• National Register of Citizens process in Assam

• What is NRC ?

NRC means National Register of Citizens. It is a register containing names of all

genuine Indian citizens. The register was first prepared after the 1951 census of India.

• NRC process in Assam and its purpose ?

The NRC is now being updated in Assam to identify Indian citizens from
amongst all the residents of Assam thereby leading to identification of illegal migrants residing
in Assam, who entered Indian territories after the midnight of 24 March 1971.

The update process of NRC started in the year 2013 since then, the Supreme
Court have been monitoring it continuously. The entire project is headed by the State
Coordinator of National Registration, Assam, Mr Prateek Hajela. Assam is the first Indian state
where the NRC is being updated after 1951 with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date to include
the names of genuine Indian citizens.

• Need of NRC in Assam ?

The persistent influx of illegal migrants mainly from Bangladesh to Assam leads to
the destruction of whole structure of Assamese culture and civilization. To identify illegal
immigrants, the National Register of Citizens was prepared for the first time in Assam.

In the year 1965 the government of India took up with the government of
Assam to expedite completion of the National Register of Citizens and to issue National Identity
Cards on the basis of this register to Indian citizens towards identification of illegal immigrants.
But in 1966 the Central Government dropped the proposal to issue identity cards in consultation
with the Government of Assam, having found the project impracticable. In a notification issued
by the Government of India in the year 1976, the State government was instructed not to deport
persons coming from Bangladesh to India prior to March, 1971.

Think..! Search..! Say..!

• How the Central Government treat those who are excluded from the final NRC list to be
published on 31 August 2019?

• A survey finds “89% of people excluded from the trial list of Assam NRC suffering from
mental torture.”

Experts says “Influx of illegal migrants leads to the destruction of Assamese culture”

On considering the above statements what do you think about the essentiality of NRC in
Assam?
3
 • From rain water to drinking water

• Introduction
When most bottling water companies around the world are digging deeper, a
company in Texas, U.S., looks up to the sky for its source.

With a tag line of catching rain straight from the sky, Richard’s Rainwater says it
bears the distinction of being the first bottled water company to do so. It also offers some
interesting facts: 53,300 raindrops are held in a 500 ml bottle. Founded in 2000 by Richard
Heinichen, it was the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration- approved company to sell
rainwater in bottles.

Rainwater is captured into a fibreglass tank from the rooftops. The rain for the
initial 10 minutes is flushed. Then, it is triple-filtered with ultraviolet light, reverse osmosis and
ozone instead of chlorine before packaging.

Think..! Search..! Say..!

• What do you think about the significance of this news in this century?

• “The next world war will be over water”

• Ismail Serageldin

Think and comment the statement

 • What is the present situation of our natural water resources?

3. A highly sensitive Hydrogen Sensor

• Introduction
A sensor that can detect hydrogen gas even when present at extremely low
concentration of 1 part per million (ppm) has been developed by researchers at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad. The sensor has 30%
sensitivity to detect hydrogen at 1 ppm concentration and as high as 74% sensitivity when the
concentration of the gas is 100 ppm. It takes about 25 seconds to detect hydrogen.

• Parts Per Million (ppm)

Just as per cent means out of a hundred, so parts per million or ppm means out of
a million. Usually describes the concentration of something in water or soil. One ppm is
equivalent to 1 milligram of something per liter of water (mg/l) or 1 milligram of
somethingper kilogram soil (mg/kg).

• Working
 Carbon nanofibres with minute pores are decorated on the zinc oxide
semiconductor. The carbon nanofibres increase adsorption of oxygen on the surface of the
semiconductor. More oxygen adsorbed would mean the number of electrons available for
conduction is reduced leading to increased resistance. Hydrogen reacts with the adsorbed oxygen
to produce water molecule thereby making more electrons available for current conduction.
Since more oxygen is adsorbed there are more active sites where hydrogen can react with oxygen
and reduce the resistance. In the presence of hydrogen the resistance reduces drastically leading
to more current flow, thus suggesting hydrogen gas leakage. When hydrogen is removed, the
resistance goes back to the initial state. The change in resistance is a function of the
concentration of nanofibres loaded on the zinc oxide semiconductor, temperature and the
concentration of hydrogen gas. The sensor can detect hydrogen only when the temperature is
moderate — 150 degree C while other hydrogen sensors require about 250 degree C to activate
the chemical reaction. The researchers are able to activate the chemical reaction at a relatively
lower temperature as carbon nanofibres are used.

Think..! Search..! Say..!

• What do you think about the current importance of this work?

• We are in the midst of a global energy crisis. How can we overcome this?
4. FATF Asia – Pacific Group ‘blacklists’ Pakistan

• What is FATF ?

FATF means Financial Action Task Force. It is an intergovernmental

organization founded in 1989 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 its
mandate expanded to include terrorism financing. Its headquarters is in Paris, France.

As of June 2019 FATF consists of 37 member countries including India and 8

associate members including Asia – Pacific group. The present President of FATF is Xiangmin
Liu of China who assumed the position on July 1, 2019. He succeeded Marshall Billingslea of
the United States. The term of President is one year.
 • Asia – Pacific Group of FATF

The Asia - Pacific Group also known as the APG is the FATF regional body for
the Asia-Pacific region. It is an inter-governmental organisation founded in 1997. The APG
consists of 41 members, of these 11 are also members of the FATF. The secretariat of APG is
situated in Sydney, Australia.

• Objectives of FATF

The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective
implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering,
terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
Starting with its own members, the FATF monitors countries' progress in implementing the
FATF Recommendations; reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and
counter-measures; and promotes the adoption and implementation of the FATF
Recommendations globally.

• FATF blacklist

FATF blacklist includes the list of countries which it judges to be non-

cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, calling them
"Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories" (NCCTs).The FATF updates the blacklist regularly,
adding or deleting entries.

• Why Pakistan in the blacklist ?

 Pakistan has been added by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering to the
"Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List". The Asia Pacific Group (APG), an affiliate of the FATF,
concluded its 22nd annual meeting in Canberra, Australia, on 23rd August, 2019. Official
sources said the group put Pakistan in the ‘Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List’, which borders
blacklisting, after finding that it had failed compliance on 32 of the 40 parameters set by APG to
counter terror funding and money laundering.

Think..! Search..! Say..!

• List the member countries in FATF.

• Is terrorism a feature of democratic societies or a consequence of governmental use of

terror as a political weapon?

• Have you heard about ‘No First Use Policy’?

• Express your opinion about the use of nuclear weapons to combat terrorism.
5. Waterproofing material using fly ash
• Introduction
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have
developed a cheap waterproofing material by coating fly ash, a waste by-product from coal-
based thermal power plants, with stearic acid. While fly ash is extremely water-loving
(hydrophilic), it turns into a highly water-repelling surface once coated with stearic acid.

• Fly ash

Fly ash or flue ash, also known as pulverised fuel ash in the United Kingdom, is
a coal combustion product that is composed of the fine particles of burned fuel that are driven
out of coal-fired boilers together with the flue gases.

• Fabrication

The stearic acid has a hydrophilic part called the head and hydrophobic portion
called the tail. While the head of stearic acid which is hydrophilic binds to fly ash particles, the
water-repelling tail remains free. Numerous free hydrophobic tails of stearic acid makes the fly
ash surface water repellent. Fly ash varies in size from 100 nanometres to a few microns and can
thus provide surfaces with different roughness based on the size of the particles chosen. The
stearic acid-coated fly ash surface can be made to behave like one of the two naturally occurring
water-repelling materials - rose petals or lotus leaves - by the varying the surface roughness. In
the case of a rose petal the surface repels the water but at the same time the structure of the petal
ensures that the water droplets adhere to it. Thus, even when inverted, water droplets do not fall
down. On the other hand, in the case of the lotus leaf, water droplet rolls off easily.
 When particles of more or less uniform size are used, the inter-particle space is more
and water penetrates and sticks to the surface like in the case of a rose petal and remains adhered
to the surface even when tilted it to 90 and 180 degrees. The topography changes completely
when fly ash particles of different sizes are used. The smaller particles tend to fill the gap
between the larges ones thus resulting in a tighter packing with very little gap between particles.
“Air pockets tend to form when the gap between particles reduces making it difficult for water to
get into the gaps. Water droplets are suspended on top of the air pockets and so has less adhesion
to the surface. So when the surface is tilted slightly (5 degree) the droplets tend to roll off easily.
By using a combination of stearic acid and surface roughness the researchers were able to
achieve superhydrophobicity. They used a simple process of particle distribution to achieve the
two types of hydrophobicity.

Think..! Search..! Say..!

• How the utilization of fly ash reduce environmental problems?

• What are the methods used in your house for waste disposal? If those methods are eco
friendly or not?

• Whether you are satisfied in the current waste management process in our state?