IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

Rise in carbon emission may lead to more extreme rainfall events in Chennai

Source: PIB INDIA

News

• India has the second highest fatality average due to hazards of climate change. The situation is not going to get any better in the future also, especially for those living in coastal areas, including Chennai.
• A modelling study carried by the researchers points to such uncomfortable climate-change-related scenarios in the future.

Climate change

• The researchers say that high carbon emissions provide more favourable environment for extreme rainfall events in the Chennai region. The modelling results suggest that the projected precipitation in Chennai can increase by 17.37% on a peak rainy day in the future compared to the current levels. These projections have been made for year 2075.
• Chennai is one of the cities in India where the per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fall in the higher category.
• The increased intensity and geographical spread of rainfall events could lead to severe flood events that are likely to continue for more days in the future, thereby posing further risk and potential for damage to the local communities.
• The research also emphasised that the amount of precipitation is likely to increase dramatically by 183.5%, 233.9%, and 70.8%. These percentages represent the daily increase in precipitation in the future compared to the present for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th December, respectively, for the 2015 Chennai rainfall event.
• In addition to the above, the geographical extent of the region receiving extreme rainfall event is likely to get worse as the duration of the event would get longer. The south Indian states have encountered an increased number of heavy rainfall events leading to massive floods.
• This study considers only one event, and thus the results are suggestive of increased rainfall and flooding.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

President Promulgates Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020

Source: PIB INDIA

News

• In pursuance of the commitment to ensure safety of depositors across banks, the President has promulgated the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Banking Regulation Ordinance

• The Ordinance amends the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as applicable to Cooperative Banks. The Ordinance seeks to protect the interests of depositors and strengthen cooperative banks by improving governance and oversight by extending powers already available with RBI in respect of other banks to Co-operative Banks as well for sound banking regulation, and by ensuring professionalism and enabling their access to capital.
• The amendments do not affect existing powers of the State Registrars of Co-operative Societies under state co-operative laws.
• The amendments do not apply to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) or co-operative societies whose primary object and principal business is long-term finance for agricultural development, and which do not use the word “bank” or “banker” or “banking” and do not act as drawees of cheques.
• The Ordinance also amends Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, to enable making of a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation of a banking company for protecting the interest of the public, depositors and the banking system and for securing its proper management, even without making an order of moratorium, so as to avoid disruption of the financial system.

Union Health Ministry issues updated clinical management protocol for managing COVID-19 cases

Source: The Indian Express

News

• Keeping pace with evolving knowledge about COVID-19, especially in terms of effective drugs, the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has released an updated clinical management protocol for managing COVID-19 cases.

Use of Dexamethasone

• The updated protocol includes the advice to use Dexamethasone as an alternative choice to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. The change has been made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation.
• Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid drug used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects.
• The drug has been tested in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the RECOVERY clinical trial and was found to have benefits for critically ill patients and has been shown to reduce mortality by about one third for patients on ventilators, and by about one fifth for patients being maintained on oxygen therapy.
• The drug is also a part of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and is widely available.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Locust control operations going on in Rajasthan, MP, UP, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra; Till now, 1,27,225 hectares have been controlled

Source: PIB INDIA

News

• Locust control operations are going on in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra. In total 60 ground control teams of Locust Circle Offices and 12 Drones are being used for Locust Control operations.

Locust Control operations

• The Locust Warning Organization and 10 Locust Circle Offices in coordination with State Governments undertakes locust control operations in schedule desert areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• The State Governments through their Agriculture Departments undertake locust control in cropped area. This year starting from 11th April 2020, in this season 1,27,225 hectares have been controlled till 26th June, 2020.

India is the first country to control locust by using drones after finalizing the protocols and getting all statutory approvals. Major operations are concentrated in Rajasthan where maximum resources are committed. State governments have deployed tractor mounted sprayers and fire tender vehicles in large numbers to undertake locust control in cropped area.

Steps taken to strengthen capacity of Locust control –

• To strengthen locust control capabilities in India, 10 ground spray equipments were imported from Micron, UK, and 15 equipments. Additional 45 ground spray equipments will reach and Locust Circle Offices have more than 100 ground control equipment by July.
• Presently 60 control teams and more than 200 Central Government personnel are engaged in locust control operations.
• For effective control of locusts on tall trees and in inaccessible areas, 5 companies with 12 drones are deployed for spraying of pesticides for locust control. India is the first country which is using drones for locust control after finalizing all required protocols.
• 55 additional vehicles have been purchased to strengthen the control capabilities.
• Enough stock of pesticides is being maintained with the locust control organization and  there is sufficient availability with State Governments also.
• Ministry of Home Affairs has included admissibility of hiring of vehicles, tractors with spray equipments for spraying of plant protection chemicals for pest control; hiring of water tankers; and purchase of plant protection chemicals for locust control under new norms of assistance under SDRF and NDRF.
• Under Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization, assistance for purchase of 800 tractors mounted spray equipments sanctioned for Rajasthan State Government. (2.86 crores).
• Financial assistance of Rs. 14 Crore sanctioned for Rajasthan State under RKVY for hiring of vehicles, tractors and for purchase of pesticides is under sanction.
• Financial assistance of Rs. 1.80 crore sanctioned for Gujarat State for purchase of vehicles, spray equipments, safety uniform, android application, training with regard to locust.
• Virtual meetings of the technical officers of South West Asian countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan) have taken place on weekly basis. So far 14 SWAC-TOC meeting have been done this year. Technical information related to locust control in the region is being shared. It is being coordinated by FAO.

Webinar-Be Vocal for Local and go Digital-TRIFED embarks on a massive digitisation drive to connect tribals with mainstream held

News

• Webinar ‘TRIFED Goes Digital’ and “Be Vocal for Local’ #GoTribal ”which was organised by TRIFED and was attended by over 200 participants. The main highlight was the launch of the TRIBES India products on the Government e-Marketplace  (GeM) (with a diverse range on display) and TRIFED’s new website (https://trifed.tribal.gov.in).

TRIBES

• TRIBES India store on Government eMarketplace which can now help in facilitating purchases by Government and then the revamped website, which has all relevant details about the schemes and initiatives underway to the benefit of tribal communities.
• The digital strategy takes into account the entire supply-demand tribal chain, each and every stage, and includes a state-of-art website which offers all information related to the organisaton and its various tribal welfare schemes; setting up of an e-Market Place for Tribal Artisans to trade and directly market their produces; digitisation of all information related to the forest dwellers engaged in its VanDhan Yojana, village haats and warehouses to which they are linked.
• Keeping every aspect of tribal lives and commerce in mind, TRIFED has also commenced the digitisation of the procurement of MFPs through government and private trade and the related payments to tribals.
• Leveraging the e-commerce boom, TRIBES India products are available at www.tribesindia.com with all regions working together to ensure that varieties and offerings of all kinds are readily accessible at other platforms such Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm, and Shopclues.
• In addition, the Tribes India e-Marketplace, coming on the heels of the Retail Inventory Management System which has automated the sourcing and sale of stocks, is an ambitious initiative to on-board almost 5 lakh Tribal Artisans on the e- market platform to provide them access to national and international markets.

TRIFED’s Van Dhan Integrated Information Network facilitates the pooling of all information pertaining to forest dwellers engaged in Minimum Support Price Operations and its VanDhan Yojana linking them up to Village haats and Warehouses. This helps in monitoring the country wide programme and taking decisions to facilitate smooth implementation.

This scheme has been implemented in 22 States touching the lives of almost 3,61,500 Tribals. The tribal clusters identified and mapped across the country are eligible beneficiaries under Atmanirbhar Abhiyan.

The aim is to work in convergence with various Ministries and agencies and help bring the benefits to these vulnerable and distressed communities. TRIFED is equipped to advocate and support the tribal cause under Atmanirbhar Abhiyan.

Govt launches portal to monitor implementation of employment generation scheme GKRA

Source: The Indian Express

News

• Union Rural Development Minister launched a web portal for monitoring implementation of the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) and providing scheme-related information to the people.

Web portal

• With an objective of providing employment to migrant workers who had returned to their native villages during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Prime Minister  launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA), an employment generation-cum-rural infrastructure creation programme, on June 20.
• The programme with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore will be implemented in 116 districts in six states on mission mode for the next four months, the Rural Development Ministry said in a statement.
• Besides providing information to the public about various district-wise and scheme-wise components of the programme, this portal will also help to monitor the progress of completion of the works being undertaken under it.

Amid Lockdown: NASA dashboard confirms pollution drop in Delhi

Source: The Livemint

News

• Concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over Delhi dropped to its lowest level this year in April since July 2018, a new analysis by three international space agencies including NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has shown.

Air pollution dropped

• The concentration of the air pollutant began reducing from March 16 and continued dropping under the first phase of the nationwide lockdown imposed from March 25 to April 14 to control the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
• Satellite data records, which show the drop in NO2 levels, have been put together by the three agencies in a Covid-19 Earth Observation Dashboard, which is also tracking changes in environment, economic activity and agriculture caused by the pandemic related restrictions across the globe.
• The dashboard also highlights how global and local reactions to the pandemic have changed concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas.

Data shows that in April this year, the concentration of CO2 had almost halved as compared to April 2016 in Delhi.

Chinese building helipad in Pangong Tso, massing troops on southern bank of lake

Source: The Indian Express.

News

• As tensions run high between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, and no talks scheduled so far between military commanders, the Chinese army has started consolidating its positions in the Pangong Tso area.

High tensions

• This includes undertaking construction of a helipad at Finger 4 and a sudden increase of Chinese troops on the southern banks of Pangong Tso. This has led to apprehensions that the Chinese are asserting their claims and conveying their disinclination for restoration of status quo ante in the area.
• Pangong Tso and its northern bank have been a territory of contention between the two sides but before the current tensions arose, the Chinese had a permanent base at Finger 8.
• They have now deployed themselves eight kilometres to the west, at Finger 4 where they have also constructed shelters, pillboxes, bunkers and other infrastructure both on the bank and the ridgeline.
• The Fingers are mountainous spurs jutting out from the ridge on the northern bank towards the lake.
• While India asserts that the LAC in the area passes through Finger 8, the Chinese have always claimed it much further to the west. Historically, Indian patrols have had access to Finger 8 while the Chinese patrols would come further westward on vehicles using the road constructed during the 1999 Kargil War.
• A sharp rocky feature between the Finger 4 and Finger 3 means that the area to the west of Finger 4 is only accessible on foot.
• India’s main base is close to Finger 3, around two kilometres west of the current Chinese deployment.
• The Indian side also has an administrative base closer to Finger 4, at the start of the sharp rocky feature. It is around this area that the Army has now deployed itself in response to the sudden Chinese deployment in the area. Less than 500 metres separate soldiers of both sides at this faceoff point.