Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Tiny fossil shells unveil details about ancient Earth’s climate

News

• Scientists have discovered tiny fossil shells that unveil details about the Earth’s climate over half a billion years ago.

Beyond News

• The research, suggests that early animals diversified within a climate similar to that in which the dinosaurs lived.
• An international collaboration of scientists, led by the University of Leicester in the UK, has investigated by combining climate models and chemical analyses of fossil shells about 1mm long.
• This interval in time is known for the ‘Cambrian explosion’, the time during which representatives of most of the major animal groups first appear in the fossil record.
• These include the first animals to produce shells, and it is these shelly fossils that the scientists used.
• Data from the tiny fossil shells, and data from new climate model runs, show that high latitude ( about 65 degree South) sea temperatures were in excess of 20 degrees C.
• Careful examination of these tiny fossils revealed that some of them have exceptionally well-preserved shell chemistry which has not changed since they grew on the Cambrian sea floor.
• Analyses of the oxygen isotopes of these fossils suggested very warm temperatures for high latitude seas, probably between 20 to 25 degree Celsius.
• To see if these were feasible sea temperatures, the scientists then ran climate model simulations for the early Cambrian. The climate model simulations also suggest that Earth’s climate was in a ‘typical’ greenhouse state, with temperatures similar to more recent, and better understood, greenhouse intervals in Earth’s climate history, like the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic eras.

Importance

• Ultimately, these findings help to expand our knowledge of the early animals of the period and the environment in which they lived.
• They hope that this approach can be used by other researchers to build up a clearer picture of ancient climates where conventional climate proxy data are not available.

Indonesia evacuates residents, shuts airport after volcano erupts

News

• Indonesian authorities ordered people living near a volcano to leave their homes on Friday and a major city closed its airport after the 5,500 metre (18,000 ft) peak sent a column of steam and ash into the sky.

Beyond News

• The Mount Merapi volcano on the densely-populated Java island is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia and a series of eruptions in 2010 killed more than 350 people.
• A disaster mitigation agency told residents living within a 5 km (3 mile) radius of the mountain to move to shelters, agency spokesman said in a statement.
• He said that 120 people who had been hiking up Merapi were safe.
• The disaster agency described Merapi’s latest eruption as phreatic, which means magma heats up ground water and vapour is released under pressure.

  Indonesia: the world’s volcanic hotspot

• The airport in Yogyakarta, the nearest big city to the volcano, shut because of the threat from the ash, the state-owned aviation agency AirNav said in a statement.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Supreme Court asks HCs to form anti-sexual harassment panels in all courts

News

• The Supreme Court asked chief justices or acting chief justices of all high courts to set up anti-sexual harassment committees in courts across the country within two months in accordance with a 2013 law.

Beyond News

• It also requested Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal of the Delhi High Court to constitute the panel in the high court and in all district courts in the national capital within a week.
• A bench was hearing a petition filed by a practising woman advocate who alleged that she had been assaulted by some lawyers observing a strike at the Tis Hazari district court complex in New Delhi.
• The bench asked the woman lawyer and the Bar leaders to amicably settle their disputes and directed that advocates from both sides should not be arrested in connection with the two cross FIRs filed by them against each other.
• The bench asked the crime branch of Delhi Police to investigate the cross complaints filed by the lawyers.
• The bench then disposed of a writ petition filed by the lady lawyer against the advocates and some members of Delhi Bar Association for allegedly assaulting her.
• The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013 requires every workplace to set up committees to probe sexual harassment complaints.

Pawan Kalyan unfurls ‘largest’ Indian flag

News

• The largest Indian flag was unfurled at NTR Stadium here coinciding with the anniversary of India’s First War of Independence of 1857.

Beyond News

• The flag, measuring 183 feet in length and 122 feet in breadth, was unfurled by Pawan Kalyan, at an event organised by Vibrants of Kalam, an organisation spreading the ideals and vision of former President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Power generation accounts for highest emissions in State

News

• The energy sectors account for the highest amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Andhra Pradesh State with emissions touching 82.79 million tons of CO2 equivalent (eq) in 2013-14.

Beyond News

• Of this, 37.026 million tons of CO2 eq were emitted from electricity generation. In fact, the GHG emissions were mere 43.31 million tons of CO2 in 2005-06.
• The per capita GHG emissions were a mere 1.16 MT CO2 in 2005. In less than a decade, they touched 2.06 MT. Also, the CO2 eq emissions surpassed the national per capita of 2.28 MT in 2014.
• In comparison, the per capita GHG emissions at all India were 1.07 tones in 2005 and 1.73 tonnes in 2014. Also, the emissions’ intensity has increased to 10% in the State, while it has been decreasing at the national level.
• These facts came to light in an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions for Andhra Pradesh prepared by the Vision Management Unit, the AP State Development Planning Society (APSDPS) of the Planning Department in association with the The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
• The highest contribution to the emissions were from electricity generation 31.25%, while the cement production accounted for 11.45%. The manufacturing industries’ share was 10.35%. Replacing coal-based generation with natural gas, promoting renewable energy up to maximum potential were some of the strategies being planned to bring down the emissions.
• In fact, the State witnessed a significant reduction in dependence/supply on thermal power supply. It has come down to 72% of the supply in 2017 compared to 84% in 2016. Likewise, the renewable and hydel power supply increased.
• Also, 12% increase in renewable energy has helped in the reduction of 8.5 million tons of GHG emissions.

Hot-money risks seen rising as India courts ‘bond tourists’

News

• A series of measures from the central bank to lure foreign buyers into the country’s short-term debt market could easily backfire, investors fear, exposing the economy to volatile “hot money” flows.

Beyond News

• The Reserve Bank of India lifted (RBI) a restriction limiting foreign investors to buying bonds with three years or more to maturity and also gave them access to short-term sovereign treasury bills.
• The RBI’s lifting of the maturity restriction came after government bonds tanked when sovereign bond auctions failed to attract many buyers, followed by a spike in yields when surprisingly hawkish minutes of a monetary policy meeting raised fears of the RBI hiking interest rates.
• The new rules have stoked fears of an influx of “bond tourists” and the associated rapid-fire switching in and out of short-term debt by foreign traders.
• Such volatile flows could make India’s financial markets more vulnerable at a time when the rupee has been the worst performer in the region, high oil prices are driving up the current account deficit, and interest rates could soon rise on heightened inflation risks, investors said.
• The immediate reaction to the lifting of maturity curbs on overseas buyers was less than inspirational, with foreigners selling a net $240.92 million of bonds on May 2 – a day after the RBI’s announcement.

Astronomers find first carbon rich asteroid in Kuiper Belt

News

• Astronomers have discovered an unusual carbon-rich asteroid in the Kuiper Belt the first of its kind to be confirmed in the cold outer reaches of the solar system.

Beyond News

• This object, designated 2004 EW95, likely formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and has been flung billions of kilometres from its origin to its current home in the Kuiper Belt, the study said.
• The researchers found that the asteroid’s reflectance spectrum the specific pattern of wavelengths of light reflected from an object  was different to that of similar small Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), which typically have uninteresting, featureless spectra that reveal little information about their composition.

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