Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-02-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-02-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Science and Technology - NASA to use Fitbits to help prevent COVID-19 - US space agency NASA will provide 1,000 of its employees, including 150 astronauts, with Fitbit devices in a pilot program to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Under the program, NASA employees will be given the wearable device as well as access to a daily check-in app that can be used to log potential symptoms and other vital health metrics. Astronauts are often some of the first to test-drive new technologies. Currently NASA is using all different forms of digital health, including telemedicine, virtual reality and augmented reality. Historically, lessons learned by the agency have then gone on to inform health around the world. Fitbit, which is a part of Google, has been working on COVID-19-related initiatives for some time. In June 2021, it announced its Ready for Work product, which is made up of a daily health check-in for employees and an analytics dashboard for employers.
2. World Politics - Myanmar military leader calls for protests to end - Myanmar's military leader General Min Aung Hlaing urged people to refrain from taking part in mass anti-coup protests to avoid the spread of coronavirus. "Those who are away from their duties are requested to return to their duties immediately for the interests of the country," he said. Hlaing has blamed harassment by "unscrupulous persons" for work stoppages. The 2021 Myanmar coup d'état began on the morning of 1 February 2021 when democratically elected members of Myanmar's ruling party, the National League for Democracy, were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which vested power in a stratocracy. (On 4 January 1948, Burma achieved independence from Britain, and became a democracy based on the parliamentary system. In late 1946 Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Burma, a transitional government.)
3. Governance and Institutions - India vaccinates 70 lakh people - India has now crossed the 70 lakh COVID-19 vaccination-mark, the Union Health Ministry said. India did so in 26 days while the US took 27 days and the UK took 48 days to reach the same figures. The Ministry added that 17 states and UTs haven't reported any deaths in the last 24 hours. On the slow pace of vaccination, a National Task Force member had explained that the pace had been kept slow as the ministry wanted to take stock of the hiccups and gradually iron them out. "India has the capacity of immunising five to eight million people per day. We have inoculated over 17 crore children in a week several times a year during our pulse polio drive. But the pace was deliberately been kept low".
4. Defence and Military - No compromise on India's sovereignty: DM Rajnath on LAC situation - Addressing the Rajya Sabha on the ground situation in Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 11-02-2021 said there will be no compromise on India's sovereignty. He added, "Chinese actions have impacted the bilateral ties. But I am immensely proud that the Indian armed forces have bravely faced the challenges at the border." Nine months since they first got into an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in east Ladakh, armoured units of the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) started withdrawing from north and south banks of the frozen Pangong Tso, paving a way for peace and tranquillity to be restored all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. However, doubts persist about how much was gained or lost in this process, with opposition questioning govt's move to vacate the heights of Kailash hills.
5. Healthcare and Medicine - WHO recommends use of Covishield vaccine for adults - The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, being made by Serum Institute of India as Covishield, for use worldwide by all adults, including the elderly. The WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts has advised extending the time between doses to eight and 12 weeks to improve efficacy. AstraZeneca’s vaccine generated some controversies, especially in Feb 2021 due to its lower efficacy against the mutant strain discovered in South Africa, following which the country has halted the use of the vaccine.
6. World Economy - Bitcoin surged to a record high - After Tesla revealed that it had bought $1.5bn-worth of the cryptocurrency and would accept it as payment for its cars, the crypto-currency surged. Elon Musk’s recent musings on digital money have bolstered the claims of bitcoin backers that it will one day be mainstream legal tender. Tesla’s investment in such a volatile market is a risky bet, however, and blemishes its green credentials. The amount of computer energy needed to mine bitcoin accounts for 0.56% of the world’s total electricity consumption, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. That is where talks of a 'green Bitcoin' comes into play, that would require far lesser amounts of energy to mine bitcoins. Sceptics say that Bitcoin doesn't have a future precisely as it's not environment-friendly.
7. World Politics - Trump impeachment - The impeachment trial of ex-President Donald Trump got under way in the US Senate. Six Republicans joined Democrats in voting to reject the defence’s argument that Mr Trump should not be tried as he has left office, but it is unlikely that the prosecution will get the two-thirds majority of votes needed to convict Mr Trump of inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6th. The proceedings are expected to be quick, certainly not as long as the three weeks of Mr Trump’s first impeachment trial a year ago. The Prosecution rested its case, saying if Trump is not convicted, it sets ‘a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct.’ Biden and his staff have refused to discuss Trump’s impeachment trial. Calling on senators to render “impartial justice” and embrace the “common sense” of the country’s founders, the nine impeachment managers closed their case by laying out the grave damage the Jan. 6 riot had caused not just to lawmakers or police officers at the Capitol, but to the democratic system and America’s standing around the world. None of it, they argued, would have happened without Mr. Trump.
8. World Politics - Human rights in Saudi Arabia - Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent women’s-rights activist in Saudi Arabia, was released from prison after serving three years for supposedly harming national security. Her release was seen as an effort by the kingdom to curry favour with the new Biden administration. Saudi Arabia faced unprecedented international criticism in 2019 for its human rights record, including the failure to provide full accountability for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in October 2018, as well as the country's dismal treatment of Saudi dissidents and human rights activists.
9. Science and Technology - Dogecoin the new kid on block - Dogecoin Co-founder Billy Markus, who left the project in 2015, has said that he finds it weird that something he created in hours "is now part of internet culture". "It's amusing to see Elon Musk talk about it," he added. The cryptocurrency, which is based on a "doge" meme, recently hit market capitalisation of $9 billion amid a Reddit-fuelled rally. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency invented by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, who decided to create a payment system that is instant, fun, and free from traditional banking fees. Dogecoin features the face of the Shiba Inu dog from the "Doge" meme as its logo and namesake.
10. People and Personalities - Kim blames Cabinet for woes - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un blamed his cabinet for failing to come up with effective solutions for the country's economy, state media reported. At a four-day plenary meeting, he accused his cabinet of drafting plans that had "failed tremendously on almost every sector". He also called for enhanced self-reliance and the local production of goods and materials.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

15th Finance Commission - Fiscal Roadmap discussion

• What FFC feels: The chairman of 15th Finance Commission chairman N K Singh said that no fiscal roadmap or debt roadmap is meaningful unless it is for the general government, i.e. both the Centre and states. The FFC had recognised the need for flexibility in the fiscal framework, given the challenging economic conditions of India today.
• FRBM Review Committee: NK Singh was also the chairman of the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Review Committee constituted by the government in 2018. Everything changed after that! A serious problem of the FRBM Act of 2018 was that it concerned the central government. States were not part of that process. But India needs a path for the general government on both fiscal deficit and debt, and hence the FFC suggested the constitution of an inter-governmental body. Inter-government means the Centre and the states.
• Changing fiscal norms: The second important change is the acceptance that most fiscal norms need to be revisited. Now is the time for fiscal flexibility, not rigidity. Hence the FFC did not give fixed point in its report. A fixed point can lead governments to indulge in pro-cyclical behaviour, worsening the crisis.
• Transparency: Another change in FFC report is an emphasis on the need for much greater transparency in the accounting framework. Are government numbers credible? The issues include those of the parastatal and sub-parastatals and contingent liabilities, and so on, masking the actual incidence of fiscal deficit. The Budget 2021-22 tried sincere attempt to make the process transparent. Equally, the states need to be incentivised for adopting much better accounting standards.
• Power sector problems: The exposure of almost all states to the power sector is a contingent liability that is always ready to explode. Should that not get higher attention going ahead in terms of transparency? It should, and the FFC report has ensured that. All the 28 states it visited, the one giant elephant in that room is the power sector, the unpaid liabilities of power distribution companies. So, 0.5% extra borrowings by the states contingent on the fulfilment of performance criteria - the unpaid liabilities of the power distribution companies and improving the working of these distribution companies in terms of billing cycles, the working of power regulators, getting away from regulatory capture and enabling them to meet their finances.

• GST problems: There are two broad issues -

1. First those that deal with the procedural and process simplifications. These are better invoice matching, preventing invoice manipulation, improving quality of compliance and better technology platform. GST realisation significantly will improve once these are taken care of.
2. Second are more important structural issues, relating to doing away with inverted duty structure, broad-banding of rates. India can't have an ideal, one rate. In a complex country like India that idea is elusive. But India can have three rates - the standard rate, a clear merit rate and a clear demerit rate.
3. Then, decreasing or moving towards a genuinely revenue neutral rate, which does not mean increasing the rates. But a revenue neutral rate means certainly recalibrating it in a manner which enables you to be. Finally, predictability and stability on the rate structure. India cannot have a situation where it is subject to frequent changes.

• Cesses and surchages: States have had issues with imposition of cesses, because they don't get a share of that. The 12th, the 13th and certainly the 14th Finance Commission also, the FCs commented extensively on this problem.

1. The total size of the gross revenue receipts (GRR), in a five-year period, would be Rs 154 lakh crore.  
2. From the GRR, take out things like the RBI dividend to the government, spectrum-related revenues and other things, and the gross tax revenue (GTR) of the government is achieved. That comes to Rs 134 lakh crore.
3. Now, from the GTR, you get the divisible pool, which becomes only Rs 103 lakh crore.
4. Out of this Rs 103 lakh crore, the 41% devolution to the states roughly gives them about Rs 42 lakh crore, plus the revenue deficit grants of Rs 2.95 lakh crore; add to that the third-tier grants, which is about Rs 4.5 lakh crore; add to that the disaster management grants, which is about Rs 1.3 lakh crore.
5. But indeed, the size of the divisible pool has shrunk from Rs 134 lakh crore to Rs 103 lakh crore on account of cess, surcharges and other liabilities. (Sadly, the cess and surcharge issue is part of the Constitution).

• The next FC: This report runs till 2026. The next finance commission will be from 2027. By then, India needs a cleaner arrangement on what are the obligations of the central government, and of the states. A fundamental rethink on issues of constitutional amendments of the Seventh Schedule and Article 282 of the Constitution will be needed. A more viable consultative mechanism of acting in partnership between the centre and the states is needed. In nations like Australia and South Africa, the Finance Commissions are a permanent body. The issue of cess and surcharge must be resolved on a wider framework. India must move to a much higher growth trajectory with more buoyant revenues.

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

China's carbon trading scheme

• A new game: China has launched the world's biggest carbon trading system to help lower carbon emissions, but critics and analysts have raised doubts about whether it will have a signficant impact. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change, and the scheme is part of its efforts to decarbonise its economy by 2060.
• Key parts of the emissions trading scheme (ETS): The scheme, which launched on February 1, 2021, effectively puts a price on emitting carbon. It allows provincial governments to -- for the first time -- set pollution caps for big power companies, and lets firms buy the right to pollute from others with a lower carbon footprint. However, in its first phase the scheme only covers the electricity sector, involving 2,200 power producers, which is responsible for 30 percent of China's total emissions.

1. Local governments issue a certificate for every metric ton of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas equivalent which a company is allowed to emit, and companies pay fines for not complying. Companies can either cut emissions or pay to pollute, but the latter will become pricier over time as governments issue fewer pollution permits.
2. In a rare move to improve transparency, companies involved in the trading system will have to make their pollution data public. But analysts have expressed concerns about the likely accuracy of the data, in a country with an authoritarian government that lacks transparency, and low fines for non-compliance.

• Finer aspects: Initial, broader plans would have covered 70 to 80 percent of China's emissions. These covered heavy polluters in seven other sectors including aviation, steel and petrochemical manufacturing. Pollution permits are also being given out for free instead of auctioning them - unlike schemes operating in the European Union or California - which means there is less incentive to slash emissions quickly. Carbon is also expected to be priced very low under the Chinese scheme - about $6 a ton when trading starts - compared with about $36 in the European Union scheme and $17 in California by 2020. These low carbon prices aren't likely enough to push companies to invest in greening their operations.  Whether the ETS will help reduce emissions in the long run will depend on the stringency of the caps, expanding its scope and strict enforcement.
• Earlier Estimates: A commission on carbon prices formed in 2017 and helmed by the economists Joseph Stiglitz and Nicholas Stern indicated that carbon needed to be priced at somewhere between $40 and $80 by 2020 and somewhere in the $50-100 range by 2030 if the markets and prices were to have any impact on investment decisions. New rules issued by China's environment ministry in December are urging businesses to reduce carbon intensity - or the amount of pollution produced per unit of GDP - instead of slashing the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions. It was a "subtle but important difference" which could even make new coal power plants more economically attractive.  
• Coal: Pressure from the country's powerful coal lobby is weighing on efforts to curb emissions. China relies on coal for 60 percent of its energy needs and since 2011 has burned more coal each year than the rest of the world combined. Capacity keeps growing too, with three times more coal-power generation capacity added in China than in the rest of the world combined in 2020, data from the US think tank Global Energy Monitor showed. China is drafting a new climate change law that environmentalists say might address some of the shortcomings in the current carbon trading system.
• Hopes: Campaigners are also hoping that the current scheme gets rolled out across more industries, with stricter penalties. China has set a long-term goal to be carbon neutral but the carbon market in its current form just isn't going to play much of a role in realising these ambitions. It could become an important tool in the future, and very fast, if the government decides to give it teeth.

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

US-China confrontation would be ‘disaster’, Xi tells Joe Biden

1. First call: US President Joe Biden had a first phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on 11-02-2021, in a goodwill gesture to begin the process of reshaping China-US relations after four years of drastic deterioration. The call, held on the eve of the Lunar New Year, revealed the gulf of tensions lingering between the major powers, as Biden pressed Xi on issues of trade, human rights and the Indo-Pacific region. Xi pushed back, describing Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang as China’s “internal affairs”, and called for the resumption of dialogue between the countries, according to statements from both sides.
2. The importance of cooperation: “Cooperation is the only correct choice for the two nations. Cooperation can help the two nations and the world to accomplish big things, while confrontation is definitely a disaster,” Xi was quoted as saying. “China and US will have different views on certain issues, and it is important for them to treat each other with respect and equally, and properly manage the differences in constructive manner,” he added. Xi said a resumption of dialogue was needed to avoid misjudgments and to differentiate those disputes which could be contained. He called on Washington to be cautious in its handling of issues related to China’s sovereignty.
3. Mend relations quickly: Xi clarified that China and the US had different views on various issues, but the key is mutual respect, equal treatment and properly managing and handling them in a constructive manner. The foreign ministries can have in-depth communication on a wide range of bilateral, international and regional issues, and the two sides’ economic, financial, law enforcement and military departments can also increase their exchanges. Beijing has repeatedly called for the new administration in Washington to mend relations which were impaired during the tumultuous era of former president Donald Trump.
4. What US said: White House informed said Biden shared his greetings and well wishes with the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. He also “affirmed his priorities of protecting the American people’s security, prosperity, health and way of life, and preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific”. Biden had “underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan”. Biden also raised cooperation on preventing weapons proliferation, an issue left off the Chinese read-out of the call and a likely reference to the US’ seeking Chinese cooperation on constraining North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
5. Trickly Issues:  Analysts said the phone call could not unravel the series of prickly issues that had plunged relations between the two countries to their lowest level in decades. The US touched on all of the areas that China considered its “bottom lines”, and that he expected Biden to continue to respond to bipartisan calls in Congress against China. A resumption of exchanges is definitely good, but the majority of the conversation was sharp confrontation, albeit more polite and civil now that Trump is no longer in office!
6. Aggressive on China: In his first foreign policy address, Biden had called China “the most serious competitor” for the US and pledged to “confront China’s economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive actions, and push back on China’s attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance”.
7. Warning to US lawmakers: President Biden later told a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on the need to upgrade U.S. infrastructure, in the face of the Chinese challenge. The Chinese were investing billions of dollars dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation, the environment and a whole range of other things. The USA just had to step up.

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

How a Bill becomes Law

• New Farm Laws, 2020: In year 2020, the government passed three farm laws - called agri reform laws - in the Parliament, in the middle of a raging pandemic. That started a chain reaction of farmer protests in some states. Then the government announced the three contentious farm laws will be on hold for one to one-and-a-half years.
• Law coming into force: The question is - does a law automatically come into force after the bill is passed by the parliament? Parliament indeed has the power to make a law and to remove it from the statute books. Over the years, Parliament has repealed several laws & there are precedents where after it has been passed, it has not been in force for several years. Passing a particular bill does not mean that it will start working from the next day.

• Three crucial steps:

