Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 19th June 2021

What is in news: Citizens and Environmentalists are fighting against the proposal to clear over 6,000 trees in Singanayakanahalli to construct a lake under Hebbal-Nagawara Valley Project by Minor Irrigation Department in Karnataka.

Hebbal-Nagawara Valley Project

• This project was launched with the aim of filling 65 tanks in Bengaluru Urban, Rural and Chickballapur.
• Bagaluru lake was the first lake to receive treated water from this project.
• The project was meant to act as an impounded reservoir to supply water in 11 other lakes in this region.
• Direct use of treated water for drinking and agricultural purposes was prohibited but farmers were of the view that, project is increasing the water table.

What is the issue: Activists are questioning the need and logic of removing such huge number of trees.

Hebbal Lake: The lake is located in Bangalore at the mouth of National Highway 7, near the junction of Bellary Road and Outer Ring Road. These lakes were created in 1537 by Kempe Gowda. It was formed by damming natural valley systems. It spreads over an area of 75 ha with plans for extending it up to 143 ha.

What is in news : Election Commission of India  released ‘General Elections 2019 – An Atlas’, Atlas on General Elections 2019.

Details :

The Atlas -

• Encompasses all the data and statistical figures of 2019 elections
• Has 42 thematic maps and 90 tables depicting various facets of the elections.
• shares interesting facts, anecdotes and legal provisions related to the Indian elections.
• Serves as an informative and illustrative document that brings to light the nuances of the Indian electoral process and empowers readers to analyse trends and changes.
• Brings out salient features such as data of the 23 States and Uts where women voting percentage was more than the male voting percentage; information about the largest & smallest parliamentary constituency in terms of electors, candidates and performance of political parties amongst other parameters.
• Depicts the electors data in different categories and through various comparison charts like Elector Gender Ratio and electors in different age categories. The 2019 General Elections witnessed the lowest gender gap in the history of Indian elections. The Elector Gender Ratio which has shown a positive trend since 1971 was 926 in 2019 General Elections.
• Compares the average number of electors per polling station in different states during 2014 & 2019 General Elections.The Election Commission of India set up over 10 lakh polling stations in General Elections 2019 with the lowest number of electors per polling station (365) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Other information :

• Since the first General Elections in 1951-52, the Commission has been publishing compilation of electoral data in the form of narrative and statistical books. 17th General Elections conducted in 2019 were the largest democratic exercise in human history which witnessed the participation of 61.468 crore voters at 10.378 lakh polling stations spread over 32 lakh square kilometer territory of India.
• In Indian elections, electoral data is primarily collected during the preparation of Electoral Roll by the Electoral Registration Officers and also in the process of conduct of elections by the Returning Officers. This data is then collated by these statutory authorities. Thereafter, after the culmination of the electoral process, the Election Commission of India collects this electoral data and prepares various reports for compilation, record and dissemination purposes.

What is in news : A new species named “Stygarctus Keralensis” has been identified in Kerala. This tiny & tough species of Tardigrades has been named after Kerala.’’

Tardigrades

• Tardigrades are found in terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments from the Arctic to the Antarctic, including great depths and altitudes.
• They were first described by German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773. He called these species as kleiner Wasserbar.
• They can withstand extreme radiation, sizzling heat, the coldest temperatures of the universe, and decades without food.
• Also known as water bears or moss piglets, they are capable of surviving temperatures as high as 150° Celsius and as low as minus 272° Celsius albeit for a few minutes.
• The grub-like, eight-legged animals can come back from being dried out to a lifeless husk for decades, withstand near zero pressure in outer space and the crushing depths of the Mariana Trench.
• They are microscopic, multicellular, and one of the most durable forms of life on planet Earth.

What is in news : Illegal sale of HtBt cotton has increased in country

Details :

• Industry lobbies have written to the Agriculture Ministry, demanding that action be taken to stop such sales and punish offenders, noting that cultivation of the genetically modified cotton variant has serious environmental and economic consequences.
• Bt cotton is the only transgenic crop that has been approved by the Centre for commercial cultivation in India. It has been genetically modified to produce an insecticide to combat the cotton bollworm, a common pest.
• The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification, making the plant resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, but has not been approved by regulators. Fears include glyphosate having a carcinogenic effect, as well as the unchecked spread of herbicide resistance to nearby plants through pollination, creating a variety of superweeds.

What is in news: Recently, European Space Agency (ESA) has announced a new mission- EnVision mission to Venus.

About:

• It is an European Space Agency (ESA) led mission with contributions from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• It is likely to be launched sometime in the 2030s. Once launched on an Ariane 6 rocket, the spacecraft will take about 15 months to reach Venus and will take 16 more months to achieve orbit circularisation.

