Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 07-04-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 07-04-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. World Politics - Stay out of Hong Kong, Xinjiang issues: China cautions Japan - China has angrily urged Japan to steer clear of "internal issues" including Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi that he hoped Japan could treat China's development from an "objective and rational" perspective, rather than be led by nations that are biased against China. Japan is inching closer to the US on the issue of forging an alliance that brings into question various "internal" issues of China. The rise of Quad, too, is troubling China. In recent weeks, Chinese Navy has conducted aggressive operations in the seas of the region.
2. Governance and Institutions - Blockchain MoU between Spices Board India and UNDP India - Spices Board India and UNDP India’s Accelerator Lab have signed a MoU with the goal to build a blockchain based traceability interface for Indian spices to enhance transparency in supply chain and trade. It will start with over 3,000 farmers engaged in chilli and turmeric farming in select Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Blockchain is a decentralized process of recording transactions on an open and shared electronic ledger. This allows for ease and transparency in data management across a complex network, including, farmers, brokers, distributors, retailers and consumers, thus simplifying the supply chain.  Spices Board is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. It is an autonomous body, responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and development of Cardamom (Small & Large).
3. World Economy - US plans to impose fresh tariffs on India - The US is planning to hit six nations that tax Internet-based companies with retaliatory tariffs that could total almost $1 billion annually. India, Turkey, Spain, Austria, Italy, and the UK may face tariffs of up to 25% annually, US Trade Representative documents showed. Currently, India imposes a 2% tax on US-based companies that provide a broad range of digital services. In each of the six cases, the USTR proposes to impose tariffs that would roughly total the amount of tax revenue each country is expected to get from the U.S. companies. The cumulative annual value of the duties comes to $880 million, approx. There have been efforts to replace each individual country’s digital taxes with one global standard -- to be brokered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- but a deal has yet to be reached. The U.S. says it’s committed to the OECD process, but will maintain its options, including tariffs, in the meantime.
4. Governance and Institutions - Launch of Sankalp Se Siddhi - The “Sankalp se Siddhi” illage and Digital Connect Drive was recently launched by TRIFED. It is part of the Ministry of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and is a 100 day drive which was started from April 1, 2021. It will entail 150 teams visiting ten villages each, with the goal to activate the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras in these villages. The visiting teams will also identify locations and shortlist potential Van Dhan Vikas Kendras for clustering as TRIFOOD, and Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries- (SFURTI) units as larger enterprises. TRIFOOD aims to enhance the income of tribals through better utilization of and value addition to the Minor Forest Produce collected by the tribal forest gatherers.
5. Indian Economy - HSN Code mandatory - The ministry of finance has announced that businesses with turnover of Rs 5 crore and above will have to furnish six-digit HSN or tariff code on the invoices issued for supplies of taxable goods and services. HSN stands for Harmonised System of Nomenclature code. It is mandatory for both B2B and B2C tax invoices on the supplies of Goods and Services. This was introduced in 1988 by the World Customs Organization (WCO), for a systematic classification of goods both national and international. It's a 6-digit code that classifies various products, that India has been using since 1986 to classify commodities for Customs and Central Excise, and applies to Customs and GST. The codes prescribed in the Customs tariff are used for the GST purposes too. HSN is used all over the world, with different HSN codes for various commodities. These remove the need to upload details about the goods which makes filing of GST returns easier. The HSN code contains 21 sections, divided into 99 chapters which are divided into 1244 sections. This system helps in making GST simpler and globally accepted. HSN codes for goods at 6 digits are universally common. Common HSN codes apply to Customs and GST. Codes prescribed in the Customs tariff are used for the GST purposes. In Customs Tariff, HS code is prescribed as heading (4 digits HS), sub-heading (6 digits HS) and tariff items (8 digits).
6. Indian Economy - Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 - The corporate affairs ministry has announced companies will have to disclose any holding or dealings in cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies in their financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). All companies will now have to disclose in their statutory financial filings to the RoC any profit or loss on transactions involving cryptocurrency. The amount of cryptocurrency held on the reporting date, and any deposits or advances received from anyone for the purpose of investing in cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies. The government’s new bill – Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 — aims to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies while setting the stage to roll out the legal framework for an “official digital currency”. The Centre will take a calibrated approach to cryptocurrencies and will not close the window on experimentation with cryptocurrencies. In the Budget session 2021, so far the Bill had not been tabled. The crypto market meanwhile continued to zoom.
7. World Politics - Tanzania's new President and media media - Tanzania's new President Ms. Samia Suluhu Hassan said on 06-04-2021 she would lift a ban on media in the nation. "Reopen them [media], we shouldn't give them room to say we are shrinking press freedom. We shouldn't ban media by force. Reopen them," she said. This comes after a press crackdown was implemented by her late predecessor John Magufuli. In March 2021, Magufuli died aged 61, from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam. He had not been seen in public for long, and rumours had been circulating about his health. Magufuli was one of Africa's most prominent coronavirus sceptics, and called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus. Mr Magufuli was last seen in public on 27 February, but Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted last week that the president was "healthy and working hard". He had blamed the rumours of the president's ill-health on "hateful" Tanzanians living abroad.
8. People and Personalities - World's richest - Forbes released its 35th Annual World's Billionaires List that was topped by Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos with $177 billion wealth. Tesla CEO Elon Musk ranked as second-richest with $151 billion wealth and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault featured on the third spot with $150 billion wealth. Bill Gates was ranked fourth, followed by Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison. The ranks of the ultra-wealthy are expanding after a year in which the coronavirus pandemic upended world economies and threatened the livelihoods of people across the globe. This year's billionaires are worth a combined $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion last year. Investor and business tycoon Warren Buffett fell out of the top five for the first time in over two decades, as tech executives dominate the Forbes rankings. This year's list has 493 newcomers, including Whitney Wolfe Herd, chief executive of dating app Bumble, which went public in 2021.
9. Indian Economy - IMF raises India's growth projection to 12.5% for FY22 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has now upgraded its growth projection for India to 12.5% for FY22 from its January estimate of 11.5%. China, which had recorded a growth of 2.3% in 2020, is expected to grow at 8.6%, IMF said. Recently, the World Bank had also raised India's GDP forecast for FY22 to 10.1% from 5.4%. However, the real challenge for the Indian economy now lies in managing the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, that is threatening to undo a lot of economic momentum in the economy. Government is struggling with providing vaccines to people, and a large part of 2021 may be spent battling a new fire. GDP projections may be altered due to this.
10. Indian Politics - Covid-19 updates - India surpassed the US to become the fastest COVID-19 vaccinating country with an average daily rate of 30,93,861 vaccine doses, as per the Health Ministry. By 06-04-2021, more than 8.70 crore doses have been administered through 13,32,130 sessions. So far, 1,43,58,637 healthcare workers and 1,40,49,455 frontline workers have been vaccinated. Meanwhile, there was bad news on vaccine availability front. The Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar Poonawalla has said that no country in the world has enough amounts of the vaccine. He stated that his company has a capacity of 60-70 million doses currently that he hopes to ramp up in the coming months with government's proposal and bank borrowings. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb informed that he has tested positive for COVID-19, and had isolated himself at home. The BJP has alleged that Maharashtra government "cheated" people by imposing a "strict lockdown" in the state and demanded a financial package for various sections of the society. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wrote to PM Narendra Modi requesting him to allow the COVID-19 vaccination of all above the age of 25 years.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

RBI monetary policy review April 2021

1. The crux of it: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the policy rate unchanged at 4 per cent and voted unanimously to maintain the status quo with an accommodative stance. The reverse repo rate remained unchanged at 3.5 per cent, and the marginal standing facility and bank rate kept unchanged at 4.25 per cent. The RBI has kept the key interest rate (repo) unchanged for a long time now, and a poetic Governor Das said that “If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.”
2. Liquidity facility: Special refinance facilities of ₹75,000 crore were provided to All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) like NABARD, SIDBI, NHB and EXIM bank during April-August 2020. To nurture the still nascent growth impulses, it is felt necessary to support continued flow of credit to the real economy. Accordingly, liquidity support of ₹50,000 crore for fresh lending during 2021-22 will be provided to AIFIs: ₹25,000 crore to NABARD; ₹10,000 crore to NHB; and ₹15,000 crore to SIDBI.
3. WMA announcement: The RBI announced an extension of interim ways and means advances (WMAs) limit of Rs 51,560 crore to state governments till September 2021, to help them tide over the financial stress posed by the second wave of COVID-19. WMAs are temporary advances given by the RBI to the states to tide over any mismatch in receipts and payments. There are two types of WMA normal and special. While normal WMA are clean advances, special WMA are secured advances provided against the pledge of the government of India dated securities. In addition, RBI has enhanced the aggregate WMA limit of states and Union Territories (UTs) to Rs 47,010 crore per year. Acting as the debt manager of the state governments, the RBI’s WMA are intended to provide a cushion to the states to carry on their essential activities and normal financial operations. These increased limits are expected to help state governments spend on fighting the fallout of COVID-19.
4. TLTRO on Tap Scheme – Extension of Deadline: With a view to increasing the focus of liquidity measures on revival of activity in specific sectors, the TLTRO on Tap Scheme announced on October 9, 2020 which was made available up to March 31, 2021, is now being further extended by a period of six months i.e., upto September 30, 2021.
5. Inflation: Going forward, the food inflation trajectory will critically depend on the temporal and spatial progress of the south-west monsoon in its 2021 season. Second, some respite from the incidence of domestic taxes on petroleum products through coordinated action by the Centre and States could provide relief on top of the recent easing of international crude prices. Third, a combination of high international commodity prices and logistics costs may push up input price pressures across manufacturing and services. Taking into consideration all these factors, the projection for CPI inflation has been revised to 5.0 per cent in Q4:2020-21; 5.2 per cent in Q1:2021-22; 5.2 per cent in Q2; 4.4 per cent in Q3; and 5.1 per cent in Q4, with risks broadly balanced.
6. UPI interoperability: The RBI would now allow RTGS and NEFT connectivity with non-bank payment system operators, paving way for UPI interoperability. Along with this, the RBI also increased the maximum balance per customer for payments banks to Rs 2 lakh per individual from Rs 1 lakh earlier. This facility is expected to minimise settlement risk in the financial system and enhance the reach of digital financial services to all user segments. Centralised payment systems such as RTGS and NEFT, operated by the RBI, was so far restricted to only banks with a few exceptions. RBI today announced that it is proposing to enable non-bank payment systems like PPIs, card networks, White label ATM operators, among others to take direct membership in the central bank run RTGS and NEFT.
7. Growth forecast: The RBI has retained the economic growth projection for the current financial year at 10.5 per cent, while cautioning that the recent surge in COVID-19 infections has created uncertainty over the economic growth recovery. In its last policy review, the RBI had projected a GDP growth rate of 10.5 pc for FY’22. Taking various factors into consideration, it said, “the projection of real GDP growth for 2021-22 is retained at 10.5 per cent consisting of 26.2 per cent in Q1, 8.3 per cent in Q2, 5.4 per cent in Q3 and 6.2 per cent in Q4.” Governor Das said the recent surge in COVID-19 infections adds uncertainty to the domestic growth outlook amidst tightening of restrictions by some state governments. Though the firms engaged in manufacturing, services and infrastructure sectors were optimistic about a pick-up in demand, “consumer confidence, on the other hand, has dipped with the recent surge in COVID infections in some states imparting uncertainty to the outlook.”
8. Priority sector: With a view to encouraging farm credit to individual farmers against pledge/hypothecation of agricultural produce, it has been decided to enhance the loan limit under priority sector lending (PSL) from ₹50 lakh to ₹75 lakh per borrower against the pledge/hypothecation of agricultural produce backed by Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs)/electronic-NWRs (e-NWRs) issued by warehouses registered with the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA). For other Warehouse Receipts, the loan limit for classification under PSL will continue to be ₹50 lakh per borrower.
9. Summary: RBI’s first monetary policy of FY22 was on expected lines with rates unchanged and accommodative stance retained. It is on expected lines and is overall a good policy to support and nurture the economy amid a recent surge in second wave of infections. While liquidity has been ensured via TLTRO in case the demand picks up, the opportunity of on-lending through NBFCs, enhancement of loan limit against warehouse receipts, liquidity facility for All Indian Financial Institutions are all good moves to ensure continued availability of credit which aid faster economic recovery.

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

Climate change shrinks marine life richness near equator

• The story: While Cuba’s marine life has suffered from overfishing and pollution, there is mounting evidence that the warming of waters due to climate change may be taking a large toll as well. Research published recently finds that the total number of open-water species declined by about half in the 40 years up to 2010 in tropical marine zones worldwide. During that time, sea surface temperatures in the tropics rose nearly 0.2 degree Celsius.
• What happens: During some summers, as the Caribbean water temperatures climb, the luminous coral colonies of gold, green and blue that ring the island nation of Cuba give way to patches of skeletal white. The technicolor streaks of darting tropical fish flash less frequently. The rasping sounds of lobsters go quiet. Climate change is already impacting marine species diversity distribution, with changes being more dramatic in the Northern Hemisphere where waters have warmed faster. While numerous factors like overfishing have impacted tropical species, the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found a strong correlation between species decline and rising temperature. Fish species diversity tended to either plateau or decline at or above 20C (68 Fahrenheit), the researchers found.
• Blink of an eye: Past studies have shown that ocean warming is driving some species to migrate to cooler waters, the new study attempts to gauge that impact more broadly -- analyzing data on 48,661 marine species including fish, mollusks, birds and corals since 1955. The number of species attached to the seafloor -- including corals and sponges -- remained somewhat stable in the tropics between the 1970s and 2010, according to the study. Some were also found beyond the tropics, suggesting they had expanded their ranges. In other words, scientists say, species that can move are moving. From a geological time perspective, this is the blink of an eye.
• No options: For fixed species like corals, moving is not an option. One of the big questions is ‘Will coral reefs as ecosystems and corals as species be able to move north or south enough fast enough to adjust to a changing climate?’" Having fleets of fish and other swimmers shift rapidly to more temperate waters could devastate the coral ecosystems they leave behind -- along with any fishing and tourism industries that rely on them. Such changes can have a really huge impact on some of the most vulnerable human communities around the planet.
• A return to earlier: For Cuba, such an impact could unravel the island nation’s efforts to manage its underwater gardens although its corals have been less stressed by coastal development and pollution than corals elsewhere. They are considered more resilient to ocean warming. It's impressive to return to an area that experienced significant bleaching the year before, but looks perfectly healthy a year later. Cuba opened its first coral reef nursery four years ago to research which species coped best with warming and eventually to repopulate depleted reefs. The country is also restoring coastal mangroves, which serve as fish nurseries and shelter.

• Knowledge centre:

1. Corals - Corals are invertebrate animals belonging to a large group of colourful and fascinating animals called Cnidaria. Other animals in this group seen in rock pools or on the beach include jelly fish and sea anemones. Although Cnidarians exhibit a wide variety of colours, shapes and sizes, they all share the same distinguishing characteristics; a simple stomach with a single mouth opening surrounded by stinging tentacles. Each individual coral animal is called a polyp, and most live in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps that form a ‘colony’. The colony is formed by a process called budding, which is where the original polyp literally grows copies of itself.
2. Coral types and food - Coral are generally classified as either “hard coral” or “soft coral”. There are around 800 known species of hard coral, also known as the ‘reef building’ corals. Soft corals, which include seas fans, sea feathers and sea whips, don’t have the rock-like calcareous skeleton like the others, instead they grow wood-like cores for support and fleshy rinds for protection. While most of a corals diet is obtained from zooxanthellae, they can also ‘fish’ for food too. During feeding a coral polyp will extend its tentacles out from its body and wave them in the water current where they encounter small fish, plankton or other food particles. The surface of each tentacle has thousands of stinging cells called cnidoblasts, and when small prey floats or swims past, the tentacles fire these stinging cells, stunning or killing the prey before passing it to the mouth.
3. Coral reefs - Hard corals extract abundant calcium from surrounding seawater and use this to create a hardened structure for protection and growth. Coral reefs are therefore created by millions of tiny polyps forming large carbonate structures, and are the basis of a framework and home for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of other species. Coral reefs are the largest living structure on the planet, and the only living structure to be visible from space. Such coral reefs have evolved on earth over the past 200 to 300 million years, and over this evolutionary history, perhaps the most unique feature of corals is the highly evolved form of symbiosis. Coral polyps have developed this relationship with tiny single-celled plants, known as zooxanthellae. Inside the tissues of each coral polyp live these microscopic, single-celled algae, sharing space, gas exchange and nutrients to survive.
4. Coral bleaching - Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching. When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. A warming planet means a warming ocean, and a change in water temperature—as little as 2 degrees Fahrenheit—can cause coral to drive out algae. Coral may bleach for other reasons, like extremely low tides, pollution, or too much sunlight.

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

India and the NATO - made for each other?

• The story: The European countries have slowly started to play a larger role in the Indo-Pacific region. India knows that no single power can produce stability and security in the Indo-Pacific, and many will strive to do that in coming years.

• The China angle: China’s meteoric rise has heightened India’s need for closer security relationships with politically reliable, like-minded states. In order to tackle this geopolitical challenge, India will have to undertake more deliberate efforts to counter-balance the juggernaut of Chinese power. In that light, extending NATO’s membership to India may seem like a good option.

• The good and the bad:

1. The good - During the Cold War (1948-1991), India’s refusal to join any of the Military bloc (NATO or Warsaw pact led by the USSR) was premised on its non-alignment. That argument had little justification once the Cold War ended during 1989-91. Since then, NATO has built partnerships with many neutral and non-aligned The Article 5 of the NATO treaty held that an attack against a member nation of the NATO would be considered to be an attack against all the members of the alliance and would call for joint military action against the aggressor. This would create deterrence for China and Pakistan to attack India.
2. An India-NATO dialogue would simply mean having regular contact with a military alliance, most of whose members are well-established partners of India. India has military exchanges with many members of NATO — including the US, Britain, and France — in bilateral and multilateral formats. So in the longer term, India would derive military-strategic benefits from a partnership with the world’s most powerful alliance. Egypt and Israel are both NATO partners who maintain defense relationships with Russia. Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Austria are all NATO partners with long-standing neutralist traditions.
3. The bad - NATO members have conflicting opinions on how to share the military burden and strike the right balance between NATO and the EU’s quest for an independent military role. They also disagree on policy related to Russia, the Middle East, and China. By becoming a NATO member, India’s long-standing and strong ties with Russia will likely get frayed.  Russia has shown displeasure on account of India’s growing strategic convergence with the US. This could further strengthen the already deepening relation between China and Russia. Considering that India still is heavily dependent on the Russian military equipment, joining NATO seems like an eminently bad idea. Another issue would be the establishment of NATO bases on India’s territory which might invite widespread protests in the country and may even be considered an infringement of our sovereignty. A potential downside of joining NATO is that India would get dragged into various conflicts around the globe. This will result in a lot of Indian soldiers dying in various conflicts in which we have no reason at all to be involved in.

• Summary: The bureaucratization of the engagement between India and western countries has prevented India from taking full advantage of re-emerging geopolitics of the Atlantic. However, India’s recent proactive approach has certainly sought to end this prolonged political neglect. A pragmatic engagement with NATO countries must be an important part of India’s foreign policy but it must refrain from becoming a formal member of NATO.

• Knowledge centre:

1. NATO - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. In accordance with the Treaty, the fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO is playing an increasingly important role in crisis management and peacekeeping. NATO has an open door policy with regard to enlargement. Any European country in a position to further the principles of the Washington Treaty and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area can become a member of the Alliance at the invitation of the North Atlantic Council.
2. Warsaw Pact - The Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, (May 14, 1955–July 1, 1991) was a treaty establishing a mutual-defense organization (Warsaw Treaty Organization) composed originally of the Soviet Union and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. (Albania withdrew in 1968, and East Germany did so in 1990.) It provided for a unified military command and for the maintenance of Soviet military units on the territories of the other participating states. During the Cold War most of western Europe was aligned with the United States through membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while the Soviet Union maintained garrisons in its satellites under the terms of the Warsaw Pact. The immediate occasion for the Warsaw Pact was the Paris agreement among the Western powers admitting West Germany to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After the democratic revolutions of 1989 in eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact became moribund and was formally declared “nonexistent” on July 1, 1991.

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

Vivad Se Vishwas: Govt gets Rs.54,000 crore, half from own firms!

• The story: The Centre’s tax resolution scheme ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ has resolved nearly a third of all direct tax disputes and has netted Rs 54,005 crore in tax revenue, 51% of which are from the central PSUs, as per the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Although the expectations regarding the scheme was much higher — the government had originally set a target to collect Rs.2 lakh crore by the end of March 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic upset the calculations. The govt. claims that a 1998 scheme could only mop up Rs.739 crore with resolution of a few thousand disputes and another one in 2016 managed to resolve just 8,600 cases involving a tax demand of Rs.631 crore.

• Facts: The numbers suggest that the scheme has been a “very successful” in terms of reduction of legacy disputes. With assessments happening in a fairer and objective manner now, disputes generation will be less going forward.

1. Govt. said that 1,33,837 Form-1 were filed involving 1,48,690 dispute declarations with disputed tax worth Rs 1,00,437 crore. The central PSUs filed 1,385 forms with disputed tax involving Rs 35,109 crore, of which Rs 27,718 crore or nearly 79% were paid by these entities. Individuals and private corporate entities filed 1,31,582 forms with disputed taxes worth Rs 63,713 crore, of which Rs 25,267 crore or 40% were paid by them. State PSUs filed 870 forms with disputed taxes involving Rs 1,615 crore, of which Rs 1,020 crore or 63% were paid up by them.
2. As on January 31, 2020, there were 5.1 lakh direct tax dispute cases were pending with tax demands amounting to Rs 19.55 lakh crore. Out of these pending cases, disputes involving central PSUs were 2,676 with taxes in litigation at Rs 4.3 lakh crore while state PSUs had 6,409 pending cases with tax disputed at Rs 90,895 crore. Individuals and corporate entities had about 5 lakh tax disputes worth Rs 14.3 lakh crore as on January 31, 2020.

• History: The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, was enacted on March 17, 2020, to settle direct tax disputes locked up in various appellate forum. The deadline for filing deceleration and making payment under direct tax dispute resolution scheme was till March 31 and April 30, respectively.

1. The taxpayer is granted immunity from levy of interest, penalty and institution of any proceeding for prosecution for any offence under the Income Tax Act in respect of matters covered in the declaration.
2. The Vivad Se Vishwas scheme provides for settlement of disputed tax, disputed interest, disputed penalty or disputed fees in relation to an assessment or reassessment order. The dispute is settled on payment of 100% of the disputed tax and 25% of the disputed penalty or interest or fee.
3. The scheme launched in the Budget 2020-21 said that if the appeal is filed by the income tax department or the department has lost on an issue, then the assessee has to pay 50% of the disputed tax while the penalty and interest would be waived off.
4. In these cases, if the dispute is related to only penalty and interest then taxpayer has to pay only 12.5% of the disputed amount.
5. For case filed by the assessee in the higher forum, they have to pay 100% of the disputed tax (125% of disputed tax in case of search cases) while penalty and interest would be waived off. If the dispute is only about penalty and interest then 25% of the disputed penalty and interest is payable.

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

Foreign Contribution Amendment Bill 2020

• Getting funds from abroad: The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 amended the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The Act regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution by individuals, associations and companies. Foreign contribution is the donation or transfer of any currency, security or article (of beyond a specified value) by a foreign source.

• Prohibitions: Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, certain persons are prohibited to accept any foreign contribution. These include: election candidates, editor or publisher of a newspaper, judges, government servants, members of any legislature, and political parties, among others.

1. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill adds public servants (as defined under the Indian Penal Code) to this list. Public servant includes any person who is in service or pay of the government, or remunerated by the government for the performance of any public duty.
2. Transfer of foreign contribution - Under the Act, foreign contribution cannot be transferred to any other person unless such person is also registered to accept foreign contribution (or has obtained prior permission under the Act to obtain foreign contribution).
3. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill amends this to prohibit the transfer of foreign contribution to any other person. The term ‘person’ under the Act includes an individual, an association, or a registered company.

• Aadhaar for registration: The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act states that a person may accept foreign contribution if they have:

1. obtained a certificate of registration from central government, or
2. not registered, but obtained prior permission from the government to accept foreign contribution. Any person seeking registration (or renewal of such registration) or prior permission for receiving foreign contribution must make an application to the central government in the prescribed manner.
3. The Bill adds that any person seeking prior permission, registration or renewal of registration must provide the Aadhaar number of all its office bearers, directors or key functionaries, as an identification document. In case of a foreigner, they must provide a copy of the passport or the Overseas Citizen of India card for identification.

• FCRA account: Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, a registered person must accept foreign contribution only in a single branch of a scheduled bank specified by them. However, they may open more accounts in other banks for utilisation of the contribution. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill amends this to state that foreign contribution must be received only in an account designated by the bank as “FCRA account” in such branch of the State Bank of India, New Delhi, as notified by the central government. No funds other than the foreign contribution should be received or deposited in this account. The person may open another FCRA account in any scheduled bank of their choice for keeping or utilising the received contribution.

• Restriction in utilisation of foreign contribution: Under the Act, if a person accepting foreign contribution is found guilty of violating any provisions of the Act or the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976, the unutilised or unreceived foreign contribution may be utilised or received, only with the prior approval of the central government. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill adds that the government may also restrict usage of unutilised foreign contribution for persons who have been granted prior permission to receive such contribution. This may be done if, based on a summary inquiry, and pending any further inquiry, the government believes that such person has contravened provisions of the Act.

• Renewal of license: Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, every person who has been given a certificate of registration must renew the certificate within six months of expiration. The Bill provides that the government may conduct an inquiry before renewing the certificate to ensure that the person making the application:

• is not fictitious or benami,
• has not been prosecuted or convicted for creating communal tension or indulging in activities aimed at religious conversion, and
• has not been found guilty of diversion or misutilisation of funds, among others conditions.

• Reduction in use of foreign contribution for administrative purposes: Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, a person who receives foreign contribution must use it only for the purpose for which the contribution is received. Further, they must not use more than 50% of the contribution for meeting administrative expenses. The Bill reduces this limit to 20%.

• Surrender of certificate: The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill adds a provision allowing the central government to permit a person to surrender their registration certificate. The government may do so if, post an inquiry, it is satisfied that such person has not contravened any provisions of the Act, and the management of its foreign contribution (and related assets) has been vested in an authority prescribed by the government.

• Suspension of registration: Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, the government may suspend the registration of a person for a period not exceeding 180 days. The Bill adds that such suspension may be extended up to an additional 180 days.

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

Removing junk from Space

• The problem in space: Humans tend to leave rubbish behind them wherever they go, to expect someone else to clear that rubbish up! This is true even in outer space. The problem of orbiting debris, and the concomitant risk of it colliding with and damaging an active and probably expensive satellite, has been around for a while. But it is rapidly getting worse.
• Lots and lots of them: There may now be as many as 1 million bits of debris measuring 1 cm or more across in orbit. Of larger objects, more than 20,000 are being actively tracked from Earth. The past three years have seen a doubling of the number of times that bits of junk have almost hit operating satellites. In the short term, satellite owners can, literally, dodge the problem—as long as their craft are fitted with appropriate thrusters. There exist software which helps satellite operators sidestep such collisions. In the longer term, however, more radical action will be needed.
• More launches: Part of the problem is the growing number of launches taking place. Also, every year, a dozen or so sizeable chunks of debris orbiting Earth break up. Around half of these explosions are caused by things like the ignition of leftover rocket fuel and the bursting of old batteries and pressurised tanks. The rest are the result of collisions.
• Accelerating: The upshot is a chain reaction of impacts in orbit, as captured nicely in “Gravity”, a film released in 2013. But the real problem is accelerating only slowly, so there is still time to curtail it. If action is not taken soon, insurance premiums for satellites will rise, spending on tracking and collision-avoidance systems will have to increase, and certain orbits eventually risk becoming unusable.
• Burn them up: Stopping this orbital-junk-generating chain reaction means casting part of the superfluous tonnage in space down into Earth’s atmosphere, where the frictional heat of re-entry will burn it up. A clean sweep is not necessary. Removing a handful of the larger derelicts every year would be enough. Japan’s space agency, JAXA, estimates somewhere between three and seven.
• How to do it: Projects are being planned to do this. A mission dubbed ELSA-d, consisting of a 175kg mother ship called a servicer, and a 17kg pod fitted with a ferrous docking plate to act as a dummy target, will eject and recover the pod three times, in successively harder trial runs, before thrusters push the whole kaboodle to fiery doom in the atmosphere below. For all the technological prowess these tests will require, however, real derelicts pose a greater challenge than dummy ones. For one thing, few spacecraft have been designed to expedite their own removal. Those objects which most need removing are dangerously heavy.
• How to capture: Magnets will not be too useful, as normal spacecraft have no iron in them. Using a harpoon to capture such an object might be feasible, though. That panelling was attached to a boom extending from the satellite, so this was but the most preliminary of experiments. A harpoon can miss, ricochet or—worse—break off parts of the target which will then contribute yet more objects to the celestial junkyard. Another option is to shoot a net. Airbus tested this idea in 2018. That test successfully enveloped a small “cubesat” which had been pushed seven metres away from the net-throwing craft—though this net was not tethered to the mother ship.
• ESA: As to the first clearance of actual orbiting debris, that is likely to be a European affair, for, in 2019, the European Space Agency awarded a contract to ClearSpace, a Swiss firm, to grab a 100kg piece of rocket debris that has been looping Earth since 2013. This mission is scheduled for 2025.
• Some time away: An era of serious cleanup in space is still some way off. Besides the technological obstacles, removing junk will be expensive. The controlled re-entry of an object requires fuel, big thrusters and close attention from a ground controller. These things can tack millions of dollars—perhaps more than $20m—onto a deorbiting operation’s price tag. ClearSpace’s mission, for example, may cost as much as €100m ($122m), though Mr Piguet hopes subsequent jobs will be cheaper.
• Tax it: The solutions to tragedies of the commons usually have to be imposed from outside, often by governments. One idea is a special launch tax, with the proceeds hypothecated to pay for cleanup operations.

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

Migrant workers returning, Part 2.0

• Nightmare 2020, repeating 2021: Hundreds of migrant workers are fleeing Indian cities as new restrictions in some states to contain the pandemic have stoked fears that they will be left jobless again. While the reverse migration from cities and industrial centres is still a trickle, companies fear another mass exodus, like the one in 2020, will trigger a shortage of workers at factories and derail their revival.
• Visibly shaken: Migrant workers in several states, including Maharashtra, were seen waiting to board buses and trains bound for their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as their source of income dried up because of covid-related curbs. The Central Railway announced special trains from Mumbai to Gorakhpur, Patna, Darbhanga and Pune to Danapur, indicating that there is a surge in demand.
• Fear: Automobile manufacturers and component suppliers around Pune are worried that fresh lockdowns in the state may prompt an exodus of workers. In March 2020, millions of Indians returned to their villages, many of them making the journey on foot, as businesses abruptly shut because of the nationwide lockdown, leaving them without money and shelter. Dozens of them lost their lives as they walked hundreds of miles home as buses and trains stopped plying during the lockdown. The bitter experience of the lockdown may have prompted some of the workers this year to go home before any restrictions on travel are imposed.
• Textiles: Manufacturers in the textiles hub of Tirupur said that they are seeing some reverse migration because of the fear of lockdowns. This, they said, may turn into an exodus if steps to assure them are not taken. Experts said a second reverse migration would result in surplus labour in rural areas and scarcity in urban and industrial centres. That could depress demand, push more people into poverty and increase unemployment.
• What they say: Automakers said that at the moment, no one was talking about production cuts, but we have to keep the migrant workers together. Without them, we cannot run factories at full capacity. In the next few months, we were expecting to run our factories at 100% capacity. Migrant workers play a key role in manufacturing belts and are a driver of the informal economy in cities.
• Never returned: Around 40% of the labourers who had left last year have not returned. The second wave will hit production due to labour shortage as there is fear among workers and an urge to go back has escalated in the past few days.
• Summary: It is clear that despite the horrendous experience of 2020, where crores of workers returned home in the worst imaginable conditions, no plan was made for a redux of those circumstances. There is no govt. scheme to offer temporary cash support and rations, to hold workers back. Hence, the year 2021 may again see reverse-migration-induced problems all over again. Covid's second wave isn't abating anytime soon.

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

World Health Day: April 7

• The story: Every year the World Health Day is celebrated by the World Health Organization on April 7. This year, the World Health Day is celebrated under the following theme. The theme for 2021 is "Building a fairer, healthier World for everyone".
• World Health Day: It is celebrated on April 7 as the World Health Organisation held its first World Health Assembly on April 7, 1948. It is seen as an opportunity to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year. The first World Health Day was observed in 1950, and is one of the eleven official global health campaigns of WHO.
• Global Health Campaigns of WHO: The eleven Global Health Campaigns of WHO are (1) World Tuberculosis Day, (2) World Malaria Day, (3) World Immunization Day, (4) World No Tobacco Day, (5) World Blood Donor Day, (6) World AIDS Day, (7) World Chagas Disease Day, (8) World Hepatitis Day, (9) World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, and (10) World Patient Safety Day  (and the World Health Day).
• World Health Assembly: It is governed by 194 member states. It is composed of health ministers from the member states and is the highest health policy setting body in the world. The WHO is governed through the World Health Assembly. The current chairperson of World Health Assembly is Dr Harsh Vardhan. He is the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in India. The main tasks of World Health Assembly are to decide major policy question and approve WHO work programme and budget.

Robots made from stem cells of frogs

• The story: The scientists have used the stem cells of frogs to create a new living robot. These robots have been named Xenobots.
• Details: These Xenobots are capable of healing themselves, and can record memories. Xenobots are made from frog cells, and have been named after the Xenopus laevis frog that supplied its cells to create the robot. Xenopus laevis is an African frog. These robots are to be used to detect diseases and deliver drugs to specific areas of the body. Xenobots are less than 1 milli metre long. They are comprised of 500-1000 living cells. Xenobots come in different basic shapes and can scoot themselves in linear or circular directions. They are capable of joining up together to act collectively. They can move small objects by harnessing their cellular energy for a maximum of ten days.
• How were the Xenobots created: The Xenobots were created by microengineering amphibian eggs with RNA. The biologists later removed the egg membrane after 24 hours. They then harvested the stem cell tissue from the embryo. The tissues then formed into spheres with tiny hair like structure called cilia. The cilia moved to propel the bots across a surface creating a Xenobot.
• Memory of Xenobots: The memory retaining capability of the Xenobots was propelled by a protein called EosFP. This protein normally glows green. However, it emits red colour when exposed to a light of 390 nm wavelength. The cells of frog embryos with messenger RNA coding enabled the Xenobots to record when exposed to blue light (at around 390 nm of wavelength). Scientists tested the above function on ten Xenobots that were swimming around a surface where one spot was illuminated by the light of 390 nm of wavelength. After two hours, three of the bots emitted red light and the rest remained green. This provides a memory of their travel experience.

FDA approves ADHD Drugs

• Attention please: The FDA of the US recently approved the ADHD drug for treating patients in the age group of 6 to 17 years. ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The ADHD drug belongs to a group of medicines called stimulants. These drugs work by increasing the activity of the brain. Several controversies have arisen in the US as the FDA has approved the ADHD drug. This is the first ADHD drug approved by FDA in ten years.
• Controversies over the approval: The ADHD drug that has been approved by the FDA is called Qelbree. Qelbree was developed by Supernus Pharmaceuticals of Rockville, Maryland. The controversies over the approval of Qelbree are due to the fact that it carries a warning of “potential for suicidal thoughts and behaviour”.
• ADHD in the US: The ADHD affects more than six million American children and adolescents in the United States. These children struggle to pay attention and complete tasks. They also show signs of impulsiveness and fidgeting. There are two categories of ADHD Drugs. They are Stimulants and Non-Stimulants. According to FDA, the stimulant medications increase dopamine levels in brain. Dopamine is a brain chemical that is associated with motivation and attention. However, stimulant medications can bring side effects such as high blood pressure, headaches, insomnia and decreased appetite. Most of the ADHD drugs are classified as Schedule II substances as they pose risk of abuse and dependence. Non-stimulant ADHD drugs include duanfacine, atomoexetine and clonidine.
• ADHD in India: It affects 2% to 7% of children globally. In India more male child were found to have ADHD. 83.3% of the patients in India discontinue taking their medicines within the first month due to many side-effects.

World's richest

• The story: Despite the pandemic, it was a record-setting year for the world’s wealthiest—with a $5 trillion surge in wealth and an unprecedented number of new billionaires. There were rapid-fire public offerings, surging cryptocurrencies and skyrocketing stock prices. The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest exploded to an unprecedented 2,755, which is 660 more than a year ago. 

• Details:

1. Altogether they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion on the 2020 list.
2. There are a record high 493 newcomers to the list—roughly one new billionaire every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong and 98 from the U.S.
3. The richest newcomer, at $38.2 billion, is Miriam Adelson of Nevada, who inherited her husband Sheldon Adelson’s casino empire following his death in January 2021.
4. Other notable new entrants include movie and TV producer Tyler Perry, Bumble dating app cofounder Whitney Wolfe Herd—the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire, and Europe’s Guillaume Pousaz, founder of payments firm Checkout.com. Another 250 people who’d fallen off the billionaires’ list in the past came roaring back. Altogether, a staggering 86% of all billionaires are richer than a year ago.

• Kings of the world: Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person for the fourth year running, worth $177 billion, up $64 billion from a year ago as a result of surging Amazon shares. Elon Musk—the biggest gainer in dollar terms—rocketed into the No. 2 spot with a $151 billion fortune, a whopping $126.4 billion more than a year ago, when he ranked No. 31 and was worth $24.6 billion. The main reason: a 705% climb in Tesla shares. French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault holds onto his spot at No. 3 but his fortune nearly doubled to $150 billion, from $76 billion, due to an 86% rise in the shares of LVMH, owner of brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior and cosmetics retailer Sephora. The top ten richest are worth $1.15 trillion, up by two-thirds from $686 billion last year. Altogether, Europe’s billionaires are $1 trillion richer than a year ago.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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