Pinaki Chandra Ghose set to be India’s first Lokpal                                                                              

Only 26% of rural toilets use twin-leach pits: survey                                                                           

Good response to trials of ocean surveillance ship                                                                              

Migration in Bengal delta driven by livelihood issues, social factors                                                 

Second Scorpene submarine ready for induction                                                                                 

India, Maldives agree to cooperate on defence, development, health                                                 

Pinaki Chandra Ghose set to be India’s first Lokpal

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

     ✦The selection panel led by Prime minister is likely to name Retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose as India’s first Lokpal,the anti-corruption ombudsman.

    ✦ The selection committee comprises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and an eminent jurist.

Lokpal and lokayukta:

     ✦ The Government had enacted the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act,2013.

     ✦ The Act allows setting up of anti-corruption ombudsman called Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta at the State-level.

     ✦ The Lokpal will cover all categories of public servants,including the Prime Minister.But the armed forces do not come under the ambit of Lokpal.

     ✦The Act also incorporates provisions for attachment and confiscation of property acquired by corrupt means,even while the prosecution is pending.

    ✦The States will have to institute Lokayukta within one year of the commencement of the Act.

    ✦ The Lokpal consists of a chairperson and a maximum of eight members.The chairperson and at least half of the members have to be current or former judges of the Supreme Court or chief justices of high courts.

    ✦ The search panel setup for lokpal recommends at least five names for chairperson and at least three times the number of vacancies in the case of members.This recommendation has to be placed before the high-power selection committee led by the Prime Minister.

     ✦ The selection committee comprises of

           ✦  Prime minister

           ✦  lok sabha speaker

           ✦  the Leader of the Opposition

           ✦  the Chief Justice of India and an

           ✦  eminent jurist.

     ✦ Upon selection,the chairperson and members shall hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

    ✦ The salary and allowances of the chairman will be same as that of the Chief Justice of India. The members will be paid salary and allowances same as that of a judge of the Supreme Court.

                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

Only 26% of rural toilets use twin-leach pits: survey

GS PAPER  - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

     ✦ With the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme claiming to be on the verge of completing toilet construction for all rural households, a government-commissioned survey shows that just over a quarter of rural toilets use the twin-pit system.

Twin Pit System :

     ✦ Under the twin-pit system, two pits are dug with honeycombed walls and earthen floors which allow liquid to percolate into the surrounding soil.

     ✦ When one pit is filled and closed off, waste flow is transferred to the second pit, allowing waste in the first pit to be converted into manure after a year or two.

    ✦ The twin pit has been promoted by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the World Health Organisation as an in-situ sanitation system, which claims to bypass thorny issues as owners will be dealing with manure, not excreta.

    ✦ With the government intensively promoting twin pits over the last two years, it is unsurprising that the highest ratio of twin pits are found in States which have only recently completed toilet construction.

    ✦ Jharkhand, which is second on the list, with almost 58% of its toilets connected to twin pits, was declared open defecation free (ODF) only late last year.

   ✦ Uttar Pradesh, which tops the list with 64% of toilets with twin pits, had made the technology mandatory for anyone who wanted to avail the government’s ₹12,000 subsidy to build toilets.

Data’s and facts :

     ✦ The  National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey 2018-19, shows that just 26.6% of rural households use the recommended twin-pit system to dispose of excreta from their toilets.

      ✦ Septic tanks are the most popular option, with 28% of toilets connected to a septic tank with a soak pit and 6% to a tank without a soak pit.

      ✦ Others use a single leach pit (18%) or a closed pit (11%). Open pits, open drains or nallahs, or simply discarding waste directly into a nearby pond or waterbody are the other options, while a few toilets are connected to a closed drain leading to a sewer system.

      ✦ A 2018 survey of 30 cities and towns in Uttar Pradesh by the Centre for Science and Environment found that 87% of toilet waste is dumped into water bodies and farm lands.

Issue :

      ✦ The waste from the remainder of rural toilets could create a new nightmare — harmful to health and the environment, and even pushing a new generation into manual scavenging.

      ✦ It’s not enough to connect [the toilet] to a drain if it is simply emptied out into local land or ponds. It will lead to large-scale pollution of groundwater.

Conclusion :

      ✦ For the more than 70% of toilets without twin pits, a faecal sludge management system is desperately needed, “Who will actually do the work, in our social context? The same Dalit communities which have traditionally been forced into manual scavenging are likely to end up in sanitation work to clean these tanks and any newly built rural sewerage systems.

                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

Good response to trials of ocean surveillance ship

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Context :

      ✦ The sea trials of India’s first and most prestigious missile tracking ocean surveillance ship built at the Ministry of Defence-owned Hindustan Shipyard Limited have received an encouraging response.

More about the news :

      ✦ The missile tracking ship VC 11184 has been built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL).

      ✦ The ship, being built under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Adviser, is being referred to as yard number VC 11184.

      ✦ It will get a formal name to be chosen by the Navy once it is inducted into the naval fleet.

      ✦ It has the capacity to carry 300-strong crew with hi-tech gadgets and communication equipment.

      ✦ It is powered by two diesel engines and a large deck capable of helicopter landing.

      ✦ This is the first of its kind ocean surveillance ship being built as part to strengthen the country’s strategic weapons programme.

    ✦ After induction of this ship,India will join elite of club of few countries that have such sophisticated ocean surveillance ship.Only four other countries which are US,Russia,China and France are operating similar vessels.

                                                                                                                                   Source :- The Hindu

Migration in Bengal delta driven by livelihood issues, social factors

GS PAPER - 01 SOCIETY - Population and Associated issue

Context :

      ✦ Recently an international study titled Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECMA) was published.

      ✦ According to the 2011 national census, West Bengal is the fourth-most-populous state in India with a population of 91,347,736 (7.55% of India’s population).

      ✦ As of 2011, West Bengal had a population density of 1,029 inhabitants per square km making it the second-most densely populated state in India, after Bihar

More about the study :

     ✦ The study covers 51 blocks of districts of South and North 24 Parganas

     ✦ The study, held between 2014 and 2018 focusing on three deltas Ganga Brahmaputra Meghna Delta (India and Bangladesh) Volta (Ghana) and Mahanadi (India) looks into the aspect of climate change, adaptation, and migration in these deltas.

Key findings of the Study :

​Causes for Migration :

      ✦ economic reasons

      ✦ unsustainable agriculture

      ✦ lack of economic opportunities and debt.

Gender disparity :

      ✦ The study finds a huge gender disparity in the migration out of Indian Bengal Delta, with men outnumbering women by almost five times.

      ✦ It shows that of the people migrating 83% are men and only 17 % are women.

      ✦ While most of the men migrate due to economic reasons, women do so, driven by mostly social factors.

 Destination of Migration :

      ✦ the study finds that 51% of migration from the Indian Bengal Delta

      ✦ Other areas of the State particularly to the city of Kolkata, 10% to Maharashtra, 9% to Tamil Nadu, 7% Kerala and 6% to Gujarat.

 Migration in delta :

      ✦ 57% of migration is seasonal, where people move once or twice a year.

      ✦ 19% is circular where those migrating move thrice a year irrespective of reasons.

      ✦ 24% of migration is permanent where people intend to stay for at least six months in the place they are migrating to.

     ✦ Vulnerable Areas :

            ✦  In the study, experts also map the climate change hot spots and highest risk areas of Sunderbans based on an analysis of climate change hazards.

            ✦  The areas of Gosaba, Basanti, Kultali, Sagar, Kakdwip, Namkhana, Canning and Mathurapur (all in South 24 Parganas) have high levels of agriculture dependency and so are sensitive to climate hazards such as flood and salinity.

                                                                                                                                Source :- The Hindu

Second Scorpene submarine ready for induction

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

      ✦ Indian Navy is ready to induct INS Khanderi.

More about the news:

      ✦ It is the second of six planned Scorpene-class submarines.

      ✦ INS Khanderi is named after Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji’s island fort Khanderi.

      ✦ Scorpene class submarines is a class of diesel-electric submarine being built under Project-75 by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) with technology transfer from France.

      ✦ It features diesel-electric propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP) system.It will have both anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare.

     ✦ Conventional diesel-electric submarines have to come to surface every few days to get oxygen to recharge their batteries.With AIP systems, they can stay submerged for much longer periods.

      ✦ A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater.A submarine is the quietest military platform and extremely tough to detect.Their main cover is their ability to move stealthily under water and keep an eye on enemy movement of vessels.

     ✦ Indian Navy currently operates four German HDW class submarines and nine Russian Kilo class submarines.

                                                                                                                                                           Source :- The Hindu

India, Maldives agree to cooperate on defence, development, health

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

      ✦ The External Affairs Minister was on a visit to Maldives. In a meeting between the two counterparts, India and Maldives have decided to ramp up cooperation in various fields as the two nations restarted the Joint Commission talks after a break of 15 years.

Highlights:

      ✦ India and Maldives discussed cooperation in defence and security, trade, economic development partnership, connectivity, health, energy, HRD, culture and tourism.

      ✦ Following the meeting, the two sides signed MoUs on cooperation between Foreign Service Institutes of both countries and for cooperation sports and youth affairs.

      ✦ Three agreements on visa facilitation for diplomatic and official passport holders, development cooperation, and renewable energy were also signed.

      ✦ They agreed on a broad spectrum of issues for further collaboration, including development cooperation and enhancing people-to-people contact.

      ✦ The two countries had also agreed to remain mindful of each other's concerns and aspirations for the stability of the Indian Ocean region and not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to their interests.

                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

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