
UPSC Prelims 2025 Special: Revision Checklist for important Environment topics that aspirants must review for their exams
— The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023 for the global conservation of seven big cats, formally became a full-fledged treaty-based intergovernmental organization.
— The framework agreement entering into force marks the official start of the IBCA's operations, activities, and programmes as mandated. It can now establish its governing bodies, secretariat, and administrative structures. 27 countries including India have consented to join IBCA.
— The IBCA is an initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2023 in Mysuru commemorating the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger. The objective of the IBCA is to ensure cooperation for the conservation of seven big cats: lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, snow leopard, jaguar, and puma, and enhance knowledge exchange and threats associated with them.
To read more: Knowledge Nugget: Importance of the International Big Cat Alliance for UPSC Exam, Knowledge Nugget | India and International Big Cat Alliance: All you need to know for UPSC Exam
— Tiger habitats are critical for preserving biodiversity, sequestering carbon, and supplying resources to nearly 100 million people. Tiger protection is also vital to the Global Wildlife Program (GWP), which works with eight tiger range countries on issues such as preventing the illegal trade in tiger parts, promoting human-tiger coexistence, and restoring and connecting tiger ecosystems.
— The GWP, supported by the Global Environment Facility and led by the World Bank, was pleased to sponsor the Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference in Bhutan.
— The Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference brought together 200 participants from tiger range nations, business and public sector funders, development partners, and conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to debate creative ways to finance tiger landscape conservation sustainably.
(Source: World Bank)
— The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme is UNESCO's flagship initiative for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, focussing on improving people's relationships with their ecosystems.
— The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme is an intergovernmental scientific initiative that seeks to build a scientific foundation for improving the relationship between people and their ecosystems.
— The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is a dynamic and participatory network of exceptional places maintained by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
— This 2024 edition of The State of the World's Mangroves emphasises the significant progress made on numerous fronts to protect these ecosystems.
— Mangroves are widespread in tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, northern Australia, Equatorial Africa, and the low-latitude Americas.
— They play an important role in erosion prevention by absorbing wave movements. They also serve as key biodiversity hotspots.
— Mangroves and other tidal plants need oxygen at their roots to survive. They collect it when the tide is low and the water drains away. When plants become wet due to global warming, they begin to die.
— Pichavaram mangrove forest is one of India's largest mangrove ecosystems, lying between the significant estuaries of the Vellar and Coleroon rivers. The site includes littoral and swamp forest habitats.
— The Global Mangrove partnership (GMA) is the leading partnership working to save and restore the world's mangroves. Its 100+ member organisations are spread across 30 countries and active in many more.
(Source: http://www.mangrovealliance.org)
— Rat-hole mining, a method of extracting coal from narrow, horizontal seams, is common in Meghalaya. The term 'rat hole' refers to narrow pits dug into the ground, usually only large enough for one person to descend and extract coal.
— After digging the pits, miners use ropes or bamboo ladders to descend to the coal seams. The coal is then physically removed with rudimentary instruments like pickaxes, shovels, and baskets.
— Rat hole mining offers severe safety and environmental risks. Mines are often unregulated, with no safety measures such as sufficient ventilation, structural support, or worker protective equipment. Furthermore, the mining process can result in land degradation, deforestation, and water contamination.
— The ISFR is produced biennially and entails mapping the country's forest cover with satellite data.
— The ISFR uses data derived from wall-to-wall mapping of India's forest cover using remote sensing techniques to plan and formulate policy in the forest management, forestry, and agroforestry sectors.
— India's green cover has surpassed the 25% mark, with forest (21.76%) and tree (3.41%) covering 8,27,357 square kilometres (25.17%) of the country. Of this, 4,10,175 square kilometres are designated as thick forests.
— The net forest cover increased by 156.41 sq km between 2021 and 2023, bringing the geographical area under forest cover to 21.76 percent, a mere 0.05 percent increase from the 2021 assessment. With the increased net forest area, the total area under forest cover is currently 7,15,342.61 square kilometres.
