Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India, Cyprus vow to curb money laundering

News

• India and Cyprus signed two agreements on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment as President Ram Nath Kovind met his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades and held wide-ranging talks here.

Beyond News

• Indian President is in Cyprus on the first leg of his three-nation visit to Europe to continue India’s high-level engagements with European countries.
• Indian President and Mr. Anastasiades exchanged views on economic cooperation.
• India was the fastest growing major economy in the world today with a growth rate of 8.2% last quarter.
• This agreement would further strengthen the institutional framework to facilitate investment cross-flows.
• India and Cyprus signed two MoUs [memoranda of understanding]on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment in the presence of Presidents of both countries.
• Held discussions on issues of mutual interest, including promotion of business collaboration in the fields of IT and IT-enabled services, tourism, shipping and renewable energy.
• The President also paid tributes to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

U.S. continues to press Pakistan to ‘indiscriminately’ target terror groups: Pentagon

News

• The U.S. has consistently engaged with Pakistan’s top military officials, pressing them to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups that threaten regional stability and security, the Pentagon has said.
• The remark comes after the Pentagon said it will reprogramme $300 million of its Coalition Support Fund(CSF) for Pakistan due to its failure to tackle militant groups.

Beyond News

• The Pentagon’s move, which needs to be approved by the U.S. Congress, is part of a broader suspension of aid announced in January.
• Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy, the remaining $300 million was reprogrammed by the DoD in July 2018 time frame for other urgent priorities before the funds expire on September 30.
• The department is awaiting congressional determination on whether this reprogramming request will be approved or denied.
• The move comes ahead of the Islamabad visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
• The top American diplomat is expected to raise issues related to counter terrorism during his meetings with the top Pakistani leaders.
• The $300 million that the Pentagon has decided to scrap is not a military aid to Pakistan, but what it owns to Islamabad for its support in the war against terrorism and should reimburse it, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asserted, sparking fresh bilateral tensions ahead of a key visit.

‘No construction sans solid waste management policy’

News

• The Supreme Courtsaid it was “pathetic” that some States and Union Territories had not bothered to frame a solid waste management policy.
• The court ordered that further construction activities be stopped in some States and Union Territories that remained unmindful of the interests of their people to live in a clean environment.

Beyond News

• A Bench imposed fines on some States and the Union Territory of Chandigarh for not placing on record their respective policies under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
• While Andhra Pradesh was ordered to pay ₹5 lakh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh were imposed costs of ₹3 lakh each.
• The amount would have to be deposited with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within two weeks and would be used for juvenile justice issues.
• The SC noted that other States, including, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Arunachal Pradesh had deposited the costs imposed on them on July 10.
• Hence, the Bench imposed ₹1 lakh each on the defaulting States and UTs whose lawyers were present in court. These included Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Punjab, West Bengal, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. For the remaining States/Union Territories, who were either not present or not represented by lawyers, the burden of costs went up to ₹2 lakh.

UN begins talks on treaty to protect imperilled high seas

News

• United Nations kicked-off talks on a 2020 treaty that would regulate the high seas, which cover half the planet yet lack adequate environmental protection.

Beyond News

• Four sessions of talks, each lasting two weeks, are planned to take place over two years, with the goal of protecting marine biodiversity and avoiding further pillaging of the oceans.
• Talk will focus on “the high seas and the international zone of marine waters, or about 46% of the planet’s surface.
• In 1982, the UN adopted the Convention on the Law of the Sea, but left the high seas free from restrictions.
• The convention took effect in 1994, without the participation of the U.S.
• Since then, shipping routes have expanded considerably, and the resources of the ocean deep have aroused significant interest, whether by fishing or mineral extraction.
• Talks will focus on creating protected areas on the high seas, more sharing of maritime resources and technology, and research on environmental impacts.
• Some whale-hunting nations, like Japan, Iceland and Norway, are expected to be more cautious than others because they fear overly strict fishing restrictions.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

New hybrids will help raise yields of silkworm farmers

News

• Sericulture farmers could soon see higher yields of silkworm cocoons, with the Central Silk Board notifying some of the recently developed races of mulberry (which feeds on mulberry leaves) and vanya (forest-based) silkworm eggs. These races are now authorised for commercial production.

Beyond News

• The newly developed hybrid of mulberry silkworm (PM x FC2) can produce 60 kg of cocoons per 100 Disease Free Layings (silkworm eggs) and is said to be ‘better than’ the earlier race titled PM x CSR.
• The tropical tasar silkworm (BDR-10) has 21% more productivity than the traditional Daba breed and the Eri silkworm (C2) race is found to be ‘better’ than the local breed, according to industry experts. It can produce 247 numbers of Eri cocooons per 100 DFLs, says a press release.
• The new hybrid of mulberry silkworm is suitable for farmers across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
• The national average of cocoon production for mulberry silkworm is 50-55 kg per 100 DFLs.
• The recently developed hybrid can produce 60 kg of cocoons per 100 DFLs. The silk yield from the cocoons will also be higher. As a result, a farmer’s income can go up 5-10%.
• When new varieties are developed, these go through tests at trial farms and large-scale testing with farmers.
• The PM x FC2 hybrid has been under commercial production for the last couple of years and the notification would help farmers adopt large-scale culture.
• An official of the Central Silk Board said the total annual raw silk requirement in the country is 30,000 tonnes. Production of the bivoltine variety is close to 6,000 tonnes and almost 4,000 tonnes are imported. Efforts are on to improve import substitute bivoltine raw silk production.

