Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 17 September 2017

::National::

Arjan Singh - Marshal of Indian Air Force passed away

• Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, one of independent India’s most celebrated soldiers, passed away in the national capital. He was 98.

• A statement from the Ministry of Defence said Singh was admitted to the hospital on Saturday morning following a cardiac arrest, and breathed his last at 7.47 p.m.

• One of the heroes of the 1965 war with Pakistan, Arjan Singh became the chief of IAF when he was just 44.

• Born on April 15, 1919, in Lyalpur, now Faisalabad, modern day Pakistan, he was selected for the Empire Pilot training course at RAF Cranwell, at the age of 19.

• Singh received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944.

• During World War II, Singh flew close support missions during the Imphal Campaign. For his role in successfully leading the squadron during combat, Singh received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944.

• As India declared Independence on August 15, 1947, Singh led the fly-past of more than a hundred IAF aircraft over the Red Fort.

• After Independence, he took command of the Air Force station in Ambala, and later in 1949, he took over as the Air Officer Commanding of Operational Command, which later became the Western Air Command, based in Delhi.

• After the Air Force sat out the 1962 war with China, during which India was humiliated, Singh was appointed the Deputy Chief of Air Staff and became the Vice Chief of Air Staff by 1963.

• On August 1, 1964, Singh took over as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) in the rank of Air Marshal. In September 1965 when Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam, in which an armoured thrust targeted the vital town of Akhnur, Singh was summoned to the Defence Minister's office with a request for air support.

• Throughout the 1965 war, Singh showed exemplary leadership, and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his leadership and subsequently the rank of the CAS was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal. Singh thus became the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force.

• After his retirement in July 1969, he was appointed Ambassador to Switzerland. In January 2002, he was conferred the rank of the Marshal of the Air Force in recognition of his unparalleled contribution. Till date he is the only Air Force officer to have been promoted to the five-star rank.

Myths that seek to explain astronomical phenomena

• Astronomy has benefited from amateur efforts, including myths that seek to explain astronomical phenomena. That is true for tribal lore too, researchers have found.

• A study of tribal people settled around central India has revealed a rich mythology. Researchers led by Mayank Vahia, Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, carried out the largest study of its kind (ongoing, since 2014) to collect and document tribal myths, with the participation of over a thousand people from the Gond, Kolam, Korku, Banjara and Cholainaikkan tribes. Participants identified images of the night sky and narrated stories that were documented.

• The stories have a lasting appeal beyond the rational. A popular example is the Hindu myth of Rahu and Ketu, asuras or demons who devour the sun and the moon, causing eclipses, which continues to fascinate many though eclipses are well-understood.

• The researchers found that the tribal view of constellations and myths of the origin of the universe is quite different from what Babylonian or Hindu stargazers perceived. For instance, the Gond look at the Southern Cross (Crux) and see a mahua tree.

• The Korkus have an interesting myth on the Centaurus constellation. Some prominent stars in Centaurus are the Menkent, the fourth brightest star in the constellation, and the Hadar, which is actually a three-star system and the second brightest object in it.

• In the Korku myth, one of them, Pechla (the tribal name for Menkent) did not pay his bride’s family any dowry. So his wife Charkhaya (the star Hadar) ate betel leaves, which stained her mouth red, and she then spat it on Pechla, some juice staining her cheeks as well.

• The myth underlines the importance of not defaulting on the bridal gift. The Korku also identify the stars with earthly counterparts. For instance, they identify Pechla with the red-vented bulbul and Charkhaya with the red-whiskered bulbul.

• The Korku believe that Badadeo (a Korku god, thought to be the equivalent of Shiva) sent out a crow to bring back some soil. While it was returning, some soil fell from the crow’s beak and became the earth. Out of this, Badadeo created men and women. To guard them, Gangudevi, his wife and a great goddess herself, created dogs.

• But having given them life, there was a dilemma — the men and women, being all siblings, could not intermarry. So Badadeo called up a huge storm and everyone hid behind objects like rock, river, tree, crops and waited for it to pass.

• There were twelve-and-a-half such objects, the half-object corresponding to transgenders. When the storm subsided, their identities changed and Badadeo gave each person a name based on where they had taken shelter from the storm; the people who had hidden behind different objects could intermarry.

• The Saptarshi Mandal or the Big Dipper — this mainly has seven stars, four at the corners of an imaginary polygon and three bright spots trailing a distance away along a curve — is an asterism, or subset, of the larger constellation Ursa Major or Big Bear.

• The Gond call the four stars forming the polygon, Katul, or cot, and they see the trailing spots as thieves trying to steal the cot. They envisage an old lady on the cot who must not go to sleep, as thieves would then steal the cot.

• The Korku tribe, on the other hand, talk explicitly of the setting of the Saptarshi. In their story too, the polygon represents a bed. But instead of the old woman, the workers sleeping on the bed must wake up early and start work.

• According to the Korku, the cot is not a proper rectangle because the thieves are tugging at it.

• The researchers have published a part of their findings in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage . Their further work has been accepted for publication by Current Science.

CAG to audit GST Network

• While a Group of Ministers met to address the mounting complaints about glitches in the GST Network, federal auditors have begun an audit of its technical capabilities to assess if it is ready to handle the massive amounts of transactions.

• The CAG audit is expected to look into a host of issues: bandwith capabilities of the network, robustness of the software, security aspects, and the architecture of the entire system.

• CAG had the professional competence to carry out such a technical audit. If necessary, experts from outside could also be roped in.

• The CAG is empowered under the Constitution to audit various aspects of the GST, and it would have a clear picture by the end of the financial year after taxes are filed through the new system.

• Teams have been undergoing training for months now for auditing various aspects of the GST.

• The GSTN audit is taking place against the backdrop of the recent appointment of a Group of Ministers, led by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, to look into the glitches in the network. Mr. Sushil Modi said that the dealers’ tendency to rush to file returns at the last moment was forcing the system to crash.

• The network’s capability to tackle the estimated 300 crore invoices a month is only one of the aspects of the GSTN that has left traders worried. Several traders and tax consultants have been complaining about the cumbersome navigation and the extra work they have to do to meet with GST requirements.

• Incidentally, in the run-up to the GST launch in July 2017, the GSTN had approached the CAG for a technical audit certification. However, it was pointed out that such an audit could be done only after the network was up and running.

::INDIA AND WORLD::

Indus water talks deadlock continues - India, Pakistan

• The latest round of talks between India and Pakistan on the Indus Waters Treaty has ended without any agreement, the World Bank has said, while asserting that it will continue to work with complete impartiality to resolve the issues in an amicable manner.

• Amid a chill in bilateral ties, the second round of discussions between India and Pakistan on the Ratle and Kishanganga hydroelectric projects, over which Islamabad has raised objections, took place at the World Bank headquarters here on September 14 and 15 under the aegis of the World Bank.

• While an agreement has not been reached at the conclusion of the meetings, the World Bank will continue to work with both countries to resolve the issues in an amicable manner and in line with the Treaty provisions
  Both countries and the World Bank appreciated the discussions and reconfirmed their commitment to the preservation of the Treaty.

• The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.

• The World Bank’s role in relation to the “differences” and “disputes” is limited to the designation of people to fulfil certain roles when requested by either or both of the parties.

• The Indian delegation was led by the Union Water Resources Secretary Amarjit Singh.

• It also included India’s Indus Water Commissioner and representatives from the ministry of external affairs, power, and Central Water Commission.

• The Pakistani delegation was led by Secretary, Water Resources Division, Arif Ahmed Khan along with Secretary of Water and Power Yousuf Naseem Khokhar, High Commissioner of Indus Waters Treaty Mirza AsifBaig and Joint Secretary of Water Syed Mehar Ali Shah.

• The last round of talks were held on August 1, which the World bank said were held in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation.

Trade pacts stalled - India -EU

• Talks remain stalled since 2013; European Union yet to okay re-engagement despite India’s requests

• With the India-European Union (EU) Summit ahead formal talks on the proposed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have yet to be scheduled, despite a public push from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in May.

• The officials said India had sent repeated reminders at the levels of the Commerce and Industry Minister, the Commerce Secretary and the Chief Negotiator to restart the talks that stalled in 2013, but the EU had not yet given any official indication on the re-engagement.

• It is learnt that the current sticking point is regarding whether an India-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) can be finalised first, as demanded by the EU, or take forward India’s plan to make ‘investment protection’ a part of the negotiations on the proposed comprehensive FTA officially called the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) and include it in the BTIA as a separate chapter.

• The deadlock over ‘investment protection’ followed the EU’s concern over what it called India’s “unilateral termination” of separate BITs with “a significant number of” EU countries.

• Given that the EU Member States do not have the possibility to renegotiate the BITs with India, the unilateral termination of the existing BITs by India would create a gap in investment protection and consequently discourage EU enterprises from further investing in India.

• The FTA talks are also stuck due to differences over the EU’s demands on elimination of India’s duties on goods such as automobiles and wines and spirits, and India’s pitch for a ‘data secure’ status (important for India's IT sector to do more business with EU firms) as well as to ease norms on temporary movement of skilled workers.

• While the chief negotiators of India and the EU met informally in July in Brussels on the margins of the EU-India Sub-commission of Trade, and are likely to meet again on the sidelines the EU-India Summit in Delhi on October 9 and 10, no decision has been made yet on the formal resumption of the BTIA talks.

• In July 2017, the EU and Japan reached an in-principle agreement on the EPA’s main elements.

• The EU-India Summit is also likely to include discussions on issues relating to WTO-level negotiations as well on strategic cooperation between Indian police agencies with Europol on intelligence sharing and fighting terror.

::INTERNATIONAL::

Ethiopia’s growth depends on Djibouti

• Ethiopia’s “umbilical cord”, Djibouti, could soon feel the pinch. After Ethiopia lost its lifeline to the Red Sea following the independence of Eritrea a quarter century ago, Djibouti has been land-locked Ethiopia’s gateway to the outside world.

• The International Monetary Fund ranks Ethiopia as Africa’s fastest-growing economy, and its ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in power since the loss of the Eritrean ports of Assab and Massawa, prioritises export-led industrial growth. It depends on Djibouti, which channels 95% of its cargo and does most of the staffing for Ethiopian export containers.

• However, Ethiopia is now planning to diversify its seaward and inland transport, which could cut payments to Djibouti. Up to 80% of Ethiopia’s cargoes could be diverted through the ports of other neighbours, Sudan and Somaliland, once fully operational for Ethiopian use.

• The state monopoly also plans to cut transit time and congestion sometimes of months at Djiboutian ports by half and save on scarce foreign currency by developing its own cargo transit service through two new inland dry ports and a staffing service for containerised cargo.

• China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. is expected to finish expanding the inland ports by early next year, and these ports would be linked to Djibouti by a new Chinese-built railway.

• The central bank doesn’t make Ethiopia’s foreign exchange reserves, its lifeline to the outside world, public. The IMF says Ethiopia held reserves of $3.4 billion by June-end last year, enough to cover just under two months of imports.

• Annual reports for Ethiopia’s state enterprises aren’t typically public documents, but this reporter was able to review a copy of ESLSE’s. The monopoly forms Ethiopia’s spine in terms of facilitating foreign exchange generating exports.

• Yet, it needed $472.13 million more than allocated to fulfil its operating payments in July, the start of Ethiopia’s fiscal year. This included $169.9 million to pay Djibouti for clearance services and $171.1 million to charter vessels to supplement the nine ships ESLSE operates, in part to ship to the Indian subcontinent and the Far East.

• ELSE delayed some payments because some of its customers paid it through the state-owned the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which controls over half the banking sector.

• The state bank doesn’t process foreign exchange through Rotterdam in the Netherlands like other banks in Ethiopia do and as the central bank requires. The challenge is a “shortage” of hard currency, especially last year, and the bank diverts the currency to expenditures the government deems “more important,” he added.

Japan re-assessing its ‘self-defence’ capability

• When North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan prompting authorities to broadcast an alert on cellphones and television, many people wondered

• The government quickly judged that the missile was not targeting Japan, and it landed in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,370 miles east of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island.

• But officials in Japan who may have considered intercepting the missile faced two immediate constraints the country’s missile defences are limited, and the Constitution limits military action only to instances of self-defence.

• In recent months, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has revived a long-simmering discussion over whether to acquire cruise missiles which can be fired from land, air or sea that would allow it to strike a launch site in North Korea if it detected signs of an imminent attack.

• To best protect itself from a missile attack, some experts say, Japan should buy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, which intercepts enemy rockets at higher altitudes than its current land-based systems.

• The U.S. recently completed deploying THAAD in South Korea over vociferous protests from China, which has retaliated against the South by punishing it economically. That response has given some in Japan pause.

• Instead, Japan has said it plans to equip and deploy more destroyers with the Aegis missile defence system. The Defence Ministry has also indicated it wants to acquire a land-based system, known as Aegis Ashore, which can intercept missiles above the atmosphere and above THAAD’s range.

::ECONOMY::

Google‘s payment app ‘TEZ’

• Tech giant Google will unveil its payment app ‘TEZ’ as it seeks to cash in on the growing digital payment segment in the country.

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will unveil the app on September 18 in Delhi, according to an official communication sent by the Finance Ministry. In July, the National Payments Corporation of India had said Google had completed the testing of its UPI payment service and was awaiting the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to begin service here.

• Google has also sent out invites for the event to “share details on the launch of a new product developed grounds up for India.”

• Tech majors like WhatsApp and Facebook are also engaged in dialogue with the NPCI, a body set up to promote UPI-enabled payment, on their platforms. UPI allows money transfers from one bank to another using a virtual address.

SAIL to work on Tasra coking coal project work with Lanco

• It includes a 300 MW power plant and costs Rs. 4,000 crore, a more than 10-fold increase from projections made in 2003

• The public sector behemoth Steel Authority of India Ltd. is planning to commence work on the Tasra coking coal project with LancoInfratech Ltd. against whom a corporate insolvency resolution process has been initiated.

• Work is scheduled to begin formally soon and a ceremonial unveiling is scheduled for September 17 — the day of Vishwakarma Puja when all factories here observe a ‘tool-down’ day to commemorate Vishwakarma, the celestial engineer in Hindu mythology.

• Tasra is about 25 km from Dhanbad in Jharkhand, and SAIL is pinning its hopes on this project in the Jharia coalfields to part-secure its coking coal requirement.

• The project will be developed by LancoInfratech, a mine development operator (MDO) with whom SAIL had signed an agreement in September 2013 for developing the project at a cost of Rs. 400 crore within two years.

• Subsequent changes in land acquisition laws thwarted the project’s progress even as it led to a 10-fold increase in cost to the current Rs. 4,000 crore. The project now includes a 300 MW power plant.

• Complexities arose after the National Company Law Tribunal initiated Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against LITL based on an application filed by IDBI Bank Ltd., the financial creditor of the company IDBI Bank, LITL’s lead bank has sent to SAIL a comfort letter, urging it not to stop the project. It attributed the EPC (engineering procurement and construction) company’s financial troubles to non-payment of receivables and slowdown in the infrastructure sector, assuring that funds would not be a problem.

• The first year’s fund requirement for the project has been pegged at Rs. 561 crore. The Tasra opencast mine is capable of yielding 3 lakh tonnes of prime coking coal in the development stage, in the first year of production (the project is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2017-18) and 40 lakh tonnes of coal by the fifth year, from which 20 lakh tonnes of coking coal could be produced after washing.

• SAIL needs about 15.5 million tonnes of clean coking coal annually . More than 80% of its requirement is imported. The requirement will increase to about 20 MTPA once SAIL gets into the 23 million tonnes per annum production post-expansion in 2020. The raw coal output of SAIL’s three captive mines was estimated at 7.6 lakh tonnes in 2016-17. It is in this context that the Tasra project assumes importance for SAIL.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Install Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) modules on Scorpene submarines

• DRDO’s development of the indigenous system has been delayed

• Even as the Navy gets ready to induct its first conventional submarine in almost two decades, sources have confirmed that a decision has been reached on an expensive and time consuming process to install Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) modules on the six new Scorpene submarines to be inducted over the next few years.

• All six Scorpenes will get an Indian AIP. It will be installed by the Original Equipment Manufacturer, Naval Group.

• An AIP module is under development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It was supposed to have been installed on the last two submarines before they rolled out of the production line.

• However, the module did not materialise due to delays in development.

• Naval Group, formerly the DCNS — a defence company based in France — proposed this option after attempts to install the domestic system on the last two submarines failed.

• AIP modules give stealth and extended endurance to diesel-electric submarines by allowing them to stay submerged longer.

• However, it would be a costly process as the hull of the submarine has to be opened up to integrate the AIP module and then sealed before being put through the entire range of tests and trials to validate its performance.

• The first Scorpene submarine Kulvari has completed all trials and is ready for induction either by this month-end or early next month. It would go for a normal refit after six years, in 2023.

• The DRDO has assured that the system will be fully ready by then for integration, the source added.

• The second submarine Khanderi has begun trials, and is likely to be inducted early next year.

Insight to improve success rate of IVF

• The insight can be used for improving the success rate of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and in developing contraceptives

• Researchers at the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) in Mumbai have finally shed light on one of the most important steps in pregnancy the ability of the embryo to implant itself in the womb.

• Although much is known about the early steps of establishment of pregnancy, very little is known about the communication between the implanting embryo and mother’s womb.

• The researchers have found a cross-talk between the embryo and the inner lining of the uterus (endometrium) and discovered a chain of chemical events that facilitate the implantation of the embryo in the womb.

• The understanding of this initial step has several potential implications such as improving the success rate of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which hovers around 30% and developing contraceptives which work by preventing the implantation of the embryo.

• In all probability, the insight into the implanting mechanism might help in better understanding of conditions such as pre-eclampsia (gestational hypertension). The results of the study were published in the journal Endocrinology.

• Even in normal situations, there is about 40% wastage of embryos as they fail to implant, leading to unsuccessful pregnancy. That is because a delicate and intricate balance exists between the embryo which is able to implant itself and the endometrium that receives it. At present very little of this process is understood.

• Using cell lines of trophoblast (the outer layer of the dividing bunch of cells of blastocyst) and endometrium (the inner lining of the uterus) samples from women who have undergone hysterectomy the researchers recreated the system in a lab dish.

• Chemicals were used to make the endometrium thicker (decidua) to mimic the lining of the uterus which is ready to allow the embryo to implant itself.

• A particular protein (HOXA10) which is responsible for better invasion and implantation of the embryo in the endometrium is present at elevated levels in a receptive endometrium.

• The sudden drop in the HOXA10 protein causes a chain of events starting with a spike in certain class of cytokine leading to a trigger in the implantation pathway (STAT3) of the embryo.

• As a result, certain enzymes in the embryo digest the extracellular matrix of the decidua (thickened lining of the uterus) and make it loose enough for the outer layer of the embryo (trophoblast) to invade and implant itself in the uterus.

• Previously it was thought that higher HOXA10 expression was better for implantation. But our study, for the first time, showed that at the site of implantation the HOXA10 expression is lower.

• It took the team eight years to complete the study. The biggest challenge was to test and prove the sequence of events observed in the lab happen in the womb.

• In baboons, lower levels of HOXA10 protein were found at the site of implantation as compared with other sites of the decidua.

LNG to be a game changer

• Proposals have been drawn up to generate more than 4,000 MW in the State using LNG

• Pragmatic and optimum use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has been mooted as a panacea for the grave energy crunch gripping the State.

• About 35% of the State’s power needs are met by thermal plants and 80% of the plants are powered by liquid fuel.

• This heavy reliance on liquid fuel makes the generation cost one of the highest in the country.

• The cost as well as pollution could be reined in by switching over to natural gas,.

• Proposals have been drawn up to generate more than 4,000 MW using liquefied natural gas.

• The following are the key projects that are expected to give a major fillip to the power generation plans of the State:The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is planning to set up a 1,050-MW gas-based plant at Kayamkulam.

• Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) has already secured the nod to lay the sub-sea pipelines for the project and also connect the existing naphtha plant to gas and to further enhance the plant’s capacity by 350 MW so that its total capacity would be 1,800 MW.

• The government is gearing up to set up a 1,100-1,200-MW gas-based power plant at Cheemeni in Kasaragod with the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) as the nodal agency.

• A special purpose vehicle has been formed and land has been allocated for the project. The government has requested the Centre for allocation of gas so that it could get gas at affordable rates.

• Petronet LNG is planning to set up a 1,200-MW plant, integrated with the LNG terminal, for harnessing the available energy to improve the performance of the generation process. The government has accorded in-principle sanction for allocating 125 acres of land for the project.

• KSEB Ltd. has prepared plans to set up a 1,000 MW gas-based plant to replace the diesel plant.

• Once the availability and accessibility to gas increases, the market for gas-based appliances would also witness a boom. For instance, Gujarat Gas, which operates in India’s most advanced gas markets, has already developed appliances catering to specific industries. The same could be replicated in Kerala.

• It can be used directly in geysers, air conditioners and refrigerators. Natural-gas-based appliances consume 30 to 50% lesser energy than those driven by electricity and are maintenance-free since they have no compressors and moving parts.

• Gas could be used for decentralised power generation and companies can use it for their captive generation units. Combined heating, cooling and power (CHCP) systems, where the heat produced during power generation is used for heating and cooling requirements, could be installed in industrial facilities and commercial establishments for power generation.

• Gas-run generators are more economical than those driven by diesel and also as back-up devices such as inverters. They offer an economical and convenient back-up power solution to commercial establishments. Gas-based fuel cells have the potential to deliver clean, dependable power, wherever it is needed, he says.

• There is not one sector that would not gain from the use of gas. All major areas that offer substantial inputs for the growth and development of the economy such as transportation, fertilizer production, bakeries, steel foundries, hotels, food chains, dehumidifiers, tea processing, cold chains, construction, manufacturing of testing and safety equipment and a legion of others stand to benefit from the application of gas-based technology, he says.

• But the State would also have to promote the high-end versions to reap the optimum advantage of a gas-based economy, he says.

::ENVIRONMENT::

Bird malaria in Himalayan foothills

• Bird or avian malaria caused by parasites Plasmodium and Haemoproteus is one of the most common and widespread diseases in birds.

• Mosquitoes transmit Plasmodium, while biting midges (Culicoides sp.) are responsible for Haemoproteus transmission in birds.

• Previous studies from the temperate regions have shown that temperature plays an important role in the transmission of the parasites and also regulates the presence of these blood-feeding insect vectors.
  But a new study by scientists from Indian Institute of Science, (IISc) Bengaluru, and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, showed that seasonal variation had no influence on prevalence of avian malarial parasites in India. The results were recently published in Ecology and Evolution.

• Though human malaria follows a seasonal pattern in the Himalayan foothills with peak transmission from July to October, the avian malaria parasites showed no peak and were found to stay in blood throughout the year

• The team conducted year-round (December 2008 to December 2009) sampling inside WII campus using mist-nets. They collected a small quantity of blood from the resident Himalayan birds before releasing them.

• A systematic record on avian abundance was also maintained. They also sampled mosquitoes in the same habitat to understand the influence of seasons on mosquito species and their abundance with change in temperature.

• Among the 413 birds screened, 153 i.e. 38% showed infection with blood parasite. They examined the relationship between monthly temperature, mosquito abundance and parasite prevalence.

• Though the mosquito abundance increased with temperature, the Plasmodium infection decreased. This could probably be due to a temperature threshold above which the parasite cannot develop into an infective stage inside the mosquito.

• In U.K., we see a bimodal pattern where the infection peaks during spring and autumn, and subsides during winter. In spite of well-defined summer–winter conditions in Dehradun, the mosquito abundance did not vary much between seasons.

• Dehradun is a wintering ground for many high elevation Himalayan birds as well as small European perching birds.

• The team sampled migrants to understand parasite prevalence. Molecular analysis on the parasites revealed that most parasites found in resident birds were locally transmitted and not from the migrant birds.

On river-washed antique plains

• After entering Tamil Nadu through the Hogenakkal falls, the Cauvery passes through Sampalli, Pannawadi and Kolathur and flows down to Bhavani and Erode and Mayanur in Karur district before entering Tiruchi. It is in this district, of all the eight it runs through, that the river reaches its widest expanse between Musiri and Kulithalai — and becomes Aganda Cauvery, or the wide river.

• The Cauvery in spate is a vastly different beast from the Cauvery in drought. The landscape under the swirling waters emerges during drought years, when a massive Nandi idol rises majestically from the dry riverbed and a swathe of green overtakes the muddy waters as farmers plant crops on the new-found patches.

• During the Chola period, several centuries ago, the Cauvery was flowing just 2 km from Sampalli village on the southern side. By the time the British completed the Mettur dam, 15 km away, in the early 1930s, the village, along with the Jalakandeswara Temple complex and the Nandi idol, was submerged.

• By local history, the residents were shifted to upper Mettur, where they took their idols and erected new temples. Because of its size, the 21-foot-tall Nandi and its pedestal could not be shifted. Hence the idol and the temple complex remain under water only to reveal themselves every time the levels fall.

• Now the residents of Kolathur, Pannavadi and other villages raise a paddy crop when the water level is good and maize and other dry crops when the flow dips. And the people go fishing in coracles.

• Like any river that supports a population and is revered for its munificence, the Cauvery is a source of drinking water, irrigation, fish and rich alluvial soil that is a farmer’s dream.

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