OCTOBER STORM

• GS Paper 1: Physical Geography ( Cyclone )

Important for:

• Prelims Exam: Details About Temperate & Tropical Cyclone
• O Mains Exam: Impact of Cyclone on human life , Formation of Cyclone

Why in News?

The FIRST tropical cyclone of the post-monsoon season in 2022 is likely to form the Bay of Bengal on October 24, the India Meteorological Department(IMD)has said. If realized, this will be the first cyclone to develop in the Bay of Bengal in October since 2018, and will be called Sitrang, as named by Thailand. The last October cyclone in Bay of Bengal Was Titli in 2018

Why Storms in October ?

• O After the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, there is rise in ocean heating, which leads to rise in sea surface temperatures over the Bay of Bengal.
• O The Atmospheric moisture availability over the ocean, too, is higher.
• O When remnant systems from the South China Sea reach the Bay of Bengal, they get conducive conditions, aiding the formation and intensification of cyclones in October
• O In certain years, ocean-atmospheric factors hinder this phenomenon. For instance, in 2020, weak LaNina conditions along the equatorial Pacific Ocean prevented a cyclonic formation near India’s.

Cyclone Sitrang

The name Sitrang has been given by Thailand, and features in the list of tropical cyclone names prepared by the RSMC being followed since April 2020.

Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC)

There are six such meteorological centres and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres utilized for naming of tropical cyclones and the distribution of tropical cyclone advisories and warnings.

Cyclones in the Arabian Sea

In comparison to Bay of Bengal, only 32 storms have developed in the Arabian Sea in October since1891. Climatologically too, the IMD states that out of the five storms that are formed in the North Indian Ocean in a calendar year on average, four are in the Bay of Bengal.

How Cyclones are formed?

The development cycle of tropical cyclones may be divided into three stages:

Formation and Initial Development Stage

The formation and initial development of a cyclonic storm depends upon various conditions. These are:

• O A warm sea (a temperature in excess of 26 degrees Celsius to a depth of 60 m) with abundant and turbulent transfer of water vapor to the overlying atmosphere by evaporation.
• O Atmospheric instability encourages formation of massive vertical cumulus clouds due to convection with condensation of rising air above ocean surface.

Mature Tropical Cyclones

When a tropical storm intensifies, the air rises in vigorous thunderstorms and tends to spread out horizontally at the tropopause level. Once air spreads out, a positive perturbation pressure at high levels is produced, which accelerates the downward motion of air due to convection. With the inducement of subsidence, air warms up by compression and a warm ‘Eye’ is generated. Generally, the ‘Eye’ of the storms has three basic shapes: (i) circular; (ii) concentric; and

(iii) elliptical. The main physical feature of a mature tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean is a concentric pattern of highly turbulent giant cumulus thundercloud bands.

Modification and Decay

A tropical cyclone begins to weaken in terms of its central low pressure, internal warmth and extremely high speeds, as soon as its source of warm moist air begins to ebb, or is abruptly cut off. This happens after its landfall or when it passes over cold waters. The weakening of a cyclone does not mean that the danger to life and property is over.

Classification as per Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)

The criteria below has been formulated by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), which classifies the low pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea on the basis of capacity to damage, which is adopted by the WMO.

S. No.	Category	Maximum Wind Speed in Knots
1	Low pressure	<17 kt
2	Depression	17 – 27 kt
3	Deep depression	28 – 33 kt
4	Cyclonic storm	34 – 47 kt
5	Severe cyclonic storm	48 – 63 kt
6	Very severe cyclonic storm	64 – 119 kt
7	Super cyclonic storm	>120 kt

PMAY-U AWARDS 2021

• O GS Paper 2: Government policies and interventions

Important for:

• O Prelims Exam: PMAY-U Awards
• O Mains Exam: Performance of PMAY

Why in news

In order to recognize the outstanding contribution by States, UTs and ULBs, MoHUA has introduced annual awards for excellence in implementation of PMAY(U). Uttar Pradesh bagged the first position in the PMAY-U Awards 2021.

About the PMAY-U Scheme

• O Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), a flagship Mission of Government of India being implemented by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), was launched in 2015.
• O The Mission addresses urban housing shortage among the EWS/LIG and MIG categories including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to all eligible urban households by the year 2022, when Nation completes 75 years of its Independence.
• O The Mission covers the entire urban area consisting of Statutory Towns, Notified Planning Areas, Development Authorities, Special Area Development Authorities, Industrial Development Authorities or any such authority under State legislation which is entrusted with the functions of urban planning & regulations.

• O All houses under PMAY(U) have basic amenities like toilet, water supply, electricity and kitchen.
• O The Mission promotes women empowerment by providing the ownership of houses in name of female member or in joint name.
• O Preference is also given to differently abled persons, senior citizens, SCs, STs, OBCs, Minority, single women, transgender and other weaker & vulnerable sections of the society.
• O A PMAY(U) house ensures dignified living along with sense of security and pride of ownership to the beneficiaries.

Components of the Scheme

‘In-situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR):

Central Assistance of Rs. 1 lakh per house is admissible for all houses built for eligible slum dwellers under the component of ISSR using land as Resource with participation of private developers.

Flexibility is given to States/Cities to deploy this Central Assistance for other slums being redeveloped.

States/Cities provide additional FSI/FAR or TDR to make projects financially viable.

For slums on private owned land, States/Cities provide additional FSI/FAR or TDR to land owner as per its policy. No Central Assistance is admissible in such case.

Floor Space Index (FSI) is the ratio between the total built-up area and plot area available allowed by the government for a particular locality. Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built.

Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS):

Beneficiaries of Economically Weaker Section (EWS)/Low Income Group (LIG), Middle Income Group (MIG)-I and Middle Income Group (MIG)-II seeking housing loans from Banks, Housing Finance Companies and other such institutions for acquiring, new construction or enhancement* of houses are eligible for an interest subsidy of 6.5%, 4% and 3% on loan amount upto Rs. 6 Lakh, Rs. 9 Lakh and Rs. 12 Lakh respectively.

The Ministry has designated Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), National Housing Bank (NHB) and State Bank of India (SBI) as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) to channelize this subsidy.

The CLAP portal has significantly contributed towards streamlining processes under CLSS vertical which has also facilitated the Ministry in reducing in grievances.

Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP):

Under AHP, Central Assistance of Rs. 1.5 Lakh per EWS house is provided by the Government of India.

An affordable housing project can be a mix of houses for different categories but it will be eligible for Central Assistance, if at least 35% of the houses in the project are for EWS category.

Beneficiary-led Individual House Construction/ Enhancement (BLC-N/ BLC-E):

Central Assistance upto Rs. 1.5 lakh per EWS house is provided to eligible families belonging to EWS categories for individual house construction/ enhancement.

The Urban Local Bodies validate the information and building plan submitted by the beneficiary so that ownership of land and other details like economic status and eligibility can be ascertained.

Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) for Migrant Workers/ Urban Poor

COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in reverse migration of urban migrants/ poor in the country.

Urban migrants stay in slums/ informal settlements/ unauthorised colonies/ peri-urban areas to save cost on housing.

They need decent rental housing at affordable rate at their work sites.

In order to address this need, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has initiated Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs), a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U).

This will provide ease of living to urban migrants/ poor in Industrial Sector as well as in non-formal urban economy to get access to dignified affordable rental housing close to their workplace.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):

The transfer of the Central Assistance and State/ULB share to the beneficiaries is being done by States/ULBs through DBT mode where the installments are credited directly into the beneficiary’s bank account as per construction stage completed and geo-tagged.

CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP):

A web based monitoring system, CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP) is a common platform where all stakeholders i.e.

MoHUA, Central Nodal Agencies, Primary Lending Institutions, Beneficiaries and Citizens are integrated in real time environment.

The portal facilitates processing of applications along with tracking of subsidy status by beneficiaries. CLSS tracker has also been incorporated in PMAY(U) mobile App and UMANG platform.

EMERGENCY PROCUREMENT IN ARMY

• GS Paper 3: Defense

Important for:

Prelims Exam: Army equipments, export of defense equipments to other countries

Mains Exam: How will it help to modernize defense equipment?

Why in news?

The Army, which has made three tranches of Emergency Procurements (EP) in the last few years, is preparing for a fourth round of EP which will be entirely from the domestic industry.

About Emergency Procurements (EP)

Emergency Procurements are done to address critical operational requirements.

Three tranches of EPs were executed under which 68 contracts worth ₹6,000 crore were placed.

What is Indigenisation?

Indigenisation is the capability of developing and producing any defense equipment within the country to achieve self-reliance and reduce the burden of imports.

Need for defense indigenisation

For reduction of trade deficit: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that India was the world’s second-largest importer of major arms in 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5% of the global total and India’s military expenditure rose by 3.1%.

For Self Reliance: Reduce Dependency on other countries just like we are mainly dependent on Israel ( for drone), Russia ( helicopter), USA ( Apache), etc.

