09 Oct 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

A. GS 1 Related

Category: GEOGRAPHY

1. Early warning for heatwaves sees huge improvement

Syllabus: Important geophysical phenomena like Heatwaves.

Mains: Heatwaves and their prediction.

Prelims: Heatwaves.

Context: Prediction of heatwaves event in India.

Details:

• A heatwave is defined as a period of unusually hot weather with temperatures more than normal. Heatwaves typically last for 3 or more days. 
• India experiences heatwaves during the period of March to June. Two or three heatwave events take place in a season. They are usually observed in two areas:
  • Central and northwest India
  • Coastal  Odisha and Andhra Pradesh
• The frequency, intensity, and duration of heatwaves have increased due to climate change. For instance, the total duration of heatwaves has increased by about three days during the last thirty years.
• It is further expected to increase by 12-18 days by 2060. It is also expected to spread to new regions including southern parts of India in the future.
• Large-scale atmospheric circulation anomalies such as upper-troposphere, high-pressure areas,  jet streams, etc are also responsible for heatwaves. 
• Furthermore, global forcing like the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean also regulate the duration and frequency of heatwaves in India. 
• The situation is further heightened by local factors like increased sensible heat and depleted soil moisture.

For more information on heat waves, read here: Heat wave risk reduction: Droughts in India, Prevention and Relevant Questions

Impact of Heatwaves:

• Heatwaves have cascading and multiple effects on agriculture, ecosystems, human and animal health, water, energy, and the economy of the country. 
• The heatwave in Pakistan and India which took place in March-April 2022 caused more than 90 deaths. 
• An extreme Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in northern Pakistan was also a consequence of the heatwaves.

Measures to tackle heatwaves:

• An effective and comprehensive heat response plan with an early warning system, awareness programs, and technological interventions can minimize the negative impacts of heatwaves.
• India has developed a strong framework with the involvement of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), State and National disaster management authorities, apart from the local bodies. Early warning systems are an important element of this heat action plan.
• IMD can predict the genesis, duration, and intensity of the event up to 4-5 days in advance with the desired accuracy.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) had set up an advanced prediction system for early warnings of heatwaves under the ambit of the National Monsoon Mission. 
• A recent scientific study published by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, highlighted that genesis and duration of heatwaves in India can be predicted nearly two weeks in advance with decent accuracy.
  • The scientists used the hindcasts from the MoES Extended Range Prediction System (ERPS) which uses an ensemble method that combines four atmospheric general circulation models.
• Similarly, another study from the scientists of  IMD, IITM, and MoES (published in the International Journal of Climatology of the Royal Meteorological Society), documented that heatwaves in India can be predicted even one season in advance.  
  • To carry out these studies scientists used 37 years (1981-2017) of hindcasts from the Monsoon Mission Coupled Climate Forecast Model (MMCFS).
  • They used this data to document the seasonal predictions of the frequency and duration of heatwaves.
  • It could also produce the spatial distribution of frequency and distribution of heatwave. Apart from that, the model is also capable of predicting the characteristics of heatwaves for different months. 
• Seasonal forecasts can provide an outlook on heatwaves one season in advance. It can be further strengthened by using short-range and extended-range forecasts for more focused region-wise mitigation and adaptation strategies.
• Moreover, seasonal forecasts can use a multi-model ensemble forecasting strategy. Similarly, short-range ensemble forecasts should use higher-resolution global models, along with data on soil moisture through microwave satellites and IMD’s soil moisture network. Thus leveraging the forecast system in the future.

Related Links: https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/sansad-tv-perspective-heat-waves-and-climate-change/

Nut Graf: An end-to-end seamless prediction system to predict heatwaves in all time scales, from short-range to seasonal can help generate a better response to heatwave events. This would reduce its negative impact manifold thus benefiting life on earth.

B. GS 2 Related

Category: POLITY

1. Election Symbols

Syllabus: Election Commission and Political Parties

Mains: Powers of Election Commission

Context:  The Election Commission of India (EC) recently gave an interim order on use of party symbol and name by two factions of the Shiv Sena.

Introduction:

• The Election Commission of India decided that the two divided factions of the Shiv Sena, would not be allowed to use the party name and its election symbol for the upcoming byelection on November 3 and till it passed a final order on the dispute between them. 
• In an interim order, the EC said both groups would be known by different names of their choosing and would be allotted alternative symbols from the list of free symbols notified by the EC for the current byelection.

Background:

• There is an ongoing factional feud for poll symbol “bow & arrow” and party name between the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp and the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde group after the recent split in the Shiv Sena party.
• The EC order has been passed while considering a petition filed by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde group for official recognition of his faction as the official Shiv Sena under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. 

