Weekly Current Affairs (15th to 21st May 2022) - 2 - UPSC PDF Download

Seoul Forest Declaration

Context: In 15th World Forestry Congress held in Seoul, South Korea, countries adopted the Seoul Forest Declaration.

Key Highlights

• The Seoul Forest Declaration was concluded with five days of discussions at the 15th World Forestry Congress.
• The key focus was on how forests can help combat the multiple crises humanity faces, including climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, hunger and poverty.
• The gathering was co-organized by the Republic of Korea and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
• The congress also launched Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM) Mechanism, and the Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) initiative.

Priority Areas for action

• Responsibility: The Seoul Forest Declaration urges that responsibility for forests should be shared and integrated across institutions, sectors and stakeholders.
• Investment: Investment in forest and landscape restoration globally needs to triple by 2030 to meet internationally agreed commitments and targets on restoring degraded land, according to the Declaration.
• Circular bioeconomy: The declaration emphasized on circular bioeconomy that relies on healthy, bio diverse and resilient ecosystems.
• Green Finance Mechanism: The Declaration called for innovative green financing mechanisms to upscale investment in forest conservation, restoration and sustainable use.
• Emerging innovative technologies: The Declaration urged the continued development and use of emerging innovative technologies and mechanisms to enable evidence-based forest and landscape decision-making.
• Inclusive solutions: Forest-based solutions must be inclusive of the perspectives of family farmers, smallholders, forest communities, Indigenous Peoples, women and youth. 

Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary

Context: The Ramgarh Vishdhari sanctuary in Rajasthan has been notified as the 52nd Tiger

Reserve of India.

Key Highlights

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has notified Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining areas as tiger reserves.
• It includes the tiger habitat between Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in the northeast and Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve on the southern side and facilitates dispersal of tigers from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.
• The floristic diversity of this new tiger reserve makes it an important area for research and education.
• Wild animals like Indian wolf, leopard, striped hyena, sloth bear, golden jackal, chinkara, nilgai and fox can be seen in the Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve.

Notified Places

• Wildlife sanctuary- A wildlife sanctuary is a natural habitat, and is notified particularly to safeguard specific wild animals or birds species.
• Biosphere Reserve- It is a protected area where sustainable development of plants and animals happens and aims to protect the environment as a whole. It also protects and preserves tribal people who live around the reserve. There are three zones in the biosphere reserve-Core, Buffer, Manipulation.
• National Park- National Park is strictly regulated by the laws and is highly restricted. It covers a large area and may also cover multiple Sanctuaries, and reserves.

India Hypertension Control Initiative report

Context: The India Hypertension Control Initiative report showed that one in four Indian adults in India have hypertension.

Key Findings

• According to a report, it is estimated that at least one in four adults in India has hypertension but only about 10% have it under control.
• The analysis found that over half the people – 55% – received treatment at primary health centers, 18% in community health centers, and 10% in district and sub-district hospitals.

About India Hypertension Control Initiative

• The IHCI was launched in 2017 to achieve the target of 25% relative reduction in prevalence of raised blood pressure.
• The project aims to accelerate implementation of quality hypertension treatment for over 15 crore people.
• Nearly 23% of the total estimated hypertension patients have been enrolled in the programme in the five Phase-I state.
• The interventions under the programme include:
  • Ensuring uninterrupted supply and availability of drugs
  • Use of standard drug algorithm for management of hypertension
• Training of staff at all levels, and opportunistic screening when patients come for treatment of other diseases.

Pangong Lake

Context: China is recently building a new bridge on Pangong Tso lake bordering India.

Key Highlights

• Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a second bridge on their side at the
• Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh.
• The latest ground assessment has revealed increased infrastructure activity by China along the
• Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
• Each army has around 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers along the border in the sensitive area.

About Pangong Tso

• It is a boomerang-shaped endorheic (landlocked) lake, located in Eastern Ladakh across the Ladakh and Western Tibet border.
• It is located at an elevation of roughly more than 4,200 meters (13,800 ft) above sea level.
• It is around 5 km wide at its broadest point and about 134 km long.
• Around 40% of the lake lies in Indian territory while China controls about 50% of the lake.
• Around 10% of the lake is disputed and also acts as a buffer zone between two countries.
• China practically controls 2/3rd of the total length of the lake while 1/3rd is controlled by India.
• Chang Chenmo mountains are located on the northern bank of a river which extends into major
• spurs and are called fingers.
• China claims that LAC passes through finger 2 while India’s claim is that it passes through finger 8.

New Development Bank

Context: New development Bank to set up a regional office in Gujarat.

