ETEN Enlightens -Daily Current Capsules (Prelims Prep. Prominence) 17th September 2018

Environment More river stretches are now critically polluted: CPCB

What

The number of polluted stretches in India’s rivers has increased to 351

from 302 two years ago

The number of critically polluted stretches — where water quality

indicators are the poorest — has gone up to 45 from 34, according to an

assessment by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The CPCB says several of the river’s stretches — in Bihar and Uttar

Pradesh — are actually far less polluted than many rivers in Maharashtra,

Assam and Gujarat.

These three States account for 117 of the 351 polluted river stretches.

Based on the recommendations of the National Green Tribunal, the

CPCB last month apprised the States of the extent of pollution in their

rivers.

Mithi among the worst

The most significant stretches of pollution highlighted by the CPCB

assessment (which is yet to be published) include the

Mithi river — from Powai to Dharavi — with a BOD (Biochemical

Oxygen Demand) of 250 mg/l,

The Godavari — from Someshwar to Rahed — with a BOD of 5.0-80

mg/L

The Sabarmati — Kheroj to Vautha — with a BOD from 4.0-147 mg/l

The Hindon — Saharanpur to Ghaziabad — with a BOD of 48-120 mg/l.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand

The CPCB, since the 1990s, has a programme to monitor the quality of

rivers primarily by measuring BOD, which is a proxy for organic

pollution — the higher it is, the worse the river.

The health of a river and the efficacy of water treatment measures by the

States and municipal bodies are classified depending on BOD, with a

BOD greater than or equal to 30 mg/l termed ‘priority 1,’ while that

between 3.1-6 mg/l is ‘priority 5.’

The CPCB considers a BOD less than 3 mg/l an indicator of a healthy

river.

State Specific U.P. to launch first-ever dial-FIR

WHAT

The Uttar Pradesh Police are set to launch a first of its kind dial-FIR

scheme in the country where a common man can register regular crimes

without going to a police station even as it is preparing an online

photographic dossier of criminals that will be provided to policemen on

22,000 new i-pads.

The Uttar Pradesh Police is also expanding the counter-terror combat and

response grid in the State by training over 100 fresh commandos in

special skills including a maiden batch of women personnel

The aim is to enhance the strength of the ATS both qualitatively and

quantitatively, he said.

The state is soon going to start an e-FIR or dial-FIR scheme in the state.

Ease of doing it online

All the small paper application-based things like getting domestic help

verification, lost and found complaint, obtaining permission for taking

out a procession, getting character certificate from police...a total of 22

domains of police permissions can be obtained from home online,

without the citizen coming to the police station, he said.

Online dossier of criminals

To combat crime, an online dossier of criminals in the state has also been

prepared

The investigating officers in various districts of the state will be given

22,000 new i-pads soon on which we have fed a dossier of over 1-lakh

small and big criminals.

Once they reach a crime spot they will show photos of the probable

suspects of the area and other places, based on initial leads.

This dossier would help in solving a case fast as the suspects can be

identified quickly

U.P. is the only second state to prepare such a localised online criminal

database after Punjab.

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ISRO launches two U.K. satellites

The PSLV-C42 carrying the two satellites from the U.K. in Sriharikota

What

The PSLV-C42 lifted off and vanished into the thick black clouds,

carrying two satellites from the United Kingdom – NovaSAR and S1-4

from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre

The lightest version of the PSLV, flying in its core-alone version without

the six strap-on motors, the PSLV-C-42 rose into the skies

The two satellites were placed in the desired orbit by ISRO.

This was the 12th such launch of a core-alone version of the PSLV by

ISRO.

The two satellites, owned by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL)

were placed in a circular orbit around the poles, 583 km from Earth.

The commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation earned more than ₹220

crore on this launch.

Enlighten about the NovaSAR technology

The NovaSAR is a technology demonstration mission designed to test the

capabilities of a new low cost S-band SAR platform.

It will be used for ship detection and maritime monitoring and also flood

monitoring, besides agricultural and forestry applications.

