Ten relevant news updates from across the world, useful for examinations
SHARE:
Headlines - 03 - 07 - 2021
- Environment and Ecology - Last Ice Area - A new study found that the "Last Ice Area" may be more vulnerable to climate change than suspected. The Last Ice Area, an Arctic region known for its thick ice cover, spans more than 2,000 kms, reaching from Greenland's northern coast to the western part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It earned its dramatic name because though its ice grows and shrinks seasonally, much of the sea ice was thought to be thick enough to persist through summer's warmth. But during the summer of 2020, the Wandel Sea in the eastern part of the Last Ice Area lost 50% of its overlying ice, bringing coverage there to its lowest since record-keeping began. If the area is changing faster than expected, the Last Ice Area may not be the refuge for ice-dependent species in a future ice-free summer Arctic. Anamoly - In recent decades, ocean currents have bolstered ice cover in the Last Ice Area with chunks of floating sea ice. But, northward winds transported ice away from Greenland and created stretches of open water that were warmed by the sun. The heated water then circulated under sea ice to drive even more melting.
- World Politics - Delta rising - Australia’s states closed their borders as new clusters of the Delta variant emerged across the country. Around 80% of Australians are now living under restrictions and their “travel bubble” with New Zealand has been suspended. Just 5% of the population has been vaccinated. Mixing different covid-19 vaccines could boost immunity against the coronavirus, according to researchers at Oxford University. A shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine four weeks after one of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s, and vice versa, produced a high level of antibodies. Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator, dismissed senior officials for “incompetence and irresponsibility” related to pandemic prevention. Mr Kim did not admit that there had been a covid-19 outbreak in his country. Last week North Korea again told the World Health Organisation that it had recorded no cases.
- World Economy - Crypto shock by Binance: One of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges - Binance - froze customers’ ability to withdraw and deposit sterling on its main platform. The firm claimed the function was “suspended for maintenance”. It is unclear whether the incident is related to a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority, a British watchdog, which found that the exchange was not registered in Britain and so was not allowed to operate there. Later Binance said that it had unfrozen sterling withdrawals.
- Science and Technology - Burning cash to bring net to all - Elon Musk said that Space x, his private rocket company, could spend between $20bn and $30bn on its low-orbit network. The firm has 1,500 satellites which provide broadband to places without fibre connections or 5G. It wants to expand the network to 12,000 satellites. The cost is much higher than previous estimates. As Mr Musk put it: “It’s a lot, basically.”
- Environment and Ecology - Air pollutants kill faster - New research says that Black Carbon (BC) has adverse effect on human health and leads to premature mortality. The Scientists from the Centre of Excellence in Climate Change Research, supported by the Climate Change programme of Department of Science and Technology (DST), explored the individual and cumulative impact of BC aerosol, fine (PM 2.5), and coarse (PM 10) particulates, and trace gases (SO2, NO2, O3) on premature mortality in Varanasi of Indo-Gangetic plain. They utilized daily all-cause mortality and ambient air quality from 2009 to 2016 to clearly establish a significant impact of BC aerosols, NO2 and, PM2.5 exposure on mortality. Findings: The inclusion of co-pollutants (NO2 & PM 2.5) in the multi-pollutant model increased the individual mortality risks for BC aerosols. The effect of pollutants was more prominent for males, age group 5-44 and, in winter. The adverse effect of pollutants wasn’t limited to current day of exposure but can extend as high as up to 5 days (Lag effect). The mortality rises linearly with an increase in air pollutants level and shows adverse impact at higher levels.
- Science and Technology - Gamma-Ray Burst (GRBs) - The highest energy afterglow from the most notable Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) explosion from a galaxy 4.5 billion light years away did not follow the evolution expected in standard afterglow models. The detection of high energy photons (TeV Photons) from this GRB provides new insights to unravel the underlying physical processes at work which result in such explosions. The GRB with ultra-high energy photons called GRB 190114C was detected for the first time in 2019 by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC). The GRB lasted for a brief period, followed by an initial bright flash in high energies known as the ‘prompt emission’. A less luminous but long-lasting counterpart known as the ‘afterglow’ was detected after the prompt emission. Detailed modelling of the recent afterglow indicates that the parameters describing the fraction of energy in electron population and magnetic field are evolving with time and not constant as generally seen in GRBs. The evolution of these parameters, at early times, may play a role in producing the bright TeV emission. [Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are short-lived bursts of gamma-ray light, the most energetic form of light. Lasting anywhere from a few milliseconds to several minutes, GRBs shine hundreds of times brighter than a typical supernova and about a million trillion times as bright as the Sun.]
- Governance and Institutions - Gender Self-identification - The Spanish government approved the first draft of a bill that would allow anyone over the age of 14 to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy. Gender self-identification or ‘self-id’ is the concept that a person should be allowed to legally identify with the gender of their choice by simply declaring so, and without facing any medical tests. This has been a long held demand of trans-right groups around the world, as prejudice against trans people remains rampant. As per the advocacy group ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), 15 countries around the world recognise self-ID. They are Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Malta, Argentina, Luxembourg, Ireland, Greece, Costa Rica, Mexico (only in Mexico City), Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay. What about the process for declaring one’s sex in India? The rights of transgender persons are governed by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and the Rules, 2020. Under the Rules, an application to declare gender is to be made to the District Magistrate. Parents can also make an application on behalf of their child. There is no need for transgender persons to go through a medical examination for declaring their desired sex.
- Indian Economy - National Horticulture Board (NHB) - Union Agriculture Minister inaugurated the new Centre of National Horticulture Board (NHB) at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. NHB is mandated for integrated development of hi-tech commercial horticulture and post-harvest management/cold chain infrastructure in the country. It is having centers/offices at various locations of the country and atleast one centre is there almost in each state for implementation, monitoring and coordination of its various Schemes and activities. Some of the bigger states like UP and Maharashtra are having more than one centre due to their geography and higher quantum of work.
- Environment and Ecology - Hottest ever day in Antarctica at 18.3°C - The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the hottest ever day in Antarctica was recorded on February 6, 2020, when the temperatures hit 18.3°C. The previous record for the continent was 17.5°C recorded at Esperanza station on March 24, 2015. "Antarctic Peninsula is among the fastest-warming regions of the planet...almost 3°C over the last 50 years," WMO added. Antarctica is known for being the highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent on earth. lthough there are no native Antarcticans and no permanent residents or citizens of Antarctica, many people do live in Antarctica each year. No-one lives in Antarctica indefinitely in the way that they do in the rest of the world. It has no commercial industries, no towns or cities, no permanent residents. The only "settlements" with longer term residents (who stay for some months or a year, maybe two) are scientific bases.
- Healthcare and Medicine - WHO urges nations to vaccinate 10% of the population by September - WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged nations to vaccinate at least 10% of the population by September 2021, asserting that failure to vaccinate in some countries will impact all countries globally. He warned that "until we end the pandemic everywhere, we will not end it anywhere". Vast inequities in the access to vaccines are fuelling a two-track pandemic, Ghebreyesus added. This is not a good sign for equitable recovery in the global economy.
COMMENTS