DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS -1ST SEPTEMBER 2019 BY SUMIT

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS -1ST 

SEPTEMBER 2019 BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ

THE BEAUTY OF HIMALYAS @JUBBAL SHIMLA....PIC BY SUMIT

1.Over 19 lakh excluded from 

final NRC                               GS-2

• CONTEXT:More than 19 lakh of the 3.3 crore applicants have been left out of Assam’s final National Register of Citizens (NRC), which was published on Saturday, concluding a five year, Supreme Court monitored exercise that cost RS1,220 crore. Updating the NRC to sift Indians from illegal immigrants, believed to have come mostly from Bangladesh, has been a 40­ year­old demand that started in 1980 during the anti ­foreigners’ Assam Agitation. The 1985 Assam Accord ending that agitation had incorporated this demand and prescribed 1971 as the base year for detecting and deporting foreigners in the State
•  The final version of the NRC contains the names of 3,11,21,004 of the total of 3,30,27,661 people who had applied for inclusion in the document. The 19,06,657 people excluded make up 46.39% of the 41.09 lakh people who were left out of the draft list published on July 30, 2018, and an additional list a year later.
•  Officials said those excluded cannot technically be called foreigners as they have legal options to challenge their exclusion from the NRC. 
• Each of them has 120 days to appeal before the Foreigners’ Tribunals, which in turn have six months to dispose of the cases. The appellants can thereafter approach the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court to establish their citizenship with proper documents or end up in detention camps for foreigners
• About National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam:
• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the list of Indian citizens of Assam. It was prepared in 1951, following the census of 1951.
• For a person’s name to be included in the updated NRC list of 2018, he/ she will have to furnish:

• Existence of name in the legacy data: The legacy data is the collective list of the NRC data of 1951 and the electoral rolls up to midnight of 24 March 1971.
• Proving linkage with the person whose name appears in the legacy data 
• Why was it updated?
• The process of NRC update was taken up in Assam as per a Supreme Court order in 2013. In order to wean out cases of illegal migration from Bangladesh and other adjoining areas, NRC updation was carried out under The Citizenship Act, 1955, and according to rules framed in the Assam Accord.
• Why is March 24, 1971 the cut-off date?
• There have been several waves of migration to Assam from Bangladesh, but the biggest was in March 1971 when the Pakistan army crackdown forced many to flee to India. The Assam Accord of 1985 that ended the six-year anti-foreigners’ agitation decided upon the midnight of March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date.
• Who is a citizen in Assam?
• The Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended after the Assam Accord for all Indian-origin people who came from Bangladesh before January 1, 1966 to be deemed as citizens. Those who came between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 were eligible for citizenship after registering and living in the State for 10 years while those entering after March 25, 1971, were to be deported
• Foreigners’ Tribunals:
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals (quasi-judicial bodies) to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not. Earlier, the powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with the Centre.
• The amended order (Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 2019) also empowers individuals to approach the Tribunals. Earlier, only the State administration could move the Tribunal against a suspect.
• The amendment has come in the backdrop of Assam’s final National Register of Citizens (NRC) which is set to be published by 31st July, 2019.
• If a person doesn’t find his or her name in the final NRC, s/he could move the Tribunal.
• The amended order also allows District Magistrates to refer individuals who haven’t filed claims against their exclusion from NRC to Tribunals to decide if they are foreigners or not.
• As per directions of the Supreme Court, the Registrar General of India - RGI (under the Ministry of Home Affairs) published the final draft list of NRC on 30th July, 2018 to segregate Indian citizens living in Assam from those who had illegally entered the State from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971. 
• Nearly 40 lakh people were excluded from this final draft list. As many as 36 lakh of those excluded have filed claims against the exclusion.
• The NRC is a fallout of the Assam Accord, 1985. The accord states that all illegal foreigners who came to Assam after 1971 from Bangladesh, irrespective of the religion, have to be deported.

2.EC drive to allow voters to update details on their own                             GS-2

• CONTEXT:The Election Commission’s new initiative of Electors Verification Programme (EVP), which aims to update the electoral rolls through participation from citizens, will be launched on September 1, said officials on Saturday. 
• Through the programme citizens can update and verify details in order to remove “logical errors” like multiple entries and missing names among others, said Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh
• ABOUT Election Commission OF INDIA:

What is ECI?

• The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
• The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
• Background
• Part XV of the Indian constitution deals with elections, and establishes a commission for these matters.
• The Election Commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950.
• Article 324 to 329 of the constitution deals with powers, function, tenure, eligibility, etc of the commission and the member.

• Articles related to Elections
  324	Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission.
  325	No person to be ineligible for inclusion in, or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.
  326	Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage.
  327	Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures.
  328	Power of Legislature of a State to make provision with respect to elections to such Legislature.
  329	Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters.

• Structure of the Commission
• Originally the commission had only one election commissioner but after the Election Commissioner Amendment Act 1989, it has been made a multi-member body.
• The commission consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• The secretariat of the commission is located in New Delhi.
• At the state level election commission is helped by Chief Electoral Officer who is an IAS rank Officer.
• The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
• They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
• The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a Supreme Court judge for by Parliament

3.Prison reforms programme celebrates 25th anniversary               

   GS-2

• CONTEXT:Prison reforms, initiated in 1994 by then Inspector General of Tihar Prison, Kiran Bedi, celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Air Force Stadium here on Saturday. 
•  India Vision Foundation hosted the event.  Ms. Bedi, L­G of Puducherry; V.S.K Kaumudi, Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development and R.G. Anand, representative of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights attended the event.

Measures for Prison Reforms

• • The Social Justice Bench of the Supreme Court of India had issued guidelines relating to Prison Reforms in the Country.
  • The Undertrial Review Committee in every district should meet every quarter. Appropriate steps must be taken for the release of undertrial prisoners and convicts who have undergone their sentence or are entitled to release because of remission granted to them.
  • The State Legal Services Authority of every State will ensure, in coordination with the Secretary of the District Legal Services Committee in every district, that an adequate number of competent lawyers are impanelled to assist undertrial prisoners and convicts, particularly the poor.
  • The Director General of Police/Inspector General of Police in-charge of prisons should ensure that there is proper and effective utilization of available funds so that the living conditions of the prisoners is commensurate with human dignity. This also includes the issue of their health, hygiene, food, clothing, rehabilitation etc.
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs will ensure that the Management Information System is in place at the earliest in all the Central and District Jails so that there is better and effective management of the prison and prisoners.
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs will conduct an annual review of the implementation of the Model Prison Manual 2016.
  • The Bench also directed Ministry of Women and Child Development, to prepare a Manual like ‘Prison Manual’ which will take into consideration the living conditions and other issues pertaining to juveniles who are in Observation Homes or Special Homes.

4.Monsoon deficit reduced to near zero                               GS-1,3

• CONTEXT:In spite of heavy rains in August, which reduced the 2019 monsoon deficit to nearly zero, meteorologists say that India is unlikely to end the monsoon with surplus rain.
•  As of August 31, India received 300 mm of rain, 16% more than the 258 mm that’s typical for the month. Between June 1 and August 31, India got 709 mm of rainfall, a millimetre shy of the 710 mm that's normal for that period. A surge of low pressure disturbances in the Bay of Bengal in July and August was responsible for the active monsoon
• MONSOON:

Generally, across the world, the monsoons are experienced in the tropical area roughly between 20° N and 20° S.

• The climate of India is described as the ‘monsoon’ type. In Asia, this type of climate is found mainly in the south and the southeast.
• Out of a total of 4 seasonal divisions of India, monsoon occupy 2 divisions, namely.
• The southwest monsoon season - Rainfall received from the southwest monsoons is seasonal in character, which occurs between June and September.
• The retreating monsoon season - The months of October and November are known for retreating monsoons.
• Factors Influencing South-West Monsoon Formation
• The differential heating and cooling of land and water creates a low pressure on the landmass of India while the seas around experience comparatively high pressure.
• The shift of the position of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in summer, over the Ganga plain (this is the equatorial trough normally positioned about 5°N of the equator. It is also known as the monsoon-trough during the monsoon season).
• Inter Tropical Convergence Zone
• The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ,) is a broad trough of low pressure in equatorial latitudes. This is where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. This convergence zone lies more or less parallel to the equator but moves north or south with the apparent movement of the sun.
• The presence of the high-pressure area, east of Madagascar, approximately at 20°S over the Indian Ocean. The intensity and position of this high-pressure area affect the Indian Monsoon.
• The Tibetan plateau gets intensely heated during summer, which results in strong vertical air currents and the formation of low pressure over the plateau at about 9 km above sea level.
• The movement of the westerly jet stream to the north of the Himalayas and the presence of the tropical easterly jet stream over the Indian peninsula during summer.
• Tropical Easterly Jet (African Easterly Jet).
• Southern Oscillation (SO): Normally when the tropical eastern south Pacific Ocean experiences high pressure, the tropical eastern Indian Ocean experiences low pressure. But in certain years, there is a reversal in the pressure conditions and the eastern Pacific has lower pressure in comparison to the eastern Indian Ocean. This periodic change in pressure conditions is known as the SO.
• El Nino
• This is a name given to the periodic development of a warm ocean current along the coast of Peru as a temporary replacement of the cold Peruvian current. ‘El Nino’ is a Spanish word meaning ‘the child’, and refers to the baby Christ, as this current starts flowing during Christmas. The presence of the El Nino leads to an increase in sea-surface temperatures and weakening of the trade winds in the region.
• Mechanism
• Onset of the South-West Monsoon
• The location of ITCZ shifts north and south of the equator with the apparent movement of the Sun.
• During the month of June, the sun shines vertically over the Tropic of Cancer and the ITCZ shifts northwards.
• The southeast trade winds of the southern hemisphere cross the equator and start blowing in southwest to northeast direction under the influence of Coriolis force.
• These winds collect moisture as they travel over the warm Indian Ocean.
• In the month of July, the ITCZ shifts to 20°-25° N latitude and is located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the south-west monsoons blow from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The ITCZ in this position is often called the Monsoon Trough.
• The shift in the position of the ITCZ is also related to the phenomenon of the withdrawal of the westerly jet stream from its position over the north Indian plain, south of the Himalayas.
• The easterly Jet Stream (Somali Jet) sets in along 15°N latitude only after the western jet stream has withdrawn itself from the region. This easterly jet stream is held responsible for the burst of the monsoon in India.
• As these winds approach the land, their southwesterly direction is modified by the relief and thermal low pressure over northwest India. The monsoon approaches the Indian landmass in two branches: 
• The Arabian Sea branch - The monsoon winds originating over the Arabian Sea.
• The Bay of Bengal branch - The Arakan Hills along the coast of Myanmar deflect a big portion of this branch towards the Indian subcontinent. The monsoon, therefore, enters West Bengal and Bangladesh from south and southeast instead of from the south-westerly direction.
• Another phenomenon associated with the monsoon is its tendency to have ‘breaks’ in rainfall. The monsoon rains take place only for a few days at a time. They are interspersed with rainless intervals. These breaks in monsoon are related to the movement of the monsoon trough.
• Despite an overall unity in the general pattern, there are perceptible regional variations in climatic conditions within the country.
• Retreating Monsoon Season
• The retreating southwest monsoon season is marked by clear skies and rise in temperature.
• The land is still moist. Owing to the conditions of high temperature and humidity, the weather becomes rather oppressive. This is commonly known as the ‘October heat’.
• In the second half of October, the mercury begins to fall rapidly, particularly in northern India.
• The weather in the retreating monsoon is dry in north India but it is associated with rain in the eastern part of the Peninsula. Here, October and November are the rainiest months of the year.
• The widespread rain in this season is associated with the passage of cyclonic depressions which originate over the Andaman Sea and manage to cross the eastern coast of the southern Peninsula. These tropical cyclones are very destructive.
• A bulk of the rainfall of the Coromandel Coast is derived from these depressions and cyclones.
• Unlike the rest of the country, which receives rain in the southwest monsoon season between June and September, the northeast monsoon is crucial for farming and water security in the south.
• Impact of Monsoons on Life in India
• Positive
• About 64% of people in India depend on agriculture for their livelihood and agriculture itself is based on monsoon.
• Agricultural prosperity of India depends very much on timely and adequately distributed rainfall. If it fails, agriculture is adversely affected particularly in those regions where means of irrigation are not developed.