— The tree cover has increased the most dramatically. It grew from 2.91% in 2021 to 3.41% in 2023, resulting in an expansion of 1,285.4 square kilometres. The overall green cover has expanded by 1,445.81 square kilometres since 2021, accounting for 25.17 percent of the geographical area.
To read more: Knowledge nugget of the day: India State of Forest Report 2023
— According to a new study, plant cover on the Antarctic Peninsula, a long, mountainous extension of Antarctica that extends north towards South America, has increased by more than tenfold in recent decades as temperatures have risen.
— A 2023 study published in the journal Nature Climate Change discovered that the continent is warming twice as rapidly as the world average, at a pace of 0.22 to 0.32 degrees Celsius per decade.
— The Antarctic Peninsula is warming five times faster than the global average, making the situation worse than elsewhere in Antarctica. The average temperature on the Antarctic Peninsula has increased by nearly 3 degrees Celsius since 1950.
— The government-launched Mission Mausam aspires not just to improve weather forecasting in the country, but also to manage certain weather events, such as rainfall, hail, fog, and, subsequently, lightning strikes.
— A cloud chamber resembles a closed cylindrical or tubular drum into which water vapour, aerosols, and other materials are pumped. A cloud can form inside this chamber when the humidity and temperature are just right.
— The objective of establishing a convective cloud chamber is to gain a better understanding of cloud physics under conditions commonly affecting Indian weather systems.
— Cloud physics is the study of cloud behaviour under normal and extreme conditions; intra-particle interactions within a cloud; the formation of rain droplets and ice particles; the influence of moisture added into the atmosphere by cyclones or low pressure systems; and interactions between different cloud layers, among other things.
— It is any ground that has been frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years. These continuously frozen fields are especially abundant in mountainous places and at higher latitudes, particularly around the North and South Poles.
— Permafrost covers a wide area of the Earth. Permafrost covers over 25% of the Northern Hemisphere's geographical area. Although the earth is frozen, permafrost zones do not always have snow.
— Permafrost is composed of soil, rocks, and sand kept together by ice. The soil and ice in permafrost remain frozen all year.
— Permafrost soils contain high quantities of organic carbon—a material remaining from dead plants that couldn't break down, or rot away, due to the cold. Lower permafrost layers contain soils made mostly of minerals.
— Methane, a strong greenhouse gas, traps heat 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide during a 20-year period.
— Wetlands emit methane as soil bacteria break down carbon-rich plant matter, a process accelerated by rising temperatures and increased wetland area due to floods.
— From 2020 to 2022, methane concentrations in the atmosphere reached their highest levels since 1980. According to studies, tropical regions are mostly responsible for the increase, with the Congo, Southeast Asia, the Amazon, and southern Brazil contributing significantly.
— It is the ability of a living creature to generate and radiate light. This phenomenon is unusual in terrestrial ecosystems but prevalent in marine environments.
— Many marine animals, including bacteria, algae, jellyfish, worms, crabs, sea stars, fish, and sharks, can create their own light. Deep-living and planktonic creatures exhibit higher luminescence than shallow species. Furthermore, the appearance of bioluminescent light varies depending on the environment and creature in which it is present.
— According to NOAA, bioluminescence is the product of an enzyme reaction. An enzyme accelerates a chemical reaction by assisting a substrate in reacting. The enzyme is reused in the process rather than being converted into another molecule.
To read more: Knowledge nugget of the day: Bioluminescence
— It involves removing mineral deposits and metals from the ocean's seabed.
— There are three types of such mining: taking deposit-rich polymetallic nodules off the ocean floor, mining massive seafloor sulphide deposits and stripping cobalt crusts from rock.
— These nodules, deposits and crusts contain materials, such as nickel, rare earths, cobalt and more, that are needed for batteries and other materials used in tapping renewable energy and also for everyday technology like cellphones and computers.
