PIB Analysis (Prelims Focus) Date: 9/11/2018 IAS SQUAD

PIB ANALYSIS FOR UPSC CIVIL SERVICES EXAM

TOPICS COVERED

1 . Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Cabinet approves filling of Padur Strategic Petroleum Reserves at Padur, Karnataka by overseas National Oil Companies

About Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Strategic petroleum reserves are essentially huge stockpiles of crude oil to keep the wheels of the country running in crunch situations.
Many major global oil consumers such as the US, China and Japan have built massive strategic reserves of oil over the years, and India too embarked on the path in the last decade.
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd, a special purpose vehicle under the Oil and Gas Ministry, has constructed three strategic petroleum reserves in huge underground rock caverns at Visakhapatnam on the East Coast, and at Mangaluru and Padur on the West Coast.
These facilities, with total capacity of 5.33 million tonnes, can meet about 10 days of India’s crude oil requirements. The new facilities approved can provide additional supply for about 12 days.

2 . Exit Poll

General election to the Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram &Telangana, 2018 – Ban on Exit Poll.

What is Exit poll and Opinion Poll

An opinion poll is a pre-election survey to gather voters’ views on a range of election-related issues.
An exit poll, on the other hand, is conducted immediately after people have voted, and assesses the support for political parties and their candidates.

Background

In 2004, the EC approached the Law Ministry along with the endorsement of six national parties and 18 state parties, seeking an amendment to the Representation of the People Act to provide for a ban on both exit and opinion polls during a period specified by the Commission.
The recommendation was accepted in part, and in February 2010, restrictions were imposed only on exit polls through the introduction of Section 126(A) in the Act.

Section 126 of Representation of People Act

No person shall –

(a) convene, hold, attend, join or address any public meeting or procession in connection with an election; or
(b) display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus; or
(c) propagate any election matter to the public by holding, or by arranging the holding of, any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the members of the public thereto,
In any polling area during the period of forty-eight hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in that polling area
The expression “election mater” means any matter intended or calculated to influence or affect the result of an election.)
The Commission has clarified in the past that the said Section 126 prohibits displaying any election matter by means, inter alia, of television or similar apparatus, during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in a constituency.
“Election matter” has been defined in that Section as any matter intended or calculated to influence or affect the result of an election. Violation of the aforesaid provisions of Section 126 is punishable with imprisonment upto a period of two years, or with fine or both.

3 . SIMBEX 18

Bilateral Exercise Between Indian & Republic of Singapore Navies – SIMBEX 18 – marks Silver Jubilee this Year

What is SIMBEX 18

The 25^th edition of SIMBEX, an acronym for “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise” is scheduled from 10^th to 21^st November 2018 off Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
Bilateral cooperation between Singapore and India was first formalised when RSN ships began training with the Indian Navy in 1994.
What began as a modest endeavour to exchange best practices in the field of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), has in the recent years evolved into a complex high stakes exercise with both nations attaching premium in terms of time, complex advanced exercises and type of platforms involved.
The previous edition of the exercise was held off Singapore in the South China Sea in May 2017.
The 2018 edition marks the Silver Jubilee of SIMBEX.

PIB Analysis (Prelims Focus) Date: 9/11/2018