Prelim Bits 13-10-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023

India ranks 111 out of a total of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2023.

• Released by – Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

• Based on the values of 4 indicators, a GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger.
• Zero “0” is the best possible score (no hunger) and “100” is the worst.
• Global Scenario – Global hunger remains too high, and progress on reducing hunger has largely stalled.
• This stagnation relative to 2015 largely reflects the combined effects of overlapping crises
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Russia-Ukraine war
  • Economic stagnation
  • Impacts of climate change,
  • Conflicts among many countries
• India’s Performance - With a score of 28.7, India’s hunger level is serious.
• India has the highest child wasting rate in the world, at 18.7%, reflecting acute undernutrition

Issues in methodology

• GHI does not reflect India’s true position.
• According to Poshan Tracker % of child wasting has been below 7.2%, as compared to the value of 18.7% of GHI 2023.
• 3 out of the 4 indicators are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population.
• The 4^th indicator ‘Proportion of Undernourished (PoU) population’ is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size.

'Poshan Tracker' ICT Application was developed and deployed by Ministry of Women and Child Development to dynamically determine stunting, wasting, underweight, and obesity status based on a child's height, weight, gender, and age.

References

1. PIB| Issues in calculating GHI
2. GHI| Global Hunger Index 2023

Sagar Maitri Mission

Recently, an oceanographic research vessel ‘INS Sagardhwani’ embarked on Sagar Maitri (SM) Mission-4.

• Sagar Maitri - A novel initiative of DRDO to support Safety and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) policy.
• Objective - To promote closer cooperation in socio-economic aspects and long-term scientific partnerships & collaborations with the 8 Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries.

The 8 IOR countries are Oman, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar.

• MAITRI – Marine and Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative is a scientific component initiated by DRDO under SAGAR Policy
• It establishes long-term collaboration with IOR countries in Ocean Research and Development.

INS Sagardhwani

• A marine acoustic research ship.

References

PIB| Sagar Maitri Mission

Dragonfly Festival, 2023

The 6^th edition of the Dragonfly Festival is being conducted across 11 States in India.

• The festival has been running for the past 5 years and celebrates Dragonfly and Damselfly’s role in keeping our environment healthy.

The tag for this year’s festival is Dragonflies in Focus: Inspire Wetland Champions’.

• Organised by - WWF India
• Partnership - Bombay Natural History Society, India Biodiversity Portal, Indian Dragonfly Society and other partners.
• Aim - To create awareness for the conservation of these insects.
• Activities - Documenting the dragonflies and damselflies by observing different patterns like mating, resting, flying or feeding.

Odonates

• It is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies.

• Depleting wetlands has had a cascading effect on the dragonflies and damselflies.

References

The Hindu| Dragonfly Festival 2023

Ozone Hole over Antarctica

European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite measurements over Antarctica have detected a giant hole in the ozone layer which was roughly 3 times the size of Brazil.

• This is one of the biggest ozone holes observed so far and this year’s ozone hole started earlier than usual, and had a big extension.
• Ozone Hole - It is not technically a “hole” where no ozone is present, but is actually a region of exceptionally depleted ozone in the stratosphere over the Antarctic.
• Timing – At the beginning of Southern Hemisphere spring (August–October).
• Ozone hole over Antarctica – Its size fluctuates every year, opening in August and closing again in November or December.
• Opening of hole – In the long months of polar darkness over Antarctica in the winter, atmospheric conditions are unusual.
• An endlessly circling whirlpool of stratospheric winds called the polar vortex isolates the air in the center.
• Because it is completely dark, the air in the vortex gets so cold that clouds form and enables chemical reactions to take place.
• This converts the inactive Cl reservoir chemicals into active chlorine gas (Cl2) in atmosphere.
• In spring, the UV light from sunlight rapidly breaks Cl gas into free Cl in the stratosphere which destroys ozone.

A free chlorine atom in atmosphere participate in a series of chemical reactions called as catalytic reaction and thus a single chlorine atom to destroy thousands of ozone molecules.

• Closing of hole – When temperatures warm and the polar vortex weakens, it ends the isolation of the air in the polar vortex and thus hole starts to close.
• As air from the surrounding latitudes mixes into the polar region, the ozone-destroying forms of chlorine disperse.
• The ozone layer stabilizes until the following spring.

References

1. Indian Express| Ozone Hole over Antarctica
2. NASA| Formation of Ozone Hole

Miniature Eastern Ghats

A forest arena titled ‘Miniature Eastern Ghats’ (MEG) will come up in about 30 acres of reserve land in Visakhapatnam.

• It is a one-stop place for the flora found in the Eastern Ghats which will be opened for public from November, 2023.
• It is the 1^st such project in Andhra Pradesh to attract the nature lovers and tourists.
• Umbrella program – Eastern Ghats Biodiversity Centre project.
• Funding – Around Rs 2.5 crore from government funds and from corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of private organisations.

Eastern Ghats

• It is a discontinuous range of mountains along India’s eastern coast.
• An ancient orogenic belt formed from the collision of crustal rocks during the Archean Era.
• The Eastern Ghats are older than the Western Ghats.
• Geographical location – Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana.
• Major rivers - Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri
• Highest point – Arma Konda or Seethamma Konda in (1,680 metres or 5,510 ft)
• Rocks – Made up of charnockite, granite gneiss, khondalite, granite and quartzite
• Minerals found– Limestone, bauxite and iron ore
• Madhurawada Dome – It was formed by a tectonic arrangement with the khondalite suite and quartzite Archean rocks north of Visakhapatnam.

It is estimated that there are 25,000 species of orchids in the world. Of these, more than 1,300 species have been recorded in Indian forests, including the Eastern Ghats.

References

The Hindu| Miniature Eastern Ghats