— South America is witnessing its worst forest fire season in nearly two decades, breaking a previous record for the number of blazes seen in a year.
— Brazil, the continent's largest country, has been affected the worst, accounting for 60% of the region's current fires.
— Three of the world's six largest ecosystems—the Amazon, the Cerrado (the world's most biodiverse savanna), and the Pantanal wetlands—have been badly impacted.
— Excess fluoride increases the risks of disease conditions like skeletal fluorosis, accelerates the rate of dental decay and can cause other human health hazards, especially among children.
— Even though fluoride is among the many minerals found naturally in groundwater, the nationally permissible limit is 1.50 milligrams/litre. Contamination over 1.50mg/litre is deemed unfit for drinking purposes.
— Fluoride is discharged and mixed with groundwater as a result of the leaching and dissolving of fluoride-bearing minerals in the host water aquifers.
— The average fluoride concentration in groundwater was greater in dry, western Indian areas. Rajasthan topped the charts, with pre-monsoon concentrations of 1.41mg/litre and post-monsoon concentrations of 1.44mg/litre, both of which were near to India's maximum allowable limit.
— The soil health card informs farmers about the nutritional state of their soil and recommends the right nutrient dosage to improve its health and fertility.
— The adoption of a soil health card has helped farmers significantly cut production costs while increasing yield. The soil health card depicts the soil's macronutrient and micronutrient levels.
— Macronutrients include nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, whereas micronutrients include boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc. The soil's physical properties include organic carbon (OC) and electrical conductivity (EC).
— The biomaterial, known as a cyanobacterial engineered living material (C-ELM), contains living cyanobacteria within translucent panels that can be put on the inner walls of buildings. As microorganisms grow through photosynthesis, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
— A kilogramme of C-ELM can collect up to 350g of CO2, whereas the same amount of ordinary concrete would emit around 500g. A wall covered with 150 square metres of solar panels could trap approximately one tonne of CO2.
— A groyne is a stiff hydraulic structure formed from an ocean coastline (in coastal engineering) or a river bank that disrupts water flow and restricts sediment migration.
— Groyne promotes beach widening, which helps to preserve an appealing beach environment that is valuable for recreation and tourism.
— It also holds silt, resulting in beach broadening, reduces erosion, and more wave energy dissipation. It provides a strong structure for the long-term stabilisation of coasts exploited for social activities.
(Source: http://www.ctc-n.org)
— The treaty aims to reduce pollution while also conserving and promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity and other marine resources in ocean seas.
— Because the high seas are outside of any country's national jurisdiction, the treaty is also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions Agreement (BBNJ). It is properly known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.
— The treaty only applies to oceans that are not under the jurisdiction of any country. National authorities typically extend up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from the coastline, forming exclusive economic zones, or EEZs.
— The treaty also makes it mandatory to carry out a prior environmental impact assessment (EIA) for any activity that is potentially polluting or damaging to marine ecosystems, or to conservation efforts.
— The High Seas Treaty seeks to achieve three substantive objectives:
(i) Conservation and protection of marine ecology;
(ii) Fair and equitable sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources; and
(iii) Establishment of the practice of mandatory environmental impact assessments for any activity that is potentially polluting or damaging to the marine ecosystem.
a. Rhino
— The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) released its annual State of the Rhino report on World Rhino Day, 22nd September, to highlight the risks to and promote awareness for the five rhino species.
— Rhino poaching in Africa increased by 4% between 2022 and 2023.
— White rhino populations in South Africa are increasing despite poaching.
— The greater one-horned rhino can be found in northern India and southern Nepal, in riverine (floodplain) grasslands and associated woods.
— Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site, is famed for thereat Indian one-horned rhinoceros. The topography of Kaziranga includes sheer forest, thick elephant grass, rough reeds, marshes, and tiny lakes. It was declared a national park in 1974.
