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Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
Today's Must Read Articles :Riverine plastic pollution
HEADLINES:
Discarded fishing gear threatens Ganga dolphins, turtles
WHY IN NEWS:
Researchers said the waste fishing gear could be recycled and used in clothes, carpets.
New research led by the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom .
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Conservation of Biodiversity : Flora and Fauna
ISSUE:
KEY OBSERVATIONS
- Entanglement in fishing gear could harm species including the critically endangered three-striped roofed turtle and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.
- Fishing nets ; all made of plastic ,were the most common type of gear found.
- Large number of fishing equipment was being discarded in the river, driven by short gear lifespans and lack of appropriate disposal systems.
- The Ganga supports some of the world’s largest inland fisheries
- No research has been done to assess plastic pollution from this industry and its impacts on wildlife.
- The researchers used a list of 21 river species of ‘conservation concern’ identified by the Wildlife Institute for India.
- They combined existing information with new data on entanglements of similar species worldwide to estimate which species were most at risk.
RECYCLING
- The researchers offered hope for solutions based on ‘circular economy’ — where waste was dramatically reduced by reusing materials.
NYLON 6
- A high proportion of the fishing gear we found was made of nylon 6.
- Collection and recycling of nylon 6 has strong potential to cut plastic pollution and provide an income.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The problem was complex and would require multiple solutions — all of which must work for both local communities and wildlife.
SOURCES: DownToEarth | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
Cyclone Nivar isn’t over : Is Tamil Nadu in for another one?
HEADLINES:
Cyclone Nivar isn’t over but is Tamil Nadu in for another one?
WHY IN NEWS:
Severe cyclonic storm Nivar made landfall early on Thursday at Marakkanam in Villupuram district, between Puducherry and Chennai.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : Geography : Cyclones
ISSUE:
CYCLONE NIVAR UPDATES
- The storm system is likely to move northwestwards and weaken into a low pressure.
- Light to moderate rain may continue over a few places in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal for the next 48 hours.
RAIN DEFICIT WIPED OUT
- Nivar dumped extremely heavy rainfall in the coastal areas.
- Tambaram, a southwestern suburb of Chennai, recorded the highest rainfall at 31 cm followed by Puducherry at 30 cm.
- Puducherry’s shortfall of nearly 37% has moved to a surplus of 13% in a single day, thanks to the cyclonic storm.
- The State still has an overall deficit of 18%, Nivar has brought down the shortfall by 8% over the past few days.
A FRESH LOW PRESSURE
- A fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over central parts of the south Bay of Bengal around November 29.
- The Bay of Bengal had churned out back-to-back weather systems.
- The state was last hit by back-to-back cyclones, Nada and Vardah, in December 2016.
- The threat of another storm is looming over the Tamil Nadu coast even as Cyclone Nivar has not dissipated completely.
IASbhai WINDUP:
PREVIOUS CYCLONES
- Cyclone Nada had de-intensified to a depression before landfall.
- The city had received 382 millimetres of absolute rainfall, causing flooding in many areas.
- Historically, November has always been a month for the formation of cyclones, especially in the Bay of Bengal.
- In the last 129 years, 123 cyclones have formed in the Bay of Bengal in the month of November out of a total 524 cyclones — a staggering 23.5 percent.
SOURCES: DownToEarth | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
National Maritime Domain Awareness (NDMA) centre
HEADLINES:
IMAC to be domain awareness centre
WHY IN NEWS:
It will soon become a National Maritime Domain Awareness (NDMA) centre, with all stakeholders having their presence there.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Defence
ISSUE:
INDIAN NAVY’S INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS CENTRE (IMAC)
SOURCES : THE WEEK
- The Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), the nodal agency for maritime data fusion set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
- It will soon become a National Maritime Domain Awareness (NDMA) centre, with all stakeholders having their presence there.
COMMAND AND OPERATION
- Approved by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2012, the IMAC became operational in 2014 at a cost of ₹450 crore and is located in Gurugram.
- It was established to link the operational centres and lower echelons of the Navy and the Coast Guard spread across the country’s coastline.
- The jurisdiction of IMAC also includes the island territories.
FUNCTIONS
- The IMAC tracks vessels on the high seas and gets data from the coastal radars
- White shipping agreements
- Air and traffic management system
- Global shipping databases.
AIS TRANSPONDERS AND TRACKING
- After the 26/11 terror attack, all fishing vessels more than 20 m long were mandated to have AIS transponders installed.
- while efforts were on to have such system on under-20-m fishing vessels as well.
- It shows the magnitude of the challenge in tracking vessels.
WHITE SHIPPING PACTS
- Indian Navy is working on improving transparency on maritime traffic on the high seas.
- So far they have been concluded with 22 countries and one multilateral construct, of which 17 and the one multilateral agreement had been operationalised.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Under Phase-I, 46 coastal radar stations were set up.
- Today we are well-equipped to ensure that a dastardly act like 26/11 doesn’t occur again.
SOURCES: THE HINDU | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
Air pollution rising faster in south than in Gangetic India
HEADLINES:
Air pollution rising faster in south than in Gangetic India, finds study
WHY IN NEWS:
- Increase in PM2.5 levels cuts across urban-rural divide.
- The study, jointly carried out by IIT-Delhi and CPCB
- The study, conducted on the basis of satellite data, is the first of its kind to look at air pollution spatially.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Pollution
ISSUE:
KEY FINDINGS
- The Indo-Gangetic Plain continues to be the most polluted region in the country – in fact in the whole world – in terms of PM 2.5 levels.
- The rate of increase in pollution levels in southern and eastern India is far greater than the Gangetic.
- Air pollution in rural areas has increased at par with urban India.
- On PM2.5 levels cutting across the urban-rural divide.
- During the same period, it notes, PM2.5 exposure in rural India rose by 11.9 per cent.
- Rate of increase of PM2.5 over eastern and southern India is more than 1.6 per cent per year during this period.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- As of 2019, 99.5 per cent districts in India did not meet WHO’s air quality guideline of 10 μg/m3.
- As PMUY is rolled out, it lacks a mechanism to track its progress.
SOURCES: IE | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
President’s powers to pardon : US, India
HEADLINES:
President’s powers to pardon — in US, India
WHY IN NEWS:
With less than two months of his tenure remaining, his former National Security Advisor of U.S. , who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : President : Executive
ISSUE:
HOW US PRESIDENT PARDONS
- The President of the US has the constitutional right to pardon or commute sentences related to federal crimes.
- The US Supreme Court has held that this power is “granted without limit” and cannot be restricted by Congress.
- It does not have to provide a reason for issuing one.
LIMITATIONS
- Article II of the US Constitution : Presidents “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
- Those pardoned by the President can still be tried under the laws of individual states.
PARDONS BY TRUMP, OTHERS
- Trump has granted pardons to 29 people (including Flynn) and 16 commutations.
- George H W Bush, who granted 77 clemency requests during his one-term tenure.
- The highest number of clemency grants by a US President (3,796) came during Franklin D Roosevelt’s 12-year tenure.
HOW INDIAN PRESIDENT PARDONS
- Unlike the US President, whose powers to grant pardons are almost unfettered, the President of India has to act on the advice of the Cabinet.
- Under Article 72 of the Constitution, “the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment.
- Under Article 161, the Governor too has pardoning powers, but these do not extend to death sentences.
- The President cannot exercise his power of pardon independent of the government.
- Rashtrapati Bhawan forwards the mercy plea to the Home Ministry, seeking the Cabinet’s advice.
- The Ministry in turn forwards this to the concerned state government; based on the reply, it formulates its advice on behalf of the Council of Ministers.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- In several cases, the SC has ruled that the President has to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers while deciding mercy pleas.
- Although the President is bound by the Cabinet’s advice, Article 74(1) empowers him to return it for reconsideration once.
- If the Council of Ministers decides against any change, the President has no option but to accept it.
SOURCES: IE | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
Blue tide
HEADLINES:
‘Blue tide’ spotted along Juhu, Devgad, Ratnagiri beaches
WHY IN NEWS:
The sight was observed at Juhu on Wednesday night, and at Devgad and Velas beaches in Ratnagiri.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Pollution
ISSUE:
BLUE TIDE
- Waves disturb these unicellular microorganisms and makes them release blue light.
- Recently, the ‘blue tide’ was witnessed along Dakshina Kannada-Udupi coast.
- The sight has been observed in many beaches across the world, such as Maldives, Vietnam, Indonesia, USA, and Australia.
BIOLIMINESCENCE
- Bioluminescence was first reported from Mumbai in November 2016 when it was spotted for two weeks.
- According to marine experts, light pollution in Mumbai, especially around beaches, could be a major reason for this phenomenon.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Also, increased turbulence/wave action of the water, could be one of the reasons behind the blue tide.
SOURCES: IE | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 27th Nov 2020
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