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🌪 Cyclone : • The term 'Cyclone' is derived from the Greek word 'Cyclos' which means 'Coiling of the Snake'. • A cyclone is any low-pressure area with winds spiralling inwards. • Cyclones rotate anti-clockwise in Northern Hemisphere and rotate clockwise in Southern Hemisphere. • The process of Cyclone formation and intensification is called Cyclogenesis. • Cyclones are not only present on Earth but also spotted on other planets like Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. • The Great Red Spot is the hurricane on Jupiter which is going on from 340 years. • Great Black Spot was spotted in the Southern Hemisphere of Neptune. Formation of Cyclone : • When it comes to the formation or strengthening of a cyclone, Cyclogenesis plays a crucial role. • Tropical cyclones are formed over warm ocean water near the equator. • Cyclones are fueled by available heat in the water bodies and the conducive temperature for the intensification of the cyclone is 28 degrees Celsius and above. The Bay of Bengal is usually warmer than the Arabian Sea, it results in more cyclones being formed over it. • Warm moist air near the surface of the ocean rises upwards. This creates a low-pressure area near the surface. This results in the movement of cooler air from surrounding areas into the low-pressure area. Now even this cool air becomes warm and moist and rises up. • The above cycle keeps continuing. The warm moist air which rises up, cools the water in the air, resulting in the formation of clouds. • This whole system of clouds and winds spins and grows. This entire cycle continues resulting in a cyclone. When the winds reach a speed of 62 kmph or more, it is called a Tropical Cyclone or Hurricane or Typhoon. Names of cyclone according to their location : • Hurricane - North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific. • Typhoon - Northwest Pacific. • Cyclone (Tropical cyclone) - South Pacific and Indian Ocean. • Willy Willy - Australia. Cyclones are classified on the basis of the wind speed : • Depression = 31–49 km/h. • Deep depression = 50–61 km/h. • Cyclonic storm (Cyclone) = 62–88 km/h. • Severe cyclone = 89–117 km/h. • Very severe cyclone = 118–166 km/h. • Extremely severe cyclone = 166–221 km/h. • Super cyclone = above 222 km/h. How cyclones are named? • The cyclones that are formed in any ocean basin around the world are named by the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs). There are a total of six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD). • The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (ESCAP) have been naming cyclonic storms since 2000. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) names the cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. It also issues advisories to 12 other nations in the region on the development of cyclones and storms. • The India Meteorological Department is one of the six RSMCs mandated to provide tropical cyclone advisories to 13 member countries including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. • In 2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP-- Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand-- decided to name cyclones in the region. • In 2018, five more countries were added-- Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. • After the aforementioned countries sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalise the list. • In April 2020, IMD released a list of 169 cyclone names. 13 suggestions were sent in by the aforementioned WMO/ESCAP member nations. • Naming the cyclones help the people to remember the incident. It also helps the authorities to disseminate the correct information. The recall value is also very high.

📰 Egyptian President Sisi to be chief guest at Republic Day celebrations: • Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi will be the chief guest at the Republic Day in January 2023. • In 1952, 1953 and 1966, the Republic Day celebrations were held without a foreign leader as chief guest. • In 2021, the then British prime minister Boris Johnson was invited as the chief guest but his visit had to be cancelled due to the rising COVID-19 cases in Britain. • In 2020, the then Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro was the chief guest. • In 2019, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the chief guest. • In 2018, the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership comprising 10 heads of state was present at the Republic Day parade. • In 2017, UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the chief guest. • In 2016, French President Francois Hollande was the chief guest.

📰 Centre to curb funds to states if land not allotted for PMAY-G: • The states unable to provide land to landless beneficiaries of the Central Government’s flagship housing scheme by December 15 will find their targets for this financial year redistributed to other States, the Centre warned recently. • This means that the Centre will withdraw its share of funds allocated to errant States under the centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (PMAY-G). • More than a fifth of such landless beneficiaries are in Tamil Nadu. • The scheme was launched in April 2016 with a goal of building 2.95 crore houses for the rural poor by March 2022, with the target figure derived from the Socio-Economic Caste Survey 2011. • Due to the COVID pandemic, the deadline was extended by two-years till March 2024. • As per the statistics available with the Union Ministry of Rural Development, 2.06 crore houses had been constructed till November 2022. • Tamil Nadu, with 56,709 landless beneficiaries still on the wait list, is the worst offender, followed by Maharashtra (48,272), Assam (23,064), Odisha (19,869) and Bihar (16,943). • Tamil Nadu has been particularly slow in providing help -- it started out with 57,680 landless beneficiaries, and has provided land to only 971 over the course of the scheme, according to the Ministry’s data.

📰 Don’t use central funds for air quality monitors in 131 cities, says CPCB: • The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has written to 131 non-attainment cities (which did not meet the particulate matter standard for 5 years) asking them to stop procurement of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (CAAQM) systems using Central funds. • The order is likely to hamper air quality monitoring in cities with sparse real-time monitors, including several cities in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) that record high air pollution levels. • There are 374 CAAQMS in the country according to CPCB. • The Centre had launched a National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 by the to curb air pollution in Indian cities. • NCAP has an aim to reduce PM 10 and PM 2.5 pollution by 20 to 30% over 2017 levels by 2024. • It is being implemented in 131 cities Non-Attainment Cities which did not meet air quality standard for 5 consecutive years.

■ DigiYatra: • Digi Yatra initiative aims to make air travel paperless and hassle-free in the country, and proposes to simplify passenger-related processes at various check points at the airport by using FRT-based biometric scanning. • Air travellers who choose to use the service won’t have to show their tickets, boarding passes, or physical identity cards at several points at the airport. This in turn would reduce queue waiting time and accelerate processing time. • Digi Yatra in the first phase, will be launched at 7 airports. However, it has been initially launched at 3 airports i.e., Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi today. • The initiative is also expected to be operational at Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Vijayawada by March 2023, and then gradually across various airports in the country. • Under the DigiYatra process, a passenger will first be required to download the Digi Yatra app on his or phone, register with an OTP received on the Aadhaar linked mobile number, upload Aadhaar details and a photo followed by uploading the boarding pass for the upcoming travel. • This will now allow the passenger to enter the airport building after scanning the QR code on the digital boarding pass followed by a facial scan.