UGC NET/AP SET People, Development and environment Tutorial / Notes

UGC NET people, development and environment material is now available for free of cost. Candidates who are preparing for UGC NET / AP SET / TS SET and other state eligibility tests can follow this tutorial to score good marks.

The total syllabus of environment is divided in to 7 chapters. Here you can get detailed point-to-point notes for easy understanding. you can also get previous year bits and practices bits.

Chapter-I (Development and Environment)

1. Millennium development goals 
2. Sustainable development goals

Chapter-II( Human and Environment)

• Anthropogenic activities and their impact on environment 

Chapter-III ( Environmental issues: local, regional, and global)

1. Air pollution, 
2. water pollution, 
3. soil pollution, 
4. noise pollution, 
5. waste ( solid, liquid, biomedical, hazardous, electronic), 
6. climate change and it socioeconomic and political dimensions.

Chapter-IV

Impact of pollution on human health

Chapter-V ( Natural and energy resources)

• solar, wide, soil, hydro, geothermal, biomass, nuclear and forest

Chapter-VI (Natural hazards and disaster)

• Mitigation strategies 

Chapter-VII

1. Environmental protection act(1986)
2. National action plan on climate change
   

International agreements on biodiversity: 

1. Montreal protocol
   
2. Rio summit
3. convention on biodiversity
   
4. Kyoto protocol
   
5. Paris agreement
   
6. international solar alliance
   

 

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International solar alliance (ISA)

• In accordance with the Paris declaration, the ISA was found on 30th November 2015.
• It aims to collect more than $1000 billion US by 2030 by implementation of solar energy.
• The alliance was initiated by Priminister Narendra Modi of India and President Francois Hollande of France at UNFCC COP 21, Paris
  
• It is believed to be instrumental in helping countries achieve the objectives of sustainable development goals.

Objectives:

• Develop integrated solar or solar hybrid based cold chain solutions that bring economic value to farmers and producers, and include the post-harvest in-field technologies that can secure an extended shelf-life of perishable items
• Encourage the use of sustainable, low global warming potential solar-based cooling technologies through financing and incentives for small- and medium-sized farms
• Promote applied research and industry engagement to introduce affordable refrigeration solutions for small- and medium-sized producers with special emphasis on post-harvest processing facilities and transportation

One Sun One World One Grid

• According to the draft plan prepared by the ministry of new and renewable energy , the ambitious OSOWOG will connect 140 countries through a common grid that will be used to transfer solar power. 
• The vision behind the OSOWOG mantra is “the Sun never sets” and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time. 
• With India at the fulcrum, the solar spectrum can easily be divided into two broad zones viz. 
  • Far East which would include countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Lao, Cambodia and 
  • Far West which would cover the Middle East and the Africa Region,” MNRE said in the terms of reference in the RfP published to hire consultants for OSOWOG.
• The plan is divided into three phases: 
  • The first phase will connect the Indian grid with the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asian grids to share solar and other renewable energy resources. 
  • The second phase will connect the first phase nations with the African pool of renewable sources. 
  • The third phase will be the concluding step of global interconnection, said MNRE.

 

Some of the most common renewable resources that are gaining popularity are:

1. Solar energy
2. Wind energy
3. Nuclear energy 
4. Bio-flues

• The solar energy rich countries are all located between tropic of cancer and the tropic of caprion. This is the region that receives the most amount of sunlight thought the year.
• The ISA is open to 121 prospective member countries.
• 61 countries have signed the ISA framework agreement withing 2 years from its commencement.
• The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
• Bolivia is the last country to join this alliance on  30 Nov 2015 when president visit Bolivia 
• The alliance has partnered with world bank ($100 dollars)

India's Role in the ISA:

•  India initiated the alliance.
• Served as host nation for its second assembly (Oct 2019) where total 81 countries attended and two new countries were signed 1. Eritrea and 2. Saint Kitts and Nevis
  
• The headquarter of ISA is NISE, Gurugram, Haryana, India.
  
