Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India, China to improve military links

News

• India and China agreed to work towards full implementation of ongoing confidence-building measures (CBM) along the border as well as improve military to military interactions.

Beyond News

• This was agreed during bilateral consultations between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and visiting Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe.
• It was decided to expand the engagement between the Armed Forces relating to training, joint exercises and other professional interactions. Both sides also decided to work towards a new bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence exchanges and cooperation to replace the MoU signed in 2006.
• The statement further added that in order to ensure peace and tranquility on the border, both Ministers agreed on greater interactions at the working level, including operationalisation of the hotline between the relevant departments of the Armed Forces.
• The two countries are also working on setting up additional Border Meeting Points (BPM) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). There are five BPM points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Bum La and Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh, Daulat Beg Oldi and Chushul in Ladakh, and Nathu La in Sikkim. Another BPM was added earlier this month on the eve of Independence Day.
• The two armies are expected to resume the bilateral joint training exercise Hand-in-Hand this year.
• There was a suggestion from China for joint patrolling on the LAC. But it is not expected to move forward as India is not keen on it.

After UAE, Pakistan offers help to flood-hit Kerala

News

• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered to help flood-hit Kerala. The Pakistani leader’s comments came in the backdrop of growing criticism of the Indian government’s decision to decline foreign aid for flood relief and rehabilitation in the State.

Beyond News

• Islamabad’s statement came a day after India said it would depend on “domestic resources” for providing short and long term help in Kerala.
• In line with the existing policy, the government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said.
• It was understood that by ‘existing policy’, the MEA was indicating at the decision taken in 2004 to avoid foreign support in the context of the deadly tsunami that affected a large number of countries in the Indian Ocean region.
• However, India’s decision to decline aid from abroad drew criticism from veteran diplomats and officials who said that the Central government should have been more considerate regarding the offer of support from the Gulf countries, especially from the United Arab Emirates that has offered ₹700 crore.
• Some diplomats have however maintained that the issue of aid for Kerala should be resolved through internal consultation at the earliest to avoid any long term fallout.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

ESA satellite to improve weather forecast launched

News

• The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched a satellite that will measure winds around the globe and help improve weather forecasting.

Beyond News

• The Earth Explorer Aeolus satellite was launched into polar orbit on a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
• Using revolutionary laser technology, Aeolus will play a key role in our quest to better understand the workings of our atmosphere, the space agency said.
• The mission is the fifth in the family of ESA’s Earth Explorers, which address the most urgent Earth-science questions of our time.
• Aeolus epitomises the essence of an Earth Explorer. It will fill a gap in our knowledge of how the planet functions and demonstrate how cutting-edge technology can be used in space.
• Aeolus carries the first instrument of its kind and uses a completely new approach to measuring the wind from space.
• Highlighted by the World Meteorological Organisation, the lack of direct global wind measurements is one of the major deficits in the Global Observing System.
• By filling this gap, Aeolus will give scientists the information they need to understand how wind, pressure, temperature and humidity are interlinked.
• This new mission will provide insight into how the wind influences the exchange of heat and moisture between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere important aspects for understanding climate change.
• Aeolus carries one of the most sophisticated instruments ever to be put into orbit. The first of its kind, the Aladin instrument includes revolutionary laser technology to generate pulses of ultraviolet light that are beamed down into the atmosphere to profile the world’s winds a completely new approach to measuring the wind from space.
• Its data will be used in air-quality models to improve forecasts of dust and other airborne particles that affect public health.

Toxicological study to find cause of vulture deaths

News

• In a scientific approach to protecting critically endangered vulture population, the Forest Department has decided to conduct toxicological analysis in the event of any vulture death reported in its habitats spread across the Nilgiris and parts of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in Erode.

Beyond News

• The toxicological analysis of the carcass will be done at Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History at Anaikatti in Coimbatore.
• Toxicological study will help various stakeholders involved in vulture conservation identify the cause of death of the scavengers of the forests scientifically. This is highly essential as more than 90 % decline has been reported in their population in the last two decades.
• Of the nine vulture species found in the Indian subcontinent, four namely, Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps scalvus), White-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) are in the Nilgiris and in a small portion of the STR.
• Jagulikadavu and Siriyur in Segur range, which was recently annexed to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), has one of the biggest colonies of White-backed vulture and Long-billed vulture in South India. As many as 68 nestings of the two species were recorded at these places in 2011 and the colony luckily remains protected without significant decline in population.
• Moyar valley is another prime habitat in the Nilgiris which has resident population of all the four species. As vultures stick to site fidelity, they build nest at the same location.
• Vultures get adequate amount of animal kills to scavenge in MTR as it has one of the largest population of tiger in the country. But deliberate poisoning of remains of the livestock killed by carnivores in forest peripheries, as a retaliation by the livestock owners, is a threat to the vulture population.
• Poisoning of a single carcass could kill several vultures at a stroke.
• A request has been sent to the State Government to set up a Vulture Monitoring and Research Centre in the Nilgiris based on resolutions passed at the workshop ‘Securing Vulture Populations in India’ held at Udhagamandalam in January this year.

‘Security budgets of Indian companies have tripled’

News

• Indian companies are investing more on securing their data rather than pumping more money into technology as they try to build comprehensive solutions to prevent hackers from attacking their network, said, regional director SAARC of A10 Networks.

Beyond News

• Global spending on information security products and services will reach more than $114 billion in 2018, an increase of 12.4% from last year, according to an August 16 report from Gartner.
• In 2019, the market is forecast to grow 8.7% to $124 billion. Privacy concerns, persisting skills shortages and regulatory changes such as EU’s Global Data Protection Regulation are the main drivers.
• A recent attack on Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) network compromised personal health records of 1.5 million patients in the island and reinforced the need to view sensitive data and IT systems as critical infrastructure. A10 Networks, a New York Stock Exchange-listed cybersecurity firm, providing networking and security solutions, is headquartered in San Jose.
• But, the problem they faced is that the day a product releases on the market, China makes a copy of the same and sells. They wanted to know the leak point. For this, when they dug deep to find out how this was happening, they realised that it was happening from inside the organisation itself.
• Someone in the company was leaking the information via email. They ended up plugging the issue. This is a threat, and these kinds of issues could happen to anyone. In this case, their exclusivity of having an invitation-based purchase was lost when copies started mushrooming in the market. These are ways in which organisations could lose their reputation.

Hi-tech drones come to the aid of Japan’s ageing farmers

News

• The next generation farmhand in Japan’s ageing rural heartland may be a drone.

Beyond News

• For several months, developers and farmers in northeast Japan have been testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields and perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time it takes for elderly farmers.
• The drone can apply pesticides and fertilizer to a rice field in about 15 minutes a job that takes more than an hour by hand and requires farmers to lug around heavy tanks.
• The Nile-T18 was developed by drone start-up Nileworks Inc and recently tested in collaboration with JA Miyagi Tome and trading house Sumitomo Corp.
• Their aim is to ease the physical burden and improve productivity in rural areas battling decades of falling birth rates and migration to urban areas.

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