It is found by scientists that evaporating water can be used to generate power (Evaporation engine). How it can be done? Explain. (200 Words)

Recently Paris climate agreement (COP21) focusses on increasing use of renewable energy for power generation. In this aspect a new research by Colombia university scientists on evaporation engine may plays important role in future.

Sahin from Columbia University found new techniques of power generation from soil bacteria spores. These spores expand in moisture & contract in dry atmosphere. So by putting spores on long plastic tapes in humid conditions, sheet gets curved on absorbing moisture &opens up on other side to release moisture and cycle gets continued. Such open-close movement led to
push-pull force generation. So if connected with piston-rod arrangement, it produces electricity from generator by rotary motion.

This technique plays significant role as it’s capable of producing electricity from still water. So by placing long plastic sheets with
spores on reservoirs, reducing water vapour wastage it generates power. Also it’s found that such technique is much cheaper than other renewable sources like solar,wind energy.

But to bring technique from lab to actual reservoir,more research is to be done. For this initially more funding is necessary.So for implementation in future, Government as well as private sectors have to come forward for more research. Efficient implementation of such technique in futute helps India to achieve its sustainable development goal and also provide alternative option for costly solar power generation.

Q.- It is said that IT sector in India is vulnerable to some of US policies vis a vis this sector. Examine why. Also discuss what measures can India take in this regard. (200 Words)

Ans:-

The policies of a government will always depend on its domestic compulsions. Thus the US decision to increase the fee of H1B and L1 visa, which is being accused of giving American jobs to foreigners is hardly a surprise for India. Especially when the Republican party is feeling the heat of presidential election to be conducted in 2016.

Movement of labour freely is one of the essential principles of Globalization, the biggest proponent of which is US himself. As the fee hike is IT sector specific and India being the largest exporter of IT professionals to US, the move is definitely going to affect the Indian IT companies in US. So the following measures could be taken by the Indian govt to address the situation.

Measures-
Short term- Take US to WTO, and prove that Indian companies discriminatively targed.

Long term- Sign a “Model agreement on Visa” with US govt, on the similar lines of “model agreement on exemption from visa for diplomatic travel” the Indian govt is presently working on. This will ensure that the US govt is not only guided by domestic compulsion but also Indian concerns are taken into account. Such an agreement should be brought against a bargain to increase FDI in any of Indian sectors, which would give us additional leverage in discussions.

India fifth biggest generator of e-waste in 2014: U.N. report

India is the fifth biggest producer of e-waste in the world, discarding 1.7 million tonnes (Mt) of electronic and electrical equipment in 2014, a UN report has warned that the volume of global e-waste is likely to rise by 21 per cent in next three years.
The ‘Global E-Waste Monitor 2014’, compiled by U.N.’s think tank United Nations University (UNU), said at 32 per cent, the U.S. and China produced the most e-waste overall in 2014.
India is behind the U.S., China, Japan and Germany.
Most e-waste in the world in 2014 was generated in Asia at 16 Mt or 3.7 kg per inhabitant. The top three Asian nations with the highest e-waste generation in absolute quantities are China (6.0 Mt), Japan (2.2 Mt) and India (1.7 Mt).
The top per capita producers by far are the wealthy nations of northern and western Europe, the top five being Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the U.K.
The lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant was generated in Africa (1.7 kg/inhabitant). The continent generated 1.9 Mt of e-waste in total.
In 2014, people worldwide discarded all but a small fraction of an estimated 41.8 Mt of electrical and electronic equipment — mostly end-of-life kitchen, laundry and bathroom equipment like microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers.
While only 7 per cent of e-waste last year was made up of mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, printers, and small information technology equipment, almost 60 per cent was a mix of large and small equipment used in homes and businesses, such as vacuum cleaners, toasters, electric shavers, video cameras, washing machines, electric stoves, mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, and lamps. — PTI