Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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

How the populations of the world’s regions are changing

News

• The world’s regions are all growing at different rates and many of the fastest growing nations are the ones which are among the poorest, according to the United Nations World Population Prospects 2019.

Findings

• Many poor nations also have higher rates of population density, thereby putting more pressure on resources like land and water. This also means that achieving Sustainable Development Goals like equality and eradication of poverty is tougher.
• At the other end of the spectrum, 27 countries or areas have experienced a reduction in the size of their populations (1% or more) since 2010. This is due to low levels of fertility and, in some places, high rates of emigration (Syria, for instance).
• Overall, the world’s population is projected to grow from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion in 2030 (10% rise). In 2020, the world’s population will be three times what it was in 1950. India and China alone account for 36% of the world’s population.
• While China’s population growth has been steadily declining due to the strict implementation of the one-child policy, India’s population has been constantly on the rise, and the gap between the two has been narrowing.
• In 1950, the population gap between the giant Asian neighbours was about 17 crore. In 2020, the gap will be just six crore people; in a matter of eight years, India is set to overtake China and become the world’s most populous nation.
• In regional terms, Africa has seen a tremendous increase in population (almost six-fold), while Europe has seen the smallest rise. Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia are the other regions that have seen a three-fold growth in the past 70 years.
• In terms of population density too, African nations pack a far larger number of people per square kilometre compared to other regions nearly 150 persons per sq. km., compared to the global average of 60.
• High population density in countries like Burundi and Ethiopia puts additional strain on resources like land and water.

Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast since 2000: study

News

• Comparing data obtained by Cold War-era spy satellites with images from modern stereo satellites, scientists have shown that Himalayan glaciers have lost more than a quarter of their ice mass since 1975, with melting occurring twice as fast after the turn of the century as average temperatures rose.

Beyond News

• In the 1970s, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. had deployed spy satellites that orbited the globe and took thousands of photographs, using a telescopic camera system, for reconnaissance purposes. Film recovery capsules would be ejected from the KH-9 Hexagon military satellites and parachuted back to Earth over the Pacific Ocean.
• More than four decades later, scientists are using those same images to show the devastating impact of a warming earth on the Himalayan glaciers.
• The overlapping images, each covering 30,000 square kilometres with a ground resolution of six to nine metres, have been pieced together to form digital elevation models of the Himalayas of that era.
• They analysed four decades of ice loss for 650 of the largest glaciers across a 2,000 km transect across the Himalayas.

Findings

• Observed annual mass losses suggest that of the total ice mass present in 1975, about 87% remained in 2000 and 72% remained in 2016.
• Theye find similar mass loss rates across subregions and a doubling of the average rate of loss during 2000–2016 relative to the 1975–2000 interval.
• The study goes on to assert that rising temperatures are responsible for the accelerating loss.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Kerala willing to offer 20 lakh litres drinking water, Tamil Nadu rejects it

News

• The Kerala government expressed willingness to provide 20 lakh litres drinking water to Tamil Nadu, which is facing acute water scarcity, but the latter has declined it, saying there was “no need for the help at present.”

Beyond News

• Kerala was prepared to transport 20 lakh litres of drinking water from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai through train.
• Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister told that deficiencies in some groundwater conservation projects were identified at various places, including Chennai and were being attended to.
• Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister said Tamil Nadu was facing the worst-ever drought. Rains were expected in a few days, he said.
• The Tamil Nadu government has said it was largely dependent on groundwater to meet requirements till the onset of northeast monsoon in October.
• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has said drought and deficient monsoon had resulted in depletion of groundwater levels, but claimed the issue was not as big as was being portrayed.

70.8 million displaced globally: UN

News

• Developing countries, not rich Western nations, are bearing the brunt of the world’s refugee crisis and are hosting most of the record 70.8 million displaced people who have fled war and persecution, the United Nations said.

