Comprehensive Current affairs 27 August 2020

 NGT slams MoeF report on clean air programme.

The National Green Tribunal has slammed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over its report on the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which proposes 20-30% reduction of air pollution by 2024.

The NGT disapproved the submission of the MoEF that a committee, upon further deliberation, has concluded that 20-30% pollutant reduction under the NCAP seems realistic. It said the MoEF’s view was against the constitutional mandate under Article 21.

A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice A.K. Goel said the MoEF’s stand that pollution could not be controlled except to the extent of certain percentage was directly hit by the constitutional and statutory mandate.

Right to Clean Air stood recognized as part of Right to Life and failure to address air pollution was denial of Right to Life, the Bench said. 

The tribunal said the enforcement of ‘Sustainable Development’ principle and ‘Public Trust Doctrine’ required stern measures to be adopted to give effect to the mandate of international obligations for which the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and other laws had been enacted.

Portal for Registration and Renewal of Jewellers.

• The Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution launched online system of Registration and Renewal of Jewellers and for recognition and renewal of Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.

Purpose:

• These online modules will bring about ease of doing business for both jewellers and entrepreneurs who have established Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.

• Hallmarking of precious metals will be mandatory from 1st June 2021.

• The online system of audit will facilitate expeditious disposal of complaints regarding malpractices in the Hallmarking of Jewellery Items.

What is Hallmarking?

• Hallmarking is the accurate determination and official recording of proportionate content of precious metal in precious metal articles.

• Hallmarks are thus official marks used in many countries as a guarantee of purity or fineness of precious metal articles.

• Objective: To protect public against adulteration and obligate manufacturers to maintain legal standards of fineness.

• Registration is granted to the jewellers by BIS under Hallmarking Scheme.

• The BIS certified jewellers can get their jewellery hallmarked from any of the BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.

Bureau of Indian Standards:

• BIS is established as the National Standards Body of India under the BIS Act, 2016.

• It is under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

• Objective: Harmonious development of activities of Standardisation, marking and quality certification of goods.

• The standards and certification scheme support various public policies especially in areas of providing safe reliable quality goods; minimizing health hazards to consumers; promoting exports and imports substitute; control over proliferation of varieties etc.through Standardization, Certification and Testing.

Arunachal Pradesh to seek 6th schedule status

The BharatiyaJanata Party government in Arunachal Pradesh has decided to appeal to the Centre for bringing the State under the purview of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution towards protecting the rights of its indigenous peoples.

The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.A resolution would be moved and discussed in the monsoon session of the Assembly from August 27 and would be submitted to the Centre, Home Minister Bamang Felix said.

“No government had sought Sixth Schedule status since Arunachal became a State more than three decades ago. From the suggestions from the Consultative Committee, community leaders and advocates, we have come to understand that we were living under the wrong expression of being protected by the Inner Line Permit,” Mr. Felix said.

The ILP, warranted by the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873, is an official travel document issued by the State government concerned to let in an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.

India-Vietnam joint commission meeting held via video conferencing.

The 17th meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held via video-conference today.

•It was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. During the meeting, both sides reviewed the recent developments in India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and discussed the future trajectory of their wide-ranging engagement.

•They agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement between the two countries and to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas such as civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies.

•The External Affairs Ministry said in a release that the co-chairs exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially in the context of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Jaishankar underlined Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat for enhancing resilience through self-reliance and human-centric globalization as the basis for India’s economic revival.

•Two MoUs were also signed on the margins of the Joint Commission Meeting. Both sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral forums, including at the UN Security Council, where both India and Vietnam will serve concurrently as non-permanent members in 2021. They also agreed to step up cooperation and coordination at important regional forums under the ASEAN framework.

Longest River Ropeway in Assam.

• The Assam government has inaugurated a 1.8-km ropeway across the Brahmaputra river, and described it as India’s Longest River Ropeway

Highlights:

• It is built at the cost of Rs. 56 crore, it extends from Central to Northern Guwahati. It takes eight minutes to traverse the entire length of the ropeway.

• It passes over the mid-river Peacock Island that houses Umananda, a medieval Shiva temple.

• This is one of the most advanced & longest river crossing Aerial Tramway systems in India.

• The Aerial tramways are particularly well-suited in extreme terrain since the towers can be erected at larger intervals.

• Thousands of people commute every day between the capital city of Guwahati and the town of North Guwahati, where IIT Guwahati is located.

• Other travel options between the two banks are by ferry (30 minutes or more, depending on current and season) or by road through a bridge that usually takes over an hour in the traffic.

• Apart from substantially reducing travel time, the ropeway will provide a breathtaking view of the Brahmaputra river and promote tourism in the State.

• Tourists can take the ropeway to North Guwahati and spend quality time on that side.

Hospitality services will also develop on that side and thus the ropeway is expected to be an overall boost for tourism in the city.

• It is considered as a convenient and non-polluting means of transport, as well as a source of environmentally friendly tourism.

• It is ecologically sustainable as it is run by electric power protecting the beauty of the area, while simultaneously providing passengers with a Comfortable and Speedy Means of Travel.

Employment creation through Honey mission.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission, KVIC has taken a big leap towards AtmaNirbhar Bharat by creating local employment for migrant workers through its flagship Honey Mission programme.

Minister of State for MSME, Pratap Chandra Sarangi today distributed 700 bee boxes to 70 migrant workers of Saharanpur and Bulandshahr districts of Uttar Pradesh. They had returned to their hometown from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat due to COVID-19 lockdown. KVIC has imparted them training on bee-keeping and provided the necessary tool kit and bee boxes for them to carry out bee-keeping activities.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sarangi lauded the initiative saying it will contribute to increasing India’s honey production which is the core objective of Honey Mission. He said, creating employment for the migrant workers at their doorsteps will make them self-reliant.

National Strategy for Financial Education.

The Reserve Bank of India has released the National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-25.

•NSFE: 2020-25 has recommended adoption of a ‘5 C’ – Content, Capacity.

Community, Communication and Collaboration – approach to achieve financial well-being of all Indians. It is put together by National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India,Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

Recommendations:

• Financial literacy content for school children (including curriculum and co-scholastic),teachers, young adults, women, new entrants at workplace/ entrepreneurs (MSMEs),senior citizens, persons with disabilities, illiterate people, etc.

• Capacity development of various intermediaries, who can be involved in providing financial literacy, and development of a ‘Code of Conduct’ for financial education providers.

• Community-led approaches for disseminating financial literacy in a sustainable manner.

• Communication approach, use of technology, mass media channels for dissemination of financial education messages.

• Integrating financial education in the school curriculum, various professional and vocational courses (undertaken by the Ministry of Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship) through their Sector Skilling Missions and B.Ed./M.Ed. programmes.

NSFE Strategic Objectives:

• To inculcate financial literacy concepts through financial education, to make it an

Important Life Skill.

• To encourage active savings behaviour and participation in financial markets to meet Financial Goals and Objectives.

• To develop credit discipline and encourage availing of credit from formal financial institutions as per requirement.

• To improve usage of digital financial services in a safe and secure manner.

• Risk Management through relevant and suitable insurance cover and plan for old age and retirement through coverage of suitable pension products.

• To disseminate knowledge about rights, duties and avenues for grievance redressal.

ASTROSAT discovers rare findings in outer space

ASTROSAT, the first multi wavelength satellite has detected extreme UV light from galaxy that 9.3 billion light years away from the Earth.

ASTROSAT is the first multi-wavelength space telescope of India. It was launched on September 28, 2015. With its success, ISRO is planning to launch ASTROSAT-2 as its successor. The five major instruments on board covers soft X-ray, hard X-ray, far UV, near UV, and visible light.

The first multi-wavelength satellite of India has five unique X-ray and UV telescopes. They detect extreme UV light from galaxies that are billion light years away from the earth. It is an IRS class satellite. IRS is Indian Remote Sensing Satellite.

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope is larger than the UV Imaging Telescope (UVIT). However, it did not detect UV emission from the galaxy as it is too faint. On the other hand, the UVIT was able to achieve the detection as the background noise in the UVIT detector is much less than that on the HST.

Special focus on mains .

Government's permission to issue Electoral Bonds.

The Government likely allows the sale of electoral bonds ahead of Assembly elections in Bihar in October-November 2020. The Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 was notified in the official gazette on 2nd January 2018 and allows periodic issuances of electoral bonds.

About Electoral Bond:

• It is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties.

• It is issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore without any maximum limit. State Bank of India is authorised to issue and encash these bonds, which are valid for fifteen days from the date of issuance.

• It is redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party.

• Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act,1951 and has secured at least 1% of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India.

• Its transactions can be made only via this account. It is available for purchase by any person (who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India) for a period of ten days each in the months of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government.

•A person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.

• During general elections, the central government may specify an additional period of thirty days for sale of these bonds. There have been some occasions when the government has deviated from the specified periodicity for issuance of these bonds.

Issues related to Electoral Bonds:

• The Scheme acts as a check against traditional under-the-table donations as it insists on cheque and digital paper trails of transactions, several key provisions of the scheme make it Highly Controversial.

• Neither the donor (who could be an individual or a corporate) nor the political party is obligated to reveal whom the donation comes from.

• In 2019, the Supreme Court held that all political parties who had received donations through electoral bonds must submit details to the Election Commission of India.

• This undercuts a fundamental constitutional principle, the freedom of political information, which is an integral element of Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution.

• It defeats the fundamental principle of transparency in political finance because it conceals from public scrutiny the identity of the corporates and moneybags.

• The government is always in a position to know who the donor is because the bonds are purchased through the SBI.

• This asymmetry of information threatens to colour the process in favour of whichever political party is ruling at the time.

Issue Related to Channeling of Black money:

• Elimination of a cap of 7.5% on corporate donations, elimination of requirement to reveal political contributions in profit and loss statements and also the elimination of the provision that a corporation must be three years in existence, undercuts the intent of the scheme.

• Any troubled, dying or shell companies can donate an unlimited amount anonymously to a political party giving them a convenient channel for business to round-trip their cash Parked in tax havens for a favour or Advantage Granted in return for Something.

Way Ahead:

• Voters can help bring in substantial changes by demanding awareness campaigns. If voters reject candidates and parties that overspend or bribe them, democracy would move a step Higher

• There is a need for fixing the governance system and effective regulation of political financing along with bold reforms to break the vicious cycle of corruption and erosion of

Quality of Democratic Polity.

• It is crucial to plug the loopholes in the current laws to make the entire governance machinery more Accountable and Transparent.

Critically analyse the factors responsible for flooding in Assam plains almost every year. Support your reason by examples.

Context:

Assam is facing a second wave of flood in July after its first wave of flood in May this year. It is facing almost 3-4 waves of flood every year through the Brahmaputra river system, which affects most of the parts of Assam. Nearly 35 lakhs of peoples are affected in 26 districts of the state with heavy loss to life & submergence of major parts of the Kaziranga National park.

About Brahmaputra River :

Originated from Chemayungdung glacier in Tibet (China) known as the ‘Yarlung Tsangpo’ flows through Tibet from west to east, enters Arunachal Pradesh as ‘Dihang (Siang)’, continues to flow in Assam as the Brahmaputra & as the Jamuna in Bangladesh.

Its main left-bank tributaries are Dibang, Lohit, Dhansiri & Kapili while main right bank tributaries are Subansiri & Manas in India.

‘Majuli Island’ is the world’s largest riverine island in Assam surrounded between the channels of Brahmaputra.

The Brahmaputra is coursing through almost entire Assam barring a few regions of the Karbi Anglong region.

It is one of the most voluminous (extreme volume & quantity of water) rivers of India.

Its basin countries are China, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh.

Factors responsible for flooding :

Heavy rainfall through south-west monsoon & presence of hills in Meghalaya led to falling of rain-bearing winds.

Natural & man-made reasons contribute to flooding.

The Brahmaputra brings an excess quantity of water & silt & deposited it in the basin causing the river to overflow.

It also causes a lot of erosion & flood problems.

Building dams destroyed the ecology.

Deforestation.

Embankments supposed to prevent soil erosion also end up a reason for flooding. Heavy rainfall leads to breaking of embankments.

The immense growth of habitations along the river banks, it doesn't allow the river to expand during its excess quantity of water.

Destroying wetlands along the river banks which works like a sponge during flooding to absorb water.

Climate change leads to heavy rainfall in a relatively less period of time which causes intense rainfall & flooding.

Challenges in capital 'Guwahati':

Guwahati mostly flooded during monsoons due to its topography having a shape like 'bowl' which makes it susceptible to waterlogging.

'Mission flood control Guwahati' report of the Assam Government mentions that unplanned expansion of the city, encroachment to wetlands, shrinkage of forest cover, low lying areas & rainwater from the surrounding hills of Meghalaya bring flood in the city. But a proper workout to resolve the issue is yet awaited.

What can be done?

Authorities should make a long term plan to build embankments & regular dredging to control the floods.

Countries can go for integrated basin management which will bring all the basin sharing countries together like India, China, Bhutan & Bangladesh.

Preventive measures should be taken from all the catchment & basin sharing countries in their respective area, otherwise only working at the last resort when flood strike in Assam is only a defensive measure but not a solution.

Benefit due to flood:

Due to flooding new alluvial soil constantly get deposited in Assam's flood plain leading to continuous increase & recharge of soil & increase in croplands.

This benefit is only a fraction of whatever losses Assam is facing every year.

Concerns:

After more than 65 years of independence, a solution to this repeated problem is still awaited.

The state is mostly dependent upon the embankments which were introduced in the 1950s when the actual hydrology of most rivers including the Brahmaputra was not well-known.

The river changes its course very frequently, so it is almost impossible to contain it within the embankments.

The high-pressure flow of the water constantly pressured the embankments wall & subsequent breakage which need frequent reinforcement.

Embankments

It is a long ridge made along the river by soil or rock & used to hold or control the flow of rivers or water bodies which might at times get flooded.

Way Forward

While India has done tremendous progress in increasing the connectivity with the north-East states, flooding is a repeated problem which still needs a concrete solution. With the growing importance of North-East to India which works as a connecting point with South-East Asia & the rising threat from the neighboring countries, it is imperative to contain the problem of flooding. This containment of flooding also helps in achieving most of our goals along with preventing economic & social losses.