Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 01-07-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 01-07-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Economy - India reports current account surplus - After 17 years, India finally reported a current account surplus of 0.9% of GDP in pandemic-hit 2020-21, as against a deficit of 0.9% in FY20. This was as per data released by the RBI, which said the trade deficit reduced to $102.2 billion from $157.5 billion in 2019-20. The country's current account deficit widened to $8.1 billion or 1% of GDP for the March quarter. Net invisible receipts were lower in FY21 due to an increase in net outgo of overseas investment income payments and lower net private transfer receipts, even though net services receipts were higher than the year-ago period. There was an accretion of USD 87.3 billion to foreign exchange reserve on a balance of payments basis. A positive current account means the nation earns more than it spends. [Definitions - (i) The current account is India's trade balance plus net income and direct payments. (ii) The trade balance is India's imports and exports of goods and services (exports minus imports) and is the largest component of a current account surplus or deficit]
2. Indian Economy - Interest rates on Small Saving Schemes - The government was planning to reduce interest rates on small saving schemes for the July – September quarter, just like it tried for the April-June quarter but pulled back at the last moment. A cut in small savings rates at this point will hurt households amid increase in inflation. These schemes are the major source of household savings in India and comprise 12 instruments. The depositors get an assured interest on their money. Collections from all small savings instruments are credited to the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF). Small savings have emerged as a key source of financing the government deficit. Finally, on 01st July, it emerged that the government did not go for any cut in interest rates. A big reason is the upcoming assembly elections in UP and Gujarat, both big contributors to small saving schemes.
3. Governance and Institutions - Fresh electoral bearer bonds issue - The State Bank of India (SBI) will again issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches across the country w.e.f. July 01, 2021 to July 10, 2021. The Government of India notified the Electoral Bond Scheme in 2018. Under the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds through cheque/digital payment, either singly or jointly with other individuals by approaching the banks. The donor donates these bonds to the political party. The Bonds shall be received only by the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951. Also, these should have secured not less than 1% of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State. The Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank e.g.: SBI. The political party has to encash into the account which is registered with the Election Commission of India. Electoral Bonds shall be valid for 15 calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period. The entire concept has been challenged in the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional, due to its opacity.
4. Environment and Ecology - Killer heat wave in US and Canada - The Northwestern US and Pacific Canada are in the grips of a heat wave that the National Weather Service called "historic and dangerous". A weather anomaly called a "heat dome" is partially to blame. According to the US National Weather Service, in most parts of the country, temperatures must be above the historical average in an area for two or more days before the label “heat wave” is applied to a hot spell. Causes of heat wave include high pressure in the atmosphere moves in and pushes warm air toward the ground. That air warms up further as it is compressed, and we begin to feel a lot hotter. The high-pressure system pressing down on the ground expands vertically, forcing other weather systems to change course. It even minimizes wind and cloud cover, making the air more stifling. This is why a heat wave parks itself over an area for several days.
5. Constitution and Law - NDMA must ensure compensation to Covid hit families - The Supreme Court directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to frame guidelines for payment of ex-gratia compensation to family members of persons who succumbed to COVID- 19. It directed the NDMA to ascertain within six weeks ex-gratia amount that can be paid. The order came in response to a plea seeking ex-gratia of four lakh rupees each to the families of all those who succumbed to the virus. NDMA is controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its primary objective is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response. It was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India in 2005. Organisation setup includes the Prime Minister as the ex-officio chairperson, chairing a 9-member board. The remainder of the board consists of members nominated based on their expertise in areas such as, planning, infrastructure management, communications, meteorology etc. The day-to-day management of the agency is overseen by the office of the Vice Chair.
6. Defence and Military - Indrajaal - Hyderabad-based technology R&D firm Grene Robotics has designed and developed India’s first indigenous drone defence dome called “Indrajaal”. The drone defence dome has the capability to autonomously protect an area of 1000-2000 sq km against the aerial threats by assessing and acting on aerial threats such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), loitering munitions, and Low- Radar Cross Section (RCS) targets. The ANTI-UAV systems will not only provide protection to defence bases but it will be beneficial for linear infrastructures like international borders against advanced weaponry. Real-time situational awareness / Integrated and Intelligent meshed network / Integrated all current weapons suite and infrastructure / Honeycombed cell structure for seamlessly built / Synergic combination of 9-10 technologies / 24×7 persistent and autonomous monitoring, action and tracking.
7. Infrastructure - SEBI on REITs and InvITs - The SEBI has reduced the minimum application amount for real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) to Rs 10,000-15,000 from the Rs 55,000 at present, aligning them with equity initial public offerings (IPOs). Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are looked upon as attractive investment avenues with many entities looking at such structures to raise money from the capital markets. While the underlying assets in REITs are income-generating commercial or residential properties, InvITs are backed by infrastructure projects. Currently, there are three REITs and two InvITs listed on the Indian stock exchanges. Earlier, the minimum application size was around Rs 55,000 in REITs and InvITs, which has now been reduced to between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. The trading lot size has also been brought down to just one unit. The lower application size and trading lot would help in attracting more retail investors to the segment.
8. Science and Technology - Global cybersecurity index 2020 - A United Nations report indicated India jumped 37 places to 10th position in the Global Cyber Security Index (GCI) 2020. The GCI is a composite index created, analyzed and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of UN. It measures the commitment to cybersecurity of its 194 member countries to raise cybersecurity awareness. The latest report is the fourth GCI edition by the ITU, the first version being six years ago. Each country’s development or engagement is assessed along five pillars – (i) Legal measures, (ii) Technical measures, (iii) Organizational measures, (iv) Capacity development, and (v) Cooperation- and then aggregated into a composite score. The top ranked was the US, with a score of 100. The UK and Saudi Arabia finished second, tied with a score of 99.54. In the Asia Pacific region, South Korea and Singapore were on top with a score of 98.52, which ranks fourth globally. Others at the top included Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia (98.06) at fifth place, Lithuania at sixth, Japan at seventh and Canada, France and India at the subsequent positions. Among others, Turkey (97.49) was ranked 11th, Germany (97.41) at 13th, China (92.53) at 33rd and Israel (90.93) at 36th position. India's 10th rank is a significant jump of 37 places, and it also ranked fourth in the Asia-Pacific region.
9. Science and Technology - Flying cars have arrived - A prototype of the convertible flying car 'AirCar' successfully completed a 35-minute test flight between the international airports in Nitra and Bratislava in Slovakia. It takes 135 seconds to transform from a car into aircraft. AirCar's creator Stefan Klein said it could fly about 1,000 kilometres at a height of 8,200 ft on a single fuel tank top-up. The AirCar can be turned into an aircraft by pushing a single button. It deploys wings and a tail, remodifying the aerodynamics. The process takes a mere 135 seconds. Powered by a BMW petrol engine, AirCar can achieve a maximum cruising speed of 190 kilometres per hour and has flown up to 8,200 feet with its fixed-propeller system.
10. Governance and Institutions - New IT rules - reporting by media giants started - Google published its first monthly transparency report in line with India's new social media and intermediary guidelines, stating that it removed 59,350 pieces of content in April 2021. Google said it received 27,762 user complaints, of which 96% dealt with copyright infringement. The remaining complaints were related to trademark, defamation, counterfeit, circumvention, and other legal requests. Google is one of the first global tech companies to have published its transparency report in compliance with the new Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code). Under the new IT rules, significant digital platforms (with over 5 million users) need to publish periodic compliance reports every month.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

