UPSC Prelims News 21 December 2022

UPSC Prelims News of 21 December 2022

Tal Chhapar Sanctuary

Context: The Rajasthan High Court ordered a “complete prohibition” on a proposed move of the State government to reduce the size of the Tal Chhapar Sanctuary.

About the Tal Chhapar Sanctuary:

Location: The sanctuary is located in the Churu district of Northwestern Rajasthan, in the Shekhawati region of India.
Geography: It is a flat saline depression locally known as a “tal” that has a unique ecosystem in the heart of the Thar Desert.
Flora: The forest of sanctuary area falls under the group “Topical Thorn Forest”. It has open grassland with scattered Acacia and Prosopis trees give it an appearance of a typical savanna.
Fauna: The sanctuary is host to about 4,000 blackbucks and other wild animals, over 40 species of raptors and more than 300 species of resident and migratory birds.
- Migratory birds in the sanctuary are harriers, eastern imperial eagle, tawny eagle, short-toed eagle, sparrow, and little green bee-eaters, black ibis and demoiselle cranes.
Threats to the sanctuary: Hyper-aridity, grazing pressure, the invasive weed Prosopis juliflora, and salt mines in the vicinity. The sanctuary’s area is insufficient for its large blackbuck population.
Miscellaneous:
- The sanctuary has a special type of grass called “Mothiya” or pearl grass, which has a very sweet taste.
- It was included in the itinerary of the “Heritage on Wheel” train of Rajasthan.
- Chhapar – Sujangarh state highway divides the sanctuary area into two parts.

AYURSWASTHYA Yojana

Context: Ministry of AYUSH is running a Central Sector Scheme namely, AYURSWASTHYA Yojana from the Financial Year 2021-22.

Components of the Scheme:

AYUSH and Public Health (PHI).
Centre of Excellence (CoE).

Centre of Excellence (CoE):

Under it, financial assistance is provided to eligible individual organizations/institutes for establishing and upgrading their functions & facilities and/or for research & development activities in AYUSH.
Objectives:
- To support establishment of advanced/ specialized AYUSH medical health unit in reputed AYUSH and Allopathic institutions both in Government and Non-Government sector.
- To support creative and innovative proposals for establishment and upgradation of both functions and facilities in education technology, research & innovation and such other fields necessary for promotion of AYUSH at national as well as international level.
- To support creative and innovative proposals for prestigious organizations which have well-established buildings and infrastructure, and wish to work for AYUSH systems to the level of Centre of Excellence.
- The maximum admissible financial assistance to an organization/institute is Rs.10.00 crores for maximum period of three years.

Black Carbon

Context: ISRO is analyzing black carbon concentration in the Himalayas to understand complex geographical and cyclical nature of the glacial dynamics.

About Black Carbon:

Black carbon is a pure carbon sooty material, formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel, and biomass.
Source: Primary sources of black carbon include emissions from diesel engines, cook stoves, wood burning and forest fires.
Lifetime: Black carbon is a short-lived climate pollutant with a lifetime of only days to weeks after release in the atmosphere.
Impact: Black carbon can have significant direct and indirect impacts on the climate, the cryosphere (snow and ice), agriculture and human health.
- It absorbs solar radiation and increases global temperatures.
Tackling black carbon: Using clean cooking fuel, electric mobility, reducing stubble burning, avoiding municipal waste burning etc can help in tackling black carbon.

Measures to Reduce Black Carbon Emissions in India:

PM Ujjwala Yojana
Implementing BS-VI norms
Promoting alternate fuels such as biodiesels
Promoting renewable energy sources such as solar and wind
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) phase-2 scheme Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme to promote Compressed Bio Gas.

Frontier Highway

Context: The Union government is planning to build a 1,748 km long “frontier highway” close to the India-Tibet-China-Myanmar border in Arunachal Pradesh.

More on the News:

The two-lane highway, known as NH-913, will aim to stop infiltration in the border area. It will be as close as 20 km from the international border.
About 800 km of the corridor will be Greenfield as there is no existing road on these stretches.
Construction: The Highway will be built by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The entire project is expected for completion by 2026-27.
Location: The highway will start from Bomdila and pass through Nafra, Huri and Monigong. It will end at Vijaynagar, near the India-Myanmar border.
Significance: The highway is expected to give a big boost to the easy movement of defence forces as well as equipment to the border areas.