1. First - the President giving his or her assent to the bill & most of them receive assent in a few days. The Article 111 of the Constitution specifies that the President can either sign off on the bill or withhold his consent and rarely he withholds his assent to the bill. The last time it happened was in 2006 when President APJ Abdul Kalam refused to sign a bill protecting MPs from disqualification for holding an office of profit. If a bill is sent to Parliament for reconsideration & if Parliament sends it back to the President, he or she has no choice but to approve it. In 1986, President Zail Singh made use of a loophole in the Constitution which does not specify a time limit for the President to approve a bill. A bill which was criticised for violating the privacy of personal correspondence was sent to him & he decided not to take any action on the bill until his term ends. President Ram Nath Kovind signed the three farm bills into law within a week of their passing in September 2020.
2. Second - The next step is deciding the date on which the law comes into effect & in many cases Parliament delegates power to government to determine this date. The bill states that the law “shall come into force on such date when government may by notification in the Official Gazette appoint & different dates may be appointed for different provisions of Act”. So, the Parliament passed the Recycling of Ships Act in December 2019 & in October 2020 government brought Section 3 of the law into force. This section empowers the government to designate an officer to supervise all ship recycling activities in India. How is that date of implementation decided? A bill specifies the exact date on which it will come into effect & bills which replace ordinances mostly do that. In such cases, the bill sets the date on which the President signed the ordinance as the day the law will come into force. Similarly the three farm bills replacing their ordinances came into force on June 5, 2020. But there are also instances when the government does not bring a law into force for many years. The National Environment Tribunal Act was never brought into force which were passed in 1995 and cleared by the President.
3. Third - A bill passed by Parliament is the outline of a law & to come into effect, individuals need to be recruited or given the power to administer it. The implementing ministry also needs to finalise forms to gather information and provide benefits or services & these day-to-day operational details are called rules and regulations. The Parliament gives the government the responsibility of making them & these regulations are critical for the functioning of law. In the case of three farm laws, the government has made some rules in October 2020. If the government does not make rules and regulations, a law or parts of it will not get implemented & Benami Transactions Act of 1988 went unimplemented due to absence of regulations.The Parliament has recommended that the government has to make rules within six months of passing a law but parliamentary committees observed that this recommendation is breached. The government not only has the power to make rules but can also suppress rules made by it earlier.
4. Summary: Thus, practically speaking, there are ways a government can decide to put any new law on hold, indefinitely. In cases where serious conflicts arise, it may be advisable to change some parts of laws to alleviate concerns.

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

MTP Amendment Bill 2020 - Women's rights over their bodies

• MTP Bill: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 passed in the Lok Sabha in March 2020, was scheduled to be tabled for consideration in Rajya Sabha. Under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, voluntarily terminating a pregnancy is a criminal offence. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 allows for aborting the pregnancy by medical doctors (with specified specialisation) on certain grounds. Worldwide, there are two views on allowing abortions - first says it is the choice of the pregnant woman, and a part of her reproductive rights. Second is that the state has an obligation to protect life, and hence should provide for the protection of the foetus.
• Key provisions: The Bill amends the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. It seeks to extend the termination of pregnancy period from 20 weeks to 24 weeks, making it easier for women to safely and legally terminate an unwanted pregnancy. For termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of gestation, the opinion of one registered medical practitioner will be required. For termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation, opinion of two registered medical practitioners will be required. The Bill proposes to extend the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women. These include vulnerable women including survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women (like differently-abled women, minors), etc. Upper gestation limit will not apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board.
• Medical Board: All state and union territory governments will constitute a Medical Board, which will decide if a pregnancy may be terminated after 24 weeks due to substantial foetal abnormalities. Each Board will have a gynaecologist, paediatrician, radiologist/sonologist, and other members notified by the state government. Name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorized in any law for the time being in force. The original law states that, if a minor wants to terminate her pregnancy, written consent from the guardian is required. The proposed law has excluded this provision. The Bill applies to unmarried women too. This relaxes one of the regressive clauses of the 1971 Act, i.e., single women could not cite contraceptive failure as a reason for seeking an abortion.
• MTP Act of 1971: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 was framed in the context of reducing the maternal mortality ratio due to unsafe abortions. It allows an unwanted pregnancy to be terminated up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. It requires a second doctor’s approval if the pregnancy is beyond 12 weeks. Further, it only allows termination – when there is a grave risk to the physical or mental health of the woman (or) if the pregnancy results from a sex crime such as rape or intercourse with a mentally challenged woman.
• Concerns: The MTP law is framed not to respect a woman’s right over her own body. It instead makes it easier for the state to stake its control over her body through legal and medical debates. To illustrate, if a woman has had voluntary sex and she decides, for personal reasons, to end her pregnancy at the 24th week or later, then this would be a criminal offence. In one such case, a State government had argued that there were no grounds for an abortion since the pregnancy was the outcome of a voluntary act. It said that she was “very much aware of the consequence.” The court agreed too. In such circumstances, women usually resort to unsafe methods of abortion, and unsafe abortions are the third largest cause of maternal deaths in India.
• Problem continues: The amendment too continues this legacy of hetero-patriarchal population control, which does not give women control over their own bodies. Termination of pregnancies is not based on any request or at the pregnant person’s will but on a doctor’s opinion.

• Various issues:

1. Inclusiveness: The Bill uses the word “women” throughout. This, in effect, denies access to safe abortion to transgender, intersex and gender diverse persons.
2. Medical boards: The Bill mandates the government to set up a medical board in every State and UT. Poor public health infrastructure and absence of specialists have meant that most abortions do not happen in the public sector, but at private centres or at home. There is overwhelming shortfalls in specialist availability, especially in rural and scheduled areas. It may be impossible to constitute boards with requisite specialist representation.
3. Personal beliefs: Medical boards can rely on the facts of the case but personal beliefs could impact the medical board’s opinion. This is one of the biggest challenges in having a third-party opinion on a decision which is very personal. The current Bill provides that safe abortions can be performed at any stage of the pregnancy in case of foetal “abnormalities.” However, it fails to consider any other reason such as personal choice, a sudden change in circumstances due to separation from or death of a partner, and domestic violence.

• Summary: In all, abortion rights are central to a woman’s autonomy to determine her life’s course. Neither the state nor doctors have any right to deny a woman a safe abortion.

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

Was "Oumuamua" an alien spacecraft - the big debate

1. The startling 2017 discovery: An object came hurtling in from deep space, from the direction of Vega, a star 25 light-years away. It crossed the orbital plane of the solar system, within which the Earth and the other planets revolve around the sun, on September 6th 2017. Now under the influence of the sun’s gravitation, the object accelerated to around 2,00,000 mph as it made its closest approach to the star on September 9th. Its trajectory then took it out of the solar system. A month after the object had arrived, it was well on its way back to interstellar space, moving towards the constellation of Pegasus.
2. Finally found: As it catapulted past the sun and began to head off, no one on Earth had any idea of the object’s existence. Astronomers discovered it only on October 19th; it was hidden in the data collected by their network of telescopes, as a point of light that travelled too fast to be trapped by the sun’s gravity. They gave it a name: 'Oumuamua', Hawaiian for 'scout'. Astronomers quickly confirmed that 'Oumuamua' was the first interstellar object recorded as having passed through the solar system. Initially it was thought most likely to have been an asteroid or a comet; but available data indicated that ‘Oumuamua was small (around 400 metres long) and shiny (perhaps ten times shinier than any asteroid or comet seen before). It seemed to have an elongated, cigar-like shape, at least five to ten times longer than it was wide. There never was anything like it!
3. Strange path: In addition to these physical peculiarities, Oumuamua had travelled along a path through the solar system that could not be explained by the gravity of the sun alone. This was the most eyebrow-raising bit of data accumulated over the roughly two weeks it was seen. Scientist Avi Loeb, an astronomer, wrote his account in the book “Extraterrestrial”.  Loeb concluded that the simplest explanation for the exotic strangeness of Oumuamua was that it had been created by an intelligent civilisation beyond Earth. Most scientists laughed it off!
4. SETI story: Carl Sagan, an American astronomer, once said: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” There is a project on search for extraterrestrial intelligence, commonly known as SETI. Since the 1960s astronomers have been listening to the skies for any signs of radio signals sent out by technologically capable life beyond Earth. But SETI has been marginalised, dismissed as a lesser use of time and resources than the more prestigious study of black holes, subatomic particles, stars, galaxies and other “real” physics.
5. Loeb’s view: He says SETI must be taken more seriously, simply because far more nebulous ideas are being taken seriously! Modern mainstream theoretical physicists accept the study of spatial dimensions beyond the three (length, breadth and depth) with which people are familiar. Experimental evidence for these dimensions does not exist. Cosmologists also think that this universe is one among an infinite number of others that exist together in a “multiverse”. But experimental evidence does not exist. String theory, the putative “theory of everything” that is meant to bind together the physics of the cosmos with that of subatomic particles, is considered scientific even though there is no direct evidence to prove it is real.
6. So why not ET: Compared with these abstract theories, the notion that there could be life elsewhere in the universe, when it is known to exist on Earth, should not seem so radical a subject of study. Loeb thinks resistance to it comes from two sources. First, the “laughable” popular narratives in which aliens lay waste to Earth’s cities and possess superhuman wisdom. He is no fan of science fiction that ignores the laws of physics. But the more important reason, he says, is a conservatism within science, which is sustained by the desire of individual scientists to keep risk low and funding high: By limiting interpretations or placing blinders on our telescopes, we risk missing discoveries.
7. Another big project: In 2016 Loeb was the astrophysical brain behind Breakthrough Starshot, a $100m project funded by Yuri Milner, a Russian tech billionaire, the goal of which is to dispatch a fleet of tiny probes called Starchips to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to the sun. They are to be equipped with cameras able to relay any signs of life they might find back to Earth.Mr Loeb worked out that it might be possible to accelerate a Starchip to around 20% of the speed of light if it were fitted with an ultra-thin sail and a 100-gigawatt laser were directed towards it for a few minutes. So launched, the Starchips would in theory make the 4.4-light-year journey to Alpha Centauri in between 20 and 30 years. The Breakthrough Starshot project was announced a year before the discovery of Oumuamua.
8. Summary: No one knows what Oumuamua was, a spacecraft, or simply a large piece of rock. But science must keep investigating. As someone said, there may or may not be life elsewhere in this Universe, and both prospects are terrifying.