Promote Employment: Defence manufacturing will need the support of numerous other industries which generate employment opportunities.

Help in reduction of pressure on India during war time ( International Crisis ) just like we are seeing this thing in the recent Russia – Ukraine Crisis.

Challenges to India’s indigenisation

Deficiency in defense planning

Lack of institutional capacity for timely policymaking

Lack of infrastructure for increasing production and logistic support deficit.

The absence of a dispute settlement body to resolve issues hinders the process.

Land acquisition restrictions

Way forward

The Vijay Kelkar Committee constituted in 2004 to examine the acquisition processes and procedures and recommend changes in the acquisition process, ironically made similar recommendations on the issues discussed, nearly a decade ago. The major recommendations on this vital aspect being:

Encourage the involvement of the country’s best firms in defense capability building.

Pursue offset policy to bring in technology and investment.

Explore synergies amongst the private sector, DPSUs and DRDO to promote high technology capabilities.

Create an environment for a quantum jump in the export of defense equipment and services.

LARGEST COMPRESSED BIO GAS PLANT INAUGURATED IN PUNJAB

GS Paper 3: Environment

Important for:

Prelims Exam: Details About Biogas Plant & Scheme Related to it

Mains Exam: Environmental Benefit , Economic Benefit

Why in News?

Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas inaugurated Asia’s largest Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant in Lehragaga, Sangrur, Punjab on 18th October.

Significance of Biogas

There are multiple benefits from converting agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste into CBG on a commercial scale:

Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution

Additional revenue source for farmers

Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment

Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals

Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil

Buffer against crude oil/gas price fluctuations

Benefits of the CBG plant:

The CBG plant at Sangrur is spread across an area of 20 acres. The plant’s present production is about six tonnes per day but soon it will process 300 tonnes of paddy straw per day to produce 33 TPD of compressed biogas using eight digesters of 10,000 cubic meters.

The CBG plant is a huge leap in arriving at a win-win situation for farmers and the environment.

This will help India meet its COP26 climate change targets of reducing total projected carbon emissions by one billion tons from now to 2030 and achieving the goal of net zero emissions by 2070.

The plant will consume 100,000 tonnes of paddy straw, which will be procured from six to eight satellite locations within a 10km radius of the plant.

The plant will reduce the burning of stubble on 40,000–45,000 acres of fields, resulting in an annual reduction of 150,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

There shall be daily production of about 600-650 Tons of FOM (fermented organic manure), which can be used for organic farming. The CBG plant will also help provide direct employment to 390 and indirect employment to 585 people.

Sustainable AlternativeTowards AffordableTransportation (SATAT) is an initiative aimed at setting up of Compressed Biogas production plants and making them available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.

The initiative was launched in October 2018 by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in association with Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) viz. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Benefits of the Programme

There are multiple benefits from converting agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste into CBG on a commercial scale:

• Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution
• Additional revenue source for farmers
• Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment
• Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals
• Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil
• Buffer against crude oil/gas price fluctuations

HONESTY SHOPS

• GS Paper 4: Human Values

Important for:

• Mains Exam: Role of school in shaping human values

Why In News?

The ‘honesty shops’ opened in nearly 15 schools in Kerala’s Ernakulam district as part of the Student Police Cadet (SPC) project have gifted some valuable lessons on trust, truth and integrity for students.

What are Honesty Shops?

• There is no salesman at the counters and students can drop the money for each item in the collection box kept on a table.
• The objective of the honesty shop is to provide students a chance to experience the virtue of honesty.
• The honesty shop has mainly school based items such as notebooks, pens, pencil boxes, erasers, chart papers and so on.

What is Honesty?

Honesty: is being truthful and open. Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

Significance of Honesty

• If a public servant is not willing to serve honestly then many poor, illiterates, marginal become victims of the causes.
• It improves work culture and motivates subordinate officers to be honest and thus ensure effective delivery of public services.
• Building trust and confidence requires an environment where there is a premium on honesty, transparency, openness, boldness, fairness and justice.
• Nepotism problem can be reduced if honesty is followed in public service, Reduce inequalities in the organization.

What is Integrity?

Integrity means the potential of a person to stay constant and committed to his/her private and professional values.

IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRITY

• Integrity is morality in action. It integrates morality with behavior. O Integrity is doing the right thing even when nobody’s watching. O Integrity is non-negotiable and non-selective.

Example of Integrity

Lal Bahadur Shastri: As PM he never used official vehicles for private purposes.