28 May 2024, The Hindu
IMD forecasts ‘above normal’ monsoon
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance.
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has retained its outlook of an ‘above normal’ monsoon this year.
- In April, the agency had forecast June-September rainfall to be 6% above the normal of 87 cm. India’s north-eastern States are expected to receive deficient rains.
- The monsoon ‘core zone,’ which encompasses most of central India and critical for the kharif crop, and southern India are expected to see ‘above normal’ rainfall, Mrutunjay Mohapatra, Director-General, IMD, said on Monday.
Investment in technology will secure boundaries: Dhankhar
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday (May 27) said a country that invests in technological advancement will have secure boundaries.
- Mr. Dhankhar, who visited National Aerospace Limited (NAL) facilities and laid the foundation stone of the Centre for Carbon Fiber and Prepregs in Bengaluru, said, “Gone are the days of conventional warfare. I have before me men in uniform. They know the changing dynamics of warfare. It’s gone much beyond conventional warfare.”
Chabahar’s opportunities and challenges
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- The recently concluded contract between India and Iran, which gives New Delhi rights to invest in and operate the Shahid-Behesti terminal at Chabahar Port for another 10 years, has created many headlines.
- The port remains the crown project anchoring economic relations between the two countries.
- The deal came at a precarious time in West Asia as the war in Gaza continues unabated, Israel-Iran tensions remain critical, and the passing of Iran’s President and Foreign Minister in a helicopter accident challenges domestic politics in Tehran.
Where animals are dying by a thousand cuts
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- Elections have concluded in most constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, with unemployment, inflation, and agrarian distress likely to have been the core issues motivating the voters.
- With more than a million abandoned cattle decimating harvests and farm-based livelihoods, however, electoral winds may blow in strange directions in this largely agrarian and electorally pivotal State.
- These stray cattle, or “chutta jaanwar” as they are colloquially known, were born out of the disruptions wrought on a functioning livestock economy by state policies and state-empowered vigilantes.
- The transport and trade of cattle without permits has been illegal in U.P. since 1955. Cattle trade, however, thrived until recently.
- It was enabled by a clandestine network of traders, and the tacit acceptance of communities that the meat industry is an integral part of the livestock economy.
Menstrual hygiene in Indian prisons
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- India has witnessed a promising shift in the landscape of menstrual hygiene management over the years. The fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2019-2020) revealed that about eight out of 10 young women aged 15-24 years are now using safe menstrual hygiene products.
- While urban areas and certain demographics have seen improved usage of menstrual hygiene products, the plight of one of the most marginalised populations — women in Indian prisons — remains overlooked.
- In a society where prisoners are deemed unworthy of fundamental rights, female prisoners face an even greater injustice.
- Society clings to an unrealistic standard of female purity, refusing to accept that women, too, can commit crimes.
- This bias has led to a systemic oversight and neglect of female prisoner’s basic needs, including menstrual hygiene.
The controversy over eucalyptus planting in Kerala
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GS 3: Environment- Conservation
- The Kerala government issued an order allowing the Kerala Forest Development Corporation (KFDC) to plant eucalyptus trees for its financial sustenance in 2024-2025. Environmentalists soon protested the decision saying the move would adversely affect forests and heighten human-animal conflicts in future.
- Subsequently, the head of the Forest Force submitted a report to the State Forest Minister saying it hadn’t permitted the planting of eucalyptus trees inside forests.
- On May 20, the government amended its order to limit permission to only cut exotic tree species from lands in the KFDC’s control.
Caterpillars may sense threats using electric fields
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GS 3: Environment- Conservation
- Caterpillars have a sixth sense that most land-based animals do not. They can sense electric fields around them with small bristles called setae on its body — a feat called electroreception.
- British researchers have discovered this in laboratory experiments and their findings were published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
- They studied four species of caterpillars: cinnabar moth, scarce vapourer moth, European peacock butterfly, and common wasp.
