Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

‘Mammals, birds likely to survive climate change’

News

• Researchers said that,mammals and birds stand the best chance of all animals of surviving Earth’s rapidly changing climate.

Beyond News:

• An analysis of how nearly 11,5000 species fared over 270 million years of hot-and-cold fluctuations showed that warm-blooded creatures cope better with change than reptiles and amphibians, a team reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Findings

• When a massive space rock crashed into Earth some 66 million years ago, the debris thrown in the atmosphere lowered the planet’s temperature for decades. The shock wiped out the world’s non-avian dinosaurs, from T-Rex to the three-horned Triceratops.
• But warm-blooded land mammals survived, and then thrived with all those predatory dinos out of the way.
• Global warming today has triggered another so-called mass extinction event – the first since the demise of the dinosaurs, and the sixth in the last half-billion years on Earth.
• Species are disappearing up to 100 times faster than before the Industrial Revolution, when temperatures began to climb, earlier research has shown.
• Looking at fossil records and genetic data, Rolland and colleagues reconstructed where animals lived over the past 270 million years — and the temperature ranges that allowed them survive.
• When a balmy planet gradually cooled some 40 million years ago, for example, mammals and birds successfully adapted and move to new habitats.

Man-made climate change

• Studying past evolution and extinctions of species can provide crucial clues on how current, man-made climate change far more rapid than any natural fluctuation that has happened in the past will affect Earth’s biodiversity.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Facing criticism, govt. backs down on orange passports

News

• Weeks after announcing that Indian migrant labourers would be issued orange-coloured passports instead of the usual blue, the government backed down after sharp criticism, especially from the Opposition.

Beyond News

• A release from the Ministry said that,after comprehensive discussions with the various stakeholders, the MEA has decided to continue the current practice of printing of the last page of the passport, and not to issue a separate passport with orange colour jacket to ECR (Emigration Check Required) passport holders
• The announcement reversed the January 12 decision, in which the MEA had done away with printing of the last page of the passport that contains the names of the parents of the passport applicant.
• At the same time, the MEA also declared that the covers of the ECR category passports, catering to migrant workers from India, would be in orange instead of the usual blue.
• The decision to do away with the last page was taken following suggestions from an expert panel to make passports more suitable for single parents, the MEA had clarified then.

Pakistan extends Thar Link Express for 3 years

News

• The solitary rail link between India and Pakistan received an extension from Islamabad .

Beyond News

• Foreign Ministry of Pakistan has announced that the Thar Link Express that connects Khokhrapar in Pakistan and Munabao in Rajasthan received an extension for three more years.
• Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan said that the Government of Pakistan has agreed to extend the agreement of the Rail link between Munabao (India) Khokhrapar (Pakistan) for another three years from 1 February 2018 to 31 January 2021.
• The weekly train connects Jodhpur and the bordering region of Rajasthan with the province of Sindh in Pakistan.
• The agreement to run the Thar Link Express was signed in 2006 and is one of the cheapest means of transport between the two rival countries.
• The rail link facilitates people-to-people contacts which Pakistan believes are essential for improving relations between both the countries.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Pampadum Shola has significant population of evasive Nilgiri Marten

News

• The January 26 issue of Journal of Threatened Taxa has carried findings of their research which involved 148 days of field study. They had 42 independent sightings of the elusive animals in this period.

Beyond News:

• Pampadum Shola National Park located on the southern portion of Western Ghats is a safe haven of rare and most elusive Nilgiri Marten and the proposed eco-tourism activities there require careful planning and regular review.

Nilgiri Marten

• Endemic to the Western Ghats, Nilgiri Marten looks like a civet or a mongoose and it most prefers higher altitudes.
• The earlier information was that Nilgiri Matrten was a solitary animal. However,there Pampadum Shola experience proves that they can be spotted as pairs and triplets as well. they were able to gather information on the dietary habits of the carnivorous animal.
• The number is vital as the global population of the Nilgiri Marten is estimated below 1000. Though not much studies were undertaken on Nilgiri marten, it found place in schedule 2 of the part 2 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection ) Act 1972.
• The team had also recorded their sounds and also their hunting patterns. The Nilgiri Martens often engage in allo-grooming and resting on fallen tree trunks. During day time, they remain restless and active.

Pollution exceeds permissible limits: study

News

• Air pollution readings from four ‘Atmos’ real-time air quality monitors installed across the Chennai city have shown that between January 1 and 23, on most days, the daily averages of PM 2.5 (particulate matter) levels in the city crossed the permissible limit fixed by the National Ambient Air Quality standards of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Beyond News

• While the CPCB fixes permissible PM 2.5 levels at 60 micrograms /cubic metre in the air, the World Health Organization (WHO) fixes it at 10 micrograms /cubic metre, which was not met even on a single day of the measurement.
• All these locations, however, recorded hazardous levels (above 180 micrograms /cubic metre) of PM 2.5 on January 13, the day of the Bhogi festival.
• If PM 2.5 levels touch 22.5 micrograms /cubic metre, breathing that air is considered equivalent to smoking one cigarette.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS