DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS 21 JUNE
Copper idol of Lord Parasurama spotted near Ekambaranathar shrine
News Important for: General Studies - 1 I Art and Culture
Context
A copper idol of Lord Parasurama was found in Kancheepuram.
About
- The idol of Lord Parasurama belong to the 14th century.
- It was found inside a temple tank in Oli Muhammed Pettai in Kancheepuram.
- According to the police, the idol was spotted by two youngsters playing near the Sarva Theertha Kulam in Oli Muhammed Pettai that belongs to the Sri Ekambaranathar temple.
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Lord Parashurama
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India’s first solar-powered cruise boat to be rolled out in December
News Important for: General Studies - 3 I Infrastructure and development
Context
The government of Kerala is planning to launch of the country’s premier solar-powered cruise boat by December.
About
- The initiative comes from the State Water Transport Department (SWTD), whose solar ferry Aditya in the Vaikom-Thavanakadavu route has proved to be a success.
- The hybrid vessel will be powered by a motor that can source energy from solar panels, battery, and generator.
More about Solar power boat
- It is double-engine, double-deck, catamaran-type vessel that can carry 100
- Passengers.
- It has air-conditioned lower deck and pushback seats.
- Its battery has a capacity of 80 KWh (kilowatt hour) power backup.
- It follows the norms set by Indian Registry of Shipping (IRS).
- It does not create air and noise pollution and will help in huge savings in
- energy expenses.
- Its upper deck is non-air conditioned and can be used for dining and to get
- better view of the backwaters.
Benefits of solar-powered cruise boat
- Low energy expense
- Solar vessels do not create air and noise pollution.
- The boat will provide huge savings in energy expenses
- It will provide a time saving journey to passenger
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Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast since 2000: study
News Important for: General Studies - 3 I Environment
Context
The Scientist have reported that Himalayan glaciers melting occurring twice as fast after the turn of the century as average temperatures rose.
About
- The scientists have shown that Himalayan glaciers have lost more than a quarter of their ice mass since 1975.
- More than four decades later, scientists are using those same images to show the devastating impact of a warming Earth on the Himalayan glaciers.
- The overlapping images, each covering 30,000 square kilometres with a ground resolution of six to nine metres
- In an article published in the Science Advances journal it was found that four decades of ice loss for 650 of the largest glaciers across a 2,000 km transect across the Himalayas.
- The studies found that annual mass losses of the total ice mass present in 1975, about 87% remained in 2000 and 72% remained in 2016.
- In the 1970s, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. had deployed spy satellites that orbited the globe and took thousands of photographs, using a telescopic camera system, for reconnaissance purposes.
Alarming Concerns
- The Rising temperature rising are responsible for the accelerating loss.
- The Multidecade weather station records scattered throughout HMA (High Mountain Asia, which includes all mountain ranges surrounding the Tibetan Plateau)
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WHO writes new prescription to prevent misuse of antibiotics
News Important for: General Studies - 3 I Health, Science and Technology
Context
The World Health Organisation has suggested the guideline to combat the growing threat of antibiotic abuse worldwide.
About
- The WHO has suggested the adoption of ‘Access, Watch and Reserve’, an approach that specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections.
- The WHO estimates that more than 50% of antibiotics in many countries are used inappropriately for treatment of viruses.
- Some bacterial infections treatment has also contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
- The new campaign have been executed which aims to increase the proportion of global consumption of antibiotics in the access and to reduce the use of the antibiotics most at risk of resistance.
Government recent initiative
- The Health Ministry has made it mandatory to display a 5mm-thick red vertical band on the packaging of prescription-only drugs to sensitise people.
- The WHO has now urged all countries to adopt the Access, Watch and Reserve guidelines to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, adverse events and costs.
Concern
- Inappropriately use of antibiotics
- When antibiotics stop working effectively, more expensive treatments and hospital admissions are needed.
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First “song” recorded from rare, lovelorn, right whale off Alaska
News Important for: General Studies - 3 I Biodiversity
Context:
Scientists for the first time have recorded singing by whales.
About
- Scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have found that crooning could be the mating call of one of the most elusive marine mammals.
- They have recorded singing by one of the rarest whales on Earth.
- The crooning comes from a possibly lovelorn North Pacific right whale.
- The song was documented by researchers in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s coast.
- Scientists surveying endangered marine mammal populations first heard the tune in 2010 but could not be sure what kind of whale was singing.
- The singing whale spotted in 2017 was a male.
- There are only about 30 whales in this population and males outnumber females by a 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 ratio.
- This history-making discovery sheds light on the behaviour of one of the planets most elusive marine animals, NOAA said.
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U.S. report cites Bihar shelter home abuse case
News Important for: General Studies - 1 I Social Issue, Women Safety
Context
A report released by United States Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report finds systemic failure to address forced labour in Bihar.
About
- The abuse of the girls was reported at government-run shelter homes in Muzaffarpur
- The State government has commissioned study noted abuse “varying in forms and degrees of intensity” to be prevalent in almost all government-funded women and childcare institutions surveyed and noted “grave concerns”.
- India remained in the Tier 2 category along with countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, and Singapore among others.
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What is Tier 2 countries
The Tier 2 countries are the ones where governments do not fully meet the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards |
Concern
- The report criticises government ‘systemic failure to address forced labour.
- Sex trafficking in government-run and government-funded shelter
- The Government failure to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
- The government officially abolished bonded labour in 1976 but the system of forced labour still exists.
Way Forward
- The government should make all its hard effort to reduce such incidents.
- There is need of stringent law to address the issue
- Awareness campaign for the should be increased
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