📰 Poll panel to brainstorm on key issues
Election expenditure, participation of women to figure at meet with seven registered national parties and 51 State parties
•In the times of social media and phased elections, how can campaign silence be maintained during the last 48 hours before the elections?
•The Election Commission will be debating this and seven other issues, including limiting of expenditure and increasing participation of women, at a multi-party meeting on Monday. All seven registered national political parties and 51 State political parties have been invited.
•The law prohibits canvassing during the last 48 hours before the elections. This is meant to create an environment of neutrality and “silence” for the voter to exercise his franchise through reasoned reflection rather than be swayed by last-minute appeals by parties and candidates.
•The agenda notes, circulated to all political parties and accessed by The Hindu, say the Commission has sought suggestions on how to “address the issue of online canvassing to promote or prejudice the electoral prospects of a party/candidate on social media during the last 48 hours.”
•The Opposition parties, especially the Congress, have been consistently asking this question in view of the BJP’s extensive campaigning on the ground and on social media ahead of each election.
Adding print media
•The Commission has asked the parties if the print media should also be brought within the ambit of Section 126(1)(b) (which lists mediums in which display of election matter is prohibited and includes television, cinematograph or similar apparatus) of the Representation of the People Act.
•Seeking to raise a heated debate, the Commission has asked political parties on whether there should be a ceiling on party election expenditure. The present election laws only provide a limit on a candidate’s expenditure. The commission has also written to the Law Ministry exploring this question.
•“It has proposed that such ceiling should be either 50% of or not more than the expenditure ceiling limit provided for the candidate multiplied by the number of candidates of the party contesting the election,” the agenda notes says. The Law Ministry is yet to respond to the proposal.
•The Commission wants to know the views of political parties on bringing a ceiling for expenditure in the Legislative Council elections. In these elections, huge amounts of unaccounted-for money is often spent by the candidates.
•The Commission has asked the parties to take note of alternative modes of voting for domestic migrants and absentee voters, such as postal, proxy and e-voting. The Commission has proposed five strategies, the agenda note says, to ensure that no migrant worker is left out.
•These include developing portability of voting rights by linking voter ID and Aadhaar. A one-time voluntary registration system for domestic migrants, electoral support services to be provided to migrants at the source and destination areas, raising awareness of voters’ rights and a helpline for domestic migrants are the other measures suggested by the Commission.
•The Election Commission has also asked “what measures can political parties undertake to encourage enhanced representation of women within the organisation structure of the political party.” It has pulled out embarrassing statistics to build the case for a greater presence of women. There are only 11.4% women in the 16th Lok Sabha, substantially lower than the global average of 22.9%, the Commission noted.
•It has said that at least seven countries have laws reserving seats for women in legislature, including Nepal.
📰 Gave regular warnings to Kerala, Tamil Nadu tells SC
State took all necessary steps before Mullaperiyar water was released: affidavit
•Tamil Nadu warned Kerala when the water level rose in the Mullaperiyar dam during the critical days of the devastating floods, the State said in a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Friday.
•The Tamil Nadu government denied allegations it waited too long until the water storage level crossed the permitted mark of 142 feet.
•Kerala had alleged in its affidavit on Thursday that it was uncertain about the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam even as it was “frantically” evacuating people from downstream areas of the dam. It said there were no “positive assurances” from Tamil Nadu to its request for gradual release of water at least at 139 feet during the torrential rains.
‘Warnings issued’
•Tamil Nadu submitted that it had “duly informed Kerala since the water level in the Dam reached +136 ft. Thereafter, when the water level reached +138 ft., +140 ft., +141 ft. and +142 ft., suitable warnings were issued and the quantum of discharge was also intimated. Thus the State took all the required measures before water was released from the dam.”
•Periodical warnings were issued since the water level reached 136 ft for every two feet rise, and from 140 onward for every one foot rise. Intimation was given to the Kerala government well in advance regarding the release of water from the spillway of the dam, the counter-affidavit said.
•“The allegation that action was taken by the Respondent State (Tamil Nadu) only after the water level in the dam crossed the permitted storage of +142 ft., is denied,” Tamil Nadu said.
•Besides, it said Kerala had opened its dams in the first week of August itself, affecting transportation and communication. Mullaperiyar dam was opened only on August 14. “In any event the quantity spilled from Mullaperiyar dam is very small when compared to the quantity spilled by the 39 dams of Kerala,” the counter-affidavit said.
•Even the total quantity spilled from Idukki and Idamalayar dams from August 14 to 19 totals 36.28 TMC. This was more than the quantity released from Mullaperiyar dam to Idukki dam during the corresponding period.
•Tamil Nadu said the designed Maximum Water Level of Mullaperiyar dam is 155 ft. for which the safety was examined and found to be safe by the Supreme Court. Thus, the flood cushion available is 13 ft. (155 ft. – 142 ft.) which “could not be utilised by Tamil Nadu due to non-cooperation of Kerala.”
•This is because Kerala wants to “help” the encroachers, who have illegally occupied the water spread area between 142 ft. and 155 ft. leased to Tamil Nadu, the counter-affidavit said.
•It however said both State governments did “their best in the hours of this crisis situation” and the Centre had managed the unfolding of events during the floods on a real-time basis.
•The affidavit was countering a petition filed by Idukki resident Russel Joy highlighting the ‘perils’ faced by the people living downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam on the Periyar basin. He said there was a lack of coordination between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, no disaster management plan and people were living in constant fear of flash floods.
📰 Commute-related pollution: Kolkata shines among megacities
Fourteen cities evaluated by the CSE for emission of greenhouse gases; Delhi fares the worst, while Bhopal emerges as the lowest polluter
•An analysis of 14 cities in India, including six mega cities and eight metropolises, on how they fare when it comes to pollution and energy consumption from urban commuting, places Kolkata as the top-performing megacity. Bhopal leads the list on the lowest overall emissions. Delhi and Hyderabad are the two cities that fare at the bottom of the table in terms of pollution and energy use.
‘National crisis’
•The report titled ‘The Urban Commute and How it Contributes to Pollution and Energy’, compiled by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), was released in Kolkata on Friday. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE, said air pollution was a national crisis and road transport was the sector showing the highest increase in emission of greenhouse gases.
•“Motorisation in India is explosive. Initially, it took 60 years (1951-2008) for India to cross the mark of 105 million registered vehicles. Thereafter, the same number of vehicles was added in a mere six years (2009-15),” Ms. Roychowhury said.
•In the study, with an aggregate of toxic emissions from urban commuting practices, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, the cities were ranked based on calculations of heat trapping (CO2). The study took two approaches to rank the cities — one based on overall emission and energy consumption and the other on per person trip emissions and energy consumption.
•Six megacities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad) and eight metropolitan cities (Bhopal, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi and Vijayawada) were evaluated.
•In terms of overall emissions and energy consumption, Bhopal was followed by Vijayawada, Chandigarh and Lucknow. Kolkata, which comes in at the sixth place on overall emissions, won among the six megacities. In fact, smaller cities such as Ahmedabad and Pune ranked below Kolkata for overall emissions.
•Delhi ranked at the bottom of the table for overall emission. Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai fared a little better than Delhi.
•According to the report, though metropolitan cities scored better than megacities due to lower population, lower travel volume and lower vehicle numbers, they were at risk due to a much higher share of personal vehicle trips.
‘Resounding message’
•“Kolkata provides a resounding message that despite population growth and rising travel demand, it is possible to contain motorisation with a well established public transport culture, compact city design, high street density and restricted availability of land for roads and parking,” the report pointed out, comparing Kolkata to Hong Kong and cities in Japan.
•Mumbai, the report stated, had the highest GDP but a lower rate of motorisation compared with other megacities, proving that income levels were not the only reason for deciding a population’s dependence on automobiles.
•“Both Kolkata and Mumbai have grown with a unique advantage of a public transport spine well integrated with existing land use patterns,” the report said.
•Meanwhile, “It [Chennai] was the first city to adopt a non-motorised transport (NMT) policy in 2004 that aims to arrest the decline of walking or cycling by creating a network of footpaths, bicycle tracks and greenways,” the report said.
📰 Trouble in the hills: on Western Ghats ecology
There should be public consultation on expert reports on the Western Ghats ecology
•The catastrophic monsoon floods in Kerala and parts of Karnataka have revived the debate on whether political expediency trumped science. Seven years ago, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel issued recommendations for the preservation of the fragile western peninsular region. Madhav Gadgil, who chaired the Union Environment Ministry’s WGEEP, has said the recent havoc in Kerala is a consequence of short-sighted policymaking, and warned that Goa may also be in the line of nature’s fury. The State governments that are mainly responsible for the Western Ghats — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra — must go back to the drawing table with the reports of both the Gadgil Committee and the Kasturirangan Committee, which was set up to examine the WGEEP report. The task before them is to initiate correctives to environmental policy decisions. This is not going to be easy, given the need to balance human development pressures with stronger protection of the Western Ghats ecology. The issue of allowing extractive industries such as quarrying and mining to operate is arguably the most contentious. A way out could be to create the regulatory framework that was proposed by the Gadgil panel, in the form of an apex Western Ghats Ecology Authority and the State-level units, under the Environment (Protection) Act, and to adopt the zoning system that it proposed. This can keep incompatible activities out of the Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs).
•At issue in the Western Ghats — spread over 1,29,037 sq km according to the WGEEP estimate and 1,64,280 sq km as per the Kasturirangan panel — is the calculation of what constitutes the sensitive core and what activities can be carried out there. The entire system is globally acknowledged as a biodiversity hotspot. But population estimates for the sensitive zones vary greatly, based on interpretations of the ESZs. In Kerala, for instance, one expert assessment says 39 lakh households are in the ESZs outlined by the WGEEP, but the figure drops sharply to four lakh households for a smaller area of zones identified by the Kasturirangan panel. The goal has to be sustainable development for the Ghats as a whole. The role of big hydroelectric dams, built during an era of rising power demand and deficits, must now be considered afresh and proposals for new ones dropped. Other low-impact forms of green energy led by solar power are available. A moratorium on quarrying and mining in the identified sensitive zones, in Kerala and also other States, is necessary to assess their environmental impact. Kerala’s Finance Minister, Thomas Isaac, has acknowledged the need to review decisions affecting the environment, in the wake of the floods. Public consultation on the expert reports that includes people’s representatives will find greater resonance now, and help chart a sustainable path ahead.
📰 ISRO telemedicine nodes for soldiers in high-altitude areas
•In a major effort to improve emergency medical support to soldiers posted in high-altitude areas, especially Siachen, the Integrated Defence Staff of the Defence Ministry and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to set up telemedicine nodes in critical places across the country.
•“ISRO will establish 53 more nodes in the first phase over and above the existing 20, in various establishments of the Army, Navy and Air Force across the country,” a defence official said.
In Siachen
•As part of this, in addition to a functioning node on the Siachen glacier, four more nodes are being established to enable medical consultation between soldiers deployed on the glacier and medical echelons in the rear.
•During winter months, many of the remote posts are cut off for several months because of adverse terrain and extreme weather, making emergency evacuation near impossible. Communication through satellite-enabled telemedicine nodes will be a paradigm shift in the delivery of lifesaving health care till the weather clears up and movement is possible.
•This joint initiative by ISRO and the Armed Forces Medical Services will transform the reach of telemedicine to soldiers, airmen and sailors in remote and isolated posts, the official added.
