1: The Green Credit Program: Advancements and Modifications

1. Introduction to the Green Credit Program:

   - Originally launched in 2023, the Green Credit Program (GCP) is an innovative mechanism designed to encourage and reward voluntary environmental actions across various sectors, including individuals, communities, private industries, and companies.

2. What are Green Credits and their Administration:

   - Green Credits (GCs) symbolise positive environmental deeds issued to entities who participate in tree plantation initiatives under the GCP.

   - Two years after a tree is planted and it passes an evaluation by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), it can earn one 'green credit'.

   - The Forest department, as an implementing agency, ensures that the plantation is completed within two years.

   - The GCP's governance is backed by an inter-ministerial Steering Committee, and ICFRE functions as the program's Administrator taking care of its implementation, management, monitoring, and operation.

3. Process to Obtain Green Credits:

   - Individuals and entities can register their activities via a government app/website dedicated to green credit.

   - The GCP Administrator, along with a designated agency, verifies the registered activities, with self-verification allowed for small projects.

   - Once the verification process concludes, the Administrator awards a Green Credit certificate which can be traded on the green credit platform.

2: Unusual Weather Phenomenon: The Dubai Floods

1. The Incident and its Causes:

   - Recently, a storm hit Oman and UAE leading to UAE experiencing heaviest rainfall in 75 years, leading to questions about the role of cloud seeding in the event.

   - Several factors contributed, including a strong low-pressure system, heavy thunderstorm, climate change effects, a mesoscale convective system, and rapid urbanisation making the city more susceptible to flooding.

   - Although there were speculations about cloud seeding contributing to the event, it was clarified that no cloud-seeding operations were conducted before or during the storm.

2. What is Cloud Seeding:

   - Introduced in 1946 in the USA, cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that enhances a cloud's ability to produce rain or snow.

   - In the UAE, which experiences less than 100 mm of annual rainfall, cloud seeding is adopted to combat this shortage.

   - The working mechanism involves introducing tiny ice nuclei into certain types of subfreezing clouds, assisting in the formation of snowflakes that eventually fall as precipitation.

3. Consequences of The Dubai Floods:

   - The city of Al Ain recorded 10 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period, highest since 1949.

   - The unprecedented heavy downpours caused flooding, power outages, and triggered emergency responses. Dubai Airport, the world's second busiest, was temporarily paralyzed due to the rainfall.

   - Additionally, the floods caused substantial damage to infrastructure including collapsing roads and flooding in residential communities.