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Table of content
1. Climate change and deforestation could decimate madagascar’s rainforest habitat by 2070
Biomimetic hydrogel
2. Water bears facing threats of climate change
3. Microbes from humic lakes surprise bacteria and algae produced
4. Omega-3 fatty acids from microplastics
5. Historical housing disparities linked with dangerous climate impacts
6. Mosquitoes engineered to repel dengue virus
7. Climate change impacted hurricane florence’s precipitation and size
8. All global sustainability is local: a way for sustainable india
9. Low-carbon energy future depends on supply of rare minerals and metals

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10. A better estimate of water-level rise in the ganges delta
11. Drones effective tools for fruit farmers
12. Sea-ice-free arctic makes permafrost vulnerable to thawing
13. How do corals make the most of their symbiotic algae?

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14. Unused stockpiles of nuclear waste could be more useful than we might think
15. Supertiger on its second prowl -- 130,000 feet above antarctica
16. Low-temp photocatalyst could slash the carbon footprint for syngas
17. Protecting two key regions in belize could save threatened jaguar
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18. Antarctic waters: warmer with more acidity and less oxygen
19. Polluted wastewater in the forecast? Try a solar umbrella
20. Climate change unlikely to drive sugar maples north
21. Can solar geoengineering mitigate both climate change and income inequality?
22. New parasitoid wasp species discovered in the amazon -- can manipulate host’s behaviour
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23. Sand mining is threatening lives along the mekong river

24. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars)
25. Chandrayaan 3
26. Mission type lunar lander, rover
27. Pathogen specific drug are key : nobel laureate
28. Approach to malnutrition
29. Who pre qualifies pneumococcal vaccine
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30. 107th indian science congress

31. Indian data relay satellite system
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32. VR and visual memory

33. What is a multi drug resistance and how it occurs ?
34. Boeing ch-47 chinook
35. Boeing ah-64 apache
36. Genome sequencing
37. Vapours on mars
38. Nanostructure to purify water
39. Anti satellite mission

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40. Fire outbreaks
41. Mugger crocodiles of odisha
42. Mass plantation of exotic trees in nilgiri is harmful
43. Kaziranga recorded highest number of wetland bird
44. Species
45. Pongal spell peril for salem’s foxes
46. Thousands of camels to be killed in australia
47. Activists demand goa sanctuaries to declare tiger reserve
48. Chilika lake may host over 1 million birds
49. Mp focuses on reviving threaned tree species
50. Iit bombay efficiently removes heavy metals from water
51. Heat wave effect

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52. Blue flag beach
53. Polavaram project
54. Rare migratory eagle sighted in andhra pradesh
55. Irrawaddy dolphin

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56. Taal volcano
57. U.s. Biofuels not to blame for indonesia and malaysia deforestation Storm gloria
58. Rising global temperatures turn northern permafrost region into significant carbon source
59. Puget sound
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60. How dams and climate change are choking asia’s great lake
61. Wildfire risk can be reduced with agroforestry
62. Calcium carbide to ripen fruits
63. Dairy industry and pollution
64. Research and marketability
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65. Albedo and arctic

66. Vaccine hesitancy
67. Locust attack in gujarat
68. Cure of coronavirus
69. Yada yada virus
70. Alphavirus is a genus of rna viruses
71. Coast guard ships
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72. K4 missile
73. K-15 or sagarika missile
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74. Russian made tor m1 missile system

75. Vyom mitra
76. Measles
77. Pegasus spyware

Join Telegram Group

Daily dose with s. pandey
https://t.me/dailydoseps

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Climate change and deforestation could decimate
Madagascar’s rainforest habitat by 2070
A study in Naturea Climate Change has
found that, left unchecked, the combined effects of
deforestation and human-induced climate change could
eliminate
Madagascar's entire eastern rainforest
habitat by 2070.However, the stady's authors also
found that protected areas will help to mitigate this

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devastation while environmentalists work toward
longterm solutions for ending runaway greenhouse gas
emissions and resulting climate change.
Madagascar  is an island country in the Indian Ocean. It belongs to the group of least

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developed countries, according to the United Nations. The nation comprises the island
of Madagascar (the fourth- largest island in the world) and numerous smaller peripheral islands.
Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from
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the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve
in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife
found nowhere else on Earth.
Impact :
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This biodiversity has been devastated by decades of deforestation and overharvesting. The
activities have destroyed much of the land cover that provides habitat for a variety of unique animals,
including currently endangered varieties of lemurs. In particular, two species of ruffed lemurs are
now critically endangered, and these animals play a central role in dispersing the seeds of a number
of plant species that provide food and shelter for other animals across the rainforest. “Because of their
essential role as seed dispersers and their sensitivity to habitat degradation, ruffed lemurs serve as a
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critical indicator of the health of Madagascar’s entire eastern rainforest.

Solution :
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The researchers’ data suggest that the speed and intensity of destruction to Madagascar’s
eastern rainforest will be greatly determined by whether the country institutes strict protections
against deforestation or a relaxed set of policies. Protecting forested areas that provide shelter to
ruffed lemurs and serve as corridor links to their strongholds is particularly important to survival
given their role as a keystone species that enables the survival of a large number of animal and
plant species in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Every ecosystem has certain species
that are critical to the survival of the other species in the system. The keystone species could
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be a huge predator or an unassuming plant, but without them the ecosystem may not survive.
Protected areas are vital to species persistence.

Biomimetic hydrogel
Infections are a dreaded threat that can have fatal consequences after an operation, in the
treatment of wounds, and during tissue engineering.
Biomimetic hydrogels with ‘built-in’ antimicrobial properties can significantly decrease
this danger. These biomimetic hydrogel help in germ free dressing of wounds. Scientists have
now introduced a gel that is activated by red light to produce reactive oxygen compounds
that effectively kill bacteria and fungi. Hence, these bimimetic hydrogel have photodynamic
antimicrobial effect.

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What is Biomimetic : It is the study and development of synthetic systems that mimic the
formation, function, or structure of biologically produced substances and materials and biological
mechanisms and processes.
Hydrogels are molecule networks that hold water within their grid. Antimicrobial hydrogels

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can be produced by mixing with or attaching antimicrobial components to a polymer gel.

In death of dinosaurs, it was all about the asteroid, not volcanoes

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Volcanic activity did not play a direct role in the mass extinction event that killed the
dinosaurs, according to an international, Yale-led team of researchers. It was all about the asteroid.
Environmental impacts from
massive volcanic eruptions in India
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in the region known as the Deccan

Traps happened well before the
Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction
event 66 million years ago and
therefore did not contribute to the
mass extinction.
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Most scientists acknowledge

that the mass extinction event,
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also known as K-Pg, occurred after

an asteroid slammed into Earth.
Some researchers also have focused on the role of volcanoes in K-Pg due to indications that
volcanic activity happened around the same time.
Why Volcanos drive mass extinctions :
Volcanoes can drive mass extinctions because they release lots of gases, like SO2 and CO2,
that can alter the climate and acidify the world.

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 “Volcanic activity in the late Cretaceous caused a gradual global warming event of about
two degrees, but not mass extinction,” said former Yale researcher Michael Henehan, who
compiled the temperature records for the study. “A number of species moved toward the North
and South poles but moved back well before the asteroid impact.”
Recent work on the Deccan Traps, in India, has also pointed to massive eruptions in the
immediate aftermath of the K-Pg mass extinction. These results have puzzled scientists because
there is no warming event to match. The new study suggests an answer to this puzzle, as well.
The K-Pg extinction was a mass extinction and this profoundly altered the global carbon
cycle. The results show that these changes would allow the ocean to absorb an enormous amount
of CO2 on long time scales -- perhaps hiding the warming effects of volcanism in the aftermath of

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the event.

Water bears facing threats of climate change

High temperatures due to global

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warming will be dramatic even for
tardigrades.
Tardigrades, commonly known
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as water bears or moss piglets, are
microscopic invertebrates distributed
worldwide in marine, freshwater and
terrestrial microhabitats.
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A research has just shown that

tardigrades are very vulnerable to long-
term high temperature exposures. The
tiny animals, in their desiccated state,
are best known for their extraordinary
tolerance to extreme environments.
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Global warming, a major aspect of climate change, is already causing a wide range of
negative impacts on many habitats of our planet. It is thus of the utmost importance to understand
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how rising temperatures may affect animal health and welfare.

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Microbes from humic lakes surprise – bacteria and algae produced
omega-3 fatty acids from microplastics
Increasing abundance of plastic waste has alarmed the society, the environmental fate
of microplastics has been difficult to trace. A research group used carbon isotope labeling to
follow the fate of polyethylene in the food chain. To the researchers’ surprise, plastic carbon was
transformed into beneficial fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, by the microbes originating from
humic lakes. 
Dystrophic lakes, also known as humic lakes, are lakes that contain high amounts of humic
substances and organic acids. The presence of these substances causes the water to be brown

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in colour and have a generally low pH of around 4.0-6.0. Due to these acidic conditions, there is
little biodiversity able to survive, consisting mostly of algae, phytoplankton, picoplankton, and
bacteria
Microplastic degradation was more pronounced by microbes originating from the humic

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lakes than from the clear water lakes. Showing direct utilization of polyethylene carbon and its
upgrading in the upper food chain is a methodological breakthrough.
The method was sensitive enough to show that microplastic carbon was incorporated into
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essential fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, of flagellated eukaryotic species. In the further study,
these essential fatty acids supported the growth and became integrated to the cell membranes
of herbivorous zooplankton, next level in the aquatic food chain.
Historical housing disparities linked with dangerous climate impacts
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Deadly urban heatwaves disproportionately affect underserved neighborhoods. “We

found that those urban neighborhoods that were denied municipal services and support for
home ownership during the mid-20th century now contain the hottest areas. The concern is that
this systemic pattern suggests a woefully negligent planning system that hyper-privileged richer
communities. As climate change brings hotter, more frequent and longer heat waves, the same
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historically underserved neighborhoods often where lower-income households still live will, as a
result, face the greatest impact.
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A heat wave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by

high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries.Temperatures that people from a hotter
climate consider normal can be called a heat wave in a cooler area if they are outside the
normal climate pattern for that area. If a heat wave occurs during a drought, which dries out
vegetation, it can contribute to bushfires and wildfires.
However, exposure to extreme heat is unequal: temperatures in different neighborhoods
within the same city can vary by 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It is mostly lower-income households

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and communitie who live in these urban “heat islands” which have historically had fewer green
spaces and tree canopy, and more concrete and pavement and thus are less equipped to cope with
the mounting effects of global heating. Urban heat island (UHI) is an urban area or metropolitan
area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. 
How to deal
• Identifying a roadmap toward equitable climate resilience by addressing these systemic
patterns in our cities.
• There are ways to mitigate the effects of extreme heat on potentially vulnerable populations
through urban planning, in the way we design our cities and neighborhoods.

