12th June
Gravitational waves: a big bungle?
An announcement made earlier this year prior to publication, which was purported to be the cosmology world’s finding of the year, may well prove to be flawed, as viewed by two independent analyses.
This was the discovery of gravitational waves by a Harvard University group led by John Kovac, seen as an evidence for the theory of cosmic inflation (which is the concept that the cosmos ballooned in size during the first few instants after the big bang).
The Harvard group, working at BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarisation) telescope, had reported that they had observed a twist in the polarisation of ancient light that goes back to the time of the big bang. This twist was seen as the evidence for gravitational waves (ripples in the fabric of space-time generated in the early universe, close to the big bang) which were predicted by Einstein.
On the other hand, the study led by David Spergel argues that this effect of twisting the polarisation of the light could be produced by dust which is present both within the Milky Way and outside it. Their contention is that ultrafine dust can absorb starlight and re-emit it as infrared or radio waves and because of their uneven shape, could end up twisting the light.
The other study, points out another point of debate. In small spatial scales, “gravitational lensing,” a process by which light curves around massive objects in space, can have the same effect of twisting the polarisation of light.
E-waste looms large over India
In just over a decade, India will have on its hands a whopping 130 million obsolete desktop computers and 900 million laptops to dispose of, a new research paper estimates.
Besides the sheer volume of non-biodegradable material this entails, e-waste involves distinctly hazardous substances such as cadmium, mercury, lead, arsenic and a blend of plastics that are difficult to remove from the environment.
A yawning gap exists already between the ewaste generated in India and its capacity to deal with it.
They propose that a recycling capacity for 1030 million obsolete PCs be planned by 2025.
Extreme events in Indian Ocean region
Thanks to global warming, we can expect more frequent storms, torrential rains and floods in east coast of Africa and cold dry conditions and drought and forest fires in Indonesia.
These extreme climatic events in the Indian Ocean region are caused by increased Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the western Indian Ocean, off the East coast of Africa and lowered SSTs in the eastern Indian Ocean off the Sumatra Java coast, Indonesia.
Such extreme events occur when the difference between the western and eastern temperature anomalies is large.
However, if the sea surface temperature anomalies are reversed — decreased SSTs in the western Indian Ocean and increased SSTs in the in the eastern Indian Ocean, the climatic events too get reversed; more frequent torrential rains and floods would be seen in the eastern Indian Ocean and cold dry conditions and drought in the western Indian Ocean.
The role of winds and ocean current reversal in causing these extreme events was examined. The winds and ocean currents usually flow from the west to the east.When these winds and oceanic currents weaken due to faster warming in the western equatorial Indian Ocean compared to the slow warming in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean there are more frequent occurrences of wind and oceanic current reversal.
The significance of reversal is that an extreme event results from westward extension of cold and low rainfall anomalies from the east.
When the wind and current direction is reversed and the flow is from east to west, heat is transferred horizontally to the westward flowing wind. This flow carries warm water and convection in western longitudes of the Indian Ocean region, further west, resulting in extreme rainfall in East African countries.
COLOUR PERCEPTION
Why does the perceived colour of a tree-covered mountain change from green to indigo to violet as the distance of the observer from the mountain successively increases?
Sunlight consists of all visible wavelengths from violet to red. Earth’s atmosphere consists of gas molecules (78 per cent Nitrogen, 21 per cent Oxygen, 1 per cent Argon and traces of water vapour, hydrogen etc.) dust particles, smoke, water droplets etc.
The size of the gas molecules is very small (1000 times approximately) when compared to the wavelength of the visible light and hence the scattering of sunlight by these gas molecules is wavelength dependent. So, short wavelength radiations like violet and blue are scattered more (Rayleigh scattering).
When an observer sees a mountain under sunlight, he not only sees the light coming from the mountain (trees and plants) but also the sunlight scattered by the gas molecules of atmosphere (more correctly, troposphere) present between him and the mountain.
When he looks close to mountain, light from the mountain is more than the light scattered from the atmosphere. Hence, it appears green. However, when he looks at the same mountain at larger distances, length of the atmosphere is increased and also the intensity of light coming from the mountain is reduced.
