Daily Current Affairs 26 June 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) NGT asks OIL to pay

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the public sector Oil India Limited (OIL) to deposit ₹25 crore with the administration of eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district for environmental damages due to the fire at one of its wells.
• Well, Number 5 at Baghjan had caught fire less than a fortnight after it experienced a blowout — uncontrolled escape of natural gas at great speed — on May 27. The well is close to the Maguri­-Motapung wetland, which is within the eco­sensitive zone of the fragile Dibru­Saikhowa National Park.
• The amount was “given the prima facie case made out against OIL on the extent of damage caused to the environment and biodiversity, damage to both human and wildlife, public health and, having regard to the financial worth of the company and the extent of damage”.

Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

• Dibru-Saikhowa is a National Park as well as a Biosphere Reserve situated in the south bank of the river Brahmaputra in Assam.
• It is one of the 19 biodiversity hotspots in the world.
• The forest type of Dibru-Saikhowa comprises semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, littoral and swamp forests and patches of wet evergreen forests.
• It is the largest swamp forest in north-eastern India.
• It is an identified Important Bird Area (IBA) notified by the Bombay Natural History Society. It is most famous for the rare white-winged wood ducks as well as feral horses.

Maguri-Motapung Wetland

• Maguri Motapung Beel is less than 10 km from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and part of the Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve.
• The wetland derives its name from “Magur”, the local word for the catfish ‘Clarius batrachus’.
• It is an Important Bird Area notified by the Bombay Natural History Society.

What are Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs)?

• Eco-Sensitive Zones or Ecologically Fragile Areas are areas within 10 km around Protected Areas, National Parks, and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• ESZs are notified by MoEFCC, Government of India under the Environment Protection Act 1986.
• In the case of places with sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, even area beyond 10 km width can also be included in the eco-sensitive zone.
• The basic aim is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries to minimize the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas.

Activities Allowed in ESZs

• Prohibited activities: Commercial mining, sawmills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise, etc), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
• Regulated activities: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides, etc, widening of roads.
• Permitted activities: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, adoption of green technology for all activities.

Significance of ESZs

• To minimize the impact of urbanization and other developmental activities, areas adjacent to protected areas have been declared as Eco-Sensitive Zones.
• The purpose of declaring eco-sensitive zones around protected areas is for creating some kind of a 'Shock Absorber' for the protected area.
• They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.
• ESZs help in in-situ conservation, which deals with the conservation of an endangered species in its natural habitat, for example, the conservation of the One-horned Rhino of Kaziranga National Park, Assam.
• Eco-Sensitive Zones minimize forest depletion and man-animal conflict. The protected areas are based on the core and buffer model of management, through which local area communities are also protected and benefitted.

Challenges and Threats to Eco-Sensitive Zones

• Developmental activities:
• Activities such as the construction of dams, roads, urban and rural infrastructures in the ESZ, create interference, negatively impact the environment, and imbalance the ecological system.
• For example, the construction of the road would lead to cutting down trees which would further impact, soil erosion thereby destroying the habitats of the species preserved under the ESZ.
• Governance and new laws:
• By failing to recognize the rights of forest communities and curbing poaching of animals, legislations like the Environmental Protection Act 1986, and Wildlife Protection Act 1972, undermine the ESZs in favor of developmental activities.
• For example - the new draft notification for reducing the ESZs of Bannerghatta National Park.
• Tourism:
• As the pressure of tourism is rising, the government is developing new sites and gateways to the ESZ.
• To cater to the increasing demand for eco-tourism, the land around parks and sanctuaries is being cleared through deforestation, displacement of local people, etc.
• The tourists leave behind garbage such as plastic bags and bottles etc. which lead to environmental degradation.
• Introduction of exotic species: Exotic species like Eucalyptus and Acacia auriculiformis etc., and their plantations create a competing demand on naturally occurring forests.
• Climate change:
• Biodiversity and climate change are interconnected, for example, the rise in global temperature has generated land, water, and ecological stress on the ESZs.
• For example, forest fires or the Assam floods which badly affected the Kaziranga National Park and its wildlife.
• Local communities: Slash and burn techniques used in agriculture, the pressure of increasing population and the rising demand for firewood and forest produce, etc. exerts pressure on the protected areas.

Way Forward

• Afforestation and reforestation of degraded forest, regeneration of lost habitats, reducing climate change impacts by promoting carbon footprints and through education, is needed.
• Conservation techniques, awareness about overexploitation of resources, and its adverse impacts should be propagated among masses.
• Government, civil societies, and stakeholders are largely required to collaborate with each other for balancing sustainable development with development.

Source: The Hindu

2) Co-operative Banks Under RBI Supervision

Recently, the Central government approved an Ordinance to bring all urban and multi-state co-operative banks under the direct supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Key Points

• Reason:
• The decision comes after several instances of fraud and serious financial irregularities, including the major scam at the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank in 2019.
• Till now, all the co-operative banks came under dual regulation of the RBI and the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, resulting in regulatory and supervisory lapses at many of these banks.
• The RBI had no powers to draw up an enforceable scheme of reconstruction of a co-operative bank.
• However, from now onwards the urban and multi-state co-operative will come under the direct supervision of RBI.
• Benefit:
• The move will empower the RBI to regulate all urban and multi-state co-operative banks on the lines of commercial banks.
• Earlier, the Supreme Court pronounced that co-operative banks come within the definition of ‘Banks’ under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 for the purposes of the Sarfaesi Act, 2002.
• The Sarfaesi Act is an effective tool for bad loans (Non-Performing Assets) recovery.
• It will also provide more security to depositors.
• In India, there are 1482 urban co-operatives banks and 58 multi-state co-operative banks.
• These banks have a depositor base of 8.6 crores, who have saved a huge amount of Rs. 4.84 lakh crore with these banks.
• Issues Involved:
• The rural co-operative banks will continue to remain under the dual regulation of RBI and Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
• The rural co-operative banks face the same issue of misgovernance and fraud, like urban co-operatives banks.

Co-operative Banking

• A Co-operative bank is a financial entity that belongs to its members, who are at the same time the owners and the customers of their bank. It is distinct from commercial banks.
• They are broadly classified into Urban and Rural co-operative banks based on their region of operation.
• They are registered under the Co-operative Societies Act of the State concerned or under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002.
• The Co-operative banks are also governed by the
• Banking Regulations Act, 1949.
• Banking Laws (Co-operative Societies) Act, 1955.
• Features of Co-operative Banks:
• Customer Owned Entities: Co-operative bank members are both customers and owners of the bank.
• Democratic Member Control: These banks are owned and controlled by the members, who democratically elect a board of directors. Members usually have equal voting rights, according to the cooperative principle of “one person, one vote”.
• Profit Allocation: A significant part of the yearly profit, benefits, or surplus is usually allocated to constitute reserves and a part of this profit can also be distributed to the co-operative members, with legal and statutory limitations.
• Financial Inclusion: They have played a significant role in the financial inclusion of unbanked rural masses. They provide cheap credit to masses in rural areas.

The news says that Govt has brought "Urban Cooperative Banks" and "Multi-State Cooperative Banks" under the direct supervision of RBI. This language seems confusing because "Multi-State Cooperative Banks" are also a kind of "Urban Cooperative Banks". So, let us first clear the classification of banks, and then will understand the news.

• As u can see from the above image, "Urban Cooperative Banks" are classified into Scheduled (included in the second schedule of RBI Act 1934) and Non-Scheduled.  
• Scheduled and Non-Scheduled are then further classified into Single-State and Multi-State. 
• Cooperatives can be registered as Single State (as per the State Act) OR Multi-State (as per Central govt act).
• So, all the urban cooperative banks are either Single State (1482) or Multi-State (58).
• Cooperative banks are under dual regulation of RBI and State/Central Govt.
• RBI regulates and supervises only the banking function and Centre or State regulates/supervises the registration, management, administration and recruitment, amalgamation, and liquidation function.
• But now as per the Ordinance, RBI will SUPERVISE all the functions directly of "Urban Cooperative Banks" either Single State or Multi-State

Source: Indian Express

3) IN­-SPACe

• The government approved the creation of a new organization to ensure greater private participation in India’s space activities, a decision which it described as “historic”, and which Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan said was part of an important set of reforms to open up the space sector and make space-based applications and services more widely accessible to everyone.
• The new Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which is expected to be functional within six months, will assess the needs and demands of private players, including educational and research institutions, and, explore ways to accommodate these requirements in consultation with ISRO. Existing ISRO infrastructure, both ground- and space-based, scientific and technical resources, and even data are planned to be made accessible to interested parties to enable them to carry out their space-related activities.

Why private participants

• It is not that there is no private industry involvement in India’s space sector. In fact, a large part of the manufacturing and fabrication of rockets and satellites now happens in the private sector. There is increasing participation of research institutions as well. But as Sivan told this newspaper on Thursday, the Indian industry had a barely three percent share in a rapidly growing global space economy which was already worth at least $360 billion. Only two percent of this market was for rocket and satellite launch services, which require fairly large infrastructure and heavy investment. The remaining 95 percent related to satellite-based services, and ground-based systems.
• Indian industry, however, is unable to compete, because till now its role has been mainly that of suppliers of components and sub-systems. Indian industries do not have the resources or the technology to undertake independent space projects of the kind that US companies such as SpaceX have been doing or provide space-based services.
• Additionally, the demand for space-based applications and services is growing even within India, and ISRO is unable to cater to this. The need for satellite data, imageries, and space technology now cut across sectors, from weather to agriculture to transport to urban development and more. As Sivan told this newspaper, ISRO would have to be expanded 10 times the current level to meet all the demand that is arising.
• At the same time, several Indian companies were waiting to make use of these opportunities. Sivan said there were a few companies that were in the process of developing their own launch vehicles, the rockets like ISRO’s PSLV that carry the satellites and other payloads into space, and ISRO would like to help them do that. Right now, all launches from India happen on ISRO rockets, the different versions of PSLV and GSLV. Sivan said ISRO was ready to provide all its facilities to private players whose projects had been approved by IN-SPACe. Private companies, if they wanted, could even build their own launchpad within the Sriharikota launch station, and ISRO would provide the necessary land for that, he said.
• IN-SPACe is supposed to be a facilitator, and also a regulator. It will act as an interface between ISRO and private parties and assess how best to utilize India’s space resources and increase space-based activities.

How ISRO gains

• There are two main reasons why enhanced private involvement in the space sector seems important. One is commercial, and the other strategic. Of course, there is a need for greater dissemination of space technologies, better utilization of space resources, and increased requirement of space-based services. And ISRO seems unable to satisfy this need on its own.
• The private industry will also free up ISRO to concentrate on science, research and development, interplanetary exploration and strategic launches. Right now, too much of ISRO’s resources are consumed by routine activities that delay its more strategic objectives. There is no reason why ISRO alone should be launching weather or communication satellites. The world over, an increasing number of private players are taking over this activity for commercial benefits. ISRO, like NASA, is essentially a scientific organization whose main objective is an exploration of space and carrying out scientific missions. There are several ambitious space missions lined up in the coming years, including a mission to observe the Sun, a mission to the Moon, a human spaceflight, and then, possibly, a human landing on the Moon.
• And it is not that private players will wean away from the revenues that ISRO gets through commercial launches. As Sivan said, the space-based economy is expected to “explode” in the next few years, even in India, and there would be more than enough for all. Also, ISRO can earn some money by making its facilities and data available to private players.

Beyond IN-SPACe

• IN-SPACe is the second space organization created by the government in the last two years. In the 2019 Budget, the government had announced the setting up of a New Space India Limited (NSIL), a public sector company that would serve as a marketing arm of ISRO. Its main purpose is to market the technologies developed by ISRO and bring it more clients that need space-based services.
• That role, incidentally, was already being performed by Antrix Corporation, another PSU working under the Department of Space, and which still exists. It is still not very clear why there was a need for another organization with overlapping functions.
• The government said it was redefining the role of NSIL so that it would have a demand-driven approach rather than the current supply-driven strategy. Essentially, what that means is that instead of just marketing what ISRO has to offer, NSIL would listen to the needs of the clients and ask ISRO to fulfill those. This change in NSIL’s role, Sivan said, was also part of the reforms that have been initiated in the space sector.

