IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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India’s life expectancy rises to 68.7 years, says National Health Profile 2019

News

• Life expectancy in India has increased from 49.7 years in 1970-75 to 68.7 years in 2012-16, as per the National Health Profile 2019 released.

Life expectancy

• For the same period, the life expectancy for females is 70.2 years and 67.4 years for males.
• For comparison, in last year’s survey, the life expectancy had increased from 49.7 years in 1970-75 to 68.3 years in 2011-15. For the same period, the life expectancy for females is 70 years and 66.9 years for males.
• According to the survey, the highest population density of 11,320 people per square kilometre was reported by the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) whereas Arunachal Pradesh reported the lowest population density of 17.
• On demographics, the survey found the high incidence of the young and economically active population. The survey notes that 27% of the total estimated population of 2016 were below the age of 14 years and majority (64.7%) of the population were in the age group of 15-59 years i.e. economically active, and 8.5% population were in the age group of 60-85 plus years.
• The population, however, continues to grow, as the decline in the birth rate is not as rapid as the decline in the death rate.
• The infant mortality rate (IMR) has declined considerably (33 per 1,000 live births in 2016), however differentials of rural (37) and urban (23) are still high.
• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for the country was 2.3 whereas in rural areas it was 2.5 and 1.8 in urban areas during 2016 as per the latest available information.
• On the health status indicators, the survey finds that on communicable diseases, in 2018, maximum number of cases and deaths due to malaria have been reported in Chhattisgarh (77,140 cases and 26 deaths). The overall prevalence of the disease has diminished in 2012 and 2013 but there was a slight increase in 2014 and 2015 before it started decreasing again from 2016.
• Dengue and Chikungunya, transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, are a cause of great concern to public health in India.
• There has been considerable decrease in the number of swine flu cases/deaths in the year 2014 as compared with 2012 and 2013. However, the number of cases and deaths has drastically increased in the year 2015.
• The total number of cases and deaths due to snake bite are 1.64 lakh and 885, respectively, in 2018.
• The total number of disabled persons in India is 2.68 crore.

Climate-fuelled flooding to imperil 300 million by 2050

News

• Coastal areas currently home to 300 million people will be vulnerable by 2050 to flooding made worse by climate change, no matter how aggressively humanity curbs carbon emissions, scientists have warned.

Vulnerability

• In the second half of the 21st century and beyond, however, choices made today will determine whether the global coastlines on maps today will remain recognisable to future generations.
• Destructive storm surges fuelled by increasingly powerful cyclones and rising seas will hit Asia hardest, according to the study.
• More than two-thirds of the populations at risk are in China, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.
• Using a form of artificial intelligence known as neural networks, the new research corrects ground elevation data that has up to now vastly underestimated the extent to which coastal zones are subject to flooding during high tide or major storms.
• With the global population set to increase by two billion by 2050 and another billion by 2100 mostly in coastal megacities even greater numbers of people will be forced to adapt or move out of harm’s way.
• Already today, more than 100 million people live below high tide levels, the study found. Some are protected by dikes and levees, but most are not.
• Even a rapid drop today in greenhouse gas emissions will have scant impact on the course of sea level rise in the coming decades.

Many factors conspire to threaten populations living within a few metres of sea level.

• Expansion of water as it warms and, more recently, ice sheets atop Greenland and Antarctica that have shed more than 430 billion tonnes per year over the last decade.
• If global warming is capped below two degrees Celsius the cornerstone goal of the Paris climate treaty sea level is projected to rise about half a metre by 2100.
• At current rates of carbon pollution, however, the increase would be nearly twice as much.
• Tropical storms typhoons, cyclones or hurricanes amplified by a warming atmosphere.
• Major storms that until recently occurred once a century will, by 2050, happen on average once a year in many places, especially in the tropics.
• Annual coastal flood damage is projected to increase 100 to 1,000-fold by 2100.
• Many of the one billion people living at less than nine metres above sea level today are in urban areas literally sinking under their own weight.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

India, Saudi Arabia to hold first joint naval drills in early March

News

• India and Saudi Arabia will conduct their first-ever joint naval exercises in the first week of March next year, as the two sides agreed to enhance their cooperation in defence and security areas.

