Current Affairs for IAS Exam 2011 Science Technology Defense Environment April 2011 Www.upscportal.com

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Science & Technology, Defence, Environment: April 2011

Ministry finalises National Health Research Policy

To overcome the weaknesses of the publicly funded health structures that restrictedresearch in priority health areas, the Union Health and Family Planning Ministry hasfinalised the National Health Research Policy. It would maximise the returns oninvestments in health research through creation of a health research system to prioritise,coordinate and facilitate conduct of effective and ethical research and its translation intoproducts, policies and programmes aimed at improving health especially of thevulnerable population. It proposes to ensure at least two per cent of the national healthfunding is utilised for research.

The Policy envisages creation of an overarching National Health Research ManagementForum having representation from all stakeholders and will function from the Departmentof Health Research that has drafted the new proposed policy.

The Forum will advise on and evolve national health research policies and priorities andevolve mechanism and action plans for their implementation. It will develop a five-yearprojection of the plans for health research and prepare an annual National HealthResearch Plan, do a mid-Plan appraisal for course correction, if needed.

In addition to suggesting mechanisms to nurture a scientific environment to attract talentand to develop human resource for biomedical and health research, the Forum willfacilitate utilisation and dissemination of results of health research. To be chaired by theMinister of Health and Family Welfare, and co-chaired by the Minister of Science andTechnology, the State Health Ministers would be its vice-chairpersons and the Secretary,Department of Health Research, its member-secretary. All Union Secretaries of variousdepartments of Science and Technology will be the members as also the Directorate-

General of Health Services and some health experts.

Navy preparing for takeover of Vikramaditya

The Navy has started preparations to take charge of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya(Admiral Gorshkov) from Russia, with the first batch of officers and sailors havingcommenced training there ahead of its induction next year.

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Earlier, the Navy began a shore-based test facility in Goa to train the naval aviators whowould eventually fly the MiG29-K fighter aircraft that would be operated from INSVikramaditya.

India paid $974 million for the aircraft carrier in 2004 and another $526 million for 16MiG-29K fighter aircraft to be operated in a Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery

(STOBAR) configuration. While Russia has delivered the fighter jets to India, the Navyis planning to place an additional order for 29 MiG-29K.

The INS Vikramaditya project, sanctioned in January 2004 envisaged delivery of thewarship in August 2008 but it got delayed over price with Russia demanding $2.9 billionto carry out repair and re-equipping for converting the cruiser into an aircraft carrier.

Nagpur to be promoted as tiger capital: Jairam

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh complimentedMaharashtra on the increase in tiger population in the State. Nagpur will be promoted asthe tiger capital and a gateway to tiger land, he said.

Thirteen of the country's 39 tiger reserves are in Maharashtra. New tiger reserves have been approved in the State at Nagzira-Navegaon and Bor. Another major decision was to decentralise the National Tiger Conservation Authority

(NTCA) and set up three field offices and the first one would be opened in Nagpur. Mr.Ramesh said he would extend all assistance to help Nagpur emerge as a major ecotourism destination and the setting up of the NTCA office would be a step forward.

Jairam says no' to Ken-Betwa river link project

On his first visit to Bundelkhand, Union Minister of Environment and Forests JairamRamesh announced that the Ken-Betwa river linking project, the first of its kind proposed

in India, was a disastrous idea and should not be pursued. The ambitious project, estimated to cost over Rs.9000 crore, is expected to be included in

the 12th Five-Year Plan, starting April next.

Stockholm Convention discuss global ban on endosulfan

The Stockholm Convention meet in Geneva from April 25 to 29 to discuss, among otherthings, a global ban on the pesticide endosulfan.

India was the only member country take a stand against the ban at the Sixth Meeting ofthe Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to the Convention that

recommended the ban last year. Already 81 countries have either banned or decided to phase out endosulfan, while 27 are

still using the insecticide

As of now, 173 countries are parties to the Convention and about 20 chemicals have beenapproved for elimination, restriction or curtailing of unintentional production under theConvention with or without exemptions.




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India exports about 50 per cent of its production of endosulfan and the manufacturers arepressing the Union government to oppose the move for a global ban. They say that theban would deprive the farmers of a cheap and effective broad spectrum pesticide.

A chemical has to be persistent, bio-accumulative and capable of endangering humanhealth and long-range transport to attract ban under the Stockholm Convention which

deals with persistent organic pollutants.

PSLV-C16 puts 3 satellites in orbit

It was sweet seventeen for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), with the PSLV-C16 scoring a spectacular success by putting three satellites into orbit with precision.

It was the PSLV's 17th consecutive successful mission out of the 18 launches fromSriharikota. At the end of 18 minutes of a delightful flawless flight, the fourth stage ofthe rocket shot India's Resourcesat-2 into its orbit. About 40 seconds later, the fourthstage bulleted again the Youthsat and the X-sat into their orbits. The accuracy was suchthat the Resourcesat-2 reached an orbit at an altitude of 822.9 km against the targeted 822

km.

Resourcesat-2 will beam back huge data on resources

The remote-sensing satellite, Resourcesat-2, put up by PSLV-C16, will become aworkhorse for the global community with the huge data it will send back on the earth'sresources, said R.R. Navalgund, Director, Space Applications Centre (SAC),Ahmedabad.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) put three satellites in orbit India's 1,206-kg Resourcesat-2, the Indo-Russian 93-kgYouthsat and the 106-kg X-Sat from the Nangyang Technological University of

Singapore. The Resourcesat-2 is a continuation of Resourcesat-1, launched in October2003, but has enhanced capability, he said. The SAC built the Resourcesat-2 payloads.

The Youthsat's three payloads one from Russia and two from India would be usefulin studying the solar X-ray and gamma ray fluxes, and the influence of the activities inthe sun on the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere. The X-Sat is a remote-sensingsatellite that can process the images it takes and send more refined images to the ground.

ISRO to build orbiter for NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has asked the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO) to build an orbiter that will provide the communicationbetween the soil samples collected from the far side of the moon and the earth, accordingto ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan.

This joint venture between the ISRO and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California, would be part of the Moonrise missions planned by the NASA.

The ISRO would provide an orbiting communicator to the NASA for this mission,scheduled for 2016.




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Green technology to tackle water pollution

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has launched abioremediation technology project to curb pollution caused by sewerage and industrialeffluents in the Buddah Nallah of Ludhiana in Punjab.

The project is estimated to cost Rs. 16 crore in the initial phase and it will be borne byThe National River Conservation Directorate of the Union government. It is expected totake one year for completion.

The project will provide relief to thousands living along the Sutlej river and canals off theHarike barrage in Punjab and Rajasthan. Water pollution has caused severe disordersamong them.

Flowing parallel to the Sutlej, the 31-km-long Buddah Nallah, of which about 14 km fallsin Ludhiana, has, for decades, been polluted by industrial effluents, sewage water, solidwaste from dairies, leather and electroplating industries and dumping of garbage. Itmerges with the Sutlej near Moga, from where the polluted water is carried downstream.

India seeks postponement of decision on Endosulfan ban at Geneva

India is seeking a postponement of the decision on a global ban on Endosulfan to the nextmeeting of the conference of parties to the Stockholm Convention in 2013, according toobservers.

Contact Group recommends global ban on endosulfan

The Contact Group on endosulfan and new persistent organic pollutants to the StockholmConvention, meeting in Geneva, finalised a draft decision proposing global ban onendosulfan with many exemptions.

The draft will now go to the conference of parties for approval. If approved, the ban willcover technical endosulfan, its related isomers and endosulfan sulphate (one of thedegradation products of endosulfan). Exemptions are proposed for use against specifiedpests in cotton, jute, coffee, tea, tobacco, cowpeas, beans, tomato, okra, eggplant, onion,potato, chillies, apple, mango, gram, arhar, maize, rice, wheat, groundnut and mustard.

This would mean that endosulfan will be allowed to be used for several of the crops inIndia, as wanted by the Indian delegation. Their use would be mainly against aphids inmost crops besides several specified pests such as bollworms in cotton, berry borer andstem borer in coffee and a host of insects in tea. Exemptions have even been proposed foruse of endosulfan for hopper and fruit flies in mango and several pests in tomato. (Theyare not generally recommended usages in India). Countries will have five years toimplement the ban as per terms of the treaty.

Bamboo is liberated, says Jairam Ramesh

Today, bamboo is liberated, proclaimed Union Minister of State for Environment andForests Jairam Ramesh at a function in Mendha-Lekha (Gadchiroli district) where he




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handed over to Mendha's community leader Devaji Tofa a transit pass that would allowthe sale and transportation of bamboo within the community.

Ever since bamboo was given the status of a minor forest produce (MFP) in the ForestRights Act, 2006 (Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers [Recognition ofForest Rights] Act), there has been a campaign for its selling rights something which

the Forest Department has jealously guarded. The Act, which seeks to redress a historicalinjustice to Adivasis, apart from entitling them to land ownership, also gives communitiesrights to collect, use and sell bamboo as an MFP.

U.S. deeply disappointed by thumbs down to fighter jets

With both Boeing and Lockheed Martin failing to make it to the Indian Air Force's finalshortlist for the $11 billion deal for 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) a contract that American leaders and diplomats had said would determine the directionof strategic relations between the two countries the United States expressed deepdisappointment at the outcome and indicated it would continue to press its case with

India. Representatives of the European consortium offering Eurofighter and French Dassault

offering Rafale were asked by the Ministry of Defence to extend the validity of thecommercials bids that expire on April 28 till December 31, 2011, officials said.

The process of down selecting' the two meant elimination of the other four competitorsincluding two American firms Boeing (F/A-18 Super Hornet) and Lockheed Martin(F16IN Super Viper). Sweden's SAAB (Gripen) and Russian Mikoyan (MiG35) were theother two to lose out in the deal that is estimated around Rs. 45,000 crore.

Of the 126 MMRCA , 18 would be in ready-to-fly condition while the rest were to beproduced in India under Transfer of Technology. That 50 per cent value of the deal wouldhave to be sourced within the country is among the terms and conditions.

Stockholm Convention approves recommendation for ban on Endosulfan

The Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention in Geneva approved therecommendation for elimination of production and use of Endosulfan and its isomersworldwide, subject to certain exemptions.

The decision will not be binding on India unless specifically ratified by the country Endosulfan is the 22nd chemical to be listed in the Convention.




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