A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

• In the times of social media and phased elections, how can campaign silence be maintained during the last 48 hours before polling?
• The Election Commission will be debating this and seven other issues, including limiting of expenditure and increasing participation of women, at a multi-party meeting on Monday. All seven registered national political parties and 51 State political parties have been invited.
• The law prohibits canvassing during the last 48 hours before polling. This is meant to create an environment of neutrality and “silence” for the voter to exercise the franchise through reasoned reflection rather than be swayed by last-minute appeals by parties and candidates.
• The agenda notes, circulated to all political parties and accessed by The Hindu, say the Commission has sought suggestions on how to “address the issue of online canvassing to promote or prejudice the electoral prospects of a party/candidate on social media during the last 48 hours”.
• The Opposition parties, especially the Congress, have been consistently asking this question in view of the BJP’s extensive campaigning on the ground and on social media ahead of each election.

Adding print media

• The Commission has asked the parties if the print media should be brought within the ambit of Section 126(1)(b) (which lists mediums in which display of election matter is prohibited and includes television, cinematograph or similar apparatus) of the Representation of the People Act. Seeking to raise a heated debate, the Commission has asked political parties on whether there should be a ceiling on party election expenditure. The present election laws only provide a limit on a candidate’s expenditure. The commission has also written to the Law Ministry exploring this question.
• “It has proposed that such ceiling should be either 50% of or not more than the expenditure ceiling limit provided for the candidate multiplied by the number of candidates of the party contesting the election,” the agenda notes say.
• The Law Ministry is yet to respond to the proposal.

Expenditure ceiling

• The Commission wants to know the views of political parties on bringing a ceiling for expenditure in the Legislative Council elections. In these elections, huge amounts of unaccounted-for money is often spent by the candidates.
• The Commission has asked the parties to take note of alternative modes of voting for domestic migrants and absentee voters, such as postal, proxy and e-voting. The Commission has proposed five strategies, the agenda note says, to ensure that no migrant worker is left out.
• These include developing portability of voting rights by linking voter ID and Aadhaar. A one-time voluntary registration system for domestic migrants, electoral support services to be provided to migrants at the source and destination areas, raising awareness of voters’ rights and a helpline for domestic migrants are the other measures suggested by the Commission.
• The Election Commission has asked “what measures can political parties undertake to encourage enhanced representation of women within the organisation structure of the political party.”
• It has pulled out embarrassing statistics to build the case for a greater presence of women. There are only 11.4% women in the 16th Lok Sabha, substantially lower than the global average of 22.9%, the Commission noted.
• It has said that at least seven countries have laws reserving seats for women in legislature, including Nepal.

• People are dying in building collapses and fires because corruption has eaten into town planning and grant of building permits across the country, the Supreme Court said in Friday.
• Referring to the recent fire which engulfed Crystal Tower in Parel, Mumbai, Justice Madan B. Lokur said thousands of buildings in Mumbai are unsafe and innocent lives are lost in the mire of corruption.
• Justice Lokur said many residential buildings were being used for commercial purposes also. There are about 51,000 homes used for commercial purposes in Delhi.
• Mixed use of buildings for commercial and residential purposes increases the risk for residents.
• ‘Cannot fold hands’
• The 16-storey Crystal Tower had shops on the ground floor, parking on the first three floors followed by three flats each on the upper floors. Four people were killed and 23, including three firemen, suffered injuries in the blaze.
• Nadkarni said town planning was a State subject and probably the respective High Courts should take action.
• The court was hearing the Delhi sealing case concerning illegal constructions in the Capital.

• Technology has a flip-side but live-streaming of Supreme Court proceedings is a true representation of the “open courtroom” system where courts are accessible to one and all.
• The remark countered arguments that live-streaming of court proceedings would be misused, and verbal comments made by judges in the course of a hearing would be twisted and converted to “fake news”.

‘Authentic record’

• To this Justice Chandrachud countered that court proceedings are live-tweeted even now and there is no authentic record of the hearing to prove a tweet wrong.
• “At least when the hearing is live-streamed, we will have an authentic record of what happened,” the judge responded.
• Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who headed the Bench also comprising Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, said, “If a judge has made a comment, he should be quoted.”
• The CJI said that, now, verbal comments of judges are read in words. “But people may want to see you speak, look into your eyes. Why should we feel shy about that?” the CJI asked.
• The Chief Justice compared the situation to a poet who records himself as he reads his own poem, and said, “Had it been recorded on video, we could have seen him for ourselves and understood him better.”

