SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Explained: What is a Category 5 hurricane?

Powerful winds are what defines a hurricane, so they are named and classified based on how hard their winds are blowing.

The National Hurricane Centre said that, “Dorian” was expected to hit the east coast of Florida over the weekend as a “major” hurricane, in Category 3 or possibly Category 4.

Meaning of Categories:

-        To qualify as a hurricane, a storm must have sustained winds of 74 mph or more.

-        Meteorologists try to quantify each storm’s destructive power by using the Saffir-Simpson scale, placing it in one of five categories based on sustained wind speed.

Category 1, 74 to 95 mph: These storms’ winds may knock down some trees and power lines and do a bit of damage to buildings.

Category 2, 96 to 110 mph: These storms are likely to uproot many trees, disrupt electric power over wide areas and do significant roof and siding damage.

Category 3, 111 to 129 mph: These can take roofs off even well-constructed houses and knock out electric and water systems for days or weeks.

Category 4, 130 to 156 mph: These major storms do catastrophic damage, felling most trees and power poles and wrecking some buildings.

Category 5, 157 mph or more: Storms this powerful are rare. Their destructive power is very high and large percentage of frame buildings will be destroyed.

Criticism of Category:

-        Do not take surge of seawater into account which is part of the destruction.

 

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/hurricane-category-wind-speed-saffir-simpson-scale-dorian-5949910/

 

Vikram-Pragyan break away from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter; All eyes now on Moon landing

The Vikram Lander module (containing the Pragyan Rover) of ISRO’s lunar probe was successfully separated from its Orbiter module on Monday.

The separation command was executed by the on-board systems autonomously after ISRO mission control had loaded the commands earlier in the day.

About Chandrayann:

-        Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprises three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), Vikram (1,471 kg, four payloads) and Pragyan (27 kg, two payloads).

-        The Vikram lander will now undergo two deorbit manoeuvres — on September 3 and September 4.

-        India is on course to becoming the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon after the US, Russia and China.

-        A successful landing would make the Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 the first lunar probe on the south polar region of the Moon.

-        Earlier, Chandrayaan-1 had suggested the presence of water in the region.

 

Reference: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vikram-pragyan-break-away-from-chandrayaan-2-orbiter-all-eyes-now-on-moon-landing/articleshow/70944056.cms?utm_source=nl_landingpage&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=timestop10_daily_newsletter

 

AGRICULTURE

The food we waste, and what it costs the global economy

A new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation has quantified global food wastage — nearly one-third of the food that is produced each year goes uneaten, costing the global economy over $940 billion.

 

 

The Report said:

-        Most of the food loss happens “near the farm” predominantly in lower-income countries.

-        Most of the food waste happens “near the plate” predominantly in higher-income countries.

It highlighted steps:

-        Developing national strategies for food loss and waste reduction.

-        Creating national public-private partnerships.

-        Launch supply chain initiatives.

-        Altering consumer social norms.

More on Food Wastage:

-        According to the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), up to 40% of the food in India is wasted. 

-        According to the agriculture ministry, Rs. 50,000 crore worth of food produced is wasted every year in the country.

Reasons Behind Food Wastage:

-        Lack of cold storage facility to preserve the perishable food items.

-        Poor quality of storage maintained by FCI. Storing it in open area leads to spoiling during the rainfall.

-        Poor cultural awareness regarding food wastage where it is wasted during marriage or any other ceremony.

-        Lack of any specific law to penalize people who waste food.

-        Poor transportation connectivity between hinterland market and urban area thus inhibiting movement of food where it is most desired.

Impact of Food Wastage:

-        Preserved food can be used in dealing with rising hunger and malnutrition in India.

-        Preserved fruits and vegetables can be directly introduced in mid-day meal scheme to bring changes in the nutritional standard of country.

-        Food wastage directly lead to release of green house gases as it is extra food production.

-        The farming activity leads to deforestation, clearing of the green cover thus aggravating the climate change.

-        Waste food is a major cause behind inflation specially the fruit & vegetable inflation.

-        It affects the raw material supply to agro-processing industries thus reducing their outputs.

Steps taken to Improve it:

-        100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), under government approval route, for trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India.

-        Incentivizing creation of infrastructure, expansion of processing capacity and developing technology to convert raw produce into value added products.

-        Government agencies such as the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), National Horticulture Board (NHB) were set up to help provide financial assistance and drive exports developing cold chain sector.

-        “Operation Greens” was announced on the line of “Operation Flood”, with an outlay of Rs.500 crore to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/telling-numbers-the-food-we-waste-and-what-it-costs-the-global-economy-5960689/

INTERNATIONAL

The Interpol General Assembly, which India wants to host in 2022

India has proposed to Interpol that the General Assembly of the organization be held in New Delhi in 2022 as part of the nation’s 75th Independence Day celebrations.

About Interpol General Assembly:

-        The International Criminal Police Organisation, or Interpol is a 194-member intergovernmental organisation headquartered in Lyon, France.

-        It was formed in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission.

-        Interpol aims to “help police in all… (its member countries) to work together to make the world a safer place.

-        It enables police forces from different countries to share and access data on crimes and criminals.

-        It offers a “range of technical and operational support”.

-        The General Assembly is Interpol’s supreme governing body, and comprises representatives from all its member countries.

-        One or more delegates at the Assembly, who are typically chiefs of law enforcement agencies, represent each country.

-        Each member country has one vote.

-        Decisions are made either by a simple or a two-thirds majority, depending on the subject matter.

-        General Assembly Resolutions are public documents.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-the-interpol-general-assembly-which-india-wants-to-host-in-2022-5959609/

 

India gets consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav for first time

For the first time since his detention in 2016, death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav on Monday met a top Indian diplomat after Pakistan granted consular access to him "in line with the ICJ judgement".

Reasons behind Consular access:

-        India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a stay on his death sentence.

-        India demanded “immediate, effective and unhindered” consular access to Jadhav.

-        The ICJ had ordered Pakistan to review Jadhav’s conviction.

-        It granted consular access to India.

Outcome of Meeting:

-        Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan's untenable claims.

-        The government remains committed to continue to work towards ensuring that Jadhav receives justice at the earliest and returns safely to India.

The dispute :

-        Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.

-        Pakistan considers him a spy of RAW.

-        India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.

 

Reference: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-gets-consular-access-to-kulbhushan-jadhav-media-report/articleshow/70944381.cms?utm_source=nl_landingpage&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=timestop10_daily_newsletter

 

 

POLITY

Journalist booked for recording video of schoolchildren being served salt and roti in midday meal

The journalist who first reported that students at a government school in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district were being fed rotis with salt under the mid-day meal scheme has been charged with criminal conspiracy for doing “despicable work” of maligning the image of the UP government.

About Mid Day Meal scheme:

-        Pulses, rice, rotis, vegetables, with fruits and milk on certain days, are to be served to school-going children to ensure necessary nutrition to them.

-        It is designed to provide a minimum of 450 calories per child per day.

-        These meals should be served to each child at least 200 days a year.

CAG Finding :

A CAG report of 2016 had pointed out:

-        Lack of proper doors, adequate lights, proper ventilation and proper facilities for drainage and waste disposal.

-        A fifth of the schools did not have kitchen-cum-store.

-        42% did not have LPG connection for cooking meals despite availability of funds.

-        In 48% schools, cooks were not trained in hygienic habits.

-        Over 56,000 schools provided meals for 102 days on an average despite regulation of minimum 200 days.

Reference: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/journalist-booked-for-recording-video-of-salt-roti-midday-meal/articleshow/70945992.cms?utm_source=nl_landingpage&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=timestop10_daily_newsletter