UPSC NEWS DIARY FOR TODAY 09 JULY, 2022 | DAY LONG CURRENT AFFAIRS DIGEST FOR UPSC

”UPSC News Diary For Today” is every day published in the evening between 6-7 PM and contains all current affairs articles from the day on a single platform. ”UPSC News Diary For Today” covers various topics from UPSC Syllabus and is very helpful and time managing for UPSC Aspirants. The framing of this daily current affairs compilation article is easy to read and understandable also.

In the ”UPSC News Diary For Today” article, we focus on both UPSC Preliminary and Mains exam-oriented current affairs & prepare a gist of daily important news articles from leading National Newspapers, PIB, and other various official sources.

Abenomics

Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC)

KHADC: In News

• A tribal council in Meghalaya has called for a meeting of traditional heads to revisit the Instrument of Accession, that made the Khasi domain a part of the Indian Union seven decades ago.
• Titosstarwell Chyne, the chief executive member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) agreed on it.

The History Of Formation Of KHADC

• At the time when India was at the threshold of independence, the Khasi States were offered an option to accede to the Indian Dominion or otherwise which after thorough deliberation, the majority placed their faith with the independent India and one after the other signed the Instrument of Accession
• Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement signed with the Dominion of India between December 15, 1947, and March 19, 1948.
• The treaty was signed by the Governor-General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, on August 17, 1948.
• The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (ADC) came into being on June 27, 1952, a culmination of implementation of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India to fulfill the aspiration of the Tribal people inhabiting the North-East under one composite state of Assam in recognition of their time-tested autonomous polity safeguarding their traditional heritage, customs, practices, usages and economic security while conferring in them Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers along with developmental and financial powers and functions.
• The Khasi States therefore, is still functional today in their independent character under Constitutional sanction of the Sixth Schedule.
• The Khasi hills straddle 25 Himas or States that formed the Federation of Khasi States.

Amazon Rainforest

Amazon Rainforest: In News

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has hit a six-year high.

The Editorial Analysis- Beating the Heat

Global Warming- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Global Warming in News

• An analysis of public weather data over the last half a century by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), suggests that the all-India average temperature during the monsoon months (June-September) is higher than the summer months (March-May).

Global Warming Trend in India

• The steady rise in the planet’s temperature as a consequence of humanity’s unfettered use of fossil fuel forms the backdrop to altered weather patterns everywhere.
• India too has been registering instances of anomalous weather with alarming frequency with an erratic monsoon and coastal erosion.
• Rise in Monsoon Temperature: According to the CSE Study, Monsoon temperatures are 0.3°C higher than average summer temperatures when compared from 1951-80.
  • In 2012-2021, this anomaly rose to 0.4°C.
• Variation Across Seasons: The India Meteorological Department has said that India’s average temperature has risen 0.62°C from 1901-2020 but the CSE analysis says that this has not meant a uniform rise in temperatures across seasons.
  • It is the winter (January and February) and post-monsoon (October-December) average all-India temperatures that have risen faster than even the monsoon and summer temperatures.
  • Average daily maximum temperature for north-western States in March was 30.7°C, whereas the all-India average was 33.1°C or 2.4°C hotter.
  • The average daily minimum temperature showed an even larger (4.9°C) difference.
  • Central India’s normal maximum was 2°-7°C higher, while south peninsular India’s normal minimum was 4°-10°C higher than temperatures in northwest India.

Impact of Rising Temperature

• Loss of Lives: there is also evidence of the toll on lives.
  • From 2015-2020, 2,137 people had reportedly died due to heat stroke in northwest India but southern India had reported 2,444 deaths due to excess environmental heat, with Andhra Pradesh accounting for over half the reported casualties.
• Urban Heat Island Effect: whereby cities because of concrete surfaces and dense populations tend to on average be hotter than rural habitations. This has also contributed to heat stress.

Way Forward

• Heat Action Plans (HAP): The National Disaster Management Authority is working with 23 out of 28 heat-prone States to develop HAPs that stress changes in the built environment-
  • By using material that keeps the indoors cooler,
  • Having an early warning system about heatwaves and
  • Improving health infrastructure to treat heat stroke patients.
• Implementing and Incentivizing an Effective Cooling Plans: governments must take steps to plan infrastructure and housing in ways that recognise the dangers from a warming environment.
  • It is time that India includes financial incentives, preferably via Budget outlays, for effective cooling plans.

Analysis Of DTE Magazine: ”WTO and Global Food Crisis”

Hariyali Mahotsav- Tree Festival

Hariyali Mahotsav- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Hariyali Mahotsav in News

• Recently, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change organized “Hariyali Mahotsav” at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi in the spirit of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

Hariyali Mahotsav

• About: Hariyali Mahotsav, the “Tree Festival” is being organized to create awareness about the importance of trees in sustaining not only the life of the present generations but also to secure the future of forthcoming generations.
• Organizing Authority: Hariyali Mahotsav 2022 is being organized by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with the State Governments, Police Institutions and Schools of Delhi for undertaking plantation drives on the occasion.
• Significance: Hariyali Mahotsav 2022 is perceived as an effective tool to instill enthusiasm among masses for forest conservation and planting trees.
  • It holds immense importance in complementing the policy and program initiatives of the government towards environmental conservation.
  • Hariyali Mahotsav is celebrated across the country in recognition of the crucial role of Forest/Greenery in maintaining the ecological balance and providing many ecosystem services to the planet.
• Key Activities: As part of the Hariyali Mahotsav, Ceremonial Plantation drives are being organized with participation of 75 Nagar Vans throughout the country, 75 Police Stations and 75 Schools in Delhi/NCR and 75 degraded plantation sites in the different states.

Key Facts about Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM)

• About: Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements.
  • Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is an embodiment of all that is progressive about India’s socio-cultural, political, and economic identity.
• Celebrating People of India: Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India who have been instrumental in bringing India thus far in its evolutionary journey.
  • People of India also hold within them the power and potential to enable the Prime Minister’s vision of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• Beginning of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: The official journey of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” commenced on 12th March 2021 which starts a 75-week countdown to our 75th anniversary of Independence.
• Categorize: Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is envisioned to be celebrated in five categories –
  • Freedom Struggle,
  • Idea @75,
  • Achievements @75,
  • Action @75 and
  • Resolve @75

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM) 2022

Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022- India’s biggest Drone Festival

G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting 2022

G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting- Relevance for UPSC Exam

G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is an important gathering of G20 foreign ministers that eventually leads to G20 Leaders meeting. G20 grouping is important for UPSC Mains GS Paper 2 (International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests).

G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in News

• Recently, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

• About: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia held G-20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting 2022 within the framework of Indonesia G20 Presidency.
• Host: Indonesia being the chair of G20 for 2022, hosted the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting 2022.
• Mandate: At G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting 2022, the participating foreign ministers “deliberated on issues of contemporary relevance, such as-
  • Strengthening multilateralism and
  • Current global challenges including food and energy security”
• Significance: India’s role in the G20 is of even greater importance as India will inherit the G20 Presidency for 2023.

G20 Agriculture Ministers Meet

G20 Summit 2022

• Background: The G20 was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular.
  • The first G20 Summit took place in 2008 in Washington DC, US.
• About: G20 is a global grouping that aims to secure global financial stability by involving middle-income countries.
  • In addition to G20 Summits, the Sherpa meetings (that help in negotiations and building consensus), and other events are also organised throughout the year.
• G20 Members: Full members of G20 are- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
  • Each year, the presidency invites guest countries.
• G20 Secretariat: The G20 has no permanent secretariat.
• G20 Sherpas: The agenda and work are coordinated by representatives of the G20 countries, known as ‘Sherpas’, who work together with the finance ministers and governors of the central banks.
  • India recently said ex-NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant would be the G20 Sherpa after Piyush Goyal.
• Significance: Together, the G20 countries include 60 per cent of the world’s population, 80 per cent of global GDP, and 75 per cent of global trade.
• G20 Presidency: The presidency of the G20 rotates every year among members. Presently Indonesia have the G20 Presidency.
  • G20 Presidency 2023: India will inherit the G20 Presidency for the year 2023.
• G20 Troika: Country holding the G20 presidency, together with the previous and next presidency-holder, forms the ‘Troika’ to ensure continuity of the G20 agenda.
  • Italy, Indonesia, and India are the Troika countries right now.

G7 Summit 2022

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee- Relevance for UPSC Exam

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee: Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee is an important historical figure of Indian Modern History. Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee will be part of the UPSC Mains GS Paper 1 (Indian History- Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.)

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee in News

• Recently, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah has paid tributes to Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee on his birth anniversary.
• Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life to work for one nation, one constitution, one flag, ending permit raj from Kashmir and making it an integral part of India.

International Day of Cooperatives 2022: History, Theme and Significance

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee

• Birth: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born on 6th July 1901 in a Bengali family. His father Ashutosh Mukherjee was a judge of the Calcutta High Court.
• Education: Early education of Shyama Prasad Mookergee happened in Bhawanipur’s Mitra Institution in 1906.
  • Shyama Prasad passed his matriculation exam and was admitted to Presidency College.
  • He graduated in English, securing the first position in first class in 1921.
  • He enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court in 1924.
• Death: Syama Prasad Mukherjee died in the custody of Jammu and Kashmir Police in 1953.

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee Political Career

• Youngest Vice-Chancellor: In 1934, at the age of 33, Syama Prasad Mukherjee became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta.
  • He held the office until 1938.
• Association with Hindu Mahasabha: Syama Prasad Mukherjee joined the Hindu Mahasabha in Bengal in 1939 and became its acting president that same year.
  • He was also the president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabhafrom 1943 to 1946.
• Member of Constituent Assembly: he was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India in 1946.
• Part of Government: Syama Prasad Mukherjee served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s first cabinet after Independence.
  • However, he resigned from it because of differences of opinion with Nehru-led government on the issue of Jammu & Kashmir.
• Founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh: He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951 (BJP is the successor of Bharatiya Jana Sangh).

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee’s Views

• On Partition: he was against the Partition of India and supported Congress in 1946 elections because he was assured by Sardar Patel that the Congress would never accept partition.
• On Jammu and Kashmir: Syama Prasad Mukherjee was opposed to India’s policy of autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir provided under Article 370 of Indian Constitution.
  • He was arrested during Jana Sangh’s agitation against Indian government’s Jammu and Kashmir policy and died during detention.

Rabindranath Tagore

Gender Budgeting

Gender Budgeting UPSC: Relevance

• GS 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Gender budgeting in India: Context

• Recently, Development, Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), an attached office under the NITI Aayog has called for a National Policy for Women and mainstreaming of gender-based budgeting by formulating the Gender Budgeting Act.

Gender budgeting act: Key points

• DMEO has called for incentivising women participation in all training and capacity building programmes to help India achieve gender equality with a special focus on areas like health, agriculture, environment and social inclusion.
• Specific incentives for women can be provided for promoting their participation and a certain percentage of women’s participation may be mandated to promote gender mainstreaming.
• DMEO has pushed for the Gender Budgeting Act to mainstream gender-based budgeting across all ministries and states/UTs
• Besides, it also recommended the governments to finalise the National Policy for Women after making the necessary amendments in the 2016 draft policy.

Gender budgeting act: Why needed?

• According to the recently published Global Gender Gap Report 2021 by the World Economic Forum, India’s rank fell by 28 places to 140 out of 156 countries with a score of 0.625 (out of 1) compared to 112 in 2020.
• According to the report, while the targeted programmes have helped to reduce sectoral inequalities, elimination of inequalities is still a distant dream.

What is gender budgeting?

• Gender budgeting is an application of gender mainstreaming in the budgetary process.

• It is an outcome-oriented expenditure allocation.

• It means a gender-based assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process and restructuring revenues and expenditures in order to promote gender equality.
• It is not only about the Budget and it is not just a one-time activity. It is a continuous process that must be applied to all levels and stages of the policy process.
• However, it recognises that the Budget is a powerful tool that can reduce the vulnerability of women and girls and transform their situation.

Rising Urban Temperature!

Rising Urban Temperature: Introduction

• Heatwaves become more frequent and can be 25 times longer in the coming decades, between 2036 and 2065, warns the G20 Climate Risk Atlas for India, released in 2021.
• While extreme heat beyond 35 D. C. can lead to serious health problems, its effects get compounded when relative humidity also increases.
• The Urban part is more vulnerable to this change.

Rising Urban Temperature: What is Thermal Stress?

In a hot weather, our body works to maintain tolerable temperature by sweating. But if it is humid, the sweat cannot evaporate as quickly, crippling the body’s cooling method. This adds to thermal stress and can cause medical emergencies.

Rising Urban Temperature: What is a Heatwave?

• Heatwave, which IMD defines as a condition when the maximum air temperature departure is 4.5 D.C. or more from normal and can last for several days, can increase the risk of fatality.
• The death rate due to heatwave is second to the death toll caused by lightning among hazard linked deaths.

Rising Urban Temperature: How Urban areas are more vulnerable to heatwaves?

• The most brutal impact of heatwaves is felt in cities, where the high density of buildings, asphalt and concrete, and
  minimal vegetation create extra sweltering “heat islands”.
• Waste heat from air conditioners, exhaust from vehicles and industrial processes and reflected heat from glazed façades compound the effect.

• This makes urban areas 4-12 D.C. warmer than the surrounding areas with green cover.
• The UN Environment Programme (unep) in its guide “Beating the Heat: A Sustainable Cooling Handbook for Cities”, published in 2021, warns that by 2100, cities worldwide could warm up by 4°C on average—more than double the 1.5°C goal set under the Paris Agreement—because of heat-island effect.
• India’s urban population will double to 877 million between 2018 and 2050, estimates a 2018 report by the UN—and temperatures are rising.

Rising Urban Temperature: What is India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP)?

The India Cooling Action Plan (icap), launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2019, aims to address concerns related to rising temperature by reducing cooling demand of the country by 20-25 per cent and cooling energy requirement by 25-40 per cent by 2037-38.

Rising Urban Temperature: What Should be done?

