The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Bench of J&K will deal with all service matters of the employees of the Central government and the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh
Earlier, Chandigarh Bench of CAT used to deal with these matters..
Important value additions:
Central Administrative Tribunal(CAT)
It was established under Article 323 – A of the Constitution.
Mandate:To adjudicate (formal judgement) disputes and complaints related to recruitment and conditions of service of persons who are appointed to public services and posts.
The Tribunal exercises the same jurisdiction and authority in case of contempt of itself as that of a High Court under Section 17 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985.
The Tribunal is guided by the principles of natural justice in deciding cases.
It is not bound by the procedure prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code.
Salaries, allowances and conditions of service: As specified by the Central Government.
The schematic diagram of Earth’s magnetosphere shown consists of different regions:
Bow shock : It occurs when the Earth’s magnetosphere interacts with the nearby flowing Plasma.
Magnetosheath:Region of space between the magnetopause and the bow shock.
Magnetopause : It is the boundary between the planet’s magnetic field and the solar wind.
Northern tail lobe : Earth’s magnetosphere lobe on the northern side. Magnetic field lines of the lobe point towards the earth.
Southern tail lobe: Earth’s magnetosphere lobe on the southern side.
Plasmasphere: Earth’s magnetosphere consisting of low energy (cool) plasma.
Solar winds: Stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun (corona).
Significance of Study of Plasma Processes:
The plasma processes may hamper the working of satellites that are in the magnetospheric region.
The changes in plasma processes can be deciphered only through computer simulations.
The study will help advance the knowledge of plasma waves, instabilities and effects associated with wave-particle interactions.
Indian Institute of Geomagnetism
It conducts basic and applied research in Geomagnetism (study of dynamics of earth’s magnetic field) and allied fields.
The Institute also supports a World Data Centre for Geomagnetism (WDC, Mumbai), which is the only Internationalcentre for Geomagnetic data in South Asia.
Miscellaneous
Snakebite
Four venomous snakes that cause deaths in India due to snakebites are:
Russell’s viper
Saw-scaled viper
Common krait
Cobra
Covid toe
It is a kind of rash being reported in some Covid-19 patients’ toes.
The researchers have likened it to pseudo-chilblain lesions.
(MAINS FOCUS)
POLITY/ GOVERNANCE
Topic: General Studies 2:
Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
Government policies and interventions for development in Health sectors
Context: Central Government through notification on 24th April 2020 brought the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Brief History of Cauvery Waters Authority
Central Government, in exercise of the powers under Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 had constituted the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in 1990.
The Tribunal adjudicated upon the water sharing of Cauvery river among the States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Union territory of Puducherry.
The Tribunal gave its verdict in 2007. However, the party States filed casein the Supreme Court against the said verdict.
The Supreme Court delivered its verdict in 2018 modifying the Tribunal’s order. Click here for details
SC also directed the Central Government to frame a scheme under section 6A of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, to implement the verdict.
As a result, the Central Government notified the Cauvery Water Management Scheme on 01st june, 2018, constituting the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC)
What is the criticism of the notification?
Farmers groups & political parties are alleging that notification has reduced the Authority to a “puppet” of the Centre. The reason cited for this allegation are
CWMA was created on the direction of the Supreme Court in February 2018 and Ministry of Jal Shakti was formed in May 2019 through merging of two ministries.
It is argued that between June 2018-May 2019, there was no public notification on the CWMA being designated as an organisation under then Union Ministry of Water Resources. Hence, the new notification is a move without any precedence.
Is the above Criticism justified?
Not necessarily, this is because
CWMA has been working all along under the Water resources Ministry.
Even in the case of its predecessor, the Cauvery River Authority (1998-2013) with the Prime Minister as the Chairman and Chief Ministers of the basin States as Members, the Union Ministry of Water Resources had administrative control
Besides, eight inter-State river water boards will come under the Jal Shakti Ministry as a result of this notification. Hence, it is not specific to Cauvery river.
The notification is just an allocation of business rule which means the authority will have to report to the Jal Shakti Ministry
Thus, the notification is just a procedural requirement (after the merger of water ministries) and has no impact on the independent nature of the functioning of the authority.
Is everything fine with CWMA?
No, there are criticisms against Centre vis-à-vis CWMA on the following grounds
Even two years after its formation, the Authority does not have a full-fledged chairman.
Centre has been reluctant to act decisively in aspects relating to CWMA, other than under the orders of the Supreme Court, for fear of alienating voters in one of the States involved
The body has thus been not fully operational.
Conclusion
River Water sharing being a sensitive issue, Centre must ensure that all stakeholders are communicated properly as to avoid confusion.
Connecting the dots:
Do you think that the next World War will be over water? Discuss
‘Rivers as a mechanistic producer of water, not as a dynamic life-giving system that is responsive to local and global triggers of use and abuse’. Comment.
INTERNATIONAL/ GOVERNANCE/ ENVIRONMENT
Topic: General Studies 2,3:
Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India
Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors
Context: As the lockdown exit strategies are being designed, there is pressure on governments to lower environmental standards to give impetus to growth
Do You Know?
According to IMF, crisis caused due to COVID-19 pandemic can trigger the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
At the end of March, the US announced a significant reduction in fuel efficiency standards for new cars, which could result in increased gasoline consumption by 80 billion tonnes
India is home to 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities
Dangers to Environment
There is a demand to lower environmental standards, suspend environmental monitoring requirements and reduce environmental enforcement, in the belief that this is necessary to rescue economic growth.
It is assumed that one has to make necessary trade-offs between saving livelihoods and protecting the environment
COVID-19 is being used as an excuse to weaken environmental protection.
Overlooking environmental protection is seen as short-term solutions in response to the present crisis
Why it is necessary to resist the temptation to overlook environment protection?
Increased pollution increases vulnerability to Corona Deaths
People living in areas with higher levels of air pollution face increased risk of premature death from COVID-19
Continued air pollution directly translates to mortality under COVID-19.
Pollution leads to increased mortality
The State of Global Air 2019 Report finds air pollution responsible for over 1.2 million deaths India each, based on 2017 data.
Weakening Environmental Standards will further increase the risk to lives
Pollution imposes disproportionate burden on poor
There is enormous inequality in the impact of the COVID-19 fallout.
Those who suffer the most from air pollution are the poor, who cannot afford air-purifiers or other mitigating measures
Pollution increases the risk of future epidemics
There is good evidence that three-quarters of the emerging infectious diseases migrate from wild or domesticated animals into humans. This includes Ebola, SARS, MERS and now COVID-19.
Deforestation, industrial agriculture, illegal wildlife trade, climate change and other types of environmental degradation increase the risk of future pandemics.
Weakening environmental standards may go against public opinion
The dramatic improvement in the quality of air and water in the most polluted cities around the world due to lockdown, has led to wide public approval
Weakening environmental standards to kick start economy may again lead to increased pollution levels not acceptable to public
Changed drivers of value
Corona crisis has given a clean, healthy and sustainable environment the economic value it deserves
This has resulted to urgent call to action for increased focus on healthy lifestyle and sustainable development
Conclusion
Covid must not be used as an excuse to ignore environment protection. Rather there should be enhanced coordination at an international level to continue to work towards reduced emissions under the Paris Agreement.
Connecting the dots:
Paris Climate Deal
Sustainable Development Goals and its target of 2030 – will be achievable?
(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)
Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)
Note:
Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.
Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”.
Q.1 Which of the following article deals with establishment of Central Administrative Tribunal?
Article 212-A
Article 323-A
Article 322-A
Article 300-A
Q.2 Which of the following is not the official language of the United Nations?
Japanese
Spanish
Russian
Arabic
Q.3 Consider the following statements regarding United Nations:
The headquarter of the UN is in Washington D.C.
India was among the original members of the UN.
Which of the above is/are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Q.4 Consider the following statements regardingone-dimensional fluid simulation code recently developed at the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG):
It shall study a wide spectrum of electric field structures Earth’s magnetosphere.
It is expected to help in planning future space missions.
Which of the above is/are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
ANSWERS FOR 4th May 2020 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK)
