Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 20-05-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 20-05-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. World Economy - Cryptocurrency markets crash, partly recover - The cryptocurrency market saw a big correction with prices of major currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB and others crashing as much as 30% within 24 hours, on 19th May. This came in the backdrop of Chinese regulators announcing a crackdown on cryptocurrencies. China has barred financial institutions and payment companies from providing any services related to cryptocurrency transactions. This means that banks and online payments channels must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrency, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement. China had issued such a ban in 2017 as well, but compared with the previous ban, the new rules have expanded the scope of prohibited services, and surmise that “virtual currencies are not supported by any real value”. There was also the overhand of Elon Musk's tweets criticising Bitcoin for its negative carbon footprint (too much energy taken up for mining). Elon later clarified he had "diamond hands", i.e. Tesla would hold the Bitcoin for a long time. Critics say such a drama in currencies makes them unsuitable for any serious, real-world use. Later, the markets started recovering sharply.
2. Healthcare and Medicine - Johnson & Johnson partners with India’s Biological E. for COVID-19 vaccine - The US-based Johnson & Johnson has started working with Telangana-based Pharma company Biological E. Limited for producing the COVID-19 vaccines. The J&J COVID-19 vaccine has already been given approval in Europe, UK, and other nations including Thailand and South Africa. Instead of using the now-popular mRNA technique, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a disabled adenovirus to deliver the instructions. This adenovirus is in no way related to the coronavirus. It is a completely different virus. Although it can deliver the instructions on how to defeat the coronavirus, it can’t replicate in your body and will not give you a viral infection. The huge advantage to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is that it is a single shot. The mRNA vaccine requires two. mRNA is essentially a little piece of code that the vaccine delivers to your cells. The code serves as an instruction manual for your immune system, teaching it to recognize the virus that causes COVID-19 and attack it, should it encounter the real thing.
3. Constitution and Law - U.P. Sunni Waqf Board - The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Sunni Central Waqf Board condemned the demolition of a mosque in Barabanki, UP and demanded its restoration. The Board is a body constituted under 'The Waqf Act, 1954', and manages the affairs of Sunni Muslim waqf (charity) properties, waqf institutions and the marriage records of the Sunni Muslim community of UP. It has been the main Muslim litigant in the Babri Masjid–Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute. A waqf (also known as wakf or hubous) is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law.  It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets. The state waqf boards were established by the state governments in view of the provisions of Section 9(1) of the Wakf Act, 1954. India also has a Central Waqf Council to advise the government “on matters concerning the working of boards and the due administration of waqfs.” The local administration described the construction, said to be a mosque and its residential area, as illegal. It said the the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had disposed of a petition filed in this connection on April 2, which proved that the construction was illegal.
4. Indian Economy - Stock markets rise and Covid cases apparently fall - The constant decline reported in Covid cases in May third week lifted the market sentiment and the benchmark indices BSE’s Sensex and NSE’s Nifty pushed above the 50,000 and 15,000 mark, respectively. Reasons for markets rising included the resistance of union government to announce a nationwide lockdown, which provided a relief to the markets in March and April 2021. Opening up of vaccination for all adults and the decline in Covid cases further boosted hopes of a less hindered industrial activity going forward. The second Covid wave has impacted the rural India and also smaller companies in the unorganised sector much more than it did in its first phase in 2020. Large listed companies across sectors have benefitted at the cost of smaller ones and are seeing an increase in market share. That is leading to a rise in their share prices and market valuations thereby resulting into growth in Sensex and other leading indices. This is what a K-shape recovery is all about!
5. Environment and Ecology - Geological age of plate tectonics - A study on the oldest minerals on the Earth - Zircon crystals (4.3 billion years old) - of Jack Hills, Australia revealed that the plate tectonics are 3.6 billion years old, and that they were moving continuously since they emerged. Previously, researchers thought that these plates formed anywhere from 3.5 to 3 billion years ago. Zircon Crystals are dense, so it was easy to separate them from the rest of the sand by using a method akin to gold panning. The researchers studied the uranium content (a radioactive element with a known rate of decay) of each zircon to determine their age. They also studied the aluminum content to know about the Earth’s crust thickening on at that time. Plate tectonics refers to how humongous slabs of solid rock glide over Earth's mantle, the layer just below the crust. These continental slabs shift, fracture and collide, causing earthquakes to occur, mountains to grow and oceans to form. Besides Earth, no other known planetary bodies have plate tectonics. Significance - Rocks capture carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that helps to warm Earth (but too much CO2 can lead to global warming). Plate tectonics ensures that these rocks eventually get dragged down and melted, and their CO2 is spewed out as gas through volcanoes. Without this process, Earth might freeze.
6. Governance and Institutions - Govt. raises fertilizer subsidy after protest - Government decided to go for a pro-farmer decision of hiking fertiliser subsidy, after the price of fertilisers saw a sharp increase due to the rising prices of phosphoric acid, ammonia etc internationally. A decision was taken to increase the subsidy for DAP fertiliser from Rs. 500 per bag to Rs. 1200 per bag, which is an increase of 140%. Despite the rise in international market prices of DAP, it has been decided to continue selling it at the older price of Rs.1200 and the central government will bear the burden of price hike. The amount of subsidy per bag went up. The international prices of phosphoric acid, ammonia etc. used in DAP have gone up by 60% to 70%. So the actual price of a DAP bag is now Rs 2400, which could be sold by Fertilizer companies at Rs 1900 after considering a subsidy of Rs 500. With recent decision, farmers will continue to get a DAP bag for Rs 1200.
7. Healthcare and Medicine - PM Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) - New AIIMS started under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana are providing advanced COVID Care in States. The PMSSY, a Central Sector Scheme, was announced in 2003 to address imbalances in availability of tertiary care hospitals and improve medical education in the country. The scheme received a fresh impetus to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of quality medical education in the underserved States, and many new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences are being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. So far setting up of 22 new AIIMS has been approved under the scheme, out of which six AIIMS at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh are already fully functional. In another seven AIIMS, OPD facility and MBBS classes have started while in five more institutes only MBBS classes has started. These regional AIIMS, set up or being set up under PMSSY, have played a very significant role in management of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic early 2020.
8. Indian Economy - Capital expenditure plan may not slip despite Covid 2021 - The finance ministry of India is firm on executing the government’s ambitious Rs.5.5 trillion capex plan for FY22, part of a strategy to try and revive growth by boosting investment in infrastructure. It feels that it is unlikely to get derailed by the second wave of the covid pandemic. Since there are no expenditure curbs on government departments this year and migrant labourers are expected to return to work with a decline in covid-19 cases, the government does not see any major delay in restarting its infrastructure investment cycle. Out of the Rs.5.5 trillion capex plan, Rs.1.4 trillion is for defence and Rs.4.1 trillion for non-defence sectors. The two major heads for non-defence capex are railways and roads, accounting for Rs.2.15 trillion. The FM said in Budget 2021-22 FY22 speech that she had set aside more than Rs.44,000 crore for projects that show good progress on capital expenditure and are in need of further funds. Many economic forecasters are now projecting sub-10% growth for India in FY22.
9. Defence and Military - Israel determined to attack Gaza despite US request - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, pushing back against calls from the United States to wind down the operation that has left hundreds dead. The PM's tough comments marked the first public rift between the two close allies since the fighting began, and could complicate international efforts to reach a cease-fire. Israel continued pounding Hamas targets in Gaza with airstrikes, while Palestinian militants bombarded Israel with rocket fire throughout the day. In another sign of potential escalation, militants in Lebanon fired a rocket barrage into northern Israel. For the third time since the war began, rockets were launched Israel from the north. The Israeli military said one landed in an open area, two landed in the sea, and one was intercepted by aerial defenses. Hundreds of Palestinians burned tires in Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered, and hurled stones at an Israeli military checkpoint.
10. Indian Politics - Covid Update - India reported 2,76,110 new COVID-19 cases and 3,874 deaths in 24 hours. India had reported over 4,000 daily deaths for the past four days before this, with the country recording the highest-ever one-day rise in the number of COVID-19 deaths for any country with 4,529 casualties. Notably, the total death toll has surged to 2,87,122. Amidst a rise in coronavirus cases in India, there have been many cases linked to the black fungus infection, or mucormycosis, known to have an extremely high fatality rate. Now, cases linked to 'white fungus' infection have been traced in Bihar, which experts believe to be even scarier than the black fungus threat. The white fungus infections are more dangerous than black fungus due to its acute affect on lungs and other body parts including nails, skin, stomach, kidney, brain, private parts and mouth. Both Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have declared mucormycosis (Black Fungus), an epidemic. NUMBERS - INDIA - Total cases: 25,771,405; New cases: 276,261; Total deaths: 287,156; New deaths: 3,880; Total recovered: 22,348,683; Active cases: 3,135,566.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

Deadly second wave and India's Rs. 5.5 trillion capex plan

• The story: The finance ministry of India has a huge capital expenditure plan. It now believes the ambitious Rs.5.5 trillion capex plan for FY22, part of a strategy to try and revive growth by boosting investment in infrastructure, will not get derailed by the second wave of the covid pandemic.

• Why not: The govt. feels that since there are no expenditure curbs on government departments this year and migrant labourers are expected to return to work with a decline in covid-19 cases, the government does not see any major delay in restarting its infrastructure investment cycle.

1. The govt. does not foresee any major delay, and any short term delay can be recovered within the year.
2. Resumption of activity will happen faster than it did in 2020. Once the state level lockdowns are over — may be by July or August — there may be a quick resumption. This time the trains have not been stopped. Trains are still running. Migrants who go home can also come back quickly.

• The numbers: Out of the Rs.5.5 trillion capex plan, Rs.1.4 trillion is for defence and Rs.4.1 trillion for non-defence sectors. The two major heads for non-defence capex are railways and roads, accounting for Rs.2.15 trillion. The FY22 budget had set aside more than Rs.₹44,000 crore for projects that show good progress on capital expenditure and are in need of further funds. Over and above this, govt. was ready to provide more than Rs.2 trillion to states and autonomous bodies for their capital expenditure.

• Revenues for 2021-22: Experts say the pandemic-induced lockdown means government revenues will be affected. GST collections were good in April but will come down in May, and there will be pressure on balancing revenue and capex. Normally capex is weak till the end of monsoon as it is not possible to go ahead with construction projects which are affected by rains. So there will be more pressure to expedite projects such as in railways to ensure that there is a boost to infra. Think tank National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) suggested that government capital expenditure has a multiplier effect ranging from 2.45-4.8. Higher capex is expected to kickstart a virtuous cycle by generating higher demand for every rupee spent and drawing in private investment.

1. In terms of policy, running higher revenue deficit and at the same time sticking to fiscal consolidation targets only results in a decline in public capital expenditure. In such circumstances, the economy could experience negative revenue expenditure multipliers. Ring-fencing of capital expenditure target is most crucial for reviving growth in India.
2. Escalating covid cases have forced states to announce localized lockdowns which are expected to delay a strong recovery in economic activity. This in turn has put the focus back on the quality of government spending.

