Carbon dioxide causing increase in the acidity of Arctic Ocean

Carbon dioxide causing increase in the acidity of Arctic Ocean

May 31st, 2013

As per the findings of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), Carbon dioxide emissions are making arctic seas more acidic and even if the emissions are completely stopped today it would take tens of thousands of years to reverse this phenomena.
AMAP which has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway, has been recording widespread changes in ocean chemistry in the region that could bring major changes in the marine ecosystem.
Key findings of the report:

• The rising acidification may bring major changes in the marine ecosystem, but say there is huge uncertainty over what those changes will be.
• Even if CO2 emissions stopped now, it would take tens of thousands of years for Arctic Ocean chemistry to revert to pre-industrial levels.
• Acidification is specifically rapid in Arctic as its water is cold which aids fast absorption of atmospheric CO2 and the recent decreases in summer sea ice have exposed more sea surface to atmospheric CO2.
• The susceptibility of Arctic region is aggravated by increasing flows of freshwater from rivers and melting land ice, as freshwater is less effective at chemically neutralizing the acidifying effects of CO2.
• Acidification is fast in surface waters and more slowly in deep waters.
• Slow mixing of river water with the seawater forms a sort of freshwater lens on the top of the sea in some places, and freshwater lowers the concentration of ions that buffers pH change. The loss of ice also is allowing fast uptake of CO2.
• The pH of seawater has decreased about 0.02 per decade since the late 1960s in the Iceland and Barents seas.
• Average acidity of surface ocean waters worldwide is now about 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution.
• The possible major changes to the makeup of Arctic marine ecosystem may prove harmful to key prey species like sea butterflies. Other species may thrive. It may also harm the development of fish eggs.

What is Ocean Acidification?
Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. About 30–40% of the carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into the oceans, rivers and lakes. To maintain chemical equilibrium, some of it reacts with the water to form carbonic acid. Some of these extra carbonic acid molecules react with a water molecule to give a bicarbonate ion and a hydronium ion, thus increasing the ocean’s “acidity” (H⁺ ion concentration). Absorbed CO2 in seawater (H2O) forms carbonic acid (H2CO3), lowering the water’s pH level and making it more acidic
This increases the hydrogen ion concentration in the water, and limits organisms’ access to carbonate ions, which are needed to form hard parts like those found in calcifying organisms which include organisms such coccolithophores, corals, foraminifera, echinoderms, crustaceans and molluscs.

UIDAI launches online authentication services

UIDAI launches online authentication services

May 30th, 2013

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched three new Aadhaar-enabled services and announced the establishment of around 300 permanent enrolment centres (Aadhaar kendras). The number of centres will be scaled up to 1,000 by September 2013.
These services will enable Aadhaar holders to avail themselves of various services by using the Aadhaar identity platform. Various user agencies [public or private] will also use these services to identify a beneficiary/customer through a fast, secure, economical and paperless format
What are the Three services?
The three services use three different technologies for Identity Authentication. These are:

1. Iris Scan technology: Enables Aadhaar holders to identify himself / herself using their iris images.
2. One Time Pin (OTP) technology: To enable Aadhaar-based authentication of all those who had registered a mobile telephone number during enrolment, using their phone anytime, anywhere on a self -service mode.
3. e-KYC (Electronic-Know Your Customer) technology: To allow individuals to authorize service providers to receive an electronic copy of their proof of identity and address. It can be used by various agencies to verify a person’s identity and address. Further, only demographic information (name, address, date of birth, gender and mobile number) that is collected during Aadhaar enrolment shall be shared, at the request of, and/or with the consent of the Aadhaar user, but will be provided only for few seconds to avoid any misuse.

India is the first country to offer iris based technology platform that can be used by nearly 350 million people who hold Aadhaar numbers.

Japan restarts operating Dreamliner flights

Japan restarts operating Dreamliner flights

May 30th, 2013

Japan’s biggest airline- All Nippon Airways (ANA) has resumed Boeings 787 Dreamliner flights. It is for the first time for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner when its flights were resumed after the planes were grounded worldwide after two incidents on Japanese-owned planes involving overheating of the lithium-ion battery packs in January 2013.
The Matter:
The US and Japan had earlier grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts due to concerns over it battery safety. Recently, a battery-fault warning on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner in Japan forced an emergency landing. A battery overheated and started a fire in an empty 787 operated by Japan Airlines (JAL) at Boston’s Logan International Airport. The aviation authority of the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered that 787s in the United States be grounded until their batteries are shown to be safe, the first such action since 1979.  United Airlines reported a problem in one of its six 787s with the wiring in the same area as the battery fire on JAL’s airliner.
The Matter:
Why Lithium batteries?

1. Unusually high energy density
2. Can be moulded into a variety of shapes

Although all air-planes have batteries, but the Dreamliner requires powerful batteries because Dreamliner’s control systems are driven entirely by electrical signals in place of the hydraulic controls found in traditional generations of jets. So, Boeing depends in part on lithium-ion batteries, which provide quick and powerful charges.Designers needed something which is light in weight and at the same time gives high power output. So, they opted for Lithium-ion technology batteries which have an unusually high energy density, which means the units can be smaller and thus lighter for a given amount of power than traditional batteries.
Lithium-ion technology is the same technology that we see in in the batteries of most modern smartphones and laptop computers, where the demands are rather similar, but on a much smaller scale.
Another big advantage of using Lithium-ion units: These can be moulded into a variety of shapes and thus, provide flexibility to design and fit them in awkward places, which is a key concern when space is at a premium.
Airbus A380 superjumbo also uses the same technology in batteries but in the Drealiners these batteries are used on a much more extensive scale.
Now, with advantages, there is a potential disadvantage of using lithium-ion batteries:

• Lithium-ion batteries require more careful management than other types of battery due to the ‘Thermal Runaway problem’.

We all remember the reports in Newspapers, TV Channels about batteries in laptops and mobile-phones smoking and catching fire.Thus, Lithium ion batteries can be prone to what is referred to as thermal runaway as a result of the very of chemistry involved. As a battery reaches a specific temperature, it can start self-heating with potentially disastrous consequences.
Also these batteries are Vulnerable to problems and leaks of battery fluid. When the problem of leakage starts, the fuel can in turn ignite automatically.

Russian Space debris hits the “Pegaso” (Pegasus) nanosatellite of Ecuador; What is Kessler syndrome ?

Russian Space debris hits the “Pegaso” (Pegasus) nanosatellite of Ecuador; What is Kessler syndrome ?

May 25th, 2013

A small Ecuadoran satellite “Pegaso” (Pegasus) smashed with the debris of a Russian rocket. The extent of damage it has done is still unknown, however it has been confirmed that the satellite is still in the orbit.
What happened with the satellite?

•  ”Pegaso” (Pegasus) is nanosatellite of Ecuador collided with the remains of the Soviet rocket S14 launched into space nearly three decades ago.
• US space officials had confirmed Pegaso had suffered only a glancing blow from the Russian space debris or space junk.
• Pegaso which is the first satellite designed and built in Ecuador set off aboard an unmanned rocket April 25, 2013 from the Jiuquand station in northern China.
• The extent of the damage from the collision is yet to be determined.

What is Space Junk or Space Debris?

• Space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk, and space waste, is the collection of defunct objects in orbit around Earth. This includes everything from spent rocket stages, old satellites, fragments from disintegration, erosion, and collisions.

Kessler syndrome
Danger to Satellites and Spacecrafts: Since these junks move with a very high velocity, even small debris of about 1cm can cause severe erosive damage to satellites and spacecrafts if they get hit. When debris hit a high density part of a satellite/spacecraft they erode their surface which results into the creation of more debris of bigger size and number. As the chance of collision is influenced by the number of objects in space, there is a critical density where the creation of new debris occurs faster than the various natural forces remove them. Beyond this point a runaway chain reaction may occur that pulverizes everything in orbit, including functioning satellites. This is known as the “Kessler syndrome”. Currently about 19,000 pieces of debris larger than 5 cm are tracked, with another 300,000 pieces smaller than 1 cm below 2000 km altitude.

Janani Suraksha Yojana

Janani Suraksha Yojana

May 23rd, 2013

Age eligibility norm to get financial aid under JSY relaxed
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has relaxed the eligibility criteria for the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which provides financial assistance to mothers for institutional deliveries. As per new changes, Below Party Line (BPL) women can access JSY benefits irrespective of their age and number of children.
What is JSY?

• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) was launched in 2005 with an aim to enable women — especially those from vulnerable sections — to access institutional delivery. This was done to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.

Why these changes?
It was found that a majority of women, who needed JSY benefits, remained out of the purview of the scheme because they had to prove they were 19 years of age and had no more than two children. Besides this, highest maternal mortality is reported among girls aged 14-15; the majority of these were out of the purview of the JSY as they were unable to produce proof of age or verify the number of children they had. Thus it was felt that age criteria and the requirement to prove number of children must be done away with in order to bring these left out sections into this scheme.
What were the existing norms?

• Till now, the scheme provided assistance for institutional delivery to all pregnant women who give birth in a government or private accredited health facility in Low Performing States (those with bad health indicators, such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Assam).

Sub-section within Low Performing States:
In Rural Areas:

• Rs 1400 to the woman who delivered in a government facility or accredited private facility
• Rs. 600 to Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in rural areas.

In the urban areas

• Rs.1,000 the woman who delivered in a government facility or accredited private facility
• Rs. 400 Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)

In High Performing States (those with good health indices, such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka), assistance for institutional delivery was available to women from BPL/SC/ST households, aged 19 or above and only up to two live births for delivery in a government or private accredited health facility.
Sub-sections within High Performing States:
In Rural Areas:

• Rs. 700 to the woman who delivered in a government facility or accredited private facility
• Rs. 600 to Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)

In Urban Areas:

• Rs. 600 to the woman who delivered in a government facility or accredited private facility
• Rs. 400 to Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)

Further, in all States/Union Territories, the scheme provided Rs. 500 to BPL women — aged 19 or above and who deliver up to two live births — who prefer to deliver at home. With the amendments, all women who deliver at home will be entitled to this amount, basically for nutrition.
What are the changes?
As per the changed norms:

• All women from BPL category, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in all States and Union Territories will be eligible for JSY benefits if they have given birth in a government or private accredited health facility.
• BPL women who prefer to deliver at home can also get JSY benefits.
• Below Party Line (BPL) women can access JSY benefits irrespective of their age and number of children.

What is the performance outlook of JSY?
As per the Government the scheme has resulted into an increase in institutional deliveries — from 47% in 2007-08 to 72.9% in 2009 (Coverage Evaluation Survey) and, most recently, to approximately 79% — as per Health Ministry data.

Rotavac- India’s first indigenously developed rotavirus vaccine unveiled

Rotavac- India’s first indigenously developed rotavirus vaccine unveiled

May 22nd, 2013

India has unveiled its first indigenous vaccine against rotavirus- Rotavac, the major cause of diarrhoea deaths among children. The preventive vaccine has passed all clinical trials and it will be available for sale in the market by 2014, subject to clearance from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
What will be the advantages of Rotavac?
As the vaccine has been indigenously developed, it is likely to be around Rs 54 per dose which is 1/40th of the imported vaccines available in the market at present. Low-cost vaccine is expected to help overcome childhood deaths in India as well a number of other low-income countries in the world including Kenya and Bangladesh.
The dosage for the vaccine is similar to the oral polio drop and will be given under the same regimen – 6, 10 and 14 weeks. It has shown an efficacy of 56% in severe diarrhoea and 61% in very severe diarrhoea cases during trials. Besides, there is no side-effect or safety issue.
Rotavirus

• Most common causative agent of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea (MSD) among infants below 11 months age group in India.
• Spreads from person to person.
• As per a study conducted at seven different sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian countries including India, rotavirus causes one episode of MSD for every four infants each year.
• Causes 6.1 lakh childhood deaths each year worldwide out of which more than 80% occur in low-income countries.
• Although efforts to improve sanitation and hygiene make a significant impact on diarrhoea due to bacterial and parasiting agents as they are primarily transmitted through contaminated food or water, the best solution to check incidence of diarrhoea caused by rotavirus is preventive vaccination.

Scientists produce ‘world’s lightest material’: “Carbon aerogel”

Scientists produce ‘world’s lightest material’: “Carbon aerogel”

May 22nd, 2013

Scientists from Zhejiang University in China have claimed to have produced an ultra-light substance, called Carbon Aerogel which has a density of 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimetre.
What is the composition of the substance?

• Carbon aerogel which is also being claimed as lightest man-made material ever produced is composed of granite and carbon nanotubes, can absorb up to 900 times its own body weight.

What is its significance?

• The substance is akin to carbon sponge in structure. Owing to its great absorbing capacity it could provide solutions to problems such as pollution control and cleaning up oil spills.

India enters Arctic Council with Observer status

India enters Arctic Council with Observer status

May 18th, 2013

India has got observer status in the Arctic Council along with that of five other nations — China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. India has welcomed this step saying it would contribute its scientific expertise, particularly its polar research capabilities, to the work of the Arctic Council to support its objectives.
What is India’s current purpose in the Arctic?

• Unlike China and South Korea which are gearing up for commercial benefit, India has officially maintained that its purpose is purely scientific.

What else India can try for?
There are opportunities for India for hydrocarbon exploration in the Arctic Circle if India collaborates with any of the five countries getting ready for the purpose — the US, Canada, Norway, Russia and Denmark. Among these countries, Russia appears as the most attractive partner. India will have to take a firm political stand on the Lomonosov Ridge and the Mendeleev Ridge which Russia claims are an extension of its continental shelf. By supporting Moscow’s position, India could get access to the rich deposits and also utilize the North Sea Route.
Why there is rise in interest from various countries in Arctic?

• The rapid melting of Arctic sea ice that reached new lows last September 2012 has caused nations to show intense interest in the region in terms of navigation and exploration of its rich natural resources.

What are the apprehensions in exploration of natural resources of the Arctic?
Although the melting of ice may help in exploration of natural resources, there are environmental concerns too with the same. At the first Arctic Summit in Oslo in March 2013 organized by The Economist, scientists have warned that exploration of undiscovered natural resources may further degrade the natural environment of the Arctic causing difficulties for the 4.5 million inhabitants of the region. The thinning ice is already making transportation and hunting difficult.
What is Arctic Council?

• The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic.

