Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Bleaching hits world’s southernmost coral reef

News

• The world’s southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, scientists said, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.

Findings

• The corals off Lord Howe Island some 600 km offshore from Sydney were affected by elevated temperatures this summer, despite escaping severe bleaching that damaged the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 and 2017.
• Scientists found severe bleaching of up to 90% at Lord Howe’s inshore, shallow lagoon reefs. Deeper-water corals in the marine park, which contains species not found anywhere else and like the Barrier Reef is a World Heritage site, were still “looking quite healthy” having mostly escaped the bleaching.
• Increasing baseline temperatures caused by climate change, and local factors such as elevated temperatures in the area this summer, caused the bleaching to occur.
• Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

UAE confers prestigious Zayed Medal on Narendra Modi

News

• UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has awarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi the country’s highest civilian award, ‘the Order of Zayed’, its crown prince Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced, a decision that has given rise to speculation PM Modi could travel to the gulf emirate soon.

Beyond News

• The two leaders have met a record number of times in the past few years, with PM Modi visiting the UAE and Mohammad Bin Zayed visiting India twice each since 2015.
• Previous recipients of the Order of Zayed include Russian President Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, British Queen Elizabeth II, and former Pakistan President Musharraf.
• In a statement, the MEA said that the honour came in recognition of the “PM’s leadership to develop the strategic partnership between India and the UAE”.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

South Korea launches 5G networks early to secure world first

News

• South Korea launched the world’s first nationwide 5G mobile networks two days early, its top mobile carriers said, in a late-night scramble to be the first providers of the super-fast wireless technology.

Beyond News

• Hyper-wired South Korea has long had a reputation for technical prowess, and Seoul had made the 5G rollout a priority as it seeks to stimulate stuttering economic growth.
• But speculation that U.S. mobile carrier Verizon might start its 5G services early forced South Korean providers to hastily organise a late-night launch, Yonhap news agency reported.
• For general customers, the services will be available from the previous launch date when Samsung Electronics rolls out the Galaxy S10 5G, the world’s first available smartphone using the technology.
• Experts say 5G will bring smartphones near-instantaneous connectivity 20 times faster than 4G allowing users to download entire movies in less than a second.
• The technology is crucial for the future development of devices such as self-driving vehicles and is expected to bring about $565 billion in global economic benefits by 2034.

India is one of the highest taxing nations in the world: Trump

News

• India is one of the highest taxing nations in the world, U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged as he again slammed the country for imposing 100% tariffs on American products, including the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Beyond News

• Early this year, at a White House event to announce his support for reciprocal tax, U.S. President had said he was satisfied with the Indian decision to reduce the import tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles from 100% to 50%.
• S. President has repeatedly claimedthat India is a “tariff king” and imposes “tremendously high” tariffs on American products.
• The world’s two largest economies are locked in a trade war since U.S. President imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year, a move that sparked fears of a global trade war.
• S. President imposed tariff hikes of up to 25% on $250 billion of Chinese goods. In response, China, the world’s second largest economy after the U.S., imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on $110 billion of American goods.
• Top trade officials from America and China are holding talks to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal.

Poor dam management blamed for Kerala floods

News

• The amicus curiae appointed by the Kerala High Court to assist it in flood-related cases informed the court that the sudden release of water simultaneously from different reservoirs during the heavy rain in August 2018 had aggravated the damage during the floods.

Beyond News

• In a report submitted to the court, amicus curiae said it appeared that dams in the State did not have an effective flood control zone and flood cushions. The flood cushion or flood control zone was a temporary storage space for absorbing high flow for alleviating downstream flood damage.
• Amicus curiae said that none of the 79 dams in the State were operated or used for the purpose of flood control and moderation, despite the obligation to utilise them for flood control as per the stipulations under the National Water Policy, National Disaster Management Authority guidelines on flood and RTIO (real-time integrated operation).
• It seemed that high reservoir storage and sudden release of water had resulted in worsening the floods. Various alerts (blue/orange/red) were issued not in accordance with the EAP (Emergency Action Plan) guidelines. No proper follow-up action and effective precautionary steps, especially for evacuating people and accommodating them in safe locations, were taken after the issue of red alert. This was a matter to be inquired into, the report said.
• None of the dams had EAP (Emergency Action Plan) despite the mandate of the National Disaster Management Authority to have it by 2009. The EAP was a written document prepared by the dam operator and it contained plans to prevent or lessen the impact of a failure of the dam or appurtenant structure, it said.
• It could be inferred that most of the major reservoirs were almost full before the extreme rainfall and they did not have the capacity to accommodate the additional flow, compelling the authorities to release substantial amount of water from reservoirs in a short span of time at the peak of the rainfall.
• Almost all dams released water only after the water level crossed the FRL (Full Reservoir Level) or reached the MWL (maximum water level), the report pointed out.
• The dam managers should not have solely relied on the IMD prediction for dam management and variation in India Meteorological Department forecast could not be a justification for delayed release of water from dams, the report said.

RBI cuts repo rate to 6%, lowers GDP forecast to 7.2%

News

• The monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the second consecutive time cut the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 6%.
• It cited concerns over growth as it lowered the GDP forecast to 7.2% for the current financial year from 7.4% projected in the February policy.

Beyond News

• The central bank said the output gap remained negative and the domestic economy was facing headwinds, especially on the global front. (Output gap refers to the difference between the actual output of the economy and its maximum potential.)
• Four members of the committee voted for a rate cut, while RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya and Chetan Ghate voted for status quo.
• The committee maintained the neutral policy stance, which means interest rates can move in either direction.
• The RBI lowered its inflation forecast to 2.9%-3% from 3.2%-3.4% for the first half of the current financial year and 3.5-3.8% in the second half, assuming a normal monsoon.

     Highlights

• Short-term lending rate (repo) reduced by 25 basis points to 6 per cent
• This is second back-to-back rate cut
• RBI maintains Neutral stance on the monetary policy
• Four out of six MPC members voted in favour of rate cut
• GDP growth projection lowered to 7.2 per cent for 2019-20
• RBI revises downward retail inflation estimate to 2.4 per cent in Q4 FY19.
• MPC notes output gap remains negative and domestic economy facing headwinds

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