Source: Indian Express

4) Ozone pollution sees a spike

• While particulate matter and nitrous oxide levels fell during the lockdown, ozone — also a harmful pollutant increased in several cities, according to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). 
• Ozone is primarily a “sunny weather problem” in India, said CSE researchers, that otherwise remain highly variable during the year. It is a highly reactive gas; even short­term exposure of an hour is dangerous for those with respiratory conditions and asthma and that’s why an eight­hour average is considered for ozone instead of the 24­hour average for other pollutants.
• The analysis was based on the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data from 22 cities in 15 States in lockdown days considered from March 25 to May 31. It emerged that more than two-­thirds of the lockdown days in Delhi­-NCR cities and Ahmedabad had at least one observation station that exceeded the standard. In Ahmedabad, the city­wide maximum eight­hour average of ozone exceeded the standard on 43 days; in Ujjain, it exceeded on 38 days. 
• The city­wide maximum average of ozone in Gurugram exceeded the standard on 26 days — at least one observation station exceeded the standard on 57 days. The city­wide eight­hour maximum average in Ghaziabad exceeded the standard on 15 days, with at least one station exceeding 56 days. In Noida, Uttar Pradesh, the city­wide maximum average exceeded the standard on 12 days; at least one station exceeded on 42 days. In Delhi, the maximum eight­hour average exceeded the standard on four days, and at least one station exceeded the standard on 67 days.
• In Kolkata, the city­wide average of ozone was exceeded on eight days; at least in one station, the standard was exceeded on 17 days. Chennai and Mumbai did not register a single day of excess ozone at the city­wide level, but at least one station in both exceeded the standard on 61 days and five days, respectively. 
• Ozone is not directly emitted by any source but is formed by photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and gases in the air under the influence of sunlight and heat. It can be curtailed only if gases from all sources are controlled. 
  
• This pandemic­led change in air quality has helped us understand summer pollution. Normally, every year, winter pollution is what draws our attention. The characteristics of summer pollution are different: there are high winds, intermittent rains and thunderstorms, and high temperature and heatwaves

Source: The Hindu

5) KVIC launches Sandalwood and Bamboo plantation, a new initiative to spur monetization of its assets

• The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), in a first of its kind initiative, has begun exploring the untapped but highly profitable venture of sandalwood and bamboo tree plantation for monetization of its assets. Seeking to encourage commercial plantation of sandalwood and bamboo, the KVIC has begun a drive with plantation of 500 saplings each of sandalwood and bamboo at its Nashik training center spread over 262 acres of land.
• KVIC has procured sandalwood saplings from Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) Kannauj, a unit of the Ministry of MSME, in Uttar Pradesh and Bamboo saplings from Assam. The plantation ceremony was launched through video-conference by KVIC Chairman, Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena yesterday.
• The plantation of the Sandalwood has also been planned with an eye on creating an asset for the KVIC as it is estimated to fetch between Rs 50 crore to Rs 60 crore in the next 10 to 15 years. A sandalwood tree matures in 10 to 15 years and as per the current rate, sells at Rs 10 lakh to Rs 12 lakh each.
• Likewise, a special variety of bamboo, Bambusa Tulda, used for making Agarbatti sticks,  brought from Assam has been planted in Maharashtra to support the local Agarbatti industry and to create regular income for the training center.
• One bamboo plant gets ready for harvesting in the third year. Each matured log of bamboo, weighing approximately 25 kg, sells at an average of Rs 5 per kg. At this rate, one mature log of bamboo fetches nearly Rs 125. The bamboo plant has a unique quality. Each bamboo plant, after the third year, produces a minimum of 5 logs, and thereafter, the production of bamboo logs doubles every year. This means, the 500 bamboo saplings will provide at least 2500 bamboo logs in the third year and will generate an additional income of nearly Rs 3.25 lakh to the institution which will grow every year by nearly two-times.
• Further, in terms of quantity, 2500 bamboo logs will weigh approximately 65 MT of bamboo that will be used for making Agarbatti sticks and thus create large-scale local employment.
• In the last few months, KVIC has planted nearly 2500 trees of Bambusa Tulda in different parts of India. 500 saplings of Bambusa Tulda have been planted in each of the cities like Delhi, Varanasi, and Kannauj apart from the latest plantation in Nashik to ensure local availability of raw material for Agarbatti manufacturers at a reasonable cost.
• Plantation of sandalwood and bamboo trees on vacant land aims at monetization of the property. At the same time, it will serve the dual purpose of meeting the huge global demand of Sandalwood while Bamboo plantation will support the local Agarbatti manufacturers in the light of the recent decision taken by the Central government to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in Agarbatti making
• Plantation of sandalwood trees has high potential in the export market as well. Sandalwood and its oil have high demand in countries like China, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and the USA. However, there is a short-supply of sandalwood and hence a great opportunity for India to increase sandalwood plantation and occupy the position of a global leader in sandalwood production.

Source: PIB

6) Role of ancient algae in building a healthy global marine ecosystem

• A study of microscopic ancient marine algae (Coccolithophores) led by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) has found that there is a decrease in the concentration of oceanic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the Southern Indian ocean. This decrease in CaCO3 is attributed to the increase in the concentration of another single-celled alga known as diatoms. This, in turn, will affect the growth and skeleton structure of coccolithophores, with potential significance for the world ocean ecosystem.
• Coccolithophores are single-celled algae living in the upper layers of the world's oceans. They have been playing a key role in marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle for millions of years. Coccolithophores calcify marine phytoplankton that produces up to 40% of open ocean calcium carbonate and responsible for 20% of the global net marine primary productivity.
• Coccolithophores build exoskeletons from individual CaCO3 plates consisting of chalk and seashells building the tiny plates on their exterior. Though carbon dioxide is produced during the formation of these plates, coccolithophores help in removing it from the atmosphere and ocean by consuming it during photosynthesis. At equilibrium, coccolithophores absorb more carbon dioxide than they produce, which is beneficial for the ocean ecosystem.
• NCPOR, the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), and the Goa University revealed that abundance and diversity enrichment of coccolithophores in the southern Indian Ocean is highly dependent on time and influenced by various environmental factors such as silicate concentrations, calcium carbonate concentration, diatom abundance, light intensity and availability of macro and possibly micronutrient concentrations.
• The research team's analysis revealed that the reduction of coccolithophore diversity in the early summer and late summer periods is due to an increase in the presence of diatom algae, which occurs after sea ice breakdown with climate change and ocean acidification, and increases the silicate concentration in the waters of the Southern Ocean. The scientists also analyzed the maximum coccolithophore diversity during mid-summer in the Subtropical Zone (STZ) and Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ), which is controlled by elevated silicate, low temperature, and low salinity conditions.
• Scientists found that the biogeographic boundaries of coccolithophores in the southern Indian Ocean are highly variable, controlled by environmental factors in early and mid-austral summer, and grazing pressure in late austral summer. Also, physical forcing may play an important role in the transport of coccoliths and coccospheres at high latitudes, indicating that the southward extension of coccolithophores is important and may occur for short periods during the hot summer.
• The results of the study point to climate change as a major reason for the altered coccolithophore calcification rate. Different environmental factors and the ability of the species to adapt to those environmental changes would ultimately determine the future coccolithophore calcite production. These investigations are important for future intervention to bring positive changes in the marine ecosystem and the global carbon cycle.

Source: PIB

7) Gravel geometry of the Indus river unravel its paleoclimatic history

• Researchers from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, have traced the paleoclimatic history of the Indus River in Ladakh Himalaya with the help of geometric data from overlapping gravels of channel fills.
• They studied the discharge during periods in which the river experienced an increase in land elevation, due to the deposition of sediment) and its incision.
• River Terraces are ubiquitous in mountains that nourish and help sustain past, present, and future human societies. These terraces are part of valley-wide aggradations, which has been studied extensively in Himalaya to understand the processes driving such a periodic increase in river valley land elevation and incision. Scientists are still debating whether wetter climate intervals with increased rainfall and glacial melting promote river aggradation through increased discharge and enhanced sediment load, or instead, is it during drier conditions when aggradation occurs through increased sediment to water ratio.
• The researchers studied the discharge during periods of established river aggradation and incision of the Indus River, Ladakh Himalaya over late Quaternary (the current and most recent of the three periods in the geologic time scale). They used geometric data from overlapping gravels of channel fills to calculate paleodischarges during net river aggradation at 47–23 ka (thousand years), and preserved slack water deposits (SWDs) at 14–10 ka to constrain paleodischarges that occurred during net river incision.
• They observed that the aggradation in the Himalayan rivers occurred in glacial-interglacial transient warm climatic conditions (33–21 ka and 17–14 ka) when the sediment budget in the rivers increased just after the glacial events.
• Their study published in the journal Geomorphology shows that aggradation took place in the Indus River when sediment to water ratio was higher during MIS-3 (Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, are alternating warm and cool periods in the Earth's paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data reflecting changes in temperature derived from data from deep-sea core samples) and incision initiated when sediment to water ratio reduced during post-glacial climatically wet phase (early Holocene).

(A) Clast-supported gravels (Gh facies) showing imbrication angle (θ). (B) Photograph showing clast data: longest (DL), intermediate (DI) and shortest (DS) diameters, imbrication angle (Ɵ), and litho-type.

Source: PIB

8) The decline in Arctic sea ice does not sound good for the environment, warns NCPOR

• TheNational Centre of Polar and Ocean Research(NCPOR) has found a dramatic decline in the Arctic sea ice due to global warming. The decline of sea ice has led to a localized increase in evaporation, air humidity, cloud cover, and rainfall. Arctic sea ice is a sensitive indicator of climate change and has strong retaliatory effects on other components of the climate system.
• In its observations, NCPOR has noted that the largest decline in Arctic sea ice in the past 41 years happened in July 2019. In the last 40 years (1979-2018), the sea ice has been declining at a rate of ‘-4.7%’ per decade, while its rate was found to be ‘-13%’ in July 2019. If this trend continues, there would be no ice left in the Arctic sea by 2050, which would be dangerous for humanity and the entire environment.
• With the help of satellite data collected from 1979 to 2019, NCPOR has tried to understand the rate of surface warming and the changes in global atmospheric circulation. The study has also pointed out thatthedecreaseoftheArcticseaiceareaand the increase in summer and autumn seasons have affected the local weather and climate over the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas. Being a sensitive indicator of climate change, the loss of ice cover in the Arctic sea has had strong feedback effects on other components of the climate system such as prevention or reduction of heat and momentum, water vapor, and other material exchange between the atmosphere and the sea. The worrying element to note is that the volume of ice formation during winters is unable to keep pace with the volume of ice loss during summers.
• “In the background of the global warming scenario, the study reveals that global ocean-atmospheric warming has enhanced the Arctic sea ice loss. The study demonstrated the application of satellite observations and model reanalysis data for the determination and validation;the2019 sea-ice extent tied to the second-lowest sea-ice minimum record. Although there are no extreme weather events recorded this year, an accelerated decline in sea-ice extent and sea-ice volume in summer 2019 was dominant, and also the northern hemisphere has experienced record high-temperature rise especially during the spring and summer months
• The sea-ice loss at this rate, concerning all the lives on Earth, can have a catastrophic impact due to rising global air temperature and slowing down of global ocean water circulation

Source: PIB

9) Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches Indian Red Cross Society’s ‘eBloodServices’ Mobile App

• Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare launched the ‘eBloodServices’ mobile App developed by The Indian Red Cross Society (ICRS)
• This application is developed by the E-Raktkosh team of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) under the Digital India scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015
• Through this App, four units of blood can be requisitioned at a time and the blood bank will wait for as long as 12 hours for the person to collect it. This app makes it easy for those in need to request for Blood units at IRCS NHQ.” At a time when the country is facing such a pandemic, the Mobile App will provide succor to all those who direly require blood.
• Once the request is placed through the app, the requisite units become visible to IRCS, NHQ blood bank in its E-Raktkosh dashboard and this allows assured delivery within the specified time. This feature will make it easy for a blood seeker to obtain blood & shall bring the added advantage of complete transparency & single window access to the service.
• The NHQ Blood Bank conducted 55 blood donation camps collecting 2896 units of blood. A total of 5221 units were collected during the lockdown period. Blood has been issued to 7113 patients, including 2923 thalassaemic patients as well as to Government hospitals such as AIIMS Delhi (378 units) and Lady Hardinge (624 units).
• Also, IRCS has served more than 3,00,00,000 cooked meals and provided ration to more than 11,00,000 families.

Source: PIB