Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 19-04-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 19-04-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Politics - Covid update - India reported 2,61,500 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, the highest single-day spike ever, pushing the country's overall tally to 1,47,88,109. A total of 1,501 deaths were reported too, the highest single-day death toll since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, India's active caseload reached 18,01,316, while death toll surged to 1,77,150. Health facilities across the country reached breaking point, with many patients dying on the streets, waiting for admission into hospitals. Crematoriums reached their peak capacity, and mass burning of corpses began. Ex Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh wrote a detailed letter to PM Modi, suggesting ways to improve and speed up vaccination in India. The health minister Dr Harshvardhan gave a quick, stinging reply, pointing out mistakes in Dr Singh's approach and the efforts being made by present government. Meanwhile, Indian social media overflowed with citizen requests for urgent help of medicines, oxygen and hospital admissions.
2. World Economy - China clamps down hard on its Big Tech firms - Chinese regulators ordered Ant Group, a fintech giant run by Jack Ma, to restructure and to cut the “improper” links between its financial products and its payment platform. Investors welcomed the end of the uncertainty. In November 2020, the regulators abruptly halted the group’s listing in Shanghai, just days before it was set to raise almost $ 40 bn. Now, Ant Group was exploring options for founder Jack Ma to divest his stake in the firm and give up control, as meetings with Chinese regulators signalled that the move could help draw a line under Beijing's scrutiny of its business. Officials from the central bank, People's Bank of China (PBOC), and financial regulator China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) held talks between January and March with Ma and Ant separately, where the possibility of the tycoon's exit from the company was discussed.
3. Environment and Ecology - Black Sea in focus - As Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Russia beefed up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine, the Black sea came in focus. It is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, bordered by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. It is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper, and Don. The Black Sea ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea, via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea. The Bosporus Strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the Strait of the Dardanelles. To the north, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait. The Black Sea covers 436,400 km2 (not including the Sea of Azov), making it the world's largest inland body of water.
4. Constitution and Law - Rules changes for Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) - The Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) will not be required to register for a fresh OCI card every time a new passport is issued in their name, as per new rules of the Home Ministry. It stated that at present, the OCI card is required to be reissued each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 “in view of biological changes in the face of the applicant”. With a view to facilitate the OCI cardholders, it has now been decided by the Government of India to dispense with this requirement. A person who has got registration as OCI cardholder prior to attaining the age of 20 years will have to get the OCI card reissued only once when a new passport is issued after his/her completing 20 years of age, so as to capture his/her facial features on attaining adulthood. If a person has obtained registration as OCI cardholder after attaining the age of 20 years, there will be no requirement of reissue of the OCI card. [Definitions - (a) NRI - An Indian citizen who is ordinarily residing outside India and holds an Indian Passport; (b) Person of Indian Origin (PIO) - A person who or whose any of ancestors was an Indian national and who is presently holding another country’s citizenship/ nationality i.e. he/she is holding foreign passport; (c) OCI cardholder - A person registered as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Cardholder under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955]
5. Governance and Institutions - EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge - The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the "EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge". The challenges aim at creating an environment of right food practices and habits and to make public transport safe, affordable, comfortable, and reliable. The EatSmart Cities Challenge is envisioned as a competition among cities to recognize their efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India. The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States /UTs, and cities with a population of more than 5 lakh. It aims to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment supported by institutional, physical, social, and economic infrastructure along with the application of ‘smart’ solutions to combat food related issues. The challenge has a potential to create social and behavioural change towards food safety, hygiene and nutrition.
6. World Politics - Covid update - Official daily infections hit a record 1,85,000 in India, and then crossed 2 lakh a day, even as millions of people gathered for the Hindu festival of Kumbh, and thousands tested positive for the virus. America, South Africa and Europe suspended the roll-out of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson jab after six vaccinated women developed blood clots. US's Centres for Disease Control urged Michigan’s governor to impose a lockdown to curb the spread of the disease in the state instead of relying on vaccines. Shops, hairdressers and gyms re-opened in England following a lockdown. Beer-lovers braved a cold spell to enjoy a pint at pubs with outdoor seating. The government has hit its target of offering a vaccine to high-risk groups and everyone over 50. Daily deaths from the disease have plummeted from more than 1,000 to a few dozen. PM Boris Johnson once again postponed his visit to India, in light of the raging pandemic, second time in a row (he first postponed his 26th Jan visit).
7. People and Personalities - Biggest Ponzi-scheme fraudster dead - Bernie Madoff, the former financial adviser, died aged 82. He was the mastermind behind the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors out of $19bn. He died in a federal prison in North Carolina, USA, while serving a 150-year sentence. He was the mastermind of the largest financial fraud in American and world history! Madoff cultivated an aura of exclusivity, and controlled those around him and in turn enlisted them as the evangelists for his Ponzi fraud. Madoff often deployed the velvet rope technique prevalent at nightclubs: Keep a large line waiting outside while the club remains empty. Perversely, he rejected high profile potential investors in order to induce others to invest. Sophisticated investors were rejected in favour of charities that by their bylaws could not withdraw the principal. Madoff even maneuvered himself to become the chairman of NASDAQ. Many investors long suspected that Madoff’s consistently outsized returns were the result of some chicanery. But they believed he was cheating on their behalf, perhaps by insider trading. Finally, in 2009, a Federal District Judge handed down a sentence of 150 years.
8. World Economy - Microsoft's big buy - Microsoft said it will buy Nuance, a voice-recognition technology company, in a deal worth $20bn. It is the second-largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history. It bought LinkedIn, a professionalsocial network, in 2016. It’s the latest sign Microsoft is hunting for more growth through acquisitions. Microsoft made an effort to buy TikTok’s U.S. business in 2020 for about $30 billion before the deal was derailed. The Nuance acquisition represents Microsoft’s largest acquisition since it bought LinkedIn for more than $26 billion in 2016. Microsoft recently completed its $7.6 billion acquisition of gaming company Zenimax. Under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has refocused and turned hugely profitable once again.
9. Governance and Institutions - Changes in NPS Rules - The National Pension System (NPS) will no longer compel investors to convert 40% of their accumulated retirement corpus into an annuity. NPS is subscribed by employees of Govt. of India, State Governments and by employees of private institutions/organizations & unorganized sectors. This decision was taken as poor yields on annuities and high inflation are translated into negative returns, as per the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Amendments would be made to PFRDA Act, 2013 to allow NPS members with a balance over Rs.5 lakh to retain 40% of the corpus in the NPS or wind it down through a system akin to a systematic withdrawal plan.
10. World Economy - Crypto's new milestone - Coinbase, an exchange for digital currencies, listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is the first cryptocurrency firm to go public. It closed its first day of trading down 14% with a market capitalisation of $65bn. The offering coincides with a cryptocurrency surge. The price of Bitcoin rose to a record high of over $64,000, doubling since the start of the year. The price of Ethereum, a smaller cryptocurrency, has also reached a record high. Critics say that this listing is the anti-thesis of what crypto-currencies stand for, i.e. a separate system from the fiat currency world. By listing, the whole system is coming under greater regulatory glare, not less.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

