• 14 Jun 2024

Noida International Airport

Why in News?

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government announced its plans to develop the Noida International Airport into a world-class civil aviation facility. 

• Notably, the Noida International Airport at Jewar is being developed as the country’s first transit hub with aspirations to develop it into an Asia-Pacific transit hub, a first for India.

Key Points

• The state government announced that the Noida International Airport is being developed based on the Zurich Airport model in Switzerland, with the goal of enhancing passenger and flight handling capabilities to world-class standards.
  • The greenfield airport is being constructed in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh. 
  • It will be the second international airport in the National Capital Region, alongside Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
• The government has expedited the processes for issuing licenses, managing operations, and appointing staff and consultants at the airport through an e-tendering system.
• Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) is dedicated to developing the airport in accordance with the standards set by the Uttar Pradesh and central governments.
  • YIAPL is entirely owned by Zurich Airport International AG, the Swiss firm that secured the concessionaire contract for the public-private partnership project.
• Currently, construction is ongoing for the first phase of airport development, covering an area of over 1,300 hectares. The entire airport is planned to be developed across 5,000 hectares in four phases.

Note

Electronic tender, or eTender, is the process of sending and receiving bid tenders using online procurement platforms. 

• eTendering makes a huge difference to the procurement process as it offers improved visibility, compliance and decision-making across source-to-pay (S2P) operations.

Greenfield Airports

• Airports are usually situated in urban areas, and aviation activities can significantly impact the natural environment, contributing to environmental degradation, particularly in urban regions. 
• To tackle this issue, the Indian government introduced the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy in 2008. 
• The primary objective is to divert air traffic from existing urban airports to locations outside city centers, reducing pollution and environmental strain.
• Greenfield Airport in UP: Kushinagar (International airport)

Madhya Pradesh to Table Bill to Stop Borewell Deaths

Why in News?

The Madhya Pradesh government is in the process of drafting a law, which is believed to be the first of its kind in India, aimed at preventing fatalities resulting from open borewells. 

• In the last seven months, more than nine such incidents have been documented in MP.

Key Points

• The suggested legislation will contain specific instructions on preventing such disasters, how to respond if one occurs, and the process for assigning accountability.
• The bill calls for identification of open / dry borewells and heavy penalties on those responsible for not filling or plugging them and leaving them as an open hazard. 
• If the borewell is on private land, the land owner will be fined. If it's government land, the department and officer concerned will be penalised.
  • The second stage would be registration of a criminal case in case someone falls into an open borewell. As of now, the accused is booked for negligence. Under the new law, the accused will be booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections.
• Apart from the land owner or government official, responsibility would also be fixed on the agency that drills the borewell. 
• A system would be put in place for citizens to inform government about open borewells so that preventive action can be taken..

Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary

Why in News?

Recently, four Uttarakhand forest department staffers died and four others were injured when the team was caught up in a raging forest fire in Almora district’s Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary.

Key Points

• Uttarakhand has reported 1,213 forest fire incidents from November 1, 2023, to June 14, 2024, compared to 663 incidents reported during the corresponding period in 2023.
  • Of 1653 hectares of forest land damaged in forest fires this year, 687 hectares have been damaged in Garhwal region, 833 hectares in Kumaon region and 132 hectares in wildlife administrative regions.
• The Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Kumaon Himalayas of Uttarakhand.
  • In 1988, the sanctuary was established with the aim of conserving the rich biodiversity of the region.
  • It boasts a remarkable variety of flora due to its diverse topography and altitudinal variation. The sanctuary is primarily covered with dense forest of oak and pine.
  • The sanctuary is also home to an impressive array of wildlife. The sanctuary boasts over 200 species of birds. 
    • They include species such as the Eurasian jay, koklass pheasant, monal pheasant, and Himalayan woodpecker. 

Drug Trafficking

Why in News?

Recently, two alleged women smugglers were arrested with over 26 kg of cannabis near the Tripura-Mizoram inter-state boundary.

• Both women were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

Key Points

• NDPS Act, 1985 prohibits a person from producing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, storing, and/or consuming any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.
  • The National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse was also created under a provision of the NDPS Act, 1985, to meet the expenditure incurred in the implementation of the Act.
• Drug trafficking refers to the illegal trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit drugs.
  • It encompasses a wide range of activities associated with the illegal drug trade, including the production of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and synthetic drugs, as well as the transportation and distribution of these substances.
  • Drug trafficking operates within a complex network of criminal organisations that span across borders, regions, and even continents.

Cannabis

• According to the WHO (World Health Organization), cannabis is a generic term used to denote the several psychoactive preparations of the plant Cannabis sativa.
  • According to the WHO, cannabis is by far the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug in the world.
  • Most species of cannabis are dioecious plants that can be identified as either male or female. The unpollinated female plants are called hashish.
• The major psychoactive constituent in cannabis is Delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).