Important Facts For Prelims (30th April 2019) | 30 Apr 2019

Bodhisattva Figure Unearthed 

• Recently, a 1.74-meter Bodhisattva figure was unearthed from Phanigiri in Telangana.
• It is life size stucco Bodhisattva figure, which was created by craftsmen at Phanigiri at the peak of Ikshvaku dynasty rule, nearly 1700 year ago.

Loya Jirga

• Politicians and officials from across Afghanistan have gathered in Kabul to discuss the war and U.S. efforts to forge a peace deal with the Taliban.
• The meeting is being termed as ‘Loya Jirga’— literally “grand assembly” in Pashto. It is the largest such assembly in modern Afghan history.
• The four-day gathering has about 3200 representatives from every district in Afghanistan.
• According to the afghan constitution, Loya jirgas decision can take precedence over all state institutions, including the presidency.
• Loya jirgas have traditionally been a forum to discuss and reach a consensus on important political issues among Afghanistan's various ethnic groups, tribes, and factions.
• The notion of the Loya jirga dates from 977 A.D. when a jirga in southeastern Ghazni province chose the freed Tatar slave Naziruddin to head the Ghaznavid Empire.

Goldman Environmental Prize

• An environmental lawyer and activist from Liberia, Alfred Brownell was among the six activists to be awarded Goldman Environmental Prize.
  • He prevented a company from converting tropical rainforest into palm oil plantations.
• The other five winners are:
  • Linda Garcia of Vancouver, Washington, who successfully prevented the construction of North America’s largest oil terminal.
  • Ana Colovic Lesoska of North Macedonia, whose helped stop hydroelectric projects from being built in the country’s largest national park.
  • Bayarjargal Agvaantseren of Mongolia, who led the fight to create the Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve.
  • Jacqueline Evans of the Cook Islands, whose work led to the conservation and sustainable management of all of the Cook Islands’ ocean territory and creation of 15 marine protected areas.
  • Alberto Curamil of Chile, a jailed indigenous activist who had protested several hydroelectric projects in the country.
• The Goldman Environmental Prize environmental recognizes and honors grassroots individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk.
• The prize was created in 1989 by philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman.
• Winners are selected from nominations made by environmental organisations and others. The prize carries a $200,000 award.
• In addition to a monetary prize, Goldman Prize winners each receive a bronze sculpture called the Ouroboros.
  • Common to many cultures around the world, the Ouroboros, which depicts a serpent biting its tail, is a symbol of nature’s power of renewal.

Committee on National Clean Air Programme

• The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20%-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024.
• The committee will be chaired by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry and has members from Ministry of Power, the Energy Resources Institute (TERI), and Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K).
• The committee would be headquartered in New Delhi and would give overall guidance and directions to effectively implement the NCAP.
• The NCAP was unveiled in January, 2019 is envisaged as a scheme to provide the States and the Centre with a framework to combat air pollution.
  • The NCAP is envisioned as a five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. There would be a review every five years.
• The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) database on air pollution over the years has listed Tier I and Tier II Indian cities as some of the most polluted places in the world.
  • In 2018, 14 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities were in India.