{Article} Miscellaneous: End of the World "21st Dec, 2012" - LOL

• The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur around 21st Dec, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining to this date, though none has been accepted by mainstream scholarship.
• Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of human civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural phenomena, divine judgment, runaway climate change, resource depletion, ecological collapse, or some other general disaster. 
• Post-apocalyptic fiction is set in a world or civilization after such a disaster. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized). Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in an agrarian, non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of technology remain. There is a considerable degree of blurring between this form of science fiction and that which deals with dystopias.
• The genres gained in popularity after World War II, when the possibility of global annihilation by nuclear weapons entered the public consciousness. According to some theorists, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in its modern past has influenced Japanese popular culture to include many apocalyptic themes. Much of Japan's manga and anime is filled with apocalyptic imagery. Most notably, the 1954 film Gojira (romanized as Godzilla) depicted the title monster as an analogue for nuclear weapons, something Japan experienced first-hand.
• Tom Hanks' 2011 web series Electric City is another story based on a post-apocalyptic world, in which a group of matriarchs (the "Knitting Society") impose an altruistic but oppressive society to counter the aftermath of a brutal war that brings down modern civilisation. However, in time, even this new "utopian" order is ultimately called into question by the inhabitants of the new society.

{InfoGraphic} Economy: Indian TV Market

 

{InfoGraphic} SciTechMed: Burden of Global Diseases

{Article} SciTechMed: Vector Borne Disease and Mosquito Magnet

• In epidemiology, a vector is any agent (person, animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism.
• A vector-borne disease is one in which the pathogenic microorganism is transmitted from an infected individual to another individual by an arthropod or other agent, sometimes with other animals serving as intermediary hosts. The transmission depends upon the attributes and requirements of at least three different living organisms: [1.] the pathologic agent, either a virus, protozoa, bacteria, or helminth worm); [2.] the vector, which are commonly arthropods such as ticks or mosquitoes; [3.] the human host. In addition, intermediary hosts such as domesticated and/or wild animals often serve as a reservoir for the pathogen until susceptible human populations are exposed. Nearly half of the world's population is infected by vector-borne diseases, resulting in high morbidity and mortality, with the overwhelming impact in developing countries located in tropical and subtropical areas and relatively rare in temperate zones.
• Most commonly known biological vectors are arthropods but many domestic animals too are important vectors or asymptomatic carriers of parasites and pathogens that attack humans or other animals. Arthropods form a major group of disease vectors with mosquitoes, flies, sand flies, lice, fleas, ticks and mites transmitting a huge number of diseases. Many such vectors are haematophagous, which feed on blood at some or all stages of their lives. When the insects blood feed, the parasite enters the blood stream of the host. This can happen in different ways.
• The concept of disease vectors has some commonality with certain other concepts in medicine and veterinary science; it is worth comparing vectoring, zoonosis and carrier for perspective. Zoonosis sometimes arises from purely adventitious or non-systematic transport of the infectious agent. For example a housefly or a dog might accidentally, but routinely, carry the pathogens of typhoid or cholera in external dirt without being in any special way adapted to such a function. Technically such a process amounts to vectoring, and such vectors are important in practice, though they are logically similar to airborne disease and waterborne diseases.

{Article} SciTechMed: Space Debris and the celebration of NASA’s Mariner II

• On 14th December 1962, NASA’s Mariner II passed within 35,000km of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to successfully fly by another planet. 
• From this historic voyage, we learned that Venus rotates in a counter direction to most planets in our solar system, has a high-pressure carbon dioxide atmosphere and continuous cool cloud cover. 
• Whither Mariner II now? Endlessly circling the Sun, in a heliocentric orbit. Space debris: a serious problem for our immediate galaxy.
• Space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk, and space waste, is the collection of objects in orbit around Earth that were created by humans but no longer serve any useful purpose. These objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to erosion, explosion and collision fragments. As the orbits of these objects often overlap the trajectories of newer objects, debris is a potential collision risk to operational spacecraft. The vast majority of the estimated tens of millions of pieces of space debris are small particles, less than 1 centimetre (0.39 in). These include dust from solid rocket motors, surface degradation products such as paint flakes, and coolant released by RORSAT nuclear powered satellites. Impacts of these particles cause erosive damage, similar to sandblasting. This damage can be partly mitigated through the use of the "meteor bumper", which is widely used on spacecraft such as the International Space Station. However, not all parts of a spacecraft may be protected in this manner, e.g. solar panels and optical devices (such as telescopes, or star trackers), and these components are subject to constant wear by debris (and to a much lesser extent, micrometeoroids).

{Education} Article: North Korea successfully launched an Unha-3 rocket into space

• On Dec 12th Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea's tin-pot regime, caught his own people and the rest of the world off-guard by successfully launching an Unha-3 rocket into space and possibly putting a rudimentary satellite into orbit. Experts said the same technology it takes to put a 100kg satellite into orbit could be the first step towards firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with an equivalent payload at America, provided that North Korea could also master re-entry and accuracy.
• The timing, just before the first anniversary of the death of his rocket-loving father, Kim Jong Il, appeared to be aimed primarily at solidifying the young Mr Kim’s leadership, as well as bolstering his popularity among his oppressed subjects. 
• Beforehand, news of the proposed launch was censored in North Korea, possibly because of the embarrassment that ensued in April, when a previous Unha-3 rocket flopped in front of the world’s media.
• The U.S. described the launch as “a provocative action”, while Japan’s Foreign Minister said the government had officially protested the launch to the DPRK and had called for the UNSC to take a tough stand. Also, while Beijing had earlier expressed concern over the North’s actions, China “believes the Security Council’s response should be cautious and moderate, protect the overall peaceful and stable situation on the Korean peninsula, and avoid an escalation of the situation”.
• North Korea’s launch of a rocket has put India’s plans to send an officials and businessmen delegation to Pyongyang (assessed whether talk of economic reforms in the reclusive nation was for real) in March next year in the deep freeze. New Delhi would prefer to stay away from North Korea for the time being as the rocket launch violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874. There have been reports about North Korea undertaking agrarian reforms as well as wanting to attract investments. Some Indian officials witnessed the conditions in the North Korean country-side when they recently accompanied a U.N. team for the food aid programme. India contributed $1 million to the cause and was likely to allocate a similar amount around the time when the delegation was to visit North Korea.
• The Unha or Eunha is a North Korean expendable carrier rocket, which experts say utilises the same delivery system as the Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile. Its earlier attempt of launching Unha1,2,&3 was a big failure.

{Education} Article: India's rank in UHNWI, Quality of Living and City Infrasture

Ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) are individuals or families who have, by one definition, at least US$30 million in investable assets, or with a disposable income of more than US$20 million. The exact dividing lines depend on how a bank wishes to segment its market; for example, the term "very high net worth individuals" can refer to those with assets between $5 million and $50 million, with ultra high net worth individuals only those with above $50 million.

{Education} Article: Problem, Reason and Solution for Indian Fiscal Deficit

• The government has outlined the strong fundamentals of the economy and said it was committed to rein in fiscal deficit within the target of 5.3% of gross domestic product.
• The government is battling hard to avert a ratings downgrade from the rating agencies like Moody or S&P and has taken a series of measures to demonstrate its commitment to economic reforms. 
• Finance Minister had a meeting with the officials of Moody. The meeting comes a day after another ratings agency Fitch cautioned that a loosening in fiscal policy ahead of the 2014 elections could further weaken India's public finances and put pressure on ratings.
• It also warned that policy slippage or mounting evidence of a structural decline in the trend growth rate, such as protracted weak economic data, could cause the ratings to be downgraded.

{Education} InfoGraphic: IMF GDP forecast for BRIC & EURO

{Education} Article: North Korea rocket launch

• North Korea is apparently readying her second rocket launch of 2012, attempting to ping satellites in to orbit using ballistic missiles. 
• Island neighbour Japan is a trifle nervous about it and is readying Patriot missiles to islands close to the areas where the three rocket stages are expected to crash land.
• There’s a fair amount of such military posturing and space activity going on in that part of the world, which goes some way to explaining this, this and this.

{Education} Article: Japanese installation of 2nd Missile Defence Radar

• In the First InfoGraphic, we look at how the Japanese is installing its second missile defence radar, most likely to counter China’s growing military power.
• Then we analyse the new American tiltrotor aircraft, the MV-22 Osprey, which Tokyo has declared safe for deployment. 

{Education} Article: Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

• The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to construct and maintain an airborne observatory.
• The primary science objectives of SOFIA are to study the composition of planetary atmospheres and surfaces; to investigate the structure, evolution and composition of comets; to determine the physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium; and to explore the formation of stars and other stellar objects.
• SOFIA’s telescope is by far the largest ever to be placed in an aircraft. Here telescope is designed for infrared astronomy observations in the stratosphere at altitudes of about 41,000 feet (about 12 km). The optical system uses a Cassegrain reflector design with a parabolic primary mirror and a remotely configurable hyperbolic secondary.
• SOFIA's flight capability allows it to rise above almost all of the water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, which blocks some infrared wavelengths from reaching the ground. At the aircraft's cruising altitude, 85% of the full infrared range will be available. The aircraft can also travel to almost any point on the Earth's surface, allowing observation from the northern and southern hemispheres.

Note: I've not removed wiki's link so as to define the source. To make the article precise, only that points which I think are relevant to UPSC, IBPS etc. are included here. 

{Education} Article: Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index 2012

• India's image on tackling corruption has not improved with Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (wiki link included)  placing it at 94th rank out of 176 nations this year.
• Though India was ranked at 95th position last year, the international watchdog said it has started evaluating the positions through a different formula beginning this year and hence this cannot be compared to last year's ranking.
• However, the last year's rank of 95 would be 96 if it is calculated using the new methodology which implies there was a "slight improvement" in the index.
• This year, India has a score of 36 out of 100 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) which is a result of an average of 10 studies including World Bank's Country Performance and Institutional Assessment and Global Insight Country Risk Ratings.
• India was ranked 72 among 180 countries for the first time in 2007 and since then the country's rankings have been showing a decline. While India was placed at 87 in 2010, the position was 95 in 2011.
• This year, India is ranked below neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka (79) and China (80), while Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh fared much worse than India when it came to corruption in public sector undertakings.
• Denmark is placed at the top spot with a score of 90 while Finland and New Zealand follow very closely. Countries that occupy the bottom ranks in the index are Myanmar, Sudan Afghanistan, Somalia and North Korea.

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index

{Education} IRA: Japanese Prime Ministers since 2000

Last week, Yoshihiko Noda became the longest serving Japanese prime minister since Junichiro Koizumi stepped down in 2006 after five years in office.

Click on image to expand:

{Education} IRA: Terrorist attacks mapped around the world

Key Findings:

• Of total 158 countries the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) cover in their inaugural global terrorism index, only 31 have had no attacks in the ten years to 2011. 
• Yet although attacks are distributed widely around the world, the majority are concentrated in just a handful of countries.
• From 2002 to 2011, North America was the region least likely to suffer from terrorism
• While more terrorist attacks are being recorded, the number of fatalities has declined by 25% since 2007.
• Iraq ranks first based on a five-year weighted average of the number of incidents, deaths, injuries and estimated property damage. It has suffered from the most attacks, including 11 of the world's worst 20. Indeed, Iraqis comprised one third of deaths from terrorism between 2002 and 2011. But while the number of incidents there have climbed since 2007, deaths have actually declined. 
• Other terrorist hotspots include Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. 
• The worst attack over the period was in Nepal, where 518 people died and 216 were injured. If there is any small cause for comfort, it is that terrorist incidents have plateaued since their peak in 2008.
• For more detail on the 500 biggest incidents see IEP's map here.

{Education} IRA: South Stream Gazprom pipeline

The 50 per cent Russian-owned Gazprom has launched its 2,380km gas pipeline, which starts its journey under the Black Sea and will bypass the Ukraine in order to deliver more reliable gas services to Western Europe.

{Education} Analysis: An examination of 31 nations founded or reconstituted since 1990

• Not all new countries are really new. Some are born almost fully formed and others have to start from nothing. South Sudan is the most extreme example of that. 
• An examination of more than a dozen key indicators in the 31 nations founded or reconstituted since 1990 shows just how steep a climb South Sudan faces. 
• The above graphic shows the progress made by new countries using 6 key indicators (GDP per capita, life expectancy, under 5 mortality, press freedom, corruption perception, and debt as percentage of GDP).

{Education} Article: Global gold demand

• The World Gold Council said that global gold demand in 2013 should be led by strength in Chinese demand and a recovery in India.
• Chinese gold demand is likely to grow around 10% in 2013 from about 800 tonnes this year, as the world's second-largest economy is expected to pick up pace, helping the precious metal continue its bull run into its 13th year.
• Referring to a nearly 30% fall in Indian demand in the first half of this year (hurt by a slowing economy and record-high gold prices in local currency terms), it gave the positive projection for Indian gold sector and said that the demand should rebound after falling about 20-25 percent in 2012 to 750-800 tonnes.
• It also cited other drivers for his projections for higher demand in 2013, including robust Western investment demand due to lingering global financial problems and purchases by central banks.
• Global gold demand is likely to fall by around 5 to 7 percent in 2012 to around 4,100 tonnes, it added.
• "Looking at data we have on imports into India and also premiums in Mumbai, demand's been very strong so far in Q4 in India, I think actually stronger than in China," it said, adding that gold purchases before the Lunar New Year will help boost China's demand in the fourth quarter.
• Gold has been up around 10 percent so far this year at about $1,730 an ounce.

{Education} Article: UNAIDS report on World AIDS Day

• The latest report from UNAIDS (the United Nations agency set up in 1996 to combat HIV infection), which was published on November 20th in anticipation of World AIDS Day on December 1st, states that the rate of new HIV infections is falling in many parts of the world, but most notably in sub-Saharan Africa. 
• Though AIDS first came to prominence in America, it originated in Africa and has always been, primarily, an African disease. It still is. 
• About 70% of new infections are in the sub-Saharan part of the continent. But the number of such infections there has fallen from 2.6m in 1998 (the peak) to 1.8m in 2011. 
• Reasons for this include changes in people’s sexual behaviour, such as reduced promiscuity and more frequent use of condoms; the spread of antiretroviral drugs which, in addition to saving the lives of those infected, also stop them passing the virus on; reductions in mother-to-child transmission; and a new fashion for circumcision amongst Africa’s men. Having the snip has been shown to be a particularly effective way of cutting transmission rates.

{Education} Infographic: Laos approves Mekong River dam

• Laos – the long, skinny Asian country squashed between Vietnam to the right and Thailand to the left – has given the go-ahead for the construction of a massive dam on the Mekong River. 
• Laos plans to harness the power of the river to generate electricity, which in turn it can sell to its neighbours.
• The problem is that those same neighbours are already unhappy about the potential disruption the dam might cause to their fishing and rice production. 
• The Mekong snakes hundreds of miles all the way from China, through Laos, into Cambodia and out to the sea, with close to 60 million people reliant on the Mekong for their way of life. Not to mention the critically endangered giant catfish. That’s one freakin’ big catfish.