Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 02-02-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 02-02-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Economy - Investors get Rs. 6.3 lakh crore richer as Sensex posts best budget-day gain since 1997 - Indian benchmark Sensex ended 5% (2,315 points) higher on Monday (01-02-2021) posting its best budget-day gain since the Union Budget of 1997 when it surged more than 6% (that was the reformist budget of P Chidambaram, in the United Front government). The total investor wealth, measured in terms of the market capitalisation of BSE-listed stocks, surged by ?6.3 lakh crore today. The Budget boosted healthcare spending by 137% to ?2.23 lakh crore in 2021-22. Various measures like no new taxes, PSU land monetisation, higher capital spendings proposed in the budget pushed the stocks higher. But the day was bad for the bond markets.
2. Indian Economy - What's costlier and cheaper after Union Budget 2021-22 - Gold and silver will become cheaper after the Union Budget 2021-22 as the government reduced the customs duty. Similarly, iron, steel, copper items, nylon clothes, steel utensils will also get cheaper. Meanwhile, mobile phones and chargers, leather shoes, imported auto parts, alcoholic beverages, raw silk, solar lanterns, imported products like compressors for refrigerators and ACs will get expensive, as custom duties have been raised. This is part of the mutli-year trend of raising import duties to provide a competitive playing field to local industry. This is also part of Atmanirbhar Bharat programme.
3. Indian Economy - FM Sitharaman proposes Rs.1,500 cr scheme to promote digital payments - The Finance Minister proposed a ?1,500 crore-scheme that will provide financial incentives to promote digital payments in India. While presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 speech, Sitharaman added that there has been a significant increase in digital payments in the recent past and the scheme will give a further boost to digital transactions. India has its own "India Stack" technology suite, on which the UPI system operates (Unified Payment Interface). But more than 90% of market share is with third-party apps, all from the US - WhatsApp Pay, Walmart's PayU and Alphabet's Google Pay.
4. Healthcare and Medicine - India's recovery rate 97%, records 11,858 recoveries - India's COVID-19 recovery rate has touched 97%, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed. "India's total active caseload has dropped to 1.68 lakh today (01-02-2021). The active caseload now consists of just 1.56% of India's total positive cases," the Ministry said. The total recoveries stand at 1,04,34,983 with 11,858 patients recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours. It would seem that India has nearly crushed the pandemic curve, and the year 2021-22 may see better economic prospects.
5. Science and Technology - US startup's first commercial rocket powered by biofuel: A US-based startup bluShift Aerospace has successfully launched its Stardust 1.0 rocket which it claims to be the first commercial booster rocket powered by biofuel. The 20-feet tall rocket, which can carry a payload of 8 kilograms, reached a height of 4,000 feet before it parachuted back to Earth. bluShift has been working on Stardust 1.0 since its founding in 2014. Space industry is picking up pace rapidly now, with many firms working on cutting-edge technologies. Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to establish a human colony on planet Mars by 2030.
6. Trivia and Miscellaneous - Smallest chameleon species, less than 1 inch long, found in Africa - Researchers have discovered a new species of chameleon in Africa in which the adult male is less than an inch long, making it the smallest known male of roughly 11,500 known non-avian reptiles, Bavarian State Collection of Zoology said. The female is longer, measuring a little over an inch. There are only two known specimens of the species. The cataloguing of new species of plants and animals is a continuous process, with millions more left to be discovered. The IUCN provides a Red List categorisation of who is at what risk.
7. Healthcare and Medicine - 20 lakh people in lockdown after 1 COVID-19 case found in Australia - About 20 lakh Australians have been put under lockdown following the discovery of one COVID-19 case in Perth. Authorities ordered a five-day lockdown starting Monday after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from overseas was found to have contracted the virus. The state government said 66 people have been deemed close contacts of the guard. Australian authorities have been extremely harsh in trying to contain the pandemic.
8. World Politics - Myanmar political crisis: Military takes control of the country, declares state of emergency - The Myanmar military on February 1, 2021, staged a coup and declared a state of emergency in the country for one year. The powerful military has also detained the state counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi and several other civilian leaders, the move which has been condemned by several other countries. The Military has also informed that the new elections in the country will take place after one of the emergency. During this one year, the Union Election Commission will be reformed and the Parliamentary elections which were held in November 2020 will be reviewed.Currently, the state power has been handed over to Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, while the first Vice President of Myanmar Myint Swe will be serving as the acting President of the country. India has advised Myanmar that democracy must be protected.
9. Science and Technology - NASA captures portraits of ‘Lost Galaxy’ in Virgo Constellation - Also known as ‘NGC 4535’, the Lost galaxy is one of the largest of the 2000 or so galaxies in the Virgo cluster and is located about 50 million light-years from Earth. The Hubble Space Telescope of National Aeronautics and Space Administration- NASA has captured the stunning image of ‘Lost Galaxy’ in the Virgo constellation. Also known as ‘NGC 4535’, the galaxy is one of the largest of the 2000 or so galaxies in the Virgo cluster and is located about 50 million light-years from Earth. The images have been released by NASA as a part of an ongoing survey of 38 spiral galaxies which are located within 75 million light-years of Earth. As per NASA, in the present times, The Lost Galaxy is not that difficult to find, specifically for the floating observatories like Hubble. The long and elegant arms of the galaxy make it a prime candidate for studying the structure of the spiral galaxies.
10. Trivia and Miscellaneous - Google threatens extinction of local newspapers: US publisher - A US news publisher HD Media has filed a lawsuit against Google alleging it has monopolised the online ad market in such a manner that "it threatens the extinction of local newspapers". It also alleged that Google and Facebook conspired to further their dominance in market. HD Media claimed it was unable to "monetise content" as a result of their behaviour. The tech giants have created new digital advt models that have upended all income models for local publishing businesses, since 2010 onwards. Recently, Australian govt. forced Google to share revenues with local media houses, that Google refused.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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• 1. ECONOMY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

THE CRUX OF UNION BUDGET 2021-22

 

1. Focus on Expenditure: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has found space for imparting a fiscal impulse in 2021-22. Compared with a capex of Rs 4.12 lakh crore in Revised Estimate (RE) of 2020-21, she has hiked it 34.46 per cent to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in 2021-22.
2. Reformist approach: Two public-sector banks (PSBs) and one state-owned general insurance company to be disinvested. FDI in insurance to be hiked to 74% from 49% now. LIC IPO will be brought in.
3. Focus on growth: Year 2020-21 was bad for the common man, but the FM has avoided giving any income tax relief. No increase in standard deduction, no raise in the tax slabs. Sad and bad!
4. Health focus: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, FM gave health the due attention. Health allocation jumped 137% to Rs 2,23,846 crore in 2021-22 compared with Rs 94,452 crore in 2020-21. Provided Rs 35,000 crore for the Covid-19 vaccine, and promised to provide further funds, if required.
5. Bad Bank arriving: After thinking for six years, the government has decided to set up an asset reconstruction company (ARC) that will take over the bad loans of banks, giving them flexibility to finance the economic recovery. But it's a risky idead, and carries the seed of 'moral hazard' in it.
6. Development Finance Institutions (DFI) reborn: The idea was dead in 1990s, with earlier DFIs including IDBI and ICICI turning into universal banks. To provide debt to long gestation projects, a new DFI arriving with a capital of Rs 20,000 crore. It will have statutory backing, but will be professionally managed. Lending portfolio of Rs 5 lakh crore within three years.
7. Asset Monetisation: This is an ongoing exercise, where the government needs to do more. National Monetisation Pipeline of potential assets of NHAI, PGCIL, Railways, airports, warehouses, sports stadiums is being created. Basically govt. is getting out of business, as part of neoliberal approach.
8. Elections: Four poll-bound states get big highway projects: Tamil Nadu (3,500 km – Rs 1.03 lakh crore), Kerala (1,100 km – Rs 65,000 crore), West Bengal (675 km – Rs 25,000 crore) and Assam (1,300 km – Rs 34,000 crore).
9. Strategic disinvestment: NITI Aayog asked to short list non-core PSUs for strategic sale. After a poor show in 2020-21, the government has estimated disinvestment receipts at Rs 1,75,000 crore. This is an unlikely-to-achieve target.
10. Growth is the key: The fiscal deficit estimated at 6.8 per cent of GDP in 2021-22, from 9.5% in 2020-21. It will be brought down to 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26. All these calculations depend on GDP growth rate, which is a big question mark.

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• 2. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper

Antarctic iceberg, once Earth’s biggest, suffers major split

 

• Bad news: A major crack appeared in the Antarctic ice giant, A68a, once the world’s biggest iceberg, as captured in satellite images since January 25, 2021.
• History of movement: The iceberg had detached from the Larcen C ice shelf in 2017 and was travelling up towards the island of South Georgia in the British Overseas Territory, when turbulent sea currents diverted it towards to the South Atlantic Ocean. The moving ice giant has been floating away from Antarctica since 2017.
• Sat images: The recent satellite footage captured a smaller slab, now called A68g, distinctly separated from the original iceberg but floating along it about 135 km off the south-eastern coast of South Georgia.
• Size and scope: A68a, when it first broke off Antarctica, measured 5,800 square kilometres, almost triple the size of Delhi. It splintered and shed much of its mass since because of higher temperatures and rough sea currents. It still posed a threat to the little island of about the same size and home to penguins, seals and endangered blue whales.     
• Potential threat: Last November, when it was dangerously close to South Georgia and before it was veered towards the South Atlantic Ocean, scientists thought it would anchor itself to the island’s coast and destroy its thriving marine ecosystem.
• Many more too: A68g is not the first one to depart from the floating ice giant. In fact, as the suffix ‘g’ suggests, it is the sixth smaller chunk or ‘childberg’ to have calved from A68a since the last part of 2020. These city-sized ice masses that have drifted away from Antarctica, still threaten marine and coastal habitats, squishing small species under their weight or erasing the lands where their food grows.
• Earth losing ice: The earth lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice between 1994 and 2017 of which 6.5 trillion tones were from Antarctic ice shelves, according to a report published in 'Cryosphere'.  
• Mankind wake up: The phenomenon of ice sheets splitting up and melting could have long-term ramifications. The smaller chunks can melt away easily, raising the global sea level and setting off other environmental anomalies.

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• 3. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

Myanmar’s Coup was coming anyway

 

 

With Washington and much of the world preoccupied, the generals have calculated they can get away with it.

1. Myanmar's tumult: Events in Myanmar have unfolded like a chronicle of a coup foretold. The army warned about it, hinting that a coup might happen. The foreign embassies duly protested, and the United Nations too cautioned against a coup. But on 01-02-2021, as the new parliament was about to meet, troops were seen at strategic locations in the capital, Naypyidaw, and the country’s largest city, Yangon.
2. You are under arrest: Leading parliamentarians including state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and others were detained. In an official statement, the military declared a one-year, nationwide state of emergency and confirmed that power had been handed to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
3. Tatmadaw: Over past few months, foreign authorities had warned against a coup. The Tatmadaw, as the Burmese military is known, issued a self-righteous rebuttal reeking with injured innocence, reprimanding the foreign diplomats for speaking without sufficient knowledge. But the diplomats’ fears turned out to be justified. The military and the demonstrators were opposing the convening of the new parliament, which they claimed was not representative. Much like supporters of Donald Trump, they insisted that the November 2020 election was fraudulent!
4. November elections: The results were unambiguous, and the NLD took 138 of the 224 seats in Amyotha Hluttaw, the House of Nationalities, and 258 of 440 seats in Pyithu Hluttaw, the House of Representatives. The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won only seven and 26 seats, respectively, in the two chambers: altogether seven fewer seats than its 2015 total.
5. Military's sour grapes: The durability of the NLD’s popularity is remarkable. In 1990, it easily triumphed in the first truly representative election the military allowed, in which the party won 392 of the 492 seats in parliament. It was an outcome the generals immediately annulled, detaining lawmakers and placing Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for years! The logjam was broken only in 2012, when Myanmar held by-elections in which the NLD fielded candidates.
6. Double edged sword: Aung San Suu Kyi was an outstanding champion of Myanmar’s democracy during those years and won a raft of international honors, but she was careful to keep the army by her side. She became a global democracy icon, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, was celebrated in a song by the band U2, and became the subject of a Luc Besson film. But she disappointed many with her initial equivocation about—and refusal to condemn—the atrocities the army committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.
7. To hell with Rohingyas: Even as the NLD consolidated power, she looked the other way as civil liberties were eroded, journalists were arrested, and a conflict in Rakhine state escalated. She defended the military at the International Court of Justice when Gambia brought a case accusing Myanmar of genocide. By essentially becoming the face of the Myanmar military, she destroyed what remained of her credibility in the international community.
8. Military wanted power: It was known that Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s new leader as of today, had been coveting the presidency following the end of his tenure as commander-in-chief this year, when he turns 65 in July 2021. To have gained the presidency legitimately, he would have needed the support of a majority in parliament. Hence, the coup!

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• 4. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

Important announcements and Schemes in Union Budget 2020-21

 

 

Vision for Atmanirbhar Bharat - Six Pillars

1. Health & Well-Being
2. Physical & Financial Capital & Infrastructure
3. Inclusive development for aspirational India
4. Reinvigorating human capital
5. Innovation & R&D
6. Minimum Govt & Maximum Governance.

• Health and Well Being:

1. PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana: PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana to be launched to develop primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare systems, strengthen existing health systems and support future health interventions with an outlay of about 64,180 crores over 6 years. This will be in addition to the National Health mission and will support 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health care centres. Mission Poshan 2.0 to be launched to improve nutritional outcomes across 112 aspirational districts.
2. Jal Jivan Urban Mission: Urban Jal Jeevan Mission to be launched and implemented over five years with an outlay of Rs 2.87 lakh crore.
3. Urban Swacch Bharat Mission to implemented over five years with an outlay of Rs 2.87 lakh crore.
4. Clean Air Programme: Proposal to allocate  Rs. 2,217 crore for 32 urban centres to tackle the burgeoning air pollution problem.
5. Voluntary Vehicle Scrapping Policy to phase out old vehicles and reduce vehicular pollution vehicles will undergo fitness tests after 20 years in private vehicles, 15 years in case of commercial vehicles.
6. Pneumococcal vaccine rollout - The pneumococcal vaccine, which is limited to only 5 states at present, will be rolled out across the country. This will avert more than 50,000 child deaths annually.
7. COVID-19 vaccine - The Finance Ministry has provided Rs 35,000 crores for COVID-19 vaccine in this year 2021-22. The Ministry is committed to provide further funds if required.

• Physical and Financial Capital & Infrastructure:

1. The PLI scheme - The FM stated that to realise five trillion dollar economy, India's manufacturing sector has to grow in double digits for a sustained period. A PLI scheme has been announced for 13 sectors to achieve the same with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore over the next 5 years. Mega Investment Textile Parks- 7 textile parks will be added in the next three years.
2. National Infrastructure Pipeline: The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) was launched with 6835 projects, which has now expanded to 7400 projects. The NIP will require major funding from both centre and financial sector.
3. Proposal to set up Development Finance Institution at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore.
4. A national monetising pipeline will be launched and a dashboard will be created to overlook the progress.
5. Propose sharp increase in Capital expenditure: The Finance Minister has proposed a sharp increase in Capital Expenditure & thus have provided Rs 5.54 lakh crores which is 34.5% more than the BE 2020-21.  
6. Roads & Highways: Over 13,000 km length of roads at a cost of Rs 3.3 lakh cr has already been awarded under Rs 5.35 lakh cr Bharatmala project of which 3,800 kms have been constructed
7. Railway Infrastructure - National Railway Plan: The Indian Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan for India 2030. The plan is to create a future-ready railways system by 2030. The government aims to bring down the logistic cost for industry to enable Make in India. The Finance Minister proposed to provide a record sum of Rs 1,10,055 crores for Railways of which Rs 1,07,100 crores is for Capital Expenditure only. Western & Eastern dedicated freight corridors to be commissioned soon. High Density network &highly utilised network routes of Railways will be provided with train protection system to eliminate train collision incidents due to human error. Vistadome coaches to be integrated in all tourist corridors. 100% electrification will be completed by 2023.
8. Urban Infrastructure: New scheme to be launched to support augmentation of public bus service. it will boost automobile sector and create employment opportunities for the youth and enable smooth mobility to citizens.
9. Power Sector: The centre has proposed creation of a framework to allow consumers of electricity alternatives to choose from more than one distribution company.
10. National Hydrogen Mission: A comprehensive National Hydrogen Mission will be launched in 2021-22 for generating hydrogen from green power sources.
11. Shipping and ports: The major ports will be moved from operating services on their own and they can enter into public-private partnership to get private players to operate and manage it for them.
12. Ujjwala scheme,  which has benefited 8 crore households so far, will be extended to cover 1 crore more beneficiaries.
13. Financial Capital: (i) Single securities market code: Centre to consolidate the provisions of the Sebi Act, Depositories Actand two other laws, into a Unified Securities Market Code. (ii) Investor Charter: Investor Charter to be introduced as a right for all investors in all financial products to enable investor protection. (iii) Insurance Act 1938 proposed to be amended to increase the permissible FDI limit from 49% to 74% and allow foreign ownership & control with safeguards. (iv) Asset reconstruction company to be set up to take over stressed loans. (v) Asset reconstruction and Asset management companies will be set up for value realisation. (vi) Deposit insurance: The centre has approved an increase in the cover from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for bank depositors. (vii) FM Sitharaman further proposed decriminalisation of the Limited Liability Partnership Act of 2008.
14. Disinvestment: Two PSU bank and one general insurance firm to be disinvested. IPO of LIC to debut this year. Strategic sale of Air India, IDBI Bank and BPCL to be completed in 2021-22. The centre has also undertaken a  detailed exercise to rationalise centrally sponsored schemes on the recommendation of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

• Inclusive development for Aspirational India:

1. Agriculture & Allied Sectors: Operation Green Scheme to be enlarged to cover 22 perishable crops. 1000 more mandis to be integrated with E-NAM market place. Agricultural Infrastructure funds will be made available to APMCs for augmenting their infrastructure. MSP increased to 1.5 times.
2. Wheat Procurement - A total of Rs 33,874 crore was paid to farmers in  2013-14 and this was increased to Rs 62,804 crore in  2019 -20 and Rs 75,050 crore in 2020-21.
3. Paddy Procurement- The amount paid for paddy was Rs 53,928 crore in 2013-2014 and in 2019-20, this increased to Rs 1.41 lakh crore and it is further estimated to increase to Rs.  1,72,752 crore in 2020-21.
4. Fisheries - Five major fishing harbours to be developed into fishing hubs for economic activity including Chennai, Kochi, Paradip, Petuaghat and Visakhapatnam. Seaweed farming to be promoted -Multipurpose seaweed park to be established in Tamil Nadu

• Reinvigorating human capital:

1. Setting up of Higher Education Commission    
2. New Sainik Schools will be set up in partnership with NGOs, private schools, and states.  
3. Proposal to set up central university in Leh
4. 750 Eklavya schools will be set up in tribal areas.
5. Propose to increase cost of Eklavya schools for schedule caste and schedule tribe students
6. 35219 crores to benefit 4 crore scheduled caste students.
7. National research foundation to be set up with an outlay 50000 crores
8. More than 15,000 schools will be strengthened under NEP 2020.

• Innovation & R&D:

1. Gaganyaan Mission: The first unmanned launch of the Gaganyaan Mission is slated for dcember 2021
2. Deep ocean mission to be launched for the conservation of deep sea biodiversity.

• Minimum Govt & Maximum Governance:

1. First Digital Census to be launched. The centre has allocated Rs 3,758 crore for the same this year.  
2. Rs.1000 crore proposed for welfare of tea workers, especially women and children, in Assam and West Bengal
3. Rs 300 crore to be granted to Goa government to celebrate 50 years of liberation from the Portuguese.  
4. Migrant workers and labourers: (i) One nation one ration card scheme implemented by 32 states and union territories- covering 86 percent of beneficiaries. (ii) The remaining four states/ UTs to be integrated soon. (iii) New proposal for portal for migrant workers. (iv) The portal will maintain information on gig workers and construction workers, which will help provide benefits to migrant workers. (v) It will help formulate health, housing, skill, insurance credit & food schemes for migrant workers. (vi) Social security benefits to be extended to gig and platform workers. (vii) Minimum wage to apply to all categories of workers. (viii) This will be ensured through the four new labour codes. (ix) Women will be allowed to work in all categories and also in night shifts with adequate protection. (x) To further facilitate credit flows for Standup India scheme for SCs, STs and women, the Finance Minister proposed to reduce the margin capital required for loans from 25% to 15%.
5. Atmanirbhar Bharat Package: PM had announced the launch of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on May 12, 2020. The special economic package worth Rs 20 lakh crore was launched with an objective to make India self-reliant. During his address to the nation, the Prime Minister had urged people to be vocal about local. The Atmanirbhar Bharat package was launched to provide relief to those sections of the population who have contributed significantly to the country's growth including farmers, labourers and Indian taxpayers- the middle class and the industry. The packages reportedly helped in accelerating reforms in the country.

