Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 26-04-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 26-04-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Politics - Stunned by scale of second Covid wave - Google had announced Rs.135 crore in new funding for India to support the country amid the current COVID-19 crisis. It will help India get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, the American multinational technology company said. The total funding also includes ₹112 crore in Ad Grants to local health authorities and non-profits for more language coverage options. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Satya Nadella said he was heartbroken by the current situation in India. He shared that he was grateful the US government was mobilising to help. He said that Microsoft will continue to use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices. Also, Amazon has partnered with ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation, Pune Platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR) and others to airlift over 8,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore to India. The equipment will be donated to hospitals and public institutions.India's second Covid wave has shocked the country, with a near vertical rise in cases of infections and deaths, in April 2021, and no end in sight. Various countries are reaching out for help.
2. People and Personalities - Mars travel will also mean death - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk during a conversation with XPRIZE Founder Peter Diamandis said that "a bunch of people will probably die in the beginning" of Mars exploration. Likening it to an advertisement for explorer Ernest Shackleton going to the Antarctic, Musk added, the journey to Mars will be long, dangerous and uncomfortable, "but it's a glorious adventure." It is Musk's dream to have a human colony on Mars before 2030. That will mark the first milestone in the human outreach into space and reaching another planet. Musk has said he intends to make homo sapiens a spacefaring civilisation.
3. People and Personalities - Is he Satoshi Nakamoto really - Australian scientist Craig Wright has been allowed by a London court to serve a copyright infringement lawsuit against the owners of bitcoin.org website who are identified as "Cobra". Wright has claimed that he wrote the Bitcoin white paper which was published under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Wright has demanded that "Cobra" remove the white paper from its website. Multiple people have claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym for the person or people who worked on the software for the peer-to-peer currency. Bitcoin.org’s Cobra has refused to recognize Wright as Satoshi, saying he hasn’t provided a known PGP public key which would make it “cryptographically possible for someone to verify themselves to be Satoshi Nakamoto,” according to a January 2021 blog post. Wright’s claims “are without merit,” Cobra said.
4. Defence and Military - India French bilateral exercise Varuna-2021 - The 19th edition of the Indian and French Navy bilateral exercise ‘VARUNA-2021’ is being conducted in the Arabian Sea from 25th to 27th April 2021. From the Indian Navy’s, guided missile stealth destroyer INS Kolkata, guided missile frigates INS Tarkash and INS Talwar, Fleet Support Ship INS Deepak, with Seaking 42B and Chetak integral helicopters, a Kalvari class submarine and P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, will participate in the exercise. VARUNA-21 highlights growing bonhomie and showcases increased levels of synergy, coordination and inter-operability between the two friendly navies.  This exercise involves the participation of the French Navy aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, and its entire carrier strike group. The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle with a displacement of 42,500 tonnes carries a crew of 1,200, 15.4% of whom are women, and an air wing consisting of 20 Rafale marine jets, two E-2C Hawkeye aircraft and several helicopters. Its 75-meter deck with catapult launching enables the launch of Rafale marine jets in less than 3 seconds every 30 seconds. The joint exercise will comprise various drills across the spectrum of maritime operations, with the goal of fostering interoperability.
5. Healthcare and Medicine - Breakthrough infections - The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has reported that around two to four of 10,000 people given two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have tested positive for the disease. Contracting COVID-19 after vaccination is known as breakthrough infection. Breakthrough infection are infections that occur in people who have been vaccinated. Such cases are not out of the ordinary as the vaccines that have been approved so far the world over are made to protect against disease and not the transmission of the virus. Phase 3 clinical trials conducted before vaccines were approved showed a fairly constant proportion of infections among those vaccinated. In the AstraZeneca trial, for instance, 30 out of 5,807 vaccinated — about 0.5% — were symptomatic and tested positive 14 days after the second shot. India is massively scaling up its vaccination programme from May 2021, as the second Covid-19 wave ravages all parts of the country.
6. Indian Economy - Groundwater depletion problem - The depletion of groundwater in India may reduce winter cropping intensity by 20%. India is the second-largest producer of wheat in the world, with over 30 million hectares in the country dedicated to producing this crop. Some of the important winter crops are wheat, barley, mustard and peas. But with severe groundwater depletion, the cropping intensity or the amount of land planted in the winter season may decrease by up to 20% by 2025, notes a new paper. The international team studied India’s three main irrigation types on winter cropped areas: dug wells, tube wells, canals, and also analysed the groundwater data from the Central Ground Water Board. They found that 13% of the villages in which farmers plant a winter crop are located in critically water-depleted regions. The team writes that these villages may lose 68% of their cropped area in future if access to all groundwater irrigation is lost. The results suggest that these losses will largely occur in northwest and central India.
7. Science and Technology - Unicorn black hole - Scientists have discovered what may be the smallest-known black hole in the Milky Way galaxy and the closest to our solar system. Nicknamed ‘Unicorn’, researchers said the black hole is roughly three times the mass of our Sun, testing the lower limits of size for these extraordinarily dense objects. A luminous red giant star orbits with the black hole in a so-called binary star system named V723 Mon. The black hole is located about 1,500 light years - the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km) - from Earth. While it may be the closest one to us, it is still far away. By way of comparison, the closest star to our solar system, Proxima Centauri, is 4 light years away. Black holes like this one form when massive stars die and their cores collapse. The study is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing—no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from it.
8. World Politics - US will 'immediately' make Covishield raw material available - The US has finally said it will send raw material that is "urgently required" by Indian manufacturers of the coronavirus vaccine Covishield, amid a surge in cases in India. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval that the US has identified sources of the material and the same "will immediately be made available for India". Over the previous few weeks, the SII CEO Adar Poonawalla had sent out multiple tweets to US President Joe Biden, asking him to allow the export of raw material required for the production of Covid-19 vaccines to India. On February 5, 2021, President Biden had invoked the Defense Production Act to increase the US's own supply of materials needed to make vaccines, Covid-19 tests and personal protective equipment. The MEA had raised the issue since it knew this could hamper imports of critical drugs and supplies to India. The fresh statement goes on to add that the US is pursuing options to provide India with oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis. An expert team of public health advisors from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) and US Aid are being deployed to work in close coordination with the US Embassy in Delhi and India's health ministry and Epidemic Intelligence Service staff.
9. Indian Politics - The cost of vaccination - Terming India's COVID-19 vaccine pricing complicated and politicised, former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said the Centre and not states should bear the full cost of vaccines. As per the ex-CEA, "There should be only ONE price for vaccines all over India. That price should be ZERO. So, vaccines should be free for all. Differentiation and complexity are unethical, unnecessary." Subramanian also said that the government should pay manufacturers a reasonable price. “This is not the time for haggling and creating uncertainty for private sector, domestic or foreign,” he wrote. On April 19, 2021, the Union government announced that vaccination would be opened up for everyone above 18 years of age from May 1, amid the ongoing serious second wave of COVID-19. The vaccination programme stands liberalised, allowing vaccine manufacturers to sell 50% of their stock to state governments and in the open market. Since then, Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII), manufacturers of the two vaccines currently being administered in India, have announced vaccine prices for state governments and private hospitals.
10. Indian Politics - Covid update - India recorded over 3.52 lakh new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am on 26th April, taking the country’s total infections to over 1.73 crore. Out of these, over 28 lakh cases are currently active while 1.43 crore people have recovered after testing positive. With 2,812 new fatalities, the death toll is now over 1.95 lakh. The Tamil Nadu government has passed a resolution to reopen the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi for four months for oxygen production. This comes after eight parties including AIADMK, DMK, Congress, BJP and Left parties endorsed the reopening of the plant for oxygen production at a meeting on Monday. The plant had been shut down in 2018 for violating environmental norms. The central government restricted the use of liquid oxygen for non-medical purposes with immediate effect. The Ministry of Home Affairs in an order asked the State/UT governments to ensure that use of liquid oxygen is not allowed for any non-medical purpose. The Centre further asked the States/UTs to allow all manufacturing units to maximise their liquid oxygen production. The embassy of India in Saudi Arabia said that 80MT liquid oxygen will be shipped from Saudi Arabia to India in coordination with Adani group and Linde company amid shortages. Deaths are being reported from across India, and there is suspicion that the numbers are hugely under-reported.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

