Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE: 27-11-14
S.NO. / NEWS ITEM / SYLLUBUS / BACKGROUND / IMPORTANT POINTS1. / India-Pak rift blocks SAARC pacts (Page 1) / a) I.R / a) SAARC summit
b) Kathmandu Declaration
c) Indo – Pak disputes / a) Pakistan is likely to clear the energy cooperation draft agreement at the SAARC summit but may not agree to other landmark agreements planned including the motor vehicles agreement and railway linkages pact.
b) Sources say Pak official indicated that the energy cooperation agreement will be agreed to in principle by their countrys PM Sharif before the closing ceremony of the summit.
c) While agreement will ensure that the Kathmandu Declaration is not a complete failure, there is clear disappointment over the other two agreements.
d) Officials said the final draft Kathmandu declaration is still being pressed out and may include some of the discussions on the role of observers and agricultural initiatives like seed bank and food bank.
e) Indias proposal that SAARC summits should be held at least once in every two years has also been accepted by members.
f) Other SAARC leaders are worried that its not well for SAARC if these agreements do not go through, as even the previous SAARC had seen several agreements signed.
2. / Pain of 26/11 remains: Modi (Page 1) / a) I.R / a) SAARC summit
b) Terrorism
c) 26/11 attack / a) PM Modi recalled the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai during his SAARC speech, calling on all countries in the region to keep their promise to fight terrorism.
b) He made no reference to the slow pace of the trial in Pakistan, which India has raised bilaterally.
c) He said let us work together to fulfil the promise we have taken to fight terrorism and trans-national crimes.
d) Afghanistan President made a strong reference to terrorism, criticising state actors who use non-state actors as a terror tool.
3. / Modis initiative led to fishermen release: Rajapaksa (Page 10) / a) I.R / a) India – Sri Lanka relations
b) Fishermen issue
c) Maritime security
d) Chinas projects in Sri Lanka
e) SAARC Satellite / a) Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa says credit for his recent decision to release five fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were awarded the death sentence goes to Modis foreign policy.
b) He confirmed that Modi had spoken to him over the phone about the conviction of the fishermen.
c) The sources said Modi brought up the issue of maritime security, as the Indian govt has been concerned about the presence of Chinese submarines in Sri Lankan and Maldivian harbours.
d) He complimented Modi for his idea of a SAARC satellite by 2016.
4. / Australia offers assistance for cleaning up the Ganga (Page 11) / a) I.R / a) India – Australia relations
b) Ganga Cleaning plan
c) Brahmani river
d) Murray-Darling river basin / a) Australian High Commissioner says Australia will offer technical support and assistance to Indias undertaking of cleaning up the Ganga.
b) We have spent $350 million to develop river basin modelling technology to save one of our biggest rivers, the Murray-Darling river basin. We are sharing this technology with India.
c) He added that a pilot study is already on in the Brahmani river in eastern India.
d) When Modi was in Australia, he said we also announced an intensification of our water partnership in order to work with India on his priority of cleaning up the Ganga.
e) Stressing that both India and Australia have huge water challenges that need to be addressed, he said effective management of river systems was essential to ensure equitable allocation of water and preservation of ecosystems.
4. / Envisioning a new Afghanistan (Page 8) / a) International / a) Heart of Asia Ministerial conference
b) Peoples Republic of China (PRC)
c) Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
d) Afghanistan-China Deepening Strategic and Cooperative Partnership
e) Joint Special AfPak Commission
f) Durand Line / a) The fourth Heart of Asia Ministerial conference in the framework of the Istanbul Process is hosted for the first time by the PRC.
b) This is to monitor events to update and uplink their joint declaration on Afghanistan which has been studied by officials in many countries including the National Security Council in Washington and the European Commission in Brussels as well as those in leading think tanks.
c) What is of relevance from the joint declaration are its three key recommendations - establishing a joint special commission of AfPak, holding an India-Pakistan dialogue on Afghanistan and advocacy that Afghanistan be accepted as a neutral country commencing with a framework for non-interference and non-intervention underwritten by the UN.
d) Afghans adopted a strong culture and tradition of neutrality which their country enjoyed between 1929 and 1978 and which includes the period of World War II.
e) At the Istanbul meeting, Central Asian policy groups asserted that the SCO (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and China) have been promising for the last three years at the SCO summit and their commitment for a neutral Afghanistan.
f) Experts who have studied the Austrian and Swiss models say that the neutrality of Afghanistan will mean de facto neutralisation of Pakistan and so the biggest obstacle in its acceptance will be the Pakistan Army with its recrod of strategic depth.
g) Afghans say they have never accepted the Durand Line. Therefore, its action by Kabul is a big fear in Pakistan.
h) A grand bargain between Afghanistan and Pakistan - Kabul accepting the Durand Line in return for Pakistan ending support to the Afghan Taliban and providing a land corridor through Balochistan to the sea is a deal which has strategic benefit for all in ending external interference in Afghanistan.
i) India and Pakistan are observers and are expected to attain full membership of the SCO in 2015.
j) Afghanistan and Iran are also observers and are likely to join in 2016.
k) The SCO constitutes the most effective regional organisation from the neighbourhood to gradually replace or supplement the Istanbul Process.
l) Whether this is an idea whose time has come will depend on China as Russia is the key sponsor of Afghanistans neutrality.
m) Until last year, Chinas Afghanistan policy was characterised by four Nos - No boots on the ground, no interference in internal affairs, no use of the Northern Distribution Network for the withdrawal of foreign forces and no criticism of the US.
n) After the signing of the Afghanistan-China Deepening Strategic and Cooperative Partnership, President Xi said his country would increase its economic investment as well as enlarge its security assistance, which in the past has included the training of police and providing non-lethal military equipment.
o) Beijing has promised a $327 million grant over three years in addition to $200 million given earlier.
p) Chinas main fears that stem from AfPak are extremism, separatism and terrorism arising especially from the Uyghurs linked to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
q) Islamabad is known to be advising Beijing to enlarge its profile in Afghanistan, consider replacing the US and banning India.
r) On its part, China is in dialogue with India over Afghanistan.
s) Besides neutrality, work on establishing the Afghan-Pakistan Joint Special Commission is likely to begin shortly.
t) The breakthrough in an India-Pakistan resumed dialogue could be expected from the ongoing SAARC summit.
u) The formation of the Joint Special AfPak Commission; an India-Pakistan dialogue on Afghanistan; a regional organisation to turn Afghanistan towards neutrality.
v) These additional ingredients will ensure a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.
6. / The demographic challenge (Page 8) / a) International / a) Demographic Dividend
b) Population
c) United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)
d) Census 2011 / a) The expression on the capacity of countries to getthe demographic dividend cannot mask the more complex reality of a not-so-young world in 2014 and non-uniform patterns of growth.
b) According to the latest UNPF report,about a quarter of the worlds population (1.8 billion) is in the age-group of 10-24 years,.
c) In 1950, the proportion was higher at almost a third of the global total at 721 million.
d) The 10-24 age segment has thus declined overall, while it has more than doubled in absolute terms during the period.
e) This means that in theory, their number larger than Chinas population which can hope to live longer, be better fed and educated, do decent jobs and earn adequate incomes.
f) Report says 89 percent in the 10-24 age-group live in less developed countries.
g) Most people who are alive today are below 30 years of age.
h) In 17 states, 15 of them from sub-Saharan Africa, one half of the population is under 18 years.
i) One in three girls in the developing world is married before reaching 18, raising the risk of early and maybe unintended motherhood among children and hampering the realisation of their full potential.
j) According to the World Bank, last year there were 100 dependants (those below 15 years and above 64 years) for every 100 people in the working age in Angola.
k) Whereas Indias age-dependency ratio has ranged in the 50s per 100 working population between 2010 and 2013, China has stayed in the mid-30s during the corresponding period.
l) Indias higher ratio underscores the extent to which social protection measures would have to be strengthened for both the components to ease their mutual interdependence and increase the quality of life.
m) PM Modi must take up massive public-funded programmes in basic education, health care and vocational training with a thrust on building a clean economy.
n) The demographic dividend refers to the potential among countries to increase economic growth by taking advantage of the changing age structure in the population.
7. / India leading fight against black money: Jaitley (Page 10) / a) Economy / a) Black money
b) G-20
c) OECD
d) Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) / a) India is in the forefront of global efforts to fight the problem of black money through automatic exchange of tax information.
b) For this, Finance Minister said that initiatives had been taken at various global forums such as the G-20, the OECD and FATCA proposed by the US.
c) Now countries were cooperating not only on crime money but also on tax evasion money.
d) He said the US was signing the FATCA agreement with countries and if India did not sign it, not just the US but other countries too would impose a 30 percent withholding tax on all remittances to India.
e) There was global pressure for automatic exchange of information.
8. / Bear cartel behind P-Notes bogey? (Page 13) / a) Economy / a) Participatory Notes (P-Notes)
b) High Net worth Individuals (HNIs)
c) FII
d) SEBI / a) Sources said that a bear cartel is suspected to have been creating a figure about regulatory clampdown against P-Notes with an aim to pull down the stock markets to make illicit gains.
b) These bear operators are said to have created huge short positions in the stock market over the past few days, which mean they were betting on a fall in the market values.
c) These operators could have been behind widespread rumours last week that authorities were all set to ban P-Notes which are used by overseas HNIs, hedge funds and other foreign institutions to invest in Indian markets through registered overseas entities.
d) While there have been long-standing concerns about the possible misuse of offshore derivative instruments or P-Notes for money laundering and other such purposes, these instruments are also used widely by genuine investors looking to save on time and costs attached with direct investments.
e) While no prevention has taken place against P-Notes, the SEBIrepeated its regulatory framework for such investments by stating that the foreign investors need to ensure compliance with all necessary norms before issuing such notes.
f) The SEBIs move was taken as further regulatory tightening on P-Notes, resulting in a significant jump in stock market indices.