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• 5. POLITY AND CONSTITUTION (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)

Contempt for "Scandalising the Courts"

 

• What is the story: The Karnataka High Court has issued notice to the Union government on a PIL petition, challenging the constitutional validity of a provision of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, that makes “scandalising or tends to scandalising courts” as a ground for contempt. A strong judiciary in a democratic republic is the bulwark of masses of this country. It must work towards fulfilling the goals set out in the constitution - to secure social economic and political justice for the masses and to uphold their fundamental rights.
• What is PIL: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) stands for a legal action taken by a public spirited person in order to protect public interest (any act for the benefit of the public).
• Details: Contempt is the power of the court to protect its own majesty and respect. The power is regulated but not restricted in the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. The expression ‘contempt of court’ has not been defined by the Constitution. But Article 129 of the Constitution conferred on the Supreme Court the power to punish contempt of itself. Article 215 conferred a corresponding power on the High Courts.
• The Act: The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 defines both civil and criminal contempt.

1. Civil contempt [Section 2(b)] refers to wilful disobedience to any judgment of the court.  
2. Criminal contempt can be invoked if an act: Tends to scandalise or lower the authority of the court [Section 2 (c)(i)]; or Tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding [Section 2 (c)(ii)]; or Obstruct the administration of justice [Section 2 (c)(iii)]. Section 5 of the Act provides that “fair criticism” or “fair comment” on the merits of a finally decided case would not amount to contempt. But the determination of what is “fair” is left to the interpretation of judges.

• What petitioners want: Section 2(c)(i) of the Act violates the right to free speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) and does not amount to a reasonable restriction under Article 19(2). The judges may often be seen to be acting in their own cause, thus violating the principles of natural justice and adversely affecting the public confidence they seek to preserve through the proceeding.
• Key problems:

1. Subjectivity: The word ‘scandalising’ is subjective and depends on the perception of the concerned person. As long as the words ‘scandalising the court’ are present (in the statute book), it will be susceptible to arbitrary exercise of power.
2. Personal issues: Courts treat personal attacks on their character as contempt.
3. Judges and Courts: It is often forgotten that the law of contempt is not meant for protecting the judges, but it is for the protection of the institution of the judiciary.

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• 6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

Coronavirus and Lung Cells 

1. Deep research: Following months of interdisciplinary research on lung cells infected with the novel coronavirus, scientists have created one of the most comprehensive maps to date of the molecular activities that are triggered inside these cells at the onset of the viral infection. This will help build better drugs.
2. Learning: Scientists discovered close to 18 existing drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that could potentially be repurposed to combat COVID-19 soon after a person becomes infected. They said five of these drugs could reduce the spread of the coronavirus in human lung cells by more than 90%.
3. Modus operandi: The scientists simultaneously infected tens of thousands of lab-grown human lung cells with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and tracked what happens in these cells during the moments after infection. They said these engineered cells are not completely identical to the living, breathing cells inside our bodies, but are the "closest thing to it."
4. Long-term effects of COVID-19: The virus does wholesale remodeling of the lung cells. The virus commandeers the cells it infects! Since viruses cannot replicate themselves, they hijack the host cell machinery to make copies of its genetic material. The virus even damages the cells' nuclear membranes within three to six hours after infection, which the team said was very surprising. A cell's nuclear membrane surrounds the nucleus, which holds the majority of the genetic information, and controls and regulates normal cellular functions.
5. Ebola virus does not: In contrast, cells infected with the deadly Ebola virus don't show any obvious structural changes at these early time points of infection, and even at late stages of infection, the nuclear membrane is still intact.
6. Core is gone: With the nucleus compromised by the coronavirus, things rapidly take a bad turn for the entire cell. The lung cells — which normally play a role in maintaining the essential gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that occurs when we breathe — die under this siege. The cells also emit distress signals which boost inflammation as they die, triggering a cascade of biological activity that accelerates more cell death.
7. End game: This eventually leads to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, and lung failure, they explained. "I couldn't have predicted a lot of these pathways, most of them were news to me. That's why our [experimental] model is so valuable," said Andrew Wilson, one of the study's senior authors.