The age and times of Shri M Narasimham

• The man: Shri Maidavolu Narasimham (1927-2021) was a giant in Indian financial sector, and the thirteenth governor of the RBI [from May 1977 to November 1977]. With his demise, an era came to an end.

• His life and times: He was the only governor of the RBI to have risen to the position from the central bank’s ranks, and was most recognized for the role he played in liberalizing India’s banking and financial system in the 1990s. He is recognised as the architect of modern Indian banking, and seen in the banking system today in terms of the struggle to bring about change. The famous Narasimham reports laid the road ahead! (Narasimham Committee-I (1991) report and the Narasimham Committee-II (1998) report)

• What changes arrived: His recommendations led to many changes.

1. BIS - The first was bringing in prudential concepts as propounded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). These were regarding income recognition, capital adequacy, quality of assets, provisioning, etc. These took time to digest, and the RBI played a stellar role in bringing them in a calibrated manner so that the system was not disrupted. Basel II and Basel III were extensions of the same course. The RBI took time to bring the 90-day concept for recognising non-performing assets (NPAs) so that the system was able to absorb this rule.
2. Private banks - He recommended India having more private banks, which was seen as a timely recommendation as the system was typified by public sector banks (PSBs), in the shadow of nationalisation. But the 1990s was a new wind of change in India, and radical ideas were welcome. Getting in new private banks has brought about a technology revolution in the banking sector, helping everyone. Along with this suggestion was the extended frame provided to foreign banks to operate in India. It was a signal that there would be no further nationalisation. In fact, in 2021, the PM of India openly accepted the word "privatisation".
3. Interest rates - The interest rates on deposits and loans were to be freed, and it was significant because until that point of time all decisions came from ‘above’. The RBI gradually moved towards giving banks the freedom to fix their rates on the deposits side. But the lending side is once again back to the fold of partial regulation, with the central bank asking them to follow a formula. (a criticism of this approach is that it has led to 'financial repression' of savers in India, with real returns turning negative, as lending rates started reducing steadily)
4. CRR & SLR - The reports argued for sharp reductions in the CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) and the SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) of banks. While banks argue against having a CRR, the system had a rate of 15% in 1989 and again in 1994, after which it has been brought down to 4%. The SLR at its peak was at 38.5% in 1990. The move to lower these pre-emption reserves owes a lot to the recommendations.
5. Government securities - The concept of marking-to-market the portfolio of government securities was again a takeaway from the report. This was a way of making them market-oriented and also ensuring that the real value of bonds was accounted for by banks.
6. Four-tiered structure of banks - Narasimham had suggested creating a four-tiered structure of banks, which is seen for the past three decades. The tiers would be - large banks that can be globally competitive, regional banks that serve specific purposes, niche banks that cater to communities and new small banks and payments banks. It was strengthened by an RBI committee where differentiated banks were spoken of.
7. Weak banks - The identification of weak banks and putting conditions was again a concept from the reports. It is from this that the RBI has drawn the PCA (Prompt Corrective Action) policy. The report suggested ways to tackle such banks and get them out of the mess with narrow banking being an intermediate route.
8. Transparency - The reports recommended introduction of transparency in bank accounts. Today, all annual reports include all disclosures and follow fixed formats. It is thus now possible for one to analyse any aspect pertaining to all banks in a uniform manner.
9. Mergers - The concept of mergers across the financial sector was envisioned in terms of synergies being created. The report also spoke of mergers between PSBs, which is now a reality.
10. Regional Rural Banks RRBs - The Narasimham committee on rural credit recommended the establishment of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) on the ground that they would be much better suited than the commercial banks or co-operative banks in meeting the needs of rural areas. Accepting the recommendations of the Narasimham committee, the government passed the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976. A significant development in the field of banking during 1976 was the establishment of 19 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) under the Regional Rural Banks Act‚1976. The RRBs were established “with a view to developing the rural economy by providing, for the purpose of development of agriculture, trade, commerce, industry and other productive activities in the rural areas, credit and other facilities, particularly to small and marginal farmers, agricultural laborers, artisans and small entrepreneurs, and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto”. RRBs are jointly owned by Government of INDIA, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks (27 scheduled commercial banks and one State Cooperative Bank); the issued capital of a RRB is shared by the owners in the proportion of 50%, 15% and 35% respectively.

• Recommendations not fulfilled yet:

1. Privatisation of PSBs is something that the government is looking at seriously, as per the Union Budget of 2021-22. Banks are being targeted for full disinvestment. Given that PSBs that have been merged are out of this loop, it looks like the candidates would be smaller ones.
2. Remuneration factor was something that Narasimham had spoken of for PSBs as recruitment was to be made independent. There has been no attempt here on the pay structure, which is still a bargaining process. The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) plays a vital role here.
3. Priority sector was to be given less importance. The reports recommended reducing the amount of lending that had to go to the priority sector from 40% to 10%. There has been no change in this regard and it looks unlikely that this issue will ever be discussed.
4. Deposit insurance - The reports had also recommended differentiated deposit insurance premium for banks. This is notable because banks carrying a higher risk on their lending portfolio would be made to pay a higher premium for cover on their deposits. [This is based on the CAMELS (capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risk) score of RBI.] This will be quite appropriate to ensure that banks pay more attention to the quality of assets.

• Summary: The brilliant mind of Shri Narsimham contributed significantly to the reshaping of Indian banking in the decades of liberalisation. Today, Indian economy stands again at a crossroads, due to multiple headwinds. He will be sorely missed.

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

Monsoon 2021 - IMD’s first-stage forecast

• The story: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) released its first-stage forecast for the south-west monsoon for 2021. It suggests that monsoon in 2021 may not be as bountiful as in last year; it does however offers some hope. The forecast for the south-west monsoon indicates that the quantum of rainfall is likely to be at 98% of the long period average. It estimates a 61% probability of the country ending up with normal or excess rains. It expected rainfall at 100% of the long period average with a 70% probability of normal to excess rains.

• A rare situation: If monsoon rains are normal in 2021, then this would be third straight normal year, a rarity last seen more than a century ago.

• Stay cautious: A normal monsoon this year is obviously welcome as it could help agriculture GDP expand for the third consecutive year. These preliminary forecasts cannot, however, be taken for the good prospects for the farm economy. IMD’s first-stage long-range forecast is generally too early to capture the evolving impact of phenomena such as the ENSO and IOD.

1. ENSO - El Nino Southern Oscillation; IOD - Indian Ocean Dipole. These have proved to be critical swing factors influencing south-west monsoon performances in the past.
2. IMD expects 2021's monsoon to be less generous than last year’s. While neutral conditions now prevail on both the ENSO and IOD, IMD is watchful on negative IOD conditions developing as the season progresses. In 2020, it was an unfolding La Nina that led to rainfall eventually exceeding IMD’s estimates at 109% of the long-term average. Also, IMD has been improving its record at foreseeing normal and excess monsoon years.
3. It has tended to over-estimate rainfall in drought years such as 2002, 2009, 2014 and 2015. On this score, its second-stage forecast in June, factoring in evolving weather conditions, is somewhat more reliable. There is also the fact that three consecutive normal monsoon years have been quite rare for India.

