Odisha, West Bengal brace for Amphan
Paper: I
Prelims: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Mains: General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.
Why in news:
According to the India Meteorological Department, the storm system in the Bay of Bengal, Amphan has developed into a super cyclone and is expected to make landfall along the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast.
Key Points:
- Amphan is expected to bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal and heavy to very heavy rainfall over north coastal Odisha.
- The Odisha Government has deployed units of the National Disaster Response Force and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force to north-coastal districts for carrying out rescue operation.
- Ahead of the monsoon’s arrival in Kerala, the month of May typically sees intense tropical storm activity in the Bay of Bengal.
- From 1965 to 2017, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea collectively registered 46 ‘severe cyclonic storms. More than half of them occurred between October and December. Seven of them occurred in May and only two (in 1966 and 1976) were recorded in April, according to data from the India Meteorological Department’s cyclone statistics unit.
- Before Fani, only one of them (in 1966) had actually made landfall over India.
Amphan:
- It is the first tropical cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.
- Amphan is the second pre-monsoon cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal in two years. The first one was Cyclone Fani.
- According to the India Meteorological Department forecast, it will make landfall as a very severe cyclone between the Sagar islands of West Bengal and the Hatiya islands of Bangladesh.
- It has been named by Thailand.
What is a Tropical Cyclone?
- A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain or squalls.
- It is an intense low-pressure area in the atmosphere over tropical or sub-tropical waters, with organised convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and winds at low levels, circulating either anti-clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) or clockwise (in the southern hemisphere).
- From the centre of a cyclonic storm, pressure increases outwards.
- The amount of the pressure drops in the centre and the rate at which it increases outwards gives the intensity of the cyclones and the strength of winds.
- The cyclones are classified as severe (MSW of 48-63 knots), very severe (MSW of 64-89 knots), extremely severe (MSW of 90-119 knots) and super cyclonic storm (MSW of 120 knots or more). One knot is equal to 1.8 kmph.
How are Cyclones formed?
Tropical cyclones require certain conditions for their formation.
These are as follows:
- A source of warm, moist air derived from tropical oceans with sea surface temperature normally near to or in excess of 27 °C
- Winds near the ocean surface blowing from different directions converging and causing air to rise and storm clouds to form.
- Winds that do not vary greatly with height – known as low wind shear. This allows the storm clouds to rise vertically to high levels;
- Coriolis force/spin induced by the rotation of the Earth. The formation mechanisms vary across the world, but once a cluster of storm clouds starts to rotate, it becomes a tropical depression.
- If it continues to develop it becomes a tropical storm, and later a cyclone/ super cyclone.
Centre notifies Karnataka judge’s appointment
Paper:
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The Ministry of Law and Justice has notified the appointment of P. Krishna Bhat as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court, almost four years after his name was first recommended by the Supreme Court collegium.
Key Points:
- A Law Ministry notification said Mr. Bhat has been appointed for two years. Additional judges are usually appointed two years before being elevated as a permanent judge in the High Court.
- The Supreme Court collegium had first recommended Mr. Bhat, then a District and Session’s Court judge, in 2016.
- However, the government did not act on the recommendation as a woman law officer gave a written complaint against him to the then Chief Justice of India (CJI), T.S. Thakur. The complaint was then found to be ‘without any basis’.
- In October 2019, the Collegium reiterated its recommendation and the government accepted it.
Additional Information:
Appointment of SC Judges:
The Constitution of India – Article 124: Establishment and constitution of Supreme Court says that:
- There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges.
- Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the Presidentby warrant under his/her hand and seal after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court in the States as President may deem necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of 65 years.
- In judicial appointments, it is obligatory for the President to take into account the opinion of the Chief Justice of India.
- The opinion of the Chief Justice of India is binding on the Government. The opinion of the CJI must be formed after due consultation with a collegium of at least four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
Collegium System
- In this system of appointment of Judges, the collegium will recommend the names of the candidates to the Central Government.
- Also, the central government will send the names of the proposed candidates for consultation.
- The appointment process takes a long time since there isn’t a fixed time limit for it. If the Collegium resends the same name again then the government has to give its assent to the names.
National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, 2014
- The 1993 judgment was the basis on which a five-judge Constitution Bench declared the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act (NJAC)and the Constitutional (Ninety-Nine Amendment) Act, 2014 unconstitutional in October 2015.
- NJAC too would recommend names for the Appointment of Supreme Court Judge and Appointment and Transfer of High Court Judge
- Composition of NJAC
- The Chief Justice of India
- 2 senior-most judges of the Supreme Court
- The Law Minister of India
- 2 eminent members that are chosen by the Selection Committee
The current system of appointment of SC judges:
- In judicial appointments, it is obligatory for the President to take into account the opinion of the CJI.
- The opinion of the CJI is binding on the Government. The opinion of the CJI must be formed after due consultation with a collegium of at least four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
- Even if two judges give an adverse opinion, then he should not send the recommendation to the Government.
J&K notifies rules for domicile certificates
Paper: II
Prelims: Current events of national and international importance
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The J&K administration has notified the J&K Grant of Domicile Certificate Procedure Rules, 2020 and set a fast-track process in motion to issue the certificates within a stipulated time of 15 days.
Key Points:
- Domicile certificates have now been made a basic eligibility condition for appointment to any post under the Union Territory of J&K following the amendments in the previous Act.
