Mountain Railways of India

News:

• Coonoor railway station, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) line, is being completely transformed, with the renovation of the building being criticised by heritage train and history enthusiasts in the district.

About Mountain Railways of India:

• Three railways, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka–Shimla Railway are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Mountain Railways of India.
• Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (West Bengal):
• It was the first, and is still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway.
• Opened in 1881, its design applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty.
• Nilgiri Mountain Railway (Tamil Nadu):
• The construction of this 46-km long metre-gauge single-track railway in Tamil Nadu State was first proposed in 1854, but due to the difficulty of the mountainous location the work only started in 1891 and was completed in 1908.
• This railway, scaling an elevation of 326 m to 2,203 m, represented the latest technology of the time.
• Kalka Shimla Railway (Himachal Pradesh):
• 96-km long, single track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla is emblematic of the technical and material efforts to disenclave mountain populations through the railway.
• All three railways are still fully operational.
• These railways are outstanding examples of innovative transportation systems built through difficult terrain, which had great influence on the social and economic development of their respective regions.
• The entire length of all three railways including the stations is included within the heritage property boundaries.
• The structural integrity has been maintained and the general infrastructure of the lines is today very close to the characteristics of the lines as they originally were.

Surat takes top spot in air quality rankings; Jabalpur, Agra follow

Context:

• The Union Environment Ministry presented the “National Clean Air City” Awards during the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024

News:

• Surat, Jabalpur and Agra secured the top three positions among cities with population of over 10 lakh.
• Firozabad (UP), Amravati (Maharashtra) and Jhansi (UP) were recognized as the best among cities with population between three lakh and 10 lakh.
• Raebareli (UP), Nalgonda (Telangana) and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh) topped the list among the cities with populations under three lakh.

Swachh Vayu Survekshan:

• It is an initiative by the Environment Ministry to rank cities based on the implementation of activities approved under the city action plan and air quality in cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
• Above cities were awarded for significant improvements in air quality through various best practices to reduce air pollution.
• Key activities included:
• Paving roads
• Promoting mechanical sweeping
• Bioremediation of legacy waste
• Solid waste management
• Converting reclaimed land from dumpsites into green spaces
• Greenbelt development
• Intelligent traffic management systems and
• Miyawaki afforestation.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP):

• Launched in 2019 with a target to reduce particulate pollution by 20-30 per cent by 2024 using 2017 as the base year.
• The target was later revised to a 40 per cent reduction by 2026 using 2019-20 as the base year.
• The programme currently covers only 131 non-attainment cities, those which consistently failed to meet national ambient air quality standards between 2011 and 2015.

What is helium and why is it used in rockets?

News:

• Two NASA astronauts aboard Boeing’s Starliner will stay on the International Space Station for months because of a faulty propulsion system whose problems included helium leaks.
• Back on Earth, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission has been delayed because of helium issues on ground equipment.
• Past missions that have been affected by pesky helium leaks include ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 and ESA’s Ariane 5.

Rockets:

• Rockets need to achieve specific speeds and altitude to reach and maintain orbit. A heavier rocket requires more energy, not only increasing fuel consumption but also needing more powerful engines, which are more expensive to develop, test, and maintain.

Helium:

• Helium is inert – it does not react with other substances or combust – and its atomic number is 2, making it the second lightest element after hydrogen.
• Helium also has a very low boiling point (-268.9° C), allowing it to remain a gas even in super-cold environments, an important feature because many rocket fuels are stored in that temperature range.
• The gas is non-toxic, but cannot be breathed on its own, because it displaces the oxygen humans need for respiration.

Usage:

• Helium is used to pressurize fuel tanks, ensuring fuel flows to the rocket’s engines without interruption; and for cooling systems.
• As fuel and oxidiser are burned in the rocket’s engines, helium fills the resulting empty space in the tanks, maintaining the overall pressure inside.
• Because it is non-reactive, it can safely mingle with the tanks’ residual contents.

Leaks:

• Helium’s small atomic size and low molecular weight mean its atoms can escape through small gaps or seals in storage tanks and fuel systems.
• But because there is very little helium in the Earth’s atmosphere, leaks can be easily detected – making the gas important for spotting potential faults in a rocket or spacecraft’s fuel systems.
• In May, hours before Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft made an initial attempt to launch its first astronaut crew; tiny sensors inside the spacecraft detected a small helium leak on one of Starliner’s thrusters that NASA spent several days analysing before deeming it low-risk.
• Additional leaks were detected in space after Starliner launched in June, contributing to NASA’s decision to bring Starliner back to Earth without its crew.
• The frequency of helium leaks across space-related systems, some engineers say, have highlighted an industry-wide need for innovation in valve design and more precise valve-tightening mechanisms.

Alternatives:

• Some rocket launches have experimented with gases such as argon and nitrogen, which are also inert and can sometimes be cheaper. Helium, however, is much more prevalent in the industry.
• Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket ditched the helium of its predecessor Ariane 5 for a novel pressurization system that converts a small portion of its primary liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants to gas, which then pressurizes those fluids for the rocket engine.
• That system failed in space during the final phase of Ariane 6’s otherwise successful debut launch in July, adding to the global rocket industry’s long list of pressurization challenges.

Kolleru Lake

Context:

• Flood waters rising in Kolleru Lake threaten island villages

About Kolleru Lake:

• A natural eutrophic lake, situated between the two major river basins of the Godavari and the Krishna, fed by two seasonal rivers and a number of drains and channels, which functions as a natural flood balancing reservoir between the deltas of the two rivers.
• It provides habitat for a number of resident and migratory birds, including declining numbers of the vulnerable Grey Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis), and sustains both culture and capture fisheries, agriculture and related occupations of the people in the area.
• Damage and losses due to flooding in monsoon seasons and partial drying out during summers, the results of inadequate management planning and action, are seen as areas for improvement.
• Administrative region: Andhra Pradesh
• National legal designation: wildlife sanctuary
• It is one of the Ramsar sites.
• It is designated as a wetland of international importance under the International Ramsar Convention.
• It is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India
• This lake is a major tourist attraction, since many birds migrate here in winter, such as Spot billed Pelican, Siberian Crane, Ibis, and Painted Storks.
• Imbalance created by the illegal appearance of aquaculture in and around the lake, has affected the natural functioning of the hydrological system of the lake and resulted in flooding of the foreshore areas of the lake.
• Approximately 70% of the lake was occupied by aquaculture, while agriculture has encroached around 10%.
• The undisturbed lake is infested with weeds like elephant grass and water hyacinth

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Context:

• EAM Jaishankar in Saudi Arabia for India-GCC foreign ministers’ meeting

About GCC:

• It is an influential grouping comprising the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
• It is headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• Objectives:
• To effect coordination, integration and inter-connection between Member States in all fields in order to achieve unity between them.
• To deepen and strengthen relations, links and areas of cooperation now prevailing between their peoples in various fields.
• Supreme Council: It is the highest authority of the Cooperation Council and formed of heads of member states.
• Its presidency is ‘rotatory’ based on the alphabetical order of the names of the member states.
• It holds one regular session every year.
• It holds its sessions in the territories of member states.
• A Supreme Council’s meeting is considered valid if attend by two-thirds of the member states.
• Each member of the Supreme Council has one vote.
• Ministerial Council: It is formed of the Foreign Ministers of the member states or other delegated ministers.
• The Charter of GCC was signed in 1981.

India and GCC:

• India and the GCC enjoy a deep and multifaceted relationship, including in areas of trade and investment, energy, cultural and people-to-people ties.
• The GCC region has emerged as a major trading partner for India and is home to a large Indian expatriate community, numbering around 8.9 million.
• The total volume of India’s trade with GCC countries stood at $184.46 billion in the financial year 2022-23.
• The Foreign Ministers meeting will be an opportunity to review and deepen institutional cooperation between India and the GCC across various sectors.