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Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Beneath an Antarctica glacier

News

  • Researchers have found vast bodies of water underneath one of the biggest Antarctica glaciers, giving crucial insight into the possible outcomes of global climate change.

Beyond News

  • Measuring 30 km wide and up to 2 km thick, the Totten Glacier catchment is the largest in East Antarctica and has the potential to raise sea levels by up to 7 metres.
  • Seismic instruments were used to discover what lies below the mass of ice, detonating contained explosions around two metres below the surface and measuring the echo.
  • This research is critical in helping us predict how the melting of Antarctica glaciers will change the world’s oceans in the future.
  • The speed at which the glacier will shift and therefore melt into the ocean is determined partially by what material it sits on top of.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

WHO calls for tighter monitoring of marketing of unhealthy foods to children

News

  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for tighter monitoring of digital marketing of unhealthy food products, especially those high in salt, sugar and fat, and alcohol and tobacco.

Findings

  • In a report , WHO/Europe observes that while data on the digital lives of children are scarce, the time children spend online, including on social media, has grown steadily.
  • There is therefore an increased risk of children’s exposure to digital marketing.
  • Set against the backdrop of “the advertising industry’s continued efforts to target children and adolescents on social media and difficult-to-track mobile devices”, WHO has urged countries worldwide to expedite the development and implementation of a set of tools for monitoring children’s exposure to digital marketing.
  • Monitoring the online advertising of unhealthy products to children is critical since heart disease, cancer, obesity and chronic respiratory disease are linked to smoking, alcohol abuse and the consumption of unhealthy food products.
  • The onset of these diseases can be slowed or prevented if major risk factors and behaviours are addressed during childhood, the report’s authors suggest.
  • A proposal mooted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to regulate advertisements of high in fat, sugar, salt (HFSS) products aimed at children is yet to be finalised.
  • Earlier, an expert panel set up by the FSSAI had recommended a ban on the advertising of junk food on television channels aimed at child viewers and during kids’ shows on TV.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Debris from anti-satellite test to disintegrate in 45 days: official

News

  • The satellite targeted with an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile under Mission Shakti has broken up into at least 270 pieces, most of which are expected to disintegrate within 45 days, Defence sources said on Friday.

Beyond News

  • Being in the Low Earth Orbit, the debris would fall towards earth and burn up as soon as they enter the atmosphere.
  • Officials identified the targeted satellite as Microsat-R, an imaging satellite that was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 24 using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The satellite, weighing 740 kg, was placed in an orbit of 274 km above earth.
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) shot down Microsat-R with a modified exo-atmospheric missile of the ballistic missile defence at an altitude of 300 km.
  • The ASAT test was tracked by sensors of various agencies. Upon impact, data transmission from the satellite stopped and electro-optic systems confirmed an explosion.
  • Other ISRO satellites and systems too noticed the breakup of Microsat-R, another official said, adding that the debris was being monitored.
  • Debris pose significant risk to satellites and other systems launched into orbit as they last for a long time especially in higher orbits. For instance, China’s 2007 ASAT test in an orbit of around 800 km created around 3,000 pieces of debris, of which 616 have decayed. The rest are still in orbit.

Five coffee varieties get GI tag

News

  • The government said it has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to five varieties of Indian coffee including Coorg Arabica.
  • The move is expected to help the growers get maximum price for their premium produce.

Beyond News

  • The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recently awarded this tag to Coorg Arabica coffee from Karnataka, Wayanad Robusta coffee from Kerala, Chikmaglur Arabica from Karnataka, Araku Valley Arabica from Andhra Pradesh, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from Karnataka.
  • The Araku coffee is produced by the tribals, who follow an organic approach in which they emphasise management practices involving substantial use of organic manures, green manuring and organic pest management practices.
  • Similarly Bababudangiri Arabica coffee is selectively hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation.
  • In India, coffee is cultivated in about 4.54 lakh hectare by 3.66 lakh coffee farmers of which 98 per cent are small farmers.
  • Coffee cultivation is mainly done in the southern states of India including Karnataka, which accounts for 54 per cent of the total production. It is followed by Kerala (19 per cent), Tamil Nadu (eight per cent).
  • It is also grown in non-traditional areas such as Andhra Pradesh and Odisha (17.2 per cent) and North East states (1.8 per cent).
  • India is the only country in the world where the entire coffee cultivation is grown under shade, hand-picked and sun dried, it said adding the country produces some of the best coffee in the world, grown by tribal farmers in the Western and Eastern Ghats, which are the two major bio-diversity hotspots in the world. Indian coffee is highly valued in the world market and sold as premium coffee in Europe.
  • A Geographical Indication (GI) is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
  • Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
  • Darjeeling Tea, Tirupathi Laddu, Kangra Paintings, Nagpur Orange and Kashmir Pashmina are among the registered GIs in India.
  • Experts said that award of GI tag gives protection to the producer of those genuine products, which commands premium pricing in the markets both domestic and international.
  • Once the GI protection is granted, no other producer can misuse the name to market similar products. It also provides comfort to customers about the authenticity of that product.

River water persisted on Mars much later than thought

News

  • Water from rivers on Mars persisted at hundreds of locations on the Red Planet much later into its history than previously thought, a study has found.
  • Riverbeds were carved deep into the Martian surface long ago, but the understanding of the climate billions of years ago remains incomplete.
  • Scientists catalogued these rivers to conclude that significant river run-off persisted on Mars later into its history than previously thought. 

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