Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Climate ‘time bomb’ for groundwater is ticking

News

• Future generations face an environmental “time bomb” as the world’s groundwater systems take decades to respond to the present day impact of climate change, scientists warned.

Findings

• Groundwater is the largest useable source of freshwater on the planet and more than two billion people rely on it to drink or irrigate crops.
• It is slowly replenished through rainfall a process known as recharge and discharges into lakes, rivers or oceans to maintain an overall balance between water in and water out.
• Groundwater reserves are already under pressure as the global population explodes and crop production rises in lockstep.
• But the extreme weather events such as drought and record rainfall both made worse by our heating planet could have another long-lasting impact on how quickly reserves replenish.
• An international team of researchers used computer modelling of groundwater datasets to put a timescale on how reserves may respond to the changing climate.
• Found that only half of all groundwater supplies are likely to fully replenish or re-balance within the next 100 years — potentially leading to shortages in drier areas.
• This could be described as an environmental time bomb because any climate change impacts on recharge occurring now, will only fully impact the baseflow to rivers and wetlands a long time later.
• The process through which rainwater is filtered through bedrock and accumulated underground can take centuries and varies greatly by region.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Indian citizenship won’t be given without state govt’s consent after passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: MHA

News

• Indian citizenship would not be granted to any foreigner without the consent of state governments concerned after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the Home Ministry said.

Beyond News

• Every application for Indian citizenship will be enquired into by the deputy commissioner or district magistrate concerned, who will carry out due diligence and submit it to the state government concerned.
• The state government also has to conduct an enquiry through its agencies. Only then, an individual will be granted Indian nationality. Without the state government’s recommendations, no one will be given Indian citizenship.
• The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019, being strongly opposed by a large section of people and organisations in the Northeast, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after they have stayed in India for seven years, instead of 12 years at present. This is applicable to those who came to India before December 31, 2014.
• The six religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were earlier given a special dispensation for grant of long term visas.
• People belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhism, Jain, Parsi and Christian religions from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan will have to prove they belonged to any of the three countries and were persecuted on religious lines among other things for Indian citizenship.
• Home Ministry sources said the ministry is considering a proposal to provide incentives to those people who want to settle anywhere in India, except the Northeast.

Andhra Pradesh Cabinet clears 5% quota each for Kapus, economically backward people

News

• In a move that will have far-reaching political implications, the Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet decided to give 5% quota for Kapus and another 5% to the economically backward classes among the forward castes.

Beyond News

• The Cabinet also resolved to pay out ₹250 crore as advance towards compensation to the victims of the AgriGold scam and to file a memo to that effect in the High Court, under whose direction the properties of the defunct company are being auctioned.
• The State Cabinet is likely to roll out Rythu Raksha scheme, on the lines of Rythu Bandhu being implemented in Telangana, for providing input assistance to farmers at the rate of ₹10,000 per acre. It was discussing the modalities till late in the night.
• It also contemplated providing cellphones to all DWCRA group members and credit ₹10,000 into the bank account of each member of the thrift groups, but has not given its final nod yet. This scheme is expected to benefit 94 lakh DWCRA members in the State.
• Cabinet resolved to abolish life tax paid on autorickshaws and tractors. With this, tax need not be paid except at the time of purchase of the vehicles. This will benefit 9.79 lakh owners (farmers and self-employed youth) of autorickshaws and tractors.
• The Cabinet also decided to sanction ₹60,000 per unit to 1,26,097 houses grounded without prior sanction from June 2014. It entails an expenditure of ₹756 crore.

 ‘Bihar outgrew others in FY18 GDP’

 

News

• Bihar and Andhra Pradesh led the pack among States in terms of GDP growth in financial year 2017-18, clocking 11.3% and 11.2% growth, respectively, compared with the national GDP growth of 6.7% for the year.

Findings

• According to the report, 12 of the 17 general category States grew faster than the national growth rate.
• However, this growth was not equitable, with the gap between the per capita incomes in low-income and high-income States widening over the last five years.
• In fiscal 2018, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat were top-rankers in terms of GSDP growth among the 17 non-special States considered in our analysis, the report said. Jharkhand, Kerala, and Punjab were at the bottom.
• The analysis found that between the financial years 2012-13 and 2016-17, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka were the fastest growing states, on average.
• While all three managed to maintain their GSDP growth higher than the all-India GDP growth in 2018, only Gujarat remained in the top three. Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka both saw their rankings slip to 9 and 4, respectively.
• On the fiscal front, the report noted that most veered off the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) line of maintaining their fiscal deficits at 3% of their respective state GDPs.
• Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh topped the tally in proportion of capex in state spending in the past three years. But most states are not spending as they ought to, in areas such as health, irrigation, and education.
• The combined fiscal deficit of States crossed the 3% of GSDP threshold, in both fiscals 2016 and 2017. This improved in fiscal 2018 to 3.1%, but this was still higher than the FRBM limit, and also the 2.7% of GSDP budgeted for the year, the report noted.
• A larger impact is expected on fiscal and revenue deficit to gross state domestic product ratios for Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Rajasthan, among non-special category States, in FY20.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

19 amphibian species are critically endangered: ZSI list

News

• An updated list of Indian amphibians was released on the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) website last week, with 19 species being treated as critically endangered and 33 species as endangered.

Beyond News

• Since 2009, the scientists of the ZSI in collaboration with other institutes have been updating the Indian amphibian checklist periodically. In 2009, the total number of species listed was 284. In 2010 it was 311, in 2011 it was 314, in 2012 and 2013 it was 342, in 2015 it was 384 and in 2017 it was 405 species.”
• The list also notes if the species are in danger, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• The current list bears the names of 432 amphibian species from India, the year of discovery and their IUCN ‘red list’ conservation status.
• Among the amphibians listed, 19 species are treated as critically endangered and 33 species as endangered, the list describes 19% of amphibians as data deficient species and 39% as not assessed by the IUCN.
• It is high time that we assess the IUCN status for the Indian ‘not assessed’ amphibians (169 species) based on species-specific field exploration.

Indigenous flora in Chennai wetlands under threat

News

• Nearly half of the native plant species in the city’s wetlands have been wiped out in recent years, indicative of the degradation of wetlands, finds a study .

Findings

• Retteri or Madhavaram lake and Pallikaranai marshland are among the worst affected wetlands in the city. About 60% of the plant species have been overrun by invasive speciesin the past two years.
• The study observed the native plant species found in the wetlands  for two years.
• According to the study, the indigenous species are being replaced by invasive and destructive ones. The rapid depletion in indigenous aquatic plants would prove detrimental to the functions of the wetlands. The decline in indigenous flora would also have indirect implication on food and nutrition security.
• Identifying the invaders and using species-specific methods to remove them periodically could mitigate the depletion of native plant species from the wetlands. Reintroducing native species in vulnerable habitats could also help.

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