Mosquitoes engineered to repel dengue virus

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According to the World Health Organization, dengue virus threatens millions of people in
tropical and sub-tropical climates. Severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death
among children in many Asian and Latin American countries. Currently no specific treatment

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exists and thus prevention and control depend on measures that stop the spread of the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations
that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, and is
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headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development
Group.The WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, the worldwide World Health Survey,
and World Health Day.
Scientists have synthetically engineered mosquitoes that halt the transmission of the
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dengue virus. Biologists developed a human antibody for dengue suppression in Aedes aegypti
mosquitoes, the insects that spread dengue. The development marks the first engineered
approach in mosquitoes that targets the four known types of dengue, improving upon previous
designs that addressed single strains.
This development means that in the foreseeable future there may be viable genetic
approaches to controlling dengue virus in the field, which could limit human suffering and
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mortality,and a suite of other viruses such as Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya

Climate change impacted Hurricane Florence’s precipitation and size

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Previous research has suggested that human influences such as emission of greenhouse
gasses that alter climate does affect precipitation in extreme storms. A tropical cyclone is a
rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level
atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce
heavy rain or squalls. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to
by different names, including hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical

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depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic
Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, and
a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific
Ocean; in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean,
comparable storms are referred to simply as
“tropical cyclones” or “severe cyclonic storms”
Changes in extreme weather are one
of the most serious ways society experiences
the impact of climate change. Severe weather
and natural disasters account for much

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damage and has a major economic impact on
countries.
It was predicted that the hurricane Florence would be approximately 80 kilometers larger
due to the effect of climate change on the large-scale environment around the storm. Attributing

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climate change effects to individual storms, are better able to communicate the direct impacts of
climate change on extreme weather to the public.
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All global sustainability is local: a way for sustainable India
Various nations across the world are following a United Nations blueprint to build a more
sustainable future but a new study shows that blueprint leads less to a castle in the sky, and more
to a house that needs constant remodeling.
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Sustainability scientists have developed systematic and comprehensive assessment

methods and performed the first assessment of a country’s progress in achieving all 17 UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) not just as a nation, but also at the regional levels.
Studies in China show that indeed all sustainability, like politics, is local.
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 Even as a country can overall claim movement toward a sustainable future, areas
within the country reflect the gains and losses in the struggle with poverty, inequality, climate,
environmental degradation and for prosperity, and peace and justice. Most striking, it is found
that the disparities between developed regions and ones that are developing.
Methods used in China can be applied to other countries including India. China’s vast size
and sweeping socioeconomic changes at national and provincial levels showed how progress in
sustainability can shift. Between 2000 and 2015, China has improved its aggregated SDG score.
At the provincial level, however, there is a disparity between the country’s developed and
developing regions. East China -- which is home to the country’s economic boom -- had a higher
SDG Index score than the more rural west China in the 2000s. In 2015, south China had a higher

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SDG Index score than the industrialized and agricultural-intensive north China.
Doveloped provinces had higher SDG Index scores than developing provinces throughout
the study period of 2000-2015. But the average SDG Index scores in developing provinces were
increasing faster compared to developed provinces.

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Way to achieve UN sustainable development goals : a China's way
• China’s eastern region began developing during the reform and opening-up policy in
the late 70s to spur economic development along the coasts, which was accompanied
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by better social services.
• In 1999, China started to address the rural western parts which had lagged in progress.
That saw improvements both in infrastructure and ecological conservation, which
seems to have boosted their sustainable development. The eastern parts have begun
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to struggle with the consequences of rapid economic growth -- such as pollution and
inequities.
• overall sustainability is advancing thanks to better education, healthcare and
environmental conservation policies. The study points out that even amidst progress, it
is important to scrutinize what is happening at regional levels to know where to direct
resources and attention.
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Low-carbon energy future depends on supply of rare minerals and metals

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The global low-carbon revolution could be at risk unless new international agreements and
governance mechanisms are put in place to ensure a sustainable supply of rare minerals and metals.
The amount of cobalt, copper, lithium, cadmium, and rare earth elements needed for
solar photovoltaics, batteries, electric vehicle (EV) motors, wind turbines, fuel cells, and nuclear
reactors will likely grow at a rapid pace in the upcoming years. Even if alternatives are found for
one metal, there will be reliance on another as the scope of possibilities is inherently limited by
physical and chemical properties of elements.

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 However, with global supplies often heavily monopolized by a single country, confronted
by social and environmental conflict, or concentrated in poorly functioning markets, there is a
real possibility that a shortage of minerals could hold back the urgent need for a rapid upscaling
of low-carbon technologies. Mining, metals, and materials extraction is the hidden foundation
of the low-carbon transition. But it is far too dirty, dangerous, and damaging to continue on its
current trajectory.
The impacts to mining rightfully alarm many environmental campaigners as a large
price to pay to safeguard a low-carbon future. But as the extraction through terrestrial mining
becomes more challenging, the on-land reserves of some terrestrial minerals dwindle or the
social resistance in some countries escalates.

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The global energy landscape changes, it is becoming more mineral and metal intensive.
Thus, the sustainability and security of material supply chains is essential to supporting the
energy transition. Shaping the pathway will have important consequences for everything from
the environment, to development, and geopolitics.

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Way forward :
• Enhance and coordinate international agreements on responsible mining and traceability in
order to establish mineral supply justice.
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• Greatly expand the recycling and reuse of rare minerals to extend the lifetimes of products
and stretch out reserves.
• Stipulate stronger Extended Producer Responsibility for products that use valuable rare
minerals. This can ensure that responsibility for the entire lifespan of a product including at
the end of its usefulness shifts from users or waste managers to major producers such as
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Apple, Samsung, and Toshiba.

• Materials security of essential minerals and metals to be actively incorporated into formal
climate planning including establishing a list of “critical minerals” for energy .
We need to build on the resolution on mineral governance passed at the United Nations
Environment Assembly in 2019 and operationalize a clear action plan on supply chain
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security for a low carbon transition.”

A better estimate of water-level rise in the Ganges delta

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For the first time, scientists have provided reliable regional estimates of land subsidence
and water-level rise in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta.
Although the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta is the largest and most densely
populated delta in the world , and one of the places most vulnerable to climate change, the
extent and impact of water-level rise there remain poorly known. The area, which covers two
thirds of Bangladesh and part of eastern India, is already regularly prone to flooding, favoured by

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intense monsoon rainfall, rising sea levels, river flows and land subsidence. However, it is difficult
to disentangle these various factors.
If subsidence continues at the same rate, and even under a greenhouse gas mitigation
scenario, water-level rise in the delta,
depending on the area, could reach 85 to
140 cm by the end of the century
compared to the period 1986-2005. This
is twice as high as the projections
provided in the latest IPCC report, which
did not take land subsidence into account.
It should help to improve forecasts

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of water level in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-
Meghna delta, and thus lead to refine
impact studies and possible adaptation scenarios for its 200 million inhabitants.

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Drones effective tools for fruit farmers
Farmers use drones to be more efficient. Drones help farmers improve yields and stay
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ahead of problems before they become too big. Adoption and use of crop sensors in production
agriculture saves thousands of dollars every year in many crops. Crop sensors also help to
significantly improve the efficiency of agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and water. Finally,
drones can minimize negative impacts of agricultural activities on environmental quality.
The most promising ways the drones could be employed in agreeculture are :
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• taking inventory of tree height and canopy volume;

• monitoring tree health and quality;
• managing water, nutrients, pests
and disease in-season;
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• estimating fruit/nut production and

yield; and,
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• creating marketing tools (videos for

promotion of the orchard, or sale of
trees and fruit).
The UAVs are capable of acquiring
images with high resolutions that are ideal for detecting various crop issues.The UAV systems
allow scanning the crops from above. They obtain high quality images and high-resolution spectral

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data. This is correlated with plant growth, health, water and nutrient status, and can be used to
estimate biomass production. All are indicators of potential yield.
It’s not just about the speed of scouting a field. Sensors can function within regions of
the electromagnetic spectrum where human eyes cannot. Sensors are much more reliable and
objective than visual assessment. They provide quantitative information.

Sea-ice-free Arctic makes permafrost vulnerable to thawing

Permafrost is ground that remains frozen throughout the year; it covers nearly a quarter
of Northern Hemisphere land. The frozen state of permafrost enables it to store large amounts
of carbon; about twice as much as in the atmosphere. The rate and extent of future thawing of

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permafrost, and consequent release of its carbon, is hard to predict from modern observations
alone.
In geology, permafrost is ground, including rock or (cryotic) soil, with a temperature that
remains at or below the freezing point of water 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years. Most permafrost

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is located in high latitudes (in and around the Arctic and Antarctic regions), but at lower latitudes
alpine permafrost occurs at higher elevations.
However, a crucial past relationship between summer sea ice in the Arctic and permafrost,
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is now understood, with significant implications for the future.
New research relies on challenging field work to discover and explore Siberian caves.
Caves are powerful recorders of periods when permafrost was absent in the past. Stalagmites,
stalactites and flowstones can only form when there is liquid water, and therefore not when
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overlying land is permanently frozen. The presence of stalagmites in caves under present
permafrost thus demonstrate periods when permafrost was absent in the past.
The processes which may lead to the relationship between Arctic sea-ice and permafrost :
• The absence of sea ice leads to an increase in heat and moisture transfer from ocean to
atmosphere and therefore to warmer air transported far overland into Siberia.
• Moisture transport also increases snow fall over Siberia during the autumn months. This
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blanket of snow insulates the ground from the extreme cold of winters leading to an increase
in average annual ground temperatures, destabilising the permafrost. Consequently, in
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regions with increased snow cover and insulation, permafrost will start to thaw, releasing
carbon dioxide that was trapped for millennia.
How do corals make the most of their symbiotic algae?

New work indicates how sea anemones control the size of their algal populations that reside
within their tissue

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 Corals depend on their symbiotic relationships with the algae that they host. But how do
they keep algal population growth in check? The answer to this fundamental question could help
reefs survive in a changing climate.
Like corals, anemones host photosynthetic algae, which can convert the Sun’s energy into
chemical energy. An alga shares some of
the sugars that it produces with its
anemone or coral hosts, which in turn
provide the alga with other necessary
nutrients such as carbon dioxide,
phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen.

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The molecular mechanisms
underlying this relationship have
remained mysterious.
It is helpful to understand the

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precise interactions between the alga and its host because if algal populations within the host
disappear as happens during bleaching events caused by ocean warming or pollution the corals
and anemones lose access to vital sustenance and may not be able to survive. It is known that
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limiting the supply of shared nitrogen is key to an anemone’s ability to control the size of its
symbiotic algal population.

Unused stockpiles of nuclear waste could be more useful than we

might think
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Chemists have found a new use for the waste product of nuclear power -- transforming an
unused stockpile into a versatile compound which could be used to create valuable commodity
chemicals as well as new energy sources.
Depleted uranium (DU) is a
radioactive by-product from the process
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used to create nuclear energy. Many fear the

health risks from DU, as it is either stored in
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expensive facilities or used to manufacture

controversial armour-piercing missiles.
By using a catalyst which contains
depleted uranium, the researchers have managed to convert ethylene (an alkene used to make
plastic) into ethane (an alkane used to produce a number of other compounds including ethanol).

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 It is a breakthrough that could help reduce the heavy burden of large-scale storage of DU,
and lead to the transformation of more complicated alkenes.
The ability to convert alkenes into alkanes is an important chemical reaction that means we
may be able to take simple molecules and upgrade them into valuable commodity chemicals, like
hydrogenated oils and petrochemicals which can be used as an energy source.

SuperTIGER on its second prowl -- 130,000 feet above Antarctica

A balloon-borne scientific instrument designed to study the origin of cosmic rays is taking
its second turn high above the continent of Antarctica three and a half weeks after its launch.
SuperTIGER (Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) is designed to measure the rare,
heavy elements in cosmic rays that hold

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clues about their origins outside of the
solar system. The effort is a collaboration
among Washington University in St.

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Louis, Goddard Space Flight Center,
California Institute of Technology Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and the University
of Minnesota.
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The longer the balloon and
instrument are up, the better.The
significance of our observation increases
with the number of events we observe essentially linearly with time, so we simply want to have as
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long a flight as possible to maximize the statistics of the data collected.

Low-temp photocatalyst could slash the carbon footprint for syngas

A light-powered nanoparticle has been developed that could shrink the carbon footprint of a
major segment of the chemical industry. The particle, tiny spheres of copper dotted with single atoms
of ruthenium, is the key component in a green process for making syngas, or synthesis gas, valuable
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chemical feedstock that’s used to make fuels, fertilizer and many other products.
Syngas can be made in many ways, but one of those, methane dry reforming, is increasingly
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important because the chemical inputs are methane and carbon dioxide, two potent and problematic
greenhouse gases
Syngas is a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas that can be made from coal, biomass,
natural gas and other sources. It’s produced at hundreds of gasification plants worldwide and is used
to make fuels and chemicals worth more than $46 billion per year, according to a 2017 analysis by BCC
Research.

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 Catalysts, materials that spur reactions between other chemicals, are critical for gasification.
Gasification plants typically use steam and catalysts to break apart hydrocarbons. The hydrogen
atoms pair up to form hydrogen gas, and the carbon atoms combine with oxygen in the form of
carbon monoxide.
In dry reforming, the oxygen atoms come from carbon dioxide rather than steam. But dry
reforming hasn’t been attractive to industry because it typically requires even higher temperatures
and more energy than steam-based methods.
It could pave the way for sustainable, light-driven, low-temperature, methane-reforming
reactions for production of hydrogen on demand.

Protecting two key regions in Belize could save threatened jaguar

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Scientists studying one of the largest
populations of jaguars in Central Belize(Belize
is a nation on the eastern coast of Central
America) have identified several wildlife

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corridors that should be protected to help the
species survival.
Jaguars are top predators inhabiting
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large areas of Belize’s tropical forests and have
a vast range spanning thousands of square
miles. However, high deforestation rates for
large-scale agricultural development and a
constantly changing landscape mean jaguars are under
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increased threat and now listed as ‘near threatened’ on the

IUCN red list of threatened species.
Jaguars don’t stay in one place and can move long
distances often through unprotected areas between reserves.
Areas in between national parks with human activity may
put jaguars at risk from retaliatory killing, conflict with cattle
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ranchers and limit connectivity between reserves.

In order to improve conservation and management
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issues, the team monitored genetic population structure and

predicted jaguars’ movement corridors to understand how
they relate to each other, and how feasible it is to maintain
connectivity between reserves. The areas are currently
separated by Hummingbird highway but can potentially be
connected through wildlife corridors and the expansion of
natural protected areas.

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Antarctic waters: Warmer with more acidity and less oxygen
The increased freshwater from melting Antarctic ice sheets plus increased wind has
reduced the amount of oxygen in the Southern Ocean and made it more acidic and warmer,
according to new research led by University of Arizona geoscientists.
Ocean acidification 
is the ongoing decrease in the pH
of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide
(CO2) from the atmosphere. Increasing acidity is thought to have a range of potentially harmful
consequences for marine organisms such as depressing metabolic rates and immune responses
in some organisms and causing coral bleaching.
Ocean acidification has been compared to anthropogenic climate

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change  and called the "evil twin of global warming” and “the other 
CO2 problem” While ongoing ocean acidification is at least partially anthropogenic in origin, it
has occurred previously in Earth's history, and the resulting ecological collapse in the oceans had

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long-lasting effects for global carbon cycling and climate
Coral bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel algae that live inside their tissues.
Normally, coral polyps live in an endosymbioticrelationship with these algae, which are crucial for
po
the health of the coral and the reef.[1] The algae provides up to 90 percent of the coral›s energy.
Bleached corals continue to live but begin to starve after bleaching
The researchers found Southern Ocean waters had changed by comparing shipboard
measurements taken from 1990 to 2004 with measurements taken by a fleet of microsensor-
equipped robot floats from 2012 to 2019. The observed oxygen loss and warming around the
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Antarctic coast is much larger than predicted by a climate model, which could have implications
for predictions of ice melt.
To develop a better understanding of the Earth’s climate system, scientists constantly
refine their global climate change models. Increasing the freshwater and the amount of Antarctic
wind in the model solved the problem -- now the model correctly represents the current state of
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Antarctic waters.

Polluted wastewater in the forecast? Try a solar umbrella

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Evaporation ponds, which are commonly used in many industries to manage wastewater,
can span acres, occupying a large footprint and often posing risks to birds and other wildlife.
Yet they’re an economical way to deal with contaminated water because they take advantage
of natural evaporation under sunlight to reduce large volumes of dirty water to much smaller
volumes of solid waste.

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 A way to double the rate of evaporation by using solar energy and taking advantage of
water’s inherent properties has been developed by the scientists.
Evaporation ponds are used at power plants, desalination plants, in the oil and gas industry,
and also for lithium extraction, in which lithium-rich brine is pumped into vast, human-made salt
ponds. They’re common in China, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and parts of the United
States where the climate is suitable (arid or semi-arid with a lot of sunshine), and these ponds
can be the size of hundreds of football fields, with many of them sitting side by side.
This is a big societal problem to solve. If we could do so, that could reduce their
environmental impact by reducing the amount of land required.

Climate change unlikely to drive sugar maples north

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Climate is an important factor in determining a plant species’ growing zone. Some studies
suggest that by the turn of the next century, climate change will have caused some species to
spread several dozen kilometres north of

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their current distribution areas.
Such changes could have major
consequences on how land-based
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ecosystems function.
The importance of soil composition
Climate and the rising temperatures
recorded in recent decades contributes
substantially to tree migration, but so
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does soil composition. However, we

knowmuch less about the effects of soil compared to climate.
Due to the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors, boreal forest soil seems to offer a less
hospitable environment for sugar maple trees than other soil types. While global warming might
have made it physiologically possible for sugar maple trees to grow in more northern areas, the
soil conditions in these areas make a northern migration less likely.
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It’s certainly possible that the soil’s biotic and abiotic properties could change and allow
for the sugar maple’s growing zone to expand, but that type of change would take a very long
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time to occur.

Can solar geoengineering mitigate both climate change and income

inequality?
Solar radiation management (SRM) proposals are a type of climate engineering which
would seek to reflect sunlight and thus reduce global warming.

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 Potential economic benefits of reversing rising temperatures would benefit developing
countries greatly, representing a global GDP growth of 200%. New research from the University
of California San Diego finds that solar geoengineering the intentional reflection of sunlight away
from thet Earth’s surface may reduce income inequality between countries.
In a study recently published in Nature Communications, researchers examine the impacts
of solar geoengineering on global and country-level economic outcomes. Using a state-of-the-
art macroeconomic climate impacts assessment approach, the paper is the first to look at the
economic impacts of climate projections associated with solar geoengineering.
While de-carbonizing the world’s emissions sources continues to pose a large challenge,
solar geoengineering, which is process where incoming sunlight is intentionally reflected to cool

er
rising temperatures, could help avoid the worst consequences of global warming. This analysis
is the first to project the response of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the specific pattern of
cooling solar geoengineering produces.
The methodology estimates the historical relationship between climate, represented as

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mean annual temperature and precipitation, and country-level growth in economic production,
measured as GDP per capita. This estimated climate-economy relationship is then applied
to project and compare economic outcomes across four different climate scenarios for the
po
next century -- if global temperatures stabilize naturally; if temperatures continue to rise; if
temperatures were stabilized as a result of geoengineering; and if temperatures were over-
cooled from geoengineering efforts.
Similar to previous studies which have explored the relationship between hot weather and
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low productivity, the findings in Nature do not reveal the mechanisms for why this correlation
occurs.
However, predicting the economic impacts of solar geoengineering is a fundamental
step towards understanding the risk tradeoff associated with the new field of study, which is
advancing rapidly. Many emerging technologies have recently been developed to manipulate the
environment and partially offset some of the impacts of climate change.
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New parasitoid wasp species discovered in the Amazon -- can

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manipulate host’s behavior

A research group from the Biodiversity Unit of the
University of Turku studies the diversity of parasitoid insects
around the world. Parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) are one of
the most species rich animal taxa on Earth, but their tropical
diversity is still poorly known.

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 A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither
a bee nor an ant.  As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods,
sooner or later causing the death of these hosts.
- Acrotaphus wasps are fascinating because they are very sizeable parasitoids. The largest
species can grow multiple centimetres in length and are also very colourful. Previously, only 11
species of the genus were known, so this new research gives significant new information on the
diversity of insects in rain forests, tells postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the new study
Diego Pádua, who has worked both for the INPA and the Biodiversity Unit of the University of
Turku.
The parasitoid Acrotaphus wasps parasitise on spiders. A female Acrotaphus attacks a

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spider in its web and temporarily paralyses it with a venomous sting. After this, the wasp lays
a single egg on the spider, and a larva hatches from the egg. The larva gradually consumes the
spider and eventually pupates.

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Sand mining is threatening lives along the Mekong River
It’s a resource used in global construction and mined from rivers and coasts across the
world. Now new research, undertaken as part of a project led by University of Southampton, has
po
shown sand mining is causing river beds to lower, leading to riverbank instability and increasing
the likelihood of dangerous river bank collapse, damaging infrastructure and housing and putting
lives at risk.
With the world currently undergoing rapid population growth and urbanisation, concrete
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production has grown massively, fuelling unprecedented demand for sand, so much so that sand
is now the most consumed resource on the planet, after water. It is studying the impact of climate
change on the fluctuation of sediment through the Mekong.
Much of the sand used in the production of concrete comes from the world’s big sand-
bedded rivers, like the Mekong. There has long been a concern that sand mining from the Mekong
is causing serious problems, but our work is the first to provide a comprehensive, rigorous,
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estimate not only of the rate at which sand is being removed from the system but how this
compares to the natural replenishment of sand by river processes, as well as the adverse impacts
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unsustainable sand mining has on river bank erosion.

Dr Hackney warns that without proper regulation, excessive sand mining on the Mekong and other
major rivers worldwide could have increasing environmental and social consequences. We are seeing the
profound effects that excessive sand mining is having on rivers, coasts and seas. We need much stronger
regulation of unfettered sand mining to avoid the dangers that river side communities are facing.

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 Science magazine 2020
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is a contagious and potentially fatal respiratory
illness.
• First appeared in China in November 2002 and was identified in February 2003.
• SARS spread to over 24 countries before it was contained.
• Since May 2004, no new caseshave been reported.
• From November 2002 to July 2003, there were 8098 cases worldwide and 774 deaths.
• The United States (U.S.) saw eight laboratory-confirmed cases and no fatalities. All eight

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people had travelled to areas affected by SARS.
• Strong levels of global cooperation ensured that the threat of SARS was dealt with swiftly,
and the spread of the disease was effectively contained.
• The SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) causes SARS.

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• A coronavirus is a common form of virus that typically causes upper-respiratory tract illnesses.
• The common cold results from a kind of coronavirus.
There are total 6 different kinds of coronavirus are known to infect humans. Four of these
po
are common, and most people will experience at least one of them at some time in their life.
The two other types cause SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). These are
less common but far more deadly. Before SARS appeared, coronaviruses had not been particularly
dangerous to humans, but they had been known to cause severe diseases in animals. As a result,
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scientists first thought that animals transmitted SARS-CoV to humans. They now believe that an
animal virus changed into a new, more deadly strain.

Causes
Droplets from coughing and sneezing and close human contact likely transmit the
SARS virus. The respiratory droplets are probably absorbed into the body through the mucous
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membranes of the mouth, nose, and eyes.

A person with the virus can spread the infection by leaving respiratory droplets on objects,
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such as door handles, doorbells, and telephones. These are then picked up by someone else.
The virus is likely to remain active in the environment for several days. Diseases that pass from
animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases.

Symptoms
Symptoms normally appear within 3 to 5 days after exposure to the SARS virus, but they can develop
after 2 to 7 days. During the incubation period, before symptoms appear, the disease is not contagious.

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 Most cases of SARS begin with a high fever. Other early symptoms include those common
to flu, such as aches, chills, diarrhoea, dry coughing, and shortness of breath. These will develop
over the course of a week.
Patients may go on to develop Pneumonia, an infection of the lungs. Serious complications,
such as respiratory failure, heart failure and liver failure may occur. These complications are more
likely in people aged over 60 years, and those with pre-existing co-morbidities, such as diabetes
or hepatitis.  

Diagnosis
Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing can detect the virus in

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blood, stool, and nasal secretions. Serologic testing can detect SARS-CoV antibodies in the blood.
If a person has antibodies, they are also likely to have the infection.
Doctors may also use a viral culture. This involves putting a small same of body tissue or
fluid into a container with some cells in which the virus can grow. If the virus grows, the cells will

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change. These tests may not be reliableif used in the early stages of infection.

Vaccination
po
There is currently no vaccine against SARS, but scientists are working on one. In 2013,
researchers announced that they had found a way to disable a part of the virus involved in SARS
that allows it to hide from the immune system. This could lead to the development of a vaccine
against the disease. Since 2004, there have been no recorded cases of SARS anywhere in the
world. Health organizations continue to work on a response, in case SARS reappears in the future.
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Chandrayaan 3
Chandrayaan-3 is a planned third lunar exploration mission by Indian space research
organization. Following Chandrayaan 2where a snag in the communication led to subsequent
failure of soft landing attempt after a successful orbital insertion, another lunar mission for
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demonstrating soft landing was proposed.

Chandrayaan-3 will be mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 and will only include a lander and
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a rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2 and will not have an orbiter.

Realisation within schedule will make ISRO world›s fourth space agency to conduct soft
lunar landing after administration of former USSR, NASA and CNSA.
In second the phase of the Chandrayaan programme  to demonstrate soft landing on lunar
surface, ISRO launched Chandrayaan 2 onboard a GSLV Mk III rocket consisting of an orbiter, a
lander and a rover. The lander was scheduled to touchdown the lunar surface in September to
deploy the rover Pragyan.

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 Earlier reports had emerged about collaboration with Japan on a mission to lunar south
pole where India would be providing lander while Japan would provide launcher and rover. The
mission may include site sampling and lunar night survival technologies.
Subsequent failure of Vikram lander led to the pursuit of another mission to demonstrate
the landing capabilities needed for the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission proposed in partnership
with Japan for 2024.
The mission will include a lander and rover as orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 is already
operational in lunar orbit.

Mission Type Lunar Lander, rover

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Operator : Indian Space research organization
Manufacturer : Indian Space research Organization
Launch Date : 2021
Rocket : GSLV Mark III

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Launch Site : Satish Dhawan space centre
Contractor : Indian space research organization
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The lunar south pole is of special
interest to scientists because of the
occurrence of water icein permanently
shadowed areas around it. The lunar
south pole region features craters that
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are unique in that the near-constant

sunlight does not reach their interior.
S
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Such craters are cold strapsthat contain a fossil record of hydrogen, water ice, and other
volatiles dating from the early Solar System. In contrast, the lunar north poleregion exhibits a
much lower quantity of similarly sheltered craters.

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Aim of Chandrayaan 3 mission

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Mission life of Chandrayaan 2
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Pathogen specific drug are key : Nobel laureate
Concerns surrounding antibiotic use, including environmental hazards and the appearance
of multi-drug resistant bacteria, can be minimised by designing antibiotics that are specific
to each species of pathogen, instead of
using the broad-range antibiotics that are
currently favoured, Ada E. Yonath, winner
of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009.
Degradable antibiotics that are
effective only for the target pathogen. This
will reduce environmental hazards and

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combat the spread of resistance,”
The increasing appearance of multi-
drug resistant strains, together with the

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negligible number of new antibiotic drugs
that are presently undergoing development,
is a big problem.
po
We may soon revert back to the
pre-antibiotic era, when simple pathogens
could cause very severe infections. This
may result in a 3.8% loss in global economy
by 2050. Something has to be done,”
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The danger of antibiotics is the potential damage that they cause to the microbiome.
Changes to the
composition of the
human microbiome
can cause disease.
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Most antibiotics
are made up of small,
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toxic, organic molecules

that cannot be digested
and are expelled into
the environment, thus
causing hazards.

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 “They are so small that most purification What is Human microbiome ?
facilities cannot catch them, so they penetrate irrigation
The human microbiome is
systems and eventually come back to us. This feedback composed of communities of bacteria
process contributes to the prevalence of antibiotic (and viruses and fungi) that have a greater
resistance. Species-specific drugs can mitigate the complexity than the human genome itself
risks. The proposal is not without its challenges.
“Diagnostic techniques must improve and drug companies must invest in the new
antibiotics. Most drug companies may not be interested in investing in new antibiotics because
it is expensive.

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APPROACH TO MALNUTRITION
Today, India’s efforts
in tackling malnutrition

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have already come a long
way a range of programmes
and policies have been
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launched against child
undernutrition (POSHAN
Abhiyaan), anaemia
(Anaemia Mukt Bharat)
and healthy eating (Eat
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Right India).  malnutrition

does not exist in isolation
individuals, households
and communities
share multiple forms of
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malnutrition. Therefore it
is imperative that policy
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efforts also come together under a common umbrella and an overarching body is needed to
ensure convergence. 
After years of slow and somewhat tentative action to acknowledge, understand and act on
the challenge of under- nutrition, India’s National Nutrition Mission brought focus and ambition
and a range of actions followed. 

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 National and State governments were mobilised, district administrators engaged, the
private sector mobilised in its own way, while civil
society continued to push for ac- countability and
action.

Challenges
Progress in maternal and child
undernutrition varies tremendously by State 
challenges of overweight, obesity and even early
non-communicable disease, are no longer adult

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challenges. 
India’s adults also bear a tremendous double burden of malnutrition. Recent work from
IFPRI and Emory University, has highlighted how economic progress is a double-edged sword –
reducing underweight among women while also exacerbating the challenge of overweight among

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others social determinants related to gender, education, sanitation and poverty are key drivers
of stunting and undernutrition.  Early-life undernutrition is an important risk factor for later-life
adult disease, along with food environments, physical activity and preventive healthcare.
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WHO PRE QUALIFIES PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE
Diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae or pneumococcus) are a
major public health problem worldwide. Serious diseases that are often caused by pneumococci
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include pneumonia, meningitis and febrile bacteraemia; otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis are
more common but less serious manifestations of infection.
The World Health Organization brings together international experts in specific fields
through its biological standardization programme to develop and revise specific recommendations
for the production and quality control of vaccines of major international public health importance. 
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Authoritative, harmonized guidelines and recommendations, for use by manufacturers

and regulatory authorities, are published in the reports of ECBS meetings in the WHO technical
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report series.
Pneumococcal vaccine developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India has been
pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) According to a November 2019 UNICEF
report, pneumonia caused 1,27,000 deaths in India in 2018, the second highest number of child
mortality under the age of five in the world. In India, pneumonia and diarrhoea cause the most
deaths in children under five years 

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 The pneumococcal vaccine PNEU-MOSIL is a conjugate vaccine to help produce stronger
immune response to a Weakantigen. 
Conjugate vaccines combine a weak antigen with a strong antigen as a carrier so that the
immune system has a stronger response to the weak antigen.

ANTI COUNTERFEITING MEASURES

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have developed a new
approach to anti-counterfeiting measures.  They have developed a smart interface embedded
with two different water wettabilities — extremely water repelling (superhy- drophobic) and
extremely water loving (superhydrophilic) — which can hide information or make it visible under

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certain definite conditions.  Adding a layer of complexity, the re- searchers used a molecular
printer to imprint a pattern of micron size (500 x 500 microns) that will become visible only when
dipped in water or when moist air is blown
Counterfeit money is imitation currency produced without the legal sanction of the state

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or government usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its
recipient.
po
107th INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS
The 107th Indian Science Congress(ISC) was inaugurated by Prime Minister on January
3, 2020 at the University of Agricultural Sciences in BengaluruPM gave the motto of “Innovate,
Patent, Produce and Prosper” to the young scientists in the country Focus on “innovation for the
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people and by the people is the direction of New India.

107th Indian Science Congress theme:“Science and Technology: Rural Development”

Objective
The 107th Indian Science Congress aims to bridge the gap between farmer and tech-
developers. Many of the innovations have helped in enhancing market access, crop productivity
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and diversifying rural livelihood profiles.  However, the gap between the farmers and innovators
has resulted in only partial exploration of the benefits
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INDIAN DATA RELAY SATELLITE SYSTEM

What will the IDRSS do?
• The two-satellite IDRSS will maintain a continuous communication link with India’s remote
sensing/earth observation satellites and also with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch
Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) that would carry three Indian astronauts to space in 2022.

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 • The proposed system will also reduce the dependence on the ground stations in tracking
satellites.
• The other benefit is that the communication and data transfer could be in real time as the
remote sensing satellites can relay the data gathered to IDRSS satellites which in turn can
transmit them to the ground.

What will the IDRSS do?

• The two-satellite IDRSS will maintain a continuous communication link with India’s remote
sensing/earth observation satellites and also
with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch

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Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) that would carry
three Indian astronauts to space in 2022.
• The proposed system will also reduce the
dependence on the ground stations in tracking

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satellites.
• The other benefit is that the communication
and data transfer could be in real time as the
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remote sensing satellites can relay the data
gathered to IDRSS satellites which in turn can
transmit them to the ground.
• IDRSS will be like a hub as it can receive the
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commands from the ground stations and in turn relay the same to other satellites.
• The IDRSS can also monitor a rocket from the time it lifts off from the launch pad.

VR and visual memory

Researchers have found that virtual reality (VR) - a computer-generated simulation of a
three- dimensional image or environment - may interfere with visual memory. According to the
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study published in Frontiers in Psychology, VR may interfere with visual memory due to the way
it moves images in conjunction with user movement. 
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po
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What is a Multi drug resistance and how it occurs ?

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A recent headline in The New York Times (December 28) was titled:“Lifelines at risk as
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bankruptcies stall antibiotics – a health crisis looms: scant profits in fighting drug-resistant bugs
sours investors.”
This refers to the growing menace of disease-causing germs such as bacteria and fungi,
for example, pseudomonas, E.coli, klebsiella, salmonella and TB, which no longer respond to the
conventionally used anti biotic drugs. 

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 These emerging Multi-Drug- Resistant ( MDR) germs sicken almost 3 million people across
the world every year, and the UNO states that if we do not find drugs to fight and kill these MDR-
germs quickly enough, the global death toll could soar to 10 million people by 2050.
Tiny population of  GERMS had survived, thanks to some escape routes such as slight
change in their genes, leading to pathways that stop the drug from entering their cells or pathways
that pump out the entered drug molecules.  Such escapees started growing and multiplying into
millions over months and years, and became resistant to all the common antibiotics- these are
the MDR- germs.

Boeing CH-47 Chinook

er
The Boeing CH-47
Chinook is an American twin-
engined, tandem rotor, heavy-

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lift helicopter developed by
American rotorcraft company
Vertol and manufactured by
Boeing Vertol . The Indian Air
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Force has formally inducted
four US-made Chinook heavy-
lift helicopters at Chandigarh’s
Air Force Station 12 Wing.
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Boeing AH-64 Apache

The Boeing AH-64
Apache is an American twin-
turboshaftattack helicopter .
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The battle-proven Apache

attack helicopter was inducted
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into the Indian Air Force.

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What are Ribosomes?
Ribosomes are a cell
structure that makes protein.
Protein is needed for many cell
functions such as repairing damage
or directing chemical processes. 
Ribosomes can be found
floating within the cytoplasm
or attached to the endoplasmic

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reticulum.

GENOME SEQUENCING

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S
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Vapours on Mars
An article in Science explores how Mars, which had abundant water on its surface, lost most
of it over various seasons.  The researchers found that water can reach the upper atmosphere
most efficiently when Mars is in the warmest part of its orbit. This must have controlled how the
red planet lost its water
Conditions on Mars low temperatures and low atmospheric pressure -- do not allow water
to exist in liquid form in open reservoirs as it would on Earth.  There is water vapour in the
atmosphere, although at very low levels compared to the quantities experienced here on Earth.

Important Missions to Mars :

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• InSight. Mars lander (NASA)
• ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Mars orbiter and lander (ESA)
• MAVEN. Mars orbiter (NASA)
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Mars orbiter (ISRO)

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•
• Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) (MSL) Mars rover (NASA)

NANOSTRUCTURE TO PURIFY WATER

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• Simultaneously removing heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, cadmium and mercury
from waste water with very high efficiency now appears possible, thanks to the work of
researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. 
• The carbon-based nanostructure that the team fabricated shows 80-90% ad- sorption
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efficiency for all the four heavy metals studied.

• A nanostructure is a structure of intermediate size between microscopic and
molecularstructures. Nanostructural detail is microstructure at nanoscale
• Nanotubes have two dimensions on the nanoscale, i.e., the diameter of the tube is between
0.1 and 100 nm; its length can be far more. 
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• spherical nanoparticles have three dimensions on the nanoscale, i.e., the particle is between
0.1 and 100 nm in each spatial dimension.
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ANTI SATELLITE MISSION

India tested an anti-satellite weapon during an operation code named Mission Shakti On
27 March 2019. The target of the test was a satellite present in a low earth orbit which was hit
with a kinetic kill vehicle. The ASAT test utilized a modified antiballistic missile interceptor code-
named Prithvi Defence Vehicle Mark II  which was developed under Project XSV-1. The test made
India the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to have tested an ASAT weapon.

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 The test sparked concerns regarding the creation of space debris. The Indian government
tried to address these
concerns by saying that
the debris generated
from the test would not
last for a long duration.
India’s successful
demonstration of the
ASAT capability is said to
signify its ability to

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intercept an
intercontinental ballistic.
The ASAT weapon is
meant to act as a

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deterrent.

FIRE OUTBREAKS
po
According to the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report of 2015, residential
buildings are most prone to fire outbreaks. Despite major fires in the past, flagrant violations of
building and fire safety norms continue unabated  
Three major reasons: electrical short circuit and gas cyclinder/stove bursts, human
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negligence, and ill-formed habits  adherence to the National Building Code of 2016 should be made
mandatory. This is a detailed set of guidelines for the construction, maintenance and operation
of buildings of all kinds of schools, the curriculum should have a chapter on fire safety. Regular
drills should be conducted so that children are prepared to handle such incidents. Communities
managing housing and commercial premises need to regularly organize awareness programmes
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with assistance from authorised persons and agencies

We need dedicated access lanes for quick movement of emergency vehicles. Under the
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Smart Cities Mission, ‘smart control rooms’ should be able to guide emergency vehicles through
the shortest route and enable coordination among various departments such as police, traffic
police, fire, ambulance, and security forces.

Mugger crocodiles of Odisha

Twenty-one mugger crocodiles live in ten village ponds adjoining Ghodahada reservoir of
Odisha’s Ganjam district that houses 44 of these reptiles. This example of peaceful coexistence

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of humans and crocodiles in the Digapahandi forest range under Berhampur forest division was
revealed during annual crocodile census conducted in the region The crocodiles of the Ghodahada
reservoir and its adjoining village ponds have never harmed any villagers or domestic animals. 
According to zoologists, muggers are less ferocious than other crocodile breeds and they
seem to be satisfied with fish in the reservoir and its adjoining ponds. Villagers are fishermen and
involved in pisciculture in the reservoir and conservation of crocodiles. The reservoir is located
close to the Lakhari Valley Sanctuary and is a part of the Eastern Ghats situated near border of
Ganjam and Gajapati districts, where the medium irrigation project is located on the Ghodahada
river, a tributary of the Rushikulya.

Mass Plantation of exotic trees in Nilgiri is harmful

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A Coonoor-based
trust proposes to plant

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more than 10,000 trees
in the Nilgiris — almost
all of them exotic flora
— from avenue trees
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such as jacaranda and
podocarpus, to pine
and bottle- brush.
Conservationists say that
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though the intention

is commendable, the
mass plantation drive
will be harmful to the
environment in the long term. 
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Shola forests are tropical Montane forests found in the valleys separated by rolling
grasslands only in the higher elevations. They are found only in South India in the Southern
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Western Ghats.  Only native grasses should be grown in what were previously grasslands, or Shola
trees should be grown where they existed previously,” when exotics take root, they increase the
water demand in that region, impacting not just the Nilgiris but other districts further down-
stream that rely on rivers emanating from the hills. 

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KAZIRANGA RECORDED HIGHEST NUMBER OF WETLAND BIRD SPECIES
The first wetland bird survey in
Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since
1985. Kaziranga recorded 96 species of wetland
birds — one of the highest for wildlife reserves
in India, according to the second wetland bird
count conducted on January 9-10, 2020.
The survey registered a total of
19,225 birds belong- ing to 96 species under

er
80 families. The first waterfowl census in
2018 had yielded 10,412 birds covering 80
species, belonging to 21 families. 

