Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 16-06-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 16-06-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Economy - Indian financial wealth rose 11% to $3.4 tn - Financial wealth in India rose by 11% to $3.4 trillion in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This was revealed in a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). India is expected to lead the percentage growth of individuals with fortunes of over $100 million till 2025. Indians' cross-border wealth grew to $194 billion in 2020. On the asset allocation side, nearly half of the onshore deployment of the financial wealth is in currency and deposits, followed by equities and life insurance. From a real assets perspective, which includes real estate, consumer durables and valuables like non-monetary gold and other metals valued at current prices, there was an over 14% increase to $12.4 trillion in 2020, as compared to the year-ago period. Clearly, the growth in real economy and wages is lagging way behind what financial economy offers!
2. World Politics - Summary of 47th G7 Summit - The Indian Prime Minister addressed the 47th G7 Summit 2021 through video conferencing. The G7 (Group of Seven) is an informal intergovernmental organisation of seven countries – US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and UK, representing 40% of the global GDP. In the 2021 Summit India, South Africa, Australia and South Korea were invited as guest countries. The summit communique was called "The Carbis Bay Declaration", whose key pledges were: (i) G7 shall secure more than 1 billion covid-19 vaccine doses either through donating surplus supplies funds or providing further finance to Covax, a scheme backed by UN, (ii) It shall increase the climate finance contributions and meet and overdue spending pledge of dollar hundred billion a year to help poorcountries cut carbon emissions, (iii) Infrastructure plan to rival China’s Belt and Road initiative by supporting Railways in Africa and wind farms in Asia, etc., (iv) Backing for a minimum tax of at least 15% on large multinational companies to stop them from using tax havens to avoid taxes.
3. Indian Economy - Modifications in FAME II Scheme - The Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) modified the FAME II scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India scheme). Objective is to drive adoption of electric vehicles. Modifications are - (i) Introduction of a demand incentive of Rs. 15,000 per kWh for electric two wheelers with a maximum cap at 40% of the vehicles’ cost, (ii) Launch of an aggregate demand for 3,00,000 electric three- wheelers by Energy Efficiency Services Limited, (launched in 2015). It forms a part of National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020, and aims to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same. Phase II of the scheme was approved for a period of three years starting from first April 2019. It aims to generate demand by way of supporting e-buses, e 2-wheelers, e three- wheelers. By selling over 75,000 vehicles FAME has so far resulted in savings of over 20 million litres of fuel and has led to almost 40 million kg reduction in CO2. But India's e-mobility plan is going slow, when compared to either Europe or China's adoption rates.
4. Environment Ecology and Climate Change - River Devika National Project - The River Devika Project in Jammu & Kashmir is being compared with the pioneer “Namami Gange” project of the Central Government. Under the centrally funded Rs.190 crore National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) Devika project, bathing “ghats” (places) on the river’s banks will be developed, encroachments removed, natural water bodies restored and catchment areas developed. The project includes the construction of three sewage treatment plants of 8 MLD, 4 MLD and 1.6 MLD capacities, sewerage network, protection structures, small hydropower plants and three solar power plants. On completion of the project, the rivers will see reduction in pollution and improvement in water quality.
5. Science and Technology - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cancer - Scientists have found that the cancer-causing virus Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) affects the glial cells. These are the non-neural cells in the human central nervous system. The EBV can cause cancers like head and neck cancer, B-cell (a type of white blood cells) cancer, stomach cancer, Burkett’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, post-transplant lymphoid disorders, and so on. More than 95% of the adult population is positive for EBV. However, the infection is mostly asymptomatic, and very little is known about the factors which trigger the development of such disease. It was the detection of the virus in patients with neurodegenerative diseases that triggered the search for the mechanism of propagation of the virus. The detection is using the phenomenon of Raman Scattering that provides information on the structure of any material based on the vibrations produced in them. Similarly, the light falling on the virus generates vibrations in the biomolecules, depending on the make of the virus. Using RS, the light that is scattered by the virus can be captured and analyzed to understand its structure and behaviour. Every virus has a different biomolecular composition and thus generates a unique Raman Spectrum that serves as a fingerprint to its identity. [The Epstein–Barr virus, formally called Human gammaherpesvirus 4, is one of the nine known human herpesvirus types in the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. EBV is a double-stranded DNA virus.]
6. Polity and Constitution - Official language status demanded for Tulu - Various organisations initiated a Twitter campaign demanding official language status to Tulu, in Karnataka and Kerala, and for its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution. The Constitutional provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule are in article 344(1) and 351. The Article 344(1) provides for the constitution of a Commission by the President on expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years from such commencement. Article 351 of the Constitution provides that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule. Today, India has a total of 22 scheduled languages, contained in the list given in Eighth Schedule. These are - (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.
7. Defence and Military - Nuclear weapons in the world and the TPNW - The entry into force of the "Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)" in early 2021 shows the growing divide between the nuclear-armed states and other countries that are impatient to see progress on nuclear disarmament promised by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is known as "the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty", and is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination. It was adopted in July 2017 and came into force in January 2021. As of March 2021, 54 states had ratified or acceded to the treaty, most recently Comoros in February 2021. For those nations that are party to it, the treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance and encouragement to the prohibited activities. For nuclear armed states joining the treaty, it provides for a time-bound framework for negotiations leading to the verified and irreversible elimination of its nuclear weapons programme. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 contains only partial prohibitions, and nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties prohibit nuclear weapons only within certain geographical regions. But the TPNW talks about a final end.
8. Defence and Military - SIPRI Year Book 2021 - The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launched the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2021, which assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security. The nine nuclear armed states — the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — together possessed an estimated 13,080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021. Russia and the U.S. together possessed over 90% of global nuclear weapons. India possessed an estimated 156 nuclear warheads at the start of 2021, compared with 150 at the start of last year, while Pakistan had 165 warheads, up from 160 in 2020. China’s nuclear arsenal consisted of 350 warheads, up from 320 at the start of 2020. SIPRI's assessments carry global recognition, and show all aspects of the arms trade of various nations.
9. Healthcare and Medicine - Jivan Vayu machine - The IIT Ropar has developed nation's first power-free CPAP device 'Jivan Vayu' as the substitute of CPAP machine, whih can function even without electricity. It is adapted to both kinds of oxygen generation units like O2 cylinders and oxygen pipelines in hospitals. These provisions are not available in otherwise existing CPAP machines. "Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)" is a treatment method for patients having breathing problems during sleep called sleep apnea. The machine uses mild air pressure to keep the airways open for easy breathing. It is also used to treat infants whose lungs have not fully developed. The machine blows air into the baby's nose to help inflate his or her lungs. The treatment is all the more necessary during early stages of the Covid-19 infection. It reduces lung damage and allow patients to recover from the inflammatory effects.
10. World Politis - NATO summit 2021 and US's renewed commitment - In the summit statement in Brussels, NATO leaders declared China a constant security challenge and said the Chinese are working to undermine global order. NATO is the 'North Atlantic Treaty Organisation', and also the 'North Atlantic Alliance'. It is an intergovernmental military alliance between North American and European countries, and a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. The headquarters is at Brussels, Belgium. The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the HQ of the NATO's Allied Command Operations (ACO). Since 1967 it was located in Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons. NATO is based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed in 1949, and formed as an alliance of European and North American countries after World War II as a bulwark against Russian aggression. It consists of 30 members. Montenegro joined it in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020. Of the 30 member countries, two are located in North America (Canada and the United States), 28 are in Europe, one of which (Turkey) is in both Europe and Asia. Three former Soviet states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are members of NATO. President Trump was on the verge of pulling the US out of it, and Biden has reversed that.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

Vegetable oil prices shooting high 

 

• The story: India is the world's top importer of vegetable oil, and will spend billions of extra dollars in 2021 to buy more costly cooking oil from overseas. The government is thinking of cutting taxes on those imports to soften the pressure to the economy.

• Details: Problems in the global production of key oilseeds coupled with rising biodiesel use have fuelled the global 'vegoil' rally.

1. Soyoil futures have jumped more than 70% this year after drought tightened U.S. and Brazilian soybean supplies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast global soybean stocks will fall to a five-year low of 87.9 million tonnes by September.
2. Palm oil prices, the most widely consumed edible oil, also rallied 18% in 2020 after COVID-19 lockdowns curbed output from plantations in Southeast Asia.
3. Benchmark futures in Malaysia touched 4,142 ringgit ($1,007.30) a tonne in mid-March, their highest since 2008.
4. Poor rapeseed and sunflower seed harvests in Europe and the Black Sea region further tightened edible oil supplies, helping push global food prices to 10-year highs last month.
5. Mirroring record global prices, domestic palm oil and soyoil rates have more than doubled in 2020.

• India's imports are huge: As the top edible oil importer, India spends an average of $8.5-$10 billion annually on imported vegoils and the recent price surge will only inflate its bloated import bill further. Vegetable oil is India's third-biggest import item after crude oil and gold.

1. India's vegetable oil imports have surged to 15 million tonnes from 4 million only two decades ago
2. It could touch 20 million by 2030, boosted by a growing populace with higher incomes and a taste for calorie-laden curry and fried food
3. Domestic oilseed production has failed to keep pace with demand, as farmers prefer to grow grains like rice and wheat, the price of which is guaranteed by the government.
4. India produced about 10.65 million tonnes of edible oils in 2019-20, less than half of the roughly 24 million tonnes it consumed during that period. It imported the rest, buying around 7.2 million tonnes of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, about 3.4 million tonnes of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina, and 2.5 million tonnes of sunflower oil, mainly from Russia and Ukraine.

• Official action: Rising vegetable oil prices have further hit people already reeling from record fuel prices and lower incomes due to a devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections. The government has voiced support for greater domestic production of oil crops in recent years, and had been expected to unveil incentives for farmers willing to expand oilseed output in its latest annual budget plan. But a viable plan to raise oilseeds production is missing.
• Summary: India grows several oilseeds - mainly peanuts, soybeans and rapeseed (mustard) - but their prices are not guaranteed by the government like grain prices are. As a result, Indian output of rice and wheat is nearly six times greater than total oilseed output on average. Govt. earns Rs.35000 crore ($4.79 billion) from levies on edible oil imports, and must set aside some of that to incentivise farmers to switch to oilseeds.

India's Wholesale Price Index set for revision

• The story: The draft technical report of the working group on revision of current series of WPI 2011-12 to new series 2017-18 is now released.

• Key points to note: It says that changing the base year for the WPI from 2011-12 to 2017-18 is required, as key to reflect the structural changes in the economy, including demonetisation and GST. The working group has made a comprehensive evaluation of the changing consumption patterns of wholesale products and has expanded the basket.

1. The number of items in the manufactured products index has increased from 564 in the current index to 1,026. The number of primary articles index has increased from 117 to 131 and fuel and power index from 16 to 19. The weight of primary articles in the new series is higher, mainly due to higher food prices in the period considered.
2. Share of fuel prices has moved lower to 11.24% from 13.15%, due to the lower crude oil prices in that period. Manufactured products continue to have the largest share at 63.93% in the new index. Using the average consumption of 3 years from 2015-16 to 2017-18 is a good way to smoothen the short-term volatility in prices. [But average of 5 years instead of 3 years could have been considered]
3. Business Services Price Index  (BSPI) - The report recommends having a BSPI. Merging the BSPI with the WPI will help capture the inflation in services more accurately. The report suggests six price indices as separate indices and a combined BSPI.
4. The separate indices are BSPI-Banking, BSPI-Insurance, BSPI-Securities, BSPI-Telecom, BSPI-Air Transport and BSPI-Railways. This index can be used by National Accounts Division, MOSPI, as a deflator in national accounts.

• WPI's relevance: The WPI was the primary inflation gauge prior to 2014, but since then the consumer price index (CPI) has become the key data point used to formulate monetary policy. The WPI is now mainly used as a deflator for nominal macroeconomic aggregates such as GDP and IIP. It is also used to determine escalation clause in infrastructure projects, revision of toll rates, tariff setting in ports, electricity and so on. The WPI has a mix of primary commodities and manufactured products as its constituents, rendering it unsuitable as a measure of producer price inflation.
• Today's requirement: There is a need for a Producer Price index (PPI), work on which is in progress. The PPI selects constituents based on supply use and avoids double counting. It will be a better measure of the inflationary pressure on businesses. The sub-group to facilitate smooth transition from WPI to PPI needs to expedite the process. A clutter of items that also find a presence in the CPI should be avoided.
• CPI and WPI: Both the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and WPI measure the inflationary trends i.e. movement of price signals within the broader economy. The WPI tracks year-on-year wholesale inflation at the producer or factory gate level / purchase of bulk inputs by traders, while the CPI tracks changes in price levels at the shop end. It is reflective of the inflation experienced at the level of consumers. The two indices differ in the manner in which weightages are assigned. This applies to food, fuel and manufactured items as well as their sub-segments. So weightage of food in CPI is far higher (46%) than in WPI (24%). The WPI does not capture changes in the prices of services but CPI does.
• RBI FIT: Since 2016, by law, the Reserve Bank of India was asked to control retail price inflation (using CPI) to a level of 4% plus minus 2%, as part of the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) policy.

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

Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought - UNCCD

 

• The story: In June 2021, India's PM delivered a keynote address at the United Nations (UN) “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought” via video conference. He spoke as the President of the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties (CoP) of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Dialogue will encourage all member states to adopt and implement Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets and National Drought Plans.

• Points to note: India is on track to achieve its national commitment on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) (Sustainable Development Goal target 15.3). The LDN is a state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.

1. Working to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 - This would contribute to India’s commitment to achieving an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (a part of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target under the 2015 Paris Agreement). Over the last 10 years, around 3 million hectares of forest cover has been added.
2. For Example: The Banni region in Rann of Kutch in Gujarat suffers from highly degraded land and receives very little rainfall. In that region, land restoration is done by developing grasslands, which helps in achieving land degradation neutrality.
3. On challenges of developing world - Today, land degradation affects over two-thirds of the world. India is assisting fellow developing countries to develop land restoration strategies. A Centre of Excellence is being set up in India to promote a scientific approach towards land degradation issues. It is at Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education. The ICFRE, based in Dehradun, is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

• Land degradation: It is caused by multiple forces, including extreme weather conditions, particularly drought. It is also caused by human activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility. Desertification is a consequence of severe land degradation and is defined as a process that creates arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It accelerates climate change and biodiversity loss, and contributes to droughts, wildfires, involuntary migration and the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases.

• Global efforts:

1. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was established in 1994, the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
2. The Delhi Declaration of 2019, signed by 14th CoP of the UNCCD, called for better access and stewardship over land, and emphasised gender-sensitive transformative projects.
3. The Bonn Challenge to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
4. Great Green Wall - An initiative by Global Environment Facility (GEF), where eleven countries in Sahel-Saharan Africa have focused efforts to fight against land degradation and revive native plant life to the landscape.

• India’s efforts: India is focusing on sustainable land and resource management for livelihood generation at community level for making the local lands healthier and productive for providing a better homeland and a better future for its inhabitants. The National Action Programme for combating desertification was prepared in 2001 to take appropriate action in addressing the problems of desertification. Some of the major programmes which address issues related to land degradation and desertification, being implemented currently are as follows:

1. Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana)
   
2. National Afforestation Programme (NAP),
3. National Mission for Green India (GIM),
4. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),
5. Soil Conservation in the Catchment of River Valley Project,
6. National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA),
7. Fodder and Feed Development Scheme-component of Grassland Development including Grass Reserves.
8. Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) programme,
9. Soil Health Card Scheme, etc.

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

China getting international attention, of the wrong kind

• The story: Major democracies have come together in June to issue extraordinary back-to-back rebukes of Beijing, marking a shift toward collective action and pushing back against President Xi Jinping’s strategies to position China as a global leader.
• Started with G-7: Over two consecutive days, Group of Seven (G-7) leaders and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations jointly criticized core Chinese policy under Mr. Xi as damaging to military stability, human rights, international trade and global health. NATO members vowed to counter “systemic challenges to the rules-based international order" posed by China.
• China's reaction: China’s Foreign Ministry rejected the statements as the misguided work of “small circles" and primarily the U.S. It said, "The U.S. is sick, and it’s very sick. The G-7 should check America’s pulse and prescribe drugs for it." The one-two punch of public criticism smacks directly into Mr. Xi’s assertion that China won’t stand for lecturing by other nations, suggesting anxiety in key capitals is prompting governments to seek alignment with the U.S. over attempting to manage the relationship with Beijing on their own.

• Backlash: The international backlash comes as the Chinese Communist Party is preparing to put Mr. Xi at the center of its 100th anniversary celebration, the successful emergence from a century of struggles and humiliation by foreign powers to become the world’s top trading nation and second biggest economy.

1. As criticism builds against Mr. Xi in major nations, the question for China’s leadership is how much it values its international standing.
2. China frames criticism of its policies as U.S.-led Cold War thinking, with its diplomats confidently asserting that the East is rising and the West is in decline.

• Much to worry about: Discontent about China has built for some time among democratic nations that are concerned about its detention of Muslim Uyghurs, undoing of freedoms in Hong Kong, coercive trade practices and military provocations against the democratic island Taiwan, and all were highlighted in the G-7’s statement. The grouping of the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan also expressed concern that Beijing has lacked transparency on Covid-19, while touching generally on treatment of prisoners, internet censorship and other features of Mr. Xi’s strongman rule. China considers each issue its own business and in its embassy retort said the G-7 “arbitrarily interfered in China’s internal affairs."
• Summary: President Biden vowed his China policy would feature alliance building to hold China accountable and the G-7 and NATO events marked his first opportunity to promote the vision on an international stage. The G-7 language was tougher on China than the document produced by the larger, 30-member NATO grouping. To blunt foreign criticism of its policies in the past, China has effectively relied on the lure of its massive market.

Foreign affairs update

• Israel-Gaza cease-fire breaks: Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza in the early hours on 16th June in response to what Israeli officials described as “incendiary devices” attached to balloons were floated into Israeli territory from the Palestinian enclave. No casualties were reported. Hamas had threatened retaliation over a provocative march by far-right Israelis through Jerusalem’s Old City where hundreds chanted “Death to Arabs.” The renewed Israeli bombings come as support for Hamas has undergone a “dramatic” shift. 53 percent of Palestinians now see Hamas as the “most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people,” while only 14 percent of those surveyed held Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party in the same esteem.
• ICC update: Karim Khan begins his nine-year term as the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor today, replacing the outgoing Fatou Bensouda. Khan, a British citizen, inherits a host of ongoing cases—from a war crimes investigation into actions by the Israeli military and Hamas to probing U.S. and Taliban activities in the Afghan war. Bensouda’s final act was to open an investigation into extrajudicial killings during the Philippines war on drugs.
• LGBT rights in Hungary: Rights groups have condemned a new law banning content portraying or “promoting” homosexuality or sex reassignment which was passed by the Hungarian parliament on Tuesday. All but one of Hungary’s opposition parties boycotted the vote. The ruling Fidesz party defended the legislation as a means of protecting children from pedophilia, a strategy rights groups emphatically rejected. “Associating paedophilia with LGBT people, banning comprehensive sexuality education and stifling free speech is despicable and unworthy of an EU member state,” Lydia Gall of Human Rights Watch wrote.
• Taiwan tensions: China’s air force flew 28 military planes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on 15th June, in the largest daily incursion since the island’s defence ministry started regularly reporting on such activities last year. The mission comes amid increased Chinese military activity around the island in recent months and surpassed the previous record of 25 aircraft reported on April 12. In the past, Beijing has said such operations are needed to combat what it’s called “collusion” between Taipei and Washington. This particular incursion came after China accused the G7 of “political manipulation” following the release of a a G7 communiqué on Sunday—the first that’s ever discussed Taiwan—that stressed “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
• IKEA fined: Furniture giant IKEA has been forced to pay roughly $1.3 million in damages and fines after a French court found the company guilty of spying on employees from 2009-2012. The company and its managers were accused of enlisting the police and private investigators to illegally access confidential information on job applicants as well as any criminal history. The company’s head of risk is reported to have launched investigations into why one staffer could afford a new BMW, and why another had “suddenly become a protester.” IKEA’s parent company Ingka group said it had “implemented a major action plan to prevent this from happening again.”

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

ILO urges minimum wages for domestic workers

 

• The story: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in a report, titled “Making decent work a reality for domestic workers” has recommended inclusion of domestic work as a form of work in relevant legislations and polices.
• Details: It said that exclusion from national labour laws and high levels of informality continue to take a heavy toll on the working conditions of domestic workers in the Asia and the Pacific region. The report was prepared to observe the tenth anniversary of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 and International Domestic Workers Day, June 16.
• Recommendations: It has recommended inclusion of domestic work as a form of work in relevant legislations and polices that regulate working time and wages as a necessary first step. It asked member countries to ensure a minimum wage that takes into account actual working time, daily and weekly rest, and whether domestic workers have overtime protection or compensation, as well as the needs of workers and their families, and household capacity to pay. “Since live-in domestic workers tend to work some of the longest hours, separate minimum wages for live-in and live-out domestic workers can also be considered,” the report said.
• Asia and the Pacific region: It employs 38.3 million domestic workers or 50.6 per cent of domestic workers worldwide and remains the world’s largest employer of domestic workers, the report said adding that Philippines is the only country in the region that ratified the Domestic Workers Convention of the ILO. China accounts for a large portion of the total 22 million domestic workers, while India has 4.8 million domestic workers followed by the Philippines (2 million), Bangladesh (1.5 million) and Indonesia (1.2 million). “Domestic work in the Asia and the Pacific region is performed largely by women (78.4 per cent) however, the region is also the largest employer of male domestic workers, accounting for 46.1 per cent of male domestic workers across the world,” it said.
• Informal jobs: It added that in Asia and the Pacific, 61.5 per cent of domestic workers remain fully excluded from labour law. “84.3 per cent of domestic workers in the region are in informal employment compared to 52.8 per cent for other employees. 64 per cent of domestic workers remain excluded from the right to weekly rest in Asia and the Pacific,” the report said. Only 19 per cent of domestic workers in the region have the same entitlements to paid annual leave as other workers. Most domestic workers in the region (71 per cent) remain without any limits on their normal weekly hours. Half of all domestic workers in Asia and the Pacific work more than 48 hours per week.
• Summary: It is time for governments to wake up and work together more dignity for these informal household workers.

Punjab's government school chart a foreign language path 

• The story:The CM of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, directed the Education Department to explore all possibilities to have foreign languages as optional subjects for students of government schools.
• Earlier action: In 2018, CM Amarinder had said that Mandarin Chinese would be offered to senior secondary classes in government schools. This was because “China was emerging as the most significant neighbor” and it was “need of the hour to learn their language”. The project could not take off even as Education Department started looking for qualified instructors.
• Logic: Punjab is a state where majority of youths live with NRI dreams and are keen to learn foreign languages. They mostly move to countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand among others. Most students in Punjab government schools come from rural background. They face difficulty in speaking and writing English language. This is largely due to weak basic skills acquired at primary level. Later, clearing the IELTS exam becomes a challenge, which is mandatory for moving to countries such as Canada. The government school students are mostly not in position to afford private tuition/coaching facilities to learn other languages or even English. So, if students are taught at least one foreign language, it would improve chances of their employability across the globe.
• The plan: The Education Department has been asked to explore all possibilities to offer languages such as ‘French, Chinese, Arabic’ to the students. The plan so far is to start online classes after tying up institutes/coaching centers. Students can opt whichever language they want such as German, Chinese, and French etc. This will be completely optional, and not compulsory.
• Elementary education: Various reports including the annual ASER have highlighted that elementary reading, writing and arithmetic skills elude a substantial section of children even after spending 8 to 10 years in school. Local administrative agencies rarely take ownership of the education crisis.
• Punjab's approach: Punjab topped the recent National Performance Grading Index in school education for 2019-20. The state topped on the back of a school revamping initiative by its education department, the brainchild of the state’s education secretary. The programme rationalised teacher posting, ramped up infrastructure and made optimum use of both analogue and digital avenues, and converted 67% of the government-run schools into smart schools.

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

Delhi High Court and bail for activists charged under UAPA

 

• The story: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to JNU student Natasha Narwal in the 2020 riots 'conspiracy' case, saying terror laws cannot be applied in a "cavalier manner" and the line between the right to protest and terrorist activity is getting blurred as also that it will be a sad day for democracy if this mindset gains traction.

• The bench: A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani admitted her on a regular bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each along with two sureties of the like amount. The court also granted bail to two more student activists in the case. The bench said that it seemed that in its anxiety to suppress dissent, in the mind of the State, the line between the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy.

1. The court stated that the allegations relating to inflammatory speeches, organising 'chakka jaam', instigating women are evidence that she participated in organising protests, but there is no specific allegation that she incited violence.
2. The court can discern nothing specific or particularised allegation, much less any material, that the appellant incited violence, what to talk of committing a terrorist act or a conspiracy or act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act as understood in the UAPA!
3. Narwal, who was arrested in May 2020, has been directed to surrender her passport and not to travel out of the country without permission of the trial court or contact prosecution witnesses or other persons acquainted with the facts of the case or tamper with evidence.

• The case: It pertains to the alleged 'conspiracy' to incite the riots, which had left 53 people dead and hundreds injured in north-east Delhi in February 2020. Narwal, along with 17 others, are accused in the case. A student pursuing MPhil-PhD Programme from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Narwal has been accused of various offences under the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Assembly (Prevention) Act, Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

• Wrong charges: The court said no offence under sections 15 (terrorist act), 17 (punishment for raising funds for terrorist act) or 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the UAPA is prima facie made-out against Narwal in the case based on the charge-sheet and the material collected and cited by the prosecution. It said that although the definition of 'terrorist act' in section 15 of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is wide and somewhat vague, it must partake the essential character of terrorism and the phrase 'terrorist act' cannot be permitted to be applied in a "cavalier manner" to criminal acts that squarely fall under the IPC.

1. It noted that the charge sheet was filed on September 16, 2020 and there are 740 prosecution witnesses and the trial is yet to commence which is unlikely to begin soon in view of the truncated functioning of courts because of the prevailing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. In the charge sheet, the police have claimed that the clashes were part of a "pre-planned and premeditated conspiracy". It showed screenshots of purported WhatsApp messages exchanged by student activists, as well as their Facebook posts, to establish their complicity in the alleged conspiracy.
3. Narwal is an accused in a total of three cases related to Delhi riots. She has now been granted bail in all the cases. Besides her, the court has granted bail to JNU student Devanagana Kalita and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha.

• India is too strong: The right to protest peacefully is a fundamental feature of any democracy and a constitutional right in India. The high court has rightly reminded us all of this basic tenet. The police, who often slap outrageous charges on protestors, should pay heed to this. The Court said it was of the view that the foundations of India stand on surer footing than to be likely to be shaken by a protest, however vicious, organised by a tribe of college students, operating as a coordination committee from the confines of a university situated in the heart of Delhi.
• Summary: India is facing a unique situation where nationalism, sedition, terrorism are all being redefined. It is the Supreme Court that may need to finally step in, and set clear red lines for everyone.

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

Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) 

• The story: A fast radio burst (FRB) is a transient radio pulse caused by high-energy astrophysical processes not yet understood. New detections now indicate that the bursts could be the result of at least two separate astrophysical phenomena.
• Two types: A radio telescope in Canada detected 535 fast radio bursts, quadrupling the known tally of these brief, highly energetic phenomena in one go. The long-awaited results show that these enigmatic events come in two distinct types — most bursts are one-off events, with a minority repeating periodically and lasting at least ten times longer on average.
• CHIME: The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) collected the events in its first year of operation, between 2018 and 2019. The team announced its results during a virtual meeting of the American Astronomical Society on 9 June, and posted four preprints on the online repository arXiv.

• Repeaters and one-offs: Located near Penticton in British Columbia, CHIME is a telescope with no moving parts. It comprises four half-pipe antennas, each 100 metres long. At any given time, it observes one narrow strip of the sky above it. But as Earth rotates, the telescope scans the sky, and digital processing chips collect its signals to form an image.

1. CHIME was initially conceived to map the distribution of matter in the Universe, but a complex kit of extra electronics was added in its design so that it could pick up fast radio bursts as well. Spitler recalls that many workers in the field had been sceptical about the telescope’s potential for detecting the bursts, but the latest announcement has vindicated it.
2. But what causes fast radio bursts? The CHIME results seem to cement the idea that there are at least two distinct types. Sixty-one of the 535 detected were ‘repeaters’—they came from 18 sources that have been seen emitting bursts multiple times. The two groups of bursts differ in duration, with one-off events being much shorter. Repeaters also emit on a much narrower band of radio frequencies than do one-off bursts.
3. Until now, the evidence for this was not strong: some astronomers argued that non-repeating bursts could just have been repeaters that had not been observed for long enough to see them burst again.

• Vast distances to travel: Fast radio bursts tend to be detected over one second or more. But this duration is misleadingly long: as signals travel across millions of light years of space, intergalactic matter tends to smear radio waves across the spectrum, a phenomenon known as dispersion. As a result, lower-frequency waves can arrive at Earth with a delay of several seconds compared with higher-frequency ones. Researchers calculated that, at the source, the emission of a radio burst typically lasts only milliseconds. During that time, the source of a burst can emit 500 million times more energy than the Sun over a comparable amount of time. The extent of this dispersion of wavelengths provides a rough indication of how far the waves had to travel. So far, all bursts have been shown to originate in other galaxies, except for one event that occurred in the Milky Way.

• Origin theories: In recent years, researchers have monitored some the regions of the sky that produced bursts in the past, and in some cases have seen them re-occur with regular periodicity. The ‘repeater’ discovered by Spitler and her collaborators in 2016, for example, has cycles of activity lasting a day or so—emitting several bursts per hour—and repeating every 160 days. This regular repetition offers some clues to what might be causing the bursts.

1. One possible explanation is that repeaters could occur when a highly magnetized neutron star circles around an ordinary star in an elongated orbit. As the neutron star periodically gets closer to its companion, bursts could result from its magnetic field scattering the highly energetic stellar wind.
2. Non-repeaters, on the other hand, could be the result of cataclysmic events, such as the collisions of neutron stars, or magnetic storms in young neutron stars called magnetars. The Milky Way event was linked to a known magnetar. But the magnetar theory has been cast into doubt by the finding, reported of a burst from a ‘globular cluster’ in the galaxy M81. Globular clusters are dense collections of very old stars, and are considered unlikely to host magnetars.

• Summary: The first discovery of a fast radio burst in 2007 came as a shock to researchers. Theorists came up with a plethora of possible explanations.

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

Covid explosion again, if Indians misbehave

• The story: In capital Delhi, thousands of commuters crowded into underground train stations and shopping malls as lockdown was lifted, prompting some doctors to warn it could lead to a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. Major Indian cities have begun lifting strict lockdowns as the nationwide tally of new infections has dropped to its lowest level in more than two months.
• Warning: Disease experts and doctors have cautioned that a race towards resuming business as usual would compromise vaccination efforts as only about 5% of all 950 million eligible adults have been inoculated. Doctors say Delhi's near-complete re-opening is concerning. The city's authorities have said they would reimpose strict curbs if cases rise. Thousands died in Delhi in May 2021, as oxygen supplies all but vanished and families pleaded on social media over scarce hospital beds.
• Reopening: After a strict five-week lockdown in Delhi, authorities have fully re-opened shops and malls, and allowed restaurants to have 50% seating. Suburban rail networks can run at 50% capacity, and offices have been partially reopened. Vaccinations have slowed, however; the Delhi government said inoculation centres for people ages 18-44 would start shutting down on Tuesday, as doses were scarce.
• Observation: Some say Delhi ought to have unlocked far more scientifically. Nationwide, India reported 60,471 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours (15th June), the lowest number since March 31. India added 2,726 deaths overnight, taking the overall tally to 3,77,031

Online module for children’s data

• The story: The Ministry of Education has developed an online module for compiling out-of-school (due to Covid-19 pandemic) children’s data identified by each State/UT. The collected data will be mapped with special training centres on the PRABANDH portal of Samagra Shiksha.
• Points to note: Through the module, the government will facilitate age-appropriate admissions of children in the age group of 6-14 years and those belonging to socially and economically disadvantaged groups. Also, for out of school children in the 16-18 years age group, financial assistance will be provided for the first time in the session 2021-22, to continue their education through open/distance learning mode.
• PRABANDH Portal: The PRABANDH (PRoject Appraisal, Budgeting, Achievements and Data Handling System) is a step towards leveraging technology to increase efficiency and manage the implementation of a centrally sponsored integrated scheme for schooling- Samagra Shiksha. It is to have transparency and accuracy in the System w.r.t Approvals, Releases, Financial Status. Also streamline the Financial Management System, to enable more accurate assessment of actual requirement of funds for implementation.
• Samagra Shiksha: The Samagra Shiksha is an integrated scheme for school education extending from pre-school to class XII to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education. It subsumes the three Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). The main emphasis of the Scheme is on improving the quality of school education by focussing on the two T’s – Teacher and Technology. It complements the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education , i.e. SDG 4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all). It aims to support States in the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
• RTE: The Right to Education Act (RTE) is a fundamental right under Article 21-A of the Constitution of India. The Act makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. The Scheme is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The fund sharing pattern for the scheme between Centre and States is at present in the ratio of 90:10 for the North-Eastern States and the Himalayan States and 60:40 for all other States and Union Territories with Legislature. It is 100% centrally sponsored for Union Territories without Legislature.

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

Delta Plus variant of Covid 19

 

 

• The story: The central government has confirmed that it detected a mutation in the delta variant of SARS CoV2 virus which has emerged into an additional strain named as Delta Plus. The Delta variant had played a crucial role in the second wave. The govt. has submitted the latest information to the global data system (GISAID).

• VOC or VOI: As per Dr. Vinod Paul Member (Health) in NITI Aayog and Chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for covid-19 (NEGVAC), Delta Plus was a variant of interest for now, but not a variant of concern.

1. This variant nullifies the use of monoclonal antibody.
2. The government said that INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia) will keep a strict vigil on the new variant.
3. India has seen almost a 85% decline in cases since the highest reported peak in daily new cases and a consistent decline in average daily new cases since week of 5-11 May.
4. A reduction of 366 districts is indicating containment of infection in relatively limited territories. Active cases have come below 10 lakh after 65 days.

• Children: While there has been a debate over children being affected by the coronavirus, the government said Those aged 1-20 years accounted for 11.62% of the total cases during the second wave (March 15 to May 25) as against 11.31% in the first wave (July 1 to December 31), indicating not much difference in the proportion of those infected in this age-group.

All Haj 2021 applications cancelled

 

 

• The story: The Haj Committee of India announced that all applications for Haj 2021 were cancelled. The Committee said that the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia issued a statement informing that due to Corona Pandemic conditions, only limited number of people would be allowed.
• Details: "The Kingdome of Saudi Arabia has decided to allow citizens and residents inside the Kingdome of Saudi Arabia only to attend Haj 1442 in limited numbers. International Haj has been cancelled. hence it has been decided by the Haj Committee of India that all the applications for Haj-2021 stands cancelled," the Committee said.
• Limited pilgrims: In 2021, Saudi Arabia has set a limit of maximum of 60,000 pilgrims inside the Kingdom, and has barred foreigners to perform the Hajj. The Ministry of Haj and Umrah announced that "only 60,000 vaccinated residents and citizens living in the Kingdom will be allowed to perform this year's Haj pilgrimage due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic".
• Summary: This is the second year in a row that Saudi Arabia has limited the Haj pilgrimage to Muslims inside the Kingdom. In 2020, only 10,000 Muslims were allowed to perform Hajj.

Mapping the Heliosphere

 

• The story: Scientists have now created the first-ever 3D map of boundary between the solar system and interstellar space called Heliosphere. The 3D map was created using data from NASA’s IBEX satellite.
• Points to note: The boundary of heliosphere will help scientists to understand how solar and interstellar winds interact. Earlier, this boundary was mentioned in theories of Physics models. This is the first-time scientists were able to measure it and make its three-dimensional map.
• Heliosphere: It is created by the sun, and is a vast bubble-like region of space surrounding it. A cavity formed by Sun in surrounding interstellar medium, the bubble of heliosphere is continuously inflated by solar winds. The solar plasma provides a way to interstellar plasma, outside the heliosphere, permeating Milky Way galaxy. Radiation levels inside and outside the heliosphere differs. Planets inside are partly shielded from the impact of galactic radiations. Heliosphere is the direct area under influence of Sun, whose edge is decided by heliospheric magnetic field and solar wind from Sun. The term "Heliosphere" was coined by Alexander J. Dessler. "Heliophysics" includes space weather and space climate.

Twitter appoints interim Chief Compliance Officer for India

 

• The story: After a long-running war of wits, Twitter finally appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer in India to comply with the Indian government’s new IT rules. Not complying with the New Rules would end the "safe harbour" protection granted to any social media platform, and make it directly liable on civil and criminal grounds.
• Points to note: Twitter appointed Chief Compliance Officer after a prolonged battle with Indian government over its new IT rules. India announced a new set of "IT rules" in February, 2021, implemented on May 25. It requires tech companies in India like Facebook, WhatsApp, Google etc to appoint chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer in India.
• What happened: When the new IT Rules were first brought on May 25, Twitter India had asked government for more time to comply with new IT Rules while WhatsApp & Facebook appointed their respective grievance officers.
• What new rules do: The Indian government notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 in February 2021. The "New rules" deal with social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Rules were framed under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. Under the new rules, resident grievance officer will be appointed under larger grievance redressal mechanism. Content on social media platforms will be monitored actively and monthly compliance reports will be made available for Indian users. Authorities in India can now ask these platforms to identify origin of any message.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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

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