60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019- Polity and Current Affairs (Day 1)

Regulating Act of 1773

This act is of great constitutional importance as

• it was the first step taken by the British Government to control and regulate the affairs of the East India Company in India;
• it recognised, for the first time, the political and administrative functions of the Company; and
• it laid the foundations of central administration in India.

Hence, from above explanation, Statement (2) is correct.

Statement (1) is wrong as the first statute for the governance of India under the direct rule of the British Government was enacted through Government of India Act 1858.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 1: Historical Background)
• Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu (Chapter: Historical evolution of the Constitution)

Features of the Act of 1909 also known as Morley-Minto Reforms:

1. It considerably increased the size of the legislative councils, both Central and provincial.
2. It retained official majority in the Central Legislative Council but allowed the provincial legislative councils to have non-official majority.
3. It enlarged the deliberative functions of the legislative councils at both the levels. For example, members were allowed to ask supplementary questions, move resolutions on the budget, and so on.
4. It provided (for the first time) for the association of Indians with the executive Councils of the Viceroy and Governors.
5. It introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of ‘separate electorate’.
6. It also provided for the separate representation of presidency corporations, chambers of commerce, universities and zamindars.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 1: Historical Background)
• Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu (Chapter: Historical evolution of the Constitution)

‘A federal supreme court to interpret the Constitution’ is the only feature common to both the Indian Federation and the American Federation. Hence option (c) is correct answer.

‘Appointment of state governors by the Centre’ feature was borrowed from Canadian Constitution.

‘Single citizenship’ feature was borrowed from the British Constitution. Federal states like US, Switzerland and Australia have dual citizenship

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 3: SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION)
• Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu (Chapter: SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION)

Republic and the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble are the features borrowed from French Constitution.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 3: SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION)

Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu (Chapter: SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION)

The Preamble reveals four ingredients or components:

1. Source of authority of the Constitution: The Preamble states that the Constitution derives its authority from the people of India.
2. Nature of Indian State: It declares India to be of a sovereign, socialist, secular democratic and republican polity.
3. Objectives of the Constitution: It specifies justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as the objectives.
4. Date of adoption of the Constitution: It stipulates November 26, 1949 as the date.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 4: Preamble of the Constitution)
• Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu (Chapter: The Philosophy of the Constitution)

Democracy is of two types—direct and indirect.

In direct democracy, the people exercise their supreme power directly as is the case in Switzerland. There are four devices of direct democracy, namely, Referendum, Initiative, Recall and Plebiscite.

In indirect democracy, on the other hand, the representatives elected by the people exercise the supreme power and thus carry on the government and make the laws. This type of democracy, also known as representative democracy, is of two kinds—parliamentary and presidential.

The Indian Constitution provides for representative parliamentary democracy under which the executive is responsible to the legislature for all its policies and actions. Hence, statement (1) is incorrect.

Universal adult franchise, periodic elections, rule of law, independence of judiciary, and absence of discrimination on certain grounds are the manifestations of the democratic character of the Indian polity.

The term ‘democratic’ is used in the Preamble in the broader sense embracing not only political democracy but also social and economic democracy. Hence, Statement (2) is correct.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 4: Preamble of the Constitution)

In a landmark judgement in Bommai case (1994), the Supreme Court laid down that the Constitution is federal and characterised federalism as its ‘basic feature’. Therefore, Option (a) is correct.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 3: Salient features of Indian Constitution and Chapter 13: Federal System)

In addition to the making of the Constitution and enacting of ordinary laws, the Constituent Assembly also performed the following functions:

• It ratified the India’s membership of the Commonwealth in May 1949.
• It adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947.
• It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950.
• It adopted the national song on January 24, 1950.
• It elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India on January 24, 1950.

Source:

Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 2: Making of the Constitution)

Seventh Schedule deals with the Division of powers – Union List (for central Govt) 97 Subjects; States List (for State Govt) 66 subjects and Concurrent List (for both Union and States) 47 subjects.

Followings are the schedules in Constitution of India

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 3: SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION)

Statement (1) is incorrect because Parliament has the power to “change the name of a state” and it doesn’t matter whether state initiated or not.

Process for changing the name of a state can be initiated by state itself. However, by virtue of article 3, the parliament has power to change the name of a state even if such proposal does not come from the concerned state.