It has Eight member nations:

• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Russia
• Sweden
• The United States

There are 12 countries with Observer status in Arctic Council. They are:

1. China
2. France
3. Germany
4. India
5. Italy
6. Japan
7. South Korea
8. Netherlands
9. Poland
10. Singapore
11. Spain
12. United Kingdom

Devas investors move The Hague against Antrix

Devas investors move The Hague against Antrix

May 18th, 2013

Investors companies of  Devas have moved the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague (Netherlands) against Antrix Corporation — the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) commercial arm. The Court has formed a panel to hear the multi-million dollar claim slapped by Devas Multimedia and its U.S. associates (who invested in the deal through foreign direct investment routed via Mauritius) against the Government of India following the cancellation of the deal for the launch of two satellites and the allocation of S-band spectrum to Devas.
What is the issue?
In 2005, Devas and Antrix had struck a deal which had provided for the launch of two satellites allowing Devas to establish a hybrid satellite and terrestrial communications network to supply wireless audio-visual, broadband and mobile internet service across India. But later, Antrix terminated the contract citing changes in Indian policy and that the allocation of S-band Spectrum to companies unconnected with India’s space programme was now regarded as a risk to national security. As per Antrix , the change in policy constituted a “force majeure” event (inevitable event or act of God). But Devas countered this argument of Antrix contending that the national security and force majeure issues are “contrived excuses”.
Devas seeks damages amounting to $ 1.6 billion under the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) Arbitration Rules. The case is against the Government of India as it has been hauled as parent of Antrix and DoS, into the international arbitration citing breach of BIPA (Bilateral Investment Protection & Promotion Agreement) signed with Mauritius.  The Mauritius-based firms filed for arbitration in July 2012 under the Mauritius-India Bilateral Investment Treaty following the cancellation of the contract.
Who is on the arbitration panel of Justices at Hague?

• The Hague arbitration panel will be chaired by Canada’s Marc Lalonde QC and will comprise Francisco Orrego of Chile and former Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Anil Dev Singh.

What is BIPA?
In order to encourage foreign capital flows and provide safe business environment for their own investors abroad, many countries are signing investment treaties or agreements. Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) is one such bilateral pact which is defined as an agreement b/w two countries (or States) for the reciprocal encouragement, promotion and protection of investments in each other’s territories by the companies based in either country (or State).
Purpose: To create such conditions which are favorable for fostering greater investments by the investors of one country in the territory of the other country. Such agreements are beneficial for both the countries because they energize their business initiatives and thus enhance their prosperity.
BIPA provides a legal basis for enforcing the rights of the investors in the countries involved. They give assurance to the investors that their foreign investments will be guaranteed fair and equitable treatment, full and constant legal security and dispute resolution through international mechanism.

Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs)

Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs)

May 18th, 2013

RBI to launch Inflation Indexed Bonds in June 2013
As stipulated in the Budget 2013-14, the government, in consultation with the RBI, has decided to launch Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) to wean away investors from the yellow metal (Gold) to paper-based savings instruments. This new investment instrument with provide an alternative for those who were in recent times going in for investment in gold as a hedge against inflation.
IIBs with a maturity period of 10 years will be launched each month by RBI with the objective of diverting household savings from gold into these hedged bonds up to Rs.15,000 crore this fiscal.
For appropriate price discovery and market development the IIBs will also be auctioned to institutional investors such as Pension Funds, Insurance, and Mutual Funds as it will create demand for IIBs and help in making them tradable in the secondary market.
What are IIBs?
Inflation-Indexed Bonds or IIBs are are bonds where the principal is indexed to inflation. They are thus designed to cut out the inflation risk of an investment. These bonds will be linked to the inflation index of the country (Wholesale Price Index or WPI) and serve as a better investment option as compared to physical assets like real estate and gold. Higher the inflation, higher the returns.
Why this step?
The step is being taken to de-motivate investments in gold as bulging imports of the yellow metal has been adversely affecting the country’s Current Account Deficit (CAD), which had surged to a historic high of 6.7% in the third quarter of 2012-13. Last month, imports of gold and silver soared by 138% on an annual basis to $ 7.5 billion.
How would IIBs help?
As per RBI, IIBs would help in:

• Boosting domestic savings and reversing the declining savings-to-GDP ratio.
• Providing households and other investors a competitive option against gold and real estate. In the wake of rising inflation last year, there was considerable flow of investments from financial savings to safe-haven assets like gold that resulted into higher imports of the metal. This led to current account deficit or CAD widening to 4.9% of GDP at the end of September 2012.
• Giving investors choice to use IIBs as good hedging instruments against inflation.

How will the Index ratio be determined?
The IR (index ratio) will be computed by dividing reference index for the settlement date by reference index for the issue date, and the final inflation data based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) will be used for providing inflation protection. Besides, in case of revision in the base year for WPI series, base splicing method would be used to construct a consistent series for indexation.
The conflict b/w International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is expected to end soon with both the Indian representatives from the government and sports bodies reached an agreement in a meeting with IOC officials. The IOC has agreed to lift the ban on IOA once it holds fresh election as per the amended constitution of the IOA.
What is the issue?
The membership of the IOA was suspended in December 2012 owing to differences in election procedures of IOA administration body.  IOC wanted that election for top posts of IOA to be held as per Olympic Charter, which insists that organizing committees for each country remain autonomous and free of government influence. But India’s national sports code does not adhere to these requirements, and consequently, a New Delhi court ordered the IOA to hold an election as per government’s sports code instead of adhering to the IOC’s charter.
What is the solution reached?
The IOA has acquiesced to the demand of IOC to amend its constitution in line with the government’s Sports Code. Following this a fresh election will be held for top administrative posts of IOA.