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Pongal spell peril for Salem’s foxes
• With Kaanum Pongal, the 4th and final day of the harvest festival, less than a week away, Forest
Department officials in Salem, Tamil Nadu are gearing up to prevent an unusual jallikattu -
po
one that uses foxes instead of bulls.
• Foxes or Vanga Nari in Tamil are used in the festival because villagers believe it will bring
bountiful rain and good fortune. 
• Foxes are a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act,1972, and hunting or
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capturing them is prohibited

Thousands of camels to be killed in Australia

Australia began a five-day cull
of up to 10,000 camels, using sniper
fire from helicopters.  The exercise is
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taking place in Anangu Pitjantjatjara

Yankunytjatjara (called APY Lands)
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in South Australia state, where the

animals will be killed according to the
“highest standards of animal welfare”
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara
Yankunytjatjara (APY, or APY lands) is
a large, sparsely-populated local

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government area (LGA) for Aboriginal Australians, located in the remote north west of South
Australia. It consists of the Pitjantjatjara,
Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra aṉangu (i.e.
people), and has a population of around 2300
people.
Camels in Australia, which number over
10 lakh today, were first brought to the continent
in the late 19th century from India, when
Australia’s massive interior region was first being
discovered. Over 20,000 were imported from

er
India between the 1840s and the 1900s. The
year 2019 was the driest and hottest on record
in Australia. It has burned over 1.5 crore acres of
land, killing an estimated 100 crore animals.

rt
The acute drought has pushed massive
herds of feral or wild camels towards remote
towns looking for water, endangering indigenous
po
communities. The camels have been threatening
scarce reserves of food and water, besides
damaging infrastructure and creating a hazard for drivers, The herds have also contaminated
important water sources and cultural sites. Australia is believed to have the largest population of
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wild camels in the world — over 10 lakh, which is rapidly growing. 

The herds roam in the country’s inland deserts, and are considered a pest, as they foul
water sources and trample native flora while foraging for food over vast distances each day.

ACTIVISTS DEMAND GOA SANCTUARIES TO DECLARE TIGER RESERVE

The Goa government should follow up its proposal sent to the Centre in 2017 to notify
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certain areas of the coastal state as a tiger reserve, they say. The demand has come following the
death of four tigers in Mahadayi Wildlife Sanctuary of Sattari Taluka in North Goa district in the
GE

last few days.

As part of the state’s proposal, about 500 sq km area of Mahadayi, Netravali and Cotigao
wildlife sanctuaries and some part of Mahaveer National Park was selected to be marked as ‘tiger
reserve’, considering the presence of the striped animals in those places.

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CHILIKA LAKE MAY HOST OVER 1 MILLION BIRDS
The Chilika Development Authority (CDA)
said it expects the number of migratory birds
flocking to Chilika to cross the one-million mark
for the second consecutive year in 2020. 
The Nalabana Bird Sanctuary was
notified in 1987. It has one of the largest
congregations with 3,74,752 birds of 114
species. Chilika Lake is a brackish water

er
lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and
Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east
coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area
of over 1,100 km.  It is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest brackish water

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lagoon in the world, It has been listed as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site.

MP FOCUSES ON REVIVING THREANED TREE SPECIES

po
In a marked shift from the British-era focus on high- value timber to indigenous species
having traditional value, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department in 2019 planted 70 lakh saplings
of such threatened tree species in a bid to revive biodiversity, support livelihoods and combat
climate change. With around a quarter of its area under forests, Madhya Pradesh, according to
the India State of Forest Report, 2019, has the largest forest cover of 77,482.49 sq. km in the
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country.And of the 216 naturally occurring tree species. The threatened species include bija,
having high timber and fodder value, used to cure diabetes and make concussion equipment;
tinsa, used to improve fertility in women; salai, producing resin and gum; and dahiman, used to
cure high blood pressure. The species, being revived in compliance with International Union for
Conservation of Nature guidelines, could also withstand harsh climatic conditions, and vagaries
of nature, thereby proving useful to combat climate change and mitigate its effects.
S

IIT BOMBAY EFFICIENTLY REMOVES HEAVY METALS FROM WATER

GE

Simultaneously removing heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, cadmium and mercury
from waste water with very high efficiency now appears possible, thanks to the work of researchers
at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. 
The carbon-based nanostructure that the team fabricated shows 80-90% ad- sorption
efficiency for all the four heavy metals studied. A nanostructure is a structure of intermediate
size between microscopic and molecular structures. Nanostructural detail is microstructure at
nanoscale
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 Nanotubes have two dimensions on the nanoscale, i.e., the diameter of the tube is between
0.1 and 100 nm; its length can be far more. spherical nanoparticles have three dimensions on the
nanoscale, i.e., the particle is between 0.1 and 100 nm in each spatial dimension.

Eastern Ghats : Land Use Policies, Climate Change hit endemic plant
habitates
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India’s eastern coast. The
Eastern Ghats run from the northern Odisha through Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south
passing some parts of Karnataka and in the Wayanad district of Kerala. The Eastern Ghats are not

er
as high as the Western Ghats.
They are eroded and cut through by four major rivers of peninsular India, viz. Godavari,
Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri. The mountain ranges run parallel to the Bay of Bengal. 

rt
po
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The Deccan Plateau lies to the west of the range, between the Eastern Ghats and Western
S

Ghats. The coastal plains, including the Coromandel Coast region, lie between the Eastern Ghats
and the Bay of Bengal. 
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The broken hill-ranges of the Eastern Ghats, spread across Odisha, Telangana, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, are home to unique ecosystems. Though it has over 450
endemic plant species, the region remains one of the most exploited and degraded ecosystems
of India. With intensifying agricultural practices, urbanisation and pressures from mining and
deforestation, the precious habitat of endemic and rare, endangered and threatened (RET)
species could be reduced, even leading to species loss, notes a new study.

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 The results published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment show that by 2050
the total human population in the Eastern Ghats region is expected to reach 2.6 million, raising
pressure from anthropogenic activities. There will be a demand for land for food, road and
other activities leading to encroachments and threat to the habitats of endemic and RET species
Ecotourism with regulatory guidelines is a positive way to educate and promote conservation.
The highly threatening human activities in the Eastern Ghats area are mining, urbanisation/
settlements, dam construction, firewood collection and agricultural expansion,” 
The endemic species were found to be distributed in the core areas of the forests - Kalahandi,
Mahendra- giri, Nallamalai-Seshacha- lam, Kolli and Kalrayan hill forests. On the other hand, the
rare, endangered and threatened species were dis- tributed not only in the core areas but also in

er
the periphery of the forests, thus taking a greater hit from an- thropogenic disturbances.
The mean temperature and rainfall were all crucial for the plant species and simulations
showed that the temperature is likely to in- crease by 1.8 degree Celsius by 2050 to 1.98 degree
Celsius by 2070. 

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The rainfall is also projected to increase by 113 millimetre by 2050 and 160 millimetre by
2070. the regional or local climate change (warming) has led to frequent prolonged non-rainy
days, increased number of days with maximum and minimum temperatures resulting in loss of
po
soil moisture and soil degradation. 
“It is of utmost importance that biodiversity conservation initiatives of Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Government of India and State forest departments
focus on the Eastern Ghats to protect declining habitats of endemic and RET species. 
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The boundaries of national parks and sanctuaries should be redefined based on the
richness of endemic and RET species,

Heat wave effect

The death of nearly one million common murre birds that washed ashore of Alaska during
2015-2016 was brought on by a severe and long- lasting marine heat wave. A new study published
S

in PLOS ONE says the marine heat wave squeezed out the bird’s fish food supply in the Pacific.
GE

Blue Flag beach

The Environment Ministry has relaxed Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules that restrict
construction near beaches to help States construct infrastructure and enable them to receive
‘Blue Flag’ certification.
Last year, the Ministry selected 13 beaches in India to vie for the certificate. This is an
international recognition conferred on beaches that meet certain criteria of cleanliness and
environmental propriety.
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 The earmarked beaches are — Ghoghala beach (Diu), Shivrajpur beach (Gujarat), Bhogave
beach (Maharashtra),
Padubidri and Kasarkod
beaches (Karnataka),
Kappad beach (Kerala),
Kovalam beach (Tamil
Nadu), Eden beach
(Puducherry), Rushikonda
beach (Andhra Pradesh),
Miramar beach (Goa),

er
Golden beach (Odisha),
Radhanagar beach
(Andaman & Nicobar
Islands) and Bangaram

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beach (Lakshadweep).
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)
[1] that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its stringent standards.
po
The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit non-governmental
organisation[2] consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries.
Re
S
GE

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Polavaram Project
Polavaram Project, is an under
construction multi-purpose National
project on the Godavari River in the West
Godavari District and East Godavari District
in Andhra Pradesh. The project has been
accorded national project status by the
Union Government of India. It is located
40 km to the upstream of Sir Arthur Cotton

er
Barrage in Rajamahendravaram City. back
water spreads into parts of Chhattisgarh
and Odisha States. It gives major boost to
tourism sector in Godavari Districts as the

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reservoir covers the famous Papikonda
National Park.

Rare migratory eagle sighted in Andhra Pradesh

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The steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis)
is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs
to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle
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breeds from Romania east through the

south Russian and Central Asian steppes to
Mongolia. The European and Central Asian
birds winter in Africa, and the eastern birds
in India. It lays 1–3 eggs in a stick nest in a
tree. Throughout its range it favours open
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dry habitats, such as desert, semi-desert,

steppes, or savannah
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It is found in south-eastern Pakistan

especially in Karachi. Large numbers are
seen at certain places such as Khare in
Nepal during migration. The Steppe Eagle appears on the flag of Kazakhstan. It is also the National
bird (animal) of Egypt and appears on its flag.
Indonesia; ~70 (CR), in a 420-km (260-mi) stretch of the freshwater Mahakam River

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Irrawaddy dolphin
The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin
found in discontinuous subpopulations
near sea coasts and in estuaries and
rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and
Southeast Asia.
Bangladesh; in coastal waters of
the Bay of Bengal and 451 (VU) in the
brackish Sundarbans mangrove forest[

er
India; in the brackish-water
Chilka Lake.Presence recorded from
Sundarbans National Park, India also.
Laos and Cambodia; in a 190-

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km (118-mi) freshwater stretch of the
Mekong River
Philippines; about in the brackish inner Malampaya Sound. Researchers are studying
po
the recent discovery of 30-40 dolphins sighted in the waters of Pulupandan and Bago, Negros
Occidental, in Western Visayas.
Burma; about in a 370-km (230-mi) freshwater stretch of the Ayeyarwady River
Thailand: less than 50 (CR) in the brackish Songkhla Lake
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Taal Volcano
Taal Volcano is a complex
volcano located on Luzon island in
the Philippines,in the province of
Batangas. Taal is the second most
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active volcano in the Philippines.