Statement (3) is incorrect because “changing of name of districts/villages involves only the state legislature and not the Parliament”.

Constitution authorises the Parliament to form new states or alter the areas, boundaries or names of the existing states without the consent of concerned state legislature or union territory. In other words, Parliament can redraw the political map of India according to its will. Hence, the territorial integrity or continued existence of any state is not guaranteed by the Constitution.

Constitution (Article 4) itself declares that laws made for admission or establishment of new states (under Article 2) and formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states (under Articles 3) are not to be considered as amendments of the Constitution under Article 368. This means that such laws can be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process. Hence, Statement (2) is correct.

Do you know?

• The Home Ministry examines the proposal for changing the names of villages, cities and railway stations once the proposal is received from the State government.
• In other words, Union Home Ministry approves the change of name and conveys the decision to the State government.
• Between January 2017 and February 2018, Home Ministry has received 27 proposals from States requesting a change of names of villages, towns and railway stations.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 5: Union and its Territory)
• The Hindu

The Constitution of India has opted for the British parliamentary System of Government rather than American Presidential System of Government.

The parliamentary system of government in India is largely based on the British parliamentary system. However, it never became a replica of the British system and differs in the following respects:

1. India has a republican system in place of British monarchical system. In other words, the Head of the State in India (that is, President) is elected, while the Head of the State in Britain (that is, King or Queen) enjoys a hereditary position.
2. The British system is based on the doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament, while the Parliament is not supreme in India and enjoys limited and restricted powers due to a written Constitution, federal system, judicial review and fundamental rights.
3. In Britain, the prime minister should be a member of the Lower House (House of Commons) of the Parliament. In India, the prime minister may be a member of any of the two Houses of Parliament.
4. Usually, the members of Parliament alone are appointed as ministers in Britain. In India, a person who is not a member of Parliament can also be appointed as minister, but for a maximum period of six months.
5. Britain has the system of legal responsibility of the minister while India has no such system.
6. Unlike in Britain, the ministers in India are not required to countersign the official acts of the Head of the State.
7. ‘Shadow cabinet’ is an unique institution of the British cabinet system. It is formed by the opposition party to balance the ruling cabinet and to prepare its members for future ministerial office. There is no such institution in India.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 12: Parliamentary System)
• Introduction to Indian Constitution – D.D.Basu (Chapter 4: Outstanding features of our Constitution)

Constitution confers the following rights and privileges on the citizens of India (and denies the same to aliens):

1. Right against discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15).
2. Right to equality of opportunity in the matter of public employment (Article 16).
3. Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession (Article 19).
4. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29 and 30).
5. Right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly.
6. Right to contest for the membership of the Parliament and the state legislature.
7. Eligibility to hold certain public offices, that is, President of India, Vice-President of India, judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts, governor of states, attorney general of India and advocate general of states.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 6: Citizenship)

In India, both a citizen by birth as well as a naturalized citizen are eligible for the office of President while in USA, only a citizen by birth and not a naturalised citizen is eligible for the office of President. Hence, Statement (1) is wrong.

Statement (2) is correct as the Constitution contains neither any permanent nor any elaborate provisions with regard to the problem of acquisition or loss of citizenship subsequent to its commencement. It only identifies the persons who became citizens of India at its commencement (i.e., on January 26, 1950).

The Constitution has empowered the Parliament to enact a law to provide for such matters and any other matter relating to citizenship.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 6: Citizenship)

Indian Constitution possesses the following unitary or non-federal features:

• Strong Centre
• States Not Indestructible
• Single Constitution
• Flexibility of the Constitution
• No Equality of State Representation
• Emergency Provisions
• Single Citizenship
• Integrated Judiciary
• All-India Services
• Integrated Audit Machinery
• Parliament’s Authority Over State List
• Appointment of Governor
• Integrated Election Machinery
• Veto Over State Bills

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 13: Federal system)

Gujarat – In 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states—Maharashtra for Marathi-speaking people and Gujarat for Gujarati-speaking people.

Nagaland – In 1963, the State of Nagaland was formed by taking the Naga Hills and Tuensang area out of the state of Assam.

Haryana – In 1966, the State of Punjab was bifurcated to create Haryana and the union territory of Chandigarh.

Sikkim – In 1947, after the lapse of British paramountcy, Sikkim became a ‘protectorate’ of India, whereby the Indian Government assumed responsibility for the defence, external affairs and communications of Sikkim. In 1974, Sikkim expressed its desire for greater association with India.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 5: Union and its Territory)

If any foreign territory becomes a part of India, the Government of India specifies the persons who among the people of the territory shall be the citizens of India. Such persons become the citizens of India from the notified date. For example, when Pondicherry became a part of India, the Government of India issued the Citizenship (Pondicherry) Order, 1962, under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 6: Citizenship)

Article 2 empowers the Parliament to ‘admit into the Union of India, or establish, new states on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit’. Thus, Article 2 grants two powers to the Parliament:

• the power to admit into the Union of India new states; and
• the power to establish new states.

The first refers to the admission of states which are already in existence while the second refers to the establishment of states which were not in existence before.

Notably, Article 2 relates to the admission or establishment of new states that are not part of the Union of India.

Article 3, on the other hand, relates to the formation of or chan-ges in the existing states of the Union of India. In other words, Article 3 deals with the internal re-adjustment inter se of the territories of the constituent states of the Union of India.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 5: Union and its Territory)

Constitution Day (National Law Day), also known as Samvidhan Divas, is celebrated in India on 26 November every year to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India. Hence, Statement (1) is wrong.

On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950.

The Beating Retreat ceremony is held after officially denoting the end of Republic Day festivities. It is conducted on the evening of 29 January, the third day after the Republic Day. Hence, Statement (2) is wrong.

Beating Retreat ceremony is performed by the bands of the three wings of the military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Therefore, Statement (3) is correct.

The venue is Raisina Hill and an adjacent square, Vijay Chowk, flanked by the North and South block of the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s Palace) towards the end of Rajpath. The Chief Guest of the function is the President of India who arrives escorted by the (PBG), a cavalry unit.

Source:

• The Hindu

Unlike in other federations, the states in India have no right to territorial integrity. The Parliament can by unilateral action change the area, boundaries or name of any state. Moreover, it requires only a simple majority and not a special majority. Hence, the Indian Federation is “an indestructible Union of destructible states”. The American Federation, on the other hand, is described as “an indestructible Union of indestructible states”.

Source:

• Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth (Chapter 5: Union and its Territory)

The Swaran Singh Committee was appointed by the Congress government in 1975 which considered the question of the suitability of the Presidential form of government for India.

The committee gave report in favor of presidential form of government owing to various advantages over presidential form of government. However, the committee also opined that there is no need to replace parliamentary system.

Source:

• The Hindu
• https://pdpu.ac.in/cce/downloads/Parliamentary%20System.pdf

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is often seen in news.

The FATF’s primary policies issued are the Forty Recommendations on money laundering from 1990 and the Nine Special Recommendations (SR) on Terrorism Financing (TF).

Together, the Forty Recommendations and Special Recommendations on Terrorism Financing set the international standard for anti-money laundering measures and combating the financing of terrorism and terrorist acts. They set out the principles for action and allow countries a measure of flexibility in implementing these principles according to their particular circumstances and constitutional frameworks. Both sets of FATF Recommendations are intended to be implemented at the national level through legislation and other legally binding measures.

The 40+9 Recommendations, together with their interpretative notes, provide the international standards for combating money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF).

THINK!

• FATF Black list and Grey list
• OECD

Source: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/ixspecialrecommendations.html

Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan

• It has been launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India.
• The program aims to provide assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care, free of cost, universally to all pregnant women on the 9th of every month.
• PMSMA guarantees a minimum package of antenatal care services to women in their 2nd / 3rd trimesters of pregnancy at designated government health facilities
• The programme follows a systematic approach for engagement with private sector which includes motivating private practitioners to volunteer for the campaign developing strategies for generating awareness and appealing to the private sector to participate in the Abhiyan at government health facilities.

Goal of the PMSMA

• Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan envisages to improve the quality and coverage of Antenatal Care (ANC) including diagnostics and counselling services as part of the Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) Strategy.

Objectives of the program:

• Ensure at least one antenatal checkup for all pregnant women in their second or third trimester by a physician/specialist
• Improve the quality of care during ante-natal visits. This includes ensuring provision of the following services:
• All applicable diagnostic services
• Screening for the applicable clinical conditions
• Appropriate management of any existing clinical condition such as Anaemia, Pregnancy induced hypertension, Gestational Diabetes etc.
• Appropriate counselling services and proper documentation of services rendered
• Additional service opportunity to pregnant women who have missed ante-natal visits
• Identification and line-listing of high risk pregnancies based on obstetric/ medical history and existing clinical conditions.
• Appropriate birth planning and complication readiness for each pregnant woman especially those identified with any risk factor or comorbid condition.
• Special emphasis on early diagnosis, adequate and appropriate management of women with malnutrition.
• Special focus on adolescent and early pregnancies as these pregnancies need extra and specialized care

Key Features of PMSMA

• PMSMA is based on the premise — that if every pregnant woman in India is examined by a physician and appropriately investigated at least once during the PMSMA and then appropriately followed up — the process can result in reduction in the number of maternal and neonatal deaths in our country.
• Antenatal checkup services would be provided by OBGY specialists / Radiologist/physicians with support from private sector doctors to supplement the efforts of the government sector.
• A minimum package of antenatal care services (including investigations and drugs) would be provided to the beneficiaries on the 9th day of every month at identified public health facilities (PHCs/ CHCs, DHs/ urban health facilities etc) in both urban and rural areas in addition to the routine ANC at the health facility/ outreach.
• Using the principles of a single window system, it is envisaged that a minimum package of investigations (including one ultrasound during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy) and medicines such as IFA supplements, calcium supplements etc would be provided to all pregnant women attending the PMSMA clinics.
• While the target would reach out to all pregnant women, special efforts would be made to reach out to women who have not registered for ANC (left out/missed ANC) and also those who have registered but not availed ANC services (dropout) as well as High Risk pregnant women.
• OBGY specialists/ Radiologist/physicians from private sector would be encouraged to provide voluntary services at public health facilities where government sector practitioners are not available or inadequate.
• Pregnant women would be given Mother and Child Protection Cards and safe motherhood booklets.
• One of the critical components of the Abhiyan is identification and follow up of high risk pregnancies. A sticker indicating the condition and risk factor of the pregnant women would be added onto MCP card for each visit:
• Green Sticker- for women with no risk factor detected
• Red Sticker – for women with high risk pregnancy
• A National Portal for PMSMA and a Mobile application have been developed to facilitate the engagement of private/ voluntary sector.
• ‘IPledgeFor9’ Achievers Awards have been devised to celebrate individual and team achievements and acknowledge voluntary contributions for PMSMA in states and districts across India.

THINK!

• ‘IPledgefor9’ Achievers Awards

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=180313

The capital adequacy ratio measures a bank’s capital in relation to its risk-weighted assets. The capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio promotes financial stability and efficiency in economic systems throughout the world.

The Basel III norms stipulated a capital to risk weighted assets of 8%. However, as per RBI norms, Indian scheduled commercial banks are required to maintain a CAR of 9% while Indian public sector banks are emphasized to maintain a CAR of 12%.

THINK!

• What are Tier I, Tier II, Tier III Capital?

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/npas-increasing-iba-tells-panel/article24081672.ece

It is a policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies. It achieves this by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers, typically based on the cost of generation of each technology.

Source: https://m.economictimes.com/industry/energy/power/chinese-move-may-pull-down-solar-bid-tariffs-further/articleshow/64719557.cms

It was conducted to rescue Indian Nationals off Socotra Islands (Yemen) after the island was struck with a severe Cyclonic Storm – Mekunu.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=179842

National Disaster Risk Index

This index is made by the Union Home Ministry with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The disasters taken into consideration include cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, etc. The top 5 states most vulnerable to natural disasters are:

• Maharashtra
• West Bengal
• Uttar Pradesh
• Madhya Pradesh
• Rajasthan

Do you know?

