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Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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WHO strategy to fight flu pandemics

News

  • The World Health Organization launched a strategy to protect people worldwide over the next decade against the threat of influenza, warning that new pandemics are “inevitable”.

Beyond News

  • Influenza epidemics, largely seasonal, affect around one billion people and kill hundreds of thousands annually, according to WHO, which describes it as one of the world’s greatest public health challenges.
  • WHO’s new strategy, for 2019 through 2030, aims to prevent seasonal influenza, control the virus’s spread from animals to humans and prepare for the next pandemic.
  • The new strategy called for every country to strengthen routine health programmes and to develop tailor-made influenza programmes that strengthen disease surveillance, response, prevention, control, and preparedness.
  • WHO recommends annual flu vaccines as the most effective way to prevent the spread of the disease, especially for healthcare workers and people at higher risk of influenza complications.
  • It also called for the development of more effective and more accessible vaccines and antiviral treatments.
  • Due to its mutating strains, vaccine formulas must be regularly updated and only offer limited protection currently.
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  • India is world’s second largest arms importer

    News

    • India was the world’s second largest arms importer from 2014-18, ceding the long-held tag as largest importer to Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 12% of the total imports during the period.

    Beyond News

    • India was the world’s second largest importer of major arms in 2014–18 and accounted for 9.5% of the global total.
    • However, Indian imports decreased by 24% between 2009-13 and 2014-18, partly due to delays in deliveries of arms produced under licence from foreign suppliers, such as combat aircraft ordered from Russia in 2001 and submarines ordered from France in 2008.
    • Russia accounted for 58% of Indian arms imports in 2014–18, compared with 76% in 2009-13. Israel, the U.S. and France all increased their arms exports to India in 2014-18.
    • Russian share in Indian imports is likely to sharply go up for the next five-year period as India signed several big-ticket deals recently, and more are in the pipeline.
    • These include S-400 air defence systems, four stealth frigates, AK-203 assault rifles, a second nuclear attack submarine on lease, and deals for Kamov-226T utility helicopters, Mi-17 helicopters and short-range air defence systems. The report noted that despite the long-standing conflict between India and Pakistan, arms imports decreased for both countries in 2014-18 compared with 2009-13.
    • Pakistan stood at the 11th position accounting for 2.7% of all global imports. Its biggest source was China, from which 70% of arms were sourced, followed by the U.S. at 8.9% and, interestingly, Russia at 6%.
    • Globally, the volume of international transfers of major arms in 2014-18 was 7.8% higher than in 2009-13 and 23% higher than in 2004-2008.
    • The five largest exporters in 2014-18 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China together accounting for 75% of the total volume of arms exports in 2014-18.
    • China, which has emerged as a major arms exporter, has increased its share by 2.7% for 2014-18 compared to 2009-13. Its biggest customers are Pakistan and Bangladesh.

    As Indian imports reduced, the impact was on Russian exports of major arms, which decreased by 17% between 2009-13 and 2014-18. The report said this was partly due to “general reductions in Indian and Venezuelan arms imports”, which have been among the main recipients of Russian arms exports in previous years.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

NASA orbiter spots water molecules moving around on Moon, says study

News

  • Scientists, using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), have observed water molecules moving around the dayside of the moon, the U.S. space agency said, an advance that could help to learn about accessibility of water that can be used by humans in future lunar missions.

Beyond News

  • Measurements from the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) instrument aboard the LRO of the sparse layer of molecules temporarily stuck to the surface helped characterise lunar hydration changes over the course of a day, according to the study.
  • Up until the last decade, scientists thought the Moon was arid, with any water existing mainly as pockets of ice in permanently shaded craters near the poles.
  • More recently, scientists have identified surface water in sparse populations of molecules bound to the lunar soil. The amount varies based on the time of day.
  • This water is more common at higher latitudes and tends to hop around as the surface heats up.
  • These results aid in understanding the lunar water cycle and will ultimately help us learn about accessibility of water that can be used by humans in future missions to the Moon, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute.
  • Lunar water can potentially be used by humans to make fuel or to use for radiation shielding or thermal management; if these materials do not need to be launched from Earth, that makes these future missions more affordable.
  • Water molecules remain tightly bound to the regolith until surface temperatures peak near lunar noon.

 ‘India ranks 11th in gold holding’

News

  • India, which is the world’s largest consumer of gold, has the 11th largest gold reserve, with the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes, as per the latest report by the World Gold Council (WGC).

Beyond News

  • India’s overall position in terms of total gold holding would have been tenth had the list included only countries. Whereas, International Monetary Fund (IMF) is included and is third on the list with total gold reserves of 2,814 tonnes.
  • The numero uno slot is occupied by the U.S., which boasts of gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany with 3,369.7 tonnes. Italy and France complete the top five list with reserves of a little over 2,400 tonnes each.
  • Meanwhile, among Asian countries, China and Japan have more reserves of the precious metal when compared to India. China – WGC takes into account only ‘Mainland China’ – has reserves of 1,864.3 tonnes, while Japan has gold reserves of 765.2 tonnes.
  • Meanwhile, countries like Taiwan, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Lebanon and Spain, along with the European Central Bank, complete the top 20 list of largest gold reserves.
  • Pakistan, with its gold reserves of 64.6 tonnes, occupies the 45th position.

India discusses terror with 4 countries

News

  • India held crucial discussions with Saudi Arabia, United States, Turkey and the UAE on countering Pakistan-based terror groups.

Beyond News

  • In a telephone conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated India’s position that terrorism “remains one of the gravest threats to global peace and security”.
  • Prime Minister also held telephone talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and thanked him for the support from his side for India’s appearance as a “Guest of Honour” at the recent ministerial of the OIC where India asked for a united front against terrorism.
  • It was the second such communication in two weeks as the Crown Prince had earlier called for de-escalation of tension between India and Pakistan.
  • Prime Minister also had a personal meeting with the visiting Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir.
  • Prime Minister thanked the leadership of Saudi Arabia for expressing full solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
  • It was agreed that Saudi Arabia and India should work together for irreversible, verifiable and credible steps against all terrorists without any discrimination.

First exoplanet Kepler spotted finally confirmed

News

  • Ten years after it was launched, the first exoplanet candidate spotted by NASA’s Kepler space telescope has finally been confirmed as a real world, scientists say.

Beyond News

  • The exoplanet known as Kepler-1658 b is a massive hot Jupiter that whips around its star every 3.85 days.
  • From the surface, the star would appear 60 times larger in diameter than the Sun as seen from Earth, they said.
  • Kepler has discovered thousands of exoplanets since its launch in 2009, using the transit method small dips in a star’s brightness as planets cross in front of the star.
  • Because other phenomena can mimic transits, Kepler data reveal planet candidates, but further analysis is required to confirm them as genuine planets.
  • Despite being the very first planet candidate discovered by Kepler in 2011, Kepler-1658 b had a rocky road to confirmation.
  • The newly confirmed planet orbits at a distance of only twice the star’s diameter, making it one of the closest in planets around a more evolved star.

China’s lunar rover studies stones on Moon s far side

News

  • China’s lunar rover has conducted scientific detection on some stones on the far side of the moon, which might help scientists find out whether they are from outer space or native to the moon.

Beyond News

  • The rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, was sent to the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole Aitken (SPA) Basin on the far side of the Moon in the Chang’e-4 mission.
  • The largest stone detected has a diameter of about 20 cm, and the rover came as close to it as 1.2 metres.
  • The images will help researchers figure out the origin of the stones, whether they are aboriginal on the Moon, or meteorites from outer space.
  • The rocks on the lunar surface might be splintered body as a result of the meteorite impact.
  • Scientists have found evidence indicating a heavy asteroid bombardment event in the Solar System around 3.9 billion years ago and the SPA Basin might be an impact from that period.
  • The exploration might offer clues as to why the bombardment occurred.

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