GE

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 The Taal crater lake on Volcano Island is the largest lake on an island in a lake on an island
in the world. Taal Volcano is part of a chain of
volcanoes along the western side of the edge
of the island of Luzon, which were formed by
the subduction of the Eurasian Plate underneath
the Philippine Mobile Belt.

er
U.S. biofuels not to blame for Indonesia and Malaysia deforestation

rt
Since 1990, the United States has ramped up its production of biofuels—to about 16
billion gallons of ethanol and 1.6 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2017. At the same time, production
of palm oil has increased
po
nearly sixfold, mainly for
food production, and with it
significant deforestation in
Indonesia and Malaysia.
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That overlap has led

some analysts to blame the
United States for deforestation
in Indonesia and Malaysia,
suggesting that the expansion
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in palm oil production is
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driven by biofuel production

in U.S. But a Purdue University study shows that only a scant fraction of the deforestation in
those countries can be pinned on U.S. biofuel production and policy. less than 1 percent of the
land cleared in Indonesia and Malaysia can be tied to U.S. biofuel production.

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Storm Gloria
A storm surge on the east coast of
Spain has swept 3km (two miles) inland,
devastating rice paddies in the Ebro river
delta south of Barcelona.
Seawater has caused major
damage to beaches around Barcelona,
Valencia and on the Balearic Islands.

er
The Ebro, lying between Barcelona and
Valencia, is Spain’s longest river.

rt
Rising global temperatures turn northern permafrost region into
significant carbon source
Permafrost, the perennially frozen subsoil in Earth’s northernmost regions, has been
po
collecting and storing plant
and animal matter since long
before the last Ice Age. The
decomposition of some of
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this organic matter naturally

releases carbon dioxide (CO2)
into the atmosphere year-
round, where it is absorbed
by plant growth during the
warmer months.
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The northern
permafrost region covers
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approximately 15 percent of the Earth’s land area, extending from the Arctic Ocean’s coastline
through much of Alaska, northern Canada and northern Eurasia. The ever-frozen soil in these
regions contains more carbon than humans have ever released, and roughly a third of the carbon
stored in all of Earth’s soil exists in this region.
During the summer, plants whose roots grow in thawed soil above the perennially frozen
subsoil absorb CO2 as they photosynthesize. At the same time, microbes release CO2 into the

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atmosphere as they actively decompose soil organic matter. In the winter, when the surface soil
and underlying permafrost are both frozen, the rate of decay and the amount of CO2 returned to
to the atmosphere drops significantly.
Yet, a small amount of
microbial activity continues
to decompose some of the
organic matter contained in
thin, unfrozen water films
surrounding soil particles,
releasing smaller amounts of

er
CO2. For years, this balance
was tipped toward greater
absorption rather than
release of CO2, but new study

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indicates that the loss of
CO2 from permafrost soils to the atmosphere over the entire year is now greater than its uptake
during the summer.
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PUGET SOUND
Puget Sound is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of
the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington.
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It is a complex estuarinesystem of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with

one major and two minor connections to the open Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Juan de Fuca—
Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and Deception Pass and Swinomish Channel being
the minor.
The waters of Puget Sound support many species, including mussels, salmon and killer
whales. But recent research highlights that runoff from land in the urbanized areas might contain
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chemicals that could harm these creatures.

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How dams and climate change are choking Asia’s great lake
Across the Tonle Sap, a vast shallow lake in the heart of this Southeast Asian nation,
fishermen are experiencing the least productive season in memory.
Years of dam-building and droughts intensified by climate change have upset one of the
world’s richest freshwater fisheries, carrying potentially severe consequences for millions who
rely on the lake for survival.

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 The struggles of the Tonle Sap lake, or “great lake,” reflect a broader crisis in the Mekong
River system, the lifeline of Southeast Asia.
The Mekong, which feeds
the lake via a tributary called the
Tonle Sap river, courses 2,700 miles
from China’s Tibetan plateau down
through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,
Cambodia and Vietnam, where it
waters a vast, rice-growing delta
before emptying into the South

er
China Sea. The Mekong basin
produces 2.6 million tons of
freshwater fish annually and
supplies food and livelihoods for an

rt
estimated 60 million people.
Last summer, a drought whipped
up by warmer Pacific Ocean currents—the
po
phenomenon known as El Nino—delayed
and shortened the annual monsoon rains
that nourish the river system. 
Over the last three decades, 13
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dams have been built along the Mekong’s

mainstream, 11 in the rocky headwaters of
China’s Yunnan province. Twelve more are
under construction, along with dozens of
smaller dams downstream along tributaries
in Laos, a poor, landlocked nation whose
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communist rulers are attempting to sell

energy to neighboring countries the
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dams store and release water to produce

energy—and as riverbed sand is dredged
for construction—they reduce the flow
of fish and nutrients, upsetting a delicate
hydrology that is supercharged by the
annual monsoon cycle.

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Wildfire risk can be reduced with agroforestry
New pan-European research has found that proactive land management with agroforestry—
mixing livestock and trees—reduces the risk of wildfires occurring in European Mediterranean
areas.
Land abandonment is an important element in the risk of wildfires. In many parts of the
Mediterranean, an aging population and the abandonment of traditional farming and forestry
activity has led to extensive unmanaged lands. The result is an increase in flammable biomass
(fuel) in shrublands that can be easily ignited by natural events such as thunderstorms, or by
human activity.
Agroforestry is shown to reduce wildfire risk by encouraging rural employment and

er
removing part of the dry ground-level vegetation through livestock grazing. Taking into account
the effect of climate change in this region, it is a land management option that can successfully
reduce fires, protect the environment and improve human well-being.»
Combining livestock and trees on agroforestry land can create biodiverse habitats that

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provide an annual income for farmers through livestock products. In comparison to using
machinery for clearing vegetation, agroforestry uses less machinery and fossil fuel.

CALCIUM CARBIDE TO RIPEN FRUITS

po
Calcium carbide is also used in some countries for artificially ripening fruit. When calcium
carbide comes in contact with moisture, it produces acetylene gas, which is quite similar in its
effects to the natural ripening agent, ethylene. Acetylene acts like ethylene and accelerates the
ripening process
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NGT ON DAIRY FARMING

About NGT
National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation
of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental
issues. It draws inspiration from the India’s constitutional provision of Article 48A which assures
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the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment.

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Objectives :
Effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and
conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right
relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property
and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.  It is a specialized body equipped with
the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
Dairy industry is one of the most polluting industries, nearly 2-10 L of wastewater is generated
per liter of processed milk 
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Dairy industry and pollution
Milk production takes place all around the world. Global demand for dairy continues to
increase in large part due to population growth, rising incomes, urbanization and westernization
of diets in countries such as China and India. With this increasing demand for dairy, there is
growing pressure on natural resources, including freshwater and soil Dairy cows and their manure
produce greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change. Poor handling of manure
and fertilizers can degrade local water resources. And unsustainable dairy farming and feed
production can lead to the loss of ecologically important areas, such as prairies, wetlands, and
forests

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YELLOW RUST IN PUNJAB
The yellow rust disease in
the wheat crops in some parts

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of Punjab and Haryana has raised
tension among farmers about a
drop in the total production. As
po
per the report, the agriculture
officials from both the Sates are in
the fields advising farmers to adopt
remedial measures to deal with the
situation
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Wheat yellow rust

(Pucciniastriiformis f. sp. tritici),
also known as wheat stripe rust, is one of the three major wheat rust diseases, along with
stem rust of wheat 
Caused by-- Fungi
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RESEARCH AND MARKETABILITY

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The present government has been directing laboratories and other research centres to
earn their own revenue from external sources by marketing their expertise and investing the
surplus to develop technologies for national missions.
This policy position can be traced to the ‘Dehradun declaration’ prepared by the directors of
the CSIR labs in 2015, where it was decided to market patents as a means to selffinance research.
There is a genuine concern among the researchers and academics that this transformation will
have serious repercussions for India’s competence in research.
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 Science is essentially an end product of human curiosity and a desire to understand the
world. Thus, an increasing emphasis on immediate applicability of science should not be allowed
to steal the space of curiosity driven basic science  which can be sustained only by direct
government funding Government spending in R&D has continued to remain static for about a
decade, at a paltry 0.9% of the GDP, as compared to China, whose spending during the 2000 2017
period grew at an average of 17%, its growth being more than that of the U.S.

ALBEDO AND ARCTIC

A team of researchers
from Pacific Northwest National

er
Laboratory,the University of
Washington and the University
of Wisconsin-Madison has found
evidence that shows therapid rise

rt
of temperatures in the Arctic is
caused by the loss of snow and ice
cover, and not soot.
po
Snow and ice reflect
sunlight and its accompanying heat
strike into space more than darker
surface areas—scientists refer to
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this as the albedo effect.

Black carbon is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are not completely burned,
either in vehicles, home heating
appliances, or when trees and
other plants are burned.  When
large quantities of soot enter the
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atmosphere, they create a haze

that absorbs energy from the Sun,
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so the temperature of the

atmosphere increases. 
This atmospheric heating
can affect weather patterns and
cloud formation. And as more reflective cover is lost, less is available to reflect heat back into
space, a cycle that will continue, the researchers note, until an external force stops it or there is
no more snow and ice. Some studies have suggested this cycle was caused by soot from burning

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coal and other material making its way to the Arctic and coating the snow and ice, reducing the
albedo effect.  the reduction in snow and
ice cover for sea ice, snow cover over the
sea and snow covering the ground
contributed equally to the reductions in
albedo. 
They conclude by suggesting that
surface temperature warming combined
with a reduction in snowfall have been the
primary reasons for the rapid increase in

er
temperatures in the Arctic. This finding is
in direct contrast to prior studies blaming
soot for the decrease in albedo.