• This is a list of countries by natural disaster risk, as measured in the World Risk Index, calculated by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and featured in the 2016 World Risk Report (WRR 2016) published by the Alliance Development Works/Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft (BEH).
• The report systematically considers a country’s vulnerability and its exposure to natural hazards to determine a ranking of countries around the world based on their natural disaster risk.
• The WRI developed by UNU-EHS and BEH the main feature of the WRR, determines the risk of becoming a victim of a disaster as a result of vulnerability and natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, storms, floods, droughts and sea level rise for 171 countries worldwide.
• The WRI is based on 28 indicators and research data which are globally freely available and results in a global risk ranking and maps which allow for comparison between countries. Risk is at its highest where a high level of exposure to natural hazards coincides with very vulnerable societies
• India ranked 72/171

Transformation Index

• Bangladesh, Lebanon, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Uganda are the “new” autocracies, according to Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation.
• In its “Transformation Index 2018 (BTI)”, it has rated 58 out of 129 developing nations as autocracies.
• The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) analyzes and evaluates the quality of democracy, a market economy and political management in 129 developing and transition countries. It measures successes and setbacks on the path toward a democracy based on the rule of law and a socially responsible market economy.
• India was ranked 26.

Half-Earth Project

The extinction of species by human activity continues to accelerate, fast enough to eliminate more than half of all species by the end of this century. Earth’s foundational, billion-year-old environmental support system cannot be replaced. Once species are gone, they are gone forever.

Half-Earth is a call to protect half the land and half the sea in order to manage sufficient habitat to ensure the long-term health of our planet. The Half-Earth Project is bringing this conservation moonshot to life.

To protect life on earth, the famous American biologist E.O. Wilson has described an ambitious project he calls “Half-Earth”. He calls for formally protecting 50% of the earth’s land surface in order to conserve our rapidly disappearing natural heritage. Others have rightly argued that in the past conservation efforts have often disregarded issues of social justice and equity. Thus the goals of “Half-Earth” should not compromise the rights of indigenous people.

The Half-Earth Project is:

• Driving research to better understand the species of our planet and their interactions within ecosystems.
• Providing conservation management leadership by mapping the species of our planet and identifying where we have the best opportunity to protect the most species.
• Engaging people everywhere to participate in caring for our planet and achieving the goal of Half-Earth.

REPLACE PROGRAMME

WHO released REPLACE, a step-by-step guide for the elimination of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply.

Eliminating trans fats is key to protecting health and saving lives: WHO estimates that every year, trans fat intake leads to more than 500,000 deaths of people from cardiovascular disease.

Industrially-produced trans fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods.

Manufacturers often use them as they have a longer shelf life than other fats. But healthier alternatives can be used that would not affect taste or cost of food.

WHO calls on governments to use the REPLACE action package to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the food supply.

Implementing the six strategic actions in the REPLACE package will help achieve the elimination of trans fat, and represent a major victory in the global fight against cardiovascular disease.

REPLACE provides six strategic actions to ensure the prompt, complete, and sustained elimination of industrially-produced trans fats from the food supply:

• REview dietary sources of industrially-produced trans fats and the landscape for required policy change.
• Promote the replacement of industrially-produced trans fats with healthier fats and oils.
• Legislate or enact regulatory actions to eliminate industrially-produced trans fats.
• Assess and monitor trans fats content in the food supply and changes in trans fat consumption in the population.
• Create awareness of the negative health impact of trans fats among policy makers, producers, suppliers, and the public.
• Enforce compliance of policies and regulations.

Socotra Island- located between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, is the largest of four islands of the Socotra archipelago. The territory is located near major shipping routes and is officially part of Yemen

The island was recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world natural heritage site in July 2008.

Solomon Island- Solomon Islands is a sovereign state consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu

Guam Island- is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States in Micronesia in the Western Pacific Ocean.

Sabang Island- Weh Island often known as Sabang after the largest city, is a small active volcanic island to the northwest of Sumatra.

It was originally connected to the Sumatran mainland and became separated by sea after the volcano’s last eruption in the Pleistocene era.

The island is situated in the Andaman Sea. The largest city on the island, Sabang, is the northernmost outpost of Indonesia.

Easter Island, a Chilean territory, is a remote volcanic island in Polynesia. Its native name is Rapa Nui. It’s famed for archaeological sites, including nearly 900 monumental statues called moai, created by inhabitants during the 13th–16th centuries. The moai are carved human figures with oversize heads, often resting on massive stone pedestals called ahus. Ahu Tongariki has the largest group of upright moai.

In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

These islands were in news (below articles as reference)

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/navy-sends-ship-to-socotra-island-in-yemen-to-rescue-38-stranded-indians/article24069098.ece

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/india-indonesia-and-sabang-port-a-game-changer/

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/money-in-swiss-banks-india-moves-to-73rd-place-uk-remains-on-top/article24303750.ece

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/trump-kim-summit-a-timeline/article24142159.ece

Neutrinos are also called Ghost Particles because they are very difficult to detect. They have mass but very negligible. Neutrinos are electrically neutral and interact only via the weak interaction.

XENON Experiment- The XENON dark matter research project, operated at the Italian Gran Sasso National Laboratory, is a deep underground research facility featuring increasingly ambitious experiments aiming to detect dark matter particles. The experiments aim to detect particles in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) by looking for rare interactions via nuclear recoils in a liquid xenon target chamber. The current detector consists of a dual phase time projection chamber (TPC).

Neutrino detectors around the world

• ANTARES -Under Mediterranean sea off coast of Toulon, France. (Underwater neutrino telescope)
• MiniBooNE- at Fermilab in the US
• IceCube – Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, (Under-ice detector)
• Borexino – Gran Sasso, Italy. (Underground experiment)
• Sudbury Neutrino Observatory – Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (Underground experiment)
• Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment- In Daya Bay near Hong Kong, China
• MINOS- Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search – is an experiment at Fermilab designed to study the phenomena known as neutrino oscillations
• Super-Kamiokande, under Mount Ikeno, Japan
• KATRIN- Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment, or KATRIN. Researchers say determining the mass of neutrinos is one of the most important open questions in particle physics and will help scientists better understand the history of the universe

Source:

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/scientists-seek-to-find-mass-of-ghost-particle/article24137611.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/neutrino-project-no-clearance-from-villagers/article23544221.ece

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sco-leaders-make-joint-appeal-to-youth-against-terror/article24128722.ece

The Energy Progress Report provides a global dashboard on progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). The report is a joint effort of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank Group, and the World Health Organization (WHO), which the United Nations (UN) has named as global custodian agencies, responsible for collecting and reporting on country-by-country energy indicators for reporting on SDG7.

This report tracks global, regional and country progress on the four targets of SDG7: energy access (electricity, clean fuels and technologies for cooking), renewable energy and energy efficiency, based on statistical indicators endorsed by the UN.

The report updates progress with the latest available data up to 2016 for energy access, and 2015 for clean energy, against a baseline year of 2010.

4th Sustainable Energy for All Forum – Lisbon, Portugal, May 2018

Specific findings on SDG 7 targets include:

Access to electricity: One billion people (13% of the world population) continue to live without electricity. At current rates, 674 million people would remain without access to electricity in 2030. Experience in a few countries has shown that home solar energy systems or mini-grids are a promising technology to provide access in rural areas.

Access to clean cooking fuels: Three billion people (40% of the world population) remain without access to clean cooking fuels. The resulting indoor air pollution causes approximately 4 million deaths per year. The main reasons for lack of progress are low consumer awareness, financing gaps, slow technological progress and lack of fuel distribution infrastructure.

Energy efficiency: Global GDP continues to decouple from growth in energy demand with energy intensity declining on average 2.2% per year, compared to 2.6% required to double energy efficiency by 2030. Progress was driven by improved energy efficiency in the industrial sector, whereas the transport and heating sectors are lagging. Several large economies show signs that their primary energy use demand has peaked.

Renewable energy: Modern renewable energy use (excluding traditional uses of biomass) has increased to 9.6% of global energy consumption and is projected to reach 21% by 2030 under current policies. This is insufficient to achieve the “substantial increase” required under target 7.2 and to mitigate climate change. While falling costs have accelerated growth in renewable electricity to 22.8% per year in some countries, electricity only represented 20% of final energy consumption in 2015. Growth in the use of renewables in transport and heating is much slower at 2.8% per year.

Source:

• http://sdg.iisd.org/news/energy-progress-report-the-world-is-not-on-track-to-achieve-sdg-7-but-progress-is-accelerating/
• https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/make-power-supply-a-fundamental-right/article24202992.ece