Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

State’s unemployment rate at 4.8% is below national average

News

• The controversial and much-delayed Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) shows that Karnataka’s unemployment stands at 4.8% for those above 15 years of age, significantly below the national average of 6%.
• Unemployment rates in PLFS, which conducted its surveys in 2017-18, have been under the scanner after a leaked report showed that the national unemployment rate was at a 45-year high.

Findings

• The report, released by Ministry of Statistics, Planning and Implementation, shows that the Unemployment Rate (UR) in Karnatakafor usual status (that is, based on work over the year prior to the survey) compares to relatively-industrialised States of Gujarat and Maharashtra (both are 4.8%), but below neighbouring Andhra Pradesh (4.5%).
• The State is fifth best among large States in terms of low rate of unemployment.
• Unemployment is highest in urban areas, following the trend shown in the previous National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)employment reports. In Karnataka, urban unemployment is at 6.3%, compared to rural unemployment of 3.9%. Unemployment rates among females over the age of 15 is the highest at 7.2%.
• Similarly, youth unemployment (that is, those without work between the ages of 15 and 29) has touched 15.8% in the State. Though this is higher than Maharashtra and Gujarat, the unemployment rate among youth remains the lowest in South India.
• The report shows that as education qualifications increase, so does unemployment rates. For the illiterate, who form nearly a quarter of the State’s population, the unemployment rate is 0.4%, while for those with diploma or comparable certificates, the unemployment rate is 22.1%. The unemployment rate among graduates and postgraduates is more than 12%.
• The NSSO had surveyed more than 7,600 people from 224 villages in the State between July 2017 to June 2018 for the report that incorporates multiple changes compared to the quinquennial (once in five years) surveys conducted before.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

US increasing scope complexity and frequency of military engagements with India

News

• The US is increasing the scope, complexity and frequency of its military engagements with India, now a “Major Defence Partner”, Acting Defense Secretary said.

Beyond News

• Defence cooperation and peacekeeping are two key areas of the rapidly growing US-India partnership as envisioned in the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
• US-India defence relations have strengthened significantly over the last decade, and India is now a Major Defence Partner.
• The signing of the Communications, Compatibility, and Security Agreement or COMCASA last year was a historic development that enables the two countries to further expand their relationship toward more practical and meaningful areas of cooperation.
• The COMCASA will facilitate India to obtain critical defence technologies from the US, and access critical communication network to ensure interoperability among the US and the Indian armed forces.
• It will also allow the installation of high-security US communication equipment on defence platforms being sourced from the US.
• The US and China, the two world powers, are locked in a tussle for the commercial control of South China Sea, which serves as a passage for annual trade worth $3.5 trillion.
• China claims almost all of the strategic South China Sea with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam pushing competing claims to parts of the resource-rich maritime region.
• Islands in the South China Sea – is an area which accounts for 12 % of global fishing and through which 30 per cent of the world’s trade passes, apart from housing possible oil and gas reserve.

US President Donald Trump terminates preferential trade status for India under GSP

News

• President Donald Trump has terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the key GSP trade programme after determining that it has not assured the US that it will provide “equitable and reasonable access to its markets.”

Beyond News

• The Generalized System of Preference (GSP) is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries.
• The Trump administration has prioritised working with the Government of India to ensure that US companies have a level-playing field, a senior State Department official told.
• Under the GSP programme, nearly 2,000 products including auto components and textile materials can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by Congress.
• India was the largest beneficiary of the programme in 2017 with $5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status and Turkey the fifth largest with $1.7 billion in covered imports.

India lifts curbs on airspace

News

• There is relief likely for thousands of air travellers affected due to the closure of Pakistan airspace as India lifted curbs on use of its skies.

Beyond News

• Temporary restrictions on all air routes in the Indian airspace imposed by the Indian Air Force have been removed.
• The IAF communicated its decision in a letter to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
• Pakistan shut its airspace for all flights following the IAF airstrike at a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp in Balakot. According to Indian officials, 11 entry and exit points, which are located between Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat, were also closed for flights to and from Pakistan as a reciprocal measure.
• The government official also said that AAI has written to U.N.’s aviation watchdog, International Civil Aviation Organisation, as well as countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman and Iran informing them of the decision.
• Since the imposition of its ban, Pakistan has gradually opened its airspace for most airlines, barring those that enter the country from its eastern border after traversing India.
• As many as six international airlines have been forced to cancel a total of 33 weekly flights to Delhi due to the ban.

NGT stays A.P. project to link Godavari, Krishna and Penna

News

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued an order staying the Andhra Pradesh Government’s scheme to link the Godavari, Krishna and Penna rivers in the State.

