Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India-China ties: Gold mine may become flashpoint

News:

• China has begun large-scale mining operations on its side of the border with Arunachal Pradesh, where gold, silver and other precious minerals valued at about $60 billion have been found, a media report said.

Beyond News:

• The mine project is being undertaken in the Lhunze county adjacent to the Indian border, which is under Chinese control, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post
• Projecting the mining operations as part of China’s move to take over Arunachal Pradesh, the report said, “people familiar with the project say the mines are part of an ambitious plan by Beijing to reclaim south Tibet.”
• China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet.
• China’s moves to lay claim to the region’s natural resources while rapidly building up infrastructure could turn it into ‘another South China Sea’ they said, it said.
• The South China Morning Postreport, which features inputs from local officials, Chinese geologists as well as strategic experts, comes less than a month after the first ever informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.
• The meeting was aimed at cooling tensions to avert incidents like the 73-day Doklam military stand-off last year, a new low in bilateral ties.

Confident talks will strengthen India-Russia partnership: Modi

News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced the hope his talks with President Vladimir Putin would further strengthen the “special and privileged” strategic partnership between India and Russia.

Beyond News

• During their informal summit in the Russian city of Sochi, the two leaders will primarily focus on global and regional issues, including the impact of the U.S. decision to withdraw from a nuclear deal with Iran.
• Official sources said the two leaders would meet for 4-6 hours for the “agendaless” talks where deliberations on bilateral issues were likely to be limited.
• They said the issues on the table might include the economic impact on India and Russia in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, the situation in Afghanistan and Syria, the threat of terrorism and matters relating to the upcoming SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and BRICS summits.
• The sources said the possible impact of the US sanctions against Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on Indo-Russia defiance cooperation may also figure during the talks between Modi and Putin.
• India is not going to allow its defence engagement with Russia to be dictated by any other country, New Delhi has been lobbying with the Trump administration on the issue.
• The aim of the informal summit is to use the friendship and trust between the two countries to create convergence on key global and regional issues, the sources said.
• The two leaders may also deliberate on extending the Indo-Russia civil nuclear cooperation to third countries, possible areas for cooperation for the International North-South Transport Corridor project, India’s engagement with the five-nation Eurasian Economic Union and the situation in the Korean peninsula.

PMO seeks change in UPSC allocation

News:

• The Centre is considering a major change in the allocation of services to successful candidates of the civil services examination.

Beyond News:

• The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) asked the department concerned to examine if the services can be allocated after the completion of the foundation course, according to an official communiqué.
• The duration of the foundation course for officers of almost all the services is three months.
• At present, service allocation to the candidates selected on the basis of the civil services examination, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), is made well before the commencement of the foundation course.
• The PMO has desired to examine if service allocation/cadre allocation to probationers selected can be made after the foundation course, as per the communication sent by the Personnel Ministry to different cadre-controlling authorities.
• The departments have asked to examine the feasibility of giving due weightage to the performance in the foundation course, and making service allocation as well as cadre allocation to all-India services officers based on the combined score obtained in the exam and the foundation course.
• The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) are all-India services.
• The departments have asked to give their feedback on the proposal to allocate other Central services such as the Indian Revenue Service and Indian Telecommunications Services, a Ministry official said.

Foreign investors cold to Permanent Residency Status scheme

News

• Two years after it was launched by the Union government, the Permanent Residency Status (PRS) scheme providing a host of facilities for foreigners who invest at least ₹10 crore under the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) route is yet to find a single applicant.

