Current Affair 1:

‘Bharat’ or BH Series for Vehicle registration

 

Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) introduced a new registration mark for vehicles – Bharat Series or the ‘BH’ registration series to ensure seamless transfer of personal vehicles across states.

A vehicle registered in the BH series will not have to re-register when the vehicle shifts from one state to another. As per the current rules, if a person relocates to another state, they must re-register their vehicle within 12 months in the state if the vehicle is registered in another state. These new rules will be effective from 15 September 2021.

What is the new notification of MoRTH about?

Through a notification issued on 26 August 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), has amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 which shall come into effect from15 September 2021.

1. The new rules will be called the Central Motor Vehicles (Twentieth Amendment) Rules, 2021.
2. The amendment has been made to make the process of re-registration of vehicles when relocating to another state, a hassle-free process by introducing the Bharat series, or the BH series.
3. With the BH series registration mark, one will not be required to re-register their vehicle upon relocation to another state.
4. However, the change in the state must be informed to the registering authority within 30 days, if relocating.
5. This facility will be particularly helpful for those individuals who are frequently transferred to other states or union territories within the country

Who are eligible for the new BH registration?

The BH registration will be available on a voluntary basis for anyone who is an employee of Central Government or State Government, or Central or State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), and Defence Personnel. In the case of the private sector, employees of those companies/organizations which have their offices in four or more States/Union territories are eligible to avail of the new registration mark.

What is the format for the BH series registration mark?

How will the tax be collected?

The owners of vehicles registered under the BH system will be levied Motor Vehicle Tax electronically through a portal for two years or in multiples of two. After the fourteenth year from the date of first registration, the Motor Vehicle Tax will be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.

How about for vehicles that do not have BH registration mark?

The above-discussed rules are applicable only for those vehicles which will bear the BH registration mark. For other vehicles, the rules have not been changed. Those who do not have the BH registration mark are permitted to keep the vehicle for a maximum period of 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered.

Current Affair 2:

Climate crisis in North East India: Why are rainfall patterns changing?

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The climate of North East India is changing: Rainfall patterns over the region in the last century have considerably changed, resulting in its overall drying up.

What are rainfall patterns in the region changing?

1. An aspect of warming that influences rainfall is drying of the land, which increases the frequency and intensity of dry periods and droughts.
2. An increase in moisture and the drying up together change the rainfall patterns in unpredictable ways.
3. Other climatic factors such as the increased snowfall in the Eurasian region also impact monsoon rainfall in North East India.
4. Excessive snowfall in Eurasia causes cooling of the atmosphere of region, which triggers events eventually leading to a weak summer monsoon season there.
5. A study attributed the decrease in rainfall to sea surface temperatures over the sub-tropical Pacific Ocean, which vary in a cycle and each phase of which lasts a decade. The peak comes every 20 years and is known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO).
6. A Journal of Climate research paper from 2016 also found that PDO is being influenced by global warming as it decreases the difference of temperatures among the layers of the ocean. It said the peak of PDO will change from 20 to 12 years, which may have an impact on the monsoon rainfall in the North East India.

These factors may be at play in the north-eastern region of India.

Current Affair 3:

India's Organ Donation Law.

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Don’t know to need much. Just there is a law and it needs changes.

Organ donation refers to the act of donating one's organs such as the heart, liver, etc. to transplant them into another person who requires them. There are two types of organ donation - Living Donor Organ Donation [Hereinafter, "LDOD"] and Deceased Donor Organ Donation [Hereinafter, "DDOD"].

In the former, a person can donate one of his kidneys or a part of his liver, without affecting his kidney or liver function. The latter is broader in scope and allows the donor to give up multiple organs. The rate of DDOD in India is dismally low, with approximately only 2-3% of the total organ requirement being met every year.

This shortfall can be overcome through reforms in India's organ donation law, the Transplantation of Human Organs and tissues Act, 1994, along with measures enhancing social awareness in this regard.

The legislative framework surrounding organ donation in India, while comprehensive, possesses several pitfalls, especially in relation to DDODs. The consequence of such pitfalls can be seen in the low number of donors vis-a-vis potential patients that we experience every year. Incorporating the suggested changes in the text of the law, and developing standardised protocols accompanied by social awareness measures will go a long way in in strengthening India's organ donation system.

Current Affair 4:

Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) in Western Ghats.

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A new study has found reason to believe both species diversity and forest cover are important factors in limiting KFD outbreaks.

The ticks that carry the virus responsible for the disease are common in the Western Ghats.

The study found that outbreaks appear to become more common even when the diversity of animal species is low if a region has been deforested.

This is the first study to establish these connections – between the number of animal species and forest cover.

KFD’s primary vector is the forest tick Haemaphysalis spinigera. It is common in the Western Ghats, and attaches itself to many animal species, including humans. People are usually exposed to the ticks at the fringes of forests.

 

When primates get KFD, their bodies accumulate a large quantity of the viral particles and, more often than not, they die.

 

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