Enhance cooperation

• A preparatory meeting on the proposed drills took place early this month in India and another meeting would take place in December.
• Gulf Kingdom wants to deepen its maritime cooperation with India in the western Indian Ocean, which constitutes busy and sensitive shipping routes such as the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf.
• A series of damaging drone and missile attacks on oil facilities of Saudi Aramco, the country’s national petroleum company, in Abqaiq and Khurais in the Persian Gulf on September 14 drove oil prices to their highest level in nearly four months.
• India had condemned the attacks and reiterated its resolve to oppose terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
• Some new areas of cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia have been worked out and one of them is the defence industry, they said.
• An MoU between Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Military Industries (GAMI) and Department of Defence Production, the Ministry of Defence concerning collaboration in military acquisition, industries, research, development and technology was signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wide ranging talks with powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
• The two sides also signed an agreement in the civil aviation sector.
• The agreement signed between the two countries talked about proportional increase in the number of seats.
• The strategic partnership council,to be headed by the Indian Prime Minister and the Saudi Crown Prince, will review key issues during a summit every two years while the ministers will meet annually.
• India is the fourth country after the UK, France and China with which Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement on strategic partnership.
• The council will have two parallel verticals one on political, security, culture and society headed by the foreign ministers of the two sides, and another on economy and investments headed by the commerce minister of India and energy minister of the Kingdom.
• India’s relations with Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing over the last few years based on burgeoning energy ties. India’s bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia was at $27.48 billion in 2017-18, making Saudi Arabia its fourth largest trading partner.
• Saudi Arabia said that it was looking at investing $100 billion in India in areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining.

President’s rule revoked in Jammu and Kashmir after 2 UTs created

News

• The President’s rule imposed in undivided Jammu and Kashmir was revoked following bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories.

President’s rule revoked

• The two UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh come into existence after the central government on August 5 decided to abrogate the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and create them on October 31.
• The first central rule as ‘Governor’s rule’ continued for six months. After six months, President’s rule was imposed for next six months which was subsequently extended with the approval of Parliament.
• Article 356 of the Constitution under which President’s rule is imposed in a State, is not applicable in Union Territories.
• C. Murmu and R.K. Mathur will be sworn-in as first Lt Governors of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh respectively.
• The Indian Union now has 28 States and nine UTs. J&K’s State Constitution has also ceased to operate.
• Interestingly, while the J&K UT will have a 114-member elected Assembly, up from 107 earlier, and a Chief Minister, the Ladakh UT will be controlled directly by the LG.

New Odisha initiative: Meal in exchange for plastic waste

News

• In an effort to raise awareness about the perils of using plastic, the Kotpad Notified Area Council (NAC) in Koraput district is providing free meals to the poor in exchange for a kilogram of plastic waste.

Awareness about the perils of using plastic

• The programme, which started, entails a meal for anyone who brings a kilogram of used polythene bags, plastic bottles and cups, it is being carried out under the State government’s ‘Aahar’ scheme.
• Under the Odisha government’s ‘Aahar’ scheme, poor people in urban areas of the State are provided a meal comprising rice and ‘dalma’ (lentils with vegetable) at a cost of ₹ 5.
• The NAC administration has put up banners and posters at various areas of the town to make people aware about the new initiative, and a special counter has also been opened at the Aahar centre.
• The NAC authorities organise regular awareness drives to sensitise residents against the use of polythene bags.

Pakistan violated its obligations under Vienna Convention in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case: ICJ Judge tells UNGA

News

• United Nations Pakistan violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention in the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, International Court of Justice (ICJ) President Judge Abduylqawi Yusuf told the UN General Assembly.

Major victory for India

• Presenting the report of the International Court of Justice to the 193-member General Assembly, ICJ President Judge said in its judgment, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations found that Pakistan had violated its obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention and that appropriate remedies were due in this case.
• In a major victory for India, the ICJ had ruled that Pakistan must review the death sentence awarded to Mr. Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer who was sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” after a closed trial in April 2017.
• India had argued that consular access was being denied to its national in violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
• The bench led by ICJ President Judge had ordered an “effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav.
• The Court noted that under the Vienna Convention, parties were able to conclude only bilateral agreements that confirm, supplement, extend or amplify the provisions of that instrument. Having examined the 2008 Agreement, the Court came to the conclusion that it could not be read as denying consular access in the case of an arrest, detention or sentence made on political or security grounds, and that it did not displace obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.
• It stressed that Pakistan must ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in the Vienna Convention and guarantee that the violation and the possible prejudice caused by the violation are fully examined.
• India had welcomed the verdict of the International Court of Justice, saying that the ruling of the court by a vote of 15-1 upheld India’s position in the case.

Andhra Pradesh govt. issues order for taking legal action against false news in all media

News

• The government in Andhra Pradesh has issued an order for taking legal action against “false, baseless and defamatory news”, restoring a controversial G.O kept in abeyance during his late father-led regime 12 years ago.

Legal action

• While the 2007 order issued during late Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure as Chief Minister was limited to print and electronic media, Government Order (G.O) made social media posts also liable for legal action.
• The old order delegated the power to the Information Commissioner for filing defamation cases against publishers and editors, but the latest order empowered the secretaries of the respective departments as well to proceed legally and initiate action following the due process of law.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

1.3 mn Indian payment cards details up for sale on Dark Web

News

• Nearly 1.3 million debit and credit card data of Indian banking customers that can fetch up to $130 million for cybercriminals are available on Dark Web for open sale.

Data of Indian banking customers

• According to ZDNet, the cards’ details is available on Joker’s Stash one of the oldest card shops on the dark web which is known to be the place where major hackers sell card dumps.
• The researchers from cyber security form Group-IBA found the Indian card holders’ listing. Joker’s Stash is advertising it under the “INDIA-MIX-NEW-01” heading.
• The debit and credit cards belong to multiple Indian banks and are being sold for $100 each, in what security researchers have dubbed one of the biggest card dumps in recent years.
• The card dump includes Track 2 data, usually found on a payment card’s magnetic stripe. The presence of this kind of data automatically rules out skimmers installed on websites (Magecart attacks), where Track 1 and Track 2 is never used.
• Criminals who buy card dumps from Joker’s Stash typically use the data to clone legitimate cards and withdraw money from ATMs in so called “cash outs.”
• In February, card details for 2.15 million Americans were put up for sale on Joker’s Stash.
• In August, nearly 5.3 million card details obtained from gas and convenience chain Hy-Vee customers were also dumped on Joker’s Stash.
• Over the past five years, Joker’s Stash has become one of the premier underground credit card shops through significant releases of stolen credit cards from data breaches at companies like Target, Walmart, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, and British Airways.

Significant progress made to meet action plan set by FATF: Pakistan central bank Governor

News

• Pakistan has made significant progress between May and September to meet the action plan set by the international terror financing watchdog FATF in different areas to demonstrate the effectiveness of its Anti-Money Laundering safety regime, the chief of country’s central bank has said.

Anti-Money Laundering safety regime

• Pakistan was placed on the Grey List by the Paris-based watchdog in June last year and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019, or face the risk of being placed on the Black List with Iran and North Korea.
• The FATF retained Pakistan on the Grey List and warned the country of action for its failure in combating money laundering and terror financing. The decision was taken after a five-day plenary of the FATF held in Paris early this month.
• It expressed dissatisfaction at the progress made by Pakistan and gave it a six-month deadline to complete the tasks.

Timely action by Northeast Frontier Railway saved 165 elephants in 2019

News

• Locomotive pilots avoided hitting a herd of 25 elephants near Dekargaon station in north-central Assam’s Sonitpur district. Guided by Station Master and a gateman, they stopped the train in time to help the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) save some 165 elephants this year.

67 notified elephant corridors

• There are 67 notified elephant corridors across five divisions of NFR covering the northeastern States, northern West Bengal and parts of eastern Bihar. Data with the Railways says that 49 elephants were run down by trains across India from 2016-2018, and a significant number was in areas under the NFR.
• The awareness level among locomotive pilots has increased. As a consequence, they have been stopping trains to let elephants pass, and adhering to speed limits in vulnerable sections such as Banarhat-Nagrakata in the Dooars area of West Bengal and in the Lumding section of Assam.
• Various preventive measures have resulted in saving about 140 elephants during the current year.
• Trains in the zone avoided collision with 115 elephants in 2018, 119 in 2017, 145 in 2016 and 118 in 2015.
• Although the elephant corridors are notified jointly in consultation with the Forest Department of the respective States, there has been an increasing trend in elephants crossing railway tracks through areas that are not notified as corridors.
• Cases of elephant hits have come down drastically in notified areas, while the hits these days are in non-notified areas where it is difficult for the drivers to stop suddenly.

‘Indian brain is smaller’: IIIT-Hyderabad researchers create Indian Brain Atlas

News

• The average Indian brain is smaller in height, width, and volume as compared to the western and eastern population like the Chinese and Korean according to the first-ever ‘Indian Brain Atlas’ created by researchers of the International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad (IIITH).

Indian Brain Atlas

• These differences are found even at the structure level like the volume of hippocampus and so on. But overall, the ‘IBA 100 is more’ comparable to the Chinese and Korean atlases than the distant Caucasian one, according to the research team led by professor from the Centre for Visual Information Technology Jayanthi Sivaswamy.
• Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM) had created the first digital human brain atlas in 1993 and had also released other brain atlases, widely used as a standard in neuroscience studies.
• IIITH team made a maiden effort at creating an Indian-specific brain atlas involving 50 subjects selected across genders. MRI scans of these subjects’ brains were taken at three different hospitals across three different scanners to rule out variations found in scanning machines.
• After a successful pilot study, the team recruited 100 willing participants in construction of Indian Brain Atlas or ‘IBA 100’.
• Scans collected were from an equal number of healthy male and female subjects 21-30 years age group when the brain is said to be ‘mature’. The constructed altas was validated against the other atlases available for various populations.

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