Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Archaeologists unearth ancient tomb with mummies

News

• Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient tomb with mummies believed to date back about 2,000 years in the southern city of Aswan.

Beyond News

• The tomb is from the Greco-Roman period that began with Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.
• It is located near one of Aswan’s landmarks, the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, who lobbied for Muslim rights in India and who was buried there after his death in 1957.
• The statement said archaeologists found artefacts, including decorated masks, statuettes, vases, coffin fragments and cartonnages – chunks of linen or papyrus glued together.

Egypt often announces new discoveries, hoping to spur the country’s tourism sector ,which have suffered major setbacks during the turmoil, following the 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Number of heat waves and cold waves on the rise in India

News

• Heat waves and cold waves in the country have increased manifold in the past two years, according to data put out by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.

Findings

• The number of reported casualties declined in the case of heat waves, they have increased in the case of cold waves.
• Rajasthan experienced the highest number of heat and cold waves from 1970 to 2018.
• While the number of heat waves increased 14 times in 2017 compared to 2016, the number of cold waves spiked 34 times in the same period. The numbers for 2018 dropped marginally.
• The number of heat-related deaths has come down despite an increase in heat waves since 2015.
• However, the number of deaths due to cold waves has risen in this period. Over 3,000 people died due to heat waves in 2015 and 2016.
• Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh & Telangana (considered a single entity) have been hit by the most number of heat waves.
• Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have had the highest number of cold waves from 1970 to 2018. South India has not been hit much by cold waves.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Measles on the decline in Tamil Nadu

News

• The number of cases of measles is on the decline in Tamil Nadu.
• In fact, the number of deaths due to this contagious disease has touched zero in the State, say officials of the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine.

Beyond News

• Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) drew attention to a spike in the number of measles cases across the globe. But Tamil Nadu has managed to bring down the cases, said officials.
• Among the reasons they cite for the decline are the introduction of second dose of measles vaccine at 16 to 24 months of age in 2011, immunisation of children below 15 years in the aftermath of natural disasters such as floods and Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign in 2017.
• Better vaccination coverage is the primary reason for the decline in measles cases.
• Immunisation against measles was introduced during the 1980s. According to surveillance data maintained since 1982, there were 10,688 cases and 113 deaths in 1982. It reached a peak in 1986, with 15,557 cases and 194 deaths.
• There was a steady decline during the following decade. From 9,818 cases and 74 deaths in 1990, case load dropped to 820 and one death in 2000.
• The last few years have been significant. The cases dropped from 1,386 in 2015 to 547 in 2016. It reached an all-time low in 2017 with 133 cases.
• Globally, there is a rise in cases due to drop in vaccination rates in Philippines after a dengue vaccine was found to be counter-productive, and a strong anti-vaccine lobby in the U.S.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Alerts sent to Sri Lanka after probe in Coimbatore ISIS case was completed by NIA

News

• Intelligence inputs regarding a possible terror attack in Sri Lankawas shared by Indian agencies with their Sri Lankan counterparts earlier this month after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) completed its probe into an ISIS-inspired module planning to kill prominent leaders in South India.

Beyond News

• The input was sent through diplomatic channels to the island nation after a thorough investigation pertaining to the ISIS case in Coimbatore was carried out by the NIA, which has filed a charge sheet against seven people.
• After further investigation which included cyber trailing of some of the accounts associated with the ISIS, the Central security agencies shared an input with their Sri Lankan counterparts about the churches being the likely target of the ISIS module.
• The videos, seized from the accused in the Coimbatore case, showed Hashim asking youths from Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to establish an Islamic rule in the region.
• The case was originally registered at B3 Variety Hall Police Station, Coimbatore City and pertained to the criminal conspiracy hatched by the accused with the intention of furthering the objectives of the proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS by targeting Hindu leaders and activists, who are critical of religious terrorism.
• The NIA investigation showed that the arrested persons had got radicalised on the violent extremist ideology of the ISIS and they had been propagating the same ideology over the social media.
• With the intention of furthering the objectives of the terrorist organisation ISIS in India, the accused had organised themselves into a terrorist gang and conspired to further the activities of the group by carrying out terrorist attacks targeting persons critical of the proscribed terrorist organisation and its violent extremism ideology.
• Though the investigation in the case are complete, the officials did not rule out the possibility of questioning all the six accused again in case some evidence suggested that they had any knowledge about the blasts in Sri Lanka.

‘Price controls hurting FDI in medical devices sector’

News

• Blanket implementation of price controls has contributed to a drastic fall in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the medical device sector, say industry insiders, pointing to a reduction from $439 million in 2016 to $66 million in 2018.

Beyond News

• Data released by the Government Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade clearly show this decline which has happened even though FDI is allowed through automatic route.
• Sectors in India which attract the highest FDI according to government figures include services sector, computer software and hardware and telecommunication.
• Meanwhile, in 2015 the Centre approved 100% FDI in the medical devices sector via automatic route. Previously medical devices, which came under the pharma sector, could take in 100% FDI through automatic route only in case of new ventures.
• Further approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was needed in case of acquisition of existing companies.
• The break-through came after the industry urged approval for FDI through automatic route, pointing out that there were no big firms for medical devices in India, and hence no threat of merger or acquisition.
• The FDI fell first to $184 million in 2017 and then to $66 million in 2018.
• The medical device industry is highly technology and capital dependent and experts say it is vital that the global community be kept engaged for this wealth and technology inflow as well as to help co-create an ecosystem for manufacturing of medical devices in India.
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Saving the planet may cost USD 100 bn/year

News

• Saving the diversity and abundance of life on Earth may cost USD 100 billion a year, say scientists who have proposed a policy to prevent another mass extinction event on the planet.

Beyond News

• There have been five mass extinctions in the history of the Earth.
• Scientists now estimate that society must urgently come to grips this coming decade to stop the very first human-made biodiversity catastrophe.
• The policy’s mission is to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth for the price tag of USD 100 billion a year.
• Societal investment in the GDN plan would, for the first time, integrate and implement climate and nature deals on a global scale to avoid human upheaval and biodiversity loss.

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