Geography 

How ‘Santa Ana’ winds and climate change are fueling wildfires in Malibu - Indian Express 

Fire crews continue to battle a wildfire in the wealthy coastal town of Malibu, California. The so-called Franklin Fire has charred more than 4,000 acres and affected about 22,000 people. Although the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, experts suggest that the Franklin Fire has been destructive because of two reasons, the “Santa Ana” winds and climate change.

Santa Ana Winds

• Location: Southern California, named after the Santa Ana Canyon.
• Characteristics: Dry, warm (often hot) winds originating from the desert, including the Great Basin.
• Formation:
  • Caused by high pressure over the Great Basin and low pressure along California’s coast.
  • Winds move from inland deserts, east and north of Southern California, over mountains toward the Pacific Ocean.
  • Descending winds compress and heat up, reducing humidity to less than 10-20%.
• Impact: Extremely low humidity dries vegetation, increasing wildfire risk.
• Seasonality: Typically occur from October to January, driven by winter weather patterns.

Polity 

Henderson Doctrine - The Hindu 

In a recent case, the Supreme Court explained Henderson doctrine, a natural corollary of the Indian doctrine of constructive Res-judicata codified in Explanation IV of Section 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).

Henderson Doctrine

• Origin: Established in Henderson vs Henderson (1843, English case).
• Principle: Requires all issues related to the same subject matter to be addressed in a single suit, preventing relitigation.
• Key Features:
  • Bars raising issues that could or should have been addressed in prior proceedings.
  • Applies to all points directly or indirectly related to the litigation, even if not explicitly raised earlier.
• Purpose: Prevents repetitive and vexatious legal challenges, ensuring judicial efficiency.
• Exception: Permits raising new issues only under exceptional circumstances.

Why simultaneous elections are impractical and complicated - The Hindu 

In recent weeks, there has been increasing discussion about the possibility of having national and State elections at the same time, popularly known as ‘one nation, one election’. The formation of a committee, helmed by a former President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, to determine how this might be implemented, and what manner of constitutional changes might be required to make it a legal reality, have generated further debate. The primary arguments in favour of simultaneous elections are twofold: first, that it will decrease the costs of conducting elections (and of electioneering); and second, that it will free up political parties from being in ‘permanent campaign mode’, and allow them to focus on governance (and, for that matter, constructive opposition) for a five-year period.

Criticism of Simultaneous Elections

• Minuscule Financial Savings: Critics argue the cost savings are negligible when analyzed in detail.
• Impact on Governance: Instead of simultaneous elections, empowering State party units to manage elections could allow national leaders to focus on governance. However, India’s centralized and presidential-style campaigns make this unlikely.
• Logistical Challenges: Conducting elections simultaneously in a country with over 1.4 billion people poses immense logistical difficulties, especially given the need for multiple phases even in State polls.
• Parliamentary Democracy Conflict:
  • Rigid Timetable Issue: A rigid election cycle clashes with parliamentary democracy's core, where governments must have the confidence of the House.
  • Article 356: Historical use of Article 356 disrupted simultaneous elections in the 1960s, allowing central dismissal of State governments.

Concerns

• Imposing President’s Rule: If a State government falls mid-term, extending central rule until the next election cycle undermines democracy and federalism.
• Shortened Assembly Terms: Holding elections mid-cycle with truncated terms contradicts the objectives of simultaneous elections and creates governance instability.
• Concerns with Horse-Trading:
  • Increased Risk: Simultaneous elections may incentivize horse-trading to avoid government collapses, even when a government loses the House’s confidence.
  • Tenth Schedule Ineffectiveness: Despite anti-defection provisions, politicians exploit loopholes, and courts have been ineffective in curbing this practice.
  • Political Influence: Wealthier parties with greater resources are likely to dominate horse-trading.

Does POSH Act apply to political parties? - Indian Express

The Supreme Court recently heard a PIL stating that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) should apply to political parties.

POSH Act

• Scope of the Act:
  • Section 3(1) ensures that no woman faces sexual harassment at any workplace.
  • The Act applies only to workplaces and when the aggrieved party is a woman.
• Definition of Workplace:
  • Includes public sector entities funded by the government, private organisations, hospitals, sports venues, and even locations visited during employment.
  • Broadly covers diverse sectors but becomes ambiguous for non-traditional entities like political parties.
• Kerala High Court Ruling (2022):
  • In the Centre for Constitutional Rights Research and Advocacy v. State of Kerala & Ors, the court addressed POSH applicability to political parties.
  • Held that:
    • Political parties lack an employer-employee relationship with their members.
    • They do not qualify as a workplace under the Act.
  • Ruled that political parties are not required to establish Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs).

Challenges in Applicability  of POSH Act to Political Parties

• Representation of People Act, 1951:
  • Political parties are registered as associations under Section 29A.
  • Registration includes providing a constitution, office details, and allegiance to the Indian Constitution.
• Defining Workplace:
  • Political parties lack a fixed workplace, as workers often operate in the field with little interaction with high-level officials.
  • Determining the employer is ambiguous, as party hierarchies are broad and decentralized.
• Temporary Employment:
  • Party workers are often temporary, contractual, or volunteers, complicating their classification under the POSH Act.

Provisions Favoring Inclusion

• Broad Definitions:
  • The term “workplace” under the POSH Act includes locations visited during employment, potentially covering field workers.
  • “Employee” includes temporary, contractual, and volunteer workers.
• Party Hierarchies:
  • Organisational structures in party constitutions (e.g., BJP’s seven-level structure) can help identify the employer for ICC establishment.

Current Mechanisms in Parties

• Disciplinary Committees:
  • Both Congress and BJP have internal disciplinary mechanisms.
  • Actions like “lowering party prestige” or “moral turpitude” may broadly address sexual harassment but lack specificity.
  • Committees do not include women or external members, unlike ICC requirements under POSH.
• Gaps and Considerations
  • Absence of explicit sexual harassment redressal mechanisms in party constitutions.
  • Lack of alignment with ICC requirements, including gender representation and external oversight.

World Affairs 

Oil Spills Into Kerch Strait - The Hindu 

A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm on Sunday, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage.

Kerch Strait

• Location: Connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov in Eastern Europe.
• Historical Names: Known as the Cimmerian Bosphorus by the Romans and the Cimmerian Strait in Greek.

Geography:

• Separates the Kerch Peninsula (Crimea) from the Taman Peninsula (Russia).
• Length: ~3 km; Width: 15 km (narrowest point: 3-5 km); Depth: 18 m.
• City of Kerch lies near its center on the Crimean side.

Significance:

• Critical global shipping route between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
• Key conflict zone post-2014 Russia-Ukraine tensions.

Kerch Strait Bridge

• Other Name: Crimean Bridge.
• Features: Links mainland Russia with Crimea; includes road and rail; longest bridge in Europe (19 km).
• Symbolism: Represents Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Economy 

Govt launches 'Jalvahak' scheme - PIB 

The Union government recently launched the 'Jalvahak' scheme to incentivise cargo movement via inland waterways, marking a major step towards promoting sustainable and cost-effective transportation across National Waterways 1 (Ganga), 2 (Brahmaputra), and 16 (Barak river).

Jalvahak Scheme

Objective: Promote inland waterway trade, reduce logistics costs, and ease congestion on road and rail networks.

Features:

• Offers up to 35% reimbursement on operating costs for cargo transported over 300 km via waterways.
• Valid for three years, focusing on National Waterways 1 (Ganga), 2 (Brahmaputra), and 16 (Barak river).
• Optimises supply chains for major shipping companies and trade bodies.
• Fixed Scheduled Service introduced for cargo vessels on Kolkata-Patna-Varanasi and Kolkata-Guwahati routes via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

Implementation: Jointly by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Inland & Coastal Shipping Ltd (ICSL).

Significance: Encourages sustainable, cost-effective transportation and ensures timely cargo delivery.

How would a carbon market function? - The Hindu 

COP29, the ongoing climate conference in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, has given a fillip to the idea of using carbon markets to curb carbon emissions by approving standards that can help in the setting up of an international carbon market as soon as the coming year.

Carbon Market

• Definition: A system for buying and selling rights to emit carbon into the atmosphere, aimed at controlling carbon emissions.
• Mechanism:

• Carbon Credits: Certificates allowing emission of a fixed amount of carbon (1 credit = 1,000 kg CO₂).
• Cap-and-Trade: Governments limit emissions by issuing a restricted number of credits.
• Entities without credits cannot emit carbon.

• History: Introduced in the 1990s in the U.S. to control sulphur dioxide emissions.

• Trading:

• Holders can sell unused credits to others.
• Prices are determined by supply and demand.

• Carbon Offsets: Polluters can buy offsets from organizations undertaking carbon-reduction activities, like planting trees, to balance their emissions.

Pros and Cons of Carbon Markets 

Science and Technology 

INCOIS develops advanced version of Search and Rescue Aid Tool - SARAT - The Hindu 

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has developed a newer version of its own Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) for ‘better accuracy and utility’ to aid the Indian Search and Rescue (SAR) agencies such as the Indian Coast Guard in their operations at sea.

Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT)

Launch & Purpose:

• Introduced in 2016 under the Make in India initiative.
• Aims to locate individuals/vessels in distress at sea quickly.
• Developed by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).

Working Mechanism:

• Uses model ensembling to factor in uncertainties of the last known location and time.
• Relies on currents and winds to determine object movement.
• Employs high-resolution Regional Ocean Modelling System on High-Performance Computers at INCOIS.
• Offers selection of 60 object types based on shape and buoyancy.

Features:

• Interactive map for pinpointing the last known location or estimating it via coastal details.
• Results displayed on an interactive map and sent as text/email in local coastal state languages.
• Enhancements in SARAT Version 2:
  • Accurate search area expansion from the last known position.
  • Improved visualizations, colour-coded search regions, and better markers for easier identification.