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• 7. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

Budget 2021-22 deals a raw deal for social sector

1. Distress rising: Against a background of rising distress among weaker sections of the population due to the pandemic, allocations for social sector spending in the Union Budget 2021-22 are a mixed bag. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment received an allocation of Rs 10,516 crore, an enhancement of just Rs 414 crore. There was a 4 percent drop in allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs at Rs 4,810 crore (earlier Rs.5,029 crore).
2. Rise: Allocations for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs saw a 37 percent increase over the revised estimates for 2020-21, at Rs. 7,525 crore (Rs.7,411 cr for 2020-21).
3. Post Matric Scholarship Scheme: Govt. has revamped the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for the welfare of Scheduled Castes. It has enhanced the Central Assistance in this regard by allotting Rs.35,219 crores for 6 years till 2025-2026, to benefit 4 crores SC students.
4. Women: The Ministry of  Women and Child Development was allocated Rs. 24,435 crore for 2021-22, a sharp cut of Rs. 5,572 from its outlay in Budget 2020-21. (Rs.30,000 crore for 2020-21). This Ministry is the primary body for  the effective implementation of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in India. India was ranked 112th of 153 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index 2020. Gender Budgeting (GB) was introduced in the Union Budget of 2005-06.
5. Garib Kalyan: In March ’20, the Union government had announced a Rs 1.7-lakh-crore relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana  to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the poor to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Unveiling the scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said 80 crore poor people would be covered by way of cash transfers and food security. Each person would be given 5 kg of wheat or rice for free every month for the next three months. Besides, one kg of preferred and region-specific choice of a pulse will also be given. Further, the scheme also focused on giving cash transfers to different sections of society directly into their bank accounts. It covered farmers, workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), widow pensioners, disabled, women with Jan Dhan accounts, women running self-help groups, beneficiaries of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and construction workers.
6. Rozgar: Later, in  June 2020, the PM launched the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan to provide gainful employment to migrant workers who had lost jobs as a result of the pandemic. The employment scheme was announced  with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore, covering 116 districts in six states.

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• 8. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)

Blue Jet Lightning

• A new find: Scientists from the International Space Station (ISS) have observed a bright-blue lightning bolt that is shooting upward from the thunderclouds. Such blue jets are hard to observe from the ground because the electrical discharges emerge from the tops of thunderclouds. But from space, one can easily observe the phenomenon.
• The study: The instrument at the space station had captured a blue jet shooting from the thunderstorm cell near a small island in the central Pacific Ocean on February 26, 2019. Each of the lighting lasting about 10 to 20 milliseconds.
• What are blue jets: Blue jets are initiated as “normal” lightning discharges. It emerges between the upper positive charge region in a thundercloud and a negative screening layer above the charge region. The positive end network fills the negative charge region and after that the negative end fills the positive charge region. After that, the positive end exits the cloud and starts propagating upward.

• Dams that grow old

1. UN report: A UN University report titled "Ageing water infrastructure: An emerging global risk" warned that by 2050, most people on Earth would live downstream of tens of thousands of large dams built in the 20th century, many of them including India’s already operating at or beyond their design life, putting lives and property at risk.
2. Signs: Ageing signs of dams include increasing cases of dam failures, progressively increasing costs of dam repair and maintenance, increasing reservoir sedimentation, and loss of a dam's functionality and effectiveness. India is ranked third in the world in terms of building large dams. Of the over 5,200 large dams built so far, about 1,100 large dams have already reached 50 years of age, and some are older than 120 years.
3. Bhakra Dam: A 2003 report observed that India’s iconic Bhakra dam’s siltation rate is 139.86% higher than originally assumed. At this rate, the Bhakra dam is now expected to function for merely 47 years, virtually halved from the original estimate of 88 years.
4. Consequences: When soil replaces the water in reservoirs, supply gets choked. In this case, the cropped area may begin receiving less and less water as time progresses. As a result, the net sown water area either shrink in size or depends on rains or groundwater, which is over-exploited. As crop yield may get affected severely, it would disrupt the farmer’s income. Moreover, water is a crucial factor for crop yield and credit, crop insurance, and investment.
5. The flawed siltation rates reinforce the argument that the designed flood cushion within several reservoirs across many river basins may have already depleted substantially, due to which floods have become more frequent downstream of dams.
6. Summary: Sustainable decommissioning will have to be done, with various positive and negative economic, social, and ecological impacts.

    Monopolistic practices of Big-Tech

1. The big daddies: With internet playing a central role in human lives, a few big technology companies have gathered remarkable clout. Big Tech firms, also known as GAFA (Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook), are the largest and most dominant companies in the information technology industry of the USA.
2. Concerns: There are concerns over these Big tech firms’ monopolistic practices like slow regulation, unfair competition, privacy, etc. Therefore, given the centrality of digital technologies in the future, a comprehensive regulatory framework must be needed.
3. How they do it: (i) Network effect: Due to strong network effects, it is not possible to ban or curtail these services. (ii) Brand Loyalty: The major players have harnessed technologies that permit synchronicity between devices and people in a manner that is often superficially described as “brand loyalty.” (iii) Bundling Products: Big tech firms have pre-loaded certain software with the OS. Due to this, many times, there was no option available to users to use other alternatives.
4. Privacy concerns: Big tech firms’ market power is built at individuals’ expense through the unscrupulous collection and processing of user data and forcing certain products on consumers. There's a lack of transparency in how tech companies process user data, which has raised serious and pressing privacy concerns.
5. Conclusion: Since data is the new gold standard, the regulation of how tech companies use consumers’ personal data to establish dominance should be a significant preliminary focus point. Governments worldwide have introduced stringent laws to ensure users’ right to privacy by requiring tech companies to adhere to certain basic and essential data security and privacy measures. India must speed up the dedicated data protection law (the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill).

• The Neptune Declaration”

1. MUI: The Maritime body MUI urged the government to take cognisance of "Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change" to formulate the Maritime India Vision 2030.
2. Vision: The “Maritime India Vision 2030” will be formulated by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India.
3. Neptune Declaration: It was signed by more than 450 organizations, and highlights the main actions that are required to be taken in order to resolve the crew change crisis. The daily lives and wellbeing of seafarers was highly impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic. It led to a humanitarian crisis at sea. It mentions four main actions -

1. To recognize the seafarers as the key workers and provide them priority access to Covid-19 vaccines.
2. To establish and implement the gold standard health protocols which are based on the existing best practice.
3. To increase the collaboration between the ship operators and charterers so as to facilitate the crew changes.
4. To ensure the air connectivity between the key maritime hubs for seafarers.

• Maritime Union of India (MUI): The Marine Union of India is the oldest marine office. It represents the Merchant Navy Officers who are its members.

Green tax and CNG cars

1. Green Tax on vehicles: The Road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, announced to impose a green tax on a certain category of vehicles starting April 1, 2022. The government proposed that a green tax could be levied on personal vehicles at the time of renewal of registration certificate. It will be levied after 15 years equivalent to 10-25% of the road tax of a petrol or diesel vehicle. Similar tax would also be levied on transport or commercial vehicles which are older than eight years at the time of renewal of the registration certificate and the fitness certificate.
2. Advantage Maruti: The two-auto industry executes have recently highlighted that the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd will gain most from a government proposal to levy a green tax on petrol and diesel vehicles. Maruti is India’s top carmaker and has the largest portfolio of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles among all the domestic automakers. The Suzuki Motor Corp. unit has also planned to push its CNG vehicle sales to 200,000 units or more a year by 2022. Maruti is further pushing the CNG vehicles as an eco-friendly option as compared to the diesel. Maruti has stopped selling diesel vehicles and has ambitious plans to expand its portfolio of CNG models.
3. How Maruti will benefit: Under the Green tax norms, the Hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and those vehicles that runs on cleaner alternative fuels like CNG, ethanol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will be exempted from the green tax. Higher taxes will be implied on the petrol or diesel vehicles. Higher tax on Petro and diesel cars will force people to shift to CNG. This in turn, will benefit the companies like Maruti and Hyundai. Further, the companies and dealers can use the green cess and increased purchase cost as a marketing strategy so as to induce customers to buy CNG vehicles.

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