As a result, light scattered by the gas molecules present in the atmosphere is more than the light from the mountain. So, it appears blue at long distances. Generally, blue colour appears predominantly over violet as it is more sensitive to human eyes.
One may ask what happens to the scattering of sunlight by dust, smoke particles present in atmosphere. The size of these particles is comparable or larger than the wavelength of the visible light. Scattering of sunlight by these particles has negligible wavelength dependence (i.e. all colours are scattered uniformly and hence appears white). However, this white light intensity is very small compared to blue light scattered by the gas molecules.
WTO: Modi banks on BRICS
The Modi government’s first major international crisis is brewing at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Geneva, where even six months after the Bali ministerial conference, the United States has not allowed progress on talks to ensure permanent protection to India’s food subsidies from WTO caps.
To salvage the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek support from BRICS, especially China, on the Geneva negotiations during his visit to Brazil on July 14 and 15 for the summit of this group of nations, sources said.
Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher has said that India is eager to find permanent protection for its food subsidies from World Trade Organisation caps.
The nation registered its annoyance at the unbalanced progress in the execution of the Bali Declaration at the Trade Ministers Meet in Paris in May, the WTO General Council Meet in Geneva in June and the Committee of Agriculture last week. In December 2013, the WTO Ministers adopted the declaration that proposed to revive the Doha Development Agenda and find permanent protection for the minimum support prices.
India has found support in Africa’s Least Developed Countries as “the fear is that the developed countries will harvest the Trade Facilitation agreement and run away,” the sources said. Brazil and China could rally behind India, as their food security subsidies are in danger of breaching the WTO limits too.
Following the rollout of the Food Security Act, India’s administered minimum support prices for foodgrains procurement run the risk of breaching the permissible subsidy levels under the WTO’s existing Agreement on Agriculture. As a developing country, the de minimis provisions entitle India to provide 10 per cent of the total value of production of a basic agricultural product as product-specific price support and 10 per cent of the total value of agricultural production as non-product-specific support.
Subsidies and support prices in excess of the cap are seen as trade-distorting, against which other WTO countries can initiate legal action.
NGOs stance on development projects to hit growth: IB
The IB report ‘Impact of NGOs on Development' :
- The opposition to several development projects in the country by a significant number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Greenpeace, will have a negative impact on the economic growth by two to three per cent.
- NGOs and their international donors are also planning to target many fresh economic development projects including those in Gujarat.
- The report alleged that the NGOs work for stalling development projects along with agitations against nuclear power plants, uranium mines, coal-fired power plants and hydel projects.
- In a section related to protests against coal mines and coal-fired power projects, the report alleged Greenpeace expanded its activities to oppose coal-fired power plants and coal mining and received Rs. 45 crore from abroad in the last seven years.
Hasina seeks partnership with China
Declaring to the Chinese Premier that Bangladesh would be “an active partner” in a “China-led Asian century,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has underlined her willingness to deepen her country’s strategic and economic engagement with China, signing major agreements for the construction of roads, railway lines and power plants on a three-day visit to the Chinese capital.
Ms. Hasina, who met President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, also discussed with Beijing the construction of a second deep-sea port off the Cox’s Bazar coast at Sonadia — China is already involved in a port project at Chittagong — that will give China further access to the Indian Ocean, and an alternative route for energy imports.
Mr. Xi described Bangladesh as an important country along the “maritime silk road” project that he has been championing, which envisages deepening connectivity, building ports and free trade zones, and boosting trade with littoral countries in the Indian Ocean region and in Southeast Asia.
India Inc seeks speedy implementation of GST
Various industry bodies, including Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT), have sought speedy implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to make the tax system simpler.
Besides, it has suggested measures to address issues affecting the industry such as inverted duty structure, dual taxation on sale of packaged or canned software etc.
National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), which represents the over $118 billion Indian IT-BPO industry, has urged the government to make the regulatory environment more predictable, legal provision more transparent and remove ambiguity.
It has also recommended the launch of an India Technology Entrepreneurship Mission (ITEM) to provide a supportive framework to technology start-ups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises).
Pilot scheme to allow drawals from semi-closed mobile wallets
The Reserve Bank of India has kicked off a pilot project that will allow a few mobile payment providers to test cash withdrawal facilities for a small portion of their semi-closed mobile wallet users.
Mobile wallets are digital products that can be loaded with cash, usually through a mobile payment provider or telecom operator such as Airtel or Vodafone, and can be used to purchase goods electronically.
Semi-closed mobile wallets, which were once hailed as weapons of financial inclusion as they do not require the user to have a bank account, have one noticeable drawback: a user can add cash but can’t draw it out.
The Reserve Bank has long-held the view that letting telecom operators to offer cash-out facilities for their mobile wallet users would allow the companies to bypass the banking system.
What happens is that the sender and beneficiary’s wallet will be seeded with Aadhaar number. When the money transfer happens, the receiver, who does not have a bank account, can walk to a mRUPEE outlet and receive the cash after authenticating his identity with the biometric [fingerprint scanning],” Pradeep Kumar Sampath, COO-MMPL, a subsidiary of Tata Telservices Limited, told this correspondent.
Tata Teleservices’ mobile wallet payment-based service mRUPEE is one of the eight participants in the RBI pilot.
Reports on rethink on Subramanium appointment speculative: official
For all the details on the issue copying from some other source:
In an unprecedented decision last month, the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India RM Lodha had suggested names of two previous solicitors general, Gopal Subramaniam and RF Nariman, to the government for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court.
While this recommendation was awaiting Government’s nod, with all the other formalities fulfilled, Economic Times reported that the Government is now rethinking on the “suitability” of Gopal Subramaniam’s appointment.
Although the Constitution of India provides for appointment through three categories of persons, namely high court judges, lawyers and academics. However, unlike United States, the Supreme Court judges in India are seldom appointed from members of the bar. Usually, a former Chief Justice of a High Court is elevated to the position of a SC judge.
Out of total 210 Supreme Court judges appointment made since 1950, only four appointments have been done out of the category of High Court judges.
Presently, the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the High Court is provided under Article 124(2) and Article 217(1) of the Constitution of India, 1950. Under these provisions, the President of India is required to “consult” with the Chief Justice of India and in case of High Court appointments, to consult the Governor and the Chief Justice of the respective High Court. The Supreme Court in the case of Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India construed the word “consultation” to be equal to “concurrence”. The Advisory Opinion of the Supreme Court in 1998 laid down the process of appointment, whereby the judiciary through its “collegiums” consisting of the Chief Justice and two or four senior judges, would propose names to the President, who then is bound by the decision of the Collegium. This procedure of appointment in effect, confers upon the judiciary the power to appoint judges of the higher courts.
Hence, senior Supreme Court lawyer and nominated Rajya Sabha member KTS Tulsi was quoted by ET as saying, “The collegium is not known to reconsider its decision in face of government opposition or disapproval. The government knows that very well. So the best it can do is not to send back the file and just sit on it. There is no time limit in which the government has to clear it.”
As amicus curiae in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, the former Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium had pointed out several missing links in the charge sheet filed by the Gujarat Police and had strongly recommended a fresh investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Calling the State Police investigation a mockery, he had called for a comprehensive probe to the highest level.
In 2012, the Supreme Court expressed “strong reservations” against the trial in the encounter case proceeding in Gujarat. This was after the CBI, which was by then probing the case, appealed to the court for an order to shift the trial outside the State.
Amit Shah, the then State Home Minister, was also accused of playing a key role in the encounter of Sheikh, who was allegedly gunned down by the Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in November 2005.
June 13th
In a far-reaching decision, the Narmada Control Authority on Thursday gave its nod to Gujarat for raising the height of the Narmada dam to the full reservoir level of 138.72 metres from the present 121.92 metres. The gates will be installed in an “open position” for now, sources told The Hindu .
The decision was questioned by activists who are concerned about the displacement of people in the region. Narmada Bachaon Andolan leader Medha Patkar castigated the decision as “political”, and called it a “breach of every principle of democracy and justice.”
Japan on Thursday summoned the Chinese ambassador to complain about fighter jets flying “dangerously” close to two of its military planes over the East China Sea, officials said.
In the latest up-close confrontation between the two sides, Tokyo says two Chinese SU-27 jets flew just 30 metres (100 feet) away from its aircraft in a spot where the two countries’ air defence zones overlap.
June 14th
Getting deployed in anti-Maoist operations in central and eastern India is something that every paramilitary soldier, especially the jawan, dreads. The terrain is extremely inhospitable and the threat of a Maoist ambush looms large most of the time.
Inside villages, it is impossible to distinguish between an innocent Adivasi and a Maoist guerrilla. There is hardly any workable intelligence that comes their way. Coordination with the State police forces is a nightmare, with both sides accusing each other of high-handedness.
During the day, they are deputed through the Maoist-affected areas where there is no enemy in sight. But it may be lurking close by, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Once they return to their barracks, there are hardly any facilities to enable them to take proper rest. As a result, a soldier turns into powder keg.
One problem is that an officer who is directly recruited in the CRPF (or other paramilitary forces) through direct recruitment does not make it to the top.
The higher posts are reserved for officers from the Indian Police.
The direct-entry officers in the CRPF and other paramilitary forces are now fighting a legal battle. They want the government to recognise them as organised cadre.
PE, key funding option for realty sector
The cash-strapped real estate sector has been increasingly turning to private equity (PE) and structured debt to meet its funding needs. Faced with a liquidity crunch, high land acquisition costs and increasingly tough due diligence by banks owing to its ‘risky’ nature, real estate players have been opting for private funding.
In future, more platform deals and equity stake acquisitions are likely to be seen and the entry of real estate investment trusts (REITs) would provide alternative funding channels.
According to CBRE South Asia, “a forward looking legislation on REITs will be a key enabler for capital markets and shall be the single-most consequential reform witnessed in the sector in recent times”.
New norms for granting minorty tag
In order to grant minority status to primary schools, the State Cabinet decided on Friday to reduce the total percentage of students belonging to minority community from 75 to 25 for implementation of the Right to Education in primary education.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, responding to a question on whether diplomacy between India and Pakistan would be affected by the LoC firing, said, “We are all aware that maintenance of peace and tranquility on the border is of highest importance in establishing the preconditions for peaceful and normal relations between India and Pakistan.” Ms. Singh also maintained that “sari and shawl diplomacy” fit in with India’s policy towards its neighbours. Last month, Mr. Modi had sent a shawl as a gift for Mr. Sharif’s mother in Lahore.
The exchange of letters seems to indicate Mr. Modi’s desire for more direct diplomacy with Mr. Sharif , whom he addressed as “Mian Sahab.” Many in the government were taken by surprise at the speed of correspondence that may indicate an unofficial channel at work between the Indian and Pakistani leadership.
June 15th
‘Hydel projects central to our ties’
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan will highlight enhanced cooperation in the hydropower sector between India and his country as a key focus of the bilateral relationship during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit beginning on Sunday.
The Bhutan Prime Minister said his country, endowed with abundant water resources, had commissioned three major hydropower projects while three more are under construction. The surplus electricity generated these hydropower plants is exported to India.
Bhutan would be “ready to discuss any issues that PM Modi may wish to raise,” Prime Minister Tobgay said. “The gamut of Bhutan-India cooperation is wide and includes trade and investment, economic cooperation, development of hydropower, development assistance, cultural cooperation and most important of all, security interests.”
The “deep and abiding” friendship between the two countries was the reason Prime Minister Modi had chosen Thimphu for his first foreign visit, he said.
PM’s visit signals maritime ambitions
By choosing the giant aircraft carrier as his first outing to a defence establishment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday seemed to convey that India’s long-held aspiration of establishing a footprint in the Indian Ocean — which was drawing several competing powers — had not been extinguished.
Mr. Modi called for the establishment of a robust maritime infrastructure. Separately, Navy sources pointed out that a weak focus on strong maritime foundations had become graphically visible in the inordinate delay in the establishment of the Karwar naval base in Karnataka.
Mr. Modi apparently impressed his hosts by stressing plugging the “skills drain,” which follows the underutilisation of highly skilled people who retire from service. The sources said that the Prime Minister was fully aware that institutional mechanisms to redeploy this outflow of talent were poorly developed in the country.
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