November 2024
Download PDFRegional Grouping
India To Inaugurate First Ever ‘BIMSTEC Ports Conclave' In Vizag
Relevance IN - Prelims (about BIMSTEC and conclave) + Mains (GS II bilateral regional ang global groupings and agreements involving India and affecting India's interest)
What's the NEWS
- The two-day BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal initiative multi-sector technical and economic cooperation) Conclave will be held on 7th and 8th November at Visakhapatnam.
Know! more about the conclave
- Vizag port trust is hosting the conclave first time ever since the formation of BIMSTECH in 1997.
- Seven-member countries that includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Srilanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan are participating in the conference.
- The thrust would be to discuss and share experiences in increasing productivity, availing investment opportunities, development of free trade zones, development of tourism and measures required for safety and security of ports
- Ease of doing business, sharing of expertise, and emulation of best practices would be few among the deliberations.
- The Ports' First Conclave of BIMSTEC nations is expected to explore the possibility of increasing economic cooperation by furthering EXIM trade and coastal shipping.
- This session aims to discuss a mechanism to encourage tourism in the region and develop industrial clusters in close proximity to a Port.
- The diverse historical and cultural heritage of the BIMSTEC nations makes it an ideal destination for tourism, in which the ports play a vital role in encouraging cruise tourism.
Space Awareness
China launches Sudan's first satellite
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Sudan's first satellite and its objective) + Mains (GS III awareness in the field of space)
What's the NEWS
- Sudan has launched its first-ever satellite in cooperation with China, in a move that highlights the strengthening ties between the two nations.
Know! more about it
- The Sudan Remote Sensing Satellite (SRSS-1), was launched from the northern Chinese province of Shanxi. It will be monitoring Sudan in a few months
- The remote-sensing satellite has been launched to conduct research in economic, military and space technology.
- The satellite was launched aboard China's Long March-4B rocket along with other Chinese satellites including Gaofen 7, Xiaoxiang-1 08, Whampoa 1 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China.
- The Sudanese satellite has been mainly designed for civil and military remote sensing over Sudan.
Objective
- The remote-sensing satellite aims to advance research in space technology. Its main objective is to acquire the required data as well as discover natural resources for the country's military needs.
- The satellite aims to generate a comprehensive, cost-effective and reliable database on the topographic, mapping and natural resources of Sudan.
Know! about Pariah status
- Sudan has been an international pariah since the US named it as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993. The listing stuck throughout Bashir's rule. A move by the US to de-list the country in 2017 was put on hold after protests erupted.
- The new prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, a former UN staffer, has urged the West to end his country's pariah status to protect the democratic revolution and stop the economic collapse.
- But the West is not budging and Sudan is increasingly turning to authoritarian players such as China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to keep itself afloat.
Know! about Sudan's crisis
- Sudan's President, Omar al-Bashir's 30-year rule was viewed as a dictatorship and it was majorly marked by genocide, oppression and human rights violations.
- Since the past few years, Sudan was battling an acute economic crisis led by a shortage in foreign currency and high rates of inflation. The major economic crisis forced the people of the nation to protest against Bashir's dictatorship.
- The protests eventually forced the army to overthrow the President in a military coup. The military officially announced that the President was overthrown in April 2019.
NASA's Voyager-2 reaches interstellar space
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Voyager 1 and 2) + Mains (GS III awareness in the filed of space
What's the NEWS
- NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has reached interstellar space.
- NASA's Voyager-2 has become the second spacecraft which has reached outside the periphery of the solar system.
- It has completed a long journey of over four decades to reach here. Earlier, only Voyager-1 of NASA reached near interstellar space.
Know! more about Voyage -2
- Voyager-2 is a second human-made object to touch solar periphery out of the Sun's influence.
- Voyager-2 has reached interstellar medium (ISM). Voyager-2 entered ISM on November 5, 2019.
- It was decided through readings based on plasma density. Plasma Wave Apparatus (PWA), mounted on the spacecraft, sent information about the atmosphere that helped the scientists to identify its actual location.
- Scientists found that the increased density of plasma is clear evidence of the spacecraft's presence in a colder and higher plasma density.
- Interstellar space is a place where warm and low-density plasma of solar winds always remains. Similar plasma density data was found from Voyager-1 when it entered ISM. Voyager-1 crossed the solar periphery in 2012.
Know! more about Voyager-2
- Voyager-2 was launched on August 20, 1977. About 16 days later, Voyager-1 was launched on September 5, 1977.
- Both vehicles were launched to study planets and space beyond Earth, with differences in purpose and path. Both the vehicles have been operating for the last 42 years.
- NASA contacts these spacecraft through Deep Space Network (DSN). Voyager-2 entered the ISM 119.7 astronomical units (AU) i.e. 11 billion miles from the Sun.
- According to NASA's website, Voyager-1 was 13.76 billion miles from Earth on November 5, 2019. At the same time, the distance of Voyager-2 was 11.38 billion miles.Voyager-1 is the farthest man-made object from the earth.
Know! more about heliosphere
- NASA's mission scientists have found that the mission has crossed the end of the heliosphere on November 5.
- It was announced by assessing the data received from various instruments mounted on the spacecraft.
- This place is called heliopause where the weak, hot solar wind meets with the cold and dense solar winds. It is also called the end of the solar system.
- The magnetic range emanating from the Sun creates a gaseous atmosphere that extends far beyond the orbits of the planets.
- This magnetic field is called the heliosphere. Its shape is like a long wind cone and moves around the Sun. It was confirmed by the scientists through instruments mounted on Voyager-2.
Environment Conservation
Stubble Burning Incidents Between October-November Down By 12 Per Cent Year On Year Shows ICAR Data
Relevance IN - Mains (environment conservation - menace of stubble burning + steps taken by the government for its mitigation)
What's the NEWS
- Latest data from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has shown a reduction of 12.01 per cent in incidents of stubble burning compared to the same period in 2018.
Know! more about the findings
- A total of 31,402 burning events were detected in the three states between 1 October 2019 and 3 November 2019 which are distributed as 25366, 4414 and 1622 in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh respectively.
- The sates of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab recorded a reduction of 48.2 per cent, 11.7 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively this year till date.
Steps taken by the government
- The reduction has been the result of the Central Sector Scheme, ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the State of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh & NCT of Delhi' that was launched with a total outgo of Rs 1151.80 Crores for the period from 2018-19 to 2019-20 by the Government of India.
- The scheme was launched to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi and hence reduce stubble burning.
- Within one year of its implementation utilizing an amount of Rs 500 crore, the happy seeder/zero tillage technology was adopted in 8 lakh hectares of land in the North-Western states of India.
- During 2018-19, the funds amounting to Rs. 269.38 crores, Rs.137.84 crores and Rs. 148.60 crores have been released to the Governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh respectively
KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS