24 | P a g e 9650294824 1.2 Anti defection law Context • Telangana state assembly Speaker accepted...

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9650294824 www.jigyasaias.com

Table of Contents

1. POLITY ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Mob lynching ............................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Anti defection law ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3 NEP .............................................................................................................................................................................. 5

2. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY .............................................................................................................................................. 7

2.1 Miracle plant genome decoded .................................................................................................................................. 7

2.2 WHO writes prescription to prevent misuse of antibiotics ........................................................................................ 7

2.3 Plants may be transmitting superbugs to people ....................................................................................................... 9

3. ENVIRONMENT............................................................................................................................................................ 10

3.1 Himalayan glaciers are melting ................................................................................................................................. 10

3.2 Right whales .............................................................................................................................................................. 11

3.3 Forest cover up by 1% ............................................................................................................................................... 11

4. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................................................................... 13

4.1 RBI Panel's Recommendations on MSME ................................................................................................................. 13

4.2 Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project ........................................................................................................................... 13

4.3 Polavaram project ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

4.4 RBI launches CMS ...................................................................................................................................................... 14

5. INDIA & WORLD .......................................................................................................................................................... 15

5.1 Bangkok declaration.................................................................................................................................................. 15

5.2 UNSC ......................................................................................................................................................................... 16

6. ART & CULTURE ........................................................................................................................................................... 17

6.1 14th century idol found in Kancheepuram ................................................................................................................ 17

6.2 Buddist relic unearthed ............................................................................................................................................. 17

7. MISCELLANEOUS ......................................................................................................................................................... 18

7.1 Jal shakti abhiyan ...................................................................................................................................................... 18

7.2 Health index .............................................................................................................................................................. 18

7.3 Mauna kea................................................................................................................................................................. 19

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1. POLITY

1.1 Mob lynching Why in news

• A man was attacked by a mob in Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on the suspicion of theft on June 18. He was beaten up mercilessly for over 18 hours before being handed over to the police.

What is mob lynching

• A lynch mob is an angry crowd of people who want to kill someone without a trial, because they believe that person has committed a crime.

Supreme court’s guidelines

• The states shall designate a senior police officer not below the rank of police superintendent as nodal officer in each district. These officers will set up a task force to be assisted by one DSP-rank officer for taking measures to prevent mob violence and lynching.

• The state governments shall immediately identify districts, sub-divisions and villages where instances of lynching and mob violence have been reported in the recent past. The process of identification should be done within a period of three weeks from the date of the judgment.

• The nodal officer shall hold regular meetings (at least once a month) with the local intelligence units in the districts and station house officers to identify tendencies of vigilantism and mob violence.

• The director-general of police or the home department secretary shall hold regular review meetings (at least once a quarter) with all the nodal officers and state police intelligence heads.

• All police officers will have to ensure the dispersal of mobs that have a tendency to cause violence or lynch in the garb of vigilantism or otherwise.

• The DGP shall issue a circular to the SPs on police patrolling in sensitive areas.

• The central and state governments should broadcast on radio, television and other media platforms, including the official websites of the home department and the state police, that lynching and mob violence will invite serious consequence.

• It will be the duty of the Centre and the states to curb the dissemination of irresponsible and explosive messages, videos and other material on social media platforms.

• The police shall register FIRs under Section 153A of the IPC (promoting enmity among people) and/or other relevant provisions against the perpetrators.

• The Centre shall issue appropriate directions to the states on the gravity of the situation and the measures to be taken.

Way forward

• The prescriptions suggested by the Supreme Court should be implemented in letter and spirit.

• Origin of fake news (that could promote enmity among people) should be traced and action should be taken against the culprit.

• Police/Law & order are state subjects. It is primarily the responsibility of state governments to check such incidents.

• Manipur became the first to pass a law against lynching, late last year. The Manipur law closely follows the Supreme Court’s prescriptions, creating a nodal officer to control such crimes in every State, special courts and enhanced punishments. Other states should also follow the precedent.

India does not have a specific law to deal with lynching. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not mention the word "lynching". However, Section 223(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 states that persons or a mob involved in the same offence in the same act can be tried together. Somehow this provision has not helped in delivering justice in cases of lynching.

Recently, Nigeria drafted an anti-lynching law. Some countries have tried to curb lynching by controlling fake news. Malaysia has framed such a law and only in April this year a man became the first person to be convicted for posting fake video on YouTube.

Factors driving violence include cow protection movements and penetration of social media.

The word "lynching" originated in mid-18th century America. Origin of "lynching" is traced to two people named Charles Lynch and William Lynch, who lived in Virginia in the United States. Back then, lynching referred to vigilante justice meted out to black people.

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1.2 Anti defection law Context

• Telangana state assembly Speaker accepted the request of the 12 defecting MLAs to merge with the TRS as they constituted two-thirds of the total strength of the Congress legislature party.

What is anti defection law

• The Tenth Schedule (52nd Amendment) was inserted in the Constitution in 1985. It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.

• A legislator is deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or disobeys the directives of the party leadership on a vote. This implies that a legislator defying (abstaining or voting against) the party whip on any issue can lose his membership of the House. The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.

Are there any exceptions

• Yes, legislators may change their party without the risk of disqualification in certain circumstances.

• The law allows a party to merge with or into another party provided that at least two-thirds of its legislators are in favour of the merger. In such a scenario, neither the members who decide to merge, nor the ones who stay with the original party will face disqualification.

Is there a time limit within which the Presiding Officer has to decide

• The law does not specify a time-period for the Presiding Officer to decide on a disqualification plea.

• Given that courts can intervene only after the Presiding Officer has decided on the matter, the petitioner seeking disqualification has no option but to wait for this decision to be made.

Does the anti-defection law affect the ability of legislators to make decisions

• The anti-defection law seeks to provide a stable government by ensuring the legislators do not switch sides.

• However, this law also restricts a legislator from voting in line with his conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate.

• Such a situation impedes the oversight function of the legislature over the government, by ensuring that members vote based on the decisions taken by the party leadership, and not what their constituents would like them to vote for.

Criticism

• The law appears to violate Articles 105 and 194 which guarantee free speech to MPs/MLAs in the House. In the changed scenario, the Supreme Court needs to reconsider its decision in Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachillhu and Others (1991) in which it said, "The anti-defection law seeks to recognise the practical need to place the proprieties of political and personal conduct…above certain theoretical assumptions.”

• Politics has its own ways of finding solutions to problems. The legal intervention of ant-defection law has hindered that natural political process. While attempting to solve the problem of political defections, it has created many other complications.

• The experience of last 34 years shows that the Tenth Schedule has failed to solve the problem of political defections. On the contrary, it has been misused by political parties to keep their flock together. Parties often misuse it against lawmakers raising legitimate questions concerning their party's stand on issues they are uncomfortable with.

• In a way, it has smothered inner-party democracy and has been proved to be conscience killer for many vocal MPs/MLAs.

• The role of Speaker — who is supposed to be an impartial arbiter — has rarely been above board, attracting judicial scrutiny. Be it Goa, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh or Karnataka - Speakers' decisions have

Originally, the Tenth Schedule recognised a 'split' in a legislature party if at least one-third members formed a new group or joined another party. But, after the 91st Amendment (2004), the law recognises a 'merger' that requires at least two-thirds members of a legislature party to join another one or form a new one without falling foul of the anti-defection law.

The law initially stated that the decision of the Presiding Officer is not subject to judicial review. This condition was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1992, thereby allowing appeals against the Presiding Officer’s decision in the High Court and Supreme Court.

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invariably faced judicial scrutiny. No wonder, the SC ruled that the Speaker's decision was subject to judicial review.

Way forward

• Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's suggestion that cases of political defections must be disposed of by courts and presiding officers within a specific time frame is worth implementing.

• The Constitution Review Commission headed by Justice MN Venkatachaliah (2002) had recommended that instead of the Speaker, decisions on disqualification of lawmakers should be taken by the President or the Governor — as the case may be — on the Election Commission's advice, as in the case of disqualification on grounds of office of profit.

• Anti-defection law chould be used only during confidence motions as suggested by the Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990) and the Law Commission in its 170th Report (1999).

1.3 NEP Background

• The Committee for Draft National Education Policy (Chair : Dr. K. Kasturirangan) submitted its report on May 31, 2019.

• The Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in June 2017.

