Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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‘Greenland loses over 2 billion tonnes of ice in a single day’

News

• In a sign that this year could once again set records for loss in Greenland ice, researchers found that the Island’s ice sheet has lost more than two gigatonnes (a gigatonne is equal to one billion tonnes) of ice in just a day this week due to a widespread melting event.

Findings

• The researchers found that the Greenland melting event was due to an atmospheric circulation in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
• The sudden spike in melting this year is comparable to some spikes seen seven years ago.
• Melting off early in the season makes it easier for further ice loss later in the season, the researcher said.
• The Greenland melting season started very early this season, which is the second earliest in a record that stretches back to 1980.
• The top four have all occurred within the last 10 years. One reason why melting has spiked this year is that Greenland experienced a dry and cold winter.
• The Polar Portal is a collaboration between DMI, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) under the Danish Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

India to host UN meet on land degradation

News

• India for the first time will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September.

Beyond News

• It will see participation from at least 5,000 delegates from nearly 197 countries and will be held between September 2 and 14 in Delhi.
• Ahead of the COP-14, Union Environment Minister launched a flagship project, part of a larger international initiative called the Bonn Challenge, to enhance India’s capacity for forest landscape restoration (FLR).
• It will be implemented during a pilot phase of three-and-a-half years in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Karnataka. The project will aim to develop and adapt the best practices and monitoring protocols for the country, and build capacity within the five pilot States.
• India faces a severe problem of land degradation, or soil becoming unfit for cultivation. A 2016 report by the Indian Space Research Organisation found that about 29% of India’s land (in 2011-13) was degraded, this being a 0.57% increase from 2003-05.
• At the previous edition of the COP, India had committed to restore 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by the year 2020, and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030.
• The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land under restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
• The United Nations has three major Conventions: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• Established in 1994, the UNCCD is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda.
• One of the primary functions of the COP is to review reports submitted by the Country Parties, detailing how they are carrying out their commitments. India will takeover the COP presidency from China for two years until the next COP in 2021.

Drugs of 18 pharma firms found substandard since 2018

News

• The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), which implements the Centre’s flagship affordable medicine scheme PMBJP, has found 25 batches of drugs of 18 pharmaceutical companies to be of substandard quality since January 2018.

Beyond News

• While 17 out of the 18 companies are private, one is a public sector unit (PSU), the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL).
• Both the BPPI and the IDPL work under the Department of Pharmaceuticals of the Central government.
• Once the affordable generic drugs are procured from the pharmaceutical companies by the BPPI, they are supplied to various Janaushadhi Kendras that are managed under the Pradhan Mantri Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).
• There are 4,677 Janaushadhi Kendras functional in the country, as on December 31, 2018.
• Seven companies have been blacklisted for two years.

Death toll in Muzaffarpur due to encephalitis rises to 104

News

• The number of children who have succumbed to suspected Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur rose to 104 even as the National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Union Health ministry and the State government over the increasing number of deaths due to encephalitis.

Beyond News

• In Gaya, the district administration enforced Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure people stay indoors and are not exposed to the blistering heat.
• A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is likely to visit Muzaffarpur to monitor the treatment of children hospitalised with AES.
• Gaya district magistrate Abhishek Singh also issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 to compel the public to stay indoors in order to avoid the heatwave. The district administration also banned construction and other outdoor activities that involve intense manual labour between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the district.

Following Nipah scare, Kerala to keep an eye on all emerging pathogens

News

• As Kerala heaves a sigh of relief at how a potential second run of Nipah could be averted through timely detection and control measures, the disease should be seen as an opportunity for developing a clinical algorithm for all emerging viral infections at tertiary-care level, strengthening diagnostic and research capacities and, above all, changing community behaviour.

Beyond News

• Bats are the natural reservoirs of not just Nipah but many deadly viral pathogens such as Sars, Ebola and Marburg. While Nipah virus (NiV) infection is self-limiting, with a limited geographic span, changes in the ecosystem and increased international travel can bring any emerging new virulent pathogens home in a matter of hours, say public health experts.
• NiV has been isolated in fruit bats (Pteropus/flying fox) wherever they have been tested, even when there are no simultaneous human infections.
• In India, the AES surveillance scene changed dramatically between 2000 and 2010, when the long-time focus on Japanese Encephalitis shifted to other dangerous viruses such as Chandipura, West Nile, NiV or herpes simplex viruses which can also cause acute encephalitis.
• The realisation that diagnosis of AES cases of unknown aetiology is critical for the early detection of new and lethal pathogens hit Kerala last year, following the first Nipah outbreak.
• It is to expedite early detection and to launch a pre-emptive response against any outbreaks by new and emerging pathogens that outbreak monitoring units have been set up in all medical colleges, post-Nipah.
• Strengthening infection control protocols in hospital apart, our major activity has been the establishment of a clinical algorithm-based screening protocol for all emerging infections, using molecular diagnostic testing through multiplex PCR platforms.
• All cases of AES are now tested using multiplex PCR to pinpoint a diagnosis.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Bangladesh risks Sundarbans getting listed as World Heritage

News

• The official advisory organisation on natural World Heritage has recommended putting the Sundarbans on a list of ‘natural sites in danger’ as Bangladesh has continued implementing a coal-fired power plant project near the forest.