Beyond News

• A senior Home Ministry official said no foreigner had applied, but cautioned that the lack of applicants should not be seen as “no foreign investment”.
• Except Pakistani citizens or third-country nationals of Pakistani origin, the scheme is open for citizens of every country.
• Most European Union countries, the U.S., Canada and others offer permanent residency to foreign investors.
• The U.S. offers the EB-5 visa programme where foreigners could apply for permanent residency if they created employment opportunities for 10 people with a minimum investment of ₹6.5 crore.
• An official said this was not a “citizenship” that was being offered to foreigners and was subject to review every 10 years.
• The Union Cabinet had cleared the PRS in 2016 to boost its “Make in India” policy. The scheme is open for foreign investors who invest a minimum of ₹10 crore within 18 months or ₹25 crore in 36 months.
• The PRS card holders are also eligible to buy residential property in India.
• Among foreign countries, the maximum investment proposals in critical sectors such as telecom and defence that was cleared by Home Ministry in 2017, were from China, the U.K., the U.S. and Mauritius.
• Last year, the Ministry gave security clearance to more than 1,071 proposals in 11 critical sectors like defence, telecommunications, information and broadcasting.
• Over 90% of the FDI proposals have come through the automatic route.
• Among the foreign countries, the U.S., China (including Hong Kong), Mauritius and the U.K. have received the green signal for the most number of projects at 10 each, followed by Germany at six, Bangladesh at three and Italy, Israel, Netherlands and Switzerland at two each.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

India gears up for AI-driven wars

News

• In an ambitious defence project, the government has started work on incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the operational preparedness of the armed forcesin a significant way, which would include equipping them with unmanned tanks, vessels, aerial vehicles and robotic weaponry.

Beyond News

• The move, part of a broader policy initiative to prepare the Army, Navy and the Air Force for next-generation warfare, comes amid rising Chinese investments in AI an area of computer science devoted to creating intelligent machines  for its military.
• Secretary, Defence Production, said the government had decided to introduce AI in all the three forces as it would be a “big area” considering the requirements of future warfare.
• Like many other world powers, India had also started work on the application of AI to boost the capabilities of its armed forces, unmanned aerial vehicles, naval vessels, tanks and automatic robotic rifles as weapon systems would have an extensive use in future wars.
• Military sources said the application of AI in border surveillance could significantly ease the pressure on armed forces personnel guarding the sensitive frontiers with China and Pakistan.
• China has been pouring billions of dollars into AI research and machine learning. The U.S., Britain, France and the European Union are also investing significantly in AI. The U.S. has been carrying out successful operations targeting terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan using drones which operate with the help of artificial intelligence.

A high-tech tiger census in Andhra Pradesh

News

• Amid signs of the proliferation of the big cats in Andhra Pradesh, the third phase of the fourth All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) is being taken up in full swing in the vast tiger landscape spread over 3,728 sq. km. in the mighty Nallamala hills.

Beyond News

• Indications are there that the big cats have also spread to the region south of the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) in the forest up to the Penna river, says Chief Conservator of Forests and Project Tiger Field Director.
• This is the maiden tiger estimation in the new State.
• During the last estimation in the united State, the count was put at 68, four fewer than the figure arrived at during the second AITE in 2010 due to the biodiversity loss. It was 95 in the first AITE in 2006.
• Sophisticated cameras with infrared sensors put in pairs at every two-sq. km. grid would help not only identify the individual big cats through stripe pattern and other physical features but also arrive at their count in a more accurate manner.
• The authorities have for the first time used a new app Tigers Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-StrIPES) to avoid human error in the traditional recording of the pugmarks and other signs during the carnivore sign survey.
• The department has engaged about 250 members of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of Chenchus as trackers for protecting and monitoring the tigers.
• They have been trained to handle the GPS-fitted equipment while moving in different directions from the base camp to capture evidence such as pug marks, droppings etc.

Hussainsagar’s toxic levels raise a stink

News

• Hussainsagar is dead,rather, it cannot support any aquatic life. A recent Telangana State Pollution Control Board analysis of its waters revealed that the lake has no dissolved oxygen.

Hussainsagar

• Hussain Sagar is a heart shaped lake in Hyderabad built by Nizam of Hyderabad It’s chief engineer was Nawab Khan Bahadur Mirza Akbar Baig. It is spread across an area of 5.7 square kilometers and is fed by River Musi. 

Beyond News

• For any water body to sustain life, it should have dissolved oxygen of 4 mg or more. We recorded zero findings in all the seven locations from where water samples were collected and analysed.
• Officials of the department collected samples from seven locations where water enters or exits the lake and subjected it to a battery of tests. Over the last eight years, the dissolved oxygen reached the threshold 4mg/l only in 2011 and 2015.
• The other parameters of pollution in Hussainsagar are also off the charts, according to the water analysis.
• The water meets the lowest standard of category ‘E’ of Central Pollution Control Board’s ‘Irrigation, industrial cooling, controlled waste disposal’ requirement.
• The samples barely made it to E category due to lower electrical conductivity than the benchmark parameter of 2250 µs/cm. Higher electrical conductivity indicates higher presence of metal ions in water. A higher number will lead to a situation where reverse osmosis will take place, draining fluids from aquatic life.
• At the two inlet channels of Sanjeevaiah Park and Necklace Road, the total coliform count was 5850 Most Probable Number/per 100ml and 5800 MPN/100ml respectively. Coliform is a rod shaped bacteria that occurs in human and animal waste, and is considered dangerous to human health.
• Restaurants abutting Hussainsagar are also victims of the foul smell emanating from the lake. The stench is so high that restaurants on Eat Street have fewer visitors even during summer.

The water analysis spotlights the functioning of multiple Sewage Treatment Plants.

Royal Bengal tiger genome sequenced

News

• For the first time, the genome of the Royal Bengal tiger, an endangered big cat, has been sequenced as part of plans to generate a high-quality draft genome sequence of the animal.

Beyond News

• Although endangered and threatened by various extinction risks, this tiger subspecies is the most populous one with the highest genetic diversity and the strongest chance of survival in the wild.
• The high coverage genome sequencing and identification of genome variants in Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) were carried out by scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) and a Hyderabad-based private company.
• This genome was compared with the genome of Amur or Siberian tiger. These two subspecies occur in diverse environments and the new data also reveals major variations between the two.
• While Amur tiger occurs exclusively in sub-temperate and snow-covered habitats, the Bengal tiger occupies diverse tropical habitats ranging from Himalayan foothills to Central India plateau and the Western Ghats.
• Genome data provides an insight into the genetic differences at individual level ranging from single nucleotide variations to large structural variants.
• It also provides a better understanding of how the gene variants play a role in adaptation to the environment and disease susceptibility.
• In other words, it will reveal the changes triggered in the genes due to the adaptability to different environments in the evolutionary time scale.
• The researchers claim that this is the first report on the discovery of copy number variants and large structural variants in the genome of a wild, endangered species.
• The identification of numerous Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) will help in gaining a better insight into population genetics and gene flow.
• Such studies will also help in improving conservation management as authorities attempting to relocate an endangered animal will have a better understanding of its adaptability to the new environment.
• Genome sequencing will help in precise understanding of the evolutionary linkage of the organism. Besides, epigenetic analysis becomes possible once the genome is available.

Australia to ban wild horses cull in reserve

News

• Australia said that the culling of wild horses in a unique national park would be banned despite fears the animals were threatening native species.

Beyond News

• An estimated 6,000 feral horses, known locally as “brumbies”, live in Kosciuszko National Park, a UNESCO-recognised biosphere reserve some 470 kilometres south of Sydney that has plant species found nowhere else in the world.
• Conservationists have called for the brumbies to be culled, saying the introduced animals were causing environmental damage and that their rising numbers were posing a growing threat.
• In 2016, the New South Wales State government released a plan to cull 90% of brumbies at Kosciuszko. But they have since made a u-turn, deciding that the horses are part of the “cultural fabric” of the region and should be protected instead.
• Wild brumbies have been roaming the Australian alps for almost 200 years and are part of the cultural fabric and folklore of the high country.
• The heritage management plan will specifically prohibit lethal culling of the brumby, aerial or otherwise, and will identify those areas in the park where brumbies can roam without causing significant environmental harm.
• Brumbies found roaming in parts of the park where they could destroy native wildlife would be relocated or re-homed.
• The horses were introduced to Kosciuszko, which spans 6,900 square km and is home to the famous Snowy River, in the 19th century.
• The new plan, to be introduced as a bill before the end of May, came just weeks after the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee recommended that habitat loss caused by brumbies be deemed a “key threatening process”.
• Millions of non-indigenous feral animals roam Australia’s vast continent including horses, camels, donkeys, pigs, rabbits, foxes, cats and goats.
• With few natural predators and vast sparsely-populated areas in which to live, their populations have soared, putting pressure on native species by preying on them, competing for food, destroying habitats and spreading disease.

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