Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Damaged reefs turn butterflyfish into flexible eaters

News

• In bleached coral reefs that host less food resources, Lakshadweep’s melon butterflyfish change their diets and eating patterns to adapt to reef damages caused by climate change.

Beyond News

• Climate change induced ocean warming can cause coral bleaching, which stresses coral patches and makes them prone to death.
• Bleaching is not new in Indian reef systems; the bleaching event of 2010 killed patches of corals in several reefs off the Lakshadweep Islands. This can be catastrophic for exclusive coral-eaters like melon butterflyfish.

Live coral cover

• Scientists from Bengaluru’s Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) studied live coral cover and butterflyfish numbers in three reefs fringing the islands of Kadmat (coral death was highest here with only about 7% live coral cover and, therefore, resource-poor), Bitra and Kavaratti (least coral death, nearly four times more live coral cover than Kadmat) in Lakshadweep.
• Surprisingly, their surveys show that despite these large differences in coral cover across the reefs, melon butterflyfish numbers were similar in all three.
• The video footage recorded the coral species that 58 pairs of melon butterflyfish they followed ate, the time the fish spent eating and the time they took to travel between patches of live coral to obtain food. In resource-poor reefs, fish ate coral species that they otherwise clearly avoided in rich reefs like Kavaratti.
• Fish spent more time travelling and less time searching for food in resource-poor reefs, making food procurement both difficult and energetically expensive.
• To compensate for this, the fish ate more ‘compulsively’ in such reefs, taking faster bites (about two times quicker than in rich reefs) off corals in a hurry.

Mount Etna is ‘sliding towards the sea’

News

• Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, was sliding towards the Mediterranean sea at a rate of 14mm per year, according to a report.

Beyond News

• The U.K.-led team of scientists have said the situation will need careful monitoring because it may lead to increased hazards at Etna in the future.
• The group has published its findings in the Bulletin of Volcanology.
• Murray’s team has conducted lab experiments to illustrate how this works.

The group believes it is the first time that “basement sliding” of an entire active volcano has been directly observed.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

SC seeks Centre’s views on polygamy, ‘nikah halala’

News

• The Supreme Court agreed to examine the constitutional validity of polygamy and ‘nikah halala’ among Muslims and sought the views of the Union government and the Law Commission on the the practices.

Beyond News

• A Bench considered the submission that a five-judge Constitution Bench, in its 2017 verdict, kept open the issue of polygamy and ‘nikah halala’ while quashing triple talaq.
• By a majority of 3:2, the Constitution Bench held triple talaq as unconstitutional.
• The Bench said a fresh five-judge Constitution Bench would be set up to deal with the constitutionality of ‘nikah halala’ and polygamy.
• While polygamy allows a Muslim man to have four wives, ‘nikah halala’ deals with the process in which a Muslim woman has to marry another person and get divorced from him before being allowed to marry her divorcee husband again.

The Bench was hearing at least three petitions including some public interest litigation (PIL) pleas challenging the practices on various grounds including that they violate Right to Equality and gender justice.

U.S., India hold naval training

News

• Indian Navy’s Talwar class frigate INS Tarkashcarried out a “greeting and training” exercise with the U.S. Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) which was until now involved in operations against the Islamic State in the Arabian Gulf.

Beyond News

• S. Embassy said in a statement that,INS Tarkash sailed in formation with aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) and other ships on March 25 as part of the exercise.
• The embassy also said that, During the exercise, personnel from both the sides practiced working together and strengthened their crews’ ship handling.Exercises included drills in communications and navigating in several close formations.
• This exercise offered a unique opportunity to further our capabilities to operate with and learn from one another.
• Ten Indian sailors toured spaces aboard Preble such as combat information center, central control station, and the bridge, while 10 Preble Sailors visited Tarkash.
• USS Preble is currently deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations with the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 9, along with the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, and guided-missile destroyers USS Halsey, USS Higgins and USS Sampson.
• TRCSG will now be in the U.S. 7th Fleet area responsible for counter-piracy, freedom of navigation operations and training.

Bill on transfer of assigned lands cleared

News

• The Telangana State Government assured the Assembly that transfer of assigned lands would be allowed only in case they are in the possession of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes persons and not others.

Beyond News

• A Bill to amend the Telangana Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, was passed for the purpose.
• Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the Revenue portfolio, stated that the Act was first amended in 2007 in combined Andhra Pradesh for regularisation of assigned lands transferred to others till September 30, 2007.
• The present amendment extends that date till December 31, 2017, Deputy Chief Minister said adding that it would provide for transfer of 2.5 acres wet and five acres of dry assigned land to other SC/ST persons who were in the possession of those lands after purchasing them from the original assignees.
• A total of 20,13,833 acres land was assigned to dalits in Telangana so far and out of it 2,14,627 was in possession of others.
• Bills providing for selection and appointment of Director General of Police (Head of Police Force) by the State Government instead of selection by UPSC; amendment to the Telangana Medical Practitioners Registration Act, 1968, removing the requirement of compulsory rural medical service to Post Graduate doctors; amendments to the Telangana Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act, 1987and Telangana Advocates Clerks Welfare Fund Act, 1992 were also passed.

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