Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Century-old bridge to be preserved

News

• New Delhi, In a bid to save its heritage structures, the Railways has decided against dismantling the 113-year old Lord Curzon Bridge in Allahabad and will hand it over the Uttar Pradesh government for its preservation.

Beyond News

• A senior Railway Ministry official aware to the development told,The Lord Curzon Bridge would not be dismantled. It would be handed over to the UP government.
• The decision, was taken in February after the UP government wrote to the Railway Ministry requesting that it be handed over the bridge.
• According to a ministry official, the construction of the 61-metre-long Lord Curzon Bridge that caters to both rail and vehicular traffic was sanctioned in 1901 as a state railway bridge.
• The bridge has a single broad gauge (BG) line between the girders and a roadway on top. The engineer-in-charge was Robert Richard Gales. It opened for railway traffic on June 15, 1905, and for road traffic on December 20, 1905.
• The bridge connects Allahabad with Phaphamau from the Teliarganj area over the Ganga river. The official said that the road on top and railway line below made the bridge an engineering marvel of the time.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Bamboo Mission extended

News

• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the extension of the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) till 2019-20 at an expenditure of ₹1,290 crore.

Beyond News

• The Mission will ensure holistic development of the bamboo sector by addressing complete value chain and establishing effective linkage of producers [farmers] with industry, the government said in a release.
• The CCEA [the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs] has also approved the setting up of an executive committee for the formulation of guidelines of the NBM and to make the changes therein, including cost norms for various interventions from time-to-time as per the needs and specific recommendations of States, with the approval of the Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
• Of the total cost of ₹1,290 crore, the Centre’s share would be ₹950 crore.
• The scheme will benefit directly and indirectly the farmers as well as local artisans and associated personnel engaged in bamboo sector, including associated industries, the government added.
• Since it is proposed to bring about one lakh hectares under plantation, about one lakh farmers will directly benefit in terms of plantation.

India’s ranking in press freedom falls to 138

News

• India’s ranking in the Press Freedom Index has fallen two places to 138, a watchdog said in an annual report, blaming “physical violence” against journalists like Gauri Lankesh as the key reason behind the country’s low ranking.

Beyond News

• Norway topped the list of having the world’s freest press for the second year in a row, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said while North Korea remained the most repressive country followed by Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria and then China.
• India’s ranking has fallen two places to 138th position in a ranking of 180 countries.
• The report warned that hate crime is another issue plaguing India.
• China’s ranking remained unchanged at 175th position for the second year.
• Underlining that China’s censorship and surveillance has reached unprecedented levels due to the massive use of new technology, the RSF said foreign reporters are finding it harder to work and ordinary citizens can now be jailed just for sharing content on a social network or during a private chat on a messaging service.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Planet darker than charcoal discovered

News

• Scientists have discovered a ‘pitch black’ planet 470 light-years away that absorbs 99 per cent of light, making it one of the darkest planets ever found.

Beyond News

• The planet, named WASP-104b, was discovered by researchers from Keele University in the UK, who used NASA’s Kepler telescope to show that it is ‘darker than charcoal.’
• This is one of the darkest planets ever discovered reflecting very little light from its host star.
• WASP-104b is interesting because it was not even seen. All planets reflect starlight from their host star. Some planets are highly reflective, such as Venus reflecting 70 per cent of the light, while some others reflect only 10 per cent.
• The planet was discovered orbiting a yellow dwarf star some 470 light-years away from us in the constellation Leo, and is categorised as a ‘hot Jupiter’ planet.
• Hot Jupiters are gas giant planets of a similar mass to Jupiter, but are located much closer to their host stars making them very hot.
• WASP-104b is so close to its host star (at around 2.6 million miles) it takes just 1.76 days to complete its orbit. This proximity to its host star may be the reason the planet is so dark as conditions are too hot for clouds (which are highly reflective) to form, researchers said.
• The lack of light being reflected from the planet may also be attributed to the presence of alkali metals such as sodium and potassium in a ‘hazy’ atmosphere, which causes significant absorption of light in the visual wavelengths, they said.
• Since WASP-104b is one of the least-reflective planets known to date, it will serve as a test bed for atmospheric models.

Procure wind, solar energy in phases, Tangedco told

News

• The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has directed the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) to procure 1,500 MW each of wind and solar power in phases to get a better price, instead of inviting tenders for the entire quantum in one go.

Beyond News

• The State power utility had sought approval for procuring 1,500 MW of wind power through reverse bidding (in which the lowest bidder is selected as the winner) at an upper limit of ₹2.65 per unit.
• It also sought to procure 1,500 MW of solar power through reverse bidding at a maximum ceiling price of ₹3 per unit.
• In its petition, Tangedco stated that it had to procure 1,679 MW of wind power to meet the renewable energy obligation for 2018-19. Hence, it was proposing to procure 1,500 MW in the second phase.
• In phase 1, Tangedco had finalised 450 MW out of the tendered quantity of 500 MW, at the rate of ₹3.42 per unit.
• The TNERC directed Tangedco to procure the 1,500 MW of wind energy in three stages of 500 MW each through the reverse auction route, with a ceiling price of ₹2.65 per unit.
• In a separate order, it directed the State power utility to procure 1,500 MW of solar energy in three stages with an upper limit of ₹3 per unit.

3-D map of Milky Way to ‘revolutionise astronomy’

News

• Europe’s Gaia satellite has produced a 3-D map of more than a billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy complete with their distance from Earth, colour, and motion through space.

Beyond News

• This catalogue is the most precise, most complete catalogue that has ever been produced. It allows studies which have not been possible before.
• Launched in 2013, Gaia started operating the following year, gathering data on 1,00,000 stars per minute some 500 million measurements per day.
• Its first map was published in September 2016, based on a year’s worth of observations of about 1.15 billion stars.
• An update, launched at the ILA international air and space show in Berlin, adds stars and provides more data on each one, from measurements taken over 22 months in 2014-2016.
• The new, improved map depicts 1.7 billion stars “for which we can tell where they are in the sky with very high accuracy, and how bright they are.
• There is, furthermore, information on the radial velocities of some seven million stars indicating the rate at which they are moving towards, or away from, the earth.
• Gaia also revealed the orbits of some 14,000 “solar system objects” — mapped as an intricate web of space rocks shooting around the sun.
• It represents the most accurate survey ever of asteroids in the solar system, scientists said.
• Information sent to the earth by Gaia is collated by 450 scientists from 20 countries. Antonella Vallenari, one of the scientists, likened the data release to “opening a chocolate box”.

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