lessons for hill stations from mawlynnong, 'asia's cleanest village' 15 index page 2...

‘Catastrophic’ Dorian hits Bahamas 2

Water found in atmosphere of habitable exoplanet 3

Survey of India to deploy 300 drones for mapping country 5

For the demographic dividend 7

Black holes: what we know about them 9

Dust cloud from asteroid collision shaped life on Earth 466 million years ago, say scientists 11

Blooming of microalgae kills coral reefs in Gulf of Mannar 13

Lessons for hill stations from Mawlynnong, 'Asia's cleanest village' 15

Index

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2019-09-02

‘CATASTROPHIC’ DORIAN HITS BAHAMASRelevant for: Geography | Topic: Important Geophysical Phenomenon - Tropical Cyclones

Hurricane Dorian became the strongest storm in modern records to hit the northwesternBahamas and is expected to pound the islands with up to two days of torrential rain, high wavesand damaging winds as parts of Florida evacuated before it took aim at the U.S. mainland.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Dorian was over Abaco as a Category 5 storm onSunday with maximum sustained winds of 285 km per hour and gusts of more than 322 kph.

After churning over the Bahamas, Dorian is expected to veer northwest toward Florida.

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WATER FOUND IN ATMOSPHERE OF HABITABLEEXOPLANET

Relevant for: Geography | Topic: The Earth and the Solar System

An artist’s rendering shows exoplanet K2-18b, foreground, its host star and an accompanyingplanet in the system.AP

Water has been discovered for the first time in the atmosphere of an exoplanet with earth-liketemperatures that could support life as we know it, scientists have revealed.

Eight times the mass of earth and twice as big, K2-18b orbits in its star’s “habitable zone” at adistance — neither too far nor too close — where water can exist in liquid form, they reported inthe journal Nature Astronomy . “This planet is the best candidate we have outside our solarsystem” in the search for signs of life, co-author Giovanna Tinetti, an astronomer at UniversityCollege London, said on Wednesday. “We cannot assume that it has oceans on the surface butit is a real possibility.”

Of the more than 4,000 exoplanets detected to date, this is the first known to combine a rockysurface and an atmosphere with water. Most exoplanets with atmospheres are giant balls of gas,and the handful of rocky planets for which data is available seem to have no atmosphere at all.

Discovered in 2015, K2-18b is one of hundreds of so-called “super-earths” — planets with lessthan ten times the mass of ours — spotted by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft.

“Finding water in a potentially habitable world other than Earth is incredibly exciting,” said lead-author Angelos Tsiaras, also from UCL.

Working with spectroscopic data captured in 2016 and 2017 by the Hubble Space Telescope,Mr. Tsiaras and his team used open-source algorithms to analyse the starlight filtered throughK2-18b’s atmosphere. They found the unmistakable signature of water vapour. Exactly howmuch remains uncertain, but computer modelling suggested concentrations between 0.1 and 50%.

By comparison, the percentage of water vapour in earth’s atmosphere varies between 0.2 %above the poles, and up to four percent in the tropics.

K2-18b orbits a red dwarf star about 110 light years distant — a million billion kilometres —in theLeo constellation of the Milky Way.

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SURVEY OF INDIA TO DEPLOY 300 DRONES FORMAPPING COUNTRY

Relevant for: Geography | Topic: Physiography of India including Geology

Precision matters:The new maps will have a 1:500 resolution where 1 cm will represent 500cm.SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

India’s oldest scientific department, the Survey of India (SoI) — historically tasked with mappingthe country — will for the first time rely on drones to map the country.

Other than unprecedented detail, a consequence of the mapping will be creating high resolutionmaps of land in villages facilitating the digitisation of land titles in villages, according to officialsinvolved with the survey.

Currently the best SoI maps have a resolution of 1:250000, meaning a 1 cm on the maprepresents 2500 cm on the ground. The maps being prepared, according to senior officialsassociated with the project will be of 1:500 resolution, meaning 1 cm will represent 500 cm.

“We are aiming to provide good high-resolution foundation maps,” said Gireesh Kumar, Director-General, SoI, which came into being 1767.

Right time

“We’ve used aerial photography before for mapping purposes (taking pictures from planes) butthat’s expensive and has its limitations. This is the right time to deploy drones,” he said.

The aim is to map 75% of India’s geography— about 2.4 million sq km of the 3.2 million sq km— within the next two years. The organisation aims to procure about 300 drones — so far about30 have been sourced — for the gargantuan exercise. However forests, hills and deserts arelikely to be left out.

As a prelude, the SoI, which is affliated to the Department of Science and Technology (DST),has signed agreements with 6 districts in Haryana, 2 in Karnataka and 2 in Maharashtra toundertake such drone-based mapping exercises. Every square kilometre mapped by drones willbe encapsulated in 2500 pictures and thus be a trove of digital data.

Making the foundational map will be a Rs. 400-500 crore endeavour.

Sorting rural issues

A major consequence of the drone-based exercise will be the mapping of settled habitations invillages (called abaadi areas in legal parlance). Based on the availability of accurate maps,residents will finally be able to get property cards as well as proper legal titles to their lands.“This is unprecedented in the history of independent India and we’ve already executed a projectin Maharashtra,” said Mr. Kumar.

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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2019-09-19

FOR THE DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDENDRelevant for: Geography | Topic: Demography of the World - Demographic Attributes

© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd.All Rights Reserved

The writer is Distinguished Fellow at the Research and Information System for DevelopingCountries

The World Population Prospects 2019 has reported that India’s total fertility rate (TFR) hasdeclined from 5.9 in early Sixties to 2.4 to 2010-15. TFR is defined as the total number ofchildren to be born to women in her lifetime by the current age specific fertility rates. By 2025-30,it will fall to 2.1, sliding further to 1.9 during 2045-50. As per the National Family Health Survey(NFHS), India’s TFR declined from 2.7 in 2005-6 to 2.2 in 2015-16. When the TFR touches 2.1,which is called replacement fertility level, we can say that the population is getting stabilised,subject to the momentum factor. India’s population was predicted to peak at 1.7 billion in 2060,declining to 1.5 billion by 2100. The faster decline in TFR, as reported by NFHS, suggests thatthese can happen much earlier than predicted. Thus, there seems to be no reason for panic inthe context of the demographic trends.

The increased acceptance of contraceptives is just one of the factors for the decline of TFR.Data from various NFHS rounds do not show a significant increase in contraceptive practices bymarried women. The percentage of women using modern contraceptive methods too has notincreased much. This was the case between 2005-6 and 2015-16 as well — the period recordeda high decline in TFR. The main factor which led to this significant decline is the rise in the ageof marriage. The NFHS 2015-16 records that among married women in 20-24 age group,persons who were either pregnant or had a baby at or before the age of 18, declined from 48 percent in 2005-06 to 21 per cent in 2015-16. The country has this demographic advantageprimarily due to an increase in the age at the first child birth. No increase being reported incontraceptive use is understandably due partly to the increase in the age of marriage, asyounger couples are more likely to opt for these methods than older ones.

The decline in TFR would lead to reduction in the dependency rate. A reduction in the share ofchildren and an increase in the adult population are important for achieving a high rate ofeconomic growth since it will lead to an increase in the percentage of the working population.India is expected to grow at least 6.5-7.5 per cent per annum in the coming three decades, asper the predictions of the Asian Development Bank. This record growth can be achieved largelydue to a demographic dividend and other structural factors, the present economic crisisnotwithstanding.

The scenario of high income growth in India is critically dependent on the increase in the workparticipation rate and skill development. In order to achieve the predicted growth rate, anincrease in the percentage of women participating in the workforce is a must. Despite thedeclining trend in the percentage of working women, the trend of sharp decline in TFR and risein age of marriage suggest that this is feasible. A sharp rise in migration of women foremployment reasons further corroborates this point.

The high level of poverty and illiteracy among the Muslim community explains its larger “desirednumber of children”, than other communities. The situation, however, is changing dramatically.In 2005-6, the TFR for Muslims was 3.4 which fell to 2.6 in 2015-16, a decline of 0.8 percentagepoints. For the Hindus, TFR declined from 2.6 in 2005-06 to 2.1 in 2015-16 — a fall of 0.5 points.

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The fall for Christians and Sikhs was just 0.3 percentage points. This is due to improvement ineducation status and benefits of economic development and modernity reaching themarginalised communities. Clearly, the acceptance of non-terminal and spacing methods offamily planning have gone up among Muslim women, although terminal methods such assterilisation are not very popular. Primary health and education has played an important role inbringing down their TFR. The decline, as a result of spread of primary education, is universal butthe impact is higher for Muslim women, as revealed through NFHS data.

The lower rate of school attendance and less years spent in schools by Muslims is due topoverty, as young boys enter the labour market very early. Girls drop-out of schools due totraditional and cultural factors, besides the need to take care of young siblings. There arepointers towards exclusionary socio-economic trends.

The labour market scenario is changing fast with modern ideas seeping into the communities,bringing about attitudinal changes. More Muslim girls/women are entering schools and collegesas well as the labour market. The fact that educated Muslim women report very highunemployment rate is an evidence that the societal norms have been relaxed, permitting manymore of them to seek jobs than the capacity of the labour market to absorb.

Historically, Muslims have fared worse in education than other communities. In pre-Partitiondays, their literacy rate was higher than those of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Thischanged during partition as many educated Muslims opted to move to Pakistan. Over the pastseven decades, Muslim literacy has increased sluggishly. During the past decades, SCs/STshave benefitted due to reservations and scholarships. Muslims did not have this advantage.

Policy-making in India has in recent decades been generally neutral to data and research.However, in matters of demography, particularly while prescribing strong punitive measures forhaving large families, decisions must be taken based on rigorous analysis of the data to avoid aChina type crisis. There has been talk of measures to control population, independent of casteand community considerations. However, most of the “target districts” recording TFR above 3.5have a large Muslim population. It would be important to promote health and education in thesedistricts, focusing on women, to bring down population growth effectively and increase workparticipation, needed for realisation of the demographic dividend.

The writer is Distinguished Fellow at the Research and Information System forDeveloping Countries

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BLACK HOLES: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THEMRelevant for: Geography | Topic: The Earth and the Solar System

Researchers have, for the first time, detected the gravitational waves from a newly born blackhole and found that the ringing pattern of the waves predicts the cosmic body’s mass and spin.

This provides more evidence for Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Einsteintheorized that a black hole, born from the collisions of two massive black holes should itself“ring” in the aftermath, producing gravitational waves much like a struck bell reverberates soundwaves.

The latest study showed that when a black hole is birthed, it emits gravitational waves atcharacteristic tones just like a struck bell, it fades away as the hole settles.

According to Einstein's theory, a black hole should exhibit just three observable properties:mass, spin, and electric charge. All other characteristics would be swallowed up by the blackhole itself. The black hole acts as a one-way trapdoor.

Podcast| Black Holes: what are we seeing when we see one?

Despite the name, is actually a great amount of matter packed into a very small area making itsgravitational field so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. And because no light canget out of black holes, people can't see them.

They are effectively invisible and scientists use special tools to infer their presence and observethem by the effects of their enormous gravitational fields on nearby matter.

Most black holes are remnants of large stars that die in supernova explosions. There are fourtypes of black holes: stellar, intermediate, supermassive, and miniature.

Astronomers believe that supermassive black holes lie at the center of almost all large galaxies.The Milky Way hosts Sagittarius A*, which is more than four million times as massive as oursun, at its center.

Also watch: Why is the discovery of the Black Hole important? | The Hindu Explains

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DUST CLOUD FROM ASTEROID COLLISION SHAPEDLIFE ON EARTH 466 MILLION YEARS AGO, SAYSCIENTISTS

Relevant for: Geography | Topic: The Earth, its Evolution and Origin of Life on Earth

This artist's rendering provided by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows anasteroid slowly disintegrating | Photo Credit: AP

The cataclysmic asteroid impact off Mexico's coast that doomed the dinosaurs 66 million yearsago was not the only time an astronomical event shaped the history of life on Earth.

Scientists on Wednesday said dust spawned by a gigantic collision in the asteroid belt betweenMars and Jupiter 400 million years earlier triggered an ice age on Earth that ushered in asignificant increase in marine biodiversity.

The event, occurring when life was concentrated in the seas and far before vertebrates firstwalked on land, set in motion evolutionary changes in invertebrates fundamental to marineecosystems as they adapted to global cooling, they said.

The inner solar system was filled with enormous amounts of dust after an asteroid more than150 km in diameter was struck by a smaller object perhaps 20 km wide, the researchers said. Itwas the solar system's largest-known breakup event in the past 2 billion years.

Solar radiation reaching Earth's surface was reduced for at least 2 million years by the dust inspace and in the planet's atmosphere, said study co-author Philipp Heck, an associate curator atthe Field Museum in Chicago.

Another cooling mechanism was that the iron-rich meteoritic dust fertilized large parts of theocean surface leading to increased plankton productivity and drawdown of atmospheric carbondioxide, added Birger Schmitz, a geology professor at Lund University in Sweden and leadauthor of the research published in the journal Science Advances.

“In the last few decades, researchers have begun to understand that evolution of life on Earth isdependent on astronomical events also,” Mr. Schmitz said.

After noting the dinosaur-demise event caused by an asteroid perhaps 10 km wide, Mr. Schmitzadded, “For the first time, scientists can now present another example of how an extraterrestrialevent formed life on Earth.”

The researchers found traces of dust in sedimentary rocks formed at the time containing specialhelium isotopes and rare minerals that revealed its extraterrestrial origin.

Invertebrate groups that experienced diversification included horseshoe crab-like trilobites,clams, clam-like brachiopods and a group called gastropods that included snails and slugs.

The cooling event unfolded gradually, enabling marine life during the Ordovician Period to adapt,unlike the sudden impact that erased the dinosaurs. Earth's climate changed from being tropicalto semitropical worldwide to becoming divided into climate zones as it is today with frozen polesand tropical conditions at the equator.

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BLOOMING OF MICROALGAE KILLS CORAL REEFS INGULF OF MANNARRelevant for: Geography | Topic: Islands & Coral Reefs, changes therein and in Flora & Fauna and the Effects of

such changes

Dead coral reefs in Shingle Island after the recent blooming of microalgae. | Photo Credit:handout_e_mail

Scientists found dead Noctiluca scintillans along the shore in the Mandapam region when theyconducted the survey.

The absence of secondary algae in the reef areas of Shingle Island confirmed the recent deathof these coral colonies due to the smothering effect of the microalgae while settling, they said.

Acropora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Porites, Favia, Favites and Goniastrea were the worstaffected coral genera, they said.

“Mortality was high in Acropora and Montipora colonies in Shingle Island, while the Acroporacolony was less affected in Krusadai Island,” they observed.

The impact of the bloom was less in the nearby Krusadai Island, the scientists said. Out of 120colonies observed at the depth of 0.5-4 metres, only 12 colonies of sizes 10-20 cm were founddead on the shoreward side of the island, they said.

A greenish settlement was seen on coral colonies and other benthic communities includingmacro algae, coralline algae and sponges, the scientists said. “Because of this disturbance,corals started secreting excessive mucus, causing mucus sheathing,” a scientist added.

Mucus sheathing was also found around Pullivasal, Poomarichan, Manoliputti, Manoli and Hareislands in the Mandapam group but the intensity was comparatively less, Mr. Patterson said,citing the survey. Coral reefs in the Kilakarai region had suffered bleaching when a similarsevere bloom was witnessed in October 2008, he added.

During the recent survey, the scientists also found the dissolved oxygen content in the reef areain Shingle and Krusadai islands to be between 1 and 2 ml/l and it was between 3 and 4 ml/l inthe other islands of the Mandapam group, he said. As the decomposed microalgae cellsreleased toxic ammonia gas, the chances of ciliate propagation which killed fish eggs were high,he said and suggested regular monitoring. The SDMRI, on its part, had taken up continuousmonitoring of reef areas and environmental parameters, he said.



Giraffe numbers across the continent fell 40% between 1985 and 2015, to just under 100,000animals.

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LESSONS FOR HILL STATIONS FROM MAWLYNNONG,'ASIA'S CLEANEST VILLAGE'

Relevant for: Geography | Topic: Mountains, changes therein and in Flora & Fauna and the Effects of suchchanges

Ahaba Khongthiem is taking orders at her restaurant Dapbiang, in Mawlynnong, when she isdistracted by a tourist flinging a plastic bottle on the street. She quickly steps outside, picks upthe bottle, crushes it and throws it into a khoh, a conical bamboo dustbin, at the entrance.

Over 30 of these multi-purpose baskets, handwoven by the village’s 500 locals every month, areused to keep the place clean. “For us, cleanliness is a habit. We choose to speak through ouractions rather than words. We never correct tourists, but pick up their discarded plastic (foodpackets or bottles) and throw them into the dustbins, hoping they’ll learn by observing us,” saysthe 27-year-old.

Way before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ was launched in 2014 —and his nationwide ban on single-use plastic from October 2 — Mawlynnong (80 km fromShillong) was making headlines for its clean living philosophy: functional public toilets, solar-powered street lights, and a ban on smoking and using plastic. Impressed, our PM turned thespotlight on the village in a monthly radio address a year later, and more tourists flocked to thequaint village, home to members of the Khasi tribe.

Now grappling with the blessing and bane of tourism, Meghalaya’s Chief Minister ConradSangma (who recently visited the village amid the incessant rains) and the village’s locals havetaken their mission up a notch. They are working towards a ban on tourists carrying plasticwrappers and food packets, and plans to set up a checking counter and water filters (todiscourage plastic bottles) are afoot. “In the next three months, we are considering to put a banin place. This is aimed at decreasing the amount of solid waste generated,” says village head,Banjopthiaw Kharrymba.

Until a year ago, every tourist was handed a pamphlet on ways to keep the village clean and abackstory of how the village head walked door-to-door, collecting money to build toilets. Butwhen printing them became expensive, they were replaced by a marble slab at the village’sentry point. ‘Do not leave food packets unattended, find a dustbin, crush plastic bottles beforedisposing’ are some of the instructions set by the Village Tourism Committee.

How did a community living on a hillock become so ecologically conscious? For resident GallioSamuel Khongsdam, it is all about catching them young. “Before they head for school, childrenare taught to walk around the village with sacks and pick up any garbage they see. They thensegregate the waste into different categories,” says the 25-year-old, explaining how even deadleaves and flowers are rare sightings in Mawlynnong.

Care is taken to ensure minimal waste reaches the landfills. Biodegradable waste is compostedto be used as fertiliser and the remaining solid waste isn’t incinerated, but segregated andreused. Plastic bags, for instance, are used to make swings and to wrap saplings.

The leftover plastic waste is collected by the Shillong municipality. “It is disposed at dumpingyards on the outskirts once a month. This arrangement is unique for Mawlynnong. Other villageshave their own measures in place,” says CP Marak, the State’s Principal Chief Conservator ofForest. The villagers now worry about the plastic waste that cannot be reused. “We don’t have

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/is-india-likely-to-ban-single-use-plastics-soon/article29418809.ece

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the funds to recycle plastic, so until we have a plan in place to manage solid waste better, this isa start,” says Moral K Rymba, chairman of the Committee.

Ooty: The population of the entire district is around 7 lakh, and about 35 lakh tourists visit theBotanical Garden every year. Approximately 38 metric tonnes of waste (plastic and other drywaste) is collected by the municipality in a day.

Coorg: The hill station welcomes 15 to 20 lakh tourists a year, resulting in 15 lakh kg of wasteannually. Over 60% of this is burnt and the rest ends up on roadsides and in water bodies.



Giraffe numbers across the continent fell 40% between 1985 and 2015, to just under 100,000animals.

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