Hindu Notes from General Studies-01
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Oceans heating faster: study
News
- The world’s oceans have absorbed 60% more heat than previously thought over the last quarter of a century, scientists said on Thursday, leaving Earth more sensitive still to the effects of climate change.
Findings
- Oceans cover more than two thirds of the planet’s surface and play a vital role in sustaining life on Earth.
- Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that the world’s oceans have absorbed 90% of the temperature rise caused by man-made carbon emissions.
- It found that for each of the last 25 years, oceans had absorbed heat energy equivalent to 150 times the amount of electricity mankind produces annually.
- By measuring atmospheric oxygen and CO2 for each year, scientists were able to more accurately estimate how much heat oceans had absorbed on a global scale.
- The IPCC warns that drastic measures need taking in order to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius by the end of the century but the world produced a record amount of carbon emissions in 2017.
Hindu Notes from General Studies-02
India protests China-Pakistan bus via PoK
News
- India reiterated its opposition to a proposed luxury bus service between Pakistan and China that would pass through parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan territory that India claims terming it “a violation of India’s sovereignty”, a day after it had summoned a Chinese diplomat to South Block to lodge a strong protest against the initiative.
Beyond News
- A Director in the MEA had delivered a note verbale to a Counselor in the Chinese Embassy, urging the cancellation of the bus service that is due to start.
- While China asserted that the bus service from Lahore to Tashkurgan in Xinjiang timed to begin when Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will be visiting Beijing did not alter the country’s stance on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan dismissed India’s objections as “frivolous”.
- India has consistently opposed the 1963 “China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement” that recognises PoK as under “actual Pakistani control” without prejudicing a final dispute resolution with India, and India has protested the Karakoram Highway on which traffic has been plying regularly, as well as subsequent infrastructure projects built by China in the disputed area.
Zika alert: Health Ministry sends team to Madhya Pradesh
News:
- After Jaipur and Ahmedabad, the Union Health Ministry has now sent a team of experts to Madhya Pradeshto confirm and verify reports of Zika virus cases in the state.
Beyond News
- A central team comprising experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Emergency Medical Response (EMR) has gone to the State following information about three persons being detected with Zika virus, a Health Ministry official said.
- The team will verify the facts and if the information is true, it will assist the Madhya Pradesh government to replicate the measures and action plan, implemented in Jaipur and Ahmedabad, there, to prevent any possible outbreak of Zika.
- Meanwhile, an intensive screening exercise is being undertaken and vector control measures have been intensified at Ahmedabad after the first case of the mosquito-borne disease was detected this year in
- Zika virus, transmitted through the aedes aegypti mosquito, causes fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain. It is harmful to pregnant women, as it can lead to microcephaly, a condition in which a baby’s head is significantly smaller than expected, in newborn children.
- In India, the first outbreak of Zika virus was reported in Ahmedabad in January 2017 and the second in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district in July that year. Both these outbreaks were successfully contained through intensive surveillance and vector management.
- The disease is under surveillance of the Union Health Ministry although it is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under the WHO notification since November 18, 2016.
Decks cleared for turning INS Viraat into museum
News
- Maharashtra State Cabinet approved the proposal to establish a maritime museum on board INS Viraat, the world’s oldest aircraft carrier, which was decommissioned in March 2017.
Beyond News
- The museum will come up through public-private partnership and is likely to cost ₹852 crore.
- The decision to set up a museum was taken in a bid to let the next generation know the history of Indian Navy and to infuse enthusiasm about marine services.
- Tenders to select the private partner will be floated soon. A high-power committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary to finalise the terms and conditions of the tenders.
- INS Viraatwas commissioned by Navy in 1987 and had taken part in all major military operations such as Operation Jupiter (1988, Sri Lanka peacekeeping mission), Operation Vijay (1999, post-Kargil), and Operation Parakram (2001, after Parliament attack).
- It was made in 1959 for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy as HMS Hermes and was instrumental in the Falklands War victory. From the time Viraat was inducted to the Indian Navy, she underwent 14 refits to ensure longevity. It is 743-foot long and 160-foot wide with a height of 29 feet.
Assam residents get relief from SC
News
- The Supreme Court came on the same page as the government, allowing more than 40 lakh people left out of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam to use five additional documents, including the ration card, to claim their Indian legacy.
Beyond News
- Further details of the time schedule, including the time for completion of verification/enquiry of the claims, will follow at the appropriate time.
- In a major relief to claimants who did not find a place in the final draft of the NRC released, a Special Bench allowed them to use any of the five documents the NRC, 1951; citizenship certificate; refugee registration certificate; certified copies of the pre-1971 electoral rolls, particularly those issued from the State of Tripura; and ration card.
- The court had earlier been circumspect about the use of the five records.
Hindu Notes from General Studies-03
Central team in Odisha to assess Titli damage
News
- A seven-member team of the Central government, led by secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, reached Odisha’s Ganjam district to assess the damage caused by cyclone Titli and the subsequent floods.
Beyond News
- The team will visit the cyclone-devastated Gajapati district. After returning from the field visits, the team is scheduled to hold meeting with senior officials of the Odisha government at the State secretariat in Bhubaneswar.
- The team visited cyclone and flood-devastated areas in Patrapur, Surada and Dharakote blocks in Ganjam district. The members of the team interacted with the people and ground-level government officials to assess the situation.
- Ahead of the Central team’s visit, the Odisha government announced a special package for cyclone and flood-devastated people.
- Under the special package, decided at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister, the State government has decided to convert short-term Kharif loans of farmers in the cyclone-affected areas, having crop loss of 33% or more, into medium-term loan. The government has also decided 100% remission of cess on land revenue where crop loss is 33% or more.
- Agriculture input subsidy will be provided to small and marginal farmers who have suffered crop loss of 33% or more.
- Compensation has also been declared for loss of livestock of people involved in animal husbandry and pisciculture.
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