• At the World future energy summit (WFES) held in Abu Dhabi in January 2018, The government of India announced the establishment of a $350 million as solar development fund to enable financing of solar project.
• Allotted 5 acres of land and monetary support  of Rs 160/- crore to the ISA
• India will produce 175 GW electricity from renewable sources by 20222, and 10 GW will be from solar energy.
• India renewable energy development agency and solar energy corporation of India announced contribution of US $1 million each to the ISA corpus fund.
• Currently, India is one of the top 5 countries in terms of solar energy capacity as well as total renewable capacity

 

Nicaragua, a Central American country is the 87^th and the latest country to sign the agreement in 2020.

The first two assemblies were held in India in 2018 and 2019 

• Various solar awards were conferred on countries as well as institutions.
  
  • The Visvesvaraya award recognises the countries with a maximum floating solar capacity in each of the four regions of ISA, which are:
    
    • Asia Pacific Region.
    • Africa Region.
    • Europe and others Region.
    • Latin America and Caribbean Region.
  • The Kalpana Chawla award for outstanding contribution of scientists and engineers working in the field of solar energy.
  • The Diwakar award recognises organisations and institutions that have been working for the benefit of differently-abled people and have maximised the use of solar energy in the host country.

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QS World University Rankings 2022: Top 10 universities globally and the top 10 in India

 The QS World University Rankings 2022 have been released and 35 Indian institutes found a place among the total 1300 universities ranked from across the world. However, apart from the usual three, no other Indian varsity secured a spot among the top 200.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education think-tank and compilers of the world's most-consulted university rankings portfolio, released the QS World University Rankings 2022 which lists the world top higher educational institutions on Thursday. Massachusetts Institute of Technology /9NIT) is the top university in the world for the 10^th consecutive year.

Just like last year, the top-100 list doesn’t feature any Indian university, and this is for the fifth year straight that IIT Bombay (Rank 117), IIT Delhi (Rank 185), and IISc Bengaluru (Rank 186) are the only three Indian universities that bagged a spot amongst the top 200.

QS has ranked 1300 universities this year which is their largest pool till date. In the total list, 35 Indian universities got ranked, with only 22 in the top 1000, 3 in the top 200, and none in the top 100.

The QS rankings for the universities are based on the following metrics:

• Academic Reputation (40%)
• Employer Reputation (10%)
• Faculty/Student Ratio (20%)
• Citations per faculty (20%)
• International Faculty Ratio (5%)
• International Student Ratio (5%)

QS World University Rankings 2022: Top 10

Here are the top 10 universities of the world:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Location: Cambridge, United States

2. University of Oxford

Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

3. Stanford University 

Location: Stanford, United States

4. University of Cambridge

Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom

5. Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, United States

6. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Location: Pasadena, United States

7. Imperial College London

Location: London, United Kingdom

8. ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Location: Zürich, Switzerland

9. UCL

Location: London, United Kingdom

10. University of Chicago

Location: Chicago, United States

QS World University Rankings 2022: Top 10 from India

Only 22 Indian higher institutions found a place amongst the top 1000 universities of the world. But this number is relatively unchanged from the last few years there were 21 Indian varsities in the 2021 rankings, 23 in 2020, 24 in 2019 and 20 in 2018.

However, a statement from QS noted that the Indian universities have improved their performance on academic reputation metric and research impact. However, they continue to rank poorly in the teaching capacity metric -- no Indian university ranks among the top 250 universities for faculty-student ratio.

Here are the top 10 Indian universities as per the QS World University Rankings 2022:

1. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)

Rank: 117

2. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)

Rank: 185

3. Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

Rank: 186

4. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM)

Rank: 255

5. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK)

Rank: 277

6. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP)

Rank: 280

7. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG)

Rank: 395

8. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR)

Rank: 400

9. University of Delhi (DU)

Rank: 501-510

10. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)

Rank: 561-570

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National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)

The Government of India launched National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) on 30^thJune, 2008 outlining eight National Missions on climate change.

