DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

11 JULY 2022

1 – Details of Cloudbursts: 

GS II

Topic – Geography

• Context:
• At least 16 people died and more than 20 were injured as a result of “highly-localized rains” that caused flooding in Amarnath, Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday evening (July 8). Those who perished were in a respected camp close to the cave.
• Cloudbursts:
• Any recorded rainfall of at least 10 cm per hour over a space of at least 10 km2 is considered a cloudburst occurrence.
• A cloudburst is an extreme downpour of rain that can result in flooding and occasionally includes hail and thunder. It usually lasts only a few minutes.
• A cloudburst might also be characterised as 5 cm of rain falling in 30 minutes per the definition provided above. That is remarkable for the conditions in India.
• When a cloudburst happens:
• Cloudbursts do occur on plains as well however because of the geography, the likelihood that they will occur in hilly places is higher:
• When a warm air stream with a high temperature stops saturated clouds from releasing rain, cloudbursts happen.
• Raindrops are lifted by the air current and do not hit the earth as they would normally. New raindrops are formed, and existing raindrops enlarge.
• The rains eventually become too heavy for the cloud to support, and they all suddenly fall to the ground in a flash.
• Cloudbursts do not always result from a cloud colliding with a mountain or other immovable object. One such cloud burst that occurred in the Himalayan region in June 2013 coincided with the monsoon winds rising down the Himalayan slope and being driven further by the ascending jet streams. This culminated in an extraordinarily severe precipitation that resulted in disastrous floods and landslides.
• Cloudbursts can also occur when hot, water vapour-rich air mixed with chilly winds results in a fast condensation.
• Warm air currents on mountainous terrain tend to move vertically upward for two reasons:
• by allowing water-carrying breezes to climb.
• by allowing the water-filled breezes of the Terai to absorb more moisture.
• Convection also assisted in reducing orographic winds, which raised the possibility of a cloudburst event by enabling the jet stream to easily withdraw. Cloudbursts can happen in deserts because of the elevated convection there.
• Effects of cloudbursts:
• Rapid flooding
• Landslides
• Mud-flows
• Landslides and flash floods, which carry away and collapse homes and businesses, are the main causes of fatalities.
• Obstructing the flow of rivers, which can lead to temporary damming, the building of a reservoir, and the eventual collapse of that reservoir
• Although occasionally in a lengthy rainstorm the droplets are large enough to harm people, rain does not kill people on its own. The impacts of such heavy rain, especially in the mountainous terrain, bring death and damage.
• Frequency of cloudbursts:
• Since only a portion of cloudbursts—those that result in death and damage—are counted, there is a dearth of historical data and accuracy difficulties.
• But it is also apparent that during the past few decades, there has been an increase in the frequency of extreme precipitation events. It’s likely that there have been more cloudburst events if temperature swings are taken into consideration as a trend.
• Forecasting:
• It is difficult because they take place in a very small area.
• It is possible to forecast the period of intense rain that is caused by the convergence of particular meteorological factors.
• A relatively small area can be forecasted using Doppler radars. They enable the forecasting of probable cloudbursts around six hours in advance, and on occasion even 12 or 14 hours.

Source – The Indian Express

2 – About the Edible Oil in India:

GS III

Topic – Indian Agriculture/Economy

• Context:
• The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index hit an all-time high of 159.7 points in March, the month immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The index has now significantly decreased, by 3.4 percent, to 154.2 points in June. The index is a weighted average of global food commodity prices above a base period value of 100 for 2014–15.
• What earlier led to an increase in the price of edible oil?
• All around the world, the cost of goods was astronomically high. COVID-19 is an important factor that shuts down industries and interrupts supply networks.
• The oil-producing business lacked enough labour in many countries.
• China buys a lot of food oil.
• Many large oil producers were fervently pursuing biofuel initiatives and diverting their edible oil crops for such purposes.
• Government taxes and fees also make up a considerable amount of the retail price of edible oils in India.
• India’s Dependence on Edible Oil:
• India is the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oil.
• India imports over 60% of its edible oil needs, which leaves its retail pricing open to outside pressure.
• It imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, soy oil from Brazil and Argentina, sunflower oil mostly from Russia and Ukraine, and sunflower oil from other countries.
• Details on edible oils:
• The principal and secondary sources of edible oil include soybean, rapeseed and mustard, peanut, sunflower, safflower, and nigerian oil, respectively (Oil palm, Coconut, Rice Bran, Cotton seeds & Tree Borne Oilseeds).
• There are several significant problems with India’s oilseed agriculture, including growing in primarily rain-fed circumstances (approximately 70% of the region), expensive seed costs (especially for groundnut and soybean), small holdings with few resources, poor seed renewal rate, and low yield.

Source – The Hindu

3 – Details of the Sri Lankan Crisis:

GS II

Topic – International Relations

• Context:
• General Shavendra Silva, the commander of the Sri Lankan Army, stated on Sunday that there is now a chance to end the current political crisis peacefully and he pleaded for support from the populace to maintain peace in the island nation after embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to resign on July 13.
• Sri Lanka’s crisis and Indian support:
• Due to its current economic difficulties, Sri Lanka is now more dependent on India for prompt assistance.
• India has provided close to $3.5 billion in aid to help secure Sri Lanka’s food, health, and energy security by supplying it with needs such as food, medicines, gasoline, and kerosene as part of its “Neighborhood First” strategy.
• The most recent in the series occurred on June 10 when the Government of Sri Lanka and the Export-Import Bank of India signed an agreement for a $55 million short term line of credit to help with the purchase of urea for paddy crop in the ongoing “Yala” season.
• In order to help, Tamil Nadu decided to give 123 crore, which will buy 40,000 tonnes of grains, 137 different kinds of life-saving drugs, and 500 tonnes of milk powder.
• While acting as the country’s second prime minister in August 2003, Mr. Wickremesinghe promoted the idea of a single market for the south India-Sri Lanka region.
• Such a market would increase the likelihood that both countries’ economy would prosper.
• In 2016, he emphasised that the aggregate gross state product of the five southern Indian States, which have a combined population of 250 million, is close to $450 billion. The sub-region, which has a total population of around 270 million, would have a $500 billion economy when Sri Lanka’s $80 billion GDP is added.
• Challenges:
• It is uncertain whether this goodwill can lead to further economic collaboration between Sri Lanka and south India, outside of Tamil Nadu, given the baggage from the past.
• a legacy of the past Some Sinhalese continue to hold the view that India formerly posed a threat to Sri Lanka and currently does so to them.
• A reminder of the baggage from the past was the manner in which the Rajapaksa administration abruptly cancelled a tripartite agreement for the development of Colombo’s East Container Terminal inked in 2019 with India and Japan in February 2021.
• The historical invasion of Sri Lanka by south Indian kings, who overthrew the Sinhala kings, is where this belief first emerged.
• This perception was only strengthened by the backing provided by the Indian government to Tamil separatists in the wake of the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom.
• India has made a modest investment in Sri Lanka’s development despite having expressed an open desire to do so in the wake of the civil conflict.
• Initiatives left unfinished due to a lack of political will Once the tripartite agreement was cancelled, other plans that called for India’s participation fell through. These plans included the Trincomalee oil tank farm, the West Container Terminal, and a few renewable energy initiatives.
• The collaboration between the NTPC Limited and the Ceylon Electricity Board on a different project was abandoned.
• Other initiatives, which also require Indian participation, such as the expansion of the Kankesanthurai harbour and the Palaly airport in Jaffna, may have been realised with enough political will on the other side.
• Rameshwaram and Talaimannar will be connected by a tunnel and sea bridge, although this project is yet still conceptual.
• How to move forward:
• Even now, there is a tonne of space for cooperation between the two countries in the area of infrastructure development.
• Cross-border energy trade: The economic crisis has resurrected discussion of linking Sri Lanka’s and India’s electrical systems.
• If this project is effective, Tamil Nadu would probably be the first place in India that is linked.
• India trades energy with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar across international borders.
• Promoting intercultural interaction is the best way to assuage the concern that certain sectors of the Sinhalese majority are in danger from India. This includes planning pilgrimages to significant Buddhist locations in both north and south India for monks and other elements of Sri Lankan society (Andhra Pradesh).
• The window of opportunity presented by the current circumstances should be utilised in order to take advantage of the need to do much more in order to build an economic union between Sri Lanka and the southern States of India.

Source – The Indian Express

4 – About the Section 69 A of the IT Act:

Prelims Specific Topic

• Context:
• Twitter submitted a petition to the Karnataka High Court on July 5 in an effort to have several blocking orders issued by the Central government overturned and to have their directives changed so that they should identify specific violative content rather than enact a blanket ban on all user accounts. According to Twitter, the blocking orders “procedurally and significantly” broke Section 69A of the Information Technology Act (IT Act).
• What is the current issue?
• The Ministry asserted that the firm “failed to comply with the orders on numerous times” in accordance with Section 69(A) of the IT Act.
• Twitter produced a list of more than 80 accounts and posts that were blocked after receiving a request from the government in 2021.
• According to Twitter, the Ministry’s justifications for flagging a number of accounts and tweets were either “overbroad and arbitrary” or “disproportionate.”
• Twitter asserts that barring them would violate their First Amendment rights because some of the content the ministry highlighted might be related to official accounts of political parties.
• What does Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act mean?
• About:
• The Central and State governments are given the authority to issue orders “to intercept, monitor or decrypt any information generated, transferred, received, or stored in any computer resource.”
• These powers may be utilised on the following justifications:
• in order to protect the security of the nation and the sovereignty or territorial integrity of India.
• good relations with other nations.
• For the purpose of preserving public order or to prevent the incitement of any crimes related to them that are subject to legal punishment.
• to investigate any offence.
• Internet website blocking techniques:
• For comparable reasons and grounds, The Center may ask any government agency or middleman to restrict public access to any information created, communicated, received, stored, or hosted on any computer resource under Section 69A. (as indicated above).
• The term “intermediaries” includes suppliers of telecom, network, Internet, and web hosting services in addition to search engines, online marketplaces, payment and auction sites, and cybercafés.
• Any such request for access restriction must be accompanied by written justifications.
• What other laws apply in this situation?
• In India, the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, as amended from time to time, governs all activities requiring the use of computer resources.
• It is applicable to every “intermediary” who uses computer systems or electronic data.
• The role of intermediaries is explicitly described in the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011, which were developed with this goal in mind.
• What enables intermediaries to prove their adherence to the IT Act?
• International Requirement: Laws in the majority of nations mandate that intermediaries like Internet service providers, website hosts, and other middlemen cooperate with law enforcement when required.
• The battle against cybercrime and other crimes committed using computer resources is commonly acknowledged as requiring close cooperation between technology service providers and law enforcement agencies.
• Data theft, digital impersonation, and hacking are a few of them.
• Law enforcement officials are constantly seeking for ways to lessen the negative impacts of using the medium in order to prevent Internet misuse because of the potential for abuse.

Source – The Hindu