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Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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An uneven rise in sea levels

News

  • The pattern of uneven sea level rise over the last 25 years has been driven in part by human-caused climate change, not just natural variability.

Findings

  • The findings suggest that regions of the world where seas have risen at higher than average rates can expect the trend to continue as the climate warms.
  • By knowing that climate change is playing a role in creating these regional patterns, we can be more confident that these same patterns may linger or even intensify in the future if climate change continues unabated.
  • With sea levels projected to rise a couple of feet or more this century on average, information about expected regional differences could be critical for coastal communities as they prepare.
  • The findings have implications for local officials, who are interested in improved forecasts of sea level rise for the areas they oversee.
  • In the past, forecasters have had to rely on the global rate of change – about 3 millimeters a year and accelerating – and knowledge of the uneven regional impacts associated with continued melting of the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica.
  • The climate models suggest that in regions that have seen more or less sea level rise than average, as much as half of that variation may be attributed to climate change.
  • The scientists also found that the impacts from climate change on regional sea level rise sometimes mimic the impacts from natural cycles.

More coral species found

News

  • Nearly 200 coral species in the deeper regions of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have been found instead of about 30 species previously recorded, pointing to the significant role of the major marine organisms’ habitat.

Beyond News

  • The latest count represented about half of the coral species in the region and suggested an important function of deeper habitats which could be crucial in preserving biodiversity and helping to regenerate damaged shallow reef areas.
  • The study, which deployed remotely-operated vehicles and specialised diving techniques to spot them, sheds light on deeper reef areas providing some protection from coral bleaching and severe storm events that increasingly threaten marine environments worldwide, reports Xinhua news agency.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

India, Russia discuss measures to boost joint production in defence

News

  • India and Russia have agreed on way to simplify export clearances to take forward joint manufacturing in defence.
  • This was among various issues discussed during the 18th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu.

Beyond News

  • The two focus areas of the discussions were on further expanding military to military and defence industrial engagement between the two countries.
  • India is keen on moving from license manufacturing of defence equipment to joint production under Make in India. This includes allowing Indian companies, both Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and private sector, manufacturing spares for Russian systems in India.
  • Eventually India is keen that its companies supply components and spares to export to third world countries.
  • The two sides also agreed to take forward inter-governmental arrangements for facilitating joint manufacturing of spares for Russian origin equipment in India, under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
  • In this regard, four military -industry conferences were held between Russian manufactures and Indian companies to take the process forward.
  • To enhance military to military engagement and rationalise the functioning of the joint commission, a revised Inter-Governmental Agreement on restructuring the existing IRIGC-MTC was also signed by the two ministers.
  • The two countries signed a bilateral road map on defence cooperation in June 2017 for enhancing joint exercises and resumption of training exchanges.
  • India signed several big ticket defence deals with Russia recently and more are in the pipeline.

India, China join hands to promote tea globally

News

  • Two apex industry organisations, Indian Tea Association (ITA) and China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA), have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote green and black tea consumption in major tea markets in Europe , the U.S., Russia and West Asia, besides India and China.
  • The pact could also involve organisation of joint events.

Beyond News

  • China imported 30 million kg of black tea annually amid its rising popularity in the country where green tea had earlier held sway. Indian exports stood at about 8.7 million kg in 2017 with the market being dominated by Sri Lanka and Kenya.
  • An export of 15 million kg was being targeted next year. It may be mentioned that Tea Board and ITA had organised a tea delegation to China in October to boost trade between the two countries.
  • ITA said that Solidaridad Asia had taken the lead role in forging this alliance which, it felt, would promote sustainable development of the tea industry in the two countries, including that of the small tea sector.
  • The network works to promote sustainable production of 13 commodities across nine regions.
  • The MoU covers the areas of trade promotion, intellectual property protection and technology exchange.

Recycling temple waste to spread fragrance gets UN award

News

  • Indian group Help Us Green that gives marginalised women the chance to earn livelihoods and be respected in their communities through collecting temple ceremonial flowers tossed into the Ganges and turning them into sustainable incense, received a UN Climate Action Award.

Beyond News

  • Fifteen game-changing initiatives in 14 countries were honoured as winners of the award at a special ceremony at the UN Climate meet.
  • The Momentum for Change award, spearheaded by UN Climate Change, showcases some of the most practical and replicable examples of what people are doing to address climate change.
  • Help Us Green, based in UP, got the award in the Women for Results category. It is doing its part to clean up the Ganges by recycling flowers from temples and mosques.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Come June, industries must pay for using groundwater

News

  • In a bid to promote conservation of groundwater, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has notified a water conservation fee (WCF) that industries will need to pay on groundwater extraction starting from June.

Beyond News

  • As per the notification, industries extracting groundwater including mining-dewatering units and those that use groundwater for packaged drinking water would also need to apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the government.
  • Individual households that draw groundwater using a delivery pipe of a greater than 1” diameter, too, would need to pay a WCF.
  • However, the agriculture sector the largest consumer of groundwater in the country will be exempt from the fees.
  • The guidelines would come into force with effect from June 2019 and would apply across the country.
  • The entire process of grant of NOC will be done online through a web based application system of CGA.
  • The government has a list of groundwater blocks, called assessment blocks. These are classified as ‘safe,’ ‘semi-critical,’ ‘critical’ and ‘over-exploited’ depending on the groundwater draft.
  • Drawing up to 20 cubic metres (a cubic metre is 1,000 litres) a day in a ‘safe’ block would cost a company ₹3 per cubic metre. However, extracting 5,000 or more cubic metres a day, at an ‘over exploited’ block would invite a daily charge in excess of ₹100 per cubic metre .
  • The WCF for residential projects ranges from ₹1-2 per cubic metre. The WCF apart, all industrial as well as residential bodies would also need to apply for an NOC.
  • Defence establishments and users who don’t use electricity to extract water have also been granted exemption from the requirement of obtaining NOCs and having to pay the WCF.
  • In India, extracted groundwater is mainly used for irrigation and accounts for about 228 BCM (billion cubic metre) or about 90% of the annual groundwater extraction. The rest, 25 BCM, is drawn for drinking, domestic and industrial uses.
  • India is the largest user of groundwater in the world, and accounts for about 25% of the global water extraction. The CGWB classifies 6,584 assessment units countrywide. While 1,034 units have been categorised as ‘over-exploited,’ 253 are termed as ‘critical’, 681 as ‘semi-critical’ and 4,520 as ‘safe.’ The remaining 96 assessment units have been classified as ‘saline.’

World’s first floating nuclear plant in Russia

News

  • Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas, has been started and brought to 10 per cent of its capacity.

Beyond News

  • It had started up the first reactor unit of Lomonosov which would be towed to its final destination by next autumn, as scheduled.
  • Rosatom are also the equipment suppliers and consultants for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu.
  • The power start-up is a series of functionality and safety tests conducted on Lomonosov’s reactor required to be completed before connection to the grid.
  • During each stage, various operation modes are tested in order to ensure the FNPP’s safety. All tests are likely to be completed by March 2019.
  • An FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land. They are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas.

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