NHAI First ‘Sustainability Report’ captures initiatives taken for Environment Sustainability (GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
Why in news?
- The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has published its inaugural ‘Sustainability Report for FY 2021–22,’ showcasing its dedication to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
- It covers NHAI’s governance structure, stakeholders, environment and social responsibility initiatives.
Key Highlights
Reduction in emissions:
- From FY 2019-20 till 2021-22 direct emission reduced by 18.44% and 9.49% due to less fuel consumption. NHAI continues to work towards reducing indirect emissions as well, by transiting towards clean and green energy sources.
- Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions from energy consumption, operations, transport and travel measured in Metric Tonnes CO2 equivalent /km constructed saw a decline of 9.7% in FY 2020-21 and 2% in FY 2021-22.
- Similarly in operations, energy intensity in Giga Joules/km reduced by 37% in FY 2020-21 and 27% in FY 2021-22, while the kilometers constructed through the reporting period has risen steadily.
- With over 97 percent penetration, Electronic Toll Collection through FASTag has contributed to reduce the carbon footprint.
Innovations:
- Apart from this, NHAI has been using recycled materials for National Highway construction. Use of fly-ash and plastic waste in construction has increased over the last three years. NHAI has been encouraging use of Recycled Asphalt (RAP) and Recycled Aggregates (RA) in the National Highway construction.
- In order to ensure sustainable environmental growth, more than 100 Wildlife Crossings were created in three years across 20 States as a measure for wildlife protection and conservation to reduce man-animal conflict.
Plantation drive:
- Over the years, NHAI has been undertaking plantation drives to develop eco-friendly National Highways. There has been a significant increase in number of saplings planted from 2016-17 till 2021-22. Around 2.74 crore saplings were planted till 2021-22 to offset direct emissions from the vehicles.
- NHAI has partnered with different stakeholders such as State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM), Self Help Groups, CSR partners and NGOs to collaboratively organize plantation drives.
Employment:
- In addition to sustainable development, the report also highlights NHAI’s commitment to create inclusive and responsible work practices. Over last three years, women employment and employment of marginalized communities at NHAI has increased.
- With performance-based management system, NHAI has successfully promoted/encouraged women gender diversity and minority employees over the past 3 years with steady increase in female hiring by 7.4 percent and total increase of 3 percent in overall work force in three financial years.
Way Forward:
- NHAI has taken significant steps towards adopting sustainable and eco-friendly practices, including the use of renewable energy sources, promoting green highways, and adopting waste management practices.
- Going forward, NHAI remains committed to ensure that its projects are not only economically viable but also socially responsible and environmentally sustainable.
India Rankings 2023
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Union Minister for Education released the India Rankings 2023.
- , which implements the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) drafted for this purpose by the Ministry of Education in 2015.
NIRF:
- The Ministry of Education started drafting National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2015, which defines multi-dimensional parameters to capture quality and excellence of HEIs in India across various categories and subject domains and rank them based on their cumulative score on these parameters, he added.
- India Rankings serve as a valuable tool for students in identifying universities based on their relative standing in various categories and subject domains among higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the country.
- It has also helped universities in identifying areas for improvement in teaching, research, resources, and infrastructure.
Three distinct additions:
- This is the eighth consecutive edition of India Rankings of HEIs in India. Three distinct additions of 2023 edition of India Rankings are as follows:
- Introduction of a new subject namely Agriculture & Allied Sectors
- Integration of “Innovation” ranking previously executed by the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) into the India Rankings with an aim to reduce the burden on institutions of providing similar data to two different agencies.
- Expansion of scope of “Architecture” to “Architecture and Planning” to include institutions imparting courses in Urban and Town Planning.
- With the addition of new category (Innovation) subject domain (Agriculture & Allied Sectors) and expansion of “Architecture” to “Architecture and Planning”, the existing portfolio of India Rankings has increased to 13 categories and subject domains that have been ranked in India Rankings 2023.
Key Highlights of India Rankings 2023:
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras retains its 1st position in Overall Category for fifth consecutive year, i.e. 2019 to 2023 and in Engineering for eighth consecutive year, , i.e. from 2016 to 2023..
- Top 100 in Overall category consists of 44 CFTIs/ CFUs INI, 24 state universities, 13 deemed universities, 18 private universities, 4 agriculture and allied sector institutions, and 3 management institutions.
- Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru tops the Universities Category for eighth consecutive years, i.e. from 2016 to 2023. It stood first in Research Institutions Category for the third consecutive year, i.e. from 2021 to 2023.
- IIM Ahmedabad tops in Management subject retaining its first position for fourth consecutive year, i.e. from 2020 to 2023. It was ranked amongst top two in Management subject of the India Rankings from 2016 to 2019.
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi occupies the top slot in Medical for the sixth consecutive year, i.e., from 2018 to 2023. Moreover, AIIMS is ranked at 6th position in Overall category thereby improving from its 9th position in 2022.
- National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad tops the ranking in Pharmacy for first time pushing Jamia Hamdard to the second slot. Jamia Hamdard was ranked at 1st position for four consecutive years, i.e., from 2019 to 2022.
- Miranda House retains the 1st position amongst Colleges for the seventh consecutive year, i.e., from 2017 to 2023.
- IIT Roorkee stands at 1st position in Architecture subject for third consecutive year, i.e. from 2021 to 2023.
- National Law School of India University, Bengaluru retains its first position in Law for the sixth consecutive year, i.e. from 2018 to 2023
- Colleges in Delhi maintained their dominance in ranking of Colleges with five colleges out of first 10 colleges from Delhi.
- The Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences takes the top slot for the second consecutive year.
- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi takes the top slot in Agriculture and Allied Sectors.
- Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur tops in Innovation category.
World Environment Day 2023 celebrated with a thrust on Mission LiFE
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India organized the World Environment Day on 5th June 2023 with a thrust on the Mission LiFE.
Concept of LiFE:
- The concept of LiFE, i.e., Lifestyle for Environment was introduced by the Prime Minister at the World Leaders' Summit in Glasgow at COP26, when he gave a clarion call to rekindle a global pursuit to adopt environment friendly lifestyles and practices.
- As a part of Mission LiFE, a comprehensive and non-exhaustive list of 75 individual LiFE actions have been identified across 7 themes – save water, save energy, reduce waste, reduce e-waste, reduce single-use plastics, adopt sustainable food systems, and adopt healthy lifestyles.
- The theme of World Environment Day 2023 is “Solutions to Plastic Pollution”, a topic which aligns with one of the 7 themes of Mission LiFE: “Saying No to Single-use Plastics” and is also linked to implementation of a number of LiFE actions.
Two new Schemes:
- Prime Minister launched two schemes; Amrit Dharohar and MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes) aimed at reviving the country's wetlands and mangroves.
Amrit Dharohar Yojana:
- India currently has 75 Ramsar sites that are wetlands of international importance and have been designated under the criteria of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
- The country also accounts for about 3% of South Asia’s mangrove population. Apart from the Sundarbans in West Bengal, the Andamans region, the Kachchh and Jamnagar areas in Gujarat have substantial mangrove cover.
- Acknowledging the importance of conservation of Ramsar Sites, the Government of India announced ‘Amrit Dharohar’ initiative as part of 2023 Budget announcement to promote the unique conservation values of Ramsar Sites.
- The launch of Amrit Dharohar Yojana will ensure the conservation of the existing Ramsar sites through public participation, and these sites will become the centre of eco-tourism and a source of green jobs for thousands of people.
MISHTI:
- Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 to promote and conserve mangroves. Mangroves are unique, natural eco-system having very high biological productivity and carbon sequestration potential, besides working as a bio-shield.
- The Programme will cover approximately 540 sq km area across nine (9) coastal States and four (4) UTs in five years (2023-2028).
- It will create around 22.8 million man-days with estimated carbon sink of 4.5 million tons of Carbon. It will also create potential areas for nature tourism and livelihood potential for local communities.
- The primary objectives of the MISHTI scheme are sharing of best practices on plantation techniques, management practices, conservation measures and resource mobilisation through public-private partnership.
- The Centre will cover 80% of the project cost, while state governments will contribute the remaining 20%.
World Environment Day 2023:
- World Environment Day is the largest global event celebrated by millions on June 5.
- The event led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was first celebrated on 5 June 1973, and this year marks its 50th anniversary.
- The 2023 theme for World Environment Day will focus on ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’ under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution, encouraging worldwide activism.
- Côte d'Ivoire in partnership with the Netherlands hosted World Environment Day 2023 campaign event.
