Cyclone Vayu and Monsoon
Category: Geography
- Vayu is an obstacle to northward progress of monsoon.
- Vayu is much weaker than Fani.
- At its strongest, it is likely to generate winds of speed 110-120 km per hour. In contrast, winds associated with Fani had speeds of about 220 km per hour.
- Vayu, even at its most powerful, therefore would only be categorised as a “severe cyclonic storm”, while Fani was an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” and almost satisfied the conditions for classification as a “super cyclone”.
- While Vayu is unlikely to result in widespread destruction, it is a cause for concern for a different reason. It is likely to halt the northward progression of the monsoon for a few days.
- The arrival of the monsoon has already been delayed, hitting the Kerala coast on June 8 instead of June 1. The cyclone is expected to interfere with normal progression, by sucking all the moisture from the monsoon winds towards itself.
- Cyclones are sustained by very strong low-pressure areas at their core. Winds in surrounding areas are forced to rush towards these low-pressure areas. Similar low-pressure areas, when they develop near or over land, are instrumental in pulling the monsoon winds over the country as well.
- But right now, the low-pressure area at the centre of the cyclone is far more powerful than any local system that can pull the monsoon winds moving northeast.
- The northward progress, especially in interior areas, would not be possible till the cyclone dissipates.
- The western coast would continue to have rains during this time, but interior parts would have to wait till two to three days after the cyclone dissipates.What this means is that the places where the monsoon has already reached would continue to get rain, mainly along the western coastline, but other areas would have to wait a little longer.
- .It is likely to dissipate very fast after that because the land and atmosphere in the area was devoid of any moisture that can sustain it any further. The northward progression of monsoon can be expected two to three days after that.
- Though cyclones are common in the June, very few of them originate in the Arabian Sea. Most of them are found in the Bay of Bengal.
- In the last 120 years for which records are available, just about 14% of all cyclonic storms, and 23% of severe cyclones, around India have occurred in the Arabian Sea.
- Arabian Sea cyclones are also relatively weak compared to those emerging in the Bay of Bengal. This, along with the fact that the Gujarat coastline, which is where most of the cyclones emerging in the Arabian Sea are headed, is not very densely populated, ensures that the damage potential of the cyclones on the western coast is comparatively low.
No-frills Accounts
Category: Economy
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to offer cheque book facility and other services to the no-frills account holders, but said they could not ask such account holders to maintain any minimum balance for such services.
- The basic savings bank deposit account or no-frills account was designed as a savings account which will offer certain minimum facilities, free of charge, to the holders of such accounts.
- As per the norms of no-frills account, account holders are not required to maintain minimum balance and can get certain minimum facilities for free.
- These facilities include, four withdrawals from ATMs in a month, deposit of cash at bank branch and ATM card or ATM-cum-debit card.
SCO
Category: International
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
- The first informal summit between India and China was held in Wuhan last year.
- The SCO summit is to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.
- India has been participating in tactical drills and counter-terror cooperation with other SCO member countries under the RATS, which has its headquarters in Tashkent.
- In August 2018, India joined Pakistan in a tactical military exercise under the SCO’s RATS.