• In countering the Indo-Pacific strategy led by the U.S, China should forge closer ties with India, Japan and Australia, says an official media commentary.
• The article run on the website of China Global Television Network (CGTN) — the state-run broadcaster — argues that instead of staying aloof, China should positively intervene in shaping the Indo-Pacific agenda.
• It is advisable for China to participate in the construction of an Indo-Pacific discourse system selectively, and join the discussions about some concepts that are in China’s national interests, such as ‘(Indo-Pacific) community of shared future for mankind’ and ‘the Indo-Pacific and the Belt and Road Initiative’, says an article by Wang Peng.

New concepts

• In the process, “China may deconstruct some concepts put forward by the U.S. and other countries that are not in China’s interests, and replace them with new concepts that are beneficial to China by means of discourse substitution strategies,” he observes.
• The author spotlights the necessity of China’s firmer connect with India, Japan and Australia — the three countries that are part of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific quad.
• The Chinese initiative should focus on shared interests with these countries to “weaken their motivation to join Indo-Pacific countries to contain China”.
• The write-up highlights that the U.S.’s focus on promoting “democratic values” was the political bedrock of its Indo-Pacific doctrine.
• It also has an economic dimension of developing exclusive economic and trade arrangements.
• Besides, “sowing discord between China and other countries,” is part of Indo-Pacific diplomacy, which opens the gates for joint military exercises and arms sales.

C. GS3 Related

• Tamil Nadu warned Kerala when the water level rose in the Mullaperiyar dam during the critical days of the devastating floods, the State said in a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Friday.
• The Tamil Nadu government denied allegations it waited too long until the water storage level crossed the permitted mark of 142 feet.
• Kerala had alleged in its affidavit on Thursday that it was uncertain about the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam even as it was “frantically” evacuating people from downstream areas of the dam.
• It said there were no “positive assurances” from Tamil Nadu to its request for gradual release of water at least at 139 feet during the torrential rains.

‘Quantum intimated’

• Tamil Nadu submitted that it had “duly informed Kerala since the water level in the dam reached +136 ft.
• Thereafter, when the water level reached +138 ft, +140 ft, +141 ft and +142 ft, suitable warnings were issued and the quantum of discharge was also intimated. Thus the State took all the required measures before water was released from the dam.”
• Periodical warnings were issued since the water level reached 136 ft for every two feet rise, and from 140 onward for every one foot rise.
• Intimation was given to the Kerala government well in advance regarding the release of water from the spillway of the dam, the counter-affidavit said.
• “The allegation that action was taken by the Respondent State (Tamil Nadu) only after the water level in the dam crossed the permitted storage of +142 ft, is denied,” Tamil Nadu said in its affidavit.
• In fact, the dam gates were opened when the reservoir level was at +140 ft and thereafter the discharge was stepped up in stages after giving sufficient warnings, in order to avoid flash floods.
• Besides, it said Kerala had opened its dams in the first week of August itself, affecting transportation and communication. Mullaperiyar dam was opened only on August 14.
• In any event the quantity spilled from Mullaperiyar dam is very small when compared to the quantity spilled by the 39 dams of Kerala.
• Even the total quantity spilled from Idukki and Idamalayar dams from August 14 to 19 totals 36.28 TMC. This was more than the quantity released from Mullaperiyar dam to Idukki dam during the corresponding period.
• Tamil Nadu said the designed Maximum Water Level of Mullaperiyar dam is 155 ft. for which the safety was examined and confirmed by the Supreme Court.
• Thus, the flood cushion available is 13 ft. (155 ft. – 142 ft.) which “could not be utilised by Tamil Nadu due to non-cooperation of Kerala.”

• The Supreme Court on Friday agreed with the conclusion of the disaster management sub-committee that the water level in the Mullaperiyar reservoir should be maintained two or three feet below the permissible limit of 142 feet till August 31, to guard against floods or other disasters.
• The sub-committee met on August 23 on an urgent basis in the aftermath of the deluge that ravaged Kerala, where the Mullaperiyar dam is located.
• The Bench pointed out that the issue before the court has “nothing to do with any kind of dispute between the States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, but it relates to saving of human lives in the obtaining situation of disaster.”
• Kerala had said in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court that the opening of all 13 gates of the Mullaperiyar dam may have been a cause for the deluge.
• Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha, for the Centre, informed the Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra that the current water level in the reservoir is 139.998 feet.
• Narasimha said both secretaries of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been informed of the decision.

‘Seeds of discord’

• Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, however submitted that he sees ‘seeds of discord’ in Kerala’s affidavit.
• Kerala primarily wants gradual release of water from the reservoir at 136 feet along with a ‘supervisory committee’, comprising the Central Water Commission chief and secretaries of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to take decisions by majority on the dam when there are floods.
• It also wants a ‘management committee’ to manage the day-to-day operations of the dam. This committee should be headed by a Chief Engineer/Superintending Engineer of the CWC with both Chief Engineers/Superintending Engineers of the two States, Kerala has said.
• In 2014, the Supreme Court fixed the permissible water limit at 142 feet and formed a supervisory committee for Mullaperiyar dam.
• But the court allayed the apprehensions of Tamil Nadu, saying it would only go into the disaster management aspect and none other.
• The court directed the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments to respond to the Kerala affidavit and posted the next hearing for September 5.

UAE officials say flood aid not finalised

• No specific amount for financial aid to flood-ravaged Kerala has been finalised officially by the United Arab Emirates and there was no announcement on donation to the State, officials in the UAE embassy said here on Friday.
• A row has broken out over the Centre deciding not to accept any foreign government donations for flood relief.
• UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albannam, without mentioning financial aid, said his government only set up a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance.
• “The UAE has not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief. We have not conveyed anything to India on any assistance,” said a senior embassy official.
• He said the UAE may come out with its plan in the next few days.
• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier this week said the UAE had decided to extend financial assistance of Rs.700 crore, considering the Gulf nation’s special relationship with Kerala; 80% of around three million Indians working and living in the UAE are from Kerala.

• An analysis of 14 Indian cities, including six megacities and eight metropolises, on how they fare when it comes to pollution and energy consumption from urban commuting, places Kolkata as the top-performing megacity.
• Bhopal leads the list on the lowest overall emissions. Delhi fares the worst on the two counts.
• The report titled ‘The Urban Commute and How it Contributes to Pollution and Energy’, compiled by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), was released in Kolkata on Friday.
• CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury said air pollution was a national crisis and road transport was the sector showing the highest increase in emission of greenhouse gases.
• Motorisation in India is explosive. Initially, it took 60 years (1951-2008) for India to cross the mark of 105 million registered vehicles. Thereafter, the same number of vehicles was added in a mere six years (2009-15).
• In the study, with an aggregate of toxic emissions from urban commuting practices, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, the cities were ranked based on calculations of heat trapping (CO2).
• The study took two approaches to rank the cities — one based on overall emission and energy consumption and the other on per person trip emissions and energy consumption.
• Six megacities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad) and eight metropolitan cities (Bhopal, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi and Vijayawada) were evaluated.
• In terms of overall emissions and energy consumption, Bhopal was followed by Vijayawada, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kochi and Jaipur. Kolkata, placed 7th overall, was better than the other five megacities as well as metropolitan cities like Pune and Ahmedabad.
• Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai fared a little better than Delhi.
• According to the report, though metropolitan cities scored better than megacities due to lower population, lower travel volume and lower vehicle numbers, they were at risk due to a much higher share of personal vehicle trips.

‘Resounding message’

• Kolkata provides a resounding message that despite population growth and rising travel demand, it is possible to contain motorisation with a well established public transport culture, compact city design, high street density and restricted availability of land for roads and parking, the report pointed out, comparing Kolkata to Hong Kong and cities in Japan.
• Mumbai, the report stated, had the highest GDP but a lower rate of motorisation compared with other megacities, proving that income levels were not the only reason for deciding a population’s dependence on automobiles.
• Both Kolkata and Mumbai have grown with a unique advantage of a public transport spine well integrated with existing land use patterns.
• Chennai was the first city to adopt a non-motorised transport (NMT) policy in 2004 that aims to arrest the decline of walking or cycling by creating a network of footpaths, bicycle tracks and greenways,the report said.

• Describing it as a “blatant breach of assurances by the government,” former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has objected to the rules governing the distribution of the Rs.66,000 crore fund devised to compensate for the loss of forests from industrial development.
• The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016, and its Rules, specify the kind of projects that would be eligible under the CAF, the composition of the national and State authorities, and how decisions regarding the utilisation of these funds ought to be taken.

Reduced authority

• In a letter to Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan this month, Mr. Ramesh alleged that the CAF Rules “undermined” several aspects of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA).
• In the current form, they significantly reduced the authority of gram sabhas in having a say in their local compensatory afforestation projects and reduced them to the role of “consultants”.
• Much power instead was vested with the State-level forest bureaucracy, according to Mr. Ramesh’s letter,.
• Though the CAF Act was passed in 2016, the Rules were finalised and made public only in August this month.
• The government said Mr. Ramesh’s concerns were unfounded.
• When the draft rules were prepared in February, they were open to public comments and Mr. Ramesh had not responded, according to Siddhanta Das, Director-General (Forests).
• He said that the presence of a state officer in the village committee was required because it was public money that was being disbursed.
• “The chairman of the committee will be a villager and we have a member secretary from the government for looking at financial disbursement,” he said. The CAF authority was expected to be in place by September 30, he added.
• The CAF Act has a tumultuous history. In 2016, the Congress and the BJP were deadlocked in the Rajya Sabha over the passage of the long-pending Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill. It was passed after late Anil Madhav, the then Environment Minister, assured Parliament that the Act would not undermine the provisions of the FRA.

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Friday, supported by signs that U.S. sanctions on Iran are already reducing global crude supply.

Benchmark Brent crude oil rose $1.30 a barrel to a high of $76.03 by 1425 GMT, on track for gains of more than 5% this week. U.S. crude was $1.20 higher at $69.03, heading for a weekly rise of more than 4%.

Both crude markers are on track to end a steady run of weekly declines. This is largely due to a tightening fundamental outlook on the back of looming Iranian supply shortages.

The U.S. Government reimposed sanctions on Iran this month after withdrawing from a 2015 international nuclear deal, which Washington saw as inadequate for curbing Tehran’s activities in the Middle East and denying it the means to make an atomic bomb. Tehran says it has no ambitions to make such a weapon.

Third largest producer

• Iran is the third-biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplying around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate to markets this year, equivalent to about 2.5% of global consumption.
• Third-party reports indicate that Iranian tanker loadings are already down by about 700,000 bpd in the first half of August relative to July, which if it holds will exceed most expectations.
• Energy consultancy FGE says it expects Iran’s crude and condensate exports to drop below 1 million bpd by mid-2019.

U.S., China talks

• Market sentiment was cautious, however, after talks between U.S. and Chinese officials aimed at resolving an escalating trade dispute ended on Thursday with no major breakthrough.
• Instead, both countries activated another round of tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other’s goods.
• Investors are likely to feel nervous as the two countries vow to step up the pressure.
• Economists say a prolonged trade war would reduce business activity in the United States and China, and stifle world economic growth.
• Despite the trade war, China’s Unipec will resume purchases of U.S. crude oil in October, sources said. Traders kept an eye on North Sea, where workers on three oil and gas platforms plan to go on strike.

• In a major effort to improve emergency medical support to soldiers posted in high-altitude areas, especially Siachen, the Integrated Defence Staff of the Defence Ministry and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to set up telemedicine nodes in critical places across the country.
• ISRO will establish 53 more nodes in the first phase over and above the existing 20, in various establishments of the Army, Navy and Air Force across the country.

In Siachen

• As part of this, in addition to a functioning node on the Siachen glacier, four more nodes are being established to enable medical consultation between soldiers deployed on the glacier and medical echelons in the rear.
• During winter months, many of the remote posts are cut off for several months because of adverse terrain and extreme weather, making emergency evacuation near impossible.
• Communication through satellite-enabled telemedicine nodes will be a paradigm shift in the delivery of lifesaving health care till the weather clears up and movement is possible.
• This joint initiative by ISRO and the Armed Forces Medical Services will transform the reach of telemedicine to soldiers, airmen and sailors in remote and isolated posts, the official added.

D. GS4 Related

E. Editorials

Context:

The catastrophic monsoon floods in Kerala and parts of Karnataka have revived the debate on whether political profitability outshined science.

• Western Ghats is spread over 6 states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat) and houses about 139 species of mammal, 508 species of birds and 179 species of amphibians.
• UNESCO has globally acknowledged the Western Ghats as one among the 8 biodiversity hotspots in the World.
• Many Rivers including Godavari, Kaveri and Krishna originate in the Western Ghats.

Details:

• In the year 2010, Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) was constituted by the Central Government, under the chairmanship of Madhav Gadgil.
• WGEEP issued recommendations for the preservation of the fragile western peninsular region.

Highlights of Gadgil Report

• Recommended that the entire stretch of the Western Ghats should be declared as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
• It recommended the division of region into three zones – ESZ1, ESZ2, ESZ3 and gave a broad outline of certain restrictions for each zone.
• The committee recommended the division of region into zones at the block/taluk level.
• It recommended that no new polluting industries (red and orange) were to be permitted in ESZ1 and ESZ2 and gradual phasing out of such existing industries by 2016. Complete ban on mining in ESZ1 and regulation of mining in ESZ-2.
• It was recommended that bottom to top approach be followed for conservation of Western Ghats.
• Western Ghats Ecological Authority was proposed to be set up as a statutory body and given powers under the Environment protection Act 1986.
• There were many criticisms of the Gadgil Committee Report. Some among them were that
  • The report was not prepared keeping in mind the ground realities. If the report is implemented, the development and the energy requirements in the states coming within the boundary of Western Ghats would be adversely affected.
  • There is no need to set up a new body while there are many such bodies for the protection of environment.
• Madhav Gadgil has said the recent havoc in Kerala is a consequence of short-sighted policymaking, and warned that Goa may also be in the line of nature’s fury.

Following severe resistance to the implementation of Gadgil Committee report, Kasturirangan Panel was set up in 2012 to advise the government on Gadgil Committee Report.

Highlights of Kasturirangan Report:

• Divide the western Ghats into Natural Landscape and Cultural Landscape
• Of the natural landscape, it picked out 37% as “bioplogically rich” and with “some measure of contiguity”. Any restrictions were placed in this area.
• It proposed the demarcation of ESZ be done at the village level.
• Only red category (heavy polluting) industries were restricted.
• Hydro power project would be given the green signal on a case to case basis, post assessment of its benefits and the possible damage it could cause.

Gadgil report laid too much importance to the environment, Kasturirangan report was biased towards development. Kasturi Rangan report was criticized by many as that it provided loopholes for mining, which if allowed would turn detrimental to the environment, in long-term will affect development too. Kasturirangan report got the tag as anti-environmental soon after its release. But this report was tagged anti-development too by many who fear that their livelihood and interests will be affected.

Way forward:

• The evergreen topic of debate is between environment and development persists.
• The State governments that are mainly responsible for the Western Ghats must go back to the drawing table with the reports of both the Gadgil Committee and the Kasturirangan Committee.
• The task before them is to initiate correctives to environmental policy decisions.
• Given the need to balance human development pressures with stronger protection of the Western Ghats ecology, this is not going to be easy.
• The issue of allowing extractive industries such as quarrying and mining to operate is arguably the most contentious.
• A way out could be to create the regulatory framework that was proposed by the Gadgil panel, in the form of an apex Western Ghats Ecology Authority and the State-level units, under the Environment (Protection) Act, and to adopt the zoning system that it proposed. This can keep incompatible activities out of the Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs).
• Other low-impact forms of green energy led by solar power are available. A moratorium on quarrying and mining in the identified sensitive zones, in Kerala and also other States, is necessary to assess their environmental impact.
• The goal has to be sustainable development for the Ghats as a whole. The role of big hydroelectric dams, built during an era of rising power demand and deficits, must now be considered afresh and proposals for new ones dropped.
• Public consultation on the expert reports that includes people’s representatives will find greater resonance now, and help chart a sustainable path ahead.

F. Tidbits

G. Prelims Fact

H. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam

Question 1. Consider the following statements

1. CAMPA Act ensures speedy utilisation of funds for forest lands that are diverted for non-forest pupose.
2. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016, and its Rules, specify the kind of projects that would be eligible under the CAF, the composition of the national and State authorities, and how decisions regarding the utilisation of these funds ought to be taken.

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

See

I. Practice Questions for UPSC Mains Exam