CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

• It is the statutory organization constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• Further, CPCB was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
• It functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Function:

• To Promote cleanliness of streams and wells in different areas of the States by prevention, control and abatement of water pollution, and
• To Improve the quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country.
• Co-ordinate the activities of the State Board and resolve disputes among them.
• Provide technical assistance and guidance to the State Boards, carry out and sponsor investigation and research relating to problems of water and air pollution, and for their prevention, control or abatement;
• It is responsible for the enforcement of Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 1989.

ICGS ATULYA

About ICGS ATULYA:

• Atulya meaning ‘Unrivalled’ based at Visakhapatnam under the administrative control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (East).
• It is one of the series of twenty Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs), designed and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, were commissioned at Kochi on 2016.
• Equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, advanced communication and navigational equipment, the ships are ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast missions such as surveillance, search and rescue and interdiction.
• The special features of the ships include an Integrated Bridge Management System (IBMS) and Integrated Machinery Control System (IMCS).

COFFER DAM

Context: The flood in the Godavari river at the Polavaram dam site, led to inundation of the road leading to the under- construction coffer dam cutting it off from the bank, had created a flutter.

About Coffer Dam:

• A cofferdam (also called a coffer) is an Enclosure Built within, or in pairs across, a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out.
• This pumping creates a Dry Work Environment so that the work can be carried out safely.
• Enclosed coffers are commonly used for construction or repair of permanent dams, oil platforms, bridge piers, et cetera, built within or over water.
• These cofferdams are usually welded steel structures, with components consisting of sheet piles, wales, and cross braces.
• Such structures are usually dismantled after the construction work is completed.

PLAN BEE

Context: Plan Bee – keeping wild elephants away from railway tracks earned the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) the best innovation award in Indian Railways for the 2018-19 fiscal.

• There are 29 Earmarked Elephant Corridors with the operating zone of NFR spread across the north-eastern states and parts of Bihar and West Bengal.
• Trains are required to slow down at these corridors and adhere to speed specified on signs.
• But elephants have ventured into the path of trains even in non-corridor areas, often leading to accidents resulting in elephant deaths

About Plan Bee:

• It is an amplifying system imitating the buzz of a swarm of honey bees to keep wild elephants away from railway tracks
• A device was subsequently designed to generate the amplified sound of honey bees audible from 700-800 Meters. The first instrument was installed at a level crossing west of Guwahati on a track adjoining the Rani Reserve Forest, an elephant habitat.
• NFR now has 46 such devices installed at Vulnerable points.

OPERATION MILAP

Context: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has rescued 333 children from Delhi as these children were missing since January 2019 from various parts of the country.

About:

• The Operation Milap was launched in December 2014.
• Under this project, the Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Delhi Police develops information, rescues the trafficked or kidnapped person and arrests the kidnappers.
• The rescued children are counselled and also given requisite medical attention.
• Police are trying to find out the parents of the children rescued, so that they can be reunited with their families.

WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY

Context: To be organized on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, from July 13 to 15, the three-day programme by Bihar Skill Development Mission envisages raising awareness among the youth in even the remotest part of the state.

• In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 15th July as World Youth Skills Day.
• The goal is to achieve better socio-economic conditions for today’s youth as a means of addressing the challenges of unemployment and under employment.
• The theme for 2018 World Youth Skills Day is ‘Improving the image of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

INDIA’S 1st ELEPHANT REHABILITATION CENTRE

• The Kerala government is working to set up the Country’s First Elephant Rehabilitation centre in Kottoor, an ecotourism village near the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
• The centre, expected to have an elephant museum, mahout training centre, super-specialty hospital, a retirement home and crematorium for the animals, will house orphaned, injured and older elephants.
• It is being planned on the lines of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka.

NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU

Context: The NCRB, which manages crime data for police, would like to use Automated Facial Recognition to identify criminals, missing people, and unidentified dead bodies, as well as for “crime prevention”.

About NCRB:

• It is an Indian Government Agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Ministry: Home affairs
• It was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators, based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the MHA’s Task force (1985).