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Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Indonesia earthquake.

News

  • Nearly 700 trekkers headed down Mount Rinjani on Indonesia’s tourist island of Lombok, a day after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.4 terrified the climbers as boulders tumbled down the slopes of the volcano.

Beyond News

  • A 6.4 magnitude earthquake is considered strong and capable of causing severe damage.
  • The Lombok quake struck at 6:47 a.m. (2247 GMT on Saturday) at a shallow depth of 4.35 miles (7 km), which would have amplified its effect. Officials said 280 aftershocks followed the initial quake.
  • Earthquakes are common in Indonesia,which is located on the seismically active “Ring of Fire” on the rim of the Pacific Ocean.

Floating islands of promise in Hauz Khas lake

floating plastic island

  • Dozens of floating islands have popped up across the Hauz Khas lake In New Delhi over the last few months.
  • These 2×2-metre green patches on the lake are floating on discarded plastic bottles.

Why its important? 

  • The Hauz Khas lake, a 14th-century waterbody that was dug up to serve as a tank during Alauddin Khilji’s reign, had been dying a slow death over the years. The project started after MoU with the Delhi Development Authority in August last year and the first island was floated into the lake in October last.

Beyond News

  • In a bid to rejuvenate the lake, environmental engineer and programme manager, both associated with Evolve Engineering, have taken up the initiative to clean it up by floating artificial wetlands into the waterbody.
  • Environmental engineer and his team, including eight labourers, can be seen preparing the ground for cleaning an inlet that connects the lake to the water being released by a sewage treatment plant in south Delhi.
  • The project, so far, has been a crowdfunded one with volunteers, including some schools, signing up to “adopt” these floating islands.
  • The MoU with the DDA states that “90% removal of pollutants within two months of operation” needs to be done.
  • The process of cleaning the lake has not been easy, say both the members spearheading the project.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

India plans to buy missile shield from U.S.

Missile shield from USA to protect delhi

News

  • India is in talks with the S. to procure an advanced air defencesystem to defend the National Capital Region (NCR) from aerial attacks.

Beyond News

  • The process for procuring the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System-II (NASAMS-II), estimated at $1 billion, has been initiated.
  • This system will help in preventing 9/11-type attacks [when terrorists flew hijacked planes into New York’s World Trade Center] on Delhi. It is in the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) stage now.
  • India is deploying a multi-tiered air defence network to fully secure its airspace from incoming fighter aircraft, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
  • The official said this system would complement other systems such as the medium and long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems under procurement. India is also in an advanced stage of talks with Russia for the procurement of very long range S-400 air defence systems.
  • Apart from these imports, India is also developing an indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system.
  • Phase-I of the BMD is expected to be deployed soon.
  • The NASAMS was developed by Raytheon in partnership with KONGSBERG Defence and Aerospace of Norway. The Raytheon says it is a “highly adaptable mid-range solution” for any operational air defence requirement and provides a tailorable, state-of-the-art defence system that can maximise the ability to quickly identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, UAV or emerging cruise missile threats.
  • NASAMS-II is an upgraded version of the NASAMS and features new 3D mobile surveillance radars and 12 missile launchers for quicker reaction.
  • India is going ahead with the procurement of the S-400 systems despite differing views of the U.S. over the sanctions against Russia and the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

Over 40 lakh people left out of draft National Register of Citizens in Assam

News

  • More than 40 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants have been left out of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 

Beyond News

  • The draft NRC was released in Guwahati by Registrar General of India, and NRC State Coordinator.
  • As many as 3,29,91,384 people had applied and the applications of 2,89,83,677 were accepted.
  • The remaining 40,007,707 applicants, whose names didn’t figure in the list will be given “ample opportunity” through a process of claims and objections till September 28, and their citizenship status will not be questioned till the final, error-free draft is prepared on an unspecified date.
  • Those not on the list include 2.48 lakh Doubtful-voters (D-voters) and their siblings and descendants.
  • The names of applicants left out in the list would not be revealed to protect their privacy.

India needs 1,023 special courts to try cases of rape and child rape: Law Ministry

News

  • A little over 1,000 ‘fast track special courts’ need to be set up across India as part of a new scheme to try cases related to rape of children and women, the Law Ministry has estimated.

Beyond News

  • These courts are to be set up as part of a larger scheme to strengthen infrastructure for better investigation and swift prosecution in such cases.
  • The Department of Justice in the Law Ministry has estimated an expenditure of ₹767.25 to set up these special courts. The Centre will have to shell out ₹474 crore as central funding, the department has told the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
  • The details worked out by it have been forwarded to the MHA. The new scheme is part of an ordinance recently promulgated to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children aged up to 12 years.
  • The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance amended the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the Evidence Act and the POCSO Act.
  • While bringing out the ordinance, the government had decided to frame a scheme to set up an “appropriate” number of fast track courts to try rape cases in the states. The scheme will include components, including strengthening of the physical infrastructure and prosecution machinery, provision of the required number of judicial officers for lower courts, additional posts of public prosecutors, dedicated investigators and special forensic kits.
  • A senior government functionary said as many as 524 fast-track courts are already functional in the country to try cases related to women, SCs and STs, the marginalised and senior citizens.
  • New fast-track courts will be set up to deal with such cases and special forensic kits for rape cases will be given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, according to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance.
  • It stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 16 and 12 years. The death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years. The measure also provides for speedy investigation and trial. The time limit for investigation of all cases of rape has been prescribed and has to be now completed within two months.
  • The deadline for the completion of trial in all rape cases will be two months, officials said. A six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed.
  • Dedicated manpower will be provided for investigation of rape cases in a time-bound manner. Special forensic labs exclusively for rape cases would also come up in each state.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Doctors from Mangaluru’s KMC identify rare bloodgroup ‘P null’ phenotype

News

  • A team of doctors, from the Blood Bank of Kasturba Medical College (KMC) here, has identified a rare blood group called “pp” or “P null” phenotype.

Beyond News

  • A press release said that ABO and Rh D are the commonly typed blood group systems.
  • However, there are more than 200 minor blood group antigens known besides A, B and Rh.
  • A blood type is considered rare if fewer than one in 1,000 people have it. A person is said to have rare blood group when he lacks the high frequency antigen or multiple common antigens.
  • The Blood Bank received samples from a patient who required urgent blood transfusion. The doctors were unable to find a compatible blood unit even after cross-matching it with more than 80 units.
  • Extensive immunohaematology work-up was performed by the team and further for confirmation, samples were referred to the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL), Bristol, U.K., for serological test.
  • With the help of the reference laboratory, it was confirmed that the patient’s cells had the rare “pp” phenotype.
  • Pro-Vice Chancellor, MAHE, said that it was for the first time that the “P blood group null phenotype has been detected in India”.
  • The patient has the very rare ‘P null’ blood group and anti-PP1Pk antibody in his blood that has the potential to cause acute intravascular haemolytic reaction to incompatible blood transfusion.
  • Rare donor registry will be of great help in managing such cases. This antibody is also known to cause recurrent abortions in women. Finding compatible unit for such case is a near impossible task without a well-established rare donor panel.

Mission to improve birds’ habitat in Kolleru

kolleru bird habitat

News

  • As part of the improvement of the 270-acre migratory birds’ habitat in the Kolleru Bird Sanctuary, 120 iron poles have been installed for breeding and nesting in the absence of tree cover.

Kolleru Bird Sanctuary

  • Kolleru Bird Sanctuaryis a sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh, India. It covers 673 square kilometers. It was established in November 1999, under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The sanctuary protects part of the Kolleru Lake wetland, which gained Ramsar Convention for International importance in 2002.
  • The main flora of the sanctuary is Phragmites karka, a weed that grows up to 10 feet in height and that offers shelter for some species of birds.

