CURRENT AFFAIRS 1 OCTOBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS

1 OCTOBER 2019

BY SUMIT

1.NDRF(National Disaster Response Force )(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:Bihar floods: NDRF rescues Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi from his residence

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi was rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from his residence on September 30.

Several parts of Bihar are reeling under floods following incessant showers over the past few days.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting with officials of the flood-affected districts. The meeting will be held via video conferencing.

NDRF(National Disaster Response Force ):

Facts:

NDRF stands for National Disaster Response Force
It comes under Ministry of Home Affairs
It is the only dedicated disaster response force in the world
Established in 2006
HQ: New Delhi
It works under National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) which lays down policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management.
At present there are 12 battalions in NDRF which are deployed strategically across country to provide immediate response.
4 new battalions are sanctioned by Union Cabinet.

Background:

The Disaster Management Act, 2005 has made the statutory provisions for constitution of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the purpose of specialized response to natural and man-made disasters.
Two national calamities in quick succession in the form of Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Gujarat Earthquake (2001) brought about the realization of the need of having a specialist response mechanism at National Level to effectively respond to disasters. This realization led to the enactment of the DM Act on 26 Dec 2005.

Role and Mandate of NDRF:

Specialized response during disasters.
Proactive deployment during impending disaster situations.
Acquire and continually upgrade its own training and skills.
Liaison, Reconnaissance, Rehearsals and Mock Drills.
Impart basic and operational level training to State Response Forces (Police, Civil Defence and Home Guards).
Community Capacity Building Programme.
Organize Public Awareness Campaigns.

Why it is said to be UNIQUE?

It is the only dedicated disaster response force of the world.

The only agency with comprehensive response capabilities having multi-disciplinary and multi-skilled, high-tech, standalone nature.

Experienced paramilitary personnel specially trained and equipped for disaster response.

Capabilities for undertaking disaster response, prevention, mitigation and capacity building

2.Global warming and Climate change,Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mamallapuram(GS-1,3)

CONTEXT:PM Modi calls upon best brains in Asia to collaborate for solutions to global warming, climate change

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for collaborative efforts among the “best brains in Asian countries to offer innovative solutions” to global warming and climate change.

Pointing out that “technology unites people, even across countries and across continents,” Mr. Modi, who handed over prizes to winners of the Singapore-India Hackathon 2019 at the IIT- Madras Research Park here, responded favourably to the suggestion of Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Education Minister, that the contest be extended to students of universities belonging to member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Prime Minister pointed out that Indian school students, even at the level of sixth grade, were being given exposure to concepts such as artificial intelligence and block chain

On the forthcoming India-China summit to be held in Mamallapuram, the Singaporean Minister recounted the historical ties between the two countries even during the Pallava era and said how they got extended up to the southeast Asian countries.

Global warming and Climate change:

Anthropogenic (Human Caused) Factors

Anthropogenic or manmade factors result in short term climatic changes. It involves the changes in the energy
balance of the Earth - atmosphere system leading to changes in weather and climate. Scientists have been
observing a change in the climate since the beginning of the 20th Century that cannot be attributed to any of the
‘natural’ influences of the past. Global warming has occurred faster than any other climate change recorded by
humans and so is of great interest and importance to the human population.
Cause of anthropogenic (human caused) climate change includes greenhouse gases, aerosols and pattern of land
use changes.

Carbon dioxide (CO2): It is the most important GHG and is

produced both naturally and through human activities.
Naturally CO2 is released into the atmosphere through
volcanic eruptions and animal respiration. It is also released
through human activities such as deforestation and the
burning of fossil fuels for energy. CO2 spends a long time in
the atmosphere increasing its impact. Since the industrial
revolution, humans have increased atmospheric
CO2 concentration by 30%. Deforestation contributes to
global warming as fewer plants are available to take up
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Since HFCs are not ozone-depleting, they have been kept out of the Montreal Protocol that currently
deals with phasing out ozone depleting substances like hydro-chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). HFCs, on the other hand, contribute to global warming and come under

Kyoto Protocol.