9. / New class of potent antimalarial drugs found (Page 15) / a) S&T
b) Health / a) Malaria
b) Pyrazoleamides
c) Plasmodium falciparum
d) Plasmodium vivax
e) Red Blood Cells (RBC)
f) Merozoites / a) An international team of scientists has found a new class of molecules that showed a high level of potency against human malaria parasites in animal trials.
b) The new compounds known as pyrazoleamides were effective againstPlasmodium falciparumas well asPlasmodium vivax, the two most prevalent parasite species causing human malaria.
c) The compounds described in this paper work very rapidly through a novel mechanism in malaria parasites and thus would work against drug resistant parasites currently infecting humans.
d) At one stage in its complicated lifecycle, the parasite infects RBCs and replicates inside them.
e) Using a mouse model carrying human red blood cells, the scientists examined the drugs effect onP. falciparum which causes the most dangerous forms of malaria.
f) As the parasite matures inside the red blood cells, it produces a change in the permeability of the membrane around those cells.
g) That leads to a sharp increase in sodium levels in the red blood cells.
h) The new pyrazoleamides affect a molecular pump the parasite depends on to control its own sodium levels.
i) As a result, the parasite swells rapidly followed by dramatic apparent bursting.
j) The increased sodium levels inside the parasite could also be providing a premature signal for it to try and leave the red blood cells.
k) This would be harmful for parasites since they would not have completed the complicated process of assembling all the components necessary for generating infectious offspring called merozoites.
l) The merozoites go to infect more red blood cells.
m) An added attractive feature of the new compounds was their activity against the mature sexual stages ofP. falciparum.
n) The parasites male and female forms mate after being ingested by a blood-feeding mosquito.
o) Inhibiting the production of those sexual stages would help prevent onward transmission of the parasite by mosquitoes.
10. / Deep Ocean has no role in sea level rise (Page 15) / a) S&T
b) Geography / a) Sea level rise
b) Global warming
c) Thermal expansion
d) Ocean warming
e) Greenhouse gases
f) Satellite altimetry
g) Jason-1 Satellite
h) Jason-2 Satellite
i) Argo array of floats
j) Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) / a) In these times of global warming, it is a well-known fact that the sea levels of the Earths oceans are rising due to melting icebergs and glaciers and thermal expansion due to ocean warming caused by the heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases.
b) A new study by NASA scientists has found that the contribution to sea level rise is only from the upper half of the ocean and the ocean below this depth has no role to play in sea level rise.
c) This conclusion was arrived at by subtracting the sea level changes occurring at 0 to 2000 metres depth from that of the entire water column.
d) The total contribution to sea level rise from the entire water column was determined using satellite altimetry (measuring height) using NASAs Jason-1 and Jason-2 satellites.
e) Satellite altimetry measured the changes in sea level and annual mean sea level increases were obtained for the study period (2005 to 2013).
f) Scientists have been recording the temperature and sea levels of the top half of the ocean directly since 2005 using a network of 3000 floating temperature probes called the Argo array of floats.
g) The Argo floats are used to measure sea level variations due to thermal expansion of the ocean layer.
h) To subtract the sea level variations due to ice berg and glacier melt data from the GRACE of NASA were used.
i) The two subtractions resulted in zero values indicating that the lower half (2000 m to bottom) has no role to play in sea level rise due to both climate change derived melting icebergs, glaciers and thermal expansion due to rising temperatures (ocean warming).
11. / New material for cooling surfaces (Page 15) / a) S&T / a) Light
b) Infrared light
c) Visible light
d) Atmospheric window / a) Researchers have invented an ultrathin multilayered material which can reflect sunlight frombuildings and thereby lower the temperature of the building.
b) It is designed to reflect both infrared light (which cannot be seen) and visible sunlight.
c) The material reflects light at the frequency which is not absorbed by atmospheric gases. This is known as the atmospheric window.
d) When light with a frequency between 8 and 13 microns is beamed into the atmosphere, it goes unabsorbed and escapes into outer space.
e) This is the frequency window at which the material reflects the infrared and visible light which strikes it.
f) By this method, the material can cool the interior by almost 5 degrees Celsius.
g) Though radiative cooling happens in the 8-13 micron window, atmospheric gases do absorb radiation at about 10 microns.
NOTE: Read all snapshots in S&T Page 15.
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