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GS Paper: GS3

  • Desalination Plants and their Feasibility

    Maharashtra state govt. has announced the setting up of a desalination plant in Mumbai, becoming the fourth state in the country to experiment with the idea.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.What is the role of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the water purification systems?

    1. It inactivates/kills the harmful microorganisms in water.
    2. It removes the entire undesirable odour from the water.
    3. It quickens the sedimentation of solid particles, removes turbidity and improves the clarity of water.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    What are Desalination Plants?

    • A desalination plant turns salt water into water that is fit to drink.
    • The most commonly used techniques used for the process is reverse osmosis where external pressure is applied to push solvents from an area of high-solute concentration to an area of low-solute concentration through a membrane.
    • The microscopic pores in the membranes allow water molecules through but leave salt and most other impurities behind, releasing clean water from the other side.
    • These plants are mostly set up in areas that have access to seawater.

    How widely is this technology used in India?

    • Desalination has largely been limited to affluent countries in the Middle East and has recently started making inroads in parts of the United States and Australia.
    • In India, Tamil Nadu has been the pioneer in using this technology, setting up two desalination plants near Chennai in 2010 and then 2013, while there are two more to come.

    Need for such plant

    • According to the projections, the population of Mumbai is anticipated to touch 1.72 crores by 2041 and accordingly, the projected water demand would be 6424 MLD by then.
    • Currently, BMC supplies 3850 MLD as against the requirement of 4200 MLD each day.

    Is it ecologically safe?

    • The high cost of setting up and running a desalination plant is one reason why the Maharashtra government has over the last decade been hesitant in building such a plant.
    • Desalination is an expensive way of generating drinking water as it requires a high amount of energy.
    • The other problem is the disposal of the byproduct — highly concentrated brine (saltwater) — of the desalination process.
    • While in most places brine is pumped back into the sea, there have been rising complaints that it ends up severely damaging the local ecology around the plant.

    Back2Basics: Osmosis and Reverse Osmosis

    • Osmosis is a phenomenon where pure water flows from a dilute solution through a semi-permeable membrane to a higher concentrated solution.
    • Semi-permeable means that the membrane will allow small molecules and ions to pass through it but acts as a barrier to larger molecules or dissolved substances.
    • As water passes through the membrane to the salt solution, the level of liquid in the saltwater compartment will rise until enough pressure, caused by the difference in levels between the two compartments, is generated to stop the osmosis.
    • This pressure, equivalent to a force that the osmosis seems to exert in trying to equalize concentrations on both sides of the membrane, is called osmotic pressure.
    • If pressure greater than the osmotic pressure is applied to the high concentration the direction of water flow through the membrane can be reversed.
    • This is called reverse osmosis. Note that this reversed flow produces pure water from the salt solution since the membrane is not permeable to salt.

  • What are Miyawaki Forests?

    Japan-inspired Miyawaki forests are emerging as a popular solution to restoring degraded habitats in the country.

    Try this question:

    Q.The Miyawaki Forests technique has to potential to revolutionize the concept of urban afforestation in India. Discuss.

    Miyawaki Forests

    • Doctor Akira Miyawaki, botanist and professor, is the inventor of the technique since 1980.
    • He is a recipient of the 2006 Blue Planet Prize, which is the equivalent of a Nobel Prize in ecology.
    • The approach is supposed to ensure that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual.
    • It involves planting dozens of native species in the same area and becomes maintenance-free after the first three years.

    The technique

    • The method takes its inspiration directly from processes and diversity in nature: 15 to 30 different species of trees and shrubs are planted together.
    • This plant community works very well together and is perfectly adapted to local weather conditions.
    • The habitat thus created will get more complex over time and attract much biodiversity.
    • Vegetation becomes much denser than conventional plantations, and it has the structure of a mature natural forest. It is a multi-storey structure, where different levels of vegetation appear.
    • The forest thus structured delivers many benefits in the form of ecosystem services.
    • It would take about 200 years to let a forest recover on its own. With the Miyawaki method, a similar result is achieved in 20 years.

  • What are Negative-Yield Bonds?

    China recently sold negative-yield debt for the first time, and this saw high demand from investors across Europe.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?

    (a) Certificate of Deposit

    (b) Commercial Paper

    (c) Promissory Note

    (d) Participatory Note

    What are Negative-Yield Bonds?

    • These are debt instruments that offer to pay the investor a maturity amount lower than the purchase price of the bond.
    • These are generally issued by central banks or governments, and investors pay interest to the borrower to keep their money with them.

    Why do investors buy them?

    • Negative-yield bonds attract investments during times of stress and uncertainty as investors look to protect their capital from significant erosion.
    • At a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and interest rates in developed markets across Europe are much lower.
    • Hence, investors are looking for relatively better-yielding debt instruments to safeguard their interests.

    Why is there a huge demand?

    • While Europe, the US and other parts of the world are facing a second wave of Covid-19 cases, China has demonstrated that it has controlled the spread of the pandemic and is therefore seen as a more stable region.
    • Many feel that European investors are also looking to increase their exposure in China, and hence there is a huge demand for these bonds.
    • The fact that the 10-year and 15-year bonds are offering positive returns is a big attraction at a time when interest rates in Europe have dropped significantly.
    • As against minus —0.15% yield on the 5-year bond issued by China, the yields offered in safe European bonds are much lower, between –0.5% and —0.75%.

  • Chang’e-5 Lunar Probe

    China is preparing to launch an unmanned spacecraft to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.What do you understand by the term Aitken basin:

    (a) It is a desert in the southern Chile which is known to be the only location on earth where no rainfall takes place

    (b) It is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon

    (c) It is a Pacific coast basin, which is known to house large amounts of oil and gas

    (d) It is a deep hyper saline anoxic basin where no aquatic animals are found

    Chang’e-5 Probe

    • The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.
    • The goal of the mission is to land in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate for one lunar day, which is two weeks long.
    • It will collect 2 kg of surface material from a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum — or “Ocean of Storms” — which consist of vast lava plain.
    • The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure in China’s Long March 5 launch rocket.
    • If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.

    Significance of the mission

    • As per the Lunar and Planetary Institute, rocks found on the Moon are older than any that have been found on Earth and therefore they are valuable in providing information about the Earth and the Moon’s shared history.
    • Lunar samples can help to unravel some important questions in lunar science and astronomy, including the Moon’s age, its formation, the similarities and differences between the Earth and the Moon’s geologic features.
    • For instance, the shape, size, arrangement and composition of individual grains and crystals in a rock can tell scientists about its history, while the radioactive clock can tell them the rock’s age.
    • Further, tiny cracks in rocks can tell them about the radiation history of the Sun in the last 100,000 years.

  • Chinese dam projects on Brahmaputra and impact on downstream countries

    Scarcity of water in India and China

    • As India and China continue to grow demographically as well as economically amid increased consumption among its citizenry, both nations face water constraints.
    • China, which is home to close to 20 per cent of the world’s population, has only 7 per cent of its water resources.
    • Severe pollution of its surface and groundwater caused by rapid industrialisation is a source of concern for Chinese planners.
    • China’s southern regions are water-rich in comparison to the water-stressed northern part.
    • The southern region is a major food producer and has significant industrial capacity as a consequence of more people living there.
    • India is severely water-stressed as well.
    • Similar to China, India has 17 per cent of the world’s population and 4 per cent of water.
    • As in China, an equally ambitious north-south river-linking project has been proposed in India.

    Impact on downstream states

    • The construction of several dams along the Yarlung (Brahmaputra) river on the Chinese side has been a repeated cause for concern for Indian officials and the local people.
    • China has an ambitious plan to link its south and north through canals, aqueducts and linking of major rivers to ensure water security.
    • In pursuit of these goals, China, being an upper riparian state in Asia, has been blocking rivers like the Mekong and its tributaries, affecting Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
    • It has caused immense damage to the environment and altered river flows in the region.
    • China sees these projects as a continuation of their historic tributary system as the smaller states have no means of effectively resisting or even significant leverage in negotiations.

    Challenges for India

    • There are now multiple operational dams in the Yarlung Tsangpo basin with more dams commissioned and under construction. These constructions present a unique challenge for Indian planners.
    • 1) Dams will eventually lead to degradation of the entire basin:
    • Silt carried by the river would get blocked by dams leading to a fall in the quality of soil and eventual reduction in agricultural productivity.
    • 2) The Brahmaputra basin is one of the world’s most ecologically sensitive zones.
    • It is identified as one of the world’s 34 biological hotspots.
    • This region sees several species of flora and fauna that are endemic to only this part of the world.
    • The river itself is home to the Gangetic river dolphin, which is listed as critically endangered.
    • 3) The location of the dams in the Himalayas pose a risk.
    • Seismologists consider the Himalayas as most vulnerable to earthquakes and seismic activity.
    • The sheer size of the infrastructure projects undertaken by China, and increasingly by India, poses a significant threat to the populations living downstream.
    • Close to a million people live in the Brahmaputra basin in India and tens of millions further downstream in Bangladesh.
    • 4) Damming Brahmaputra would result in water security in an era of unprecedented shifting climate patterns.
    • This security extends beyond water, as there is the potential to significantly change the flow rate during times of standoffs and high tensions.

    Way forward

    • Both sides must cease new constructions on the river and commit to potentially less destructive solutions.
    • Building a decentralised network of check dams, rain-capturing lakes and using traditional means of water capture have shown effective results in restoring the ecological balance while supporting the populations of the regions in a sustainable manner.

    Conclusion

    There are alternate solutions to solving the water crisis.  It is in the interest of all stakeholders to neutralise this ticking water bomb.

  • Understanding the interplay between subsidies and agri-pollution

    Agriculture’s contribution to air pollution

    • Agriculture’s contribution to air pollution runs deeper than what happens between crop seasons.
    • The Indo-Gangetic plain is also one of the world’s largest and rapidly-growing ammonia hotspots.
    • Atmospheric ammonia, which comes from fertiliser use, animal husbandry, and other agricultural practices, combines with emissions from power plants, transportation and other fossil-fuel burning to form fine particles.

    Impact of pollution on agriculture

    • It is important to note that agriculture is a victim of pollution as well as its perpetrator.
    • Particulate matter and ground-level ozone formed from industrial, power plant, and transportation emissions among other ingredients cause double-digit losses in crop yields.
    • Ozone damages plant cells, handicapping photosynthesis, while particulate matter dims the sunlight that reaches crops.
    • Agriculture scientist Tony Fischer’s 2019 estimates of the two pollutants’ combined effect suggest that as much as 30 per cent of India’s wheat yield is missing (Sage Journals, Outlook on Agriculture).
    • Earlier, B Sinha et al (2015), in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, found that high ozone levels in parts of Haryana and Punjab could diminish rice yields by a quarter and cotton by half.

    Role played by subsidies

    • The current system of subsidies is a big reason that there is stubble on these fields in the first place.
    • Free power — and consequently, “free” water, pumped from the ground — is a big part of what makes growing rice in these areas attractive.
    • Open-ended procurement of paddy, despite the bulging stocks of grains with the Food Corporation of India, adds to the incentives.
    • Subsidies account for almost 15 per cent of the value of rice being produced in Punjab-Haryana belt.
    • Fertiliser, particularly urea in granular form, is highly subsidised.
    • It is one of the cheapest forms of nitrogen-based fertiliser, easy to store and easy to transport, but it is also one of the first to “volatilise,” or release ammonia into the air.
    • This loss of nitrogen then leads to a cycle of more and more fertiliser being applied to get the intended benefits for crops.

    Way forward

    • We need to shift the nature of support to farmers from input subsidies to investment subsidies.
    • This could involve the conversion of paddy areas in this belt to orchards with drip irrigation, vegetables, corn, cotton, pulses and oilseeds.
    • All of the above consume much less water, much less power and fertilisers and don’t create stubble to burn.
    • A diversification package of, say, Rs 10,000 crore spread over the next five years, equally contributed by the Centre and states, may be the best way to move forward in reducing agriculture-related pollution.
    • The approach to diversification has to be demand-led, with a holistic framework of the value chain, from farm to fork and not just focused on production.
    • On the fertiliser front, it would be better to give farmers input subsidy in cash on per hectare basis, and free up the prices of fertilisers completely.

    Conclusion

    Taken together, these measures could double farmers’ incomes, promote efficiency in resource use, and reduce pollution — a win-win solution for all.

  • India’s Deep Ocean Mission

    India will soon launch an ambitious ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ that envisages exploration of minerals, energy and marine diversity of the underwater world, a vast part of which still remains unexplored.

    Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)

    Nodal Agency: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)

    • The mission proposes to explore the deep ocean similar to the space exploration started by ISRO.
    • Underwater robotics and ‘manned’ submersibles are key components of the Mission which will help India harness various living and non-living (water, mineral and energy) resources from the seabed and deep water.
    • The tasks that will be undertaken over this period include deep-sea mining, survey, energy exploration and the offshore-based desalination.
    • These technological developments are funded under an umbrella scheme of the government – called Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART).

     Mining PMN

    • One of the main aims of the mission is to explore and extract polymetallic nodules (PMN).
    • These are small potato-like rounded accretions composed of minerals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and iron hydroxide.
    • They lie scattered on the Indian Ocean floor at depths of about 6,000 m and the size can vary from a few millimetres to centimetres.
    • These metals can be extracted and used in electronic devices, smartphones, batteries and even for solar panels.

    Where will the team mine?

    • The International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organisation established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, allots the ‘area’ for deep-sea mining.
    • India was the first country to receive the status of a ‘Pioneer Investor ‘ in 1987 and was given an area of about 1.5 lakh sq km in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) for nodule exploration.
    • In 2002, India signed a contract with the ISA and after complete resource analysis of the seabed 50% was surrendered and the country retained an area of 75,000 sq km.

    Which are the other countries that are in the race to mine the deep sea?

    • Apart from the CIOB, polymetallic nodules have been identified from the central Pacific Ocean. It is known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
    • According to the ISA’s website, it has entered into 15-year contracts for exploration for polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the deep seabed with 29 contractors.
    • Later it was extended for five more years till 2022.
    • China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Russia and also some small islands such as the Cook Islands, Kiribati have joined the race for deep-sea mining.
    • Most of the countries have tested their technologies in shallow waters and are yet to start deep-sea extraction.

    India’s preparedness

    • India’s mining site is at about a depth of 5,500 metres, where there is a high pressure and extremely low temperature.
    • We have also deployed Remotely Operated Vehicle and In-situ Soil Tester in the depth of 6,000 metres and have a thorough understanding of the mining area at the Central Indian Ocean Basin.
    • The mining machine newly developed for 6000 metres depth was able to move about 900 metres and will be deployed soon at 5,500 metres.
    • Weather conditions and the availability of ships also play a role.
    • More tests are being conducted to understand how to bring the nodules up to the surface. A riser system comprising an umbilical cable or electromechanical cable and a hose is being developed.

    What will be the environmental impact?

    • According to the IUCN, these deep remote locations can be home to unique species that have adapted themselves to conditions such as poor oxygen and sunlight, high pressure and extremely low temperatures.
    • Such mining expeditions can make them go extinct even before they are known to science.
    • The deep sea’s biodiversity and ecology remain poorly understood, making it difficult to assess the environmental impact and frame adequate guidelines.
    • Though strict guidelines have been framed, they are only exploration guidelines. A new set of exploitation guidelines are being worked out and discussions are on with the ISA.
    • Environmentalists are also worried about the sediment plumes that will be generated as the suspended particles can rise to the surface harming the filter feeders in the upper ocean layers.
    • Additional concerns have been raised about the noise and light pollution from the mining vehicles and oil spills from the operating vessels.

    Is deep-sea mining economically viable?

    • The latest estimate from the ISA says it will be commercially viable only if about three million tonnes are mined per year.
    • More studies are being carried out to understand how the technology can be scaled up and used efficiently.

  • Species in news: Meghalaya’s Glowing Mushrooms

    A mushroom documentation project in the forests of Northeast India has discovered a bioluminescent — or light-emitting — variety of mushroom.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Lichens, which are capable of initiating ecological succession even on a bare rock, are actually a symbiotic association of:

    (a) Algae and bacteria

    (b) Algae and fungi

    (c) Bacteria and fungi

    (d) Fungi and mosses

    Roridomyces phyllostachydis

    • The new species was first sighted near a stream in Meghalaya’s Mawlynnong in East Khasi Hills district and later at Krang Shuri in West Jaintia Hills district.
    • It is now one among the 97 known species of bioluminescent fungi in the world.

    Bioluminescence in fungi

    • Bioluminescence is the property of a living organism to produce and emit light.
    • Bioluminescent organisms are usually found in ocean environments, but they are also found in terrestrial environments.
    • The colour of the light emitted by the organism depends on its chemical properties.
    • In the case of fungi, the luminescence comes from the enzyme, luciferase.
    • The green light emits when luciferans is catalysed by the enzyme luciferase, in the presence of oxygen.

  • Sentinel-6 Satellite

    The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, designed to monitor oceans, was launched from the in California.

    Try this MCQ:

    The Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) Mission recently seen in news is aimed at observing:

    (a)Microgravity changes

    (b)Sea level rise

    (c)Cosmic radiation

    (d)Space debris

    Sentinel-6 Satellite

    • This is a part of the next mission dedicated to measuring changes in the global sea level.
    • It has been named after Dr Michael Freilich, who was the Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division from 2006-2019 and passed away in August this year.

    What is the mission?

    • The mission, called the Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) mission, is designed to measure the height of the ocean, which is a key component in understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing.
    • The spacecraft consists of two satellites, the other, called Sentinel-6B, to be launched in 2025.
    • It has been developed jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, and France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).

    What will the satellite do?

    • The satellite will ensure the continuity of sea-level observations into the fourth decade and will provide measurements of global sea-level rise.
    • Since 1992, high-precision satellite altimeters have helped scientists understand how the ocean stores and distributes heat, water and carbon in the climate system.
    • Essentially, the satellite will send pulses to the Earth’s surface and measure how long they take to return to it, which will help scientists measure the sea surface height.
    • It will also measure water vapour along this path and find its position using GPS and ground-based lasers.

    Significance of the mission

    • As per NASA, it is possible to observe the height of the oceans on a global scale and monitor critical changes in ocean currents and heat storage only from space.
    • Data from satellites such as Sentinel-6 help scientists foresee the effects of the changing oceans on the climate.
    • Further, in order to measure and track changes in the oceanic heat budget, scientists need to know the ocean currents and heat storage of the oceans, which can be determined from the height of the sea surface.

  • Exercise SITMEX-20

    The second edition of the India, Thailand and Singapore trilateral naval exercise SITMEX-20 has concluded in the Andaman Sea.

    Exercise SITMEX-20

    • The SITMEX series of exercises are conducted to enhance mutual inter-operability and imbibing best practices between IN, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Royal Thai Navy (RTN).
    • The first edition of SITMEX, hosted by Indian Navy, was conducted off Port Blair in September 2019.
    • The 2020 edition of the exercise is being hosted by RSN.
    • The maritime drill witnessed a variety of exercises including naval manoeuvres, surface warfare exercises and weapon firings.
    • Besides improving inter-operability, SITMEX series of exercise also aims to strengthen mutual confidence and develop common understanding and procedures towards enhancing the overall maritime security in the region.