IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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 India had most deaths caused by pollution in 2017: new report

News

• In 2017, pollution was responsible for 15% of all deaths globally, and 275 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years. India saw the most pollution deaths about 2.3 million a new report has found.

Deaths caused by pollution

• The 2019 Pollution and Health Metrics: Global, Regional and Country Analysis report from the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) updates findings on Pollution and Health, and provides a ranking of pollution deaths on global, regional and country levels.
• The report uses the most recent Global Burden of Disease data from the Institute of Health Metrics Evaluation.
• The top 10 countries with the most pollution deaths include both the world’s largest and wealthiest nations, and some of its poorer ones.
• India is followed by China in the number of pollution deaths, with about 1.8 million. The United States makes the top 10 list with 1,97,000 pollution-related deaths, while ranking 132nd in the number of deaths per 100,000 people.
• The report includes three lists on pollution-induced deaths. India is the only country that features in the top 10 in all three lists (right).
• In the list of top 10 countries with the most pollution-related deaths in proportion to their population, there are many smaller countries where the impact of pollution in relation population size is more intense.
• Chad tops this list with 287 deaths for every 1,00,000 people, whereas India is at number 10 with 174 deaths for every 1,00,000 people.
• The list of top 10 countries with the most deaths related to air pollution, significantly, corresponds closely to the list of top 10 countries with the most pollution-related deaths. Air pollution both ambient and indoor is one of the largest and most obvious types of pollution affecting global health.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Indra concludes in Pune, Babina and Goa; ‘colleagues in sky’ highlight strong relations

News

AS the India-Russia joint tri-services exercise concluded with its Air Force leg in Pune, officers of the Russian Federation Air Force (RFAF) said they had not only become friends during the training sessions but colleagues in the sky with Indian pilots.

• Beyond News:
• The second edition of bilateral tri-services exercise Indra between the Armed Forces of the two nations concluded with the Army module in Babina in Uttar Pradesh, Air Force leg in Pune and the Navy exercise in Goa. The exercise included joint training in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations under the United Nations mandate.
• Several airborne and ground assets of the Indian Air Force were deployed during the exercise, including Sukhoi-30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage-2000, the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, IL-76 transporters, Airborne Early Warning and Control, Mi-17V5 choppers, indigenously developed Air Defence missile system Akash and Air Defence radars.
• Sukhoi in BrahMos test was from Pune base

Draft Bill proposes autonomy for National Statistical Commission, gives govt power to make final decision

News

• Stating the need for creation for an independent “apex advisory body for official statistics”, the government has placed a draft National Statistical Commission (NSC) Bill for public comments that seeks to establish NSC as the nodal and autonomous body for all core statistical activities.

National Statistical Commission Bill

• The draft Bill states that the decision of the central government, whether a question is of policy or not, shall be final, a proposal which experts say goes against the long pending demand to grant more powers to the NSC.
• The draft Bill also seeks to change the composition of the Commission by replacing NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer with the Finance Ministry’s Chief Economic Advisor as the ex-officio member along with giving member status to Chief Statistician of India from the current status of secretary to the NSC.
• As per the draft Bill, the NSC will have a Chairperson, five whole time members along with Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Chief Statistician of India (CSI) as other members and Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, as the ex-officio member.
• The Chairman and the members of the Commission shall be appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a search committee, as prescribed, no appointment of a Chairperson or any member of the Commission shall be “invalid merely by reason of absence of any member in the meetings of the search committee”.
• The draft Bill stated that the central government may, from time to time, issue directions to the Commission as it may think “necessary in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality”.
• The government shall seek advice from the Commission on any matter relating to official statistics. Central government or a state government may issue directions as necessary to any government agency under its administrative control along with a report on reasons for not accepting any advice to the commission.
• A report on reasons for not accepting any advice of the commission shall be laid before Parliament or a state legislature for a total period of thirty days.
• NSC shall have power to review the statistical system of any government agency in the light of concepts, definitions, standards, methodologies and established policies, and recommend measures for enhanced performance; to prescribe a code of practice.
• Commission shall participate in, and in consultation with the central government coordinate with, national statistical organisations on matters of statistical standards, methodologies and classifications.
• All nodal officers designated in central ministries/departments /state government shall be professionally responsible to Chief Statistician of India on core statistics.

Punjab and Haryana HC stays new rules permitting saw mills at forests’ edge

News

• THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court has stayed a Punjab government decision that reduced prohibitive aerial distance for establishing a saw mill near a forest from 10 km to 100 metre.

Stays new rules

• The HC has directed the state to strictly adhere to the guidelines issued in this regard by the central ministry.
• The division bench in the order said the operation of Rule 6-A of Punjab Regulation of Wood Based Industries Rules, 2017 permitting establishment of wood- based industry within 100 metre aerial distance from notified government Block Forests and demarcated and undemarcated protected forests in the state is stayed.

NITI Aayog set to start drafting roadmap for population stabilisation

News

• Invoking the Prime Minister’s concern over the rising population, the NITI Aayog is set to start a process of drafting the roadmap for population stabilisation in the country.

First step

• Taking the first step, the Aayog is organising a national consultation on ‘Realising the vision of population stabilization: leaving no one behind’.
• India with a current population size of 1.37 billion is the second-most populous country in the world.
• India’s birth rates are falling but the population continues to grow due to the fact that more than 30 per cent of the population is young and in the reproductive age group.

2+2 dialogue: India, US conclude Industrial Security Annexe agreement

News

• India and the US have concluded the Industrial Security Annexe agreement, which will facilitate collaboration between defence industries by supporting the secure transfer of key information and technology.

2+2 dialogue

• At the second India-US 2+2 dialogue, the US talked tough on Pakistan and both sides asked Islamabad to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action on fighting terror.
• A joint statement said the ministers welcomed the signing of the Industrial Security Annexe (ISA) which will facilitate the exchange of classified military information between Indian and the US defense industries.
• Both sides also “expressed intent to meet in 2020 to discuss ISA implementation”.

Govt eyeing 15-year residency norm in J&K and Ladakh

News

• To Allay fears among locals in the newly created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, the Centre is considering a 15-year residency requirement for obtaining government jobs, seats for professional courses in public colleges and ownership of land, top government sources told.

15-year minimum residency norm

• While different states have different residency norms, the general view among various ministries on the two new UTs is to fix a 15-year minimum residency norm for an outsider to attain domicile status, sources said.
• There would be no such condition for industrial houses to buy land for setting up business ventures and construct quarters for their employees.
• Officials in different central ministries are also working on “four-five” categories of people from outside who would be exempt from this norm while availing other benefits, including admission in government higher education institutions.
• These categories could cover central officials and their children, and students from other states and UTs who may have cleared their Class 10 or Class 12 board exams in J&K or Ladakh.
• The government move is also aimed at bringing uniformity for Indian citizens across the country and preventing Opposition politicians from spreading false propaganda that there will be fewer jobs and land for locals after the special status of J&K was removed and the state was bifurcated into two UTs.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Investments via P-notes decline to Rs 69,670 crore at November-end

News

• Investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market dropped to Rs 69,670 crore at the end of November.

Participatory notes

• P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly after going through a due diligence process.
• The total value of investments via P-notes in the Indian markets (including equity, debt, and derivatives) declined by Rs 7,103 crore to Rs 69,670 crore by the end of November from Rs 76,773 crore at October-end.
• Of the total investments made till the end of November, Rs 52,749 crore was invested in equities, Rs 16,238 crore in debt and Rs 683 crore in derivatives segments.
• The investment of Rs 76,773 crore at the end of October was registered after a continuous decline since June, the data with markets regulator Sebi showed.
• In July, Sebi’s board approved a proposal to rationalise the framework for issuance of P-notes.
• The use of P-notes has been on a decline since 2017 and slumped to a nine-and-a-half year low of Rs 66,587 crore at the end of October last year.
• In July 2017, Sebi notified stricter P-notes norms stipulating a fee of USD 1,000 that will be levied on each instrument to check any misuse for channelising black money.
• It had also prohibited FPIs from issuing such notes where the underlying asset is a derivative, except those which are used for hedging purposes.

Chandigarh: Work to clear pile of trash at Dadumajra dumping ground to begin from today

News

• Finally, the work of clearing the huge pile of trash at Chandigarh’s sole dumping ground will begin at a cost of Rs 34 crore.

Clearing the huge pile of trash

• • The huge pile of trash has been a pain for decades at the dumping ground which is situated at Dadumajra. Residents will be able to get rid of 5 lakh metric tonnes of garbage that has accumulated at Dadumajra.
  • This project is called the ‘mining of legacy waste’ which means clearing the mountain of trash using legacy mining facility. This will be done at a cost of Rs 34 crore against the estimated Rs 40 crore.
  • The waste dump will be cleared in a “scientific and hygienic manner”.
  • Chandigarh generates around 450 metric tonnes of waste daily.
  • The dumping ground is spread across 10 acres.
  • There will be different sizes of trommels which will segregate different types of waste. From that, the C and D waste will go to the civic body’s C and D plant, plastic and others will be converted into RDF, biodegradable waste will be converted into compost. The area will be 100 per cent cleared of the waste.

267 million Facebook users’ data leaked with IDs and phone numbers: Report

News

• Data of more than 267 million Facebook users containing their IDs, phones numbers, and names have been allegedly exposed online, as per a report from Comparitech and security researcher Bob Diachenko.

Data leaked

• Diachenko says that the database is most likely the result of “an illegal scraping operation or Facebook API abuse by criminals in Vietnam.”
• As per the report, the database was exposed for nearly two weeks. It was first indexed on December 4 and posted as a download on a hacker forum on December 12.
• The analyst discovered the database two days after and sent an abuse report to the ISP managing the IP address of the server after which it was removed on December 19.
• Most of the affected users from 267,140,436 records were from the United States.
• App developers use Facebook’s API to add social context to their applications by accessing users’ profiles, friends list, groups, photos, and event data. Prior to 2018, phone numbers were available to third-party developers.
• This is not the first time such a database has been exposed but it is much larger in scope. Facebook’s most famous data breach incident is related to Cambridge Analytica and how it harvested the Facebook user data by using an app that appeared to be an academic survey.

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