Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Nepal to remeasure Everest

News

• Nepal is sending a team of government-appointed climbers up Mount Everest to remeasure its height, officials said, hoping to quash persistent speculation that the world’s tallest mountain has shrunk.

Beyond News

• Four government surveyors will depart for Everest, which lies on the Himalayan range straddling the border of Nepal and China.
• Its official height is 8,848 metres (29,029 feet), first recorded by an Indian survey in 1954. Numerous other teams have measured the peak, although the 1954 height remains the widely accepted figure.
• But a heated debate erupted in the aftermath of a massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015, with suggestions the powerful tremor had knocked height off the lofty peak.
• Nepal’s Survey Department commissioned a team of surveyors in 2017 to prepare for an Everest expedition in the hope of putting the matter to rest.
• Four government surveyors have spent two years fine tuning their methodology for measuring the peak, collecting readings from the ground and training for the extreme conditions they will encounter at the top of the world.
• They will ascend the treacherous mountain armed with advanced equipment to collect the remaining data to derive the true height of the peak, officials said.
• In May 1999, an American team added two metres to Everest’s height when it used GPS technology to survey the peak. That figure is now used by the U.S. National Geographic Society, but otherwise not widely accepted.
• Later, Nepal became embroiled in a diplomatic row with China after the latter claimed the peak was four metres shorter than the accepted height.
• Nepal rests on a major fault line between two tectonic plates: one bearing India that pushes against the other carrying Europe and Asia, the process that created the Himalayas.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Plant trees to get occupancy certificates, says govt.

News

• If the Urban Development Department (UDD) goes ahead with its plan, builders will compulsorily have to plant trees to get Occupancy Certificates (OC).

Beyond News

• The draft regulations issued by the UDD to amend the Zoning Regulations of Bengaluru of the Revised Master Plan 2015 state that in the case of apartment buildings, group housing or multi-dwelling units, one tree shall be planted for every 240 sq.m. of Floor Area Ratio (FAR).
• The authorities concerned will have to ensure that the trees are planted before the issuance of OC.
• The authorities shall ensure that the trees are at least 2 metres in height, before the issuance of occupancy certificate. The tree shall be planted in the setback area along the periphery of the site or area reserved for parks or open spaces or along the roads as avenue plantation, excluding the drive way.
• The regulations further state that in case of layouts, in addition to site-level mandatory plantation, the developer should carry out plantation at the rate of 40 trees per hectare and proportionately for every additional extent of land or plot area.
• The draft regulations also say that planting of minimum one tree is mandatory for a site measuring 180 sq.m. up to 240 sq.m., and minimum of two trees for sites with more than 240 sq.m. The owners of big dimension sites will plant trees only in the rear setback area.
• A senior Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) official said that earlier, it was mandatory to plant one tree for a site measuring more than 2,400 sq.ft. and a minimum of two trees for a site measuring more than 4,000 sq.ft.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

India’s gold reserves increase marginally in February: WGC

News

• India has marginally increased its gold holding in February while maintaining the tenth position among countries in terms of yellow metal reserves, as per latest data from the World Gold Council (WGC).

Beyond News

• India added 1.7 tonnes in February while most other countries, barring Russia and China, saw their reserves unchanged in the recent past.
• As per WGC, India had total gold reserves of 608.7 tonnes in February, marginally up from the previous month’s holding of 607 tonnes.
• Apart from India, only two other countries among the top 10 in terms of gold reserves increased their holdings in the month of February.
• While the Russian Federation saw its reserves increase from 2,119.2 tonnes to 2,150.5 tonnes, the reserves of China (Mainland) rose from 1,864.3 tonnes to 1,874.3 tonnes between January and February.
• Incidentally, India’s overall ranking is pegged at 11 as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) boasts of gold reserves of 2,814 tonnes to occupy the third position after the U.S. (8,133.5 tonnes) and Germany (3,369.7 tonnes).
• Some of the other countries that also have a significant gold reserve include Taiwan (423.6 tonnes), Portugal (382.5 tonnes), Kazakhstan (356.3 tonnes), Uzbekistan (342.1 tonnes) and Saudi Arabia (323.1 tonnes).
• Pakistan has 64.6 tonnes and is ranked 45 while Sri Lanka (19.9 tonnes) and Bangladesh (14 tonnes) are at 63rd and 66th positions.
• Nepal with 6.4 tonnes is at 82nd position.

