IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Climate change can reduce banana yield in India, study finds

Findings:

• Global warming in the last about 60 years had helped increase banana yield at annual rate of 0.024 tonnes per hectare translating to an average increase of 1.37 tonnes per hectare in 27 countries since the 1960s. But with continued warming, the yield gains could slow down or even reverse in some countries leading to a drop in yields — 0.59-0.19 tonnes per hectare — by 2050, a study published in Nature Climate Change 

More to know:

• India, which is the world’s largest producer and consumer of banana, along with nine other countries such as Brazil will see a reduction in the yield, the University of Exeter study finds.
• At the same time, certain other countries — Ecuador and Honduras, and many in Africa — will witness an overall increase in crop yields.
• According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) with 29 million tonnes produced per year between 2010 and 2017, India is the world’s number one producer of banana. Over 29% of the world’s banana production is in India.
• The average yield of banana in India is around 60 tonnes per hectare, according to the FAO. During the same period (2010 and 2017), China, which is second largest producer globally, produced about one-third of India — 11 million tonnes per year.

Stick to 2003 ceasefire agreement, India tells Pakistan

News:

Intensifying the ongoing war of words, India on Sunday asked Pakistan to stick to the 2003 ceasefire agreement and maintain peace at the Line of Control. A government source said the Indian military response has been restrained so far despite more than 2,000 ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

Beyond News:

What is a ceasefire agreement?

A ceasefire (or truce), also called cease fire, is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces

Indian Line of Control fencing

The construction of the barrier was begun in the 1990s, but slowed in the early 2000s as hostilities between India and Pakistan increased. After a November 2003 ceasefire agreement, building resumed and was completed in late 2004. LoC fencing was completed in Kashmir Valley and Jammu region on 30 September 2004. According to Indian military sources, the fence has reduced the numbers of militants who routinely cross into the Indian side of the disputed state to attack soldiers by 80%.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

India, Australia to elevate strategic partnership

News:

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to visit Australia in November when both countries are likely to conclude the long-pending mutual logistics support agreement and a broader maritime cooperation agreement to elevate the strategic partnership, defence and diplomatic sources said.

Beyond News:

• The mutual logistics support agreement, information exchange and a broader maritime agreement, including maritime domain awareness, are expected to be concluded soon.
• These will lead to greater interoperability and help in elevating the strategic partnership.
• There have been a series of high-profile visits aimed at elevating the partnership, the source said, and more visits have been scheduled. Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh went to Australia and New Zealand early this month.
• Australia has been keen on a mutual logistics support agreement and submitted a draft after India signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. in 2016. But New Delhi said it would consider more such agreements only after the first was operationalised.
• India has since signed such agreements, the latest with South Korea early this month.
• The bilateral naval exercise, AUSINDEX, held earlier this year saw the participation of the largest Australian naval contingent ever sent to India, with over 1,000 men.
• Logistics agreements are administrative arrangements facilitating access to military facilities for exchange of fuel and provisions on mutual agreement simplifying logistical support and increasing operational turnaround.
• The defence cooperation between India and Australia is underpinned on the Memorandum on Defence Cooperation 2006, the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation 2009 and the bilateral Framework for Security Cooperation 2014.

SC finds death, terror, violence from 1990 ‘formidable reasons’ for J&K lockdown

News:

• The Supreme Court on Monday found the government’s statistics of thousands of instances of death, terror and violence in Jammu and Kashmir from 1990 as “formidable reasons” leading to the August 5, 2019 lockdown that followed the withdrawal of the special rights and privileges of Kashmiri people with the reading down of Article 370.

Beyond News:

• The top law officer told a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi that since 1990, 41,866 persons have lost their lives in 71,038 terror incidents. This included 14,038 civilians; 5,292 security personnel and 22,536 terrorists.
• Justice Bobde asked the government to file an affidavit with the details. The government was also asked to restore normalcy, keeping in mind national security.
• The court asked petitioners like Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin to approach the Jammu and Kashmir High Court with “local” problems like lack of Internet and mobile connectivity.
• When the top court was told about the “shutdown” of mobile and Internet services in Kashmir Valley, the Bench said these issues could be dealt with by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

Nod for Azad’s visit

• The court further agreed to a request of senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to visit four districts – Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag and Jammu.
• Azad gave an undertaking to the court that he would not indulge in any political rallies while there.
• The court allowed, Mr. Tarigami, if he so wishes, to return to J&K.

Government proposes to significantly reduce IPR fees for MSMEs, startups

News:

• The government has proposed to reduce fees for various intellectual property rights such as patents and designs for micro, small and medium enterprises and startups to promote innovation.

Beyond News:

• An individual, group or industry has to pay fees at different levels of intellectual property rights (IPR) application fillings.
• As per the proposal, fees for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups for filing of patent applications will be reduced to ₹1,600 or ₹1,750 from ₹4,000 or ₹4,400 respectively.
• For expedited examination, it will be reduced to ₹8,000 from ₹25,000 currently. Similarly, for renewal of patents, the fees will be reduced.
• For design applications filing, fees for MSMEs and startups will be reduced to ₹1,000 from ₹2,000, the Ministry said.
• For Geographical Indications (GI), fees was proposed to cut to nil for filing of application, issuance of certificate and renewal of GI from the current ₹500, ₹100 and ₹1,000, respectively.

World Ozone Day

News:

• Commonly known as the ‘World Ozone Day’, September 16 commemorates the Montreal Protocol that was signed on this date by 24 UN member nations in 1987, to limit and ultimately phase out the production of manmade chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and 95 other ozone-depleting materials.

Beyond News:

• The slogan for this year “Ozone: All that is there between You and UV” is meant to show how human activity can impact the ozone layer and ultimately, the survival of the Earth and its environment as we know it.
• According to the UN, the Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of 99% of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products.
• Parts of the ozone layer have recovered at a rate of 1-3% per decade since 2000, according to the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Survey of India to deploy 300 drones for mapping country

News:

• India’s oldest scientific department, the Survey of India (SoI) — historically tasked with mapping the country — will for the first time rely on drones to map the country.

Beyond News:

• Currently the best SoI maps have a resolution of 1:250000, meaning a 1 cm on the map represents 2500 cm on the ground. The maps being prepared, according to senior officials associated with the project will be of 1:500 resolution, meaning 1 cm will represent 500 cm.
• The aim is to map 75% of India’s geography— about 2.4 million sq km of the 3.2 million sq km — within the next two years. The organisation aims to procure about 300 drones — so far about 30 have been sourced — for the gargantuan exercise. However forests, hills and deserts are likely to be left out.
• Making the foundational map will be a ₹400-500 crore endeavour.

Sorting rural issues

• A major consequence of the drone-based exercise will be the mapping of settled habitations in villages (called abaadiareas in legal parlance).
• Based on the availability of accurate maps, residents will finally be able to get property cards as well as proper legal titles to their lands.

6,00,000 Rohingya still in Myanmar at ‘serious risk of genocide’: UN

News:

• Rohingya Muslims remaining in Myanmar still face a “serious risk of genocide”, UN investigators said , warning the repatriation of a million already driven from the country by the army remains “impossible”.

Beyond News:

• The fact-finding mission to Myanmar, set up by the Human Rights Council, last year branded the army operations in 2017 as “genocide” and called for the prosecution of top generals, including Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
• The country is “denying wrongdoing, destroying evidence, refusing to conduct effective investigations and clearing, razing, confiscating and building on land from which it displaced Rohingya.
• Rohingya were living in “inhumane” conditions, the report continued, adding over 40,000 structures had been destroyed in the crackdown.

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