Beyond News

  • The efforts to grow various species of plants did not yield result due to the toxic droppings of the birds. The Wildlife Management Division (Eluru) procured the poles with a circle of fencing mesh on the top of it and installed them in the strategic two mounds.
  • Seventy poles will be replaced for repairs while 50 are being installed for the annual breeding season (winter).
  • More iron poles is need of the hour given the demand for more space for breeding of the grey pelican and the painted stork. The absence of the trees is the reason to explore the option of iron poles.
  • The poles are being installed under the banner of ‘biodiversity conservation’ with the financial assistance from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund of the State government. With the arrival of nearly 9,000 to 10,000 migratory birds for annual breeding, the authorities have a challenge to ensure a safe breeding season.
  • There are several instances in which the migratory birds lay eggs on the sanctuary bund, exposing to danger. A preliminary plan has been chalked out to arrange bamboo baskets on the bund for the safety of the eggs. The experiment will be done from the next breeding season.

New forensic tool to crack wildlife crime

New forensic tool to detect wild life

News

  • The Kerala government is preparing to introduce a new forensic technology to help enforcement agencies crack wildlife crimes and detect food adulteration.

Beyond News

  • The Universal Primer Technology (UPT) developed by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, is essentially a DNA barcoding method used for accurate and quick identification of species from tiny biological samples.
  • The UPT is based on the concept that a genome segment can serve as a ‘molecular signature’. Variations in its DNA sequence can be used to identify any animal, bird or fish from a biological sample.
  • Experts say the technology would provide scientific evidence admissible in a court of law, in cases related to poaching, bush meat hunting, and illegal trade in wildlife products.
  • It will also help food safety officials detect adulteration of animal meat in food products.
  • The UPT requires only a tiny sample of meat, blood, hair, bone, claw or faecal matter to establish the identity of the species.
  • Another advantage is that the results can be obtained fast, in a matter of two days or so.
  • Though primarily deployed as a wildlife forensics tool, the UPT has the potential to be used to monitor and study the distribution and migration of animals and birds, including endangered species.
  • Veterinary and wildlife experts point out that it can also come in handy for forest officials in managing man-animal conflicts by quickly identifying elusive animals haunting human settlements.

Up there with Mars: don’t miss our neighbour’s brightest show

Mars comes closer

News

  • On July 31, Mars will be at its closest point to Earth in 15 years. It will be at a distance of around 57.6 million km from Earth, which is the closest since 2003 when it came within 55.7 million km of Earth.

Beyond News

  • Mars will come closer to Earth than it was on 2003 only on August 29, 2287.
  • Mars orbits the Sun at a greater distance than Earth. As the distance increases, the orbital period also increases. While Earth takes a little more than 365 days to go round the Sun, Mars takes 687 days. Due to the difference of the orbital speed and orbital period, every 26 months or so Earth passes between Mars and the Sun, bringing Mars and Sun on exactly opposite sides of the Earth. This is called Mars at Opposition.
  • Since it is quite close from that time, it will appear very bright and will be visible roughly after sunset and will remain in the sky till sunrise.
  • The next opposition of Mars will be on October 6, 2020 but it will be a little further away 76 million km  and will be relatively smaller and less bright than on July 31, 2018.
  • At its closest approach this time Mars will be only 24.3 arc seconds across and nowhere close to the size of the moon, which is 75 times bigger in diameter as it appears. (1 arc second is 1/60 of arc minute and 1 arc minute is 1/60 of a degree in the sky. For reference, the diameter of Moon is about 31 minutes of arc).
  • Just after the sunset, look to the east-southeast horizon. Mars will appear 1.8 times brighter than the biggest planet of the solar system, Jupiter.
  • It is perfectly safe to observe Mars with the naked unaided eye.

A telescope with 4-inch diameter or more will let you see some of the surface features of the planet.

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