From 2017 to 2021 - GST completes four years

• The story: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was launched with much anticipation on 01st of July 2017, on a pan-India basis. The states of India surrendered significant taxation powers, to be part of the grand dream called "One Nation, One Tax". Four years have gone by. There were multiple challenges in the new regime, and many difficulties have remained unresolved till date.
• Experience: From the taxpayers’ perspective, overall GST was a mixed experience. The organised and large industry players easily adapted to the new GST world, due to their bench strength, but the MSMEs are grappling with it and losing market share in the process. The pandemic has only worsened their plight.

1. Former FM Arun Jaitley, in the Parliament’s Central Hall on the midnight of 30 June 2017 had said “The goods and service tax may be a destination tax, but for India it will begin an altogether new journey…”.
2. GST surely came as a huge tax reforms of independent India, launched after nearly 15 years of deliberations.

• Automation: GST by design reduced the cascading effect of taxation, and created an automated indirect tax ecosystem. From electronic compliances, generation of e-invoices to tracking movement of goods through e-waybill, everything is run online.

1. The e-invoicing system is aimed at ending the menace of fake invoicing, and also usher the taxpayers into a fully automated compliance regime wherein the computation of tax liabilities and matching of input tax credit would become simple (it was promised from day 1, but has't fully happened even now)
2. This is not an easy task as many countries have realised. India has served as an example by trying to implement a complex tax transformation project at such scale, though not fully succeeding in it.
3. The teething issues from the time of GST implementation, ranging from the IT portal not working properly to many data mismatches, have troubled taxpayers a lot. The GST Council (apex decision-making body) has worked with IT vendor (Infosys) to resolve these issues, and has achieved some success.

• Initiatives to speed things up: Many steps were taken - (i) linking the customs portal with GST portal for credit availment on imports, (ii) making available proper means for matching input tax credit, (iii) increased automation of the refund procedure to seamless operation of the Invoice Registry Portal, and so on.
• Federal body: The defining feature of the GST regime was the constitution of the GST Council to ensure Centre-State partnership in the decision-making process. Sadly, over time, GST Council has witnessed huge friction over multiple issues, many of which have remained unresolved. The spirit of cooperative federalism with which states had surrendered their taxation powers has not been reciprocrated fully by the Centre, which sought to delink itself by claiming the pandemic being an "Act of God", when it was time to pay the long-pending compensation cess dues (to states), in 2020. Since 2017, over more than 40 meetings, the Council has tried to -

1. make corrections to the law,
2. issue clarifications on complex issues,
3. rationalize GST rates and
4. introduce relaxations for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

• The statute underwent a lot of tinkering in the past four years, some of which left the stakeholders in a state of confusion and dismay while others have brought in much needed relief and clarity.
• Core issues: The fundamental principles on which the GST law was built viz. seamless flow of input credits and ease of compliance has been impaired by IT glitches, difficulty in input tax matching and introduction of a few draconian provisions in law.

1. The benefits were eclipsed by the frequent issues faced by businesses.
2. The 15th Finance Commission, in its report highlighted several areas of concern in the GST regime relating to multiplicity of tax rates, shortfall in GST collections vis-à-vis the forecast, high volatility in GST collections, inconsistency in filing of returns, dependence of States on the compensation from Centre and so on.

• Pandemic: A core promise made was that each state would get a growth of 14% per annum in its tax collections (once GST was launched), for five years from 2017. That was severely impacted due to the pandemic, leading to delays in payments, and consequent legal case (Kerala at the S.C.).

1. The situation was impacted deeply due to the pandemic-led economic contraction and newer demands came up (to extend the 14% promise for 5 more years)
2. Oil prices sky-rocketed across India since 109, and demands are being made to include petroleum and related products within the GST net.

