National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams – 9th October 2018

Deadly heatwaves could hit India: Climate change report

Topic: Environment and Ecology

IN NEWS: India could face an annual threat of deadly heatwaves, like like the one in 2015 that killed at least 2,500 people, if the world gets warmer by 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, says the much-anticipated world’s biggest review report on climate change. The report was released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

More on the Topic

• India could face an annual threat of deadly heat waves if the world gets warmer by 2°C, says the new IPCC report.
• In 2015, heat waves killed at least 2,500 people in India.
• The report specifically mentions Kolkata and Karachi among cities that could face an increased threat of heat waves.
• The implications of the report will be discussed at the Katowice climate change conference in Poland this December, where governments will review the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. Being one of the largest carbon-emitting nations, India is expected to be a key player in the global event.
• It is now the scientific consensus that global warming affects human health, causing loss of millions of lives.

Effect of Climate change in Day today Life:

• The ‘1.5 Health Report’, which is a synthesis of the health content of IPCC report compiled by experts from the University of Washington, World Health Organisation and Climate tracker, highlighted that India and Pakistan could be worst affected in the event of a 2°C increase.
• Climate change is also projected to be a “poverty multiplier” through food insecurity, higher food prices, income losses, lost livelihood opportunities, adverse health impacts and population displacements.
• According to the IPCC report, poverty is expected to increase with rising in global warming. “Limiting global warming to 1.5°C as against 2°C can reduce the number of people exposed to climate-related risks and poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050,” the report said.
• The same limit can result in reduced losses in yields of maize, rice, wheat and other cereal crops, particularly in Asia. The report also suggests mitigation measures to reduce anthropogenic net emissions of carbon dioxide.
• India emitted nearly 929 million tonnes of CO2 in the last fiscal from the thermal power sector alone, which accounts for 79% of the country’s power generation.

Heat waves:

• A heat wave is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries.
• The term is applied both to hot weather variations and to extraordinary spells of hot which may occur only once a century.
• Severe heat waves have caused catastrophic crop failures, thousands of deaths from hyperthermia, and widespread power outages due to increased use of air conditioning.
• A heat wave is considered extreme weather, and a danger because heat and sunlight may overheat the human body. Heat waves can usually be detected using forecasting instruments so that a warning call can be issued.

Model Mains Question: Climate change can be a “poverty multiplier”. In light of the  above statement analyse how Indian poor will be affected by climate change.

Source:The Hindu

October starts with heavy FPI selling

Topic: Indian Economy

In news: The continuous depreciation in the Indian rupee and the overall risk aversion towards emerging markets has made foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) wary of the Indian equity market with the current month witnessing outflows in excess of ₹12,000 crore in five trading sessions.

More on the topic:

• While the month has just begun, the pace at which overseas investors are selling shares in the Indian market could make the current month among the worst-ever in terms of foreign money outflows.
• Market participants attribute the outflows to the record fall in the Indian rupee combined with the overall weakness in the emerging equity markets with the rising interest rates in the U.S. acting as a catalyst.
• While a rise in the interest rate in the U.S. market makes investing in emerging markets less attractive, currently the rates in U.S. at about 3.2% are at a multi-year high.
• The fall in the Indian rupee is the single largest factor affecting foreign flows in the Indian market.
• While the outflows from the Indian market is a part of the overall aversion towards emerging markets, it would continue till the rupee sees some amount of stability. The near future, however, is expected to see more outflows as other global and domestic macro-economic factors stabilise as well.

Foreign Portfolio Investor:

• The term FPI was defined to align the nomenclature of categorizing investments of foreign investors in line with international practice.
• FPI stands for those investors who hold a short term view on the company, in contrast to Foreign Direct Investors (FDI).
• FPIs generally participate through the stock markets and gets in and out of a particular stock at much faster frequencies. Short term view is associated often with lower stake in companies.
• Hence, globally FPIs are defined as those who hold less than 10% in a company. In India, the hitherto existing closest possible definition to an FPI was Foreign Institutional Investor.
• FPIs are permitted to invest in Government Securities with a minimum residual maturity of one year. However, FPIs have been prohibited from investing in T-Bills.

Source:The Hindu

Global warming taking place at an ‘alarming rate’, UN climate body warns

Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation

In news: Releasing its Status of the Global Climate report, the WMO, a United Nations body detailed the string of climate and weather records that were broken in 2015, including global temperature records, exceptional rainfall, devastating droughts, unusual cyclone activity and intense heatwaves.

More on the Topic:

• Global surface temperatures in 2015 shattered all previous records by a wide margin, the report shows, sitting 0.76C above the 1961-90 average. Temperatures over land, over the ocean and in the top 700 and 2,000 metres of the ocean all set new records.
• Our planet is sending a powerful message to world leaders to sign and implement the Paris agreement on climate change and cut greenhouse gases now before we pass the point of no return-the report urges.
• The report follows Nasa figures showing that February 2016 was the most unseasonably hot month on record by a massive margin, which h climate scientists described as “shocking”.
• Although a strong El Niño was pushing temperatures up, it was only part of the story, since the temperatures were much higher than in 1998, when the world went through a comparable or even stronger El Nino.

World Meteorological Organisation

• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 191 Member States and Territories. The Organization is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The WMO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly created Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about anthropogenic (man-made) climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

Source:The Hindu

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

Topic: Government Schemes

In news: Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds-2018-19. The Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued every month from October 2018 to February 2019.