Beyond News

• It ordered that the Ministry of Environment should submit a report within a month.
• The Tribunal, said that the State could not go ahead with the project without getting clearance from the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• A Bench, restrained Andhra Pradesh from proceeding further with the project till it acquired environmental clearance, consent to establish and operate the project under provisions of the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
• The tribunal ordered the regional office of the Union Environment Ministry to inspect the project along with the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board and submit a factual report within a month.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Fake notes with ₹39 lakh face value recovered this year

News

• The Delhi police have recovered fake Indian currency notes with a face value of ₹39,58,890 this year.
• These notes were mostly printed in Pakistan and supplied to the country through India-Nepal border, the police said.

Beyond News

• The smugglers are now targeting small towns to circulate the counterfeit currencies. These notes are almost a replica of the original ones and it is not easy for a common man to find out the difference.
• In Delhi, notes with higher denomination value often get detected, but in small towns where these notes are not in regular transaction, people are unable to check the security features and often get fooled.
• Earlier, smugglers used to sneak in counterfeit currency to the country through the porous India-Bangladesh border. But due to alertness of security agencies on the border and frequent raids by the local police, they have destroyed the channel, said the officer.
• In 2017, a total of 3,124 counterfeit notes of ₹2,000 denomination were recovered, in 2018 the figure went up to 6,605 and till May 15 this year, a total 1,573 such notes have been recovered.
• The ISI in Pakistan is mostly into printing of counterfeit currencies as part of their anti-India activities. They have managed to match quality in terms of paper, ink and several safety features, including the security thread and security watermark that is unable for a normal person to detect.
• They have managed to produce replicas of newly introduced currency notes in the denomination of ₹100, ₹200 and ₹50, said the officers.
• After getting the currency smuggled to India, it is handed over to crime syndicates operating in towns for distribution of notes. To circulate a fake note with a face value of ₹2,000, they get a commission of around ₹500.
• On May 25, the Nepal police had arrested three Pakistan nationals in possession of fake Indian currency notes with a face value of ₹7,67,94,000. They had come to hand over the money to the people, who will smuggle it to India.

Using genes to understand rice blast disease resistance in Indian rice varieties

News

• Rice blast, caused by a fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the major diseases of the rice crop.
• Now, researchers have mapped out the diverse genes in rice that help in disease resistance.

Findings

• By characterising over 150 rice varieties from nine States across the country they identified new markers associated with blast resistance.
• From 1980-1987, seven blast endemics have occurred in India causing severe losses. Fungicides are very expensive, harmful for the environment and inappropriate application can cause health issues.
• So researchers around the globe have been on a hunt for resistant genes against the pathogen and so far, more than 100 resistance (R) genes in the rice genome have been identified.
• The rapid changes in pathogen virulence pose a constant challenge to the success of existing blast-resistant rice varieties. Therefore, there is always a need to identify new broad-spectrum blast resistant genes/alleles in rice germplasm such as landraces, wild rice, etc.
• The seeds of landraces grown over nine states were collected from the National Gene Bank, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack.
• Leaves’ resistance to blast disease was checked by growing the seeds in uniform blast nursery for two wet seasons (2015 and 2016) at the experimental farm of the institute. This farm is considered as the hot spot for leaf blast disease and the disease was recorded 25 days after sowing.
• The present study showed that the rice landraces collected from north-eastern states of India had the highest resistance. This may be due to co-evolution of resistance genes along with the fungal pathogen over several centuries.
• Specific DNA markers were used for accurate identification of specific resistant genes. The researchers found the presence of 24 previously pin-pointed resistant genes in the 161 rice landraces. The landraces were found to harbour 5-19 resistant genes.
• The landraces from Tripura had the highest number of resistant genes, followed by those from Maharashtra. The study also pointed out that rice varieties in the same ecological conditions can have different resistant/susceptible behaviours.
• The combination of screening and molecular characterization will help in the identification of potential donors for leaf blast.

Tawang yields a new species of dung beetle

News

• A new species of dung beetle has been discovered in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. 
• The species, Enoplotrupes tawangensis, is shining dark blue in colour and, measuring up to 27 mm, is relatively bigger than most of the dung beetles.

Findings

• Dung beetles belong to the super family scarabaeoidea, having clubbed antennae and pro-tibiae (pro-legs) modified for burrowing dung inside the soil. This group of insects are considered beneficial to the environment as they help in nutrient cycling of the soil.
• Often referred to as little recyclers, these scavenger beetles require mammalian dung to survive.
• Insects comprise almost 65% of all animal species on the planet. From India, approximately 65,000 species of insects are known, of them, more than 22,000 species are beetles.
• Dung beetles are the one of the fascinating group of insects because of their ability to bury dung deep in the soil and are indicators of the ecological health of an ecosystem.
• Other than the relatively large size and distinct blue colour, another important distinguishing characteristic of this species is the strong sexual dimorphism, with the fronto-clypeal horn shorter in females than males.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS