Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Egg fossils crack open secrets of ancient flying reptiles

News

• Palaeontologists have uncovered more than 200 fossilised eggs belonging to the flying reptiles that soared during the age of dinosaurs.

Why it’s important?

• The discovery, published in the journal Science, is the largest collection of pterosaur eggs found so far.
• The find could help advance our understanding about the early lives of the extinct winged creatures, including their relationships with their parents.

Pterosaurs

• Pterosaurs were the first creatures — after insects — to evolve powered flight, meaning they flapped their wings to stay aloft instead of simply jumping and gliding.
• Pterosaurs terrorised the skies for more than 160 million years until they went extinct alongside dinosaurs some 66 million years ago. They are the largest animals to have ever flown, with some like the colossal Quetzalcoatlushaving wingspans as large as fighter jets.
• The species that laid the recently discovered eggs is known as Hamipterus tianshanensis. It lived during the early Cretaceous period and its wings stretched about 11 feet. It also sported a thick forehead crest and had a mouth full of pointy teeth for snatching fish.
• Pterosaurs laid soft eggs like snakes or lizards, not brittle ones like birds. The fossilised eggs found at the nesting ground look more like deflated balloons than eggs cracked for an omelette.

Beyond News

• Using CT scanning, the team peered into the shells. Of the 215 eggs they found, 16 had embryonic remains, including one with partial wings and a toothless lower jaw.
• The team also discovered evidence that hatchlings had leg bones that were more developed than their forelimbs, suggesting the babies most likely crawled and were unable to fly. The team added that young pterosaurs were probably very reliant on their parents.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Navy alive to China threat, says Lanba

News

• Referring to the Chinese deployment of submarines for anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba said,it was an “odd task” for a submarine to perform.

Beyond News

• China has actively deployed ships and submarines in the Indian Ocean in the name of anti-piracy measures and the frequency has steadily gone up.
• Several U.S. military officers too have expressed similar views in the past.
• In a related development, India and Singapore are in the process of discussing the modalities of the overarching naval cooperation agreement signed in presence of the two Defence Ministers earlier this week.

This gives India access to the Changi naval base near the Strait of Malacca as a basing area.

• After much deliberation, the Indian Navy has decided to go ahead with a conventionally powered reactor instead of a nuclear-powered one for its second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-II).

FM seeks to allay depositors’ fears, hints at review of Bill
News

• Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said that, bank depositors’ fears about the safety of their savings once the Centre enacts the proposed new law for resolving financial entities’ bankruptcy  may be premature as the legislation is still at the drafting stage and could see several ‘corrections’ before its passage.

Beyond News

• Expected to be tabled in Parliament’s winter session that starts on December 15, the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill of 2017 proposes scrapping the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) that guarantees repayment of all bank deposits up to Rs. 1,00,000 in case a stressed bank is liquidated.
• There is ambiguity on how depositor’s savings will be protected in stressed banks and other financial entities under the new law, which also includes a ‘bail-in’ option to resolve financial entities’ stress.
• A bail-in option entails a bank issuing securities in lieu of the money deposited in its coffers.

The Corporation will be given a year’s time to resolve problems facing firms in trouble.

India silent on Maldives, China FTA

News

• India maintained cautious silence on the free trade agreement that the Maldives signed with China.

Beyond News

• Senior officials at the Ministry of External Affairs said the government needs to look into the details of the FTA between the Indian Ocean country and Beijing even as the Opposition of Maldives said the deal was ‘detrimental’ to the Maldivian economy.
• The FTA, second in the region, after a similar agreement between China and Pakistan, reportedly caused surprise in the official circles here as the President Abdullah Yameen government pushed the agreement with no opposition in a brief session of the Maldivian parliament.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Underground power station plans in Western Ghats raise concern

News

• An underground pipeline connecting two major reservoirs, and power stations situated underneath a pristine reserve forest are part of an ambitious ₹5,000-crore project that environmentalists say will leave an indelible mark on the flora and fauna of the Western Ghats.

Problems

• This installation will take place through a “cut and cover” method, which will entail cutting out the trees, excavating soil and then filling it back once the power station is completed in an estimated five years time.
• Wildlife activist from the region said that, this stretch is dense evergreen forest. Even if it is underground, construction will see cutting of thousands of trees, setting up of township and new roads. It is an ecological disaster that will destroy a vital habitat of the endangered lion-tailed macaque.

The proposed area of construction comes within the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) limits as shown by the December 2015 draft around Sharavati Wildlife Sanctuary, particularly in the N. Talakalale village. Once ESZ norms are applied, the area would see a near prohibition on new hydro-electric projects.

Beyond News

• The Sharavati Pumped Storage project, envisioned to generate 2,000 MW of electricity, is situated just 3.5 km from the Sharavati Wildlife Sanctuary and is expected to consume nearly 150 hectares or 371 acres of Jog Reserve Forest.
• The forests come between the sanctuary, Aghanashini Lion-tailed Macaque Conservation Reserve, and is part of the key, contiguous forest corridor of the Western Ghats.

The report notes that the pipelines, power house and transformers will be placed underground — even up to a depth of 312 m.

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