Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Cyclone ‘Fani’: NDRF, Coast Guard put on high alert; fishermen asked not to venture into sea

News

• The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and fishermen asked not to venture into the sea as cyclone ‘Fani’ is expected to intensify into a very severe storm by Tuesday, the Home Ministry said on Monday.

Beyond News

• The cyclonic storm ‘Fani’, was located at 880 km of South-East of Chennaiand it will continue to move North-West and change its path to North-East from Wednesday.
• The cyclone is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm.
• According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), its landfall over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is ruled out. However, the possibility of landfall in Odisha is under continuous watch.
• The NDRF and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and placed at the disposal of the state governments concerned. Regular warnings have been issued to fishermen not to venture into the sea and asking those at sea to return to coast.
• Prime Minister is closely monitoring the situation. Prime Minister has directed Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha to convene a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to take stock of the situation with the state governments, central ministries and other agencies concerned to ensure necessary preparations to deal with the situation.
• The IMD has been issuing three hourly bulletins with latest forecast to all the states concerned and the home ministry is also in continuous touch with the state governments and the central agencies concerned, the statement said.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor no longer listed under BRI umbrella

News

• India’s decision to skip the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh- China- India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella.

Beyond News

• In an annex tagged with the Joint Communiqué of the Leaders’ Roundtable of the BRF, which concluded in Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry website has not listed the BCIM as a project covered by the BRI the giant connectivity initiative speared by China to revive the ancient Silk Road across Eurasia and Africa.
• Instead, South Asia is covered by three major undertakings—the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), the Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China cross-border railway, as well as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
• The 2800 km BCIM corridor proposes to link Kunming in China’s Yunnan province with Kolkata, passing though nodes such as Mandalay in Myanmar and Dhaka in Bangladesh before heading to Kolkata.
• Last September, the BRI had got a high octane boost when Myanmar facing the heat from the West because of the Rohingya refugee crisis inked an agreement with Beijing to establish the CMEC.
• The 1,700-km corridor provides China yet another node to access the Indian Ocean. The CMEC will run from Yunnan Province of China to Mandalay in Central Myanmar. From there it will head towards Yangon, before terminating at the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on the Bay of Bengal.
• The Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan connectivity network listed by the annex starts from Chengdu, from where it is linked to Tibet by the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, or the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. It is proposed that the railway from Tibet will be further extended to Kathmandu, via Ya’an, Qamdo, Lhasa and Shigatse. Chinese planners visualise that that railway will be eventually connected with the Indian railway network, linking China and India across the Himalayas.

Committee constituted to oversee clean air programme

News

• The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20%-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024.

Beyond News

• The committee will be chaired by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry and has among its members the Joint Secretary (Thermal), Ministry of Power; Director-General, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), the Delhi-based think-tank; and Professor Sachidananda Tripathi, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K).
• The NCAP unveiled is envisaged as a scheme to provide the States and the Centre with a framework to combat air pollution.
• The committee would be headquartered in New Delhi and its remit includes ensuring “inter-ministerial organisation and cooperation, sharing information and resolving issues that could arise between ministries.
• The committee would also give overall guidance and directions to effectively implement the programmes,” said a ministerial note.
• The NCAP is envisioned as a five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. There would be a review every five years.
• States in which the cities are located are expected to produce plans that include increasing the number of monitoring stations, providing technology support, conducting source apportionment studies, and strengthening enforcement.
• For achieving the NCAP targets, the cities would be expected to calculate the reduction in pollution, keeping 2017’s average annual PM levels as the base year.
• The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) database on air pollution over the years has listed Tier I and Tier II Indian cities as some of the most polluted places in the world. In 2018, 14 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities were in India.
• The NCAP requires cities to implement specific measures such as “ensuring roads are pothole-free to improve traffic flow and thereby reduce dust” (within 60 days) or “ensuring strict action against unauthorised brick kilns” (within 30 days).

 ‘Drug-resistant diseases could kill 10 million a year by 2050’

News

• Drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050, warned a report.

Beyond News

• It added that by 2030, antimicrobial resistance could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty.
• Currently, at least 7,00,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases, including 2,30,000 people who die from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
• It also noted that more and more common diseases, including respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections, are becoming untreatable; lifesaving medical procedures are becoming riskier, and food systems are getting increasingly precarious.
• Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats we face as a global community.
• The report noted that the world is already feeling the economic and health consequences as crucial medicines become ineffective. Without investment from countries in all income brackets, future generations will face the disastrous impacts of uncontrolled antimicrobial resistance.
• It has now recommended that countries prioritise national action plans to scale-up financing and capacity-building efforts, put in place stronger regulatory systems and support awareness programs for responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials by professionals in human, animal and plant health and invest in ambitious research and development for new technologies to combat antimicrobial resistance.

Army invokes emergency powers for missile deal

News

• The Army is in the process of procuring Spike-LR Anti-Tank Missiles from Israel and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORAD) from Russia through a set of new financial powers for emergency procurements sanctioned by the Defence Ministry earlier this month, Defence sources said.

Beyond News

• Under the latest emergency financial powers, armed forces have been given a free hand to procure equipment worth up to ₹300 crore on a priority basis. The Request For Proposal (RFP) for the two deals have been issued and negotiations are ongoing, the source said. Entirely new systems not in use can also be procured under the new powers, the source stated.
• Under the emergency route, the Army is looking to procure about 12 launchers and around 250 missiles for each system. Deliveries have to be completed in three months, but extendable to six months.
• The Spike-LR (Long Range) being procured is a different variant from the one tested and shortlisted as part of the earlier procurement for over 8,000 missiles and 300 launchers along with technology transfer.
• As contract negotiations dragged on, the deal was cancelled in January last year and it was decided to procure a smaller number 170 launchers, 4,500 missiles and 15 simulators through an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) and make up the balance requirement with an indigenous Man Portable ATGM currently under development.
• Officials said the emergency procurements were one of critical procurement and not related to the acquisitions through the regular route, in a bid to assure that these would not impact the regular deals.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Heatwave: forest officials focussing on water, fire

News

• Heatwave conditions are prevailing in several parts of Rayalaseema and Karnataka, which has put a lot of pressure on the Forest department officials in Anantapur as a major part of the forest land is close to Karnataka border or Chittoor and Kurnool districts.

Beyond News

• The temperature which was around 42 degrees Celsius for the past one week, touched 43 degrees Celsius and the forest officials turned their focus on controlling / preventing forest fires and ensuring availability of water for wild animals.
• About 200 saucer pits or artificial waterholes created by the Forest department for wild animals are regularly filled by six water tankers (Vanadhara) owned by the department and whenever needed additional ones are hired.
• Further, 2,18,346 small shallow trenches dug in the forest and 19 check dams that have been constructed, are more or less full with water now, he points out. Another 150 km of deep trenches were dug during 2018-19 in close to 265 fringe villages that serve as life-savers. Desilting of 19,500 cu metres was done and there are 1,754 percolation tanks in the natural ponds inside the forest land.
• There exists scrub forest in revenue hillocks in 1.65 lakh hectares and the most vulnerable are Bukkapatnam and Penukonda forest ranges for forest fires. There were incidents of miscreants setting fire to forest.

Indian subcontinent’s collision with Asia boosted oxygen in world’s oceans, says Princeton

News

• When the landmass that is now the Indian subcontinent slammed into Asia about 50 million years ago, the oxygen in the world’s oceans increased, altering the conditions for life, scientists say.

Findings

• The collision was already known to have changed the configuration of the continents, the landscape, global climate and more.
• They used microscopic seashells to create a record of ocean nitrogen over a period from 70 million years ago shortly before the extinction of the dinosaurs until 30 million years ago.
• In addition to being the most abundant gas in the atmosphere, nitrogen is key to all life on Earth.
• Every organism on Earth requires “fixed” nitrogen sometimes called “biologically available nitrogen.”
• Nitrogen has two stable isotopes: 15N and 14N. In oxygen-poor waters, decomposition uses up “fixed” nitrogen. This occurs with a slight preference for the lighter nitrogen isotope, 14N, so the ocean’s 15N-to-14N ratio reflects its oxygen levels.
• That ratio is incorporated into tiny sea creatures called foraminifera during their lives, and then preserved in their shells when they die.
• By analysing their fossils researchers were able to reconstruct the 15N-to-14N ratio of the ancient ocean, and therefore identify past changes in oxygen levels.
• Oxygen controls the distribution of marine organisms, with oxygen-poor waters being bad for most ocean life.
• Many past climate warming events caused decrease in ocean oxygen that limited the habitats of sea creatures, from microscopic plankton to the fish and whales that feed on them.
• Scientists trying to predict the impact of current and future global warming have warned that low levels of ocean oxygen could decimate marine ecosystems, including important fish populations.
• When the researchers assembled their unprecedented geologic record of ocean nitrogen, they found that in the 10 million years after dinosaurs went extinct, the 15N-to-14N ratio was high, suggesting that ocean oxygen levels were low.
• The collision of India with Asia closed off an ancient sea called the Tethys, disturbing the continental shelves and their connections with the open ocean.

Genes of climate-resistant chickpea varieties identified

News

• An international team has identified in chickpea four important genes for heat tolerance and three important genes for drought tolerance.

Findings

• With rising temperatures and increasing climatic fluctuations due to climate change, the identification of these climate-resistant genes will help in developing newer chickpea varieties which can tolerate temperatures up to 38°
• Also, the identification of other genes with important agromic traits will help in increasing the yield and providing better resistance to pests and diseases. The study was based on complete genome sequencing of 429 chickpea lines from 45 countries.
• More than 90% of chickpea cultivation area is in South Asia, including India. Globally, more than 70% yield is lost due to drought and increasing temperatures. Chickpea is a cool season crop, so in general any further increase in temperature is expected to further reduce the yield.
• With the identification of the heat- and drought-tolerant genes, it will be possible to cross a chickpea landrace carrying those genes with a variety and select only those lines (progenies) with the genetic markers that have the heat and drought tolerance genes.
• By using such genomics-assisted breeding approach, the time taken to produce a new heat- and drought-tolerant chickpea variety can be halved from about eight to four years.
• In India, chickpea is generally sown in September-October and harvested in January-February.
• The study has found that chickpea originated in the Mediterranean/south-west Asia and migrated to south Asia. It reached India about two centuries ago, apparently through Afghanistan. In parallel, it migrated from the Mediterranean to east Africa and central Asia. The study provides insights into chickpea’s genetic diversity, domestication too.

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