Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Starfish to benefit from climate change

News

• Seafloor predators and open water feeding animals like the starfish and the jellyfish will benefit from climate change, while those associated with sea ice for food or breeding are most at risk.

Findings

• Marine Antarctic animals closely associated with sea ice for food or breeding, such as the humpback whale and emperor penguin, are most at risk from the predicted effects of climate change.
• Using risk assessments like those used for setting occupational safety limits in the workplace, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) determined the winners and losers of Antarctic climate change impact, which includes temperature rise, sea ice reduction and changes in food availability.
• They show that seafloor predators and open water feeding animals, like starfish and jellyfish, will benefit from the opening up of new habitats.
• One of the strongest signals of climate change in the Western Antarctic is the loss of sea ice, receding glaciers and the break up of ice shelves.
• Climate change will affect shallow water first, challenging the animals who live in this habitat in the very near future.
• The risk assessment also revealed that bottom-feeders, scavengersand predators, such as starfish, sea urchins and worms, may gain from the effects of climate change.

UNESCO names Rio as World Capital of Architecture

News

• The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro as the World Capital of Architecture for 2020.

Beyond News

• Having defeated Paris and Melbourne, Rio will be the first city to receive the title under a programme launched together by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA) in November 2018.
• The World Capital of Architecture initiative underscores the common commitment of UNESCO and the UIA to preserve architectural heritage in the urban context.
• Through the range and quality of its activities, the World Capital of Architecture in Rio de Janeiro will demonstrate the crucial role of architecture and culture in sustainable urban development.
• According to UNESCO, the World Capital of Architecture is intended to become “an international forum for debates about pressing global challenges from the perspectives of culture, cultural heritage, urban planning and architecture”.
• As one of the oldest cities in Brazil, Rio has a mix of modern and colonial architecture, with world-renowned sites like the statue of Christ the Redeemer and contemporary constructions like the Museum of Tomorrow.
• The city is also home to works of renowned architects such as Oscar Niemeyer, who also designed the capital city of Brasilia.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Centre to soon take up linking of Godavari and Cauvery: Gadkari

News

• The Centre would soon take up a major project to link rivers Godavari and Cauvery that would resolve water issues between four southern states.

Beyond News

• The objective of the project, expected to cost upto ₹60,000 crore, was to make good use of about 1100 tmc ft of Godavari water that currently drained into the sea, he said, addressing a meeting of BJP workers here.
• The Godavari water would thus be taken to the tail end of Tamil
• A special technology, suggested by a US-based AP engineer, of using steel pipes would be used for linking Godavari and Cauvery.
• Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been locked in a dispute over sharing of the Cauvery river water for decades.

Plastic waste imports to India go up: report

News

• Government and industry estimates suggest that India consumes about 13 million tonnes of plastic and recycles only about 4 million tonnes.

Beyond News

• A lack of an efficient waste segregation system and inadequate collection is the root cause, according to experts, for much of the plastic not making its way to recycling centres.
• To incentivise domestic plastic recycling units, the government had banned the import of plastic waste, particularly PET bottles in 2015.
• In 2016, an amendment allowed such imports as long as they were carried out by agencies situated in Special Economic Zones. It’s this loophole that’s been exploited.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Nepal’s central bank announces ban of Indian notes above ₹100

News

• Nepal’s central bank has banned the use of Indian currency notes of ₹2,000, ₹500 and ₹200 denominations, a move that could affect Indian tourists visiting the Himalayan nation where Indian currency is widely used.

Beyond News

• Nepal Rastra Bank issued a circular prohibiting Nepali travellers, banks and financial institutions from holding or carrying and trading Indian bank notes higher than ₹100.
• The central bank said in its circular stated that Indian currency of 200, 500 and 2,000 denominations cannot be carried and used for trading.
• Under the new regulation, Nepali citizens cannot carry these denominations to countries other than India. Similarly, Nepalis are also not allowed to bring such notes from other countries. Indian notes of ₹100 or below, however, are allowed for trading and conversion, the bank’s circular reads.
• On December 13 last year, the Cabinet had decided to publish the notification in the Nepal Gazette not to allow people to carry Indian currency notes above ₹100 denominations in Nepal.
• The ban has been criticised by travel traders and entrepreneurs, saying that it would hurt the country’s burgeoning tourism at a time when the government has announced ‘Visit Nepal’ campaign with an objective to draw at least 2 million tourists in 2020.
• The overland Indian visitors’ survey showed that 1.2 million Indians came to Nepal through the surface route while 160,132 travelled via air. The average length of stay of Indian tourists coming overland was 5.8 days. Average expenditure per visitor was as much as ₹11,310, the paper said.
• The Indian government introduced new banknotes of ₹2,000, ₹500 and ₹200 denominations after the demonetisation of old notes worth ₹500 and ₹1,000 in 2016. However, the move hit countries such as Nepal and Bhutan where Indian currency is widely used.

Super blood wolf moon: Total lunar eclipse meets supermoon on January 20 night

News

• The moon, Earth and sun will line up this weekend for the only total lunar eclipse this year and next.
• At the same time, the moon will be ever so closer to Earth and appear slightly bigger and brighter than usual a supermoon.

Beyond News

• The whole eclipse starts on January 20 night or early January 21, depending on location , and will take about three hours.
• If the skies are clear, the entire eclipse will be visible in North and South America, as well as Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and the French and Spanish coasts.
• The rest of Europe, as well as Africa, will have partial viewing before the moon sets. Some places will be livestreaming it, including the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
• During totality, the moon will look red because of sunlight scattering off Earth’s atmosphere. That’s why an eclipsed moon is sometimes known as a blood moon.
• As for full-moon supermoons, this will be the first of three this year. The upcoming supermoon will be about 222,000 miles (357,300 kilometres) away.

This super-Earth exoplanet may harbour alien life

News

• The recently discovered cold super-Earth exoplanet orbiting around the red dwarf Barnard – the second closest star system to Earth – has the potential to harbour primitive life.

Findings

• Barnard b (or GJ 699 b) is a super-Earth with a minimum of 3.2 Earth masses. It orbits its red star every 233 days near the snow-line, a distance where water freezes.
• Although likely cold (-170 degrees centigrade), it could still have the potential to harbour primitive life if it has a large, hot iron or nickel core and enhanced geothermal activity, said researchers.
• Geothermal heating could support ‘life zones’ under its surface, akin to subsurface lakes found in Antarctica.

India to train 45 countries in nano satellite making

News

• India will train 45 countries in nano-satellite making through a new capacity building programme, a top space official said.

Beyond News

• The programme named Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training by ISRO (UNNATI) was flagged off in this space hub.
• The programme allows India to share its knowledge and expertise in space sector to other countries that can benefit from it, a gathering of international delegates and ISRO officials at the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre.

The first batch of the initiative, which was kicked off, will have 30 participants from 17 countries, including Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico and Mongolia.

India’s richest 1% get richer by 39% in 2018; just 3% rise for bottom-half: Oxfam

News

• Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by ₹ 2,200 crore a day last year, with the top 1 per cent of the country’s richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against just 3 per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population.

Findings

• Globally, billionaires’ fortunes rose by 12 per cent or $ 2.5 billion a day in 2018, whereas the poorest half of the world’s population saw their wealth decline by 11 per cent.
• 6 crore Indians, who make up the poorest 10 per cent of the country, continued to remain in debt since 2004.
• Noting that wealth is becoming even more concentrated, Oxfam said 26 people now own the same as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity, down from 44 people last year.
• India’s top 10 per cent of the population holds 77.4 per cent of the total national wealth. The contrast is even sharper for the top 1 per cent that holds 51.53 per cent of the national wealth.
• The bottom 60 per cent, the majority of the population, own merely 4.8 per cent of the national wealth. Wealth of top 9 billionaires is equivalent to the wealth of the bottom 50 per cent of the population,Oxfam said while noting that high level of wealth disparity subverts democracy.
• Between 2018 and 2022, India is estimated to produce 70 new dollar millionaires every day.
• According to the Oxfam report, India added 18 new billionaires last year, raising the total number of billionaires to 119, while their wealth crossed the $ 400 billion (₹ 28 lakh crore) mark for the first time.
• It rose from $ 325.5 billion in 2017 to $ 440.1 billion in 2018, making it the single largest annual increase since the 2008 global financial crisis.
• Oxfam further said getting India’s richest 1 per cent pay just 0.5 per cent extra tax on their wealth could raise enough money enough to increase the government spending on health by 50 per cent.

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