IUCN Status: Vulnerable (One-horned Rhino)
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered (Sumatran Rhino)
(Source: rhinos.org)
b. Great Indian Bustard (GIB)
— The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) approved Rs 56 crore funding for the next phase of the conservation program of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and the Lesser Florican for the 2024-2029 period.
— The Bustard and Lesser Florican are both critically endangered species. Only 140 Bustards and less than 1,000 Lesser Floricans survive.
— The Great Indian Bustard is a large bird found only in India. It is known to be a key indicator species of the grassland habitat, which means its survival also signals the health of grassland habitats.
Habitat: mainly Rajasthan and Gujarat
c. Camel
— The United Nations has named 2024 the International Year of Camelids (IYC 2024). The Year will highlight how camelids are critical to the livelihoods of millions of households in harsh situations in over 90 countries, notably Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
— Camelids play a vital role in furthering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for hunger relief, extreme poverty elimination, women's empowerment, and the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.
— The Indian camel's IUCN status is Endangered.
d. Indian Flapshell Turtle
— The Indian Flapshell Turtle is a small softshell turtle with a carapace length of up to 350 mm. Nesting often begins in late summer and continues through the monsoon season, which lasts from July to November.
— These species live in a wide range of aquatic habitats, including rivers and streams, reservoirs, marshes, ponds, lakes, and even salt marshes, rice fields, gutters, and canals in urban areas
— It is ubiquitous in brackish water lagoons on India's east coast and is frequently seen in irrigation canals and tanks, as well as stagnant paddy fields.
Distribution: India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
e. Naegleria fowleri
— Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a rare brain infection that is caused by Naegleria fowleri. It is a free-living amoeba or a single-celled living organism.
— Naegleria fowleri lives in warm fresh water and soil all over the planet. It infects people by entering the body through the nose.
— Naegleria fowleri enters the body through the nose, generally while people are swimming. It then travels to the brain, destroying brain tissue and inducing edoema. Notably, humans cannot become infected with Naegleria fowleri by ingesting water contaminated with the amoeba.
f. Moulmein Rosewood
— The Moulmein Rose Wood (Milliettia ovalifolia) tree's stunning pink and purple blossoms are best seen in the spring.
— The Moulmein Rosewood, a small to medium-sized tree native to Indo-China and the Malayan regions, is plentiful in the forests of Dehradun and the Shivalik hills.
— It is a deciduous tree that is commonly planted along avenues for ornamental purposes and is ideal for parks. However, according to the 'Tree Directory of Chandigarh', its economic benefits include use as a fish and arrow poison and an insecticide.
— Throughout the spring and early summer, the Moulmein Rosewood's blushing pea-shaped lilac and mauve blossoms appear as jewels on a string. They bloom from April to May. It is a resistant and sturdy tree that can thrive in practically any type of soil as long as it is well-drained.
g. Orangutans
— Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, has faced significant pressure to make its palm oil sector more sustainable. The industry has been related to deforestation, which results in the loss of habitat for orangutans.
— These apes live in the rainforests of the Borneo and Sumatra islands, which are shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. According to a World Wildlife Fund estimate, the orangutan population is currently around 120,000 and is under threat from fast deforestation, mostly caused by palm oil plantations.
— All three species of orangutan, Bornean orangutan, Sumatran orangutan, and Tapanuli orangutan are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
h. Golden langur
— Golden langur, also known as 'Sonali Bandar' locally, is confined between the Sankosh River in the west, Manas in the east, the Brahmaputra in the south, and the mountains of Bhutan in the north.
— It is an endangered primate found only in northwestern Assam, India, and southern Bhutan.
— Golden langurs (Trachypithecus geei) are members of the colobines (subfamily Colobinae), a big Old World monkey family. Colobines are mostly leaf-eating monkeys with ruminant-like multi chambered stomachs.
