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Meta university will allow students flexibility in designing their curriculum and pursuing subjects and combinations of their choice in an effort to make higher education more liberal and accessible to the masses.

The world's first Meta University, to promote multi-disciplinary learning at the higher education level, may take off in India by June 2012. Delhi University will first test the ‘meta college’ idea.

• The Meta University will use the platform of the already established National Knowledge Network to create a “unified sensibility that combines intellect and emotion, analytics and synthesis, the right brain and left brain – attributes that foster innovation.”
• The model is based on combining “collaborative learning” and “multi-disciplinary learning”. In other words, the Internet and the Web will provide the communication infrastructure, while a network of universities will offer courses in various disciplines.
• The idea is to allow students and teachers to access and share teaching material, scholarly publications, research work, scientific work, virtual experiments etc, says the concept note.
• Also, students enrolled in a primary college or university will be able to pursue courses in other universities and colleges.

Vidyalakshmi is the first portal of its kind that provides a single window for students to access information and make applications for educational loans provided by banks as well as for government scholarships.

The Portal was developed by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov) under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services under the Union Ministry of Finance, Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

Highlights of the Portal:

• It provides information about educational loan schemes of banks
• Common educational loan application form for students
• It has the facility to apply to multiple banks for educational loans
• It allows banks to download students’ loan applications and upload loan processing status
• It offers students to email grievances/queries relating to educational loans to banks
• It has a dashboard facility for students to view the status of their loan application
• It provides linkage to the national scholarship portal for information and application for government scholarships.

Hence, this initiative aims to bring on board all Banks providing Educational Loans.

Association of Indian Universities

• It is the nodal agency for granting Academic equivalence to the degrees awarded by the accredited foreign Universities/ institutions for purpose of admission to higher courses.
• Association of Indian Universities is an organisation and association of major universities in India.
• It evaluates the courses, syllabi, standards, and credits of foreign Universities pursued abroad and equates them in relation to various courses offered by Indian Universities.
• The Inter-University Board acquired a legal status with its registration as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, on September 29, 1967, and was renamed as Association of  Indian  Universities  (AIU) in 1973.
• Since its inception, AIU  is actively engaged in the growth and development of  Higher Education. ​

Equivalence is granted to students if he/she meets the following eligibility conditions:

1. The degree has been awarded by a university which is duly approved/recognised/accredited in its own country;
2. The student has pursued the programme of studies as a full-time regular student on the campus of the university in the foreign country
3. The minimum eligibility qualification for admission to the programme of the study is at least the same as prescribed in India; and
4. The duration of the programme of study is at least the same as prescribed in India.

UGC-

• It is a statutory organization established by an Act of Parliament in 1956 for the coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of university education.
• Apart from providing grants to eligible universities and colleges, the Commission also advises the Central and State Governments on the measures which are necessary for the development of Higher Education.

Niti Aayog- 

• The National Institution for Transforming India was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015.
• NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs.
• While designing strategic and long term policies and programmes for the Government of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States.
• The Governing Council of NITI, with The Prime Minister as its Chairman, comprises Chief Ministers of all States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories (UTs).

ICSSR-

• Indian Council of Social Science Research was established in the year 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the country.
• It provides grants for projects, fellowships, international collaboration, capacity building, survey, publications etc. to promote research in social sciences in India.

Hence, AIU is a nodal agency for granting equivalence to degrees awarded by foreign universities.

The 103^rd Indian Science Congress (ISC) was inaugurated on January 3, 2016, at the University of Mysore by Shri. Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

• It aims to provide a platform for deliberations on science and technology for indigenous development in India.
• The theme of Science Congress in 2016 was 'Science and Technology for Indigenous Development in India'
• ISC 2016’s emphasis on “Make in India” stems from the understanding that manufacturing any product or service is impossible unless one knows the science behind it. If the science and technology shaping a product is indigenous, money spent on procuring intellectual rights are saved.

The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon. It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Science could be arranged. 

• To advance and promote the cause of science in India
• To hold an annual congress at a suitable place in India
• To publish such proceedings, journals, transactions, and other publications as may be considered desirable.
• To secure and manage funds and endowments for the promotion of Science including the rights of disposing of or selling all or any portion of the properties of the Association.
• To do and perform any or all other acts, matters and things as are conducive to, or incidental to, or necessary for, the above objects.

The first meeting of the Congress was held from January 15-17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, with the Honourable Justice Sir Asutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, as President.

• The 107^th Indian Science Congress (ISC) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 3, 2020, at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru.
• The theme of the congress for 2020 is “Science & Technology: Rural Development”
• The previous (2019) session 106^th edition was held at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar, Punjab.

Tamil Virtual University, Chennai (Madras) Tamil Nadu is a University (first virtual) recognized by UGC.

