Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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NASA to study how tiny sea creatures affect Earth’s climate

News

• In a first, NASA is conducting a study of the world’s largest phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic to see how the tiny sea critters influence the climate in every season.

Beyond News

• The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) mission began its fourth and final deployment, which will study how phytoplanktons give rise to small organic particles that leave the ocean and end up in the atmosphere, ultimately influencing clouds and climate.
• It is the first research mission to conduct an integrated study of all four distinct phases of the world’s largest phytoplankton bloom.
• Findings from three deployments have already confirmed a distinct shift in the annual cycle of the phytoplankton bloom and researchers have noted a clear lack of larger-sized plankton during the peak of the bloom.
• During previous NAAMES deployments, researchers completed 220 research hours aboard an instrumented C-130 aircraft along specific tracks and manoeuvres over the North Atlantic, including fly overs of the Woods Hole Oceanic Institute’s (WHOI) Research Vessel Atlantis, which carries more than 50 researchers and crew members.
• The ongoing ship deployment is currently collecting observations of ocean biological composition and stocks, aerosol measurements and optical properties of the North Atlantic study area.
• Satellites such as CALIPSO, a joint NASA and CNES mission, also help to study the ocean and the atmosphere – from the depths of the phytoplankton bloom, to the clouds and atmospheric particles in the sky above.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

No easing of mining norms

News

• The Environment Ministry’s apex forest body has shot down a joint proposal by the Coal, Petroleum and Mining ministries to fully exempt themselves from Forest department permissions to scale up the density of exploratory boreholes, used to prospect for minerals, in forests.

Beyond News

• Mining companies deploy heavy machinery and rigs to dig test, or exploratory boreholes, which are thin, cylindrical caverns that usually go hundreds of metres underground to look for signs of metals, minerals and coal.
• Currently companies can dig up to 20 boreholes a square kilometre in forests without taking the Central government’s permission.
• The Coal Ministry consortium wanted to be able to tunnel more boreholes per square-kilometre without seeking the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC)permission.
• State governments could permit the commissioning of such boreholes, provided they involved forests that had a tree-canopy density of less than 40%, or what are called ‘open forests’. For more heavily forested areas, the Central government’s permissions would be required.
• That apart, companies that conducted surveys would have to pay a compensatory cost that would be linked to the area under lease, and the agency would have to plant 20 tall trees per bore-hole area.
• The Environment Ministry and the Coal Ministry have earlier carried out studies to ascertain the impact of mining on India’s forests.
• After deliberations, it was decided to allow exploratory boreholes in open and moderately dense forests.
• While the Ministry has eased the application process, it has said that there could be no permission accorded to companies to prospect in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

IRNSS-1I up in space, completes first phase of Indian regional navigation constellation

News

• Navigation satellite IRNSS-1I was put in orbit by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) PSLV-C41 rocket.

Beyond News

• Eighth in the series, the 1425- kg satellite completes the first phase of the Indian regional navigation constellation.
• The PSLV-C41 lifted off as planned, from the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh, and after a flight lasting about 19 minutes, the satellite separated from it.
• The navigation satellites, dubbed India’s own GPS (Global Positioning System), are meant for giving precise information of position, navigation and time of objects or people. They were built by a consortium of six Indian companies led by Alpha Design Technologies Ltd., Bengaluru.
• They have a civilian and a restricted military/security application.
• Built for a 10-year job in space, 1I is expected to be ready for work in about a month after routine orbit manoeuvres and tests.
• Now orbiting in a temporary sub-geosynchronous oval path about 281.5 km x 20,730 km from the Earth and inclined 19.2 degrees to the Equator, it will be gradually pushed in the coming days into a geosynchronous circular orbit 36,000 km away, at an inclination of 29° over 55° East longitude, ISRO said.

Tapping solar energy from everywhere possible

News

• Hyderabad has a rooftop solar potential of 1,730 MW of which 1,193 MW can be generated from residential areas. This could lead to a reduction of power demand in the city by approximately 15%.

Findings

• The study conducted in areas under 18 circles of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in categories such as residential, commercial and transportation, among others  showed that apart from the residential sector, about 178 MW can be tapped from areas under the public and semi-public-use category.
• With India announcing a goal of 40 GW from rooftop solar sources by 2020, 1.73 GW (1,730MW) can be contributed from Hyderabad.
• The city has landmarks that can be utilised to generate rooftop solar power. These include structures on the Osmania University campus, both airports in the city, railway stations, Hyderabad Metro Rail stations and Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s bus depots.
• The study underscored that despite the existing policies in the State, the deployment of rooftop solar photovoltaic was poor.
• Switch to solar energy would reduce dependence on coal as a source of energy.
• The report also noted that the State had a total installed rooftop solar photovoltaic capacity of 54 MW by 2017 and the estimated rooftop solar photovoltaic capacity in the city was 34 MW.

Amphibious ship Magar joins Navy’s training squadron

News

• Amphibious ship Magarhas arrived at the Southern Naval Command (SNC) to augment the training requirements of the Kochi-based First Training Squadron of the Navy comprising naval and Coast Guard ships.

Beyond News

• The vessel, which arrived from Vizag, its previous home port, was received by Rear Admiral, Chief of Staff of the SNC.
• The ship will be converted into a training vessel, with accommodation and facilities to train cadets in seamanship, navigation, ship-handling, boat work, engineering, electrical departmental skills and the like, vital for them to earn their “sea legs”.
• The failure of ABG Shipyard, which had been contracted by the Navy to build two cadet training vessels, to build and deliver them forced the Navy to make alternative arrangements and Magar’s role conversion is part of them.
• A naval communication said the vessel was being prepared to augment the capacity of the First Training Squadron to meet the increase in the training load of officer trainees and also to cater to the maintenance requirements of the existing ships of the squadron.
• At present, the squadron comprises INS Tir (the largest training ship of Indian Navy), INS Shardul, Coast Guard ship Sarathi, andINS Sujata besides two sail training ships INS Sudarshini and Tarangini.

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