CURRENT AFFAIRS 09-08-2020

TABLE TOP RUNWAY:

What is in news?

Air India Express flight that crashlanded at Kozhikode Airport in which 18 people lost their lives, was part of the Vande Bharat Mission.

What are Table - Top Runways?

It is an airport built on top of a plateau or hilly surface ,with one or both ends of the runway overlooking a drop.This increases the possibility of injuries and fatalities if pilots undershoot or overshoot their approach

The Five Table top runways in India:

• Kozhikode (Kerala)

• Mangalore( Karnataka)

• Shimla (Himachal Pradesh)

• Pakyong (Sikkim)

• Lengpui (Mizoram)

Past Incidents on Table - Top Runways:

• On May 22 .2010 , AirIndia Express flight from Dubai overshot the runway at the Mangalore airport ,hit a boundary fence fell into a gorge and caught fire .

• On August 4,2017 , a Spicejet flight with close to 70 passengers had a narrow escape at the Karipur airport when it skidded off the runway and briefly careened off its path but recovered soon and came to a halt.

G.C. MURMU TAKES CHARGE AS NEW CAG

What is in news?

Former Jammu & Kashmir ( J&K) LieutenantGovernor (LG), Girish Chandra Murmu on Saturday took charge as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

CAG:

• CAG is an independent authority under the Constitution of India.

• He is the head of the Indian audit & account department and chief Guardian of Public purse.

• It is the institution through which the accountability of the government and other public authorities (all those who spend public funds) to Parliament and State Legislatures and through them to the people is ensured.

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 148 broadly deals with the CAG appointment, oath and conditions of service.

• Article 149 deals with Duties and Powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

• Article 150 says that the accounts of the Union and of the States shall be kept in such form as the President may, on the advice of the CAG, prescribe.

• Article 151 says that the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India relating to the accounts of the Union shall be submitted to the president, who shall cause them to be laid before each House of Parliament.

• Article 279 – Calculation of "net proceeds" is ascertained and certified by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, whose certificate is final.

• Third Schedule – Section IV of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of India prescribes the form of oath or affirmation to be made by the Judges of the Supreme Court and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India at the time of assumption of office.

• According to Sixth Schedule the accounts of the District Council or Regional Council should be kept in such form as CAG, with the approval of the President, prescribe. In addition these bodies account are audited in such manner as CAG may think fit, and the reports relating to such accounts shall be submitted to the Governor who shall cause them to be laid before the Council.

SUN’S CORONAL MAGNETIC FIELD :

What is in news?

The Sun is our closest star and we have been studying it for a long time. Yet, it has many associated puzzles that are unexplained.

About:

• A significant advance has been made up an International team of solar physicists led by those from Peking University , China and National Center for Atmospheric Research of the U.S .

• The group has measured the global magnetic field of the sun's corana , or outer atmosphere , for the very first time.

STUDYING P. VIVAX MALARIA:

What is in news?

The parasite Plasmodium vivax, responsible for 7.5 million malaria cases worldwide, remains understudied. Not much is known about its dormant stage in the liver.

About:

• An international team has developed a system to breed these parasites in the lab and then infect cultured human liver cells with it. This can help establish a robust liver stage assay in P. vivax-endemic regions such as India.

• Mosquitoes inject the sporozoite (sporelike) stage of the parasite into the skin when they bite, and the sporozoites travel to the liver.

• “Imagine some 50 parasites enter our liver, each infect one liver cell or hepatocyte and multiply enormously to 10,000 or more.

• These can then move out and infect blood cells,” explains Varadharajan Sundaramurthy, from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), one of the corresponding authors of the work published in Malaria Journal

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT

What is in news?

The 78th anniversary of Quit India movement was observed recently.

About:

• On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of Do or Die to all Indians to drive away Britishers from the country.

• The movement had begun from Gawalia Tank in Mumbai. The day is observed as August Kranti Day every year.

MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA

What is in news?

In Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the new Prime Minister today after the landslide victory of his party at general elections held recently. His party and allies have secured two-thirds majority in Parliament.

About:

• He will be administered the oath by his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

• Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the country's President from 2006 to 2015. He was appointed Prime Minister after Gotabaya’s victory in November Presidential elections though his side did not enjoy a majority in Parliament.

• He is leader of the political party named "Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna."

NATIONAL DISASTER RESPONSE FORCE (NDRF)

What is in news?

Teams of rescuers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), in their orange uniforms, are now a familiar sight at most of the natural calamities or man-made disasters in India.

About:

• Parliament passed the National Disaster Management Act in 2005 which paved way for establishing Disaster Management Authorities at the national, state and district levels, setting up the National Disaster Response and Mitigation Funds, and formation of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

• The NDRF was raised in 2006, initially with eight battalions, and now has 12 spread across the country. It has been recently announced that four more NDRF battalions will be raised, and teams of women rescuers will also be inducted.

• Each battalion, which has a sanctioned strength of 1,150 rescuers, caters to particular states as their areas of responsibility. Battalions are divided into rescue teams which are self-contained emergency response units with specialist search and rescue groups, engineering, technical, electrical experts along dog squads and paramedics.

• NDRF functions under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is headed by a Director General.

• The NDRF gets personnel and officers on deputation from the CAPF for a period of seven years. After serving their tenure, personnel go back to their force. Currently, NDRF has battalions staffed by personnel from the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.

ENVISTATS INDIA 2020 REPORT

What is in news?

National Statistical Office (NSO) released the state-wise data in the EnviStats India 2020 report.

About:

• After declining for two years, the average number of heat wave days increased 82.6 % year-on-year to 157 in 2019, with the highest number recorded in Rajasthan (20 days) followed by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (13 days each).

• The reversal of trend led to 2019 being the year with the third highest number of heat wave days in the decade after 254 days in 2010 and 189 days in 2012.

• The number of average cold wave days also reported an increase, though the latest data is for 2018 in the case: 45 in 2018, a rise of 55.2 % from 29 in 2017.

• Acute respiratory infection led to 3,740 deaths in 2018 — the highest in six years. The highest number of deaths due to acute respiratory infection were reported in West Bengal (732).

• Among the metropolitan cities in 2018, particulate matter size less than or equal to 10 µm was the highest in Delhi (243).

• Tube well/hand pump remained the primary source of drinking water in rural India in 2018 with 53.8 % share, while piped water/ tap/ public tap/ standpipe was the primary source in urban areas with 65 % share.

• In rural areas, among states having bottled water as the principal source of drinking water in 2018, Delhi ranked at the top with 33.4 % households relying on it.

• In urban areas, Daman & Diu has the highest share of households (40.4 %) choosing bottled water as principal drinking water source.

• Andhra Pradesh has the highest percentage of slum population to urban population (36.10 %).

• Out of total 7.3 crore registered motor vehicles in the country in 2017 in ‘million plus cities’ in India, Delhi has the highest number of registered motor vehicles (1.02 crore), followed by Bengaluru (68.3 lakh).