President Addresses Joint Sitting of Parliament

President of India recently addressed the joint sitting of both the houses of Parliament. It was the first time he addressed the newly elected 17th Loksabha.

• All executive power is vested in the President of India. The Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister aids and advises the President who exercises his powers in accordance with such advice.
• Constitutional Provision: Article 87 of the constitution provides two instances when the President specially addresses both Houses of Parliament.
  • The President of India addresses both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha at the beginning of the first Session after each general election when the reconstituted lower house meets for the first time.
  • The President also addresses both the houses at the beginning of the first session of each year.
• The President’s speech essentially highlights the government’s policy priorities and plans for the upcoming year. The address provides a broad framework of the government’s agenda and direction.
• The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951: Article 87 was amended. In article 87 of the Constitution:
  • In clause (1), for the words "every session", the words "the first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of each year" is substituted. In clause (2), the words "and for the precedence of such discussion over other business of the House" is omitted.
• Apart from this, the joint sitting of both the houses is also held to resolve the deadlock over the passing of key legislation. Not all bills can be referred to a joint sitting of Parliament. There are two exceptions.
  • Money bill under Article 110.
  • Constitution amendment bill under Article 368.

• Article 108: Article 108 of the Indian Constitution of India provides for Joint sitting of both the Houses. The joint sitting of the Parliament is called by the President and is presided over by the Speaker or, in his absence, by the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha or in his absence, the Deputy-Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• The Chairman doesn't preside over the joint session at any means/cost.
• Summons to members: The Secretary-General shall issue summons to each member specifying the time and place for a joint sitting.
• Time of sitting: The duration and adjournment of the joint sitting shall be determined by the Speaker.
• Quorum: The quorum to constitute a joint sitting shall be one-tenth of the total number of members of the Houses.
• Procedure: The procedures of joint sessions are subject to modifications and variations as the Speaker may consider necessary or appropriate.

International Equivalence for Personnel Certification

India’s national accreditation body, the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), has secured international equivalence for its accreditation programme for personnel certification bodies in the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation in Singapore on 20th June, 2019.

• NABCB signed the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) based on the international standard, ISO/IEC 17024.
• ISO/IEC 17024 specifies criteria for the operation of a Personnel Certification Bodies (also known as a certification body for persons).
  
  • Personnel Certification Bodies are the one which confirm the competence of an individual to perform a specified service ( of electrician, welder etc.) or duty through an issue of a certificate.
• With this recognition, NABCB hopes to facilitate export of Indian services and skills into the world market by attesting that persons are certified following international standards by the certifying bodies.
• This would support many professionals in India, especially those who do not have formal education or certificate programme. Any person carrying ISO/IEC 17024 certificate with NABCB logo will be recognized internationally.

NABCB

NABCB, a constituent board of Quality Council of India, an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is responsible for accreditation of certification/inspection bodies as per applicable international standards under an international system of equivalence.

Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation

• The Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) was established on 1^st January 2019.
• Its primary role is to manage and expand a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) among accreditation bodies in the Asia Pacific region.
• The MRA facilitates the acceptance of conformity assessment results (e.g. test reports, test certificates, inspection reports, and certification) across the region and with other regions around the world.
• APAC is recognized by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as one of four APEC Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs) that support the work of the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance.

Kaleshwaram Project

The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project is aimed to make Telangana drought proof by harnessing the flood waters of the Godavari. The project is an under-construction multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhoopalpally, Telangana.

• The project starts at the confluence point of Pranahita River and Godavari River.
  
  • Pranahita river is a confluence of various other smaller tributaries like Wardha, Penganga and Wainganga Rivers.
  • The Godavari is India's second longest river after the Ganga. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra. It flows east for 1,465 kilometres, draining the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Karnataka, ultimately emptying into the Bay of Bengal through its extensive network of tributaries.
  • The major tributaries of the river are classified as the left bank tributaries which include the Purna, Pranhita, Indravati and Sabari river and the right bank tributaries are Pravara, Manjira, Manair.
• Waters of the Godavari will be tapped by reverse pumping and storage, thereby facilitating agriculture on over 38 lakh acres, helping rejuvenate thousands of tanks, providing water for industries, and supplying drinking water to Hyderabad and Secunderabad by creating a series of storage tanks and a network of pipelines.
• Barrages have been constructed at Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla, from which water will be moved to fill Yellampalli and Sriram Sagar Projects.
• The Kaleshwaram project will support Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha schemes designed to provide drinking water to many villages and improve the capacities of tanks.

Mission Kakatiya

It is a flagship programme launched by the Government of Telangana which aims at rejuvenation of water tanks and other water storage structures to provide assistance and help to the small and marginal farmers of the state.

Mission Bhagiratha

It is a project for safe drinking water for every village and city household in Telangana State. It aims is to provide piped water to 2.32 crore people in 20 lakh households in urban and 60 lakhs in rural areas of Telangana. The ambitious project will supply clean drinking water to all households in the state through water sourced from River Godavari and River Krishna.

Climate Change Impacting Small Island Developing States

The United Nation (UN) in its report on World Population Prospects 2019 has warned that many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) may fail to achieve several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 because of increasing population and climate change risks.

Small Island Developing States

• Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are islands of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• The SIDS were recognized as a distinct group of developing countries in June 1992, at the UN Conference on Environment and Development. Total number of SIDS are 39.
• SIDS’ unique and particular vulnerabilities are highlighted in “The Future We Want”, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio+20) that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012
• Their small size, remoteness, narrow resource and export base, and exposure to global environmental challenges and external economic shocks, including to a large range of impacts from climate change and potentially more frequent and intense natural disasters SIDS continue to address those structural and external challenges to achieve their sustainable development.

Reasons for missing SDGs

• Population: Several SIDS, including Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, are experiencing a sharper population growth, higher than the global average rate of 1.07 per cent.
  
  • The total population of these countries is only 71 million, but growing fast: said to increase to 78 million by 2030 and 87 million by 2050, added the report.
• Climate change: The challenge is bigger for these small countries because of their vulnerability to climate change, climate variability and sea-level rise.
• Geographical reasons: One-third of the entire population of SIDS lives on lands that are less than five metres below the sea level. This makes them highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, storm surge and coastal destruction.

Impact of Climate Change on SIDS

These countries contribute only 1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and yet are among the first to experience the worst impacts of climate change.

• Agricultural production, fisheries, and related sectors are declining as the climate changes, threatening livelihoods and economic growth.
• In addition, extreme weather spawned by climate change is destroying SIDS land, real estate and infrastructure, with economically catastrophic effects, highlighted UN Environment Programme in a report.
• Tourism forms the foundation of many SIDS economies, and climate change is impacting it. Tourists are being discouraged from travelling to SIDS in the fear of violent and life-threatening storms.

Membrane to Clean Toxic Effluents

Recently the scientists at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST) have developed a ceramic membrane with the help of a mixture of potter’s clay, stone dust and tea waste which can clean toxic effluents.

• The membrane was tested on effluents from a textile unit. It could remove adsorptive dyes from wastewater.
• The study was funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Applications

• These filters are especially useful in petrochemical processing, where it is not possible to use organic membranes.
• It is capable of discolouring two commonly used dyes - methylene blue and Congo red -from water.
  • Methylene blue is a toxic dye, while Congo red is a known cancer-causing agent.
• Ceramic filters and membranes are commonly used in several sectors like food and beverage, drugs and chemicals, waste recovery and recycling industries.

Properties

• Ceramic membranes can withstand frequent cleaning, harsh operating environments and situations that require continuous flows of material.
• They can also be regenerated over many cycles and used for separation of both aqueous and non-aqueous solutions.
• The newly developed membrane has good thermal and chemical stability.
• The used membrane could also be regenerated by heating at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, without much loss of efficiency.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

• CSIR is an autonomous research and development body established by the Government of India in 1942.
• It covers a wide spectrum of science and technology –from radio and space physics, oceanography, geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology to mining, aeronautics, instrumentation, environmental engineering and information technology.
• It provides significant technological intervention in many areas with regard to societal efforts which include environment, health, drinking water, food, housing, energy, farm and non-farm sectors.
• CSIR Firsts
  • First to introduce DNA fingerprinting in India.
  • Designed & developed India’s first all-composite aircraft Hansa.
  • Designed and developed India’s first 14-seater plane ‘SARAS’.
  • First to produce baby food from buffalo milk by the name of Amulspray.
  • First to produce the indelible ink used in elections in the country.
  • Completed the first Complete Genome Sequencing of an Indian.
  • First indigenous “Electronic Nose” to detect toxic fumes.

Operation Sankalp

The Indian Navy has launched ‘Operation Sankalp’ in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman as a measure to assure the safety and security of the Indian vessels, following the recent maritime incidents in the region.

• The operation has been launched in the wake of escalating tension in the Gulf of Oman, where two oil tankers were attacked recently. The U.S. considers Iran responsible for the attacks, heightening tensions between the two countries.
• Indian Navy Ships Chennai and Sunayna have been deployed in the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf to undertake maritime security operations. In addition, aerial surveillance by IN aircraft is also being undertaken in the area.
• The Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region is also keeping a close watch on the movement of ships in the Gulf region.

The Persian Gulf

• Also called the Arabian Gulf, it is a shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian Peninsula and the southwestern Iran.
• Its length is around 990 km and its width varies from a maximum of around 340 km to a minimum of 55 km in the Strait of Hormuz.
• It is bordered on the north, northeast, and east by Iran; on the southeast and south by part of Oman and the United Arab Emirates; on the southwest and west by Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia; and on the northwest by Kuwait and Iraq.
• The area has approximately two-thirds of the world’s estimated proven oil reserves and one-third of the world’s estimated proven natural gas reserves.
• A considerable amount of sea trade passes through the gulf, leading to heavy traffic in the region.
• There remains an incessant traffic of large tankers that carry oil from the large marine terminals situated in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and other locations to all parts of the world.

The Gulf of Oman

• The Gulf of Oman, northwest arm of the Arabian Sea, lies between the eastern portion of the Arabian Peninsula (Oman) and Iran.
• It is 560 km long and connects with the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
• It is a shipping route for the oil-producing area around the Persian Gulf.
• It offers the only entrance from the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean into the Persian Gulf, thus the world’s major oil exporters and importers have a joint interest in its security.

Kutiyattam

Kapila Venu recently played a composition “Parvati Viraham”, part of the age-old repertoire of Kutiyattam, at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

• Kutiyattam is one of the oldest traditional theatre forms of Kerala and is based on Sanskrit theatre traditions. 
• The word “kuti” in Malayalam language primarily means “combined” or “together”, and “attam” means “acting”: therefore, the word “kutiyattam” means “combined acting".
• In its stylized and codified theatrical language, netra abhinaya (eye expression) and hasta abhinaya (the language of gestures) are prominent. They focus on the thoughts and feelings of the main character.
• It is traditionally performed in theatres called Kuttampalams, which are located in the Hindu temples.
• Kutiyattam is performed by a community of male actors called Chakyars and female performers called Nangiars, assisted by drummers called Nambiars.
• Pakarnattam is an aspect of Kutiyattam that involves embodying and emoting male and female roles. Switching between the masculine and feminine and interpreting multiple roles at the same time is considered a challenging skill within the repertoire.
• Nangiar Koothu is the solo section of female performance in Kutiyattam.
• Kutiyattam includes the plays of almost all the major playwrights in Sanskrit, including Bhasa, Harsha, Saktibhadra, Kulasekhara, Neelakantha, Bodhayana and Mahendravikramavarman. However, notable exceptions are Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti, whose plays are not traditionally part of its repertoire.
• Kutiyattam has been declared as among the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

International Yoga Day

The fifth annual International Yoga Day will be observed on June 21.

• June 21 is observed as International Day of Yoga every year since the United Nations declared it in 2015.

Background

• The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), on September 27, 2014.
• A draft resolution on 'International Day of Yoga' introduced by India's Ambassador to UN received support from 177 nations, the highest number of co-sponsors for any UNGA resolution.
• Thereafter, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

International Yoga Day 2019

• The theme for fifth International yoga 2019 day is 'Yoga for Heart'.
• Jharkhand's capital Ranchi will be hosting the main yoga day event.
• International yoga day coincides with the summer solstice.
• Yoga is inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India.

Summer Solstice

• In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs on June 21 with the longest period of daylight.
• On June 21^st, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun and the rays of the sun fall directly on the Tropic of Cancer.
• As a consequence, areas exposed to sun rays receive extra heat and the areas near the poles get less heat (as the rays of the sun are slanting).
• As a large area of the Northern Hemisphere is receiving light from the sun, it is summer in the regions north of the equator and longest day & the shortest night at these places occur on 21^st June.

Washi Paper

• Washi is a type of paper produced in Japan and the word is derived from the Japanese words “Wa” which means “Japanese” and “Shi” which means “paper”. This handmade paper is also known as Wagami and is made from three major constituents:
  
  • Kozo or ‘mulberry bark’
  • Mitsumata shrubs
  • Gampi tree
• These three components are used solely or in combination for their uniqueness.
  
  • Kozo is a deciduous tree found in many parts of the world, it grows abundantly in the Kyushu Islands and Shikoku in Japan. Its toughness is closer to cloth and it does not weaken significantly when treated with water-resistant.
  • Mitsumata is a bush and is native to China and is used in making Japanese money. It is ivory-coloured, fine surface and is used in printing. It was used to print paper money in the Meiji period.
  • Gampi trees are native to Japan and are tough to find in any other parts of the world. It has a smooth, shiny surface and is used for books and crafts.
  • Since these trees and bushes are difficult to come across, the paper made using them are expensive to make. Sometimes certain other fibres like abaca, rayon, wheat, rice, bamboo, hemp, etc. are also mixed to make washi paper.
• Washi is an ultra-thin paper which was once used for everything from writing and painting to lampshades, umbrellas, and sliding doors. Due to its flexible and durable characteristics, it is used to preserve ancient text and documentaries in Japan.
• Washi paper has a 1,300-year history and it has received UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status.