PRELIMS NEWS
1.WII to conduct study on Olive Ridley turtles
The issue in news
The Odisha government has requested the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to conduct a fresh study for identifying the movement of Olive Ridley sea turtles.
- This would help Odisha renew its conservation efforts along its coast.
- Odisha has emphasised on working with the local community for conservation.
Details:
- Olive ridley turtles are among the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world. They are found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
- They are predominantly omnivorous.
- Olive Ridley turtles and the related Kemps Ridley turtles are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed arribadas.
- Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district are the main Olive Ridley Nesting sites in Odisha.
- Recently, another Olive Ridley mass nesting site has been added. This is the Bahuda Rookery at a beach on Bahuda river mouth in Ganjam district.
Conservation Status:
- It is listed as vulnerable under the IUCN Red List. In India, it is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Trading in its products is banned under CITES.
- The Coast Guard had launched ‘Operation Olivia’ to intercept unlawful trawling activities along Odisha coast to ensure safe passage to the Olive Ridley turtles during the nesting season
- Sardar Sarovar Dam
The issue in news
Prime Minister inaugurates dynamic lighting of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
About the Sardar Sarovar Dam:
- It is a concrete gravity dam on the Narmada river in Kevadiya near Navagam, Gujarat.
- Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan receive water and electricity supplied from the dam.
- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone for the project in 1961. However, the construction of the project was started only in 1987.
- It was funded by the World Bank through its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), although it withdrew in 1994.
- It is a part of the Narmada Valley Project, a large hydraulic engineering project involving the construction of a series of large irrigation and hydroelectric multi-purpose dams on the Narmada river.
- It is the second-largest concrete dam in the world in terms of the volume of concrete used to construct the dam.
- The project was a controversial one because many people objected to the construction of the dam citing environmental issues and the displacement of people.
- The Narmada Bachao Andolan was formed in order to protest against the project.
- The Supreme Court stalled the project in 1995.
- In 2000–01 the project was revived but with a lower height of 110.64 metres under directions from the SC, which was later increased in 2006 to 121.92 meters and 138.98 meters in 2017.
- The dam was inaugurated in 2017 by Prime Minister Modi.
- INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION (IPU)
The issue in news
The 206th Session of the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU will be held from 1st to 4th November this year. It will be an Extraordinary Virtual Session, which is being organised in place of a full-fledged in-person Statutory Assembly of IPU due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Main points
- Objective: The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members.
- History: The organization was established in 1889 as the Inter-Parliamentary Congress. Its founders were statesmen Frédéric Passy of France and William Randal Cremer of the United Kingdom.
- Members: As of 2020, the national parliaments of 179 countries are members of the IPU, while 13 regional parliamentary assemblies are associate members.
- Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
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