Important Definitions-April

SunRISE mission

NASA has selected a new mission to study how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms👀 – known as solar particle storms👀 – into planetary space.

Overview of the mission- the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE):

It is an array of six CubeSats operating as one very large radio telescope.

NASA has awarded $62.6 million to design, build and launch SunRISE by no earlier than July 1, 2023.

Objectives of the mission:

1. To study how the Sun creates and releases giant solar particle storms.
2. To help scientists understand the workings of the Solar System.

 How it works?

The mission design relies on six solar-powered CubeSats👀 to simultaneously observe radio images of low-frequency emission from solar activity and share them via NASA’s

 Deep Space Network.

• The constellation of CubeSats would fly within 6 miles of each other, above Earth’s atmosphere, which otherwise blocks the radio signals SunRISE will observe.
• Together, the six CubeSats will create 3D maps to pinpoint where giant particle bursts originate on the Sun and how they evolve as they expand outward into space.
• This, in turn, will help determine what initiates and accelerates these giant jets of radiation👀.
• The six individual spacecraft will also work together to map, for the first time, the pattern of magnetic field lines reaching from the Sun out into interplanetary space.

Why study solar particle storms?

This information will help improve understanding of how our solar system works👀.

It can help protect astronauts traveling to the Moon and Mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects👀 the space environment they must travel through.

Background:

NASA had chosen two missions in August 2017 for its Mission of Opportunity program, a part of its Explorers Program, to conduct an 11-month concept study. The SunRise mission was one of the two missions.

Ways And Means Advances

The Reserve Bank of India has raised the limit for short term credit that the government can borrow from the central bank.

The limits for this credit facility, known as ‘Ways and Means Advances’👀, has been raised sharply to Rs 1.2 lakh crore for the first half of 2020-21.

Significance of this move:

The increased limit comes at a time when government expenditure is expected to rise as it battles the fallout of a spreading Coronavirus. The availability of these funds will government some room to undertake short term expenditure over and above its long term market borrowings.

What are Ways and Means Advances?

• They are temporary loan facilities👀 provided by RBI to the government to enable it to meet temporary mismatches between revenue and expenditure.
• The government makes an interest payment to the central bank when it borrows money.
• The rate of interest is the same as the repo rate👀, while the tenure is three months👀.
• The limits for WMA are mutually decided by the RBI and the Government of India.

Background:

The WMA scheme for the Central Government was introduced on April 1, 1997, after putting an end to the four-decade old system of adhoc (temporary) Treasury Bills to finance the Central Government deficit.

What if the government needs extra money for extra time?

When the WMA limit is crossed the government takes recourse to overdrafts👀, which are not allowed beyond 10 consecutive working days👀.

The interest rate on overdrafts would be 2 percent👀 more than the repo rate.

Types of WMA:

There are two types of Ways and Means Advances — normal and special.

Special WMA or Special Drawing Facility is provided against the collateral of the government securities held by the state. After the state has exhausted the limit of SDF, it gets normal WMA👀. The interest rate for SDF is one percentage point less than the repo rate.

The number of loans under normal WMA is based on a three-year average👀 of actual revenue and capital expenditure of the state.

Punjab Village and Small Towns Act

This British-era law was recently invoked in Panchkula to curtail movement during lockdown.

Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula has passed👀 an order under section 3 of this Act and has declared that all able-bodied male inhabitants of the villages be liable to be on patrol duty both during the day and night.

The aim of the patrol in the present case is to keep a watch on people entering villages without a valid pass and to make sure villagers follow social distancing norms👀.

What is the law?

The law was first enacted in 1918 in erstwhile Punjab👀 to make provisions for nightly patrol duty by inhabitants of small villages and towns in cases of emergency.

Implementation:

Under this Act, if the Deputy Commissioner of a district in Punjab or Haryana👀n bis of the opinion that in a village, special measures need to be taken to secure public safety, he has the power to make an order requiring all “able-bodied adult male inhabitants” to patrol the village.

The time period of the applicability of the order is up to the Deputy Commissioner and the maximum time period is up to one year.

The Deputy Commissioner shall have power to alter the number of persons required for patrol duty and the method of their selection, and shall inform the village panchayat of his decision.

Penalty and punishment:

Those who do not follow the provisions will be liable under sections 9 and 11 of the Act, which means they may have to pay a fine imposed by the village panchayat or a fine imposed by the deputy commissioner, not exceeding Rs 100.👀

What is Tablighi Jamaat?

Over 200 have tested positive for COVID-19 from among 4,000-odd who had gathered in Delhi’s Markaz Nizamuddin, 👀the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat.

What is Tablighi Jamaat?

Literally, it means a society for spreading the faith. It is a conservative Muslim organisation👀.

It is a Sunni Islamic missionary movement👀. The aim is to reach out to ordinary Muslims and revive their faith, particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behaviour.

It has significant base in various countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, United States, Britain, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

How did the movement begin?

Launched by prominent Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Khandhalaw in 1926 in Mewat 👀(Haryana).

Its roots lie in the Deobandi version of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence👀.

Maulana Ilyaz trained several young men from Deoband and Saharanpur and sent them to Mewat, where the Tablighi Jamaat established a network of madrasas and Mosque.

The Tablighi Jamaat is based on six principles:

1. Kalimah, an article of faith in which the Tabligh accepts that there is no God but Allah and that Prophet Muhammad is his messenger.
2. Salaat, or prayer five times daily👀.
3. Ilm and dhikr, the knowledge and remembrance of Allah conducted in sessions in which the congregation listens to preaching by the imam, performs prayers, recites the Quran and reads the Hadith; the congregation also uses these sessions to dine together, thus fostering a sense of community and identity.
4. Ikram-i-Muslim, the treatment of fellow Muslims with honour.
5. Ikhlas-i-niyat, or sincerity of intention.
6. Dawat-o-tabligh, or proselytisaton.

Its scope:

It is estimated that the organisation has somewhere between 70-80 million followers across the world, which makes it the biggest Muslim movement in the world. In fact, outside of the Hajj, it is believed that its annual meetings in countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, bring together the largest congregations of Muslims.

What’s the criticism wrt its functioning?

While the scope of the organisation seems to be limited to spreading the Muslim faith, the group has at times been accused of having ties to radical outfits, who, as per some observers, could take advantage of its loose organisational structure. Besides, they also don’t publish the scope of their activities, their membership or source of their finances, though it is believed they do not rely on donations and are largely financed by their senior members.

Anti-smog guns

Anti-smog guns installed at 14 large project sites in Delhi.

Background:

On January 13, the Supreme Court had said that anti-smog guns should be mandatory in projects that require environmental clearance from the State or Centre, and have a built-up area of over 20,000 square metres. As per this, 47 large projects in Delhi had to have these guns installed.

What is it?

• Anti-smog gun is a device that sprays nebulised water droplets into the atmosphere to reduce air pollution👀.
• Connected to a water tank and mounted on a vehicle, the device could be taken across the city to spray water to settle dust and other suspended particles.
• It can spray water up to a height of 50 metres and the results were positive as the spray acts like rain and settles dust particles and also PM 2.5.

Why we need such measures?

Delhi has been grappling with hazardous levels of pollution since late October, with the air quality dipping to “severe” category a few times. Air pollution and the resulting smog is an outcome of three inputs – local emission of pollutants, emission transport from other states and regions, and meteorological factors like wind speed and temperature.

Need of the hour:

Fragmented policies and toothless environment bodies won’t help. The centre and states will have to work jointly and quickly. Human lungs don’t understand nuances of federalism and partisan politics.

Countercyclical capital buffers (CCyB) for bank's 

Reserve Bank has deferred implementation of countercyclical capital buffers (CCyB) and extended the realisation period for export proceeds.

Background:

The RBI had put in place the framework on counter-cyclical capital buffer (CCyB) on February 5, 2015, wherein it was advised that the CCyB would be activated as and when the circumstances warranted.

What Is a Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) in Banking?

The countercyclical capital buffer is intended to protect the banking sector against losses that could be caused by cyclical systemic risks increasing in the economy.

• Countercyclical capital buffers require banks to hold capital at times when credit is growing rapidly so that the buffer can be reduced if the financial cycle turns down or the economic and financial environment becomes substantially worse.
• Banks can use the capital buffers they have built up during the growth phase of the financial cycle to cover losses that may arise during periods of stress and to continue supplying credit to the real economy.

Background:

The rule was first introduced in Basel III as an extension of another buffer (called the capital conservation buffer). Basel III is a voluntary set of measures agreed upon by central banks all around the world. These measures were drafted by the Bank of International Settlements’ Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in response to the financial crisis of 2007-09, in order to strengthen regulation of banks and fight risks within the financial system.

Jammu and Kashmir domicile rules

Centre redefines Jammu and Kashmir domicile rules opening up various categories of jobs in the region to people from across the country.

The order has been defined under J&K Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act.

What is domicile?

In law, domicile is the status or attribution of being a lawful permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction.

As per the Changes, who is now deemed to have domicile?

1. Anyone “who has resided for a period of fifteen years in the UT of J&K”👀.
2. Or has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in the UT of J&K.
3. Or those registered as migrants and their children.
4. Or the children of those central government officials, All India service officials, Officials of Public sector undertaking, autonomous body of central government, public sector banks, officials of statuary bodies officials of central universities and recognized research institutes of central government who have served in J&K for a period of ten years👀.
5. Or children of residents of J&K who reside outside the Union Territory in connection with employment or business or for other professional or vocational reasons, but whose parents fulfil any of the conditions provided in the latest gazette notification will also be entitled to domicile status.

What else the order says?

The Order says that the domiciles will be eligible for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level 4👀. The Level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and watermen, and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.

Who can issue domicile certificates?

The orders also empowers tehsildars👀to issue domicile certificates. The government has been empowered to notify any other officer as the competent authority to issue the certificate.

Implications:

The order now formally allows people from outside J&K to apply for jobs in the UT. While Level IV jobs have been reserved for people with domicile status – as per their definition in the order – other non-gazetted and gazetted jobs have been opened for people from across the country, including people domiciled in J&K.

Background:

Last year, the Parliament had given its nod to the legislation for bifurcating the state, a decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement. Earlier, Section 35A associated with the abrogated Article 370 had given the legislative assembly of the state the power to define a Jammu and Kashmir resident.

Price Monitoring & Resource Unit (PMRU)

Jammu & Kashmir👀 Union Territory has become the 12th State where the Price Monitoring & Resource Unit (PMRU) has been set up by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)👀. 

Where else has NPPA setup PMRUs?

Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Mizoram.

What is a Price Monitoring & Resource Unit (PMRU)?

It is a registered society and shall function under the direct control and supervision of State Drug Controller👀 of respective states. The unit shall be funded by  NPPA👀for its recurring and non-recurring expenses.

Functions:

1. Help NPPA and State Drug Controller in ensuring availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
2. Organise seminars, training programs and other information, education and communication (IEC) activities in the areas of availability and affordability of medicines for all.
3. Collect samples of medicines, collect and analyse data and make reports with respect to availability and over-pricing of medicines for taking action under the provisions of Drug Price Control Order (DPCO).

How  COVID-19 outbreak slipped through China’s system?

Authorities in Wuhan maintained there was no proof of human-to-human transmission.

Studies suggest while China’s January 23 lockdown of 50 million people averted an additional 7,00,000 cases outside Wuhan, interventions one week and three weeks earlier may have brought down the number by 66% and 95%, respectively.

What led to the disaster?

1. Communication gap:Every province, city and even district in China has its own Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)👀, but these are subordinate to the health commission at every level so they do not directly report to the national level.
2. Encroachment on freedom of speech: Doctors were told that they could not speak about what was happening in Wuhan. This downplayed the severity of the situation.
3. Spread of infection: By the time the Wuhan province came under lockdown, as many as 5 million people had left.

Learning:

China finally came out in public on January 10 explaining the severing the situation. Only it was too late for the world. If they had acted earlier, say by January 7, it may have been an entirely different equation. The most important lesson is there has to be more transparency and an open environment for sharing and discussion.

GRACE-FO mission

New satellite-based, weekly global maps of soil moisture and groundwater wetness conditions were developed by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)👀 on March 31, 2020.

How were these maps produced?

Data available from NASA and German Research Center for Geosciences’ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On (GRACE-FO) satellites👀 was used to derive these global maps.

• The satellite-based observations of changes in water distribution were integrated with other data within a computer model that simulated water and energy cycles.
• The model then produced — among other outputs — time-varying maps of the distribution of water at three depths: Surface soil moisture, root zone soil moisture (roughly the top three feet of soil) and shallow groundwater.
• The maps have a resolution of up to 8.5 miles, providing continuous data on moisture and groundwater conditions across the landscape👀.

Why do we need these data?

The scientific community believes data available through this project would fill existing gaps in understanding the full picture of wet and dry conditions that can lead to drought👀.

These tools are absolutely critical to helping us address and offset some of the impacts anticipated, whether it is from population growth, climate change or just increased water consumption in general.

The data would also help in managing the selection of appropriate agricultural crops and predicting yields.

About GRACE- FO mission:

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO)👀 mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).

GRACE-FO is a successor to the original GRACE mission, which began orbiting Earth on March 17, 2002. The GRACE missions measure variations in gravity over Earth’s surface, producing a new map of the gravity field every 30 days👀.

• GRACE-FO will continue the work of tracking Earth’s water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.
• These discoveries provide a unique view of Earth’s climate and have far-reaching benefits to society and the world’s population.

What is geofencing?

The centre has tested an application that triggers e-mails and SMS alerts to an authorised government agency if a person has jumped quarantine👀 or escaped from isolation, based on the person’s mobile phone’s cell tower location. The “geo-fencing” is accurate by up to 300 m.

Background:

The States have been asked to seek the approval of their Home Secretaries under the provisions of Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, for the specified mobile phone numbers to request the DoT to provide information by email or SMS in case of violation of “geo-fencing”.

What is geofencing?

It is a location-based service in which an app or other software uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a geographical location, known as a geofence👀

Depending on how a geofence is configured it can prompt mobile push notifications, trigger text messages or alerts, send targeted advertisements on social media, allow tracking on vehicle fleets, disable certain technology or deliver location-based marketing data.

How geofencing works?

To make use of geofencing, an administrator or developer must first establish a virtual boundary around a specified location in GPS- or RFID-enabled software.

This virtual geofence will then trigger a response when an authorized device enters or exits that area, as specified by the administrator or developer.

Other applications of geofence:

1. Social networking.
2. Marketing
3. Audience engagement.
4. Smart appliances.
5. Human Resource management.
6. Telematics.
7. Security

e-NAM platform

Union Agriculture Minister launches new features of e-NAM platform.
They are important steps in our fight against COVID-19.

• They will strengthen agriculture marketing & reduce the need for cultivators to physically come to the mandis to sell their produce👀.

The newly launched software modules are namely:

• Warehouse based trading module in e-NAM software to facilitate trade from warehouses based on e-NWR.
• FPO trading module in e-NAM whereby FPOs can trade their produce from their collection center without bringing the produce to APMC.
• Enhanced version of logistic module has been released whereby aggregators of transport logistic platform have on boarded which helps users to avail trackable transport facilities for transporting their produce.

What is e-NAM?

E-NAM (National Agriculture Market)👀 is an online trading platform for agriculture produce aiming to help farmers, traders, and buyers with online trading and getting a better price by smooth marketing👀.

It was launched by the Centre in 2015👀 and the government had to extend it in a phased manner across the 585 mandis of the country by December 31, 2019.

Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC)👀 is the lead agency for implementing eNAM under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare👀, Government of India.

NAM has the following advantages:

• For the farmers, NAM promises more options for sale. It would increase his access to markets through warehouse-based sales and thus obviate the need to transport his produce to the mandi.
• For the local trader in the mandi / market, NAM offers the opportunity to access a larger national market for secondary trading.
• Bulk buyers, processors, exporters etc. benefit from being able to participate directly in trading at the local mandi / market level through the NAM platform, thereby reducing their intermediation costs.
• The gradual integration of all the major mandis in the States into NAM will ensure common procedures for issue of licences, levy of fee and movement of produce👀.
• The NAM will also facilitate the emergence of value chains in major agricultural commodities across the country and help to promote scientific storage and movement of agri goods.

Need for:

• Fragmentation of state into multiple market areas.
• Poor quality of infrastructure and low use of technology.
• In the traditional mandi system, farmers generally procured very less price for their crops as they had to pass through various intermediaries at the physical marketplace. This not only adds costs but also handling costs.
• In addition, the farmer has to face obstacles in form of multiple tax levies and licenses and weak logistics and infrastructure in India.

What is the National Security Act?

The Uttar Pradesh government has said that six persons associated with the Tablighi Jamaat who have been accused of misbehaving with women staff at the district hospital in Ghaziabad will be charged under the National Security Act (NSA).

About National Security Act, 1980:

It allows preventive detention for months,👀 if authorities are satisfied that a person is a threat to national security or law and order.

The person does not need to be charged during this period of detention👀.

The goal is to prevent the individual from committing a crime.

It was promulgated on September 23, 1980, during the Indira Gandhi government.

As per the National Security Act, the grounds for preventive detention of a person include:

1. acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India.
2. regulating the continued presence of any foreigner in India or with a view to making arrangements for his expulsion from India.
3. preventing them from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community it is necessary so to do.

What the Constitution says?

Article 22 (3) (b) of the Constitution allows for preventive detention and restriction on personal liberty for reasons of state security and public order👀.

Article 22(4) states that no law providing for preventive detention shall authorise the detention of a person for a longer period than three months👀 unless: An Advisory Board reports sufficient cause for extended detention.

The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 has reduced the period of detention without obtaining the opinion of an advisory board from three to two months. However, this provision has not yet been brought into force, hence, the original period of three months still continues.

Duration:

Under the National Security Act, an individual can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months👀; the state government needs to be intimated that a person has been detained under the NSA.

A person detained under the National Security Act can be held for 10 days without being told the charges against them👀.

Appeal: The detained person can appeal before a high court advisory board but they are not allowed a lawyer during the trial👀.

Criticisms:

The NSA has repeatedly come under criticism for the way it is used by the police. As per a Law Commission report from 2001, more than 14 lakh people (14,57,779) were held under preventive laws in India.

How Is It Draconian?

Typically, if a person is arrested, then he/she enjoy certain rights bestowed by the Indian Constitution. The person has to be informed of the reason for the arrest. Under Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the person arrested has to be informed.

• However, in the case of the NSA, the person can be held up to ten days without being informed of the reason.
• Sections 56 and 76 of the same penal code guarantee the detained person to be produced before a court within 24 hours. Apart from this, Article 22(1) of the Constitution allows the detainee to seek legal advice from a legal practitioner. However, under the NSA, none of these above mentioned basic rights is permitted to the suspect.

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination

According to a  US-based research, a combination of reduced morbidity and mortality could make the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination a “game-changer” in the fight against novel coronavirus.

What is BCG Vaccine?

Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB)👀.

• In countries where TB or leprosy is common, one dose is recommended in healthy babies as close to the time of birth as possible.
• In areas where tuberculosis is not common, only children at high risk are typically immunized, while suspected cases of tuberculosis are individually tested for and treated.

How can TB vaccine help fight COVID-19?

• The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of tuberculosis bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack TB bacteria.
• This is called an adaptive immune response,👀 because the body develops a defense against a specific disease-causing microorganism, or pathogen, after encountering it.
• Most vaccines create an adaptive immune response to a single pathogen.
• Unlike other vaccines, the BCG vaccine may also boost the innate immune system, first-line defenses that keep a variety of pathogens from entering the body or from establishing an infection.

But, what’s the concern now?

Doctors and scientists in India have expressed caution on this study, which argues that countries that have deployed the BCG-tuberculosis vaccine in their immunisation programmes have seen fewer deaths from COVID-19.

They say, it is premature for India, that has had a consistent TB vaccination policy since 1968, to take comfort from the study.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

India seeks $6 billion loans from AIIB, ADB to combat COVID-19.

The central government is in talks with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and ADB to secure these loans to further the testing and infrastructure facilities in the country.

Background:

India has already secured $1 billion funding from the World Bank👀 to better its health sector for fighting against the coronavirus pandemic according to previous reports. The World Bank has approved a fast-track $1 billion “India COVID Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project”👀 to help India prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic and better its public health preparedness. It was the largest ever healthcare sector support from the World Bank.

What is AIIB?

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond👀.

It is headquartered in Beijing👀.

• It commenced operations in January 2016.
• By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors today, it aims to connect people, services and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.

Various organs of AIIB:

Board of Governors: The Board of Governors consists of one Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country. Governors and Alternate Governors serve at the pleasure of the appointing member.

Board of Directors: Non-resident Board of Directors is responsible for the direction of the Bank’s general operations, exercising all powers delegated to it by the Board of Governors. This includes approving the Bank’s strategy, annual plan and budget; establishing policies; taking decisions concerning Bank operations; and supervising management and operation of the Bank and establishing an oversight mechanism👀.

International Advisory Panel: The Bank has established an International Advisory Panel (IAP) to support the President and Senior Management on the Bank’s strategies and policies as well as on general operational issues. The Panel meets in tandem with the Bank’s Annual Meeting, or as requested by the President. The President selects and appoints members of the IAP to two-year terms. Panelists receive a small honorarium and do not receive a salary. The Bank pays the costs associated with Panel meetings.

Significance of AIIB:

The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential for “scaling up financing for sustainable development” for the concern of global economic governance. The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank.

What is Round-tripping?

In a major relief for New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV), the Supreme Court has quashed an income tax re-assessment notice issued by revenue authorities against the premier news broadcasting company.

What’s the issue?

Income Tax department had accused NDTV of “round-tripping” finances in connection with a July 2007 issuance of step-up coupon bonds amounting to $100 million through its U.K. subsidiary.

What is round tripping?

Round tripping refers to money that leaves the country though various channels and makes its way back into the country often as foreign investment. This mostly involves black money and is allegedly often used for stock price manipulation.

Round tripping is often done through a series of transactions that don’t have any substantial commercial purposes, which makes it fall within the trappings of GAAR.

How does the money return to India?

It could be invested in offshore funds that in turn invest in Indian assets. The Global Depository Receipts (GDR) and Participatory Notes (P-Notes)👀 are some of the other routes that have been used in the past.

Why round tripping happens?

There are a number of observed factors that promotes round tripping. Mainly, Tax concessions👀 allowed in the foreign country encourages individuals to park money there and then reroute it.

Artemis Program

Context: NASA unveils plan for Artemis ‘base camp’ on the moon beyond 2024.

Artemis Base camp:

1. Artemis Base Camp is meant to be a long-term foothold for lunar exploration, perhaps in Shackleton Crater👀 at the moon’s south pole👀.
2. The Camp itself would be a lunar foundation surface habitat that could host four astronauts at the south pole for visits of perhaps a week.
3. In the long term, the facility would also require infrastructure for power, waste disposal and communications, as well as radiation shielding and a landing pad.
4. The base could also be a site for testing new techniques for dealing with pesky lunar dust and the long, cold lunar nights, turning local materials into resources like water, and developing new power and construction technologies.

What is Artemis?

Artemis– Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon’s Interaction with the Sun. It is NASA’s next mission to the Moon. 

Objective: To measure what happens when the Sun’s radiation hits our rocky moon, where there is no magnetic field to protect it. Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. 

Significance of the mission:

With the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. 

Mission details:

1. NASA’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft nearly a quarter million miles from Earth to lunar orbit.
2. Astronauts will dock Orion at the Gateway and transfer to a human landing system for expeditions to the surface of the Moon.
3. They will return to the orbital outpost to board Orion again before returning safely to Earth.

Background- Artemis 1, 2:

The agency will fly two missions around the Moon to test its deep space exploration systems. NASA is working toward launching Artemis I, an uncrewed flight to test the SLS and Orion spacecraft together, followed by the Artemis II mission, the first SLS and Orion test flight with crew. NASA will land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 on the Artemis III mission and about once a year thereafter.

Scientific objectives:

1. Find and use water and other critical resources needed for long-term exploration.
2. Investigate the Moon’s mysteries and learn more about our home planet and the universe.
3. Learn how to live and operate on the surface of another celestial body where astronauts are just three days from home.
4. Prove the technologies we need before sending astronauts on missions to Mars, which can take up to three years roundtrip.

National Innovation Foundation

NIF invite innovative citizens to participate in Challenge COVID-19 Competition (C3).

The initiative will not only create awareness, but will intimately engage a wide cross-section of society with diverse backgrounds in providing and implementing solutions.

About National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India:

It is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST)👀, Government of India. 

Set up in February 2000 at Ahmedabad, Gujarat to provide institutional support for scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up the grassroots innovations across the country. 

It is India’s national initiative to strengthen the grassroots technological innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge. 

Its mission is to help India become a creative and knowledge-based society by expanding policy and institutional space for grassroots technological innovators.

Related key facts:

1. The INSPIRE Award – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) is being revamped and executed by Department of Science & Technology and National Innovation Foundation-India to align it with the action plan for “Start-up India” initiative.
2. Micro Venture Innovation Fund (MVIF)👀 at NIF, with support from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), has provided risk capital to 230 innovation based enterprise projects, some of which are at different stages of incubation.
3. Being organised since 2008, IGNITE is an annual competition for student’s ideas and innovations conducted by NIF in partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
4. NIF has set up a Technology Business Incubator (NIF) – NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council (NIFientreC)👀.

What is 1930s Great Depression?

Context: With the novel coronavirus pandemic severely affecting the global economy, some experts have begun comparing the current crisis with the Great Depression👀 — the devastating economic decline of the 1930s that went on to shape countless world events.

What was the Great Depression?

The Great Depression was a major economic crisis that began in the United States in 1929, and went to have a worldwide impact until 1939. It began on October 24, 1929, a day that is referred to as “Black Thursday”,👀 when a monumental crash occurred at the New York Stock Exchange as stock prices fell by 25 per cent.

How it began?

While the Wall Street crash was triggered by minor events, the extent of the decline was due to more deep-rooted factors such as a fall in aggregate demand, misplaced monetary policies, and an unintended rise in inventory levels.

Impacts:

1. In the United States, prices and real output fell dramatically. Industrial production fell by 47 per cent, the wholesale price index by 33 per cent, and real GDP by 30 per cent.
2. The havoc caused in the US spread to other countries mainly due to the gold standard, which linked most of the world’s currencies by fixed exchange rates.
3. In almost every country of the world, there were massive job losses, deflation, and a drastic contraction in output.
4. Unemployment in the US increased from 3.2 per cent to 24.9 per cent between 1929 and 1933. In the UK, it rose from 7.2 per cent to 15.4 per cent between 1929 and 1932.
5. The Depression caused extreme human suffering, and many political upheavals took place around the world.
6. In Europe, economic stagnation that the Depression caused is believed to be the principal reason behind the rise of fascism, and consequently the Second World War.
7. It had a profound impact on institutions and policymaking globally, and led to the gold standard being abandoned.

How did Great Depression impact India?

1. Due to the global crisis, there was a drastic fall in agricultural prices, the mainstay of India’s economy, and a severe credit contraction occurred as colonial policymakers refused to devalue the rupee.
2. The decline of agricultural prices, which was aggravated by British financial policy in India, made substantial sections of the peasantry rise in protest and this protest was articulated by members of the National Congress.
3. The effects of the Depression became visible around the harvest season in 1930, soon after Mahatma Gandhi had launched the Civil Disobedience movement in April the same year.
4. There were “No Rent” campaigns in many parts of the country, and radical Kisan Sabhas were started in Bihar and eastern UP.
5. Agrarian unrest provided a groundswell of support to the Congress, whose reach was yet to extend into rural India.
6. The endorsement by farming classes is believed to be among the reasons that enabled the party to achieve its landslide victory in the 1936-37 provincial elections held under the Government of India Act, 1935– which significantly increased the party’s political might for years to come.

What is cytokine storm?

Of all the possible compounding effects of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the cytokine storm is one of the most feared.

How does our immune systems generally work?

1. The immune systems in our bodies protect us from bacteria, viruses, and parasites by removing them from our systems.
2. The immune system gets activated by things that the body does not recognise as its own. These things are called antigens👀, and include bacteria, fungi and viruses.
3. An effective immune system response involves inflammation, an important and indispensable part of the process.
4. Inflammation has an important protective function. The release of inflammatory mediators increases the blood flow to the area, which allows larger numbers of immune system cells to be carried to the injured tissue, thereby aiding the repairing process.
5. If this inflammatory response is not regulated, a ‘cytokine storm’👀 can be triggered.

 So, what is cytokine storm?

A cytokine storm is an overproduction of immune cells and their activating compounds (cytokines), which, in a flu infection, is often associated with a surge of activated immune cells into the lungs. The resulting lung inflammation and fluid buildup can lead to respiratory distress and can be contaminated by a secondary bacterial pneumonia — often enhancing the mortality in patients.

Occurrence:

A cytokine storm can occur due to an infection, auto-immune condition, or other diseases. Signs and symptoms include high fever, inflammation (redness and swelling), severe fatigue, and nausea. Cytokine storms are not exclusive to coronavirus patients. It is an immune reaction that can occur during other infectious and non-infectious diseases as well.

What then, is the role of cytokines in the immune system?

Cytokines are signalling proteins👀 that are released by cells at local high concentrations — a cytokine storm or CSS is characterised by the overproduction of immune cells and the cytokines themselves because of a dysregulation in the process. A severe immune reaction, leading to the secretion of too many cytokines in the bloodstream, can be harmful since an excess of immune cells can attack healthy tissue as well.

How does CSS impact a COVID-19 patient?

In the case of any flu infection, a cytokine storm is associated with a surge of activated immune cells into the lungs, which, instead of fighting off the antigen, leads to lung inflammation and fluid build-up, and respiratory distress.

Previous instances:

It is seen as a likely major cause of mortality in the 1918-20 “Spanish flu” — which killed more than 50 million people worldwide — and the H1N1 “swine flu” and H5N1 “bird flu” of recent years. In these epidemics, the patients most likely to die were relatively young adults with apparently strong immune reactions to the infection — whereas ordinary seasonal flu epidemics disproportionately affect the very young and the elderly.

RBI to set up Wing for banking fraud oversight

Reserve Bank of India is planning to set up exclusive wing for banking fraud oversight. Nothing official has been revealed in this regard.

What may be the composition of this wing?

It may have teams for meta-data processing and analysis, artificial intelligence analysis units, as well as pro-active risk assessment cell. Experts from the private sector working in all these domains will be roped in to train the new members in the fraud oversight wing.

Why there is a need for separate wing for fraud oversight?

After the loan fiasco at Punjab National Bank, the RBI had been mulling ways to pro-actively detect such frauds. As part of that plan, the banking regulator had late last year moved to create a separate cadre of its own employees who would work in regulation and oversight sections. With the latest Yes Bank crisis, it has been felt even more necessary to have such a wing at the earliest to protect the consumer interests.

Euro Corona bonds

Corona bonds could be a possible resolution to alleviate Eurozone financial struggles amid the coronavirus crisis. However, the idea has received mixed responses amongst the EU.

What are corona bonds?

Corona bonds would be a collective debt amongst EU member states, with the aim of providing financial relief to Eurozone countries battered by the coronavirus.

The funds would be mutualised and supplied by the European Investment Bank, with the debt taken collectively by all member states of the European Union.

What’s the issue now?

Not all countries in the European Union (EU) are in favour of this idea. The idea of corona bonds has received reinforcement from nine EU countries, all keen to reach a financial solution as soon as possible.

However, there also remains steep opposition to the idea of corona bonds. The resistance has come most notably from the ‘Frugal Four👀’. The Frugal Four consists of:

1. Germany
2. The Netherlands.
3. Finland
4. Austria

What’s the basis for opposition?

These countries are of the opinion that finance is an individual nation’s responsibility. They believe that each EU member state should keep their finances in order.

Why have corona bonds?

• The advantage of corona bonds is that they would allow European countries to gain essential financial support.
• States could receive economic aid without expanding their national debt.
• If the EU member states were able to show a display of unity, this would likely strengthen confidence amongst Europe.

Concerns:

1. A disadvantage of corona bonds is that it would not necessarily enhance debt sustainability👀.
2. The concept would only aid future debt forgiveness, distinguishing between coronavirus related debt and legacy debt.
3. The implementation of a common bond amongst EU member states could also potentially take a lot of time. The delay is not ideal for countries who require access to funds immediately.

MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme

The Union Cabinet has approved a 30% cut in the salaries of all Members of Parliament👀 and a two-year suspension of the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme👀 so that the amount saved can go to the Consolidated Fund of India to fight COVID-19.

In this regard, it approved an ordinance to amend the Salaries, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, to cut the salaries of MPs by 30%.

Now, the consolidated amount of MPLAD Funds for 2 years – Rs 7,900 crores – will go to Consolidated Fund of India.

About MPLAD scheme:

What is it?

It was launched in December, 1993👀, to provide a mechanism for the Members of Parliament to recommend works of developmental nature for creation of durable community assets and for provision of basic facilities including community infrastructure, based on locally felt needs.

• The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by Government of India👀. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crore👀.

Special focus:

• MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population👀 and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T.👀 population.
• In order to encourage trusts and societies for the betterment of tribal people, a ceiling of Rs. 75 lakh is stipulated for building assets by trusts and societies subject to conditions prescribed in the scheme guidelines.

Works under the scheme:

Works, developmental in nature, based on locally felt needs and always available for the use of the public at large, are eligible under the scheme. Preference under the scheme is given to works relating to national priorities, such as provision of drinking water, public health, education, sanitation, roads, etc.

Release of Funds:

• Funds are released in the form of grants in-aid 👀directly to the district authorities.
• The funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable.
• The liability of funds not released in a particular year is carried forward to the subsequent years, subject to eligibility.

Execution of works:

The MPs have a recommendatory role under the scheme👀. They recommend their choice of works to the concerned district authorities who implement these works by following the established procedures of the concerned state government. The district authority is empowered to examine the eligibility of works sanction funds👀 and select the implementing agencies, prioritise works, supervise overall execution, and monitor the scheme at the ground level.

Recommendation of works:

1. The Lok Sabha Members can recommend works in their respective constituencies👀.
2. The elected members of the Rajya Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the state from which they are elected👀.
3. Nominated members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select works for implementation anywhere in the country👀.

What is Article 142?

Invoking special powers under Article 142, the Supreme Court has deemed all restrictions imposed on people from entering, attending or taking part in court hearings as lawful in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Important observations made by the Court:

1. These restrictions were in tune with the social distancing norms and best public health practices advocated to contain the contagion.
2. Every individual and institution is expected to cooperate in the implementation of measures designed to reduce the transmission of the virus. The scaling down of conventional operations within the precincts of courts is a measure in that direction.
3. This is not a matter of discretion but of duty. It is necessary that courts at all levels respond to the call of social distancing and ensure that court premises do not contribute to the spread of virus.

 Rationale behind these observations:

Access to justice is fundamental to preserve the rule of law in the democrac👀y envisaged by the Constitution of India. The challenges occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 have to be addressed while preserving the constitutional commitment to ensuring the delivery of and access to justice to those who seek it. However, public health takes precedence over conventions.

Guidelines by the Supreme Court:

1. Judiciary would have to improvise and continue to bank heavily on“videoconferencing technologies”👀 in the wake of this “unprecedented and extraordinary outbreak of a pandemic”.
2. High Courts should decide the modalities for the temporary transition to the use of videoconferencing technologies in their respective States.
3. District courts in each State would adopt the mode of videoconferencing prescribed by the respective High Courts.
4. Helplines would be set up to receive and rectify technical complaints.
5. The courts should make available videoconferencing facility for litigants who do not have it or appoint an amicus curiae.
6. In no case shall evidence be recorded without the mutual consent of both the parties by videoconferencing. If it is necessary to record evidence in a courtroom, the presiding officer shall ensure that appropriate distance is maintained between any two individuals in the court.

What is Article 142?

Article 142 “provide(s) a unique power to the Supreme Court, to do “complete justice” between the parties, i.e., where at times law or statute may not provide a remedy, the Court can extend itself to put a quietus to a dispute in a manner which would befit the facts of the case.

Article 142(1) states that “The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe”.

How countries are dealing with the surge in domestic violence under COVID-19 lockdown?

Both the United Nations and the Council of Europe have expressed concern about the increase in domestic violence in various countries during lockdowns due to the coronavirus.

Generally, women and children are at greater risk of abuse within their own homes during this period.

How is the situation worldwide since the announcement of lockdown?

• Since the lockdown, in France👀, the number of domestic violence reports made to the police had gone up by 36 per cent in Paris, and 32 per cent in the rest of the country, including two murders.
• In the UK👀, since the lockdown started, the National Domestic Abuse helpline saw a 25 per cent👀 rise in calls and online requests for help.
• In the US👀, where gun sales have been setting record highs during the pandemic, many have expressed an increased sentiment of alarm about the welfare of women and children.
• In India too, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has flagged the issue of a spike in cases of domestic violence since the enforcement of the national lockdown.

How are countries handling the situation?

France:

• Setup EUR 1 million to fund relief organisations working against domestic abuse, to help them cater to the increased number of requests for help.
• Promised to open up pop-up counselling centres and pay for hotel rooms for domestic violence victims.
• Victims have also been encouraged to seek help at pharmacies discreetly.

Italy:

• The government has launched an app that enables domestic violence victims to seek help without making a phone call.
• A proposal to allocate EUR 4 million for shelters for victims is also being considered.

Scotland:

The government announced grants of over GBP 1.5 million for Scottish Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland over six months to ensure that access to support services is maintained.

Protection of women against domestic violence in India:

What is Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005?

1. It is an act to provide for more effective protection of the rights of Women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
2. Domestic Violence Act 2005 is the first significant👀 attempt in India to recognise domestic abuse as a punishable offence, to extend its provisions to those in live-in relationships, and to provide for emergency relief for the victims, in addition to legal recourse. It extends to the whole of India except the State Jammu & Kashmir👀.
3. It aims to protect women from physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse at home.

Besides, in 1983, domestic Violence was recognised as a specific criminal offence by the introduction of section 498A into the Indian penal code👀. This section deals with cruelty by husband or his family towards a married woman.

 UN Women

The UN Women has urged member-states to include prevention of violence against women in their action plans on COVID-19. It has also called the rise in gender-based violence a “shadow pandemic”👀.

Other suggestions made by UN Women:

1. Member states should consider shelters and helplines essential services.
2. Helplines, psychosocial support and online counselling should be boosted, using technology-based solutions such as SMS, online tools and networks to expand social support, and to reach women with no access to phones or Internet.
3. Police and justice services must mobilise to ensure that incidents of violence against women and girls are given high priority with no impunity for perpetrators.

Why these measures are necessary?

Globally 243 million women and girls aged 15-49 have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the previous 12 months. The number is likely to increase as security, health and money worries heighten tensions and strains are accentuated by cramped and confined living conditions.

How lockdown is worsening the situation?

According to emerging data, violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has ‘intensified’.

1. As per data compiled by the U.N. body, France👀 has seen a 30% increase in domestic violence since the lockdown on March 17.
2. In Argentina, emergency calls for domestic violence cases have increased by 25% since the lockdown on March 20 and Cyprus (30%), Singapore (33%) have also registered an increase in calls.
3. Canada, Germany, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. have also registered an increase in cases of domestic violence and demand for emergency shelter.

About UN Women: The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women:

UN Women is the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. It was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women👀, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

• Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW).
• International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
• Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI).
• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

The main roles of UN Women are:

• To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
• To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
• To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID)

So far, India has shared nine whole genome sequences of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). All these have been shared by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology.

 Background:

Early in March, India became the fifth country in the world to sequence the genome of the novel Coronavirus, or Covid-19👀, and share its data with the international community.

What is genomic sequencing?

Genomic sequencing is a technique that allows us to read and interpret genetic information found within DNA or RNA👀.

Why is it important to understand the genomic sequence of COVID-19?

The SARS-CoV2 genome, as it is formally known, has about 30,000 base pairs, somewhat like a long string with 30,000 places where each one of these occupy one of four chemicals called nucleotides.

This long string, with its unique combination of nucleotides, is what uniquely identifies the virus and is called its genomic sequence. A look at virus genome sequences from patient samples that test positive for COVID-19 helps researchers to understand how the virus is evolving as it spreads. So far, there are over 1,000 COVID-19 genomes that have been published worldwide.

Therefore, sequencing is necessary because:

1. It helps track the transmission route of the virus globally.
2. It can determine how quickly the virus is adapting as it spreads.
3. It identifies targets to therapies.
4. It is required to understand the role of co-infection.

What is GISAID?

It is a public platform started by the WHO in 2008 for countries to share genome sequences.

• Created as an alternative to the public domain sharing model, GISAID’s sharing mechanism took into account the concerns of Member States by providing a publicly accessible database designed by scientist for scientist, to improve the sharing of influenza data.
• In 2010 the Federal Republic of Germany became the official host of the GISAID platform.
• In 2013 the European Commission recognized GISAID as a research organization and partner in the PREDEMICS consortium, a project on the Preparedness, Prediction and the Prevention of Emerging Zoonotic Viruses with Pandemic Potential using multidisciplinary approaches.

GISAID’s database access agreement ensures that contributors of genetic sequence data do not forfeit their intellectual property rights to the data.

What is marginal cost of funds-based lending rate or MCLR?

 State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, has reduced the marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR)👀 by 35 basis points (bps)👀 across all loan tenures. The new rate will come into effect from April 10.

The move comes after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced the repo rate by 75 bps in the last week of March.

What is MCLR? How is it determined?

It is the minimum interest rate that a bank can lend at. It is a tenor-linked internal benchmark, which means the rate is determined internally by the bank depending on the period left for the repayment of a loan. MCLR is closely linked to the actual deposit rates and is calculated based on four components: the marginal cost of funds, negative carry on account of cash reserve ratio, operating costs and tenor premium.

Genesis of MCLR:

The Reserve Bank of India introduced the MCLR methodology for fixing interest rates from 1 April 2016. It replaced the base rate structure, which had been in place since July 2010.

National Wildlife Board

National Wildlife Board issues final nod for Mumbai-Nagpur highway🦜 amid lockdown. The approval was given via video-conferencing.

Background:

The 701-km Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg👀 connecting Mumbai and Nagpur covering 10 districts, 26 talukas and 392 villages, will reduce the existing travel time of 15 hours to eight hours.

The project will require felling of over one lakh trees and passes through the 10-km eco-sensitive zone (ESZ)👀 of Katepurna and Karanja Sohal Blackbuck wildlife sanctuaries towards one end of the state while cutting through the ESZ of Tansa lake👀 sanctuary closer to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. 

About National Board for Wildlife:

It is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

 Roles and functions:

• Its role is “advisory👀” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• Primary function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
• It has power to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
• No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.

 Composition:

The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister. It has 47 members including the Prime Minister. Among these, 19 members are ex-officio members. Other members include three Members of Parliament (two from Lok Sabha and one from Rajya Sabha)👀, five NGOs and 10 eminent ecologists, conservationists and environmentalists.

Online training platform- iGOT

The Department of Personnel and Training👀 launches online training platform- iGOT in the fight against COVID-19. The platform is called iGOT — Integrated Government Online Training👀.

What is it for?

It offers online training👀 for doctors, nurses, paramedics, hygiene workers, technicians, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANMS), central & state govt. officers, civil defence officials, various police organisations, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme (NSS), Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Bharat Scouts & Guides (BSG) and other volunteers to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key features of the platform:

• It is set to be hosted on the Human Resources Development Ministry’sDIKSHA platform👀.
• The iGOT platform delivers curated, role-specific content, to each learner at their place of work or home and to any device of their choice.

The platform currently hosts nine courses on topics like:

1. Basics of COVID.
2. ICU Care and Ventilation Management.
3. Clinical Management, Infection Prevention through PPE.
4. Infection Control and Prevention.
5. Quarantine and Isolation.
6. Laboratory Sample Collection and Testing.
7. Management of COVID 19 Cases.
8. COVID 19 Training.

Need for and significance of this platform:

India’s first line of workers are already engaged in COVID-19 relief. But “a larger force will be needed to replace the first line” and to deal with “exponential or geometric increase” in COVID-19 positive cases in the subsequent stages of the pandemic.

Hence, the platform can be useful to combat COVID-19 for all front-line workers and equip them with the training and updates in coping with the pandemic. It provides a one-stop source to learn about critical areas and update their knowledge and capacity.

What is Diksha portal?

• DIKSHA Portal is an initiative of HRD ministry👀 for providing a digital platform to teacher to make their lifestyle more digital.
• Diksha portal launched with a tagline“National Digital Infrastructures for Our Teacher 👀”.
• The portal will consist the whole teacher’s life cycle – from the time they were enrolled as student teachers in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.
• Teacher can learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will be available.
• It will help teachers boost their teaching skills and create their own profile with their skills and knowledge.

UN Peacekeeping

UN chief Antonio Guterres👀 has suspended the rotation and deployment of peacekeepers👀 until June 30 to mitigate the risk of transmission of the novel coronavirus.

What is peacekeeping? It’s significance?

United Nations Peacekeeping is a joint effort between the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support. Every peacekeeping mission is authorized by the Security Council👀. The financial resources of UN Peacekeeping operations are the collective responsibility of UN Member States👀. According to UN Charter every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share for peacekeeping. 

 Composition:

UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. Peacekeeping forces are contributed by member states on a voluntary basis.  Civilian staff of peace operations are international civil servants, recruited and deployed by the UN Secretariat.

Features:

• United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by conflict create conditions for lasting peace.
• Peacekeeping has unique strengths, including legitimacy, burden sharing, and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance multidimensional mandates.

UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:

1. Consent of the parties.
2. Impartiality
3. Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

Global partnership:

UN peacekeeping is a unique global partnership. It brings together the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, troop and police contributors and the host governments in a combined effort to maintain international peace and security.

Bio fortified crops

Biofortified carrot👀 variety developed by farmer scientist benefits local farmers.

Details:

1. The bio fortified crop- Madhuban Gajar👀 was developed by Shri Vallabhhai Vasrambhai Marvaniya, a farmer scientist from Junagadh district, Gujarat.
2. It contains high β-carotene and iron content👀.
3. It is being planted in an area of over 200 hectares in Junagadh, and the average yield, which is 40-50 t/ha, has become the main source of income to the local farmers.
4. The variety is being cultivated in more than 1000 hectares of land in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh during the last three years.
5. Madhuban Gajar carrot variety possesses a significantly higher root yield (74.2 t/ha) and plant biomass (275 gm per plant) as compared to check variety.

What is biofortification?

Biofortification is the process of increasing nutritional value of food crops by increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through either conventional plant breeding; agronomic practices or biotechnology. Examples of these vitamins and minerals that can be increased through biofortification include provitamin👀 A Carotenoids, zinc and iron.

How are crops fortified?

Conventional crop breeding techniques are used to identify varieties with particularly high concentration of desired nutrients. These are cross-bred with varieties with other desirable traits from the target areas (such a virus resistance, drought tolerance, high yielding, taste) to develop biofortified varieties that have high levels of micronutrients (for example, vitamin A, iron or zinc), in addition to other traits desired by farmers and consumers.

Agronomic biofortification entails application of minerals such as zinc or iron as foliar or soil applications, drawing on plant management, soil factors, and plant characteristics to get enhanced content of key micronutrients into the edible portion of the plant.

Why biofortification?

Biofortification is one solution among many interventions that are needed to solve the complex problem of micronutrient malnutrition. It is considered one of the most cost-effective interventions for countries to employ in combating micronutrient malnutrition.

• Biofortification reaches rural consumers who have limited access to industrially fortified foods, supplementation interventions, and diverse diets.
• Biofortification combines increased micronutrient content with preferred agronomic, quality, and market traits and therefore biofortified varieties will typically match or outperform the usual varieties that farmers grow and consume.

How does Biofortification differ from food fortification? 

Biofortification has the increased nutritional micronutrient content imbedded in the crop being grown. Food fortification increases the nutritional value of foods by adding trace amounts of micronutrients to foods during processing.

Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act

MoHFW has clarified that it has not suspended the PC&PNDT Act, which prohibits sex selection before or after conception.

What’s the issue?

• In view of the ongoing lockdown, due of COVID19 pandemic, the Health Ministry has issued a Notification dated April 4, 2020 to defer/suspend certain provisions under the PC&PNDT Rules 1996.
• These Rules pertain to applying for renewal of registration if falling due in this period, submission of reports by diagnostics centres by 5th day of the following month and submission of quarterly progress report (QPR) by the States/UTs.

But, a section of the media is speculating that the PC&PNDT (Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection)) Act 1994 has been suspended by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

About PCPNDT Act:

The Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act, 1994 was enacted in response to the decline in Sex ratio in India, which deteriorated from 972 in 1901 to 927 in 1991.

The main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective abortion.

Offences under this act include conducting or helping in the conduct of prenatal diagnostic technique in the unregistered units, sex selection on a man or woman, conducting PND test for any purpose other than the one mentioned in the act, sale, distribution, supply, renting etc. of any ultra sound machine or any other equipment capable of detecting sex of the foetus.

Amendments:

1. The act was amended in 2003 to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex selection.
2. The Act was amended to bring the technique of pre conception sex selection and ultrasound technique within the ambit of the act.
3. The amendment also empowered the central supervisory board and state level supervisory board was constituted.

Main provisions in the act are:

1. The Act provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception.
2. It regulates the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques, like ultrasound and amniocentesis by allowing them their use only to detect few cases.
3. No laboratory or centre or clinic will conduct any test including ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus.
4. No person, including the one who is conducting the procedure as per the law, will communicate the sex of the foetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives by words, signs or any other method.
5. Any person who puts an advertisement for pre-natal and pre-conception sex determination facilities in the form of a notice, circular, label, wrapper or any document, or advertises through interior or other media in electronic or print form or engages in any visible representation made by means of hoarding, wall painting, signal, light, sound, smoke or gas, can be imprisoned for up to three years and fined Rs. 10,000.
6. The Act mandates compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic counselling centres, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics and ultrasound clinics.

Coronavirus containment plan

India has prepared a “containment” plan, essentially an updated version of an earlier Health Ministry blueprint that was drawn up when the only COVID-19 cases were those coming from abroad.

What are the components of the containment plan?

The plan outlines a strategic approach based on the stage of transmission👀.

Five stages have been identified — travel-related case reported in India; local transmission; large outbreaks amenable to containment; widespread community transmission; India becoming endemic for COVID-19.

The plan is subject to revisions if required, as and when there is greater clarity about some of these aspects.

What is the approach recommended for the various stages?

Containment of local transmission:

1. Extensive contact tracing and search for cases in the containment zone.
2. Testing all suspect cases and high-risk contacts.
3. Isolating all suspect or confirmed cases.
4. Quarantining contacts and social distancing.

For larger outbreaks, in addition to the usual measures:

There is higher focus on a particular geographic zone and hospitals around the area are prepared for a rise in cases. In addition, all asymptomatic healthcare workers are to be given hydroxychloroquine👀 as a preventive.

How are confirmed and suspected cases to be dealt with?

1. All suspect/confirmed COVID-19 cases will be hospitalized and kept in isolation👀 in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals/hospital blocks.
2. Persons testing positive for COVID-19 will remain hospitalized till such time as two of their samples are tested negative as per discharge policy.
3. To reduce the burden on hospitals, there is a plan to temporarily convert hotels/ hostels/ guesthouses/ stadiums near a COVID-19 hospital as care centres where mild cases may be kept.
4. Dedicated COVID-19 hospitals/dedicated blocks in large hospitals will be identified and operationalized.
5. Moderate to severe cases, who require monitoring of their clinical status (patients with radiological evidence of pneumonia) will be admitted to COVID hospital. For more severe cases requiring respiratory or other support, tertiary care centres both private and government will be included as part of the micro plan.

Differential approach:

The plan has differential approach to different regions of the country, while mounting a strong containment effort in hot spots.

The Health Ministry has issued directions for categorisation of designated facilities into three groups — COVID care centres, COVID health centres and dedicated COVID hospitals.

1. The care centres will be for cases clinically assigned as mild or very mild, or suspected cases.
2. The health centres are hospitals that will offer care for all cases that have been clinically assigned as moderate.
3. The dedicated hospitals will offer comprehensive care, primarily for those clinically assigned as severe.

Protection of healthcare personnel:

The plan reiterates the need for adequate PPE.

1. At all times doctors, nurses and para-medics working in the clinical areas will wear three-layered surgical mask and gloves👀.
2. The medical personnel working in isolation and critical care facilities where aerozolisation is anticipated👀, will wear full complement of PPE (including N95 masks).
3. The support staff engaged in cleaning and disinfection will also wear full complement of PPE👀
4. Environmental cleaning should be done twice daily and consist of damp dusting and floor mopping with Lysol or other phenolic disinfectants and cleaning of commonly touched surfaces with sodium hypochlorite solution👀.
5. Sodium hypochlorite is already being used extensively, including in the Nizamuddin headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat.

“State of the World’s Nursing” report

 WHO, along with the International Council of Nurses (ICN)👀 and the Nursing Now campaign, has released a report titled, “State of the World’s Nursing”.

 Key findings and observations- Areas of concern:

1. Globally, there are roughly 36.9 nurses per 10,000 people👀, with variations within and across regions.
2. There are almost 10 times more nurses in the Americas than in the African region. While there are 83.4 nurses per 10,000 population in the former, there are 8.7 nurses per 10,000 population in the latter.
3. By 2030, there will be a shortage of over 5.7 million nurses worldwide.
4. The largest shortfall in absolute numbers is in the South-East Asian region, while in the Americas and Europe, the problem is different since they are facing an ageing nursing workforce.
5. Moreover, a number of high-income countries in Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and American regions are “exclusively” dependent on migrant nurses.
6. As nurses and other medical workers are at the frontlines of this global pandemic, some of the key issues they face include shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks, eye-protective gear and gloves, and also the psychological stress faced by some medical staff.

 What needs to be done?

Governments should invest in nursing education, jobs and leadership. Some of these measures include remunerating nurses according to the prevalent local, national and international labour market conditions.

 Need for recognition of their works:

The report highlights that work nurses do is critical in fulfilling national and global targets related to universal health care, mental health, noncommunicable diseases, emergency preparedness and response, among others such goals.

• Within the healthcare sector, nurses play a critical role. They comprise the largest component of health professionals, at over 59 per cent — or 27.9 million in absolute numbers — underling that their role, especially during the current health crisis, is paramount.
• Overall, nurses are important in ensuring the quality of care delivered to a patient, preventing and controlling infections and combating antimicrobial resistance.

State of Nursing in India:

1. As of 2018, there were over 1.56 million nurses in India and 772,575 nursing associates. Out of this, the share of professional nurses is 67 per cent, with 322,827 graduating every year with a minimum training period of four years.
2. Within the health workforce, nurses comprise 47 per cent of the medical staff, followed by doctors (23.3 per cent), dentists (5.5 per cent) and pharmacists (24.1 per cent).
3. Further, an overwhelming majority of the nurses are women — 88 per cent in India. This is in line with the composition of nursing seen globally as well, where 90 per cent are women.

Long-term repo operations (LTROs)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it has received Rs 1.13 lakh crore worth of bids in the targeted long term repo operation (TLTRO) conducted for an amount of Rs 25,000 crore with a three-year tenor.
The RBI received 18 bids in the auction. The total bids that were received amounted to Rs 1.13 lakh crore, implying a bid to cover ratio — the amount of bids received relative to the notified amount — of 4.5.

What is LTRO?

The LTRO is a tool under which the central bank provides one-year to three-year money to banks at the prevailing repo rate, accepting government securities with matching or higher tenure as the collateral.

How is it different from LAF and MSF?

While the RBI’s current windows of liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) and marginal standing facility (MSF) offer banks money for their immediate needs ranging from 1-28 days, the LTRO supplies them with liquidity for their 1- to 3-year needs. LTRO operations are intended to prevent short-term interest rates in the market from drifting a long way away from the policy rate, which is the repo rate.

Why is it important?

• As banks get long-term funds at lower rates, their cost of funds falls.
• In turn, they reduce interest rates for borrowers.
• LTRO helped RBI ensure that banks reduce their marginal cost of funds-based lending rate, without reducing policy rates.
• LTRO also showed the market that RBI will not only rely on revising repo rates and conducting open market operations for its monetary policy, but also use new tools to achieve its intended objectives.

Role of Armed forces in coronavirus outbreak battle

Army has moved in to take over the COVID-19 quarantine facility at Narela in Delhi. This has brought into focus the role of army in such situations, procedure to be followed and provisions in this regard.

What Armed Forces have done so far?

1. 6 quarantine facilities in Mumbai, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Hindon, Manesar and Chennai. 15 other facilities on standby, capacity of approximately 7,000.
2. 51 armed forces hospitals are preparing dedicated COVID-19 facilities including High Dependency Units (scaled-down version of an Intensive Care Unit), and ICU beds.
3. 5 testing labs at armed forces hospitals made part of national grid.
4. Six more hospitals to be equipped with the resources to begin COVID-19 testing.
5. Special IAF flights have evacuated people and carried medical supplies.
6. 60 tonnes of stores airlifted by IAF transport fleet has airlifted approximately to various parts of the country. Twenty-eight fixed wing and 21 helicopters are on standby.
7. 6 Naval ships kept ready for assistance to neighbouring countries.Five medical teams also on standby for deployment in Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan.

So, what is the procedure for calling the armed forces to help the civil administration?

The procedure for requisitioning armed forces is governed under ‘Aid to Civil Authorities’ under the guidelines laid in Instructions on Aid to the Civil Authorities by the Armed Forces, 1970, Regulations for the Army and Manual of Indian Military Law.

• Civil administration requests the Local Military Authority for assistance, for the maintenance of law and order, maintenance of essential services, disaster relief and other types of assistance.
• Armed forces can be asked to provide troops and equipment for a flag march, rescue and relief, evacuation, and immediate aid.

Key facts:

• Providing aid to civil authorities, as and when called upon to do so, is a secondary task for the armed forces. It cannot replace the primary role of ensuring external security and operational preparedness.
• The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by the cabinet secretary, is the final authority to decide on the number of armed forces personnel that can be deployed to aid civil authority.

What are the tasks expected to be performed in checking the spread of COVID-19?

1. Maintenance of law and order.
2. Crowd control and curfew in sensitive areas.
3. Evacuation of civilians from affected areas.
4. Provision of essential supply of electricity and water.
5. Restoration of essential services.
6. Emergency feeding and shelter.
7. Prevention of panic, prevention of theft and loot.
8. Guarding quarantine locations and detention centres.
9. Surveillance through drones aerial platforms.

Who pays for the costs incurred by the armed forces in these roles?

The civil administration👀. The cost of assistance provided by the Armed Forces is recovered in accordance with the instructions contained in Appendix ‘H’ to the Pamphlet ‘Instructions on Aid to Civil Authorities by the Armed Forces 1970’.

Uranium Contamination in Ground Water

A new study conducted by the University of Manchester, UK and Mahavir Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Phulwarisharif in Patna has found uranium contaminating the groundwater in 10 districts of Bihar.

Key findings:

• Supaul, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Patna, Nalanda, Nawada, Aurangabad, Gaya and Jehanabad are the 10 districts.
• Uranium concentrations are elevated mostly in the North West-South East band along and to the east of Gandak river and running south of the Ganga river.
• The maximum uranium content was in Supaul, 80 microgram of uranium per litre of water.

What is the acceptable limit?

The Indian Standard IS 10500: 2012 for Drinking Water specification has specified the maximum acceptable limits for radioactive residues as alpha and beta emitters, values in excess of which render the water not suitable.

These requirements take into account all radioactive elements including uranium. No individual radioactive elements have been specifically identified.

As per Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), maximum permissible limit of Uranium is 0.03 mg/l (as per WHO provisional guidelines) in all drinking water standards after following due process.

Affected states:

A report brought out by Duke University, USA👀 in association with Central Ground Water Board and State Ground Water departments states that Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir have localised occurrence of Uranium concentration.

Main factors responsible for uranium contamination:

1. Amount of uranium contained in an aquifer’s rocks.
2. Water-rock interactions that cause the uranium to be extracted from those rocks.
3. Oxidation conditions that enhance the extracted uranium’s solubility in water.
4. The interaction of the extracted uranium with other chemicals in the groundwater, such as bicarbonate, which can further enhance its solubility.
5. Human factors such as groundwater-table decline and nitrate pollution may be exacerbating the problem.

What needs to be done?

1. Revision of the current water quality monitoring program in India.
2. Evaluation of human health risks in areas of high uranium prevalence.
3. Development of adequate remediation technologies.
4. Implementation of preventive management practices to address this problem.
5. Including a uranium standard in the Bureau of Indian Standards’ Drinking Water Specification based on uranium’s kidney-harming effects.
6. Establishing monitoring systems to identify at-risk areas, and exploring new ways to prevent or treat uranium contamination.

What is Uranium?

1. Uranium is weakly radioactive and remains so because of its long physical half-life👀 (4.468 billion years for uranium-238).
2. The biological half-life (the average time it takes for the human body to eliminate half the amount in the body) for uranium is about 15 days.
3. It is a naturally occurring element found in low levels within all rock, soil, and water.
4. This is the highest-numbered element to be found naturally in significant quantities on earth👀. 
5. It is considered to be more plentiful than antimony, beryllium, cadmium, gold, mercury, silver, or tungsten.
6. It is about as abundant as tin, arsenic or molybdenum.

How is WHO funded?

US President Donald Trump is planning to put a hold on America’s funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of becoming China-centric during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

• How much will Trump’s threat of stopping funds impact WHO?
  The US is the largest contributor to the WHO. The US share is part of the assessed contributions, which is more like a membership fee, calculated on the basis of a country’s wealth and population, payable on January 1 each year.
• The share of assessed contributions in WHO’s annual budget has declined over the years, to the extent that they now constitute just 24%. The rest is through voluntary contributions not just from member nations but also from private organisations.
• Besides, as of January 31, the US still hasn’t paid the dues for 2019 or for 2020, amounting to almost $200 million. Therefore, the impact would not be much on WHO.

Implications:

If Trump does decide to block the US’ contribution, the WHO can suspend the country’s voting rights and deny access to its services, as per Article 7 of its Constitution.

About WHO:

WHO came into existence on 7 April, 1948 – a date which is now celebrated every year as World Health Day. The organisation has more than 7,000 people working in 150 country offices, six regional offices and at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

How WHO is governed?

1. The World Health Assembly (delegations from all members countries) determines the policies of the organisation.
2. The executive board is composed of members technically qualified in health, and gives effect to the decisions and policies of the health assembly.
3. Its core function is to direct and coordinate international health work through collaboration.

How is the WHO funded?

There are four kinds of contributions that make up funding for the WHO.These are:

1. Assessed contributions are the dues countries pay in order to be a member of the Organization. The amount each Member State must pay is calculated relative to the country’s wealth and population.
2. Voluntary contributions come from Member States (in addition to their assessed contribution) or from other partners. They can range from flexible to highly earmarked.
3. Core voluntary contributions allow less well-funded activities to benefit from a better flow of resources and ease implementation bottlenecks that arise when immediate financing is lacking.
4. Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Contributions were started in 2011 to improve and strengthen the sharing of influenza viruses with human pandemic potential, and to increase the access of developing countries to vaccines and other pandemic related supplies.

WHO’s current funding pattern:

As of fourth quarter of 2019, total contributions were around $5.62 billion, with assessed contributions accounting for $956 million, specified voluntary contributions $4.38 billion, core voluntary contributions $160 million, and PIP contributions $178 million.

Largest contributions:

1. The United States is currently the WHO’s biggest contributor, making up 14.67 per cent of total funding by providing $553.1 million.
2. The US is followed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation forming 9.76 per cent or $367.7 million.
3. The third biggest contributor is the GAVI Vaccine Alliance at 8.39 per cent, with the UK (7.79 per cent) and Germany (5.68 per cent) coming fourth and fifth respectively.
4. The four next biggest donors are international bodies: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (5.09 per cent), World Bank (3.42 per cent), Rotary International (3.3 per cent), and the European Commission (3.3 per cent). India makes up 0.48 per cent of total contributions, and China 0.21 per cent.

Allocation of funds:

• Out of the total funds, $1.2 billion is allotted for the Africa region, $1.02 billion for Eastern Mediterranean region, $963.9 million for the WHO headquarters, followed by South East Asia ($198.7 million), Europe ($200.4 million), Western Pacific ($152.1 million), and Americas (39.2 million) regions respectively. India is part of the South East Asia region.
• The biggest programme area where the money is allocated is polio eradication (26.51 per cent), followed by increasing access to essential health and nutrition services (12.04 per cent), and preventable diseases vaccines (8.89 per cent).

EU €500bn corona rescue deal

The European Union (EU) has unveiled a grand €500bn corona rescue deal to cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic across Europe.

The deal is on safety nets for workers, businesses and public finances, as well as on a recovery plan.

What are the measures for people and firms?

1. A safety net for healthcare systems.
2. Safety nets for workers and the self-employed.
3. Access to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM): Governments can apply for access to a total of €240 billion being made available under ESM, the bailout fund created during the eurozone debt crisis.
4. Under the safety net for companies, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are to be helped via an EU-wide loan scheme.

Other recently announced measures:

1. The new measures come on top of money channelled by national governments to bolster health and other public services, and support workers and industries.
2. Countries have also pledged to make sure sectors in trouble have access to cash, via public guarantees and deferred tax payments.
3. Last month the European Central Bank announced a package worth €750 billion to buy up government and company debt across the eurozone.

What isn’t addressed by the measures?

• The rescue package concerns only short-term economic measures to deal with the immediate impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
• But it does not deal with the thorny question of how to pay for the longer-term reconstruction effort in the aftermath.
• There are big disagreements over how what’s called the “EU Recovery Fund” will take shape.

Charting a Common Minimum Relief Programme

With India likely to experience an economic crisis because of lockdown, it is time for the Centre to chart a Common Minimum Relief Programme.

The economic pandemic that is likely to succeed COVID-19 threatens to be as large in scale if not larger than the public health crisis that we continue to battle.

Need of the hour:

1. States should come up with varying measures for support and relief.
2. Centre must lead this effort to ensure uniformity, optimisation and coordination amongst States of varying economic capability.
3. The road map should provide forward guidance and economic clarity to the middle class, medium and small-scale enterprises and above all, to those at the very margins of society.

The focus should be mainly on:

1. Daily wage earners, labourers and migrant workers. They are at the greatest risk of economic and social insecurity.
2. Small and marginal farmers are in dire need of immediate support.
3. Supply chain disruptions for fast moving consumer goods due to unavailability of labour, difficulty in transporting goods across borders during the lockdown. This is leading to a shortage of foodstuffs and other essential items.
4. Medium and Small-Scale Enterprises. There are currently close to 4.25 crore registered MSMEs which contribute 29% to India’s GDP (or nearly 61 lakh crores) and these have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis imperilling, in turn, the livelihood of crores.
5. Middle class for they are facing growing vulnerability.

What needs to be done?

• There should be a uniform mechanism for the dispersal of both income support as well as essential items such as rice, wheat, millets, medicines, water and anything else that vulnerable families will require.
• To ensure the agriculture problem doesn’t become cyclical, the government needs to make immediate arrangements for ensuring the availability of fertilisers, pesticides, other inputs (including access to lines of credit) for the planting of the next kharif crop as well.
• For Medium and Small-Scale Enterprises, the government must lay out an action plan, including a financial package, to fortify this sector or risk see it perish.
• NYAY(Nyunatam Aay Yojana), the Minimum Income Guarantee Programme. The Central government must devise and implement this scheme, at least as a temporary measure.

Contact Tracing 

Global technology giants Apple and Google👀 have announced that they are partnering on developing contact tracing technology👀 to help governments and health authorities tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic.

They are planning to build a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing.

Need for:

• Contact tracing is considered essential for bringing epidemics under control, and is expected to help governments in relaxing lockdown orders.
• Identifying people at the onset of symptoms and promptly isolating them reduces exposure to other persons.
• Via contact tracing, people who have come into contact with a person carrying a disease are alerted and identified.
• Additionally, prompt isolation and admission of the symptomatic person to a treatment facility decreases the delay to supportive treatment, which improves the likelihood of survival.

What is Contact tracing?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines contact tracing as the process of identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to a disease to prevent onward transmission.

How will the coronavirus new technology by Google and Apple work?

1. Phone-based matching via official apps will help alert people if they have come in contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19.
2. For this to work, COVID-19 patients would have to declare their status to the respective apps voluntarily.
3. Following this, all people whose Android/iOS smartphones were detected nearby such patients, would get notified.
4. This means, you will be notified even if you were around a stranger who has tested positive for the disease.
5. Next, Bluetooth-based contact tracing will be built into the Android and iOS platforms, and users would be able to use the feature without downloading an app.

Who are the developing countries in the WTO?

US president has asked for changing the WTO rules for changing the developing country status of China👀.

Trump has accused China of taking advantage of the US through the World Trade Organisation (WTO), saying that if Beijing is considered a ‘developing country’, the US should be called one too.

Should China still be classified as a developing nation? What are the implications?

China became a WTO member in 2001. By 2011, China became the second-largest economy in GDP terms, the first largest merchandise exporter, the fourth largest commercial services exporter and the first destination for inward FDI among developing countries.

So if China is forced to take on the duties of a developed country and forego the benefits of a developing country, the West could soon ask other developing countries that are ahead of China (at least in per capita terms) to do the same.

Who are the developing countries in the WTO?

There are no WTO definitions of “developed” and “developing” countries👀.

• Members announce for themselves whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries.
• However, other members can challenge the decision of a member to make use of provisions available to developing countries.

What are the advantages of “developing country” status? 

Developing country status in the WTO brings certain rights. Developing country status ensures special and differential treatment (S&DT) or provisions which allow them more time to implement agreements and commitments, include measures to increase trading opportunities, safeguard their trade interests, and support to build capacity to handle disputes and implement technical standards.

WTO norms for recognition of Developed, Developing and LDCs:

• Under the WTO system, generally, countries are designated as developed, developing, and least developed countries (LDCs).
• The uneven level of development between developed and developing countries in the WTO is a well-recognised fact.
• Article XVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) recognises that attaining the objectives of this agreement would require facilitating the progressive development of those countries that can only support low levels of development and are at the early stages of development.
• Accordingly, countries self-designate themselves as ‘developing country’ to take advantage of provisions like Article XVIII of GATT and other special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions in the WTO agreements.
• These provisions are aimed at increasing trade opportunities for developing countries, ensuring longer transitional periods to comply with WTO obligations, and affording technical assistance to countries, among other things.

What are “special and differential treatment” provisions?

1. Longer time periods for implementing Agreements and commitments,
2. Measures to increase trading opportunities for developing countries,
3. Provisions requiring all WTO members to safeguard the trade interests of developing countries,
4. Support to help developing countries build the capacity to carry out WTO work, handle disputes, and implement technical standards, and
5. Provisions related to least-developed country (LDC) Members.
6. The concept of non-reciprocal preferential treatment for developing countries that when developed countries grant trade concessions to developing countries, they should not expect the developing countries to make matching offers in return.

Demands by developed countries:

For sometime now, developed countries, mainly the US, have been asking the WTO to end the benefits being given to developing countries.

Nearly two-thirds of the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been able to avail themselves of special treatment and to take on weaker commitments under the WTO framework by designating themselves as developing countries.

MSP for MFP

TRIFED asks State Nodal Departments & Implementing Agencies to initiate procurement from available funds under ‘MSP for MFP scheme’.

Significance:

Such measures are necessary for mitigating the impact of lockdown on tribal communities.

This will provide much required livelihood support to the tribal gatherers and obviate the movement of middlemen from urban areas to tribal habitations, thus checking any eventuality of spread of corona virus among tribal communities.

What is this scheme all about?

The Union Cabinet, in 2013, approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for marketing of non-nationalized / non monopolized Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and development of a value chain for MFP through Minimum Support Price (MSP).

• This was a measure towards social safety for MFP gatherers, who are primarily members of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) most of them in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas.
• The scheme had Rs. 967.28 crore as Central Government share and Rs. 249.50 crore as the States share for the current Plan period.

Key features of the scheme:
Ensure that the tribal population gets a remunerative price for the produce they collect from the forest and provide alternative employment avenues to them.

• Establish a system to ensure fair monetary returns for forest dweller’s efforts in collection, primary processing, storage, packaging, transportation etc, while ensuring sustainability of the resource base.
• Get them a share of revenue from the sales proceeds with costs deducted.

Coverage:

Earlier, the scheme was extended only to Scheduled Areas in eight states and fixed MSPs for 12 MFPs. Later expanded to all states and UTs. Total number of MFPs covered under the list include more than 40 items.

Implementation:
The responsibility of purchasing MFP on MSP will be with State designated agencies.

1. To ascertain market price, services of market correspondents would be availed by the designated agencies particularly for major markets trading in MFP.
2. The scheme supports primary value addition as well as provides for supply chain infrastructure like cold storage, warehouses etc.
3. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will be the nodal Ministry for implementation and monitoring of the scheme. The Minimum Support Price would be determined by the Ministry with technical help of TRIFED.

Significance of the scheme:

The Minor Forest Produce (MFP), also known as Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), is a major source of livelihood and provides essential food, nutrition, medicinal needs and cash income to a large number of STs who live in and around forests. An estimated 100 million forest dwellers depend on the Minor Forest Produce for food, shelter, medicines, cash income, etc.

However, MFP production is highly dispersed spatially because of the poor accessibility of these areas and competitive market not having evolved. Consequently, MFP gatherers who are mostly poor are unable to bargain for fair prices. This package of intervention can help in organizing unstructured MFP markets.

Novel blood plasma therapy for COVID-19

India has taken a bold step to provide innovative treatment to patients suffering from COVID-19 disease- plasma therapy.

Technically called “convalescent-plasma therapy”, the treatment aims at using the immune power gained by a recovered person to treat a sick person.

But, before understanding more about the therapy, let’s see how our immune system works?

When a pathogen like novel coronavirus infects👀, our immune systems produce antibodies.

Like the police dogs, the antibodies span out to identify and mark the invading virus.

White blood cells attach the identified intruders, and the body gets rid of the infection.

But, what are antibodies?

Antibodies are one of the front-line immune response to an infection by a microbe. They are a particular type of proteins secreted by immune cells called B lymphocytes when they encounter an invader, such as a novel coronavirus.

The immune system designs antibodies that are highly specific to each invading pathogen. A particular antibody and its partner virus are made for each other.

How plasma therapy works?

1. Blood is drawn from a person who has recovered from COVID-19 sickness.
2. The serum is separated and screened for virus-neutralizing antibodies.
3. Convalescent serum👀, that is the blood serum obtained from one who has recovered from an infectious disease and especially rich in antibodies for that pathogen, is then administered to a COVID-19 patient.
4. The sick acquires passive immunisation. 

When was it previously used? How effective has it been?

We have effective antibiotics against bacterial infection. However, we do not have effective antivirals. Whenever a new viral outbreak takes places, there are no drugs to treat it. Hence, the convalescent serum has been used during past viral epidemics. 

• 2009–2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic.
• The Ebola outbreak in 2018.

How long the antibodies will remain in the recipient?

After the antibody serum is given, it will stay on the recipient for at least three to four days. During this period, the sick person will recover. Various studies have confirmed this.

Difference between this therapy and vaccination?

This therapy is akin to passive immunization. When a vaccine is administrated, the immune system produces the antibodies.

Here, the effect lasts only up to the time the antibodies injected remain the bloodstream. The protection given is temporary.

Whereas, Vaccination provides lifelong immunity.

For example, the mother transfers antibodies through breast milk to an infant before the child could build her own immunity.

Related fact:

In 1890, Emil von Behring, a German physiologist, discovered that the serum obtained from a rabbit infected with diphtheria was effective in preventing the diphtheria infection. Behring was awarded the first-ever Nobel prize for medicine in 1901.

Fly Ash

While 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh battle hard against the killer onslaught of the novel Coronavirus, the Singrauli district of the central Indian state has been hit by a tragedy caused by the Reliance Power plant’s fly ash dyke collapse.

Background:

The Reliance Power’s Ultra Mega Power Project’s (UMPP) in Sasan area of Singrauli fly ash dyke collapsed recently. The flood of the toxic ash slurry from the collapsed dyke located in adjoining Harhawa village washed away six persons, including three kids, a woman and two men living in the adjoining villages.

What is Fly Ash?

Popularly known as Flue ash or pulverised fuel ash, it is a coal combustion product.

Composition:

• Composed of the particulates that are driven out of coal-fired boilers together with the flue gases.
• Depending upon the source and composition of the coal being burned, the components of fly ash vary considerably, but all fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and calcium oxide (CaO), the main mineral compounds in coal-bearing rock strata.
• Minor constituents include: arsenic, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, hexavalent ,chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, thallium, and vanadium, along with very small concentrations of dioxins and PAH compounds. It also has unburnt carbon.

Health and environmental hazards:

Toxic heavy metals present: All the heavy metals found in fly ash nickel, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, lead, etc—are toxic in nature. They are minute, poisonous particles accumulate in the respiratory tract, and cause gradual poisoning.

Radiation: For an equal amount of electricity generated, fly ash contains a hundred times more radiation than nuclear waste secured via dry cask or water storage.

Water pollution: The breaching of ash dykes and consequent ash spills occur frequently in India, polluting a large number of water bodies.

Effects on environment: The destruction of mangroves, drastic reduction in crop yields, and the pollution of groundwater in the Rann of Kutch from the ash sludge of adjoining Coal power plants has been well documented.

However, fly ash can be used in the following ways:

• Concrete production, as a substitute material for Portland cement, sand.
• Fly-ash pellets which can replace normal aggregate in concrete mixture.
• Embankments and other structural fills.
• Cement clinker production – (as a substitute material for clay).
• Stabilization of soft soils.
• Road subbase construction.
• As aggregate substitute material (e.g. for brick production).
• Agricultural uses: soil amendment, fertilizer, cattle feeders, soil stabilization in stock feed yards, and agricultural stakes.
• Loose application on rivers to melt ice.
• Loose application on roads and parking lots for ice control.

The issues which impede its full-scale utilization in India:

1. Indian fly ash is primarily of the calcareous or class C variety,implying that it possesses not only pozzolanic, but also hydraulic (self-cementing) properties. In contrast, European fly ash is of a silicious or class F variety, implying an absence of hydraulic properties.
2. The pricing of fly ash is increasingly becoming a contentious issue that is hampering its gainful utilisation.
3. Imperfections typical of quasi-markets,such as information asymmetry and high transaction costs, vested interests, technical and technological limitations, and the lack of regulatory oversight and political will, have impeded the flow of fly ash to its most value-adding use.

 Helicopter Money

Amid rising concerns over economic crisis that has been triggered by the COVID-19 lockdown; Helicopter Money is one concept that is being considered by authorities’ world over.

In fact, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has suggested RBI to adopt the concept of Helicopter Money to help state governments tide over the current crisis and kickstart economic activity in India.

What is helicopter money?
This is an unconventional monetary policy tool aimed at bringing a flagging economy back on track. It involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public👀. American economist Milton Friedman coined this term.

Why it is called so?

It basically denotes a helicopter dropping money from the sky. Friedman used the term to signify “unexpectedly dumping money onto a struggling economy with the intention to shock it out of a deep slump.” Under such a policy, a central bank “directly increase the money supply and, via the government, distribute the new cash to the population with the aim of boosting demand and inflation.”

Why is helicopter money in news now?
With the coronavirus-hit economy falling deeper and deeper into a chasm with each passing day, Telangana chief minister KC Rao has said helicopter money can help states comes out of this morass. He asked for the release of 5% funds from GDP by way of quantitative easing (QE).

Is helicopter money the same as quantitative easing?
Quantitative easing also involves the use of printed money by central banks to buy government bonds. But not everyone views the money used in QE as helicopter money. It sure means printing money to monetise government deficits, but the govt has to pay back for the assets that the central bank buys. It’s not the same as bond-buying by central banks “in which bank-owned assets are swapped for new central bank reserves.”

How will Helicopter Money help Indian Economy?

• Simply put, Helicopter Money means extension of non-repayable money transfer from the central bank to the state and central governments, to infuse liquidity in the system.
• The policy aims at putting more money into the pockets of people to nudge them to spend more money and in turn pick-up economic activity in the country.
• The direct impact of Helicopter Money is rise in disposable incomes of the people, increase in money supply with an intention to boost demand and inflation in the economy.

 Business Correspondents

SHG women working as Business Correspondents for banks (BC Sakhis) and Bank Sakhis playing a vital role in disbursement of first tranch of ex-gratia of Rs.500/- to women PMJDY accounts amidst COVID-19 Lockdown.

Who are Business Correspondents?

Business Correspondents are retail agents engaged by banks for providing banking services at locations other than a bank branch/ATM👀.

Banks are required to take full responsibility for the acts of omission and commission of the BCs that they engage and have, therefore, to ensure thorough due diligence and additional safeguards for minimizing the agency risk.

What they can do?

• BCs are permitted to perform a variety of activities which include identification of borrowers, collection and preliminary processing of loan applications including verification of primary information/data, creating awareness about savings and other products, education and advice on managing money and debt counseling, processing and submission of applications to banks, promoting, nurturing and monitoring of Self Help Groups/ Joint Liability Groups, post-sanction monitoring, follow-up of recovery.
• They can also attend to collection of small value deposit, disbursal of small value credit, recovery of principal / collection of interest, sale of micro insurance/ mutual fund products/ pension products/ other third party products and receipt and delivery of small value remittances/ other payment instruments.

Who can be engaged as BCs?- The banks may engage the following individuals/entities as BC:

1. Individuals like retired bank employees, retired teachers, retired government employees and ex-servicemen, individual owners of kirana / medical /Fair Price shops, individual Public Call Office (PCO) operators, agents of Small Savings schemes of Government of India/Insurance Companies, individuals who own Petrol Pumps, authorized functionaries of well run Self Help Groups (SHGs) which are linked to banks, any other individual including those operating Common Service Centres (CSCs).
2. NGOs/ MFIs set up under Societies/ Trust Acts and Section 25 Companies.
3. Cooperative Societies registered under Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Acts/ Cooperative Societies Acts of States/Multi State Cooperative Societies Act.
4. Post Offices.
5. Companies registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 with large and widespread retail outlets, excluding Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).

World Chagas Disease Day

On April 14, 2020, World Chagas Disease Day is being observed for the first time. The day is observed to spread awareness about this “silent and silenced disease”. The 72nd World Health Assembly approved the designation of Chagas Disease Day on May 24, 2019. 

Why it is called the “silent and silenced disease”?

The Chagas disease is called silent because it progresses slowly, and silenced because it mainly affects the poor people who often lack political voice and proper health care.

About the disease:

The disease got its name from Dr Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas, who diagnosed the first patient with the disease in Brazil on April 14, 1909.

It is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD), meaning it affects the low-income populations in developing countries across the globe.

Also called the American trypanosomiasis, this vector-borne disease hits the most poverty-stricken communities, especially in Latin America.

How is it transmitted?

• A parasitic protozoan called Trypanosoma cruzi👀 that causes this vector-borne disease is usually transmitted by faeces and urine of triatomine bugs or kissing bugs, which belongs to the family of assassin bugs.
• The disease can also be transmitted by contaminated food, organ transplantations, blood or blood products transfusion, and infected mothers to newborn.
• Lack of awareness and neglecting the symptoms, especially among poor households, results in much severe symptoms and even death.

The symptoms of the disease come in two phases:

Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, difficulty in breathing, abdominal or chest pain and enlarged lymph glands.

CollabCAD

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog & National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD in ATL schools.

What is CollabCAD?

• It is a collaborative network, computer enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design.
• The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across country to create and modify 3d designs with free flow of creativity and imagination.
• This software would also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.

Tinker from Home campaign:

• In light of the current situation, the ATL program has launched a ‘Tinker from Home’ campaign to ensure that the children across the county have access to useful easy-to-learn online resources to keep themselves fruitfully occupied.
• The objective of the initiative is to harness the creativity and innovativeness of children by encouraging learning through self-initiation.

What are ATLs?

With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India.

Objective: The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.

Financial Support: AIM will provide grant-in-aid that includes a one-time establishment cost of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5 years to each ATL.

Eligibility:

• Schools (minimum Grade VI – X) managed by Government, local body or private trusts/society can set up ATL.
• The applicant school would have to provide at least 1,500 Sq. Ft. of built up space. Applicant schools from hilly / Himalayan and island states, UTs would have to provide atleast 1,000 Sq. Ft. of built up space.

What is pool testing of Corona?

Stating that the number of COVID-19 cases in India is rising, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is now advising the feasibility of using pooled samples for molecular testing of patient samples. The council has said that it is critical to increase the numbers of tests conducted by laboratories. The advisory is aimed at increasing capacity of the laboratories to screen increased numbers of samples using molecular testing for COVID-19 for the purpose of surveillance.

How does it work?

A pooled testing algorithm involves the PCR screening of a specimen pool comprising multiple individual patient specimens, followed by individual testing (pool de-convolution) only if a pool screens positive. As all individual samples in a negative pool are regarded as negative, it results in substantial cost savings when a large proportion of pools tests negative.

What the ICMR has recommended?

1. As per ICMR, preferable number of samples to be pooled is five, though more than two samples can be pooled, but considering higher possibility of missing positive samples with low viral load, it is strongly discouraged to pool more than five samples, except in research mode.
2. Also, the study has recommended that it should be used only in areas with low prevalence of COVID-19 (initially using proxy of low positivity of less than 2% from the existing data).
3. In areas with positivity of 2-5%, sample pooling for PCR screening may be considered only in community survey or surveillance among asymptomatic individuals, strictly excluding pooling samples of individuals with known contact with confirmed cases and health care workers (in direct contact with care of COVID-19 patients).
4. Sample from such individuals should be directly tested without pooling.

Why we need pool testing?

• This will reduce the total test kits used to examine patients and treat them.
• It is also expected to trim the work at the laboratories testing these samples.
• International researchers suggest that pooling test samples is cost effective, especially for the countries with limited resources.
• It can be used to prevent community spread of the disease.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

In an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit held online recently, leaders of the virus-hit region warned of the crippling economic cost of COVID-19, calling for trade routes to reopen to protect jobs and food supplies, as well as the stockpiling of medical equipment.

What is ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organization which was established to promote political and social stability amid rising tensions among the Asia-Pacific’s post-colonial states. The motto of ASEAN is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”. ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta. 

Genesis:

Established in 1967 with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by its founding fathers. 

Founding Fathers of ASEAN are: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Institution Mechanism:

Chairmanship of ASEAN rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.

ASEAN Summit: The supreme policy making body of ASEAN. As the highest level of authority in ASEAN, the Summit sets the direction for ASEAN policies and objectives. Under the Charter, the Summit meets twice a year.

ASEAN Ministerial Councils: The Charter established four important new Ministerial bodies to support the Summit.

1. ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC).
2. ASEAN Political-Security Community Council.
3. ASEAN Economic Community Council.
4. ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council.

Significance of the grouping:

3rd largest market in the world – larger than EU and North American markets. 6th largest economy in the world, 3rd in Asia. Free-trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Fourth most popular investment destination globally.

Measles

As per UNICEF and WHO, around 117 million children worldwide risk contracting measles because dozens of countries are curtailing their vaccination programmes as they battle COVID-19.

What’s the issue?

Currently 24 countries, including several already dealing with large measles outbreaks, have suspended widespread vaccinations.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has necessitated many prevention measures including strict lockdowns, has kept infants from getting routine immunisation services from some other diseases such as polio, yellow fever and cholera.

About Measles:

What is It?

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. It remains an important cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.

Spread: Measles is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.

Symptoms:

• Initial symptoms, which usually appear 10–12 days after infection, include high fever, a runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth. Several days later, a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downwards.
• The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, and severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.

Vulnerability:

Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases.

Prevention:

Routine measles vaccination for children, combined with mass immunization campaigns in countries with low routine coverage, are key public health strategies to reduce global measles deaths.

Preventive efforts:

Under the Global Vaccine Action Plan, measles and rubella are targeted for elimination in five WHO Regions by 2020👀. WHO is the lead technical agency responsible for coordination of immunization and surveillance activities supporting all countries to achieve this goal.

What is Rubella?

Also called German Measles, Rubella is a contagious, generally mild viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults.

Governor right in ordering floor test: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has upheld Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon’s March decision asking the then Kamal Nath led-Congress government to prove majority by holding a floor test in the Legislative Assembly after the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs.

Observations made by the Court:

1. In a situation where the governor has reasons to believe that the council of ministers headed by the chief minister has lost the confidence of the House, constitutional propriety requires that the issue be resolved by calling for a floor test.
2. The governor in calling for a floor test cannot be construed to have acted beyond the bounds of constitutional authority. This means, while directing a trust vote, the Governor should not favour a particular political party.
3. A Governor’s power to call for a floor test is not restricted only before the inception of a State government immediately after elections, but continues throughout its term.
4. The Governor’s requirement to have a trust vote does not “short-circuit” any disqualification proceedings pending before the Speaker. A Governor need not wait for the Speaker’s decision on the resignation of rebel MLAs before calling for a trust vote.

What is a “floor test”?

A floor test is the determination on the floor of the House (in this case, the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha) whether the Chief Minister commands the support of the majority of the MLAs.

This can be done by means of a voice vote, or by recording the vote of each MLA in the House. This determination of majority is done in a sitting of the legislature, for which the legislature has to be convened.

How it takes place?

1. This voting process happen in the state’s Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha at the central level.
2. Technically, the chief minister of a state is appointed by the Governor. The appointed chief minister usually belongs to the single largest party or the coalition which has the ‘magic number’. The magic number is the total number of seats required to form a government, or stay in power. It is the half-way mark, plus one. In case of a tie, the Speaker casts the deciding vote.
3. However, at times, a government’s majority can be questioned. The leader of the party claiming majority has to move a vote of confidence.
4. If some MLAs remain absent or abstain from voting, the majority is counted on the basis of those present and voting. This effectively reduces the strength of the House and in turn brings down the majority-mark.
5. The voting process can happen orally, with electronic gadgets or a ballot process.
6. The Governor can also ask the Chief Minister to prove his or her majority in the House if the stability of the government comes into question.

Who are Nihangs?

Recent Patiala incident in which a group of Nihangs attacked a Punjab police party and chopped off the hand of an assistant sub-inspector when stopped for a curfew pass, and the subsequent seizure of weapons and narcotics, has put the spotlight on the Nihangs.

Who is a Nihang?

Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors.

They are characterised by blue robes, antiquated arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.

 What does the word ‘Nihang’ mean?

Etymologically the word nihang in Persian means an alligator, sword and pen👀 but the characteristics of Nihangs seem to stem more from the Sanskrit word nihshank which means without fear, unblemished, pure, carefree and indifferent to worldly gains and comfort.

Origin:

Sources trace their origin to Guru Gobind Singh’s younger son, Fateh Singh👀(1699-1705), who once appeared in the Guru’s presence dressed in a blue chola and blue turban with a dumala (piece of cloth forming a plume).

On seeing his son look so majestic, the Guru remarked that it shall be the dress of Nihangs, the reckless soldiers of the Khalsa

How were Nihangs different from other Sikhs, and other Sikh warriors?

1. Nihangs observe the Khalsa code of conduct in its strictest sense. They do not profess any allegiance to an earthly master👀. Instead of saffron they hoist a blue Nishan Sahib (flag) atop their shrines.
2. Nihangs use the slogans ‘chhardi kala’ 👀(forever in high spirits) and ‘tiar bar tiar’ (state of ever preparedness) for unforeseen events.
3. The Nihangs are fond of a popular drink called shardai or sharbati degh (sacrament drink) which contains grounded almonds, cardamom seeds, poppy seeds, black pepper, rose petals and melon seeds.
4. When a small measure of cannabis is added to it, it is termed sukhnidhan (treasure of comfort).
5. A higher dose of cannabis in it was known as shaheedi deg, sacrament of martyrdom. It was taken (while) battling enemies.

What is their role in Sikh history?

• Nihangs had a major role in defending the Sikh panth after the fall of the first Sikh rule (1710-15) when Mughal governors were killing Sikhs, and during the onslaught of Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Durrani (1748-65)👀.
• Nihangs also took control of the religious affairs of the Sikhs at Akal Bunga (now known as Akal Takht) in Amritsar. They did not consider themselves subordinate to any Sikh chief and thus maintained their independent existence.
• Their clout came to an end after the fall of Sikh Empire in 1849 when the British authorities of Punjab appointed a manager (sarbrah) for the administration of the Golden Temple in 1859.

International Energy Agency (IEA)

IEA has made some observations about the impact of global lockdown on oil demands across the world.

Key observations:

• The price of crude has already fallen about 60% since the start of the year due to a pricing war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and then the economic devastation wrought by the virus outbreak.
• Now, global demand for oil will fall this year by the most ever due to the economic lockdowns enforced around the world to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
• An estimated drop in demand of 9.3 million barrels a day this year is equivalent to a decade’s worth of growth.

Impact and implications of these changes:

• While the cheaper energy can be helpful for consumers and energy-hungry businesses, it is below the cost of production.
• That is eating away at the state finances of oil-producing countries, many of whom are relatively poor economies, and pushing companies to bankruptcy.
• With broad limits on travel and business, many consumers are unable to take advantage of the low prices anyway.
• The recent deal by OPEC and other countries to reduce global output by some 9.7 million barrels a day will help stabilize the situation somewhat.
• On top of those cuts, countries like China, India, South Korea and the United States will look to buy more oil to store away in strategic reserves.

About IEA:

Established in 1974 as per framework of the OECD, IEA is an autonomous intergovernmental organisation. MISSION – To ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its  member countries and beyond. Its mission is guided by four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide Headquarters (Secretariat): Paris, France.

Roles and functions:

Established in the wake of the 1973-1974 oil crisis👀, to help its members respond to major oil supply disruptions, a role it continues to fulfil today. IEA’s mandate has expanded over time to include tracking and analyzing global key energy trends, promoting sound energy policy, and fostering multinational energy technology cooperation.

Composition and eligibility:

It has 30 members at present. IEA family also includes eight association countries👀. A candidate country must be a member country of the OECD. But all OECD members are not IEA members. To become member a candidate country must demonstrate that it has:

1. Crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, to which the government has immediate access (even if it does not own them directly) and could be used to address disruptions to global oil supply.
2. A demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%.
3. Legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis.
4. Legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request.
5. Measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action.

Reports:

1. Global Energy & CO2 Status Report.
2. World Energy Outlook.
3. World Energy Statistics.
4. World Energy Balances.
5. Energy Technology Perspectives.

Colour coding to help manage COVID-19 pandemic

The government has decided to divide all districts across the country into hotspots, non-hotspots and green zones.

The health and family welfare ministry has identified 170 hotspot districts, 207 non-hotspot districts reporting cases and 359 green zone districts not reporting any cases across the country.

These numbers will increase or decrease based on fresh cases of novel coronavirus infection.

Why this classification was necessary? What are its implications?

This will help in managing the Covid-19 pandemic as well as partial opening up of economic activities during the extended period of the nationwide lockdown. This would help in management of hotspots and spread of pandemic.

How are the districts divided?

The health ministry used two criteria to classify the districts as hotspots — the absolute number of cases and the speed of growth in cases👀.

The technical definition followed to classify the districts is any district reporting more than six cases would be classified as hotspot district or red zone.

Any hotspot district with more than 15 cases would be treated as a district witnessing outbreak.

Which districts are under red zone?

Delhi and NCR, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Thane, Yavatmal, Sangli, Buldhana, Ahmednagar, and Latur in Maharashtra, and Chennai, Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Erode, Dindigul, Karur, Madurai, Namakkal, Ranipet, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Theni in Tamil Nadu.

Demarcation of epicentre and containment zones:

A house with positive cases or a cluster with positive cases is marked as the epicentre of the containment zone👀. A radius of 0.5 km is taken and the area around it is cordoned off with only essential services available.

Also, a buffer zone is marked where people with severe and acute respiratory illnesses (SARI) are checked and monitored.

Containment zones are created to map the local transmission of the disease and prevent the contagion from spreading.

Civil Defence volunteers

More than 50,000 Civil Defence volunteers are working at the grassroots level in various roles and capacities to assist the local administration in implementing the measures to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

How they are helping?

• The Civil Defence personnel are supplementing the local administration in conducting surveillance of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. They have been working as rapid response teams.
• They have been deployed in all the States and most Union Territories, barring Ladakh, Daman & Diu, and Puducherry.
• Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Assam have taken the lead in using their services.
• The volunteers have been deployed under the command of District Magistrates to assist the local administration in implementing the COVID-19 guidelines and policies effectively.

How civil defence personnel can be employed? Provisions in this regard?

Civil Defence operates under the Civil Defence Act👀 and associated rules and regulations. The Act was amended in 2009 and a notification was issued in 2010 to include disaster management as an additional role. Civil Defence is primarily organised on voluntary basis except for a small nucleus of paid staff and establishment which is augmented during emergencies.

Administration:

Although it is a Central law, Section 4 of the Civil Defence Act empowers State governments to raise corps at the local administration level as per their requirement. The District Magistrate, District Collector or Deputy Commissioner is designated as Controller of the Civil Defence.

Eligibility for becoming a Civil Defence Volunteer:

A person who intends to apply for appointment to a Civil Defence Corps must fulfil the following conditions;

1. s/he shall be a citizen of India, or a subject or Sikkim or of Bhutan or of Nepal.
2. s/he shall have completed the age of 18 years provided that this age limit may be relaxed at the discretion of the competent authority up to a maximum of 3 years for any branch or category of the Corps.
3. s/he shall have passed at least the primary standard, that is to say, the fourth class, and this condition may be relaxed by the Controller at this discretion.
4. Both men and women shall be eligible for appointment to the Corps.

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has said that around 11,077 undertrials have been released from prisons nationwide as part of the mission to decongest jails following the COVID-19 pandemic.

NALSA has also been providing assistance to prisoners who were eligible to be released on parole or interim bail under the relaxed norms, through its panel lawyers.

About NALSA:

NALSA has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987👀, to provide free legal services to weaker sections of society.

The aim is to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reasons of economic or other disabilities.

‘Nyaya Deep’ is the official newsletter of NALSA.

 Composition:

As per section 3(2) of Legal Service Authorities Act, the Chief Justice of India shall be the Patron-in-Chief.

Second senior-most judge of Supreme Court👀 of India is the Executive-Chairman.

Important functions performed by NALSA:

• Organise Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.
• Identify specific categories of the marginalised and excluded groups and formulates various schemes for the implementation of preventive and strategic legal service programmes.
• Provide free legal aid in civil and criminal matters for the poor and marginalised people who cannot afford the services of a lawyer in any court or tribunal.

State and district legal services authorities:

In every State, State Legal Services Authority has been constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State.  The State Legal Services Authority is headed by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of the respective High Court who is the Patron-in-Chief of the State Legal Services Authority.

In every District, District Legal Services Authority has been constituted to implement Legal Services Programmes in the District. The District Legal Services Authority is situated in the District Courts Complex in every District and chaired by the District Judge of the respective district.

Need- Constitutional basis:

Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides that State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disability.

Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all. Legal aid strives to ensure that constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and equal justice is made available to the poor, downtrodden and weaker sections of the society.

World Heritage Day

Every year, 18th April is celebrated Worldwide as World Heritage Day to create awareness about Heritage among communities.

The theme of World Heritage Day 2020 is “Shared Culture’, ‘Shared heritage’ and ‘Shared responsibility”.

Key facts:

• There are a total of 38👀 heritage sites in India.
• India ranks sixth in the largest number of heritage sites in the world.

Background:

In 1982, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)👀 announced, 18 April as the “World Heritage Day”, approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983, with the aim of enhancing awareness of the importance of the cultural heritage of humankind, and redouble efforts to protect and conserve the human heritage.

What is a World Heritage site?

A World Heritage site is classified as a natural or man-made area or a structure that is of international importance, and a space which requires special protection.

These sites are officially recognised by the UN and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, also known as UNESCO. UNESCO believes that the sites classified as World Heritage are important for humanity, and they hold cultural and physical significance.

Key facts:

1. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme👀 administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.
2. Each World Heritage Site remains part of the legal territory of the state wherein the site is located and UNESCO considers it in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.
3. To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be an already classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance

Special Drawing Right (SDR)?

India is not supporting a general allocation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)👀 because it feels it might not be effective in easing COVID-19-driven financial pressures.

The new SDR allocation was supposed to provide all 189 members with new foreign exchange reserves with no conditions.

What’s the reason?

Such a major liquidity injection could produce potentially costly side-effects if countries used the funds for “extraneous” purposes.

What is a Special Drawing Right (SDR)?

The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves.

The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies—the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.

So far SDR 204.2 billion (equivalent to about US$281 billion) have been allocated to members, including SDR 182.6 billion allocated in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The role of the SDR:

1. The SDR was created as a supplementary international reserve asset in the context of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system.
2. The SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations.
3. The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members.
4. SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.

Review:

The SDR basket is reviewed every five years, or earlier if warranted, to ensure that the basket reflects the relative importance of currencies in the world’s trading and financial systems.

The reviews cover the key elements of the SDR method of valuation, including criteria and indicators used in selecting SDR basket currencies and the initial currency weights used in determining the amounts (number of units) of each currency in the SDR basket.

How the RBI is handling ‘The Great Lockdown’?

The International Monetary Fund has christened the ongoing economic crisis due to Covid-19 as “The Great Lockdown” and reckons it to be the worst recession that the world would have faced since the Great Depression that happened in the first half of the 20th Century.

The total estimated loss to global economic growth is pegged at $9 trillion — more than three times India’s GDP.

How is India tackling the situation? What will be its impact?

Thanks to various measures by RBI and the government, while the rest of the world is certain to contract, India is hoping to be one of the few countries that expand their overall GDP, regardless of how small that increase may be.

RBI has so far made two rounds of policy announcements to counter the debilitating effects of the spread of Covid-19 on the Indian economy.

In the first round, the RBI mainly:

• Cut the repo rate and the reverse repo rate.
• Started Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTROs).

In essence, through these measures in the first round, the RBI:

• Tried to provide regulatory forbearance (that is, greater leniency) in recognising non-performing assets.
• Tried to boost the liquidity in the financial system so that businesses do not starve of funds.

In the second round, the RBI has:

1. Cut the reverse repo rate further by 25 basis points👀 (100 basis points make up one full percentage point). The reverse repo rate now stands at 3.75 per cent while the repo rate is 4.40 per cent.
2. Announced another TLTRO of Rs 50,000 crore but this time it has mandated that 50 per cent of this amount borrowed by the banks must go to small and mid-sized Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).
3. All India financial institutions (AIFIs) such as the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Housing Bank (NHB), which borrow from the RBI and the market to extend credit to NBFCs and MFIs, will be provided “special refinance facilities for a total amount of Rs 50,000 crore” by the RBI.
4. More funding to state governments — under the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) facility👀 — as they try to spend to mitigate the economic stress.
5. In respect of all accounts for which lending institutions decide to grant moratorium or deferment, and which were standard as on March 1, 2020, the 90-day NPA norm shall exclude the moratorium period, i.e., there would an asset classification standstill for all such accounts from March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020
6. To ensure that loans given to real estate projects, that are getting delayed due to the crisis, do not turn into NPAs, the RBI provided an extension of another year before they are recognised as NPAs.
7. Allowed Scheduled Commercial Banks to reduce their Liquidity Coverage Ratio from 100 per cent to 80 per cent with immediate effect. The LCR essentially mandates the amount of cash that a bank is required to keep with itself.

Implications of these measures:

1. Cutting reverse repo more than the repo👀, and thereby increase the gap between the two rates: On the one hand, the RBI is incentivising banks to borrow from it at low rates and lend it forward to businesses, yet, on the other, it is disincentivising them from coming back and parking these funds with the RBI.
2. LTRO benefits: It provides more liquidity. More importantly, it also provides it targeted to those institutions that are most hit by the economic slowdown and, as such, most in need of funds to survive themselves and boost economic activity at the bottom of the pyramid (that is, the poorest customers).
3. With reduced LCR, banks would have more cash to deal with.

Ways And Means Advances

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a 60% increase in the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit of state governments👀 over and above the level as on March 31, with a view to enabling them “to undertake COVID-19 containment and mitigation efforts” and “to better plan their market borrowings”.

Significance of this move:

The increased limit comes at a time when government expenditure is expected to rise as it battles the fallout of a spreading Coronavirus. The availability of these funds will give government some room to undertake short term expenditure over and above its long term market borrowings.

What are Ways and Means Advances?

• They are temporary loan facilities provided by RBI to the government to enable it to meet temporary mismatches between revenue and expenditure👀.
• The government makes an interest payment to the central bank when it borrows money.
• The rate of interest is the same as the repo rate, while the tenure is three months.
• The limits for WMA are mutually decided by the RBI and the Government of India.

They aren’t a source of finance per se. Section 17(5) of the RBI Act, 1934 authorises the central bank to lend to the Centre and state governments subject to their being repayable “not later than three months from the date of the making of the advance”.

Background:

The WMA scheme for the Central Government was introduced on April 1, 1997, after putting an end to the four-decade old system of adhoc (temporary) Treasury Bills to finance the Central Government deficit.

What if the government needs extra money for extra time?

When the WMA limit is crossed the government takes recourse to overdrafts, which are not allowed beyond 10 consecutive working days.

The interest rate on overdrafts would be 2 percent more than the repo rate👀.

Types of WMA:

There are two types of Ways and Means Advances — normal and special.

Special WMA or Special Drawing Facility is provided against the collateral of the government securities held by the state. After the state has exhausted the limit of SDF, it gets normal WMA👀. The interest rate for SDF is one percentage point less than the repo rate.

The number of loans under normal WMA is based on a three-year average of actual revenue and capital expenditure of the state.

 What are the existing WMA limits and overdraft conditions?

For the Centre, the WMA limit during the first half of 2020-21 (April-September) has been fixed at Rs 120,000 crore. This is 60% higher than the Rs 75,000 crore limit for the same period of 2019-20. The limit for the second half of the last fiscal (October-March) was Rs 35,000 crore.

For the states, the aggregate WMA limit was Rs 32,225 crore till March 31, 2020. On April 1, the RBI announced a 30% hike in this limit, which has now been enhanced to 60%, taking it to Rs 51,560 crore. The higher limit will be valid till September 30.

The central bank, on April 7, also extended the period for which a state can be in overdraft from 14 to 21 consecutive working days, and from 36 to 50 working days during a quarter.

What is post-intensive care syndrome?

After leaving the ICU, many patients may suffer from what is known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which can happen to any person who has been in the ICU.

What is the concern now?

As per the WHO-China Joint Mission report that examined 55,924 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19, over 6.1 per cent were classified as critical, which means they experienced respiratory failure, shock and multiple organ failure. Many critical cases need ICU admissions. 

Therefore, for some Covid-19 patients who needed intensive care, the journey to recovery is a long one. 

What is post-intensive care syndrome?

PICS is defined as new or worsening impairment in physical (ICU-acquired neuromuscular weakness), cognitive (thinking and judgment), or mental health status arising after critical illness and persisting beyond discharge from the acute care setting.

• Such patients may experience neuromuscular weakness, which can manifest itself in the form of poor mobility and recurrent falls.
• Psychological disability may arise in a person in the form of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

What are the symptoms?

The most common PICS symptoms are generalised weakness, fatigue, decreased mobility, anxious or depressed mood, sexual dysfunction, sleep disturbances and cognitive issues. These symptoms may last for a few months or many years after recovery.

What causes PICS?

A combination of factors can affect aspects of an ICU survivor’s life.

1. PICS may be induced if a person was on prolonged mechanical ventilation, experienced sepsis, multiple organ failure and a prolonged duration of “bed-restore deep sedation”.
2. 33 per cent of the people on ventilators may develop ICU-acquired muscle weakness (ICUAW). Along with this, 50 per cent of those who develop sepsis and up to 50 per cent of the patients who stay in the ICU for at least one week are also prone to ICUAW.
3. After leaving the ICU, over 30-80 per cent may develop problems related to cognitive function and other mental health issues, including difficulty in falling and staying asleep.

How to prevent?

1. It is recommended that to avoid PICS, patients’ use of deep sedation is limited and early mobility is encouraged, along with giving them “aggressive” physical and occupational therapy.
2. Further, patients should be given the lowest dose of pain medications when possible, and should be put on lung or cardiovascular rehabilitation treatments along with treatments for depression, anxiety and PTSD.

International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC)

Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman recently attended through video-conference the Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee.

• The discussions at the meeting were based on IMF Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda titled, “Exceptional Times – Exceptional Action”.
• The members of the IMFC updated the committee on the actions and measures taken by member countries to combat COVID-19, and also remarked on IMF’s crisis-response package to address global liquidity and members’ financing needs.

About IMFC:

Composition: The IMFC has 24 members, drawn from the pool of 187 governors👀. Its structure mirrors that of the Executive Board and its 24 constituencies. As such, the IMFC represents all the member countries of the Fund.

Functions: The IMFC meets twice a year, during the Spring and Annual Meetings. The Committee discusses matters of common concern affecting the global economy and also advises the IMF on the direction its work.

At the end of the Meetings, the Committee issues a joint communiqué summarizing its views. These communiqués provide guidance for the IMF’s work program during the six months leading up to the next Spring or Annual Meetings. There is no formal voting at the IMFC, which operates by consensus.

Significance:

1. The IMFC advises and reports to the IMF Board of Governors on the supervision and management of the international monetary and financial system, including on responses to unfolding events that may disrupt the system.
2. It also considers proposals by the Executive Board to amend the Articles of Agreement and advises on any other matters that may be referred to it by the Board of Governors👀.
3. Although the IMFC has no formal decision-making powers, in practice, it has become a key instrument for providing strategic direction to the work and policies of the Fund.

 Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has decided to provide rental waiver to IT companies housed in STPI premises in the country from March to June, i.e., for 4 months period as of now.

About Software Technology Parks of India (STPI):

It is an autonomous society under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)👀, Govt. of India.

It was established in 1991 with the objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the export of software from India.

The STPI’s Governing Council’s Chairperson is the Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology.

 The objectives of the Software Technology Parks of India are:

1. To promote the development and export of software and software services including Information Technology (IT) enabled services/ Bio- IT.
2. To provide statutory and other promotional services to the exporters by implementing Software Technology Parks (STP)/ Electronics and Hardware Technology Parks (EHTP) Schemes, SEZ scheme and other such schemes which may be formulated and entrusted by the Government from time to time.
3. To provide data communication services including value added services to IT / IT enabled Services (ITES) related industries.
4. To promote micro, small and medium entrepreneurs by creating conducive environment for entrepreneurship in the field of IT/ITES.
5. To establish and manage infrastructure resources such as Datacom facilities, Project Management and Consultancy and IT support facilities.

Chitra GeneLAMP-N

What is it?

It is a diagnostic test kit that can confirm COVID19 in 2 hours at low cost.

It has been developed by Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum,👀 an Institute of National Importance, of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

How it works?

The confirmatory diagnostic test detects the N Gene of SARS- COV2 using reverse transcriptase loop-mediated amplification of viral nucleic acid (RT-LAMP).

The test kit is highly specific for SARS-CoV-2 N-gene and can detect two regions of the gene, which will ensure that the test does not fail even if one region of the viral gene undergoes mutation during its current spread.

Significance:

1. The trial tests performed show that Chitra GeneLAMP- N has 100% accuracy and match with test results using RT-PCR.
2. The detection time is 10 minutes, and the sample to result time (from RNA extraction in swab to RT-LAMP detection time) will be less than 2 hours.
3. A total of 30 samples can be tested in a single batch in a single machine allowing a large number of samples to be tested each day.

What is Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)?

It is a technique for the amplification of RNA. It is used in the detection of viruses. 

In this method, a DNA copy of the viral RNA is generated by reverse transcriptase, and then isothermal amplification is carried out to increase the amount of total DNA.

How India will tackle its water woes amid ‘wash your hands’ directive?

Why in News?

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) issued an advisory to state governments asking them to ensure safe drinking water supply and management during the nationwide lockdown that has been extended to May 3.

States have also been asked to send field test kits to villages to conduct periodic testing of water resources, and ensure round the clock vigils to ensure supply.

Why?

Frequent washing of hands with frothing soaps is recognized as the most efficient and effective measure in the listed preventive measures for controlling the spread of the virus.

Why ensuring uninterrupted water supply would be a challenge for many states in India?

Lack of access to clean water itself is an ongoing challenge that the country has been facing for several years.

The average annual per capita water availability fell from 1820 cubic meters assessed in 2001 to to 1545 cubic meters in 2011, and could reduce further to 1341 and 1140 in the years 2025 and 2050 respectively.

Due to high temporal and spatial variation of precipitation, the water availability of many region of the country is much below the national average and can be considered as water stressed/water scarce.

In a 2018 report, the water and sanitation advocacy group WaterAid ranked India at the top of 10 countries with lowest access to clean water close to home, with 16.3 crore people not having such access.

What are water stressed and water scarce conditions?

• Annual per-capita water availability of less than 1700 cubic meters is considered as water stressed condition.
• Annual per- capita water availability below 1000 cubic meters is considered as a water scarcity condition.

What are the challenges?

• Falling groundwater levels and frequent droughts.
• Increased demand from agriculture and industry.
• Pollution and poor water resource management.
• Challenges that will intensify as climate change contributes to more extreme weather shocks.
• As most of the rivers in the country are inter-State, the regulation and development of waters of these rivers, is a source of inter-State differences and disputes.

Water in the Constitution:

Under Article 246, the Indian Constitution allocates responsibilities of the States and the Centre into three lists– Union List, State List, and Concurrent List.

Water is under Entry 17 of the State List, which reads: “Water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power subject to the provisions of entry 56 of List I.”

Steps need to be taken to ensure a more useful and productive discourse about water governance challenges:

1. Reconsider the institutional processes for dissemination of knowledge about water resource management.
2. Ensure an adequate access to quality water, more so in urban areas where inequities over space and time are acute.
3. The urban needs, which underpin much reporting on ‘water crises’, need to be met by robust long-term planning and preparation for droughts and other contingencies.
4. Cities need to stop the destruction of local water bodies and local tree cover, treat its sewage properly, harvest rainwater, and stop straightening and concretizing the rivers and encroaching on their floodplain.
5. There is an urgent need for coordination among users for aquifers. There should be laws and contracts for sharing of aquifers.
6. There should be a River Basin Authority for sharing information among states as most of the rivers in India pass through different states focusing on conservation.
7. Charging money for efficient use of water (as in case of electricity). For example- Water ATMS at Marathwada provide water @25 paisa per litre a day.
8. Changing the cropping pattern, crop diversification and encouraging water use efficiency in agriculture by moving towards food crops from cash crops.
9. Coordinated efforts among states for management of ground water at a localized level.
10. Encouraging rain water harvesting, check dams.

Lithium rich red giants

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science &Technology, Govt. of India, have discovered hundreds of Li-rich giant stars.

They have also associated such Li enhancement with central He-burning stars👀, also known as red clump giants, thereby opening up new vistas in the evolution of the red giant stars.

Implications:

This discovery indicates that Li is being produced in the stars and accounts for its abundance in the interstellar medium.

Identifying sources of Li enrichment in our Galaxy has been a great interest to researchers to validate Big Bang Nucleosynthesis as well as a stellar mixing process👀. 

Background:

Lithium (Li), is one of the three primordial elements, apart from Hydrogen and Helium (He), produced in the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN).

Li in stars:

Stars are proposed as likely Li source in the Galaxy. In general, stars are considered as Li sinks. This means that the original Li, with which stars are born, only gets depleted over stars’ life-time as Li burns at relatively very low temperatures of about 2.5X106 K – a range which is easily encountered in stars.

What is the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN)?

The Big Bang Nucleosynthesis theory predicts that roughly 25% the mass of the Universe consists of Helium. It also predicts about 0.01% deuterium, and even smaller quantities of lithium.

It is the production of nuclei other than those of the lightest isotope of hydrogen during the early phases of the Universe. Primordial nucleosynthesis is believed by most cosmologists to have taken place in the interval from roughly 10 seconds to 20 minutes after the Big Bang👀.

TriboE masks and triboelectricity

A team of researchers at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bangalore, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have come up with a recipe for making face masks, termed as TriboE Mask, that can hold electric charges to restrict the entry of infections but interestingly, without any external power.

How they operate or work?

It relies on electrostatics. When two non-conducting layers are rubbed against each other, the layers develop positive and negative charges instantly and continue to hold the charges for some time. This electric field, quite strong at proximity, is used to deactivate or possibly even kill the germs.

Key features of these masks:

1. The mask is three-layered –a layer of nylon cloth sandwiched between polypropylene layers, the latter sourced from commonly used non woven grocery bags.
2. In place of nylon, silk fabric from an old saree or shawl may also be cut and used.
3. When layers are rubbed against each other, the outer layers develop negative charges, while nylon will hold the positive charges.
4. This will act as double electric wall protection against the infectious entities crossing.
5. As the mask is made out of commonly available fabrics, it can be washed just like any other cloth and can be reused.

What is triboelectric effects?

Also known as triboelectric charging, it is a type of contact electrification on which certain materials become electrically charged after they are separated from a different material with which they were in contact.

Rubbing the two materials each with the other increases the contact between their surfaces, and hence the triboelectric effect.

Examples:

A very familiar example could be the rubbing of a plastic pen on a sleeve of almost any typical material like cotton, wool, polyester, or blended fabric used in modern clothing. Such an electrified pen would readily attract and pick up pieces of paper less than a square centimeter when the pen approaches. Also, such a pen will repel a similarly electrified pen.

Islamophobia and IOC

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has criticised India for what it called “growing Islamophobia”.

IOC said, Muslim minorities are being “negatively profiled,” facing “discrimination and violence” amidst the COVID-19 crisis in India.

What has the IOC said?

It has urged the Indian Govt to take urgent steps to stop the growing tide of Islamophobia in India and protect the rights of its persecuted Muslim minority as per its obligations under international Human Rights law.

What’s the issue?

A religious gathering of muslims (Tablighi Jamaat) was held in Delhi in March. The event was linked to many of the Covid-19 positive cases in India. After this most sections of the media, people on social media blamed the Tablighi jamaat and muslims for deliberately spreading the Covid-19 in India.

About the OIC:

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states.

It is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.

The organisation states that it is “the collective voice of the Muslim world” and works to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony “.

The OIC has permanent delegations to the United Nations and the European Union.

Permanent Secretariat is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Government amends the extant FDI policy

The Government has amended certain sections of the FDI policy for curbing opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

While India shares a land border with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Afghanistan, the move appears directed mostly at China.

The changes introduced:

1. All FDI proposals from countries sharing border with India will be under the government approval route.
2. The so-called automatic route, under which the central bank simply had to be informed after money was invested, has been blocked in such cases.
3. Companies whose beneficial ownership also lies in such countries will have to undergo government scrutiny for any change in foreign holding.

Need for these measures:

• Many Indian businesses have come to a halt due to the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently their valuations have plummeted.
• Many such domestic firms may be vulnerable to opportunistic takeovers or acquisitions from foreign players.
• Recently, People’s Bank of China made a portfolio investment through the stock market into the housing finance company HDFC and now holds a 1.01% stake in the company.

How was the FDI policy for neighbours so far?

1. A non-resident entity can invest in India, subject to the FDI Policy except in those sectors/activities which are prohibited.
2. However, a citizen of Bangladesh or an entity incorporated in Bangladesh can invest only under the Government route.
3. Further, a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan can invest, only under the Government route, in sectors/activities other than defence, space, atomic energy and sectors/activities prohibited for foreign investment.

Concerns and unintended impacts:

1. The amended policy makes every type of investment by Chinese investors subject to government approval👀. Such a blanket application could create unintended problems.
2. It does not distinguish between Greenfield and Brownfield investments👀. It may pose obstacles to Greenfield investments where Chinese investors bring fresh capital to establish new factories and generate employment in India.
3. The new policy does not distinguish between the different types of investors, such as industry players, financial institutions, or venture capital funds. The restrictions on Venture capital funds may impact the prospects of many start-ups in the Indian market.

Chinese investment In India:

• China’s footprint in the Indian business space has been expanding rapidly, especially since 2014.
• The Chinese investment in India in 2014 stood at $1.6 billion. This involved mostly investment from Chinese state-owned players in the infrastructure space in India.
• By 2017, the total investment had increased five-fold to at least $8 billion accompanied by a marked shift from a state-driven to market-driven approach.
• Total current and planned Chinese investment in India has crossed $26 billion in March 2020.

Types of human coronaviruses

What are coronaviruses?

Coronaviruses are a large family of single-stranded RNA viruses that cause diseases in animals and humans.

• Broadly, coronaviruses (CoV) are the largest group of viruses that belong to the Nidovirales order👀, which includes Coronaviridae among three others.
• Coronavirinae are one of the two subfamilies of Coronaviridea, with the other being Torovirinae.
• Coronavirinae can be further subdivided into alpha, beta, gamma and delta coronaviruses.

These viruses are named so because of spikes found on their surface that give them the appearance of a crown when looked through an electron microscope.

The first coronavirus was isolated in 1937 and it was the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV)👀 that caused respiratory disease in chickens.

Coronaviruses which affect humans:

While there are hundreds of coronaviruses that cause diseases in animals such as pigs, camels, bats and cats, till date seven different types of coronaviruses have been identified that infect humans.

In the last two decades, more aggressive coronaviruses have emerged that are capable of causing serious illness and even death in humans. These include SARS-CoV, MERS and now SARS-CoV-2.

In 1965, scientists DJ Tyrrell and ML Bynoe were the first ones to identify a human coronavirus, which they isolated from the nasal washing of a male child who had symptoms of common cold. They termed the strain B814 and later in 1968 the term “coronavirus” was accepted.

Seven types that infect humans: Includes Two alpha coronaviruses (229E and NL63) and four beta coronaviruses (OC43, HKU1, MERS and SARS-CoV).

The sources:

Coronaviruses from all four categories can be found in mammals. But, bat coronaviruses are the likely gene source of alpha and beta coronaviruses, while avian coronaviruses are the probable gene sources of gamma and delta coronaviruses.

When the human coronaviruses were first identified?

229E: Discovered in 1967.

NL63 and HKU1: First identified in the Netherlands in 2004.

SARS-CoV: 2003 in China.

MERS: 2012 in Saudi Arabia (transmitted by dromedary camels).

SARS-CoV-2: 2019 in Wuhan (source not yet known, possibly bats).

Artificial Neural Networks based global Ionospheric Model (ANNIM)

Researchers from Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Navi Mumbai, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, have developed a global model to predict the ionospheric electron density with larger data coverage—a crucial need for communication and navigation.

The model- Artificial Neural Networks based global Ionospheric Model (ANNIM)– has been developed using long-term ionospheric observations to predict the ionospheric electron density and the peak parameters.

How it works?

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) replicate the processes in the human brain (or biological neurons) to solve problems such as pattern recognition, classification, clustering, generalization, linear and nonlinear data fitting, and time series prediction.

The target (output) of ANNs is the electron density as a function of altitude for any given location and time.

 Potential:

1. ANNIM has successfully reproduced large scale anomalies👀 of the ionosphere.
2. It also captured the general morphological features of the ionosphere during disturbed space weather periods, such as geomagnetic storms which occurs when the magnetic cloud originated from Sun (known as Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)) interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere.
3. The model may be utilized as a reference model in the ionospheric predictions and has potential applications in calculating the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning errors.

 Significance of the model and the need for data on this:

• The ionospheric variability is greatly influenced by both solar originated processes and the neutral atmosphere origin, and therefore, difficult to model.
• Scientists have tried to model the ionosphere using theoretical and empirical techniques; however, the accurate prediction of electron density is still a challenging task.
• Tracking the variability of the Ionosphere is important for communication and navigation.

What Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)?

The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be meeting five times in FY21, against seven in FY20.

Usually, the MPC meets six times a year. But, in FY20, it had an extra meeting in view of the pandemic and the urgent need to assess the current and evolving macroeconomic situation.

About MPC:

The RBI has a government-constituted Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which is tasked with framing monetary policy using tools like the repo rate, reverse repo rate, bank rate, cash reserve ratio (CRR).

It has been instituted by the Central Government of India under Section 45ZB of the RBI Act that was amended in 1934.

Functions:

The MPC is entrusted with the responsibility of deciding the different policy rates including MSF, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, and Liquidity Adjustment Facility.

Composition of MPC:

• The committee will have six members👀. Of the six members, the government will nominate three. No government official will be nominated to the MPC.
• The other three members would be from the RBI with the governor being the ex-officio chairperson. Deputy governor of RBI in charge of the monetary policy will be a member, as also an executive director of the central bank.

Selection and term of members:

Selection: The government nominees to the MPC will be selected by a Search-cum-Selection Committee under Cabinet Secretary with RBI Governor and Economic Affairs Secretary and three experts in the field of economics or banking or finance or monetary policy as its members.

Term: Members of the MPC will be appointed for a period of four years and shall not be eligible for reappointment.

How decisions are made?

Decisions will be taken by majority vote with each member having a vote.

RBI governor’s role: The RBI Governor will chair the committee. The governor, however, will not enjoy a veto power to overrule the other panel members, but will have a casting vote in case of a tie.

What is RBI Monetary Policy?
The term ‘Monetary Policy’ is the Reserve Bank of India’s policy pertaining to the deployment of monetary resources under its control for the purpose of achieving GDP growth and lowering the inflation rate.

The Reserve Bank of India Act 1934👀 empowers the RBI to make the monetary policy.

What the Monetary Policy intends to achieve?
As per the suggestions made by Chakravarty Committee, aspects such as price stability, economic growth, equity, social justice, and encouraging the growth of new financial enterprises are some crucial roles connected to the monetary policy of India.

• While the Government of India tries to accelerate the GDP growth rate of India, the RBI keeps trying to bring down the rate of inflation within a sustainable limit.
• In order to achieve its main objectives, the Monetary Policy Committee determines the ideal policy interest rate that will help achieve the inflation target in front of the country.

Monetary Policy Instruments and how they are managed?

Monetary policy instruments are of two types namely qualitative instruments and quantitative instruments.

The list of quantitative instruments includes Open Market Operations, Bank Rate, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, Cash Reserve Ratio, Statutory Liquidity Ratio, Marginal standing facility and Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF).

Qualitative Instruments refer to direct action, change in the margin money and moral suasion.

COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility

Given the magnitude of the challenge presented by the COVID-19 crisis, IFAD has launched a multi-donor COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF). 

