DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 7 SEPTEMBER 2019

    IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TODAY

                   

BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ                         7 September 2019

1.Chandrayaan-2: India on edge as ISRO loses communication with Moon lander(SOURCE:INDIAN EXPRESS)

PM Narendra Modi with ISRO chief K Sivan. (Screengrab)

• Context:The mission operations complex at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru stopped receiving data from the lander. ISRO chief K Sivan said communication with the lander had been lost.
• India’s dream of landing a spacecraft on moon lay shattered as the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-2 failed to make a smooth soft-landing, unable to bring down its speed to the required level. The failure happened 13 minutes after Vikram began its descent, hoping to reduce its speed from 6048 km per hour to about 7 km per hour or lower to enable a soft landing
• The mission operations complex at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru stopped receiving data from the lander. At the time of going to press, an official announcement of the failure was still awaited. But ISRO chief Sivan said communication with the lander had been lost.
• “The descent of Vikram was going on as per plan, and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of at 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from the lander to ground station was lost. Data being analysed,” ISRO chairman K Sivan said.
• “There are ups and downs in life. This is not a small achievement. The nation is proud of you. Hope for the best. I congratulate you. You all have done a big service to the nation, science and mankind. I am with you all the way, move forward bravely,” PM Narendra Modi told the ISRO team.
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2.Study of ancient DNA throws light on origin of farming, languages(GS-1)

                   insight into genetic affinities of Indus Valley people

• CONTEXT:There have been long questions about the origin of farming, source of Indo-European languages in South, Central Asia and genetic affinities of Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) people.
• These were sought to be answered when an international team of geneticists, archaeologists and anthropologists from North America, Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia, including Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here, have analysed genomes of 524 ancient individuals.
• The team also conducted the largest ever study of ancient human DNA, along with the first genome of an individual from the IVC with both studies revealing unprecedented details of genetic ancestry of these regions. Findings were published in two reputed scientific journals - Science and Cell on Thursday.
• “We compared ancient genomes to one another and to previously sequenced genomes, and put the information into context alongside archaeological, linguistic and historical records. It helped fill key details about people who lived in this vast region from Mesolithic Era (about 12,000 years ago) to Iron Age (around 2,000 years ago). We could study how these ancient humans (whose skeletons were found) relate to people who live there today”, said Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at CCMB and one of the senior authors.
• These studies speak of transition from hunting and gathering to farming and the spread of Indo-European languages, which are spoken today from the British Isles to South Asia, along with movement of people. For decades, experts have debated if Indo-European languages made their way to distant parts of the world via herders from Eurasian Steppe - the ‘Steppe Hypothesis’ or with farmers moving west and east from Anatolia (present-day Turkey) - the ‘Anatolian Hypothesis’.
• Of the 140 present-day South Asian populations analysed in the study, a handful has a remarkable similarity with the Steppe. All but one of these Steppe-enriched populations is historically priestly groups, including Brahmins.
• The finding that Brahmins often have more Steppe ancestry than other groups in South Asia, controlling for other factors, provides a fascinating new argument in favour of a Steppe origin for Indo-European languages.

ABOUT INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION:

Introduction

• The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also known as Harappan Civilization.
• It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, in contemporary Pakistan and Western India.
• The Indus Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China.
• In 1920s, the Archaeological Department of India carried out excavations in the Indus valley wherein the ruins of the two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed.
• In 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.
• • • Phases of IVC
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• Three phases of IVC are: 
• the Early Harappan Phase from 3300 to 2600 BCE,
• the Mature Harappan Phase from 2600 to 1900 BCE, and
• the Late Harappan Phase from 1900 to 1300 BCE.
• The Early Harappan Phase is related to the Hakra Phase, identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra River Valley.
• The earliest examples of the Indus script date back to 3000 BC.
• This phase stands characterized by centralized authority and an increasingly urban quality of life.
• Trade networks had been established and there are also evidences of the cultivation of crops. Peas, sesame seeds, dates, cotton, etc, were grown during that time.
• Kot Diji represents the phase leading up to Mature Harappan Phase.
• By 2600 BC, the Indus Valley Civilization had entered into a mature stage.
• The early Harappan communities were turning into large urban centers, like Harappa and Mohenjodaro in Pakistan and Lothal in India.
• The signs of a gradual decline of the Indus River Valley Civilization are believed to have started around 1800 BC and by 1700 BC, most of the cities were abandoned.
• However, one can see the various elements of the Ancient Indus Valley Civilization in later cultures.
• Archaeological data indicates the persistence of the Late Harappan culture till 1000-900 BC.

Town Planning and Structures

• The Harappan culture was distinguished by its system of town planning.
• Harappa and Mohenjodaro each had its own citadel or acropolis, which was possibly occupied by members of the ruling class.
• Below the citadel in each city lay a lower town containing brick houses, which were inhabited by the common people.
• The remarkable thing about the arrangement of the houses in the cities is that they followed the grid system.
• Granaries constituted an important part of the Harappan cities.
• The use of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is remarkable, because in the contemporary buildings of Egypt mainly dried bricks were used.
• The drainage system of Mohenjodaro was very impressive.
• In almost all cities every big or small house had its own courtyard and bathroom.
• In Kalibangan many houses had their wells.
• At sites such as Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat), the entire settlement was fortified, and sections within the town were also separated by walls.

Agriculture

• The Harappan villages, mostly situated near the flood plains, produced sufficient foodgrains.
• Wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesame, lentil, chickpea and mustard were produced. Millets are also found from sites in Gujarat. While rice uses were relatively rare.
• The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton.
• While the prevalence of agriculture is indicated by finds of grain, it is more difficult to reconstruct actual agricultural practices.
• Representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and archaeologists extrapolate shows oxen were also used for ploughing.
• Most Harappan sites are located in semi-arid lands, where irrigation was probably required for agriculture.
• Traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan, but not in Punjab or Sindh.
• Although the Harappans practised agriculture, animals were also reared on a large scale.
• Evidence of the horse comes from a superficial level of Mohenjodaro and from a doubtful terracotta figurine from Lothal. In any case the Harappan culture was not horse centred.

Economy

• The importance of trade in the life of the Indus people is witnessed by the presence of numerous seals, uniform script and regulated weights and measures in a wide area.
• The Harappans carried on considerable trade in stone, metal, shell, etc.
• Metal money was not used and trade was carried by barter system.
• They practised navigation on the coast of the Arabian Sea.
• They had set up a trading colony in northern Afghanistan which evidently facilitated trade with Central Asia.
• They also carried commerce with those in the land of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
• The Harappans carried on long distance trade in lapis lazuli; which may have contributed to the social prestige of the ruling class.

Crafts

• The Harappans were very well acquainted with the manufacturing and use of Bronze.
• Copper was obtained from the Khetri copper mines of Rajasthan and Tin was possibly brought from Afghanistan.
• Textile impressions have also been found on several objects.
• Huge brick structure suggest that brick-laying was an important craft. This also attests the existence of a class of masons.
• The Harappans practised boat-making, bead making and seal-making. Terracotta manufacture was also an important craft.
• The goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold and precious stones.
• The potter's wheel was in full use, and the Harappans produced their own characteristic pottery, which was glossy and shining.

Institutions

• Very few written materials have been discovered in the Indus valley and the scholars have not been able to decipher the Indus script so far.
• As a result, there is difficulty in understanding the nature of the state and institutions of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• No temples have been found at any Harappan sites. Therefore the possibility of priests ruling Harappa can be eliminated.
• Harappa was possibly ruled by a class of merchants.
• If we look for a centre of power or for depictions of people in power, archaeological records provide no immediate answers. 
• Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers, and that everybody enjoyed equal status.
• Another theory argues that there was no single ruler, but a number of rulers representing each of the urban centers.

Religion

• In Harappa numerous terracotta figurines of women have been found. In one figurine a plant is shown growing out of the embryo of a woman.
• The Harappans, therefore, looked upon the earth as a fertility goddess and worshipped her in the same manner as the Egyptians worshipped the Nile goddess Isis.
• The male deity is represented on a seal with three horned heads, represented in the sitting posture of a yogi.
• This god is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros, and has a buffalo below his throne. At his feet appear two deer.The depicted god is identified as Pushupati Mahadeva.
• Numerous symbols of the phallus and female sex organs made of stone have been found.
• The people of the Indus region also worshipped trees and Animals.
• The most important of them is the one horned unicorn which may be identified with the rhinoceros and the next important was the humped bull.
• Amulets have also been found in large numbers.

Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization

• The IVC declined around 1800 BCE but the actual reasons behind its demise are still debated.
• One theory claims that Indo-European tribe i.e. Aryans invaded and conquered the IVC.
• In later cultures various elements of the IVC are found which suggest that civilization did not disappear suddenly due to an invasion.
• On the other hand, many scholars believe natural factors are behind the decline of the IVC.
• The natural factors could be geological and climatic.
• It is believed that the Indus Valley region experienced several tectonic disturbances which causes earthquakes. Which also changed courses of rivers or dried them up.
• Another natural reason might be changes in patterns of rainfall.
• There could be also dramatic shifts in the river courses, which might have brought floods to the food producing areas.
• Due to combination of these natural causes there was a slow but inevitable collapse of IVC.

3..‘Indus Valley settlers had a distinct genetic lineage’(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:Genome shows no Steppe pastoralist or Iranian farmer link.
• Throwing fresh light on the Indus Valley Civilisation, a study of DNA from skeletal remains excavated from the Harappan cemetery at Rakhigarhi argues that the hunter-gatherers of South Asia, who then became a settled people, have an independent origin. The researchers who conducted the study contend that the theory of the Harappans having Steppe pastoral or ancient Iranian farmer ancestry thus stands refuted. The finding also negates the hypothesis about mass migration during Harappan times from outside South Asia, they argue.
• Vasant Shinde, the professor who headed the Rakhigarhi Project said on Friday that researchers had successfully sequenced the first genome of an individual from Harappa and combining it with archaeological data, found that hunter-gatherers of South Asia had an independent origin, and authored the settled way of life in this part of the world.
• They do not contain genome from either the Steppe region or ancient Iranian farmers. The genetic continuity from hunter gatherer to modern times is visible in the DNA results,” Prof. Shinde, affiliated to the Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, said.
• The study, he said, finds that the same hunter-gatherer communities developed into agricultural communities and formed the Harappan civilisation.
• The researchers also suggest that there was a movement of people from east to west as the Harappan people’s presence is evident at sites like Gonur in Turkmenistan and Sahr-i-Sokhta in Iran. “As the Harappans traded with Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Persian Gulf and almost all across South Asia, there was bound to be movement of people resulting in a mixed genetic history. India had a heterogeneous population right from the beginning of settled life,” Prof. Shinde said. There was a hint that settled life and domestication went from South Asia to West Asia.
• The Rakhigarhi study was reported in a paper titled “An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian farmers” in the journal Cell on Thursday.
  

  

Origins of farming

• In Europe, ancient-DNA studies have shown that agriculture tended to spread through an influx of people with ancestry in Anatolia, in modern day Turkey.
• The new study shows a similar dynamic in Iran and Turan (southern Central Asia), where the researchers found that Anatolian-related ancestry and farming arrived around the same time.
• In South Asia, however, the story appears quite different.
• Not only did the researchers find an absence of Anatolian-related ancestry, they saw that Iranian-related ancestry in South Asians comes from a lineage that separated from ancient Iranian farmers and hunter-gatherers before those groups split from each other, nearly 9,000 years ago.
• The researchers, therefore, concluded that farming in South Asia was not due to the movement of people from the farming cultures of the west and that local foragers adopted it.
• ‘Indus Valley settlers had a distinct genetic lineage’  
• “Researchers find no trace of the Anatolian-related ancestry that is a hallmark of the spread of farming to the west, but the Iranian-related ancestry they detected in South Asians comes from a lineage that separated from ancient Iranian farmers and hunter-gatherers before those groups split from each other,” a statement highlighting the findings says. 
• “Prior to the arrival of steppe pastoralists bringing their Indo-European languages about 4,000 years ago, we find no evidence of large-scale movements of people into South Asia,” David Reich, a geneticist and a co-author of the study, based in the United States, said in a statement. 

4.Plan to replicate North East model in J&K(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:A team from the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) on Thursday began travelling to different parts of the country in a bid to replicate the north-east development model in Jammu and Kashmir.

Infrastructure and North-East

• The central Government has given a big push to a diverse range of infrastructure projects in the North Eastern Region. The emphasis has been on improving rail, road, air and inland waterways connectivity in the region. In addition to this, schemes such as the National Bamboo mission, Digital North East Vision 2022 and North East Industrial Development Scheme have also been launched for the overall development of the North Eastern states.

Infrastructural Development in North East

• The North-Eastern Council (NEC) is a nodal agency for economic and social development of the north-east. Its key members include governors and chief ministers of these eight states.
• Enhanced connectivity in the Northeast will lead to two benefits.
• Along with connectivity, the level of economic activity is bound to increase. Previously, even fiscal concession given to the states failed to attract significant industrial investments. The reason was high logistical costs of moving merchandise to high consumption regions. In this context, better connectivity provides a booster shot to economic activity, including tourism.
• The other important benefit is from a strategic standpoint. The region borders China and considering the history of confrontations with China, it is essential that military personnel can be moved swiftly in the region.
• For Example, Bogibeel Bridge will vastly improve access to Arunachal Pradesh.
• Air Connectivity
• The NEC is funding upgradation of infrastructure in 12 operational airports.
• The Pakyong Airport in Sikkim is the first greenfield airport in Northeast India. It is situated around 30 kilometers from Gangtok.
• Road Connectivity
• The NEC is focusing on building roads spanning 10,500 kilometers, which will include inter-state and roads of economic importance.
• Despite being the largest state in the country, Arunachal Pradesh has the least road density. The Union Ministry of Road and Transport is planning to expedite the Trans-Arunachal Highway project.
• An express highway project along the Brahmaputra River, spanning 1,300 km, will come up and that is expected to resolve connectivity issues in Assam.
• Railway Connectivity
• There are plans to provide a railway link for the NE states through 20 major railway projects, encompassing 13 new lines, two gauge conversions and five doublings with a length of nearly 2,624 kilometers.
• Construction of a broad gauge railway line connecting Bairabi and Sairang is in progress that will connect capital cities of the north-eastern states by 2020.

Digital connectivity

• Telecom Commission has approved a comprehensive strategy to implement BharatNet in North East Region (NER).
• Under this strategy, 4240 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the North-East are to be connected by broadband and by satellite connectivity.
• The telecom ministry has announced a multitude of goals with respect to North East—
• The plan for 100 percent teledensity by 2020.
• Expansion of mobile connectivity by 2019.
• Last mile connectivity through BharatNet in all the Gram Panchayats including Satellite Connectivity in the difficult and inaccessible GPs.
• Network for Spectrum (NFS) project for providing Optical fiber connectivity for the defense forces in the border areas and Wi-Fi project to provide internet connectivity to the general rural public.

Bogibeel Bridge

• The combined road and rail bridge, which spans the River Brahmaputra between Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts of Assam, is of immense economic and strategic significance for the nation.
• This is also Asia’s 2nd longest railroad bridge that has a serviceable period of around 120 years.
• This is the 4th longest bridge in India after Bhupen Hazarika Setu (Assam), Mahatma Gandhi Setu (Bihar) and Bandra-Worli Sea Link (Mumbai, Maharashtra).
• It took 16 years to complete the project as heavy rainfall in the region became the main cause for the slow progress.
• As the Bogibeel bridge being situated in an earthquake-prone area, it is built to withstand earthquakes of magnitudes up to 7 in Richter Scale.

Significance

• The bridge will reduce the distance from Dibrugarh to Rangiya and a train journey from Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh, to Dibrugarh (Assam) will be 180km.
• People from Dhemaji, Jonai and North Lakhimpur who had to travel the whole day to cross the Brahmaputra to reach Dibrugarh, will now cross the river within hours.
• The Bogibeel Bridge is the insignia of the governments Act East Policy. The 3Cs of the Act East Policy, that is Commerce, Connect and Communicate are catered to by such infrastructure.
• Investing in infrastructure would also generate employment and would play a major role in thwarting secessionist movements in the North East region.

National Bamboo Mission

• The Mission envisages promoting holistic growth of the bamboo sector by adopting the area-based, regionally differentiated strategy. It aims to increase the area under bamboo cultivation and marketing.
• Under the Mission, steps have been taken to increase the availability of quality planting material by supporting the setting up of new nurseries and strengthening of existing ones.
• To address forward integration, the Mission has taken steps to strengthen the marketing of bamboo products, especially those of handicraft items.
• North-East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS)
• In order to promote employment in the North East States, Government is incentivizing primarily the MSME Sector through this scheme.

Tourism

• International Tourism Mart (ITM) is organized annually with the objective of showcasing the largely untapped tourism potential of the North East region in the domestic and international markets.
• 10% of the plan allocation of the Ministry of Tourism is marked for the North East region.
• There are plans to hold an NER Tourism Mart where tour operators from all over the country can meet and the regional tourism can be showcased.

North Eastern Council

• NEC was established under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971as an apex level body for securing balanced and coordinated development and facilitating coordination with the States.
• Subsequent to the Amendment of 2002, NEC has been mandated to function as a regional planning body for the North Eastern Area and while formulating a regional plan for this area, shall give priority to the schemes and projects benefiting two or more states provided that in the case of Sikkim, the Council shall formulate specific projects and schemes for that State.
• The Union Cabinet, in June 2018, approved the proposal of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) for the nomination of the Union Home Minister as ex-officio Chairman of North Eastern Council (NEC). The Cabinet also approved that Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of DoNER would serve as Vice Chairman of the Council.
• NEC and all the Governors and Chief Ministers of North Eastern States will be Members.

5.Planning new law for Sabarimala admn: Kerala(GS-1,2,3)

• CONTEXT:The LDF government in Kerala is planning to bring a separate law for the administration of Sabarimala temple. The state government conveyed this to a Supreme Court bench on August 27.
• “Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent —the State of Kerala submits that the State is considering enacting separate legislation with regard to the administration of the Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa Swamy Temple. He accordingly seeks an adjournment,” the court said and directed that the matter be listed after four weeks.
• The development comes at a time when the state government is reeling from aftereffects of its stand on the Sabarimala issue after the apex court quashed age restrictions for entry of women.

ABOUT SABRIMALA TEMPLE:

• The Sabarimala temple is a temple complex located at Sabarimala inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India.It is the site of the one of the largest annual pilgrimage in the world with an estimate of between 17 million and 50 million devotees visiting every year.The temple is dedicated to the Hindu celibate deity Ayyappan also known as Dharma Sastha, who according to belief is the son of Shiva and Mohini, the feminine incarnation of Vishnu.The traditions of Sabarimala are a confluence of Shaivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, and other Śramaṇa traditions.
• The temple is situated on a hilltop amidst eighteen hills at an altitude of 480 m (1,574 ft) above sea level, and is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. The dense forest, part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, around the temple is known as Poongavanam. Temples exist in each of the hills surrounding Sabarimala. While functional and intact temples exist at many places in the surrounding areas like Nilakkal, Kalaketty, and Karimala, remnants of old temples survive to this day on remaining hills.

What is the Sabarimala case?

• A group of five women lawyers challenged Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965, which authorises restriction on entry of women “of menstruating age” to the shrine. They moved to the apex court after the Kerala High Court upheld the centuries-old restriction, and ruled that only “tantri (priest)” is empowered to take decision on traditions.
• The petitioners argued that the restrictions are against Articles 14 (Equality before law), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) and 17 (Abolition of Untouchability) of the Indian Constitution.
• The temple management has argued in court that they should be allowed to frame rules for the shrine without the state’s interference. They also said that the practiceisn't discriminatory as the tradition was born from the belief that the deity is a ‘naishtika brahmachari’ (eternal celibate).
• While the Kerala government had opposed the entry of women in 2016, it told the SC during the hearing in 2018 that it was in favour of allowing women to pray in the temple.

6.Chennai may get Krishna water from October(GS-1,2)

• CONTEXT:Fresh floods rekindle hopes among farmers in Nellore and Prakasam districts
• With the Somasila reservoir filling up fast in the wake of fresh floods in the Krishna, the parched metropolis of Chennai can expect to get its quota of Krishna water from early next month.
• The discharge from Almatti and Narayanpur dams in the upper riparian state of Karnataka was stepped up to a huge 1.74 lakh cusecs and 1.87 lakh cusecs on Friday respectively in the wake of copious rains in the catchment areas, as a result of which the storage in Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar in Andhra Pradesh went up to 180 tmcft and 299 tmcft feet respectively.
• With the Veligodu Balancing Reservoir in Penna basin almost full, the Somasila reservoir in Nellore district is also getting filled quicly as the inflows doubled to over 15,317 cusecs on Friday. As a result, storage went up to 25.96 tmcft.

KRISHNA RIVER:

• The Krishna is the second largest east flowing river of the Peninsula.
• The Krishna Basin extends over Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka having a total area of ~2.6 lakh Sq.km.
• It is bounded by Balaghat range on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and the east and by the Western Ghats on the west.
• The Krishna River rises from the Western Ghats near Jor village of Satara district of Maharashtra at an altitude of 1,337 m just north of Mahabaleshwar.
• The total length of river from origin to its outfall into the Bay of Bengal is 1,400 km.
• The major part of basin is covered with agricultural land accounting to 75.86% of the total area.
• The Krishna forms a large delta with a shoreline of about 120 km. The Krishna delta appears to merge with that formed by the Godavari and extends about 35 km into the sea.

