{"id":54724,"date":"2019-12-31T21:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T15:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54724"},"modified":"2020-02-27T12:40:26","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T07:10:26","slug":"auto-draft-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/auto-draft-27\/","title":{"rendered":"9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 December 31st, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/total-tree-forest-cover-in-country-increases-by-5188-sq-km-forest-report\/article30431835.ece\"><strong>India State of\nForest Report 2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Government has released the India State of Forest Report 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nthe India State of Forest Report:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The India State of Forest Report\n2019 has been prepared by Forest Survey of India(FSI).<\/li><li>The report is a biennial\nexercise.It assesses the forest and tree cover, bamboo resources, carbon stock\nand forest fires.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key\ntakeaways from the report:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Forest\nand Tree cover:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The forest cover in the country\nhas increased by 3,976 square kilometer in the last two years.<\/li><li>The tree cover which is defined as\npatches of trees less than 1 hectare and occurring outside the recorded forest\narea has grown by 1,212 sq km. <\/li><li>The tree and forest cover together\nmade up 25.56% of India&#8217;s area.In the last assessment it was 24.39%.<\/li><li>The top three States showing an\nincrease in forest cover are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.<\/li><li>However,the sharpest decline in\nforest cover was seen in the northeastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur\nand Mizoram.<\/li><li>The loss in the North East is\nattributed primarily due to the traditional farming practice of Shifting\nCultivation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Carbon\nstock:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The total carbon stock of the\ncountry was estimated at 7124 million tons, which is an increase of 42.6\nmillion tons from the last assessment.<\/li><li>It implies that India is on the\nright track to achieve its Paris Agreement commitment of 2.5 -3 billion carbon sinks.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mangroves\nand Bamboo Cover:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The mangrove cover has increased\nby 54 square km or about 1% from the last assessment with Gujarat and\nMaharashtra registering the largest improvements.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"615\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Picture1-40.png?resize=750%2C615&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54745\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The total bamboo bearing area of\nthe country is estimated as 1,60,037 sq km.There is an increase of 3,229 sq km\nin bamboo bearing area as compared to the previous estimate.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nForest Survey of India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Forest Survey of India (FSI) is an\norganisation under the Ministry of Environment &amp; Forests, Government of\nIndia.<\/li><li>It was established as an\norganization called Pre- Investment Survey of Forest Resources(PISFR) in 1965.<\/li><li>Its principal mandate is to\nconduct a survey and assessment of forest resources in the country. \u200b <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsonair.com\/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=376829\"><strong>India improves\nSustainable Development Goals Index score by three positions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Niti Aayog has released the sustainable development goals index\n2019-20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nSDG India Index:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>SDG India Index and Dashboard has\nbeen developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics\n&amp; Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Global Green Growth Institute and the United\nNations.<\/li><li>The index indicates where the\ncountry and its States and UTs currently are on SDG implementation.It also\ncharts the distance to be travelled to reach the SDG targets.<\/li><li>The 2019 Index covers 16 out of 17\nSDGs and a qualitative assessment on Goal 17.<\/li><li>As per the Index, the composite\nscore for each state\/UT is computed by aggregating their performance across the\ngoals and then by taking the arithmetic mean of individual goal scores. <\/li><li>A score of 100 implies that the\nState\/ UT has achieved the targets set for 2030 and a score of 0 implies that\nthe particular State\/UT is at the bottom of the table.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key\ntakeaways from the Index:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>India&#8217;s composite score has\nimproved from 57 in 2018 to 60 in 2019-20 with major success in water and\nsanitation, power and industry. <\/li><li>However, nutrition and gender\nequality continue to be problem areas for India requiring more focused approach\nfrom the government.<\/li><li>Kerala has topped the index.It was\nfollowed by Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.<\/li><li>Amongst Union\nterritories,Chandigarh topped the list, while Puducherry is ranked second.Dadra\nand Nagar Haveli has been ranked third among Union territories.<\/li><li>Uttar Pradesh has shown maximum\nimprovement followed by Odisha and Sikkim.<\/li><li>Bihar is the worst performer on\nthe SDG India index.The states like Gujarat have also not shown any improvement\nvis-a-vis first ranking in 2018.