Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Archaeologists discover ancient sphinx in Egypt

News

• Egypt says archaeologists have discovered a statue of a lion’s body and a human head in the southern city of Aswan.

Beyond News

• The Antiquities Ministry says the sphinx made of sandstone was found in the Temple of Kom Ombo during work to protect the site from groundwater.
• Secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities says the statue probably dates back to the Ptolemaic time.
• The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt for some 300 years from around 320 B.C. to about 30 B.C.

NASA puts laser satellite in space to track ice loss

News

• NASA’s most advanced space laser satellite blasted off on a mission to track ice loss around the world and improve forecasts of sea level rise as the climate warms.

Beyond News

• The launch marks the first time in nearly a decade that NASA has had a tool in orbit to measure ice sheet surface elevation across the globe.
• The preceding mission, ICESat, launched in 2003 and ended in 2009.
• The first ICESat revealed that sea ice was thinning, and ice cover was disappearing from coastal areas in Greenland and Antarctica.
• The new laser will fire 10,000 times in one second, compared to the original ICESat which fired 40 times a second.
• Importantly, the laser will measure the slope and height of the ice, not just the area it covers.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

No odd-even rule for two-wheelers

News:

• In a relief for the nearly 70 lakh two-wheeler riders in Delhi, the Supreme Courtstayed a National Green Tribunal order making the odd-even vehicle rotation scheme applicable to all, including scooters and motor bikes.

Beyond News

• A Bench also exempted women driving four-wheelers from the odd-even scheme.
• During the hearing, the Delhi government submitted that the public transport system would not be able to accommodate the extra load. The Bench’s decision to exempt women came after the Delhi government raised the issue of their safety.
• The odd-even scheme was introduced by the AAP government as a novel measure to combat vehicular pollution, especially during the winter season. Odd and even numbered vehicles were to ply on alternate days under the scheme. It comes into effect as soon as the particulate matter PM10 and PM 2.5 rises to 500 microgram per cubic metre and 300 microgram per cubic metre, respectively, for 48 hours.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Germany rolls out world’s first hydrogen train

News:

• Germany rolled out the world’s first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but eco-friendly technology.

Beyond News:

• Two bright blue Coradia iLint trains, built by French TGV-maker Alstom, began running a 100-kilometre (62-mile) route between the towns and cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude in northern Germany a stretch normally plied by diesel trains.
• It plans to deliver another 14 of the zero-emissions trains to Lower Saxony state by 2021, with other German states also expressing an interest.
• Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity through a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, a process that leaves steam and water as the only emissions.
• Excess energy is stored in ion lithium batteries on board the train.
• The Coradia iLint trains can run for around 1,000 km on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains. Alstom is betting on the technology as a greener, quieter alternative to diesel on non-electrified railway lines an attractive prospect to many German cities scrambling to combat air pollution.

Hubble starts new mission to study early galaxies: NASA

News

• The Hubble Space Telescope has started a new mission to study six massive galaxy clusters that may help shed light on how the earliest galaxies evolved in the universe.

Beyond News

• Learning about the formation and evolution of the very first galaxies in the universe is crucial for our understanding of the cosmos. While the Hubble Space Telescope has already detected some of the most distant galaxies known, their numbers are small, making it hard for astronomers to determine if they represent the universe at large.
• Initial observations from the Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields And Legacy Observations (BUFFALO) survey show the galaxy cluster Abell 370 and a host of magnified, gravitationally lensed galaxies around it. Massive galaxy clusters like Abell 370 can help astronomers find more of these distant objects.
• The immense masses of galaxy clusters make them act as cosmic magnifying glasses. A cluster’s mass bends and magnifies light from more distant objects behind it, uncovering objects otherwise too faint for even Hubble’s sensitive vision. Using this cosmological trick known as strong gravitational lensing Hubble is able to explore some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the universe.
• BUFFALO’s main mission is to investigate how and when the most massive and luminous galaxies in the universe formed and how early galaxy formation is linked to dark matter assembly. This will allow astronomers to determine how rapidly galaxies formed in the first 800 million years after the Big Bang paving the way for observations with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.
• BUFFALO will be able to detect the most distant galaxies approximately ten times more efficiently than its progenitor. It will also take advantage of other space telescopes which have already observed the regions around the clusters. These datasets will be included in the search for the first galaxies. The extended fields of view will also allow better 3D mapping of the mass distribution of both ordinary and dark matter within each galaxy cluster. These maps help astronomers learn more about the evolution of the lensing galaxy clusters and about the nature of dark matter.

ISRO’s PSLV-C-42 launches two U.K. satellites

News

• PSLV-C-42, the lightest version of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) flying in its core-alone version without six strap-on motors, rose into the skies.
• Two satellites were placed in the desired orbit by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). This was the 12th launch of a core-alone version of the PSLV.

Beyond News

• The two satellites, owned by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) were placed in a circular orbit around the poles, 583 km from the Earth. The commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation, earned more than ₹220 crore on this launch.
• The NovaSAR is a technology demonstration mission designed to test the capabilities of a new low cost S-band SAR platform. It will be used for ship detection and maritime monitoring and also flood monitoring, besides agricultural and forestry applications.
• The S1-4 will be used for environment monitoring, urban management, and tackling disasters.
• Among the launches scheduled over the next few months, the much-awaited and delayed, India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, finally has a launch window.
• The other launches include the GSAT series that would provide bandwidth speeds of up to 100 Gbps per second, as part of the government’s Digital India efforts.

Data-theft: CBI writes to Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and GSR

News:

• The Central Bureau of Investigation has written to UK-based Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research (GSR) and Facebook, seeking information as part of the probe into alleged data theft of Indian Facebook users.

Beyond News:

• About a month ago, on a reference from the IT Ministry, the agency had instituted a preliminary enquiry to determine whether GSR and Cambridge Analytica had illegally harvested and misused the data of Indian Facebook users.
• In April, admitting data pilferage by other agencies, Facebook had said that about 5.62 lakh Indians might have been potentially affected in the Cambridge Analytica case.
• Cambridge Analytica had earlier said it did not have any Facebook data on Indian citizens. To a second notice, Facebook informed the government that Cambridge Analytica had violated its policy.

More river stretches are critically polluted: Central Pollution Control Board

News

• The number of polluted stretches of the country’s rivers has increased to 351 from 302 two years ago, and the number of critically polluted stretches where water quality indicators are the poorest has gone up to 45 from 34, according to an assessment by the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB).

Beyond News

• While the ₹20,000 crore clean-up of the Ganga may be the most visible of the government’s efforts to tackle pollution, the CPCB says several of the river’s stretches in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are actually far less polluted than many rivers in Maharashtra, Assam and Gujarat. 
• These three States account for 117 of the 351 polluted river stretches.
• Based on the recommendations of the National Green Tribunal, the CPCB last month apprised the States of the extent of pollution in their rivers.
• In its compilation of polluted stretches in Uttar Pradesh,the Ganga, with a BOD range of 3.5-8.8 mg/l is indicated as a ‘priority 4’ river.
• The CPCB, since the 1990s, has a programme to monitor the quality of rivers primarily by measuring BOD, which is a proxy for organic pollution the higher it is, the worse the river.
• The health of a river and the efficacy of water treatment measures by the States and municipal bodies are classified depending on BOD, with a BOD greater than or equal to 30 mg/l termed ‘priority 1,’ while that between 3.1-6 mg/l is ‘priority 5.’
• The CPCB considers a BOD less than 3 mg/l an indicator of a healthy river.
• In its 2015 report, the CPCB identified 302 polluted stretches on 275 rivers, spanning 28 States and six Union Territories.
• Based on its 2008-2012 evaluation, the CPCB published a report in 2015 and asked the States to prepare plans for improving these polluted stretches. Though the information from the 2016-2017 assessment doesn’t indicate improvements, the bulk of the increase in polluted stretches were in priority 4 (6-10 mg/l) and priority 5 river stretches
• Currently, the CPCB has 1822 monitoring stations on rivers and 473 on lakes/ponds/tanks.

Indigenous anti-tank missile test-fired

News

• An indigenously developed Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) was successfully flight tested for the second time from Ahmednagar test range.

Beyond News

• It has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• This low-weight MPATGM will complement the Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missile to be procured from Israel.
• Defence Minister congratulated the DRDO team, the Army and associated industries on their success.

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