UPSC 2017: Comprehensive News Analysis - June 13

In news:

• Retail inflation in May, at 2.18%, eased to its lowest level since the Centre began measuring it on a nationwide basis in 2012, driven in large part by cooling food prices, according to a latest government release.
• Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was even slower than the 2.99% seen in April, the previous record low. Within the index, food and beverages category witnessed a contraction of 0.2% in May, compared with a growth of 1.3% in April.
• Industrial output expanded by 3.1% in April.
• Growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was spurred by the manufacturing sector within which the tobacco and the pharmaceuticals sectors grew the fastest.

Basic Information:

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing.
• The all India IIP is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period with respect to that in a chosen base period.
• It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) six weeks after the reference month ends.
• The level of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an abstract number, the magnitude of which represents the status of production in the industrial sector for a given period of time as compared to a reference period of time. The base year was at one time fixed at 1993–94 so that year was assigned an index level of 100.
• The current base year is 2011-2012.
• The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). These are Electricity , steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilisers.

In news:

• New study and new approach: Using different parts of sunlight’s spectrum to produce crops, generate electricity, collect heat and purify water could provide food, energy and water resources for the world’s growing population.
• The concept works by separating and harvesting the three specific segments of the solar spectrum that are best suited to facilitate the production of food, energy and clean water.
• In current practices, much of this spectrum is wasted because all of the sunlight falling on a given spot is used for one purpose: agriculture, energy production or water purification. A typical photovoltaic panel, when installed on farmland, casts a shadow and dramatically reduces plant growth and crop yield from the shadowed area.
• The new approach would instead use the same land mass for all three purposes simultaneously through innovative technologies that split the spectrum into three segments and efficiently harvest sunlight.
• The proposed photovoltaic designs transmit photons responsible for plant growth while reflecting remaining photons in the solar spectrum to specially designed solar cells that can help generate electricity and collect heat for energy recovery and water purification.

In news:

• BirdLife International, a conservation organisation, has recognised three new sites in Goa as hotspots for protection.
• The sites- Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Navelim Wetlands and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, have been added to their list of “Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas”.
• Goa at present has four recognised biodiversity areas: Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, Carambolim Wetlands, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Declaring a site as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area does not ensure that the site gets legal protection or becomes inaccessible to people. Instead BirdLife International encourages national and State governments to recognise the areas as sites of vital importance for conservation of wildlife and to empower local community-based conservation initiatives.

BirdLife International:

• BirdLife International (formerly the International Council for Bird Preservation) is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. It is the world’s largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.
• Headquarters: Cambridge, United Kingdom.
• BirdLife International is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Question 1: Consider the following statements:

Question 2: Consider the following statements:

Question 3: Consider the following statements:

Question 4: Which country to host 2017 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)?

Question 5: Baburnama was written in which language?

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