Daily Current Capsules 10^th May 2022
CYCLONE ASANI

What's the NEWS

 

• Severe cyclonic storm ‘Asani', which is moving towards the east coast, packing winds above 105 kmph and setting off heavy rain, is likely to recurve in a north-eastward direction and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm
• The name 'Asani' was given by Sri Lanka. Asani or ‘wrath' in Sinhalese will be the first cyclonic storm of the season.
• The ‘Extremely Severe' cyclone Fani and ‘Super cyclone' Amphan wreaked havoc in Odisha and West Bengal respectively.
• Cyclone Asani by contrast, is expected to only graze the coast, and not make landfall.

Know! all about Cyclone 'Asani'

• It was named by Sri Lanka.
• The name Asani is from the list of cyclone names that is maintained by the World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (WMO/ESCAP) Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC).
• The panel comprises 13 countries namely, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, who choose the names of cyclones in the region.

 

The Indian Meteorological Department classifies Cyclones based on their wind speeds.

• When the wind speed is around 31-50 km/hr, it is called depression.
• When the wind speed is between 51-62 km/hr, it is called Deep Depression.
• Beyond these speeds, the depression becomes storm.

 

The wind speeds of different storms as follows
Cyclonic Storm: 63-88 km/hr

 

• Severe Cyclonic Storm: 89-117 km/hr
• Very Severe Cyclonic Storm: 118-165 km/hr
• Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm: 166-220 km/hr
• Super cyclonic Storm: greater than 220 km/hr

Why Is The Bay of Bengal So Prone To Cyclones?

• Tropical cyclones-also called typhoons or hurricanes-are intense water-rotating systems formed by strong winds (of speeds at least 62 kilometres/hour) around low-pressure areas.
• They have a spiral, anticlockwise movement. Additional weather conditions like high sea surface temperature, vertical changes in wind speed inside the spiral, and high relative humidity help cyclones form and intensify.
• Since sea surface temperatures and humidity both directly correlate with chances of cyclone formation, the Bay of Bengal is a more likely target because it gets higher rainfall, and because the sluggish winds around it keep temperatures relatively high: about 28 degrees around the year.
• Warm air currents enhance this surface temperature and aid the formation of cyclones.
• In addition, the Bay receives higher rainfall and constant inflow of fresh water from the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers.
• This means that the Bay's surface water keeps getting refreshed, making it impossible for the warm water to mix with the cooler water below, making it ideal for a depression.
• On the other hand, the Arabian Sea receives stronger winds that help dissipate the heat, and the lack of constant fresh water supply helps the warm water mix with the cool water, reducing the temperature.

How tropical cyclones are named

• The practice of naming these tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea began in September 2004. Before that the names were given arbitrarily
• In 2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP (World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), which comprised Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, decided to start naming cyclones in the region.
• After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list
• With as many as eight countries, the group finalised 64 names, with each country pitching eight names
• Amphan, the cyclone that hit India in May 2020 was the last name on the list developed in 2004.
• The WMO/ESCAP expanded to include five more countries in 2018-Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen and the list expanded.
• With 13 countries pitching 13 suggestions each, the list has 169 names of cyclones.
• The list of 169 cyclone names released by IMD in April 2020, were provided by these countries - 13 suggestions from each of the 13 countries.

The role of RSMCs and TCWCs
 Cyclones that form in every ocean basin across the world are named by the

1. Regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and
2. Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs).

• There are six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and five TCWCs.
• As an RSMC, the IMD names the cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, after following a standard procedure.
• The IMD is also mandated to issue advisories to 12 other countries in the region on the development of cyclones and storms.

Naming of Tropical Cyclones (T.C) helps the scientific community, disaster managers, media and general masses to

• identify each individual cyclone.
• create awareness of its development.
• remove confusion in case of simultaneous occurrence of TCs over a region
• remember a TC easily
• rapidly and effectively disseminate warnings to much wider audience
• Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre
• Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as part of the World Weather Watch.
• RSMC, New Delhi (one of the 6 RSMC's) will be responsible to name tropical cyclones forming over the North Indian Ocean including Bay of Bengal & the Arabian Sea when they have been diagnosed with maximum sustained surface windspeed of 34 knots (62 kmph) or more as per Global Data Processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS) of WMO
• The name of a Tropical Cyclone from South China Sea which crosses Thailand and emerge into the Bay of Bengal as a tropical cyclone will not be changed.

