taps scientists and entrepreneurs for higher education collaboration in India.
  • Goal: Enhance academic resources, expedite quality reforms.
  • Focus on strengthening India’s scientific and technological capabilities.

• U.S., Australia, and Britain defense chiefs meet in California.

Key Points:

• Emphasis on high-tech collaboration in deep space radar, AI, and quantum computing.
• Aim is to strengthen forces against global threats, particularly from China.
• Highlight on the “Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability” program development.
• Plans for radar detection sites in all three countries by the end of the decade.
• Sites will have the capability to peer 35,000 km into space.

• visitors will have the opportunity to watch blackbuck, nilgai and hog deer at Odisha’s Sambalpur Zoo.
• The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has approved an animal exchange programme between Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in Odisha and Sambalpur Zoo recently

About Nilgai

• It is also called bluebuck
• It is the largest Asian antelope (family Bovidae).
• The nilgai is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.
• It is the only one of the four Indian antelopes that is still abundant.
• It is the largest of all Asian antelopes and is one of the most commonly seen wild animals in all of India.
• IUCN Status : Least Concern

• It is a species of antelope native to India and Nepal.
• While males have corkscrew-shaped horns and black-to-dark brown coats, the females are fawn-coloured. 
• The animals are mainly seen in three broad clusters across India the northern, southern, and eastern regions.
• It is widespread in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and other areas throughout peninsular India.
• IUCN Red List: Least concerned.
• Wildlife Protection Act of 1972: Schedule I
• CITES: Appendix III

• A high-level site selection committee visited Padampur town and identified three different lands for the construction of a Collectorate for the proposed ‘Padampur district’
• The committee will submit its report to the Odisha Government, based on which the government will take a final call about site selection for the proposed Padampur Collectorate.

A new medical college will come up in Angul district soon as the Odisha Government has approved setting up the Pabitra Mohan Pradhan Medical College & Hospital in the coal town Talcher.

Key points

• the state government decided to take over the existing Nehru Shatabdi Hospital run by the MCL and name it as the Pabitra Mohan Pradhan Government Hospital
• It will function as the future teaching hospital for the proposed medical college.

Odisha saw 24% decrease in cases of crime against women in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) annual crime report.

Key highlights

• Across India in 2022, the state stood fourth in rate of total crime against women at 103% after Haryana (118.7), Telangana (117), Rajasthan (115.1).
• Crime against children cases spiralled to 8,240 in 2022 compared to 7,899 in 2021 and 6,330 in 2020. 
• There has also been a rise in cases of kidnapping and abduction in Odisha with 5,854 in 2022 compared to 5,625 in 2021 and 4,179 in 2020. 
• The state is third in rate of kidnapping and abduction at 12.7%,  after Haryana (13) and Assam (12.8).

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