Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Satellite Town Ring Road may claim 30,000 trees

News

• The Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR), which encircles the city between Dobbspet and Hosur, may come at the cost of more than 30,000 trees and traverse elephant corridors.

Satellite Town Ring Road: 179.63 km

• Cost: ₹5,980 crore
• From Dobbspet to Hosur
• Towns connected: Dobbspet, Magadi, Ramanagaram, Kankapura, Anekal, Hosur, and Sarjapur
• Total land to be acquired in Karnataka: 1257.9 hectares
• Total land to be acquired in Tamil Nadu: 526.02 hectares
• Forests and STRR
• Total land to be acquired: 19.09 hectares
• Trees cut: 150-200 per kilometer
• Skirts Siddara Betta, Savandurga, Ramadevara Betta, Handigundi reserve forests
• 68 km elevated corridor above Bannerghatta National Park
• At least three major elephant corridors

Beyond News

• The proposal, which is being implemented by National Highway Authority of India, has received a nod to conduct detailed studies and environment impact assessment (EIA).
• The nod came from the Ministry of Environment and Forests during the recent 195th meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on infrastructure.
• The project is divided into three phases of which the second phase involves a 4.68 km elevated road over the core areas of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP).
• This is the most contentious part of the ₹5,980-crore project, as it cuts across important elephant corridors that connects the park with Savandurga and other forests. Apart from this, the highway will be close to the Ramadevara Betta vulture sanctuary.

Mitigation measures for Bannerghatta National Park

• All electrical transmission lines should be underground
• Elephant-proof barriers during construction and ensure movement of elephants
• Plan to protect animal movement in consultation with Forest Department
• Villagers to be given access to elevated road, decommissioning of existing road 1 year after construction
• Allot funds to manage human-elephant conflict arising due to the road
• Funds under the Corporate Environment Responsibility (2% of project funds) for vulture conservation and creation of vulture safe zone.

Arctic observations to predict tropical cyclones

News

• Weather observations in the Arctic can help track tropical and mid-latitude cyclones more accurately, improving the forecast of extreme climate events, scientists say.

Findings

• For the study, researchers performed weather forecast experiments for three tropical cyclones that occurred over the North Atlantic and North Pacific during 2016, to determine whether additional observations could help predict their paths and intensity more accurately.
• To supplement existing weather data observations, additional observations were conducted using weather balloons released from ship- and land-based weather stations based in the Arctic.
• The data were analysed using a data assimilation system developed in Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, which can produce reanalysis datasets by “mixing” observations into global atmospheric conditions.
• The observations improved the predictability of the cyclones, allowing the scientists to track the paths of the cyclones as well as forecast their intensity more accurately.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

India wants to start trade talks with U.S. ‘immediately’: Donald Trump

News

• President Donald Trump said India wants to start trade talks with the United States “immediately” as he held a news conference on the trade deal struck between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Beyond News

• Describing the south Asian country as the “tariff king,” the President told reporters at the White House that India “called us and they say, ‘We want to start negotiations immediately.’”
• Known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the deal agreed ahead of a midnight deadline will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Mr. Trump had called a “disaster.”

Indian airspace violation: PoK ‘PM’ claims helicopter was within Pakistani limits

News

• Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s (PoK’s) “Prime Minister” Raja Farooq Haider has claimed that the white chopper he was travelling in was “very close” to the LoC but within Pakistan’s airspace, and that there was no need to inform the Indian authorities about the flight as it was not a military helicopter.

Beyond News

• The Indian Army said that a Pakistani chopper violated the Indian airspace along the line of control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir but turned back after it was “engaged by air sentries”.
• Indian officials claimed that the white helicopter crossed into the Indian airspace in Gulpur sector and hovered over there for sometime before turning back.
• Three forward posts fired small arms after noticing the airspace violation, the sources said.

Uzbekistan President calls for dialogue between Kabul and Taliban

News

• India expressed “readiness” to work towards implementing the Tashkent Declaration of March 2018 that called for direct talks with the Taliban without preconditions.

Beyond News

• Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during his official speech delivered here suggested a political dialogue between Kabul and the fighters to put an end to the conflict in Afghanistan and to restore regional stability.
• In a joint statement at the end of official discussions with the visiting Uzbek leader, both sides pledged to work on the goals of the Tashkent Declaration.
• The Uzbek leader who is visiting India soon after the visit by his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani is one of the tallest regional leaders to speak on dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban fighters who are challenging President Ghani’s government in large parts of Afghanistan.
• The visiting dignitary said India and Uzbekistan agree on key regional security issues and highlighted the defence cooperation.
• President Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a ceremony where 17 agreements were signed and exchanged at the Hyderabad House. Two of the agreements were on defence education and security cooperation.

Centre initiates probe into type-2 polio virus contamination

News

• The Union Health Ministry has ordered an inquiry into the type-2 polio virus contamination detected in the vials used for immunisation in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana, and has ordered additional immunisation in three States.

Beyond News

• The last case due to type-2 wild poliovirus globally was reported from Aligarh in India in 1999.
• India was declared polio free in 2014 and the last case was reported on 13 January 2011, when Rukhsar from Howrah was infected with type-1 polio virus.
• India eliminated the type-2 strain in 2016, and the type-2 containing poliovirus vaccine (ToPV) was phased out in April 2016. Children born after April 2016 in India have no immunity to type-2 polio virus.
• There are three serotypes of poliovirus, each of which causes poliomyelitis. The vaccine used by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the global eradication effort is a trivalent preparation comprising all three serotypes.
• Traces of polio type-2 virus were found in some batches of oral polio vaccine (OPV) manufactured by a Ghaziabad-based pharmaceutical company, even as the firm’s Managing Director (MD) was arrested this past week.
• The MD of Biomed Private Limited, which was supplying polio vaccines for only government-run immunisation programmes, was arrested after the Central Drug Regulator filed an FIR in the case. Four of its Directors are absconding and the Drugs Controller General has issued it a showcause notice, asking it to stop manufacturing the vaccine.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

RBI to inject ₹36,000 crore into system in October

News

• The Reserve Bank announced that it will inject ₹36,000 crore liquidity into the system through purchase of government bonds in October to meet the festival season demand for funds.

Beyond News

• The auctions to purchase government bonds as part of the Open Market Operations (OMOs) to manage liquidity in the system will be conducted in the second, third and fourth week of October.
• Based on an assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward and the seasonal growth in currency in circulation observed in build-up to the festive season, RBI has decided to conduct purchase of government securities under OMOs for an aggregate amount of ₹360 billion in the month of October, the central bank said in a release.
• The auctions, it further said, would be conducted during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th week of October. The auction dates and the government securities to be purchased in respective auctions would be communicated in due course”.

59 plant species in IUCN threat categories

News

• Recently, scientists identified the threat status of 59 Indian plant species based on criteria used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in the hope that this “streamlines” conservation efforts for the plants.

Findings

• Quantifying threat levels of species can be crucial for their conservation. For instance, funding agencies often consider the threat status of species provided in IUCN’s Red List (a catalogue of the world’s threatened species), to sponsor research and conservation activities to save them. Around 2,700 plant species in India are at risk but very few have been assessed by the IUCN.
• Study revealed that 10 species are critically endangered, 18 endangered, six vulnerable, five near threatened and one species each are data deficient and least concern.
• The threat levels of some plants have been altered as a result; for instance the palm Bentinckia nicobarica is currently listed as endangered; however the new study suggests it is critically endangered based on its distributional attributes (the palm is reported only from the Great Nicobar Island).
• Based on population sizes and numbers of mature individuals remaining in the wild (using field surveys that also revealed that habitat loss was a huge factor affecting many declining plant populations), the team classified 10 species as critically endangered, three as endangered and five as vulnerable. Germination tests in the laboratory also suggest that factors such as low seed viability could have caused declines in the wild too.
• The study initiated in 2012 to assign threat status to select plants, is published in Current Science. The study also generated data on 38 species that have never been assessed by the IUCN.

21 lions have died in Gir forest since September 12, says Gujarat

News

• As many as 21 lions have died in Gujarat’s Gir forest, sending shockwave in the Asia’s only abode of wild cats.

Beyond News

• The government authorities attributed deaths to infighting and viral infection, prompting the state authorities to bring in experts from Veterinary Research Institute from Bareley and experts from Delhi Zoo.
• Out those 11 deaths, carcass of seven lions were found in the forest areas while four lions died during treatment.
• Moreover between September 20 to 30, 10 more lions which were rescued from Dalkhania range have died during the treatment, taking the toll to 21, making it the worst tragedy in Gir forest.
• As a result, all lions in the affected range were rescued and shifted to Jasadhar rescue centre. They were thoroughly checked up and samples collected from their were sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune and Indian Veterinary Research Institute in UP, Veterinary college and forensic science laboratory in Junagadh to ascertain their health conditions.
• The forest department, however, has stressed that the infection is found to be limited to the lions of Sasasia forest area only.
• Now, as precautionary measure, all lions residing in Samardi area have been rescued and brought to Jamwala Rescue centre where they have been kept in isolation and actions are being taken to insulate them from the disease.
• Moreover, an as emergency measure, the government is also importing certain vaccine from USA so that precautionary measure could be taken immediately.

Tiger presence in 3 more Odisha forests

News

• The Odisha government has confirmed the presence of tigers in three more forests in the State.

Beyond News

• Movement of the Royal Bengal tigers has been captured by closed-circuit television cameras installed at Hemgiri forest in Sundargarh and Debrigarh sanctuaries in Sambalpur districts, while indirect evidence such as people hearing tiger roars and cattle killing by big cats have been collected from the Muniguda forest in Rayagada district.
• These evidence have prompted Forest and Environment Minister Bijoyshree Routray to put the State’s tiger population at around 60.
• The Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj and the Satokosia Tiger Reserve in Angul district are two known habitats of the big cat in the State. According to a tiger census conducted by the State government in 2016, there were around 40 tigers in Similipal.
• The Wildlife Institute of India had estimated the tiger population of Similipal at 28 in 2014.
• The government is planning to propose identification and development of Debrigarh and Sunabeda as two new tiger reserves.
• The government is focussing on increasing the tiger population in Satkosia reserve in the State. As part of its strategy, six tigers (three pairs) will be brought from Madhya Pradesh.
• Two felines have been released in Satkosia, but resistance from local population in buffer villages has delayed the transportation and release of the other tigers.

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