Prelim and mains facts

22 june 2017
Cartosat-2
ISRO is set to launch Cartosat – 2 along with 30 other satellites in PSLV C-38.
Cartosat is a series of earth observation satellites placed in Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (PSSO).
PSLV is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
The imageries from Cartosat-2 series satellite will useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and manmade features and various other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.

Sardar Sarovar Project

Sardar Sarovar is a gravity dam built on the Narmada River, one of the largest water resources project covering four major states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Narmada main canal would be the largest irrigation canal in the world.
The project will provide irrigation facilities to the drought prone areas in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
This will provide a useful peaking power to western grid of the country which has very limited hydel power production at present.
Wild life sanctuaries viz. "Shoolpaneshewar wild life sanctuary" on left Bank, Wild Ass Sanctuary in little Rann of Kachchh, Black Buck National Park at Velavadar, Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Kachchh, Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary and Alia Bet at the mouth of River will be benefited.
Khosla committee was set up to resolve the disputes in sharing the narmada waters between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

New Green Building Code

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) launched a code for new commercial buildings in the country.
Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017 was developed by Ministry of Power and BEE.
The code sets parameters for builders, designers and architects to integrate renewable energy sources in building design with the inclusion of passive design strategies.
It promotes low-carbon growth and lead to 30-50% energy savings by commercial buildings by 2030.
In order for a building to be considered ECBC-compliant, it will need to demonstrate minimum energy savings of 25 per cent.
Additional improvements will enable new buildings to achieve higher grades like ECBC+ or SuperECBC, leading to further energy savings of 35 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.