Table of Contents
Stooping to conquer
• It was never going to be easy for the Bharatiya Janata Party to get a candidate of its choice elected as the DEPUTY CHAIRMAN of the Rajya Sabha.
• The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha itself from amongst its members.
• Whenever the office of the Deputy Chairman falls vacant, the Rajya Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy.
• Dy Chairman vacates office
1. Ceases to be member of RS
2. Resigns, by writing to Chairman
3. Removed by majority of the house
• Dy Chairman acts as a Chairman when
1. Chairman is absent
2. Chairman is functioning as a President
3. If the position of V-P is vacant
• It should be emphasised here that the Deputy Chairman is not subordinate to the Chairman. He is directly responsible to the Rajya Sabha.
• Can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
• When the Chairman presides over the House, the Deputy Chairman is like any other ordinary member of the House. He can speak in the House, participate in its proceedings and vote on any question before the House.
• The BJP and the Congress may be the principal players at the national level, but they are nowhere close to being the two poles of the next Lok Sabha election.
Endless war
• The attack on a bus killed at least 45 people, most of them children.
• Since last 3 years, Riyadh has paid little attention to growing international criticism of its use of excessive force in Yemen.
• United Nations calls the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis.
• Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebels, who captured huge swathes of territory, including the capital Sanaa
• Houthi leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi
• With no functional government in place and the rebels fighting the Saudi invasion, Yemen’s 28 million people have been practically abandoned by the world.
• Cholera outbreak that killed over 2,000 people.
• Saudi Arabia has not come under international pressure.
• The Saudis say the Houthi rebels are backed by Iran.
The Andamans’ new colonisers
• The Indian bull frog, a recent arrival from the mainland, is steadily occupying the islands’ ecosystem and threatening the local economy.
• The bullfrog, found widely in mainland India and protected under Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife Act 1972.
• Following the decline of natural fish stock, the local administration encouraged integrated farming, with aquaculture in agricultural ponds.
• There are now over 2,500 such ponds in the islands, most of them filled with stocks of exotic, fast-growing fish imported from the mainland.
Heavy flooding puts Kerala in crisis
• Red alert sounded in eight districts following rain warning; heavy discharge from Idukki; toll rises to 27
• Many parts of Kerala were grappling with a looming crisis on Friday as a heavy rainfall warning and tidal flooding alert looked set to compound the worsening flood situation in the State.
A productive session for Lok Sabha
• The curtains came down on the monsoon session of Parliament on Friday, with government managers claiming this to be one of the most productive ones for the Lok Sabha since 2000.
• Provisional data released by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry show the session had 17 sittings and the Lok Sabha conducted business for over 112 hours and passed 20 of the 21 Bills tabled by the government.
• Time lost due to interruptions was eight hours and 26 minutes, while the Lok Sabha sat an extra 20 hours and 43 minutes in the conduct of business.
• Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar expressed his satisfaction over the way both Houses functioned.
• Women’s group backs amendments to talaq Bill
• Pakistan hopes to host SAARC summit
• Imran Khan meets Indian High Commissioner
Industrial Output Hits 5-Month High in June
• All three major sectors — manufacturing, mining and electricity — contributing to the recovery.
• Growth as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 7% in June compared with 3.9% in May, according to data released by the statistics office on Friday.
Eastern Army Cdr Heads for China, Def Min to Visit Delhi
• India and China will be engaged in a series of militaryrelated confidence building measures (CBMs) over the next two weeks, including visit by Chinese defence minister to Delhi in the backdrop of the Wuhan Summit that gave strategic guidance to the two militaries.
Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve enters UNESCO list
• The Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR) of Sikkim, the highest biosphere reserve in the country that includes the third highest mountain peak in the world, Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), has been included in the UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserve (WHBR).
• The decision was taken at the International Coordinating Council of Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme, UNESCO, in its 30th Session held at Palembang, Indonesia.
• The last biosphere reserve to be included was the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve in Kerala in 2016.
• With the inclusion of the KBR, one of the highest ecosystems in the world, reaching elevations of 1,220 m to 8,586 m above sea level, the number of biosphere reserves from the country included in World Network of Biosphere Reserves has increased to 11.
• The Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP), which comprises the core area of the KBR, was inscribed as India’s first “Mixed World Heritage Site” on July 17, 2016.
• The Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve is one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots that has good species diversity with high levels of endemism, with many mountains, peaks, lakes, caves, rocks, stupas (shrines) and hot springs.
• According to the Sikkim Forest Department, there are 4,500 species of flowering plants in the KBR, including 424 medicinal plants and 36 rhododendrons, 60 species of primulas and 11 varieties of oaks .
• Mr. Rao said that many species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act have their home in the KBR. This includes the Red Panda, Snow Leopard, Himalayan Black Beer and herbivores species of Musk deer, Great Tibetan Sheep, Blue Sheep, Boral and Barking Deer.
Over 500 species and subspecies of birds, including high-altitude pheasants — Monal Pheasants, Tragopan Pheasants and Blood Pheasants (the State Bird) — are also found in the reserve
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