Azad Pattan hydel project

• The project is a run-of-the-river scheme with a reservoir located near Muslimabad village, 7 km upstream from the Azad Pattan bridge, in district Sudhnoti, one of the eight districts of PoK.
• It is one of five hydropower schemes on the Jhelum.
• Upstream from Azad Pattan are the Mahl, Kohala, and Chakothi Hattian projects; Karot is downstream. Like Kohala and Azad Pattan, Karot too is being developed under the CPEC framework.
• The project will comprise a 90-metre-high dam, with a 3.8 sq km reservoir.
• The $ 1.5-billion project is the second power project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Other projects in PoK
Kohala project is a 1,124 MW hydel project that will come upon the Jhelum near Muzaffarabad. This project is one of the biggest investments by China in PoK.
The Karot Hydropower station, the third project being executed by China on the Jhelum is on the boundaries of Kotli district in PoK and Rawalpindi district in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Two hydel projects are planned in Gilgit Baltistan – Phandar Hydro Power, and Gilgit KIU.
Most recent in the news was Diamer-Bhasha dam in the PoK.

Explanation:

Melghat Tiger Reserve

Melghat, part of the Satpura-Maikal landscape was among the first nine tiger reserves notified in 1973-74 under the Project Tiger.
The Tapti River and the Gawilgadh ridge of the Satpura Range form the boundary of the reserve.
The forest is tropical dry deciduous in nature, dominated by teak.
The reserve is a catchment area for five major rivers: the Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga and Dolar. These all rivers are tributaries of the river Tapti.

Project Tiger

Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
In 1970 India had only 1800 tigers and Project Tiger was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
The project is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
It aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction etc.
Under this project the govt. has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Explanation:

World to see the peak

A new analysis published in The Lancet has projected that the world population will peak much earlier than previously estimated.
It projects the peak at 9.73 billion in 2064, which is 36 years earlier than the 11 billion peaks projected for 2100 by last year’s UN report World Population Prospects.
For 2100, the new report projects a decline to 8.79 billion from the 2064 peak.
5 most populated countries
The five largest countries in 2100 are projected to be India, Nigeria, China, the U.S. and Pakistan.
However, these forecasts showed different future trajectories between countries.
Nigeria is forecast to have continued population growth through 2100 and was expected to be the second-most populous country by then.
Predictions on India’s population
For India, the report projects a peak population of 1.6 billion in 2048, up from 1.38 billion in 2017.
By 2100, the population is projected to decline by 32% to 1.09 billion.
However, meeting UN Sustainable Goal Development targets, the peak would be earlier and see a population decline to 929 million.
Conventional wisdom is that though a decline in population is expected, it is expected to begin only around 2046.
The fall according to the latest 2019 assessment by the UNDP calculation, is expected to see India’s population settle at a little over 1.4 billion.
Reasons for fall
The sharper fall is due to the assumption that all women globally will have much higher access to contraception and education.
This scenario will lead to a sharper reduction in the Total Fertility Rate, a metric that shows on average how many children a woman must have to keep replenishing the population.
A TFR is lower than 2.1leads to a decline in a country’s population.

Explanation: There are two types of bills viz. Treasury Bills and commercial bills. Treasury Bills are issued by the Central Government; Commercial Bills are issued by financial institutions.
Reserve Bank of India maintains the Principal Accounts of Central as well as State Governments at its Central Accounts Section, Nagpur.
Treasury Bills are issued only by the central government in India. The State governments do not issue any treasury bills. Interest on the treasury bills is determined by market forces.
T-Bills are issued on discount to face value, while the holder gets the face value on maturity. The return on T-Bills is the difference between the issue price and face value. When referring to the value of financial instruments, there’s no difference between par value and face value.