In the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference that was held in Bonn, the UNEP expressed its
view that the HFCs are a part of Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) but have higher global warming
potential when compared to carbon dioxide. Many of the western countries led by US are of the view
that HFCs should be dealt under Montreal protocol and the use of HFCs should be reduced.

International Efforts to Counter GLOBAL WARMING AND Climate Change :

1.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

IPCC was founded in November 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United

Nations Environment Program (UNEP) jointly as a place to study global warming problems at a

governmental level.

It is the mechanism that accumulates scientific knowledge on global warming while debates on the

international countermeasures have been made in the COPs (Conference of the Parties) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These two mechanisms are complementing each other.

2.United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Following its effectuation, the COP1 was held in Berlin, COP2 in Geneva, and the COP3 was held in Kyoto

to adopt "Kyoto Protocol", which implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by

reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to 'a level that would prevent dangerous

anthropogenic interference with the climate system'

3.National action plan on climate change (NAPCC)( India’s India’sEffortto Counter Climate Change to Counter Climate Change to Counter Climate Change )

National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem

The plan aims to conserve biodiversity, forest cover, and other ecological values in the Himalayan region,

where glaciers that are a major source of India's water supply are projected to recede as a result of

global warming.

What is ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organization which was established to promote political and social stability amid rising tensions among the Asia-Pacific’s post-colonial states.

The motto of ASEAN is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”.

8th August is observed as ASEAN Day.

ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta

Member Nations

Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Brunei
Vietnam
Laos
Myanmar
Cambodia

Genesis of ASEAN

1967 – ASEAN was established with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by its founding fathers.
Founding Fathers of ASEAN are: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
1990s – Membership doubled after the changing conditions in the region following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the Cold War in 1991.
Addition of Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), and Cambodia (1999).
1995 – Members signed a deal to create a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia.
1997 – Adoption of ASEAN Vision 2020.
2003 – Bali Concord II for the establishment of an ASEAN Community.
2007 – Cebu Declaration, to accelerate the establishment of ASEAN Community by 2015.
2008 – ASEAN Charter comes into force and becomes a legally binding agreement.
2015 – Launch of ASEAN Community.
ASEAN Community is comprised of three pillars:
ASEAN Political-Security Community
ASEAN Economic Community
ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community

Objectives

To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian Nations.
To promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields.
To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilisation of agriculture and industries, the expansion of their trade, the improvement of transportation and communications facilities and the raising of the living standards of peoples.
To promote Southeast Asian studies.
To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organisations.

Mamallapuram

Mamallapuram, also known as Seven Pagodas or Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on the coastline 58 kilometres (36 mi) south of the city of Chennai. An ancient historic town and a bustling seaport in the 1st millennium CE, now a beachside tourism center with a group of Hindu monuments declared as UNESCO world heritage site, it is one of the most visited towns in South India.
Mamallapuram was one of two major port cities by the 7th century within the Pallava kingdom. Along with economic prosperity, it became a center of a group of battle monuments carved out of rock. These are dated to the 7th and 8th centuries: rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air rock reliefs such as the famous Descent of the Ganges, and the Shore Temple dedicated to Shiva, Durga, Vishnu, Krishna and others. The contemporary town plan was established by the British Raj in 1827

3.Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index(GS-2)

CONTEXT:Kerala tops Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index; U.P. is worst performer

There are huge differences in the quality of school education across the country, according to a Niti Aayog ranking released on Monday. Among 20 large States, Kerala was the best performer with a score of 76.6%, while Uttar Pradesh came in last with a score of 36.4%.

However, Haryana, Assam and Uttar Pradesh showed the most improvement in their performance in 2016-17, in comparison to the base year of 2015-16. The School Education Quality Index assesses States on the basis of learning outcomes, access, equity and infrastructure and facilities, using survey data, self-reported data from States and third-party verification.

Tamil Nadu was the top performer in access and equity outcomes, while Karnataka led in learning outcomes. Haryana had the best infrastructure and facilities.

Among smaller States, Manipur emerged as the best performer, while Chandigarh topped the list of Union Territories. West Bengal refused to participate in the evaluation process and has not been included in the rankings.

Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index (SEQI):

As per the report released by the NITI Aayog, among 20 large states in the country 18 have improved their overall performance between 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, which is otherwise referred to as the incremental performance in the report. The highest incremental performance has been recorded in Kerala. As against 77.6% score in 2015-2016, the state has recorded 82.2% in 2016-2017.

Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have improved their performances in school education sector.

NITI Aayog's school education report has considered 2015-2016 as the base year and 2016-2017 as the reference year.

Among all the improving states, Rajasthan has made a quantum jump in the education sector by scoring more than eight percentage points than its previous score. Other states like Haryana, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha have improved their ranking as well.

The overall performance has declined in Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

All seven union territories have shown an improvement in their overall performance scores.

Among the small states the overall performance has increased in five states-- Tripura, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland. The performance and ranks have decreased in Mizoram, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

In the launch event, Amitabh Kant CEO NITI Aayog, Dr Rajiv Kumar Vice Chairman NITI Aayog, Rina Ray Secretary Higher Education were present along with other dignitaries

4.Scientists excavate ‘ancient river’ in Uttar Pradesh(GS-1)

CONTEXT:The Union Water Ministry has excavated an old, dried-up river in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) that linked the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The aim is to develop it as a potential groundwater recharge source, according to officials at the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), a body under the Union Jal Shakti Ministry that coordinates the cleaning of the Ganga.

The “ancient buried river” as it was described at a conference organised by the Ministry, is around 4 km wide, 45 km long and consisted of a 15-metre-thick layer buried under soil.

According to Executive Director, NMCG, D.P. Mathuria, the discovery was made last December by a team of scientists from the CSIR-NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute) and the Central Groundwater Board during a helicopter-borne geophysical survey covering the Prayagraj and Kaushambi region in Uttar Pradesh.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG):

National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986. NGRBA has since been dissolved with effect from the 7th October 2016, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga

The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river Ganga as below;

1. National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

2. Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation).

3. National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG).

4. State Ganga Committees and

5. District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.

NMCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee. Both of them are headed by Director General, NMCG. Executive Committee has been authorized to accord approval for all projects up to Rs.1000 crore. Similar to structure at national level, State Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) acts as implementing arm of State Ganga Committees. Thus the newly created structure attempts to bring all stakeholders on one platform to take a holistic approach towards the task of Ganga cleaning and rejuvenation.

The Director General(DG) of NMCG is a Additional Secretary in Government of India. For effective implementation of the projects under the overall supervision of NMCG, the State Level Program Management Groups (SPMGs) are, also headed by senior officers of the concerned States.

5.ACCOUNT DEFECIT(GS-3)

CONTEXT: Current account deficit shrinks

The country’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to 2% of GDP, or $14.3 billion, in the first quarter of the current financial year from 2.3% of GDP, or $15.8 billion, reported during the same period of the previous year, data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

However, the gap was bigger than the preceding quarter which was $4.6 billion, or 0.7% of GDP.

Current account deficit:

A current account deficit happens when a country spends more money on what it imports compared to the money it receives for what it exports. That means there is more money leaving the country than there is coming in. The current account of a country is the money it receives and pays for goods and services, investments, and other things such as any money sent abroad, salaries, and pensions

Current account deficits mainly occur in developed or underdeveloped countries. The current accounts of emerging markets typically operate in a surplus.

A deficit isn't necessarily a bad thing. A country may have a deficit because it is importing the inputs it needs to produce goods and services it will export in the future. In that case, it may plan to create a current account surplus, which ultimately makes it an attractive investment opportunity for foreigners. The deficit may be problematic, though, if a country decides to overspend on its exports when it could be spending money on domestic production.

The longer a deficit remains on a country's books, the worse off it will be for its future generations. That means they will be saddled with excessive levels of debt and heavy interest payments to make to its creditors.

When a country has a deficit, it must find a way to make up for the shortfall. Deficits are reduced through the capital account, which records transactions between entities in one country and those in the rest of the world. That means the deficit can be reduced through the sale of assets, foreign currency, and through foreign direct investment.