It aims at creating awareness among the representatives of the public, different agencies of the government, scientists, industry and the communities on the threat posed by climate change and the steps to counter it.

There are 8 national missions forming the core of the NAPCC which represent multi-pronged, long term and integrated strategies for achieving key goals in climate change. These are-

1. National Solar Mission
2. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
3. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
4. National Water Mission
5. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
6. National Mission for A Green India
7. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
8. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
   

 NAPCC is guided by following principles-

• Protection of poor and vulnerable sections of society through inclusive and sustainable development strategy, sensitive to climate change.
• Achievements of national growth through qualitative changes enhancing ecological sustainability.
• Deployment of appropriate technologies for both adaptation and mitigation of GreenHouse Gases emissions extensively and at an accelerated pace.
• Regulatory and voluntary mechanisms to promote sustainable development and engineering new and innovative forms of market.
• Effective implementation of plans using unique linkages like civil society and local governments through public-private partnership.
• Invite international cooperation for research, development, sharing and transfer of data and technologies enabled by sufficient funding and backed up by a global IPR regime under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology was entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating two out of these eight national missions on climate change. These are:

1. National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and
2. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC).

Source: https://dst.gov.in/climate-change-programme

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Rio Summit or Rio Earth Sumit

UNCED or Earth Summit 1992, Rio De Janeiro Brazil

• Earth Summit 1992 is also known as The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).
• Earth Summit 1992 succeeded in raising public awareness of the need to integrate environment and development.
• 190 countries pledged their commitment to achieve by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and local levels.
• As a follow-up, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10) was held in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development was also held in Rio and is also commonly called Rio+20 or Rio Earth Summit 2012.

The issues touched included:

• checking production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals,
• alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels,
• new reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities,
• the health problems caused by polluted air and smoke, and
• the growing usage and limited supply of water. 
  

The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents:

1. Rio Declaration: principles intended to guide countries in future sustainable development.
2. Agenda 21: non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development.
3. Forest Principles: Non-legally binding document on Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests. 
   

Landmark Agreements

• An important achievement of the summit was an agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
• Important legally binding agreements (Rio Convention) were opened for signature:
• Convention on Biological Diversity.
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Agenda 21

• Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations (UN) related to sustainable development.
• It was an outcome of the Earth Summit 1992.
• The number 21 refers to an agenda for the 21st century.
• Its aim is achieving global sustainable development.
• Since 2015, Sustainable Development Goals are included in the Agenda 2030.

Rio Declarations

1. Rio+10 (2002) or Earth Summit 2002

• Rio+10 (2002) or Earth Summit 2002 or World Summit on Sustainable Development.
• Took place in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002.
• Rio+10 affirmed UN commitment to Agenda 21, alongside the Millennium Development Goals.
• Johannesburg Declaration: committing the nations of the world to sustainable development.
• It was a 10 Year follow up of RIO summit
• It mentions the full implementations of the Agenda 21, overarching goal for institutions at the national levels.
  

 2. Rio+20 (2012)

• Rio+20 (2012) or United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
• Rio+20 was a 20-year follow-up to the Earth Summit 1992 and 10-year follow-up to the Earth Summit 2002.
• It is also known as Rio 2012 or Earth Summit 2012.
• Hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.
• It reaffirmed the commitment to Agenda 21.
• It was the third international conference on sustainable development

Note:

Earth Summit 1992 (Rio de Janeiro) = UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
Earth Summit 2002 (Johannesburg) = World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
Earth Summit 2012 (Rio de Janeiro) = UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

• The Convention stemmed from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference’s Agenda 21 in 1994.
• UNCCD is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs (NAP).
• National action programs (NAP) incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation.
• It is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address desertification.
• It was adopted in Paris, France in 1994 and entered into force in 1996.
• It has 196 parties, making it truly global in reach.
• 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.
• The UN Convention to Combat Desertification has established a Committee on Science and Technology (CST).
• CST is composed of government representatives competent in the fields of expertise relevant to combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought.
• UNCCD collaborates closely with Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

 

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