IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Global Hunger Index 2019: India ranked lower than Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh

News

• India is ranked 102 of 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2019, behind its neighbours Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Global Hunger Index

• Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores of less than five.
• In 2018, it was ranked 103 out of 119 countries. In 2000, the country was ranked 83 out of 113 countries. Now, with 117 countries in the fray, it has dropped to 102.
• It’s GHI score has also decelerated from 38.9 in 2005 to 32 in 2010 and then from 32 to 30.3 between 2010 and 2019. The GHI score is calculated on four indicators undernourishment; child wasting, the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); child stunting, children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition; and child mortality, the mortality rate of children under the age of five.
• The share of wasting among children in India rose from 16.5% in the 2008-2012 period to 20.8% in 2014-2018, according to the report.
• Countries like Yemen and Djibouti, which are conflict-ridden and facing severe climate issues respectively, fared better than India on that front, according to the report.
• Neighbouring countries like Nepal (73), Sri Lanka (66), Bangladesh (88), Myanmar (69) and Pakistan (94) are also in the ‘serious’ hunger category, but have fared better at feeding its citizens than India, according to the report. China (25) has moved to a ‘low’ severity category and Sri Lanka is in the ‘moderate’ severity category.
• India has shown improvement in other indicators such as the under-5 mortality rate, prevalence of stunting among children and prevalence of undernourishment owing to inadequate food.
• The report also mentions the central government’s Swachh Bharat programme, saying open defecation is still being practised.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

J&K administration orders abolition of Legislative Council, asks its staff to report to GAD

News

• Ahead of the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories later this month, the 62-year-old State Legislative Council came to an end with the State administration issuing orders for its abolition and asking its 116-member staff to report to the General Department.

Abolition of Legislative Council

• The order was issued, less than a fortnight before the State is spilt into two Union Territorie Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmi.
• Jammu and Kashmir will be a Union Territory with a State Assembly.
• According to the order, the 116-member staff of the Council has been asked to report to the General Administration Department (GAD).
• The Centre had abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir for residency and government jobs.
• The order issued by Secretary to the State government,also directed transfer of all vehicles purchased from time to time to the Director of State motor garages and handing over of the building of the Council along with furniture and electronic gadgets to the Director of estates.
• The 36-member State Council was established in 1957 after an act was passed by the Parliament.
• The Council functioned as an upper house for the 87-member State Assembly.
• All records pertaining to the Council Secretariat including related legislative business shall be transferred to the Department of Law, Justice Parliamentary Affairs by the Secretary.

Delhi odd-even scheme: Two-wheelers, vehicles with children in school uniform exempted

News

• Two-wheelers will be exempted from the odd-even road rationing scheme, which will be in force from November 4 to 15 in Delhi.

Odd-even road rationing scheme

• Vehicles carrying children in school uniform would be exempted.
• Chief Ministers of other States and UTs will be exempted, but it will be applicable for Chief Minister and Ministers of Delhi.
• The list of exemptions includes, vehicles of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Union Ministers, and Governors of States among others.
• Emergency vehicles would be exempted and also people being transported for medical emergencies in a private vehicle, on trust basis.
• The fine for violation will be ₹4,000, up from the ₹2,000 during the previous time the odd-even scheme was in force.

Tamil Nadu constitutes two panels over water disputes with Kerala

News

• In line with its agreement with neighbouring Kerala towards resolving various inter-State water disputes, the Tamil Nadu government constituted two committees for dealing with issues relating to the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) and the Pandiyar-Punnampuzha project.

Inter-State water disputes

• The constitution of these panels by both sides was one of the agreements made between Tamil Nadu and Kerala during a meeting held in Thiruvananathapuram last month.
• The PAP aims at facilitating the diversion of eight west-flowing rivers to Tamil Nadu for the benefit of Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts.
• The Pandiyar-Punnampuzha Hydroelectric Project envisages the construction of four dams, two diversion weirs, and powerhouses and thereby harness water from Devala-Punnampuzha river systems that empties into the Arabian Sea.

Any attempt by India to divert water would be considered ‘act of aggression’: Pakistan

News

• Pakistan said that it has “exclusive rights” over three Western rivers and any attempt by India to divert the flow of these rivers would be considered an “act of aggression”.

Stop the water flowing to Pakistan

• Addressing an election rally in Haryana early this week, Mr. Modi reportedly said that his government would stop the water flowing to Pakistan.
• Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5. Pakistan has downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

India’s commitment on climate change best among several nations, says Nirmala Sitharaman

News

• India’s commitment to fight the global challenge of climate change is “bold” and one of the best amongst the community of nations, Finance Minister has said.

Global challenge of climate change

• Interacting with global investors at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister said that in a bid to fulfill its commitment to tackle climate change, India has focused on generation of renewable energy.
• The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Paris from 2015 that saw the participation of 195 nations.
• The nations negotiated and adopted the Paris Agreement in which India made four commitments, including reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35% below 2005 levels by 2030, under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
• While India can be found somewhere between 10 and 15 position or even further down in terms of carbon emission, it is the best among any set of countries in terms of commitment to fight against climate change.

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