• GDP growth rate: Many economic forecasters are now projecting sub-10% growth for India in FY22. Moody’s Investors Service has slashed its FY22 economic growth forecast for India to 9.3% from 13.7%, citing the second wave of the pandemic. S&P Global Ratings expects growth at 9.8% under its moderate scenario and to 8.2% under a severe scenario based on when the current infection wave peaks.

Crypto exchange crashes

• The story: The sudden meltdown in the cryptocurrency market on 19th May 2021 left millions of users of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, angry as the exchange’s services reportedly crashed. Users in India complained on Twitter, and tagged the exchange’s founder Nischal Shetty.
• What happened: While some users were able to sell and buy certain cryptocurrencies on WazirX’s mobile application, several features such as charts were unusable. Many were not able to even access the website and App. The exchange informed that heavy price dip in the market encouraged more people to buy into the dip thereby causing a tremendous surge in site's traffic. It saw approximately 400% more traffic that the previous month, and hence, crashed.
• Project Raftaar: The WazirX team said it was working on an upgrade for the WazirX trading engine named Project Raftaar. Users questioned how could the exchange simply stop working, and what kind of technological backup it maintained. WazirX was not the only exchange that is facing technical troubles due to the deluge of investors rushing to exit their positions or buy into the dip. Global exchanges such as Binance, which owns a stake in WazirX, and Coinbase reported issues in withdrawals.
• Why the trouble: On 19th May, cryptocurrencies came under severe selling pressure and popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum erased nearly half of their value from their record highs. The crash was in reaction to media reports in China that the country has banned financial and payment institutions from cryptocurrency business. The cryptocurrency space has been under relentless selling pressure in past few days due to comments made by Tesla Founder Elon Musk and his company’s decision last week to halt payment for Tesla in Bitcoins.
• Elon Musk effect: Musk had highlighted the extraneous pressure that Bitcoin mining, key to keep the entire blockchain structure of the cryptocurrency running, is putting on the environment due to its excessive use of fossil fuels as energy. Bitcoin’s structure alone takes up more power than countries as large as Argentina to keep the system running. Ever since Tesla’s shocking move, cryptocurrencies lost more than $1 trillion in market value from a record high of more than $2 trillion. Later, the coin pared its losses to some extent.
• Diamond Hands: The tumult elicited a tweet from Elon Musk that implied Tesla Inc. wasn’t among the sellers. Justin Sun, a tech entrepreneur who founded the cryptocurrency platform Tron, tweeted that he bought $152 million in Bitcoin for around $37,000 a coin.  The volatility dominated Wall Street on a day when stocks and commodities were also under pressure and the Federal Reserve was set to release minutes.

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

Antarctica and world’s largest iceberg

• The story: In May 2021, a giant slab of ice sheared off from the frozen edge of Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg afloat in the world. This was informed by the European Space Agency. The newly calved berg, designated A-76 by scientists, was spotted in recent satellite images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission. It was an oblong ice sheet.
• Details: The iceberg A-76 has a surface area of 4,320 square km and measured 175 km long by 25 km wide. By comparison, Spain's tourist island of Majorca in the Mediterranean occupies 3,640 square km. The enormity of A-76, which broke away from Antarctica's Ronne Ice Shelf, ranks as the largest existing iceberg on the planet, surpassing the now second-place A-23A, about 3,380 square km in size and also floating in the Weddell Sea. Another massive Antarctic iceberg that had threatened a penguin-populated island off the southern tip of South America has since lost much of its mass and broken into pieces.
• More: A-76 was first detected by the British Antarctic Survey and confirmed by the Maryland-based U.S. National Ice Center using imagery from Copernicus Sentinel-1, consisting of two polar-orbiting satellites. The Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the largest of several enormous floating sheets of ice that connect to the continent's landmass and extend out into surrounding seas.
• Natural not artificial: Periodic calving of large chunks of those shelves is part of a natural cycle, and the breaking off of A-76, which is likely to split into two or three pieces soon, is not linked to climate change. The Ronne and another vast ice shelf, the Ross, have behaved in a stable, quasi-periodic fashion over the past century or more. Because the ice was already floating in the sea before dislodging from the coast, its break-away does not raise ocean levels.
• Global warming: Some ice shelves along the Antarctic peninsula, farther from the South Pole, have undergone rapid disintegration in recent years, a phenomenon scientists believe may be related to global warming, according to the U.S. National Snow & Ice Data Center.

Earth's axis is shifting slowly

• The story: The Earth has two kinds of poles: the north and south magnetic poles, which affect things like navigation, drift and even switch places back and forth over time, and the axis around which the planet physically spins. This axis has also slightly shifted over time, but scientists haven’t been able to exactly figure out why.

• Trying to understand it: To get to the bottom of it, researchers pulled satellite data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft and studied this “true polar wander” phenomenon during a specific period of time in the 1990s.

1. The scientists found moving masses of water have pushed Earth’s axis eastward beyond even what existing climate models predicted. On the surface, this makes sense: Think about holding a basin of water and then moving it back and forth—the sloshing causes the water’s weight to move all around. This is what’s happening on a macro level.
2. The surprising part is that humans made it happen. The scientists took the climate model that fits data from the 2000s and 2010s and back-calculated it through to the ’90s to see if the results matched up. The only way the data matches is if there’s some kind of “X-factor” happening.

• TWS: That X-factor is called terrestrial water shortage (TWS), which includes changes in Earth’s water levels from glacial melting and other anthropogenic activities, like overuse of the groundwater supply from aquifers. The study, which appears in Geophysical Research Letters, says TWS caused Earth to shift a little to the east in the 1990s—basically, the planet’s full basin sloshed around and created a new center of gravity.
• Natural and artificial: Now, some amount of the TWS change has naturally occurred without humans. But the scientists found a strong correlation in areas where glacial melt and groundwater depletion has happened most: “Most areas, such as Alaska, Greenland, the Southern Andes, Antarctica, the Caucasus, and the Middle East, have recently exhibited significant glacier mass changes,” the scientists explained.
• Climate change is responsible: These regions, and glacial and groundwater questions more broadly, don’t explain the entire disparity that scientists found between the expected values and the real values. Global water movement and storage varies by factors like regional climate patterns, they say. But overall, the mathematical analysis supports climate change factors contributing most to the change.
• Summary: The polar shift is very small in the grand scheme of things, and humans won’t be able to notice it. But to make this change in such a short time indicates our near future might have bigger changes in store—ones that could make our heads spin.

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

Singapore and Covid variant controversy

• The story: The Singapore government decided to issue general correction directions to Facebook and Twitter over the circulation of statements regarding presence of a new variant of coronavirus in the country.
• Official statement: "There is a false statement circulating online by multiple media outlets and social media platforms, which implies that a new, previously unknown variant of Covid-19 originated in Singapore and/or risks spreading to India," read a statement by Singapore's ministry of health. It went on to assert that the mentioned claims are false and that there is no new "Singapore variant of Covid-19". "Neither is there evidence of any variant that is ‘extremely dangerous for kids’. The strain that's prevalent in recent weeks is B.1.617.2 variant which originated from India," the ministry said.
• India variant: It said that the existence and spread of the B.1.617.2 variant within India predates detection of the variant in Singapore, and this has been publicly known and reported by various media sources from as early as 5 May 2021. The government thus stated that it will send anti-misinformation directions through the office of Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) to Facebook, Twitter and SPH Magazines Pte Ltd. It said that all of them would be required to carry the correction notice to all end-users in Singapore. The government had earlier as well stated that there is no truth in the references in reports about a new Singapore variant of coronavirus.
• CM Kejriwal's tweet: In a surprising tweet, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had requested the Indian government to suspend flights to and from Singapore with immediate effect as he warned of a possible new strain of the novel coronavirus detected in the city-state. He had said the strain is suspected to affect children, and hinted that the alleged new strain could mark the advent of the third wave of Covid-19 in the country. He had appealed to the Central government that Air services with Singapore be cancelled with immediate effect and priority on vaccine options should be worked out for children too.
• Singapore's response: The Singapore government had immediately summoned the Indian high commissioner to convey a strong objection to Delhi CM's tweet. India's foreign minister S Jaishankar wrote that Singapore and India had been solid partners in the fight against Covid-19, and irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage long-standing partnerships. 

 South Korea pushing US for talks with North

•  The story: The fundamental relationship between the two Koreas - North and South - has changed very little in the past 70 years. On paper, they are still at war, each considering itself the legitimate government of the other’s people and territory. Short of one side invading, a strategy that North Korea attempted with disappointing results in 1950, or North Korea collapsing, a fate that pundits have been predicting with a similar lack of success for decades, talking is still the only viable way improve things.

• Nothing moving: Precious little of that has been happening of late. The latest round of diplomacy, intended to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons, fell apart at a summit between Kim Jong Un, the North’s dictator, and Donald Trump, then America’s president, more than two years ago in Vietnam. In 2020, North Korea blew up the South’s de facto embassy in the border city of Kaesong, laying waste to a symbol of the detente that began in early 2018. The North has since resumed testing missiles and has increased the ferocity of its denunciations of South Korea and America.

1. Moon Jae-in, the South’s president, who is nearing the end of his term, lamented this on May 10th and vowed to make a last-ditch effort to improve things. “It is the aspiration of 80m Koreans to end the era of confrontation and conflict on the Korean peninsula and usher in an era of peace and prosperity,” he said. He promised to try in his last year in office to move from “an incomplete peace” to “an irreversible one”.
2. Improving relations with the North has been at the centre of Mr Moon’s presidency. But that goal remains elusive. The failure of the summit meeting with Mr Trump in Vietnam humiliated Mr Kim, who sacked most of his negotiators afterwards. He has made clear he has little interest in talking to the South without new concessions from America, which Mr Kim sees as his main adversary and negotiating partner.

• Covid pandemic: When the covid-19 pandemic began, he closed the border, cutting the North off even from China, its main trading partner. The lockdown appears to have hurt the North’s economy more than the international sanctions that were intended to persuade Mr Kim to abandon his nukes. The North still harangues the South about its failure to rein in defectors who send leaflets and money across the border. The rhetoric of Mr Kim’s regime is ever more paranoid. Its people are warned that “flying objects” (such as leaflets), packaging or even snow may carry the virus.
• S Korea and US: President Moon is meeting Joe Biden, his American counterpart, on May 21st, 2021. He wants to persuade him to join a fresh attempt to break the impasse. In April, the Biden administration announced a new “calibrated, practical approach” to diplomacy with the North, without giving details. But it said nothing to irritate Mr Kim, who may have been pleased that America embraced the North’s talk of “the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” rather than referring only to North Korea. Rumours in Seoul, the South’s capital, hinted that the North may have responded positively to the possibility of further talks with America.
• Biden's prioritiesS: But the Koreas are probably quite low on Mr Biden’s agenda, as he faces foreign-policy crises on a variety of other fronts. He has yet to appoint a successor to Stephen Biegun, Mr Trump’s point man on North Korea, leaving no obvious interlocutor if the North indeed wants to talk. Unless done soon, America’s new policy will be hard to distinguish from Barack Obama’s “strategic patience”.
• Summary: Some of the South's attempts to mollify the North sit awkwardly with Mr Biden’s priorities. Mr Biden’s people say they intend to pay more attention to human rights when talking to North Korea, presumably including those of Northerners in the South.

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

India gets stuck in retrospective tax tangles

• The story: In May 2021, the government of India’s twin ambitions of driving economic growth through foreign direct investment (FDI) and bridging the fiscal deficit via disinvestment came up against a big shock when Cairn Energy moved a US court to seize the assets of state-owned but privatisation-bound Air India to recover dues of $1.2 billion that New Delhi owes it after losing a tax arbitration award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in December 2020.
• The events: The government had filed an appeal in the Dutch court of appeals in March. Apart from the spectacle of a country with superpower aspirations being humiliatingly wrong-footed by a corporation, India found itself in the company of Pakistan, Venezuela and the Republic of Congo, all of which have had assets seized following court rulings. The controversy has drawn unwelcome attention to the Indian government’s disinclination to honour international treaties.

• India's BITs: Cairn Energy’s investments fall under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty, which refers disputes to international arbitration. Another case involves British telecom giant Vodafone, which also won its arbitration on a retrospective tax case in Singapore. The government has also appealed against this ruling. India’s defence in both cases rests on the government’s sovereign right to tax entities, though the legality of retrospectively taxing an internal reorganisation between Cairn Energy and Cairn India (now owned by Vedanta) before the latter was listed remains an open question. Two points arise in this context.

1. First, this appeal will test the government’s arguments about the supremacy of its sovereign powers over international law.
2. Second, it was clear that Cairn Energy was determined to recover its dues as early as February this year when its chief executive officer visited India and warned the government that his company would move to seize overseas assets. All that the government did was to come up with a novel offer for Cairn Energy to pay the disputed amount through the Vivaad Se Vishwas tax amnesty scheme.

• Appeal and action: While this drama was being played out and the government was waiting for the first hearing its of appeal listed for September 1, Cairn Energy moved energetically to file cases in the nine countries (including the US, the UK, the Netherlands, and the Cayman Islands) for the implementation of the arbitration award, enabling it to identify commercial Indian assets that it can seize.

1. India’s public sector has now become a key weakness as Cairn focuses its attention on ships owned by Shipping Corporation of India (also a disinvestment candidate) and properties owned by public sector banks.
2. The government’s response so far has been to contend that Air India is not a government asset since it is up for sale. But until that much-delayed transaction goes through with an identified buyer, the government remains its shareholder. Cairn Energy’s aggression has put it in a bind. The government has struggled to sell the ailing flag carrier for several years. Its efforts to corral a buyer now will be hampered by the fact that no prospective owner would touch a company embroiled in an international dispute.

• Summary: These serial mis-steps in the arena of international arbitration may cost the Indian economy dearly when Covid-19 recedes. It is time for the government to put the retrospective tax controversies to rest, and end the never-ending loss of reputation.

US Global Entry Programme

• The story: Indian security agencies in the past two years checked the antecedents of more than 9,000 Indians who wanted to enrol for the US’ Global Entry Program. The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) is being used for antecedent verification.
• Points to note: The Global Entry is a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows speedy clearance for low-risk travellers upon their arrival in the US. Though the pilot project started in 2008, India became a member of Global Entry in 2017. The travellers are pre-approved for the programme after a rigorous background check. After receiving a request, the US authorities send them to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA forwards it to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which taps other ministries, State police and other databases to run a background check.
• Details: The CBP does not process the application if a person has been “convicted of any criminal offence or have pending criminal charges, including outstanding warrants, have been found in violation of any customs, immigration or agriculture regulations or laws in any country.”
• 4. CCTNS: This is a centrally funded scheme, developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). It is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, approved in 2009. Its goal is to make the Police functioning citizen friendly and more transparent by automating the functioning of Police Stations.

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

High Court got it wrong on Live-in relationships

• The story: The Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC)’s ruling in May, refusing to grant protection to a young couple allegedly facing harassment from the woman’s family, was condiered flawed by many experts. It is wrong both in terms of earlier judicial precedents and constitutional rights.
• What happened: The court had said that a live-in relationship could disturb the social fabric of society and was morally and socially wrong. This goes against the view of the Supreme Court (SC), in 2018, which held that the assertion of choice is an “insegregable facet of liberty and dignity”. In fact, the Punjab and Haryana HC in 2018 had remarked in a protection petition filed by a couple that the hearing need not preach on morality or human behaviour.

• What judiciary must do: The judiciary must stand with the freedom of consenting adults, instead of weighing in on the side of oppressive social structures and illegal family diktats.

1. The couple apprehended a threat to their lives — a legitimate plea given the frequency of so-called honour killings.
2. The question before the court was about the protection to be offered to this couple to safeguard their right to life and liberty, not the ethics of live-in relationships which have been deemed legitimate.
3. The apex court has, in the past, issued directives to states to protect couples who have chosen their partners against the wishes of their families, and even provide them safe houses. Unfortunately, HC did not follow suit.

• Summary: The judiciary must stand with the freedom of consenting adults, instead of weighing in on the side of oppressive social structures and illegal family diktats. It must respect the right of adults to choose their partners and be in a relationship in any form they deem fit. The couple in question — to reiterate, both are above 18 — must be accorded protection from any threat of violence, and HC ruling must be challenged and reversed at the earliest.

Former Allahabad HC Chief Justice Govind Mathur worried about UP

• The story: In an interview, former CJ of Allahabad High Court Justice Mathur explained how the UP State authorities have been "ignoring" judicial orders. That is worrisome.

• Details: Justice Govind Mathur retired in May as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, a post he served for nearly three years. During his tenure, Justice Mathur came to be known for his relief-oriented approach, passing many pro-human rights judgments.

1. Some of these include the quashing of the illegal detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act, directing the Uttar Pradesh government to remove the "name-and-shame" posters of those who protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and more. In fact, many such cases were taken up by him suo motu.
2. The Allahabad High Court had imposed a partial lockdown in the State in view of the rise in COVID-19 case. The State government appealed against this order, which was stayed by the Supreme Court. There were allegations of "judicial overreach". Justice Mathur said he failed to understand what was the occasion for the State of Uttar Pradesh to not adhere to well-reasoned directions issued by the Allahabad High Court.
3. J Mathur said he didn't know why the State government considered the judiciary as a rival. Judiciary is another face of the State. That order was not at all any effort to overreach and that order was very well reasoned order giving each and every detail. It never imposed a blanket lockdown. It identified five cities where conditions were deteriorating on a daily basis. The bureaucracy of the State of Uttar Pradesh doesn't accept the orders of the (High) Court.

• Anti-conversion laws: Various laws have been passed regulating religious conversion in many States including Uttar Pradesh. Questions were raised about the laws passing the test of constitutionality. Justice Mathur said said that the Bench, of which he was also a member, admitted the writ petition only after being satisfied that these provisions are in conflict with the fundamental rights. He wanted to get the writ petition heard and decided at the earliest.
• Message for young lawyers: It is a field where if you work with commitment and honesty, then nobody can stop you. If you are a lawyer who is committed to do justice to clients, then money will come. If a young man is asking for security, then it is better not to enter the field of law.

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

Medicine from the Sky Project of  Telangana

• The story: The Telangana government selected 16 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) for pilot testing the ambitious ‘Medicine from the sky’, the first-of- its-kind project.

• Details: The project involves delivery of medicines through multiple drones, and is being launched following the approval granted by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The Ministry has granted conditional exemption to the Telangana Government from the Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2021 for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for delivery of vaccines.

1. The project would be launched in three waves starting with a pilot followed by mapping the route network for operation of drones for delivering vaccine/medicine in the desired community health centres and PHCs.
2. Collaborators - Telangana government, World Economic Forum and HealthNet Global. It is a private limited company which provides quality affordable health plans for individuals, families, Medicare and businesses.

• Goals: To assess alternative logistics routes in providing safe, accurate and reliable pick up and delivery of health care items like medicines, Covid-19 vaccines, units of blood and other lifesaving equipment from the distribution centre to specific locations and back. To ensure healthcare equity for rural areas.
• Importance: The model, once successful, would enable deliveries from district medical stores and blood banks to PHCs, Community Healthcare Centres (CHCs) and further from PHCs/CHCs to central diagnostic laboratories. It has the potential to disrupt the healthcare industry and save many lives during emergencies and in less accessible geographies.
• Other Drones projects: Similar permission was granted to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting feasibility study of Covid-19 vaccine delivery using drones, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur. The International Crops Research Institute (ICRISAT) was permitted to deploy drones for agricultural research activities, apart from some agriculture universities and educational institutions.
• What are drones: "Drone" is a layman terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA), which come in three subsets - Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Autonomous Aircraft and Model Aircraft. The Remotely piloted aircraft have been divided into five categories based on their weight -

1.  Nano : Less than or equal to 250 grams.
2.  Micro : From 250 grams to 2kg.
3.  Small : From 2 kg to 25kg.
4.  Medium : From 25kg to 150kg.
5.  Large : Greater than 150kg.
6. Under the Drone Regulation in 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation partitioned the Air space into Red Zone (flying not permitted), Yellow Zone (controlled airspace), and Green Zone (automatic permission).

• BVRS: The "Beyond Visual Line of Sight" is a term relating to the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones at distances outside the normal visible range of the pilot. BVLOS flights typically require additional equipment and extra training and certification, and are subject to permission from aviation authorities. The Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2021 states that drones will not be allowed to operate BVLOS, which would limit the use of these gadgets to surveys, photography, security and various information gathering purposes. They are more cost-effective and efficient, as there are fewer takeoff and landing phases, so the UAV will cover more ground in a single mission. BVLOS flights require less human intervention as some or all of the missions may be automated. They may also allow easier access to remote or hazardous areas. There is a risk of collisions with other aircraft, or damage to property and people, especially when flights take place in non-segregated airspace.

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

Cyclone Tauktae deaths - ONGC tragedy

• The story: A minister in Maharashtra govt., Nawab Malik, criticised the ONGC for not paying heed to the warnings on Cyclone Tauktae. He said that it should have evacuated all the workers from the barges, to avoid the deaths that happened.
• Sad tragedy: In all, 22 people who were on board P305 barge that sank on 17th May in the Arabian Sea were confirmed dead by Afcons that had deployed the barge at an ONGC platform in the Bombay high. The focus then was to locate and rescue the remaining personnel as quickly as possible, Afcons said. The Navy and the Coast Guard have so far rescued 189 of the 261 persons who were on board the barge.
• Preparations: The minister said that everyone was made aware of the cyclone and warnings were sent out for all to take precautions. The local government agencies had made arrangements for people on coastal areas to move to safer places and fishermen were asked not to venture into the seas. Then why did the ONGC not follow protocols? They should have evacuated all their workers from the barges and brought them to shore before the onset of the cyclone. Due to their failure to do so, he said, the lives of 600 innocent workers were put in danger.
• Take action: The minister said that action was needed against those who in charge and who did not take the decision of evacuation at the right time. The Central Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas must also be answerable.

India’s health sector facing brain drain

• The story: India was a major exporter of healthcare workers to developed nations particularly to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Europe and other English-speaking countries. This 'Brain Drain' in the health sector is part of the reason for the current shortage in nurses and doctors.

• Points to note: Brain drain is a term indicating substantial emigration or migration of individuals. A brain drain can result from turmoil within a nation, the existence of favorable professional opportunities in other countries, or from a desire to seek a higher standard of living. The majority of migration is from developing to developed countries. This is of growing concern worldwide because of its impact on the health systems in developing countries.

1. As per the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data, around 69,000 Indian trained doctors worked in the UK, US, Canada and Australia in 2017. In these four countries, 56,000 Indian-trained nurses were working in the same year.
2. There was also large-scale migration of health workers to the GCC countries but there is a lack of credible data on the stock of such workers in these nations. There is no real-time data on high-skilled migration from India as in the case of low-skilled and semi-skilled migration.

• Reasons: There are many reasons, both push and pull, working together.

1. With the onset of the pandemic, there has been a greater demand for healthcare workers across the world, especially in developed nations. Countries in dire need of retaining their healthcare workers have adopted migrant-friendly policies. The UK has granted free one-year visa extensions to eligible overseas healthcare workers and their dependents whose visas were due to expire before October 2021. France has offered citizenship to frontline immigrant healthcare workers during the pandemic.
2. There are strong pull factors associated with the migration of healthcare workers, in terms of higher pay and better opportunities in the destination countries.
3. There are strong push factors that often drive these workers to migrate abroad. In case of nurses in India the low wages in private sector outfits along with reduced opportunities in the public sector plays a big role in them seeking employment opportunities outside the country. The lack of government investment in healthcare and delayed appointments to public health institutions act as a catalyst for such migration.
4. The government’s policies to check brain drain are restrictive in nature and do not give a real long-term solution to the problem. In 2014, it stopped issuing No Objection to Return to India (NORI) certificates to doctors migrating to the US. The NORI certificate is a US government requirement for doctors who migrate to America on a J1 visa and seek to extend their stay beyond three years. The government has included nurses in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) category. This move was taken to bring about transparency in nursing recruitment and reduce exploitation of nurses in the destination countries.

• Concerns in India’s Health Sector: India has 1.7 nurses per 1,000 population and a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1,404 — this is well below the World Health Organization (WHO) norm of three nurses per 1,000 population and a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1,100. The distribution of doctors and nurses is heavily skewed against some regions. Moreover, there is high concentration in some urban pockets. The 2020 Human Development Report shows that India has five hospital beds per 10,000 people — one of the lowest in the world.
• Summary: It is crucial to increase the investment in healthcare, especially in the public sector. This would, in turn, increase employment opportunities for health workers. India needs systematic changes to building an overall environment that could prove to be beneficial for them and motivate them to stay in the country. The government should focus on framing policies that promote circular migration and return migration—policies that incentivise healthcare workers to return home after the completion of their training or studies.

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

Six Heritage Sites added to India’s UNESCO World Heritage sites Tentative List

• The story: The Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel announced that around six cultural heritage sites have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

• What are the six sites: The following six places have successfully entered the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

1. Ganga Ghats of Varanasi
2. Temples of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu
3. Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh
4. Maharashtra Military Architecture
5. Hire Benkal Megalithic site
6. Bhedaghat Lametaghat of Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh
7. With this, the total number of sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Tentative list has increased to 48.

• Background: The Archaeological Survey of India sent nine entries. Out of this, six have entered the tentative list. These proposed sites will remain in the tentative list for a year.

1. Ganga Ghats of Varanasi - The Ghats of Varanasi are the riverfront steps that lead to the banks of river Ganges. There are 88 ghats. Most of these ghats were built in the 18th century when the city was under the rule of Marathas.
2. Temples of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu - In Vaishnavism Hindu theology, Kanchipuram is one of the seven Tirtha (pilgrimage) sites, for spiritual release. The city houses Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ekambareswarar Temple, Kamakshi Amman Temple, and Kumarakottam Temple which are some of major Hindu temples in the state. Of the 108 holy temples of the Hindu god Vishnu, 15 are located in Kanchipuram.
3. Satpura Tiger Reserve - It is located in Madhya Pradesh. The other major attractions of Satpura Tiger Reserve are Pandav Caves, Bee falls, Dhoopgarh Peak, Denwa Backwaters and rock paintings. The Denwa backwaters is the reservoir formed by the dam built on Denwa river.
4. Maharashtra Military Architecture - There are more than five hundred forts of various hybrid eras making Maharashtra one of the richest places in military architecture in the world. They were built between 1500 and 1800. During this period, the architecture conceived were largely military defensive architecture.
5. Hire Benkal Megalithic Site - It is located in Karnataka. Megalithic site is a large pre-historic stone that is used to construct a monument or structure. There are more than four hundred megalithic funerary monuments in Hire Benkal Megalithic site.
6. Bhedaghat Lametaghat of Narmada Valley - They are referred to Grand Canyon of India. One can experience the outstanding beauty of marble rocks and their glittering forms on the other side of Narmada river. Several dinosaur fossil fuels have been found here. Here the Narmada river flows into a thirty-metre-deep gorge and flows between marble rocks. These marble rocks are formed by the metamorphic mechanism of limestone.

Net Zero Emissions by 2050 and India

• The story: With increasing emphasis on achieving the net-zero emission target by 2050, questions on its suitability for India are being raised.
• Net-zero emissions: The net-zero emission target means that carbon dioxide emissions of countries would be balanced by carbon sequestration and removal to the same extent. It should thus contribute net-zero carbon to the environment, and help keep the rise in temperatures to within 1.5oC of the pre-Industrial Revolution temperature, thus preventing climate change. Europe, Japan and South Korea have announced net zero by 2050, and China before 2060.
• India's case: The power generation capacity in India is about 380 GW, of which, about 62% is thermal (mainly coal, 53% of total). The celebrated Hechsher-Ohlin theorem tells that a country’s competitive advantage should be based on its abundant resource. As known, India is abundant in coal. In this light, adopting a net-zero carbon goal by 2050 would be a sub-optimal strategy for India.
• Feasible or not: India is the third-largest carbon emitter in the world, after China and the US. However, Indian per-capita carbon emissions are an eighth of those of USA and less than a third of China. The developed countries have used the emissions route to development, while India is still developing. Also, any substantive compensation mechanism from the developed world to the developing world in terms of finances and technology has not materialised. So, any pre-mature adoption of the net-zero targets will mean that the vast proportion of India’s population remain in poverty for generations.
• Alternatives: India is already among the very few countries which are well on their path to achieving their voluntary Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This is part of the Paris Accord (Conference of Parties 21, or COP 21, Paris, 2015), and includes decreasing the carbon intensity of its GDP by 33-35% compared to 2005 levels by 2030. The non-fossil fuel capacity of the total electricity capacity of the country would have to go up to 40% by 2030.
• Optimal strategy: Continuing with coal-first strategy would mean loss of cost competitiveness and increasing financial unsustainability of the sector. There would be increasing challenges to financing new coal-based power plants by financial institutions owing to environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations. Pushing more RE (say, tidal power and offshore wind) based on subsidies would make the discoms more financially unsustainable. So, the optimal strategy may be to stop all subsidies for all sources of power, including large hydro, where the capital costs are estimated at over Rs 10 crore per MW.

2021 eclipses

• Details: People will see two lunar and two solar eclipses. The first one will be a total lunar eclipse, which will take place on May 26, 2021. It is also called Blood Moon as the moon appears slightly reddish-orange. It should be noted that the total lunar eclipse is taking place for the first time since January 21, 2019.
• Total Lunar Eclipse on May 26, 2021: The first total lunar eclipse of 2021 will happen on May 26 and it will be visible in East Asia, Australia, Pacific and Americas. It will also be visible from some parts of the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. The eclipse will not be visible in India. This year’s first total lunar eclipse will start at 2:17 am as per Indian Standard Timing (IST) and be visible until 7:19 pm.
• Annular Solar Eclipse on June 10, 2021: The first solar eclipse will take place after around 14 days of the lunar eclipse. On June 10, one will be able to see a solar annular eclipse. But, this will not be fully visible in India, just like the lunar eclipse. The event will begin at 01:42 PM and will last until 06:41 PM. As per Timeanddate.com, the eclipse will be visible from parts of Russia, Greenland, and northern Canada.
• Partial Lunar Eclipse on November 19, 2021: The second lunar eclipse of the year will occur on November 19, 2021. People who are based in Americas, Northern-Europe, East-Asia, Australia and Pacific will be able to witness the second lunar eclipse of 2021. A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth moves between the sun and moon, but all three of them do not appear in a line in space and only a small part of the moon is covered by the Earth’s shadow. The event will start at 11:32 AM (IST) and will last until 17:33 am.
• Total Solar Eclipse on December 4, 2021: The fourth eclipse of the year will appear on December 4. This celestial event will not be visible in India, and it will only be visible from South America, the Pacific, the Atlantic, parts of the Indian Ocean and Antarctica. The total eclipse happens when the Moon completely blocks the Sun and casts a shadow over Earth.

Biodegradable Yoga Mat

• The story: Six young girls from a fishing community from Assam have developed a biodegradable and compostable yoga mat called ‘Moorhen Yoga Mat’. The intervention was triggered through an initiative by North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR). The NECTAR is an autonomous society, set up under the Department of Science & Technology, with its headquarter at Shillong, Meghalaya.
• Points to note: The ‘Moorhen Yoga mat’ is named after Kam Sorai (Purple moorhen, a resident bird of Deepor Beel Wildlife sanctuary). It is a hand-woven 100% biodegradable and 100% compostable mat developed from water hyacinth. The mat could improve the aquatic ecosystem of the wetland (Deepor Beel) through removal of water hyacinth, help sustainable production of utility products with community engagement and generate livelihood for indigenous communities to become completely ‘Atamanirbhar’.
• Water Hyacinth: It is a type of invasive floating plant found in water bodies across the world. These invasive species block the sunlight reaching and oxygen level in water systems, which results in damaging water quality and seriously affecting various life forms in the ecosystem. It is also referred to as the terror of Bengal given its effect on the local ecology and lives of the people. It has an effect on irrigation, hydroelectric generation and navigation.
• Deepor Beel: Deepor Beel (Beel means wetland or large aquatic body in Assamese) located about 10 km Southwest of Guwahati city is considered one of the large and important riverine wetlands in the Brahmaputra Valley of lower Assam. It has both biological and environmental importance besides being the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati city. It is considered one of the staging sites for migratory birds in India; and some of the large congregations of aquatic birds in Assam during winter. Deepor Beel has also been designated as a Ramsar Site in November 2002.

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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