Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Proposed DNA bank will not store data permanently: official

News

• India’s proposed DNA databank, to be used during investigation into crimes or to find missing persons, will not permanently store details of people.

Beyond News

• The DNA details will be removed, subject to “judicial orders,” said a senior official in the Department of Biotechnology.
• The rules will come after Parliament approves the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018, the latest version of the DNA ‘profiling’ Bill framed by the Department of Biotechnology in 2015.
• The aim of that draft legislation was to establish an institutional mechanism to collect and deploy DNA technologies to identify persons based on samples collected from crime scenes or to identify missing persons.
• The Cabinet cleared the Bill on July 3. The Bill envisages a DNA Profiling Board and a DNA Data Bank.
• To help in investigations, there would be a central databank as well as regional ones, and these would store DNA profiles under various heads, such as a ‘crime scene index’ or ‘suspects index’ or ‘offenders index.’
• The 11-member Board, according to the proposed legislation, is supposed to be the regulatory authority that will grant accreditation to DNA laboratories.
• The Board, in consultation with members of the judiciary, will frame rules on how long the DNA details of an entrant on a crime index would be maintained.

Different rules on the storage of DNA details.

• In France, for instance, the profiles of convicted persons are kept for 40 years after conviction. Upon their 80th birthday, suspects’ profiles are removed by a motion of the prosecutor or the individual on the grounds that their storage no longer serves its original purpose. Crime scene stains are deleted forty years after they have been analysed.
• In the United Kingdom, the profiles of convicted persons and suspects are retained indefinitely, and crime scene stains are kept until they have been identified.

Survey launched to rank States on rural cleanliness

News

• The Centre has launched the Swachh Survekshan Grameen, 2018, a nationwide survey of rural India to rank the cleanest and dirtiest States and districts on the basis of qualitative and quantitative evaluation.

Beyond News

• A random selection of 6, 980 villages across 698 districts will surveyed during the month of August, following which the Swachh Survekshan Grameen awards are expected to be announced in time for Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2.
• This is the first comprehensive survey for rural India, which has been launched after three successful editions of a similar survey in urban India, Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation said at the launch event.
• The rankings will be based on three basic parameters: direct observation of public places by independent surveyors, service-level progress using data from the Swachh Bharat Mission’s information system and citizens’ feedback.
• The feedback will be solicited through village meetings, online feedback and direct interviews, as well as discussions with key influencers such as local officials, elected representatives and anganwadi workers.

No plan to contain China, says India

News

• India reaffirmed that its Indo-Pacific strategy was not aimed at China’s containment.

Beyond News

• During the second India-China Maritime Affairs Dialogue held in Beijing, the Indian delegation led by Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) in the Ministry of External Affairs, cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at the Shangrila dialogue in Singapore in June.
• The statement highlighted that stepped up “maritime cooperation” was “a platform to strengthen political and strategic mutual trust between the two countries.”
• It added exchanges in the maritime domain were “an important area of India-China bilateral relations”.
• In the past, India has been concerned about China’s forays in the Indian Ocean, including Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

India going ahead with purchase of S-400 air defence systems from Russia: Nirmala Sitharaman

News

• India is going ahead with the purchase of S-400 air defence systems from Russia despite American concerns, and has told the U.S. that it is for them to address concerns over its recent Russia sanctions, Defence Minister said .

Beyond News

• This has been conveyed to a delegation of the U.S. Congress, headed by Chairman of the U.S. House Armed Service Committee Mac Thornberry, which was in New Delhi in May. Asked if the law did not apply to India, Defence Minister said “Of course it does not.”
• The S. has passed the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) that proposes to impose sanctions on nations that have significant defence relations with Russia.
• While the U.S. Administration has said waivers will be incorporated in it to protect friends and allies, it is yet to be done. This has generated significant concern in India which is heavily dependent on Russia for military hardware.
• On the S-400 deal, Defence Minister said negotiations have reached a “conclusive stage” with Russia. Last month, India and Russia had concluded commercial negotiations for the purchase of five S-400 systems worth over ₹39,000 crore. The deal is expected to be announced later this year.
• On the foundational agreement, Communications, Compatibility, Security Agreement (COMCASA) which will enable Indian military to obtain encrypted communication systems from the U.S., Defence Minister indicated that no agreement has been reached yet.
• After years of reluctance, India had agreed to move ahead on COMCASA and in the last few months both sides made progress in addressing New Delhi’s concerns in the draft.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Here comes the potato carry bag that dissolves in water

News

• A bag made of potatoes could replace plastic as the biodegradable and recyclable alternative for carry bags in the temple town of Tirupati, which is taking slow yet firm steps towards getting rid of plastic carry bags.

Beyond News

• Tirupati has fixed October 2 Gandhi Jayanti, and the day on which the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched  as the cut-off date for the sale and possession of plastic carry bags.
• Various alternatives are being contemplated. Although the raw materials for making the bag haven’t been revealed, the most likely ingredients are said to be potato and tapioca starch, vegetable oil extracts and other organic waste.
• The bags making rounds in the city are produced by EnviGreen, a Bengaluru-based company. They are distributed by social organisations roped-in by the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) to disseminate information on biodegradable carry bags to citizens.
• The potato-based bag not only claims to be 100% plastic-free, it is also said to dissolve in hot water and burn like paper. As compared with regular plastic, which takes thousands of years to decompose, the potato-based bag bio-degrades in a few months. It is said to be as strong, or stronger than, a plastic carry bag.
• Commercially, the bag costs ₹300 per kg for traders, with varying sizes and thickness (in microns).
• Social activists expect the bag to strike it rich as the government gets serious with cracking the whip on plastic pollution.

India’s ICZM Project wins World Bank’s internal award

News

• India’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project has won the World Bank’s internal award for exceptional performance in achieving many development goals, a top Environment Ministry official said.

Beyond News

• The ICZM project is among the eight projects awarded, selected out of 42 final nominations received from the World Bank Task Teams in the South Asian Countries.
• Union Environment secretary lauded the achievement and termed it as “a great success story”.

Radio telescope captures clear view of black hole

News

• South Africa formally unveiled a super radio telescope, a first phase of what will be the world’s largest telescope in a project to try to unravel the secrets of the universe.

Beyond News

• The 64-dish MeerKAT telescope in the remote and arid Karoo region of South Africa will be integrated into a multi-nation Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
• A panorama captured by the MeerKAT telescope showed “the clearest view yet” of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy, according to the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.
• When fully operational, the SKA telescope will be 50 times more powerful than any other telescope in the world.
• The telescope will be the largest of its own kind in the world — with image resolution quality exceeding the Hubble Space Telescope by a factor of 50 times.
• Expected to be fully up and running by 2030, the SKA will comprise a forest of 3,000 dishes over an area of a square kilometre.

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