Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Earth risks heading towards irreversible ‘hothouse’ state

News

• The planet urgently needs to transition to a green economy because fossil fuel pollution risks pushing the Earth into a lasting and dangerous “hothouse” state, researchers warned on Monday.

Beyond News

• If polar ice continues to melt, forests are slashed and greenhouse gases rise to new highs as they currently do each year the Earth will pass a tipping point.
• Crossing that threshold “guarantees a climate 4-5 Celsius (7-9 Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial times, and sea levels that are 10 to 60 meters (30-200 feet) higher than today,” cautioned scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Yet even if humans stopped emitting greenhouse gases, the current warming trend could trigger other Earth system processes, called feedbacks, driving even more warming.
• These include permafrost thaw, deforestation, loss of northern hemisphere snow cover, sea ice and polar ice sheets.
• The scientists also examined conditions the Earth has seen in the distant past, such as the Pliocene period five million years ago, when CO2 was at 400 ppm like today.
• During the Cretaceous period, the era of the dinosaurs some 100 million years ago, CO2 levels were even higher at 1,000 ppm, largely due to volcanic activity.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Delhi High Court decriminalises begging in the national capital

News

• The Delhi High Court decriminalised begging in the national capital, saying provisions penalising the act were unconstitutional and deserved to be struck down.

Beyond News

• A bench said the inevitable consequence of this decision would be that prosecution under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, against persons alleged to have committed the offence of begging, would be liable to be struck down.
• The court said the Delhi government was at liberty to bring in alternative legislation to curb any racket of forced begging after undertaking an empirical examination on the sociological and economic aspect of the matter.
• The bench said the provision which treats begging as an offence or deals with ancillary issues like power of officers to deal with this offence, as extended to Delhi, “are unconstitutional and are struck down”.
• The court made it clear that the provisions of the Act, which do not directly or indirectly criminalise begging or relate to the offence of begging, are not required to be struck down and are maintained.
• The law prescribes a penalty of more than three years of jail in case of first conviction for begging and the person can be ordered to be detained for 10 years in subsequent conviction.
• Currently, there is no central law on begging and destitution and most states have adopted the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, which criminalises begging, or have modelled their laws on it.

Government asks citizens not to use plastic national flags

News

• Ahead of Independence Day, the Centre has urged all citizens not to use national flag made up of plastic and asked states and Union Territories to ensure strict compliance of the flag code.

Beyond News

• In an advisory to states and Union territories, the Home Ministry said the national flag represents hopes and aspirations of the people of India and hence should occupy a position of honour.
• The ministry said it has been brought to its notice that during important events, the national flag made of plastic is used in place of paper flags.
• Since plastic flags are not biodegradable like paper flags, these do not get decomposed for a long time and ensuring appropriate disposal of national flag made of plastic commensurate with the dignity of the flag, is a practical problem, the advisory said
• As per Section 2 of ‘The Prevention of insults to National Honour Act, 1971’ Whoever in any public place or in any other place within public view burns, mutilates, defaces, defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples upon or otherwise shows disrespect to or brings into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, or by acts) the Indian National Flag or any part thereof, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
• The advisory said on important national, cultural and sports events, flags made of paper only are to be used by public in terms of the provisions of the ‘Flag Code of India, 2002’ and such paper flags are not to be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event.
• Such flags are to be disposed of, in private, consistent with the dignity of the flag. Wide publicity for not using the national flag made of plastic should be made along with its advertisement in the electronic and print media
• There is universal affection and respect for and loyalty to the national flag. Yet, a perceptible lack of awareness is often noticed amongst people as well as organisations and agencies of the government in regard to laws, practices and conventions that apply to ‘display of the national flag’, the advisory said.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Forty-five new exoplanets discovered

News

• Scientists have discovered a trove of forty-four planets in solar systems beyond our own in one go, dwarfing the usual number of confirmations from extrasolar surveys.

Beyond News

• The findings will improve existing models of solar systems, and may help researchers investigate exoplanet atmospheres.
• Novel techniques developed to validate the find could accelerate the confirmation of more extrasolar planet candidates.
• Astronomers pooled data from NASA’s Kepler and the ESA’s Gaia space telescopes. They confirmed existence of these 44 exoplanets and described various details about them.
• A portion of the findings yield some surprising characteristcs.
• These contribute to a small but growing list of “ultrashort-period” planets, suggesting that they could be more common than previously believed.
• Scientists hope to understand what kinds of planets might be out there, but can only draw valid conclusions if there are enough planets for robust statistical analysis.
• The addition of a large number of new planets, therefore, leads directly to a better theoretical understanding of solar system formation, researchers said.
• The planets also provide good targets for detailed individual studies to yield measurements of planetary composition, interior structure and atmospheres – in particular, the 18 planets in several multi-planet systems.
• The investigation of other solar systems can help us understand how planets and even our own solar system formed.

GI tag for Chirala weaves soon: CM

News

• After the Tirupati laddu and Banganapalle mango, the handloom products of Chirala weavers, who have made a mark with their expertise in making eco-friendly fabric, will shortly get the Geographic Indication tag.

     Chirala handlooms 

• Chirala handloomsare well known for its designs. Chirala handlooms are made with cotton or this hand woven silk saree from Chirala is having contrast border and hand butta designs in the body woven with golden zari cotton and silk mix. The count used in weaving gives the softness and hardness of the fabric.

Beyond News

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister revealed this after an interaction with a group of weavers, who displayed a variety of products, including the traditional sari and dress material, at an expo to mark the National Handloom Day.
• Chief Minister announced a hike in the government subsidy for house-cum-workshed to weavers from the present ₹1.50 lakh to ₹2.50 lakh, 100 units of power free of cost to weaver households, and a silk yarn depot in Chirala, a long-pending demand of the weavers.

Chinese astronomers discover lithium rich giant star

News

• Chinese astronomers have discovered the most lithium-rich giant star ever known, which could shed new light on the evolution of the universe.

Beyond News

• With 3,000 times more lithium than a normal star, it was found in the direction of Ophiuchus, on the north side of the galactic disk, at a distance of 4,500 light years from Earth, reports Xinhua news agency.
• The star has a mass almost 1.5 times our sun.

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