• The report proposes an education policy, which seeks to address the challenges of: (i) access, (ii) equity, (iii) quality, (iv) affordability, and (v) accountability faced by the current education system.

Recommendations

• Currently, the RTE Act provides for free and compulsory education to all children from the age of six to 14 years. The draft Policy recommends extending the ambit of the RTE Act to include early childhood education and secondary school education.

• There should be no detention of children till class eight. Instead, schools must ensure that children are achieving age-appropriate learning levels.

• The draft Policy recommends that multiple public schools should be brought together to form a school complex. A complex will consist of one secondary school (classes nine to twelve) and all the public schools in its neighbourhood that offer education from pre-primary till class eight.

• The Committee noted that there has been a steep rise in teacher shortage, lack of professionally qualified teachers, and deployment of teachers for non-educational purposes. The draft Policy recommends that teachers should be deployed with a particular school complex for at least five to seven years.

• The draft Policy recommends separating the regulation of schools from aspects such as policymaking, school operations, and academic development. It suggests creating an independent State School Regulatory Authority for each state that will prescribe basic uniform standards for public and private schools.

• The Committee identified lack of access as a major reason behind low intake of higher education in the country. It aims to increase GER to 50% by 2035 from the current level of about 25.8%.

• Currently, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an accreditation body under the UGC. The draft Policy recommends separating NAAC from the UGC into an independent and autonomous body. In its new role, NAAC will function as the top level accreditor, and will issue licenses to different accreditation institutions, who will assess higher educational institutions once every five to seven years.

• The draft Policy recommends establishing a National Research Foundation, an autonomous body, for funding, mentoring and building the capacity for quality research in India.

The draft Policy provides for reforms at all levels of education from school to higher education. It seeks to increase the focus on early childhood care, reform the current exam system, strengthen teacher training, and restructure the education regulatory framework. It also seeks to set up a National Education Commission, increase public investment in education, strengthen the use of technology and increase focus on vocational and adult education, among others.

The Draft Policy reaffirmed the commitment of spending 6% of GDP as public investment in education. Note that the first National Education Policy (NEP) 1968 had recommended public expenditure in education must be 6% of GDP, which was reiterated by the second NEP in 1986. In 2017-18, public expenditure on education in India was 2.7% of GDP.

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2. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2.1 Miracle plant genome decoded Key-points

• Scientists from the University of Kerala have decoded the genetic make-up of Arogyapacha (Trichopus zeylanicus), a highly potent medicinal plant endemic to the Agasthya hills.

• This ‘miracle plant’ is known for its traditional use by the Kani tribal community to combat fatigue.

• Studies have also proved its varied spectrum of pharmacological properties such as anti-oxidant, aphrodisiac, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-tumour, anti-ulcer, anti-hyperlipidemic, hepatoprotective and anti-diabetic.

2.2 WHO writes prescription to prevent misuse of antibiotics Context

• In its latest advisory, WHO has suggested the adoption of ‘Access, Watch and Reserve’, an approach that specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections, which ones ought to be available at all times in the healthcare system, and those that must be used sparingly, or reserved and used only as a last resort.

• Using ‘Access’ antibiotics lowers the risk of resistance because they are ‘narrow-spectrum’ antibiotics (that target a specific microorganism rather than several). They are also less costly because they are available in generic formulations.

• In India, the Health Ministry has made it mandatory to display a 5mm-thick red vertical band on the packaging of prescription-only drugs to sensitise people to be cautious while buying these medicines that are widely sold without prescriptions.

A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome—more than 3 billion DNA base pairs—is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.

WHO estimates that more than 50% of antibiotics in many countries are used inappropriately for treatment of viruses, when they only treat bacterial infections, or are the wrong choice of antibiotic (broader spectrum), thus contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

The new campaign aims to increase the proportion of global consumption of antibiotics in the ‘Access’ group to at least 60%, and to reduce use of the antibiotics most at risk of resistance.

Antibiotics are medicines that treat infections by killing bacteria. They don't work on viruses, like the flu.

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Concern

• Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world.

• New resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases.

• A growing list of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning, 8gonorrhea, and foodborne diseases – are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective.

