National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 15th November 2019

United Nations’ report on Pneumonia

Topic: Reports and Indices

In News: United Nations’ new report on Pneumonia stated that India has the second largest deaths of children under the age of five due to Pneumonia in 2018.

More on the Topic:

• Globally more than 800,000 children died due to Pneumonia under the age of 5.
• The report stated that though the disease is preventable through vaccines, more than 10 million die annually due to the disease.
• The five countries that were responsible for more than half of child deaths due to Pneumonia were Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia
• Pneumonia is responsible for 15% of deaths in children under 5. The report named the disease as “Forgotten Epidemic.”
• Around half of pneumonia deaths are associated with air pollution.

The causes of Pneumonia in children under the age of 5:

• Inadequate Health Care
• Lack of access to drinking water
• Indoor Air Pollution
• Burden of under nutrition

Way Ahead:

• Increased investments to fight against the disease
• Strong Global Commitment and an integrated platform. Countries should come together to exchange ideas and pneumonia eradication measures

Source: Hindu

New Zealand’s Zero-Carbon Act

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: New Zealand’s Parliament recently passed The Zero-Carbon Act, which will commit New Zealand to zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.

More on the Topic:

• The Act comes as part of the country’s attempts to meet its Paris climate accord commitments.
• The Act is not a separate legislation but is an amendment to the existing Climate Change Responses Act, 2002.
• The Act is titled Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act.
• The objective is to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degree Celsius.
• This is the first legislation in the world to make a legally binding commitment to living within 1.5°C of global warming.

What are the key targets?

• Reducing all greenhouse gases (except methane) to net zero by 2050
• Reducing emissions of biogenic methane (produced from biological sources) up to 10% below 2017 levels by 2030 and to 24-47% below 2017 levels by 2050
• Establishing an independent Climate Change Commission
• stablishing a system of emissions budget
• The Act proposes separate targets for biogenic methane.
• [Biogenic methane is emitted by livestock, waste treatment and wetlands.]
• This is because methane is a short-lived climate pollutant with an atmospheric lifetime of around 12 years.
• While its lifetime in the atmosphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide (CO2), it is much more efficient at trapping radiation.
• In other words, it is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

New Zealand’s’ climate change mitigation Activities:

• The country is well positioned to undertake steps to mitigate climate change. Its capacity to generate electricity from renewable resources is at 80% and working towards phasing out the use of offshore oil and gas.
• Also, the government is working towards investing over $14.5 billion to better its public transport system.
• Steps are also being made to promote walking and cycling infrastructure.
• The government anticipates that GDP and household incomes in New Zealand will continue to rise. In turn, this would minimise the cost of adapting to climate change for the citizens.

Source: The Hindu

Gold Demand Trends Report

Topic: Reports and Indices

In News: WGC recently released Gold Demand Trends Report, which highlights that Gold is the third most consistently bought investment, 46% of global retail investors have chosen gold products, behind savings accounts (78%) and life insurance (54%).

More on the Topic:

• The World Gold Council is the market development organization for the gold industry.
• Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, they have offices in India, China, Singapore and the United States.
• It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold.
• They frequently publish research that demonstrates gold’s strength as a preserver of wealth both for investors and countries.
• They have also launched various products such as SPDR GLD and gold accumulation plans in India and China.
• WGC also helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard.

Source: Indian Express

Geochemical Baseline Atlas

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Recently, CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) has released the first ‘Geochemical Baseline Atlas of India’ for environmental management.

More on the Topic:

• The atlas aims to document the concentration and distribution of the chemical elements in the soils of India.
• It consists of 44 maps of metals, oxides, and elements present in top and bottom soils across India.

Uses of the Atlas:

• To assess the chemical compositional changes on the Earth’s surface as both human activities and natural processes are continuously modifying the chemical composition of our environment.
• To assess the presence of toxic chemicals in soil and how it varies from place to place. It also helps in identifying how soil pollution is contributing to groundwater contamination
• Map will also support in choosing the right soil that’s rich in certain micronutrient elements required for each plant growth.
• The geochemical data presented in these maps will be a part of the global map to be prepared by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGC).

International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGC):

• It is a non-governmental scientific organization founded in 1961 which promotes and encourages the study of geological problems, and facilitates international and interdisciplinary cooperation in the earth sciences.
• The Union consists of 121 members nations. India is the member.
• At present IUGS gives considers issues related to Geoscience education, Geoscience information and Environmental management and hazards.

Source: Hindu

Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

Topic: Economy

In News: The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the month of September 2019 has contracted by 4.3 % as compared to the month of September 2018. This is the first time after November 2012 that all three broad-based sectors (Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity) have contracted and the lowest monthly growth in the 2011-12 base year series.

More on the Topic:

• Reasons for the slow down include,
• Lower agricultural growth impacting rural demand adversely: India is witnessing agricultural distress because of multiple factors like lack of easy credit, the declining average size of farm holdings, poor policy, and planning, etc.
• Slowdown in the Indian industrial sector: Indian industrial sector is facing slowdown driven by disruptive technologies, changes in consumer behaviour, changing global industrial scenario, etc.
• Structural growth slowdown in the Indian Economy: India is facing a long-term, deep-rooted economic slowdown which would require the government to undertake some structural policies like economic reforms of 1991.

Index of Industrial Production:

• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a fixed period of time.
• It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• IIP is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
• Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
• Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods.
• Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.

Source: Hindu

Arrokoth

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Ultima Thule, the farthest cosmic body ever visited by a spacecraft, has been renamed Arrokoth, or “sky” in the Native American language.

More on the Topic:

• Arrokoth is icy rock, which orbits in the dark and frigid Kuiper Belt about a billion miles beyond Pluto and an example of a “cold classical object” which has remained undisturbed since the solar system formed some 4.5 billion years ago.
• It was surveyed by the NASA spaceship New Horizons in January 2019, with images showing it consisted of two spheres stuck together in the shape of a snowman.
• The new official name, which was chosen by the New Horizons team and ratified by the International Astronomical Union.

Source: PIB

President’s Rule in Maharashtra

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: Due to the inabilities of the political parties to form a government after the results of the Assembly election were declared on October 24, the President’s Rule has been imposed in Maharashtra.

More on the Topic:

• President’s Rule implies the suspension of a state government and the imposition of direct rule of the Centre.
• This is achieved through the invocation of Article 356 of the Constitution by the President on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers.

Judicial Ruling related to Presidents Rule:

• 1994 Bommai case: Following its landmark judgment in the 1994 Bommai case, the Supreme Court of India has restricted arbitrary impositions of president’s rule.
• The judgement attempted to curb blatant misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India, which allowed President’s rule to be imposed over state governments.
• The verdict concluded that the power of the President to dismiss a State government is not absolute.
• The Supreme Court in Bommai case (1994) enlisted the situations where the exercise of the power under Article 356 would be proper, based on the recommendations of Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations such as:
• Hung assembly,
• Party having majority declines to form a ministry and governor can find a coalition ministry,
• A ministry resigns and no other party is willing or able to form the government,
• A constitutional direction of the Centre is disregarded by the state government,
• Government is deliberately acting against the Constitution and law or is fomenting a violent revolt,
• State government willfully refuses to discharge its constitutional obligations endangering the security of the state.

Model Mains Question: Despite unique constitutional positioning, the governor is sometimes not seen as willing or able to discharge his functions as judiciously, impartially and efficiently as envisaged by the constitution framers. Comment (250 words)

Source: The Hindu