Covid second wave and GoI's privatisation drive

1. Second shock: The sharp surge in Covid cases in India has cast new shadows of uncertainty over the government’s privatisation drive and it is likely that some high-profile stake sales may get delayed. The Centre has made privatisation of state-run firms a key policy priority and it is seen as a major source of much-needed funds. Now, localised lockdowns may hurt the economic recovery that is underway.
2. Work in progress: Several key stake sales are in an advanced stage — Air India, BPCL, Shipping Corporation NSE -5.15 % and BEML sales are scheduled to be completed in the current financial year. But the second wave of the pandemic is likely to hamper the process as various stakeholders may prefer to wait till there are some signs of cooling down in the infection numbers.
3. Hit once in 2020: In 2020, the coronavirus outbreak had hurt roadshows for the strategic sale in Shipping Corporation and the department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) had held virtual meetings with investors in Hong Kong and Singapore. But the pandemic-induced lockdowns, along with choppy markets, had an impact on the entire asset sales drive. Shipping Corporation has moved to the second stage with multiple bids already received for the sale.
4. The virus disagrees: The government has expressed confidence that several of the key transactions are likely to be completed. But with the government’s attention focussed on combating the fresh surge and investor mood likely to be swayed by jump in cases, it would be tough road ahead for privatisation.
5. NITI wants it all sold: Apart from the pending asset sales, there is also a long line of privatisation decisions that are likely to be approved. Government think tank NITI Aayog has approved the names for privatisation of two banks, one insurance company and 7-8 other state-run companies. The proposed IPO of the country’s largest insurer LIC is also making progress. Moves are also afoot to cut the decision-making time to fast-track asset sales.

States demand urgent GST meet

1. States demand a meet: As India struggles with a stronger second Covid wave, states now want the Centre to urgently convene a meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which has not met for six months! There is a chorus for rate cuts on key medicines and equipment. The states also want to discuss extension of the compensation period, under the GST regime, beyond July 2022 in the council meeting as uncertain times cast a shadow over state finances.
2. Specific request: States are demanding exemption of key Covid drugs like Remdesivir, medical grade oxygen used in oxygen cylinders, and related supplements, which currently attract 12 per cent tax. Other decisions piled up include rationalisation of GST rate slabs, correction of inverted duty on certain items and inclusion of petroleum products, among others. The law mandates the council to meet at least once a quarter, but the long gap this time has given rise to apprehensions.
3. The Chhattisgarh case: Its health minister, T S Singh Deo, who represents the state at the council, said the state is going to write to the Centre for GST exemption on Remdesivir, and related supplements. The GST Council needs to meet for that. Amid shortage of the Remdesivir drug across the country, Chhattisgarh has placed an order for 90,000 Remdesivir injections with pharma major Mylan Laboratories worth Rs 14.11 crore.
4. The Punjab case: Finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal said that states need to discuss extension of the GST compensation issue beyond July 2022 in the council as economic uncertainty continues. He said that rules require the GST Council to meet once in a quarter, and this was the time to repair the GST regime. Unless it was done in the formative stages, that is, less than five years, it would not get repaired.
5. Compensation cess issue: States were promised a compensation for five years since GST implementation in July 2017 to make up for revenue shortfall, if any, since states lost autonomy over indirect taxes. Compensation cess is levied on a few items in the 28 per cent GST slab, such as automobiles, cigarettes, and aerated drinks. The GST Council met last on October 12, 2020 as it finalised contours of borrowing by states to meet compensation requirements for the shortfall.
6. Kerala issue: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said that the council must meet on an urgent basis to discuss how states would cope with finances in the post compensation period. He said the Centre must convene the meeting and seriously consider increasing and extending the compensation period to beyond July 2022.
7. Why no meeting: Finance ministry has attributed the delay to elections in key states and waiting for governments to be formed. The issue of correction of inverted duty structure in certain items such as textiles, footwear and fertilisers, among others, is pending. The council had to correct the inverted duty structure on mobile phones and specified parts by increasing the rate to 18 per cent from 12 per cent. An inverted duty structure arises when the rate on inputs is higher than that of the final product. The 15th Finance Commission, headed by N K Singh, has suggested rationalisation of GST into a three-rate structure, comprising a 5 per cent merit rate, a rate by merging 12 and 18 per cent and 28-30 per cent de-merit rate.

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

Great climate reset of USA

• A new era begins: The new Biden administration in USA is trying to undo the work of Trump in many ways. A striking reversal is on the climate front For four years under former president Donald Trump, the United States govt. cut itself adrift from the broad international consensus. It turned its back on the Paris climate accords, undermined coordination on climate efforts at major summits, boosted the fossil fuel industry and championed narrow national interests in the face of what the U.S.’s own intelligence community sees as a looming global catastrophe.

• Change of direction: But President Biden immediately shifted course. He restored American participation in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, while recognizing that the world’s biggest economies are already lagging behind in the face of an escalating climate emergency. He has proposed a multitrillion dollar infrastructure and jobs plan that would accelerate the country’s transition to a greener economy.

1. Biden appointed former secretary of state John F. Kerry to be the White House climate czar, who jetted off on a globe-spanning tour, heralding the United States’ revived commitment to what he has described as “the decisive decade” of the climate fight.
2. Kerry held two days of closed-door talks in Shanghai with Chinese counterparts and emerged with a joint statement of intent to combat climate change “with the seriousness and urgency that it demands.”

• Global summit on climate change: The Biden administration is set for a major leaders summit on climate. It hopes to catalyze new international action. Ahead of that gathering, the Biden administration will unveil a more aggressive plan to cut U.S. emissions — probably around 50 percent by the end of the decade, compared with 2005 levels.

1. Leaders have welcomed the Biden administration’s initiative. French President Macron said President Biden is 100 percent right to do so, and the urgency was justified by the pattern of extreme weather-related events of recent years.
2. Macron gestured to the need for major emitters in the developing world to drastically curb their emissions, too. “We need to accelerate innovation and ability to deliver. We need India and China to be with us.”
3. Some 40 world leaders were to participate in Biden’s virtual climate summit. Delegations were to discuss a host of thorny issues, from methods to curbing emissions to the burgeoning realm of climate finance, as governments and international donors reckon with the toll climate change is already exacting on poorer and more vulnerable countries.

• What exactly is it: It’s a gathering of the world’s major economies, who also happen to be the major emitters. It’s an opportunity for level-setting and to start a conversation with the most important players at the outset of a critical decade. The main target many are focusing on is the need “to limit the Earth’s warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels — a threshold beyond which scientists predict irreversible environmental damage. It was good that John Kerry and veteran Chinese climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua affirmed their two countries’ ambition of keeping that temperate limit "within reach."

• Only area of cooperation: Climate is seen as perhaps the sole arena for substantive U.S.-Chinese cooperation, given the wider animosities that now define the relationship between the two powers. But even there, numerous challenges abound. The intensifying rivalry over technology could spill into climate policy, where innovations in energy, batteries, vehicles and carbon storage offer solutions for reducing emissions. American lawmakers are demanding that the United States block Chinese products from being used in the infrastructure projects that Biden has proposed.

• Pushing China harder: Some argue that the Biden administration should leverage the support of Western allies to pressure China into reforming its energy supply through a series of carbon taxes on Chinese imports. Only a united climate coalition has the potential to bring China to the table for productive negotiations, rather than the extractive ones it currently pursues.

• Bilateral relations: The expectations that climate cooperation could help reverse the downward spiral in bilateral ties are largely misplaced. With both China and the U.S. hardening their stance towards each other, it’s getting harder by the day for them to still cooperate on climate in the middle of deepening, across-the-board competition. On his missions abroad, Kerry said the Biden administration was acting from a position of “humility,” aware of both the enormous role the United States has played for decades in emitting greenhouse gases and, more recently, in stalling more aggressive climate action under the Trump administration. On the American left, activists and some Democratic lawmakers see climate action as Washington’s moral responsibility.

• Summary: Much of the CO2 in the atmosphere is red, white and blue, which is the historic legacy of American and British industrialization. It is time they stood up to the challenge, and gave a working solution. As for India, the delicate work in balancing its growth imperative (and use of coal) versus pursuing the climate goals is a work in progress.

• Knowledge centre:

1. NDCs - 2015 was a historic year in which 196 Parties came together under the Paris Agreement to transform their development trajectories so that they set the world on a course towards sustainable development, aiming at limiting warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. The Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of these long-term goals. NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement (Article 4, paragraph 2) requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve. Parties shall pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving the objectives of such contributions.  In order to enhance the ambition over time the Paris Agreement provide that successive NDCs will represent a progression compared to the previous NDC and reflect its highest possible ambition. All Parties are requested to submit the next round of NDCs (new NDCs or updated NDCs) by 2020 and every five years thereafter (e.g. by 2020, 2025, 2030), regardless of their respective implementation time frames.
2. Industrial Revolution - The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient. Causes were the emergence of capitalism, European imperialism, efforts to mine coal, and the effects of the Agricultural Revolution. Capitalism was a central component necessary for the rise of industrialization.

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

Why President Biden changed his mind on Afghanistan

• A changed mind: After 9/11, Joe Biden embraced the idea that U.S. troops should leave the country better than how they found it. Now, as president, he’s withdrawing them regardless. In November 2001, Biden, then-chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was sitting in the Oval Office listening to Bush talk enthusiastically about an idea he had once denigrated: nation-building.

• The story of 2001: The Taliban were on the run, hammered relentlessly by U.S. bombs, and the brief war known as “Operation Enduring Freedom” was all but won after only a month. The subject of discussion was what would happen to Afghanistan afterward. Biden had nodded approvingly as Bush insisted this wasn’t going to be like 1989, when the US discarded the country like a used cartridge after years of supplying the mujahedeen in their successful war against the Soviets, opening the way to Taliban rule. So now, Biden agreed to a costly plan, using a multi-national force, to rebuild Afghanistan.

• Swift turn by Bush: Sadly, Bush took a swift turn toward Iraq and neglected Afghanistan. Biden was by then emotionally invested in Afghanistan, and in January 2002, became the first U.S. member of Congress to visit Kabul. He was taken to a new girls’ school, an experience that moved him immensely since such schools had been banned under Taliban rule. In the early 2000s, Biden tried to persuade then-U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to do more to bring Afghanistan into the modern world. But Rumsfeld insisted on a “small footprint” and occasional counterterrorism strikes from the air.

• Taliban's return: As Washington turned its attention to Iraq, the Taliban crept back from the mountains and formed the Quetta Shura, the Taliban leaders’ council across the border in Pakistan.

1. By 2004, when the Taliban insurgency began again in earnest, the United States was entirely consumed with its own insurgency in Iraq.
2. Today, things are completely out of hand. Funded by opium sales and the Pakistani intelligence service, the resurgent Taliban are believed to exert influence or control over at least half the country.
3. They are able to strike freely even in the Afghan capital, Kabul, especially since the militant group has deeply infiltrated the demoralized Afghan national security forces.

• Biden in 2021: He has adopted a very different point of view, and announced that all U.S. forces would withdraw by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. NATO immediately followed Biden’s lead, saying its roughly 7,000 non-U.S. forces in Afghanistan would be departing within a few months.

1. “I’m now the fourth United States president to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan; two Republicans, two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility onto a fifth,” Biden said. “Our diplomatic and humanitarian work will continue,” he added.
2. No one has any illusions about what is certain to be at least a partial return of Taliban power, even though Biden sent U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Afghanistan to pledge the United States’ “ongoing commitment” to the elected Afghan government.

• Women will be crushed: The first to suffer could well be girls and women, who the Taliban, in their past incarnation in power from 1996 to 2001, kept out of school and public sight. Women were also forced to wear burqas, an all-encompassing garment that hides even their faces. American experts now fear a premature declaration of success and a too-rapid withdrawal could open Biden to the same criticisms that former U.S. President Barack Obama suffered when he pulled out of Iraq in 2011 (on Biden’s advice), only to see the Islamic State fill the vacuum. Some fear that Biden’s decision could potentially leave the US in a place similar to where it was pre-9/11: facing a Taliban-dominated host nation for al Qaeda.

• Things as they stand: The Afghan peace talks are now doomed, and the Taliban have no incentive whatsoever to negotiate anything. Turkey has announced that representatives of both the Afghan government and the Taliban would continue talks in Istanbul in April 2021, but the Taliban may not be interested. Maybe Biden will look back and regret he made that decision. So what changed for Biden? By several accounts, he is at the tail end of a long period of deepening disillusionment with Afghanistan, a process that started with the Afghan leader that Washington installed in the early 2000s, Hamid Karzai.

1. Over time, Biden came to believe that because of endemic corruption, the United States was throwing billions of dollars—and nearly 2,500 U.S. lives lost along with more than 20,000 wounded—into a nation that was irremediably backward and broken, ruled by medieval warlords and fundamentalist sensibilities.
2. The war has cost $2.26 trillion in all since the United States invaded on Oct. 7, 2001. Experts estimate that “waste, fraud, and abuse” has cost the United States at least $19 billion in reconstruction money.
3. In February 2008, Biden traveled again to Afghanistan along with his close Senate colleagues John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, and they were invited to dinner with President Karzai at his palace. The three heavyweights wanted to address the corruption in Karzai’s government, including runaway graft and alleged narcotics connections. After Karzai denied such problems existed, an enraged Biden threw down his napkin, slammed the table with his hand, and walked out, declaring, “This dinner is over.”
4. Later, Biden became the lone senior official to argue early in the Obama administration that another troop “surge” would be a waste. As Obama wrote in his recent memoir, A Promised Land, Biden expressed little faith in the Afghan government’s reliability under Karzai and later, current President Ashraf Ghani.

• Endgame: Once he became president, Biden swiftly signaled his intentions when he kept on former U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad. In 2020, Khalilzad negotiated a controversial agreement with the Taliban: U.S. troops would leave by May 1 in exchange for the Taliban’s commitment to disavow al Qaeda and enter into peace talks with an Afghan delegation. The Taliban have largely failed to follow through on these promises, though Biden says the U.S. withdrawal will begin on May 1 anyway.

• Summary: Biden’s announcement could also accelerate the end of “forever wars” against other terrorist groups around the world like the Islamic State if they are no longer deemed to pose a strategic threat to the United States. The president has now cited the rise of new challenges such as China and global health, saying, “We’ll be much more formidable to our adversaries and competitors over the long term if we fight the battles for the next 20 years, not the last 20.” Biden lost his son Beau, who served in the Iraq war. “War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking,” he said. “We were attacked. We went to war with clear goals. We achieved those objectives. Bin Laden is dead and al Qaeda is degraded in Afghanistan. And it’s time to end the forever war.”

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

FASTag and Right to Freedom of Movement - An innocent question

• The story: The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that making FASTag mandatory for all vehicles does not breach a citizen’s fundamental right to freedom of movement in any way. But citizens do not agree: a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Court challenging the government's decision to make FASTag shows so.

• Points to note: FASTag is the electronic toll collection chip, and is now mandatory for all vehicles at toll plazas on national highways. The concerned Minister has enthusiastically claimed he would make GPS compulsory soon, so automatic deduction happens.

1. What is it - The FASTag is a reloadable tag that allows automatic deduction of toll without having to stop for carrying out the cash transaction. It uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is fixed on the windscreen of the vehicle once active. RFID is the use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object. A tag can be read from up to several feet away and does not need to be within the direct line-of-sight of the reader to be tracked.
2. What authorities say - FASTag ensures seamless traffic movement, cut travel time short, and that all decisions had been taken in accordance with the Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) Rules. Section 136A of Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019 puts the responsibility on the Central Government to make rules for the electronic monitoring and enforcement of road safety. Legislating the establishment of robust electronic enforcement for traffic violations will result in reduction in human intervention and the associated corruption.
3. Beneficial - A robust electronic enforcement system including speed cameras, closed-circuit televisions cameras, speed guns and such other technology will ensure violations being captured at a greater scale. Provisions had been made at all toll plazas along national highways to fit the chip in vehicles that did not have FASTag. In cases where it was not possible to fit vehicles with FASTag on the spot for any reason, the vehicle was permitted to still ply on highways, on extreme left of the FASTag lanes. Such vehicles were required to pay twice the toll amount. The double user fees or penalties imposed on vehicles without FASTag on national highways were also in accordance with the National Highway Fee (determination of rates and collection) Rules, 2008.

• Right to Freedom of Movement: The Right to Freedom of movement is guaranteed under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. It entitles every citizen to move freely throughout the territory of the country.

1. This right is protected against only state action and not private individuals. Moreover, it is available only to the citizens and to shareholders of a company but not to foreigners or legal persons like companies or corporations, etc.
2. Restrictions on this freedom can only be imposed on two grounds which are mentioned in the Article 19 of the constitution itself, namely, the interests of the general public and the protection of interests of any scheduled tribe.
3. The entry of outsiders in tribal areas is restricted to protect the distinctive culture, language, customs and manners of scheduled tribes and to safeguard their traditional vocation and properties against exploitation.
4. The Supreme Court held that the freedom of movement of prostitutes can be restricted on the ground of public health and in the interest of public morals.
5. The freedom of movement has two dimensions, viz, internal (right to move inside the country) and external (right to move out of the country and right to come back to the country).
6. Article 19 protects only the first dimension. The second dimension is dealt by Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty).

• Summary: As the government makes more and more digital services compulsory, it may be knowingly or unknowingly stepping onto many fundamental rights of citizens. Only the judiciary, in its wisdom, can finally sort out these knotty issues.

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

Supreme Court wants CCTVs in India's Police stations

• The story: The Supreme Court (SC) of India asked the States and Union Territories Governments to ensure that CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras are installed in each and every Police Station. It was disturbed by cases of custodial torture and deaths, and other issues.

• Points to note:

1. 2015 - In the case of 'D K Basu vs State of West Bengal', the SC directed that CCTVs should be installed in every police station and prison to check human rights abuses.
2. 2018 - The SC asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to set up a Central Oversight Body (COB) to implement the plan of action with respect to videography in the crime scene during investigation.
3. 2021 - The SC found that the majority of the states and UTs lack the details of installing CCTVs in police stations.

• Latest directions: The States and UTs should ensure that CCTV cameras are installed at each and every police station, at all entry and exit points, main gate, lock-ups, corridors, lobby and reception as also areas outside the lock-up rooms so that no part is left uncovered. CCTV systems must be equipped with night vision and have audio as well as video footage and it shall be mandatory for the Centre, states and UTs to purchase such systems which allow storage of data for maximum period possible, at least one year. The Centre should install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigation Agency (NIA), which conduct interrogations and have the power of arrest. Oversight Bodies should be extended to state and district level.

• Constitutional dimension: The current directions by the SC are furtherance of the fundamental right enshrined in Article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) of the Indian Constitution.

1. Article 21 - States that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. The expanded scope of Article 21 has been explained by the SC in the case of Unni Krishnan vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (1993) and the SC has itself provided the list of some of the rights covered under Article 21 on the basis of earlier pronouncements and some of them are - The right to go abroad, The right to privacy, The right to shelter, The right to social justice and economic empowerment, The right against solitary confinement, The right against handcuffing, The right against delayed execution, The right against custodial death, The right against public hanging, Doctors’ assistance, Protection of cultural heritage, Right of every child to a full development, Right to pollution free water and air.
2. Data related to violence in custody - According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, between 2001 and 2018, only 26 policemen were convicted of custodial violence despite 1,727 such deaths being recorded in India. Only 4.3% of the 70 deaths in 2018 were attributed to injuries during custody due to physical assault by police. Apart from custodial deaths, more than 2,000 human rights violation cases were also recorded against the police between 2000 and 2018. And only 344 policemen were convicted in those cases. India is not a signatory of United Nations Convention Against Torture which requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture in any territory under their jurisdiction and forbids states to transport people to any country where there is a reason to believe they will be tortured.

• CCTVs: It is a Closed Circuit Television system in which signals are not publicly distributed but are monitored, primarily for surveillance and security purposes. It consists of basic components that do not vary much from system-to-system. At a high level, these include a camera (with a lens), cabling, a digital video recorder (DVR) or network video recorder (NVR), and a video monitor. It is one of the most important physical security controls to address terrorism and other security threats. CCTV has value as a forensic tool as well as in deterring all types of physical and electronic threats.

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

Whitest ever paint

• Meri kameez sabse safed: A team of researchers from Purdue University have created an ultra-white paint that is whiter and keeps the surface areas it is painted on cooler, and can act as a breakthrough in combating the woes of global warming.

• Points to note: The new ultrawhite white paint reflects 99% of all light that hits it, remaining significantly cooler than the ambient temperature, even when sitting in full sunlight.

1. Typical commercial white paint gets warmer instead of cooler and paints currently available in the market reflect only 80-90% of the sunlight and therefore, they can’t make surfaces cooler than their surroundings.
2. Older formulations of white paints were made of calcium carbonate, while the new one is made up of barium sulphate making it more white.
3. Barium Sulphate is used to make photo paper and cosmetics white. Different sized particles of this chemical compound, helps in scattering different amounts of light. This allows for light to scatter in a broad range, resulting in the highest reflectance.
4. The paint could be the closest equivalent to the blackest black paint Vantablack, which is able to absorb 99.9% of visible light. Vantablack has a diverse range of applications including high performance infrared cameras, sensors, satellite borne calibration sources etc. Its ability to absorb light energy and convert it to heat is also of relevance in solar power development.

• Reflection or absorption of light by a colour: Every object is seen by the eye because of absorption or reflection of light. The light is made up of seven different colours (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red or VIBGYOR). Specifically, light is made up of wavelengths of different colours. The colour of any object or thing is determined by the wavelength the molecules are not able to absorb (or structurally, the wavelength that is reflected back). This is dependent on how electrons are arranged in an atom (the building block of life, an atom is made up of electrons, protons and neutrons).

1. For example, if an individual is looking at a sofa that is green, this is because the fabric or material it is made up of is able to absorb all the colours except green (reflect the green coloured wavelengths). If an object is black, it is because it has absorbed all the wavelengths and therefore no light is reflected from them.
2. This is the reason that darker objects, as a result absorbing all wavelengths tend to heat up faster (as during absorption the light energy is converted into heat energy).

• Importance: The new paint technology will help buildings covered by this paint to be cooler for longer, eliminating the effects of Urban Heat Island. The paint could help in the fight against global warming by reducing our reliance on electrically powered air conditioning. As Air conditioning injects heat into Earth's atmosphere in multiple ways, including pushing hot air out of buildings, the heat of running the machines, and the usually fossil fuel-generated electricity that runs them that contributes to carbon dioxide emissions. It can not only prevent heat-related deaths and illnesses but also limit water quality depletion that is caused by heated ground.

• India’s related initiative: India is one of the first countries in the world to develop a comprehensive Cooling Action plan which has a long term vision to address the cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand.

• Summary: With climate change leading to a rise in temperatures and rapid concretisation worsening global warming, it has become important to develop adaptation strategies to reduce and combat heat stress. Key actions include cooling buildings naturally through better design, improving efficiency of cooling appliances, promoting renewable energy-based energy efficient cold chains and investing in research and development (R&D) of refrigerant gases that do not harm or warm the planet. Plant trees and other vegetation, space in urban areas might be limited, but one can easily integrate small green infrastructure practices into grassy or barren areas, vacant lots, and street rights-of-way. Greener rooftops, light-coloured concrete, making the road surface greyish or even pinkish can also be used as they absorb less heat and reflect more sunlight.

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

India's middle classes pushed into poverty in COVID-19

• Sustained shock: While India grapples with the second Coronavirus shock in 2021, about 32 million people were driven into poverty by the pandemic in 2020 itself (as per Pew Research Center report). That was a majority of the 54 million who slipped out of the middle class worldwide.

• Families in dire strait: Many middle class families, with the breadwinners either in jobs or having started some business, are in dire straits. Millions of people in India in danger of sliding out of the middle class and into poverty. For many, khichdi, or watery lentils cooked with rice, has replaced eggs and chicken at the dinner table. Sometimes, children are even going to bed hungry. With the second wave of COVID-19, the middle class dreams of tens of millions of people face even greater peril.

• Massive reverse gear: The pandemic is undoing decades of progress for a country that in fits and starts has brought hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Deep structural problems and the sometimes impetuous nature of many of government’s policies had been hindering growth. A shrinking middle class would deal lasting damage to India's dream story.

1. The second wave presents difficult choices for India. Lockdowns are back in some states. With work scarce, migrant workers are packing into trains and buses home as they did in 2020. The country’s vaccination campaign has been slow, though the government has picked up the pace.
2. Yet government is unwilling to repeat 2020's draconian lockdown, which left more than 100 million Indians jobless and which many economists blame for worsening the pandemic’s problems. The government has also been reluctant to increase spending substantially like the United States and some other places, instead releasing a budget that would raise spending on infrastructure and in other areas but that also emphasizes cutting debt.
3. The Modi government has defended its handling of the pandemic, saying vaccinations are making progress and that signs point to an economic resurgence.

• The difference: India’s middle class may not be as wealthy as its peers in the United States and elsewhere, but it makes up an increasingly potent economic force. While definitions vary, Pew Research defines middle-class and upper-middle-class households as living on about $10 to $50 a day. The kind of income could give an Indian family an apartment in a nice neighborhood, a car or a scooter, and the opportunities to send their children to a private school. Roughly 66 million people in India meet that definition, compared with about 99 million just before the pandemic last year, according to Pew Research estimates. These increasingly affluent Indian families have drawn foreign companies like Walmart, Amazon, Facebook, Nissan and others to invest heavily in a country of aspirational consumers.

• Central: India’s middle class is central to more than the economy. It fits into India’s broader ambitions to rival China, which has grown faster and more consistently, as a regional superpower. To get there, the Indian government may need to address the people the coronavirus has left behind. Household incomes and overall consumption have weakened, even though the sales of some goods have increased recently because of pent-up demand. Many of the hardest hit come from India’s merchant class, the shopkeepers, stall operators or other small entrepreneurs who often live off the books of a major company.

1. Firms like CMIE point out that India is not even discussing poverty or inequality or lack of employment or fall in incomes and consumption now.
2. Most Indians are “tired” and “discouraged” by the lack of jobs, especially low-skilled workers. Unless this problem is addressed, it will be a millstone that will hold back India’s sustained growth.

• Summary: India's national political narrative is not even focusing on the large segment of middle class that is collapsing. It would be a big problem in coming years if this issue is not resolved. India cannot sustain a situation where a 1% elite rich class sustains and flourishes, when a vast mass of poor and newer ones joing them, abound.

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

Big IT firms on hiring drive

• The story: India’s top three IT services companies have hired 45 per cent more during FY21 compared to the previous fiscal. TCS, Infosys and Wipro together hired 72,259 employees in FY21 compared with 49,888 the previous year.
• Details: TCS made its highest-ever net addition, with 19,388 employees joining its rolls in Q4. Its total headcount stood at 4,88,649, a net addition of 40,185 during the year. Infosys added 17,248 employees to take its total headcount to 2,59,619. Wipro closed the year with 197,712 employees, which is 14,826 higher than last year.
• Scene in 2021: Hiring in the current fiscal could be even higher given the ramp up in technology deployment across different sectors. TCS expects to hire over 40,000 in FY22, to take its overall headcount above 5 lakh. Infosys plans to hire 26,000 this fiscal. Wipro’s CEO, Thierry Delaporte, said during the fourth-quarter earnings call that there is an increased focus on digital operations as companies around the globe are investing in new-age technologies to accelerate their digital transformation and become future-ready.
• Analysis: The pandemic has increased the pace of technology adoption across the globe as clients and their customers move to a digital environment. Even industries that were traditionally not IT-driven or had little dependence on IT are now adapting their businesses to the new normal as they feel the need for more agile digital solutions with a faster time to market. This means more jobs for techies.

Italy: First Food Park in India

1. The story: Italy recently launched the first “Mega Food Park” in India involving food processing facilities. It is the first Italian-Indian Food Park project launched in India.
2. Details: The name of the project is “Mega Food Park”, and its aim is to develop an interaction between agriculture and industry. The project will focus on the research and development of efficient technologies in the sector. It is to be implemented by a Special Purpose Vehicle. The SPV is a registered corporate under the Companies Act. It will link agricultural production and markets. This is to be achieved by bringing together processors, farmers and retailers to ensure maximizing value addition, increasing farmers income, minimizing wastage and creating employment opportunities.
3. Mega Food Park Scheme in India: This is a scheme implemented by the Ministry of Food Processing. The main aim of the scheme is to establish direct linkage from farms to processing and consumer markets. The main purpose of the scheme is to increase the perishables from 6% to 20%. The scheme aims to increase India’s share in global food trade by at least 3%. The Government of India provides Rs 50 crores to each food park. It aims to implement around 30 to 35 food processing units. It aimed to provide a turnover of Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore and employment generation of at least 30,000 from each food park. Forty-two Mega Food Parks have been sanctioned in six phases. Each Mega Food Park aims to connect at least 25,000 farmers.

National Climate Vulnerability Report

• The story: The Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched the National Climate Vulnerability Report. According to the report, eight Eastern States in the country are highly vulnerable to climate change. They are Mizoram, Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam.

• Learnings: The report has developed state level “vulnerability indices” over 0.42 to 0.67. Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar have more than 60% of districts in the category of “highly vulnerable districts”.

• Vulnerability Indices: Jharkhand received the highest Vulnerable Index of 0.67. Maharashtra received the lowest Vulnerability Index of 0.42. This means that Jharkhand is highly vulnerable to Climate Change and Maharashtra is least vulnerable. It was followed by Mizoram, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh in the descending order of the index. They were named as “Relatively highly vulnerable state”. Apart from Maharashtra, the other comparatively least vulnerable states are Goa, Nagaland, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana. They were named as the “Relatively Low Vulnerable states”. “Relatively Moderately vulnerable states” were Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Meghalaya. Their Vulnerability Index was between 0.42 and 0.50.

• Major drivers: The states were ranked based on their drivers of vulnerability. The drivers are as follows:

1. High yield-variability of food grains
2. Very low coverage of crop insurance
3. Prevalence of rainfed agriculture
4. High incidence of vector-borne diseases
5. High Proportion of Below Poverty Line population
6. Prevalence of marginal and small landholdings
7. Lack of forest area per 1,000 rural population
8. Low road density and lack of railway network
9. Low number of health care workers
10. High proportion of natural resource-based income
11. lack of implementation of MGNREGA
12. Low road density
13. Lack of rail network
14. Low dependence on horticulture trees

Luna 25: Russian Moon mission to launch in Oct 2021

• The story: The space agency Roscosmos is to launch Luna 25 by October 2021. The Roscosmos is the State Space Corporation of Russia that is responsible for space flights, aerospace research and cosmonautics programmes.
• Luna 25: The Mission will carry a lander, and the primary objective of Luna 25 is to prove landing technology. It will carry thirty kilo grams of scientific instruments including a robotic arm and drilling hardware to collect soil samples, and will study the exosphere around the south pole of the moon. Till date no spacecraft has been to this region of the moon. Several countries look at the site as future moon bases. The project is financed by Roscosmos.
• Payloads of the Lander: The lander of Luna 25 will carry the following National Science instruments:
• ADRON-LR. It is an active gamma ray and neutron analysis instrument to study the regolith. Regolith is the unconsolidated rocky material that covers bedrock.
• ARIES-L. It will measure plasma in the exosphere.
• LASMA-LR. It is a mass spectrometer
• PmL. It measures micro-meteorites and dust
• LIS-TV-RPM. It is an infrared spectrometry of imaging and minerals
• STS-L. It is local imaging and panoramic instrument
• BUNI. It is science data and power support instrument
• Moon libration, LASER retroreflector and ranging experiments
• ESA role in Luna 25: The European Space Agency has been developing a package called PROSPECT for Luna 25. It is to be used for lunar drilling and sample analysis. PROSPECT is Package for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration. The last of the Luna series was Luna 24 that was launched in 1976. It was the third Soviet Union mission to retrieve lunar surface samples. The first Luna mission was launched in 1970. The Lunar-A was a proposed orbiter of Luna 25 mission. It was to be developed through a merger between Roscosmos and JAXA (Japanese Space Agency). However, the merger was aborted.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

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