— Golden langurs are listed as a Schedule-I species in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
a. Kasturirangan Committee
— Kasturirangan, a well-known space scientist who also served in the Rajya Sabha and on the erstwhile Planning Commission, died in Bangalore. He was 84 years old and had been suffering from age-related difficulties for the past two years.
— He chaired two committees whose reports resulted in important policy changes. His research on the ecology of the Western Ghats, which is largely a review of an earlier report by an environmentalist Madhav Gadgil-led team, serves as the foundation for efforts to restrict human activity in certain parts of the Western Ghats. Kasturirangan also led the group that recommended the New Education Policy.
Recommendations of the Kasturirangan committee report
— The Kasturirangan committee report proposes 37 per cent of the total area of Western Ghats, which is roughly 60,000 square kilometres, to be declared as eco-sensitive area (ESA). Out of this, 20,668 sq km of the area falls in Karnataka covering 1,576 villages.
— The report recommended a blanket ban on mining, quarrying, setting up of red category industries and thermal power projects.
— It also stated that the impact of infrastructural projects on the forest and wildlife should be studied before permission is given for these activities. It also stated that the UNESCO Heritage tag is an opportunity to build global and domestic recognition of the enormous natural wealth that exists in the Western Ghats.
b. COP 29
(i) Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste
— Recognising that by reducing methane emissions in all relevant sectors, primarily in the fossil energy, agricultural, and waste sectors, by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030, the world has the potential to avoid projected global warming by at least 0.2°C by 2050, as outlined in the Global Methane Assessment, this action is critical to keeping global average temperatures below the 1.5°C threshold.
— Noting that methane in the waste sector is the rapidly rising source of anthropogenic methane emissions, resulting mostly from the decomposition of organic waste in landfills, open dumps, and wastewater, and contributes about 20% of anthropogenic methane emissions.
— India is not a signatory of COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste.
(ii) Green Energy Pledge: Green Energy Zones and Corridors
— To collectively double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements from around 2% to over 4% every year by 2030, and to put the principle of energy efficiency as the 'first fuel' at the core of policymaking, planning, and major investment decisions, as well as the call on Parties in the outcome of the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement to contribute to the global efforts of transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner.
(iii) Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment and Trade (BICFIT) Dialogue
— BICFIT Dialogue builds on the growing momentum around the mutually reinforcing role of climate finance, investment, and trade in solving the intersectional issues of climate change and sustainable development, which was acknowledged at COP26, COP27, and COP28.
— It is a COP29 Presidency initiative, co-facilitated by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and UN Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Trade Centre (ITC), and the respective COPs of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
— This effort is optional, open to all Parties and observers, and aims to promote information sharing, mutual learning, and cooperation among ministries, governments, and other stakeholders.
(iv) Climate Finance Action Fund
— The CFAF is part of a large package of proposals that Azerbaijan has prepared for inclusion in the final outcome of COP29 (29th edition of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change).
— The Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) would seek 'voluntary' contributions from fossil-fuel producing countries and businesses, with Azerbaijan, a petroleum country, making the first payment.
— CFAF will serve as a catalyst for public-private partnerships, activating the private sector and reducing investment risk. It will provide off-take agreement guarantees to small and medium-sized renewable energy providers, as well as first-loss finance for green industrial projects.
(Source: cop29.az)
c. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement
— The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, ended with disappointment. It is regarded as a failed COP as one aspect of the compromise agreement was the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
— Article 6 of the Paris Agreement outlines how countries can work together voluntarily to meet their climate commitments. It promotes international cooperation in combating climate change and unlocks financial assistance for developing countries.
— Article 6 allows governments to transfer carbon credits obtained from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help one or more countries fulfil their climate commitments.
(unfccc.int)
d. Emissions Gap Report 2024
— According to a new United Nations estimate, China and India, two of the top three emitters, will increase their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% and 6.1%, respectively, in 2023.
