Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

In a first, Army starts process to induct women as military police

      News

• In a historic first, the Army began the process to induct women in the military police, nearly two years after Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said women will be recruited as jawans.
• The Army started the online registration for recruitment in the Corps of military.

Antarctic penguins suffer huge breeding failure

      News

• The second largest Emperor penguin colony in the world has suffered a “catastrophic” breeding failure after nearly all chicks born over three years died as their icy Antarctic habitat shrinks, researchers said.

      Findings

• The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) used satellite imagery to study the behaviour of the Halley Bay colony in the Weddell Sea due south of Cape Hope, which normally sees up to 25,000 penguin pairs mate each year.
• They found that in 2016, when abnormally warm and stormy weather broke up the sea-ice on which the penguins normally raise their young, almost all the chicks died.
• This pattern was repeated in 2017 and 2018.
• The BAS said the colony at Halley Bay has “all but disappeared”.
• BAS remote sensing specialists have been tracking the population of this, and other colonies in the region, for the last decade using very high resolution satellite imagery.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

China’s Xi defends Belt and Road project, India skips event

News

• Chinese President Xi Jinping sought to allay growing concerns that his trillion dollar Belt and Road project was pushing poor countries in a “debt trap” and pledged to make the connectivity scheme transparent.

Beyond News

• At the opening ceremony of the second edition of the three-day Belt and Road Forum, Mr. Xi sounded defensive in his speech about his pet project that has come under growing criticism for the lack of transparency and indebting nations.
• India for the second time skipped the event in protest against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key component of the Belt and Road that passes through the disputed Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by it.
• The corridor connects the Chinese city of Kashgar with Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
• Proposed by Mr. Xi in 2013, the Belt and Road project aims to connect the world’s three biggest continents Asia, Africa and Europe  through a vast network of highways, rail lines and sea lanes.
• China has poured billions of dollars in over 60 participating countries where its companies are engaged in building infrastructures.
• The sheer vastness of the project and the money involved in it have caused much awe among many as well as consternation in some countries that see the initiative as China’s tool to increase its geopolitical influence.
• The reports about many partner countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan being under the burden of onerous Chinese loans under the projects have raised concerns about Beijing’s intent to create “debt traps”.
• While Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan are at the event, India will give the forum a miss like the last time in 2017.
• Indian opposes the CPEC and says that it cannot be the part of a project for its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• India not approving the corridor has become a sticky point in its relations with China.
• China maintains that the project is purely economic in nature and won’t impact Beijing’s neutral stance on the Kashmir issue.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Scientists track Indian Ocean’s plastic

News

• The Indian Ocean is the world’s biggest dumping ground for plastic waste, but where the trash ultimately ends up has remained a mystery, scientists say.

      Findings

• According to researchers,little research had been done to measure and track plastic waste in the Indian Ocean.
• The team found that the unique characteristics of the southern Indian Ocean pushes floating plastics towards the western side of the ocean, where it leaks past South Africa into the South Atlantic Ocean.
• Because of the Asian monsoon system, the southeast trade winds in the southern Indian Ocean are stronger than the trade winds in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
• In the northern Indian Ocean, the simulations showed that there may be an accumulation in the Bay of Bengal.
• It is also most likely that floating plastics will ultimately end up on beaches, transported by the reversing monsoon winds and currents, researchers said.
• Study shows that the atmospheric and oceanic attributes of the Indian Ocean are different to other ocean basins and that there may not be a concentrated garbage patch.

 ‘Genetically modified brinjal illegally cultivated in Haryana’

News

• Genetically modified (GM) brinjal is being illegally grown in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, according to anti-GM activists.

        Beyond News

• Anti-GM activists demanded that the Central and the State regulatory agencies immediately take action to stop the cultivation, investigate the spread of the illegal variety and destroy all such crops, seeds and saplings as dangerous biohazards are entering the food chain.
• Brinjal has been genetically modified by inserting a protein gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis to give protection against certain pests.
• The result is Bt brinjal, which was developed in India by Maharashtra-based seed company Mahyco.
• It was on the verge of becoming India’s first GM food crop, when the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) cleared it for commercialisation in 2009, before doubts about the long-term impact on consumer health and plant biodiversity led then-Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to slap an indefinite moratorium on the crop.

139 mandals in A.P. may witness severe heatwave this summer

News

• With the mercury levels soaring across the State, severe to moderate heatwave conditions are already prevailing in several mandals.
• At least 12 mandals of the total 670 in the State would experience heatwave condition, the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) forecast.

      Beyond News

• Meanwhile, the mercury levels tend to shoot up by several notches higher than the normal in more mandals. In all, 139 mandals are likely to face severe heatwave and 466 more are in for moderate heatwave condition this summer.
• Analysing the temperature data recorded in every mandal between 2010 and 2018, the APSDMA has prepared the heatwave atlas which has identified and mapped the vulnerable mandals.
• With 27 vulnerable mandals, Krishna has topped among the districts in this regard.
• The heatwave atlas is effectively being used for preparedness, prevention and management of mandals prone to heatwave. They have been sending the mandal-wise alerts in advance to the officials concerned so that precautionary measures are taken.
• According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), a departure of maximum day temperature from 4.5 degrees Celcius to 6.4 degrees Celsius is considered as heatwave or moderate heatwave condition. The departure of more than 6.4 degrees Celsius means severe heatwave condition.
• Considering the temperature parameters, a heatwave is declared when the actual mecrury levels go beyond 45 degrees Celsius while 47 degrees Celsius is considered as heatwave or severe heatwave condition. In coastal regions, actual maximum temperature of more than 37 degrees Celsius is considered as heatwave condition.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS