UPSC 2017: Comprehensive News Analysis - Sept 27

(a)

Topic: Polity
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

Article 148:- Comptroller and Auditor General of India

(1) There shall be a Comptroller and Auditor General of India who shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court

(2) Every person appointed to be the Comptroller and Auditor General of India shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the President, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule

(3) The salary and other conditions of service of the Comptroller and Auditor General shall be such as may be determined by Parliament by law and, until they are so determined, shall be as specified in the Second Schedule: Provided that neither the salary of a Comptroller and Auditor General nor his rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment

(4) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall not be eligible for further office either under the Government of India or under the Government of any State after he has ceased to hold his office

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of service of persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and the administrative powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General shall be such as may be prescribed by rules made by the President after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General

(6) The Administrative expenses of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of pensions serving in that office, shall be charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India.

(b)

Topic: Polity
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

Enemy Property Bill

• • • • • The Bill amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, to vest all rights, titles and interests over enemy property in the Custodian
        • The Bill declares transfer of enemy property by the enemy, conducted under the Act, to be void. This applies retrospectively to transfers that have occurred before or after 1968.
        • The Bill prohibits civil courts and other authorities from entertaining disputes related to enemy property..

(c)

Topic: Current Affairs
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

Border road Organisation: Ministry of Defence

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighbouring countries. It is staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Military Police and army personnel on extra regimental employment. Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.

Currently, the organisation maintains operations in twenty-one states, one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.

(c)

Topic: General Science
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

• • • • • African elephants have much larger ears that look sort of like the continent of Africa, while Asian elephants have smaller, round ears.
        • African elephants have rounded heads, while Asian elephants have a twin-domed head, which means there’s a divot line running up the head.
        • Both male and female African elephants can have tusks, but only male Asian elephants can grow them.

(d)

Topic: Current Affairs
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

Maternity Benefits Bill

The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to provide for the following:-

• • • • 1. Maternity leave available to the working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.
        2. Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will continue to be 12 weeks.
        3. Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as to the “commissioning mothers”. The commissioning mother has been defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.
        4. Every establishment with more than 50 employees to provide for crèche facilities for working mothers and such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the crèche.
        5. The employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do so. Every establishment will be required to make these benefits available to the women from the time of her appointment.

(c)

Topic: Current Affairs
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.

Although some corals can catch small fish and plankton using stinging cells on their tentacles, most corals obtain the majority of their energy and nutrients from photosynthetic unicellular dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium that live within their tissues. These are commonly known as zooxanthellae and the corals that contain them are zooxanthellate corals. Such corals require sunlight and grow in clear, shallow water, typically at depths shallower than 60 metres (200 ft). Corals are major contributors to the physical structure of the coral reefs that develop in tropical and subtropical waters, such as the enormous Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

(c)

Topic: Environment and Ecology
Level: Easy
Application: Factual Based

Explanation

Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching. When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

Many of the world’s top coral reef scientists met at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii to discuss the challenges facing coral reefs. Sunscreen and other personal care product ingredients were hot topics. Of particular concern to scientists was oxybenzone, a chemical used in sunscreens to protect our skin from damaging UV light. Oxybenzone is bad news for corals, harming them by;

• • • • 1. Increasing a coral’s susceptibility to bleaching.
        2. Damaging coral DNA which interferes with reproduction.
        3. Causing deformities and growth anomalies.
        4. Disrupting a coral’s hormonal processes for growth and reproduction.