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"958\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Picture2-26.png?resize=750%2C958&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54746\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-what-is-accession-day-the-new-public-holiday-for-jammu-and-kashmir-6190438\/\"><strong>Explained:What\nis Instrument of Accession<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>From 2020,the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a public\nholiday on October 26 for the first time.This day will be observed as Accession\nDay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>According to the Indian\nIndependence Act,1947,British India was divided into India and Pakistan and the\nroughly 580 princely states that had signed subsidiary alliances with the\nBritish had their sovereignty restored to them. <\/li><li>In essence,these princely states\nwere given the option to remain independent or to join the Dominion of India or\nPakistan.<\/li><li>According to Section 6(a) of the\nAct,before joining India or Pakistan, these states had to sign an Instrument of\nAccession, in which they would specify the terms on which they were becoming\npart of the new dominions.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Instrument\nof Accession for J&amp;K:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Instrument of Accession(IoA)\nis a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of the\nprincely state of Jammu &amp; Kashmir, on October 26, 1947.<\/li><li>The accession declared that the\nstate accedes to India.It gave India\u2019s Parliament the power to legislate in\nrespect of J&amp;K only on the matters of defence, external affairs and\ncommunications. <\/li><li>Apart from defence, communications\nand external affairs,the IoA mentions ancillary subjects that include elections\nto the dominion legislature. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nSubsidiary alliance:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The system of subsidiary alliance\nwas introduced by Lord Wellesley who became Governor-General in 1798. <\/li><li>Under this system,the ruler of the\nallying Indian state was compelled to accept the permanent posting of a British\nforce within his territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.<\/li><li>The stated reasons for this was\nprotection of his territory.But was in fact a form through which Indian ruler\naccepted dominance of the Company. <\/li><li>Lord Wellesley had signed\nsubsidiary treaties with the number of Indian rulers such as Nizam of Hyderabad\nin 1798, the Nawab of Awadh in 1801 and Peshwa Baji Rao II in 1802.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-december-27-importance-indian-national-anthem-6187921\/\"><strong>Explained:\nIndia\u2019s National Anthem<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>India\u2019s National Anthem was first sung at the Calcutta session of the\nCongress on December 27,1911.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nNational Anthem:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the\ncountry\u2019s National Anthem by the Constituent Assembly of India on January\n24,1950.<\/li><li>Jana Gana Mana is the first stanza\nof the Bengali hymn \u2018Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata written by Nobel Laureate\nRabindranath Tagore. <\/li><li>It was first published under the\ntitle \u201cBharat Vidhata\u201d in TattvaBodhini Patrika in January,1912.<\/li><li>The song was translated into\nEnglish in 1919 with the title \u201cMorning Song of India\u201d.<\/li><li>A slightly varied version of the\nsong was adopted by Subhash Chandra Bose\u2019s Indian National Army in 1941 as the\nnational anthem, called \u2018Shubh Sukh Chain\u2019.<\/li><li>The respect to the National Anthem\nis a Fundamental duty in India. According to Article 51A (a) of the\nConstitution \u201cIt shall be the duty of every citizen of India to abide by the\nConstitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the\nNational Anthem\u201d.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u2018Amar Sonar Bangla\u2019, the\nBangladeshi anthem was also written by Tagore to protest against the partition\nof Bengal by the British in 1905.<\/li><li>Sri Lanka\u2019s \u201cSri Lanka Matha\u201d,\nwritten by Ananda Samarakoon has also influenced by Tagore.Some believe that\nTagore wrote it in full. <\/li><li>Thus in a way, National anthems of\nIndia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are written by the same poet Rabindranath\nTagore.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/news\/india\/andaman-and-nicobar-islands-to-get-india-s-first-water-aerodromes-11577699505820.html\"><strong>Andaman and\nNicobar islands to get India&#8217;s first water aerodromes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Airports Authority of India(AAI) is in the process of seeking\nenvironmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate\nChange for water aerodromes in Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nWater Aerodromes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A water aerodrome is an area of\nopen water that can be used by seaplanes as well as amphibious aircraft to land\nand take off.<\/li><li>Such aircraft are expected to take\npeople across water faster and more safely than local boats<\/li><li>Moreover,depending on the volume\nof traffic,water aerodrome may have a terminal building on the shore or on a\njetty where planes can dock, and bays where they can be parked.<\/li><li>The water drones are present in\nsome island nations especially in the richer ones like the British Virgin\nIslands.<\/li><li>Also,there are few in Canada,\nincluding Yellowknife on the Great Slave Lake, Tofino on Vancouver Island and\nWhitehorse on Schwatka Lake.