1. Legislative Council Abolished in J&K
What is Legislative Council?
- It is the upper house of the State Legislature also called Vidhan
Parishad
- Currently, six states have Legislative Councils(UP, Bihar, Telangana,
Andhra, Karnataka and Maharashtra). Jammu and Kashmir too had
one, until the state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K
and Ladakh.
- As per Article 171(1) of the Indian Constitution, the total number of
members in the legislative council of a state shall not exceed one
third of the total number of the members in the legislative Assembly
of that state and the total number of members in the legislative
council of a state shall in no case be less than 40.
- Legislative Councils are Permanent Houses, and like Rajya
Sabha, one-third of their members retire every two years.
- Under Article 169 of the constitution, Parliament may by law create
or abolish the second chamber in a state if the Legislative Assembly
of that state passes a resolution to that effect by a special majority.
2. Who is stopping us from Amending History
VINAYAK DAMODAR SAVARKAR
- In 1908, brought out an authentic informative researched work on The Great
Indian Revolt, which the British termed as “Sepoy Mutiny” of 1857. The book
was called “The Indian War of Independence 1857”.
- In Pune, Savarkar founded the “Abhinav Bharat Society”.
- He was also involved in the Swadeshi movement and later joined
Tilak’s Swaraj Party. His instigating patriotic speeches and activities incensed
the British Government.
- He founded the Free India Society. The Society celebrated important dates on
the Indian calendar including festivals, freedom movement landmarks, and
was dedicated to furthering discussion about Indian freedom.
- He was sentenced to 50 years and was sent to the Cellular Jail in the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1911. He was released in 1921. Savarkar was
arrested in 1910 for his connections with revolutionary group India House
- In 1923, he founded the word “Hindutva” and said that India belonged to only
those who had it as their holy land and their fatherland.
3. Scaling Kilimanjaro with a will of steel
Mt Kilimanjaro
- Also known as Mount Kibo.
- It stands alone, not a part of mountain
range.
- Africa’s highest peak located in Tanzania.
- An example of extinct volcanoes.
- Coffee is grown on the slopes of
Kilimanjaro.
- Just 322 km from the equator, mountain
peaks covered with perpetual snow
throughout the year.
4. TB cases see a decrease in India
As per WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 the TB Incidence
Rate in India has decreased by almost 50,000 patients over
past one year.(27.4 lakh to 26.9 lakh)
- Incidence per 1 lakh population has reduced from 204 in 2017
to 199 in 2018.
- According to the report, TB remains the top infectious killer in
the world claiming over 4000 lives a day.
- To keep a track of the TB patients across the country, the
Government of India has introduced a system called NIKSHAY.
The main aim of NIKSHAY is to create a Tuberculosis Free
Nation.
- NIKSHAY covers various aspects of controlling TB using
technological innovations. Apart from web based technology,
SMS services have been used effectively
5. Greening the powerhouses
Climate change is not an integral part of city planning in many
countries including India
- Cities really have no choice, since too many national governments
have come under the influence of special interests, and are no longer
willing to lead.
- The mayors at the summit were keen, because their cities represent
an estimated 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
- They also realize that nearly 90% of urban areas are at high risk from
extreme climate events such as storms, because they are situated
along coastlines.
- Many cities of the world are ill equipped to handle air pollution,
floods and heat waves.
- As per IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degree
celsius, urbanization will remain a strong trend in this century.
- This means mayors of cities worldwide, and State governments in
India, must prepare for difficult times with action plans for urban centres
Possible Solutions (INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, FINANCING)
- All planning of cities must be climate centric in future
- Retrofitting of buildings for energy efficiency
- Shift transport infrastructure to greener options.
EX: Electric Buses, Public Bicycle Sharing System, Smart Bus service
- Keeping trucks confined to centralized terminals
- New drainage tunnels to reuse rainwater and grow biodiversity
- Carbon tax and aggressive ban on diesel vehicles
- Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed the delegates that the national capital was cutting emissions by:
- Inducting 1,000 electric buses
- planting trees on a massive scale,
- eliminating the use of dangerous industrial chemicals.
- In 2020, the Paris framework will enter its active phase of implementation, and fast-growing countries will be expected to demonstrate their efforts at greening their economies. This is an opportunity, and not a threat. India’s urbanization should move to a trajectory of low emissions, reflected in urban governance that incentivizes eco-friendly design. It should be friendly to people, and rely on the right technology, materials and energy systems.
6. The Secondary Monsoon
India’s most torrential monsoon in a quarter century officially ended on
Wednesday. This has been the most delayed withdrawal of the monsoon
since 1961
- While the South West Monsoon has been aggressively studied for a long
time but there has been very less study carried out on North East(NE)
Monsoons
- The NE Monsoons contribute to about 20% of the total annual rainfall
and span from October to December
- At best, meteorologists have now progressed to giving a broad outlook of
how the rains could pan out over the next few months.
- This year monsoons in South India have been 15% above normal
Ex: In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu,
where the Central Water Commission monitors over 30 reservoirs, their water
levels were 44.2 billion cubic metres, or 84% of their total live capacity, and
much higher than the 10-year average of 66%.
- It has also been seen that intense rainfall is concentrated over short spells
and pockets and in some places there have been long periods of droughts.
EL NINO
- It is linked to abnormal warming of the Equatorial waters off the
Central and Eastern Pacific
- It has generally led to the failure of South West Monsoons in Indian
Subcontinent.
- But it has an opposite effect on North East Monsoons leading to more
voluminous showers in South India mainly in Winters
- This summer, the IMD, along with other meteorological agencies
around the world, bet that monsoon rains would be on the lower side
due to the possible emergence of an El Niño
- Conditions in the Indian Ocean turned favorable and led to the
excessive monsoon activity this year.
- This shows that there is a paucity in understanding the behavior of the
Indian Ocean and its influence on the monsoons.
- India needs to step up research to improve the performance of these
monsoons by giving MORE IMPORTANCE TO VAGARIES OF NE
MONSOON