Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India rejects U.K.’s DNA test plan for finding illegal migrants’ nationality

News

• India has rejected a proposal of the United Kingdom to use DNA sampling to establish the nationality of illegal migrants living there, citing “privacy issues”.

Beyond News

• Although a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on return of illegal migrants was initialled, after the due approval of the Union Cabinet in January, by Minister of State for Home while leading a delegation to the U.K the same month, India refused to sign the final pact during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to England in April.
• As per the original MoU, security agencies in India were to verify the antecedents of illegal migrants without documents in the U.K. within 72 days and those with documents within 15 days. If no report was given within the stipulated time frame, the illegal migrant would be deported automatically.
• The agreement was put on indefinite hold after National Security Adviser conveyed that the 15-day limit was unworkable.
• In one of the meetings, the U.K. authorities suggested that the nationality of document-less illegal migrants suspected to be Indians could be established by matching DNA samples of their family members living here.
• They raised objections, saying this was a breach of privacy and unethical. How do we know that the document-less person is an Indian, said a senior Home Ministry official who attended the meeting.
• According to the British government’s estimates, there are around 1,00,000 Indians overstaying their visa in the U.K.
• India has contested this, saying that as per their estimate, the number will not be more than 2,000.
• Post April, at least two high-level delegations from the U.K. have raised the issue with India.
• During her first visit to India on November 7, 2016, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.K. would consider an improved visa deal “if at the same time they can step up the speed and volume of returns of Indians with no right to remain in the U.K.”

Imran govt for peace with India: Pakistan High Commissioner

News

• The incoming leadership of Pakistan led by former cricketer Imran Khan will give priority to peace between Islamabad and its neighbours, High Commissioner of Pakistan said while celebrating the country’s Independence Day.

Beyond News

• The statement recounted Pakistan’s sacrifice to fight against terrorism.
• The envoy said the recent phone call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mr. Imran Khan was a “positive development.”

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Protest against genetically modified food

News

• Numerous persons and organisations under the banner ‘India For Safe Food’  met the Karnataka Food Safety Commissioner demanding the removal of unapproved genetically modified food from the market.

Beyond News

• Recently, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found that 32% of the 65 tested food products comprised GM materials. These were being sold without any control from health and food regulators.
• Those in the India for Safe Food had approached the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for action, and receiving little response, they approached the State government’s body.
• GM foods are known to cause various health problems, as per numerous scientific studies. This includes allergies, organ damage, adverse impacts on growth and development, reproductive health problems, immune system disorders and even cancerous growth. This could also be because of the deadly chemicals that get used in GM crop production, including glyphosate and glufosinate, said IFSF in a statement.

‘Massive Army reform under way’

News

• In a first ever exercise after Independence, the Ministry of Defence in consultation with the Indian Army has decided to reform the Indian Army in a planned manner.

Beyond News

• This restructuring is aimed at enhancing the combat capability of the Army in a manner that the officers, Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) will be used for improving the operational preparedness,the Defence Minister said.
• Defence Minister said the first phase of the reforms involved redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of officers, JCOs, ORs and civilians.
• The major reforms include optimisation of signals establishments, restructuring of repair echelons, redeployment of ordnance echelons, better utilisation of supply and transport echelons and animal transport units besides closure of military Farms and Army postal establishments in peace locations.
• Assuring that there shall be no shortcoming in providing all dues and facilities to soldiers, Defence Minister said that in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the Ministry has taken “the decision to pay uniform allowance” and clarity has been brought in with respect to “what is covered within the ambit of the allowance and what clothing items will be provided by the government.”
• Defence Minister also stated that to ensure faster decision making, for day-to-day requirements of the troops or ammunition, greater powers have been delegated to the service headquarters and other lower functionaries.

 ‘Tracking groundwater pollutants in real-time’

News

• Scientists have developed a low-cost method to monitor groundwater pollutants in real-time, and help reduce potential health risks.

Beyond News

• Groundwater contamination is increasingly recognised as a widespread environmental problem.
• The most important course of action often involves long-term monitoring.
• Conventional methods of monitoring involve taking water samples every year or every quarter and analysing them in the lab.
• New methodology allows continuous monitoring in situ using proxy measurements, so we can track plume movement in real time.
• The researchers said that analysis of the autonomous in situ data can be rapidly analysed remotely using machine learning methods.
• It can act as an early warning system and sudden changes in contaminant levels can be detected.
• These changes may indicate a need for more or less intervention in terms of the remediation strategy, ideally leading to improved as well as more cost-effective cleanup.
• The new approach starts with sensors to track water quality variables that have been determined to be reliable indicators of contaminant levels
• The researchers tracked levels of tritium and uranium-238 in the groundwater at the Savannah River site, a former nuclear weapons production site in South Carolina in the U.S. They measured the acidity (or pH) levels and specific conductance (a measure of electrical conductance).
• These variables were determined to be reliable indicators for tritium and uranium-238 concentrations.
• The data from the multiple sensors were then fed into a Kalman filter to estimate contaminant concentrations.
• A Kalman filter is not a physical filter but rather a mathematical algorithm that can integrate mixed time-series data to make estimates. It is used in various fields, such as traffic prediction and remote sensing. Using historical data from the Savannah River Site, the researchers found that The method provided reliable information about plume over last 20 years.

Advantages

• This indicates that the new approach holds significant promise as a long-term monitoring strategy for rapidly assessing a contaminant’s plume stability.
• Another advantage over conventional approaches is that it can reduce the frequency of manual groundwater sampling and lab analysis, and thus reduce the monitoring cost.

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