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guidelines\nfor setting up water Aerodromes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The water aerodrome could be set\nup near locations of tourist and religious importance. <\/li><li>The water aerodrome cannot be used\nfor scheduled air transport services without licence.<\/li><li>An entity seeking to set up a\nwater aerodrome has to take approvals from various authorities including the\nMinistries of Defence, Home, Environment and Forests and Shipping.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advantages\nof Water Aerodrome:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The water Aerodromes will promote\ntourism as well as connect places of religious importance.<\/li><li>It will enhance air connectivity\nin the country by allowing amphibian planes which can operate in both land and\nwater.<\/li><li>It will create employment in the\nAndaman &amp; Nicobar Islands.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/andhra-pradesh\/belum-caves-festival-postponed\/article30413624.ece\"><strong>Belum Caves\nFestival postponed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>The Belum Caves Festival has been postponed in Andhra Pradesh after the\ndates clashed with Governor\u2019s visit to the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nBelum Caves festival:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Belum Caves festival was named\nas Kandanavolu Sambaralu.It was being organised to popularize the Belum caves\nin Kurnool district,Andhra Pradesh.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nBelum Caves:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Belum Caves are also known as\nBelum Guhalu.They are located in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.<\/li><li>They are the second-longest cave in\nthe Indian subcontinent open to the public.The first longest is the Krem Liat\nPrah caves in Meghalaya.<\/li><li>This cave system was formed over\nthe course of tens of thousands of years by the constant flow of underground\nwater from the now disappeared river Chitravathi.<\/li><li>These caves are renowned for their\nspeleothem structures.The caves also have long passages, spacious chambers,\nfreshwater galleries and siphons.<\/li><li>Belum caves are also indications\nthat Jains and Buddhists monks were occupying these caves centuries ago.The\npresence of 4500 years old vessels from the pre-Buddhism era ensures the same.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nspeleothem structures <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Speleothems are commonly known as\ncave formations.They are secondary mineral deposits formed in a cave. <\/li><li>Speleothems are typically formed\nin the form of stalactites, stalagmites, limestone or dolomite solutional\ncaves.<\/li><li>A secondary mineral is one which\nis derived by a physicochemical reaction from a primary mineral in bedrock or\ndetritus and\/or deposited because of a unique set of conditions in a cave such\nas environment conditions.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/other-states\/madhya-pradesh-gets-its-first-elephant-colony\/article30427157.ece\"><strong>Madhya Pradesh\ngets its first elephant colony<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Recently,Madhya Pradesh has got its first elephant colony in the\nBandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nBandhavgarh Tiger Reserve:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Bandhavgarh National Park is\nlocated in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh.It was declared a national\npark in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993.<\/li><li>The park resides on the extreme\nnorth eastern border of Madhya Pradesh and the northern edges of the Satpura\nmountain ranges.<\/li><li>The park derives its name from the\nmost prominent hillock of the area, which was said to be given by Hindu Lord\nRama to his brother Lakshmana to keep a watch on Lanka.<\/li><li>The park is also mentioned in the\nancient books of the \u2018Narad Pancharatra\u2019 and the \u2018Shiv Purana\u2019 that this place\nis being associated with Ramayana. <\/li><li>There are a large number of tigers\nin the core zone of the Park.There are more than 22 species of mammals and 250\nspecies of birds.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>According to 2017 Elephant\nCensus,India is home to 50% of the Asian Elephant population.<\/li><li>The Asian Elephant has been given\nthe highest level of protection in India by its inclusion in Schedule 1 of the\nIndian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. <\/li><li>They are also included in Appendix\nI of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna\nand Flora.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>According to All India Tiger Estimation Report\u2013 2018, Madhya Pradesh\nhas the highest number of tigers (526) followed by Karnataka (524) and\nUttarakhand (442).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India State of Forest Report 2019 News:Government has released the India State of Forest Report 2019. Facts: About the India State of Forest Report: The India State of Forest Report 2019 has been prepared by Forest Survey of India(FSI). The report is a biennial exercise.It assesses the forest and tree cover, bamboo resources, carbon stock&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/auto-draft-27\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 December 31st, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":48116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-brief","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/9-PM-Brief.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704956757},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}