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Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Climate change could wipe out Bengal tigers

News

  • Sundarbans, the iconic Bengal tiger’s last coastal stronghold and the world’s biggest mangrove forest, could be destroyed by climate change and rising sea levels over the next 50 years, scientists say.
  • Spanning more than 10,000 sq km, the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh and India is the biggest mangrove forest on Earth, and also the most critical area for the endangered Bengal tiger.

Findings

  • Fewer than 4,000 Bengal tigers are alive today.
  • That’s a really low number for the world’s biggest cat, which used to be far more abundant but today is mainly confined to small areas of India and Bangladesh.
  • Most terrifying is that analyses suggest tiger habitats in the Sundarbans will vanish entirely by 2070.
  • The researchers used computer simulations to assess the future suitability of the low-lying Sundarbans for tigers and their prey, using mainstream estimates of climatic trends from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their analyses included factors such as extreme weather events and sea-level rise.

Beyond climate change, the Sundarbans are under growing pressure from industrial developments, new roads, and greater poaching.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

India signs defence pacts with Germany and Sweden

News

  • India concluded defence cooperation and security protection agreements with Germany and Sweden during the ongoing visit of Defence Minister there.

Beyond News

  • The agreement will enable both the countries to share classified information with each other, a Swedish Embassy release said.
  • India and Sweden have had a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the area of defence since 2009.
  • Earlier in Germany Defence Minister met her counterpart Dr. Ursula von der Leyen and signed an implementing arrangement on enhanced defence and defence industry cooperation to strengthen military to military engagement as well as defence industry and research and development linkages.
  • Both Germany and Sweden are important suppliers of defence equipment to India and their companies are currently in the race for multi-billion tenders to supply submarines and fighter aircraft.

U.S. urges its citizens to reconsider travelling to Pakistan due to terrorism

News

  • The US has urged its citizens to reconsider their travel to Pakistan mainly due to terrorism and risks to civil aviation operating within or near the country.

Beyond News

  • The Federal Aviation Administration, in a notice issued, said that terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Pakistan.
  • It asked Americans not to travel to Balochistan province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), due to terrorism, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir area due to terrorism and the potential for armed conflict.
  • Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Pakistan, it said, adding that terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist locations, schools, hospitals, places of worship and government facilities.
  • Noting that terrorist attacks continue to happen across Pakistan, with most occurring in Balochistan and KPK, including the former FATA, the State Department said large-scale terrorist attacks have resulted in hundreds of casualties over the last several years.
  • India and Pakistan maintain a strong military presence on both sides of the border.
  • The only official Pakistan-India border crossing point for persons who are not citizens of India or Pakistan is in the province of Punjab between Wagah, Pakistan, and Attari, India.
  • Urging its citizens not to travel to PoK, the State Department said militant groups are known to operate in the area.
  • The threat of armed conflict between India and Pakistan remains. Indian and Pakistani military forces periodically exchange fire across the Line of Control, it added.

Haryana Cabinet gives nod for 10% reservation to EWS

News

  • The Haryana government decided to grant 10% reservation to persons belonging to the economically weaker sections in direct recruitment to Group A, B, C and D posts in all departments, boards, corporations and local bodies of the State government, besides in admissions to all government and government-aided educational institutions.

Beyond News

  • An official statement said only those whose gross income is below Rs. 6 lakh per annum would be eligible. Income will include income from all sources. That is salary, agriculture, business and profession and income for the financial year prior to the year of application.
  • Moreover, a family will include the person who is seeking reservation his/her parents, spouse and children and siblings below the age of 18 years.
  • Persons whose family owns or possesses five acres of agricultural land and above; residential flat of 1,000 square feet and above; residential plot of 100 square yards and above in notified municipalities; residential plot of 200 square yards and above in areas other than the notified municipalities; and any immovable property worth more than Rs. 1 crore would be excluded from the quota irrespective of the family income.
  • The Cabinet also approved the draft of the Haryana Laws (Special Provisions) Bill, 2019, to make special provisions for all districts of Haryana falling under the National Capital Region for a period of one year.
  • This Act will be called the Haryana Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2019. It will help to phase out specified agricultural and allied activities propelled vehicles tractors and combine harvesters using diesel as fuel from the districts of Haryana falling in the NCR gradually in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court without causing hardship to farmers and allied in the districts falling in the NCR.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Wasted effort: half of India’s waste-to-energy plants defunct

News

  • Nearly half of India’s waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, meant to convert non-biodegradable waste, are defunct.
  • Further, the country’s inability to segregate waste has resulted in even the existing plants working below capacity, says an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment.

Findings

  • Since 1987, 15 WTE plants have been set up across the country. However, seven of these plants have since shut down.
  • Apart from Delhi, these include plants at Kanpur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Vijayawada and Karimnagar.
  • The key reasons for closure are the plants’ inability to handle mixed solid waste and the high cost of electricity generated by them that renders it unattractive to power companies.
  • This track record, however, has not stopped the government from betting big on WTE. The NITI Aayog, as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, envisages 800 megawatt from WTE plants by 2018-19, which is 10 times the capacity of all the existing WTE plants put together.
  • It also proposes setting up a Waste-to-Energy Corporation of India, which would construct incineration plants through PPP models. Currently, there are 40-odd WTE plants at various stages of construction.
  • About 1.43 lakh tonnes per day of (TPD) municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated across the country. Of this, 1.11 lakh TPD (77.6%) is collected and 35,602 TPD (24.8%) processed.
  • In addition India generates close to 25,940 TPD of plastic waste of which 15,342 remains uncollected, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
  • As per the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, MSW generation will reach 4.5 lakh TPD by 2031 and 11.9 lakh TPD by 2050.
  • The WTEs have also triggered widespread opprobrium among citizens. For instance, there has been a continuous protest against the Okhla WTE plant for polluting the environment.
  • In 2016, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) slapped environmental compensation fine of ₹25 lakh on the plant.
  • Moreover, the plants are expensive because they produce power at nearly ₹7 per unit, which is more than the ₹3-5 offered by thermal as well as solar sources.

NASA bids adieu to Mars rover Opportunity

News

  • Opportunity, a remarkably durable NASA rover designed to roll along the surface of Mars for three months, has stopped communicating with Earth after 15 years of service, officials said, ending a mission that astounded the U.S. space agency.

Beyond News

  • Engineers lost contact with the solar-powered vehicle during a dust storm that encircled Mars. Since then, NASA officials made numerous attempts to reach the six-wheeled rover, which is about the size of a golf cart.
  • Opportunity’s equipment may have been compromised by the storm, which struck while the rover was at a site called Perseverance Valley and blotted out sunlight needed by the robot’s solar panels, officials said.
  • The vehicle was built to drive six-tenths of a mile (1 km), but ended up covering 28 miles (45 km) and lasting longer on Mars than any other robot sent to the surface of the Red Planet.
  • As Opportunity explored craters on Mars, it gathered evidence to demonstrate the planet in the ancient past was wet and warm enough to possibly sustain life, NASA said. That included the discovery of white veins of the mineral gypsum, an indication of water moving through underground fractures.
  • InSight and the next Mars rover mission, scheduled for 2020, are both seen as precursors for eventual human exploration of Mars.

Panel moots minimum wage of ₹375 per day

News

  • An expert panel has recommended that a need-based national minimum wage for workers across the country be set at ₹375 per day, or ₹9,750 per month.

Beyond News

  • In a report submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, an Expert Committee on Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage has also recommended different national minimum wages for “different geographical regions of the country to suit the local realities and as per socio-economic and labour market contexts.
  • These regional wage recommendations range from ₹342 per day in some States including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to ₹447/day for States such as Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
  • While the Minimum Wages Act was enacted in 1948, it stipulates different wages according to occupation and State; there is no national minimum wage. In 2016, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hiked minimum wages for unskilled non-agricultural workers by 42% to ₹350 per day.
  • The Code on Wages Bill, 2017, had proposed a national minimum wage and five regional minimum wages. However, it was referred to a parliamentary standing committee which, in its December 2018 report, said State governments must be consulted before any national minimum wage is set by the Centre.

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