Beyond News

• The World Heritage Committee of 21 governments is scheduled to decide on the recommendations by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at its annual meeting in Azerbaijan.
• In July 2017, Unesco withdrew a plan to inscribe the Sundarbans in the list of heritage sites in danger by 2018. The government had been allowed until December 2018 to report on the conservation of the world’s largest mangrove forest to the World Heritage Centre.
• A reactive monitoring mission, jointly conducted by the Centre and IUCN in March 2016, made detailed recommendations including the necessity of a strategic environmental assessment for the south-west region.
• After the mission, the World Heritage Committee had called for the Rampal power plant project to be cancelled and relocated.
• The committee had welcomed Bangladesh’s decision to carry out the assessment into the potential impact of a coal-based thermal plant, besides the decisions to scrap the plant’s second phase and the Orion power plant.
• IUCN this year said it recommended listing of the Sundarbans, Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California and the Ohrid region in North Macedonia as “World Heritage in danger.”
• It cited severe threats from coal-fired power plants and numerous industrial activities in close proximity.
• Despite the call for relocation of the project, its construction has continued without any assessment of its impact on the Sundarbans’ World Heritage values, it said.

Bitcoin use causing huge CO2 emissions: Study

News

• The use of Bitcoin a popular virtual currency emits over 22 megatonnes of carbon dioxide annually, comparable to the total emissions of cities such as Las Vegas and Vienna, a study has found.

Findings

• Researchers carried out a detailed calculation of the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin system.
• For a Bitcoin transfer to be executed and validated, a mathematical puzzle must be solved by an arbitrary computer in the global Bitcoin network.The network, which anyone can join, rewards the puzzle solvers in Bitcoin.
• The computing capacity used in this process known as Bitcoin mining has increased rapidly in recent years. Statistics show that it quadrupled in 2018 alone.
• Consequently, the Bitcoin boom raises the question of whether the cryptocurrency is imposing an additional burden on the climate.
• Several studies have attempted to quantify the CO2 emissions caused by Bitcoin mining.
• The team began by calculating the power consumption of the network. This depends primarily on the hardware used for Bitcoin mining. The researchers determined the annual electricity consumption by Bitcoin, as of November 2018, to be about 46 TWh.
• Based on these data, the team was able to localise 68% of the Bitcoin network computing power in Asian countries, 17% in European countries, and 15% in North America.
• The researchers also cross-checked this conclusion against the results of another method by localising the IP addresses of individual miners using an internet of things search engine. They then combined their results with statistics on the carbon intensity of power generation in the various countries.
• The Bitcoin system has a carbon footprint of between 22 and 22.9 megatonnes per year. That is comparable to the footprint of such cities as Hamburg, Vienna or Las Vegas.

India, Myanmar conduct joint operation to destroy militant camps in Northeast

News

• The armies of India and Myanmar carried out a three-week-long coordinated operation from May 16 in their respective border areas, targeting several militant groups operating in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam, defence sources said.

Beyond News

• The first phase of “Operation Sunrise” was conducted three months ago along the Indo-Myanmar border, during which a number of camps of north-east-based militant groups were busted.
• Myanmar is one of the strategic neighbours of India and shares a 1,640-km border with a number of north-eastern states, including the militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
• During “Operation Sunrise 2”, the armies coordinated with each other to bust camps of militant outfits, including the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland(Khaplang), the United Liberation Front of Assam (I) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland.
• At least six dozen militants belonging to these groups were nabbed and several of their camps were destroyed during the operation,the two sides might launch the third phase of the operation, depending on intelligence inputs and the ground situation.
• According to security agencies, there were over 50 camps of insurgent groups from the north-east in Myanmar till 2018.
• Besides the Indian Army, troops from the Assam Rifles were also a part of the operation.
• In June 2015, the Indian Army had carried out an operation against NSCN(K) militants in areas near the Indo-Myanmar border, days after militants killed 18 army personnel in Manipur.
• In the first phase of “Operation Sunrise”, the Indian Army targeted members of the Arakan Army, an insurgent group in Myanmar, who were opposed to the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project.
• The project is viewed as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia.
• On the Indian side, work is on to extend the Aizawl-Saiha National Highway by 90 kilometers to the international border at Zorinpui.

Pakistan’s terror policy to come under scrutiny

News

• Pakistan has failed to complete 25 of the 27 action points given by the international terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to check funding to terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad) and frontal groups like Jamat-ud-Dawah and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.

Beyond News

• With this, multilateral lenders like the IMF, the World Bank and the EU may continue downgrading Pakistan, making its financial situation more precarious.
• The Paris-headquartered FATF has asked Pakistan to explain whether it has launched any investigation into the $7 million allocated to maintain schools, madrasas, clinics and ambulances originally operated by terror groups like LeT, JeM, and LeT fronts Jamat-ud-Dawah and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.
• JuD and FIF are founded by terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
• In June 2018, Pakistan was placed in the ‘Grey’ list and given a 27-point action plan by FATF. This plan was reviewed at the last plenary in October 2018 and for the second time in February this year, when the country was again put into the ‘Grey’ list after India submitted new information about Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
• The FATF continuing Pakistan in the ‘Grey’ list means its downgrading by IMF, World Bank, ADB, EU and also a reduction in risk rating by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. This will add to the financial problems of Pakistan, which is seeking aid from all possible international avenues.
• In a bid to bluff the financial watchdog, Pakistani authorities have shown arrests of LeT, JeM, JuD and FiF cadres.
• The FATF implements UN designations, which do not warrant arrest. They ask only for freeze of funds, denial of access to weapons and travel embargo. The financial watchdog also wants nations to impose penalties that are proportionate and dissuasive.
• Pakistan has also seized several hundred properties of LeT, JuD, FiF and JeM, including schools and madrasas. However, these properties are now being run by its provincial governments.
• The Punjab provincial government has allocated $2 million per annum for their upkeep. Similarly, other provinces have allocated $5 million. The annual expense allocated by Pakistan totals $7 million.
• The FATF has now asked Pakistan to explain whether there are any terror-funding investigations to unearth the sources and entities that funded these organisations with $7 million per annum for the past several years.
• The FATF currently has 35 members and two regional organisations European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council.
• In the last meeting of the FATF in Paris, the FATF said Pakistan should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies.

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