IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Respiratory ailments rise in Brazil as Amazon fires rage

News

• Lingering smoke in the Amazon is reportedly causing increased respiratory problems particularly among children and the elderly as fires in the region rage.

Amazon fires

• Fears over health impacts have been growing with the surge in fires, with more than 77,000 blazes documented by the country’s National Space Research Institute since the start of the year.
• About half of the fires occurred in the Amazon region, with most in the past month.
• The world’s largest rainforest is a major absorber of carbon dioxide, considered a critical defence against rising temperatures and other disruptions caused by climate change, and it produces a vast amount of water vapour that affects regional weather patterns.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Cabinet clears 100% FDI in contract manufacturing, coal mining

News

• The government relaxed FDI rule for foreign single brand retailers and also permitted foreign investment in contract manufacturing and coal mining.

Important decisions

• Allows 100% FDI under automatic route in coal mining and associated infrastructure
• Allows 100% FDI in contract manufacturing under automatic route
• Relaxes FDI rules for single brand retail; expands definition of 30% domestic sourcing
• Allows online retailing under single-brand retail; relaxes rule of mandatory brick-and-mortar store
• Approves 26% FDI in digital media.

Ganga Mission study to check for ‘antibiotic resistance’ in river

News

• The government has commissioned a ₹9.3 crore study to assess the microbial diversity along the entire length of the Ganga and test if stretches of the 2,500 km long river contain microbes that may promote “antibiotic resistance”.

The aims of the research project:  to indicate the type of “contamination” (sewage and industrial) in the river and “threat to human health (antibiotic resistance surge)”, identifying sources of Eschericia coli, a type of bacteria that lives in the gut of animals and humans.

Several studies

• There have been several studies that have looked at microbial diversity in the Ganga but these have been isolation. No study has looked at the “entire stretch” of the river.
• In 2014, researchers from Newcastle University in the U.K. and IIT-Delhi sampled water and sediments at seven sites along the Ganga in different seasons.
• They reported that levels of resistance genes that lead to “superbugs” were about 60 times greater during the pilgrimage months of May and June than at other times of the year.
• A 2017 report commissioned by the Union Department of Biotechnology and the U.K. Research Council underlined that India had some of the highest antibiotic resistance rates among bacteria that commonly cause infections.

Cabinet nod for sugar export subsidy

News

• With record sugar production continuing to drive down prices even as cane farmers face huge arrears in payment, the Centre has decided to offer a ₹10.45 per kg subsidy to incentivise mills to export their surplus stocks.
• The export subsidy package will cost the exchequer ₹6,268 crore.

60 lakh tonnes

• The subsidy package will facilitate the export of up to 60 lakh tonnes in the 2019-20 marketing season, which begins in October.
• It will benefit millions of farmers in U.P., Maharashtra and Karnataka, as well as other states, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told journalists after the Cabinet meeting.
• Global sugar prices are more than ₹10/kg lower than domestic prices. Hence, the government subsidy to sweeten the deal and persuade mills to export their surplus.
• The lump sum export subsidy will be provided for expenses on marketing costs including handling, upgrading and other processing costs, costs of international and internal transport and freight charges, the subsidy was in conformity with WTO agreements.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Rare tarantula sighted in Villupuram district

News

• Researchers have sighted a critically endangered species of tarantula for the first time beyond its known habitat in the Eastern Ghats.

Critically Endangered

• The spider belonging to the genus Poecilotheria, commonly known as the Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula was spotted by a team of researchers.
• The species, known to be endemic to India, was found at different locations in the reserve forests. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorised it as Critically Endangered.

Genome sequencing of bacteria to help with biocontrol in farming

News

• Scientists have completed the whole genome sequencing of a rare bacteria capable of producing antifungal and insecticidal compounds, opening up the potential to develop a new line of products for biocontrol applications in agriculture.

Biocontrol applications

• In the course of a research work on unknown microbial resources, the team isolated some strains of actinomycetes (a kind of hairy bacteria) from the forest soils of the Neyyar wildlife sanctuary, one of the 12 mega diversity centres in the world.
• One of the isolates was identified as Streptosporangium nondiastaticumreported to have antimicrobial properties.

Chandrayaan-2 narrows gap from Moon

News

• Chandrayaan-2 narrowed its distance from the Moon after a manoeuvre .

Third orbit action

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed the third orbit action lasting nearly 20 minutes to bring the spacecraft closer to the Moon.
• A total of five manoeuvres are planned to gradually make the lunar craft’s oval orbit circular.
• It now goes around the Moon in a 179 km x 1,412 km orbit – shifting about 3,000 km closer to its target at the far end of the oval.

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