Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 03-04-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 03-04-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Infrastructure - Kargil Zanskar Road - Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways has approved a 780 Crore rupees project for upgradation of Kargil Zanskar road. The 2 lane Kargil Zanskar NH 301 road is sanctioned under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode. Zanskar- Kargil road was declared National Highway in 2017 by the Centre. This road from Zanskar valley, also connects Suru valley, Sankoo valley of Kargil Ladakh with the Highway. The road will be a key for economic development of the remote region of Ladakh.
2. Defence and Military - Joint Logistics Node (JLN) - Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat operationalised and dedicated to the Armed forces the 3rd Joint Logistics Node (JLN) in Mumbai. These JLNs will provide integrated logistics cover to the Armed Forces for their small arms ammunition, rations, fuel, general stores, civil hired transport, aviation clothing, spares and also engineering support in an effort to synergise their operational efforts. The  establishment and operationalisation of JLNs is a very important first step in the direction of logistics integration of our three Services. The JLN would enhance joint inter-operability between the Services. The Joint Operations Division (JOD) under the aegis of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (Hq IDS) enabled establishment of the JLNs Government Sanction Letter for establishment of JLNs in Mumbai, Guwahati and Port Blair was signed on October 12, 2020. The JLNs in Guwahati and Tri-Services, Andaman and Nicobar Command, Port Blair were operationalised on January 01, 2021.
3. World Economy - Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) - In March 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an investor alert, which was the first warning of sorts for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). A SPAC, or a blank-cheque company, is an entity specifically set up with the objective of acquiring a firm in a particular sector. Aim is to raise money in an initial public offering (IPO), and at this point in time, it does not have any operations or revenues. Once the money is raised from the public, it is kept in an escrow account, which can be accessed while making the acquisition.  If the acquisition is not made within two years of the IPO, the SPAC is delisted, and the money is returned to the investors. Certain market participants believe that, through a SPAC transaction, a private company can become a publicly-traded company with more certainty as to pricing and control over deal terms as compared to traditional IPOs.
4. Indian Polity - Uniform Civil Code - A petition was filed in Supreme Court against Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on divorce and alimony. The idea behind UCC is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc. Article 44 of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India. Article 44 is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP). DPSP as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance. India presently has a wide range of personal laws, due to complex histories of various communities.
5. Indian Economy - Corporate investments in debt mutual funds - Corporate investments in debt funds increased by 27% in the 11 months to February 2021, compared to 14% growth during the same period in 2020. The average monthly corporate assets under management by debt funds stood at ₹10.16 trillion as of end-February. The liquidity-fuelled rally in Indian stocks saw many Indian companies raise funds through share sales from the public and from private equity investors. Equity capital raising in fiscal 2021 was the highest ever seen in the Indian markets. A lot of that capital found its way into debt funds. Reliance Industries Ltd, for example, invested billions of dollars into Indian debt funds after selling shares through stake sales and a rights issue. The company may have deployed as much as ₹35,000 crore across the nation’s debt houses.
6. World Economy - News from the crypto world - Elon Musk tweeted that his company SpaceX is "going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon". The cryptocurrency which is inspired by a "doge" meme surged 29% to a high of $0.70 after Musk tweeted. In 2018, Musk had launched a red Tesla car along with its mannequin driver 'Starman' into space aboard a SpaceX rocket. Meanwhile, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has discovered that a blockchain platform used data from his Twitter profile without his permission or knowledge. Lee said he has nothing to do with the platform and has asked for immediate removal of his name and photo. "I urge everyone to remain vigilant when dealing with cryptocurrency platforms," he added.
7. Science and Technology - Robots that kill viruses using UV light being tested on airplanes - Swiss startup UVeya is conducting trials of the robots that kill viruses using UV light, aboard airplanes. However, aircraft makers still need to certify the devices and are studying the impact their UV light may have on interior upholstery, UVeya Co-founder Jodoc Elmiger said. One robot can disinfect a single-aisled plane in 13 minutes, from start to finish. The robot's lights, mounted on a crucifix-shaped frame, cast everything in a soft-blue glow as it slowly moved up the Embraer's aisle. One robot can disinfect a single-aisled plane in 13 minutes, start to finish, though larger planes take longer. Dnata executives hope airplane makers will sign off on the robots -- Elmiger estimates they'll sell for 15,000 Swiss francs ($15,930) or so -- as governments require new measures to ensure air travellers don't get sick.
8. People and Personalities - Bill Hwang loses $8 bn in 10 days amid Archegos' meltdown - Bill Hwang, the Founder of US-based Archegos Capital Management, suffered a loss of $8 billion in 10 days amid the hedge fund's meltdown. The hedge fund was forced to liquidate $20 billion in shares after it made large bets on public stocks and failed to meet banks' margin calls. Several global banks are also facing losses. Japanese firm Nomura Holdings said it could suffer a possible loss of around $2 billion, while Credit Suisse Group, which has declined to provide a numerical impact, could see around $3 - $4 billion. Hwang, who founded Archegos as a family office in 2013, used borrowed money to make large bets on some stocks until Wall Street banks forced his firm to sell over $20 billion worth of shares after failing to meet a margin call, hammering stocks including ViacomCBS and Discovery. The fiasco exposed the fragility of the financial system, especially those involving lesser-known practices such as a total return swaps, a derivative instrument that enabled Hwang's office not to have ownership of the underlying securities his firm was betting on.
9. Constitution and Law - A deal that's stuck despite Ambani pushing it - Reliance Retail has extended the deadline for completion of its ₹24,713-crore deal with Kishore Biyani's Future Group by six months till September 30. The extension came in view of the ongoing legal battle between Future Group and Amazon over the deal. On March 22, the Delhi Court stayed an order restraining Future Retail from going ahead with the deal. The retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd. has exercised its rights under the scheme of arrangement and other transaction documents to extend the timeline for completing the deal to Sept. 30 from March 31, Future Retail said in an exchange filing. This extension comes in the backdrop of the legal battle playing out between Reliance and Future Group entities and Amazon.com Inc. On March 22, a Delhi High Court division bench stayed the single-judge bench's March 18 order that imposed costs on some Future Group companies and others after holding them guilty of willful violation of the emergency arbitrator’s order in favour of Amazon. The division bench has posted the case for hearing on April 30.
10. Indian Economy - Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2021: UNESCAP - A report ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2021: Towards post-Covid-19 resilient economies’ was released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). According to the report, India is estimated to record an economic growth of 7% in 2021-22, over a contraction of 7.7% witnessed in the previous fiscal on account of the pandemic’s impact on normal business activity. India’s 2021 economic output, however, is expected to remain below the 2019 level despite a robust reduction in new Covid-19 cases and the start of vaccine roll-out. India entered the pandemic with already subdued GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth and investment. Moreover, one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world caused the severe economic disruptions that the country experienced in the year 2020. A subsequent change in lockdown policies and success in reducing infection rates supported an impressive economic turnaround in the later months of 2020.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

Success of inflation targeting in India - an analysis

• The story: Both the RBI and the government have decided that the existing "Flexible Inflation Targeting" system will not be changed for next five years. For 2021-2026 also, the RBI will continue with the current Monetary Policy regime, just like it did for 2016-2021.
• How inflation targeting evolved: In May 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934 was amended to provide a Constitutional basis for the implementation of the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework. The Act allowed Centre to set the inflation target in consultation with the RBI once every five years. On that basis, India’s inflation target was set at 4 % with a 2 % extension in the upper bound and 2 % in the lower bound. Anchoring was with Consumer Price Inflation (CPI).
• Successful or not: The policy has been followed carefully since 2016, with the RBI's MPC issuing policy statements every two months. The goal was price stability, for ensuring political stability (not explicitly said, but understood). Jobs and employment generation were not a part of this policy.

1. The average inflation rate measured through the GDP deflator which was 5.69 % five years in the pre-inflation targeting period has declined to 3.47 % in the last five years (2016-2021).
2. India is one of the highest achievers of reducing inflation when compared to other Asian Nations.
3. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation declined from 8.26 % during the 2011-2015 to 4.99 % in 2016-2019, a 3.27 % point fall. This is highest among both inflation-targeting countries as well as those that did not adopt it. India has also achieved a substantial fall in average inflation volatility during the said period. It was 7.93 % for five years before inflation targeting now declined to 0.89 % during the inflation targeting regime.
4. This fall is highest compared to Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Korea.

• What led to this: Experts claim this happened due to the Central government’s strong coordination with monetary policy committee despite fiscal dominance in developing countries like India. This maintenance of a stable inflation rate provides certainty to inflation and investment decisions for sustainable growth. But critics of inflation targeting feel that its sole focus on price stability ignores growth imperatives, and India is hence, stuck in a jobless growth environment. The real GDP growth did not decline during this period which was 6.50 % during 2011-2015 increased marginally to 6.63 % during 2016-2019. But the problems with the policy were visible from 2018, when the rate of GDP growth steadily fell, quarter after quarter.
• Transparency: The Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) shows that the inflation expectation has been forward-looking in the post inflation targeting period in India. The lagged impact of past inflation expectations on current inflation expectations was significantly higher before the adoption of inflation targeting. This lagged dependency has fallen in the FIT framework regime which suggests that households are increasingly using the current and future information to form inflation expectations. This implies that transparency in monetary policy is helping to reduce inflation expectations.
• How achieved: The RBI is following the international practices to increase communication with financial markets and the citizens. The frequency of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting is set at 6 times per year which is in line with most of the developed countries. RBI takes two weeks to release minutes of the proceedings of MPC, which provides a forecast of CPI inflation and GDP growth. Further, every 6 months, the RBI publishes a Monetary Policy Report where it explains the sources of inflation and provides an inflation forecast for 6-18 months ahead.
• Learnings: Apparently, it can be claimed that inflation targeting in India has not failed, and India must continue with the FIT regime. The RBI has managed to contain the inflationary pressures, though growth has suffered hugely in recent quarters (even before the pandemic struck in 2020). The review committee should try to find out areas of further improvement in the monetary policy framework which will strengthen the MPC to achieve the inflation target. It should also disclose the models used in inflation and GDP forecasting as other inflation-targeting countries do. Further, the RBI may include a forecast of core inflation in the minutes.

 

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

International treaties threatening global environment

• 60 years on: For sixty years now, the “investor-state dispute-settlement” (ISDS) clauses of international trade and investment agreements have been designed to wind up critics of globalisation. Typically they give foreign investors the right to resort to a secretive tribunal of well-remunerated corporate lawyers to seek compensation when they are in disagreement with a host government.
• Investment versus environment: Proponents argue that some such provision is essential, to protect foreign investors against arbitrary government discrimination, or even expropriation. But what if a government wants to pass a law that seems self-evidently in its country’s, and even the world’s, interests—such as discouraging smoking, or protecting the environment? This last consideration, and in particular the fear that ISDS might make it hard for governments to meet their commitments to curb carbon emissions, have brought new pressures for ISDS reform.
• 2021 deliberations: In Vienna, a United Nations working group, under its Commission on International Trade Law, or UNCITRAL, resumed discussions on the reform of ISDS, which is already a feature of more than 2,600 international agreements, and is a contentious issue whenever a new bilateral or plurilateral one is under negotiation.

1. The meeting comes as the European Union and some of its members are trying to renegotiate the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), a pact signed in 1994 by the EU and 52 national governments on cross-border trade and investment in energy, with the original aim of integrating the energy industry of the former Soviet bloc with western Europe.
2. The EU is concerned that, because of its ISDS provisions, the ECT is “threatening the climate ambition of the EU domestically and internationally”, in the words of a letter signed by nearly 150 members of the European and national parliaments.
3. The worry is that, if governments force very polluting industries—notably fossil-fuel power stations—to close down, they will face lengthy arbitration procedures and, potentially, crippling compensation bills. Japan, however, is resisting reform, leading to EU threats of withdrawal from the ECT.

• IIED report: A new report from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) called “Raising the cost of climate action: ISDS and compensation for stranded fossil-fuel assets”, highlights the scale of the problem. It notes that burning fossil fuels is the biggest source of carbon emissions. To have a chance of meeting the goal set out in the Paris climate agreement signed in 2015 of limiting global warming to 1.5–2°C above pre-industrial temperatures by the end of the century, one-third of known oil reserves, half of known gas reserves and over 80% of coal reserves must remain unused. That means a lot of investment already made in extracting, processing and burning these fossil fuels will not be needed. The assets created will be “stranded”.

• IIED leads to worried about ISDS: Many reasons for worrying

1. First, the sums of money involved can be huge—in 2014 an arbitration tribunal convened under the ECT awarded a Cypriot company $50bn in a dispute with Russia over the confiscation of Yukos, an oil-and-gas firm. (Russia, which withdrew from the ECT in 2018, has never paid.) The value of stranded assets in the global power sector alone between 2016 and 2050 could be as much as $1.8trn, and $3trn-7trn in the upstream oil-and-gas business. Globally, 257 coal-fired power stations are foreign-owned. And at least three-quarters of those are covered by ISDS provisions, including 51 under the ECT.
2. Second, ISDS is not a theoretical threat. It is widely used, more than 1,000 times; and seven out of ten of the biggest ISDS compensation awards, all since 2012, have been to fossil-fuel companies or their shareholders. And third, the potential compensation is often unquantifiable, because many trade agreements do not specify how it should be calculated. Some arbitrators look at an asset’s “book value” (ie, its original cost less depreciation, amortisation and liabilities); others at the income it is expected to generate over time.

• A chill on the horizon: Environmentalists also worry about “regulatory chill”, that governments might be deterred from passing laws by fear of ISDS repercussions. In 2013, for example, New Zealand announced that it was delaying introducing rules about cigarette packaging until an ISDS suit on the issue brought against Australia by Philip Morris, an American tobacco giant, was resolved (Philip Morris lost the case). The government of Indonesia, attempting to renegotiate agreements signed under the 32-year dictatorship of Suharto, which ended in 1998, including environmentally devastating mining projects, found ISDS a serious constraint.
• Summary: A common, goal-oriented road forward needs to be found if the world has to manage investment alongwith environmental concerns.

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

North Korean missile test 2021

• Kim family's missiles: In March 2021, North Korea fired four short-range missiles into the sea. Its the old habit of Kim family at work again, in order to send a clear message to America.
• NK's missiles: It has a long history of performing major weapons tests when new governments take power in the United States (U.S.) and South Korea. In 2009, North Korea conducted a long-range rocket launch and a nuclear test within the first four months of the Obama administration. In February 2017, less than a month after Donald Trump assumed the US presidency, it tested a mid-range missile. Later in 2017, four days after South Korean President assumed power, it fired a newly developed nuclear-capable intermediate-range missile. With President Trump, tempers flared when Kim Jong-un threatened to blow up Guam.
• Present intentions: The 2021 tests appear to follow the same path but it is believed that North Korea held back from a more serious provocation. This is because the current U.S. administration is evaluating its North Korean policy. It wants the U.S. to lift sanctions while letting it maintain its nuclear capability. But the US is unlikely do that and North Korea may stage bigger provocations like a long-range missile test or a nuclear detonation. For now, it is ramping up its rhetoric along with the short-range missile launches. Earlier, North Korean leader announced that the country’s nuclear arsenal will be enlarged to cope with the hostile US policy and military threats. He also pressed South Korea to suspend regular military drills with the U.S. if it wants to better the ties with North Korea.
• American response: Earlier the US had reached out to North Korea but the country did not respond to it. US has generally criticised North Korea’s human rights record and its nuclear ambitions. Now North Korea’s First vice Foreign Minister said that the country will ignore such US offers because of its hostility to America.
• Road ahead: It is unlikely that America will make concessions in the face of North Korea’s short-range missile launches. America clearly advocated that unless North Korea pledges that it will denuclearize one-on-one talks with President is not possible. Amid the standoff, North Korea could end up launching bigger weapons tests, if it isn’t satisfied with the U.S. North Korea policy review. Any such major provocation would certainly prompt the U.S. and its allies to seek additional UN sanctions against North Korea. But tougher sanctions may be difficult because China has veto power on the UN Security Council. This is because North Korea is China major diplomatic ally and economic lifeline and it may not easily agree to more sanctions even if North Korea engages in long-range missile or nuclear tests.

 

India’s maritime doctrine

• Year 2021: Soon after Joe Biden became the president of the US, the new US secretary of defense had visited India. The interesting takeaway of this visit was the specific mention to pursue enhanced cooperation between the Indian armed forces and the US maritime forces. This underlined the strategic importance of India in US foreign policy, especially Indo-Pacific engagements. Since Independence, India has enjoyed an advantageous position in the Indian Ocean, primarily accorded through its geography.
• Post 1991: The lack of direct competition after the end of the Cold War allowed India to continue with its limited maritime approach while retaining the role of a key Indian Ocean player. However, there are many challenges in India’s maritime policy.

• Challenges in India’s Maritime Doctrine:

1. Silos approach in the Indian Ocean - India’s political class has divided the Indian ocean into many sub-regions. Traditionally, India draws a line with Mauritius and Seychelles as its areas of strategic collaboration in the Indian Ocean. In terms of sub-regions, the priority is in the northern (Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal), and eastern Indian Ocean (the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca). Due to this, the western Indian Ocean and the eastern coast of Africa still continue to be in the maritime periphery in India’s foreign policy.
2. Lesser hold on strategic chokepoint - China’s first overseas military base was set up in the western Indian Ocean, in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
3. Russia too recently acquired a base in Sudan, on the Red Sea coast, between the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb — a strategic chokepoint in the Indian Ocean. But, beyond the anti-piracy mission, India’s presence and maritime engagements with the African coast have been largely ad hoc.
4. Increasing Chinese assertiveness - Through the Maritime Silk Road, China engages with littorals and islands across the Ocean. China has consistently aimed to improve its diplomatic, political, and military engagements in the region from Sri Lanka to Comoros, spanning the Indian Ocean in its entirety.
5. Continental bias - India’s reorientation toward the maritime domain has not been easy, with generations of foreign and defense service officials focusing and training on continental issues. The Indian Navy is allotted approximately 14% of the defense budget speaks clearly to the defense establishment’s priorities.

• Road ahea: Synchronizing the foreign & defense policies is important. With the establishment of the Indian Ocean division in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in 2016, MEA appears to be undertaking a more active approach. But the defense establishment has to match foreign policy engagements. A holistic view of Indian Ocean is needed. There is a need to view the Indian Ocean as one continuous space and understand regional dynamics better. India should supplement its partnership with the US with a network of multilateral groups with other middle powers, such as the India-Australia-Japan forum and the trilateral dialogue with France and Australia.
• Summary: While India’s continental troubles continue to fester, as seen in recent crises such as Doklam and Ladakh, there is a need to understand the importance of maritime geography and its link to India’s strategic interests and growing competition in the region.

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

Taiwan train crash: An unprecedented horror

• What happened: The Taroko Express, en route to Taitung with 488 passengers aboard, was about to enter a tunnel when it was hit by a driverless truck. The dead include one French national, while those injured include people from Japan and Macau. The eight-car Taroko Express carrying 496 passengers was en route to the southeastern coastal city of Taitung from New Taipei City when the accident happened near Chongde, Hualien, at about 9.30am.
• Details: This was Taiwan’s worst train accident in decades, and killed at least 50 people and injured 146 others. It was caused by a runaway truck that rolled down a hillside from a construction site above the track.
• The train was about to enter Chingshui Tunnel when it collided with a truck that had rolled down an embankment from a construction site. The first two carriages of the train derailed after striking the truck and forcing parts of it into the tunnel. The train’s engineer, Yuan Chun-hsiu, 33, and mechanic, Chiang Pei-feng, 32, who were travelling in the first carriage, were killed on impact.
• Freeing the trapped: The Hualien Fire Department said that as of 6.30pm all of the passengers who had been trapped in the train carriages had been freed.
• Several of the following carriages were crushed as they slammed into the walls of the tunnel. The carriages at the end of the train that did not reach the tunnel were less badly damaged.
• The brakes: Authorities are inspecting if the truck’s brakes had been put on properly or if there were other human or mechanical errors involved.

• Leaders: Taiwanese leaders, including President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang, ordered the relevant authorities to do their best to support the rescue effort and ensure proper treatment for the injured passengers.

1. Government departments would lower their flags to half-mast for three days from Sunday as a mark of respect for those killed, according to Su’s office.
2. Tsai, who went to Hualien to visit some of the people in hospital, said the authorities had already started an investigation into the cause of the accident and would make public its findings as soon as possible.
3. The rescue operation was hampered by the fact that some of the carriages had been badly mangled. The limited space in the narrow tunnel made it difficult to locate the survivors and get them out.
4. Taiwanese media said the train had been crowded and that many passengers were standing at the time of the crash, which meant they were tossed about by the force of the impact.
5. The accident happened at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Chinese tomb sweeping festival, when people return home to remember their late ancestors by cleaning their graves.

• Earlier accidents: In 2018, a Puyuma Express train derailed in northeast Taiwan’s Yilan county, killing 18 people and injuring 170. Thirty people were killed in a train crash in Taiwan in 1981.

 

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

Star campaigners and Model Code of Conduct (MCC)

• Election Commission in action: The Election Commission of India (ECI) had delisted Ex-Telecom Minister A. Raja from the list of star campaigners. The topic came into limelight after that. He was reprimanded for violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for making certain remarks during election times.

• Points to note: A star campaigner is a celebrity vote seeker in an election for a party. This person can be anyone, a politician or even a film star. There is no law governing who can or cannot be made a star campaigner. They are nominated by the concerned political parties specifying their constituencies and duration of the status. The ECI issues guidelines under the Model Code of Conduct regulating poll campaigns.

1. Numbers of star campaigners - A ‘recognised’ National or State party declared as such by the ECI can nominate a maximum of 40 star campaigners. An unrecognised political party can nominate a maximum of 20 star campaigners.
2. Need for star campaigners - The ECI keeps a tab on expenditure incurred by individual candidates during campaign - Rs. 70 lakh for most states in one constituency by each candidate. Expenditure incurred on electioneering by the star campaigner is not added to a candidate’s poll expenditure giving him/her more scope for expenditure. However, for an individual candidate to get relief from campaign expenditure, the star campaigner has to limit oneself to general campaigning for the party. According to the Representation of People’s Act, these expenses will be borne by the political parties.
3. Prime Minister as star campaigner - The MCC guidelines say when a prime minister or a former prime minister is star campaigner, the expenditure incurred on security including on the bullet-proof vehicles will be borne by the government and will not be added to the election expenses of the party or the individual candidate. But if another campaigner travels with the prime minister, the individual candidate will have to bear 50% of the expenditure incurred on the security arrangements.

• Challenge of delisting from Star Campaigner list: The Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which relates to a candidate’s election expenditure, leaves it to the political party itself to decide who its “leaders” are and allows every party to submit a list of such ‘star campaigners’ to the election authorities. As the expenditure on the star campaigners is not included in the expenditure of the candidate concerned, an order of the ECI revoking the star status is actually a withdrawal of the right to campaign without incurring electoral expenditure on the candidates’ account.

• Model Code of Conduct (MCC): The MCC is a set of guidelines issued by the ECI to regulate political parties and candidates prior to elections. It helps ECI in keeping with the mandate it has been given under Article 324 of the Constitution, which gives it the power to supervise and conduct free and fair elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures.

1. Duration of enforcement - The MCC is operational from the date on which the election schedule is announced until the date of result announcement.
2. Legal status - MCC is not statutory but Political Parties, Candidates and Polling Agents are expected to observe the norms, on matters ranging from the content of election manifestos, speeches and processions, to general conduct etc. Certain provisions of the MCC may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other statutes such as the Indian Penal Code 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, and Representation of the People Act 1951.
3. Recommendations related to MCC - In 2013, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, recommended making the MCC legally binding, i.e. MCC shall be made a part of the RPA 1951. In 2015, Law Commission of India (LCI) Report 255 observed that since the MCC comes into operation only from the date on which the ECI announces elections, the government can release advertisements prior to the announcement of elections. The report recommended that a restriction should be imposed on government-sponsored advertisements for up to six months prior to the date of expiry of the House/Assembly.

• Summary: India is witnessing an extremely competitive elections scenario, where every elections seems to be a matter of life and death. In this unnatural situation, it is very important that the Election Commission focuses on ensuring total transparency and impartiality while enforcing norms. The entire legitimacy of the elections process is at stake, and ECI has to live upto its name and reputation. 

 

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

Doppler Weather Radars

• The story: The Union Minister for Earth Sciences commissioned two of the ten indigenously built X-Band Doppler Weather Radars (DWR) which will closely monitor the weather changes over the Himalayas. A multi-mission meteorological data receiving and processing system developed in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was also launched. This new system will capture, process and make available for use satellite data within seven minutes as opposed to 20 minutes taken by earlier systems.
• Points to note: The DWR has been designed and developed by ISRO and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru. Covering the central and western Himalayas, these dual polarised radars will gather atmospheric variations and pick signals of extreme weather events. Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are highly prone to cloud bursts, landslides, heavy rain and snowfall. Timely weather forecasts and warnings would ensure the governments make advance plans and initiate rescue measures.
• Radars: Radar stands for "Radio Detection and Ranging". It is a device which uses electromagnetic waves in the microwaves region to detect location (range & direction), altitude, intensity and movement of moving and non-moving objects.

1. Doppler radar - A specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance
2. Doppler effect - When the source and the signal are in relative motion to each other there is a change in the frequency observed by the observer. If they are moving closer frequency increases and vice versa. It does this by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target and analyzing how the object’s motion has altered the frequency of the returned signal. This variation gives direct and highly accurate measurements of the radial component of a target’s velocity relative to the radar.
3. Doppler Weather Radar - Based on Doppler principle the radar is designed to improve precision in long-range weather forecasting and surveillance using a parabolic dish antenna and a foam sandwich spherical radome. DWR has the equipment to measure rainfall intensity, wind shear and velocity and locate a storm centre and the direction of a tornado or gust front.
4. Types Of Doppler Radars - Doppler radar can be divided into several different categories according to the wavelength which are L,S,C,X,K.
5. X band radars - They operate on a wavelength of 2.5-4 cm and a frequency of 8-12 GHz. Because of the smaller wavelength, the X band radar is more sensitive and can detect smaller particles.

• Applications: These radars are used for studies on cloud development because they can detect the tiny water particles and also used to detect light precipitation such as snow. X band radars also attenuate (become less effective) very easily, so they are used for only very short range weather observation. Due to the small size of the radar, it can therefore be portable like the Doppler on Wheels (DOW). Most major airplanes are equipped with an X band radar to pick up turbulence and other weather phenomena. This band is also shared with some police speed radars and some space radars.

 

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

Global Gender Gap Report 2021: World Economic Forum

• Ground reality: Despite many new schemes launched by goverment, the condition of women in India is steadily deteriorating. India has now reportedly fallen 28 places in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2021. The WEF publishes many reports like Energy Transition Index, Global Competitiveness Report, Global IT Report, Global Gender Gap Report, Global Risk Report, and Global Travel and Tourism Report.
• Many schemes: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, One Stop Centre (OSC) Scheme, Ujjawala Scheme are some the initiatives launched by the government to address the issue of gender inequality. Further, the principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. But the net effect of all these is not showing as much as it should.
• Global Gender Gap Report: This was first published in 2006 by the WEF, and benchmarks 156 countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions - Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment. Over the Index, the highest possible score is 1 (equality) and the lowest possible score is 0 (inequality). Its goal is to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men on health, education, economy and politics. Through this annual yardstick, the stakeholders within each country are able to set priorities relevant in each specific economic, political and cultural context.

• India’s position: Overall, India is now one of the worst performers in South Asia, it is now ranked 140 among 156 countries. In South Asia, Bangladesh ranked 65, Nepal 106, Pakistan 153, Afghanistan 156, Bhutan 130 and Sri Lanka 116. India had ranked 112th among 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2020.

1. Political empowerment - India has declined on the political empowerment index as well by 13.5 percentage points, and a decline in the number of women ministers, from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2021. However, it has still performed relatively well compared to other countries, ranking at 51 in women’s participation in politics.
2. Education attainment - In the index of education attainment, India has been ranked at 114.
3. Economic participation - The report notes that the economic participation gender gap actually widened in India by 3% this year. The share of women in professional and technical roles declined further to 29.2%. The share of women in senior and managerial positions also is at 14.6% and only 8.9% firms in the country have top female managers. The estimated earned income of women in India is only one-fifth of men’s, which puts the country among the bottom 10 globally on this indicator.
4. South Asia: In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the income of an average woman is below 16% of that of an average man, while in India it is 20.7%.
5. Health and Survival index - On this India has fared the worst, ranking at 155. The only country to have fared worse is China. The report points to a skewed sex ratio as the major factor. It says the ratio can be attributed to norms of son preference and gender-biased prenatal sex-selective practices. China and India together account for about 90 to 95% of the estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million missing female births annually worldwide due to gender-biased prenatal sex selective practices.

• Global scenario:

1. Region wise rank - South Asia incidentally is one of the worst performing regions, followed only by the Middle East and northern Africa.
2. Largest gender gap in political empowerment - The gender gap in political empowerment remains the largest: women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 parliament seats and just 22.6% of over 3,400 ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of state, as of 15th January, 2021.
3. Bangladesh is the only country where more women have held head-of-state positions than men in the past 50 years.
4. Economic participation - The countries with the largest gender gaps in economic participation include Iran, India, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
5. Timeframe to close the gap - It will take South Asia 195.4 years to close the gender gap, while Western Europe will take 52.1 years.

 

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

Biggest floating solar power plant of India

• Telangana: The biggest floating solar power plant of India is to be set up at Ramagundam in Telangana, with a capacity of 100 MW.
• Details: It is expected to be opened in May 2021. The solar power plant is being set up at the Ramagundam Thermal Power Plant reservoir, over 450 acres of the reservoir. The project is commissioned by NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation). NTPC aims to reduce its carbon footprints and increase its green energy production to 30% of its capacity through this solar power plant. The cost of the project has been estimated as Rs 423 crores, and the plant will have 4.5 lakh photovoltaic panels.
• World's largest: The largest solar power plant in the world is being set up by India on Omkar Eshwar Dam on Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. The cost of this project is estimated to be Rs 3,000 crores. The project is expected to start its power generation by 2022-23. The panels of the solar power plant are capable of adjusting their positions when the water level of the dam is low. The World Bank, Power Grid and International Finance Corporation are providing financial aid for the project. The power plant is designed in such a way to withstand strong waves and floods and continue to generate power at the same time.
• Floating plants: The first floating solar power plant in India was installed in Kolkata in 2014. Currently, the largest floating solar power plant of India is located in Banasura Sagar reservoir in Wayanad, Kerala. The capacity of this plant is 500 KW.
• Types of Solar Power Plants: The two major types of solar power plants are (i) Floating Photo Voltaic Solar Power Plant and (ii) Concentrated Solar Power Plant. The concentrated solar power plants use mirrors to redirect the solar power. On the other hand, the floating solar power plants are mounted on a structure that floats on a water body. Advantages of Floating Solar Power Plants are they are compact, and installation and decommissioning are much easier. No land is required. The cooling system of floating solar power plants is simpler. It is natural.

 

First image of Black Hole's magnetic field

• The story: Scientists working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have created an image showing the magnetic field around a black hole. The black hole is located in M87 galaxy.
• Magnetic field image: In 2019, the astronomers working on the EHT captured the first image of the shadow of the same black hole. The shadow of the black hole is a dark region that surrounds the black hole. It is three times the diameter of the black hole. The shadow of the black hole is the point beyond which even light cannot escape. Now the scientists have analyzed the polarization of light in the bright region around the shadow of the black hole. Some matter is sucked into the black hole and the other matter is blasted out in jets. This blasted out matter is hot and violent. It creates large amounts of light as the matter here is accelerated. The conclusion of the analysis is that only presence of strong magnetic fields shall polarize this huge volume of light energy. The new image will help to understand how powerful jets of radiation are emitted by black holes.
• Polarization of light: It is a phenomenon caused due to the electromagnetic property of light. Light waves vibrate in more than one plane and are referred to as unpolarized. On the other hand, the polarized light waves are waves in which vibrations occur in a single plane. As light waves are electromagnetic in nature, only strong magnetic field can polarize light waves.
• M87: The Messier 87 or M87 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy. It has more than 15,000 globular clusters. It is larger in size as compared to the Milky Way that has only 150 globular clusters. The M87 is one of the brightest radio sources. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781. It is 53 million light years away from the earth.
• Event Horizon Telescope: It is a telescope array that consists of a global network of radio telescopes. The main observational targets of the telescope project are two black holes. These black holes are located in Messier 87 and Sagittarius A. Just like M 87, Sagittarius A is also a radio source and is located at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. Galactic Centre is the rotational center of the Milky Way galaxy. In 2020, Andrea Ghez and Reinhard Genzei received Nobel Prize in Physics. They discovered that black hole is the only explanation for the mass and brightness around Sagittarius A.

 

Central govt. and savings rate on small savings

• Decision revoked: On March 31, the finance ministry issued an order to steeply cut administered interest rates on Public Provident Fund (PPF) and small savings schemes, with effect from the very next day, April 1. Then it withdrew the order quickly.
• How much was the cut: For Q1 2021-22, or April-June 2021, it slashed interest on PPF from 7.1% to 6.4%, on the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme from 7.4% to 6.5%; on National Savings Certificate from 6.8% to 5.9%; on the Sukanya Samriddhi Account from 7.6% to 6.9%; and the Kisan Vikas Patra from 6.9% to 6.2%. These were not all. Every administered interest rate under the overall rubric of small savings was cut drastically.
• Why do it: It was an act of fiscal desperation. The revised estimate (RE) of the fiscal deficit (FD) for 2020-21 was Rs.18,48,655 crore, or a staggering 9.5% of India’s GDP. It was 98% higher than the actual FD for 2019-20. The budget estimate (BE) of the FD for 2021-22 is also massive at Rs.15,06,812 crore, or 6.8% of GDP.
• What it means: FD is nothing but the excess of government expenditure over revenues. It has to be financed by public borrowing that, in turn, involves additional committed interest payments. In 2020-21 (RE), GoI’s interest payment on its public debt was Rs.6,92,290 crore which accounted a fifth of its total expenditure and, more importantly, 43% of its revenue. For 2021-22 (BE), interest payment is expected to rise by 17% to Rs.8,09,701 crore. That is 23% of total expenditure and 41% of expected revenues. Interest payment is by far the largest item of the central government’s expenditure.
• There are two ways to reduce this expenditure. One is to borrow less. The other is to reduce the cost of such borrowings by cutting interest rates wherever possible. That is why the recent cuts were announced. The government borrows heavily from small saving schemes, where people deposit money directly with the government (via post offices etc.) and not with scheduled commercial banks. So cutting rates is direct saving of future interest outgo.

 

Bitcoin volatility means Banks can come in

• The story: Three-month realized volatility for the cryptocurrency has fallen to 86% after rising above 90% in February 2021. The six-month measure appears to be stabilizing at around 73%. This pullback in Bitcoin’s volatility is setting the stage for a trend that could encourage institutions to dive in, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Positive sign: Tentative signs of Bitcoin volatility normalization are encouraging, as per experts. A potential normalization of Bitcoin volatility from here would likely help to reinvigorate the institutional interest going forward. As volatility subsides, a greater number of institutions could warm to the crypto space.
• Low volatility welcome: The coin’s volatility has kept institutions away, something that’s been a key consideration for risk management -- the higher the volatility of an asset, the higher the risk capital consumed by it. None of the biggest U.S. banks right now provide direct access to Bitcoin and its counterparts. Still, traditional Wall Street firms have been taking a greater interest in the coin, especially after it doubled this year on the heels of a 300% jump in 2020.
• The future: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said this week it’s close to offering investment vehicles for Bitcoin and other digital assets to private wealth clients. Morgan Stanley plans to give rich clients access to three funds that will enable ownership of crypto and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is developing a platform for traditional and digital assets. Some of the attention on Bitcoin over the past two quarters has come at the expense of gold. 

 

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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