About the Scheme:

• SGBs are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They are substitutes for holding physical gold. Investors have to pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity. The Bond is issued by Reserve Bank on behalf of Government of India.
• Persons resident in India as defined under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 are eligible to invest in SGB. Eligible investors include individuals, HUFs, trusts, universities and charitable institutions.
• The Bonds are issued in denominations of one gram of gold and in multiples thereof. Minimum investment in the Bond shall be one gram with a maximum limit of subscription of 4 kg for individuals.
• The Bonds bear interest at the rate of 2.50 per cent (fixed rate) per annum on the amount of initial investment. Interest will be credited semi-annually to the bank account of the investor and the last interest will be payable on maturity along with the principal.
• These securities are eligible to be used as collateral for loans from banks, financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC). The Loan to Value ratio will be the same as applicable to ordinary gold loan prescribed by RBI from time to time.

What are the benefits of the Scheme?

• The quantity of gold for which the investor pays is protected, since he receives the ongoing market price at the time of redemption/ premature redemption. The SGB offers a superior alternative to holding gold in physical form.
• The risks and costs of storage are eliminated. Investors are assured of the market value of gold at the time of maturity and periodical interest. SGB is free from issues like making charges and purity in the case of gold in jewellery form. The bonds are held in the books of the RBI or in demat form eliminating risk of loss of scrip etc.

Source:Pib

Zika Virus Disease cases in Rajasthan

Topic: Health related Issues

 In news: Few cases of Zika virus disease have been reported in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The present outbreak in Jaipur, Rajasthan was detected through the ICMR surveillance system.

More on the Topic:

• All suspect cases in the defined area and mosquito samples from this area are being tested. Additional testing kits are provided to the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories.
• The State Government has been supplied with IEC material prepared to create awareness about Zika virus disease and its prevention strategies. All pregnant mothers in the area are being monitored through NHM.
• Extensive surveillance and vector control measures are being taken up in the area as per protocol by the state government. The State Government has been supplied with IEC material prepared to create awareness about Zika Virus diseases and its prevention strategies.

Zika Virus

• Zika virus disease is an emerging disease currently being reported by 86 countries worldwide. Symptoms of Zika virus disease are similar to other viral infections such as dengue, and include fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache.
• In India, the first outbreak was reported in Ahmedabad in January/February 2017 and second outbreak in July,2017 from Krishnagiri in Tamilnadu. Both these outbreaks were successfully contained through intensive surveillance and vector management.
• The disease continues to be on disease surveillance radars of Union Health Ministry although it is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern vide WHO notification since November, 2016.

Source:PIB

Parker Solar Probe

Topic: Awareness in the fields  Space

 In news: NASA’s historic mission- Parker Solar Probe- to solve the mysteries of the Sun has successfully completed its flyby of Venus. The probe successfully completed its flyby of Venus at a distance of about 1,500 miles during the first Venus gravity assist of the mission.

More on Parker Solar Probe:

• NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission is intended for the understanding of the sun, where changing conditions can propagate out into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds.
• Parker Solar Probe will travel through the sun’s atmosphere, closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions — and ultimately providing humanity with the closest-ever observations of a star.
• In order to unlock the mysteries of the sun’s atmosphere, Parker Solar Probe will use Venus’ gravity during seven flybys over nearly seven years to gradually bring its orbit closer to the sun.
• The spacecraft will fly through the sun’s atmosphere as close as 3.9 million miles to our star’s surface, well within the orbit of Mercury and more than seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before.
• The primary science goals for the mission are to trace how energy and heat move through the solar corona and to explore what accelerates the solar wind as well as solar energetic particles.

Corona of The Sun

• The corona is hotter than the surface of the sun. The corona gives rise to the solar wind, a continuous flow of charged particles that permeates the solar system.
• Unpredictable solar winds cause disturbances in our planet’s magnetic field and can play havoc with communications technology on Earth.
• Disturbances in the solar wind shake Earth’s magnetic field and pump energy into the radiation belts, part of a set of changes in near-Earth space known as space weather.
• Nasa hopes the findings will enable scientists to forecast changes in Earth’s space environment.

10-km road proposed through Sathyamangalam, Mudumalai Tiger  reserves

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: The Nilgiris district administration has proposed a road that would cut through the core area of the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).

 More on the topic:

• Conservationists warn that the plan could spell trouble for wildlife in the critical habitat of Thengumarahada.
• The district administration had applied for clearance from the National Board for Wildlife for laying the road.
• Residents have long demanded that a road be laid to the Thengumarahada section, located along the Nilgiris’ northeastern slope in the MTR buffer zone, complaining of a lack of access to basic facilities, including healthcare.
• Conservationists argued that a road built through such an important habitat for unique and critically endangered species of wildlife, including the Asian king vulture, the elephant and the tiger, could be disastrous for local wildlife.
• Apart from ecological concerns, it was better in the long term for people residing in the Thengumarahada section to be relocated outside the tiger reserves as the residents are willing for relocation.

Project Tiger

• Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in 1973 by the Government of India.
• The project aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage forever represented as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems across the tiger’s distribution in the country.
• The project’s task force visualized these tiger reserves as breeding nuclei, from which surplus animals would migrate to adjacent forests. Funds and commitment were mastered to support the intensive program of habitat protection and rehabilitation under the project.
• The government has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
• Owing to the project, the number of tigers has improved to 2,226 as per the latest census report released on January 2015.
• State surveys have reported a significant increase in the tiger population which is estimated to cross 3,000 during the 2018 count (as part of a four yearly tiger census).

Source: The hindu