Daily News Analysis 11 April 2023

Table of Contents

GS-3

• How have recent weather events affected wheat crop?

Facts for Prelims

• TEMPO air quality monitoring instrument
• AAP’S GETS National Party Tag Crab nebula
• How have recent weather events affected wheat crop?

How have recent weather events affected wheat crop?

Context

The temperature went up unexpectedly in February, and then in March, many important states that produce wheat had heavy rain, strong winds, and hailstorms. This has left farmers worried about their wheat crop because it might not grow as much or be as good quality as expected.

Wheat in India

• Wheat is the main cereal crop in India, with central and western India producing hard wheat, and Madhya Pradesh producing durum wheat.
• India became self-sufficient in wheat production after the \’Green Revolution\’ in the late 60s, and now produces more wheat than needed.
• Wheat is adaptable to various climates, including tropical, sub-tropical, temperate, and cold regions, with an optimum temperature range of 20-25°C.
• Clay loam or loam soils with good structure and moderate water holding capacity are ideal for wheat cultivation, while heavy soils with poor structure and poor drainage are not suitable

How will the rains affect wheat crop?

• In March, there were widespread rains and strong winds of 40-50 km/h in major wheat-growing states due to western disturbances, according to IMD.
• Rain and winds are not good for crops close to the ripening and harvesting stage, especially if fields are waterlogged.
• Crop flattening and waterlogging can harm the ready-to-harvest wheat crop.
• Wheat is a key winter crop sown from October to December and usually ripens in mid-March, with early varieties harvested by the end of March.
• IMD data shows that several states received 40% more rain than normal between March 1 and April 9.

How much output would be affected?

• Agriwatch forecasts that the recent untimely rains may cause India\’s wheat production in 2022-23 to be around 102.9 million tonnes, lower than the government\’s estimate of 112 million tonnes.
• However, the Centre remains hopeful that the wheat production will be close to 112 MT due to increased acreage and better yield despite some loss due to adverse weather conditions.
• The government has reported that the average wheat acreage in 2022-23 is higher than the last five years, standing at 30,382,010 hectares.

What are agri-experts saying?

• Farmers believe that the inclement weather has caused damage to the standing wheat crop.
• Former director of IIWBR, suggests that the high temperature in February and the untimely rains in March have been detrimental to the wheat.
• Flattened crops due to the rains and winds could lead to a drop in the crop\’s yield.
• A decline in wheat production could result in a potential foodgrain security issue and a hike in prices of wheat and wheat-based products in the domestic market, Warns a wheat trader and exporter.

Shortcoming

• According to Sudhir Panwar, a former member of the Uttar Pradesh Planning Commission, if the government claims that wheat production won\’t be severely affected, it means the policy of wheat purchase will remain the same as last year.
• In this scenario, private players will purchase wheat on MSP or with some incentive, and the wheat price for consumers in the domestic market is unlikely to be affected.

Conclusion

The government\’s first priority would be to replenish its foodgrain stock, and if the production is less, the possibility of market intervention by the government is quite low as their priority would be to maintain the buffer stock.

TEMPO air quality monitoring instrument

Context

NASA’s high-resolution air pollution monitoring instrument TEMPO lifted atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida

About TEMPO (The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution)

 

• TEMPO instrument to monitor major air pollutants across North America
• Will be in a geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above the equator
• Launched by NASA in a Falcon 9 rocket as a payload on Intelsat 40E satellite
• It Will measure ozone, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, and formaldehyde levels
• Provides crucial scientific observations of air pollution in real-time

TEMPO will form a constellation of air quality monitoring satellites with South Korea\’s Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer and the European Space Agency\’s Sentinel-4 satellite, collectively tracking pollution across the Northern Hemisphere.

Importance of TEMPO

• TEMPO will provide scientists with valuable data to study various aspects of air pollution such as rush hour pollution, impact of lightning on the ozone layer, and movement of pollution from forest fires and volcanoes.
• It will be a part of a satellite constellation that will track pollution across the Northern Hemisphere, improving our understanding of air quality on a global scale.
• TEMPO\’s high-resolution measurements, with the ability to measure air quality hourly over North America during the daytime, will significantly surpass the current limit of 100 square miles, providing more precise and detailed data to researchers.

Application

• TEMPO will measure various pollutants to provide data on air quality.
• It will aid in air quality forecasting and the development of emission-control strategies.

AAP’S GETS National Party Tag

Context

THE ELECTION Commission recognised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national party, while revoking that status for the All India Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Key Highlights

The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Andhra Pradesh, PDA in Manipur, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in Puducherry, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in West Bengal, and MPC in Mizoram lost state party status.

What is a National Party?

• A national party has a presence throughout the country, while a regional party\’s presence is limited to a specific state or region.
• Being a national party doesn\’t always mean having a lot of national political influence.
• Some parties, such as DMK, BJD, YS-RCP, RJD, and TRS, despite having a major say in national affairs, are still considered regional parties due to their dominance in a specific state.

How is a national party?

The ECI has laid down the technical cri- teria for a party to be recognised as a national party. A party may gain or lose national party status from time to time, depending on the fulfilment of these conditions. As per the ECI\’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook, a political party would be considered a national party if:

• It\’s recognised in four or more states; or
• If its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
• If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states.

To be recognised as a state party, a party needs:

• At least 6% vote-share in the last Assembly election and have at least 2 MLAs; or have 6% vote-share in the last Lok Sabha elections from that state and at least one MP from that state; or
• At least 3% of the total number of seats or three seats, whichever is more, in the last Assembly elections; or
• At least one MP for every 25 members or any fraction allotted to the state in the Lok sabha or
• Have at least 8% of the total valid votes in the last Assembly election or Lok Sabha election from the state.

Where does the AAP fit into this?

• AAP has big majorities and large vote shares in Delhi and Punjab and received 6.77% of the vote in the Goa Assembly elections in March last year.
• AAP fulfilled the criteria for recognition as a state party in three states before the Gujarat-Himachal elections in 2022.
• The party needed 6% of the vote in either Himachal or Gujarat to be recognized in a fourth state and qualify as a national party, which was achieved with almost 13% vote in Gujarat.

Crab nebula

Context

Recently, NASA\’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) captured a crab nebula like never before.

About Crab nebula

• Crab Nebula is located in the Taurus constellation, around 6500 light-years away from Earth.
• It was created by a supernova explosion and has a mass equivalent to two Suns.
• Discovered by John Bevis in 1731, it\’s one of the rare astronomical objects emitting radiation across the entire measurable spectrum, including radio waves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.

 

 

Nebula

• Nebula is derived from Latin and means a cloud, it\’s a formation in space mainly composed of helium, dust, and various gases.
• The size and shape of a nebula can vary, and there are many types of formations having different sizes.
• They\’re believed to form by the gravitational pull of particles from the collapsing interstellar medium.
• Popular nebulae include Pelican, Crab, Eagle, and Ring, with Ring Nebula being among the most observed ones.

 

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