Aim:

• The mission will carry a range of instruments to study the planet’s atmosphere and surface, monitor trace gases in the atmosphere and analyse its surface composition.
• Significance:
• EnVision will follow another ESA-led mission to Venus called ‘Venus Express’ (2005-2014) that focussed on atmospheric research and pointed to volcanic hotspots on the planet’s surface

Other missions to venus:

• NASA -
  • Proposes : DAVINCI+ and VERITAS
  • Older missions - Mariner series 1962-1974, Pioneer Venus 1 and Pioneer Venus 2 in 1978, Magellan in 1989
• Russia: Venera series of space crafts 1967-1983, Vegas 1 and 2 in 1985.
• Japan: Akatsuki spacecraft has been studying the planet’s atmosphere since 2015.
• India plans to launch a new orbiter named Shukrayaan to Venus in 2024.

Importance of Studying Venus:

• It will help to learn how Earth-like planets evolve and what conditions exist on Earth-sized exoplanets (planets that orbit a star other than our sun).
• It will help in modelling Earth’s climate, and serves as a cautionary tale on how dramatically a planet’s climate can change.
• Scientists speculate about the existence of life on Venus in its distant past and the possibility that life may exist in the top layers of its clouds where temperatures are less extreme.
• In 2020, scientists detected the presence of phosphine (a chemical produced only through biological processes) in the atmosphere of Venus.

What is in news : India's famous athlete Milkha singh recently passed away

Milkha Singh

• Milkha Singh, byname the Flying Sikh, (born October 17, 1935, Lyallpur [now Faisalabad], Pakistan), Indian track-and-field athlete who became the first Indian male to reach the final of an Olympic athletics event when he placed fourth in the 400-metre race at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
• Orphaned during the partition of India, Singh moved to India from Pakistan in 1947. He eked out a living by working in a roadside restaurant before joining the Indian army. It was in the army that Singh realized his abilities as a sprinter. After winning the national trials in the 200-metre and 400-metre sprints, he was eliminated during the preliminary heats for those events at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.
• At the 1958 Asian Games, Singh won both the 200-metre and 400-metre races. Later that year he captured the 400-metre gold at the Commonwealth Games, which was India’s first athletics gold in the history of the Games. He narrowly lost the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, missing out on third place in a photo finish. Singh retained his 400-metre gold at the 1962 Asian Games and also took another gold as part of India’s 4 × 400-metre relay team. He made a final Olympic appearance at the 1964 Tokyo Games as part of the national 4 × 400 team that failed to advance past preliminary heats.
• Singh was awarded the Padma Shri (one of India’s highest civilian honours) in 1959. After his retirement he served as the director of sports in Punjab. Singh’s autobiography, The Race of My Life (cowritten with his daughter Sonia Sanwalka), was published in 2013

By : Institute for Management Development

Details :

• India was ranked at 43rd position among 64 countries.
• Switzerland has topped the list and is followed by Sweden (2nd), Denmark (3rd), Netherlands (4th) and Singapore (5th).
• Taiwan was ranked at 8th position, reaching among top-10 for the first time in 33 years.
• UAE (9th) and USA (10th) maintains the same spots as in 2020.
• Top performing Asian economies include Singapore (5th), Hong Kong (7th), Taiwan (8th) and China (16th).
• About IMD World Competitiveness Ranking
• This index ranks 64 economies and assesses extent to which any country promotes prosperity of its people. This index started ranking countries 33 years ago by measuring countries well-being through hard data and survey responses from executives. It is released by IMD World Competitiveness Center.
• Among BRICS, India (43rd) is ranked second after China (16th). India is followed by Russia (45th), Brazil (57th) and South Africa (62nd).
• How India’s rank improved: India witnessed improvements in government efficiency factor because of relatively stable public finances amid covid-19 pandemic. As per the report, qualities like investment in innovation, welfare benefits & leadership, digitalization have helped countries to get higher

By : Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) Sydney

Details :

• GPI is world’s leading measure of global peacefulness.
• Index ranks 163 independent states and territories as per level of their peacefulness.
• Report provides a comprehensive data-driven analysis on trends in peace, its economic value and recommends on how to develop peaceful societies.
• Iceland is most peaceful country worldwide since 2008.
• Iceland is joined by other top countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Portugal and Slovenia.
• Afghanistan is the least peaceful country again for fourth consecutive year.
• Afghanistan is followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq.
• India and its neighbor
• India has moved up by two position from its last year’s ranking. It has become 135th most peaceful country while, 5th in South Asia region.
• Bhutan and Nepal are first and second most peaceful in this region.
• Bangladesh was 91th out of 163 countries across the world while being 3rd in South Asia.
• Sri Lanka slipped by 19 position to become 95th peaceful country while, 4th in South Asia region.
• Pakistan witnessed the most improvement in peacefulness with 150th rank globally and 6th in South Asia region.

What is in news : United Nations general assembly adopted a resolution on Myanmar on Friday that called "upon the Myanmar armed forces to respect the people's will as freely expressed by results of the general election of November 8, 2020, to end the state of emergency, to respect all human rights of people of Myanmar and to allow the sustained democratic transition of Myanmar, including the opening of the democratically elected parliament, and by working towards bringing all national institutions, including the armed forces, under a fully inclusive civilian government that is representative of the people's will"

India view : India has abstained on a UN General Assembly resolution on Myanmar, saying its views have not been reflected in the draft resolution and a "consultative and constructive" approach involving Myanmar's neighbouring countries is important as the international community strives for the peaceful resolution of the issue. Other countries which abstained from voting include China and Russia.

About the Military Coup:

• In the November 2020 parliamentary election, Suu Kyi’s party National League for Democracy (NLD) secured the majority of the seats.
• In the Myanmars’ Parliament, the military holds 25% of the total seats according to the 2008 military-drafted constitution and several key ministerial positions are also reserved for military appointees.
• When the newly elected Myanmar lawmakers were to hold the first session of Parliament in 2021, the military imposed a state of emergency for one year citing massive voting fraud in the parliamentary elections.

Myanmar

• Location: Myanmar, also known as Burma, is in South East Asia and neighbours Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, China and India.
• Demography: It has a population of about 54 million, most of whom are Burmese speakers, although other languages are also spoken. The biggest city is Yangon (Rangoon) but the capital is Nay Pyi Taw.
• Religion: The main religion is Buddhism. There are many ethnic groups in the country, including Rohingya Muslims.
• Polity:
  1. The country gained independence from Britain in 1948. It was ruled by the armed forces from 1962 until 2011, when a new government began ushering in a return to civilian rule.
  2. In the 2010s, the military regime decided to transition the country towards democracy. Although the armed forces remained powerful, political opponents were freed and elections were allowed to be held.
  3. The NLD won the 2015 election, the country’s first free and fair election participated by multiple parties, and formed the government, raising hopes that the country is on its way to full transition to democracy.​

SNIPPETS

• The mortality rate from mucormycosis or black fungus, a post-COVID complication, is higher than the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of COVID-19 in Karnataka. While the State’s average CFR of COVID-19 is 1.2%, the mortality rate from mucormycosis has touched 7.8%. Till June 17, it had claimed 225 lives of the total 2,856 persons infected.
• Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago (IUIC) have successfully used graphene to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in laboratory experiments.
• US Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was enacted in March 2010.ACA or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010 and required most Americans to get a minimum health insurance coverage.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished people, particularly the Kashmiri Pandit community, on the occasion of Jyeshtha Ashtami. In Jammu and Kashmir, Jyestha Ashtami is celebrated by people at the shrine of Kheer Bhawani in Tullamula in honour of their patron goddess Ragnya Devi. Kheer or rice pudding is prepared on this day as an offering to the goddess.
• Sea-level will rise around the Lakshadweep Islands in the range between 0.4 mm/year to 0.9 mm/year, says a study conducted projecting different greenhouse gas scenarios. The study estimated that smaller islands Chetlat and Amini are expected to have major land-loss. Projection mapping indicated that about 60%-70% of existing shoreline would experience land-loss in Amini and about 70%-80% in Chetlat. The present work highlights that, larger islands Minicoy and the capital Kavaratti are also vulnerable to sea-level rise, and expected to experience land-loss along 60% of the existing shoreline. Sea-level rise effects are seen to have the least impact on Androth Island under all emission scenarios.
• In a first, the Indian Navy is participating in a joint exercise with the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR). Stealth frigate INS Trikand, will participate in the two-day exercise in Gulf of Aden as it is already deployed in the region on anti-piracy operations.
• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought was observed on June 17, 2021 to raise awareness on land degradation, desertification and drought. Theme of the day for year 2021 was ” Restoration, Land, Recovery”.
• Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment inaugurated 14 Cross-Disability Early Intervention Centers at 7 National Institutes and 7 Composite Regional Centers (CRCs).Centers will provide services like screening, identification, rehabilitation, counselling and therapeutic for different disabilities under one roof in a contiguous manner. It will help in identifying children with disabilities or infants who are vulnerable to develop a disability and provide them early assistance to ensure optimal development of the child
• The Wide Area Linear Optical Polarimeter (WALOP), a vital instrument for the PASIPHAE Project, is being developed at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), India. Polar-Areas Stellar-Imaging in Polarisation High-Accuracy Experiment (PASIPHAE) is an international collaborative sky surveying project.