Change tack from energy efficiency to thermal comfort

Currently, energy efficiency building code for residential buildings, called Eco Niwas Samhita 2018, is in place but it is not mandatory.

Building orientation material hold the key

• Appropriate building orientation can substantially lower heat gain.
• It has been found that Buildings that have façade facing east-west gain up to 20 per cent more heat than those facing north-south.
• The heat gain dropped by 40 per cent, even with the same building design, when the material was changed in the simultation model from concrete blocks to fly ash bricks.

Don’t isolate buildings from surroundings

• It is necessary to consider a building withinthe context of the layout of the building clusters for efficient air movement and daylight penetration.
• Air movement can improve if the buildings are staggered, have mid-rise height, clustered diagonally to the wind flow direction, and have increased distance between buildings.
• Height of buildings and the distance between them become a crucial parameter.

Fire in Electric Vehicles!

Fire in Electric Vehicles: Introduction

• On March 28, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways ordered a probe into the circumstances that led to the fire incidents.
• The findings, submitted by the Centre for Fire Explosives and Environment Agency (CFEEA) in May, point at unsafe battery cells and faulty pack design.

Fire in Electric Vehicles: What Kind of Batteries do we use?

• The EV battery pack comprises multiple battery cells and a battery management system (BMS).
• The cells have four essential components—cathode, anode, separator and electrolyte. Battery cells operate by discharging lithium ions from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte.
• Most lithium-ion batteries use anodes made of graphite, which receives lithium ions as the battery charges, and releases them as it discharges.
  The maximum amount of lithium that can be collected on the anode measures the battery’s capacity, defining the distance a vehicle can be driven on a single charge.
• Information such as the C-rate or charging speed and other factors related to battery health is controlled by
  BMS, which is an integral part of the battery.
• India does not manufacture either BMS or battery cells.
• Some companies assemble BMS with imported components while others buy them off the shelf and integrate them with battery cells.
• About 90 per cent of fires in lithium-ion batteries are caused by an internal short circuit—indicating a failure in the battery pack to manage its components, as well as the inability of a cell to maintain its integrity.

Fire in Electric Vehicles: Who is to blame?

The Fire Explosives and Environment Agency submitted its findings on incidents of electric vehicle (EV) fires to the government in May.

The findings say: 

• EV two-wheeler companies may have used “lower-grade materials to cut costs” despite submitting A-grade cells for testing, taking advantage of the loosely framed rules.
• The cells had problems with thermal and battery management systems.
• The problems with the batteries were specific to each company and the report noted negligence on the part of testing agencies such as the automotive Research Association of India.

Fire in Electric Vehicles: The Battery Cooling System

• The battery has a thermal management system to contain the heat or fire and software to control it and to communicate with the driver about it. Thermal management in batteries can be active and/or passive.
• Most electric four-wheelers have an active thermal management system which involves liquid cooling of the battery. They also use passive cooling methods with phase change material (pcm), a wax-like material that melts when the temperature rises in the cell. The liquid thus formed has the ability to absorb some of the heat, but has limited capacity to stop a fire. A combination of active and passive cooling systems offer electric four-wheelers a more efficient way to avoid fires.
• But e-scooters, which have a 2-3 kWh battery, are constrained for space within the battery cavity and cannot accommodate an active cooling system. The batteries are typically air cooled and have pcms incorporated in the pack. A number of the e-scooter fires included white smoke. That is vapourised pcm being “vented” by the battery.

Why Battery Catches Fire?

The electric vehicle battery comprises multiple battery cells and a battery management system. The cells have four
components—cathode, anode, separator and electrolyte. The cell operates by discharging lithium ions from the
anode to the cathode through the electrolyte. The following are the most common ways a battery catches fire:

Rupture in solid electrolyte interface

The graphite anode has a thin layer called the solid electrolyte interface to protect the graphite from reacting with the electrolyte. Irregularity in its formation can run the risk of a rupture in the event of an external force, even movement on an uneven road. As the electrolyte is flammable, such a rupture can cause fire.

Oxygen-generating compounds

Batteries in e-scooters use a cathode chemistry called lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC). Such oxide layered compounds have a tendency to generate large amounts of oxygen at temperatures above 200˚Celsius. If there is a hot spot within the battery, the oxygen will help build a fire.

Combustion caused by dendrites during charging

Dendrites are thin, hair-like structures that form on the anode due to overcharging. After the graphite is fully charged, the lithium ions continue to pile on the graphite and can grow long enough to break through the separator, coming into contact with the cathode, causing a short circuit.

Fault in battery management system

A battery management system (BMS) can stall an overcharging event to prevent a fire. A faulty BMS is believed to be one of the reasons behind the explosions of mobile phones a few years ago. Ever since, lithium ion batteries are programmed to charge up not beyond 80 per cent.

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