Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 23-03-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 23-03-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Politics - Covid Update - India again reports highest daily COVID-19 cases in 2021 at 46,951 - India has reported 46,951 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours which is the highest number of cases reported in a day in 2021. The country reported 212 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the COVID-19 death toll to 1,59,967. The total COVID-19 cases in the country stand at 1,16,46,081, while the active cases stand at 3,34,646. The Union Health Ministry decided that from 1st April, the vaccine will open for everybody above 45 years of age. Amid Covid-19 scare, UP govt issues guidelines ahead of Holi festival; no procession to be carried out without prior permission. People above 60 years of age, children below 10 years of age & people with co-morbodities not to participate. Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh expressed concern as 81% of latest 401 samples sent by Punjab for genome sequencing showed new UK Covid variant, affecting more young people.
2. World Politics - Tanzania gets its first woman President - Samia Suluhu Hassan has become the first woman President of Tanzania. She has been the Vice-President of the East African Country since 2015. Hassan took up the leadership after the demise of President John Magufuli, as he suffered health problems. Her leadership style will in particular be in contrast to the former President who was known as a brash populist. The death of Magufuli was a controversial episode, as he had consistently downplayed the menace of Covid-19 since early months of 2020. Officially Tanzania, with nearly 60m people, has suffered just 509 cases of covid-19 and 21 deaths from it. Or, at least, that was the case almost a year ago, when the country stopped releasing official data. At the time Mr Magufuli said he did not trust his country’s statistics because the national laboratory was “releasing positive, positive, positive results”. Instead of urging Tanzanians to wear face-masks or keep their distance from each other, Mr Magufuli insisted that God had swept the virus from their country. Even as neighbouring ones began to vaccinate, Mr Magufuli instructed his officials to hold off on giving jabs because he doubted they would work.
3. Foreign Affairs - Japan-India launch 'Patent Prosecution Highway' - Bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program was launched by India and Japan in November 2019. According to the bilateral agreement between the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Indian Patent Office (IPO), the Indian Patent Office will only receive patent applications related to certain specific technical fields, including computer science, electrical, electronic, Information technology, physics, civil, machinery, textiles, automobiles and metallurgy fields, and JPO may be applied in all technical fields. The patent prosecution highway includes a series of initiatives to speed up the patent prosecution process by sharing information among the patent offices of participating countries. India and Japan have agreed to recognize each other’s offices to act mutually as competent International Searching and International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA) for any international patent application filed with them.
4. World Politics - Whitsun Reef encroachment - The govt. of the Philippines claimed that around 220 Chinese boats have been spotted at a reef in the South China Sea waters controlled by Manila. It urged China to recall the boats saying the presence of the vessels violated Manila's maritime rights by encroaching into the Philippines' sovereign territory. The boats are believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel. The boats were spotted on March 7 at the Whitsun Reef, which Manila calls the Julian Felipe Reef. China has imposed its will in the South China Sea region, claiming that the entire region under the 'nine dash line' belongs to it. Many nations contest the claims.
5. Indian Economy - India's $5 trillion goal pushed to 2032 - The COVID-19 pandemic-induced shocks, which led to a contraction in GDP, will delay India's target of becoming the third-largest economy by three years to 2031-32 now, according to Bank of America (BofA) Securities. The government had set a goal of becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2030. Currently, India is the fifth-largest economy in the world behind Germany. This assumes a realistic 6 per cent real growth, 5 per cent inflation and 2 per cent rupee depreciation. In 2017, BofA had predicted that the country would emerge as the third-largest economy in 2027-28 based on its assumption of the demographic dividend, growing financial maturity, and the emergence of mass markets. If the GDP grows at 10 per cent, as BofA assumed earlier, this will be achieved in 2029-30 and if it grows at 9 per cent, overtaking Japanese economy will be pushed back by three years to 2031-32.
6. World Economy - Zoom paid no taxes despite record profits - Zoom emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic as millions became dependent on video calls to stay connected. The video-conferencing platform raked in $663.9 million in pre-tax profits in the US alone during its last fiscal year, which ended in January, compared to $16.3 million the previous year. But the company paid $0 in federal income taxes on those profits, it disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, even though the corporate tax rate was 21% for 2020. The company claimed it "complies with all applicable tax laws" in countries where it does business and that it "has invested heavily in research and development activities to build and enhance its communications technology - development activity that is specifically encouraged under current law." But research and development credits accounted for just 1% of Zoom's tax bill reductions, while around 99% of its savings were a result of paying executives $302.4 million in stock-based compensation, compared to $32.1 million the year before. Zoom paid just $5.7 million total in taxes last year for an effective tax rate of 0.8%. But $3.9 million of that was paid on the company's $14.1 million in foreign profits, for an effective rate of around 28%, highlighting major discrepancies in how the US tax system treats corporations.
7. Constitution and Law - Loan moratorium can't be extended - The Supreme Court has finally refused to interfere with the government and the RBI's loan moratorium policy and declined to extend the six months loan moratorium period. The court said that the waiver of complete interest is not possible as it affects depositors. The verdict was pronounced by a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah. Moratorium was brought in April 2020, to ensure that NPAs in the system did not rise sharply. It was extended to six months. There were multiple litigations related to the moratorium, interest payable, interest on interest, etc.
8. People and Personalities: Bernie versus Musk on wealth - US Senator Bernie Sanders has responded to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's claim that he's accumulating wealth to make life multi-planetary. Sanders called out Musk over his wealth, saying, that level of greed is immoral. Musk had said that "I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars." Sanders replied saying, "Space travel is an exciting idea, but right now we need to focus on Earth and create a progressive tax system so that children don't go hungry, people are not homeless and all Americans have healthcare. The level of inequality in America is obscene and a threat to our democracy." After a rally in Tesla stock, Musk recently overtook Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest person, with an estimated fortune of $182 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
9. Governance and Institutions - SEBI comes calling on Exchanges' mistakes - The SEBI has said that stock exchanges must declare a 'disaster' within 30 minutes of disruption of systems and take steps, including activating a backup, in another 45 minutes. The previous limit for this process was four hours. SEBI tightened norms after National Stock Exchange (NSE) halted trading for nearly four hours on February 24 due to a technical glitch. Market infrastructure institutions like exchanges and clearing corporations will have to implement these guidelines within 90 days. A disaster will include disruption in trading, risk management, collateral management, clearing and settlement, and index computation. Exchanges should ensure that the replication between the primary data centre and the near site is synchronous to ensure zero data loss. NSE’s Bandra-Kurla Complex is the primary data centre, while nearby Kurla has the near disaster recovery site. NSE’s Chennai centre is the disaster recovery site situated in a different seismic zone.
10. Science and Technology - Russia launches 38 satellites for 18 countries - Russia launched its Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage as the main load and 38 spacecraft from 18 countries, including Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Italy. All the 38 satellites have been successfully launched into target orbits. Earlier, the launch was twice postponed after a surge in voltage was detected. Russia's space activities are managed by Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, called "Roscosmos". It originated from the Soviet space program founded in the 1950s. Roscosmos emerged following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It started as the Russian Space Agency, which was established on February 25, 1992 and restructured in 1999 and 2004, as the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), respectively.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

India's GDP growth rate - the lessons from data

• An intense debate: For some years now, India’s GDP (or the gross domestic product) and its growth rate nos. have been questioned by experts. This is partly due to the various data controversies, and partly due to questions raised on the concept of GDP itself!
• What is GDP: For any economy, the annual GDP is the total money value of all final (not intermediate) goods and services produced within the geographical boundaries in a year. The GDP does not really map the wellbeing (or happiness) of a given population. It is possible that even as the overall GDP goes up, economic inequalities also rise, fuelling discontent. This is what happened with India.
• Questions over methods: The way GDP is calculated creates several controversis. In the year 2015, when India’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) introduced a new GDP series, many questions were raised. Due to the repeated and significant revisions in GDP data, several economists have questioned the official GDP data. The latest debate is about “growth rate” of GDP, not the absolute level of GDP per se.

• Year-on-year versus Quarter-on-quarter: Mr. Jahangir Aziz, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at J P Morgan, argued recently that the way India calculates its GDP growth rate paints an incorrect or misleading picture of the current state of economic growth.

1. As things stand in India, when we say that the Indian economy grew by 10 per cent in a particular quarter (that is, a period of three months) what it means is that the total GDP of the country in that quarter was 10 per cent more than the total GDP produced in the same quarter a year ago.
2. Similarly, when we say the economy contracted by 8 per cent this year what we mean to say is that the total output of the economy (as calculated by GDP) is 8 per cent less than the total output of the economy in the preceding year. This is called the year-on-year (YoY) method of arriving at the growth rate.
3. This is not the only way to arrive at a growth rate. One could have compared GDP quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) — that is, compare the GDP in the current quarter with the GDP in the preceding quarter. For that matter, we can also calculate the growth rate month-on-month (MoM) or even week-on-week.
4. On the face of it, the Y-o-Y method is intuitive and takes care of the seasonal variations. For example, if agricultural production is typically low during the April-May-June quarter (because it doesn't rain as much during this period) and typically high during the July-August-September quarter, then there is little value in comparing farm productivity growth rate between these two quarters. Doing so will just throw up massive fluctuations without adding any real insight.
5. But comparing farm output YoY — that is, July to September current year with July to September last year — provides a more robust and reasonable growth rate. It is a like-to-like comparison, thanks to the similarities in weather and farming conditions. The same argument of “seasonality” applies to other sectors of the economy as well and, as such, it makes sense to use the YoY method to arrive at the growth rate.
6. Aziz argued that there are well-established statistical methods to take away the effect of seasonality from quarterly data. He argued that once the data is deseasonalised, the growth rate arrived at by using the QoQ method presents a far more accurate picture of the economic growth rate. It is for this reason, he argues, that other large economies report QoQ growth rate.

• Difference in two methods: How much is the difference between YoY and QoQ GDP growth rate in India’s case? The graph alongside provides a glimpse. This covers the four quarters of Calendar Year 2020. It is clear that no matter how one calculates, the GDP growth rate plummeted during the April-May-June quarter in 2020. But the story goes haywire immediately after that. The YoY method that we use in India shows the GDP growth rate steadily improving through the next two quarters. The QoQ method, which Aziz favours, suggests that GDP growth recovered sharply in Q2FY21 but has lost steam since then. This is not just about quibbling over the past growth rate. Depending on what growth rate one uses, the policy response could be completely different. So there are worries that “the year-on-year quarterly numbers will keep rising giving the false assurance of a strengthening recovery when in reality the level of income would rise only at a grinding pace”. He argues that India must shift from YoY to QoQ method of calculating GDP growth rate.
• Why no shift so far: Experts say that stable economies such as the US use the QoQ method and provide what is called the seasonally-adjusted annualised rate. [To get the annualised rate from quarterly growth data one has to multiply by four; to get it from monthly growth data, one has to multiply by 12]. But the YoY method is better for India — especially when there is a lot of ‘noise’ between the quarters. What they refer to as "noise" or "stability" is essentially a settled seasonality. For example, in the US the holiday season — say Christmas — is predefined but in India, the festivals do not fall on the same date or even the same month each year. As such, growth rates of different economic variables tend to fluctuate far more in India. So such massive fluctuations as witnessed in India tend to undermine any cogent analysis. More often than not, macro policymaking is based on medium- to long-term growth cycles rather than short-term fluctuations. The YoY method is better suited to spot such cyclical patterns.
• Summary: The calculation of growth rates is a tricky matter and can substantially alter the policy advice. This is more so for economies like India which tend to grow in fits and starts and especially during a crisis. Hence, in periods of severe economic shocks it is important to look at the absolute level of GDP instead of just the GDP growth rates.

 

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

Odisha has most contaminated sites in India: CPCB data

• Sad news: Of the 112 sites in India contaminated by toxic and hazardous substances, 23 were in Odisha followed by Uttar Pradesh (21) and Delhi (11). Odisha topped the list of states and Union territories with the maximum number of contaminated sites, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
• What are these: ‘Contaminated sites’ are delineated areas in which “constituents and characteristics of the toxic and hazardous substances, caused by humans, exist at levels and in conditions which pose existing or imminent threats to human health and the environment”, according to the Union environment ministry. Most contaminated sites were created when industrial hazardous wastes were disposed of by occupiers in unscientific manner or in violation of the rules prescribed.
• Huge dangers: Contaminated sites often pose multi-faceted health and environmental problems. Dumping or spillage of hazardous wastes or chemicals would adversely impact / affect the surrounding environment, particularly soil, surface water and groundwater and subsequently the people in impact zones.
• Need to control: These sites need to be investigated in detail and remediation activity be carried out to reduce health risks to humans and the environment, said Jayakrushna Panigrahi, secretary of Odisha Environmental Society. The CPCB had in 2017 identified Paradip port as one of the most polluted areas of the state. The pollution body had also declared Angul, Talcher, IB Valley and Jharsuguda as critically polluted industrial areas in its Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) parameter. Its recent analysis showed that 43 industrial areas (clusters) out of 88 were found to be critically polluted with respect to one or more environmental components. Paradip was at 44 (severely polluted).
• Technical inputs: The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 2015 had identified the Paradip industrial hub as one of the country’s most polluted places. Hundreds of villagers near the port town and its nearby villages of Kendrapara district face air and water pollution problems from around 15 pollutant industries and plants.

1. Black layers formed in fields owing to air pollution and cause damage to crops. The groundwater and surface water are equally contaminated, and several people suffer from skin diseases, kidney ailments, cancer and other diseases as a result, said Amaresh Naresh Samant, secretary, Gramya Vikas Parisada (a non-profit), Paradip.
2. The coal dust generated at Paradip port was not just confined to the port and its nearby areas. Fanned by the winds, the dust spreads to distant areas causing respiratory, skin, kidney diseases and cancer in the populace. The chemical wastes released by plants pollute the air, water and soil.

• Human cost: Cases of asthma and respiratory infections have been on the rise in the port town. Scientists at the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, had in 2017 noted that the presence of high alkalinity, high ammonia, heavy organic load and a high presence of Biological Oxygen Demand contributed to the death of fish in Paradip.

Variable Renewable Grid Integration costs in India

• Integrating renewable into main grid: To understand the costs of integrating variable renewable energy in India's electricity grid, TERI has conducted a model-based assessment.
• Learnings: While recent wind and solar auctions have delivered some of the lowest electricity prices in the Indian power system, the inherently variable nature of solar and wind resources pose challenges in supplying reliable electricity. The difficulty in the real-time balancing of supply and demand only increases with an increasing share of wind and solar in the generation mix, requiring attention to not just the operational and technical challenges, but also to the costs of power system adaptation. The need for an analysis of the costs of integration in the Indian context has gained further urgency in the post-COVID scenario, which has seen deterioration in the already precarious finances of power distribution companies.
• What one may expect: Given technology costs foreseeable for the coming decade, the short-term optimal VRE level is substantially higher than VRE shares present today. Optimal VRE penetration is determined by the trade-off between variable cost savings and per unit increases in fixed cost, and this arbitrage will vary as a function of both geography and policy decisions taken. The analysis suggests that within the Indian system, demand growth and the opportunities for variable cost arbitrage in the coming decade can already enable VRE shares of 40%, even accounting for the impact on the sunk costs of the existing system. As demand continues to grow after 2030, and the energy costs of storage fall below the threshold identified in this study, VRE is expected to essentially meet subsequent incremental demand growth.
• Cost-effective: The most cost-effective way of minimising the sunk costs of seasonal balancing options is by enhancing the grid integration of the Indian system, allowing complementarities between demand and supply across states and regions to supply this seasonal balancing. While brownfield pumped hydro and potentially some gas capacity may additionally be required additional coal appears economically unviable. VRE is unlikely to cross thresholds at which it would drive substantially higher system costs in the short term, increasing the importance of focusing on minimising and allocating gross costs in the system, and maximising gross benefits.

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

U.S. sanctions Chinese for Xinjiang human rights abuses

1. Talk and then sanction: Days after the Biden administration held its first bilateral meeting with Beijing, the U.S. joined Canada, the U.K., and the European Union in imposing sanctions against two Chinese officials who it said had been involved in human rights abuses.
2. Who are these: The officials, Wang Junzheng, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), and Chen Mingguo, Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB), were sanctioned for “serious human rights abuses against ethnic minorities” in China’s Xinjiang province. The sanctions were applied under the U.S.’s Global Magnitsky Act, which means their U.S. assets, if any, will be frozen and U.S. entities are prohibited from doing business with them.
3. Genocide: Reports have emerged of human rights abuses, including torture, sexual abuse, forced sterilisation and indoctrination, as members of the Uighurs, mostly Muslims from Xinjiang, have been sent to internment camps for ‘re-education’. The U.S. has made a determination that China is committing genocide on the Uighurs. Both the XPCC and XPSB have been previously sanctioned by the U.S.
4. Details: The XPCC is a paramilitary organization in the XUAR that is subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was designated on July 31, 2020, for its connection to serious human rights abuse. The XPCC enhances internal control over the region by advancing China’s vision of economic development in XUAR that emphasises subordination to central planning and resource extraction. Amid growing international condemnation, the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. The U.S. reiterates its calls on the PRC to bring an end to the repression of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, including by releasing all those arbitrarily held in internment camps and detention facilities,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
5. US and EU come together: Blinken, who is visiting Brussels this week, also praised the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on China. The EU has imposed sanctions on China for the first time since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. "A united transatlantic response sends a strong signal to those who violate or abuse international human rights, and we will take further actions in coordination with likeminded partners. We will continue to stand with our allies around the world in calling for an immediate end to the PRC’s crimes and for justice for the many victims,” Mr. Blinken said. Beijing has responded by announcing retaliatory sanctions against EU individuals and entities.

 

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

Interlinking of rivers: A dangerous idea

1. Water crisis and desperation: As the water crisis has deepened, so has India's desperation and the extent it is prepared to go to violate the basic principles of science and geology. Some experts who debunk interlinking of rivers have presented their views.
2. ILR: The proposal for interlinking of India’s rivers (ILR) is based on a series of erroneous presumptions. It is claimed that since some parts of India chronically have floods and others have droughts, the solution is to divert water from surplus river basins to deficit ones, so that everyone can live happily ever after! Is it true that some areas in India have too much water? Sohra (previously known as Cherrapunjee), one of the highest rainfall hotspots on the planet, today suffers from an acute shortage of drinking water! The reason for that lies precisely in the old paradigm of water management, where we have failed to protect our catchment areas, destroyed springs and over-exploited groundwater. In Sohra, with only 70,000 people and as much as 8,000 mm of rain (10 times that of Delhi), it still has no water to spare for anyone else in the country! In the sub-continent, given the dependence on the monsoon, the periods when rivers have “surplus” water are generally synchronous. And a recent study finds a significant decrease in monsoon rainfall over water “surplus” river basins in India, thus raising questions about the basic presumptions of the ILR project.
3. Components: The Himalayan component of the ILR project plans to store water in dams on the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, in the supposedly surplus northern and eastern states and transfer that water via canals to the water-short central, southern and the western regions. The Peninsular component attempts something similar on peninsular rivers, again transferring supposedly surplus water from the east to the south and west. Overall, the attempt is to connect 44 rivers via 9,600 km of canals at an estimated cost of Rs 11 trillion. This is only an approximation of the actual cost, which is likely to be much higher (given expected delays in implementation) and does not include costs of energy, farm and forest submergence and human displacement. What is truly ironic is that, given the topography of India and the way the links are envisaged, they might totally bypass the core dryland areas of central and western India, which are located on elevations of 300 to 1,000 metres above mean sea level.
4. Potential problems: In recent years, scientists have begun to carefully examine the potential impact of such large interventions in India’s river systems. A 2018 study of 29 of these 44 rivers found that ILR will submerge 3,400 sqkm of land and displace approximately 700,000 people, other than the huge additional displacement that would be caused by the vast canal network. It will also decrease river flows for 24 of the 29 rivers (as much as 73 per cent), reducing freshwater deliveries to wetlands and estuaries. Waterways will be exposed to new contaminants, invasive species, and disease-causing agents and the already vulnerable deltas of the Indian subcontinent will be further compromised due to reduced silt deposited by rivers in their deltas by as much as 87 per cent. Reduced stream-flows will likely affect delta salinity conditions and under a future rising sea-level scenario, the salinity of groundwater and river channels is expected to increase. Climate-related salinity incursion in rivers and deltas will be exacerbated by the decrease in river mouth discharge. Rare ecosystems and vital agricultural areas would become more vulnerable to storm surges, river flooding, and heightened salinity.
5. Flows hurt: Already, reduced inflows due to natural and man-made processes have led to shoreline losses in the Krishna, Godavari and Mahanadi rivers. The ILR will only aggravate the problem. This scenario is very much in line with the past experience of the Colorado, Nile, Indus and Yellow (Huang He) river systems, where similar but actually smaller projects have been attempted in the past. India’s ILR is “fifty to one-hundred times the volume of the largest inter-basin water transfer system in the United States and will likely constitute the largest construction project in human history”.
6. Direct impact on monsoon: The ILR could profoundly impact the very integrity of India’s monsoon system. The continuous flow of fresh river water into the sea is what helps maintain a low salinity layer of water with low density, in the upper layers of the Bay of Bengal. This is a reason for the maintenance of high sea-surface temperatures (greater than 28 degrees Celsius), which create low-pressure areas and intensify monsoon activity. Rainfall over much of the sub-continent is effectively controlled by this layer of low-salinity water. A disruption in this layer because of massive damming of rivers under the ILR and resultant reduction in fresh water flows into the sea, could have serious long-term consequences for climate and rainfall in the subcontinent, endangering the livelihoods of a vast population.
7. Don't play with rivers: Rivers are not human creations like roads and power lines, to be twisted and turned at will. They are living ecosystems that have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. In our arrogance we have already caused them much damage. It is time to stop playing with them any more.

 

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

Distribution of Lok Sabha Seats

1. Total strength: There can be a maximum of 552 members (530 states + 20 Union Territories + 2 Anglo Indians) in the Indian Lok Sabha. At present, the strength of the House is 545 in which 530 members are State representatives,13 from UTs, and 2 are nominated by the Presidents who belong to the Anglo-Indian community.
2. Lower and Upper house: The Lok Sabha is called the lower house of the Parliament of India or the house of the people. Each member of a Lok Sabha seat represents a single geographic constituency. Currently, only 545 members (530 states+13 UTs) are elected for Lok Sabha from different states and UTs and 2 are nominated by the Presidents who belong to the Anglo-Indian community.
3. Principles of elections: The representatives of the states in the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states. The election is based on the principle of universal adult franchise. Every Indian citizen who has crossed the age of 18 years is eligible to vote. Earlier the age of voting was 21 years but later on, it was reduced to 18 years after the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.
4. Population basis: The seat allocation to the different states and UTs is done on the basis of the population of 1971. The president of India is entitled to nominate 2 members in the Lok Sabha. If the president of India thinks that there is no representation (if no Anglo Indian member won the election) in the Lok Sabha from the Anglo Indian Community then he can nominate 2 members. The number of Members of Parliament will be reviewed in 2026.

 

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

BrahMos exports

1. India in top gear: India and the Philippines have signed the “Implementing Arrangement” for “procurement of defense material and equipment procurement”. This agreement lays the groundwork for the highly anticipated export of the BrahMos cruise missile, through the government-to-government route. Apart from this, India is in advanced talks with several countries like Vietnam, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, and South Africa to sell them the BrahMos missile system.
2. Importance: Exporting the BrahMos missile system will be of great significance, as it would boost the credibility of India as a defense exporter, help it meet the target of $5 billion in defense exports by 2025, and elevate its stature as a regional superpower. However, there are many challenges that lie ahead. (a) Research and development of the BrahMos cruise missile systems began in the late 1990s. Manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace Limited, a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia’s Military Industrial Consortium NPO Mashinostroyenia. (b) This is the first supersonic cruise missile to enter service. It is capable of attaining a speed of Mach 2.8 (almost three times the speed of sound), it has a range of at least 290 km (a new version can reach up to 400km). (c) Traveling with such velocity means that it would be difficult for air defense systems utilizing surface-to-air missiles to intercept the BrahMos. Early naval and land variants of the BrahMos were inducted into service by the Indian Navy in 2005 and the Indian Army in 2007.
3. Recent developments: Subsequently, an air-launched variant was successfully tested in November 2017 by the Indian Air Force from its Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet, giving the missile a dominating presence in all three domains. Further, efforts to increase the speed and range of the missile in its next iterations are underway, with a goal of achieving hypersonic speeds (at or above Mach 5) and a maximum range of 1,500 km. These advanced and powerful capabilities of the BrahMos not only augment the strength of the Indian military but make it a highly desirable product for other countries to procure as well.
4. Stronger Indo-Pacific Presence: The implications of the Philippines becoming the first country to import the BrahMos would be wide-ranging and consequential in the Indo-Pacific. Also, concluding stronger defense relationships with the U.S., Japan, and ASEAN countries actually put India on a stronger footing in its dealings with China.
5. Tackling China’s Military Assertiveness: India’s decision to sell the BrahMos missile system to ASEAN countries like the Philippines and Vietnam reflects concerns about China’s growing military assertiveness in its neighborhood. Further, India is trying to answer China in its own language, as China provides military assistance to India’s arch-rival Pakistan and threatens India by docking its submarines in Sri Lanka.
6. Expanding India’s Geopolitical Horizons: The BrahMos export will boost India’s economic, soft, and hard power profile in the region and provide the Indo-Pacific with a strong and dependable anchor with which they can protect their sovereignty and territory.
7. Shift from Importer to Exporter: Selling the supersonic BrahMos missile would mark a shift for India, which is till now one of the world’s biggest arms importer, to establishing itself as a major defense exporter. Further, it will help in making the country ‘Atmanirbhar’ in the defense manufacturing sector, shore up partners’ defenses, and boost revenues.
8. CAATSA: BrahMos export remains hostage to unresolved concerns over the US’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions or CAATSA. The United States, of which India is a major defense partner, has maintained ambiguity over whether it will introduce sanctions over India’s acquisition of the S-400, licensed production of the AK-203 assault rifle, and export of the BrahMos. So far, Turkey and China have been penalized under CAATSA for purchasing the S-400 Triumf air defense systems from Russia.
9. Russia-China Defense Cooperation: Post-Crimea annexation Russia has looked to improve relations with China. Currently, Russia is even helping China develop a missile-attack warning system that only Russia and the US have, among other joint projects of huge strategic significance. Thus, Russia-China strategic relations may come in the way of BrahMos missile export.
10. Summary: Engaging With US on CAATSA: Some analysts believe that CAATSA, which otherwise has had little or no impact on Russia, is being ‘leveraged’ by the US to ‘persuade’ India to import additional military equipment from the US. Further, BrahMos export to ASEAN countries can help contain a confrontational China. Thus, India should negotiate with the new US administration to receive a waiver from CAATSA. Therefore, if India wants to become a major defense exporter, it should strive to achieve indigenization of defense technology. With India determined to develop itself as a hub of defense manufacturing, how it handles the sale of the BrahMos would be an important factor in its potential emergence as a net provider of regional security in the Indo-Pacific.

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

Global Water Crisis: UNICEF

• UNICEF report: According to a new report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), one in five children worldwide reside in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. The Report was released ahead of World Water Day (22nd March).
• Points to note: The new report is part of UNICEF’s ‘Water security for all’ initiative that identifies areas where physical water scarcity risks overlap with poor water service levels. The initiative aims to mobilise resources, partnerships, innovation and global response to identified hot spots. UNICEF identified 37 hot-spot countries where children faced especially distressing circumstances in terms of absolute numbers, where global resources, support and urgent action had to be mobilised. Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Tanzania and Yemen were especially vulnerable.
• Findings: Children in more than 80 countries live in areas with high or extremely high water vulnerability. Eastern and Southern Africa has the highest proportion of children living in such areas, with more than half of children – 58% – facing difficulty accessing sufficient water every day. It is followed by West and Central Africa (31%), South Asia (25%), and the Middle East (23%). More than 155 million children in South Asia lived in areas with high or even extremely high water vulnerability.
• Water Crisis in India: India has 4% of the world’s freshwater which has to cater to 17% of the world’s population. As per NITI Aayog report released in June 2018, India is facing the worst-ever water crisis in history. Approximately 600 million people or roughly around 45% of the population in India is facing high to severe water stress. The report says that nearly 40% of the population will have absolutely no access to drinking water by 2030 and 6% of India’s GDP will be lost by 2050 due to the water crisis.
• Causes of Water Crisis in India: The Central Groundwater Board’s estimates show that the groundwater table in most parts of the country has been declining every year because of over-exploitation. If the groundwater continues to decline unabated, meeting the country’s agricultural and drinking water requirements will become a big challenge. 85% of rural water supply, 45% of urban water supply and over 64% of irrigation now rely on groundwater. Due to accumulation of sediments in the water storage area of major and medium irrigation dams that are currently in use, the total storage capacity has fallen significantly. This is clearly underlined in the report ‘Compendium of Silting of Reservoirs in India’, released by the Central Water Commission in 2020. Climate change is causing major changes in rainfall levels.

• Measures Taken by the Central Government:

1. “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” Campaign - The campaign will be implemented during the period 22nd March, 2021 to 30th November, 2021 - the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country. The campaign is intended to nudge the State and all stakeholders to create Rain Water Harvesting Structures (RWHS) suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata to ensure storage of rainwater. Rains falling in the four/five months of monsoon are the only source of water for most parts of the country.
2. Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) - In the Budget 2021-22, Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) has been announced under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to provide universal coverage of water supply to all households through functional taps in all statutory towns in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal- 6. It complements the Jal Jeevan Mission (Rural) which envisages supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024.
3. Ministry of Jal Shakti - The Government of India established the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2019 to consolidate interrelated functions pertaining to water management. The Ministry launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan – a campaign for water conservation and water security.
4. Measures Taken by State Governments - Uttar Pradesh – Jakhni Village (water village), Bundelkhand; Punjab – Pani Bachao Paise Kamao; Madhya Pradesh – Kapil Dhara Yojana; Gujarat – Sujalam Sufalam Yojana; Telangana – Mission Kakatiya Program; Maharashtra – Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan; Andhra Pradesh – Neeru Chettu Programme; Rajasthan – Mukhya Mantri Jal Swalambhan Abhiyan (MJSA).

• World Water Day: It is observed annually across the globe on 22nd March, with the purpose of highlighting the importance of water, and raising awareness about the water crisis that the world faces. According to the United Nations (UN) website, the main focus of the day is to support the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

• History: The resolution to observe World Water Day was first adopted by the UN General Assembly on 22nd December 1992. After which 22nd March was declared as World Water Day and is being celebrated around the world since 1993.

1. Theme of World Water Day 2021 - “Valuing Water” - To highlight the value of water in our daily lives.
2. A new World Water Development Report is released each year on or near World Water Day, to provide decision-makers with tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies. This report is coordinated by UNESCO’s World Water Development Programme (WWAP) on behalf of UN-Water.

• UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a special program of the United Nations (UN) devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children. It was created in 1946 as the International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by the UN relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II. UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations in 1953.

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

Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs)

1. A new thought: The government of India may soon ask the auto companies in India to manufacture the passenger and commercial vehicles that run on the multiple fuel configuration with the aim of reducing the use of polluting fossil fuels and cutting down the harmful emissions.
2. Key points: Government is actively looking up after the use of “Flexible Fuel Vehicles” which will ensure the increased use of the bio-fuels to run the vehicles. Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) are the modified version of the vehicles which can run both on the gasoline and the doped petrol with varying levels of ethanol blends. These vehicles are currently being used in Brazil successfully. FFVs gives people the option to switch the fuel based in the price and convenience. Majority of the vehicles sold in Brazil are FFVs.
3. Flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV): It is also called “dual-fuel vehicle” or a flex-fuel vehicle. FFV is an alternative fuel vehicle which comprises of the internal combustion engine which run on more than one fuel. It usually run on the gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel. Both of the fuels are stored in same common tank. The engines of the vehicle are capable of burning any proportion of the resulting blend in its combustion chamber. The fuel injection and spark timing are automatically adjusted in accordance with the actual blend detected by the fuel composition sensor. The FFV is different from the bi-fuel vehicles. In the bi-fuel vehicle, two fuels are stored in the separate tanks and engine runs on one fuel at a time.
4. Advantages of FFVs in India: In India, the FFVs will present a different advantage because the vehicles will allow the vehicles to use the different blends of ethanol mixed petrol which are available across the country as opposed to the current regulation. The current regulation allows to mix up to 10 percent ethanol in petrol. But due to shortage in supply & other transportation challenges, 10 percent blended petrol is available only across 15 states. The FFVs would be allowing the vehicles to use all the blends and would run on unblended fuel as well.

Andhra to launch India’s first Govt. run animal ambulance network

1. A new move: The state government of the Andhra Pradesh has decided to set up “India’s first government-run ambulance network” for animals. This decision was taken in order to further boost the animal husbandry and veterinary sector in the state.
2. Points to note: The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has made this ambulance network as one of its main missions in order to help in reaching out to the distressed animals to provide them proper animal healthcare. The Animal Husbandry Department was directed to set up one Mobile Ambulance Veterinary Clinic at each of the assembly constituency.
3. About Animal Ambulance Network: Under the animal ambulance network, 175 mobile ambulances (veterinary) clinics will be placed in total at Assembly Constituency Level. These clinics is being set up on the lines of 108 Services to provide the Veterinary services at the doorstep. The mobile ambulances will provide the veterinary first aid services besides the spot diagnosis and attending all the emergency cases. The ambulance will also be providing the “Hydraulic Lift Facility” to lift the animals and shift them to the nearest Government Veterinary Facility in the emergency cases. The ambulance will always be carrying one veterinary doctor and one para-veterinary worker. These ambulances will also run a 24/7 toll-free call centre.

 

RBI and new bank applications

1. Issuing new bank licences: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a “standing external advisory committee (SEAC)” on March 23, 2021. This panel will evaluate the applications for the universal banks and small finance banks (SFBs).
2. Standing External Advisory Committee: This committee comprises of five members. The chairperson of the committee will be the former RBI deputy governor, Shyamala Gopinath. Other members of the committee include- Director of the central board of RBI, Revathy Iyer; Former executive director of the National Payments Corporation of India, B Mahapatra; Former Chairman of the Canara Bank, T N Manoharan, Former MD of the State Bank of India, Hemant G Contractor. The committee has a tenure of three years. The secretarial support to the panel will be provided by Department of Regulation of the RBI. The committee will meet periodically, as and when it will be required. The panel will be free to ask for more information and can held discussions with any applicant for clarification on any issue. After this, the committee will submit its recommendations to the apex bank.
3. Guidelines regarding application: As per the guidelines of the RBI, the applications for universal banks and SFBs will first be evaluated by the central bank which will be ensuring the prima facie eligibility of the applicants. Following this, the standing external advisory committee will evaluate the applications. The guidelines further highlight that, for the ‘on-tap licensing of the universal banks for 2016’ across the private sector and for the ‘on-tap licensing of the Small Financial Banks, 2019’ the SEAC will be set up which will evaluate the application across these spaces. The guidelines also mention that the newly set up panel will set up its own procedures for screening the applications.

 

Jal Shakti Ministry & UN tie-up for Jal Jeevan Mission

1. The story: The Jal Shakti Ministry has signed a pact with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the government of Denmark on March 22, 2021 in order to bring the tap water connections to the 11 water-scarce districts of the Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions in Uttar Pradesh under the Jal Jeevan mission.
2. Key points: The project will comprise of the supports like capacity building, creation of village action plans, grassroot water quality monitoring methods and community mobilisation. All these supports will be facilitated by UNOPS. The project has set a million-dollar budget for the year 2021. However, the project will be scaled up in the year 2022.
3. Jal Jeevan Mission: This mission was launched on August 15, 2019. It is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water by individual household tap connections. It seeks to provide the tap water connections to all the rural households across India by 2024. The programme also implements the source sustainability measures like recharge & reuse through the grey water management, rain water harvesting and water conservation as mandatory elements. The mission is based on the community approach of water. The key component of the mission also includes extensive Information, Education and communication.

 

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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