Graphene could be used for high-efficiency digital storage

Graphene could be used for high-efficiency digital storage

May 17th, 2013

Recently, researchers from Spain have shown how graphene could facilitate the formation of a magnetic field under certain conditions.
What did the scientists do?
Researchers created a system composed of ruthenium-graphene sheet- tetracyano- p -quinodimethane (TCNQ). Here graphene is sandwiched b/w the layers ruthenium (Ru) and tetracyano- p -quinodimethane (TCNQ). Grapheme prevents TCNQ from bonding with the Ru base. Because Ru is a good electrical conductor, it has a lot of free and highly mobile electrons that move into the graphene layer, and then into the TCNQ layer.
The unique property of graphene to prevent bonding b/w two layers while allowing charge transfer b/w them allows the spins of electrons in the top layer to get aligned with those in the bottom. This alignment is called an antiferromagnetic coupling. Once all electrons have the same spin, the system is said to have a magnetic field. This is the first time graphene has been shown to play a role in the creation of a magnetic field.
What is Graphene?

• Graphene is the name give to flat monolayer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice and is the basic building block for graphitic materials of all other dimensionality.
• Potential Use: Enormous potential particularly in high-speed electronic devices.

How this research would help?

• The current storage system use magnetic fields to store information on hard-drives.
• The research on Ru-graphene arrangement which shows facilitating role of graphene in creation of magnetic field could find application in faster manipulation of digital information and their high-efficiency storage in computers.

Ministry for Women & Child Development unveils the World Bank aided ISSNIP programme

Ministry for Women & Child Development unveils the World Bank aided ISSNIP programme

May 13th, 2013

The Ministry for Women & Child Development launched the World Bank assisted ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP).
Aim of ISSNIP:

• To improve of child development and nutritional outcomes for children in selected districts having higher proportions of children under nutrition.

Key features of ISSNIP:

• It has been designed to provide additional catalytic support to the existing ICDS programme, through improving institutional capacity and better systems needed to improve nutrition in the targeted groups of mothers and children.
• It will also allow the selected States and Districts to experiment, innovate and conduct pilots of potentially more effective approaches for ICDS in order to achieve early childhood education and nutrition outcomes.
• It will support the government’s efforts in building the necessary institutional capacity and systems needed to improve nutrition in the targeted groups of mothers and children.
• In the first phase, the project will support the efforts of Union Government to bolster policy measures and institutional capacity and will also finance innovative pilots and programmers in 162 high malnutrition-burden districts across 8 States. Besides this, the project will also assist the urban and sub-urban pilots in NCR of Delhi and nutrition pilot programmes in Odisha and Uttarakhand.

ISSNIP has four major components:

1. Institutional and systems strengthening in ICDS
2. Community mobilization and behavior change communication
3. Piloting multi-sectoral nutrition actions
4. Project Management, Technical Assistance and Monitoring & Evaluation.

Project Cost:

• The project will cost Rs 2,893 crore with 70% IDA (International Development Association) assistance equivalent to Rs 2,025 crore over the time period of 7 years.

About International Development Association (IDA):
The International Development Association (IDA) is an international financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the world’s poorest developing countries. The IDA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, US. It was set up in 1960 to complement the existing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development by lending to developing countries which suffer from the lowest gross national income, from troubled creditworthiness, or from the lowest per capita income. The International Development Association and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development are collectively known as the World Bank.

Kerala against creation of buffer zone in any populated area suggested in Western Ghats Report

Kerala against creation of buffer zone in any populated area suggested in Western Ghats Report

May 13th, 2013

Kerala Cabinet will oppose declaration of any populated area on the Western Ghats in the State as ecologically sensitive area. The Kerala government clarified that it was not opposed to protection of environment or buffer zones. However, it wanted the buffer zone to be brought down to zero kilometers, if the area is populated. Depending on the presence of population, the buffer zone should be zero to 12 km from the sensitive area.
Western Ghats Report:
Background:
The Western Ghats was declared as an ecological hotspot in 1988. A large number of plants, amphibians, birds, reptiles, mammals are endemic to this region. This area has a number of protected areas including 2 biosphere reserves, 14 national parks and several wild life sanctuaries. Besides, many regions are declared as reserve forests.
In recent times, due to anthropogenic pressures the intactness of the Western Ghats is getting fragmented day-by-day. Most of the ecosystem, which is outside protected area is now in danger. The habitat of plants and animals is also threatened due to large-scale deforestation and destruction of forests.
Initially, the report on Western Ghats was prepared by the committee led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil that had called for declaring the entire Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
Following this, a high-level working group headed by Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan was set up to analyze the suggestions made by the Gadgil panel. It stipulated the following key recommendations:

