IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Amazon burning: Brazil reports 83% increase in forest fires

News

• Wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest have hit a record number this year, with 72,843 fires detected so far by Brazil’s space research center INPE.

Wildfires

• The surge marks an 83% increase over the same period of 2018, the agency said, and is the highest since records began in 2013.
• INPE said satellite images spotted 9,507 new forest fires in the country, mostly in the Amazon basin, home to the world’s largest tropical forest seen as vital to countering global warming.
• Wildfires are common in the dry season, but are also deliberately set by farmers illegally deforesting land for cattle ranching.
• The unprecedented surge in wildfires has occurred since Bolsonaro took office in January vowing to develop the Amazon region for farming and mining, ignoring international concern over increased deforestation.
• The large number of wildfires could not be attributed to the dry season or natural phenomena alone.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

France says Kashmir bilateral issue between India and Pakistan

News

• France said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, asking them to resolve their differences over it through political dialogue and refrain from any step likely to aggravate tensions.

France’s constant position

• French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s remarks came as his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi called him to discuss the situation in Kashmir after India revoked the special status for the Jammu and Kashmir.
• French Foreign Minister recalled France’s constant position on Kashmir that it is up to the two countries, under the framework of their bilateral political dialogue, to resolve this dispute so as to establish lasting peace.
• Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitutionto withdraw Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories.
• India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter and also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.

Indian Railways to ban single-use plastics

News

• The Indian Railways has decided to enforce a ban on single-use plastic materials on its premises, including trains, with effect from October 2, 2019.

Ban on single-use plastic

• Railway Board directed the authorities to expedite installation of 1,853 plastic water bottle crushing machines at 360 major stations in the first phase, and asked Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Development Corporation (IRCTC) to implement return of plastic drinking bottles as part of Extended Producer Responsibility.
• General Managers of Zonal Railways and Production Units were told to encourage all railway vendors to avoid use of plastic carry bags.
• Railway employees were also advised to reduce, reuse and refuse plastic products and to use inexpensive reusable bags to reduce plastic footprint.
• Going by the rules, single-use plastics shall not be less than 50 microns, except where the thickness of such plastic sheets impair the functionality of the product.

Approves measures for restructuring of Army HQ

News

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved certain decisions regarding the re-organisation of the Army Headquarters (AHQ), initiating the biggest transformation exercise of the Army since Independence.

Re-organisation of the Army Headquarters

• These measures are part of the four studies being undertaken by the Army for force restructuring and transformation.
• The measures approved include a separate Vigilance Cell under Chief of Army Staff (COAS) with tri-services representation, an umbrella organisation under Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) for enhanced focus on Human Rights (HR) issues and re-location of 206 Army Officers from AHQ to formations/units in the field.
• At present, the vigilance function for the COAS is through multiple agencies and there is no single point interface.
• An independent vigilance cell will be made functional under the COAS. ADG (Vigilance) will be placed directly under the COAS for this purpose. It will have three Colonel-level officers (one each from the Army, the Air Force and the Navy). This will be done within the existing posts at the AHQ.
• To give high priority for human rights convention and values, it had been decided to set up a special Human Rights Section headed by an ADG (Major General rank officer) directly under the VCOAS and it would be the “nodal point to examine any HR violation reports”.
• To enhance transparency and ensure the best of investigative expertise available to the section, a police officer of SSP/SP rank would be taken on deputation.
• The third measure would see a trimming down of the officer strength in the AHQ and 206 officers would be posted out to field formations and units. These include three Major Generals, eight Brigadiers, nine Colonels and 186 Lieutenant Colonels, the statement added.
• There are several other measures that are in the works.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Chandrayaan-2’s lunar orbit made shorter

News

• Chandrayaan-2, a day old in its orbit around the moon, has started undergoing phased manoeuvres to shorten the elliptical orbit in preparation for the September 7 landing.

Elliptical orbit

• It compressed the current elliptical orbit to 4,412 km at the far end from the moon.
• At the other end, the spacecraft is 118 km away from the lunar surface. After the fourth manoeuvre, its orbit would become circular.
• When it was inserted into the lunar orbit, the orbiter-cum-lander was going round the moon in an orbit of 114 km x 18,072 km.

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