- Under the amended rules, eligible non-locals can also apply for the certificate.
Background:
On August 5th 2019, the GOI withdrew J&K’s special status under Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution and bifurcated it into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
- Before, Article 35 A of the Constitution of India had empowered the J&K Assembly to define a J&K resident, who alone were eligible to apply for jobs or own immovable property.
- In the latest gazette notification, Section 3A of the J&K Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order 2020, under the J&K Civil Services (Decentralization and Recruitment) Act, has been introduced to define domicile.
- The order defines a domicile as one “who has resided for a period of 15 years in the UT of J&K or has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in the UT of J&K or who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants).’’
- Children of Central Govt. officials, All India Services, PSUs, autonomous bodies of the Centre, Public Sector Banks, officials of statutory bodies, Central Universities, recognized research institutes of the Centre who have served in J&K for a total period of 10 years will be domiciles.
- The domicile status applies to “children of such residents of J&K who reside outside J&K in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons but their parents should fulfil any of the conditions provided”.
- The Order says that the domiciles will be eligible for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level 4.
- The Level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and watermen, and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.
- Through the same order, the Centre has repealed the J&K Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act.
Are the United States and China entering a new Cold War?
Paper: II
Prelims: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in news:
Relations between the U.S. and China have plunged to the lowest point in the recent weeks. The rising tensions between the two superpowers have prompted many experts to warn of a new Cold War.
What is the Issue?
- Relations between the two countries had started deteriorating well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In 2017, the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy called China as “a revisionist power” seeking “to erode American security and prosperity”.
- In September 2019, while responding to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State’s comment that the American government was formulating a strategy to address potential “security challenges” by China, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing urged the U.S. to abandon the Cold-War mentality.
- COVID-19 appears to have aggravated the crisis.
Key points:
- Record high temperatures have been recorded in China-U.S. relations in recent years.
- Competition rules the relationship, and flexibility and mature handling are in short supply on both sides.
- Uncertainty prevails, whether it is on the question of resolving trade problems, or on the maritime front in the East and South China Seas, on technology, or on mutual mud-slinging on COVID-19-related issues.
Current crisis in relations between the U.S. and China:
- According to Nirupama Menon Rao, former Foreign Secretary, this situation is unlikely to ease until the U.S. presidential election. Post-election, temperatures could decrease, but a deep-rooted antipathy towards China has gripped the popular and political imagination in the U.S. Therefore, tensions will not go away. In China, the leadership and public opinion are both on a nationalist overdrive and the Trump administration is seen as the prime antagonist.
Is there is a Cold War?
- Experts point out that there are similarities between the current crisis and the Cold War.
- The political elites of both China and the U.S., like the Soviet Union and the U.S. back then, see each other as their main rivals.
- However, the kind of proxy conflicts between the U.S. and China which was seen during the Cold War is not to be seen now. Also, the world is not bipolar any more.
- It is opined that there are third parties such as the EU, Russia, India and Japan. These parties increasingly have a choice whether or not to align with either power as they see fit and on a case by case basis. This leads to a very different kind of international order than during the Cold War.
Call for WHO probe into virus origin
Paper: III
Prelims: Current events of national and international importance
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.
Why in news:
An India-backed draft resolution at the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly which seeks global investigation into the spread of the novel coronavirus has received a big boost with the African group of nations extending support for the motion.
Key Points:
- The development came soon after the Assembly convened in Geneva where the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the global body will look into the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The recommendation is part of the text jointly conceived by Australia and the European Union. It aims to evaluate possible food and animal-related sources that could have led to the spread of the deadly pandemic.
- The language of the motion seeks to delve deep into the origin of the virus.
- The draft resolution also calls for impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation into the “WHO-coordinated international health response” to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oxford vaccine fails to shield monkeys from virus
Paper: III
Prelims: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in news:
A high-profile potential vaccine for COVID-19, being tested by researchers at Oxford University, has failed to protect vaccinated monkeys from being infected by the virus. However, the test animals appeared to be protected from pneumonia.
Key Points:
- The vaccine candidate, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, being tested is a weakened form of a common cold virus (adenovirus)that affects chimpanzees but has been neutered to prevent replication in humans.
- Reports of the candidate vaccine’s performance in monkeys (rhesus macaque) have prompted researchers to test the vaccine’s potency in humans.
- However, detailed results of the trials in monkeys suggest that, based on these results, the vaccine may not be the panacea to protect people from being infected and passing on the infection to others (The research paper is yet to be peer-reviewed).
- It is said that the presence of the virus is in the upper respiratory tract (of the animals). It is possible that these can come down again to the lower respiratory tract (and cause pneumonia). Ideally, if one has been inoculated with the vaccine, the person should be able to substantially clear out the virus.
This vaccine is among the eight that are ahead in terms of being tested in humans for efficacy.
LCA-MK1A deal high priority: IAF chief
Paper
Prelims: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in news:
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) will set up the second squadron of indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. The high priority deal for 83 LCA-MK1A jets is expected to be signed.
- The IAF is also about to place orders for over 200 Astra indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles.
LCA-MK1A jets:
- As per Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Tejas MK1A will be capable of mid-air refuel.
- There will be an updated internal Radar Warning Receiver (RWR).
- It will have the capability to fire different types of Beyond Visual Range (BVR) and close combat air to air missiles.
- These aircraft according to the Ministry of Defence will be forming the backbone of the IAF.