Key facts:

1. The RPSF is a short-term strategy that feeds into IFAD’s longer-term development objectives.
2. IFAD will initiate the Facility with US$40 million of seed funding from grant resources and expects to mobilize at least US$200 million from Member States and other donors to scale up support.
3. The Facility will leverage the UN Secretary-General’s Response and Recovery Fund and the work of other multilateral partners to achieve food security for the millions of poor rural people in the most remote and vulnerable communities.

Objectives:

• It aims to improve the food security and resilience of poor rural people by supporting production, market access and employment.
• The ultimate goal of the RPSF is to accelerate the recovery of poor and vulnerable rural people from the COVID-19 crisis.

Significance of this facility:

This initiative aligns with the UN socio-economic response framework and complements IFAD’s broader COVID-19 response efforts.

It seeks to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the context of the crisis by ensuring timely access to inputs, information, markets and liquidity.

The planned interventions fall into four main categories:

1. Providing inputs and basic assets for production of crops, livestock and fisheries.
2. Facilitating access to markets to support small-scale farmers in selling their products in conditions where market functions are restricted.
3. Targeting funds for rural financial services to ensure sufficient liquidity and to ease repayment requirements so as to maintain services, markets and jobs.
4. Promoting the use of digital services to deliver key information on production, weather, finance and markets.

Eligibility:

• All IFAD-supported country programmes that are at risk of not achieving their development outcomes due to COVID-19 are eligible to receive funding from the RPSF.
• Preference will be given to countries with low institutional and financial capacity to respond to the crisis.

Ceiling amounts for countries and projects will be determined by the total amount of financing available.

New Development Bank

Finance Minister of India recently attended the 5th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank through video-conference.

About the New Development Bank:

It is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The New Development Bank was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 5th BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa in 2013.

It was established in 2014, at the 6th BRICS Summit at Fortaleza, Brazil.

The bank is set up to foster greater financial and development cooperation among the five emerging markets.

In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthen cooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global development.

The bank will be headquartered in Shanghai, China.

Unlike the World Bank, which assigns votes based on capital share, in the New Development Bank each participant country will be assigned one vote, and none of the countries will have veto power.

 Roles and functions:

The New Development Bank will mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, to supplement existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development.

Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan

Amid the lockdown for the coronavirus outbreak, Gujarat government has given its the green signal for the third edition ”Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan’‘, a conservation plan to deepen water bodies in the state before monsoon.

The scheme, which will continue till June 10, will see the deepening of lakes, check dams and rivers by removing silt, and it will be done with people”s participation as well as under MNREGA.

Background:

The scheme was started in 2018 after a weak monsoon, and till date, the state”s water storage capacity has increased by 23,000 lakh cubic feet due to deepening pf lakes, check-dams, rivers and reservoirs.

About Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan:

• Launched in 2018, the scheme aims to deepen water bodies in the state to increase storage of rainwater to be used during times of scarcity.
• It involves cleaning and desilting of riverfronts, sprucing up of Irrigation canals. It also involves deepening of lakes, tanks and reservoirs.
• The drive runs on a Public Private Partnership mode and contribution from the government shall remain 60% of the expenditure of the work while 40% share will be from people’s contribution.

What is Benchmark crude?

It is a crude oil that serves as a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil.

There are three primary benchmarks, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Blend, and Dubai Crude.

Other well-known blends include the OPEC Reference Basket used by OPEC, Tapis Crude which is traded in Singapore, Bonny Light used in Nigeria, Urals oil used in Russia and Mexico’s Isthmus.

The World Press Freedom Index 2020

The World Press Freedom Index 2020 has been released by the media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.

 Norway ranks first for the fourth consecutive year and Finland and Denmark in second and third place.

 Impact of Coronavirus pandemic:

1. The coronavirus pandemic may threaten press freedom and worsen the crises that reporters around the world are facing.
2. The pandemic has already redefined norms. The pandemic has allowed governments to take advantage of the fact that politics are on hold, the public is stunned and protests are out of the question, in order to impose measures that would be impossible in normal times.
3. United States and Brazil were becoming models of hostility toward the news media.
4. China, Iran and Iraq are criticised for censoring coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.

 India’s performance:

1. India has dropped two places to be ranked 142^nd.
2. With no murders of journalists in India in 2019, as against six in 2018, the security situation for the country’s media might seem, on the face of it, to have improved.

About World Press Freedom Index:

1. Published annually by Reporters Without Borders since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of media freedom in 180 countries.
2. It is based on an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists.
3. It also includes indicators of the level of media freedom violations in each region.
4. It is compiled by means of a questionnaire in 20 languages that is completed by experts all over the world. This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated.

Khudai Khidmatgars

Its 90 years for Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre.

• The massacre was perpetrated by British soldiers against non-violent protesters of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement on April 23, 1930.

Who were the Khudai Khidmatgars?

The Khudai Khidmatgar was a non-violent movement against British occupation of the Indian subcontinent.

• It was led by Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun freedom fighter, in the North-West Frontier Province.
• Over time, the movement acquired a more political colour, leading to the British taking notice of its growing prominence in the region.
• Following the arrest of Khan and other leaders in 1929, the movement formally joined the Indian National Congress after they failed to receive support from the All-India Muslim League.
• Members of the Khudai Khidmatgar were organised and the men stood out because of the bright red shirts they wore as uniforms, while the women wore black garments.

Why did the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre happen?

• Abdul Ghaffar Khan and other leaders of the Khudai Khidmatgar were arrested on April 23, 1930 by British police after he gave a speech at a gathering in the town of Utmanzai in the North-West Frontier Province.
• Khan’s arrest spurred protests in neighbouring towns, including Peshawar.
• Protests spilled into the Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar on the day of Khan’s arrest.
• British soldiers entered the market area to disperse crowds that had refused to leave. In response, British army vehicles drove into the crowds, killing several protesters and bystanders.

What was the aftermath of the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre?

1. The British ramped up the crackdown on Khudai Khidmatgar leaders and members following the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre.
2. In response, the movement began involving young women in its struggle against the British, a decision in line with tactics adopted by revolutionaries across the undivided India. Women were able to move undetected with more ease than men.
3. According to accounts by Khudai Khidmatgar activists, the British subjected members of the movement to harassment, abuse and coercive tactics adopted elsewhere in the subcontinent. This included physical violence and religious persecution. Following the recruitment of women in the movement, the British also engaged in violence, brutality and abuse of women members.

In August 1931, the Khudai Khidmatgar aligned themselves with the Congress party, forcing the British to reduce the violence they were perpetrated on the movement.

Post Independence:

The Khudai Khidmatgar opposed Partition, a stance that many interpreted as the movement not being in favour of the creation of the independent nation of Pakistan. Post 1947, the Khudai Khidmatgar slowly found their political influence decreasing to such an extent that the movement and the massacre 90 years ago in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar has been wiped out from collective memory.

Article 164(4) of the Indian Constitution

What’s the issue?

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray may end up losing his seat if he is not elected to the Legislative Council of the state before May 24^th.

• He took the oath of his office on November 28, 2019 without being a member of either the State legislature or council.
• But, he will have to get elected to either of the houses of the state legislature before May 24, as Article 164(4) of the Constitution stipulates.
• However, the Election Commission has already postponed Rajya Sabha polls, byelections and civic body elections in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic.

What does the Constitution say?

Article 164 of the Constitution allows a non-legislator to occupy a post in the council of ministers, including the office of the chief minister for six months.

What’s the alternative available now?

Article 171 of the Constitution says the governor can nominate eminent persons from the field for literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.

Uddahv Thackeray does not directly fit into any of the criteria mentioned but social service has a wider scope. And, if governor nominates somebody to the legislative council, his/her decision cannot be challenged in the court, at least as of the precedent right now.

The Maharashtra legislative council has two vacancies to be filled by governor’s nominations.

Then, what is the problem now?

There are some legal hurdles.

Section 151A of Representation of the People Act 1951 puts a bar on the governor’s discretionary power to nominate a person to the legislative council.

It says election or nomination to vacant seats in the legislative council cannot be done “if the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is less than one year”.

The tenure of the two vacancies that arose on the account of resignations by members recently ends in June. So, the remainder of the term is less than a year.

So, what next?

Uddhav Thackeray cannot continue unless elected to any of the houses of Maharashtra legislature after May 28.

Technically, he can be reappointed as the Maharashtra chief minister again after he resigns on May 27 or 28 and takes oath afresh.

But, if Uddhav decides to resign and takes oath afresh, there could be another obstacle. This relates to a case in Punjab, where Tej Parkash Singh of the Congress was appointed a minister in 1995 and was reappointed at the expiry of six months’ period in 1996 without getting elected to state assembly.

Litigation followed. And, in 2001, the Supreme Court declared the resign-and-reappoint bid as “improper, undemocratic, invalid and unconstitutional”.

This judgment did not have a bearing on Tej Parkash Singh but may come in the way of Uddav Thackeray if he takes the same route.

 Classical Swine Fever.

More than 1,300 pigs have died across five districts of eastern Assam of classical swine fever.

What is Classical Swine Fever (CSF)?

Hog Cholera or Classical swine fever (CSF) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild swine.

• It happens due to the viruses that bring viral diarrhea in pigs and ailments in sheep.
• The disease does not harm humans but all-important precautions are advised to follow.

Concerns for India:

• Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is one of the biggest pigs’ diseases in India. It causes a loss of about 400 crores of rupees per year in India. This has led to a decrease in the population of pigs in 2019.
• India currently requires 22 million doses of the CSF (Classical Swine Fever) vaccine every year. However, currently, only 1.2 million doses are being produced. The reason behind its less production is that only 50 doses can be prepared from the spleen of a rabbit.

About Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan:

The Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan (KKA) is being implemented in 112 Aspirational districts of the country.

About Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan:

Launched in 2018 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. 

Aim: to aid, assist and advise farmers to improve their farming techniques and increase their incomes.

Implementation:

1. Krishi kalyan Abhiyaan will be undertaken in 25 Villages with more than 1000 population each in Aspirational Districts identified in consultation with Ministry of Rural Development as per directions of NITI Ayog.
2. In districts where number of villages (with more than 1000 population) is less than 25, all villages will be covered.
3. The overall coordination and implementation in the 25 villages of a district is being done by Krishi Vigyan Kendra of that district.

Various activities to promote best practices and enhance agriculture income are being undertaken under this plan such as:

1. Distribution of Soil Health Cards to all farmers
2. 100% coverage of bovine vaccination for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in each village
3. 100% coverage of Sheep and Goat for eradication of Peste des Petits ruminants (PPR) also known as sheep and goat plague
4. Distribution of Mini Kits of pulses and oilseeds to all
5. Distribution of Horticulture/Agro Forestry/Bamboo plant @ 5 per family(location appropriate)
6. Making 100 NADAP Pits in each village
7. Artificial insemination saturation
8. Demonstration programmes on Micro- irrigation
9. Demonstrations of integrated cropping practice

Reverse Vaccinology

Researchers from Tamil Nadu have developed a vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 through ‘reverse vaccinology’.

Previously, Reverse vaccinology has been used for developing vaccinations for meningococcal and staphylococcal infections.

 What is reverse vaccinology?

1. Reverse vaccinology defines the process of antigen discovery starting from genome information.
2. This is done with the aid of computers without culturing microorganism.
3. The process includes comparative in silico analyses of multiple genome sequences in order to identify conserved antigens within a heterogeneous pathogen population and identification of antigens that are unique to pathogenic isolates but not present in commensal strains.
4. In addition, transcriptomic and proteomic data sets are integrated into a selection process that yields a short list of candidate antigens to be tested in animal models, thus reducing the costs and time of downstream analyses.

Pros:

Finding vaccine targets quickly and efficiently.

Cons:

Only proteins can be targeted using this process. Whereas, conventional vaccinology approaches can find other biomolecular targets such as polysaccharides.

Operation Twist

The Reserve bank of India has decided to bring back its bond swapping programmed billed as India’s Operation Twist with an aim to help monetary transmission.

The RBI said that it will conduct purchase and sale of government securities under open market operations (OMO) for Rs10,000 crore each on 27 April.

What is ‘Operation Twist’?

‘Operation Twist’ is RBI’s simultaneous selling of short-term securities and buying of long term securities through open market operations (OMO). Under this mechanism, the short-term securities are transitioned into long-term securities.

How does RBI manage ‘Operation Twist’?

1. This operation involves buying and selling government securities simultaneously in order to bring down long-term interest rates and bolster short-term rates.
2. There is an inverse relationship between the bond prices and their yields. As the central bank buys long-term securities (bonds), their demand rise which in turn pushes up their prices.
3. However, the bond yield comes down with an increase in prices. Yield is the return an investor gets on his (bond) holding/investment.
4. The interest rate in an economy is determined by yield. Thus, lower long-term interest rates mean people can avail long-term loans (such as buying houses, cars or financing projects) at lower rates.
5. This also results in a dip in the expected returns from long-term savings which tilts the balance from saving towards spending. Hence, cheaper retail loans can help encourage consumption spending which is the largest GDP component in the economy.

How does it affect investors?

• Fixed income investors with higher exposure to long term debt will benefit from easing yield of long-term bonds.
• Consumers/borrowers will also profit from ‘Operation Twist’ as the retail loans will now get cheaper.
• Previously banks were forced to price their retail loans at higher rates owing to high yields on long-term government borrowings. Cheaper retail loans mean a boost in consumption and spending in the economy which in turn will revive growth.

 What are Open Market Operations?

The RBI manages and controls the liquidity, rupee strength and monetary management through purchase and sale of government securities (G-Secs) in a monetary tool called Open market Operations.

• OMOs are the market operations conducted by the RBI by way of sale and purchase of G-Secs to and from the market with an objective to adjust the rupee liquidity conditions in the market on a durable basis.
• When the RBI feels that there is excess liquidity in the market, it resorts to sale of securities thereby sucking out the rupee liquidity. Similarly, when the liquidity conditions are tight, the RBI may buy securities from the market, thereby releasing liquidity into the market. On Friday, the yield on 10-year benchmark bonds fell by 13 bps to 6.60 per cent, following the RBI announcement.

Swamitva Yojana to boost rural economy

On Panchayati Raj Diwas (April 24^th), the Prime Minister of India launched ‘Swamitva Yojana’ or Ownership Scheme to map residential land ownership in the rural sector using modern technology like the use of drones.

The scheme aims to revolutionise property record maintenance in India.

Overview and key features of the ‘Swamitva Yojana’:

The scheme is piloted by the Panchayati Raj ministry.

The residential land in villages will be measured using drones to create a non-disputable record👀.

Property card for every property in the village will be prepared by states using accurate measurements delivered by drone-mapping. These cards will be given to property owners and will be recognised by the land revenue records department.

Benefits of the scheme:

• The delivery of property rights through an official document will enable villagers to access bank finance using their property as collateral.
• The property records for a village will also be maintained at the Panchayat level, allowing for the collection of associated taxes from the owners. The money generated from these local taxes will be used to build rural infrastructure and facilities.
• Freeing the residential properties including land of title disputes and the creation of an official record is likely to result in appreciation in the market value of the properties.
• The accurate property records can be used for facilitating tax collection, new building and structure plan, issuing of permits and for thwarting attempts at property grabbing.

Need for and significance of the scheme:

The need for this Yojana was felt since several villagers in the rural areas don’t have papers proving ownership of their land. In most states, survey and measurement of the populated areas in the villages has not been done for the purpose of attestation/verification of properties. The new scheme is likely to become a tool for empowerment and entitlement, reducing social strife on account of discord over properties.

World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day 2020 is being celebrated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 25 with the theme ‘Zero malaria starts with me’.

World Malaria Day was established on April 25 in 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, WHO’s decision-making body.

About Malaria:

Caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans.

Spread: Female Anophelesmosquitoes deposit parasite sporozoites into the skin of a human host.

Four kinds of malaria parasites infect humans:

Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. In addition, P. knowlesi, a type of malaria that naturally infects macaques in Southeast Asia, also infects humans, causing malaria that is transmitted from animal to human (“zoonotic” malaria).

Numbers:

Malaria is a leading cause of human morbidity and mortality. Despite huge progress in tackling the disease, there are still 212 million new cases of malaria and 430,000 malaria-related deaths worldwide each year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Most cases (80%) and deaths (90%) were in sub-Saharan African.

India’s efforts in this regard:

India’s progress in fighting malaria is an outcome of concerted efforts to ensure that its malaria programme is country-owned and country-led, even as it is in alignment with globally accepted strategies.

At the East Asia Summit in 2015, India pledged to eliminate the disease by 2030. Following this public declaration, India launched the five-year National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination. This marked a shift in focus from malaria “control” to “elimination”. The plan provides a roadmap to achieve the target of ending malaria in 571 districts out of India’s 678 districts by 2022.

Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran (DAMaN) initiative:

• Among states, Odisha’s Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran (DAMaN)initiative is significant.
• The initiative aims to deliver services to the most inaccessible and hardest hit people of the State. The initiative has in-built innovative strategies to combat asymptomatic malaria.
• The programme is jointly implemented by Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Odisha and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

Ambubachi Mela

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual Ambubachi Mela of Assam has been cancelled this year.

About Ambubachi Mela:

• The festival symbolises the fertility cult of goddess Kamakhya.
• There is no idol in the temple, the goddess is worshipped in the form of a yoni-like stone over which a natural spring flows.
• Also known as Siddha Kubjika, the goddess is a Hindu tantric goddess of desire who evolved in the Himalayan hills. She is also identified as Kali and Maha Tripura.
• The festival is also known as ‘Mahakumbh of the East’ as it draws lakhs of devotees from all over the world.

Social significance of the festival:

The ritualistic fair celebrating the goddess’ period is one of the reasons why the taboo associated with menstruation is less in Assam compared with other parts of India. The attainment of womanhood of girls in Assam is celebrated with a ritual called ‘Tuloni Biya’, meaning small wedding. Ambubachi Mela serves as an occasion to promote awareness on menstrual hygiene.

Facts for Prelims:

Kamakhya, atop Nilachal Hills in Guwahati, is one of 51 shaktipeeths or seat of Shakti followers, each representing a body part of the Sati, Lord Shiva’s companion.

Basic structure and the Kesavananda Bharati case

Context: Exactly forty-seven years ago, on April 24, 1973, Chief Justice Sikri and 12 judges of the Supreme Court assembled to deliver the most important judgment in its history. The case of Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala had been heard for 68 days, the arguments commencing on October 31, 1972, and ending on March 23, 1973.

By a 7-6 verdict, a 13-judge Constitution Bench ruled that the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution is inviolable, and could not be amended by Parliament. The basic structure doctrine has since been regarded as a tenet of Indian constitutional law.

 Background of the case:
All this effort was to answer just one main question: was the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution unlimited? In other words, could Parliament alter, amend, abrogate any part of the Constitution even to the extent of taking away all fundamental rights?

• In the early 1970s, the government of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had enacted major amendments to the Constitution (the 24th, 25th, 26th and 29th) to get over the judgments of the Supreme Court in RC Cooper (1970), Madhavrao Scindia (1970) and the earlier mentioned Golaknath.
• In RC Cooper, the court had struck down Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalisation policy, and in Madhavrao Scindia it had annulled the abolition of privy purses of former rulers.
• All the four amendments, as well as the Golaknath judgment, came under challenge in the Kesavananda Bharati case– where relief was sought by the religious figure Swami Kesavananda Bharati against the Kerala government vis-à-vis two state land reform laws.

What constitutes the basic structure?

The Constitutional Bench ruled by a 7-6 verdict that Parliament should be restrained from altering the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.

The court held that under Article 368, which provides Parliament amending powers, something must remain of the original Constitution that the new amendment would change.

The court did not define the ‘basic structure’, and only listed a few principles — federalism, secularism, democracy — as being its part. Since then, the court has been adding new features to this concept.

‘Basic structure’ since Kesavananda:

The ‘basic structure’ doctrine has since been interpreted to include the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign democratic republic, the parliamentary system of government, the principle of free and fair elections, welfare state, etc.

What do critics say?

Critics of the doctrine have called it undemocratic, since unelected judges can strike down a constitutional amendment.

At the same time, its proponents have hailed the concept as a safety valve against majoritarianism and authoritarianism.

Outcomes and implications of the judgment:

If the majority of the Supreme Court had held (as six judges indeed did) that Parliament could alter any part of the Constitution, India would most certainly have degenerated into a totalitarian State or had one-party rule.

At any rate, the Constitution would have lost its supremacy.

• The 39th Amendment prohibited any challenge to the election of the President, Vice-President, Speaker and Prime Minister, irrespective of the electoral malpractice. This was a clear attempt to nullify the adverse Allahabad High Court ruling against Indira Gandhi.
• The 41st Amendmentprohibited any case, civil or criminal, being filed against the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister or the Governors, not only during their term of office but forever. Thus, if a person was a governor for just one day, he acquired immunity from any legal proceedings for life.

If Parliament were indeed supreme, these shocking amendments would have become part of the Constitution.

Ozone Hole

Largest Ozone Hole Ever Recorded over North Pole Has Now ‘Healed Itself’ and Closed. This was announced by Scientists who were tracking the hole at Copernicus’ Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS).

The ozone hole became the largest one ever recorded in the Arctic region spanning an area of over 620,000 square miles (or 997793.28 kms). It was formed due to unusual climatic conditions.

What caused a hole in the ozone layer?

The cause of the formation of the hole is attributed to the unusual weather at the poles.

The polar vortex has been recorded to be extremely powerful, and temperatures inside it have been very cold.