What is an Election Symbol?

• An election symbol is a standardised symbol allocated to a political party.
• They are used by the parties during their campaigning and are shown on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), where the voter chooses the symbol and votes for the associated party.
• When a prominent party splits, a tussle often ensues for its election symbol, which is frequently the embodiment of its very identity, and its fundamental connection with voters.

How does the ECI decide who gets the symbol?

• The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the Election Commission to recognise political parties and allot symbols.
  • Before 1968, the EC issued notifications and executive orders under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
• Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, the EC can decide disputes among rival sections of a recognised political party staking claim to its name and symbol.
  • The EC is the only authority to decide issues on a dispute or a merger under the order. The Supreme Court (SC) upheld its validity in Sadiq Ali and another vs. ECI in 1971.
• The Election Commission gives its ruling after taking into account all the available facts and circumstances of the case and hearing representatives of the factions and the decision of the Commission is binding on all such rival sections or groups.
• The ECI primarily ascertains the support enjoyed by a claimant within a political party in its organisational wing and in its legislative wing
• This applies to disputes in recognised national and state parties. 
• For splits in registered but unrecognised parties, the ECI usually advises the warring factions to resolve their differences internally or to approach the court.
• The splinter group of the party — other than the group that got the party symbol — has to register itself as a separate party, and could lay claim to national or state party status only on the basis of its performance in state or central elections after registration.
• The EC is also empowered to recognise mergers of groups into one entity. It may restore the symbol and name of the original party.

Nut Graf: Election Commission is empowered to grant recognition to political parties & allot election symbols to them along with settling disputes related to it. The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers EC  to recognise political parties and allot symbols.

C. GS 3 Related

Category: INTERNAL SECURITY

1. Migrants from Bangladesh

Syllabus: Security Challenges & their Management in Border Areas

Mains: Issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh 

Context: Recent data from the Border Security Force (BSF) reveal that till October 5 2022, 287 migrants from Bangladesh  were handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh.

Issue:

• Data from the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF reveal that in 2022, till October 5, the wing returned 287 persons, including 146 men, 102 women, 38 children and one transgender person.
• Due to overcrowding of prisons which is a major challenge for security agencies, in several cases, the BSF is not arresting those crossing the border but handing them over to the BGB, often described as a “gesture of humanity and goodwill”. 
• Only those who are not involved in the smuggling of narcotics, cough syrup, fake currency, gold and other prohibited articles are handed over to the BGB.

What the stats show:

• Thousands of persons are apprehended every year for illegally crossing the border along the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier.
  • This wing guards a stretch of 913.324 km along the India-Bangladesh border which is the most porous stretch of India’s borders in the entire eastern theatre. 
  • More than 40% of the border is riverine, where rivers serve as boundaries between the two countries.
• A report on Prison Statistics of India (PSI), 2021 shows that of the 5,565 foreign inmates lodged in the country’s correctional homes, West Bengal alone accounts for 1,746 (31%). 
• The State has reported the highest number of foreign convicts lodged in its jails (30.5% or 329 persons) and the highest number of foreign undertrials (28.4% or 1,179 persons). 
• The report says among the foreign inmates, Bangladeshi nationals make up the majority — 40.5% — of all foreign inmates. 
  • It shows that a majority of the foreign nationals were arrested for crossing the border illegally.
• In 2021, the South Bengal Frontier arrested 2,036 Bangladeshis and 860 Indians for illegally crossing the border. 
• According to officials of the State’s Correctional Homes, other than the convicts and undertrials, there are many Bangladeshi nationals who have completed their term and are still in the prisons due to lengthy deportation processes involving both the countries. 
• The prison occupancy rate in West Bengal as per the PSI stands at 120.
• Contrary to the public perception, more arrests are made while Bangladeshi nationals are crossing over from India to Bangladesh than in the opposite direction. 

Usual Procedure:

• Standard Operating Procedure exists for detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and for repatriation of rescued victims of trafficking.  
• People who illegally enter India from Bangladesh are being arrested/intercepted by BSF/State/UT Police and lodged in jail for several years.
• After the completion of legal action against them, they are being deported to Bangladesh. 
• In case of rescued victims of trafficking, nationality verification of the victims is done and on receipt of travel documents, they are repatriated in presence of a Non-Government Organisation.   
• The Union Government is vested with powers to deport a foreign national illegally staying in the country under Section 3(2) (c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946. 
  • These powers to identify and deport illegally staying Bangladeshi Nationals have also been delegated to the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations.
• For prevention of trafficking and issues related to repatriation of rescued victims, a task force has been constituted between India and Bangladesh since 2009.

Reasons behind illegal migration:

• People from Bangladesh  cross the border looking for work and return home after working in India. 
• Some of them try to sneak in to meet relatives.
• Some people cross borders to receive medical treatment while some children cross borders who run away from their homes.
• In the recent decades, trafficking of women and human smuggling have become quite rampant across the borders.

Read more on India-Bangladesh relations

Nut Graf: India-Bangladesh border is one of the most complex regions with a high density of populations residing on either side of the border in close proximity, with significant ethnic and cultural similarities. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are taking appropriate steps for prompt identification of illegal migrants and tackle the issue of overstay by coordinating with Border Guard Bangladesh.

D. GS 4 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

G. Tidbits

Nothing here for today!!!

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. The Kerch Strait connects which two water bodies? (Level-Difficult)

1. Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea
2. Azov sea to the Black sea
3. Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
4. Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation: 

• The Kerch Strait is the only connection between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and the only way to reach two important Ukrainian ports, Mariupol and Berdiansk.
• It separates the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea from the Taman Peninsula of Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. 

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to Van Gujjars:(Level-Difficult)

1. They are buffalo-herders inhabiting the foothills of Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
2. They are a pastoral semi-nomadic community, practising transhumance.

Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both
4. None

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• Van Gujjars are the forest-dwelling nomadic community inhabiting the foothills of Himalayan States such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
  • They traditionally practice buffalo husbandry and transhumance.

Q3. With respect to Inflation, which of the following statements is/are correct? 
(Level-Difficult)

1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will set an inflation target based on the consumer price index (CPI) once every five years.
2. Inflation reduces a currency’s purchasing power
3. During periods of rising prices, debtors gain and creditors lose.

Options:

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. 3 only

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

• Statement 01 is incorrect, The Flexible Inflation Target (FIT) was adopted in 2016. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was amended to provide a statutory basis for a FTI framework.
  • The amended Act provides for the inflation target to be set by the Government of India, in consultation with the RBI, once every five years.
• Statement 02 is correct, Inflation reduces a currency’s purchasing power and what that currency can buy. Loss of purchasing power has the effect of an increase in prices. 
• Statement 03 is correct, During periods of rising prices, debtors gain and creditors lose. 
  • When prices rise, the value of money falls. Though debtors return the same amount of money, they pay less in terms of goods and services. This is because the value of money is less than when they borrowed the money. Thus the burden of the debt is reduced and debtors gain. 
  • On the other hand, creditors lose. Although they get back the same amount of money which they lent, they receive less in real terms because the value of money falls. Thus inflation brings about a redistribution of real wealth in favour of debtors at the cost of creditors.

Q4. Which of the following statements with respect to Voter Verifiable Paper Audit 
Trail (VVPAT) is/are correct ? (Level-Medium)

1. The voter slip is displayed to the voter for thirty seconds.
2. The machines can be accessed, though, by the polling officials and not by the voter.

Options:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both
4. None

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

• Statement 01 is incorrect, 
  • The VVPAT machine  is placed in a transparent glass case and prints a slip containing the name of the candidate and the corresponding election symbol allowing the voter to see the vote. The voter slip is then displayed to the voter for about seven seconds and automatically drops it in a sealed box.
• Statement 02 is correct, 
• • An EVM is designed with two units: the control unit and the balloting unit. 
  • These units are joined together by a cable. The control unit of the EVM is kept with the presiding officer or the polling officer. The balloting unit is kept within the voting compartment for electors to cast their votes.
  • Therefore the machines can be accessed by the polling officials and not by the voter.

Q5. Which one of the following statements best describes the role of B cells and 
T cells in the human body? (Level-Medium) (CSE-PYQ-2022)

1. They protect the body from environmental allergens
2. They alleviate the body’s pain and inflammation.
3. They act as immunosuppressants in the body.
4. They protect the body from diseases caused by pathogens.

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• B cells and T cells are the white blood cells of the immune system that are responsible for adaptive immune response in an organism. Both the cells are made in the bone marrow. B cells mature in the bone marrow while the T cells travel to the thymus and mature there. These cells are structurally similar and are involved in adaptive immune response in an organism.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Explain with relevant examples how the Election Commission decides on party symbol disputes? (10 Marks, 150 Words) (GS-2; Polity)
2. The problem of illegal immigration from Bangladesh has existed for decades. Discuss concrete steps to tackle the problem in a holistic and transparent manner. (15 Marks, 250 Words)  (GS-2; International Relations)

Read the previous CNA here.