Table of Contents:
A. GS1 Related:
B. GS2 Related:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Why is the World Bank keen on resolving Indus divide?
C. GS3 Related:
ECONOMY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Flexing nanotech to prevent steel corrosion
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Air quality in Delhi poor on 90 per cent of total winter days: study
D. GS4 Related:
E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn
F. BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGS IN NEWS
G. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂
H. Archives
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Useful News Articles for UPSC Current Affairs
A. GS1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Why is the World Bank keen on resolving Indus divide?
Why in news?
- Bank was enthused about settling the contradictions between the two countries over the translation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) taking after the development by India of two hydroelectric power plants.
- In spite of the fact that the two countries have had no new clash over the sharing of stream waters for over five decades, contrasts sprung up after Pakistan contradicted the development of the Kishenganga (330 MW) and Ratle (850 MW) control plants by India on the Jhelum and Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir, over which Pakistan has unlimited rights under the bargain.
Background
- Indeed, even before Partition, the Indus had made issues among the conditions of British India.
- The issues got to be distinctly global after the production of two countries as the political limit was drawn ideal over the Indus bowl.
- The World Bank (then IBRD), under the administration of Eugene Black, caused in 1952 to settle the debate between the two countries on the sharing of the Indus stream bowl waters.
- He had said the acceleration of the question would harm the monetary advancement of the Indian subcontinent.
- Following eight years of hard transactions, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ayub Khan marked the IWT on September 19, 1960. The Bank is additionally a signatory to the arrangement.
- The IWT is a mind boggling instrument, including 12 articles and eight annexures. It puts forward arrangements of participation between the two nations in their utilization of the streams, known as the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC).
Decision
- As indicated by the IWT, India has control over three eastern waterways of the Indus bowl — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej — and Pakistan has control over the three western streams — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum.
- Each of the six waterways spill out of India to Pakistan. Among different uses, India is allowed to develop construct power facilities on these streams subject to directions set down in the bargain.
Has there been any violation?
- India had approached the bank for arrangement of an unbiased master taking after Pakistan’s protests to two activities, while Pakistan requested the development of a court of arbitration, charging that India had disregarded the settlement.
- In December 2016, the Bank reported a “stop” and requested that both sides settle the issue agreeably before the finish of January 2017.
What stand did the Bank take?
- India respected the Bank’s impartial stand; while Pakistan looked for intercession of the Bank in the wake of being not able locate an agreeable answer for the debate through the commission.
- Given that India has remained the Bank’s single biggest borrower since its commencement with total borrowings from IBRD and IDA touching $103 billion, the bank did not maybe need to surprise it.
- With lightness in outside trade holds, the Bank needs India more than the other path round and this has made some uneasiness in the Bank hovers about the future bearing of their relationship.
- Why is the Bank playing a role again?
- This is on account of India and Pakistan is imperative accomplices and customers of the Bank.
- In South Asia, Pakistan ($2,280 million) got the most astounding loaning from the Bank after India ($3,845 million) amid the financial 2016. Also, there are not very numerous borrowers with a solid record like India.
- The Bank kept up its guide could be successfully utilized if both countries kept the peace and guaranteed better administration of the waters, on which lakhs of agriculturists depend.
- As both countries have neglected to determine the debate agreeably, the Bank CEO has started a discourse.
- Changing its position, India has consented to go to a meeting of the commission in Lahore one week from now. Like in the 1950s, Bank authorities are again assuming the part of arbiter.
C. GS3 Related
Category: ECONOMY
1. Human Development Index
Context:
- As indicated by the report ‘Human Development in Andhra Pradesh’ arranged for Government of Andhra Pradesh by Center for Economic and Social Studies in 2016, the rank of Andhra Pradesh in Human Development Index(HDI) among 21 noteworthy States of India was 12 in 2004-05 and 9 in 2011-12.
- The initiatives taken by the Government to further increase the HDI in the country include:
- Health sector: Promoting institutional deliveries, strengthening of health infrastructure, training of service providers in management of emergency obstetric care and skilled birth attendance
- Providing ante-natal and post-natal care
- Organising village health and nutrition days
- Engagement of an accredited social health activist (ASHA) in the community
- Establishment of nutritional rehabilitation centres, strengthening routine immunization programme, focussing on reduction in morbidity and mortality due to acute respiratory infections (ARI) and diarrhoeal disease.
- Education: Enactment and operationalisation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day-Meal Scheme, National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary level, setting up of Kasturba Gandhi BalikaVidyalaya, MahilaSamakhya programme, scheme for providing quality education in Madarasas
- Food: The National Food Security Act, 2013 aims to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity
- Introduction of name based web enabled tracking of pregnant women & children (Mother and Child Tracking System) to ensure antenatal, intra-natal and postnatal care to pregnant women and care to new-borns, infants and children
- Employment: Improving the purchasing power of the people through various income generating schemes including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
- Training of ASHAs in Home based new born care, training of health care providers in essential new-born care and resuscitation, providing new-born care at all levels, promoting exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding
Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Flexing nanotech to prevent steel corrosion
What’s in news?
- Swinging to nanotechnology, a gathering of marine analysts from Kerala is endeavoring to battle erosion of steel utilized for making angling vessels. Consumption of steel has been a noteworthy reason for sympathy toward the angling segment of Kerala where steel vessels have practically supplanted wooden ones.
- There is upgraded risk of consumption on account of welding joints and the structure of a vessel. The non-accessibility of good quality steel (BIS 2062 Grade B steel) as indicated for watercraft building has intensified the issue.
- Scientists at the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Kochi, have successfully tried applying nanomaterials like nano iron oxide, zinc oxide, cerium oxide and titanium oxides on steel surfaces under lab conditions.
- These nanomaterials have high surface area and increased adhesiveness to the substrate.
- The boat-building steel was coated with nano-trimetal oxide mixtures, and its evaluation in laboratory showed about 40% corrosion inhibition under marine environments.
- Customary techniques for covering of steel materials with artistic, polymeric and electro-statement are successful just to a restricted degree. The scientists called attention to that the real drawbacks appeared by these coatings are poor grip, covering deserts, poor scratch resistance, optical straightforwardness, low covering adaptability and defenselessness to scraped spot.
- Even the recently introduced nanomaterial-incorporated polymer coatings have their own set of challenges — they tend to develop pinholes and pores, which could lead to the penetration of corrosive agents into the matrix followed by corrosion.
Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Air quality in Delhi poor on 90 per cent of total winter days: study
Why in news?
- The month to month normal PM 2.5 focus was recorded to be the most noteworthy in November at all checking stations, with the exception of ITO and Dilshad Garden.
- The capital did not see a solitary “decent” air quality day all through winter, a report by the Center for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) has uncovered.
- The air quality was “poor” or ‘exceptionally poor’ for almost 90 per cent of the days in the previous four months with not a solitary day recording a “decent” air quality day.
- Six per cent of the aggregate winter days even fell into the “severe” class with PM 2.5 levels more than 300 µg/m3.
- On November 5, the checking station of Delhi Technological University (DTU) close Bawana industrial area got the greatest normal convergence of particulate matter at 981 µg/m3.
- A conceivable reason credited to the higher PM focus can be the vicinity to the railroad intersection and the nearness of landfill dumping site.
National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has established an atmospheric monitoring station in the campus of Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) at Palampur (H.P.) at an altitude of 1391 m for generating the base data for atmospheric trace species & properties to serve as reference for comparison of polluted atmosphere in India.
Key facts:
- The station houses calibrated state-of-the-art-equipment for the continuous measurements of ambient and greenhouse gases (CO, NO, NO2, NH3, SO2, O3, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, hydrocarbons, black-carbon, CO2 & CH4), and weather parameters.
- Because of Palampur’s pristine air, and the capability of the new monitoring station for detection of small amounts of pollutants, the impact of faraway pollution sources can be measured precisely.
- This new station has the experimental facilities to investigate the aerosol/cloud interactions, and such investigations are helpful in generating a better understanding of the Earth’s climate system.
- The data generated by pristine station at Palampur will act as background data for the measured pollution at various cities in the country. The generated background data will be shared with different pollution control boards and agencies in the country so that the more precise pollution mapping traceable to standard values can be done, which in turn, would assist policy decisions for the abatement of air pollutants.
- In India, air quality parameters are mostly measured in industrial and residential areas, however, data for air quality of pristine atmosphere is not available in India. NPL’s station will contribute to fill this important gap.
- The NPL’s station will also serve as a base station for inter-comparison of air quality monitoring equipment being used in India to improve quality of monitored data in India.
D. GS4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn
F. BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGS IN NEWS
| BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGANISATIONS IN NEWS | About the Article |
G. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂
Question 1: With reference to India’s ‘National Physical Laboratory (NPL)’,
consider the following statements:
- It is the repository of physical standards such as the kilogram, second and the centimeter
- It has been set up by the Ministry of Environmental and Forest.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 Only
- 2 Only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Question 2: ‘Larson C’ ice shelf has been in the news in recent times for which
one of the following reasons?
- A huge iceberg, expected to be one of the largest ever recorded, is poised to break off from this ice shelf that is located in Antarctica.
- It is one of the largest proven oil deposits beneath it in the Arctic.
- It is being subject to a man-made breakup (collapse) by Russia so as to open up the Northern Sea Route all year, making it a commercially viable route.
- None of the above
Question 3: The target of 90-90-90 is an ambitious global treatment target to
help end which one of the following epidemics?
- HIV
- Cholera
- Tuberculosis
- Zika fever
Question 4: Consider the following statements in the context of 'Biomarkers':
- WHO defines biomarkers as any measurement reflecting an interaction between a biologicalsystem and a potential hazard, which may be chemical, physical, or biological.
- Recently, Researchers identified specific metabolites that can potentially be used as biomarkers for distinguishing dengue and chikungunya infections by two viruses.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Question 5: Recently, Havelock and Neil Islands was in the news, are located
in ________.
- Seychelles
- Maldives
- Lakshadweep
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
For previous practice questions solution, click here
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