National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 17th December 2018
New process to treat industrial waste
Topic: Environment and Ecology
IN NEWS: Researchers from the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) based in Meghalaya capital Shillong have patented a fast, energy-efficient and low-cost process for treatment and bio-detoxification of industrial effluents contaminated with harmful azo-dye.
More on the Topic:
- The ‘green process’ developed by the researchers for treating waste-water from industries such as textile, leather and paint is 25% faster, 40% more energy-efficient and more sustainable than the existing technology.
- Their process has also been found to leave the discharge environmentally benign and thus likely to be equally non-toxic to other bio-flora and fauna.
- The traditional treatment of environmentally damaging waste-water effluents with appropriate chemicals processes such as chemical precipitation, coagulation and electrocoagulation only transfers the contaminating chemical entities and chemical groups of the waste-water to other media, thereby producing secondary wastes.
- In some cases, these secondary wastes, intermediates and by-products formed by the second process of chemical remediation or detoxification may produce equally or more toxic chemical entities than the original toxicants and pollutants.
- The new research eliminated the secondary wastes risks.
Source: The Hindu
The Indian bustard
Topic: Environment and Ecology
IN NEWS: Several threats — including power lines — are decimating bustard populations. India, effectively the only home of the bustards, now harbours less than 150 individuals in five States.
More on the Topic:
- While hunting was probably one of the first factors (the bird was a popular game bird and still is in some pockets, despite being listed in Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act), bustard habitats have undergone tremendous change over the last decades.
- Intensification of agriculture including more pesticides, barbed-wire fences and new crops could endanger the birds’ survival.
- Bustards, with their poor frontal vision and heavy bodies, cannot manoeuvre away from cables in time and could get electrocuted.
- IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Source:The Hindu
Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)
Topic: Organisations in News
In news: The Navy will formally inaugurate the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
More on the Topic:
- Through this Centre, information on “white shipping”, or commercial shipping, will be exchanged with countries in the region to improve maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean.
- The IFC-IOR is established with the vision of strengthening maritime security in the region and beyond, by building a common coherent maritime situation picture and acting as a maritime information hub for the region.
- The IFC has been established at the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, which is the single point centre linking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.
- Information exchange at the Centre would be initially undertaken by virtual means, telephone calls, faxes, e-mails and video conferencing. Subsequently, to enable better interconnection, quicker analysis of information and timely inputs, the IFC-IOR would host liaison officers from foreign countries.
- Additionally, the Centre would undertake conduct of exercises and training capsules in maritime information collection and sharing.
Maritime network
- In a related development, India has signed the ascension agreement to the Trans Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN) which facilitates information exchange on the movement of commercial traffic on the high seas. The multilateral construct comprises of 30 countries and is steered by Italy.
AIS systems on ships
- The information is available primarily through the Automatic Identification System (AIS) fitted on merchant ships with more than 300 gross registered tonnage as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation.
- The AIS information comprises name, MMSI number, position, course, speed, last port visited, destination and so on. This information can be picked up through various AIS sensors including coastal AIS chains and satellite based receivers.
Source: The Hindu
ISRO GSAT-7A
Topic: Science and Technology
In news: Military communication satellite GSAT-7A, is expected to add a new space-based dimension to the way Indian Air Force interlinks, operates and communicates with its aircraft.
More on the Topic:
- Although all Indian communication satellites offer capacity to the armed forces, GSAT-7A will be the first one built primarily for the IAF to qualitatively unify its assets and improve combined, common intelligence during operations. With integrated action being a buzzword it will also support aerial activities of the Army and the Navy where required.
- About 70% of it would be for the Air Force and the rest for the needs of the Army.” The ground force’s Army Aviation Corps operates many helicopters, uses UAVs and will acquire fixed wing aircraft in future — all for surveillance and rescue missions.
- The satellite using Ku band will enable superior real time aircraft-to-aircraft communication; and between planes that are in flight and their commanders on the ground.
- It would enhance by many times the coverage now provided by ground communication systems such as radars and stations of the Army.
- Out-of-sight and remote areas where ground infrastructure and signals are difficult would get into the critical information loop.
- It will enable communication and data linking at forward places and air defence centres. Pilots can communicate much better with headquarters while they fly. Headquarters can receive data in real time.
- Navy has a satellite largely for its use, the GSAT-7, for similarly linking its ships to command on land.
- The GSAT-7A/ GSLV-F11 mission will also wrap up the calendar year for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The GSLV-F11 space vehicle will release it to an eventual geostationary orbit about 36,000 km from Earth.
Source: The Hindu
Traditional rice varieties
Topic: Agriculture
In news: Thirunelly Agri Producer Company Ltd., a farmers’ collective in Kerala’s Wayanad district, has taken the plunge to revive rice production, albeit in a different avatar.
More on the Topic:
- The collective has been engaged not only in conserving and propagating traditional rice varieties by following organic methods of cultivation, but also in procuring them from its members at a premium and selling the end product at an affordable price, after making some value additions.
- The firm’s main focus is to revive traditional paddy varieties of Wayanad, which include aromatic rice varieties such as Gandhakasala and Mullan kaima, and others including Thondi, Paal Thondi and Chennellu. Chennellu and Mullankaima are known for their nutritional and medicinal properties.
Source: The Hindu
Bharat-22 ETF
Topic: Indian Economy
In news: TThe government is planning to raise about Rs 10,000 crore through a follow on offer of Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund.
More on the Topic:
- The government has so far raised Rs 22,900 crore through the Bharat-22 exchange traded fund (ETF).
What is Exchange Traded Fund:
- An ETF is a type of fund that owns underlying assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bullion, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares.
About Bharat 22:
- It is the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that will be launched by the Union Finance Ministry. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund will manage the fund.
- ETFs are essentially index funds that are listed and traded on stocks exchanges just like regular shares.
- They are a basket of stocks with assigned weights that reflects the composition of an index.
- Bharat 22 comprises 22 stocks including those of central public sector enterprises, PSU banks and holdings under the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India.
- Bharat 22 is a well diversified ETF spanning six sectors — basic materials (4.4%), energy (17.5%), finance (20.3%), industrials (22.6%), FMCG (15.2%) and utilities (20%).
- The ETF is aimed at helping speed up the government’s disinvestment programme.
Source: The Hindu
BIndia, Nepal, Bhutan plan joint task force to protect wildlife
Topic: International Relations
In news: The governments of India, Nepal and Bhutan are actively considering having a joint task force for allowing free movement of wildlife across political boundaries and checking smuggling of wildlife across the Kanchenjunga Landscape, a trans-boundary region spread across Nepal, India and Bhutan.
More on the Topic:
- The developments comes up after forest officials and representatives of non-government organisation of the three countries visited parts of the landscape and later held a meeting at Siliguri in north Bengal.
- Setting up of a joint task force was a key requirement in the road map on achieving the objectives of free movement of wildlife and checking smuggling of wildlife.
- The landscape stretches along the southern side of Mount Kanchenjunga covers an area of 25,080 sq km spread across parts of eastern Nepal (21%), Sikkim and West Bengal (56%) and western and south-western parts of Bhutan (23%).
Significance of the region:
- According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ( ICIMOD), a regional knowledge development and learning centre, 1,118 sq km of riverine grassland and tree cover were lost in the landscape between 2000 and 2010. 74 % of the area was converted into rangeland and 26% to agricultural land.
- Other than seven million people, the Kanchenjunga Landscape is also home to 169 species of mammals and 713 species of birds.
- Every few months there were cases of elephants, rhino and gaurs and other mammals crossing over political boundaries, triggering panic among locals across the border and also posing danger to the wildlife.
