CURRENT AFFAIRS
TOPICS :
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Election of President
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CAATSA
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Marburg virus
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Decline in Rice acreage
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Tamil Nadu day
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Monsoon Session of Parliament
Election of President
Context:
- Polling for election of President got completed on 18th July evening.
- Presidential elections 2022:
- It is the 16thpresidential election held in India.
- It has witnessed a 99.18 voter turnout.
- Presidential candidates contested in this election are Droupadi Murmu and Yashwant Sinha.
Constitutional provisions dealing with election of president:
- Articles 54of the Indian constitution deals with the election of the president.
| Article 54 says “the president shall be elected by the elected members of an electoral college consisting of:
a) The elected members of both the houses of parliament; and b) The elected members of the legislative assemblies of states. |
- Article 55: deals with the manner of the presidential election.
- Article 56: talks about the term of office of president.
- Article 57: is about eligibility for re election
- Article 58: mentions the qualifications for the presidential candidate.
Grounds of qualification for election as president:
- Shall be an Indian citizen.
- Minimum age of 35 years.
- He shall be a qualified for election of member of the House of People.
- He must not hold any office of profit under government of India or government of any state or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments.
Manner of election:
- The president of India is elected by indirect election.
- The president is elected through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferrable vote and secret ballot.
- The election is conducted by Election Commission of India (ECI).
- During nomination stage, the intended candidate needs to file nomination along with 50 proposers and 50 seconders.
- These proposers and seconders can be any one from the electoral college (can be any elected MLA or MP). And an elector cannot propose or second more than one candidate.
Value of vote:
- The value of the vote of eachMLA different across the states owing to the population differences, whereas value of the vote of each MP is same.
- Value of vote of an MLA of a state is (Total population of the state) total no. of elected members in the state legislative assembly 1000)
- Value of the vote of each MP is (Total value of votes of all MLAs of all states)total no. of elected members of both the houses of parliament).
- The victory is not decided by securing simple majority, as it is a proportional representation system, the candidate needs to secure the necessary quota of votes.
i.e. [(total number of valid votes cast)2]+1.
- While counting, the preferences given by all voters is counted through various rounds till a candidate gets more than necessary quota.
Oath or Affirmation by the president:underArticle 60, every president and every person acting as a president shall, before entering upon his office take an oath in the presence of Chief Justice of India (CJI)to preserve, protect and defend constitution and the law.
CAATSA
Context:
Us house of representatives has passeda legislative amendment approving a waiver to India against the punitive Sanctions over the purchase of S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
About CAATSA:
- Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions (CAATSA) is federal law that is passed in 2017 to punish countries which have deep engagements with North Korea, Russia and Iran by imposing economic sanctions.
- The law states that minimum 5 kinds of sanctions will be imposed on countries having ‘significant transaction’ with Russian intelligence and military agents.
- All transactions are not ‘significant transactions’, transactions which do not affect the US strategic interests and not endanger the alliances are not subject to transactions.
- In the law US has listed out 39 Russian entities which includes all major defence companies of Russia.
- This list also contains the Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defence Corporation JSC who made the S-400 missile system.
Reasons for CAATSA:
- US has flagged the Russia’s alleged interference in 2016 presidential elections and its role in the Syrian war as some of the reasons for the enactment of this act.
- In 2020, US has imposed sanctions on Turkeyover the s-400 deal with Russia.
S-400 defence missile system:
- S-400 is a mobile, surface to air missile (SAM) system that is developed in 1990s.
- In the world, it is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range Surface to air missile system (MLR SAM).
- It has the capability to engage all types of aerial targets like aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles within the range of 400km, at an altitude of up to 30km.
- It is the 4th generation of long-range Russian SAMs successor to S-200 and S-300.
- S-400has the capability of firing three types of missiles to create a layered defence
Need of S-400 to India:
- India had signed a deal for 5 units of S-400 systems worthy 5 billion USD in October 2015.
- China had signed deal for the S-400 system before India back in 2015 for which delivery had started in 2018.
- Though it’s effectiveness against India is limited (geographical barriers), India’s acquisition of S-400 is crucial in countering attacks in a two-front war.
Marburg virus
Context:
The outbreak of the first 2 cases of Marburg disease (Ebola like), a highly infectious disease is confirmed by Ghana.
Marburg virus:
- Marburg virus is similar to Ebola, both are filovirus, clinically Marburg resembles Ebola.
- As per WHO, Marburg virus disease (MVD) earlier known as Marburg haemorrhagic fever, is a severe often fatal haemorrhagic fever.
- Natural host:Rousettus fruit bats are considered as the natural hosts for Marburg virus.
- Origin: according to WHO the first human infection was caused by African green monkeys.
- First detection of this virus took place in 1967 after simultaneous outbreaks inMarburg and Frankfurt in Germany.
- Fatality rate: WHO noted that average rate of fatality stands at 50% but it can be varying between 24% and 88% depending upon the virus strain and case management.
Symptoms:
- Symptoms may be visible anywhere between 2-21 days.
- General symptoms include high fever, muscle aches and severe headache.
- Around 3rd day, abdominal pain, vomiting, severe watery diarrhoea and cramping are experienced.
- During this phase, the patient’s appearance can be described as” ghost like” with deep set eyes, expression less faces and extreme lethargy.
- Between 5-7 days, bleeding nose, gums, and blood in vomits and faeces. Severe blood lose will lead to death.
- Diagnose:it can be diagnosed by lab testing of samples in similar fashion to coronavirus and Ebola.
- Treatment: at present there is no approved antiviral drug or vaccine. It can be managed with supportive care. Death can be prevented by rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids and symptom-based treatment.
Decline in Rice acreage
Context:
Despite the revival of the southwest monsoon in July which led to overall crop coverage, there is decline in the rice acreage.
Rice as crop in India:
- Rice is the largest agricultural crop in India it accounts for over 40% of total food grain output.
- India is the largest exporter of rice. India’s share in global trade of rice is greater than 40%.
- The government has 47.2 million tonnes stored with it as of July 1. These are nearly three and half times the minimum level of stocks to meet ‘operational’ (public distribution system) and ‘strategic’ reserve requirements.
Reasons for less acreage:
- Rice acreage as of July 15 is 128.50 lakh hectares (lh) and it is 17.4% less than that of last year which was 155.53 lh.
- Regional variations of rainfall: from June 1st to July 17th7 mm of rainfall is received that is 12.7% more than normal rainfall.But the vast paddy growing belt, from UP to West Bengal has received very less amount of rainfall.
Is there a crisis in rice ahead?
- As per Indian metrological department (IMD) forecast, the monsoon very likely to shift northwards. This shift can provide for the recovery.
- Moreover, paddy cultivation takes place in a wider geography and also it is both kharif (Monsoon) and rabi crop (winter-spring) crop. So, the losses in a particular area or a season can be recovered from the other.
Hence, there is no crisis ahead for now.
Tamil Nadu day
Context:
Tamil Nadu day is celebrated on 18th July.
Tamil Nadu Day:
- The history of Tamil Nadu finds it origin back in 20th century when E V Ramaswamy Periyar (1879-1973) had started the “self-respect movement”.
- He envisaged an independent Dravida homeland for speakers of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. He then launched a political party ‘Dravidar Khazhagam (DK)’.
- The states reorganisation Act 1956 changed the boundaries of states on the linguistic basis as a result, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Mysore and Kerala states got created on November 1
- Earlier Tamil Nadu day is used to be observed on Nov 1st.
- In 2021, Chief Minister M K Stalin declared that “18th July” as the Tamil Nadu day.
- According to CM M K Stalin, July 18th is the day when the state got its present name (Tamil Nadu) followed by assembly legislation heralded by late CM CN Annadurai.
Monsoon Session of parliament
Context:
The monsoon session of parliament has started with the16th presidential election.
Monsoon session:
- The monsoon session is set end on Aug 12th and the session is expected to introduce 32 bills.
- Parliamentary session: It is the period during which the house meets daily to conduct the business of the house.
- Article 85 of the constitution imposes a duty on President to summon each house such that there should not be 6 months gap in between 2 successive sessions.
- In general, there are 3 sessions that are conducted in a year. They are,
- Budget session ((Feb-May).
- Monsoon session (July- Aug)
- Winter session (Nov-Dec)
- Recess: It is the gap between the prorogation of the house and the resumption of its sitting is called as
- Adjournment: it means the suspension of the sitting of the house till the next or some other day or hour of time(definite time).
- Adjournment sine die: It means the suspension of sitting of a house without specifying any definite date for next sitting.
- Prorogation: It is the complete termination of “session”.
UPSC Civil Services Daily Current Affairs 19th July 2022
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