Competitive World

Category: SSC

  • Thawing Permafrost

    In this article, we will discuss Thawing Permafrost (Short Note). So, let’s get started.

    Permafrost

    • Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years straight.
    • These permanently frozen grounds are most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth’s higher latitudes—near the North and South Poles.
    • Permafrost covers large regions of the Earth. Almost a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere has permafrost underneath. Although the ground is frozen, permafrost regions are not always covered in snow.

    Associated Issues With The Thawing of Permafrost

    • Accentuate Climate Change: In the Arctic, temperatures are rising twice as fast in other parts of the world. As a result, the permafrost that has remained frozen throughout the year is thawing.
    • The thawing of permafrost will worsen the effects of the climate crisis, because stored carbon is released in the process.
    • Likewise, the loss of sea ice and ice sheets covering land will accelerate the rise in temperatures (As Ice has more albedo than Water).
    • Tropical Challenges Spreading Up Into Higher Latitudes: The diseases that have typically afflicted the equatorial belt are spreading up into higher latitudes. Mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects spread many of these diseases.
    • The West Nile virus causes hundreds of deaths every year in the United States, where it was first reported in 1999.
    • With rising temperatures, West Nile will become more prevalent in Canada, including parts of the Arctic.
    • Prevalence of Zoonotic Diseases: Warming temperatures are also causing changes in the habitats of wild birds such as ducks and geese that can carry avian flu.
    • Earlier, Russia has reported the first case of the H5N8 avian flu passing from birds to humans.
    • Changes in habitats of other wild animals such as foxes might also increase the geographic distribution of rabies.
    • Rise of Viruses And Bacteria: Scientists are also concerned about the rise of viruses and bacteria from thawing permafrost and ice. In the summer of 2016, there was an outbreak of anthrax in a remote part of Siberia.
    • Dozens of people were infected, and a young boy was killed. Around 2,300 reindeer perished in the outbreak.
    • Spread:
    • Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by bacteria that can remain dormant as spores.
    • Spores of anthrax can remain viable for at least a few decades in frozen soil and ice.
    • As carcasses of infected animals (including those of extinct mammoths) thaw, there can be more disease outbreaks.
    • Epidemic And Pandemic: Another concern is the emergence of viruses and bacteria with the potential to cause epidemics. These disease-causing microbes might be dormant for hundreds or even thousands of years.
    • Genetic material from the H1N1 influenza virus that caused the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, as well as that of smallpox have been recovered from permafrost.
    • The reemergence of a virus like smallpox (which have been eradicated) would be disturbing since humans are no longer routinely vaccinated.
    • Virus Samples From Tibetan Plateau: These conditions are not restricted to the Arctic alone. Glacial ice that has persisted for thousands of years is melting.
    • Recently, 15,000-year-old-viruses (including 28 different kinds identified for the first time) were found in glacial ice from the Tibetan Plateau

  • Global Climate Change (India and Climate Change)

    In this article, we will discuss Global Climate Change (India and Climate Change). So, let’s get started.

    India and Climate Change

    • One of the Largest Emitters: For India, the third-largest carbon emitter after China and the United States, a decisive switch is needed from highly polluting coal and petroleum to cleaner and renewable power sources.
    • China has announced carbon neutrality by 2060, Japan and South Korea by 2050, but India is yet to announce a target.
    • Global Rankings and Estimates: The HSBC ranks India at the top among 67 nations in climate vulnerability (2018),
    • Germanwatch ranks India fifth among 181 nations in terms of climate risks (2020).
    • The World Bank has warned that climate change could sharply diminish living conditions for up to 800 million people in South Asia.
    • As per the Emissions Gap Report 2020, over the last decade, China, USA, EU27+UK and India combined, have contributed to 55% of the total GHG emissions.

  • Global Climate Change

    In this article, we will discuss Global Climate Change (Important Facts). So, let’s get started.

    The Climate Change

    • Floods in the Himalayan Region: The Himalayan region has about 15,000 glaciers, which are retreating at a rate of 100 to 200 feet per decade.
    • The melting of the Himalayan glaciers that prompted the floods and landslides in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand have the fingerprints of global warming.
    • In 2013, glacial flooding in Kedarnath caused over 6,000 deaths during the monsoon months.
    • Other Events: In 2003, the European heat wave killed over 70,000 people.
    • The years 2015-19 have globally been the warmest years on record.
    • The Amazon fire of 2019, the bush fires of 2019-20 in Australia are some of the most dangerous impacts of changing climate.
    • Global Emission: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2020 showed that the year 2020 set new records in terms of rise in extreme weather events, including wildfires and hurricanes, and in the melting of glaciers and ice at both poles.
    • According to the report, despite a brief dip in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by the Pandemic, the world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3°C this century; far beyond the 2015 Paris Agreement goals.
    • Recently, Texas, US has been hit by extremely cold weather leading to strong wind storms in the state.
    • The winter storm has killed 21 people and left around 4.4 million without power.
    • The brutal cold has engulfed vast swaths of the United States, shuttering Covid-19 inoculation centers and hindering vaccine supplies.
    • The double-digit negative temperatures (temperatures have fallen as low as -14°C) are connected to Arctic-peninsula warming.
    • Usually, there is a collection of winds around the Arctic keeping the cold locked far to the north, known as Polar Vortex.
    • But global warming has caused gaps in these protective winds, allowing intensely cold air to move south: the phenomenon is accelerating.

  • BREXIT (Impact on UK and EU)

    In this article, we will discuss BREXIT (Impact on UK and EU). So, let’s get started.

    Impact on the U.K. and the European Union

    • By leaving the EU, the U.K. automatically, mechanically, legally, leaves hundreds of international agreements concluded by or on behalf of the EU, to the benefit of its Member States, on topics as different as trade, aviation, fisheries or civil nuclear cooperation.
    • However, with just 11 months to negotiate, there are only chances of very basic and minimal deals covering trade, fisheries and security.
    • In that case, at the end of 2020, differing aspirations for the trade talks might raise the prospect of a new no-deal scenario.
    • In the absence of a deal, the earlier accord on citizens’ rights, money and the Irish border will remain intact.
    • Both of them will have to be ready for the economic shift in trading on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms.
    • The first priority is the trade deal to ensure the tariff and quota-free flow of goods between the EU and U.K.
    • However, the EU will only agree to zero tariffs and zero quotas if the U.K. pledges zero dumping – that is, not lowering social and environmental standards to outcompete the EU.
    • Negotiations will clash over the EU’s refusal to bring services into the trade deal.
    • The EU seeks to link goods trade to maintaining the status quo on access to British waters which is considered to be a matter of concern for the U.K., so it might give rise to clashes.
    • Even the non-trade subjects will be full of political troubles because the EU Member States will have to change their policies according to the new deals and the regulations.

  • BREXIT

    In this article, we will discuss BREXIT (Imapct on India). So, let’s get started.

    Impact on India

    • India has had strong historical ties with the UK, and currently, it is one of India’s most important trading partners. In the
    last four years alone, the number of Indian companies investing in the UK has quadrupled.
    • Similarly, the U.K. is one of the largest investors in India, among the G20 countries. Hence, it is important to see how
    India and the U.K. can manoeuvre through Brexit and enter into new trade agreements that are mutually beneficial to both economies.
    • Brexit will directly impact not only the Indian stock market but the global market in totality, including the emerging markets in the world. This is because of the high volatility in the pound.
    • Both the UK and EU account for 23.7% of Rupee’s effective exchange rate. With Brexit, foreign portfolio investments will outflow and will lead to the weakening of the rupee.
    • India’s businesses based in the UK will be hampered as till now they had border-free access to the rest of Europe.
    • The investors are concerned as India Invests more in the United Kingdom than the rest of Europe combined.

    Real Effective Exchange Rate

    • It is the weighted average of a country’s currency in relation to an index or basket of other major currencies. The weights are determined by comparing the relative trade balance of a country’s currency against each country within the index.
    • This exchange rate is used to determine an individual country’s currency value relative to the other major currencies in the index.

    Foreign Portfolio Investments

    • These stands for those investors who invest for a shorter-term in a company as compared to Foreign Direct Investors (FDI)
    • These generally participate through the stock markets and gets in and out of a particular stock at much faster frequencies.

  • Attorney General (Key Points)

    In this article, we will discuss Attorney General (Key Points). So, let’s get started.

    Key Points

    • The Attorney General (AG) of India is a part of the Union Executive. AG is the
    • highest law officer in the country.
    • Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the office of AG of India.
    • Appointment and Eligibility:
    • AG is appointed by the President on the advice of the government.
    • S/he must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the
    • Supreme Court, i.e. s/he must be a citizen of India and must have been a
    • judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten
    • years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President.
    • Term of the Office: Not fixed by the Constitution.
    • Removal: Procedures and grounds for the removal of AG are not stated in the
    • Constitution. S/he holds office during the pleasure of the President(may be
    • removed by the President at any time).

  • Attorney General

    In this article, we will discuss Attorney General of India (Duties and Functions & Rights and Limitations). So, let’s get started.

    Duties and Functions:

    • To give advice to the Government of India (GoI) upon such legal matters, which
    • are referred to her/him by the President.
    • To perform such other duties of a legal character that are assigned to her/him
    • by the President.
    • To appear on behalf of the GoI in all cases in the Supreme Court or in any
    • case in any High Court in which the GoI is concerned.
    • To represent the GoI in any reference made by the President to the
    • Supreme Court under Article 143 (Power of the President to consult the
    • Supreme Court) of the Constitution.
    • To discharge the functions conferred on her/him by the Constitution or any other law.

    Rights and Limitations:

    • S/he has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of both
    • the Houses of Parliament or their joint sitting and any committee of the
    • Parliament of which s/he may be named a member, but without a right to
    • vote.
    • S/he enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a
    • member of Parliament.
    • S/he does not fall in the category of government servants. S/he is not
    • debarred from private legal practice.
    • However, s/he should not advise or hold a brief against the GoI.
    • Solicitor General of India and Additional Solicitor General of India assist
    • the AG in fulfillment of the official responsibilities.
    • Corresponding Office in the States: Advocate General (Article 165).

  • SEBI (Background)

    In this article, we will discuss SEBI (Background). So, let’s get started.

    • SEBI is a statutory body established on April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
    • The basic functions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India is to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote and regulate the securities market.

    Background

    • Before SEBI came into existence, Controller of Capital Issues was the regulatory authority; it derived authority from the Capital Issues (Control) Act, 1947.
    • In April, 1988 the SEBI was constituted as the regulator of capital markets in India under a resolution of the Government of India.
    • Initially SEBI was a non statutory body without any statutory power.
    • It became autonomous and given statutory powers by SEBI Act 1992.
    • The headquarters of SEBI is situated in Mumbai. The regional offices of SEBI are located in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi.

  • Indian Post Payments Bank

    In this article, we will discuss Indian Post Payments Bank (Functions). So, let’s get started.

    Functions of IPPB

    • It will accept deposits, offer remittance services, mobile banking and third-party fund transfers.
    • It offers 3 types of saving account:
    • Regular Account – Safal,
    • Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) – Sugam and
    • BSBDA Small – Saral
    • The maximum limit on deposits for current and savings account is Rs 1 lakh.
    • The bank offers a 4 per cent interest rate on savings account.
    • They can issue debit cards and ATM cards, but they cannot issue credit cards and cannot loan money.
    • It will provide social security payments like MNREGA wages, direct benefit transfer and give access to third-party services insurance, mutual funds.
    • IPPB account holders will be issued a QR Code based biometric card with a unique QR code.

  • Privatization in Railways

    In this article, we will discuss Privatization in Railways (Key Points). So, let’s get started.

    Privatisation

    • Under this at least 151 modern trains will be introduced and 109 pairs of routes will be planned out for private train operations.
    • Train sets have to be brought by private operators and maintained by them.
    • Fares in private trains will be competitive and prices on other modes of transport like airlines, buses have to be kept in mind while fixing the fares
    • Private participation in passenger train operations will only be 5% of the total operations of Railways. 95% of trains will still be run by Indian Railways.
    • The project will bring private sector investment of about Rs. 30,000 crore.

    Reason

    • To develop India’s railway infrastructure to provide travel services to all its passengers.
    • According to the 2019-20 data, the Railways ferried 8.4 billion (840 crore) passengers in 2019-20, about five crore passengers could not be accommodated, meaning their wait-listed tickets were dropped.
    • During the busy seasons/summer season nearly 13.3% passengers were not able to get confirmed reservations.
    • Induction of modern technology and reduction in transit time and the demand-supply deficit in train tickets.

    Benefits

    • Confirmed tickets and faster trains for passengers.
    • Trains would run faster and would be safer and provide more facilities.
    • Reduction in maintenance cost of train coaches.
    • The train coaches now required maintenance after they ran 4,000 km, but modern coaches would need maintenance after every 40,000 km or once or twice in 30 days.
    • Reduction in railways loss. Currently, the railways makes losses in passenger services.
    • Provide revenue to railways for future operations.
    • The private entity will pay the Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in gross revenue determined through the bidding process.
    • RFQ had been issued under the Make in India policy. So the coaches would have to be manufactured in India.
    • This will create jobs and utilisation of local components in manufacturing.