IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Rapid Greenland ice loss to amplify sea level rise

News

• A team of 96 polar scientists from 50 international organisations have produced a revealing picture of long-term Greenland ice loss.

Greenland lost ice

• The findings show that Greenland has lost 3.8 trillion metric tons of ice between 1992 and 2018, enough to raise global sea levels by more than a centimeter. This amounts to a seven-fold increase in ice loss in less than three decades from 33 billion tons per year in the 1990s to 254 billion tons per year in the last decade.
• Combining 26 surveys and data from 11 different satellite missions to quantify shifts in Greenland’s ice sheet smaller only than Antarctica’s and covering roughly 80% of the world’s largest island the study is the most comprehensive look at the ice sheet’s changing volume, flow and gravity across recent decades.
• Known as the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE), the work was led by Professor Andrew Shepherd at the University of Leeds and Dr Erik Ivins at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, with support by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.
• The faster than expected ice loss will make tens of millions more people vulnerable to sea level rise by the end of the century.
• In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that global sea levels will rise by 60 centimetres by 2100, putting 360 million people at risk of annual coastal flooding. But this latest research shows that Greenland’s increasing ice sheet loss is in line with the IPCC’s high-end climate warming scenario, which predicts another 7 centimeters of rise.
• The study further employed regional climate models to show that half of the ice losses were due to surface melting caused by rising air temperatures; the other half due to increased glacier flow triggered by rising ocean temperatures.
• Intense surface melting in 2011 caused ice losses to peak at 335 billion tonnes that year ten times the 1990s rate. But the average 238 billion tonne ice loss in the seven years since could rise by the end of 2019, an exceptional year for summer melting in Greenland that could set a new high.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Govt proposes 50% cut in IPS central deputation quota

News

• The Union government has written to all states proposing to decrease the quota of central deputation of IPS officers by 50 per cent.
• It has argued that most of the state governments do not spare their IPS officers for central deputation and more than 60 per cent posts remain vacant.

Decrease the quota

• The move if implemented could have far reaching consequences for the Indian Police Service (IPS) leading to serious stagnation in the ranks. It could, however, benefit officers from other uniformed services as such posts would go to them.
• It has sought comments from all state governments and union territories on the proposal by December 15.
• Under Article 312, of the constitution, which governs all India services, the IPS officers are currently allowed to have 1,075 posts reserved for them. This has been done to preserve the all India character of the IPS and to ensure they have diverse experience of serving in various central agencies apart from serving in various districts of their cadre states.
• The development also comes at a time when there has been pitched battle between Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) cadre officers and IPS over Cabinet-approved better pay for CAPF officers and deputation of the latter as senior officers in the paramilitary forces. Recently, officers of ITBP, BSF, CISF and CRPF obtained stay on central deputation of IPS officers in the force below the rank of Inspector General (IG) from the Delhi High Court.

Lok Sabha passes Bill to extend reservation for SCs, STs

News

• The Constitutional amendment Bill to extend the reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha for 10 years and to discontinue the provision for nominated seats for the Anglo-Indian community in legislative bodies was passed by Lok Sabha.

Constitutional amendment Bill

• The reservation for SCs, STs and Anglo-Indians given for the past 70 years in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies was due to end on January 25, 2020.
• The Bill was passed with 352 members voting in favour and none against it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was absent from the House during the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, was present in the House during the voting on this Bill.

US replaces Kuwait as India’s sixth biggest oil supplier

News

• The United States has surpassed Kuwait to become India’s sixth largest oil supplier as it supplied 70 per cent more crude to the world’s third largest energy consumer during April-September.

Largest oil supplier

• According to data furnished by the oil ministry to parliamentary committee, the US supplied 5.4 million tonnes of crude oil during the first six months of 2019-20.
• This compared to about 3.1 million tonnes of oil sourced from the US in the same period a year back.
• India began importing crude oil from the US in 2017 as it looked to diversify its import basket beyond the OPEC nations. It bought 1.9 million tonnes of crude oil from the US in 2017-18 and another 6.2 million tonnes in 2018-19, the data showed.
• Iraq continues to be India’s top crude oil supplier, meeting close to one-fourth of the country’s oil needs. Iraq sold 26 million tonnes of crude oil to India during April to September.
• India, which is 83 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs, bought 111.4 million tonnes of crude oil from overseas during April-September.
• Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India’s top oil source, but it was for the first time dethroned by Iraq in the 2017-18 fiscal year. Saudi Arabia, which has since then been relegated to the second spot, exported 20.7 million tonnes of crude oil in first six months.
• Nigeria grabbed the third spot vacated by Iran. The African nation supplied 9.9 million tonnes of crude oil in April-September. It was followed by the UAE with 8.9 million tonnes of supplies and Venezuela with 8 million tonnes of sales.
• The US supplies to India were higher than Kuwait’s 5.1 million tonnes and 4.1 million tonnes of Mexico.
  Iran was India’s second-biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia till 2010-11, but Western sanctions over its suspected nuclear programme relegated it in the subsequent years.

26 farmers committed suicide in 5 yrs: Gujarat govt

News

• Due to crop failure, a total of 26 farmers have committed suicide in Gujarat in the five years between October, 2013 and September, 2018.
• Of these, 50 percent of the deaths have occurred in the tribal district of Dangs, the state government informed the house recently.

Farmers committed suicide

• During this five-year period, the highest number of deaths were recorded between October 1, 2017 and September 9, 2018, as per data tabled by the government.
• Apart from Dangs which recorded 13 deaths during the five-year period, Jamnagar recorded four deaths, while three deaths were recorded in Amreli district.
• Two deaths were reported from Junagadh, while one each was recorded in the districts of Surat, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Surendrnagar and Bhavnagar.
• State government stated that it is providing crop loans at zero percent interest rate, enrolled farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, among others.

Lok Sabha passes Bill: ‘New era for ship recycling in India’

News

• The Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019, which was passed in the Lok Sabha, accedes to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009.
• Ship-breaking activities at Alang hit a 10-year low when only 219 ships arrived at the yard in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, to be broken and recycled.

Narmada, Sabarmati, Mahi and Tapi waters fed 41 rivers: Gujarat govt

News

• Gujarat has been successful in inter-linking several of its rivers, according to the state government.
• In the past five years, while the waters from river Narmada were diverted to 29 rivers across the state, the waters of Mahi, Sabarmati and Tapi rivers fed an additional 12 rivers in the state, the state government told the Gujarat Assembly.

Inter-linking of rivers

• Of the 185 rivers, 29 were fed with waters from the Narmada river in the past five years and that includes 10 rivers of Saurashtra region where water was diverted through the link canals of the SAUNI (Saurashtra-Narmada Avartaran Irrigation) Yojana.
• The rivers in Saurashtra that were fed with Narmada waters diverted through the SAUNI project were Macchu, Demi, Bangavadi, Aji, Und, Bhogvo, Vansal, Goma, Ankadiya and Hiren.
• The state government also stated that it spent Rs 175.11 crore between 2015-’16 and September 30, 2018 in transferring water through various link canals built under the SAUNI yojana.
• Apart from the massive transfer of water from Narmada to other rivers during this five year period, rivers of Mahisagar flowing through central Gujarat were diverted to 10 rivers.
• During this five-year period ending on August 30, 2018, the waters of Sabarmati river was diverted to Saraswati river, while the water from Tapi river in South Gujarat was diverted to Auranga river, the government said adding that the waters were diverted for “irrigation purposes”.

Parliament passes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

News

• After a day-long debate, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 125 members voting in favour of the motion and 105 against it.

Citizenship Amendment Bill: Curfew extended in Guwahati till indefinite period

News

• Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill intensified in the northeastern states with the administration imposing a curfew in Guwahatitill indefinite period.

Curfew extended

• The administration also suspended mobile internet services in Assam’s ten districts as a precautionary measure Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup.
• The Indian Army stated that the civil administration has requested its assistance in maintaining law and order situation in Assam and Tripura.
• 5,000 paramilitary personnel have been airlifted to Northeastern states, including Assam, for the maintenance of law and order in wake protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which is being debated in Parliament.
• Nearly 20 companies (2,000 personnel) have been withdrawn from Kashmir, where they had been sent prior to the Centre’s decision on August 5 to dilute Article 370.

‘One Nation, One Ration Card’: Govt plans PDS portability for 12 states by January

News

• In a step towards the launch of ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ by June next year, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is working to integrate 12 states on a single portability platform that will enable beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to purchase subsidised food grains from any fair price shop in these states.

Single portability platform

• The members also discussed the issue of reforms in the Targeted Public Distribution System.
• It is planned that inter-state portability through One Nation, One Ration Card system shall be launched in four other states of Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Jharkhand and these shall be integrated along with the eight existing states into the single portability platform Public Distribution System Network (PDSN) with effect from January next year.
• On-boarding/integration of the remaining states/UTs on the PDSN platform shall be done as and when the process of national de-duplication is completed for all beneficiaries and biometric/Aadhaar authentication distribution is enabled in all FPS of the states/UTs.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Companies can file draft papers for issues worth up to Rs 750 crore with Sebi’s regional offices

News

• Companies seeking to raise up to Rs 750 crore can now file their draft papers with regional offices of markets regulator Sebi.

Issues worth up to Rs 750 crore

• Till now, merchant bankers on behalf of the companies were allowed to file the papers for issues worth up to Rs 500 crore with regional office of Sebi concerned.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) further said that for all regions, the companies can file their draft offer documents in Sebi’s head office for the issues whose size are greater than Rs 750 crore.

 ISRO launches radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1

News

• The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the country’s radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1 and nine foreign satellites on board its workhorse rocket PSLV-C48 from the spaceport at Sriharikota.

RISAT-2BR1

• The 44.4-metre tall rocket lifted off from the launchpad Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. After a few minutes, the PSLV-C48 successfully injected primary satellite RISAT-2BR1 into the intended orbit.
• The 628 kg satellite is meant for applications in various fields like agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. It would also serve military purposes. Six satellites are from the United States and one each from Italy, Japan and Israel.
• The launch also marks a significant milestone for the space agency as it is the 50th flight of PSLV and the 75th vehicle mission from Sriharikota.

ADB trims India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.1% in FY20

News

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) trimmed its forecast for India’s economic growth in 2019-20 to 5.1 per cent saying consumption was affected by slow job growth and rural distress aggravated by poor harvest.

India’s economic growth

• • In September, ADB forecast India’s GDP to grow 6.5 per cent in 2019-20 and 7.2 per cent in the year thereafter.
  • India’s growth is now seen at a slower 5.1 per cent in fiscal year 2019-20 as the foundering of a major non-banking financial company in 2018 led to a rise in risk aversion in the financial sector and a credit crunch.

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