• Only 37% of the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats — about 60,000 sq km of the total 1,64,000 sq km spread over the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu be notified as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
• Blanket ban on mining, quarrying, sand mining, setting up thermal power projects, townships and area development projects in the 60,000 sq km area, along with a cautious approach to setting up hydropower units.
• It identified close to 60 % of the Western Ghats region as “cultural landscape”, dominated by human settlements, agriculture and plantations. It has not recommended any regulatory mechanism for this area.
• The remaining 41% of the area has been classified as “natural landscape”, of which 37% is biologically rich, containing protected areas, world heritage sites, tiger and elephant corridors.
• Declare 22 ESAs in Kerala with buffer zone of 12 km.
• Mining moratorium in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra as they are ESAs.
• Athirappilly hydropower project in Kerala: The proposed project must be revaluated in terms of generation of energy and whether the plant load factor makes it viable against the loss of local populations of some species. The Gadgil report had opposed the project.
• 200 MW Gundya hydropower project in Karnataka: With the project being located in the ESA, the working group advised “extreme caution”, including re-assessment of the ecological flow in the downstream areas, local damage to all forests and how it can be mitigated. The Gadgil report had opposed the project.

What is a buffer zone in the context of environment protection?
A buffer zone is created to enhance the protection of areas under management for their biodiversity importance. The buffer zone of a protected area may be situated around the periphery of the region or may be a connecting zone within it which links two or more protected areas, therefore increasing their dynamics and conservation productivity. A buffer zone is intended to avert the effect of negative environmental or human influences, whether or not it embodies great natural or cultural value itself.
What is ESA?
Ecologically Sensitivity is the ability of a landscape to cope with environmental stresses – stresses like various human induced developments and their impacts; future impacts due to climate change; essentially the ecological resilience and how it might vary from landscape to landscape.
ESA for Western Ghats:
“An ecological sensitive area (ESA) is a bio-climatic unit (as demarcated by entire landscapes) in the Western Ghats wherein human impacts have locally caused irreversible changes in the structure of biological communities (as evident in number/ composition of species and their relative abundances) and their natural habitats”
What is the difference b/w ESAs and Protected Areas?
Protected areas in contrast to ESA’s: Extensive, standard, heavy and rigid restrictions, no scope for adaptive management, largely focused on flagship species and their habitats, leaves out small, unique habitats. ESA’s may have protected areas embedded in them, of various extents, could focus on small special habitats, flexible, adaptive regime of regulation for eg: example whole Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

Acidification on the rise in Arctic Ocean

Acidification on the rise in Arctic Ocean

May 12th, 2013

As per a new scientific report, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Arctic Ocean is rapidly escalating which is making its water more acidic.
It was assessed by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) that the ocean chemistry of the region is undergoing widespread changes.
Key findings of the report:

• The rising acidification may bring major changes in the marine ecosystem, but say there is huge uncertainty over what those changes will be.
• Even if CO2 emissions stopped now, it would take tens of thousands of years for Arctic Ocean chemistry to revert to pre-industrial levels.
• Acidification is specifically rapid in Arctic as its water is cold which aids fast absorption of atmospheric CO2 and the recent decreases in summer sea ice have exposed more sea surface to atmospheric CO2.
• The susceptibility of Arctic region is aggravated by increasing flows of freshwater from rivers and melting land ice, as freshwater is less effective at chemically neutralizing the acidifying effects of CO2.
• Acidification is fast in surface waters and more slowly in deep waters.
• Slow mixing of river water with the seawater forms a sort of freshwater lens on the top of the sea in some places, and freshwater lowers the concentration of ions that buffers pH change. The loss of ice also is allowing fast uptake of CO2.
• The pH of seawater has decreased about 0.02 per decade since the late 1960s in the Iceland and Barents seas.
• Average acidity of surface ocean waters worldwide is now about 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution.
• The possible major changes to the makeup of Arctic marine ecosystem may prove harmful to key prey species like sea butterflies. Other species may thrive. It may also harm the development of fish eggs.

What is Ocean Acidification?
Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. About 30–40% of the carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into the oceans, rivers and lakes. To maintain chemical equilibrium, some of it reacts with the water to form carbonic acid. Some of these extra carbonic acid molecules react with a water molecule to give a bicarbonate ion and a hydronium ion, thus increasing the ocean’s “acidity” (H⁺ ion concentration). Absorbed CO2 in seawater (H2O) forms carbonic acid (H2CO3), lowering the water’s pH level and making it more acidic

• This increases the hydrogen ion concentration in the water, and limits organisms’ access to carbonate ions, which are needed to form hard parts like those found in calcifying organisms which include organisms such as coccolithophores, corals, foraminifera, echinoderms,crustaceans and molluscs.

