Source: The Hindu, Live Mint and Indian Express
NORMAL MONSOON
Context: Monsoon likely to be normal this year, says Indian Meteorological Department. The IMD’s optimism stems from global climate models projecting a weakening El Nino.
Essential
- The monsoon in India is called ‘normal’ if percentage departure of realised rainfall is within ± 10 % of the Long Period Average or Monsoon in India is considered normal when the rainfall in four Monsoon months (June – September) is 96% to 104 % of the long period average.
- The long period average is calculated on the basis of mean rainfall in the four months of the southwest monsoon from 1951 to 2000, and works out to an average of 89 cm for the country as a whole.
El Nino
- El Niño is an abnormal warming of water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean every three to five years and can last up to 18 months.
- Climate records of El Niño go back millions of years, with evidence of the cycle found in ice cores, deep sea muds, coral, caves and tree rings.
What causes an El Niño?
- Scientists do not yet understand in detail what triggers an El Niño cycle.
- Normally, due to the presence of cold Peru Current (Humbolt Current) along the coast of Peru (South America), there is high pressure area in the eastern Pacific Ocean along the Peru Coast.
- Therefore, air moves from the eastern Pacific Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean where there is comparatively a low pressure.
- Because of the warmer oceans this air gets lots of moisture due to evaporation on the way.
- This warm moist air rises to high levels of the atmosphere in the western part of the Pacific Ocean and causes rainfall in Indonesia, eastern and northern Australia etc.
- The rise of warm air finally results in its cooling in the upper atmosphere. A part of this air moves towards the eastern Pacific Ocean in the upper atmosphere and descends over the eastern Pacific Ocean and helps to sustain the higher pressure there and again moves towards the western Pacific Ocean.
- This way we have a complete circulation of air between eastern and western Pacific Ocean. This circulation is called Walker Circulation.
- During El Nino years, due the abnormal warming of water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean the high pressure area in the eastern Pacific Ocean weakens, thus the wind moving towards the east (called easterly wind) weakens or even reverses its direction.
- Thus there is less rainfall/drought in the western Pacific Ocean (Indonesia, eastern and northern Australia and nearby areas including India etc.) whereas due to the presence of warm water in the eastern Pacific Ocean near Peru cloud formation takes place which causes heavy rainfall/floods in the coastal Peru.
- The atmospheric pressure in the eastern Pacific Ocean is measured at a place called Tahiti whereas the atmospheric pressure in the western Pacific Ocean is measured at a place called Darwin.
- During normal years there is high pressure at Tahiti and low pressure at Darwin. This situation exactly reverses during El Nino years and this phenomenon is called Southern Oscillation.
- There is also an opposite of an El Niño, called La Niña.
- This refers to times when waters of the tropical eastern Pacific are colder than normal and trade winds blow more strongly than usual.
- El Nino and Southern Oscillation together sometimes called
- Typically, El Niños occur more frequently than La Niñas.
Effects of El Niño:
- During an El Niño, the Pacific’s warmest surface waters occurs offshore of northwestern South America (as El Nino begins when warm water in the western tropical Pacific Ocean shifts eastward along the equator toward the coast of South America. Normally, this warm water pools near Indonesia and the Philippines).
- Prevailing easterly trade winds weaken and even reverse direction during the El Niño climate phenomenon.
- The location of tropical storms shifts eastward during an El Niño because atmospheric moisture is fuel for thunderstorms, and the greatest amount of evaporation takes place above the ocean’s warmest water.
- Record rainfall often strikes Peru, Chile and Ecuador during an El Niño year.
- Fish catches offshore South America are typically lower than normal as during El Niño years, warm water persists and deepens, and cold, upwelling, nutrient rich water (which is present during normal years) fails to reach surface and the marine life migrates north and south, following colder water.
- Strong El Niños are also associated with above-average precipitation in the southern tier of the United States from California to the Atlantic coast.
- Indonesia and northeastern South America tend toward drier-than-normal conditions.
- Temperatures in Australia and Southeast Asia run hotter than average.
- El Niño-caused drought can be widespread, affecting southern Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the Canadian prairies.
- In general, warm El Niño events are characterized by more tropical storms and hurricanes in the eastern Pacific and a decrease in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
- An El Niño creates stronger wind-shear and more-stable air over the Atlantic, which makes it harder for hurricanes to form.
- However, the warmer-than-average ocean temperatures boost eastern Pacific hurricanes, contributing to more-active tropical storm seasons.
- Wind shear is defined as the amount of change in the wind’s direction or speed with increasing altitude.
PLEA TO REMOVE DUAL CONTROL OF ASSAM RIFLES
Context: The Delhi High Court has sought the response from the Cabinet Committee on Security on a petition seeking directions to bring the Assam Rifles out of the dual control of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence as the dual leadership was causing administrative problems like “discrimination” in terms of promotion.
Essentials
- The Assam Rifles is a Central Para Military Force along with two other forces – Special Frontier Force and Coast Guard.
- However, only the Assam Rifles functions under the administrative control of the Union Home Ministry.
- The Assam Rifles functions under the administrative control of the Home Ministry while the operational control lies with the Ministry of Defence (It is headed by Army personnel who come under the Ministry of Defence).
- The Assam Rifles was formed under the British in 1835 by the name of Cachar Levy.
- At present, it has 46 battalions and fulfils the dual role of maintaining internal security in the Northeastern region and guarding the Indo-Myanmar Border.
- The HQs of all the Central Para Military Forces are located at Delhi, except that of Assam Rifles (AR) which is at Shillong.
Cabinet Committees:
- In a parliamentary democracy, prime minister is the executive head of the government, while the head of state is a largely ceremonial monarch or president.
- In most cases, the prime minister sets up different cabinet committees with select members of the cabinet and assigns specific functions to such committees for smooth and convenient functioning of the government.
- The Prime Minister is a member of the following Cabinet Committees:
- Cabinet Committee on Appointments
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Security
- The Prime Minister is not a member of the following Cabinet Committees:
- Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
- The Prime Minister chairs the CCS which comprises
- the minister of external affairs,
- the home minister,
- the finance minister, and
- the defence minister.
Functions of Cabinet Committee on Security
- To deal with all defence related issues.
- To deal with issues relating to law and order and internal security.
- To deal with policy matters concerning foreign affairs that have internal or external security implications, including cases relating to agreements with other countries on security-related issues.
- To deal with economic and political issues impinging on national security.
- To review the manpower requirements relating to national security and setting up new structures to deal with security-related issues.
- To consider all cases involving capital expenditure of more than rupees one thousand crore in respect of
Department of Defence Production and Department of Defence Research and Development
- All matters relating to atomic energy.
- To consider cases of increase in the firmed up cost estimates or revised cost estimates.
Note: The status of “Ex- Servicemen“ is currently given only to the personnel of the Army, Air Force and Navy.
NIRBHAY
- Context: Sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ successfully test-fired.
Essentials
- Nirbhay is a two- stage missile and is similar to U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile.
- It is an indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile.
- The missile takes off vertically and then turns horizontally into desired direction.
- It is guided by a highly-advanced navigation system which is also indigenously designed and developed.
- Nirbhay has a range of 1000 km and can fly very low to the ground to avoid detection by enemy radar called terrain hugging capability.
- It is capable of loitering and cruising at 0.7 mach at altitude as low as 100 metres.
- Out of the six tests so far only the second, the fifth and this sixth test are successful.
Difference Between Ballistic Missiles and Cruise Missiles
- Ballistic missiles are powered initially by a rocket or series of rockets in stages (first stage), but then follow an unpowered (without fuel) curved trajectory mostly above the atmosphere (second stage) before descending to reach its intended target (third stage). Thus, Ballistic missiles have three stages of flight.
- A ballistic missile is only guided during the initial short boost phase, but minor corrections can be made by means of control motors.
- Ballistic missiles can carry either nuclear or conventional warheads.
- Ballistic missiles with range less than 1,000 kilometers are also known as “tactical” ballistic missiles.
- Ballistic missiles with range between 1,000 and 3,000 kilometers are also known as “theater” ballistic missiles.
- Ballistic missiles whose range is more than 5,500 kilometers (approximately 3,410 miles) are also known as intercontinental or strategic ballistic missiles.
- Ballistic missiles first came into use during World War II, when the Germans used them to attack London.
- They can be launched from ground, air, sea or submarine platforms.
Cruise missiles
- Cruise missiles are unmanned vehicles that are propelled by jet engines, much like an airplane.
- They can be launched from ground, air, sea or submarine platforms.
- Cruise missiles remain within the atmosphere for the duration of their flight and can fly as low as a few meters off the ground.
- Flying low to the surface of the earth expends more fuel but makes a cruise missile very difficult to detect.
- Cruise missiles are self-guided and use multiple methods to accurately deliver their payload, including terrain mapping, global positioning systems (GPS) and inertial guidance.
GSLV VS PSLV
Context: The Union Cabinet on Monday approved five more GSLV satellite launch vehicles for the period 2021-24 under the next phase 4 of the ongoing GSLV continuation programme.
Essentials
What is the difference between GSLV and PSLV?
- Both PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) are the satellite-launch vehicles (rockets) developed by ISRO.
- PSLV is designed mainly to deliver the:
- “earth-observation” or “remote-sensing” satellites with
- lift-off mass of up to about 1750 Kg to
- Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of 600-900 Km altitude.
- Apart from launching the remote sensing satellites to Sun-synchronous polar orbits, the PSLV is also used to launch the satellites of lower lift-off mass of up to about 1400 Kg to the elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
- The remote sensing satellites orbit the earth from pole-to-pole.
- PSLV is a four-staged launch vehicle with first and third stage using solid rocket motors and second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines.
- It also uses strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage, and depending on the number of these strap-on boosters, the PSLV is classified into its various versions.
- A neat launch record has made the booster a trusted and affordable space vehicle for small satellites. Big rocket players are focussed on taking heavy, multi-tonne satellites to space.
- Since its first commercial launch in 1999, the PSLV has put in orbit more than 200 small satellites of around 28 countries, about half of them are from the US.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
- It is an expendable launch system;
- It is a three-stage vehicle with solid, liquid and cryogenic stages;
- It has three variants- GSLV MK-I, MK-IIand GSLV MK-III;
- GSLV MK-I (Russian Cryogenic Stage) and GSLV MK-II (indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage), are otherwise similar in configuration, have the capability to place INSAT-II class of satellites (2000 – 2,500 kg) of lift-off mass of up to 2,500 kg to the GTO and satellites of up to 5,000 kg lift-off mass to the LEO.
- GSLV MK-III, the most powerful indigenous rocket, is conceived and designed to make ISRO fully self reliant in launching heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class, which weigh 4500 to 5000 kg.
- GSLV MKIII has almost double power as compared to GSLV MKII.
- The GSLV is designed mainly to deliver the communication-satellites to the highly elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
- The satellite in GTO is further raised to its final destination, viz., Geo-synchronous Earth orbit (GEO) of about 36000 Km altitude (and zero deg inclination on equatorial plane) by firing its in-built on-board engines.
- Due to their geo-synchronous nature, the satellites in these orbits appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth, thus avoiding the need of a tracking ground antenna and hence are useful for the communication applications.
INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (IIP)
- Context: Industrial growth, as measured by the index of industrial production, has been slowing down considerably in recent months. Manufacturing, which has a weight of almost 78% in the index, continues to be the biggest drag.
Essentials
Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
- It is computed and published by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on monthly basis.
- It measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products.
- It is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under,
Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity
2. Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods and Intermediate Goods. - The base year for IIP is 2011-12.
- IIP is first deflated by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of the corresponding categories, released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Industry.
- The scope of the IIP as recommended by the United Nations Statistical Office (UNSO) includes mining, manufacturing, construction, electricity, gas and water supply. But due to constraints of data availability, the IIP compiled in India has excluded construction, gas and water supply sectors.
- IIP is compiled using data received from 14 source agencies
- (i) Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP);
- (ii) Indian Bureau of Mines;
- (iii) Central Electricity Authority;
- (iv) Joint Plant Committee, Ministry of Steel;
- (v) Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas;
- (vi) Office of Textile Commissioner;
- (vii) Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals;
- (viii) Directorate of Sugar & Vegetable Oils;
- (ix) Department of Fertilizers;
- (x) Tea Board;
- (xi) Office of Jute Commissioner;
- (xii) Office of Coal Controller;
- (xiii) Railway Board; and
- (xiv) Coffee Board.
Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA)
- It is an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
- Its main functions are:
- Compiling and releasing monthly Index of Core Industries Production.
- Compiling and releasing monthly Wholesale Price Indices.
- Monthly Statistical compilation of macro indicators.
- Developing other Indices on experimental basis, e.g. select business service price indices.
- Supervising as a source agency.
PROTESTS IN SUDAN
Context: President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika pf Algeria were forced to resign in the recent past due to popular protests.
- However, Sudan is still facing the protests as Sudanese want the military council, which took over the power after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, to be dissolved and be replaced by a civilian council having representatives of the Army.
NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL
Context: Notre-Dame cathedral, iconic Paris landmark, engulfed in fire.
- Notre-Dame de Paris, also called Notre-Dame Cathedral, is a cathedral church in Paris.
- It is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages and is distinguished for its size, antiquity, and architectural interest. Notre-Dame cathedral, iconic Paris landmark, engulfed in fire
