Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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CAG pulls up Centre for favoring Boeing in P-8I aircraft deal

News

• The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) pulled up the Defence Ministry for changing the parameters of the deal in the procurement of P-8I Long Range maritime Reconnaissance Anti-Submarine Warfare (LRMRASW) aircraft.

Beyond News

• In a report presented in the Parliament the CAG noted that Boeing is yet to fulfil the offset obligations as part of the contract for the deal signed in 2011.
• Two companies, Boeing, USA and EADS CASA, Spain were found technically compliant among the five bids that were received.
• The commercial bid of Boeing was ₹8,700 crore, whereas, the other firm EADS CASA had quoted ₹7,776 crore which also included product support for two years.
• Boeing was awarded the contract in January 2009 at a cost of ₹10,773 crore and the aircraft were delivered between May 2013 and October 2015 with warranty of two years post-delivery. In July 2016, India exercised the options clause for four more aircraft at a cost of $1 billion.
• Further, the critical role equipment offered by Boeing were not fully meeting the needs of the Indian Navy, the report said and noted, Owing to capability limitations of radars installed onboard, the aircraft is not able to achieve the envisaged coverage area requirements.
• For Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), the Naval Staff Quality Requirements (NSQR) had envisaged the procurement of torpedoes and certain bombs as the ammunition.
• However, the contract for procurement of the Bombs had not yet been concluded, the CAG observed and said that reasons for non-procurement of the bombs were yet to be intimated by the Navy as on September 2017.
• In addition, offset obligations to the tune of $640.26 million to be fulfilled by Boeing within seven years (August 2016), had not been fulfilled till date, the report added.

Govt extends e-visa facility for citizens of 165 countries

News

• Seeking to promote tourism, the Indian government has extended e-visa facility for citizens of 165 countries at 25 airports and five seaports, the Lok Sabha was informed.

Beyond News

• Tourism Minister also said the government has launched the ‘Incredible India 2.0’ campaign, marking a shift from generic promotions to market-specific promotional plans. A 24X7 toll free multilingual tourist helpline has also been put in place.
• Minister said while development and promotion of tourism is primarily the responsibility of state government, the Union Tourism Ministry provides central financial assistance to states and UTs to organise fairs, festivals and tourism-related events.

New Bill promises fair trade at fish harbours

News

• The fish auction Bill, aimed at modernising the primitive mode of auctioning at fishing harbours in the State, is expected to curtail exploitation by middlemen and provide unadulterated fish to consumers.

Beyond News

• The Kerala Fish Auction, Marketing, and Quality Control Bill, approved by the State Cabinet recently, proposes to regulate the operation of fish-landing centres, fishing harbours, and markets under a professional management system. It will ensure the safety of seafood.
• Fisheries Department officials say the Bill is part of the government’s continuing efforts to free traditional harbours from the domination of middlemen who are blamed partly for the perpetual indebtedness of the fishing community.
• A transparent auctioning system under a new committee headed by the District Collector will be a major feature of the Bill.
• Though the Bill has been approved by the Cabinet, its detailed provisions are yet to be made available to the district units of the Fisheries Department or Matsyafed.
• As per the preliminary details, the conventional auctioneers will have to end their traditional type of auctioning at the harbours and secure prior permission for at least three years to pursue the business.
• They will be asked to submit an application to a designated officer for clearing the application and allot a specific place for carrying out business.
• Also, one of the major changes going to be effected in the business is the opportunity for ordinary buyers to take part in the bulk- or small-quantity auctioning of fish. Now, local buyers are hardly encouraged to take part in the auctioning process manned by a few middlemen at harbours.
• Many a time, only cheaply priced varieties reach the auction hall as middlemen carry out the trade of superior varieties for third parties even before unloading the fish at the harbours.
• The Food Safety Department squads too are keen on the implementation of the Bill as it will largely restrain the trade of adulterated fish at the beginning point itself and ensure better access for the common buyer to have quality fish.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

NASA’s Curiosity rover completes six years on Mars

News

• NASA’s Curiosity rover a mission that has spotted evidence of liquid water as well as potential signs life and habitability on Mars  has completed six years on the red planet.

Beyond News

• The Mars Science Laboratory mission’s Curiosity rover landed on the red planet’s Gale Crater on August 6 2012, using a series of complicated landing manoeuvres never before attempted. Curiosity’s mission is to determine whether the red planet ever was, or is, habitable to microbial life.
• The rover, which is about the size of a car, is equipped with 17 cameras and a robotic arm containing a suite of specialised laboratory-like tools and instruments.
• The specialised landing sequence, which employed a giant parachute, a jet-controlled descent vehicle and a bungee-like apparatus called a “sky crane,” was devised because tested landing techniques used during previous rover missions could not safely accommodate the much larger and heavier rover.
• The Curiosity rover is currently experiencing a global storm that has been raging in Mars for weeks. In 2013, the Curiosity rover found that ancient Mars had the right chemistry to support living microbes.
• The rover discovered evidence of sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon key ingredients necessary for life  in the powder sample drilled from the “Sheepbed” mudstone in Yellowknife Bay. The sample collected by the rover also revealed clay minerals and not too much salt, which suggests fresh, possibly drinkable water once flowed there.
• Shortly after, smooth and rounded rocks were found by Curiosity, indicating that a steady knee-deep stream of water once flowed on the red planet. In 2014, the rover detected a background level of atmospheric methane and observed a ten-fold increase in methane over a two-month period.
• The finding generated a lot of interest as methane can be produced by living organisms or by chemical reactions between rock and water, for example.
• In 2015, organic molecules the building blocks of life  were discovered on Mars after a long search by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument in a powdered rock sample from the “Sheepbed” mudstone in “Yellowknife Bay.” The finding shows that raw ingredients existed for life to get started there at one time.

Wildlife census begins at Sathyamangalam reserve

News

• The biannual six-day wildlife monitoring exercise, using the Android-based mobile application, began at Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR).

Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve

• Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserveis a protected area and tiger reserve along the Western Ghats in the Erode District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. First declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2008 and enlarged in 2011, it covers a forest area of 1,411.6 km² (545.0 sq mi) and is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. In 2013, it became the fourth tiger reserve as a part of Project Tiger in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Beyond News

• Under Phase IV monitoring of tiger reserves by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the pre-monsoon survey is being carried out between June and July, while the post-monsoon survey will be held in December– January.
• During the exercise personnel will monitor carnivore signs, co-predators, pug marks, large herbivore signs, tree bark peelings and direct sighting. Though Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES) app was introduced during the last post-monsoon survey, data sheets were also used. But this time, only the app is being used to record data.
• Over 300 personnel, including field staff, anti-poaching watchers, and WWF team members, began the survey in the 1.41 lakh hectare reserve, which spreads across seven ranges.
• They recorded the sightings and pug marks, took photographs and uploaded the data online in the GPS-enabled app. Officials said that personnel have to cover 48 beats in the two divisions of Sathyamangalam and Hassanur- Sathyamangalam, Bhavani Sagar, Talamalai, Thukkkanaikkenpalayam, Hassanur, Talavadi and Germalam ranges.
• On the last day, the collected data will be sent to the NTCA for processing after which the number of tigers, leopards and other wild animals at the STR will be known.

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