Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 2 July 2017

::National::

Government has cancelled the registration of one lakh companies

• The government has cancelled the registration of one lakh companies that had suspicious and questionable operations, identified on the basis of data mined from the deposit of bank notes following last November’s demonetisation.
• More such action will follow soon on two lakh similar companies and another 38,000 shell companies, Mr. Modi said, adding that the action was undertaken “48 hours before”.
• “The fate of one lakh companies has been locked with one stroke of a pen in one minute. The Registrar of Companies has removed these one lakh companies.
• More will be found and even tougher action can be expected against shell companies,” Mr. Modi said, addressing chartered accountants.
• Stressing that the decision to scrap such fake companies could hurt some political parties, he said someone had to take the tough call and “live for the country.”
• Arguing that his government was running a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as well as a parallel campaign to clean up the economy, he said the tough steps taken against black money in the last three years had begun yielding results, and cited the record low balances held by Indians in Swiss banks last year.

Mangrove Forest Cover Changes report depicts dampening picture

• In a development that will ring alarm bells for both environmentalists and policy makers, the mangrove forest cover in the Indian Sunderbans has been depleting alarmingly over the past few decades.
• Mangrove Forest Cover Changes in Indian Sundarban (1986-2012) Using Remote Sensing and GIS , a publication by the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, reveals that from 1986 to 2012, 124.418 sq. km. mangrove forest cover has been lost.
• The total forest cover of the Indian Sunderbans as assessed by remote sensing studies for the year 1986 was about 2,246.839 sq. km., which gradually declined by 2,201.41 sq. km. in 1996, then down to 2168.914 sq km in 2001 and to 2122.421 sq km in 2012. 
• The loss in the mangrove forest in the Indian Sunderbans is about 5.5 %.
• The paper also notes that the mean sea level rise at the Sagar Island Station, measured from 1985 onward till 2010, shows a rise by 2.6-4 mm a year, which can be considered a driving factor for coastal erosion, coastal flooding, and an increase in the number of tidal creeks.
• The publication highlights a time series of the erosion of at least 18 mangrove forested islands of the Indian Sunderbans from 1986 to 2012. 
• For instance, the loss in mangrove cover at Gosaba has been about 20%, down from 517.47 sq km in 1986 to 506.691 sq km in 2012.
• In Dulibhasani West, the loss of mangrove cover has been about 9.7% — from 180.03 sq. km. in 1986 to 163.475 sq. km. in 2012. 
• The mangrove forest cover of Dalhousie, another island, has depleted by 16%, from 76.606 sq. km. in 1986 to 64.241 in 2012. 
• Bhangaduni has one of the highest erosion levels of mangrove forest land, from 40.4 sq. km. in 1986 to 24.9 sq km in 2012, taking the loss to over 37%.
• Jambudwip, one of the smallest uninhabited islands at the mouth of the sea, also has reduced forest cover from 6.095 sq. km. in 1986 to 5.003 sq. km. in 2012, or about 10%.
• While earlier studies also expressed concerns over the fragile ecosystem of the Indian Sunderbans that, other than being home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, also harbours a population of 4.5 million people, this study presents definite proof of the loss of land and mangrove cover.

Rate of growth for India students goint to US is currently the highest 

• In 1998-99, there were just 707 Indian students in American colleges. In the years since — except for one dip between 2010 and 2012 — there has been a steady rise. 2015-16 saw a 25% increase, the third successive year of rising numbers. 
• Since Donald Trump’s ascension to the American presidency, however, there have been disturbing incidents where discrimination against Indians has escalated to violence; since February, seven Indians have been killed in racially motivated hate crimes.
• Education consultants say this atmosphere has caused a drop in the number of students planning for a U.S. degree. “Enquiries have declined,” says Narsi Gayam of Promac, a GRE coaching institute in Hyderabad. 
• Jimeet Sanghavi of Collegepond, a Mumbai-based consulting service for students, agrees. Unwilling to share the exact numbers, as those would help his competitors, he said demand was 49% higher than last year.
• U.S. consulates in India were unable to provide statistics for the current year, but the overall trend in student visa applications been growing over the last five years. 
• The Open Doors Report says the rate of growth for India is currently the highest among the top 25 places of origin among international students in the U.S. America would certainly be keen to see that trend continue.
• The figures for this year will become clearer towards August, when the number of approved student visas for the fall semester (when most courses commence) will be available. 

New Delhi has a very special relationship with Bhutan

• The present standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam is a rare insight into New Delhi’s very special relationship with Bhutan, which includes military responsibilities towards it.
• In India’s only official statement on the standoff, the Ministry of External Affairs said that on June 16, a “PLA (People’s Liberation Army) construction party entered the Doklam area and attempted to construct a road. 
• It is our understanding that a Royal Bhutan Army patrol attempted to dissuade them from this unilateral activity.”
• The MEA statement went on to say that the Foreign Ministry of Bhutan “has also issued a statement underlining that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements between Bhutan and China and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between these two countries.”
• MEA statement said, “In keeping with their tradition of maintaining close consultation on matters of mutual interest, RGOB (Royal Government of Bhutan) and the Government of India have been in continuous contact through the unfolding of these developments.”
• It further said that “in coordination” with the Bhutanese government, “Indian personnel, who were present at general area Doklam, approached the Chinese construction party and urged them to desist from changing the status quo. These efforts continue.”
• Under the 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, the two sides have agreed to “cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither Government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.”
• Under the previous treaty, India was to “guide” Bhutan on foreign and defence policies. The language of the 2007 treaty is meant to respect the sensitivities of Bhutan regarding its sovereignty. 
• But the reality is that the Indian military is virtually responsible for protecting Bhutan from the kind of external threat that the Chinese military poses.
• The Eastern Army Command and the Eastern Air Command both have integrated protection of Bhutan into their role. The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), headed by a Major General, plays a critical role in training Bhutanese security personnel.

::International::

French President Macron will meet with heads of state from Sahel region

• French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with heads of state from five nations across Africa’s vast Sahel region in Mali.
• It is to support a new 5,000-strong multinational force meant to counter a growing threat from extremists who have targeted tourist resorts and other high-profile areas.

Islamist militants occupying Philippine city have forcedd lakhs to flee

• Islamist militants occupying a southern Philippine city have forced nearly 4,00,000 people in the wider area to flee their homes, while warning of disease outbreaks and psychological trauma among refugees.
• The city of Marawi, considered the Muslim capital of the largely Catholic Philippines, has been reduced to a ghost town after self-styled followers of the Islamic State movement launched an assault on the city on May 23. 
• For over a month, the government has deployed jet fighters, attack helicopters and armoured vehicles to crush the militants who are members of the so-called Maute group.
• The fighting has left over 400 people dead, while the Maute fighters still control parts of the city, using snipers and IEDs to slow the military’s advance.
• Over 70,380 people have been housed in 79 government-run evacuation centres.

::Business and Economy::

Indian Patent Office issued guidelines of computer-related inventions

• The Indian Patent Office has again issued guidelines on examination of computer-related inventions (CRIs) such as software programmes.
• The aim of this document is to provide guidelines for the examination of patent applications in the field of CRIs by the Indian Patent Office so as to further foster uniformity and consistency in the examination of such applications.
• “The objective of this document is to bring out clarity in terms of exclusions expected under section 3(k) so that eligible applications of patents relating to CRIs can be examined speedily,” the guidelines said.
• According to the Section 3(k) of the Indian Patents Act, a mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms are not inventions. 
• Various representations have been received regarding these guidelines which were first published in August 2015. Associations strongly opposed them, saying the norms were detrimental to the domestic IT sector.
• The guidelines were then put in abeyance and re-issued in February last year. But associations again raised issues, after which an expert committee was set up to look into them.

::Science and Tech::

Antarctica’s ice-free islands set to grow

• Scattered within the vast frozen expanse of Antarctica are isolated ice-free nooks — nunataks (exposed mountain tops), scree slopes, cliffs, valleys and coastal oases — which cover less than 1% of the area, but support almost all of the continent’s biodiversity.
• But by the turn of the century these ice-free islands could grow by over 17,000 sq.km (a 25% increase) due to climate change, according to a paper published in Nature.
• While this may sound like good news for Antarctica's biodiversity that is likely to find larger habitats, “it is not known if the potential negative impacts will outweigh the benefits,” the authors say.
• As ice-free islands expand and coalesce, biodiversity could homogenise, less competitive species could go extinct and ecosystems destabilise from the spread of invasive species, which already pose a threat to native species.
• Much life thrives in Antarctica's ice-free pockets: small invertebrates (nematodes, springtails, and tardigrades) vascular plants, lichen, fungi, mosses and algae. 
• They also serve as breeding ground for sea birds (including the Adelie penguins) and elephant seals.
• The greatest change in climate is projected for the Antarctic Peninsula by the end of the century, and more than 85% of the new ice-free area is believed to occur in the north Antarctic Peninsula.

Scientists have developed a new non-toxic material

• Scientists have developed a new non-toxic material that uses solar energy to degrade harmful synthetic dye pollutants which are released at a rate of nearly 300,000 tonnes a year into the world’s water. 
• The novel, non-hazardous photocatalytic material developed researchers at Swansea University in the UK effectively removes dye pollutants from water, adsorbing more than 90% of the dye and enhancing the rate of dye breakdown by almost ten times using visible light.
• By heating the reaction mixture at high pressures inside a sealed container, the composite is synthesised by growing ultrathin “nanowires” of tungsten oxide on the surface of tiny particles of tantalum nitride.
• As a result of the incredibly small size of the two material components — both the tantalum nitride and tungsten oxide are typically less than 40 billionths of a metre in diameter — the composite provides a huge surface area for dye capture.
• The material then proceeds to break the dye down into smaller, harmless molecules using the energy provided by sunlight, in a process known as “photocatalytic degradation.” 
• Having removed the harmful dyes, the catalyst may simply be filtered from the cleaned water and reused.
• While photocatalytic degradation of dyes has been investigated for several decades, it is only relatively recently that researchers have developed materials capable of absorbing the visible part of the solar spectrum.

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