Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Large-scale burning of grasslands detrimental to invertebrates: study

News

• A recent study on “prescribed burning” of large tracts of grassland for the conservation of threatened ungulates in the Eravikulam National Park (ENP), a biodiversity hotspot in the Western Ghats, reveals that such burning is detrimental to endemic invertebrates, including grasshoppers.

Findings

• Grasshoppers are sensitive to grasslands management and an indicator of grasslands quality, health and restoration success.
• As grasshoppers represent a major faunal component of grasslands, effects of fire on them can be easily studied in grassland habitats.
• The endemic and wingless creatures are sensitive to environmental change and exhibit a high extinction risk. Hence, their response to fire management is of high interest.
• Traditionally, the grasslands of the park are managed by prescribed “cold” burning (cold season burning) with the help of the local tribal community.
• Burning is practised on 90 sq. km. of the park by dividing it into 50 hectare grids to ensure palatable fodder for the Nilgiri tahr and has been practised since the British colonial time. However, the impact of burning of Nilgiri tahr habitats on other biota has never been documented.
• The recovery plan for the animal stresses the need for systematic monitoring of the impact of fire on its habitats in the ENP.
• Since the target of the management is to improve the status of mammal species, the impact on other groups, especially invertebrates, has been neglected.
• Though prescribed burning was experimentally introduced in the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve (PKMTR) recently, another habitat of the Nilgiri tahr, it was practised on a smaller scale (10 m. × 10 m.).
• There are 130 species of grasshoppers reported in Kerala, of which 54 species were found in PKMTR and 18 species were found in the ENP.
• It is suspected that prescribed burning in the park for the past many decades is a major cause for the decline of grasshoppers.
• The study suggested that the interval of burning should be extended to more than five years, and the area of burning should be made only in small plots of 25 m. X 25 m. or 50 m. X 50 m., with unburned adjacent areas between plots.

Kaziranga animals ‘reclaim’ abandoned quarries on corridors

News

• Animals of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) are ‘reclaiming’ their migratory paths that were blocked for years by illegal stone quarries in the hills beyond a highway along the southern periphery of their habitat.

Beyond News

• The Assam Forest Department banned stone mining activities in the hills of the Karbi Anglong district south of KNP after the Supreme Court ordered their closure.
• The hills of Karbi Anglong south of the highway have been the natural refuge of animals whenever much of KNP goes underwater during the monsoon every year. This year’s flood has killed 205 animals, including 18 one-horned rhinos.
• Most drowned while 16 hog deer and a sambhar were run over by vehicles while trying to cross the highway for the relative safety of the hills.
• The noisy quarries had hindered the movement of animals to higher altitudes, offering 750 sq. km. of refuge and fodder. Animals moving toward the areas during this flood after a long gap underlines the efficacy of the ban that the Supreme Court ordered.
• At least five of several stone quarries on the hills are visible from the highway.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Donald Trump’s proposal to increase merit-based immigration will affect Indians

News

• The U.S. is mulling a reduction in the number of green cards issued based on family ties and an increase in the share of skill-based immigrants.

Classification of the employment-based categories 

• EB-1: Priority workers (Foreign nationals with extra-ordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, Outstanding professors and researchers, Certain multinational managers and executives)
• EB-2: Foreign nationals who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or who have exceptional ability
• EB-3: Skilled workers, professionals or other workers
• EB-4: Religious workers, special immigrant juveniles, broadcasters, armed forces members, NATO-6 employees and their family members, etc.

Beyond News

• As the total number of green cards (which allow foreign nationals to reside legally in the U.S. permanently) issued is proposed to remain the same, the idea may benefit highly-skilled Indians who wish to settle down in the U.S.
• The merit-based immigration proposal aims to substantially increase the share of green cards issued based on employment or educational skill and merit.
• Currently, 12-13% of legal immigrants are admitted into the U.S. based on skill and merit. Another 66% are given lawful permanent resident status based on their family ties. They are either immediate relatives (spouse, minor child or parent) of U.S. citizens, are closely related (adult sons and daughters both married and unmarried, brothers and sisters) to U.S. citizens, or have familial ties (spouse, minor child, adult sons and daughters) with existing green card holders.
• The rest (21%) are given green cards for humanitarian relief or are chosen based on random lottery.
• The proposal aims to bring down the number of green cards issued on family-ties from 66% to 33% and those issued on humanitarian and other grounds from 21% to 10%. The chart shows these proposed changes in percentage.
• Indians received 17% of all employment based green cards in 2017 the highest among all nations while receiving only 5% of the family-based ones. 14% Chinese immigrants received lawful permanent resident status based on employment second to India.
• The U.S. issues employment-based green cards to foreign nationals having extraordinary ability in the professional sphere, academia and sport, or foreign-born nationals who hold advanced degrees and are skilled and have exceptional ability.
• Between 2012 and 2017, over 86% of the total Indian immigrants in the U.S. had at least a bachelor’s degree. This is the largest proportion of highly skilled immigrants among all nations.
• As of 2018, Indians waited for an average of 8 years and 6 months the longest among all countries for a green card to be available. The average global wait time was six years as of 2018.
• Under the employment quota EB-3 (skilled workers and professionals) Indians had to wait an average of 10.5 years for a green card to be available.
• Under the quota EB-2 (foreign nationals who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or who have exceptional ability) the average wait period for an Indian green card aspirant was 9.2 years. These wait periods might reduce significantly if the proposal is implemented.

Rajya Sabha passes POCSO (Amendment) Bill, 2019

News

• The Rajya Sabha passed a Bill entailing amendments to the POCSO Act by including death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors.

Beyond News

• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 also provides for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 entails amendments to the POCSO Act by including death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors.
• The proposed changes in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
• To combat rising cases of child sex abuse, the Union Cabinet earlier this month approved the amendments.

U.S. to effect steep hike in EB-5 charges

News

• The U.S. is all set to effect a steep increase in EB-5 visa charges.
• As per information on the website of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the minimum amount required to be invested in the Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs) in the U.S. will go up to $9,00,000 (₹6.2 crore), an 80% hike from the existing $5,00,000 (₹3.5 crore).

Beyond News

• The fees for standard investment (in urban areas) will go up to $1,800,000 (over ₹12 crore) from $1,000,000 (₹6.8 crore).
• The new EB-5 fee structure, the first such move since the inception of the programme in 1990, will come into effect from November 21.
• Several high networth professionals, students, entrepreneurs and families in India have been exploring EB-5 in the last three decades as it is the easiest channel to get a green card and permanent residency in the U.S.
• As per USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli, “Nearly 30 years ago, Congress created the EB-5 programme to benefit U.S. workers, boost the economy, and aid distressed communities by providing an incentive for foreign capital investment in the United States.
• India will witness a scramble for EB-5 visas in the next few months, before the new rules kick in.
• With stricter norms on H1-B visa and now the hike in investment amount, immigration options have really reduced for Indian applicants.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

India’s first dragon blood-oozing tree

News

• Assam has added to India’s botanical wealth a plant that yields dragon’s blood a bright red resin used since ancient times as medicine, body oil, varnish, incense and dye.

Beyond News

• A trio of researchers has discovered Dracaena cambodiana, a dragon tree species in the Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong.
• This is for the first time that a dragon tree species has been reported from India.
• In India, the Dracaena genus belonging to the family Asparagaceae is represented by nine species and two varieties in the Himalayan region, the northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. But Dracaena cambodiana is the only true dragon tree species.
• Dracaena cambodiana is an important medicinal plant as well as an ornamental tree. it is a major source of dragon’s blood, a precious traditional medicine in China. Several antifungal and antibacterial compounds, antioxidants, flavonoids, etc., have been extracted from various parts of the plant.
• Recent overexploitation to meet the increasing demand for dragon’s blood has resulted in rapid depletion of the plant. For this reason, the species is already listed in the inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of China.
• The population size of the dragon tree species in Assam was estimated to be fewer than 50 mature individuals.
• The habitat of the plant is severely fragmented due to open excavation of a stone quarry and there is continuing decrease in its area of occupancy and number of mature individuals.
• The Dracaena seeds are usually dispersed by birds. But due to the large fruit size, only a few species of birds are able to swallow the fruits, thus limiting the scope of its natural conservation.

Milky Way’s violent birth decoded

News

• The Milky Way, home to our sun and billions of other stars, merged with another smaller galaxy in a colossal cosmic collision roughly 10 billion years ago, scientists said based on data from the Gaia space observatory.

