Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 01-03-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 01-03-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. History - Intact ancient Roman ceremonial chariot uncovered near Pompeii - Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient Roman ceremonial carriage from a villa outside Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, in Italy. The almost perfectly preserved four-wheeled carriage is made of iron, bronze and tin. It was found in ruins of a settlement north of Pompeii in a stable where remains of three horses were discovered earlier. Pompeii is a vast archaeological site in southern Italy’s Campania region, near the coast of the Bay of Naples. It was once an advanced Roman city, but got buried under many feet of ash and pumice after the massive eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The preserved site features excavated ruins of streets and houses that visitors can freely explore.
2. Science and Technology - Russia launches its first Arctic monitoring satellite - Russia launched its first satellite, Arktika-M, for monitoring the Arctic's climate. The Roscosmos agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said that communication with the satellite had been established. The satellite will provide round-the-clock continuous monitoring of the northern territory of Russia and the seas of the Arctic Ocean. The economic exploitation of the Arctic is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's key goals. Arctic region holds huge oil and gas reserves that are being eyed by Russia and other countries including the United States, Canada and Norway. UK scientists reported recently that bice was disappearing across the world at a rate that matched "worst-case climate warming scenarios".
3. World Economy - Bitcoin mining uses more electricity than Argentina, Ukraine - The bad news for cryptocurrencies keeps flowing in! Bitcoin mining uses more electricity than Argentina or Ukraine, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. It states that the cryptocurrency currently consumes 130.51 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year and the energy consumption will increase with Bitcoin price. The mining process involves solving complex series of algorithms after which a Bitcoin is awarded to a computer. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) provides a real-time estimate of the total electricity load and consumption of the Bitcoin network. Given that the exact electricity consumption cannot be determined, the CBECI provides a range of possibilities consisting of a lower bound (floor) and an upper bound (ceiling) estimate. Within the boundaries of this range, a best-guess estimate is calculated to provide a more realistic figure that we believe comes closest to Bitcoin’s real annual electricity consumption.
4. Healtchare and Medicine - Ireland sees violent protest against COVID-19 lockdown - A planned demonstration against COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland quickly turned violent as hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Dublin. Protesters chanting "End the lockdown" and handing out leaflets reading "Let Ireland live" were blocked by police as they marched towards a city centre park. Situation turned tense after two firework rockets were fired at police from a close range. Ireland managed to keep coronavirus infection and death figures relatively low, but a relaxation of restrictions around the holiday season in December led to a surge in new cases. According to Oxford University data, Ireland had the highest per capita infection rate in the world in early January 2021.
5. Governance and Institutions - Delhi to switch all hired vehicles to EVs - Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced that all branches of the Delhi government will now only use electric vehicles, and the transition to electric vehicles will be completed within 6 months. The Delhi government uses more than 2,000 cars, and it believes that this decision will inspire the country and other cities in the world. It is a key decision to solve problems such as pollution and climate change. This announcement was made after the government launched the "Switch Delhi" campaign. The transition from diesel or gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles will be monitored by the Delhi Ministry of Transport. In addition, government departments need to generate action reports on the transition of electric vehicles to node departments every month.  
6. Science and Technology - AI Model Predicting Tsunamis Japan - The AI model designed and developed by Fujitsu Laboratories of Japan can predict flood forecasts in specific areas. Japan's Fujitsu Laboratory has developed an AI model that can predict the flooding of tsunamis in coastal areas in real time. The AI model designed and developed by Fujitsu Laboratories of Japan can predict flood forecasts in specific areas, making it easier to evacuate people and provide insights about potential damage to surrounding infrastructure. The technology company uses Fugaku, the world's fastest supercomputer, to develop models. A group of researchers used supercomputers to generate training data for 20,000 possible tsunami scenarios based on high-resolution tsunami simulations. They used these data sets to create AI models. In the event of an earthquake, inputting the tsunami waveform data observed at sea into the model can help predict flooding in coastal areas before the waves make landfall. The company said it will make it possible to obtain accurate and rapid flood forecasts for specific areas and also provide important insights about the impact of local waves on surrounding infrastructure such as buildings and roads. It is said that the system can also make evacuation measures more effective. The model can also be run on an ordinary PC within a few seconds, making it easier to build a practical real-time system that previously required a supercomputer.
7. Indian Politics - Covid vaccine will be free in Bihar - Bihar's CM Nitish Kumar has said that COVID-19 vaccination will be "absolutely free" in the entire Bihar state. He said, "Such facility will be made available even at private hospitals. It will be facilitated by the state government." Notably, the Centre announced that private COVID-19 vaccination centres can charge up to ?250 per dose of vaccine, a decision not appreciated by many pharma and biotech company heads (for the low price cap), including Ms Kiran M Shaw of Biocon. Meanwhile, many other politicians displayed their pictures of taking the vaccine, including PM Modi.
8. History - Ancient Buddhist Monastery found in Jharkhand - The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a Buddhist monastery, believed to be at least 900 years old, buried under a mound in a village near Juljul Pahar of Sitagarhi Hills in Jharkhand. Earlier an ancient Buddhist shrine, buried under a similar mound was found, close to this site.Four statues of deity Tara in Varad Mudra (gesture of hand showing dispensing of boons). Nagri Script on Tara Statue: Nagri was a previous version of Devnagri script and the words indicate Buddhist religious affiliation. Six statues of the Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra (gesture of hand showing five fingers of right hand towards the earth symbolising the Buddha’s enlightenment). A sculpture which appears to be that of Shaivite deity Maheswari - with a coiled crown and chakra - indicating cultural assimilation in the area.
9. Governance and Institutions - Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) Jal Shakti - The Ministry of Jal Shakti announced the selection of 12 sites, which will be transformed into "Swachh tourist Destinations" in the Phase-IV. The Swachch Iconic Places initiative under the Swachch Bharat mission is a special cleanup initiative that focuses on specific iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country. This initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, and the relevant state governments. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has now selected another 12 sites to be included in the SIP programe (phase IV). The 12 sites are - Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra Sanchi Stupa, Madhya Pradesh Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan Ramdevra, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha Rock Garden, Chandigarh Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir Banke Bihari Temple, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh Kalighat Temple, West Bengal The initiative aims to improve the experience of domestic and foreign tourists by improving the sanitation and cleanliness standards of the site and its surroundings.
10. Indian Economy - Central bank-backed digital currency a mixed blessing - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a mixed blessing. It said while CBDC can increase financial inclusion and transparency, it can also take away low-cost deposits from banks with impacts on the economy. This comes after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said guidelines on issuing CBDCs would come out soon. A CBDC can be designed to promote non-anonymity at the individual level, monitor transactions, promote financial inclusion by direct benefit fiscal transfer, pumping central bank ‘helicopter money’ and even direct public consumption to a select basket of goods and services to increase aggregate demand and social welfare. But, on the downside, CBDCs pose a risk of disintermediation of the banking system. More so, if the commercial banking system in a country is considered to be fragile.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

US Bonds impact the Indian economy

• Indian markets hit by bonds: Indian stock markets saw a sharp spike in the yields that one earns from United States government bonds. When govts. sell bonds (to raise money to meet their expenditure), the bonds have a selling price and a fixed coupon rate. If a 10-year government bond (Treasuries in the US, Gilts in Britain and G-Secs in India) is priced at Rs.1000 and the coupon rate is Rs.50 then it means if you buy such a bond from the government for Rs.1000 today, it will pay you Rs.50 each year and return you Rs.1000 at the end of the 10 years.

• The yield on bond: Here, the “yield” or the annual rate of return from the bond was 5%. But it can change if the selling price of the bond changes. If at the start of the second year, investors turn unhappy about the prospects of the broader economy or the private firms, and some of them decide to invest in government bonds now (safest investment), then the demand for such bonds will rise (and so will their prices). Suppose the price of the same 10-year bond rises to Rs.1010.

1. Since the coupon rate is still Rs.50, the effective return on an investment of Rs.1010 that bondholders will now get at the end of the second year will be only Rs.40 (50 - 10). That implies a yield of 40 / 1010 = 3.96%, a fall from the 5% bondholders earned in the first year.
2. Since government bonds are the safest investments, their yields tend to be the benchmark for interest rates in the economy as well as investor confidence.
3. If investors find it more lucrative to lend money to businesses, they move away from government bonds, which results in a fall in bond prices and an increase in yields. If they are concerned about the state of the economy, they rush to buy bonds and thus yields fall.
4. Since Covid-19 vaccines are being rolled out in the US and economic activity (helped generously by government spending) gathers pace, investors are moving away from government bonds — thus spiking the bond yields.
5. A fall in interest rates makes bond prices rise, and bond yields fall — and rising interest rates cause bond prices to fall, and bond yields to rise. In short, a rise in bond yields means interest rates in the monetary system have fallen, and the returns for investors (those who invested in bonds and govt securities) have declined.

• Global impact: Apart from being the benchmark domestically, the US bond yields are very influential globally as well. That's because they attract funds from investors across the world. Investing in US treasuries is safest, and if such bond yields are rising then they become an even more attractive proposition. Higher yields in the US also signal the US central bank — the Fed — might raise interest rates to contain inflation, which will rise as economic growth takes off. So many global investors pull out money from emerging economies such as India, where economic recovery is still slow, and either invest in US bonds or the broader economy. This reverse flow explains why India's domestic stock markets suffered in February last week.

• Indian bonds: Yields of Indian G-secs rose in line with US bond yields. So investors find lending to the Indian government a better alternative than lending to the Indian firms via the stock markets. Recall the release of the Second Revised Estimates (SAE) of national income for FY 21 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

1. In the First Advance Estimates, released on January 7, the government expected India’s GDP to contract by 7.7% in the current financial year. The SAE released on February 26 peg this contraction at 8%. This cannot be great news for the economy.
2. A contraction by 7.7% meant that India’s per capita GDP, per capita private consumption and the level of investments in the economy — all were expected to fall to levels last seen in 2016-17 or earlier.
3. At minus 8%, most of these key metrics have either worsened or, in case they have improved, they haven't done so substantially enough. For instance, according to the FAE, the per capita GDP in 2020-21 was estimated to be Rs 99,155. According to the SAE, this number has fallen further to Rs 98,928 — that's a fall of Rs 227 per head across each of 1.36 billion Indians.

• Borrowings and FPI flows: When bond yields rise, the RBI has to offer higher cut-off price/yield to investors during auctions. This means borrowing costs will increase at a time when the government plans to raise Rs 12 lakh crore from the market. RBI is expected to stabilise yields through its OMOs (open market operations) and operation twists. As government borrowing costs are used as the benchmark for pricing loans to businesses and consumers, any increase in yields will be transmitted to the real economy. And bond yields play a big role in FPI flows too. When bond yields rise in the US, FPIs move out of Indian equities. Also, it has been seen that when the bond yield in India goes up, it results in capital outflows from equities and into debt.

• GVA and GDP: The silver lining in the national income data was the growth rate of Gross Value Added (GVA). It makes sense to look at the GDP, which maps national income from the point of view of what was the total amount of money spent in an economy, for comparing the full-year performance of an economy. But there is another way to look at the economy’s performance — the Gross Value Added (GVA). It captures the value added (in money terms) by economic agents in each sector of the economy. It is more relevant when one tries to map how the domestic economy is changing from one quarter to another. The GVA data is made available first by govt., not the GDP, which is later arrived at by taking the GVA number, adding all the taxes earned by the government and subtracting all the subsidies provided by the government.

1. For the same level of GVA in an economy, the GDP could alter just because the government earned more money from its taxes or spent more on subsidies.
2. If one wants to know the true state of India’s economic revival, one should focus on the GVA.
3. Even though the GDP growth rate has been revised down, the GVA growth rate has been revised up. While both the industry and the services sectors are expected to contract this year, the pace of contraction is lower than what was expected in January 2021. 

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

Pollution from Coal Burning: IEACCC

• The story: A study by the International Energy Agency’s Clean Coal Centre (IEACCC) has stated that coal burning is responsible for heavy air pollution in India. A Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has also discussed the measures to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) footprints of India’s coal-based power sector and cautioned the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) against extending the deadline of meeting emission norms for coal-based thermal power plants in the country.

• Findings:

1. Pollution from Coal-Based Thermal Power Stations - Coal-based thermal power stations contribute over half sulphur dioxide (SO2), 30% oxides of nitrogen (NOx), about 20% particulate matter (PM), etc. Persistent burning of coal in thermal power stations and a delay in implementation of latest carbon capture storage technology are among major reasons of air pollution in India.
2. Pollution from other sectors - Transport and other industrial sectors stand second to coal-based thermal power stations as a contributor to air pollution.

• Suggestions:

1. Retirement of old fleet of power stations - To limit pollution and improve the fleet efficiency by adopting clean coal technology.
2. Investment in cleaner and advanced technology - The most new advanced technology plants in India - such as Mundra and Sassan in Gujarat are struggling financially, causing stakeholders to lose confidence in investing in cleaner and advanced technology.
3. Launch more ambitious schemes - The current energy efficiency schemes, including performance and achieve trade scheme, efficiency standards scheme and carbon pricing schemes, are not ambitious enough to drive significant improvement.
4. Adopting Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) - It is equally important to reduce emissions. It suggested India to include it as a part of its climate commitment. CCUS is the process of capturing waste CO2, transporting it to a storage site and depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere.

• Coal Burning and Pollution:

1. Coal formation - Formed deep underground over thousands of years of heat and pressure, coal is a carbon-rich black rock that releases energy when burned.
2. Air Pollution - When coal is burned, it releases a number of airborne toxins and pollutants. They include mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and various other heavy metals. Health impacts can range from asthma and breathing difficulties, to brain damage, heart problems, cancer, neurological disorders, and premature death.
3. Water Pollution - The coal-fired power plants produce more than 100 million tons of coal ash every year. More than half of that waste ends up in ponds, lakes, landfills, and other sites where, over time, it can contaminate waterways and drinking water supplies. Other water impacts include acid rock drainage from coal mines, the destruction of mountain streams and valleys by mountaintop removal mining, and the energy-water collisions that occur when coal plants rely too heavily on local water supplies.
4. Climate Change - Coal is a large contributor to Global Warming.

• Initiatives to Control Emissions from Power Plants:  

1. Exploring CCUS - India is exploring its potential, as a plant at the industrial port of Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin has begun capturing CO2 from its own coal-powered boiler and using it to make baking soda.
2. Emission Standards - India has issued orders for thermal power plants to comply with emissions standards for installing Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) units that cut emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide.
3. Graded Action Plan - The Ministry of Power has proposed a "graded action plan," whereby areas where plants are located would be graded according to the severity of pollution, with Region 1 referring to critically polluted areas, and Region 5 being the least polluted.

• International Energy Agency’s Clean Coal Centre: It is a technology collaboration programme, organised under the InternationalEnergy Agency. It has 17 members, made up of contracting parties and sponsoring organisations. India's Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is a sponsoring organisation. Based in London with a team of engineers, scientists and other experts. It is supported financially by national governments (contracting parties) and by corporate industrial organisations. Its missions is to provide independent information and analysis on how coal can become a cleaner source of energy, compatible with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It wanst to address the role of coal in the energy trilemma and the need to balance security of supply, affordability and environmental issues. It wants to focus on reducing emissions of CO2 and other pollutants from coal use through High Efficiency, Low Emissions (HELE) technologies.

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

Sri Lanka-Pakistan Ties - PM Imran Khan’s Visit 

 

• The visit: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan recently made a visit to Sri Lanka.

• Relations:

1. Trade - Pakistan is Sri Lanka’s second largest trading partner in South Asia after India. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have a free trade agreement dating back to 2005. Pakistan’s top exports to Sri Lanka are textiles and cement. Sri Lanka’s top exports to Pakistan are tea, rubber, and readymade garments. There were commerce secretary-level talks ahead of Prime Minister Khan’s recent visit. As part of it, the two countries decided to reactivate a Joint Working Group to resolve pending technical issues on trade.
2. Culture - Over the last decade, Pakistan has tried to work on a cultural connect with Sri Lanka. On this note, it had highlighted its ancient Buddhist connections and sites.
3. Defence - Defence ties are a strong pillar of the Sri Lanka-Pakistan bilateral relationship. After pulling back the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) in 1990, India provided no active defence support to the Sri Lankan military. There was however intelligence sharing during the war against the LTTE. On the other hand, Sri Lanka turned to Pakistan for arms and ammunition in the last stages of the war. It also sought training for its fighter pilots. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was defence secretary at the time, visited Pakistan in 2008. He requested for emergency assistance with military supplies. The Sri Lankan military officers go to Pakistani military academies for training. Recently, Sri Lanka also participated in Pakistan’s multi-nation naval exercise, Aman-21.

• Outcomes: PM Khan’s visit yielded a clutch of MoUs and agreements between the two sides. The headline outcome was a $50 million credit line in the defence and security sector. Pakistan will set up a centre for the study of Asian cultures and civilisation at Peradeniya University in Kandy. A sports institute in Colombo was named after Imran Khan, highlighting the cricket connection between the two countries.

• Significance:

1. For India - The visit signalled that despite India’s best efforts at “isolating” Pakistan, Islamabad has friends in the neighbourhood.
2. For UNHRC - For Colombo, the visit held much value, given its challenging times on the international stage. At the recent session of the UNHRC, Sri Lanka faced another resolution on human rights violations and war crimes. The resolution is against Sri Lanka for withdrawing from resolution 30/1 of September 2015. Under the 2015 resolution, it committed to carry out war crimes investigations.
3. For Muslims - The Islamic world is dissatisfied with Sri Lanka’s tight rules for disposal of bodies of Muslims who have died of Covid-19. Burials are not allowed; all bodies must be cremated. The rule created a storm in Sri Lanka, where community leaders felt that the rules were in keeping with the perceived persecution of Muslims by the state. Muslims make up about 11% of Sri Lanka’s population, and have had tense relations with the Sinhala Buddhist majority for much of the last decade. Tensions spiked especially after the Easter 2019 suicide bombings by a group claimed to be members of ISIS. Given these, the visit by a head of government of an Islamic country is good for Sri Lanka.

• What happened with Khan’s address to the Parliament: Khan’s planned address to the Sri Lankan Parliament was cancelled, probably because of the concern that he would raise the Kashmir issue. Colombo did not want to anger New Delhi in this. India is already concerned about Sri Lanka’s abrupt withdrawal from a tripartite agreement (along with Japan) for the development of the East Container Terminal at Colombo port, and the award of a contract to a Chinese company to set up a hybrid renewable energy in an island off Jaffna.
• India-Sri Lanka ties: Over the years, Sri Lanka has learnt to balance its ties with India and Pakistan. Khan’s invitation to Sri Lanka to take advantage of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor to enhance trade ties did not elicit any reaction from Sri Lanka. Delhi’s overflight permission to Khan’s plane to Colombo was seen as a sign of the new military thaw at the LoC. But it is possible that permission would have been given even without the imminent India-Pakistan agreement on the ceasefire. The Indian security establishment has voiced concerns about Pakistan’s role in the radicalisation of Muslims, especially in Eastern Sri Lanka. Funds have allegedly poured in here from some West Asian countries for new mosques. Despite all these, India has not perceived Pakistan as a serious rival in Colombo so far. Now, there is some caution about a convergence of interests between Sri Lanka, China, and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean region and in defence co-operation.

 

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

Arguments for and against the new social media rules

• The new laws: In Feb 2021, the Indian government announced a sweeping array of rules reining-in social media. Specifically, social media platforms are required to become “more responsible and more accountable” for the content they carry. There is now a list of stuff deemed offensive. In other words, the government is giving itself plenty of room to cut Big Tech down to size.

• What prompted it: Regardless of whether India’s actions are motivated by its recent frustrations with Twitter or part of a wider global trend, the question is: Who gets to decide what is legitimate free speech — Big Government or Big Tech? Chakravorti tries to explain the arguments on both sides of the debate.

1. One argument for government intervention rests on the presumption that it is never in the commercial interest of Big Tech to remove offensive speech. To counter this argument, Big Tech proponents would contend that the companies are getting smarter about the risks of allowing such content on their systems and will inevitably find it in their self-interest to pre-emptively kill it.
2. The second argument in favour of the government would be as follows: In democratic societies, governments are elected to represent the will of the people. So if there is a hard choice to be made about curtailing speech or permitting it, it seems only natural to turn to the public guardian. The counter to this theory would be that, in practice, even democratically elected governments are far from perfect.
3. A third perspective is to acknowledge it doesn’t matter who is the “true” upholder of the public interest; for all practical purposes, the outcome of the struggle between Big Government and Big Tech will be determined by relative bargaining power. While governments technically have the ability to take entire platforms offline within the borders of their countries, these platforms are now so enormous that their users would revolt.

• Summary: This is a new era of global diplomacy. It isn’t just states banging heads with other states; there are gigantic tech companies that have thrown their hats into the geopolitical ring. India can impose a ban on TikTok and the children are deprived of endless hours of entertaining video. But if it turns the lights out on Twitter, top politicians will deprive himself of millions of followers. Twitter knows that and the negotiators within the government know that as well!

West Bengal's daily wage hike for workers under urban job scheme

• Election sop: Just hours before the announcement of dates for the West Bengal assembly polls 2021, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her government has increased the daily wages of labourers working under the state's Urban Employment Scheme.

• Details: She said unskilled workers would get a daily wage of Rs 202 per day, up from Rs 144, while the same for semi- skilled labourers was raised to Rs 303 from Rs 172. The government introduced a new category for skilled workers who will get a daily wage of Rs 404.

1. The CM made the announcement hours before the Election Commission of India declared the dates for the assembly elections in four states Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
2. Elections for the West Bengal assembly will be held in eight phases, up from seven last time, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said.

• Numbers: Banerjee said 40,500 unskilled, 8,000 semi-skilled and 8,000 skilled workers will be benefited from the state government's announcement. These wages will be in parity with rural workers' enhanced pay (MNREGA unskilled and semi-skilled). Budget provision for this step has been made available for both FY21 and FY22. 

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

Terms and conditions for disciplinary action 

• Ambiguity in service rules: There are some undefined provisions in Civil Services conduct rules which can be misused by the disciplinary authorities.
• The conduct rules: The All India Services (AIS), State Service or Central Service officials are governed by Central and State Civil Services conduct rules. Also, the conduct of army officers and jawans are administered under the Army Act. The AIS conduct rules require its members to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the service. The Army Act contains penal provisions for displaying unbecoming conduct or disgraceful conduct. But the terms unbecoming conduct or unbecoming of a member of service is not clearly defined. This leaves ample scope for the disciplinary authority to set parameters of misconduct according to him for his subordinates. And there is long standing debate whether illicit relation (adultery) with another woman or man amounts to misconduct under service rules or not.
• Supreme Court verdict: In the 'Joseph Shine vs Union of India' case, Supreme Court held that Section 497 of IPC (adultery) is arbitrary and should be decriminalised. But the centre approached the SC saying that its judgment in decriminalising adultery should not be applied to armed forces. It observed that something which is not adultery will still be unbecoming conduct & army act is on different footing. This observation was in contrast to the judgments made by various High Courts in the past.
• High Court verdict: In the 'Rabindra Nath Ghosh case (1985)', the Calcutta Court held that a head constable who was living with another woman ignoring his married wife is not guilty of any misconduct. In 'State of U.P. vs BN Singh (1989)', Allahabad Court ruled that to bring a case against government servant for his personal immorality on the habit of sex there should be valid reason. The reason must be that this habit should have reduced his utility as a public servant & damaged the government in public esteem. In the 'Pravina Solanki vs State of U.P. (2001)', court held that employees act in his/her private life cannot be regarded as misconduct. In the 'Mahesh Chand Sharma vs State of Rajasthan (2019)' case, court held that employer should not do moral policing on its employees that go beyond the domain of his public life.

• Learning: Various High Courts held that the act of adultery is not a sufficient ground to initiate departmental proceeding unless it interferes with an employee’s official functions.

1. But the Supreme Court’s observation that Army Act is on a different footing raises contention between misconduct and immoral act. It is generally understood that misconduct is unlawful behaviour, which involves moral turpitude, improper or wrong behaviour and should be wilful in character.
2. Government want its employees to maintain integrity both in public and private domain. Hence, the SC should state whether adulterous conduct is sufficient to initiate departmental action.
3. It must also define expressions such as unbecoming of a civil servant or unbecoming or disgraceful conduct.

 

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

Airline mapping of ocean floor 

• The story: The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is planning to conduct airline mapping of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep to get a better picture of the ocean floor. Lakshadweep Islands are located in the Arabian Sea. These are coral islands located off the coast of Kerala. The Andaman and the Nicobar Islands lie to the southeast of the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal.
• Key points:

1. ICOIS - It is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), located in Hyderabad & was established in 1999. It is a unit of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO), New Delhi.
2. Mandate of INCOIS - To provide the best possible ocean information and advisory services to society, industry, government agencies and the scientific community through sustained ocean observations and constant improvement through systematic and focused research.

• Recent initiative: The INCOIS is planning to take the help of the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to conduct ‘bathymetric’ study of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. The NRSC is one of the primary centres of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space (DOS).
• Bathymetry: It is the study of the "beds" or "floors" of water bodies, including the ocean, rivers, streams, and lakes. The term originally referred to the ocean's depth relative to sea level, although it has come to mean “submarine topography,” or the depths and shapes of underwater terrain. The NRSC has already done a similar high resolution topographic Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping (ALTM) for entire coastal areas of the country. ALTM is an active remote sensing technology that employs Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to measure topography at high spatial resolution over large areas. ALTM pulses a laser to measure the range between an airborne platform and the Earth’s surface at many thousands of times per second. Using a rotating mirror or other scanning mechanism inside the laser transmitter, the laser pulses can be made to sweep through an angle, tracing out a line or other patterns on the reflecting surface. The scientists are in the process of integrating the data for a 3D multi-hazard mapping of both the east and west coastline for a more precise picture of the ocean floor.
• Significance: Such a study has become imperative in view of the recent tsunamis warning. Recently, on the Indonesian coasts, where more than the quake related high waves, damage was due to landslides on the seabed causing sudden wave surges, leading to much damage without giving sufficient time to alert people.
• Other initiatives: It had also identified ‘gaps’ across the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for installing more tide gauges for better monitoring of the sea and more accurate prediction of impending disasters like cyclones. The INCOIS scientists in association with their counterparts in the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and an United States independent scientific agency, Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), have been mining the data recorded by a unique ‘Flux Buoy’ retrieved from the Bay of Bengal off the Kolkota coast. The buoy was dropped off into the sea to monitor the temperatures, pressures, salinity, radiation and geo-chemical changes at various depths in a high resolution scale, compared to other buoys in the seas.
• World ocean: Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between the Nippon Foundation of Japan and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). The project aims to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor by 2030 and make it available to all.

Russia launches first Arctic-monitoring satellite

• Another on Arctic: Russia has successfully launched its first satellite to monitor the Arctic's climate and environment. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the "Arktika-M" satellite on board blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9.55 a.m. on Sunday 28-02-2021, as per Roscosmos.

• Details: The Arktika-M spacecraft was delivered to the orbit at 12.14 p.m., Xinhua news agency quoted the space corporation as further saying in the statement. The creation of a satellite system in highly elliptical orbits is necessary for information collection to solve operational meteorology and hydrology problems, and monitoring the climate and environment in the Arctic region.

1. The Arktika-M will provide round-the-clock continuous monitoring of the northern territory of Russia and the seas of the Arctic Ocean.
2. The satellite will be able to transmit overview images of the Earth's northern polar region and the adjacent areas at least every 15-30 minutes.

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

Child marriages in India - An update

• History: Since times immemorial, child marriage has been one of the big evils plaguing Indian society. Marriage is a sacred relationship between two individuals who are ready to accept each other. Child marriage is an abuse of such a union, and is presently not permitted by law in India.
• Recent data: Latest figures released by the Government on married Indian women show 31.3% Hindu women and 30.6% Muslim women marry before the age of 17.6% of all Hindu women married before turning 10.The corresponding figure for Muslim women was 5%. Only 6% of men were married before 18.

1. The legal age for marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men. Any marriage below the legal age is considered child marriage.
2. One in three married women from Hindu and Muslim communities got married before their 18th birthday making them vulnerable to not just higher maternal mortality rates but also domestic violence.
3. Studies show girls who give birth before turning 15 and the infants of child mothers are at greater risk. Underage marriages interrupt education and most child brides are unable to negotiate with their family members making them liable to domestic violence.
4. The 2001 census found 43% of women were married before 18 years of age. In 2011 the figure stood at 18%. The proportion of women married before 18 years between 2001 and 2011 was 20%.

• Enforcement: India has been unable to enforce the law that was first enacted by the British in 1929.The Child Marriage Restraint Act fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14 and boys at 18 years. It was last raised to 18 years for girls in 2006.In 2014 police registered only 280 cases across the country under the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. Of the 103 cases decided by courts the same year convictions were secured in only 15 or 14.6% cases.
• Broader issue: Only laws and law enforcing agencies will not prove instrumental in reducing and eventually eradicating child-marriages. The mindset of the society has to be targeted in order to create a world free of such evils. Citizens will have to actively participate in spreading awareness regarding this practice and by abiding to the existing restrictions imposed by the government. Girl child has to be given equal opportunities and right education to safeguard themselves from such practices and rise in the society. The journey of gender equality will only be completed once practices like child marriages; female feticides violence against women are eradicated.
• Summary: According to the report ‘Why Children Commit Offences’ published by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in June 2015 focused on children in conflict with the law in Delhi. The report looks at multiple issues like the socio-economic profile of children with a criminal record, the nature of offence that these children were accused of and analyzed the factors that push children towards deviant behavior. The report highlighted the role of the family, the community, the school and education as well the peer influence. The report after studying 182 children in observation homes, special homes found that poverty is one of the biggest contributing factor in children taken to crimes. Most of the children had undergone multiple deprivations with low economic households, uneducated parents; disrupted families. The ildren were dropouts and working independently to support their families.

How India and the world are ageing

• Old age beckons: In the United Nations report that projects India will overtake China as the most populous country by around 2027, other trends and projections include an ageing population and an improving sex ratio, both globally and in India. Some of the key takeaways from ‘World Population Projections 2019:
• Highlights: The report projects the world population to some 9.7 billion by 2050, and says the overall growth rate will continue to fall. The next 30 years will see the population add 2 billion people to today’s 7.7 billion, and reach 11 billion by the end of the century. The countries expected to show the biggest increase are India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
• Fertility rates: The fertility rates are falling worldwide, and average number of births per woman globally, from 3.2 in 1990, fell to 2.5 by 2019, and is projected to fall further to 2.2 births by 2050. To avoid decline in a national population, a fertility level of 2.1 births per woman is necessary (in the absence of immigration).
• More seniors: In 2018, for the first time, persons aged 65 years or over worldwide outnumbered children under age five. Projections indicate that by 2050, there will be more than twice as many persons above 65 as children under five. By 2050, the number of persons aged 65 or over will also surpass the number of adolescents and youth aged 15-24. In India, children under age five still outnumber the over-65 population, who are projected to overtake the under-five group between 2025 and 2030. By 2050, persons over age 65 will make up about one-seventh of India’s population. By then, the 15-24 group in India (13.8%), too, will outnumber the over-65 group (13.6%). Children under age five are projected to constitute less than 6% of India’s population in 2050, as compared to 7% globally.
• Life expectancy: Although overall life expectancy will increase (from 64.2 years in 1990 to 77.1 years in 2050), life expectancy in poorer countries is projected to continue to lag behind. Today, the average lifespan of a baby born in one of the least developed countries will be some 7 years shorter than one born in a developed country, the report said. The main reasons cited in the report are high child and maternal mortality rates, conflict and insecurity, and the continuing impact of the HIV epidemic.
• Dwindling populations: The populations of 55 countries are projected to decrease by 1% or more between 2019 and 2050 because of sustained low levels of fertility, and, in some places, high rates of emigration. The largest relative reductions in population size over that period, with losses of around 20% or more, are expected in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands. Migration flows have become a major reason for population change in certain regions, the report said. Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines are seeing the largest migratory outflows resulting from the demand for migrant workers; and Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela are the countries where the largest numbers are leaving because of insecurity or conflict, it said.

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

Odisha to host Indian Women’s League Football

• The story: The All-India Football Federation has announced that, Odisha will host the Indian Women’s League (IWL). However, the but the dates will be announced at the later stage.
• Key points: The Indian football has been trying to restart the on-field sporting action now amid the ongoing Covid-19 cases. The matches started with the I-League qualifiers. This is followed by the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League. Both of the leagues, namely, ISL and I-League are presently being played.
• Women’s Football: In recent times, the Indian women’s football is also getting a fair exposure at the international stage. The senior India team will be assembling in Goa on December 1, 2021 for a two-month long training camp. They will also be playing three matches against Russia, Serbia and Ukraine in Turkey.
• Indian Women’s League: It is the top division women’s professional football league which is organised in India. The first session of the league was organised in Cuttack in October 2016. It is organised by the All-India Football Federation (AIFF). The tournament provides platform for a lot of budding footballers so as to showcase their talent. It also provides them opportunities to pursue football as a career.

PSLV-C51 Launched Amazonia-1 & 18 Co-passenger Satellites

• ISRO's latest: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the first satellite for the year 2021. The satellite called PSLV-C51 which also carried Amazonia-1 and 18 other satellites was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on February 28, 2021.
• Highlights: The PSLV-C51 rocket is the 53rd mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The satellite in the first move launched the Amazonia-1 satellite of Brazil as the primary satellite. Later, 18 co-passenger payloads were launched from the first launch pad of the spaceport. The co-passenger satellites also comprise of the Satish Dhawan Sat (SD SAT) from the Space Kidz India (SKI) which is based in Chennai. After the launch, the Amazonia-1 got successfully separated from fourth stage the launch vehicle PSLV-C51 and injected into the orbit.
• The Mission: PSLV-C51/Amazonia is the first ever commercial Mission the commercial arm “New Space India Limited (NSIL)”. The NSIL undertook the mission after establishing a commercial arrangement with the Seattle, Spaceflight Inc. which is the mission management provider and the US-based satellite rideshare. Further, the Amazonia-1 is the first Brazilian Satellite that was launched from India.
• What does the satellite carry: The spacecraft carries the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi featured on the top panel. This was done to show the solidarity & gratitude for the Aatmanirbhar initiative which was started by PM and space privatisation. The satellite also carries the names of ISRO chairperson, Dr K Sivan and Dr R Umamaheswaran, scientific secretary featured at the bottom panel. It is also carrying an electronic copy of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’. It has been placed in the secured digital card.
• Amazonia-1: It is the optical earth observation satellite which was developed by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). It will strengthen the existing structure since it will provide the remote sensing data to users in order to monitor the deforestation in Amazon region of Brazil. It will also analyse the diversified agriculture in the country.

PM takes first dose of COVID-19 Vaccine

• What he did: The PM of India Narendra Modi took the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on March 1, 2021 at AIIMS, New Delhi. After vaccination, he appealed to those people who are eligible to get their vaccination done.
• Covid-19 vaccination: The national vaccination programme to for the virus called “SARS-CoV-2” which has caused ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic was started on January 16, 2021. In the first phase of the vaccination, prioritises were given to the healthcare and frontline workers. Those aged above 60 years were also covered under this vaccination drive. Then those aged above 45 and suffering from certain comorbidities were administered vaccine. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, recently in January 2021 stated that, the vaccine-production capacity of India is the best asset world have got. As of February 2021, 1,43,01,266 vaccine doses have been administered across India.
• Who developed the vaccine: The Serum Institute of India had started the Covid-19 vaccination trial on animals by February 2020. It also tested the Zydus Cadila in March 2020. Later, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) associated with the Bharat Biotech in May 2020 in order to develop the vaccine completely in India. India had 30 candidates of vaccine in development till May 2020. Following the clinical trials, ICMR announced to launch BBV152 COVID vaccine or Covaxin which is the first COVID-19 vaccine on August 15, 2020 to cut red tape. Covaxin  had positive results on animals with respect to building immunity against COVID-19. The vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D by Zydus Cadila also underwent the human trials. However, in August 2020, the COVAXIN got approval from DCGI for trial phases II & III. The Serum Institute also joined GAVI along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation so as to produce 100 million doses of vaccine.

MP approved Penal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2021

• Food adulteration law: Madhya Pradesh Cabinet has approved the “Penal Law (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2021” on February 26, 2021. This bill was approved in order to give life imprisonment to food adulterers in states.
• The story: In the month of December 2019, an awareness rally organised in Bhopal to fight against the adulteration. The rally witnessed the participation of people from all age groups. It was held from Roshanpura to Lal Parade in Bhopal.
• Food Adulteration: It is a legal term which is used when a food product fails to meet any of the legal standards as prescribed by the authorities.  Food Adulteration can be done by addition of another substance to the food item so as to increase the quantity of food item in either the raw form or prepared form. This results in the loss of actual quality of the food products.
• Who regulates: The legal standards of the food us regulated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This ministry is responsible to provide safe food to citizens. The ministry had laid down “The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954” that provides pure and wholesome foods to citizens. This act was amended in the year 1986. With this amendment, the punishments more stringent for the adulterers.
• Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006: This act was passed by the FSSAI in 2006 for which the regulations were notified in 2011. Under this act, FSSAI proposed to include new section to crack down on food adulteration. It mandates that, if the adulteration is done which results into the death or any other serious injury to the person than, there shall be punishment for the adulterers for a term not less than seven years which could also be extended to life imprisonment.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

• We offer you 7 excellent editorials from across 10 newspapers we have scanned. 

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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