Another way to reduce the deficit is to increase the value of its exports compared to its imports. But this can put economic or political pressure from international trade partners in the form of tariffs.

6.Core sectors(GS-3)

CONTEXT:Core sector growth slips to 52-month low

5 out of 8 sectors in negative zone

Growth in the eight core sectors in August slumped to the lowest in four years and four months. That is, the -0.5% registered in August 2019 was the lowest since April 2015.

Growth in five out of the eight sectors of the Index of Eight Core Industries fell into the negative zone in August. The index had registered a growth of 2.7% in July 2019 and a robust 4.72% in August 2018.

Core sectors :

Core sectors or industry can be defined as the main industry of the economy. In most countries, particular industry qualifying to be the core industry are said to be the backbone of all other industries. In India, there are eight core sectors comprising of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. The electricity has maximum weight of 10.32% followed by Steel (6.68%), Petroleum Refinery (5.94%), Crude Oil production (5.22 %), Coal production (4.38 %), Cement (2.41%), Natural Gas production (1.71 %) and Fertilizer production (1.25%). These eight Core Industries comprise nearly 40.27% of weight of items included in IIP, which measures factory output.

7.Fiscal Deficit(GS-3)

CONTEXT:States’ gross fiscal deficit stayed within 3%: RBI

States’ gross fiscal deficit (GFD) has remained within the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) threshold of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) during 2017-18 and 2018-19, a Reserve Bank of India report on State Finances said. For 2019-20, States have budgeted a consolidated GFD of 2.6% of GDP, the report said. However, outstanding debt of States have risen over the last five years to 25% of GDP, posing medium-term challenges to its sustainability.

Observing that in the recent five-year period, the combined GFD of the States (excluding Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna in 2015-16 and 2016-17) averaged 2.5% of GDP, which was in striking range of the recommendation of the FRBM Review Committee, the report said and added that this has, however, been achieved by a sharp reduction in capital expenditure.

What Is a Fiscal Deficit?

A fiscal deficit is a shortfall in a government's income compared with its spending. The government that has a fiscal deficit is spending beyond its means.

A fiscal deficit is calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), or simply as total dollars spent in excess of income. In either case, the income figure includes only taxes and other revenues and excludes money borrowed to make up the shortfall.

A fiscal deficit is different from fiscal debt. The latter is the total debt accumulated over years of deficit spending.

Understanding the Fiscal Deficit

A fiscal deficit is not universally regarded as a negative event. For example, the influential economist John Maynard Keynes argued that deficit spending and the debts incurred to sustain that spending can help countries climb out of economic recession.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A government creates a fiscal deficit by spending more money than it takes in from taxes and other revenues excluding debt.

The gap between income and spending is closed by government borrowing.

The U.S. government has had a fiscal deficit in most of the years since World War II.

8.Global Bird Rescue (GBR) (GS-3)

CONTEXT:

Global Bird Rescue Week: Bird Count India documents

Forty two million — that is the number of birds killed every year in Canada, according to a study published in Environment Canada. And, across North America, the estimated number of migratory birds killed is over 100 million. “Birds getting injured or dying after colliding with glass windows, walls, power lines, and other man-made structures has always been a topic of deep concern. But, there is hardly any data on ‘bird-building collisions’ in India,” says Mittal Gala, Programme Co-ordinator of Bird Count India, an organisation that promotes bird listing, documentation and monitoring in India.

Bird Count India has now partnered with a citizen science initiative called Global Bird Rescue (GBR) for a week long campaign (from September 30 to October 6) to document bird-building collisions across the country. “Bird watchers do raise a concern when they see a dead bird or one that collided with glass. Most of the time when the birds see a reflection of a tree on a glass they mistake it for their habitat and collide with it and die.

Anyone in the country can become a part of the campaign. During the week, participants have to go around the neighbourhood, and scan the ground to look for injured or dead birds. Areas in and around high rises and other man-made structures are where one may find them.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:

https://birdcount.in/event/global-bird-rescue-2019/