Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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India’s excess water woes

News

• India accounts for one-fifth of global deaths due to floods, according to government data that lends perspective to a new World Bank study that says climate change will lower the standards of living of nearly half of the country’s population by 2050.

Beyond News

• As many as 1,07,487 people died due to heavy rains and floods across India over 64 years between 1953 and 2017, according to Central Water Commission data presented to the Rajya Sabha on March 19. Damage to crops, houses and public utilities was reported to be Rs 3,65,860 crore or as much as three % of the country’s current GDP  the data shows.
• The main reasons of floods have been assessed as high intensity rainfall in short duration, poor or inadequate drainage capacity, unplanned reservoir regulation and failure of flood control structures.
• With heavy rains sweeping western India, many cities such as Mangaluru, Mumbai and Junagarh have flooded during the 2018 monsoon season. Over 30 people died in floods that inundated 58 villages.
• Temperatures have been rising across the [South Asia] region, and are projected to continue increasing for the next several decades under all plausible climate scenarios.
• These changes will result in more frequent flooding, greater water demand and increased heat-related medical issues.
• India is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change. It has increased the frequency of downpours as well as the gaps between rainy days during the monsoon, as IndiaSpend reported earlier.
• As India’s climate warms, extreme weather, such as intense rain and floods, is predicted to worsen.
• Over 1,600 people die every year due to floods, affecting nearly 32 million people. More than 92,000 cattle are lost every year, seven million hectares of land is affected, and damage is over Rs 5,600 crore.
• States that are flood-prone include West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
• There are 226 flood forecasting stations across 20 States, two Union territories and 19 river basins to monitor floods in the country.
• The government plans to expand the network to 325 stations by March 2020.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Sabarimala temple bar unreasonable: SC

News

• Tagging a woman’s right to enter the famous Sabarimala temple with her menstrual cycle is unreasonable, the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench observed .

Beyond News

• The Bench, asked whether the exclusion of women aged between 10 and 50 from entering a temple because they are considered ‘impure’ amounts to the practice of untouchability, a social evil abolished by law.
• The CJI said there is no concept of “private mandirs (temples).”
• Once a temple is opened, everybody can go and offer prayers. Nobody can be excluded. The Chief Justice noted that the Sabarimala temple drew funds from the Consolidated Fund, had people coming from all over the world and thus, qualified to be called a “public place of worship.”
• A batch of petitions has challenged the prohibition on women of a certain age group from entering the Sabarimala temple.

Faster visas for minorities from three nations

News:

• The Home Ministry has further liberalised the process for granting long-term visas (LTVs) to minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Beyond News:

• The move comes days after one of its officials was arrested by the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly extorting money from Pakistani Hindu migrants for their visa extension, visa transfer and grant of citizenship.
• The Home Ministry has reduced the time limit for security clearance of applicants from 45 days to 21 days.
• After an application reaches the central system, it’s forwarded to three agencies for verification the State government, the Intelligence Bureau and the Home Ministry.
• Once the replies from all agencies are fed in the system, the application is automatically processed.
• A Home Ministry official said that since 2011, nearly 30,000 Pakistanis had been granted LTVs and, currently, 1,500 such applications were pending. The LTVs are precursors to citizenship, based on the report given by the State governments.
• The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2015 that proposes citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to India before 2014 has hit a hurdle.
• There have been no exact numbers of minority refugees from these countries but officials put the figure at around 2 lakh Hindu and Sikh refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan living in India.
• There are 400 Pakistani Hindu refugee settlements in cities such as Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jaipur.
• Hindu refugees from Bangladesh mostly live in West Bengal and the northeastern States.

Interpretation facility for all official languages in Rajya Sabha

News

• Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu spoke in 10 languages while informing the House that the simultaneous interpretation service had now been made available in any of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Beyond News

• Naidu spoke briefly in Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. On his initiative, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat haD now made available interpretation facility for five more languages: Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani, Sindhi and Santhali.
• The Rajya Sabha already had interpreters for 12 languages, while interpreters from the Lok Sabha weree made available for five other languages.

‘NSTFDC funds help create job opportunities for tribal youth’

News:

• Unemployed youth in the tribal areas are now getting new employment avenues as the Andhra Pradesh State Government has begun tapping funds under National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC), which has been revived recently.

Beyond News:

• Apart from this, the tribal people are being provided with land for cultivation after setting up a corpus fund of ₹25 crore.
• As part of the skill development programme, unemployed tribal youth are being given training on which ₹50 crore is being spent.

So far, the government has spent close to ₹250 crore and laid roads in 2,000 km in tribal habitations.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

ISRO ropes in three partners to assemble 27 satellites

News

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has roped in three partners to help it assemble 27 satellites at a quick pace over the next three years.

Beyond News

• In Bengaluru, its nodal satellites division URSC (U.R. Rao Satellite Centre) signed separate three-year contracts with Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd and its six consortium members; with defence public enterprise Bharat Electronics Ltd; and with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Hyderabad.
• Each partner will work with the URSC to produce three small to medium satellites each year, or a total of 27 spacecraft by July 2021, it is learnt. About 50 members from each partner will separately work with URSC engineers to complete the project.
• URSC estimates a requirement of around 71 satellites till 2021. It means adding 12 satellites a year or one every month. In 2017, it made a record 12 spacecraft but is unable to cope with a growing demand from new applications. Around 35 Indian spacecraft are active in space and will need to be replaced as they expire over time.
• It is learnt that URSC unit, ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment or ISITE, will provide three separate work stations for the three partners.
• A spokesperson for TASL said it would participate in the full AIT of satellites of the class of 1,000 kg to 4,000 kg.
• URSC, which has so far produced over 100 spacecraft, opened up AIT to industry in August last year and 13 private and public sector companies had responded.
• The space agency launches three types of satellites – for communication, Earth observation and navigation. It has earlier said it needs to put double the number of its current satellites in space in order to fully meet national needs. They range from telephony. Internet and broadcasting services to security and simple socio-economic activities.

‘World first’ melanoma blood test

News

• Australian researchers said on Wednesday they have developed a blood test for melanoma in its early stages, calling it a “world first” breakthrough that could save many lives.

Beyond News

• The scientists, said the test could help doctors detect skin cancer before it spreads through a person’s body.
• Patients who have their melanoma detected in its early stage have a five-year survival rate between 90% and 99%.
• The research, included a trial involving 105 patients with melanoma and 104 healthy people.
• The procedure detected early stage melanoma in 79% of cases.
• Melanoma is currently detected using a visual scan by a doctor, with areas of concern cut out surgically and biopsied.

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