• Regional variations in monsoon climate help in growing various types of crops.
• Regional monsoon variation in India is reflected in the vast variety of food, clothes and house types.
• Monsoon rain helps recharge dams and reservoirs, which is further used for the generation of hydro-electric power.
• Winter rainfall by temperate cyclones in north India is highly beneficial for Rabi crops.
• Negative
• Variability of rainfall brings droughts or floods every year in some parts of the country.
• Sudden monsoon burst creates a problem of soil erosion over large areas in India.
• In hilly areas sudden rainfall brings landslide which damages natural and physical infrastructure subsequently disrupting human life economically as well as socially.
• Monsoon Prediction In India
• More than a century ago, when there were no computers, IMD’s forecasts depended only on snow cover. Lesser cover meant a better monsoon.
• British physicist Gilbert Walker, who headed the IMD, designed a statistical weather model – an empirical way of predicting the weather – based on the relationship between two weather phenomena.
• In 2014, the IMD started to use numerical models to supplement statistical models for long-range forecasting as well.
• Now, although the numerical models used by the IMD are state-of-the-art – developed by the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction – their forecast capacity is still weak because a longer period of forecast creates more uncertainty in prediction.
• At the moment, the IMD provides district-wise weather data but it’s not sufficient; because when IMD says there will be scattered rainfall over a particular district, it means that 26-50% that district (by area) will receive rainfall.
• The IMD collects weather data like temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation through 679 automatic weather stations, 550 surface observatories, 43 radiosonde or weather balloons, 24 radars and three satellites.
• Currently, highly advanced dynamical models need supercomputers. Prediction models will not run until proper data about current weather conditions is available.
• Factors Responsible for Inaccurate Monsoon Forecast
• The lack of data due to insufficient monitoring stations.
• Automatic weather stations are of substandard quality. They need to be calibrated and cleaned regularly, which does not happen often. That affects data.
• Then, there are major data gaps, like those involving dust, aerosols, soil moisture and maritime conditions are not monitored.
• The models that we have brought from the west have been developed by western scientists to forecast in their region, little progress has been made is the fine-tuning of weather models to suit Indian conditions.
• Lack of competent software professionals and scientists working with the IMD.
• Recent Indian Initiatives
• It is crucial for farmers (sowing, harvesting, etc.) and policymakers (payment of compensation, minimum support price, etc.) to know when and for how long the monsoon will remain active over India. For that, better predictions and timely advisories are needed.
• To achieve this following initiatives have been taken:
• Monsoon Mission of India
• This initiative of Ministry of Earth Sciences, launched in 2012, has utilized new approaches (high resolution, super parameterizations, data assimilation etc.) so that forecast skill gets quantitatively improved further for forecasting services of India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• For the first time, India Meteorological Department used the Monsoon Mission dynamical model to prepare operational seasonal forecast of 2017 monsoon rainfall over India.
• Objectives
• To improve Seasonal and Intra-seasonal Monsoon Forecast
• To improve Medium Range Forecast.
• IMD in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provides district-level agro-meteorological advisories to farmers through 130 agro-met field units in vernacular languages.
• These advisories are used for critical farm operations such as:
• Management of sowing (delayed onset of rains);
• Changing crop variety (delay in rainfall);
• Spraying Pesticides for disease control (occurrence of rainfall);
• Managing Irrigation (Heavy rainfall Forecast).
• India Meteorological Department (IMD) provides meteorological support to the Central Water Commission (CWC) for issuing flood warnings.
• Indo-US expedition
• In 2018, The Indian Ocean Research Vessel, 'Sagar Nidhi', set out from Chennai, as part of an Indo-US expedition seeking to find answers to the vagaries of the Bay of Bengal-fed southwest monsoon by collecting various data to improve prediction models.
• National Supercomputing Mission will fill the necessary gaps in the computing superpower required to predict timely and accurate monsoon forecasts.
• Global Warming and Monsoon
• A drastic change in the monsoon rainfall intensity, duration, frequency and spatial distribution can be attributed to the climate change. However, it is too soon to arrive at a conclusion.
• If all this is in response to global warming then it can be permanent and might accelerate. If not then the monsoon system will revert to a more normal state.
• More data and reanalysis is needed to get a clear picture on the complete separation of the global warming impact from natural climate variability (such as El Niño).
• Way Forward
• The population of India is increasing and to provide food security to the population, a large part of the monsoon water which is currently unutilized should be held at suitable locations for irrigation and power generation purposes.
• India needs to invest more resources in better prediction of Monsoon forecast in order to achieve reliability and sustainability.
• With a warming climate, more moisture will be held in the atmosphere, leading to heavier rainfall, consequently, inter-annual variability of the monsoon will increase in future. The country needs to prepare for this change.
• Thus, to secure and bring sustainability to the climate pattern of India we need to take effective and timely steps not just at the domestic front (National Action Plan on Climate Change) but also at international front (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), as we live in a shared world with a shared future.