Dumping of waste continues in 737-year-old Kalingarayan Canal

News

• Dumping of garbage, including plastic and thermocol, continue to affect the 737-year-old Kalingarayan canal as farmers want effective steps to be taken so that the glory of the canal gets restored.

Beyond News

• The 90.5 km. long canal helps in irrigating 15,743 acre located on both the sides of the canal from Bhavani to Kodumudi. Desilting and concrete lining of the canal was carried out by the Public Works Department two years ago.
• To prevent untreated industrial effluents from entering the canal, a baby canal was constructed. However, pollution continues to be a major concern for the farmers who said that the canal has lost its glory and retaining it would be difficult.
• Apart from dumping vegetable waste, rotten food items, garlands, plastic bottles, obsolete items are dumped in the canal.
• While most of the garbage gets submerged, plastic bottles and thermocol keeps floating in the canal and block the flow of water at few places.

IMF forecasts dip in global growth in 2019

News

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that global growth will be 3.3% in 2019, down from 3.6% in 2018 and 4% in 2017.

Findings

• This lower projection is due to lower global expansion in the second half of 2018 caused by S.-China trade tensions, macroeconomic stress in Turkey and Argentina, tighter credit policies in China and financial tightening plus a normalisation of monetary policy in advanced economies.
• India’s growth is projected to pick up (from 7.1% in 2018) to 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020, supported by the continued recovery of investment and robust consumption amid a more expansionary stance of monetary policy and some expected impetus from fiscal policy.
• These forecasts are nevertheless less by 10 and 20 basis points from the January and October forecasts.
• The IMF expects growth to pick up in the second half of the year driven by an accommodative policy stance in advanced economies, the prospects of easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China and ramped up fiscal and monetary stimulus by China to counter the trade war’s effects.
• Global growth is therefore expected to return to 3.6%, but this is subject to a rebound in Argentina and Turkey and certain emerging market risks not manifesting.
• Brexit uncertainties and China’s growth not being as high as expected (down from 6.6% in 2018 to 6.3% and 6.1% in 2019 and 2020 respectively) are risks that will impact these projections.
• Beyond 2020, global growth is expected to level out at 3.6% over the medium term, driven by a moderation in expansion in advanced countries (caused by weak productivity growth and slow labour force growth) and the stabilisation of emerging market expansion at 2020 levels.
• Advanced economies are expected to slow down to 1.6% growth by 2022 and remain at that rate thereafter.
• For emerging markets and developing countries, growth is expected to steady at 4.8% over the medium term and given that these groups are growing faster than advanced economies, their contribution to global growth is expected to increase from 76% to 85% over the next five years. However, there are “important differences” within emerging markets and developing economies.
• For instance, China is expected to slow down to 5.5% by 2024 as it moves towards increasing private consumption and services and regulatory tightening. India’s growth is expected to stabilise at 7.75% over the medium term, driven by structural reforms and the easing of infrastructure bottlenecks.
• In terms of policy priorities, the IMF has called for a “continued implementation of structural and financial sector reforms” in order to lower public debt and aid growth.
• The report also notes “important steps” taken to speed up the resolution of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and a simplified bankruptcy framework measures that can be reinforced by stronger governance of public sector banks.
• The IMF also calls for laws around land reform to change, to expedite infrastructure development as well as changes to hiring and firing laws in order create jobs and “absorb the country’s large demographic dividend”.

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