Prevention & control

• At individual level ➢ Only use antibiotics when prescribed by a certified health professional. ➢ Never demand antibiotics if your health worker says you don’t need them. ➢ Always follow your health worker’s advice when using antibiotics. ➢ Never share or use leftover antibiotics. ➢ Prevent infections by regularly washing hands, preparing food hygienically, avoiding close contact with

sick people, practising safer sex, and keeping vaccinations up to date.

• At policy making level ➢ Ensure a robust national action plan to tackle antibiotic resistance is in place. ➢ Improve surveillance of antibiotic-resistant infections. ➢ Strengthen policies, programmes, and implementation of infection prevention and control measures.

• At health care workers level ➢ Prevent infections by ensuring your hands, instruments, and environment are clean. ➢ Only prescribe and dispense antibiotics when they are needed, according to current guidelines. ➢ Report antibiotic-resistant infections to surveillance teams.

• At agriculture level ➢ Only give antibiotics to animals under veterinary supervision. ➢ Not use antibiotics for growth promotion or to prevent diseases in healthy animals. ➢ Vaccinate animals to reduce the need for antibiotics and use alternatives to antibiotics when available.

Impact

• When infections can no longer be treated by first-line antibiotics, more expensive medicines must be used.

• A longer duration of illness and treatment, often in hospitals, increases health care costs as well as the economic burden on families and societies.

Global effort

• A global action plan on antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, was endorsed at the World Health Assembly in May 2015. The global action plan aims to ensure prevention and treatment of infectious diseases with safe and effective medicines. The “Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance” has 5 strategic objectives:

➢ To improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance. ➢ To strengthen surveillance and research. ➢ To reduce the incidence of infection. ➢ To optimize the use of antimicrobial medicines. ➢ To ensure sustainable investment in countering antimicrobial resistance.

• In 2017, the World Health Organization, in an effort to address these challenges, classified antibiotics into three groups and issued guidance for how each class of drugs should be used to treat 21 of the most common infections.

• In 2012, India’s medical societies adopted the Chennai Declaration, a set of national recommendations to promote antibiotic stewardship. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his monthly radio address to urge doctors to join the effort.

Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines.

Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria.

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2.3 Plants may be transmitting superbugs to people Key-points

• Researchers have now shown how plant-foods serve as vehicles for transmitting antibiotic resistance to the gut microbiome.

• Spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs from plants to humans is different from outbreaks of diarrheal illnesses caused immediately after eating contaminated vegetables.

• Superbugs can asymptomatically hide in (or "colonize") the intestines for months or even years, when they then escape the intestine and cause an infection, such as a urinary infection.

• The researchers developed a novel, lettuce-mouse model system that does not cause immediate illness to mimic consumption of superbugs with plant-foods. They grew lettuce, exposed the lettuce to antibiotic-resistant E. coli, fed it to the mice and analyzed their fecal samples over time.

• They found differences in the ability of bacteria to silently colonize the gut after ingestion, depending on a variety of host and bacterial factors. They mimicked antibiotic and antacid treatments, as both could affect the ability of superbugs to survive passage from the stomach to the intestines.

• Exposure to one type of antibiotic did not increase the ability of superbugs to hide in the mouse intestines, whereas a second antibiotic resulted in stable gut colonization after ingestion. Ingestion of bacteria with food also changed colonization, as did administering an antacid before ingesting the bacteria.

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3. ENVIRONMENT

3.1 Himalayan glaciers are melting Key-points

• The Himalayan Mountains are home to the highest peak in Mount Everest at 29,029 feet, but also to the third largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, after Antarctica and the Arctic.

• Now the first complete study of this region reveals that its glaciers lost billions of tons of ice—equivalent to more than a vertical foot and half of ice each year—from 2000 to 2016.

• That’s double the amount of melting that took place from 1975 to 2000, revealing that the ice loss is accelerating with rising temperatures. It’s also threatening water supplies for hundreds of millions of people downstream across much of Asia.

• Temperatures in the region have risen one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than those from 1975 to 2000.

• Researchers calculated the amount of melting likely to result from warmer temperatures to confirm that one degree was indeed enough to produce such a massive loss of glacier ice.

A glacier is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice, snow, rock, sediment, and often liquid water that originates on land and moves down slope under the influence of its own weight and gravity.

This melting means runoff is 1.6 times greater than if the glaciers were stable, resulting in seasonal flooding and the creation of many glacial lakes that create a risk of catastrophic outburst floods. In May 2012, one such flood killed over 60 people in villages near Pokhara, Nepal; it also destroyed houses and infrastructure.

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• The Himalaya span 1,500 miles, passing through the nations of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, and Nepal.

• The ice and snow in the region are the source for Asia’s mighty rivers including the Indus, the Yangtze, and the Ganga-Brahmaputra.

• Without substantial cuts in fossil fuels emissions by 2100 the Himalaya could lose 66 percent of their ice, according to a major report compiled recently by more than 200 researchers over a five-year period.

3.2 Right whales Context

• Severely endangered North Atlantic right whales have been dealt another dangerous blow to their numbers as this past month, half a dozen right whale deaths have been reported in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the coast of Canada.

• Three of the deaths have been attributed to collisions with ships, and some of the whales have been identified as females, which is especially troubling given that only 100 reproductive females remain.

Key-points

• Right whales or black whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus Eubalaena: the North Atlantic right whale , the North Pacific right whale and the Southern right whale.

• Right whales were a preferred target for whalers because of their docile nature, their slow surface-skimming feeding behaviors, their tendency to stay close to the coast, and their high blubber content.

• Today, the North Atlantic and North Pacific right whales are among the most endangered whales in the world.

• The western populations of both are currently endangered, with their total populations numbering in the hundreds. The eastern North Pacific population, on the other hand, with fewer than 50 individuals remaining, is critically endangered – further still, the eastern North Atlantic population, which numbers in the low teens at best, may already be functionally extinct.

• The two leading causes of death are being struck by ships and entanglement in fishing gear. Ingestion of plastic marine debris also presents a growing threat.

3.3 Forest cover up by 1% Context

• Union Minister for Environment told the Lok Sabha that India’s forest cover was up by 1% in the last one year.

• According to a latest report, over 24.39% of the country’s geographical area now constitutes of green cover.

• He said 125 crore trees would be planted along highways to increase green cover.

Categories of forest

• The forest cover is measured by dividing the green area into three categories- Very Dense Forest (VDF), Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) and Open Forest (OF).

• While Very Dense Forest implies that the tree canopy density of 70 per cent or above, MDF refers to the canopy density of 40 per cent or more but lesser than 70 per cent and Open Forest means the canopy density with 10 per cent or more.

• The Scrub is another category of forest which implies to the canopy density of less than 10 per cent. And the canopy density of measured is the standard 1-hectare area.

• The definition implies that if the area has only 10 per cent canopy density, it will be deemed as forest and most of the orchards across India fall into this category.

Key facts

• Since Independence, India has consistently been under forest cover of roughly 20 per cent and India’s State Of Forest Report 2017 says the forest cover in India has surpassed the 20 per cent mark and has reached to 21.54 per cent while registering an increase of 0.21 per cent or 6,778 sq km compared to the last ISFR report 2015, taking the total forest cover to 70,82,72 sq km out of total geographical area of 32,87,459 sq km.

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• Forests are spread over more than 33 per cent of the 15 states /UTs. And seven states/UTs account for 75 per cent of the forest with Madhya Pradesh (2.3 per cent) and Arunachal Pradesh (2 per cent) have the highest proportion of forests as a percentage of country’s total area.

• Lakshadweep with 90.3 per cent, Mizoram with 86.3 per cent and Arunchal Pradesh with 79.9 per cent have the most land under forest cover.

• The ISFR (India’s State of Forest Report) uses satellite images to identify green cover as forest and it doesn’t discriminate between natural forests, plantations, thickets of weeds such as juliflora and lantana, and longstanding commercial crops such as palm, coconut, coffee, or even sugarcane.

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4. ECONOMY

4.1 RBI Panel's Recommendations on MSME Key-points

• A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee has suggested a ₹5,000 crore stressed asset fund for domestic micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a relief to small businesses hurt by demonetization, the goods and services tax and an ongoing liquidity crunch.

• The committee said such a fund could work in tandem with RBI-mandated restructuring schemes or bank-led NPA revival solutions for MSMEs. The onus of creating this fund would lie with the government.

• The committee also suggested forming a government-sponsored Fund of Funds of ₹10,000 crore to support venture capital and private equity firms investing in MSMEs.

• The report said that small industries face problems of delayed payments and hesitate to enforce legal provisions available to them under the MSME Development Act due to their weak bargaining power.

• It recommended an amendment to the Act, requiring all MSMEs to mandatorily upload from time to time all their invoices above an amount to be specified by the government to an information utility.

• India’s 63.38 million MSMEs contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth. The sector accounts for about 45% of manufacturing output, more than 40% of exports, over 28% of gross domestic product and employs about 111 million people.

Concerns

• Worldwide, small businesses account for more than 50% of employment and are key engines of job creation and economic growth in developing countries.

• Small businesses have been facing a spate of disruptions since the government decided to demonetize high-value currency notes in November 2016.

• This abrupt move was followed by a hasty implementation of the goods and services tax in 2017, and the final nail was the liquidity crunch triggered by a series of debt defaults by group companies of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd in 2018.

4.2 Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project Key-points

• The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhoopalpally, Telangana, India,

• It is world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project.

• The mega Kaleshwaram project, which has several components, seeks to pump up huge quantities of water by using heavy duty pumps and fill up barrages specially created, for use after monsoon.

• The mega project seeks to utilise the flood water from river Godavari which goes untapped into the sea.

• The project starts at the confluence point of the Pranahita River and the Godavari River at Kaleshwaram.

• The Pranahita River in itself is a confluence of various smaller tributaries including the Wardha, Painganga, and Wainganga Rivers.

• Lift irrigation is a method of irrigation in which water is not transported by natural flow, but is lifted with pumps or surge pools etc.

The committee to study the problems faced by MSMEs was chaired by U.K. Sinha, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

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4.3 Polavaram project Key-points

• Polavaram Project is a multi-purpose irrigation project.

• It has been accorded national project status by the government of India.

• The dam, across the Godavari River, is under construction. It is located in West Godavari District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh state.

• In this project's case, the Godavari river basin is considered as a surplus one, while the Krishna River basin is considered to be a deficit one.

• Based on the estimated water requirements in 2025, a study recommended that sizeable surplus water was to be transferred from the Godavari River basin to the Krishna River basin.

4.4 RBI launches CMS Key-points

• The Reserve Bank of India has launched an application on its website for lodging complaints against banks and NBFCs with a view to improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.

• The Complaint Management System (CMS) is a software application to facilitate RBI's grievance redressal process.

• Customers can lodge complaints against any regulated entity with public interface such as commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).

• The complaint would be directed to the appropriate office of the Ombudsman/Regional Office of the RBI.

• Data from CMS can be leveraged by the central bank for analytics which can be used for regulatory and supervisory interventions, if required.

• Various dashboards provided in the application will help RBI to effectively track the progress in redressal of complaints.

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5. INDIA & WORLD

5.1 Bangkok declaration Key-points

• Leaders at a weekend meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to sign a “Bangkok Declaration” on fighting maritime waste — a first of its kind — which promises to prevent and significantly reduce marine debris.

• Just five Asian countries — China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand — dump more than half of the eight million tonnes of plastic waste that end up in oceans every year, according to a 2017 Ocean Conservancy report. The region has come under fire for not doing enough to tackle its mounting trash troubles, with single-use plastic and sub-par waste management adding to the problem.

• Alarming images of polluted canals in the Philippines, plastic-laden Vietnamese beaches, or whales, turtles choking on plastic debris have grabbed global headlines. Some private firms in Thailand and Vietnam have started replacing plastic products with recyclable materials, but government policies have yet to catch up.

• Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental crises today. Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since the early 1950s. About 60% of that plastic has ended up in either a landfill or the natural environment.

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5.2 UNSC Key-points

• India has won the unanimous support of all countries in the 55-member Asia-Pacific Group at the United Nations in support of its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year term in 2021-22.

• The development is particularly significant given that Pakistan and China, both countries with which India has had diplomatic challenges at the UN, supported the move.

• The 55-member Asia-Pacific Group gets to nominate one of its members for the June 2020 elections to a non-permanent seat on the UNSC. Estonia, Niger, Tunisia, Vietnam and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were elected earlier this month.

• No challenges to India’s candidacy are expected with regard to acquiring the support of other UN members. India will need the vote of two-thirds of the 193 UN General Assembly members to win a non-permanent seat on the UNSC.