The S1-4 will be used for environment monitoring, urban management,

and tackling disasters.

This unique mission is mainly for ‘ascending daytime node’ launch.

Chandrayaan-2 is planned for a window from January 3 to February 16,

2019 that we are targeting.

Report Family-owned firms fare better: CSRI

What

Indian family-owned businesses are among the best in Asia, accounting

for more than 50% of the top 30 performers in terms of growth and

profitability.

India is the third largest market globally in terms of number of family-

owned companies, according to a latest study.

Enlighten about the study

Shares of Indian family-owned companies generated an average annual

return of 13.9% since 2006, compared to 6% recorded by their non-

family-owned peers, and such Indian firms, on an average, generated

some of the highest absolute cash flow returns on investment across Asia-

ex Japan group, showed an analysis by Credit Suisse Research Institute

(CSRI).

India was ranked number three with 111 companies, with the top spot

being occupied by China with 159 companies, followed by the U.S. with

121.

The surveys show that family-owned companies have a greater focus on

long-term quality growth than non-family-owned companies.

Greater family ownership also tends to increase the use of longer-term

financial targets for management remuneration and family-owned

companies prefer conservative funding structures for investments

The study defines a family business as one where either direct

shareholding by founders or descendants is at least 20% or the voting

rights held by the founders or descendants is at least 20%.

Interestingly, the study further found that family-owned companies across

emerging markets were much younger than their peers in developed

markets.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR

It was established by the Government of India in September of 1942 as an

autonomous body that has emerged as the largest research and

development organisation in India.

It runs 38 laboratories/institutes, 39 outreach centers, 3 Innovation

Centers and 5 units throughout the nation, with a collective staff of over

14,000, including a total of 3987 scientists and 6454 technical and

support personnel.

Although it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology,

it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act,

1860.

The research and development activities of CSIR include aerospace

engineering, structural engineering, ocean sciences, life sciences,

metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and

environmental science

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Environment Pollution cools monsoon days

Study says aerosol emissions cause temperature drop of 1 degree

Celsius

What

Increased emissions of aerosols into the atmosphere due to pollution are

beginning to have a definite cooling effect of 1 degree C during the

Indian summer monsoon period

The increased cooling is seen during the day, while the night time

temperature is increasing, thus shrinking the diurnal temperature

difference.

Diurnal temperature

The diurnal temperature difference is what drives the convection process

(where water evaporates and reaches the atmosphere as water vapour),

and development of clouds.

Enlighten about how it happened

As diurnal temperature difference decreases, the lower layer of the

atmosphere will reduce in height and come closer to the earth’s surface.

This will cause more aerosols to get into the atmosphere, thus impacting

the lower atmospheric turbulence, which may eventually affect the

distribution of moisture and rainfall.

The increased concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere also tends to

change the shape and characteristics of rain-bearing clouds, leading to

extreme rainfall events but weakened monsoon rainfall

Rain-bearing clouds were found to increase in number and height when

aerosol emission is higher.

The clouds also tend to have a far higher number of ice particles that are

smaller in size when aerosol loading is higher, thus reducing the

efficiency of water droplet growth

The report found that when there is high aerosol loading, there will be

more water droplets in the atmosphere.

Once the droplets reach above the freezing level, ice formation begins.

Heat is given off when ice formation processes begin. This acts as a fuel

to make the cloud grow taller and thicker

When aerosol loading is higher, the anvil (cloud top) contains more

number of smaller ice particles, which tend to reflect the shortwave

radiation from the top of the cloud, leading to increased cooling of the

earth’s surface.

Cooling by shortwave radiation surpasses warming by longwave

radiation, leading to net reduction in daytime temperature during the

summer monsoon

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National

PM attends Ashara Mubaraka – commemoration of martyrdom of

Imam Husain (SA) in Indore

What

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed a huge gathering of

Dawoodi Bohra community, at Ashara Mubaraka, the commemoration of

the martyrdom of Imam Husain (SA), in Indore.

Enlighten about The Dawoodi Bohras community

They are a sect within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam.

They fast in the month of Ramadan, perform Haj and Umrah and give

Zakat.

The Dawoodi Bohras, being Ismailis and thus Jafaris, were included as

Muslims in the Amman Message.There are some criticisms of the

Amman message.

In all matters of prayer, dress, physical comportment and even avoidance

of financial interest, they are highly conservative.

At the same time, they eagerly adopt any and every aspect of modern or

Western culture that is not specifically forbidden.

Far from displaying the anti-Western attitudes sometimes found among

other revivalist groups, Bohras proudly send their children to Britain or

the United States for education, exhibit greater gender equality than most

communities of the subcontinent and have become Internet pioneers

uniting members of their far flung denomination into a worldwide cyber

congregation

Defence

ICGS Vijaya

What

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned indigenously built patrol

vessel ICGS Vijaya in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

It is second in the series of 98 m offshore patrol vessels (OPVs)

commissioned by ICG.

ICGS Vijaya It has been designed and built indigenously by Larsen &

Toubro (L&T).

Enlighten about ICGS Vijay

It is 98-metre long ship.

It can carry one twin engine helicopter and four high speed boats,

including two inflatable boats for boarding.

It is fitted with advanced technology navigation and communication

equipment and sensors.

ICGS Vijaya will be based at Paradip, Odisha.

It will be deployed extensively for Exclusive Economic Zone surveillance

and other duties as enshrined in Coast Guard charter.

It will also undertake search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime

patrol operations.

Environment Chiller Star Labelling Program

Launched by

Union Ministry of Power

What

The ministry has launched Chiller Star Labelling Program to encourage

deployment of energy efficient chiller systems in the country.

Why

It was launched as part of occasion of 24th World Ozone Day and 31st

Anniversary of Montreal Protocol, which will be observed on 16th

September 2018.

Enlighten about Chiller Star Labelling Program

The program was formulated by Bureau of Energy Efciency (BEE).

It envisages providing star rating in terms of its energy performance.

Initially, the program has been launched on voluntary basis and will be

valid upto 31st December 2020.

BEE has developed online registration platform for easy and expeditious

approval under this program.

It will allow manufacturers to register online for availing appropriate star

rating of chiller equipment.

The star labelling chillers will help promote advancement technology for

central HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems and

will also facilitate energy efficient solutions for large commercial and

industrial applications.

Enlighten about Chillers

Chillers are used extensively for space conditioning of buildings and for

industrial process cooling applications.

The size of Indian chiller market which stood at 1 Million Tonne per year

at 2017 and is projected to grow at CAGR of 3.6% fuelled by growth in

the retail, hospitality and infrastructure projects.

Chillers, being energy intensive system, contribute more than 40% of

total energy consumption in commercial buildings.

Hence it is important to optimize energy performance of chillers and

create awareness amongst the end users to adopt transition towards

energy efficient chillers

State Specific Nahargarh Biological Park

Rajasthan’s first lion safari was inaugurated

Where

The park is located on Delhi-Jaipur National Highway in the Aravalli

foothills, nearly 12 kilometers from state capital Jaipur

Lion safari

The lion safari project is located at biological park spread across 38

hectare.

Lions in this park were brought from Junagarh, Gujarat under an

exchange programme.

Total of 10 lions will be released in the park in a phased manner.

The park will serve for breeding lions and also centre of attraction for

tourists.

Defence EyeROV TUNA

India’s first underwater robotic drone

Recently it was handed over to Naval Physical and Oceanographic

Laboratory (NPOL) of Defence Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO).

This underwater drone will be used by NPOL for research and

development activities

EyeROV TUNA

It has been designed and developed indigenously by Kochi-based start-

up IROV Technologies Pvt Ltd (EyeROV).

It is smart micro-ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) or underwater

drone.

It design is at par with global standard and has operational capabilities to

work in harsh and critical underwater environment.

It is also equipped to perform variety of functions, including inspection

of ship hulls, undersea cables or bridge moorings, ship farms, dams, port

structure and bridge foundations and also in various underwater research

operations.

Sources – The Hindu , PIB , Indianexpress