Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Remove references to leprosy as disability from law books: SC

News:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and all States to remove references to leprosy as a disability from statute books, saying leprosy is curable and patients should not be victims of social stigma.

Beyond News:

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, heading a three-judge Bench, said references to leprosy as a disability in the written laws amounted to “statutory stigma.”

The court is hearing a PIL petition filed by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy to repeal 119 Central and State laws in practice since the 1950s which discriminate against leprosy patients, stigmatise and isolate them despite the fact that modern medicine completely cures the disease. Age-old beliefs about corrode minds and bring upon untold sufferings into the lives of leprosy patients

There are 119 laws that discriminate against persons affected by leprosy in broadly the following five ways:

1. cause stigmatisation and indignity to persons affected by leprosy,
2. isolate/segregate persons affected by leprosy,
3. deny them access to public services,
4. impose disqualifications on them under personal laws, or
5. bar them from occupying or standing for public posts or office

Construction prohibited in unauthorised colonies: SC

News

• The Supreme Courtprohibited any further construction not in conformity with the building by-laws in 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi and questioned the authorities’ intent in regularising such colonies having illegal constructions.

Beyond News

• The apex court, while observing that there cannot be any area in Delhi where there was no “rule of law”, directed the Centre to immediately set up a special task force (STF) to oversee enforcement of laws regarding unauthorised constructions, and asked it to remove encroachments from public roads, public streets and the areas meant for pedestrians.
• A Bench, while refusing to vacate the stay at this stage on the proposed amendments in the Delhi Master Plan-2021, also sought details and figures on the status of groundwater level in the Capital since 2000 onwards.

India, Mongolia to enhance bilateral trade, investments

News

• India and Mongolia discussed economic cooperation in areas such as infrastructure development, energy, services and IT and agreed to explore the possibility of launching direct air connectivity between New Delhi and the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.

Beyond News

• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, after the 6th Session of the Indian-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation said the two countries agreed to explore ways to identify new areas of cooperation in all sectors of mutual interest and to enhance bilateral trade and investments.
• Swaraj, the first Indian foreign minister to visit the resource-rich country in 42 years.
• During the Indian-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation, the two sides discussed pressing global challenges, particularly the scourge of terrorism and agreed to collaborate bilaterally and in international arena to thwart the designs of those who extend support to terrorist outfits.
• The two sides also reviewed the progress in the ongoing collaborative projects, including the refinery project selected by the Government of Mongolia for implementation with the support of USD one billion Indian Line of Credit.
• In the meeting, they discussed economic cooperation in areas such as infrastructure development, energy, services and IT.
• India and Mongolia have close cooperation in trade and economy, science, health, agriculture, culture, education, communication and tourism. The two countries are also working closely to ensure security and curbing international crimes and terrorism.
• The total trade between the two countries amounted to USD 25.6 million in 2016.

New system to measure air quality

News

• India is tying up with the United States and Finland to develop a pollution-forecast system that will help anticipate particulate matter (PM) levels at least two days in advance and at a greater resolution than what is possible now.

Beyond News

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be coordinating this exercise and the plan is to have a system in place by winter, according to secretary, MoES.
• Currently, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), run out of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, serves as the apex forecaster of pollution trends in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.
• It generates a likely air quality profile, a day in advance, for these cities. IITM is an organisation under the MoES.
• The new system, to be jointly developed with expertise from the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the U.S.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will use a different modelling approach as well as computational techniques from that employed in the SAFAR model.

Last week, the Union Environment Ministry released a draft of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) that aims to improve air quality monitoring in India by increasing the number of pollution monitoring stations and, incorporating it into a pollution forecast system.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Western Ghats reveal world’s smallest land fern

News

• Indian researchers have discovered the world’s smallest land fern hiding in the Ahwa forests of the Western Ghats in Gujarat’s Dang district.

Beyond News

• According to a recent study, the fingernail-sized fern belongs to a group known as the adder’s-tongue ferns, named after their resemblance to a snake’s tongue.
• The size of the new Malvi’s adder’s-tongue fern Ophioglossum malviae just one centimetre  is probably the reason why it remained hidden all along, said researchers.
• A look at the plant’s minuscule seeds (called spores) under a powerful electron microscope revealed it had a unique thick outer layer which similar species lacked.
• The researchers also analysed the plant’s DNA and found it to vary enough from its relatives to call it a new species.

Giant mosquito with 11.15cm wingspan found in China

News

• A super-sized mosquito with a wingspan of 11.15 centimetres has been found in China’s Sichuan province, entomologists said.

Beyond News

• According to curator of the Insect Museum of West China, the mosquito belongs to the world’s largest mosquito species Holorusia mikado.
• First found in Japan and named by British entomologist John Obadiah Westwood in 1876, the Holorusia mikado species normally have a wing span of about 8 cm.
• These mosquitoes look horrendous, but do not feed on blood. The adults have a life span of only a few days and mainly feed on nectar.
• There are thousands of types of mosquitoes in the world. Barely 100 species feed on blood and may be a problem for humans.

Dried up lakes of Mars

News

• The discovery of cracks on the surface of Mars by NASA’s Curiosity rover in early 2017 are evidence of lakes that likely dried up 3.5 billion years ago, confirmed a study, revealing details about the red planet’s ancient climate.

Beyond News

• In early 2017 scientists announced the discovery of possible desiccation cracks in Gale Crater, which was filled by lakes 3.5 billion years ago.
• Since desiccation mudcracks form only where wet sediment is exposed to air, their position closer to the centre of the lake bed rather than the edge also suggests that lake levels rose and fell dramatically over time.
• For the study, the team focused on a coffee table-sized slab of rock nicknamed “Old Soaker”.
• Old Soaker is crisscrossed with polygons identical in appearance to desiccation features on Earth.
• They found that the polygons – confined to a single layer of rock and with sediment filling the cracks between them – formed from exposure to air, rather than other mechanisms such as thermal or hydraulic fracturing, the researchers said.

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