PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 7 - NOVEMBER - 2017
Paper 1:
Topic: Important Geophysical
phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,
geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical
features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the
effects of such changes.
2017 ‘very likely’ in top three warmest years on record
The year 2017 is “very likely” to be in the top three
warmest years on record, according to provisional
figures from the World Meteorological Organization.
Factors responsible for this:
§ Absence of the El Niño phenomenon.
§ The long-term trend of warming driven by human activities
continues unabated.
§ Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are the highest on record.
About WMO:
What is it?
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized
agency of the United Nations dedicated to meteorology (weather), climatology
(climate), operational hydrology (water) and other related geophysical sciences
such as oceanography and atmospheric chemistry.
What does WMO do?
§ WMO coordinates the activities of National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services in 191 States and Territories so that basic weather,
climate and water services are made available to anyone who needs them, when
they need them.
§ WMO guarantees the publication of observations and statistics and
furthers the application of meteorology and hydrology (including the monitoring
and predictions of climate change and ozone) to all aspects of human activities
such as aviation, shipping, water management and agriculture.
§ WMO also encourages research and training in meteorology and
hydrology and their related applications and contributes towards reducing the
impact of weather- and climate-related hazards. This is accomplished through
regular, reliable forecasts and early warnings on flooding, drought, tropical
cyclones, tornadoes and other extreme events.
§ Predictions concerning locust swarms and the transport of
pollutants (nuclear and toxic substances, volcanic ash) are also provided by
WMO Members.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 2:
Topic: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
Public credit registry to speed up digitisation
Context:
Reserve Bank deputy governor N.S.Vishwanathan recently said the
introduction of a public credit registry will further speed up digitisation
that has already changed the way banking is done in the country.
About Public Credit Registry:
What is it?
The PCR will be an extensive database of credit information for
India that is accessible to all stakeholders. The idea is to capture all
relevant information in one large database on the borrower and, in particular,
the borrower’s entire set of borrowing contracts and outcomes.
Management of PCR:
Generally, a PCR is managed by a public authority like the central
bank or the banking supervisor, and reporting of loan details to the PCR by
lenders and/or borrowers is mandated by law. The contractual terms and outcomes
covered and the threshold above which the contracts are to be reported vary in
different jurisdictions, but the idea is to capture all relevant information in
one large database on the borrower, in particular, the borrower’s entire set of
borrowing contracts and outcomes.
Benefits of having a PCR:
§ A PCR can potentially help banks in credit assessment and pricing
of credit as well as in making risk-based, dynamic and counter-cyclical
provisioning.
§ The PCR can also help the RBI in understanding if transmission of
monetary policy is working, and if not, where are the bottlenecks.
§ Further, it can help supervisors, regulators and banks in early
intervention and effective restructuring of stressed bank credits.
§ A PCR will also help banks and regulators as credit information is
a ‘public good’ and its utility is to the credit market at large and to society
in general.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and
global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
interests.
COP23
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is hosting the 23rd
annual conference at Bonn, Germany.
What’s in the COP 23?
The conference named as COP23 is being held to further the
provisions of the Paris Agreement, and achieve results in the execution
guidelines.
§ While the aim of the event is much larger, nations attending the
COP23 are scheduled to finalise the rulebook of the Paris Agreement. This process was started in Marrakesh 2016 meet. These rules
will dictate how the Agreement would be monitored and executed. It will change
the famous 1997 Kyoto Protocol by 2020.
§ The rulebook will include new international standards for
measuring carbon emissions. These standards will ensure comparison of efforts
made by various countries. However, a few negotiators, like the US, deny the
impacts of climate change and argue that the efforts cost a huge amount of
resources.
Paris Agreement:
The Paris Agreement is meant to make sure that the average surface
temperature all over the world does not rise above two degrees Celsius,
compared to pre-industrial times. To achieve this goal, countries have promised
under the Paris Agreement to take a variety of self-determined actions to
restrain the current rate of global warming.
About UNFCCC:
The UNFCCC was adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, which
marked the beginning of the international community’s first concerted effort to
confront the problem of climate change. Known also as the Rio Convention, the
UNFCCC established a framework for action to stabilise concentrations of
greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. The UNFCCC entered into force in
1994, and nearly all of the world’s nations—a total of 195—have now signed on.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
India to contribute USD 100 million to UN partnership fund
India has pledged an additional USD 100 million towards the UN
partnership fund, significantly scaling up its support to sustainable
development projects across the developing world.
About the India-UN Development Partnership Fund:
What is it? The India-UN Development
Partnership Fund was set up as a partnership between India and the United
Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
What is it for? Managed by UNOSSC, the
fund will support Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and transformational
sustainable development projects across the developing world. Focusing on Least
Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States, United Nations
agencies will implement the Fund’s projects in close collaboration with
partnering governments.
Focus areas: Reducing poverty and
hunger, improving health, education and equality, and expanding access to clean
water and energy.
Facts for Prelims and Mains:
About UNOSSC:
What is it?
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) was established to
promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular cooperation globally
and within the United Nations system. UNOSSC, hosted by UNDP since 1974, was
established by the UN General Assembly with a mandate to advocate for and coordinate
South-South and triangular cooperation on a global and UN system-wide basis.
Functions: UNOSSC receives policy directives and guidance from the
General Assembly and through its subsidiary body, the High-level Committee on
South-South Cooperation. UNOSSC submits its strategic planning frameworks to
the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Executive Board for approval and funding.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: IPR.
Banaganapalle mangoes get GI tag
The famous Banaganapalle
mangoes of Andhra Pradesh and Tulaipanji rice of West Bengalare among the seven commodities that have been granted Geographical
Indication (GI) this fiscal year by the Indian patent office.
The other five products which have received the
GI tag this year include Pochampally Ikat of Telangana; Gobindobhog rice of
West Bengal; Durgi stone carvings and Etikoppaka toys of Andhra Pradesh; and
Chakshesang shawl of Nagaland.
About GI tag:
What is it? A GI is primarily an
agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial
goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
Significance of a GI tag: Typically, such a name
conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially
attributable to the place of its origin.
Security: Once the GI protection is
granted, no other producer can misuse the name to market similar products. It
also provides comfort to customers about the authenticity of that product.
Examples: Darjeeling tea, Tirupati
laddu, Kangra paintings, Nagpur orange and Kashmir pashmina are among the
registered GIs in India.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: awareness in space.
Proxima Centauri may host planetary system
Scientists have detected dust belts around Proxima Centauri, a
finding that indicates the presence of an elaborate planetary system hosted by
the closest star to the solar system.
Key facts:
§ These new observations were made by the Atacama Large Millimeter
Array (ALMA) observatory in Chile. The new ALMA observations reveal emission
from clouds of cold cosmic dust surrounding the star.
§ ALMA observatory revealed the glow coming from cold dust in a
region between one to four times as far from Proxima Centauri as the Earth is
from the Sun.
§ The data also hints at the presence of an even cooler outer dust
belt and may indicate the presence of a system of planets. These structures are
similar to the much larger belts in the solar system and are also expected to
be made from particles of rock and ice that failed to form planets.
About Proxima Centauri:
What is it? Proxima Centauri is the
closest star to the Sun. It is a faint red dwarf lying just four light years
away in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is orbited by the
Earth-sized temperate world Proxima b, discovered in 2016 and the closest
exoplanet to the solar system.
IS PROXIMA B HABITABLE?
Proxima b orbits its star at a distance of 0.05 astronomical
units, which is well within the habitable zone.
§ In a recent study, researchers calculated different possible radii
and compositions for the planet. They say Proxima b may be an ‘ocean planet’
with water similar to the subsurface oceans seen on icy moons around Jupiter
and Saturn.
§ According to this theory, the planet would have a radius of 5,543
miles (8,920km) and made up of 50% rock and 50% water that forms a massive
ocean. Along with this, it would have a thin, gas atmosphere like Earth’s.
§ In another scenario, they say Proxima b could be ‘very dense
planet,’ with a metal core that accounts for 65% of its mass, while the rest is
a rocky, silicate mantle. This would occur at a radius of just 3,722 miles
(5,990km), giving it a make-up similar to Mercury’s.
Facts for Prelims:
About ALMA telescope:
What is it?
ALMA -the largest astronomical project in existence- is a single
telescope of revolutionary design, composed of 66 high precision antennas
located on the Chajnantor plateau, 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile.
Who has built it?
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an
international partnership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the U.S.
National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural
Sciences (NINS) of Japan, together with NRC (Canada), NSC and ASIAA (Taiwan),
and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.
What is it for?
ALMA allows scientists to unravel longstanding and important
astronomical mysteries, in search of our Cosmic Origins.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
China launches 2 navigation satellites
China, which is building its own navigation system to rival United
States GPS, has launched two BeiDou-3 satellites into space though a single
carrier rocket. The satellites were launched aboard a Long March-3B carrier
rocket.
§ The two newly-launched satellites represent the third phase of the
BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.
About BeiDou project:
What is it?
Named after the Chinese term for the plough or the Big Dipper
constellation, the BeiDou project was formally initiated in 1994. It began to
serve China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2012. If
everything goes according to the plan, China will become the third country in
the world after the US and Russia to operate its own navigation system.
Operational area:
Beidou currently consists of 10 satellites and covers a swath of
the Asia-Pacific region from Australia in the south to Russia in the north. The
system is accurate to within 82 feet (25 meters) and now serves China and
surrounding areas on a pilot basis.
Significance:
The emergence of Beidou should make China far less dependent on
the GPS constellation, which is operated by the United States military and is
currently the world’s dominant satellite navigation network.
Facts for Prelims:
Global navigational systems: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite
System (IRNSS)- India, GPS (Global Positioning System)- US, Glonass- Russia and
Galileo- Europe.
Sources: the hindu.
Facts for Prelims:
§ Women’s Asia Cup hockey title:
India has won the women’s Asia Cup hockey title defeating China.
With this, India also qualified for next year’s World Cup as Continental
champion.
§ ICIJ:
Context:
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists today
releases The Paradise Papers, a global investigation that reveals the offshore
activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies.
What is ICIJ?
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is a
global network of more than 200 investigative journalists in 70 countries who
collaborate on in-depth investigative stories. Founded in 1997 by the respected
American journalist Chuck Lewis, ICIJ was launched as a project of the Center
for Public Integrity, focusing on issues that do not stop at national
frontiers: cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power.
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