SEBI gives nod to $10 million Startup Village Angel Fund

SEBI gives nod to $10 million Startup Village Angel Fund

May 12th, 2013

Market regulator SEBI has given a fillip to the country’s first telecom incubator ’Startup Village’ in Kerala by approving the Startup Village angel fund of $10 million that could go up to $20 million with a ‘Green Shoe’ (over-allotment) option.
The approval for the angel fund would address the problem of resource shortage for startup companies across the country. The startup village has Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan as its chief mentor besides other leading angel investors.
What is Startup Village?
Vision: To have 1000 product startups by 2020.
Startup Village is a business hub that aims to provide beginner entrepreneurs facilities and services to help build your own enterprise. It promotes innovative thinking among students to make their breaking new ideas to come true.
It is the country’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP) telecom business incubator - set up at Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation Park in Kalamassery near Cochin. It is a not-for-profit organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship by developing the support structure to assist them.
 As a business incubator, it will provide:

• Physical infrastructure
• Technology & service infrastructure
• Mentor capital & people network.
• Conducive environment

What is the rationale of Startup Village to focus on student startups?
The rationale for focusing on students startups is based on the knowledge and awareness that some of the most innovative technology companies globally like Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Facebook, Google etc. started out as college startups.
How will it benefit a startup company?
Startup Village is a rigid eco-system pursuing the low costs and high quality for the Incubates. It provides the initial platform for a startup company to start its activities. It does not provide any sort of initial funding, but it will act as a mediator to connect the startup company with various angels in its angel network. The facilities offered at Startup Village include leased line connectivity, telecom labs, technology infrastructure, innovation zones, accounting, legal and intellectual property services, heavily discounted consulting & server hosting services, fully furnished office spaces, co-working spaces and video conference rooms and perks like three-year service tax holiday for startups to build, break and innovate.
Who is Angel Investor?

• An angel investor or angel (also known as a business angel or informal investor) is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.
• A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital, as well as to provide advice to their portfolio companies.

What is a Green Shoe Option?

• A provision contained in an underwriting agreement that gives the underwriter the right to sell investors more shares than originally planned by the issuer. This would normally be done if the demand for a security issue proves higher than expected. It is legally referred to as an over-allotment option.
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• Importance: A greenshoe option can provide additional price stability to a security issue because the underwriter has the ability to increase supply and smooth out price fluctuations if demand surges.

Centre starts Pentavalent Vaccine programme in high-risk areas

Centre starts Pentavalent Vaccine programme in high-risk areas

May 4th, 2013

With an aim to expand and promote the reach of vaccination, the Union Government has kicked off its four-week special immunization programme in high-risk areas across the nation. The vaccines are being provided free of cost aimed at reaching every child.

• Full immunization prevents approximately 4 lakh deaths from vaccine preventable diseases in the under-five category every year.
• Close to 75 lakh children miss childhood vaccinations each year.
• On a global scale, every fifth child is not immunized.

What is Pentavalent Vaccine?
India had introduced the Pentavalent vaccine expansion in 2011 in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It has now expanded to some other states as well.
Pentavalent vaccine is given to protect children from five diseases:

1. Hib pneumonia and Hib meningitis (Hib = Haemophilus influenzae type b)
2. Diphtheria
3. Pertussis
4. Tetanus
5. Hepatitis B

 India’s Immunization Programme:
Government of India has been running Universal Immunization Programme since 1985 which is currently one of the key areas under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)since 2005. The program consists of vaccination for seven diseases:-

1. Tuberculosis
2. Diphtheria
3. Pertussis (whooping cough)
4. Tetanus
5. Poliomyelitis
6. Measles
7. Hepatitis B

India had declared year 2012-13 as the ‘Year of Intensification of Routine Immunization’.
Objective of this campaign: To improve full immunization coverage and reach all children, particularly in remote, inaccessible and backward areas as well as in urban slums. The present full immunization coverage of children is 61%.

IMF warns Asia of “Middle Income Trap” and asset bubble

IMF warns Asia of “Middle Income Trap” and asset bubble

May 2nd, 2013

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated that a number of Asian countries are potentially susceptible to the “middle-income trap” and asset bubble Asian emerging economies need to guard against asset bubbles and they must improve government institutions and liberalize rigid labor and product markets if they wish to reach the level of developed countries.
The warning has come at time when the region looks set to lead a global economic recovery as risks from a meltdown in Europe recede. Although the risks from an acute euro area crisis have diminished, regional risks are coming into clearer focus. These include some ongoing buildup of financial imbalances and rising asset prices.
The IMF has ranked Malaysia and China as the highest-ranked developing Asian countries in a chart measuring ‘institutional strength’ while Indonesia, India and the Philippines were at the bottom.
What is Institutional Strength?

• IMF defined institutional strength as demonstrating higher political stability, better bureaucratic capability, fewer conflicts and less corruption.

What is ‘middle-income trap’?

• An economic development situation where a developing economy after attaining certain income / growth risk stagnation and are unable to continue their growth further and enter into the rank of a Developed economy.
• Here, a developing economy might grow very fast initially and then it stucks at a certain level (middle income level) and is then unable to grow further i.e. its growth plateaus.
• A developing nation gets “trapped” when it reaches a certain, comparatively comfortable level of income but cannot appear to take that next big jump into the true major league of the developed world economy, with per capita wealth to match.
• Typically characteristics of a countries trapped at middle-income level:  (1) low investment ratios;  (2) slow manufacturing growth;  (3) limited industrial diversification; and  (4) poor labor market conditions.

Can a country come out of “Middle Income Trap” ?

• YES, but breaking out of it, however, is extremely difficult.  The reason is that escaping the “trap” requires an entire overhaul of the economic growth model most often used by emerging economies.
• The concept behind the “middle-income trap” is quite simple:  It’s relatively easier to rise from a low-income to a middle-income economy than it is to jump from a middle-income to a high-income economy.
• The one very famous example is that of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). South Korea has proved to the world that by building a high-quality education system which promotes creativity and innovation in science and technology and private companies supported by the financial sector and the government, a nation can escape the “Middle Income Trap”.

How can a “Middle Income Trap” be avoided:
Some key suggestions to avoid Middle Income Trap include:

• Identifying strategies to introduce new processes and find new markets to maintain export growth.
• Ramping up domestic demand
• Shifting from resource-driven growth (i.e. dependent on cheap labor and capital) to growth based on high productivity and innovation
• Investments in infrastructure and education.

India expresses concerns to Saudi Arabia over ‘Nitaqat’

India expresses concerns to Saudi Arabia over ‘Nitaqat’

April 30th, 2013

India has expressed its concerns to Saudi Arabia over the possibility of job losses of a large number of Indian workers in the kingdom because of a new labour law (Nitaqat).
Both the nations have set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) which will deliberate on framing a Memorandum of Understanding, which is to be a comprehensive document guiding all aspects of India-Saudi labour relations.
What is Nitaqat?

• The Nitaqat  is a new policy being placed by the Saudi government in order to reduce the unemployment rate among Saudi citizens.
• This policy makes it mandatory for Saudi Companies to reserve 10 percent of jobs for Saudi nationals.

Why Saudi Arabia is implementing such a policy?

• Saudi Arabia’s economy depends heavily on the existence of a large proportion of expatriates working for various establishments in the private and public sector.
• However, unlike the other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia has large number of unemployed citizens, which creates a state of resentment among those citizens.
• As per estimates, the unemployment rate among Saudi nationals has reached 12%. More than 6.5 million non-Saudis are working in the private sector of the Kingdom compared to 7,00,000 Saudis.

Is this type of policy a new concept?
No. This is not a new concept. Initially in 1994, the Saudi government had started a system called ‘Saudization’ with the same purpose of reducing unemployment of its citizens. The programme required the appointment of Saudi citizens of the total workforce of all the establishments existing in the Kingdom. However, due to several reasons, the system could not be implemented. This percentage varied in accordance to the activity of the establishment. However, due to several reasons, the system did not achieve the desired objectives.
How will Nitaqat work?

• ‘Nitaqat’ which means ‘Ranges’, divides the Saudi labor market into 41 activities and each activity into 5 sizes (Giant, Large, Medium, Small and Very Small) to have in total 205 categories.

It classifies establishments into following ranges:

• Excellent : establishments which have highest localization ratio in their workforce
• Green: establishments which have high localization ratio
• Yellow : low localization ratio
• Red : lowest localization ratio

Effects of classification on different ranges:

• Those establishments which will be in Excellent and Green ranges will have advantages and rewards while those in Yellow and Red will be on the receiving end.

Some key advantages to Excellent or Green ranges:

• Eligibility to issue work visas for the development of new business
• Ability to contract with non-Saudi workers from the establishments of the Red and the Yellow ranges in the Saudi market.
• This will result in granting the establishments that have achieved high rates of localization the opportunity to appoint non-Saudi workers with no need to issue new work visas, which helps to rationalization the recruitment and employment of additional non-Saudi labor.

Main disadvantages to Red and Yellow ranges:
They will be forced to expedite the localization of the jobs within the establishments to upgrade their range to the Green or the Excellent range to maintain the expats they have. Otherwise, the establishments located in these ranges – Red and Yellow ranges – will be denied from obtaining new or alternative visas, lose control over the non-Saudi workers in the establishment as they will have the freedom of contract with a new employer and will not be allowed to obtain new work visas to appoint new-non-Saudis workers or to set up a new subsidiary or branch.
Recent addition in Nitaqat law:

• Expatriate worker should work only under his sponsor and the worker is not meant to perform any job other than the one mentioned on his job card have raised much panic among the expatriate workers.

What are India’s concerns over this policy?

• At present over 2 million Indian nationals are working in Saudi Arabia. Implementation of this law will lead to job losses and reduced job opportunities for Indians too.