Environment

Ethanol is a green fuel and its blending with petrol also saves foreign exchange Government has 10% blending target for mixing ethanol with petrol by 2022 & 20% blending target by 2030 The liquid biofuel in greatest production is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), which is made by fermenting starch or sugar. Brazil and the United States … Read more

India’s nomination of the Jaipur City, Rajasthan got status of the World Heritage List of UNESCO during the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held at Baku, Azerbaijan.  The nomination of Jaipur City has successfully been done by complying with the various UNESCO guidelines of 2017. India’s nomination was initially recommended by the ICOMOS … Read more

Project Tiger was launched in 1973 for conserving the tiger. From 9 tiger reserves since its formative years, the Project Tiger coverage has increased to 50, spread out in 18 of tiger range states. These reserves are constituted on a core / buffer strategy. The core areas have the legal status of a national park … Read more

A signatory to the Stockholm Declaration (1972) on Environment, India enacted laws to control water (1974) and air (1981) pollution soon after. But it was only after the Bhopal gas leak disaster in 1984 that the country legislated an umbrella Act for environmental protection in 1986. Exemptions All inland waterways projects and expansion/widening of national … Read more

The Government of India set up Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in March 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. It functions under the administrative control of Ministry of Power. The mission of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and … Read more

An important characteristic of all communities is that their composition and structure constantly change in response to the changing environmental conditions. This change is orderly and sequential, parallel with the changes in the physical environment. These changes lead finally to a community that is in near equilibrium with the environment and that is called a … Read more

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. The MARPOL Convention was adopted on 2 November 1973 at IMO. The Protocol of 1978 was adopted in response to a spate of tanker … Read more

The major components of a rainwater harvesting system are as follows:  Collection system: Roof surface and gutters to capture the rainwater and send it to the storage system  Inlet filter: Screen filter to catch large debris  First flush diverter: Diverter that removes debris not captured by the inlet filter from the initial … Read more

Mangroves are salt-tolerant vegetation that grows in intertidal regions of rivers and estuaries. They are referred to as ‘tidal forests’ and belong to the category of ‘tropical wetland rainforest ecosystem’. Causes of Depletion of mangroves Sea level rise and coastal erosion Due to global warming, the sea levels are continuously rising. The rising sea levels … Read more

Inorganic plant nutrients are water soluble nitrates and phosphates that cause excessive growth of algae and otheraquatic plants. The excessive growth of algae and aquatic plants due to added nutrients is called Eutrophication.   Impact of Eutrophication on environment: Creation of dense blooms of noxious, foul-smelling phytoplankton known as Algal Blooms that reduce waterclarity and … Read more