Deserts

A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. 

The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation. 

(In geology, denudation is the long-term sum of processes that cause the wearing away of the earth’s surface leading to a reduction in elevation and relief of landforms and landscapes. 

Endogenetic processes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics uplift and expose continental crust to the exogenetic denudation processes of weathering, erosion, and mass wasting.)

About one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions where little precipitation occurs and which are sometimes called "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location.

Major deserts:-

• The Sahara is the largest subtropical hot desert and third largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic. At over 9,400,000 square kilometers (3,600,000 sq mi), it covers most of North Africa.
• The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.
• The Kalahari Desert  is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in southern Africa extending 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. A semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib Desert to the west.
• The Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonia Desert or the Patagonian Steppe, is the largest desert in Argentina and is the 7th largest desert in the world by area, occupying 673,000 square kilometers (260,000 mi²). It is located primarily in Argentina with small parts in Chile and is bounded by the Andes, to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east, in the region of Patagonia, southern Argentina. 
• The Arabian Desert is located in Western Asia. It is a vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of 2,330,000 square kilometers (900,000 sq mi). At its center is the Rub'al-Khali, one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world.
• The Great Victoria Desert, an interim Australian bio region, is a sparsely populated desert area in Western Australia and South Australia.
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• The Great Basin Desert is the largest US desert North America and covers 190,000 square miles (490,000 km²). 

Mountains

A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill.

A mountain range or mountain belt is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of mountain ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically (regionally) related.

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit*, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit.

(*In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it.) The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is generally somewhat lower and less steep than a mountain.

There are three main types of mountains: 

1. Volcanic
2. Fold
3. Block

All three types are formed from plate tectonics: when portions of the Earth's crust move, crumple, and dive.

• Volcanoes are formed when a plate is pushed below another plate, or at a mid-ocean ridge or hotspot.
• Fold mountains occur when two plates collide: shortening occurs along thrust faults and the crust is over thickened.
• Block mountains are caused by faults in the crust: a seam where rocks can move past each other. When rocks on one side of a fault rise relative to the other, it can form a mountain.

Famous Mountain Ranges:- 

• The Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe stretching approximately 1,200 kilometers (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries from Austria and Slovenia in the east, France, Switzerland,Liechtenstein, and south east Germany, to the west. Monaco and Italy to the south.
• The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. 
• The Andes is the longest continental mountain range in the world. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.
• The Atlas Mountains  is a mountain range across the northwestern stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km (1,600 mi) through Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,165 meters (13,665 ft) in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert. 
• The Himalayas, or Himalaya,is a mountain range in South Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.

Parliamentary Committees

The work done by the Parliament in modern times is not only varied in nature, but considerable in volume. The time at its disposal is limited. It cannot, therefore, give close consideration to all the legislative and other matters that come up before it. A good deal of its business is, therefore, transacted by what are called the Parliamentary Committees.

Ad Hoc Committees:-

Ad hoc Committees are appointed for a specific purpose and they cease to exist when they finish the task assigned to them and submit a report. The principal Ad hoc Committees are the Select and Joint Committees on Bills.

When a Bill comes up before a House for general discussion,it is open to that House to refer it to a Select Committee of the House or a Joint Committee of the two Houses. 

A motion has to be moved and adopted to this effect in the House in which the Bill comes up for consideration. In case the motion adopted is for reference of the Bill to a Joint Committee, the decision is conveyed to the other House requesting them to nominate members of the other House to serve on the Committee. The Select or Joint Committee considers the Bill clause by clause just as the two Houses do. Amendments can be moved to various clauses by members of the Committee. The Committee can also take evidence of  associations,  public bodies or experts who are interested in the Bill. After the Bill has thus been considered the Committee submits its report to the House. Members who do not agree with the majority report may append their minutes of dissent to the report.

Standing Committees:-

Apart from the Ad hoc Committees, each House of Parliament has Standing Committees like the Business Advisory Committee, the Committee on Petitions, the Committee of Privileges and the Rules Committee, etc.

"Watch Dogs" of Executive Committees:-

These committees work as Parliament’s ‘Watch Dogs’ over the executive. These are the Committees on Subordinate Legislation, the Committee on Government Assurances, the Committee on Estimates, the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Public Undertakings and Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs). 

The Committee on Estimates COE, the Committee on Public Accounts COPA, the Committee on Public Undertakings COPU (all three work w.r.t Financial Matters) and DRSCs play an important role in exercising a check over governmental expenditure and Policy formulation.

Composition and Functions:-

Committee on Estimates

This Committee consists of 30 members who are elected by the Lok Sabha every year from amongst its members. A Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee. The term of the Committee is one year. 

The main function of the Committee on Estimates is to report what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency, or administrative reform, consistent with the policy underlying the estimates may be effected and to suggest alternative policies in order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration. 

Committee on Public Undertakings

The Committee on Public Undertakings consists of 15 members elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members of Rajya Sabha are associated with it. A Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee. The term of the Committee is one year.

The functions of the Committee on Public Undertakings are—

(a) to examine the reports and accounts of Public Undertakings; 

(b) to examine the reports, if any, of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Public Undertakings; 

(c) to examine in the context of the autonomy and efficiency of the Public Undertakings whether the affairs of the Public Undertakings are being managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices; and 

(d) such other functions vested in the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Estimates in relation to the Public Undertakings as are not covered by clauses (a), (b) and (c) above and as may be allotted to the Committee by the Speaker from time to time. The Committee does not, however, examine matters of major Government policy and matters of day-to-day administration of the Undertakings.

Committee on Public Accounts

This Committee consists of 15 members elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with it. A Minister is not  eligible for election to this Committee. The term of the Committee is one year.

The main duty of the Committee is to ascertain whether the money granted by Parliament has been spent by Government "within the scope of the Demand". 

The Appropriation Accounts of the Government of India and the Audit Reports presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General mainly form the basis for the examination of the Committee. Cases involving losses, nugatory expenditure and financial irregularities come in for severe criticism by the Committee. 

The Committee is not concerned with questions of policy. It is concerned only with the execution of the policy laid down by Parliament and its results.

Committee on Subordinate Legislation (Lok Sabha)

The Committee consists of 15 members nominated by the Speaker. A Minister is not nominated to this Committee. The Committee scrutinizes  and reports to the House whether the powers to make regulations, rules, sub-rules, by-laws etc. conferred by the Constitution or  delegated by Parliament are being properly exercised by the executive within the scope of such delegation.

Committee on Empowerment of Women

This Committee came into being on 29th April, 1997, as a consequence of identical Resolutions adopted by both the Houses of Parliament on the occasion of International Womens’ Day on 8th March, 1996. 

The Committee consists of 30 members, 20 nominated by the Speaker from amongst the members of Lok Sabha and 10 nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of the Rajya Sabha. The term of the Committee is of one year. 

The Committee have been primarily mandated with the task of reviewing and monitoring the measures  taken by the Union Government in the direction of securing for women equality, status and dignity in all matters. The Committee would also suggest necessary correctives for improving the status/condition of women in respect of matters within the purview of the Union Government. Besides, another important function of the Committee is to examine the measures taken by the Union Government for comprehensive education and adequate representation of women in Legislative bodies/services and other fields. 

The Committee would also consider the report of the National Commission for Women. The Committee may also examine such other matters as may seem fit to them or are specifically referred to them by the Lok Sabha or the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha or the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth.

The main patterns in the tides are

• the twice-daily variation
• the difference between the first and second tide of a day
• the spring–neap cycle
• the annual variation

Tide changes proceed via the following stages:-

• Sea level rises over several hours, covering the intertidal zone; Flood Tide.
• The water rises to its highest level, reaching high tide.
• Sea level falls over several hours, revealing the intertidal zone; Ebb tide.
• The water stops falling and reached to lower level, reaching low tide.

Tides produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams. The moment that the tidal current ceases is called slack water or slack tide. The tide then reverses direction and is said to be turning. 

Slack water usually occurs near high water and low water. But there are locations where the moments of slack tide differ significantly from those of high and low water.

Tides are commonly semi-diurnal (two high waters and two low waters each day), or diurnal (one tidal cycle per day). 

The two high waters on a given day are typically not the same height (the daily inequality); these are the higher high water and the lower high water in tide tables. 

Similarly, the two low waters each day are the higher low water and the lower low water. The daily inequality is not consistent and is generally small when the Moon is over the equator.

Neap Tide:-

A tide that occurs when the difference between high and low tide is least; the lowest level of high tide. Neap tide comes twice a month, in the first and third quarters of the moon. 

Neap tides occur when the Sun,  moon, and earth form a right angle and the gravitational pull of the sun counteracts the pull of the moon.

Spring Tide:- 

Spring tides occur when the Sun and moon are directly inline with the earth and their gravitational pulls reinforce  each other.

Either of the two tides that occur at or just after new moon and full moon when the tide-generating force of the sun acts in the same direction as that of the moon, reinforcing it and 

causing the greatest rise and fall in tidal level. The highest spring tides (equinoctial springs) occur at the equinoxes.

The Tidal Force is a secondary effect of the force of gravity and is responsible for the tides. It arises because the gravitational force exerted by one body on another is not constant across it; the nearest side is attracted more strongly than the farthest side. Thus, the tidal force is differential.

Energy Studies:-

Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydro power that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. 

Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. Among sources of renewable energy, tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability. 

Tidal energy can be extracted by two means:-

1.  Inserting a water turbine into a tidal current, or
2.  Building ponds that release/admit water through a turbine

In the first case, the energy amount is entirely determined by the timing and tidal current magnitude. However, the best currents may be unavailable because the turbines would obstruct ships. 

In the second, the impoundment dams are expensive to construct, natural water cycles are completely disrupted, ship navigation is disrupted. However, with multiple ponds, power can be generated at chosen times. 

Environmental Studies:-

Intertidal Ecology is the study of inter-tidal ecosystems, where organisms live between the low and high water lines. 

At low water, the intertidal is exposed (or 'emersed') whereas at high water, the intertidal is underwater (or 'immersed'). 

Intertidal ecologists therefore study the interactions between intertidal organisms and their environment, as well as among the different species. The most important interactions may vary according to the type of intertidal community. The broadest classifications are based on substrates — rocky shore or soft bottom.

Delta and Estuary

A River Delta is a landform that forms at the mouth of a river, where the river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, or reservoir. 

Deltas form from deposition of sediment carried by a river as the flow leaves its mouth. 

Over long periods, this deposition builds the characteristic geographic pattern of a river delta.

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An Estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water* with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. 

Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment. 

The inflows of both sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients in both the water column and sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.

*Brackish water or briny water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers