Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 24th August 2021

About :

• Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate (English: Victory to you Mother Karnataka, The Daughter of Mother India!) is a Kannada poem, which was composed by the Indian national poet Kuvempu.
• The poem was officially declared the state song of the Indian state of Karnataka on 6 January 2004
• The poem envisages a Karnataka that recognises its position in the comity of Indian states, believes in peaceful co-existence with her sisters, but at the same time maintains her self-respect and dignity from a position of confidence and strength rather than insecurity and fear.

What is in news :

The Karnataka government will take a decision on reducing the duration of the ‘Nada Geethe’ (State anthem) before the State legislature

Details :

• Currently, various versions of the ‘Nada Geethe’ are being sung, usually 4-5 minutes long, some renditions going up to nine minutes. This has led to a call for trimming and standardising it.
• A committee led by poet Channaveera Kanavi had recommended the rendition be standardised to 90 seconds.
• However, another committee led by Manu Baligar, president, Kannada Sahitya Parishat, submitted a report in 2018 which recommended the rendition of the ‘Nada Geethe’ to be standardised at 150 seconds (2 minutes 30 seconds).

ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY

Where : Delhi

What :

• Structures that are designed as large-scale air purifiers in order reduce air pollution particles.
• Prototype for such structure was built in 2017 in Beijing (China) by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde

What is in news : Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, will inaugurate India’s first smog tower at Baba Kharak Singh Marg in Connaught Place (CP), Delhi.

Details :

• 20-metre-tall structure
• Set up to improve air quality in a radius of around 1 km.
• Will operate at full capacity after the monsoon season.
• Performance of the tower will be assessed by scientists of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and they will present a monthly report
• Developed by experts at the University of Minnesota, United States

ALSO IN NEWS : Central government will build a 25-metre-tall smog tower at Anand Vihar. It is likely to become operational by August 31.

What are cyclones : A cyclone is defined as a powerful storm containing strong winds and rains. It is formed when the warm and moist air rises making space for cool air in low-pressure areas.

CYCLONES IN INDIA

• The severe cyclones, Tauktae and Yaas, which battered India earlier this year, made landfalls on the country’s western coast, Gujarat, and the eastern coast, Odisha, on May 17 and May 26, 2021, respectively. Both storms caused massive damage to infrastructure, the agricultural sector, and houses.
• Increasing sea surface temperatures in the northern Indian Ocean and the geo-climatic conditions in India have led to a rise in the frequency of devastating cyclones in the coastal States accounting for 7% of the global tropical cyclones, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD), 2013 data.
• Every year, around five to six tropical cyclones are formed in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea; of these, two to three turn severe.
• The Indian coastline is around 7,500 km; there are 96 coastal districts (which touch the coast or are close to it), with 262 million people exposed to cyclones and tsunamis. The World Bank and the United Nations (2010) estimate that around 200 million city residents would be exposed to storms and earthquakes by 2050 in India.

ECONOMIC DAMAGE CAUSED BY CYCLONES

• Among the natural disasters, cyclones constituted the second most frequent phenomena that occurred in 15% of India’s total natural disasters over 1999-2020.
• During the same period, 12,388 people were killed, and the damage was estimated at $32,615 million.
• Cyclones are the second most expensive in terms of the costs incurred in damage, accounting for 29% of the total disaster-related damages after floods (62%).

• In addition, they are the third most lethal disaster in India after earthquakes (42%) and floods (33%). However, fatalities due to cyclones declined from 10,378 in 1999 to 110 in 2020; the significant drop was on account of improved early warning systems, cyclone forecasting, and better disaster management activities such as timely evacuation, rehabilitation and relief distributions.
• But these measures are not adequate to achieve a zero-fatality approach and minimise economic losses from cyclones.
• Between 1999 and 2020, cyclones inflicted substantial damage to public and private properties, amounting to an increase in losses from $2,990 million to $14,920 million in the absence of long-term mitigation measures. In addition, damages caused due to cyclones increased nine times during the same period.
• As a result, direct government expenditure on natural calamities increased 13 times. The Asian Development Bank’s report in 2014 estimated that India would suffer a loss of around 1.8% of GDP annually by 2050 from climate-related events.
• India lost around 2% of GDP and 15% of total revenue over 1999-2020. According to the Global Climate Risk Index report 2021, India ranks the seventh worst-hit country globally in 2019 due to the frequent occurrence of extreme weather-related events. Moreover, the report showed that India lost around 2,267 human lives, while damages stood at $68,812 million in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms in 2019. In the same year, India ranked first concerning human deaths and economic losses due to extreme weather-related events (Eckstein et al., 2021).

WAY FORWARD

• Improve the cyclone warning system and revamp disaster preparedness measures.
• Government must widen the cover under shelterbelt plantations and help regenerate mangroves in coastal regions to lessen the impact of cyclones.
• Adopting cost-effective, long-term mitigation measures, including building cyclone-resilient infrastructure such as constructing storm surge-resilient embankments, canals and improving river connectivity to prevent waterlogging in low-lying areas are important.
• Installing disaster-resilient power infrastructure in the coastal districts, providing concrete houses to poor and vulnerable households, and creating massive community awareness campaigns are essential.
• Healthy coordination between the Centre and the States concerned is essential to collectively design disaster mitigation measures. It is only such a collective mitigation effort by the Centre and States that can help reduce the fiscal burden of States and also be effective in minimising disaster deaths.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

What is in news : The first of two additional Krivak class stealth frigates being built by Russia is expected to be delivered to India in the middle of 2023

Details :

• In October 2016, India and Russia signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for four Krivak or Talwar class stealth frigates — two to be procured directly from Russia and two to be built by Goa Shipyard Ltd. (GSL)
• Due to COVID we had delays in execution of some of the stages of construction. There was an approximately eight-month delay.
• Use: They are primarily used to accomplish a wide variety of naval missions such as finding and eliminating enemy submarines and large surface ships.

Existing Frigates:

The navy already operates six Krivak III frigates. The first three joined the fleet between June 2003 and April 2004, followed by another three between April 2012 and June 2013. With the current contract, the navy will operate 10 Krivak frigates.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

Gaza Strip

• Self-governing Palestinian territory located on the eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea
• Shares its border with Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers and with Israel on the east & north for a 51 km.
• Claimed by sovereign State of Palestine. Both the territories are separated from each other by Israeli territory.

However, since Battle of Gaza in June 2007, Gaza Strip has been governed by Hamas, which is a Palestinian fundamentalist militant Islamic organization. It came into power after the elections in 2006.

What is in news : Egypt closed its main border crossing point with Gaza Strip on August 23, 2021 because of tensions with Hamas rulers

Details :

• Rafah crossing was closed for the first time during a workday in year 2021.
• This crossing was kept open during the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021.
• As per Egyptian officials, closing of the border was due to Cairo’s efforts of brokering a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

• Israel launched antibody testing for children aged as three in order to get the exact number of unvaccinated youths who have developed antibody against coronavirus.
• PayPal Holdings Inc has launched crypto buying and selling in the United Kingdom
• USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and USDFC (U.S. International Development Finance Corporation) are sponsoring a US $50 million loan portfolio guarantee to the Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMBL).