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2nd Sep Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020
Antarctica, Greenland ice sheet melting
HEADLINES:
Antarctica, Greenland ice sheet melting matches worst-case climate change scenarios: Study
WHY IN NEWS:
It is a study conducted by University of Leeds, United Kingdom. The study was published in journal Nature Climate Change.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : 3 : Global Warming : Climate Change
ISSUE:
KEY OBSERVATIONS
- Increasing melting rates for ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland match worst-case scenarios for climate warming, potentially exposing 16 million people to annual coastal flooding by the end of the century.
- The global sea level rose by 1.8 centimetres because of the rapid melting rates of the ice sheets since the 1990s.
- Melting from Antarctica pushed sea levels up by 7.2 millimetres.
- Greenland accounted for 10.6 mm, with latest measurements pointing out a rise in the world’s oceans by four mm every year.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- In recent years, thousands of smaller glaciers have begun to melt or disappear altogether, as we saw with the glacier Ok in Iceland, which was declared ‘dead’ in 2014.
- This means that melting of ice has now taken over as the main contributor of sea level rise.
SOURCES: DownToEarth | 2nd Sep Current Affairs News Analysis
Indra 2020
HEADLINES:
India, Russia to hold naval drills in Andaman Sea
WHY IN NEWS:
India and Russia are scheduled to hold Indra 2020 in the Andaman Sea, close to the Strait of Malacca instead of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Defence
CONTEXT:
INDRA 2020
- The Strait of Malacca connects Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and is 900 km in length .
- It is also a prominent trade route between East Asia and West Asia-Europe.
- IOR is under high operational alert by the Indian Navy due to the ongoing standoff with China in Ladakh.
- This is also the first bilateral naval exercise since all such engagements were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- It also comes just after India withdrew from the Kavkaz-2020 multinational exercise in Russia that is scheduled for later this month.
- So instead of exercising with Chinese troops in Kavkaz 2020, we would exercise with Russian Navy near the mouth of Malacca.
SOURCES: The Hindu | 2nd Sep Current Affairs News Analysis
AUDFs01 – Farthest Galaxy
HEADLINES:
Indian Astronomers discover one of the farthest Star galaxies in the universe.
WHY IN NEWS:
India’s first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory “AstroSat” has detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:SPACE
ISSUE:
SIGNIFICANCE
- The importance and uniqueness of this original discovery can be made out from the fact that it has been reported in the leading international journal “Nature Astronomy” published from Britain.
- India’s AstroSat/UVIT was able to achieve this unique feat because the background noise in the UVIT detector is much less than one on the Hubble Space Telescope of US based NASA.
IASbhai WINDUP:
Pertinent to mention that India’s first Space Observatory AstroSat, which has made this discovery, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on September 28, 2015.
SOURCES: PIB | 2nd Sep Current Affairs News Analysis
ICJ on Freedom of Expression
HEADLINES:
‘Bhushan’s conviction is against international law’
WHY IN NEWS:
It seemed to be inconsistent with the freedom of expression law guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that India was a party to.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2: 3 : ICJ
ISSUE:
KEY TAKEAWAY
- In a statement, the ICJ, an international human rights organisation comprising judges and lawyers, said it joined 1,800 Indian lawyers in calling for the Supreme Court to review the standards of criminal contempt.
IASbhai WINDUP:
While some restrictions of freedom of expression are permitted by international standards, a particularly wide scope must be preserved for debate and discussion about such matters as the role of the judiciary, access to justice, and democracy, by members of the public, including through public commentary on the courts.- ICJ
SOURCES:The Hindu | 2nd Sep Current Affairs News Analysis
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