Important Facts for Prelims (30th November 2018)

• 30 Nov 2018

Konkan Exercise-2018

• The Bilateral KONKAN exercise is a naval exercise conducted between India and the United Kingdom.
• The Exercise provides a platform for the two navies to build interoperability and share best practices.
• The KONKAN series of exercises was started in 2004. Since then, the exercise is hosted in rotation by both the Navies and has grown in complexity, scale, and intensity.

Reggae got UNESCO Heritage Status

• Reggae music, which got international fame because of artists like Bob Marley, secured its place in United Nations’ list of intangible cultural heritage.
• Reggae music genre originated in Jamaica (a Caribbean island nation).
• UNESCO noted that while reggae started out as the voice of the marginalized, it is now played and embraced by a wide cross-section of society, including various ethnic and religious groups.
• Intangible Cultural Heritage of India:
  • Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensils among thatheras of Punjab, Sankirtana (ritual singing, dancing and drumming of Manipur), Buddhist chanting of Ladakh, Chhau Dance, Kalbelia (folk song and dance of Rajasthan), Kutiyattam (a Sanskrit theatre of Kerala), Tradition of Vedic Chanting, Ramlila, Novruz (Persian New Year), Ramman(religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas), Mudiyettu (ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala).

Emissions Gap Report 2018

• United Nations Environment Program has released its annual Emissions Gap Report.
• The Emissions Gap Report assesses the “emissions gap,” the gap between anticipated emission levels in 2030, compared to levels consistent meeting with a 2°C/1.5°C target.
• For India, the emissions are projected to be more than 10% below their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target. Thus, with its currently-implemented policies, India is likely to achieve its Cancun pledge of 2020 and NDC targets.
• The report finds that
  • global emissions of greenhouse gases have risen for the first time in four years.
  • keeping global warming below 2°C above pre-industrial levels is still technically possible, the potential to bridge the 1.5°C gap is decreasing.
  • the current pace of national action is insufficient to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, and the gap in 2018 is larger than ever
  • countries must triple their ambition levels to meet the 2°C goal, and increase ambition five-fold to meet the 1.5°C target
  • continuing with the current trends will likely lead to global warming of around 3°C by the end of the century.
  • nations must raise their ambition by three times to meet the two degrees Celsius and five times to meet 1.5 degrees
  • implementing fiscal policy measures such as carbon pricing and taxes are effective ways in reducing emissions and costs of mitigating it.

COP-16 Cancun, Mexico

• COP-16 took place at Cancun. At the conference, all parties including both the developed and the developing countries agreed to report their voluntary mitigation goals for implementation.
• Green Climate Fund under the COP, with a board equally representing developed and developing countries was established.