Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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‘Action on climate change could add $26 trillion to world economy’

News

• Ambitious action on climate change could contribute an extra $26 trillion to the world economy by 2030, international experts said, urging nations and businesses to step up their engagement.

Beyond News

• The economic benefits offered by a shift to a low-carbon economy have been “grossly” underestimated, according to the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a think tank grouping former heads of government and top economic and business leaders.
• Dynamic action on climate could also generate “over 65 million new low-carbon jobs” by 2030 and avoid over 7,00,000 premature deaths due to air pollution, it said.
• But policymakers were not taking sufficiently bold action to escape the legacy economic systems,the study found. The shift would involve change in five key areas: the development of clean energy systems, improved urban planning, a shift towards more sustainable agriculture, smart water management and decarbonising industry.
• It called on governments to put a price on carbonof at least $40-80 by 2020, and to move towards mandatory climate risk disclosure for major investors and companies.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

India, U.S. sign landmark military communications, security agreement COMCASA

News:

• India and the United States began a new generation of military and security cooperation by signing Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA).

Beyond News

• An announcement on the significant agreement came at the end of the inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries that also focused on ensuring maritime freedom and international law in the India-Pacific region.
• They welcomed the signing of a Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) that will facilitate access to advanced defence systems and enable India to optimally utilise its existing US-origin platforms, a joint statement issued at the end of the bilateral dialogue declared.
• India and the U.S. would also hold a first-ever tri-service exercise on the east coast of India in 2019.
• An important element of discussion was starting the process of closer private defence industry collaboration that would allow Indian defence manufacturers to join the U.S. military supply chain.
• The two defence ministers also announced their readiness to begin negotiations on an Industrial Security Annex (ISA) that would support closer defence industry cooperation and collaboration.
• India and the U.S. signed the General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) years ago and it allows the sharing of classified information from the U.S. government and American companies with the Government of India and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) but not with Indian private companies.
• An ISA is required to enable private Indian participation in defence production and is particularly important as India opens up defence manufacturing to the private sector in a big way.
• To further defence innovation, a Memorandum of Intent was signed between the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Indian Defence Innovation Organization Innovation for Defence Excellence (DIO-iDEX), which will look into joint projects for co-production and co-development projects through the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
• Both sides maintained that the Indo-Pacific region has emerged as an important part of bilateral cooperation and emphasised need to keep it open for maritime trade and free of disputes.

SC decriminalises homosexuality

News

• In a landmark judgment, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, with a prayer to the LGBTQ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) to forgive history for subjecting them to “brutal” suppression.

Beyond News

• The Bench, unanimously held that criminalisation of private consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was clearly unconstitutional. The court, however, held that the Section would apply to “unnatural” sexual acts like bestiality. Sexual act without consent continues to be a crime under Section 377.
• In four concurring opinions, the Constitution Bench declared the 156-year-old “tyranny” of Section 377 “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary.” Section 377 thus far punished homosexuality with 10 years of imprisonment.
• Section 377 discriminated against a minority based solely on their sexual orientation. It violated the right of the LGBTQ community to “equal citizenship and equal protection of laws.”
• The court held that bodily autonomy was individualistic. Choice of a partner was part of the fundamental right to privacy.
• Legal experts said this was a much-needed self-correction of a past judicial wrong committed against the community. Experts said the Constitution Bench verdict would become the foundation for members of the community to seek individual rights.

No flood relief for encroachers of waterbodies, says HC

News

• In a significant judgement, the Madras High Court held that those who encroach upon waterbodies and other water sources shall not be entitled to flood relief fund from taxpayers’ money and directed the Chennai Collector to instruct officials to evict encroachers from waterbodies.

Beyond News

• The court directed the Revenue Secretary to issue necessary instructions in this regard to his subordinates across the State.
• Justice passed the order while disposing of a batch of writ petitions filed by 10 individuals who had sought for grant of patta (land ownership document) for the properties that were under their occupation for long at Ayanavaram in Chennai though those lands had been classified as a pond in the revenue records.
• Every waterbody should be restored to its original position and maintained well in the interest of the public at large.
• The judge made it clear that the encroachments should be removed by resorting to the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachments Act of 1905 or the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act of 2007.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

India, France to collaborate on human space flight

News

• India and France announced a working group for Gaganyaan, ISRO’s first manned mission announced by Prime Minister on Independence Day.

Beyond News

• The announcement was made at the sixth edition of Bengaluru Space Expo by French space agency President Jean-Yves Le Gall.
• India plans to send three humans to space before 2022. ISRO’s mission is significant as it would make India one of the four countries in the world after Russia, U.S. and China to launch a manned space flight.
• ISRO and CNES, the French space agency, will be combining their expertise in fields of space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support, radiation protection, space debris protection and personal hygiene systems, Gall said.
• Discussions have already begun and it is envisioned that infrastructure such as CADMOS centre for development of microgravity applications and space operations or the MEDES space clinic will be used for training of future Indian astronauts, as well as exchange of specialist personnel.
• French-Indian space cooperation spans in areas of climate monitoring, with a fleet of joint satellites devoted to research and operational applications, innovation, through a joint technical group tasked with inventing the launch vehicles of the future. The two also have plans to work on Mars, Venus and asteroids.

Palani hills being destroyed by migrant land encroachers, HC told

News

• The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) has provided a graphic description to the Madras High Court as to how the ecologically pristine and biologically rich Palani hills, housing the hill station Kodaikanal, had been destroyed by migrant land encroachers, causing damage to wildlife and forest dwellers.

Beyond News

• In a shocking revelation, the officer told the court that it had become difficult to address the issue of man-animal conflict in some localities because residents do not allow the forest department to erect solar powered fences fearing that they might end up losing lands encroached by them with the active support of local politicians.
• Paliyan were the original inhabitants of Palani Hills and even they had begun to settle there only after 1840s. The population of Kodaikanal was reported to be just 615 residents in 1883 but it began developing as a pleasant hill resort after 1960 and consequently, its population had grown to 70,018 as per the 2011 census.
• The entire Palani landscape underwent huge transformation due to the change in land use pattern in the recent past.
• Stating that Asian elephants require a large space of approximately 700-750 square kilometres per year as home range apart from 150 to 200 kg of fodder and 150 litres of water, the officer said, the forest was no more contiguous so as to enable free migratory movement of almost all wild animals including the elephants.
• Accusing coffee, banana and vegetable cultivators of using “dangerous” pesticides, the officer said that the use of such chemicals had led to reduction of population of honeybees and loss of livelihood of the tribals.
• The PCCF said the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act of 2006 defines ‘other traditional forest dwellers’ to mean those residing in the forests for at least three generations with the term ‘generation’ having been defined under the legislation to mean a period of 25 years.

PWD to build weather-resistant roads

News

• Fed up with being at the receiving end of public ire during every monsoon due to shabby condition of roads and faced with the arduous task of reconstructing 8,000 km of roads that were washed away or suffered major damage in the recent floods and landslips, the Kerala State Public Works Department has decided to adopt weather-resistant technologies to build durable roads.

Beyond News

• The enormity of the works that have to be undertaken post-deluge is evident from the fact that the cost to reconstruct 8,000 km roads, a few dozen bridges and culverts has escalated to ₹9,000 crore, from the initial estimate of ₹5,000 crore. There were 1,800 landslides in Idukki alone, causing damage to PWD roads.
• The PWD roads cater to 75% of the States one crore vehicles, though they are only 10% of the State’s total road network spread over 3.31 lakh km. The coming years will see emphasis being laid on adopting modern technology to build durable roads, than on the length of roads resurfaced.
• The main problem with roads in the State is that they are not well designed and give away during adverse weather or due to heavy vehicle density. The government has decided to make a decisive shift to construct designed roads, for which detailed project reports will be prepared. The State cannot afford to invest in roads that get damaged within a year or two of construction. Hence, the PWD has zeroed in on four modern technologies to build roads that have a guarantee of between 10 to 15 years.
• In this, the PWD has decided to adopt relaying of roads using soil-stabilisation method, natural rubber modified bitumen (NRMB) technology, geotextiles and shredded plastic waste. In soil stabilisation, locally available materials are mixed with cement and used for road construction. This almost totally does away with the need for aggregate (crushed granite). Apart from durability, this is faster than conventional methods that we hitherto adopted.
• Plastic waste is available in plenty in Kerala, what with over 30 lakh bottles of purified water being distributed to people affected by the recent deluge. Local bodies are engaged in shredding this and other plastic waste. The PWD will procure this and other shredded plastic refuse as raw material for laying roads, to increase their durability.

Researchers use satellite data for flood mapping

News

• A joint team of researchers from the University of Kerala and the Michigan Technological University, USA, have come out with an inundation map using satellite images to assess the extent of flooding that caused widespread devastation in Kerala last month.

Beyond News

• The team used the data from the European Space Agency’s radar satellite Sentinel to map the inundated areas in Kerala during and following the floods.
• The map shows that the wetlands consisting of low-lying Kuttanad in the south, the kole lands of Thrissur in the north, and the backwater system experienced significant increase in water level owing to the floods triggered by torrential rains. While the floodwater in most of the inundated land had already begun receding by August 21, the water level in Kuttanad and the kole lands were slow to decrease.
• The team followed up the mapping with a field visit to Kuttanad to validate the data. The results showed a 95% accuracy. The analysis also showed a peak rise of 5 m in the water level in the Kuttanad region, going up to 10 m in the kole lands.
• Radar satellites, with their cloud-penetrating capability, offer a significant advantage for flood inundation research. Unlike other natural hazards, data on the extent of flooding need to be captured before the water recedes. Hence only radar images come in handy as other optical satellite images will be marred by cloud cover.
• The team is also in touch with the Canadian Space Agency to enlarge the database on the flood situation in Kerala.
• The researchers point out that changes in land use, conversion of wetland to dryland, unbridled mining of river sand and brick clay, and construction activities in the floodplains had played havoc with Kuttanad and the kole lands and affected the natural drainage system.
• The research team is currently in Idukki to collect field data on the damage caused by the landslips and flash floods in the district.

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