Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 21 March 2024 | Download PDF

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) published the new annual State of the Climate report on Tuesday (March 19), revealing that 2023 broke records as the hottest year on record. 

Key points:

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs):

• GHGs like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are responsible for trapping solar radiation in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.
• Concentrations of these gases reached record highs in 2022, the latest year with consolidated global values available (1984–2022), according to the WMO report.

Surface Temperature:

• The global average near-surface temperature in 2023 soared to 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the highest on record.
• The primary reason for this increase is the rising concentrations of GHGs, although the onset of El Niño in 2023 also played a role in boosting temperatures.

Ocean Heat Content (OHC):

• Oceans have absorbed nearly 90% of the extra heat trapped by GHGs since 1971, leading to a steady increase in their temperature.
• In 2023, the OHC reached its highest level in the 65-year observational record.

Marine Heat Waves (MHWs):

• Global oceans experienced an average daily marine heatwave coverage of 32% in 2023, well above the previous record of 23% in 2016.
• MHWs occur when a region of the sea’s surface temperature rises to 3 or 4 degrees Celsius above the average for at least five days.

Antarctic Sea-Ice Extent:

• Antarctic sea-ice extent hit a record low of 1.79 million km2 in February 2023, the lowest since satellite records began in 1979.
• The extent remained at a record low from June to early November, with the annual maximum in September reaching 16.96 million km2, approximately 1.5 million km2 below the 1991–2020 average.

Glacier Retreat:

• The hydrological year 2022-2023 witnessed the largest loss of ice on record for the global set of reference glaciers, especially in North America and Europe.
• The annual mass balance of the reference glaciers dropped to a new low in 2022-2023, reaching –1.2 m w.e., which represents the amount of mass gained or lost by the glacier expressed in metres of water equivalent.

• • Recently, the Maharashtra cabinet made a significant decision regarding Mumbai Central station. 
• They decided to request the Ministry of Railways to rename Mumbai Central station after Nana Jagannath Shankarseth.

About:

• Born on February 10, 1803, in a wealthy Brahmin family in Murbad, Thane district.
• He took over the family business at a young age after his father’s demise in 1822.
• Inspired by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, he became a renowned social reformer, educationist, and philanthropist.
• Often described as the “architect” of Mumbai (Bombay), he made significant contributions to various sectors, laying a strong foundation for the city.
• He earned the goodwill of both Indians and the British and became the first Indian to be nominated to the Legislative Council of Bombay.

Shankarseth’s Contributions

• He founded the Native School of Bombay, later renamed as the Bombay Native Institution and then the Board of Education, which evolved into Elphinstone College.
• Shankarseth, along with Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, was part of the committee that gave impetus to the first train project in India, which ran between Boribunder and Thane on April 16, 1853, undertaken by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company.

Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme

• The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in 1998 for issue of Kisan Credit Cards to farmers on the basis of their holdings for uniform adoption by the banks so that farmers may use them to readily purchase agriculture inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. and draw cash for their production needs.

• The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Fisheries scheme has been integrated into the JanSamarth Portal by the Department of Fisheries. 
• This integration aims to enhance credit accessibility for fishers, fish farmers, and stakeholders nationwide.

JanSamarth Portal:

• JanSamarth is an innovative online platform that facilitates direct interactions between lenders and beneficiaries.
• It enables citizens to access loans under specific Central government schemes.
• In 2018-19, the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) facility was extended to fishers and fish farmers to meet their working capital requirements.
• The scheme covers various farmer categories, including individuals, joint borrowers, Joint Liability Groups, and Self Help Groups.
• It offers an annual interest subvention of 2%, along with an additional subvention of 3% for timely repayment.

• The World Bank’s recent report highlights a persistent global issue: women continue to earn significantly less than men. 
• The gap is often cited as 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, known as the “gender pay gap.”

Key points:

Definition: The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines the gender pay gap as the difference between the average wage levels of all working women and men.

Focus: The metric focuses on overall wage differences, not on comparing the pay of men and women in identical roles.

• The FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigation) returned 22 looted artefacts to Japan after a Massachusetts family discovered them while going through their late World War II veteran father’s belongings.

Key points:

• The artefacts, missing for nearly 80 years, date back to the 18th and 19th centuries.
• They include six portraits, a hand-drawn 19th-century map of Okinawa, and various pottery and ceramics, representing a significant piece of Okinawan history.

About:

• The Battle of Okinawa, which took place from April 1 to June 22, 1945, stands as the Pacific Theater’s most extensive amphibious assault of World War II. 
• This significant event signaled the start of the Japanese Empire’s decline and played a pivotal role in paving the way for the Allied triumph in the war.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the wealthiest MLA in Odisha, with assets worth approximately Rs 63 crore, according to an ADR(Association of Democratic Reforms) report.

ADR:

• Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is an apolitical and non-partisan non profit organisation in India, working on electoral and political reforms for over 25 years.
• ADR came into existence in 1999.

The objective of ADR is to improve governance and strengthen democracy through continuous work in the area of Electoral and Political Reforms. They focus on:

• Corruption and Criminalization in the Political Process
  • Empowerment of the electorate through greater dissemination of information relating to the candidates and the parties, for a better and informed choice
• Need for greater accountability of Indian Political Parties
• Need for inner-party democracy and transparency in party-functioning

• A two-day coastal security exercise named ‘Sagar Kavach-1’ began at Talasari-Udaypur coast in Balasore.

Key Points:

Various departments of the Central and State governments including Marine Police, Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Forest, Fisheries, and Intelligence are participating.

Objectives:

• Strengthen surveillance, detection, and identification of enemy forces at sea.
• Develop the marine fishing community as ‘eyes and ears’ of security agencies.
• Revalidate communication and coastal security measures.

Background: Initiated post the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, Sagar Kavach is held twice a year jointly by the Central and State governments.

• Former head coach of the India national cricket team, Ravi Shastri, met with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to discuss the development of world-class cricket infrastructure in Odisha. 

Key points:

• MoU was signed between Coaching Beyond cricket academy and MGM School of Sports in Cuttack to establish a high-performance cricket academy in Odisha.
• Coaching Beyond, founded by Ravi Shastri along with former Team India coaches Bharat Arun and R Sridhar. The academy aims to provide high-quality cricket coaching using the best practices in coaching and sports sciences.

• Kathagada Sahi locals in Cuttack, Odisha, unveil a gold palanquin (‘Bimana’) for the Dola festival, replacing the traditional silver one, aiming to enhance the festival’s splendor.
• Previously, the locals utilized an 80 kg silver palanquin for the festival, but inspired by the recent Geographical Indication (GI) tag bestowed upon Cuttack’s renowned silver filigree work, they opted for a gold palanquin this time.

About:

• It is also known as Dola Yatra (Odia: ଦୋଳ ଯାତ୍ରା), a five-day long festival celebrated with pomp and fervor across the state. 
• Following Dola Purnima is the festival of Holi. 
• On this day, the Odia calendar is prepared and offered to the deity Jagannath, also known as “Dolagovinda”. 
• The celebration mostly takes place in villages where idols of Krishna and Radha are brought together.

World Sparrow Day is an annual observance held every year on March 20th to raise global awareness about the household sparrow and its alarming population decline.

Key points:

• • The idea of World Sparrow Day was conceived by the Nature Forever Society (NFS) of India and the Eco-Sys Action Foundation based in France. 
  • The first World Sparrow Day was marked in 2010 with the goal of highlighting the tragic disappearance of the house sparrow and inspire coordinated efforts to protect them.
• In 2024, the theme for World Sparrow Day is “Sparrows: Give them a tweet-chance!”, “I Love Sparrows” and “We Love Sparrows”. 

The International Day of Forests was established on the 21st day of March, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2013.

Key points:

• • The day aims to respect and promote the value of a wide range of forests. 
  • The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Forum on Forests are the coordinators of the International Day of Forests.
• The theme for International Day of Forests 2024 is “Forests and Innovation: New Solutions for a Better World.”

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