Krishna river Basin

Tributaries of Krishna River

• Right bank: the Ghatprabha, the Malprabha and the Tungabhadra.
• Left Bank: the Bhima, the Musi and the Munneru.
• The Koyna is a small tributary but is known for Koyna Dam. This dam was perhaps the main cause of the devastating earthquake (6.4 on richter scale) in 1967 that killed 150 people.
• The Bhima originates from the Matheron Hills and joins the Krishna near Raichur after for a distance of 861 km.
• The Tungabhadra is formed by the unification of the Tunga and the Bhadra originating from Gangamula in the Central Sahyadri. Its total length is 531 km.
• At Wazirabad, it receives its last important tributary, the Musi, on whose banks the city of Hyderabad is located.

Projects on Krishna River

• Important ones are the Tungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Nagarjunasagar, Malaprabha, Bhima, Bhadra and Telugu Ganga.
• The major Hydro Power stations in the basin are Koyna, Tungabhadara, Sri Sailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, Almatti, Naryanpur, Bhadra.
• Tunagabhadra is a major inter-States project in the basin. In order to operate the project and to regulate the flows among the beneficiary States of Karnataka and Andhara Pradesh.

Resources in Krishna Basin

• The basin has rich mineral deposits and there is good potential for industrial development.
• Iron and steel, cement, sugar cane vegetable oil extraction and rice milling are important industrial activities at present in the basin.
• Recently oil has been struck in this basin which is bound to have an effect on the future industrial scenario of this basin.
• Industry in Krishna Basin

SOURCE :PMF IAS

• The major Urban Centers in the Basin are Pune, Hyderabad.
• Hyderabad is the state capital of Telangana and is now a major IT hub.
• Pune in Maharashtra has number of automobile and IT industry and is major education centre.
• Drought and Floods in Krishna Basin

• Some parts of the basin, especially the Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh, Bellary, Raichur, Dharwar, Chitradurga, Belgaum and Bijapur districts of Karnataka and Pune, Sholapur, Osmanabad and Ahmedanagar districts of Maharashtra are drought-prone.
• The delta area of the basin is subject to flooding. It has been observed that the river bed in delta area is continuously raised due to silt deposition resulting in reduction in carrying capacity of the channel.
• The coastal cyclonic rainfall of high intensity and short duration makes the flood problem worse.

CHENNAI WATER CRISIS(SOURCE:DOWN TO EARTH)

• The water crisis in Chennai has been hitting headlines like never before and the fear that such crisis can happen in several other cities is also rising.
• Chennai has been a water deficient city. The household water supply in the city was 55 litres per capita per day (lpcpd), much less than the Ministry of Urban Development Benchmark of 135 lpcpd, according to the 2011 census. However, this did not limit urban and industrial expansion and real estate growth.
• It's municipal corporation boundary was expanded from 175 to 426 square kilometre in 2011 to include the fast urbanising peri-urban areas and the Chennai Metropolitan Area is now being considered for expansion from 1,189 to more than 8,878 sq km.
• While inappropriate planning of land use and lack of measures for the conservation and management of water resources can be blamed for the current situation, changes in rainfall pattern also had its share of impacts. From extreme rainfall events to no rain for over 190 days, Chennai has often swung between floods and drought.
• In 2003-04 the city faced severe water scarcity, but in 2005 a bountiful monsoon restored water levels in the reservoirs. The floods, in 2015, caused an overflow of the Chembarambakkam Lake. In 2019, the lake is lying bone dry.
• Despite scientific advancements in climatology and weather systems, predicting a weak monsoon or extreme rainfall event is still a challenge.
• With such uncertainities managing reservoirs becomes difficult. Yet, few measures could be taken to prevent such crisis in Chennai as well as in other cities, given the uncertainties around climate change impacts and certainities about growth of urban population.
• It is important to promote water conservation measures such as:
• Development of watersheds 
• Improving storage of surface water 
• Recharging groundwater
• Mitigating floods through storm water drains
• Water management measures, on the other hand, include reducing the share of non-revenue water and promoting integrated urban water management strategies as practiced in many global cities.
• Rajasthan's Udaipur, which receives scanty rainfall, has shown an excellent work of water conservation and management. Few other cities are roping in citizens and private sector for water conservation and management. Meanwhile, government programmes such as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation have already considered some of these ideas to augment and manage water supply.
• Another issue is to budget the availability of water resource and promote sustainable urban and industrial development. Infinite growth cannot be achieved with finite resources.
• As India’s urban population is set to increase, it is important to consider water resource availability and estimate the carrying capacity of cities for future. This should be considered in future master plans that are generally developed targeting a period of 10-15 years.
• And with every square kilometre of urban expansion, sufficient water resources augmentation should be made. It is high time that appropriate lessons are learnt from this crisis and the city administration works towards avoiding such crisis. This is particularly important given India’s climate vulnerability and urban growth trends.

7.NCPCR to visit 117 aspirational districts(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:The apex body for child rights, NCPCR, is visiting 117 Aspirational Districts to hold public meetings on complaints affecting children pertaining to education, health and nutrition as well as lack of infrastructure.
• “The Aspirational District Programme focuses on five main themes to improve socio-economic status which include Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development. Of these, three issues come directly under our mandate and account for 70% of the total weightage for ranking districts. So we have been holding our benches where we meet officials from nearly 30 departments as well as local residents

NCPCR:

• The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) emphasises the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights and recognises the tone of urgency in all the child related policies of the country. For the Commission, protection of all children in the 0 to 18 years age group is of equal importance. Thus, policies define priority actions for the most vulnerable children. This includes focus on regions that are backward or on communities or children under certain circumstances, and so on.The NCPCR believes that while in addressing only some children, there could be a fallacy of exclusion of many vulnerable children who may not fall under the defined or targeted categories. In its translation into practice, the task of reaching out to all children gets compromised and a societal tolerance of violation of child rights continues. This would in fact have an impact on the program for the targeted population as well. Therefore, it considers that it is only in building a larger atmosphere in favour of protection of children's rights, that children who are targeted become visible and gain confidence to access their entitlements.
• For the Commission, every right the child enjoys is seen as mutually-reinforcing and interdependent. Therefore the issue of gradation of rights does not arise. A child enjoying all her rights at her 18th year is dependent on the access to all her entitlements from the time she is born. Thus policies interventions assume significance at all stages. For the Commission, all the rights of children are of equal importance.

Functions and Powers

• The Commission shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely:
• Examine and review the safeguards provided by or under any law for the time being in force for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation.
• Present to be central government, annually and at such other intervals, as the commission may deem fit, reports upon working of those safeguards;
• Inquire into violation of child rights and recommend initiation of proceedings in such cases;
• Examine all factors that inhibit the enjoyment of rights of children affected by terrorism, communal violence, riots, natural disaster, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, maltreatment, torture and exploitation, pornography and prostitution and recommend appropriate remedial measures;
• Look into matters relating to children in need of special care and protection, including children in distress, marginalised and disadvantaged children, children in conflict with law, juveniles, children without family and children of prisoners and recommend appropriate remedial measures.
• Study treaties and other international instruments and undertake periodic review of existing policies, programmes, and other activities on child rights and make recommendations for their effective implementation in the best interest of children.
• Undertake and promote research in the field of child rights.
• Spread child rights literacy among various sections of society and promote awareness of the safeguards available for protection of these rights through publications, media, seminars and other available means.
• Inspect or cause to be inspected any juvenile custodial home or any other place of residence or institution meant for children, under the control of the Central Government or any State Government or any other authority including any institution run by a social organization, where children are detained or lodged for the purpose of treatment, reformation or protection and take up with these authorities for remedial action, if found necessary.
• Inquire into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters related to:
• Deprivation and violation of child rights.
• Non implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children.
• Non compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships to and ensuring welfare of the children and to provide relief to such children or take up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities
• Such other functions as it may consider necessary for the promotion of child rights and any other matter incidental to the above functions.
• Complaint Mechanism
• One of the Core Mandates of the Commission is to inquire into complaints of violations of child rights. The commission is also required to take suo moto cognisance of serious cases of violation of child rights and to examine factors that inhibit the enjoyment of rights of children.
• Complaints may be made to the Commission in any language listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
• No fee shall be chargeable on such complaints.
• The complaint shall disclose a complete picture of the matter leading to the complaint.
• The Commission may seek further information/affidavit as may be considered necessary.
• While making a complaint, please ensure that the complaint is:
• Clear and legible, not vague, anonymous or pseudonymous.
• Genuine, not trivial or frivolous.
• Not related to civil disputes such as property rights, contractual obligations and the like.
• Not related to service matters.
• Not pending before any other commission duly constituted under the law or sub-judice before a court/ tribunal.
• Not already decided by the Commission.
• Not outside the purview of the Commission on any other grounds.

8.Prepare plan for protection of the Great Indian Bustard: NGT(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:Centre told after plea on high mortality rate
• Noting the high mortality rate of the Great Indian Bustard, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Centre to prepare a time-bound action plan within two months for protection of the birds.
• A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also constituted a joint committee comprising officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Great Indian Bustard:(SOURCE:

wwfindia)

Characteristics

• The great Indian bustard can easily be distinguished by its black crown on the forehead contrasting with the pale neck and head. The body is brownish and the wings are marked with black, brown and grey. Males and females generally grow to the same height and weight but males have larger black crowns and a black band across the breast. They breed mostly during the monsoon season when females lay a single egg on open ground. Males have a gular pouch, which helps produce a resonant booming mating call to attract females and can be heard up to a distance of 500 metres. Males play no role in the incubation and care of the young, which remain with the mother till the next breeding season. These birds are opportunist eaters. Their diet ranges widely depending on the seasonal availability of food. They feed on grass seeds, insects like grasshoppers and beetles, and sometimes even small rodents and reptiles.

Conservation Issues

• The biggest threat to this species is hunting, which is still prevalent in Pakistan. This is followed by occasional poaching outside Protected Areas, collisions with high tension electric wires, fast moving vehicles and free-ranging dogs in villages. Other threats include habitat loss and alteration as a result of widespread agricultural expansion and mechanized farming, infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electric poles, as well as mining and industrialization.

WWF-India’s InitiativeS

• WWF-India has provided inputs in developing the ‘Guidelines for the State Action Plan for Resident Bustard Recovery Programme’. It has played an important role in raising awareness about the declining populations and highlighting the importance of implementing a focused bustard conservation programme at the national level. WWF-India, is undertaking initiatives towards conservation of GIB in and around Desert National Park. In near future, WWF also plans to expand the work in Gujarat and is making efforts to raise funds towards this.

9.India, South Korea seal logistics pact(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:India and South Korea concluded a military logistics agreement during the ongoing visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Seoul. The two countries also formulated a forward-looking road map to take bilateral defence industry cooperation to the next level, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
• A defence source said this foreign cooperation initiative would greatly help interoperability.

Military logistics 

• Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement, supply, and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:
• Design, development, acquisition, storage, distribution, maintenance, evacuation, and disposition of materiel.
• Transport of personnel.
• Acquisition or construction, maintenance, operation, and disposition of facilities.
• Acquisition or furnishing of services.
• Medical and health service support.

10.Piyush Goyal to attend RCEP meet in Thailand(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:After skipping the last Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting in August, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will attend the seventh RCEP Ministerial meeting in Thailand that starts on Sunday, the Ministry of Commerce confirmed on Friday.

RCEP:

What you need to know about RCEP?

• RCEP is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
• Aim: RCEP aims to boost goods trade by eliminating most tariff and non-tariff barriers — a move that is expected to provide the region’s consumers greater choice of quality products at affordable rates. It also seeks to liberalise investment norms and do away with services trade restrictions.

Why has it assumed so much significance in recent times?

• When inked, it would become the world’s biggest free trade pact. This is because the 16 nations account for a total GDP of about $50 trillion and house close to 3.5 billion people. India (GDP-PPP worth $9.5 trillion and population of 1.3 billion) and China (GDP-PPP of $23.2 trillion and population of 1.4 billion) together comprise the RCEP’s biggest component in terms of market size.

Why is India concerned?

• Greater access to Chinese goods may have impact on the Indian manufacturing sector. India has got massive trade deficit with China. Under these circumstances, India proposed differential market access strategy for China.
• There are demands by other RCEP countries for lowering customs duties on a number of products and greater access to the market than India has been willing to provide.

Why India should not miss RCEP?

• If India is out of the RCEP, it would make its exports price uncompetitive with other RCEP members’ exports in each RCEP market, and the ensuing export-losses contributing to foreign exchange shortages and the subsequent extent of depreciation of the rupee can only be left to imagination. Some of the sectors that have been identified as potential sources of India’s export growth impulses under RCEP to the tune of approximately $200 billion.
• There are more compelling trade and economic reasons for RCEP to become India-led in future, than otherwise. India would get greater market access in other countries not only in terms of goods, but in services and investments also.