Daily Prelims Notes 11 July 2020

July 11, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: IR

Context:

The United Nations marks World Population Day every year on 11 July, with the aim of spreading awareness on overpopulation, under population, family planning and birth control.

Concept:

This day was first observed in 1989, after the United Nations Development Program found that the global population had already crossed the five billion mark.
The UNDP anticipated that overpopulation would become a matter of major concern in the future and with the world’s population currently touching 7.8 billion and expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, concerns regarding overpopulation aren’t unfounded.
In light of the alarming data about women in the pandemic, the United Nations decided that this year, World Population Day will platform awareness of the sexual and reproductive needs and rights of women, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis.
These rights are inextricably linked to education, awareness, physical safety and financial independence for women.
A recent study conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in April 2020 revealed that if the lockdown continues for another six months, 47 million women in low and middle-income countries run the risk of not being able to access modern contraceptives, which could result in seven million unintended pregnancies. Moreover, 31 million cases of gender-based violence can be expected in the coming months.

2. NEWOISE

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise which is one of the brightest comets in decades is passing Earth this month.

Concept:

Comets are mostly made of dust, rocks and ice, the remnants from time the solar system was formed over 4.6 billion years ago.
Comets can range in their width from a few miles to tens of miles wide. As they orbit closer to the sun, like in the case of C/2020 F3, they heat up and release debris of dust and gases that forms into a “glowing head” that can often be larger than a planet.
Astronomers study comets because they hold important clues about the formation of the solar system and it is possible that comets brought water and other organic compounds, which are the building blocks of life to Earth.
Further, NASA tracks all Near Earth Objects (NEOs) that includes comets and asteroids using telescopes placed all around the Earth, as part of its NEO Observation Program.

3. All India Tiger Estimation 2018

Subject: Environment

Context:

The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2018, results of which were declared to the nation on Global Tiger Day last year has entered the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey.

Concept:

The All India Tiger Estimation done quadrennially is steered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority with technical backstopping from the Wildlife Institute of India and implemented by State Forest Departments and partners.
The latest results of 2018 had shown that India now has an estimated 2967 tigers out of which 2461 individual tigers have been photo captured, a whopping 83 % of the tiger population, highlighting the comprehensive nature of the survey.
There is hardly any parallel of such a focused species oriented program like Project Tiger across the world, which started with 9 Tiger Reserves, with 50 tiger reserves currently.
India has now firmly established a leadership role in tiger conservation, with its bench marking practices being looked at as a gold standard across the world.

4. Fish Cryobank

Subject: Economy

Context:

National Fish Farmers Day is celebrated on 10th July every year which aims to draw attention to changing the way the country manages fisheries resources to ensure sustainable stocks and healthy ecosystems.

Concept:

On the occasion of ‘National Fish Farmers Day’ that NFDB in collaboration with the NBFGR will take up the work to establish “Fish Cryobanks” in different parts of the country.
It will facilitate all time availability of ‘fish sperms’ of desired species to fish farmers.
This would be the first time in the world when “Fish Cryobank” will be established, which can bring a revolutionary change in the fisheries sector in the country for enhancing fish production and productivity and thereby increasing prosperity among the fish farmers.

5. White Dwarfs

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

The study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggests that white dwarf stars are the main source of carbon atoms in the Milky Way, a chemical element known to be crucial to all life.

Concept:

When stars like our own Sun, a yellow dwarf star, run out of fuel, they turn into a white dwarf. In fact, 90 percent of all stars in the universe end up as white dwarf stars.
White dwarfs are hot, dense stellar remains with temperatures that reach 100,000 Kelvin. Over time, billions of years, these stars cool and eventually dim as they shed their outer material. However, right before they collapse, their remains are transported through space by winds that originate from their bodies.
These stellar ashes contain chemical elements such as carbon.
Carbon is the fourth most abundant chemical in the universe and is a key element in the formation of life as it is the basic building block to most cells. All of the carbon in the universe originated from stars. However, astronomers could not agree on which type of star is responsible for spreading the most amount of carbon across the cosmos.
The new study suggests that carbon was essentially trapped in the raw material that formed the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.

6. Hagia Sophia

Subject: IR

Context:

Turkey’s highest court allowed for the conversion of the nearly 1,500 year-old Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque.

Concept:

The centuries-old structure is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It was originally a cathedral in the Byzantine Empire before it was turned into a mosque in 1453, when Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Ottoman forces.
In the 1930s, however, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, shut down the mosque and turned it into a museum in an attempt to make the country more secular.
Council of State had unanimously cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision concerning the status of the monument and stated that the Hagia Sophia had been registered as a mosque in its property deeds.