Daily Current Affairs including static notes - 6 JUNE

The Hindu -

CENTRE NOT TO FILE COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT ON ARTICLE 35A (POLITY)

The Centre has decided not to file any “counter-affidavit” on Article 35A, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition.
The Central Government has maintained before the Supreme Court that it is ready to discuss on scrapping of Article 35A which does not allow people from outside the state of Jammu & Kashmir to work, settle or own property in the state.
The State government has filed an affidavit opposing any such move.
What is article 35 A?
Article 35A was incorporated into the Constitution by an order of the then President Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet in 1954.
It grants a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to decide the “permanent residents” of the State, prohibits a non-State resident from buying property in the State and ensures reservation in employment for residents.
The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order was a follow up to the 1952 Delhi Agreement between Nehru and the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, which extended Indian citizenship to the ‘State subjects’ of Jammu and Kashmir.
Why in news recently?
An NGO, We the Citizens, challenged 35A in SC in 2014 on grounds that it was not added to the Constitution through amendment under Article 368.
The petitioners have challenged Article 35A on ground that it can only have been introduced through Constitutional amendment under Article 368 and not through a Presidential Order under Article 370.
They say that Article 35A is against very spirit of oneness of India as it creates a class within a class of Indian citizens. It restricts citizens from other States from getting employment or buying property within J&K, thus is a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

NITROGEN EMISSIONS GOING UP: STUDY (ENVIORNMENT)

Highlights from the first quantitative assessment of reactive nitrogen over Indian environment by ‘Indian Nitrogen Assessment’ shows alarming levels of spike.
Indian NOx emissions grew at 52% from 1991 to 2001 and 69% from 2001 to 2011.
What are the findings?
  • Agricultural soils contributed to over 70% of N2O emissions from India in 2010, followed by waste water (12%) and residential and commercial activities (6%). And has replaced methane as the second largest Greenhouse Gas (GHG) from Indian agriculture.
  • Chemical fertilizers (over 82% of it is urea) account for over 77% of all agricultural N2O emissions in India, while manure, compost and so on make up the res
  • Nitrogen particles make up the largest fraction of PM2.5, the class of pollutants closely linked to cardiovascular and respiratory illness.
  • Cattle account for 80% of the ammonia production, though their annual growth rate is 1%, due to a stable population.

Why?

The burning of crop residue contributes over 240 million kg of nitrogen oxides (NOx: namely nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) and about 7 million kg of nitrous oxide (N2O) per year. Annual NOx emissions from coal, diesel and other fuel combustion sources are growing at 6.5% a year currently.
As for fertilizers, inefficiencies along the food chain mean about 80% of nitrogen is wasted, contributing to air and water pollution plus greenhouse gas emissions
Apart from agriculture, the non-agricultural emissions of nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide are growing rapidly, with sewage and fossil-fuel burning for power production.
Chemical fertilizers (over 82% of it is urea) account for over 77% of all agricultural N2O emissions in India, while manure, compost, transport and industry and so on make up the rest.

FORTIFIED RICE LIKELY THROUGH PDS: PASWAN ( HEALTH)

Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said the government is finally ready to provide fortified rice and wheat through Public Distribution System (PDS).
The ministry in discussion with Niti Aayog plans on adding nutrition to rice and wheat. And it’s decided to implement it phase-wise first for the families under the Antyodaya Yojana, students living in hostels and for the mid-day meals at Anganwadi centres.
Food fortification is increasingly seen as a solution to undernourishment in India
What is Food fortification?
Food fortification or enrichment is the process of adding micronutrients i.e. essential trace elements and vitamins into the food. It is an integrated approach to prevent micronutrient deficiencies and complements other approaches to improve health and nutrition.
Food fortification does not require changes in existing food habits and patterns nor individual compliance. It does not alter characteristics of food and is socio-culturally acceptable.
It can be introduced quickly and can produce nutritional benefits and improve health of people in a short period of time. It also safe and cost effective.
This enrichment process has proven as an effective strategy to meet the nutritional needs of a large number of people across various sections of the society, including the poor and underprivileged, pregnant women and young children.

‘WILL ACHIEVE 175 GW RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET WELL BEFORE 2022’ ( INFRASTRUCTURE)

Power and Renewable Energy Ministry reiterated that India will reach its target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity well before the deadline of 2022. And along with that ensued confidence that government would also achieve complete household electrification by the end of this calendar year.
What is India targeting in renewable energy sector?
The Union government has set ambitious target of achieving 175 GigaWatt (GW) of installed capacity from renewable energy sources by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind power, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.
Government is seeking cooperation from other countries both on technical and financial side to promote the generation of power from renewable energy sources.
On the financial side, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is operating Line of Credits from various Bilateral/ Multilateral institutions for further extending the credit to viable renewable energy projects in the country.
Major Policy Measures Taken by the Government
  • Setting up of exclusive solar parks
  • Development of power transmission network through Green Energy Corridor project
  • Identification of large government complexes/buildings for rooftop projects
  • Infrastructure status for solar projects; making roof top solar a part of housing loan by banks/NHB
Current status
In the 48 months since the new government came t power, the pace of capacity addition was 24,000 MW a year, a 4.8 times increase.
And according to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India’s installed clean (renewable) energy capacity has already touched 70 Gigawatts (GW) and 38 GW is under implementation.
The renewable energy capacity of 11,788 MW was added during FY 2017-18 alone, the highest ever in single year.

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