— The UN Environment Programme's annual Emissions Gap Report warned that the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius would be 'gone within a few years' and that the 2 degree Celsius threshold could be breached unless countries dramatically scale up their climate actions to reduce global emissions in two years.
e. Ecomark Scheme
— It was established in 1991 as a voluntary and non-binding initiative to promote the labelling of household and consumer items based on environmental and quality criteria.
— The Rules were notified to ensure that they are consistent with existing sustainability and environmentally friendly practices, as well as the Environment Ministry's Mission LIFE (Lifestyle for Environment), which encourages sustainable consumption.
— The criteria include, among other things, reducing pollution by minimising or eliminating waste and environmental emissions, using recycled materials or producing recyclable products, reducing the use of polluting energy sources, and reducing the use of environmentally hazardous materials.
— The initiative will be carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Standards.
f. PM E-DRIVE
— The Union Cabinet approved a new scheme called PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) for the promotion of electric vehicles (EV) in India.
— The PM E-DRIVE will replace Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II).
— The new scheme offers subsidies/demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore to incentivise the adoption of electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs.
g. Convention on Biological Diversity
— The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came out of the same 1992 Rio Earth Summit that gave rise to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
— CBD aims to protect global biodiversity, restore natural ecosystems, and ensure that benefits from the world's biological resources are equitably distributed.
— The 16th Conference of Parties to the CBD, or COP16, is the first since a historic biodiversity pact was signed two years earlier. This agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was signed at COP15 in Montreal in 2022, establishes four goals and 23 targets to be met collectively by 2030.
— The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international legal instrument ratified by 196 countries that promotes 'the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources.'
— The CBD's governing body is the Conference of the Parties (COP). The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) is based in Montreal, Canada.
h. Nature Restoration Law
— European Union countries gave final approval to a major and long-awaited plan to better protect nature in the 27-nation bloc. The Nature Restoration Plan, which aims to restore ecosystems, species, and habitats in the EU, was finally adopted at a meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg after receiving support from a qualified majority of 15 of the 27 member states and 65% of the EU population.
— The Nature Restoration Law is the first law of its sort to apply to the entire continent. It is an important component of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which establishes binding targets for restoring damaged ecosystems, particularly those with the greatest potential to collect and store carbon, as well as preventing and mitigating the effects of natural disasters.
— The plan requires member states to reach restoration targets for various habitats and species, with the goal of covering at least 20 per cent of the region's land and sea regions by 2030.
(environment.ec.europa.eu)
i. Vainganga-Nalganga river-linking project
— The Maharashtra state Cabinet has approved the Vidarbha region's ambitious Vainganga-Nalganga river-linking project, which costs Rs 87,342 crore.
— Water from the Vainganga river in Godavari sub basin will be fed into the Nalganga project in Buldhana district, west Vidarbha, as part of the project, which seeks to irrigate 3.74 lakh hectares of land. The project will involve the construction of canals totalling 426.52 kilometres in length.
j. Gross Environmental Product Index
— Uttarakhand's ecosystem growth will henceforth be judged using the Gross Environmental Product (GEP) index.
— Uttarakhand is the world's first state to analyse ecosystem growth using the Gross Environmental Product Index.
— GEP can be released with GDP in the state. Its appraisal will result in greater harmony between ecology and economy.
k. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
— Every year, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed to raise awareness about the earth's declining land cover and to encourage people to work together to address this pressing issue.
— Currently, one-third of the world's land is degraded, affecting 3.2 billion people, highlighting the gravity of the crisis and the need for immediate action to battle desertification and drought.
— In the early 1990s, world leaders met at the Rio Earth Summit to address critical challenges such as desertification, biodiversity loss, and climate change. In response, the United Nations established the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1994.
— In 2007, the United Nations named 2010 to 2020 the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification. This campaign aims to promote awareness about the need of land preservation and to stimulate community action to battle desertification and droughts.
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Edited by Manas Srivastava
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- The Print
India to resume visas for Chinese nationals as thaw continues ahead of likely Modi-Xi meet
Chinese citizens will have to complete an online application, schedule an appointment and personally submit their passports at Indian visa centres in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The Indian Embassy in Beijing announced the move on the Chinese social media platform, Sina Weibo, indicating that Chinese citizens can apply for a tourist visa for travel to the South Asian nation from 24 July, 2025. New Delhi: India lifted its nearly 5-year suspension on tourist visas to Chinese nationals Wednesday, amid a continuing thaw in relations between the two countries ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit at the end of next month. The move comes as both New Delhi and Beijing continue to use confidence-building mechanisms to slowly restore ties following a diplomatic pause. The two countries have had a difficult few years following the clashes in Galwan in the summer of 2020. While India had paused visas for Chinese nationals, China issued about 3 lakh, mainly business-related visas, to Indians, last year. The issuance of visas for its tourists and businessmen was one of the Chinese government's main asks. India had paused travel from China and suspended direct air flights from the Asian country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pause was never lifted as diplomatic ties cratered, following the military clashes. However, on 21 October, 2024, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that the two countries had reached an agreement for disengagement at the friction points across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The agreement set the stage for Modi to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan a few days later. India pushed for the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as a means to build confidence in the ties with Beijing. Earlier this summer, the yatra was resumed with the first batch of pilgrims reaching the site last month. With India lifting the suspension of tourist visas for Chinese nationals, the first of Beijing's requests for restoration of ties has been implemented. The other ask by Beijing has been the resumption of direct flights. Technical teams are currently working out an agreement, which would see the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun welcomed the step in comments made to reporters, according to Reuters. 'China is ready to maintain communication and consultation with India and constantly improve the level of personal exchanges between the two countries,' Guo is reported to have said. Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with his counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing during his two-day visit to China. Jaishankar pushed for discussions on 'de-escalation' on the borders after noting that friction in the areas has been 'resolved'. In the last month, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to China for meetings under the SCO mechanism. Jaishankar attended the SCO foreign ministers' meeting during his 2-day visit to China. At the height of tensions, India moved 68,000 troops to eastern Ladakh along with military equipment. However, following the Modi-Xi meeting in October 2024, a number of bilateral mechanisms have been engaged at different levels, leading to a reduction in diplomatic tensions between the two neighbours. China is set to host the SCO Heads of State Summit at the end of August in the city of Tianjin, with Modi's attendance expected. However, the Indian PM has in the past given the summit a miss, in particular last year's summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana. (Edited by Sugita Katyal) Also read: Congress reminds Jaishankar of China's 'support' to Pakistan in Op Sindoor after his talks with Wang Yi


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- The Print
Defence, tech, education—Modi's visit will boost India-UK ties
Indian companies have made significant investments in the UK. Grant Thornton (GT) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) research in 2024 highlighted a record number of 971 Indian companies in the UK with a combined turnover of over £68 billion. The report India Meets Britain Tracker 2024 found that Indian companies in the UK are thriving, with 100 companies having a revenue growth of at least 10 per cent. The Britain meets India Tracker 2024 identified 667 British companies in India with a turnover of approximately £47.5 billion. The UK is the sixth-largest contributor of FDI to India. Cumulative FDI from the UK to India is around $36 billion between 2000 to March 2025. India's investment in the UK during this period is close to $20 billion. Following the UK's exit from the European Union, economic and trade relations between the two countries acquired a new salience. India-UK bilateral trade set a new record when it crossed $55 billion (£42.6 billion) in 2024, registering an increase of around 10 per cent over the previous year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his fourth visit to the UK. He will hold wide-ranging discussions with PM Keir Starmer on the entire gamut of India-UK bilateral relations, and exchange views on issues of regional and global importance. He is also expected to call on King Charles III. During the visit, the two sides will also review the progress of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) with a specific focus on trade and economy, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate, health, education, and people-to-people ties. The Indian diaspora in the UK is also a major presence in the UK's economic scenario. The 2020 GT report, done with the High Commission of India, London, and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), identified 654 diaspora-owned companies with a turnover of at least £100,000, generating a cumulative annual turnover of £36.84 billion. The wealth generated by Indian diaspora-owned businesses in the UK was estimated to be around £75 billion by this report. The 1.8 million Indian diaspora forms about 2.7 per cent of the UK's population. During PM Modi's visit, the signing of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected. The forward-looking agreement complements India's growth aspirations. The FTA has been described as both historic and ambitious. It is expected to boost jobs, exports, and growth, benefitting 99 per cent of Indian exports from zero per cent duty, opening export opportunities for labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, marine products, leather footwear, sports goods and toys, gems and jewellery, and others such as engineering goods and organic chemicals. Trade in services is also expected to receive a significant fillip. Enhanced global mobility for aspirational young Indians and a three-year exemption from social security payments come as a major relief for Indian employees and companies based in the UK. Despite the record bilateral trade, the UK's trade with India accounts for around 2.5 per cent of its total trade. With both sides seeking trade diversification and supply-chain resilience, an India-UK FTA will hopefully create the doorway for businesses to drive the economic relationship forward. Also read: Strategic partner one day, tactical nightmare the next: India's learning Trumplomacy the hard way Partnership in defence sector Given the immediate challenges on India's borders, cooperation in the defence sector with partners such as the UK has achieved greater importance. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to the UK in January 2024 provided fresh impetus to the defence pillar of the relationship. In 2023, ties were elevated to a 2+2 mechanism. The British defence sector could emerge as a key collaborator in technology transfers, the development of advanced capabilities, and supporting the Make in India effort by attracting more British FDI into the defence sector. Several defence cooperation agreements—covering production of Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) and Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM), the establishment of an Advanced Short-Range Air to Air Missile (ASRAAM) assembly and test facility in India and a Statement of Intent to design and develop an Integrated Full Electric Propulsion system for Indian Navy ships—signal good times ahead for India's defence sector. India's focus on indigenous development does present challenges for the British industry, with fears that it could potentially make cooperation in certain sectors commercially unviable. Intellectual-property (IP) issues also need to be resolved. These issues can hopefully be addressed through the robust defence engagement mechanism that now exists between the two countries. Moreover, the UK–India military cooperation has grown in recent times. The Royal Navy made six ship visits to India in 2023, while its Littoral Response Group (South) conducted exercises with the Indian Navy in March 2024. In August 2024, the UK's Royal Air Force participated in exercise Tarang Shakti in India. An Indian naval officer, Lieutenant Commander N Dinesh Anand, has joined Britannia Royal Naval College as Divisional Training Officer for the first time. Tech ties India and the UK are making a serious effort to build technology partnerships. The new bilateral Technology Security Initiative (TSI), formally launched during UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy's visit, aims to catalyse collaboration on critical and emerging technologies in seven key sectors: telecoms, critical minerals, semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, quantum, biotechnology and health technology, and advanced materials. Tech collaboration between India and the UK also extends to sectors including financial services, innovation in health, climate, renewables, and startups. The participation of stakeholders from government, industry, and academia would be important for taking the Technology Security Initiative forward. Both countries are global hubs of innovation, science, technology, and research. India is one of the world's largest startup ecosystems and has over 100 unicorn companies. The increasing focus on these areas is welcome. Education is an important pillar of India-UK relations. The University of Southampton opened its campus in Gurugram on 16 July 2025, becoming the first foreign university campus under the New Education Policy (NEP). The UK remains one of the preferred destinations for Indian students, with around 1,70,000 students studying in the UK in the academic year 2023-2024. PM Modi's visit will hopefully set the stage for more robust and deeper bilateral relations between the two countries. The author was India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2018-20. She tweets @RuchiGhanashyam. Views are personal. (Edited by Ratan Priya)