Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 28 September 2013

Evidence that water once existed on Martian soil found

• In the first series of the Curiosity rover’s analysis of fine Martian soil samples, scientists have found that two per cent of it is water by weight.
• They have also found other evidence that hint at liquid water having once existed on the planet.
• Soil samples were picked up from a patch of sand, silt and dust called Rocknest. They were heated to 835 degrees Celsius and studied by instruments onboard the rover.
• “Analysis by the rover’s instruments found that, locked up in every cubic foot of Martian dirt, there were almost two pints of water.
• “That’s a real resource for future explorers. We can access it with just a little bit of heating,” she quipped.
• Because of similarities between the compounds in the soil and the atmosphere, the ‘dirt’ collected by the rover seems to have acted as a sponge for the atmosphere, which is where the volatile materials could be derived from.
• Thus, these minerals are constantly blown around by winds, and they mix with dust from other parts of the planet.
• This finding is supported by other papers in the report, which found most minerals to be of basaltic origins.

Pakistan working out modalities of MFN status

• Apart from the tensions along the Line of Control (LoC), lack of much-needed groundwork is holding up Pakistan granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India
• Islamabad maintains that the status — agreed to in principle — will be a top priority, but only after the composite dialogue resumes and border tensions are resolved.
• While the federal Cabinet approved the status, the Ministry of Commerce was directed to bring a summary on how complete normalisation of trade could be achieved and how India could create a level-playing field, according to sources who were part of this discussion.
• However, the Ministry of Commerce did not get back to the Cabinet. It should have ideally created a road map by February.
• The whole ambit of trade relationships would have to be clarified. Since January, Indian and Pakistani soldiers have been killed on the LoC creating tension and stalling dialogue.
• The Federal Cabinet, in its meeting held on November 2, 2011, endorsed the efforts of the Ministry of Commerce for full normalisation of trade relations.
• On February 29, 2012, the Cabinet accorded approval of a Negative list of 1209 items for imports from India replacing the Positive list.
• The Cabinet also approved phasing out of the Negative list with the timeline of December 31, 2012 in principle, subject to further progress on creating a level playing field for Pakistan’s exports to Indian markets.
• The Ministry could not meet the timeline of December 31, 2012 as it was consulting other Ministries and private sector stakeholders. Elimination of the Negative List after the approval of the Cabinet will imply grant of the status.
• Once India is granted the MFN status, trade costs will be reduced due to availability of raw materials; machinery will be available at cheaper rates and freight charges will be lowered. This will help give a positive edge to the overall competiveness in Pakistan.
• Consumers can buy goods at competitive rates, and Pakistan will gain access to a large Indian market.
• Also linkages with Indian market will improve access to better entrepreneurial, marketing, production and distribution practices, the reply added.
• The Commerce Ministry also said trade relations were normal and trade in edible items was continuing and the imported items from India were tested and checked at the ports as per the Import Policy Order to ensure disease-free status.

Despite the hiatus, global warming is unequivocal

• The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded on Friday that it is now more certain than ever before that human-caused climate change is real, and greenhouse gas emissions are causing changes to the planet that could possibly trigger dangerous consequences by the turn of the century.
• These conclusions came as part of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) on the physical science of climate change — a report prepared by scientists on the panel and finally negotiated by governments to sum up the latest scientific research on the issue and meant to guide climate negotiations.
• The report was formally adopted in Stockholm on Friday. The last such report was brought out in 2007.
• The panel concluded that the “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased.”
• The panel concluded: “Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850.”
• The report also concluded that the greatest alteration to climate is caused by the cumulative carbon dioxide emissions, as compared to other short-lived, climate-forcing gases.
• In the relative short-run, global mean surface temperatures are likely to increase in the range of 0.3-0.7 degree Celsius over the 1986-2005 average.
• Over the long run, between 2081 and 2100, the temperatures are likely to rise anywhere between 0.3-4.8 degree Celsius depending upon how much more emissions are released.
• The report indicated that unless strong emission reduction measures are taken in coming years the likelihood of temperature increase as compared to industrial-age levels remaining below 2 degree Celsius are less than likely.
• The 2 degree Celsius increase is taken as a tipping point beyond which scientists believe dangerous levels of climate change would be unleashed.
• The report said that limiting the warming to less than 2 degree Celsius with a 66% confidence level requires that cumulative carbon dioxide emissions are restricted to 840 giga tonnes of carbon (GtC). The cumulative carbon dioxide emissions had touched 545 GtC by 2011.

Sources: Various News Papers & PIB