Beyond News

• The union of the Milky Way and the so-called dwarf galaxy Gaia-Enceladus increased our galaxy’s mass by about a quarter and triggered a period of accelerated star formation lasting about 2 to 4 billion years.
• Galaxies of all types, including the Milky Way, began to form relatively soon after the Big Bang explosion that marked the beginning of the universe some 13.8 billion years ago, but were generally smaller than those seen today and were forming stars at a rapid rate.
• Subsequent galactic mergers were instrumental in configuring galaxies existing now.
• High-precision measurements of the position, brightness and distance of around a million stars within 6,500 light years of the sun, obtained by the Gaia space telescope, helped pinpoint stars present before the merger and those that formed afterward.
• Certain stars with higher content of elements other than hydrogen or helium arose in the Milky Way, they found, and others with lower such content originated in Gaia-Enceladus, owing to its smaller mass.
• While the merger was dramatic and helped shape the Milky Way, it was not a star-destroying calamity.
• The distances between stars in a galaxy are so huge a galaxy is basically empty space that the two galaxies intermix, change their global shape, more star formation may happen in one, and maybe the small one stops forming stars.

Human-elephant conflicts: power poles should have spikes to keep away jumbos, says panel

News

• Electric poles in forests and wildlife sanctuaries need to have spikes to discourage elephants from uprooting them and getting electrocuted, a committee set up by the Union Environment Ministry has recommended.

Beyond News

• Elephant deaths from electrocution have emerged as a major challenge. 461 elephants were electrocuted from 2009 -2017, or about 50 a year.
• An elephant calf was electrocuted in Andhra Pradesh and its mother, according to a report from a forest official, uprooted cables and power transformers, ostensibly in an act of rage,. The power was turned off and this didn’t harm the adult pachyderm.
• The committee’s report, recommends that as far as possible transmission lines should be buried underground and those overhead ought to be insulated and kept out of reach of elephants.
• A nationwide strategy should be developed and supported to undertake the long-term planning of electricity grid networks as a priority. Planning should include the use of state-of-the-art wildlife protection equipment, and burying low to medium-voltage transmission lines below ground where feasible.
• The Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., (PGCIL), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), and State Electricity Boards (SEBs) have been asked by the committee to “immediately” fix sagging transmission lines and cables in protected areas.
• There ought to be a joint inspection of every transmission/distribution line passing through the protected areas or passing through the vicinity of protected Areas (which are frequented by wild animals) by officials of the Electricity and Forest Departments at least thrice a year, once before the onset of monsoon and once after monsoon to identify potential problem stretches, the commitee says.
• To prevent death of animals in the forest areas due to electrocution by the distribution lines, the distribution companies shall preferably use ABC (aerial bunched cables) or underground cable. In case of overhead lines, the clearance above ground of the lower conductor of 11 KV/33 KV overhead lines should be as per the CEA Regulations, it recommends.

ISRO’s commercial arm launched 239 satellites in last 3 years, earned ₹6,289 crore: Govt

News

• A total of 239 satellites were launched by ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation in the last three years, garnering revenue of ₹6,289 crore.

Beyond News

• The government has already set up NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS) to commercially exploit the research and development work of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centres and constituent units of DOS.
• The NSIL was set up to meet the ever-increasing demands of Indian space programme and to commercially exploit the emerging global space market.
• A total of 239 satellites were commercially launched by Antrix Corporation Limited during the last three years. The total revenue from operations during the last three years is ₹6289.05 crore.

Fresh wave of floods kills 6 in Assam, toll 75

News

• A fresh wave of floods during the past 48 hours, particularly affecting western Assam,killed six people taking the toll due to drowning and rain-induced landslides to 75.

Beyond News

• At least 800 domestic animals and fowls had been washed away while 205 wild animals either drowned or were hit by vehicles while fleeing the Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam. An elephant was also reported killed in western Assam’s Manas National Park.
• Heavy rainfall in western Assam and the adjoining hills of Bhutan flooded large swathes of Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar and Nalbari districts during the last 24 hours.
• Six people drowned across four districts while the number of affected districts, which had come down to 16 from 31 a week ago, has increased to 20. Some 34.82 lakh have been affected in this wave of floods with a little more than 2 lakh people moving into 933 relief camps.

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