VACCINE HESITANCY

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With a 30% increase in measles cases world-wide in 2018, the World Health Organization,
in January 2019, included ‘vaccine hesitancy’ as one of the 10 threats to global health this year .
po
The threat from vaccine hesitancy, which is defined as the “reluctance or refusal to
vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines” Measles is caused by infection with the rubeola
virus. The virus lives in the mucus of the nose and throat of an infected child or adult.
A 2018 study found low awareness to be the main reason why 45% of children missed
different vaccinations in 121 Indian districts that have higher rates of unimmunised children. While
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24% did not get vaccinated due to apprehension about adverse effects,

LOCUST ATTACK IN GUJARAT

Locust is a large, mainly tropical
grasshopper with strong powers of
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flight. It is usually solitary, but from time

to time there is a population explosion
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and it migrates in vast swarms which

cause extensive damage to vegetation.

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 er
CURE OF CORONAVIRUS
rt
po
a feature that fueled the earlier
outbreaks of SARS and MERS, coronaviruses
that are related to this new pathogen,
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provisionally called 2019-nCoV.

health experts say the virus is likely to become
a pandemic, an epidemic that spreads on two
or more continents,  However, it is unclear how
dire a pandemic would be, because scientists
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are not sure exactly how deadly the disease is

It is spreading much faster than SARS or MERS,
GE

but slower than the flu or measles.

However, while SARS killed 10 percent of those infected and MERS kills about a third, the
new coronavirus currently has a fatality rate of two percent, and that is likely to drop as milder
cases emerge.
The doctors, from the Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok, that a drug cocktail of HIV and flu
medication had worked on several patients, including a woman with severe symptoms from
Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the outbreak.

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 “This is not the cure, but the patient’s condition has vastly improved. From testing positive
for 10 days under our care,
after applying this
combination of medicine
the test result became
negative within 48 hours,
The successful
treatment combined the
HIV medications lopinavir
and ritonavir with large

er
doses of the flu drug
oseltamivir. had heard that
physicians in China were using HIV medications on coronavirus patients.
We checked related information and   found anti-flu drugs were effective on MERS so we

rt
combined both groups of medications,
The woman given the successful treatment was 70-years-old the treatment, as well as the
recovery, is fast,”
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YADA YADA VIRUS
Merriam-Webster says yada yada is
“boring or empty talk”, a way to recount
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words that are “too dull or predictable to be

worth repeating”. The Cambridge dictionary
says yada yada is only “blah blah blah”.
Researchers who last week reported
the discovery of a new virus conceded that
the discovery wasn’t a big deal, given that
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“the rise of metagenomic sequencing has

resulted in an explosion of virus discovery,
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with new viruses being announced every

day” Metagenomic analysis involves the
application of bioinformatics tools to study the genetic material from environmental, uncultured
microorganisms.
It  allows the evaluation of bacterial diversity and detection of thousands of organisms.
The researchers have named their discovery “Yada Yada virus” (YYV). YYV takes its name
from ‘The Yada Yada’, an episode of the television sitcom Seinfeld, which aired on the American
network NBC on April 24, 1997.
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 Yada Yada is an alphavirus, a group of viruses that the researchers described as “small,
single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses (that) include species important to human and
animal health, such as Chikungunya virus and Eastern equine encephalitis virus (and which) are
transmitted primarily by mosquitoes and (are) pathogenic in their vertebrate hosts”.
Metagenomic sequencing

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Alphavirus is a genus of RNA viruses.
  There are 31 alphaviruses, which infect various vertebrates such as humans, rodents, fish,
birds, and larger mammals such as horses, as well as invertebrates.
The virus was detected in mosquitoes trapped as part of the Victorian Arbovirus Disease
Control Programme in Encephalitis Virus Surveillance traps set up overnight in three locations in
Victoria, Australia, for seven weeks in late 2016, the researchers reported.
The virus poses no threat to human beings, because it is a part of a group of viruses that
only infect mosquitoes. 
That doesn’t mean the discovery won’t be useful: “Mosquito-specific viruses can help us
understand how viruses evolved and can be useful for vaccine production and diagnostics,”

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Coast guard ships
Two Indian Coast Guard Ships (ICGS) — Annie Besant and Amrit Kaur —
were commissioned by Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar at Kolkata

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About Annie Besant:
• ICGS Annie Besant was named in honour of Annie Besant.
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• Annie Besant was a great philanthropist, theosophist, prolific author and supporter of Indian
freedom struggle.
• The ship will be based at Chennai, Tamil Nadu under the operational and administrative
control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region(East). It is commanded by Commandant (JG)
Sunny Deo.
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About Amrit Kaur

• ICGS Amrit Kaur derives the name
from Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, who belonged
to the ruling family of Kapurthala, Punjab.
• She took an active part in the ‘Salt
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Satyagraha’ and ‘Quit IndiaMovement’, and

served Independent India as it first Health
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Minister.
• She was a founder member of All India
Women’s Conference and founder President
of Indian Council for Child Welfare.
• The ship will be based at Haldia, West Bengal under the operational and administrative control
of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (North East). It is commanded by Commandant (JG)
Himanshu Mishra.

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K4 MISSILE
India successfully test-fired 3,500 km strike range
nuclear capable submarine-launched K-4 ballistic missile off
coast of Andhra Pradesh. The missile under development
by DRDO will be equipped on indigenous INS Arihant-class
nuclear-powered submarines of Navy
The K family of missiles named after Indian scientist
and former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a series of
submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) developed by

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India to boost its second strike capabilities and thus augment
its nuclear deterrence. Information about this family of
missiles has mostly been kept classified. It is reported that “K”
missiles are faster, lighter and stealthier than their Agni missile

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counterparts.
With India turning its focus on anti-ballistic and nuclear-tipped underwater weapon
systems, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is reportedly set to conduct a
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crucial test of intermediate-range submarine-launched ballistic missile K-4

K-15 or Sagarika missile

It is the SLBM version of the land-based Shaurya missile.
With a shorter range than K-4 missiles it is to be integrated with
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Arihant class submarine concurrently developed for the use of

Indian Navy.
Sagarika/K-15 was developed at the DRDO’s missile
complex in Hyderabad.  Medium range K-15 ballistic missile has a
range between 700  kmto 1,500 km with varying payload.
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K-5 missile is reportedly being developed by Defence

Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian
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strategic forces’ underwater platforms. It will arm the future

variants of Arihant class submarines of the Indian Navy. Reportedly,
DRDO is in the process of developing a submarine-launchedsolid
fuel missile with a maximum range of 5,000 kilometres.
K-6 missile is SLBM which is reportedly under development
by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)’s
Advanced Naval Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad.
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 It is a three-stage solid fuel MIRV capable missile with a length of 12m, width of 2m, a
payload of 2-3 tonne warhead and a maximum range of 6,000 km. (A multiple independently
targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV)is a missile
payload containing several warheads, each
capable of being aimed to hit a different
target)
It will arm the S5 class of ballistic
missile submarines of the Indian Navy.
The indigenously developed most
potent missile capable of delivering nuclear

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warheads at 3500 km away will be test-fired
from an underwater platform, most likely
INS Arihant submarine, nearly 30 nautical
miles off Visakhapatnam coast.

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INS Arihant (SSBN 80)is the lead ship
of India’s Arihant class of nuclear-powered
ballistic missile submarines. 
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The 6,000 tonne vessel was built
under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV)
project at the Ship Building Centre in the
port city of Visakhapatnam.
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The missile was tested at the off coast

of Andhra Pradesh. This missile is capable
of penetrating precise targets from ground
to air. This missile also move and monitor
enemy aircraft or drones and target them
immediately during a military operation.
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DRDO sources say that the DRDO is already

working on another long range missile, the
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K-5, which can hit targets 5,000 km away.

India is one among six nations
including the US, Russia, France, UK and China that have the capability of firing nuclear-tipped
missiles from all three platforms - land, air and undersea.

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Russian Made TOR M1 Missile system

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 Tor missiles are guided by radar and fly at almost three times the speed of sound. That
means that if launched at a target 5 km (3 miles) away, they will arrive within about five seconds.
The Tor is among the most modern air defence systems Iran hasand can attack two targets
at once with up to two missiles each. When Iran purchased them from Russia in the mid-2000s,
“the capability was such that at the time the U.S. was concerned about the sale”.

Vyom Mitra
Vyommitra (Vyom Mitra lit. Space
friend) is a female spacefaring humanoid
robot being developed by the Indian Space

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Research Organisation to function on-board
the Gaganyaan, a crewed orbital spacecraft.
Vyommitra was first unveiled on 22
January 2020 at the Human Spaceflight and

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Exploration symposium in Bengaluru.
It will accompany Indian astronauts
in space missions and will also be a part of
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uncrewed experimental Gaganyaan missions
prior to the manned spaceflight missions.[3]
A humanoid robot is a robot with its body shape built to resemble the human body. The
design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments,
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for experimental purposes,

The half-humanoid robot, named ‘Vyom Mitra’ or a friend in the sky, is capable of
conversing with astronauts, recognising them, and responding to their queries.

MEASLES
Measles is caused by infection with the rubeola virus.  The virus lives in the mucus of the
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nose and throat of an infected child or adult. Measles, or rubeola, is a viral infection that starts
in the respiratory system. It still remains a significant cause of death worldwide, despite the
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availability of a safe, effective vaccine.

There were about 110,000 global deaths related to measles in 2017, most of them in
children under the age of 5, according to the world health organization Trusted Source. Measles
cases have also been increasingly in the United States in recent years. Symptoms of measles
generally first appear within 10 to 12 days of exposure to the virus. Cough, fever, runny nose,
red eyes, sore throat, white spots inside the mouth

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Pegasus spyware
The Guardian published a report on the alleged hacking of the personal phone of Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos (in 2018). Cyber- forensics firm FTI Consulting, which has been investigating
the issue, has attributed this attack to the Saudi regime.  
Parts of this alleged incident are eerily similar to the infamous Pegasus casesuch an incident
having occurred does raise several important questions on application and device security.
Pegasus is spyware that can be installed on devices running certain versions of iOS, Apple’s
mobile operating system, developed by the Israeli cyber arms firm, NSO Group Pegasus is the
name of a spyware that can be installed on devices running certain versions of iOS, Apple’s mobile
operating system. 

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Upon clicking on a malicious link, Pegasus secretly enables a jailbreakon the device and
can read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, trace the phone location, as well as gather
information from apps including (but not limited to) iMessage, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, WhatsApp,

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Telegram, and Skype.
Jailbreak refers to the process of gaining root access to the iOS operating system that runs
on Apple devices, including the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
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