• It was established in 2001 in India as both an educational institution and a society for providing internet-based educational resources and opportunities for the Tamil diaspora (and others) interested in learning the Tamil language and acquiring knowledge of the history, art, literature, and culture of the Tamils.
• The University Provides Various Courses in various fields. Admission in this university is based on a personal interview and written admission test.
• Its main aim is to develop and deliver Internet-based learning material in Tamil language, literature, and culture to global Tamil Communities and others interested.
• This will promote the learning of Tamil by interested students anywhere in the world through the Internet. This is the first of its kind in the world in a language other than English.
• The Tamil Virtual University supports fully online degree education.

Kyoto Protocol

• It was adopted on 11 December 1997. Owing to a complex ratification process, it entered into force on 16 February 2005.
• Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
• It operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets.
• It sets binding emission reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries and economies in transition and the European Union.
• Overall, the targets add up to an average 5 percent emission reduction compared to 1990 levels over the five year period 2008–2012 (the first commitment period).
• During the second commitment period, Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020.

All the above-explained points claim that the Kyoto Protocol is related to Climate Change.

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or living parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts. Biotic factors include plants, animals, and other organisms. Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature, and humidity.

Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone, between land and sea, in the (sub) tropics. 

• All of these trees grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.
• Mangrove forests only grow at tropical and subtropical latitudes near the equator because they cannot withstand freezing temperatures.
• They provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and opportunities for biodiversity.
• Animals found are similar to those commonly found in tropical terrestrial forests and marine ecosystems such as the giant centipede, Scolopendra, hunting spiders (Lycosidae), and octopus.
• Mangrove forests stabilize the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides.
• The intricate root system of mangroves also makes these forests attractive to fish and other organisms seeking food and shelter from predators.

Hence, it is clear that Mangrove forests occur at the interface between land (terrestrial) and sea (marine), and as a consequence, these forests span both aquatic and terrestrial realms.

Evergreen forests are a category containing multi-story forests, where more than 80% of tree species keep their leaves during the entire year. In India, they are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, which fringe the Arabian Sea, the coastline of peninsular India, and the greater Assam region in the north-east. 

Rain forests are simply an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall. This dense rain forest is on the island of Borneo, which straddles two oceans (the Indian and the South Pacific) and is shared by three nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei).

Mango forests- There no such category of the forest.

India is the seventh-largest country in the world with a total land area of 3.28 million square kilometers, 23% of which is forested. Forest cover is essential for the sustenance of life and also for the maintenance of ecological, biological, and environmental equilibrium. Since the last three decades, there has been an increased concern about forest conservation, wildlife protection, and people’s participation in the protection and management of forests.

Joint Forest Management Committee ( JFMC)

• The National Forest Policy of 1988 marked the first effort to set the pace for community participation in forest management.
• The revised National Forest Policy of 1988 took into consideration the symbiotic relationship between forests and the local indigenous people and their role in the protection, regeneration, and development of forests.
• In June 1990, the Government of India issued a circular to give effect to the provisions of the National Forest Policy 1988 in this regard. Thus Joint Forest Management was born. Henceforth ‘Participatory Forestry Management’ was institutionalized as an integral part of forest governance and management.
• Under the Joint Forest Management (JFM) program, the forest areas are jointly managed by the local communities along with the government (Forest Department) on a care and share basis.
• The local people help in the development and protection of forests and, in return, they get bamboos, small timbers, and a share in the final harvest of timber in addition to the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).

The fly ash which is a by-product of coal combustion and other materials used for power generation in thermal power plants is suspected to have traces of alumina, various other toxic heavy metals, and carcinogenic elements. It has adversely affected the quality of life in a large area.

It is an eco-friendly resource and used in various ways:

• Fly ash is known to be a good insecticide and active carrier in chemical and herbal insecticides for use against various kinds of pests infecting crops.
• Mixing appropriate concentrations of fly ash with soil supplies essential plant nutrients and improves and maintains the soil’s physical quality, this can help reclaim wasteland quality and improve agricultural productivity at the laboratory and field.
• the most world-widely used storage method is to construct an ash dam. And ash dam is an important part of the thermal power plant. It is composed of the primary dam and the stacking dam.
• Fly ash bricks can be used as a building material in place of clay bricks. It is environmentally friendly. Production of fly ash bricks required fly ash, sand, and cement. Fly ash bricks are manufactured at room temperature.
• Fly ash is the ash that floats out with hot air as a result of fuel burning for use in power plants or some other industries.
• The annual estimated generation of fly ash based on coal consumption data at various coal-based power plants. Fly ash can enhance plant growth and may be considered a desirable supplement to fertilizers.

Project Tiger was first initiated to save Royal Bengal Tigers from getting extinct, in the year April 1, 1973, and is still going on.

• This project was started to save tigers.
• The much-needed project was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
• The major cause of their depletion is humans, and so all the conservation areas are made human free. They made sure that the place that tigers lived in was also safe and secure.
• Project Tiger has been successful in increasing the population of the tigers. The number has increased from 1200 to around 5000.
• The project team has been doing its work with full dedication, and all national parks are putting effort into doing the project.
• There are around fifty national parks and sanctuaries that are involved in this project.