Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 October 2018

::NATIONAL::

People residing on the banks of the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday, as water overflowing from a landslip-induced barrier across the river upstream in China eased within 14 hours.
Beijing had informed New Delhi that the natural overflow from the barrier in Yaluzangbu (Tsangpo) occurred at 2.30 p.m. on Friday and the discharge was 18,000 cubic metres per second. The barrier was formed soon after a landslip at Jiala village in Milincounty of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China on October 17.
The Tsangpo flows into Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang, which meets two other rivers to form the Brahmaputra downstream in Assam.
Soon after the Central Water Commission issued an alert about the Tsangpo barrier breach, Arunachal Pradesh’s Disaster Management Secretary, BidolTayeng, instructed the authorities of districts that the Siang passes through to take precautionary measures.

In May this year, the government announced a National Policy on Biofuels, which laid out the path towards increasing the country’s ethanol and biodiesel production. One of the stated benefits of biofuels was the impact this would have on the practice of burning crop waste in preparation for the next planting season.
“By reducing crop burning and conversion of agricultural residues/wastes to biofuels, there will be further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” the government said at the time the policy was announced.
However, this has not come to pass. Crop burning still remains a major problem across the country, and in particular, in the agrarian States of Haryana and Punjab.
It will still take years before the process of using crop residue for biofuel and thus, eliminating the need for stubble burning, becomes economically viable for the farmers and biofuel companies alike, according to industry players.
Sector experts say that while the government has introduced the macro-level policy on biofuels, there is a need for the State governments to come out with their own specific guidelines and then, for the companies to begin making the required changes.
With India’s ethanol consumption is set to rise in the coming years, crop residue can serve as a ready and environmentally-friendly source of raw material to bolster this trend.

Air purifier makers are again looking at a big spike in their sales like previous years since the air quality in the national capital region and adjoining areas is likely to deteriorate further in the coming weeks.
The companies are again expecting Delhi NCR to drive their sales this year, though, they are also witnessing a rise in demand from smaller and tier II cities, other than metros.
“Around Diwali, we have seen in the past the air quality levels going down further and some of them will surely convert into a heightened awareness and demand for the category,” Eureka Forbes chief transformation officer ShashankSinha said.
Although the air purifier industry is small in size and limited to metro cities, makers are witnessing a high double digit growth in the segment due to increased awareness among the people who are willing to spend money to improve the quality of air around them.
Among other companies, Honeywell also expects a rise in the demand around the festive season, when the pollution index goes up.