RAJASTHAN
- Air pollution: Bhiwadi at 5, Jodhpur at 12 in world cities
- Industrial hub in Alwar district, Bhiwadi was at the fifth place in the list of cities across world with the worst air pollution in 2018, according to a new study by Swiss-based company AirVisual and Greenpeace.
- Another city of the state, Jodhpur is at the 12 place in the list, while Jaipur is at the 37th spot in the list.
- The report shows that there was an increasing trend in air quality index (AQI) in the last four months of 2018 in Bhiwadi. The most polluted month in Bhiwadi was December, as AQI, which is measured by levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) was recorded at 177.6 µg/m3 . The average AQI in Bhiwadi in 2018 was 125.4 µg/m3.
- However, in Jodhpur, the AQI has increased in 2018 in comparison to 2017. The average AQI was 81.9 in Jodhpur in 2017 but it has increased to 113.4 µg/m3 , which is a cause of concern for the people of Jodhpur. The report shows that June was the most polluted month in Jodhpur last year as it recorded AQI at 218.8 µg/m3 .
- However, Rajasthan’s Pali is another city which also feature in the list. With average AQI recorded at 82.3 µg/m3 , Pali is at 24 place in the list of cities of the world with the worst air pollution. June was the most polluted month in Pali as it recorded AQI at 166.7 µg/m3 .
- The report says that PM2.5 as a representative measure of air pollution can come from a range of natural as well as man-made sources. Common sources of PM include combustion (from vehicle engines, industry, wood and coal burning), as well as through other pollutants reacting in the atmosphere.
- The report states that Gurugram is at the top of the list of cities with worst air pollution in the world, followed by Ghaziabad, Pakistan’s Faisalabad, Bhiwadi, Noida, Patna, China’s Hotan, Lucknow, Pakistan’s Lahore and Delhi is at the 11th spot.INTERNATIONAL
- IMF scales down India’s growth projection for current fiscal to 7.3%
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has moderately scaled down India’s economic growth projection to 7.3 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier forecast of 7.4 per cent.
- Despite this, the country will remain the fastest-growing large economy as the nearest competitor China’s growth is pegged at 6.6 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 6.1 per cent for 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively.
- Google launched its 1st drone delivery service in Australia
- Wing, one of the many companies belonging to Alphabet (Google parent) made its first delivery in Canberra, Australia after getting approval from the Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
- The drones will deliver food and drinks as well as medication directly to clients’ homes.
- Wing was testing drone delivery in Australia since 2014 and delivered medicines, chocolate to 3,000 homes in the last 18 months.
- Wing is now preparing to launch a trial service in Helsinki, Finland.
- April 10: World Homoeopathy Day
- The World Homoeopathy Day2019 is observed across the world on April 10, 2019 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy, Dr. Christian FriedrichSamuel Hahnemann.
- The week following the birth date of Hahnemann, that is, 10 April – 16 Aprilis observed as the World Homeopathic Awareness Week.
- This year it is 263rd birth anniversary of founder of Homoeopathy.
NATIONAL
- ‘Desi Bofors’ Dhanush inducted in Army in bid to modernise artillery
- In an important step towards upgrading the combat power of the artillery, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) handed over the first six Dhanush 155 millimetre (mm) artillery guns to the army.
- This is part of an order for 114 guns being delivered by the OFB’s Gun Carriage Factory, Jabalpur.
- The Dhanush is also called the “Desi Bofors”, having been developed from blueprints supplied by Bofors in the 1980s, when India bought 400 Swedish FH-77B howitzers.
- Dream11 became Indias first billion-dollar gaming Startup
- Mumbai-basedDream11 has become India’s first gaming unicorn or billion-dollar startup with an investment from Steadview Capital.
- Apart from Steadview Capital, Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity and Tencent investments collectively put Dream11’s total evaluation beyond $1 billion.
- The investment by Hong Kong and London-based Steadview Capital comes about eight months after Dream 11 sealed a $100 million equity financing round led by Tencent, which is world’s fifth-largest internet company.
- Decolourisation of River Periyar
- The River Periyar in Kerala is again witnessing the decolourisation. The decolourisation of River Periyar which provides drinking water to Kochi city.
- The pollution control Board (PCB) has attributed the change in colour to the poor quality of water as a result of eutrophication.
- River Periyar is an artificial reservoir created by Mullaperiyar Dam across the river
- Periyar is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala. The Periyar is of utmost significance to the economy of Kerala
- It generates a significant proportion of Kerala’s electrical power via the Idukki Dam and flows along a region of industrial and commercial activity. The river also provides water for irrigation and domestic use throughout its course besides supporting a rich fishery. The river has been named as the “Lifeline of Kerala”. 25% of Kerala’s industries are along the banks of river Periyar
Gk bit : Eutrophication
- Eutrophication is when a body of water becomes overly enriched with minerals and nutrients which induce excessive growth of plants and algae
- This process may result in oxygen depletion of the water body. One example is an “algal bloom” or a great increase of phytoplankton in a water body as a response to increased levels of nutrients.
- Eutrophication is often induced by the discharge of nitrate or phosphate-containing detergents, fertilizers, or sewage into an aquatic system