Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Global warming causing ‘feminisation’ of turtles

News

• Up to 93% of green turtle hatchlings could be female by 2100, as climate change causes “feminisation” of the species.

Findings

• The sex of turtle hatchlings is determined by temperature, and at present about 52% of hatching green turtles one of seven species of sea turtle are female.
• Researchers found that in warmer temperatures predicted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, 76-93% of hatchlings would be female.
• The figures are specific to the study site in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, but researchers say they expect a similar picture globally.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Himachal, Kerala and T.N. top development index

News

• Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu have been ranked highest in terms of being on track to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), according to a first-of-its-kind index released by NITI Aayog.

Beyond News

• The index comprises a composite score for each State and Union Territory based on their aggregate performance across 13 of the 17 SDGs. The score, ranging between 0 and 100, denotes the average performance of the State/UT towards achieving the 13 SDGs and their respective targets. The average Indian score was 57.
• The SDG Index Score for Sustainable Development Goals 2030 ranges between 42 and 69 for States and between 57 and 68 for UTs.
• Among the States, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh are the front runners, with an SDG India Index score of 69. Among the UTs, Chandigarh is the front runner with a score of 68.
• Tamil Nadu has a score 66, and is the top scorer on the goals to do with eradicating poverty and also providing clean and affordable energy.
• The aim of the index is to instil competition among States to improve their performance across social indices as the States’ progress will determine India’s progress towards achieving the set goals by 2030.
• Kerala’s top rank is attributed to its superior performance in providing good health, reducing hunger, achieving gender equality and providing quality education. Himachal Pradesh ranks high on providing clean water and sanitation, in reducing inequalities and preserving the mountain ecosystem.
• Among the UTs, Chandigarh takes the lead because of its exemplary performance in providing clean water and sanitation to its people.
• It has further made good progress towards providing affordable and clean energy, generating decent work and economic growth, and providing quality education.
• Overall, the average score for the States was the worst when it came to gender equality (36), in creating sustainable cities and communities (39), in enabling industry, innovation, and infrastructure (44), and in eradicating hunger (48).

Centre’s surveillance order challenges Supreme Court verdict on privacy: experts

News

• The December 20 order allowing 10 different Central agencies to snoop on peopleis seen as a challenge to the nine-judge Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court, which directed the government to protect informational privacy of every individual.

Beyond News

• In its 2017 judgment, the apex court had asked the government to always carefully and sensitively balance individual privacy and the legitimate concerns of the state, even if national security was at stake.
• The December 20 order allows central agencies from the Intelligence Bureau to the Central Board of Direct Taxes to the Cabinet Secretariat (RAW) to the Commissioner of Delhi Police to intercept, monitor and de-crypt “any information” generated, transmitted, received or stored in “any computer resource”.
• The government order is based on Section 69 (1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009.
• Experts say the December 20 order may be challenged in the apex court. The privacy judgment has already asked the government “to be sensitive to the needs of and the opportunities and dangers posed to liberty in a digital world”.

Hefty fines if States fail to give plans to clean up rivers: NGT

News

• Noting that 16 States have submitted “incomplete action plans” pertaining to the cleaning of 351 polluted river stretches in the country, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has extended the deadline for submitting the action plans to January 31.
• The green panel, however, added that in case of non-compliance, hefty compensation will be levied on the States and the Union Territories.

Beyond News

• State pollution control boards and pollution control committees of the UTs have been directed to display quality of the water of polluted river stretches on their respective websites within 30 days and the same has to be revised every three months.
• Any incomplete action plan will be treated as non-compliance.
• Performance guarantees are to be furnished for implementation of action plans within the above stipulated time to the satisfaction of the Central Pollution Control Board in the sum of ₹15 crore each for Priority I and II stretches, ₹10 crore for each of Priority III stretches and ₹5 crore for each of Priority IV and V stretches.

China’s Pak. investments take a military turn

News

• When U.S. President Donald Trump started the new year by suspending billions of dollars of security aid to Pakistan,just two weeks later, the Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches on a secret proposal to expand Pakistan’s building of Chinese military jets, weaponry and other hardware.

Beyond News

• The confidential plan, would also deepen the cooperation between China and Pakistan in space, Beijing was trying to militarise after decades of playing catch-up.
• All those military projects were designated as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a chain of infrastructure development programmes stretching across some 70 countries, built and financed by Beijing.
• Chinese officials have repeatedly said the Belt and Road is purely an economic project with peaceful intent. But with its plan for Pakistan, China is for the first time explicitly tying a Belt and Road proposal to its military ambitions.
• Since the beginning of the BRI in 2013, Pakistan has been the programme’s flagship site, with some $62 billion in projects planned in the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). In the process, China has lent more and more money to Pakistan at a time of economic desperation there, binding the two countries ever closer.
• A Chinese-built seaport and special economic zone in the Pakistani town of Gwadar is rooted in trade, giving China a quicker route to get goods to the Arabian Sea. But it also gives Beijing a strategic card to play against India and the U.S. if tensions worsen to the point of naval blockades as the two powers increasingly confront each other at sea.
• Linking the port to western China would be a new 2,000-mile network of highways and rails through the Balochistan province, a resource-rich region plagued by militancy.
• The public vision for the project was that it would allow Chinese goods to bypass much longer and more expensive shipping routes through the Indian Ocean and avoid the territorial waters of several U.S. allies in Asia.
• Military analysts predict that China could use Gwadar to expand the naval footprint of its attack submarines, after agreeing in 2015 to sell eight submarines to Pakistan in a deal worth up to $6 billion. China could use the equipment it sells to the South Asian country to refuel its own submarines, extending its Navy’s global reach.
• The proposal, confirmed by officials at the Ministry of Planning and Development, would expand China and Pakistan’s current cooperation on the JF-17 fighter jet, which is assembled at Pakistan’s military-run Kamra Aeronautical Complex in Punjab province. The Chinese-designed jets have given Pakistan an alternative to the U.S.-built F-16 fighters.

Lok Sabha clears amended Consumer Protection Bill

News

• The Lok Sabha passed two Bills. Besides the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018, which seeks to replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was passed.

Beyond News

• The Consumer Protection Bill will become law once it goes through the Rajya Sabha. It is meant to protect those who use new technologies such as e-commerce and online shopping.
• The financial jurisdiction of the District Consumers Courts has been increased: they can deal with complaints involving ₹1 crore as against the ₹20 lakh earlier.
• Under the clause of product liability, a manufacturer will be liable to compensation for products with defects.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

GST rate may be cut on some items

News

• While the GST Council is expected to cut tax rates on some commodities, most notably cement, during meeting, tax analysts do not expect a large number of rate cuts to take place.
• They do, however, expect greater clarity to do with the GST annual return form, around which there has been a lot of confusion.

Beyond News

• A rate cut could be on the cards because of some political compulsions.One thing that is expected is a cut in the rate on cement, and something for regular housing such as under-construction properties.
• However, there are not likely to be a large number of rate cuts as industry expected following Prime Minister statement saying that 99% of the items would be brought into the 18% or below rate slabs.
• Only about 34-35 items are in the 28% slab, and most [of them] are sin or luxury goods. So, it may not be an across-the-board cut, but there could be cuts for specific sectors.
• The issue of tax rates on cement has been in the works for a while as it is expected to boost the infrastructure sector. Now, with the NITI Aayog vision document planning for a $4 trillion economy by 2022-23, demands for a boost to infrastructure through tax relief have regained steam.
• Another area that may see a rate cut could be the financial inclusion sector, according to industry bodies.
• Apart from rates,tax analysts also say that the government was likely to provide more clarity about any changes it might be making to the annual return form GSTR 9. The deadline for filing the duly filled up form has been shifted from December 31, 2018 to March 31, 2019 because the form had not been made available to filers in time.

ONGC oil rig off Andhra Pradesh coast found tilted, stabilisation exercise on

News

• An Indian Navy chopper was pressed into service to stabilise a tilted hydrocarbon excavation rig belonged to the public sector major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the Bay of Bengal between Kakinada and Yanam on Friday.

Beyond News

• Brazilian company had installed ‘Olinda Star’ rig in the Bay of Bengal for the ONGC and taken care of its operation and maintenance. Over 120 personnel were deployed on the rig.
• The rig, however, was abandoned last week following an alert of severe cyclone from the Meteorological department.
• Post-Phethai, the ONGC spotted that the rig got tilted and asked the service provider to rectify the same.

Central teams assessing drought damage

News

• Inter-ministerial teams are visiting six States to assess the impact of drought in the summer monsoon season.
• State governments have requested drought relief assistance from the Centre to the tune of almost ₹17,000 crore for two crore hectares of affected land, according to Agriculture Ministry data.

Beyond News

• Rainfall shortages have hit hard in three States of the Deccan plateau — Maharshtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as well as the western States of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Jharkhand and Odisha have also been affected. However, the Odisha government, which has already declared drought for kharif 2018, has not yet submitted a memorandum for assistance from the Centre.
• The inter-ministerial teams will assess the damage and submit their reports to a sub-committee headed by the Agriculture Secretary.
• The sub-committee will send final recommendations for financial assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund to a high-level committee, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
• Maharashtra is the worst affected in terms of land area, with more than 85 lakh hectares hit by drought conditions, according to data provided to Parliament by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh this week. Out of its 36 districts, 26 districts have been affected, and the State government has requested ₹7,522 crore in central assistance.
• In Karnataka, 24 out of 30 districts have been declared drought-hit, with 37 lakh hectares affected. The State has requested assistance of ₹2,434 crore. In Rajasthan, almost 35 lakh hectares have been affected, and the State has requested nearly ₹2,820 crore of central assistance.

Fossils of carnivorous dinosaur found in Italy

News

• Scientists have unearthed fossils of a large meat-eating dinosaur that stalked northern Italy 198 million years ago that was remarkable both in life and in death.

Findings

• Saltriovenator zanellai was about 25 feet long and weighed at least a ton, meaning that when it lived early in the Jurassic Period it was the largest-known carnivorous dinosaur that had ever existed.
• Saltriovenator, which combined traits of primitive meat-eating dinosaurs with those of more advanced ones, foreshadowed a succession of even bigger predatory dinosaurs that lived later in the Jurassic and in the Cretaceous Period. It is the second dinosaur ever unearthed in Italy.
• Saltriovenator, meaning “hunter from Saltrio,” walked on two legs, had a skull 2-1/2-feet long (80 cm) studded with sharp serrated teeth and had hands with four fingers, three of which possessed claws. It was about 24 years old, still not quite fully grown. It lived in a coastal, Caribbean-like environment and likely hunted plant-eating dinosaurs and maybe smaller carnivorous dinosaurs, the researchers said.

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