The unique cocktail of the powerful vortex and low temperatures generates Stratospheric clouds that react with CFCs and destroy the Ozone layer in the process.

Factors responsible for healing:

According to the scientists the closure of the hole is not due to the reduced pollution levels due to COVID-19 lock down.

The closing was because of a phenomenon called the polar vortex.

Ozone and its significance:

The ozone layer is one of the most vital atmospheric components of our planet.

It is responsible for protecting life on Earth from the harmful UV radiation from the Sun.

It is found mainly in the upper atmosphere, an area called the stratosphere, between 10 and 50 km from the earth’s surface.

The lack of the Ozone layer can have severe implications for people living directly under it. The most prominent effects are Skin Cancer and other possibly fatal skin diseases.

What exactly is a polar vortex?

It is described as a whirling cone of low pressure over the poles that is strongest in the winter months due to the increased temperature contrast between the polar regions and the mid-latitudes, such as the US and Europe.

Features:

• The polar vortex spins in the stratosphere.
• Usually, when the vortex is strongest, cold air is less-likely to plunge deep into North America or Europe. In other words, it forms a wall that protects the mid-latitudes from cold Arctic air.
• But occasionally, the polar vortex is disrupted and weakens, due to wave energy propagating upward from the lower atmosphere. When this happens, the stratosphere warms sharply in an event known as sudden stratospheric warming, in just a few days, miles above the Earth’s surface.
• The warming weakens the polar vortex, shifting its location somewhat south of the pole or, in some instances, ‘splitting’ the vortex up into ‘sister vortices’.

Effects of Polar Vortex:

The split higher up in the atmosphere can give rise to both, sudden and delayed effects, much of which involves declining temperatures and extreme winter weather in the eastern US along with northern and western Europe.

A sudden stratospheric warming also leads to a warm Arctic not only in the stratosphere but also in the troposphere as well.

A warmer Arctic, in turn, favours more severe winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes including the eastern US.

Who are Chakmas and Hajongs?

Human rights body – Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) – has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention alleging that the Chakmas and Hajongs in Arunachal Pradesh are facing hunger and starvation as they were not included in the government’s economic package.

What’s the issue?

The state government announced the economic package for vulnerable sections in these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, among others, to provide 5 kg rice and 1 kg pulses per head to beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Yojana.

• But, Chakmas and Hajongs do not have ration cards as the state government had seized those through an order on October 25, 1991. Hence, the two communities have been forced to buy rice at a higher price.
• About 33% or 22,000 of the 65,875 Chakmas and Hajongs are children. Hunger and starvation have engulfed them because of the violation of the right to food during the pandemic.
• And, the denial of food is being seen as a violation of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Who are they?

Chakmas and Hajongs were originally residents of Chittagong Hill Tracts in the erstwhile East Pakistan. They left their homeland when it was submerged by the Kaptai dam project in the 1960s.

The Chakmas, who are Buddhists, and the Hajongs, who are Hindus, also allegedly faced religious persecution and entered India through the then Lushai Hills district of Assam (now Mizoram). The Centre moved the majority of them to the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), which is now Arunachal Pradesh.

Their numbers have gone up from about 5,000 in 1964-69 to one lakh. At present, they don’t have citizenship and land rights but are provided basic amenities by the state government.

The report on Trends in World Military Expenditure

Context: The report on Trends in World Military Expenditure was recently released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

Key findings:

India specific:

1. Top three biggest military spenders in the world last year: The United States, China and India.
2. This is the first time that India and China have featured among the top three military spenders.
3. New Delhi’s defence spending grew 6.8% to reach $71.1 billion in 2019.
4. India’s military expenditure grew 259% over the 30-year period (1990-2019) and by 37% over the decade (2010–19).
5. However, its (India’s) military burden fell from 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 to 2.4% in 2019.
6. India’s military spending has grown significantly over the past decade due to a raft of reasons including a mounting salary bill for about 1.4 million serving personnel, pensions for more than two million veterans and deals worth billions of dollars to induct new combat jets, air defence missile systems, helicopters, warships and artillery guns to enhance capabilities.

Global scenario:

1. According to the report, global military expenditure stood at around $1,917 billion in 2019 – the highest in over three decades.
2. This represents an increase of 3.6% over the global defence spending in 2018 and the largest annual growth in military expenditure since 2010.
3. The five top spenders in 2019 accounted for 62% of the global expenditure.
4. The US topped the list of military spenders with $732 billion in 2019 accounting for 38% of the total global defence expenditure. It spent almost as much on its military last year as the next 10 highest spenders combined, the report said.
5. China’s military expenditure has increased continuously since 1994 (for 25 consecutive years). The growth in its military spending has closely matched the country’s economic growth.

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)

Context: A recent report issued by the United States State Department on “Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (Compliance Report)” has raised concerns that China and Russia might be conducting nuclear tests in violation of its Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) undertakings.

However, Russia and China have rejected the U.S.’s claims.

What is CTBT?

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the Treaty banning all nuclear explosions – everywhere, by everyone. The Treaty was negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It opened for signature on 24 September 1996.

The Treaty will enter into force after all 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty will ratify it. These States had nuclear facilities at the time the Treaty was negotiated and adopted.

India, North Korea and Pakistan have not yet signed the Treaty.

What is a “zero yield”?

A comprehensive test ban has been defined as a “zero yield” test ban that would prohibit supercritical hydro-nuclear tests but not sub-critical hydrodynamic nuclear tests.

Why is the CTBT so important?

The CTBT is the last barrier on the way to develop nuclear weapons. It curbs the development of new nuclear weapons and the improvement of existing nuclear weapon designs. The Treaty provides a legally binding norm against nuclear testing. The Treaty also helps prevent human suffering and environmental damages caused by nuclear testing.

First merger of two black holes with unequal masses detected

 Context: The gravitational wave observatories at LIGO scientific collaboration have detected a merger of two unequal-mass black holes. The event has been named as GW190412.

This is the first such observation involving two black holes of unequal masses coalescing.

Significance of the discovery:

This observation once again confirms Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which predicts the existence of higher harmonics, i.e. gravitational waves at two or three times the fundamental frequency.

Difference between binary blckholes of equal masses and unequal masses:

Dominant emission of gravitational waves happens at twice the orbital frequency of the binary blackholes of equal masses and is negligible.

In binary blackholes with unequal masses, the emission happens at a frequency that is three times the orbital frequency.
Also, in the case of the merger of unequal black holes, the spin of the more massive black hole can be determined from the extra features in the signal waveform. 

The spin of the heavier black hole plays a more prominent role in the dynamics of the binary. Hence, it leaves a stronger imprint on the waveform, making it easy to measure

What is a black hole?

A black hole is an object in space that is so dense and has such strong gravity that no matter or light can escape its pull. Because no light can escape, it is black and invisible.

• There’s a boundary at the edge of a black hole called the event horizon, which is the point of no return — any light or matter that crosses that boundary is sucked into the black hole. It would need to travel faster than the speed of light to escape, which is impossible.
• Anything that crosses the event horizon is destined to fall to the very centre of the black hole and be squished into a single point with infinite density, called the singularity.

The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2020)

The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2020) has been released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The centre is a part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Key findings:

Displacements in India:

• Nearly five million people were displaced in India in 2019 — the highest in the world so far.
• The displacements in India were prompted by increased hazard intensity, high population and social and economic vulnerability.
• More than 2.6 million people suffered displacement due to the southwest monsoon. 2019 was the seventh warmest year since 1901 in India; its monsoon was the wettest in 25 years.
• Eight tropical storms hit in the year fuelling further destruction. These include Maha and Bulbul.
• In addition to displacement due to natural disasters, over 19,000 conflicts and violence also prompted the phenomenon.
• Unrests and communal violence triggered displacement in the second half of the year. For example, political and electoral violence, especially in Tripura and West Bengal, led to the displacement of more than 7,600 people.

Global scenario:

1. Globally, around 4 million people faced new internal displacements because of conflicts and disasters in about 145 countries in 2019.
2. Nearly three-quarters of the global displacements, accounting for 24.9 million of the total, were triggered by disasters in 2019. Out of these, about 95 per cent took place due to weather hazards like storms and floods.
3. A majority of conflict displacements took place due to armed conflict; communal violence accounted for significant portion of the global total of 8.5 million displacements.
4. Disaster displacement was recorded in low and high-income countries
5. Most of the disaster displacements were triggered by tropical storms and monsoon rains in South Asia and East Asia and Pacific.
6. Bangladesh, China, India and the Philippines each recorded more than four million displacements in 2019.
7. Conflict continued unabated in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Syria. Violence increased sharply in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
8. Natural disasters in Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen forced many people, already displaced by conflict, to flee for the second time.

Constitutional Provisions regarding Minority Educational Institutions

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has ruled that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to graduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses, does not violate the rights of minorities under the Constitution.

Background:

The ruling came on a bunch of petitions originally filed in 2012 by the Christian Medical College, Vellore and others, challenging the notifications for NEET issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Dental Council of India (DCI).

Petitioners’ arguments:

NEET took away the right of the religious and linguistic minority institutions to administer their business, including the right to admit students from the minority community in terms of their own standards.

Observations made by the Court:

1. Rights of the minority institutions under Articles 19(1)(g) and 30 read with Articles 25, 26 and 29(1) do not come in the way of securing transparency and recognition of merits in matter of admissions.
2. State has the right to frame regulatory regime for aided/ unaided minority/private institutions, as mandated by the Constitution. There cannot be any other examination for admitting students.
3. NEET is a regulatory measure that is in the larger national interest.
4. The regulatory measures in no way interfere with the rights to administer the institution by the religious or linguistic minorities.
5. Besides, regulating academics and imposing reasonable restrictions to ensure educational standards, are in national and public interest.

Constitutional Provisions regarding Minority Educational Institutions:

Article 30(1) recognizes linguistic and religious minorities but not those based on race, ethnicity.

• It recognizes the right of religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions, in effect recognizing the role educational institutions play in preserving distinct culture.
• A majority community can also establish and administer educational institution but they will not enjoy special rights under Article 30(1)(a).

Special rights enjoyed by religious minority institutions are:

1. Under Art 30(1)(a), MEI enjoy right to education as a Fundamental Right. In case the property is taken over by state, due compensation to be provided to establish institutions elsewhere
2. Under Article 15(5), MEIs are not considered for reservation👀
3. Under Right to Education Act, MEI not required to provide admission to children in the age group of 6-14 years upto 25% of enrolment reserved for economically backward section of society
4. In St Stephens vs Delhi University case, 1992, SC ruled that MEIs can have 50% seats reserved for minorities
5. In TMA Pai & others vs State of Karnataka & others 2002 case, SC ruled that MEIs can have separate admission process which is fair, transparent and merit based. They can also separate fee structure but should not charge capitation fee.

What is a multi-system inflammatory state?

Doctors have picked up a slight rise in the number of children of all ages needing intensive care treatment for a condition called “multi-system inflammatory state”.

The rise has happened over the past three weeks in London and elsewhere in the UK.

What is a multi-system inflammatory state?

It’s a severe immune response that can affect the body in multiple ways, most importantly by making the blood vessels leaky, a condition called Kawasaki disease.

This leads to low blood pressure and a build-up of fluid in the lungs and organs.

It is extremely serious. Patients need urgent intensive care to support the heart, lungs and sometimes other organs such as the kidneys.

Are there other symptoms?

The children have overlapping symptoms of toxic shock syndrome (another extreme immune reaction) and unusual Kawasaki disease.

Other symptoms include abdominal pain, gastrointestinal problems and heart inflammation.

Causes:

There is no evidence that the condition is caused by any change in the virus, as that would have shown up in adults first.

But it may be a post-infection inflammatory response triggered by the coronavirus. This has been seen in adults, who tend to be more ill in the second phase of the infection, when the initial lung disease gives way to inflammatory damage.

Is this disease related to Covid-19?

Only some of the children with these symptoms tested positive for Covid-19. Therefore, it remains unclear if and how the inflammatory syndrome is related to the virus.

What is TSS?

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare life-threatening condition caused when certain bacteria enter the body and release harmful toxins. If not treated in time, the condition could be fatal. Symptoms include high temperature, flu-like symptoms including headache, sore throat, cough, diarrhea, dizziness or fainting, difficulty breathing and confusion. Some patients suffering from TSS may need ICU admissions.

What is Kawasaki disease?

Kawasaki disease is an acute inflammatory disease of the blood vessels and usually occurs in children below the age of five.

• The inflammation caused by the disease affects many parts of the body but has a more serious effect on the heart since it causes inflammation in the coronary arteries that are responsible for supplying blood to the heart.
• This results in enlargement or in the formation of aneurysms that can lead to heart attacks. Symptoms include fever, changes in extremities, rashes, redness of the cornea, red and cracked lips, a red tongue and lymph node enlargement of the neck.

Study on China dams brings the Brahmaputra into focus

China’s upstream activities along the Mekong River have long been contentious — but a recent study has sparked fresh scrutiny over its dam-building exercises, reigniting warnings that millions of livelihoods could be destroyed.

The US funded study was carried out by research and consulting firm, Eyes on Earth.

The report was published by the UN-backed Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership, and the Lower Mekong Initiative — a multinational partnership of the U.S. with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Key findings and observations:

• China built its first dam on the upper Mekong in the 1990s and currently runs 11 dams along the river. The country has plans to build more dams, which are used to generate hydropower.
• These dams are holding back large amounts of water upstream on the Mekong, which exacerbated a severe drought in the Southeast Asian countries downstream last year.
• Some of those dams have compounded the alteration of the river’s natural flow, resulting in the Lower Mekong recording some of its lowest river levels ever throughout most of the year.
• China’s dam management is causing erratic and devastating changes in water levels down stream.
• Unexpected dam releases caused rapid rises in river level that have devastated communities downstream, causing millions in damage shocking the river’s ecological processes.

Should India be worried?

India has long expressed concerns over dam-building on the Brahmaptura. In 2015, China operationalised its first hydropower project at Zangmu, while three other dams at Dagu, Jiexu and Jiacha are being developed. Indian officials have said the dams are not likely to impact the quantity of the Brahmaputra’s flows because they are only storing water for power generation. Moreover, the Brahmaputra is not entirely dependent on upstream flows and an estimated 35% of its basin is in India.  But, India does not have a water-sharing agreement with China.

 About Mekong:

The 4,350 kilometer (2,700 mile) Mekong River runs through six countries.

Starting from China — where it is called the Lancang River — it flows past countries like Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, before emptying into the South China Sea via Vietnam.

It is the lifeblood of these Southeast Asian countries and supports the livelihood of nearly 200 million people there who depend largely on farming and fishing.

Annual Special 301 Report.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released its Annual Special 301 Report.

What is Special 301 Report?

• It is prepared annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that identifies trade barriers to United States companies and products due to the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries.
• It is published pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
• The Report includes a list of “Priority Foreign Countries”, that are judged to have inadequate intellectual property laws; these countries may be subject to sanctions.
• In addition, the report contains a “Priority Watch List” and a “Watch List”, containing countries whose intellectual property regimes are deemed of concern.

Observations made about India in the latest report:

• India continues to be on the ‘Priority Watch List’ for lack of adequate intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement.
• While India made “meaningful progress” to enhance IP protection and enforcement in some areas over the past year, it did not resolve recent and long-standing challenges, and created new ones. The same assessment was made in the 2019 report.

What are the unresolved issues as per the report?

1. Innovators being able to receive, maintain and enforce patents particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.
2. Concerns over copyright laws not incentivising the creation and commercialisation of content.
3. An outdated trade secrets framework.
4. Restrictions on transparency of information provided on state-issued pharmaceutical manufacturing licenses
5. Restrictive patentability criteria to reject pharmaceutical patents.
6. Absence of an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use.
7. High customs duties on medical devices and Information and Communications Technology.
8. Weak enforcement by courts and the police, and Lack of familiarity with investigative techniques and no centralised IP enforcement agency.
9. India was ranked among the top five source economies for fake goods by the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) in 2019.
10. Trademark counterfeiting levels were “problematic” and there were “excessive delays” in obtaining trademarks due to a lack of examination quality.
11. The government’s 2019 draft Copyright Amendment Rules, if implemented, would have “ severe” consequences for Internet-content rights holders, as the proposed rules broadened the scope of compulsory licensing from radio and television broadcasting to online broadcasting.

Demands by the USTR:

It has urged India to join the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, a treaty that harmonises trademark registration.

• The treaty was adopted in Singapore on 28 March 2006. It entered into force on 16 March 2009.
• As of July 2016, there are 50 contracting parties to the treaty, which includes 48 states plus the African Intellectual Property Organization and the Benelux Organization for Intellectual Property.
• It includes provisions on the recording of trademark licenses, and establishes maximum requirements for requests for recordal, amendment or cancellation of the recordal of a license etc.
• The Treaty is open to States members of WIPO and to certain intergovernmental organizations.

What about other countries?

Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Venezuela are also on the Priority Watch List.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region is expected to post a 2.7 per cent economic decline in 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19.

This will be the most significant fall since the near-zero growth rate logged in 2009 during the global financial crisis.
The region’s unemployment rate is projected to rise to 5.4 per cent in 2020 from 3.8 per cent in 2019, or an additional 23.5 million workers being unemployed in 2020.

Economic rebound:

An economic rebound is a forecast for 2021, with the anticipated growth of 6.3 per cent, higher than the projected global economic growth of 5.8 per cent.

This rebound, however, depends on the effectiveness of containment mechanisms to avoid a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as measures to stimulate the economy.

APEC:

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific.

Aim: to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.

Functions:

• APEC works to help all residents of the Asia-Pacific participate in the growing economy. APEC projects provide digital skills training for rural communities and help indigenous women export their products abroad.
• Recognizing the impacts of climate change, APEC members also implement initiatives to increase energy efficiency and promote sustainable management of forest and marine resources.
• The forum adapts to allow members to deal with important new challenges to the region’s economic well-being. This includes ensuring disaster resilience, planning for pandemics, and addressing terrorism.

Members:

APEC’s 21 member economies are Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; Viet Nam.

India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations

 India has appointed diplomat T S Tirumurti, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, as its Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

What are Permanent Missions to the United Nations?

According to Article 1 (7) of the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character, a “Permanent Mission” is a: “ mission of permanent character, representing the State, sent by a State member of an international organization to the Organization”.

The Permanent Mission is the diplomatic mission that every member state deputes to the United Nations.

It is headed by a Permanent Representative, who is also referred to as the “UN ambassador”.

 Roles and functions:

• The presence of such permanent missions serves to assist in the realization of the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
• They seek to keep the necessary liaison between the Member States and the Secretariat in periods between sessions of the different organs of the United Nations.
• The Representatives are assigned to the UN headquarters in New York City, and can also be appointed to other UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi.

The Indian Permanent Mission at the UN:

There are currently eight Indians in senior leadership positions at the United Nations at the levels of Under Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General.

The first Indian delegates at the United Nations included statesman Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar, and freedom fighters Hansa Mehta, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, and Lakshmi Menon. Mehta and Pandit were among the 15 women members of the Indian Constituent Assembly.

 India and the UN:

• India was among the select members of the United Nations that signed the United Nations Declaration at Washington on January 1, 1942.
• India also participated in the historic UN Conference of International Organization at San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945.

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Berberine and Alzheimer’s

What is Berberine?

Berberine is a natural and cheap product similar to curcumin, available commercially

It is poorly soluble and toxic to cells.

Why in News?

Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre For Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) have modified the structure of Berberine into Ber-D to use as a Alzheimer’s inhibitor.

Ber-D is a soluble (aqueous), antioxidant. It is a multifunctional inhibitor of multifaceted amyloid toxicity of Alzheimer’s disease.

The structural attributes of Ber-D are such that they prevent the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and rescue biomacromolecules from oxidative damage.

These attributes make Ber-D a promising candidate for developing effective therapeutics to treat multifaceted toxicity of Alzheimer’s disease.

Background:

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder and accounts for more than 70% of all dementia. The multifactorial nature of the disease attributed to multifaceted toxicity has made it difficult for researchers to develop effective medication.

Protein aggregation and amyloid toxicity predominantly contribute to multifaceted toxicity observed in neuronal cells, including generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial dysfunction, interfering with synaptic signaling, and activation of premature cell death.

What is Alzheimer’s?

It is a progressive brain disorder that typically affects people older than 65. When it affects younger individuals, it is considered early onset.

The disease destroys brain cells and nerves, and disrupts the message-carrying neurotransmitters.

Eventually, a person with Alzheimer’s loses the ability to perform day-to-day activities.

Symptoms include memory loss, difficulty in completing familiar tasks, confusion with time or place, problems in speaking and writing, decreased or poor judgment, and changes in mood and personality. Alzheimer’s disease is also the most common cause of dementia — which is a syndrome and not a disease in itself, and whose symptoms include loss of memory, thinking skills, problems with language, changes in mood and deterioration in behaviour.

Treatment:

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, because its exact causes are not known. Most drugs being developed try to slow down or stop the progression of the disease.

There is a degree of consensus in the scientific community that Alzheimer’s involves two proteins, called beta amyloids and tau. When levels of either protein reach abnormal levels in the brain, it leads to the formation of plaque, which gets deposited between neurons, damaging and disrupting nerve cells.

Most existing drugs for Alzheimer’s try to target these proteins to manage some of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.