Coastal crisis: It’s a race against time, and tide, for those living in Odisha’s coastal villages

GS Paper 3  Syllabus: Environment – Coastal Erosion   Source: DTE Context: Data from the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, shows that 74 villages in the state of Odisha are severely affected by shoreline erosion—the highest in the country. A study paper published in the journal Spatial Information Research in June 2018 finds that almost half …

Water warning: How ‘vanishing’ rainfall is threatening economic stability

GS Paper 3 Syllabus: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation   Source: IE  Context: According to a Global Commission on the Economics of Water report, human activities (from destroying forests to burning gas-oil-coal for energy) are disrupting the rainfall the world depends on.   Background: The report comes ahead of a key U.N. Water Conference – …

PM inaugurates the Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference

GS Paper 3 Syllabus: Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger   Source: PIB Context: At the inaugural edition of the global conference on millets, the PM of India spoke about how millets, considered to be “high-fibre foods”, are effective for health.   Background: Based on India’s proposal, the year 2023 was declared the International Year …

How India’s Digital Payment Revolution is Inspiring the World

GS Paper 3 Syllabus: Banking/ Financial Inclusion   Source: PIB, Forbes, PIB Context: In January this year, about eight billion (800 crores) transactions worth nearly $200 billion (Rs. 2 lakh crores approximately) were carried out on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) What is Digital Payment System? A digital payment sometimes called an electronic payment, is …