Key Highlights

• New development Bank is going to set up its regional bank in Gujarat to monitor and fund the infrastructure projects in India and Bangladesh.
• The Indian Regional Office will focus on project origination (including initial project preparation and technical assistance), pipeline development, project implementation and monitoring as well as regional portfolio management.

About New Development Bank

• The New Development Bank (NDB) was established in 2015 by BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• It is a multilateral development bank.
• The Bank’s membership is open to members of the United Nations.
• NDB commenced the admission of its first new member countries in the second half of 2021.
• It has headquarters in Shanghai, China.
• It also has observer status in the United Nations general assembly.
• Aim: To mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies, as well as in developing countries .

Incredible India International Cruise Conference (IIICC)

Context: First Incredible India International Cruise Conference was jointly organized by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the Government of India and FICCI.

Key Highlights

• The initiative is expected to give a boost to ‘Comprehensive Indian National Tourism Policy’.
• Eight Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were signed

Issues deliberated:

• Strategies for developing India as a cruise hub
• Policy initiatives and port infrastructure
• The potential of river cruise tourism
• The role of technology in the post-pandemic world

Sela Tunnel

Context: Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh is to be completed soon.

Key Highlights

• It is located in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh
• It Will provide an alternate axis to the Sela pass (at 13,700 feet)
• It includes two tunnels and a link road including Tunnel 2 will be one of the longest tunnels to have been constructed above an altitude of over 13,000 feet.
• The total length of the project, including the tunnels, the approach and the link roads, will be around 12 km.

Importance of Tunnel

• Sela Tunnel above 13,000-ft will give a boost to allweather connectivity to the Line of Actual Control.
• The Sela Tunnel project will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang as well as other forward areas in the sector.
• The Sela Tunnel project will offer a new alignment on the axis towards the LAC, as well as allow the movement of military and civil vehicles throughout the year.

Devasahayam Pillai

Context: Devasahayam Pillai became the first Indian layman to be declared a saint by Pope Francis.

Key Highlights

• Pope Francis canonized Devasahayam Pillai, or `Blessed Lazarus`, who became the first layman from India to be granted sainthood.
• A miracle attributed to him was recognised by Pope Francis in 2014 leading to his canonisation now.
• Devasahayam Pillai was a Hindu who converted to Christianity in the 18th century.

About Devasahayam Pillai

• Church records state that Devasahayam Pillai was born as Neelakanda Pillai in Nattalam in the
• Kanniyakumari district in 1712.
• After his conversion, he assumed the name of `Lazarus or `Devasahayam`, meaning `God is my Help`.
• Kanyakumari was then part of the Travancore kingdom.
• Him embracing of Christianity in 1745 made the Maharaja angry about his conversion and shot him dead at Aralvaimozhi forest on January 14, 1752.

NATO

Context: Finland and Sweden have submitted their application to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The reason of taking this decision is 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine which prompted them to join NATO and seek its safety net.

About NATO

• NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance consisting of 30 member states belonging to Europe and North America (28 European states, USA, and Canada).
• NATO aims to guarantee the security of its members through political and military means.
• According to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO’s founding treaty), an armed attack against any NATO member in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against all NATO members.
• The last country to join NATO was North Macedonia in 2020.
• NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.

India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)

Context: During his state visit to Jamaica, the President Ram Nath Kovind highlighted India’s assistance to Jamaica in capacity building and skill development through various courses under the India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme.

About ITEC Programme

• ITEC Programme is India’s bilateral assistance program that focuses on addressing the needs of
• developing countries.
• Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) administers ITEC.
• Around USD 2 billion has been spent by the Indian government under the program till now. Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) played a crucial role in facilitating ITEC assistance.
• Although launched in 1964, the ITEC program has grown in scope since the 2000s as India witnessed rapid economic growth.
• Earlier, India was the world’s largest recipient of aid, but since the 2000s India emerged as a net donor of foreign aid.

Navdoot dual-mode locomotive

• Navdoot is a battery-operated dual-mode locomotive developed by the West Central Railway (WCR) of the Indian Railways.
• It runs on both modes i.e. battery and electricity. It can pull 18 coaches at a speed of 30 kmph. It has 84 batteries and currently can pull 400 tonnes of weight.
• At present, it is used on a trial basis at Jabalpur, Mudwara, and other stations for shunting of trains.
• Navdoot locomotive received the Best Innovation Award from the Railway Board.
• By using Navdoot locomotive, Indian Railways can save 1000 liters of diesel per day. Thus, it helps in the efforts of Indian Railways to become sustainable and cost-efficient.