NGT puts curbs on Western ghats States

News

• The six Western Ghats States, including Kerala, have been restrained by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) from giving environmental clearance to activities that may adversely impact the eco-sensitive areas of the mountain ranges.

Beyond News

• The panel directed that the extent of Eco-Sensitive Zones of Western Ghats, which was notified by the Central government earlier, should not be reduced in view of the recent floods in Kerala.
• The Tribunal Bench, in its order, noted that any alteration in the draft notification of zones may seriously affect the environment, especially in view of recent incidents in Kerala. It was on a petition filed by the Goa Foundation that the Bench issued the order.
• The Principal Bench of the panel, which permitted the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF and CC) to re-publish the draft notification on Eco-Sensitive Zones, which expired on August 26, ordered that the matter may be finalised within six months. It also ordered that the draft of the republished notification be placed on the record of the tribunal. 
• Pulling up the ghats States for the delay in filing objections regarding the notification, the tribunal observed that the “delay on account of objections of States may not be conducive to the protection of the eco-sensitive areas” and the matter must be finalised at the earliest.
• The WGEEP had earlier proposed “much larger areas for being included in the eco-sensitive zone” though the Kasturirangan-led High Level Working Group, also appointed by the MoEF and CC to look into the WGEEP report, had reduced it. The Ministry had accepted the Kasthurirangan report and issued the draft notifications on ecologically sensitive zones.

Over 1,400 killed in 10 States this monsoon

News

• More than 1,400 people have so far lost their lives due to rains, floods and landslides in 10 States during the monsoon season this year, according to data released by the Union Home Ministry.

Beyond News

• According to the Ministry’s National Emergency Response Centre, 488 people have died in Kerala and 54.11 lakh in 14 districts of the State have been severely hit by rains and floods, the worst in a century. As many as 14.52 lakh people displaced by floods are living in relief camps across the State. Standing crops on 57,024 hectares of land were damaged in the State.
• As many as 254 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 210 in West Bengal, 170 in Karnataka, 139 in Maharashtra, 52 in Gujarat, 50 in Assam, 37 in Uttarakhand, 29 in Odisha and 11 in Nagaland.
• Forty-three people have been missing 15 in Kerala, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, five in West Bengal, six in Uttarakhand and three in Karnataka, while 386 have been injured in rain-related incidents across the 10 States.
• Rains and floods have hit 30 districts in Odisha, 26 districts in Maharashtra, 25 in Assam, 23 each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 14 in Kerala, 13 in Uttarakhand, 11 each in Karnataka and Nagaland, and 10 in Gujarat.
• In Assam, 11.47 lakh people have borne the brunt of rains and floods, which have also hit crops covering 27,964 hectares of land. In West Bengal, the deluge has hit 2.28 lakh people and damaged crops on 48,552 hectares of land.
• In Uttar Pradesh, 3.42 lakh people have been impacted and crops on 50,873 hectares damaged. In Karnataka, 3.5 lakh have been hit and crops on 3,521 hectares of land damaged.

Solar eruptions may not be slinky shaped: Study

News

• Solar eruptions may not have slinky-like shapes as commonly believed, according to a study that may help protect satellites in space as well as the electrical grid on Earth in the future.

Findings

• Revisiting older data, researchers found new information about the shape of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) large-scale eruptions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun.
• Knowing the shape and size of CMEs is important because it can help better forecast when and how they will impact Earth.
• CMEs are one of the main sources for creating beautiful and intense auroras, like the Northern and Southern Lights.
• However, they can also damage satellites, disrupt radio communications and wreak havoc on the electrical transmission system.

An app that will give you real-time flood alerts

News

• The Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) will launch ‘TN-SMART’, a web application to collate data related to disaster management and provide flood alerts in specific areas this month.

Beyond News

• The disaster support system called Tamil Nadu – System for Multi-hazard potential impact Assessment and Emergency Response Tracking (TN-SMART) will collate existing data on the earlier disasters and also assess the impact of the weather forecast issued by the meteorological department.
• This real-time risk assessment system will help provide flood alerts across the State and prepare for response.
• The system would be in place to tackle the oncoming North-east monsoon and aid in decision making.
• There are plans to install automatic weather stations and rain gauges in river basins and also flow meters in storm water drain network to assess impact of flooding. Alerts on inundation in specific areas would be provided based on the rainfall and increase in the water level of the rivers.
• Such data collated by other departments like Water Resources Department would also be utilised for the flood forecast in the city and neighbouring districts.
• The real-time data would also help in deciding on mitigation and rescue measures. It will however take time for the system to be implemented as it is a three-year project.

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