Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Adivasis to declare self-rule in their habitations today

News:

• The aboriginal tribes in Telangana will go ahead with intensification of their movement for removal of Lambada tribe from the list of Scheduled Tribes.

Beyond News:

• According to sources, the government had invited Adivasi leaders for talks with the Chief Secretary.
• About 40 of them led by Adivasi Hakkula Porata Samithi leaders.
• They informed the top government official that would not compromise on the issue of expelling Lambadas from the list of STs.
• The leaders apprised him of other problems related with land, employment and education to which the Chief Secretary responded saying he would take it to the notice of Chief Minister.
• The Adivasis however, said they were not satisfied with the talks and later decided to continue with their agitational programme of declaring self rule in their habitations.

Nipah virus: UAE bans import of fruits, vegetables from Kerala

News:

• United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned import of fresh fruits and vegetables from Kerala in the wake of outbreak of Nipah virus (NiV) in the state.

Beyond News:

• The UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) said in a statement that it has banned the imports of fresh vegetables and fruits from Kerala.
• The ministry said a circular has been issued to the concerned local authorities including the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and the municipalities of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah to prevent the entry of all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits from Kerala.
• It further said the decision is based on the information received and published on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website regarding the outbreak of NiV infection in Kerala.
• Preliminary information, it added indicates that the main host of the disease is the fruit bat, where the virus is transmitted through secretions from the bat to the fruit that it feeds on or touches. Mangoes, dates and bananas are the bat’s most preferred fruit. There have been cases of transmission of the disease among humans and between humans and animals as well.

Sharp drop in smoking tobacco in India, says WHO report

News:

• From 4% in 2000, the prevalence of smoking tobacco in India dropped down to 11.5% in 2005, according to a World Health Organisation report released.

Beyond News:

• The report projected the prevalence to drop down further to 9.8% by 2020 and 8.5% by 2025.
• The prevalence of tobacco use has decreased more slowly in low and middle-income countries than in high-income countries, because the introduction of strong tobacco control policies by low and middle-income countries is impeded by relentless lobbying from the tobacco industry, it stated.
• While the report only covered tobacco usage in the form of smoking, India has a large population of chewing tobacco users, thus posing additional burden. Experts said the decrease therefore is nothing to rejoice over.
• More than 3/4th tobacco users have it in the chewing form.
• According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, Most people know that using tobacco causes cancer and lung disease, but many people are not aware that it also causes heart disease and stroke the world’s leading killers.”
• It also noted that while tobacco use has declined markedly since 2000, the reduction is insufficient to meet globally agreed targets aimed at protecting people from death and suffering from cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure were major causes of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and stroke, contributing to approximately three million deaths per year. But evidence revealed a serious lack of knowledge of the multiple health risks associated with tobacco.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Upgraded Pinaka rocket successfully test-fired

News:

• An upgraded version of Pinaka rocket, with enhanced range and guidance system, was successfully test-fired from Chandipur in Odisha for the second consecutive day.

Beyond News:

• The test was carried out from a multi barrel launcher from the firing point of the Proof & Experiment Establishment (PXE) under DRDO, a day after two rounds of the successful trial took place yesterday, defenses sources said.
• The earlier Pinaka system, which was an unguided one, has now been transformed into a guided version, with a navigation, guidance and control kit developed by the Research Centre, Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, they said.
• The RCI comes under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The conversion helped in enhancing the range and accuracy of Pinaka. If its range was 40 km earlier, it is more than 70 km now, a DRDO official said.
• Radars, electro-optical systems and telemetry systems at the defence range at Chandipur tracked and monitored the rocket all through its flight path. The guided version is Pinaka mark-II, which evolved from Pinaka mark-I. It can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds.
• The successful trial of the guided Pinaka has reinforced the technological strength of the country in converting the unguided systems into weapons of high precision and accuracy, he said.
• The guided Pinaka has been developed jointly by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, the RCI, and the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, for the Indian Army. The PXE, Chandipur, provided the range and launch support.

Study shows big ecological impact of small hydro-power projects

News:

• The first-ever scientific study in India of small hydro-power projects (SHPs) has revealed that despite their being promoted as generating clean energy, the plants have a significant ecological impact and there is a correlation between the rise in SHPs and the increase in human-elephant conflict.

Beyond News:

• According to a release issued by the Wildlife Conservation Society India Program, SHPs also cause alterations in stream geometry and affect the water quality and freshwater fish communities in the Western Ghats.
• SHPs are often promoted as a cleaner alternative to large hydro-power projects as they are assumed to have little or no environmental impact. In India, they are defined as plants generating up to 25 MW of power.
• The study area of the WCS and others was in the upper reaches of the river Nethravathi, which is part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, and was conducted from February to May 2014.
• The study found that SHPs affect the river flow by reducing it immediately below the dam and causing fluctuation when the water is released back into the river after power generation both of which have consequences on fish assemblages.
• The dammed streams studied had altered fish composition and reduced the number of species, the release said.
• Study was one of the first to holistically assess the impact of SHPs in the forested regions of the Western Ghats.
• The study also found that there was a reduction in the number of fish such as the Mahseer, which are found only in the Western Ghats.
• The study has also revealed a correlation between the proliferation of SHPs and the corresponding increase in human-elephant conflicts in those areas.
• The research showed that such conflicts increased in the regions where new SHPs were being constructed.
• The researchers said that given the importance of the region as a watershed and a part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, there is an urgent need to monitor, regulate, and evaluate the impact of large-scale infrastructure development.

Steps to check funding to Naxals

News:

• Top police officers of six State governments, Central investigating and intelligence agencies held a meeting with the Union Home Secretary to discuss ways to choke funding to Naxal operatives.

Beyond News:

• As decided, agencies like the Enforcement Directorate will register more money laundering cases in various affected States.
• Apart from the senior functionaries of the National Investigation Agency, the ED and the Intelligence Bureau Director, police chiefs of Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal were present at the review-cum-coordination meeting.
• While the agencies gave a presentation on the action initiated against Naxal operatives and the modus operandi adopted by banned outfits to extort funds and launder money, they also deliberated on further possible measures to block the fund supplies.
• The Enforcement Directorate has already attached properties worth crores of alleged Naxal leaders operating in the Bihar-Jharkhand belt in the past few months. The Directorate has decided to register more cases under the Money Laundering Act in other States, based on investigations police and other agencies.

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