Beyond News

• Half of the world’s forcibly displaced are children and the 2018 total is the highest in nearly 70 years, the U.N. refugee agency said in its annual flagship report, “Global Trends”.
• But the global figure, which comprises 25.9 million refugees, 41.3 million people uprooted within their homelands, and 3.5 million asylum-seekers, is “conservative”.
• That is because it does not include most of the 4 million Venezuelans who have fled abroad since 2015 as they do not need visas or to lodge asylum claims to stay in most host countries.

WHO writes new prescription to prevent misuse of antibiotics

News

• In its latest advisory, WHO has suggested the adoption of ‘Access, Watch and Reserve’, an approach that specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections, which ones ought to be available at all times in the healthcare system, and those that must be used sparingly, or reserved and used only as a last resort.

Beyond News

• WHO estimates that more than 50% of antibiotics in many countries are used inappropriately for treatment of viruses, when they only treat bacterial infections, or are the wrong choice of antibiotic (broader spectrum), thus contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
• The new campaign aims to increase the proportion of global consumption of antibiotics in the ‘Access’ group to at least 60%, and to reduce use of the antibiotics most at risk of resistance.
• Using ‘Access’ antibiotics lowers the risk of resistance because they are ‘narrow-spectrum’ antibiotics (that target a specific microorganism rather than several). They are also less costly because they are available in generic formulations.
• In India, the Health Ministry has made it mandatory to display a 5mm-thick red vertical band on the packaging of prescription-only drugs to sensitise people to be cautious while buying these medicines that are widely sold without prescriptions.
• WHO has now urged all countries to adopt the Access, Watch and Reserve guidelines to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, adverse events and costs.
• When antibiotics stop working effectively, more expensive treatments and hospital admissions are needed, taking a heavy toll on already stretched health budgets.

In talks with U.S. on H-1B visas; no official word on limits: MEA

News

• India is in talks with the United States on H-1B work visas but has not heard anything official from Washington on capping such permits for Indians, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Beyond News

• United States had told India it was considering caps on H-1B work visas for countries that force foreign companies to store data locally.
• News of the U.S. plan to restrict H-1B visas comes days before a visit to India by U.S. Secretary of State. Disagreements between the countries over trade have resulted in tit-for-tat tariffs in recent weeks.
• There is no country-specific limit on the 85,000 H-1B work visas that the United States grants each year, and an estimated 70% of them go to Indians.
• Indian IT stocks fell following concern about any work visa curbs. Indian tech lobby group Nasscom said such a U.S. plan would imply a “further crunch” for businesses in the United States getting skilled workers.
• S. proposal was linked to a push by many governments for “data localisation”, in which a country places restrictions on data flows to gain better control over it, and curb the power of foreign firms.
• The plan, if implemented, would also apply to countries other than India, the sources said.
• S. firms have lobbied hard against data localisation rules around the world.
• India’s data storage rules announced last year upset U.S. payment companies.
• India is also working on a broad data protection law that would impose strict rules for domestic processing of data it considers sensitive.
• The government would also take a decision on involvement of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. in 5G trials, based on India’s economic and security interests.
• The global roll out of 5G technology has been complicated by U.S. sanctions against Huawei. U.S. officials have lobbied allies not to use Huawei network equipment in their 5G networks.
• The United States has stepped up pressure on its big trading partners since President Donald Trump took office.
• Trump has made use of tariffs to punish trading partners like China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico, saying they flood the United States with cheap products and put up unfair economic barriers at home.
• Overall direction of ties with the United States was positive. Defence relations have expanded with the United States becoming one of India’s top arms suppliers, replacing traditional partner Russia.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Two Earth-like planets discovered around dwarf star

News

• Scientists have discovered two new Earth-like planets around one of the closest stars within our galactic neighbourhood.

Beyond News

• The planets are located only 12.5 light years away orbiting the Teegarden star a red dwarf in the direction of the constellation of Aries, according to the study.
• Its surface temperature is 2,700 degrees Celsius, and its mass is only one-tenth that of the Sun, researchers said.
• Even though it is so near, its faintness impeded its discovery until 2003.
• The observations showed that two planets are orbiting it, both of them similar to the planets in the inner part of the Solar System.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS