Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 19th March 2022

NEWS

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has said the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use less than 100 microns would be prohibited from July 1

WHAT IS SAID

• As per Rule 4 (2) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (as amended)
• The rules prohibit “identified single-use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022.”
• What are the items included -  Ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, polystyrene for decoration, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, wrapping and packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets, and plastic or PVC banners

SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

• Also called disposable plastics
• Used only once before they are thrown away or recycled
• Not usually biodegradable
• Goes into a landfill where it is buried or it gets into the water and finds its way into the ocean.
• Degrade into tiny particles after many years. In this process of degradation, they release toxic chemicals (additives that were used to shape and harden the plastic) which make their way into our food and water supply

NEWS

India has plans to introduce eight deep ocean to strengthen the capacity of observations in the Indian Ocean as part of its 'Deep Ocean Mission'.

DETAILS

WHAT ARE OCEAN GLIDERS

• Autonomous, unmanned underwater vehicle used for ocean science
• Require little or no human assistance while traveling
• Uniquely suited for collecting data in remote locations, safely
•  Relatively low cost
• May be equipped with a wide variety of sensors
• Monitor temperature, salinity, currents, and other ocean conditions
• Information creates a more complete picture of what is happening in the ocean, as well as trends

WHAT TYPE OF GLIDERS ARE PROPOSED

• Having 6-12 months endurance
• Able to Travel from 3,000 km to 4,500 km
• About 48 deep Argo floats at 6,000-metre depth at 24 locations and another 150 wave drifters

WHAT IS DEEP OCEAN MISSION

• Undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)
• Under Ministry of Earth Sciences 
• Approved in 2021
• India’s first unique manned ocean mission
• Aims to send men into the deep sea in a submersible vehicle for deep-sea ocean exploration and mining of rare minerals
• Resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, Gas hydrates, hydrothermal sulfides, and cobalt crusts will be explored which are usually located at a depth between 1000 to 5500 meters.
• India has been allocated a site of 75,000sq km in the Central Indian Ocean Basin by the International Sea Bed Authority (ISA) for the exploration of polymetallic nodules from the seabed in a 15-year contract.
• The estimated resource potential of polymetallic nodules is 380 million tonnes through preliminary studies. Major components in these nodules are manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt.

NEWS

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering widespread and severe coral bleaching due to high ocean temperatures two years after a mass bleaching event

CORAL REEF

• Calcareous rocks, formed from the skeletons of minute sea animals, called polyps.
• The polyps extract calcium salts from seawater to form hard skeletons which protect their soft bodies. These skeletons give rise to corals.
• The corals live in colonies fastened to the rocky seafloor. New generations develop on skeletons of dead polyps. The tubular skeletons grow upwards and outwards as a cemented calcareous rocky mass collectively called corals.
• The shallow rock created by these depositions is called a reef. These reefs, later on, evolve into islands.
• The corals Occur in different forms and colours, depending upon the nature of salts or constituents they are made of.
• The progressive development of corals appears over the sea surface in different forms over a period of time. Small marine plants (algae) also deposit calcium carbonate, thus contributing to coral growth.

GREAT BARRIER REEF

• Great Barrier Reef is the world's most extensive coral reef environment, with over 2,900 distinct reefs and 900 islands.
• The reef is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea (North-East Coast).
• It is visible from space and is the world's biggest structure built by living organisms.
• It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

CORAL REEFS BLEACHING

• Coral reef ecosystems worldwide have been subject to unprecedented degradation over the past few decades. Disturbances affecting coral reefs include anthropogenic and natural events.
• Recent accelerated coral reef decline seems to be related mostly to anthropogenic impacts (overexploitation, overfishing, increased sedimentation, and nutrient overloading.
• Natural disturbances which cause damage to coral reefs include violent storms, flooding, high and low-temperature extremes, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, etc.
• Coral bleaching occurs when the relationship between the coral host and marine algae, which give coral much of their colour, breaks down. Without the marine algae, the tissue of the coral animal appears transparent and the coral’s bright white skeleton is revealed. Coral reef bleaching is a common stress response of corals to many of the various disturbances mentioned above.
• Corals begin to starve once they bleach. While some corals are able to feed themselves, most corals struggle to survive without their algae. If conditions return to normal, corals can regain their algae, return to their normal colour and survive. However, this stress is likely to cause decreased coral growth and reproduction, and increased susceptibility to disease.
• Bleached corals often die if the stress persists. Coral reefs that have high rates of coral death following bleaching can take many years or decades to recover.

Causes

• Coral species live within a relatively narrow temperature margin and therefore, low and high sea temperatures can induce coral bleaching. Bleaching events occur during sudden temperature drops accompanying intense upwelling episodes, seasonal cold-air outbreaks etc.
• Bleaching during the summer months, during seasonal temperature and irradiance maxima often occurs disproportionately in shallow-living corals and on the exposed summits of colonies.
• Sudden exposure of reef flat corals to the atmosphere during events such as extreme low tides, ENSO-related sea level drops or tectonic uplift can potentially induce bleaching.
• Rapid dilution of reef waters from storm-generated precipitation and runoff has been demonstrated to cause coral reef bleaching.
• Other causes includes the increase in the concentration of inorganic Nutrients, sedimentation, oxygen starvation caused by an increase in zooplankton levels as a result of overfishing, ocean acidification, changes in salinity, sea level change due to global warming, cyanide fishing etc

NEWS

Tribals of Gujarat are protesting against Par-Tapi-Narmada River linking project

THE PROJECT

• Was envisioned in 1980
• Intends to carry water from the Western Ghats' water surplus regions to Saurashtra and Kutch's water deficit regions
• Seven reservoirs are proposed in north Maharashtra and south Gujarat as part of the link project
• Water from the 7 proposed reservoirs will be taken through a 395-kilometer-long canal to take over a part of the command of the ongoing Sardar Sarovar Project (on the Narmada), while also irrigating small enroute areas.
• Jheri, Mohankavchali,Chasmandva, Paikhed,Chikkar, Dabdar, and Kelwan are the seven dams proposed
• This will preserve SardarSarovar water, which would then be used to extend irrigation in Saurashtra and Kutch
• The link primarily envisages the construction of 7 dams, 3 diversion weirs, 2tunnels, a 395-kilometer-long canal, 6powerhouses, and a number of cross-drainage works.

BENEFITS

• The link will generate hydropower of the order of 93.00 Mkwh through powerhouses installed at four dam locations, in addition to providing irrigation benefits to the enroute command and Narmada command.
• The reservoirs will also provide flood relief to those who live downstream.

BY - Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations

WHAT IT SAYS

• 10^th year of the report
• Assigns a happiness score on a scale of zero to 10, based on an average of data over a three-year period
• Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running
• Afghanistan as the unhappiest, closely followed by Lebanon
• Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia recorded the biggest boosts in wellbeing
• The largest falls in the World Happiness table came in Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan.
• Lebanon, which is facing economic meltdown, fell to second from last on the index of 146 countries, just below Zimbabwe
• War-scarred Afghanistan, already bottom of the table last year, saw its humanitarian crisis deepen since the Taliban returned to power last August following the pull-out of US-led troops
• Northern Europeans once again dominated the top spots — with the Danes second to the Finns, followed by the Icelandic, the Swiss and the Dutch
• The United States rose three places to 16th, one ahead of Britain. France climbed to 20th, its highest ranking yet

NEWS

Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted World Food Programme

DETAILS

• Food assistance branch of the United Nations
• World’s largest humanitarian organization
• Addresses hunger and promoting food security
• Strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition
• Ultimate goal of eliminating the need for food aid itself
• Member of the United Nations Development Group
• Part of its Executive Committee
• Born in 1961
• Funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors
• Also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS

NEWS

India told the UN Security Council meeting said it attaches importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

BIOLOGICAL AND TOXIN WEAPONS CONVENTION (BTWC)

• First multilateral treaty categorically banning a class of weapon
• Came into force in 1975
• Prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons
• Prohibits the development, stockpile, production, or transfer of biological agents and toxins of “types and quantities” that have no justification for protective or peaceful use
• Bans the development of weapons, equipment, or delivery systems to disseminate such agents or toxins.
• Should a state possess any agent, toxin, or delivery system for them, they have nine months from entry into force of the treaty to destroy their stockpiles, or divert them for peaceful use
• States shall cooperate bilaterally or multilaterally to solve compliance issues
• States may also submit complaints to the UNSCR should they believe another state is violating the treaty
• There is no implementation body , but there is only a review conference that too every five years to review the convention’s implementation, and establish confidence-building measures.
• The Convention currently has 183 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria).
• Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC: Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu.

• For the benefit of students who are lagging behind in learning skills due to the pandemic, the State government launched Kalika Chetarike (improve learning levels) programme. The closure of physical classes due to the pandemic has negatively impacted students’ learning skills.
• Bengaluru’s Aster CMI Hospital, in association with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), launched an artificial intelligence (AI) lab on Friday. It is  set up with the aim to build cutting-edge AI products in the healthcare domain and bridge the gap between clinical medicine and technology by training healthcare professionals in AI.
• Border roads organizations is pushing to adopt MULE PACKS for transfer of goods in Arunachal Pradesh where there is poor road connectivity. A mule is a offspring of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare).