Cabinet approves IWMP as a flagship programme

Cabinet approves IWMP as a flagship programme

June 23rd, 2013

In order to make Centrally-sponsored programmes condensed, the Cabinet has approved Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) as a flagship programme of the government.
Why IWMP?
Around 60% of cultivated area across India is rain-fed. Besides, these areas are also blighted by poverty, water scarcity, low productivity, malnutrition and prone to severe land degradation. The watershed development programme has been adopted as a tool to address problems of the rain-fed or degraded areas in the country.
Key Points of IWMP:
Launched in 2009-10 by the integration of various area development programmes of the Department of Land Resources, including the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), the Desert Development Programme (DDP) and the Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP).

• The 12^th Plan allocates the programme an additional Rs. 29,296 crore.
• Cost sharing ratio of Central Government : State Government = 90 : 10
• 9% of the project cost is earmarked for development of livelihoods for asset-less people
• 10% of the project cost is for productivity enhancement and development of micro-enterprises for small & marginal farmers.
• An average size of project under the IWMP is about 5,000 ha which is cluster of micro-watersheds.
• A portion of institution &capacity building (5% of the total project cost) has been provided to set up institutional mechanism at State, District, Project and Village levels and to build capacities of stakeholders.
• It also entails involvement of primary stakeholders in the form of grassroots community organisations.

Expected Benefits of IWMP:
The benefits include increase in availability of surface water & groundwater, changes in cropping pattern from one to two crops annually, increase in fodder availability and increase in milk yield, increase in agriculture
What are Flagship Programmes?
Flagship programmes derive their origin from the term flagship which is the main or most important ship of a country’s navy and is symbolic of the main thrust of the nation’s developmental policy. Major Flagship programmes of the Government of India are:

•   Bharat Nirman: The objective of the Bharat Nirman Programme is to give top priority to rural infrastructure by setting time-bound goals under various schemes to develop rural housing, rural roads, irrigation, rural drinking water and rural electrification. The Programme imposes a responsibility on sub-national governments to create these facilities in a transparent and accountable manner.
• National Rural Health Mission: The main aim of NRHM is to provide accessible, affordable, accountable, effective, and reliable primary health care, especially to poor and vulnerable sections of the population. The programme sets standards for rural health care and provides financial resources from the Union Government to meet these standards.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme: The Act was notified on 7 September 2005 and is aimed at providing livelihood security through employment for the rural poor.
• Sarva Siksha Abhigyan: This programme was started with the objective of providing elementary education for all children in the age group of 6–14 years by 2010.
• Mid-day meal Scheme: The MDM Scheme launched in 1995 aims to give a boost to universalization of primary education by increasing enrolment, retention, and attendance and
• simultaneously impacting upon nutritional status of students in primary classes.
•  Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)

Study finds significant role of platelets in immune system

Study finds significant role of platelets in immune system

June 20th, 2013

Scientists from the University of Calgary, Canada, have found through a study a new type of surveillance mechanism linked with immune system taking place in the liver of mice. It was noticed that platelets, which are conventionally known to play a significant role in the clotting of blood and are crucial to wound healing, while flowing across the blood stream in the liver of mice, were making frequent short-lived “touch-and-go” interactions with specialized immune cells called Kupffer cells. Kupffer cells are present in the liver and protect us from infection by capturing and eventually killing bacteria that pass by.

As per scientists, the touch-and-go mechanism was how platelets were scanning for captured bacteria. But when platelets detected a Kupffer cell bound to bacteria, the platelet-Kupffer cell interaction sustained much longer, which led to the killing of the bacteria.

How does it happen?

As per researchers, two receptor proteins on the surface of platelets — GpIb, and the GpIIb-GpIIIa complex have an affinity towards a protein (von Willebrand factor (vWF)) found on the surface of Kupffer cells. The GpIb receptor binds to the vWF long enough to scan for any captured bacteria. If they detect nothing, the platelet comes off and continues along the bloodstream in a touch-and-go interaction. However, when platelets found a Kupffer cell with captured bacteria the second receptor binds to the Kupffer cell resulting in a more prolonged interaction eventually leading up to the killing of the bacteria. Scientists are yet to examine the helpfulness of this binding in fighting infection.

This platelet-mediated surveillance mechanism has been shown to be vital for the mice because most (80-100%) mutant mice lacking platelets or GpIb receptors died within four hours of infection, whereas more than 90% of wild-type mice survived.

What about Humans?

Although the presence of same kind of mechanism in humans is yet to be confirmed, there is good evidence that human platelets can kill malaria infected red blood cells and in sepsis platelets appear to also be involved so they likely do play a role in immunity.

Efficacy of Aspirin questioned

The findings also question the efficacy of drugs like aspirin, which are known platelet inhibitors. If aspirin by its platelet-inhibitory role allows bacteria to survive longer in blood it could help bacteria become more resistant. There may be a need to reconsider aspirin use in immunosuppressed patients.

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill

June 5th, 2013

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill gets Cabinet’s nod
With the aim to bring uniformity in the regulation of realty sector, the Union Cabinet has cleared the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill.
What does the Bill hold?
The bill seeks to:

• Set up a regulator for the real estate sector with provisions for a jail term for the developer for putting out misleading advertisements about projects.
• Provide a uniform regulatory environment to the real estate sector.
• Make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all statutory clearances from relevant authorities.
• To deter builders from putting out misleading advertisements related to the projects carrying photographs of the actual site.
• Slap a penalty of up to 10% of the project cost to the first time offenders and a repeat offence could land the developer in jail.
• Make it mandatory for a developer to maintain a separate bank account for every project to ensure that the money raised for a particular task is not diverted.
• Provide for clear definition of ‘carpet area’ and would prohibit private developers from selling houses or flats on the basis of ambiguous ‘super area’.
• Builders will be able to sell property only after getting all necessary clearances.
• Forbid developers from collecting money from buyers before completing all necessary permits to start construction on the project.

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.