• Changes afoot: The monsoon is no longer adhering to its historical patterns, leading to increasing demand from farmers and policymakers for more granular forecasts on its spatial and temporal spread. Keeping that in mind, the IMD introduced the new dynamical Multi-Modal Ensemble forecasting system in 2021. This will not just provide month-wise break-ups but also focus on rain-fed agricultural regions. While the IMD is improving its forecasting abilities, the Centre and State governments are yet to properly use this valuable data.

• Use of data: They should use the data to - (i) appropriately guide cropping patterns, (ii) correctly estimate the demand-supply equation for essential crops, (iii) set trade policies, and (iv) achieve a better state of disaster-preparedness against floods and famines that devastate individual districts every year.

• Knowledge centre:

1. Crop seasons and monsoon - An off-balance monsoon season spells doom for the agricultural sector in India. While more than normal rain floods the kharif farms and results in serious crop damage or loss, it helps the rabi season by ensuring the reservoirs have enough water. Poor monsoon, on the other hand, means drought and crop loss in the kharif season that affects next cycle and year’s uptake too, and poor water reserve for rabi crops makes its future uncertain. Policymakers must devise ways to reduce the impact of monsoon on the growth of the agrochemical sector. Making agriculture climate resilient is the most critical step. Several measures can be taken to ensure this, including enhanced carbon sink in soils, precision farming that enables farmers to make accurate decisions on the need, and application of agricultural inputs regarding soil, weather, and crop, access to market intelligence for timely decision, and efficient use of water and energy.
2. Acreage of irrigated land - Improving coverage of irrigated land and increasing their share as compared to exclusively rain-fed ones can help in continuing farmers sow crops at regular intervals. Besides, research has found that insecticides applied through a drip irrigation system can reduce the number of foliar insecticide sprays, which in turn, reduces the risk to non-target species. It is a more common practice among vegetable growers as many of them already use drip irrigation for water management and can add an injection pump and the required safety equipment to inject the soluble pesticides.

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

FFP - Feminist Foreign Policy

• The story: India was elected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women for a four year term in September 2020, where India commits itself to promote the paradigm of gender equality, development and peace. At the same time, sadly, in the recently released World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2021, India slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered.

• FFP framework: If India want its aspirations to become actions, than India should consider adopting a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) framework. The FFP framework is a more formal designed approach that goes beyond a purely development model to wider access, representation and decision making.

• FFP Framework: A feminist foreign policy as a political framework explores this very realm, first introduced and advocated by Sweden in 2014. The FFP builds on three central principles of feminist perspectives on diplomacy and security, which include broadening the understanding of security, decoding internal power relations, and acknowledging women’s political agency.

1. In this sense, FFP is an effort to move beyond the traditional notions of war, peace, and development assistance to incorporate other arenas of foreign policy, including economics, finance, health, and the environment.
2. By doing so, the framework looks at security in a more holistic way and incorporates the effects of its policies on women and marginalized groups. The FFP framework is a reaction attributed to the fact that for centuries, men have monopolized the conduct of diplomacy and foreign relations.
3. Data indicates that the inclusion of diverse voices makes for a better basket of options in decision making. This results into realisation that it is not only necessary to include women in peacebuilding and peacekeeping but the wider gamut of diplomacy, foreign and security policy. In many ways this would translate into a bottom-up development approach.
4. Since Sweden embarked on this path, several other countries — Canada, France, Germany and, more recently, Mexico — have forged their own, adopting either a feminist foreign policy or a gendered approach to aspects of policy making.

• The Indian case: The FFP approach provides steppingstones for India to follow en route to equality, common well-being, and peace. It can also provide India opportunities to eliminate existing barriers restricting the participation of women and other marginalized groups in India’s decision-making processes. An emphasis on women in leadership could catalyze an internal shift in India domestically and help subvert strictly defined patriarchal gender roles.

1. Empirical research has suggested that gender equality is an important prerequisite for the economic and social development of a nation, the strengthening of democratic institutions, and the advancement of national security. A FFP framework however must be tailored for the Indian context, which could also be a starting point for an internal shift in focus on gender as well, from a purely development paradigm to wider arenas of access, empowerment and decision making.
2. Adopting a FFP could offer India an opportunity to create a conducive environment for peace, eliminate domestic barriers against women, and assist in building stronger bilateral relationships.

Policy Initiatives Taken By India Under FFP Framework

• History: From 2007 when India deployed the first ever female unit to the UN Mission in Libya to supporting gender empowerment programmes through SAARC, IBSA, IORA and other multilateral fora, India’s programmes have been targeted at making women the engines for inclusive and sustainable growth. Similarly, many of India’s overseas programmes in partner countries have a gender component, as seen in Afghanistan, Lesotho and Cambodia. At internal policy level, 2015 saw a gender budget exercise within the MEA towards development assistance.

• Associated challenges: Indian case is special, due to multiple existing problems.

1. Women’s subjugation - India’s historical record on women’s rights—or rather, women’s subjugation—makes it unlikely to swiftly and effectively adopt a FFP framework. India in some ways reflects this widening gap, where the number of ministers declined from 23.1 per cent in 2019 to 9.1 per cent in 2021. The number of women in Parliament stands low at 14.4 per cent.
2. Patriarchy - Patriarchal values are so deeply ingrained within Indian society that India has hardly managed to bring about a change in the system of inequity at home. Women have traditionally been excluded from the conduct of foreign policy on the basis that a typical “female approach” would be more inclined to “soft-security” matters—including human rights, women empowerment, migration and trafficking—and distract from a focus on more important hard security issues.

• Summary: India's gender-based foreign assistance needs to be broadened and deepened and equally matched with lower barriers to participation in politics, diplomacy, the bureaucracy, military and other spaces of decision making. India can make a stronger commitment to include women at the decision-making tables, either through a quota system or simply by ensuring that there is an equal representation of men and women. India can collaborate with various international, regional, and national civil society organizations to ensure the proper implementation of the FFP framework.

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

Invoking the Disaster Management Act, 2005 in corona second wave

• The story: The Ministry of Home Affairs was finally forced to invoke the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) to order the free inter-state movement of oxygen carrying vehicles. In March 2020, various government authorities invoked their respective powers under the DM Act to deal with the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in the country.

• Points to note: The DM Act was passed by the government of India in 2005 for the ‘efficient management of disasters and other matters connected to it. However it came into force in January 2006. Its goal is to manage disasters, including preparation of mitigation strategies, capacity-building and more.

1. Definition of a “disaster” in Section 2 (d) of the DM Act states that a disaster means a “catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man made causes.
2. Key aspects of the Act include creation of a Nodal Agency, the NDMA, the NEC and the NIDM. (i) Nodal Agency - The Act designates the Ministry of Home Affairs as the nodal ministry for steering the overall national disaster management. It puts into place a systematic structure of institutions at the national, state and district levels. (ii) National Level Important Entities -
3. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) - It is tasked with laying down disaster management policies and ensuring timely and effective response mechanisms.
4. The National Executive Committee (NEC) - It is constituted under Section 8 of the DM Act to assist the National Disaster Management Authority in the performance of its functions. The NEC is responsible for the preparation of the National Disaster Management Plan for the whole country and to ensure that it is “reviewed and updated annually.
5. The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) - It is an institute for training and capacity development programs for managing natural calamities.

• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF): It refers to trained professional units that are called upon for specialized response to disasters.

• State and District level: The Act provides for state and district level authorities responsible for, among other things, drawing plans for implementation of national plans and preparing local plans. (State Disaster Management Authority, District Disaster Management Authority)

• Finance: It contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as the creation of funds for emergency response, National Disaster Response Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels.

• Civil and Criminal Liabilities: The Act also devotes several sections various civil and criminal liabilities resulting from violation of provisions of the act. Under Section 51 of the Act, anyone refusing to comply with orders is liable for punishment with imprisonment up to one year, or fine, or both. In case this refusal leads to death of people, the person liable shall be punished with imprisonment up to two years.

• Challenges and inadequacies of the Act:  A glaring inadequacies in the Act is the absence of a provision for declaration of ‘disaster- prone zones’. Almost all disaster related legislations in the world have mapped out disaster- prone zones within their respective jurisdictions. The state cannot be expected to play a pro- active role unless an area is declared ‘disaster- prone’. Classification helps in determining the extent of damages as well. Other problems are -

1. Neglects progressive behavior of disasters - The Act portrays every disaster as a sudden occurrence and completely fails to take into account that disasters can be progressive in nature as well. In 2006, over 3,500 people were affected by dengue, a disease with a history of outbreaks in India, yet no effective mechanism has been put in place to check such an ordeal. Tuberculosis is known to kill thousands of people in the country each year but since its occurrence is not sudden or at once, it has not found a place in the Act.
2. Overlapping functions -  The Act calls for establishment of multiple- national level bodies, the functions of which seem to be overlapping, making coordination between them cumbersome. The local authorities, who have a very valuable role to play in the wake of any disaster as first responders, barely find a mention at all. There are no substantive provisions to guide them, merely a minor reference to taking ‘necessary measures’.
3. Procedural delays and inadequate technology - Added to that, delayed response, inappropriate implementation of the plans and policies, and procedural lags plague the disaster management scheme in India. Inadequate technological capacity for accurate prediction and measurement of the disaster result in large scale damage.

• Summary: Although the DM Act has undoubtedly filled a huge gap in the scheme of governmental actions towards dealing with disasters. Laying down elaborate plans on paper doesn’t serve the purpose unless they are translated into effective implementation. Civil society, private enterprises and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) can play a valuable role towards building a safer India.

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

Tribunal Appointments - The Girija Vaidyanathan Case

• The story: The appointment of former IAS officer, Girija Vaidyanathan, as Expert Member in the Southern Bench of the NGT, was challenged in the Madras High Court. [NGT - National Green Tribunal] In this context, the spotlight is once again on some of the principles behind the tribunal system.

• Establishing tribunals in India: Various Tribunals functio as adjudicatory bodies in specific fields, and are quasi-judicial in nature. Their establishment is based on the idea that specialisation and expertise are required to decide complex cases of a technical nature. The ‘tribunalisation’ of justice is thus driven by the recognition that it would be cost-effective, accessible and give scope for utilising expertise in the respective fields. Central to this scheme is the principle that the ‘experts’ appointed to these tribunals should bring in special knowledge and experience. The mainstream judiciary has objected to this idea time and again.

• Recent controversy: The above criteria came under focus with the appointment of Girija Vaidyanathan as Expert Member of the NGT. The Madras High Court initially granted an interim stay on her appointment, and then vacated the interim stay, stating that she holds the necessary qualifications. It ruled that she was not ineligible, going by the criteria in the NGT Act, and was found to have fulfilled the eligibility requirements by virtue of her administrative experience of nearly 5 years in “dealing with environmental matters”.

• Specifications in the Act: There are two kinds of criteria given - (i) based on qualifications and practical experience, and (ii) based on administrative experience in the field. A candidate has to fulfill only one of them. For the first, a masters’ or a doctorate in science, engineering or technology, with 15 years’ experience in the relevant field is needed. This includes five years of experience in environment and forests in a national level institution. The fields include pollution control, hazardous substance management and forest conservation.

• Ambiguous provision: The administrative experience criterion lacks detail, and merely stipulates 15 years’ experience. Of this five should have been in “dealing with environmental matters” in either the Centre or the State or any reputed institution.

1. Ms. Girija's work as Secretary, Environment and Forests, Tamil Nadu, and Chairperson of the State Pollution Control Board together amounted to only 28 months.
2. However, the court accepted the contention that her tenure as Health Secretary should also be considered. The court also observed that it is an entirely different matter whether administrative experience in the second criterion should be regarded as equivalent to “the real expertise” indicated in the clause on qualifications. The court rightly declined to interfere with the appointment, as the equivalence found in the rules falls under the domain of Parliament.

• What next: The relevance and composition of tribunals are under judicial scrutiny. The Centre itself has abolished some of the tribunals. Given this, the government should spelt out with clarity, the extent to which a bureaucrat’s involvement in environmental matters could be regarded as equivalent to expertise. In other words, how far experience can be treated as expertise for tribunal posts. It should also show greater urgency in implementing earlier Supreme Court directions to constitute a National Tribunals Commission. This will supervise the appointment and functioning of tribunals.

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

Crew-2 Mission - NASA and SpaceX

• The story: Four astronauts were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from Florida as part of a collaboration between NASA and SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program. The mission is called Crew-2.

• Points to note: The NASA's Commercial Crew Program is a partnership between NASA and private industry to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Unlike previous human spaceflight programs, NASA is a customer buying flights from commercial providers. The agency does not own or operate the spacecraft. The program is helping to lower the cost of spaceflight and potentially create a new commercial market for humans in space. By encouraging private companies to provide crew transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit, NASA can focus on building spacecraft and rockets meant for deep space exploration missions. Boeing and SpaceX were selected by NASA in September 2014 to develop transportation systems meant to transfer crew from the US to the ISS.

• Private sector in India: The Indian government had announced the opening up of the space sector to private players with the inception of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe).

• ASA’s partnership with SpaceX: In May 2020, NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight lifted off for the ISS carrying two astronauts. The aim of this test flight was to see if SpaceX capsules could be used on a regular basis to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. Demo-2 was followed by the Crew-1 mission in November, which was the first of six crewed missions between NASA and SpaceX marking the beginning of a new era for space travel.

1. Crew-1 was the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS. The Crew-1 team members joined members of Expedition 64 and conducted microgravity studies at the ISS.
2. About the Crew-2 Mission - It is the second crew rotation of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the first with international partners. Out of the four astronauts, two are from NASA and two are from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Crew-2 astronauts will join the members of Expedition 65 (65th long duration expedition to the International Space Station). They will stay aboard the ISS for six months during which time they will conduct science experiments in low-Earth orbit. Their central focus during this time will be to continue a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies.
3. Tissue Chips - These are small models of human organs that contain multiple cell types that behave similarly to the human body. According to NASA, these chips can potentially speed up the process of identifying safe and effective drugs and vaccines. Scientists can use these tissue chips in space to study diseases that affect specific human organs, which would take months or years to develop on Earth.

• International Space Station (ISS): The ISS is a habitable artificial satellite - the single largest man-made structure in low earth orbit. Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998. It circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per day. The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada) but its ownership and use has been established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. It serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields. Continuous presence at ISS has resulted in the longest continuous human presence in the low earth orbit. It is expected to operate until 2030.

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

Corona's second wave in India - How different

• The story: There are many questions people ask about the second wave 2021. Like the 1918-20 Spanish flu, the second all-India surge of the Covid-19 pandemic has been more devastating than the first. It appeared to be different from 2020's surge in some ways.

• Asymtomatic carriers: An asymtomatic person, who carries the virus, can keep spreading the infection. In India, experts say, 80-85% of the population are asymptomatic. They continue to be the largest carrier of the virus, and in a closed indoor setting, asymptomatic person will transmit the virus even when he or she is talking. Also, asymptomatic people don’t isolate themselves in a home setting. A combination of a large asymptomatic population and the presence of more infectious variants of the virus during the second wave, which is much steeper than the first wave that peaked in September 2020, continues to transmit the virus even to those who are staying indoors. For instance, the UK strain detected in a significant proportion during genome surveillance in Delhi and Punjab, has shown a 50% higher transmission, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The L452R mutation found in the variant B1.671, first detected in India, too has been associated with increased infectivity.

• Poor enforcement of containment: In the 2021 wave, the marking of containment zone has been less strict. In cities, the government has asked civil authorities to adopt micro-containment: with perhaps just a floor or a house defined as a containment zone. If there is no effective monitoring in micro-containment zones, containing the virus becomes a challenge. Earlier, an entire apartment or area would be made a containment zone, reducing the chances of transmission of the virus. Now, central teams have red-flagged the fact that high-risk contacts in workplace, social and family settings were not investigated and listed in Maharashtra, resulting in a surge. This is happening across the country.

• Striking entire families: Super-spreading events in indoor settings — house parties, social gatherings — can trigger local outbreaks if Covid-appropriate behaviours are not followed. Because some virus variants are more infectious, and because micro-containment zones are not being monitored as effectively as containment zones last year, India is seeing entire families going down with the virus. Contact tracing guidelines are not being followed as rigorously as in 2020. All asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed cases are to be tested once between day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact, but they can continue spreading the infection if they return a false negative result. There has also been a long waiting period for testing in 2021, with many Until the results are available, many asymptomatic persons violate isolation guidelines and spread the infection.

• Young people hit: Unlike last year, many young people are getting Covid this time (is the perception). The infection is spreading at a faster pace in every age group. At present, there is very little data that shows how long immunity lasts in the younger population. However, those who have comorbidities at a young age at high risk. Data shows that in seven age groups up to 70 years, the prevalence of deaths in this wave is comparable to the prevalence in the last wave. But in the age groups 70-80 and above 80, mortality rates are higher in the second wave are higher. It is still the older population who is at higher risk and needs to be protected. However, the number of deaths are high in all age groups because there are more cases. And with the virus becoming more infectious and some mutations escaping the immune response, the younger population needs to strictly follow Covid-appropriate behaviours.

• Oxygen situation catastrophic: In the second wave, critical data has emerged from hospitals being tracked by the government — that 54.5% of admissions during the second wave required supplemental oxygen during treatment. This marked a 13.4-percentage-point increase from the peak during September and November last year, according to data from 40 centres across the country. Shortness of breath is the most common clinical feature among symptomatic patients in the second wave.

1. For moderate cases, India’s clinical management protocol recommends oxygen therapy as the primary form of treatment: the target is to achieve 92-96% SpO2, or 88-92% in patients with COPD. It is this category that requires oxygen beds. While the proportion of those requiring oxygen beds is still hovering around under 10%, this number is at an all-time high with India’s active caseload crossing 26 lakh.
2. As of April 24, 2021, official records showed that Delhi, UP, Gujarat and Haryana face severe shortfalls due to a surge in cases. The demand for medical oxygen has increased by 18% over the last six days across 12 states, which account for 83% of India’s active cases.

• Catching Covid after getting vaccinated: The two vaccines approved for emergency use in India don’t stop transmission of the virus, and at present can only reduce severe disease or hospitalisation. Data show that post-vaccination, around 2-4 persons per 10,000 have tested positive. Of the 10.03 crore who received only the first dose of Covishield, 0.02% (17,145) tested positive; and of the 1.57 crore who received both shots, 0.03% (5,014) tested positive. For Covaxin, 0.04% (4,208) of the 93.56 lakh who received only the first dose tested positive, as did 0.04% (695) of the 17.37 lakh who received both doses. This means that people who have been vaccinated should continue to follow Covid-appropriate behaviours.

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

Zhurong: China’s first Mars rover

1. The story: China has named its first Mars rover as Zhurong after a traditional fire god. The name signifies igniting the flame of Planetary Explorations of China.
2. More details: Zhurong is on board Tianwen-1 Space probe. It arrived at the Mars orbit in February 2021 and is due to land on the planet in May 2021. With Zhurong, China will become the third country after Soviet Union and USA to achieve soft landing on Mars. Also, it will become the second country put a rover on Mars after the US. Zhurong weighs 240 kilograms and is solar powered. It carries multispectral cameras and instruments to analyse the composition of the rocks. It will investigate subsurface characteristics with ground penetrating radar.
3. Tianwen-1: The main aim of Tianwen-1 is to analyse and map the Martian surface and look for water ice and study the climate and surface environment. It was launched in July 2020. Tianwen-1 was launched with an orbiter, camera, lander and the Zhurong rover, and weighs five tonnes and is one of the heaviest probes launched to Mars. It was launched in Long March 5 heavy lift launch vehicle, and was the second of the three space missions sent to Mars in 2020. The other missions launched were as follows - The “Hope Orbiter” by United Ara Emirates, Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity helicopter on Mars 2020 by US
4. The long march: China became the first country to land a space probe on the little explored far side of the moon. It returned to the earth in December 2020 with lunar rocks for the first time since 1970s.

CSIR Sero survey Results

• The story: The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research recently released the results of Sero Survey.
• Learnings: The survey was conducted on 10,427 persons. Of these, only 10.14% showed sero positivity. It suggested that the neutralising antibodies have declined. This had made people prone to reinfections, and around 20% of seropositive individuals lagged neutralisation activity after five to six months. The scientists conclude from the survey that this might be one of the reasons for the recurrence of outbreaks in March 2021. India had large pool of recovered immune subjects in September 2020. However, the duration for which the developed immunity can withstand is not sufficient to prevent future outbreaks.
• Sero positivity: It is showing a positive result for a particular antibody in a blood test. Antibody is a blood protein that is generated to fight against a virus. The antibodies are generated against specific antigen. More the antibodies higher is the immunity. These antibodies are generated in response to substances that body recognises as alien. It can be bacteria, virus or any other foreign substance in the blood.
• Neutralising Antibodies: They are those antibodies that are responsible for protecting cells from pathogens. So not all antibodies are useful.
• The case: A cured COVID-19 patient carries antibodies against COVID-19 virus. His immunity holds as long as he generates these antibodies. According to CSIR, as days pass by these antibodies are reducing in recovered patients. This means that they are again vulnerable to the virus. India is currently facing high surge in COVID-19 infections. The daily count increased to 3 lakhs in four consecutive days, and a million in just 3 days cumulative.

RBI's focus on growth and not inflation

• Growth in 2020: Lockdowns in 2020 hit India's GDP growth hard. The bigger question for RBI was what would happen to the prices. In a growing economy, prices go up and this is measured by the inflation rate.
• Inflation: It is the rate at which the general price level increases between one time period to another. So if the price level — captured by an index such as the Consumer Price Index (a basket of goods) — goes up by 10 per cent in April this year over what it was in April last year, the inflation rate is 10 per cent. If prices fall over the past year, we call it deflation. It is like negative inflation, a rare occurrence. Sometimes the inflation rate itself may slow down. Suppose prices increase by 10 per cent in January (over last January), 5 per cent in February (over last February) and 2 per cent in March (over last March) — that is referred to as disinflation, which signals a decline in the inflation rate.
• Inflation in India from 2020: Prices could fall because in a lockdown, the overall demand for goods and services in the economy would collapse. Add to that the effect of people losing jobs, or facing salary cuts, and thus they will demand less of even the most essential items while cutting down all discretionary expenses (such as buying a fancy new phone or going for a vacation). But prices could have also risen sharply because the lockdown could have completely disrupted the supply chains. Everything from onion to your favourite breakfast cereal to cars to computers could either not be produced or not transported to you because of the lockdown. A sudden crunch in supply could spike prices, especially of food and other essential commodities, notwithstanding the fall in demand.  

1. Whether we had deflation (due to the collapse of demand) or a sharp spiralling of inflation (due to a supply crunch) was not just of academic interest. All of this mattered because India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, is mandated by law to target the inflation rate.
2. Keeping the rate at which the general price level facing the consumers increases from one year to another is RBI’s main policy goal. And it is noteworthy that governments don’t always help out the RBI in this regard.

• The petrol question Throughout the past 12 months, the central and state governments have been piling on taxes on petroleum products, thus leading to higher retail prices of petrol and diesel. This pushed inflationary expectations in the economy strongly. India saw prices going out of its central bank's comfort zone. 
  

• Policy significance: India’s growth was decelerating before the onset of the Covid pandemic and as such, right through 2019, the RBI was in the mode to cut interest rates and incentivise economic activity. It did not have to worry much about retail inflation at the time. Right through the past financial year — April 2020 to March 2021 — the RBI kept signalling that it would support growth and in doing so allowed the inflation rate to stay out of its mandated range. The RBI accorded primacy to boosting GDP growth instead of meeting its legal requirement of maintaining inflation within the mandated range.  

• Second wave: By the time the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee met earlier this month — April 5 to 7 — to decide on its policy stance, India was already in the grip of the second Covid wave. The daily new caseload had already crossed the previous high and was well past the 1-lakh mark. So the RBI was back to square one. Not only did retail inflation continue to be high in March but even the wholesale inflation spiked to over 7 per cent. The RBI stuck to last year’s playbook. It declared — once again — that it will continue to support growth for as long as required.

Myanmar activists upset with ASEAN

• The story: Myanmar’s pro-democracy activists sharply criticized an agreement between the country’s junta chief and Southeast Asian leaders to end the nation’s violent post-coup crisis and vowed to continue their protest campaign.
• ASEAN: In the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Jakarta, Indonesia, a consensus was reached to end the turmoil in Myanmar. Protestors said “Whether it is ASEAN or the U.N., they will only speak from outside saying don’t fight but negotiate and solve the issues. But that doesn’t reflect Myanmar’s ground situation.”
• ASEAN chair Brunei: The chair said a consensus was reached in Jakarta on five points - ending violence, a constructive dialogue among all parties, a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue, acceptance of aid and a visit by the envoy to Myanmar. The five-point consensus did not mention political prisoners, although the chairman’s statement said the meeting “heard calls” for their release.
• ASEAN leaders had wanted a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces, which the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) says have killed 748 people since a mass civil disobedience movement erupted to challenge his Feb. 1 coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Some UN experts said there was no sign that Myanmar’s military is going to stop its brutality.
• Who else: Besides the junta chief, the leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei were at the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines. The NUG was not invited but spoke privately to some of the participating countries before the meeting.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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