Two weather phenomena to decide fate of agriculture in Indo-Gangetic belt

Agriculture in dry regions to suffer if rainfall deficit continues; Indian Ocean Dipole and El Nino huge factors

Rice, the most important of all the Kharif crops, is produced in Punjab and along the Indo Gangetic plain and the Kaveri and Godavri belts. The sowing area for paddy in 2023 has already shrunk by eight per cent compared to last year, according to Crop Weather Watch Group.

The reproduction stage is the most important phase in the cycle.

El Nino — the warming phase of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon — will be a factor, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) should neutralise the extreme effects.

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

• IOD or Indian Nino:
  • IOD, sometimes referred to as the Indian Nino, is similar to the El Nino phenomenon, occurring in the relatively smaller area of the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian and Malaysian coastline in the east and the African coastline near Somalia in the west.
    • The El Nino is the warmer-than-normal phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, during which there are generally warmer temperatures and less rainfall than normal in many regions of the world, including India.
  • One side of the ocean, along the equator, gets warmer than the other.
  • IOD is said to be positive when the western side of the Indian Ocean, near the Somalia coast, becomes warmer than the eastern Indian Ocean.
  • It is negative when the western Indian Ocean is cooler.
• Mechanism:
  • Negative IOD:
  • The air circulation in the Indian Ocean basin moves from west to east, that is from the African coast towards the Indonesian islands, near the surface, and in the opposite direction at the upper levels. That means the surface waters in the Indian Ocean get pushed from west to east.
    • In a normal year, warmer waters in the western Pacific near Indonesia cross over into the Indian Ocean and make that part of the Indian Ocean slightly warmer. That causes the air to rise and helps the prevailing air circulation.
  • In the years when the air circulation becomes stronger, more warm surface waters from the African coast are pushed towards the Indonesian islands, making that region warmer than usual. This causes hotter air to rise, and the cycle reinforces itself.
  • This is the state of negative IOD.
• Positive IOD:
  • Air circulation becomes slightly weaker than normal. In some rare cases, the air circulation even reverses direction. The consequence is that the African coast becomes warmer while the Indonesian coastline gets cooler.
    • A positive IOD event is often seen developing at times of an El Nino, while a negative IOD is sometimes associated with La Nina.
  • During El Nino, the Pacific side of Indonesia is cooler than normal because of which the Indian Ocean side also gets cooler. That helps the development of a positive IOD.
• Impact of IOD:
  • In the Indian Ocean, IOD exhibits an ocean-atmosphere interaction that closely resembles the fluctuations observed during El Niño events in the Pacific Ocean. However, the IOD is considerably less powerful compared to El Niño, resulting in relatively minimal impacts.
  • A positive IOD helps rainfall along the African coastline and also over the Indian sub-continent while suppressing rainfall over Indonesia, southeast Asia and Australia. The impacts are opposite during a negative IOD event.
• Past Events:
  • In 2019 the IOD event developed during the late monsoon but was so strong that it compensated for the deficit rainfall during the first month of the monsoon season (June had 30% deficiency that year).
    • The deficit in June that year was also attributed to a developing El Nino but that fizzled out later.

ENSO

• In a normal year, the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern coast of South America, is cooler than the western side near the islands of Philippines and Indonesia.
  • This happens because the prevailing wind systems that move from east to west sweep the warmer surface waters towards the Indonesian coast.
• The relatively cooler waters from below come up to replace the displaced water.
• An El Nino event is the result of a weakening of wind systems that leads to lesser displacement of warmer waters.
• This results in the eastern side of the Pacific becoming warmer than usual. During La Nina, the opposite happens.
• Both these conditions, together called El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), affect weather events across the world.
• Over India, the El Nino has the impact of suppressing monsoon rainfall.

What are marine heat waves, which have gripped parts of the world’s oceans this summer?

• While an increase of 3 or 4 degrees Celsius in average temperatures may not be much for humans, it can be catastrophic for marine life and cause Marine heat waves (MHWs) that may result in the deaths of several species, coral bleaching and more intense storms.
• In April, it reached 21.1 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 21 degrees Celsius in 2016. And since then, ocean temperatures have remained at record-high levels, giving rise to marine heat waves (MHWs) around the globe.

Marine heat waves

A marine heat wave is an extreme weather event. It occurs when the surface temperature of a particular region of the sea rises to 3 or 4 degree Celsius above the average temperature for at least five days. MHWs can last for weeks, months or even years, according to the US government’s agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Impact of marine heat waves on ocean life

• Although an increase of 3 or 4 degrees Celsius in average temperatures may not be much for humans, it can be catastrophic for marine life. For instance, will cause some “devastating” fish kills — the sudden and unexpected death of many fish or other aquatic animals
• A different study revealed that the same MHWs destroyed kelp forests and fundamentally altered the ecosystem of the coast. Kleps usually grow in cooler waters, providing habitat and food for many marine animals.
• Another example is when high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean in 2005 led to a massive coral bleaching event. Corals are very sensitive to the temperature of the water in which they live. When water gets too warm, they expel the algae known as zooxanthellae, living in their tissues, causing them to turn entirely white. This is called coral bleaching.
• Coral bleaching has severe consequences as it reduces the reproductivity of corals and makes them more vulnerable to fatal diseases. Not only this, thousands of marine animals depend on coral reefs for survival and damage to corals could, in turn, threaten their existence.

Marine heat waves affect humans

Higher ocean temperatures, which are associated with MHWs, can make storms like hurricanes and tropical cyclones stronger. With warmer temperatures, the rate of evaporation escalates and so does the transfer of heat from the oceans to the air. When storms travel across hot oceans, they gather more water vapour and heat. This results in more powerful winds, heavier rainfall and more flooding when storms reach the land — meaning heightened devastation for humans.

Indian group proposes radical new way to settle universe expansion dispute

A group of scientists may have found a way to determine the rate of expansion of the universe also known as the Hubble constant.

Two details are required to calculate the value of the Hubble constant: the distance between the observer and astronomical objects, and the velocity at which these objects are moving away from the observer as a result of the expansion of the universe. So far, scientists have used three methods to get these details

Hubble Tension and Hubble Constant

• Astrophysicists have known about the expansion of the Universe for about 100 years. However, scientists disagree about the rate of the expansion, a problem known as the "Hubble tension." The problem results from a disagreement between two methods used to measure the Hubble constant.
• One of the major problems of cosmology has been to determine the value of the Hubble constant. The tension arises because the various methods applied to determine its value have yielded different values of what, in the end, must be a single number.
• The Hubble constant (or Hubble–Lemaître constant) is the name given to the present expansion rate of the Universe.
• The Hubble constant (H0) is named after the astrophysicist who, together with Georges Lemaitre, discovered the phenomenon in the late 1920s.
• It''s measured in kilometers per second per megaparsec (km/s/Mpc), where 1 Mpc is around 3.26 million light years.
• The current best direct measurement of the Hubble constant is 73.8 km/sec/Mpc (give or take 2.4 km/sec/Mpc including, both random and systematic errors), corresponding to a 3% uncertainty.

Long Covid ‘brain fog’ equivalent to ageing 10 years, shocking study finds

Brain Fog

• Brain fog itself is not a medical condition but instead a symptom of other medical conditions.
• It is a term used to describe a variety of symptoms that can affect your ability to think clearly.
• Brain fog is characterized by confusion, forgetfulness, and a lack of focus and mental clarity.
• Some examples of things a person might do because of brain fog include:
  • forgetting about a task they had to complete;
  • taking much longer than usual to complete simple tasks;
  • feeling frequently distracted;
  • feeling tired when working;
• Causes: Brain fog is typically rooted in a lifestyle that promotes hormonal imbalances.
  • Electromagnetic radiation – from computer, mobile phone, tablets
  • Stress – reduce blood flow to the brain causing poor memory
  • Lack of sleep, no exercise
  • Diet: food allergies or sensitivities
  • Toxins, pollution, chemical substances, and insecticides
  • Medications
• Treatment: Treatment depends on the cause. For example, if you’re anaemic, iron supplements may increase your production of red blood cells and reduce your brain fog.

Airbus pitches A-400M transport aircraft for IAF’s Medium Transport Aircraft contest

Airbus A400M

• It is a European-built military transport aircraft.
• The aircraft is manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space, a division of the European aerospace and defence firm Airbus.
• It combines the capability to carry strategic loads with the ability to deliver even into tactical locations with small and unprepared airstrips.
• It can carry large cargo, vehicles, troops, and paratroopers or be configured for medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions.
• Features:
  • A powerful turboprop engine that gives the A400M the ability to operate from short, unimproved airfields.
  • Maximum takeoff weight: 141 metric tons (309,000 pounds)
  • Maximum payload: 37 metric tons (41 short tons).
  • It can carry up to 116 fully equipped troops or 66 stretchers and 25 medical attendants. The cargo hold can take nine standard military pallets.
  • Range: 8,900 kilometres (5,530 miles)
  • Speed: 780 kilometres per hour (485 miles per hour)
  • The aircraft is equipped with in-flight refuelling capabilities.
  • The aircraft’s independent navigation system comprises an inertial reference system (IRS) integrated with a global positioning system (GPS).
  • It features an advanced glass cockpit with modern avionics and control systems.

Turboprop aircraft

• A turboprop aircraft uses a turbo-prop engine rather than a piston-powered engine or a jet engine.
• They have one or more gas-turbine engines connected to a gearbox that turns the propeller(s) to move the aircraft on the ground and through the air.
• Turboprop aircraft have lower operating costs than jets because they burn less fuel, but they are also slower than jets.

Eye On China, India Hands Over Missile Corvette INS Kirpan To Vietnam

Cam ranh bay

• Location: Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay located in Khánh Hòa Province, Vietnam, on the South China Sea.
• Size: It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long from north to south and up to 10 miles (16 km) wide.
• Depth: The bay is up to 164 feet (50 m) deep, making it one of the deepest natural harbours in Southeast Asia.
• Facilities: The port has two main piers, one for general cargo and one for oil tankers. It also has a number of other facilities, including a repair yard, a fuel depot, and a container terminal.
• It is a major refuelling and repair station for ships in the South China Sea.
• Historical Significance:
  • During the colonial era, it was controlled by the Champa Kingdom and later became part of the Vietnamese territories.
  • In the 19th century, the French established a major military presence in the bay.
  • During the Vietnam War, Cam Ranh Bay gained significant importance as a strategic military base for both the United States and South Vietnam. The United States constructed extensive facilities, including an airbase and a deep-water port, to support its military activities during the war.
  • Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Cam Ranh Bay came under the control of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
  • The Soviet Union subsequently leased the former American facilities and established a major naval base there.
  • The Soviet Navy maintained a presence in Cam Ranh Bay throughout the Cold War until the early 2000s.

INS Kirpan

• It is an indigenously-built in-service missile Corvette.
• It is a Khukri class missile corvette commissioned into the Navy on January 12, 1991.
• Features:
  • It has a displacing capacity of close to 1,400 tonnes.
  • It is capable of a speed of more than 25 knots.
  • The Khukri class are equipped with Diesel Engines assembled in India.
  • The ship is fitted with a medium-range gun, 30 mm close-range guns, chaff launchers, and surface-to-surface missiles.
  • It performs a wide variety of roles, including coastal and offshore patrol, coastal security, surface warfare, anti-piracy, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.

Second Wife Can''t File Cruelty Case Against Husband

Section 498A of IPC

• It deals with the criminal offense of "cruelty by husband or relatives of husband" towards a married woman.
• This section was introduced in 1983 as an amendment to the IPC to address the growing concern of domestic violence and harassment faced by married women in India.
• Under Section 498-A IPC, a husband or his relatives can be sentenced to a jail term of three years for subjecting the wife to cruelty.
• The section applies to married women only.
• Section 498A of IPC reads as “Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine”.
• For the purposes of this section, ''cruelty'' means:—
  • any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or
  • harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand."
• The term “cruelty” is comprehensive, encompassing various forms of abuse that can be inflicted upon a married woman.
• Bail under Section 498A:
  • Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, enacted in 1860, is a non-compoundable and cognizable offence.
  • Bail under Section 498A can only be granted by the Magistrate once a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered by the police based on a complaint filed by the aggrieved party.
• The Supreme Court has ruled that Section 498A should be used sparingly and only in cases where there is genuine evidence of cruelty.
• The court has also ruled that the section should not be used as a tool to settle personal scores.

Other Indian laws to help curb the instances of violence against women are,

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA);
• Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961;
• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013;
• Indian Penal Code (IPC) Amendments: Various amendments to the IPC have been made to address violence against women, including:
  • Section 376: Dealing with punishment for rape, with stricter provisions for different types of rape offenses.
  • Section 354: Addressing criminal assault or use of criminal force against women with intent to outrage her modesty.
  • Section 354A: Dealing with sexual harassment and punishment for the same.
  • Section 354D: Criminalizing stalking and providing punishment for the offense.
  • Section 509: Dealing with words, gestures, or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
• Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013: This act was passed in response to the Nirbhaya case and brought significant changes to laws dealing with sexual offenses. It included provisions for stricter punishments for rape, gang rape, and acid attacks, among others.

Banks seek clarity on move to new provisioning regime

Loan-loss provision

• The RBI defines a loan loss provision as an expense that banks set aside for defaulted loans.
• Banks set aside a portion of the expected loan repayments from all loans in their portfolio to cover the losses either completely or partially.
• In the event of a loss, instead of taking a loss in its cash flows, the bank can use its loan loss reserves to cover the loss.
• The level of loan loss provision is determined based on the level expected to protect the safety and soundness of the bank.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently proposed to move the banking system to an expected credit loss-based provisioning approach from an “incurred loss” approach.

Expected Credit Loss (ECL) regime

• Under this practice, a bank is required to estimate expected credit losses based on forward-looking estimations rather than wait for credit losses to be actually incurred before making corresponding loss provisions.
• As per the proposed framework, banks will need to classify financial assets (primarily loans) as Stage 1, 2, or 3, depending on their credit risk profile, with Stage 2 and 3 loans having higher provisions based on the historical credit loss patterns observed by banks.
• Thus, through ECL, banks can estimate the forward-looking probability of default for each loan, and then by multiplying that probability by the likely loss given default, the bank gets the percentage loss that is expected to occur if the borrower defaults.
• This will be in contrast to the existing approach of incurred loss provisioning, whereby step-up provisions are made based on the time the account has remained in the Non-Performing Asser (NPA) category.
• Benefits of the ECL regime:
• It will result in excess provisions as compared to a shortfall in provisions, as seen in the incurred loss approach.
• It will further enhance the resilience of the banking systemin line with globally accepted norms.

What is the problem with the incurred loss-based approach?

• It requires banks to provide for losses that have already occurred or been incurred.
• The delay in recognizing loan losses resulted in banks having to make higher levels of provisions which affected the bank''s capital. This affected banks’ resilience and posed systemic risks.
• The delays in recognizing loan losses overstated the income generated by the banks, which, coupled with dividend payouts, impacted their capital base.

Ancient genomic data shed light on the demise of the Copper Age

• Previous analyses of ancient genomic data have suggested that two major genetic turnover events occurred in Western Eurasia;
• One associated with the spread of farming around 7,000-6,000 BC and a second resulting from the expansion of pastoralist groups from the Eurasian steppe starting around 3,300 BC.
• The period between these two events, the Copper Age, was characterized by a new economy based on metallurgy, wheel and wagon transportation, and horse domestication.
• However, what happened between the demise of Copper Age settlements (around 4,250 BC) and the expansion of pastoralists is not well understood.
• The recent study revealed that early contact and admixture between Copper Age farming groups from south-eastern Europe and Neolithic groups from the steppe zone in today’s southern Ukraine, possibly starting in the 5,500 BC when settlement densities shifted further north.
• The early admixture during the Neolithic appears to be local to the NW Black Sea region of the fourth millennium BC and did not affect the hinterland in southeastern Europe.

Copper Age

• The Chalcolithic period, also known as the Copper Age.
• It describes a transitional period in human prehistory between the Neolithic period (New Stone Age) and the Bronze Age.
• It is characterized by the use of both stone tools and the beginning of metalworking, specifically the utilization of copper.
• One of the defining characteristics of this period is the simultaneous use of stone tools and early metal objects, primarily copper.
• In India, it spanned around 2000 BC to 700 BC.
• This culture was mainly seen in Pre-Harappan phase, but at many places it extended to Post-Harappan phase too.
• The people were mostly rural and lived near hills and rivers.
• The Chalcolithic culture corresponds to the farming communities, namely Kayatha, Ahar or Banas, Malwa, and Jorwe.
• The people of this age started doing animal husbandry and agriculture.
• Apart from wheat, rice, they used to grow pulse crops like millet, lentil, urad and moong etc.

World''s biggest permafrost crater in Russia’s Far East thaws as planet warms

Batagaika Crater

• It is located in Russia''s Far East that forms the world''s biggest permafrost crater.
• Scientists believe that the crater is the result of a melting permafrost land, which was frozen during the Quaternary Ice Age 2.58 million years ago,
• It began to form after the surrounding forest was cleared in the 1960s and the permafrost underground began to melt, causing the land to sink.
• It is also called as "gateway to the underworld," by some locals in Russia''s Sakha Republic It has a scientific name: a mega-slump.
• This is produced by higher air temperatures, warming climate and anthropogenic impact.
• It holds clues to prehistoric life on Earth. Researchers believe the exposed ice and soil along the crater’s edges could hold up to 200,000 years of geological and biological history.
• Impact on Environment
  • The soil beneath the slump, which is about 100 metres deep (328 feet) in some areas, contains an "enormous quantity" of organic carbon that will release into the atmosphere as the permafrost thaws, further fuelling the planet''s warming.

Invasive weed threatens elephant habitats in Tamil Nadu

Ludwigia Peruviana

• It is popularly called primrose willow, Ludwigia Peruviana, is a native of Central and South America.
• Its flower is pale yellowish in colour and the plant grows to a height of about 12 feet.
• It is an aquatic plant, which is now challenging the existence of local vegetation in various swampy areas around the world.
• The rapid large-scale spread of the weed — which was probably introduced as an ornamental plant for its tiny yellow flowers
• It grows faster in wetlands than other harmful weeds.
• The pre-monsoon temperature and monsoon rains help this weed grow faster.
• It has shaken the balance of these perennial foraging grounds, limiting the growth of grass and native plants that are palatable to elephants and other animals including gaur.
• It is among the 22 priority invasive plants in Tamil Nadu.
• Unlike other invasive plants, Ludwigia poses a unique challenge as it grows in swamps and there is little scope to use machinery which may further destroy the ecosystem.
• Even if Ludwigia is pulled out manually, the soft plant easily breaks and it spreads again from the root or broken stems that fall in the swamp.

ONDC launches academy to provide info to sellers, network participants on e-ecommerce

ONDC Academy

• It is an initiative of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) initiative to create a facilitative model to help small retailers take advantage of digital commerce.
• It was launched by ONDC in collaboration with NSE Academy Ltd, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange.
• It is not an application, platform, intermediary, or software but a set of specifications designed to foster open, unbundled, and interoperable open networks.
• Benefits
  • The academy is a repository of educational and informative textual and video content programmes in multiple Indian languages.
  • It will provide a curated learning experience providing guidance and best practices for a successful e-commerce journey.
  • Anyone without any knowledge of e-commerce can learn how to make a seller app with a technology service provider to aggregate all sellers from a nearby marketplace to make these products available online.
  • It would also enable certification issued by NSE Academy to individuals completing an assessment developed by the institute.

ONDC

• It is a Section 8 company, under the initiative of DPIIT with a mission to democratize digital commerce.
• It develops and maintains the ONDC Protocol, an open technical standard similar to UPI, HTTP and SMTP.
• It comprises of buyer-side apps where consumers can place orders, seller-side apps that on board merchants and display their listings, and logistics platforms that handle deliveries.

Tiger orchids, largest orchid species, bloom at Kerala’s Jawaharlal Nehru botanic garden

Tiger orchid

• It is the largest orchid species in the world.
• It is called Tiger Orchid because of its splendid flowers which sport striking brown spots against a yellow backdrop, bringing to mind tigers.
• After 8-12 years of growth, Grammatophyllum speciosum produces flowers in alternate years in its natural habitat.
• It is often grown as an ornamental orchid in gardens and parks for its attractive foliage and large flowers.
• It flowers in January or July, but plants do not flower every year.
• The plant was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest orchid, with specimens recorded up to 7.62 metres in height
• Distribution: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.
• Habitat: They grow in Terrestrial (Primary Rainforest, Freshwater Swamp Forest, Riverine) habitats.
• Preferred Climate Zone: Tropical, Sub-Tropical / Monsoonal.
• Conservation status
  • CITES : Appendix II