Know! about WMO

• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 193 Member States and Territories.
• It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO),
• Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23 March 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences a year later.
• The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary-General.
• Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress.

Know! about India Meteorological Department (IMD)

• IMD was established in 1875. It is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.
• It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.

OPERATION DUDHI

 

What's the NEWS

• The paramilitary Assam Rifles felicitated the surviving soldiers of Operation Dudhi, marked in the country's defence history as India's most successful counter-insurgency operation more than 30 years ago.
• A team of 15 soldiers of the Assam Rifles' 7th Battalion led by Naib Subedar Padam Bahadur Chhetri had on May 5, 1991, gunned down 72 Pakistan-trained extremists and captured 13 others at 14,000 ft in J&K.

 

Island Coastal Zone Regulation (ICRZ), 2019
What's the NEWS

• Decks have been cleared for a gas-based power plant at Hope Town in Andaman & Nicobar Islands to provide clean energy, a development that has needed tweaks in two of the related regulations by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
• The plant will come up in South Andaman district's Ferrargunj tehsil.
• The Ministry giving a green signal to changes under Island Protection Zone (IZP) and Island Coastal Regulation Zone (ICRZ) for the plant

Know! about ICRZ 2019

• The Island Coastal Zone Regulation (ICRZ), 2019, limits infrastructure development on vulnerable coastal stretches.
• The National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) has recommended that gas-based power plants be permitted within the Island Coastal Regulation Zone area only on islands with geographical areas greater than 100 sq. km.
• The plant is expected to work on "dual fuel technology i.e., through Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) or High-Speed Diesel (HSD) or single fuel (LNG)".
• There has been an increased interest in the development of the Andaman region following a policy push by the NITI Aayog.
• A proposed project plans to develop the Greater Andaman region or the southernmost stretch of the island group.
• Proposals include a 22-sq.km airport complex, a transshipment port (TSP) at South Bay at an estimated cost of ₹12,000 crore, a parallel-to-the-coast mass rapid transport system and a free trade zone and warehousing complex on the southwestern coast.

 

MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund

What's the NEWS

• Parliamentarians cannot utilise interest accrued on MPLADS funds for development works with the Centre revising the norms for utilisation of money under various central sector schemes.
• According to the revised procedure for flow of funds under the CSS, including MPLADS, of the Finance Ministry, all interest earnings should be compulsorily remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India.
• The revised procedures have been intimated to MPs by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.

 

Know! about MPLADS

• Each MP is allocated ₹5 crore annually under the scheme.
• The MPLADS fund is released to the district authority and the MPs only have power to recommend development work.
• The payment is also released by the designated district authority on completion of the work.
• So far, the interest accrued on the fund used to be added to the MPLADS account and could be used for the development projects.
• Opposition parties criticized the changed guidelines, arguing that the new order was in violation of the MPLADS guidelines of 2016.

 

PM-WANI

What's the NEWS

• RailTel, a Mini Ratna PSU, has launched Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme based on access to its Public WiFi services across 100 railway stations across the country.

Know! about PM/WANI

• To access this WiFi network, android users can download the mobile app ‘Wi-DOT' available on Google Play Store. This app has been developed in close coordination with C-DOT.
• This method of accessing Wi-Fi through the ‘mobile app' will be in addition to the existing method of accessing WiFi at these stations through the conventional method of selecting RailWire Service Set Identifier (SSID).
• PM-WANI is an ambitious program of the Department of Telecom (DoT) to connect all silo Wi-Fi networks for ease of use and proliferate broadband usage for the masses.
• The government further plans to extend the PM-WANI-based access of RailTel's public Wi-Fi services to all 6,102 railway stations in a phased manner by the end of June 2022.

 

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