PIB Summary- 12th May, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

National Technology Day

Why in News?
India observes its National Technology Day on 11th May every year.

Details:
Theme The theme for National Technology Day 2022 is “Integrated Approach in Science and technology for a sustainable future”. The theme of National Technology Day 2021 was “Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future”.

Background:

• The day which was first observed on 11 May, 1999, aims to commemorate the scientific and technological achievements of Indian scientists, engineers. The day was named by the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• Every year, the Technology Development Board of India (a statutory body under the Ministry of Science and Technology) celebrates the day by awarding individuals with National Award for their contribution to science and technology in India.

Significance:

• It is the day India successfully tested nuclear bombs in Pokhran on May 11, 1998.
• India successfully test-fired its Shakti-1 nuclear missile in operation called Pokhran-II, also codenamed as Operation Shakti.
• The nuclear missile was tested at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. This was the second test which was conducted after Pokhran-I codenamed Operation Smiling Buddha, in May 1974.
• On the same day, India performed a successful test firing of the Trishul Missile (surface to air short range missile) and had test flown the first indigenous aircraft – ‘Hansa – 3’.

National Mission for Clean Ganga

Why in News?
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has organised the 6th Edition of the monthly ‘Webinar with Universities’ series on ‘Igniting Young Minds, Rejuvenating Rivers’.

• The theme for the webinar was ‘Waste Water Management.’

About National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society on under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
• The government had set up the Clean Ganga Fund in 2014 – Using the funded money to finance NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga 2011), cleaning the river, setting up Waste Treatment Plants, Conservation of river biodiversity and related R&D projects.
• NMCG is the implementation wing of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council NGC).

The NMCG now has the status of an Authority and its key focus would be maintaining required ecological flows in the Ganga, abate pollution through planning, financing and execution of programmes including that of–

• Augmentation of Sewerage Infrastructure
• Catchment Area Treatment
• Protection of Floodplains
• Creating Public Awareness

Objectives:

• The mission incorporates rehabilitating and boosting the existing STPs and instant short-term steps to curb pollution at exit points on the riverfront in order to check the inflow of sewage.
• To maintain the continuity of the water flow without changing the natural season variations.
• To restore and maintain the surface flow and groundwater.
• To regenerate and maintain the natural vegetation of the area.
• To conserve and regenerate the aquatic biodiversity as well as the riparian biodiversity of the river Ganga basin.
• To allow participation of the public in the process of protection, rejuvenation and management of the river.

Need for Ganga Rejuvenation

• The Ganga Basin provides over one-third of India’s surface water, includes the country’s largest irrigated area, and is key to India’s water and food security.
• Over 40 percent of India’s GDP is generated in the densely populated Basin.
• But the Ganga river is today is facing pressures from human and economic activity that impact its water quality and flows.
• Over 80 per cent of the pollution load in the Ganga comes from untreated domestic wastewater from towns and cities along the river and its tributaries.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Why in News?
Recently, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change addressed the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15)of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Cote d’Ivoire (Western Africa).

Highlights of the COP15

• COP 15 is a key moment in the fight against desertification, land degradation and drought.
• It will build on the findings of the Global Land Outlook’s second edition to provide a practical response to the interconnected concerns of land degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss.
• The UNCCD’s flagship publication, the Global Land Outlook (GLO), highlights land system concerns, highlights transformative policies and practises, and identifies cost-effective approaches to scale up sustainable land and water management.
• Drought, land restoration, and associated enablers including land rights, gender equality, and youth empowerment are among the conference’s major priorities.
• ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From Scarcity to Prosperity’ is the theme.