Millet

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets. 

Western disturbance

• Western disturbances are storms that originate in the Mediterranean region. 
• They bring easterly winds to Delhi, along with a spike in moisture and increased clouding or rainfall. 
• They are regular features in winter. 
• In monsoon and summer, they have more tropical characteristics and bring rain and thunderstorms. 
• In winter, they bring rain and snow over the hills and more moisture to the plains. 
• The cloud cover results in higher minimum temperatures at night and lower day-time or maximum temperatures.

Volcano Eruption

Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted after 38 years on Sunday (November 27), spewing ash and debris, and covering the night sky of Hawaii’s Big Island in an incandescent red hue.

Famous volcanoes in the world

1. Krakatoa, Indonesia
2. Mount Vesuvius, Italy
3. Mount Fuji, Japan
4. Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
5. Kīlauea, Hawaii
6. Mount St Helens, USA

Indus Water Treaty

 

Drought

Drought is a rainfall-scarce period, affecting the availability of water for irrigation, drinking,etc 

They are classified into three types:

• METEOROLOGICAL drought is a prolonged dry spell in periods when rainfall is expected 
• HYDROLOGICAL drought is when scarcity of water begins to hit normal supplies in the system 
• AGRICULTURAL drought is when scarcity of water begins to affect the agricultural production

Source: The Indian Express

Italy

• Lake Garda: country’s largest lake
• lake shrinks

**Also in News

• Po River

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

• First developed in Madagascar in the 1980s and since then several countries in the world practicing it.
• India

Benefits

• to save 15 to 20 % improve groundwater, improve rice productivity.
• all types of soil including less fertile soil 

Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR)

• only for mid to heavy textured soils

Source: The Indian Express

Heatwaves

• Period of abnormally High Temp.
• India: May-June

Criteria

• for Plains >40 C and Hilly Region >30 C

Nord Stream 1 Pipeline

• Russia to Germany
• Under the Baltic Sea

Location-Based Question

• Baltic Countries
• Map
• Keyword Type Qs
• Refer

Muslim pilgrims

• Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia
• 20 kilometers east of the holy city of Mecca.

Cloudburst

A cloudburst is short-term extreme precipitation that takes place over a small area.

Rainfall of 10 cm or more in an hour over a roughly 10 kmx10 km area is classified as a cloudburst event.

• a cloudburst that hit a camp near the Amarnath cave shrine in J&K
• flash flood

Updates

22/08/2022:

• destruction caused by cloudbursts and flash floods in different parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Source: The Indian Express

Summer Solstice

• June 21: Longest day in the Northern Hemisphere
• Because of the Earth's tilt-23.5

PYQs

In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year normally occurs in the :[CSE 2022]

(a) First half of the month of June 

(b) Second half of the month of June 

(c) First half of the month of July 

(d) Second half of the month of July

ANS:[B]

Africa

Country In News:

1. Ethiopia
2. Rwanda
3. Tunisia
4. Somalia: Drought Condition
5. Mozambique
6. The Horn of African Country: China's Infrastructure Project

Lake Sawa: Iraq

Iraq’s Lake Sawa the lake dried up due to climate change and mismanagement.

For more info Watch:

PYQs

Which one of the following lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert ? 

(a) Lake Victoria 

(b) Lake Faguibine 

(c) Lake Oguta 

(d) Lake Volta

Ans: [b]

Solomon Islands

 

Antarctica

 News

Microplastics found in Antarctica

Nord Stream Pipeline 2, Syria: Syria’s Latakia port, Belagavi

Nord Stream Pipeline 2**

• Baltic Sea from the Russian city of Ust­-Luga to the German city of Lubmin.
• The construction of Nord Stream 2 began in 2015.

Syria: Syria’s Latakia port

• Capital: Damascus

Belagavi**

• States Reorganisation Act, 1956
• Maharashtra and Karnataka
• Mahajan Commission Report