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

Stressed Army personnel of India

• Latest survey: Findings of a recent study by United Service Institution of India (USI), a Service think tank, revealed that more than half of Indian Army personnel seemed to be under severe stress. That is not a healthy indicator.

• Highlights:

1. Stressed Army personnel - The Army has been losing more personnel every year due to suicides, fratricides and untoward incidents than in response to any enemy or terrorist activities. Long exposure of Indian Army personnel to Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism (CI/CT) environment has been one of the contributory factors for increased stress levels. This loss is substantially greater than the operational casualties suffered by the Armed forces. In addition, a number of soldiers and leaders have been affected by hypertension, heart diseases, psychosis, neurosis and other related ailments. Officers experience comparatively much higher cumulative stress levels, compared to the Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) and the stress causative factors are also different.
2. Causes of stress: (i) Among Army Officers: Inadequacies in the quality of leadership, overburdened commitments, inadequate resources, frequent dislocations, lack of fairness and transparency in postings and promotions, insufficient accommodation, indifferent attitude of civilian officials, etc.; (ii) Among Lower Rank Officials: Excessive engagements, domestic problems, lack of dignity, lack of recreational facilities and conflict with seniors as well as subordinates, etc.
3. Impact of Stress on Work: Units and subunits under stress are likely to witness an increased number of incidents of indiscipline, unsatisfactory state of training, inadequate maintenance of equipment and low morale that adversely affects their combat preparedness and operational performance.

• Suggestion: Stress prevention and management should be treated “as a leadership role at Unit and Formation level”.
• Army’s stand: The Army has rejected the study, stressing that the sample size for the survey was too “miniscule” to arrive at such “far reaching” conclusions. The study has been done by one individual, with a sample size of around 400 soldiers.
• Steps taken: Provision of better quality of facilities such as clothing, food, married accommodation, travel facilities, schooling, recreation etc. and periodic welfare meeting. Conduct of yoga and meditation as a tool for stress management. Training and deployment of psychological counsellors. Institutionalization of projects ‘MILAP’ and ‘SAHYOG’ by the Army in Northern & Eastern Command to reduce stress among troops. A ‘Mansik Sahayata Helpline’ has been established by the Army & Air Force to take professional counselling. Mental Health Awareness is provided during pre-induction training. Formation of Military Psychiatry Treatment Centre at INHS Asvini and establishment of Mental Health Centres in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Port Blair, Goa and Karwar.
• Earlier studies: Previously, Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) had completed research projects that focused on identifying factors causing suicides among troops deployed in Field and Peace areas. It had found in its studies that not getting timely leave was one of the stress factors triggering suicidal behaviour.
• Recommendations: These included rationalizing grant of Leave, counselling at the time of leave, decrease workload, reduction in tenure of deployment, increase in pay and allowances, improvement in living conditions, building better interpersonal relations between the officers and men, training programmes in stress management and psychological counselling, enhancing basic and recreation activities and redress of grievances.

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

Exim Bank to provide $400 Million for Maldives project

1. Support for Maldives: The Reserve Bank of India has announced that the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will provide USD 400 million to Maldives project. It will provide the fund for the Greater Male Connectivity Project.
2. Key points: The Greater Male Connectivity project is the Male to Thilafushi Link project in Maldives. The agreement under the Line of Credit is effective from January 28, 2021, and utilisation period of the terminal is 60 months after the completion date of the project.
3. Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP): The GMCP project was the election promise by the current President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. It will connect the Gulhifalhu Port and Thilafushi industrial zone with a 6.7-kilometre-long bridge, and will be a landmark project that will streamline the connectivity between the four islands namely, Maldives, Villingili, Gulhifahu and Thilafushi.
4. India-Maldives relations: Formal relations were established in the year 1966, after it gained independence in 1965. Both share an ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural and commercial history. The Maldives is home to 25,000 Indian nationals. Both the countries are the founding members of SAARC. India also consider Maldives a part of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy.

Mandarin Duck spotted in Assam

1. Story: The Mandarin duck which is a colourful duck from eastern Asia was spotted in Assam recently after 118 years.
2. Details: Spotting of the Mandarin has raised hopes for the wetland which was affected by a blowout and inferno at a natural gas well in the year 2020. The Mandarin duck was spotted by the team of avian specialists in the Maguri-Motapung Beel of Tinsukia district in eastern Assam. It is the inhabitant of eastern China and southern Japan, and landed in Assam too by accident. The last Mandarin duck was spotted in Assam in the year 1902.
3. Mandarin duck: The scientific name is Aix galericulata. It is a perching duck species which is native to the East Palearctic. The duck is medium-sized with 41–49 cm in length and 65–75 cm of wingspan. The duck is closely related to North American wood duck. The ducks were once widespread in East Asia region. But they were exported on large-scale so the population reduced in the eastern Russia and China. The destruction of its forest habitat further accelerated the reduction in population so much so that the population reduced below 1,000 pairs in each of Russia and China. Japan has an estimated population of around 5,000 pairs.

 

TIFAC launches SAKSHAM portal and Seaweed Cultivation Mission

1. Story: The Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) have launched a job portal called SAKSHAM to map the skills of workers as required by the MSMEs. It also launched a Seaweed Cultivation Mission.
2. About SAKSHAM Portal: TIFAC highlighted that the Saksham portal will help in eliminating the middlemen and labour contractors. It will also help to identify the skill proficiency level. The portal will also help in the development of skill cards for ‘shramiks’ (workers).
3. Seaweed Cultivation Mission: It is also called kelp farming. It is the practice of cultivating and harvesting the seaweed. The process comprises of management of naturally found batches in the simplest form. While in the advanced form, the process comprises of fully controlling the life cycle of the algae. If seaweed cultivation is done in 10 million hectares or in the 5% of the Exclusive Economic Zone area in India, it would help in providing employment to 50 million people. TIFAC will showcase a model, in collaboration with other in-line ministries, of the commercial farming of seaweeds and its processing. Seaweed Cultivation would help in boosting the economy.
4. Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC): It is an autonomous organization, set up in the year 1988. It works under the Department of Science & Technology. The organisation works in the technology domain and assess technology trajectories. It strives for the development of technology by leveraging the technology innovation
   

Goa - Sixth State to complete Urban Local Bodies reforms

1. Story: Goa has become the 6th State in the country that have successfully completed the Urban Local Bodies reforms.
2. Key points: These Urban Local Bodies reforms were set up by the Department of Expenditure. Finance Ministry highlighted that the state of Goa will now eligible to mobilise the additional financial resources of 223 crore rupees with the help of Open Market Borrowings. Apart from Goa, five other states namely Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur and Telangana have already completed the Urban Local Bodies reforms. These five states have also been granted a total additional borrowing permission of ten thousand 435 crore rupees.
3. Reforms The Department of Expenditure have set following reforms - states are required to notify floor rates of property tax in ULBs in accordance with he guideline rates for property transactions. Notify the floor rates of user charges with respect to the provision of water-supply, drainage and sewerage. To launch a system of periodic increase in the floor rates of property tax or the user charges with respect to the price increases.
4. Aim of reforms: Reforms in Urban Local Bodies and the urban utilities reforms are being undertaken with the aim of strengthening the finance of the Urban Local Bodies in States. These reforms would enable the ULBs to provide better public health and sanitation services to its citizens.

India’s first CNG tractor

1. Story: India will launch its first-ever diesel tractor that has been converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) on February 12, 2021.
2. Key points: The CNG Tractor will be formally launched by Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways. The conversion of the Diesel tractor into the CNG tractor was carried out jointly by Rawmatt Techno Solutions and Tomasetto Achille India. CNG tractors will help farmers save more than one lakh rupees on the costs of fuel annually, helping them improve their livelihoods.
3. Benefits of converting: This retrofitted CNG tractor produces more power or equal when compared to the diesel-run engine. It will reduce the overall emissions by 70 per cent as compared to the emission by the diesel tractors.
4. CNG: It is a clean fuel. The carbon content in the CNG is the lowest among all the fuels, and tt is economical because of zero lead in it. It is non-corrosive, non-dilutive and non-contaminating in nature. These properties help to increase the life of the engine. Further, the fuel requires less regular maintenance.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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