• India has already held a non-permanent seat on the UNSC for seven terms: 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and 2011-2012.

• India has been keen to hold the seat in 2021-22 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Independence in 2022.

• It will be hosting the G-20 meeting in New Delhi in that year.

• There aren’t either established practices of rotation of the two seats allocated to the group, one of which falls vacant every year.

• South Asian countries as a tradition rarely contest each other.

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6. ART & CULTURE

6.1 14th century idol found in Kancheepuram Key-points

• A copper idol of Lord Parasurama, said to belong to the 14th century, was found inside a temple tank in Oli Muhammed Pettai in Kancheepuram.

• Parasurama is the sixth avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism.

• Kancheepuram, also known as Kanchi, is an ancient city in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state.

• Considered a holy pilgrimage site by Hindus, it is home to many temples.

• The 8th-century Kailasanathar Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is a vast complex with intricate sandstone carvings. Ulagalanda Perumal Temple houses a huge statue of Lord Vishnu.

6.2 Buddist relic unearthed Key-points

• A Buddhist relic has been unearthed by a group of indologists on the right bank of the Gundlakamma river at Anamanaluru village, near Korisapadu, in Prakasam district.

• The antique Buddhist pillar was found worn out due to weathering and active agricultural operations.

• This pillar might be part of a Shilamandapa where Buddhist teachers offer regular discourses on the Dhamma of the Buddha.

• Similar pillars carved in the Ikshwaku style are earlier noticed inside the Siva temple at Manikeswaram another village located on the Gundlakamma river bank, 3 km away from the present spot.

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7. MISCELLANEOUS

7.1 Jal shakti abhiyan Key-points

• Union Jal Shakti Minister, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, announced the commencement of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan - a campaign for water conservation and water security.

• The campaign will run through citizen participation during the monsoon season, from 1st July, 2019 to 15th September, 2019.

• An additional Phase 2 will be run from 1st October, 2019 to 30th November, 2019 for States receiving the North East retreating monsoons. The focus of the campaign will be on water stressed districts and blocks.

• Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a collaborative effort of various Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments, being coordinated by the DDWS.

• Teams of officers from the central government will visit and work with district administration in 1592 water stressed blocks in 256 districts, to ensure five important water conservation interventions.

• These will be water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, reuse, bore well recharge structures, watershed development and intensive afforestation.

• These water conservation efforts will also be supplemented with special interventions including the development of Block and District Water Conservation Plans, promotion of efficient water use for irrigation and better choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

• A large-scale communications campaign has also been planned alongside the JSA involving mass mobilisation of different groups including school students, college students, swachhagrahis, Self Help Groups, Panchayati Raj Institution members, youth groups (NSS/NYKS/NCC), defence personnel, ex-servicemen and pensioners, among various others.

7.2 Health index Key-points

• For the second time in a row, Kerala has emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall health performance, according to second health index launched by NITI Aayog.

• The second index took into account base year -- 2015-2016 -- to reference year -- 2017-2018. According to the index, Uttar Pradesh is the worst when it comes to overall health performance.

• The ranking was done under three categories -- larger states, smaller states and Union territories (UTs) -- to ensure comparison among similar entities.

• Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh stood at fourth, fifth and sixth spots, according to the report, titled "Healthy States, Progressive India: Report on Rank of States and UTs".

• Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have emerged as the top ranking states based on historical performance across health indicators while Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand top the index based on incremental performance in the second edition of health index launched by the government think tank.

• The health index is a composite measure of states and union territories based on 23 health indicators with major weightage to outcomes.

• Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu had ranked on top in terms of overall performance, while Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh were the top three ranking states in terms of annual incremental performance in the first ranking of states on health parameters which was published in February 2018.

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7.3 Mauna kea Key-points

• Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii.

• Most of the volcano is underwater, and when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, measuring over 10,000 m (33,000 ft) in height.

• Mauna Kea is about a million years old, and has thus passed the most active shield stage of life hundreds of thousands of years ago. In its current post-shield state, its lava is more viscous, resulting in a steeper profile.

• With its high elevation, dry environment, and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation.

• Since the creation of an access road in 1964, thirteen telescopes funded by eleven countries have been constructed at the summit.

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