Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 1st June

China wary of Japan’s ‘proactive’ role

Japan’s moves to take a more “proactive” security role in Asia, outlined by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s offer on Friday to supply Vietnam and the Philippines with naval patrol vessels, has brought a wary response from China, which is embroiled in maritime disputes with the three countries.

Mr. Abe, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, a key regional security meet attended by defence ministers and military officials from the region as well as the United States, outlined a new and ambitious vision for Japan to play “an even greater and more proactive role than it has until now” in Asia.

UPA flagship scheme to be rejigged

As part of its 100-day agenda, the Modi government has set the ball rolling on redesigning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The objective is to ensure that the assets created under the scheme augment rural productivity, besides providing jobs to unskilled rural labourers.

The Modi government plans to leverage the redesigned MGNREGS for development of villages. The BJP manifesto promised to link the scheme to agriculture.

Vulture conservation in gram sabha agenda

To sensitise cattle owners in rural areas to the need for refraining from using diclofenac, a banned drug for veterinary use, the Coimbatore district administration has included vulture conservation in the agenda for the gram sabha meetings scheduled for June 1.

A study done by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) from 1992 to 2007 showed that the population of vultures declined by 96-99 per cent. The study also showed that cattle/livestock subjected to treatment with two versions of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug among rural folks remained in the carcasses. When vultures consumed the carcasses, process of their death begins owing to drug-induced kidney failure.

After repeated representations, Drug Controller General of the Government of India on May 11, 2006 banned diclofenac for veterinary use.

Further to save the vulture from becoming extinct, Action Plan for Vulture Conservation in India and Regional Declaration on Conservation of South Asia’s Critically Endangered Vulture species was prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest with technical inputs from Saving Asia’s Vulture from Extinction (SAVE). The ban has helped a bit as vultures are reappearing in The Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam forests.

While farmers are not aware of the ban, the clandestine sale of the same by drug stores continues. “Now, the gram sabha meeting will sensitise the farmers, livestock owners to the issue and save the vulture from going extinct. This is aimed at bringing an end to the demand for diclofenac for veterinary use so that the supply stops,” Mr. Bharathidasan notes.

Heavy storm knocks finial off Humayun’s Tomb

The finial above the dome of Humayun's Tomb — a vertical pole of Sal wood encased in nine copper utensils with a brass finish — was knocked down in the storm that struck the capital on the evening of May 30.

A lightning conductor that was attached to the finial, which holds the auspicious inverted heart-shaped kalash (pitcher), was dislodged by winds that blew at 92 kilometres per hour. This was replaced on Saturday. The structure is more than 45 metres above the ground.

Gyaan :

Some key points of Mughal Architecture:

• Mughal architecture is a remarkably symmetrical and decorative amalgam of Persian, Turkish, and Indian architecture.
• Mughal architecture first developed and flourished during the reign of Akbar the Great (ruled 1556 - 1605). Akbari architecture was known for its extensive use of red sandstone as a building material. Humayun's Tomb, the sandstone mausoleum of Akbar's father, was built during this period.
• Mughal architecture reached its peak in refinement and attention to detail under Shah Jahan (r. 1628 - 1658). Shah Jahan commissioned the famous Taj Mahal, a white marble mausoleum dedicated to his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Mughal architecture declined after the death of the emperor Aurangzeb in 1707.

Some key terms:

finial

Any decorative fitting at the peak of a gable, or on the top of a flagpole, fence post or staircase newel post.

mausoleum

A large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.

pietra dura

Hard and fine stones in general, as used for inlay and distinguished from the softer stones used in building.

lattice

A flat panel constructed with widely-spaced crossed thin strips of wood or other material, commonly used as a garden trellis.

Unmonitored CFL disposal ups environmental hazards

A large number of consumers have switched to using Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) to save electricity but in the absence of any monitoring system and with most of the disposal chain being in the informal sector, there is an increased risk of the hazardous mercury from CFLs escaping into the environment, a study on CFL use and disposal has claimed.

Gyaan:

Mercury exists in various forms: 

• elemental (or metallic) and 
• inorganic (to which people may be exposed through their occupation); 
• and organic (e.g., methylmercury, to which people may be exposed through their diet). 

These forms of mercury differ in their degree of toxicity and in their effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes.

Mercury occurs naturally in the earth's crust. It is released into the environment from volcanic activity, weathering of rocks and as a result of human activity. Human activity is the main cause of mercury releases, particularly coal-fired power stations, residential coal burning for heating and cooking, industrial processes, waste incinerators and as a result of mining for mercury, gold and other metals.

Once in the environment, mercury can be transformed by bacteria into methylmercury. Methylmercury then bioaccumulates (bioaccumulation occurs when an organism contains higher concentrations of the substance than do the surroundings) in fish and shellfish. Methylmercury also biomagnifies. For example, large predatory fish are more likely to have high levels of mercury as a result of eating many smaller fish that have acquired mercury through ingestion of plankton.

People may be exposed to mercury in any of its forms under different circumstances. However, exposure mainly occurs through consumption of fish and shellfish contaminated with methylmercury and through worker inhalation of elemental mercury vapours during industrial processes. Cooking does not eliminate mercury.

Factors that determine whether health effects occur and their severity include:

• the type of mercury concerned;
• the dose;
• the age or developmental stage of the person exposed (the foetus is most susceptible);
• the duration of exposure;
• the route of exposure (inhalation, ingestion or dermal contact).

Generally, two groups are more sensitive to the effects of mercury. Foetuses are most susceptible to developmental effects due to mercury. Methylmercury exposure in the womb can result from a mother's consumption of fish and shellfish. It can adversely affect a baby's growing brain and nervous system. The primary health effect of methylmercury is impaired neurological development. Therefore, cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills may be affected in children who were exposed to methylmercury as foetuses.

The second group is people who are regularly exposed (chronic exposure) to high levels of mercury (such as populations that rely on subsistence fishing or people who are occupationally exposed). 

A significant example of mercury exposure affecting public health occurred in Minamata, Japan, between 1932 and 1968, where a factory producing acetic acid discharged waste liquid into Minamata Bay. The discharge included high concentrations of methylmercury. The bay was rich in fish and shellfish, providing the main livelihood for local residents and fishermen from other areas.

For many years, no one realised that the fish were contaminated with mercury, and that it was causing a strange disease in the local community and in other districts. At least 50 000 people were affected to some extent and more than 2000 cases of Minamata disease were certified. Minamata disease peaked in the 1950s, with severe cases suffering brain damage, paralysis, incoherent speech and delirium.

Health effects of mercury exposure

Elemental and methylmercury are toxic to the central and peripheral nervous systems. The inhalation of mercury vapour can produce harmful effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, lungs and kidneys, and may be fatal. The inorganic salts of mercury are corrosive to the skin, eyes and gastrointestinal tract, and may induce kidney toxicity if ingested.

Neurological and behavioural disorders may be observed after inhalation, ingestion or dermal exposure of different mercury compounds. Symptoms include tremors, insomnia, memory loss, neuromuscular effects, headaches and cognitive and motor dysfunction. Mild, subclinical signs of central nervous system toxicity can be seen in workers exposed to an elemental mercury level in the air of 20 μg/m3 or more for several years. Kidney effects have been reported, ranging from increased protein in the urine to kidney failure.