• Suggestions for improvement: There is significant litigations pending to be decided and huge amounts of refund claims being disputed, so it's vital to finally constitute the GST Appellate Tribunal, as not all taxpayers can approach the High Courts. Streamlining of anti-profiteering measures and simplification of compliance procedures also needs to be revisited to ensure that the cost efficiency and reduction in prices envisaged under GST law finally reaches the common man.
• Average collections: The heartening fact is that since November 2020, the monthly collections have crossed Rs.1.25 lakh crore, on average, compared to the Rs.1 lakh crore prior to that. Key reasons include the matching of two critical databases viz., the income tax database (with CBDT) and the GST database. That has plugged significant tax leakage at MSME level.
• Summary: India has taken a big leap of faith in the GST, but serious friction has arisen between many opposition-ruled states and the Union, which controls the debate in the GST Council via the Finance Minister. As F.M. Amit Mitra of West Bengal, one of the key movers behind the 2017 adoption of GST, hinted recently "the whole spirit of cooperative federalism has now degenerated significantly as one-sided decisions are being pushed, and political decisions too are being taken by bureaucrats".

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

Forest Righs Act (FRA) 2006 and forest conservation

• The story: In 2021, at the UN High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought, India reiterated the target of land degradation neutrality by 2030, and the Banni grassland in Gujarat was showcased.
• The Banni grassland issue: One of Asia’s largest tropical grasslands, Banni is home to great biological diversity, and the lifeline of its pastoralist communities. But climate change and the invasion by 'Prosopis juliflora' have severely impacted its unique ecology. [Prosopis juliflora is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean]

1. Unless action was urgently taken, it was clear Banni grassland was headed for severe fodder scarcity. The region’s highly degraded lands were then taken up for restoration, and the livelihoods of pastoralists were supported using a “novel approach.”
2. The Banni’s pastoralist communities (Maldharis) uproot Prosopis in the pre-monsoon period. When it rains, the native grass species regenerate from their rootstock. This is what the pastoralist communities have been doing for the past few years, and they now need greater support.

• Importance: The local communities applying their deep knowledge of the local ecology to become “decision-makers” in restoring their commons is indeed novel in India. Remember that the mandate for them to do so is not new, but pre-existing since the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 provided for it.

1. Adivasis and other traditional forest-dwelling communities, including pastoralists, are legally empowered to decide on the management and restoration of their community forest resources (CFR). It is another matter that mainstream media may ignore that aspect!
2. They can stop any activity that adversely impacts biodiversity or the local ecology.

• Pan-India problem: Similar to the Banni grasslands, India’s forests are grappling with degradation, an important contributor to GHG emissions. More than 40% of the forest cover is open, often degraded. India has committed to restore 26 million hectares of degraded forests and lands by 2030 under the Bonn pledge, and has targeted creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes by 2030 through additional forest and tree cover. This is as part of its Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement.
• Story so far: India's initiatives to restore degraded landscapes include: social forestry in the 1970s, tree growers’ cooperative societies in the 1980s,
• Joint Forest Management in the 1990s, National Afforestation Programme and Green India Mission in the last two decades, etc. Studies have found these to have had limited restoration benefits. These have drawn criticism for paying little attention to the land and forest tenure of local communities. The traditional ecological knowledge could not be used fully. The CFR rights under FRA are geared to tackle these issues.
• CFR under FRA: It assigns rights to protect, manage and restore around 40 million hectare of forests to village-level democratic institutions. The recognition of these rights, however, has happened at an extremely slow pace, with less than 5% of the total potential area has been brought under CFR. In Banni too, title deeds formally recognising the CFR rights of the pastoralists are yet to be issued. Institutional support for CFR remains minimal.
• Summary: India’s potential to remove carbon through forest restoration is among the highest in the Global South. At 123.3 million, India also has the greatest number of people living near areas with forest restoration opportunities (within 8km). Forest restoration is an important climate mitigation strategy. Beyond carbon sequestration, its benefits include biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. There are thus compelling reasons for India to recognise and support CFR rights.

Heat wave rages across North America - Canada sees record 49.5 degrees

• The story: A heatwave hit large parts of the US Pacific Northwest and Canada, melting previous records. The US National Weather Service issued heat warnings, and some cities opened cooling centres, where residents escape the heat in air-conditioned buildings.
• Deaths: Hundreds of people are likely dead as a result of record-breaking temperatures in Canada and the US Northwest, with more than 60 fatalities in the US state of Oregon and more in Canada. The Canadian province of British Columbia experienced a 195 per cent increase in sudden deaths.
• Heat domes: The heat over western parts of Canada and the US has been caused by a dome of static high-pressure hot air stretching from California to the Arctic territories. Temperatures have been easing in coastal areas but there is not much respite for inland regions.
• Climate change: Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, however linking any single event to global warming is complicated. As the climate changes, there could be an increase in the number of deaths from floods, storms and heatwaves, experts say. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said that since there have been more and more of this type of extreme weather event in the past years, so realistically, this heatwave won’t be the last. The risk of wildfires has risen in step with the soaring temperatures, with the governor of Oregon issuing a state of emergency and many parts of Canada under threat.
• Greta Thunberg: Climate activist Greta Thunberg hit out at media coverage of the North American heatwave which shows beach and swimming pools, rather than focusing on the deaths and wildfires it has caused. She tweeted that some outlets show “happy people on beaches, pools or playing in fountains” and not “the record breaking Canadian town’s on fire”. One Met Office scientist said that the 49.6C recorded in the Canadian village of Lytton “would have been almost impossible” without human-driven climate change.
• Towns being evacuated: A town in Canada was evacuated after it became engulfed by a fast-moving wildfire following a record-breaking heatwave. Temperatures in Lytton, British Columbia, reached 49.6C and the mayor said that the ‘whole town’ was on fire. The village of Lytton, with a population of over 200 people, was ordered to be evacuated after authorities warned of a rapidly deteriorating wildfire.

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

100 years of Chinese communism

• The story: The Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated 100 years of its existence on first of July, 2021. It was on this day a hundred years ago, that the small group of people brought the Party into existence. No one would have imagined it to be so huge and powerful one day.
• Celebrations: The Party started its celebrations with a 100-gun salute as thousands of performers assembled on Tiananmen Square, the same place where thousands of pro-democracy protestors were killed in cold blood by the Party's own army (the PLA) in June 1989. Coronavirus precautions were understated for an outdoor event drawing many thousands of people to Tiananmen Square. The folding yellow and orange chairs in the main area of the square were not quite socially distanced, but still separated: 15 inches in between each chair.

1. President Xi Jinping, who has solidified the Party's unimaginable reach in people lives in all possible ways, said that “For 100 years, the Chinese Communist Party has led in the Chinese people in every struggle, every sacrifice, every innovation, in sum, around one theme — achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
2. Slogan given to all was - “Listen to the party, be grateful to the party, and follow the party,” they shouted. “Let the party rest assured, I’m with the strong country!”

• No military parade on 01st July 2021: The first round of festivities did not include a military parade like the one in 2019 that celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), but the military provided a backdrop. Squadrons of helicopters flew over, carrying red banners and forming the figure 100, followed by fighter jets, including the country’s most advanced fighter jet, the J-20. The seated crowd extended only about three-quarters of the distance from the Forbidden City’s entrance gate, with Mao’s portrait back to the monolith in the heart of the square. But for the Communist Party’s elite, red chairs were mounted on viewing stands at the front of the square..
• Xi's message to the world: Xi told the audience on Tiananmen Square that the party was the only force capable of ensuring the country’s rise. He also issued a rousing warning against any foe that stood in the way. He said the party’s continued rule was essential to ensuring that China stayed on course to becoming a wealthy and advanced world power. In an interesting note, he said that the Chinese people have never bullied, oppressed or enslaved the peoples of other countries, not in the past, not now and not in the future. (This would sound like a joke to the persecuted Uighur minorities of Xinjiang, for sure, struggling to escape "training or re-education camps" which are basically concentration camps or jails.) Xi also said that the Chinese people will never allow foreign forces to bully, oppress or enslave us, and anyone who nurses delusions of doing that will crack their heads and spill blood on the Great Wall of steel built from the flesh and blood of 1.4 billion Chinese people.
• China's global role: China, as per Xi, a force for peace in the world and wanted peaceful unification with Taiwan, the self-governed, democratically run island that Beijing claims as its territory since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek ran away from the mainland. Xi warned against what he called “schemes” to achieve full independence for Taiwan.

1. In Hong Kong, the mood has totally changed. July 1 is both the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control and the 100th anniversary of the founding of China’s ruling Communist Party. And just in 2020 (late on June 30, 2020) China had imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. In the year since the security law came into effect, many of the city’s most prominent opposition politicians have been arrested, with dozens still held in jail. The electoral system was transformed, with directly elected seats cut and security agencies given vast power to vet candidates. Apple Daily, the city’s largest pro-democracy newspaper, was forced to close, and RTHK, the once proudly independent public broadcaster, has been gutted. The Chinese Communist Party is now remaking this city, permeating its once vibrant, irreverent character with ever more overt signs of its authoritarian will. The very texture of daily life is under assault as Beijing molds Hong Kong into something more familiar, more docile.
2. On Taiwan, Xi said that solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the Chinese Communist Party and the common aspiration of all Chinese people. But Taiwan retorted saying "“Democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law are the core values ​​of Taiwan’s society,” the statement read. “There is a major systemic difference with the dictatorship on the other side of the strait.” Beijing has claimed the self-governed island as its own territory since 1949, when the army of the Kuomintang, or Chinese nationalists, fled to Taiwan after losing to Mao Zedong’s Red Army in a bitter civil war. In recent years, Mr. Xi has made it clear in speeches that unification by force remains on the table, though he has not laid out a definitive timeline.

• About Xi Jinping: The supreme leader of China has concentrated power since 2012 like no other leader before him.

1. Since becoming general secretary of the Communist Party in late 2012, Xi Jinping, 68, has made it increasingly clear that he sees himself as a transformative leader — in the footsteps of Mao and Deng — guiding China into a new era of global strength and rejuvenated one-party rule. He surely presides over an economy and a military much stronger than in their times.
2. He was born into a revolutionary family, endured the upheavals of Mao Zedong’s era, and began his career as a party official when Deng Xiaoping and other leaders opened up market reforms. Before Mr. Xi came to power, many in China thought that he would be a milder figure, because his father, Xi Zhongxun, was a revolutionary veteran who in the early 1980s oversaw the beginnings of market reforms in Guangdong Province.
3. Xi Zhongxun had suffered decades of confinement and persecution after Mao turned against him, and his family was torn apart during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Like millions of other youths at that time, the younger Mr. Xi was sent to labor in the countryside, and he spent seven years in a dusty village in northwest China.
4. In 2018, he abolished the two-term limit on the Chinese presidency, opening the way to remain in office — as president, party leader and chairman of the Chinese military — for many years to come. His next big step in that journey will be in 2022, when a Communist Party congress appears likely to acclaim him for a third term as party leader.

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

Global firms welcome for rural internet project

• The story: Government of India is inviting global bids to bring broadband to 3,61,000 villages across 16 states in public-private partnership mode with government aid. The new plan, to be executed by state-run BharatNet through a public-private partnership, was cleared by the Union cabinet. The selected private player will set up, operate and maintain the network. There are about 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in India.
• Nine packages in all: The project will be bundled into nine packages, each corresponding to one or more telecom circles, and no investor will be awarded over four packages. The cabinet cleared parts of the Rs.6.28 lakh crore economic package announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, including the Rs.19,041 crore viability gap funding for the village broadband connectivity programme.
• Goals of the project: The broadband connectivity project in 16 states covers Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The cabinet accorded in-principle approval for extending BharatNet to all inhabited villages in the remaining states and Union territories. The department of telecommunication (DoT) will separately work out the modalities for these remaining states and Union territories. It will enable online education, telemedicine, skill development, e-commerce and other applications of broadband. The cap of awarding a maximum of four packages to an investor will ensure there will be no monopoly in the project. Indian PM Modi had on 15 August 2020 announced that in 1,000 days, optical fibre broadband will be taken to every village. The facility has been introduced in 1,56,000 villages out of the 250,000 villages targeted initially.
• BharatNet: It is the Indian government's broadband service, Bharat Broadband Network Limited. The government has expanded the BharatNet optical fibre broadband project, and has now allowed the private sector to participate in the fibre broadband rollout. The entire project is funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country. The objective is to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to the rural India.
• Deadlines breached: The Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) were the main infrastructure companies under the government that are working on the project to connect 2.5 lakh GPs with high-speed internet by March 2019. The project got delayed by many years. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has the largest pan-India fibre base of nearly 8 lakh route km, and is planning to lease out its infrastructure.

India's MEA S Jaishankar wants Big Tech accountability

• The story: India's external affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that issues like responsibility and accountability of the big tech companies, which enjoy huge power and influence, must be debated. These cannot be brushed under the carpet. His comments came in the backdrop of severe friction between Twitter (an American MNC) and the government, over the new IT rules.
• Democratic accountability: Jaishankar said that a vigorous debate on big technology firms is going in India like in various parts of the world, adding nobody denies that they are "forces of progress". He then went on to question democratic accountability of the giant firms. He wondered what they do with the massive data harvested around the world, and are actually doing the opposite of the American Revolution, which is to have representation and no taxation.
• Power of technology: Jaishankar said it was wrong to say one could not question the firms because then it would be an attack on freedom of speech. There were various aspects to these issues, including political and the influence commanded by the technology giants. Jaishankar said that international relations have been devised on the basis of State-based players. So when we see powerful non-State players, bigger than many States, some questions were bound to arise.
• Summary: Around the world, different nations have had different kinds of problems with GAFAM firms (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft). While some are hitting with the competition law stick (like Europe), some are questioning their very basis of functioning (like India). Time will tell how the debate evolves.

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

Polity updates - 01 July 2021

• India warns EU nations: After the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines were not included in the "Green Passport scheme" of the European Union to facilitate free movement, India requested each of the 27 member countries to individually consider allowing Indians who have taken two vaccine doses to travel to Europe. The states have the flexibility to also accept vaccines authorised at the national level or by the WHO, which allows inclusion of Covishield, but not Covaxin. Several states – Austria, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain – have added Covishield, but not Covaxin, which has yet to secure WHO approval. India threatened that citizens of countries which reject Indian vaccines could be placed in quarantine when they travel here, using a medical procedure for diplomatic aims. The Serum Institute of India is confident of receiving approval from the European Medicines Agency for its Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, in a month’s time.
• CJI reminds the need for total freedom : The Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana has said that for the judiciary to apply checks on governmental power and action, it has to have complete freedom. The judiciary cannot be controlled, directly or indirectly, by the legislature or the executive, or else the rule of law would become illusory. He said that “judges should not be swayed by the emotional pitch of public opinion either, which is getting amplified through social media platforms.” Significantly, he said that the Indian people have changed the ruling party or combination of parties eight times, which accounts for nearly 50% of the number of general elections, so the masses have performed their duties reasonably well. Now, it is the turn of those who are manning the key organs of the state to ponder if they are living up to the Constitutional mandate. This is a stinging rebuke to the state of affairs, quite unlike the earlier CJI Bobade.
• No longer a terrorist: A 44-year-old Srinagar resident, arrested and jailed nearly 12 years ago on terrorism charges and branded as the “Pepsi Bomber” by the media and the J&K Police, returned home after a lower court in Surat, Gujarat, acquitted him of all charges, including under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Bashir Ahmed Baba, who is from Srinagar’s Rainawari area, says he “never lost faith”. The police planted this racy nickname on Baba, claiming he was skilled in assembling Improvised Explosive Devices in empty Pepsi cans. The media pushed it, though no evidence was offered at the time, or during his trial.
• Adults beware, religious laws are here: The Allahabad High Court has declared three interfaith marriages in violation of UP’s new controversial law. It refused to grant protection to three interfaith couples on the ground that their marriages were “illegal” since they had not complied with the requirements under the recently enacted anti-conversion law ―  the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. While in two of the cases, the women involved had converted to Hinduism from Islam to marry Hindu men, a third case was about a Hindu man converting to Islam to marry Muslim woman. This law and the one in force in Madhya Pradesh has been criticised for being in violation of the basic spirit of the Indian Constitution and a tool to be used against minorities and to curtail the agency of women of all religions.
• SC rebukes government on Covid compensation: A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah was unhappy about the delay (and refusal) in granting compensation to the families of Covid-dead in India. It also directed the government to ensure that death certificates clearly stated that a person died from Covid-19 to allow his family members to claim the benefit. It said that the government was bound to pay ex gratia to the next of kin of all those who died of Covid-19, and rejected the Centre’s plea to declare Section 12 of the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) as nonmandatory and absolve the government of any duty to pay ex gratia to kin of Covid-19 victims. The court left the amount to be decided as per fresh guidelines to be framed by the Authority while giving it six weeks to draw up the guidelines. The PM heads the NDMA. The court was clear that it cannot fix a particular quantum to be paid. Earlier, the Centre had refused to pay Rs.4 lakh for every Covid-19 victim’s kin on the ground that it would be a huge strain on the resources of the central and state governments. It had said it would create infrastructure and augment hospitals, testing and vaccination. The SC noted the amounts paid by different states on account of ex gratia differed hugely, with Karnataka paying Rs.1 lakh, Delhi Rs.50,000 and Bihar Rs.4 lakh. Central guidelines would rationalise such amounts, it said. The order came on a petition filed by Reepak Kansal seeking Rs.4 lakh ex gratia in every Covid-19 case.

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• 6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3)

Mini forests via the Miyawaki method

• The story: Cities around the world are in a bad shape, and outdoor pollution kills 4.2m people a year (World Health Organisation data). Concrete and tarmac absorb the sun’s rays rather than reflecting them back into space, and displace plants which would otherwise cool things down by evaporative transpiration. The relentless spread of buildings and roads thus turns urban areas into heat islands, discomforting residents and exacerbating dangerous heatwaves, which are in any case likely to become more frequent as the planet warms.
• Tress are the answer: A possible answer to the twin problems of pollution and heat is trees. Their leaves may destroy at least some chemical pollutants (the question is debated) and they certainly trap airborne particulate matter, which is then washed to the ground by rain. And trees cool things down. Besides transpiration, they provide shade. Their leaves have, after all, evolved to intercept sunlight, the motor of photosynthesis.
• Scale matter: But to actually cool an area effectively, trees must be planted in quantity. At the moment, 55% of people live in cities. By 2050 that share is expected to reach 68%.

1. Some botanists believe they have a solution to this lack of urban vegetation. It is to plant miniature simulacra of natural forests, ecologically engineered for rapid growth.
2. Miyawaki Akira, a plant ecologist at Yokohama National University, in Japan, developed a way to do this starting with even the most unpromising derelict areas. His "Miyawaki method" is finding increasing favour around the world.

• Miyawaki method: Dr Miyawaki’s insight was to deconstruct and rebuild the process of ecological succession, by which bare land develops naturally into mature forest. Usually, the first arrival is grass. Shrubs sprout later, followed by small trees and, finally, larger ones. Incipient and mature woodlands therefore contain different species. The Miyawaki method skips some of the early phases and jumps directly to planting the kinds of species found in a mature wood. When starting a Miyawaki forest, those involved, who often refer to themselves as gardeners, first analyse the soil in which it will grow. If necessary, they improve it by mixing in suitable fertilisers. These need not be expensive. Chicken manure and press mud (the solid residue left behind when sugar-cane juice is filtered) are effective and essentially free. They then select 100 or so local plant species to deploy. These are chosen by surveying the nearby area on foot instead of relying on published guidebooks, which have a habit of being out of date or even simply wrong.
• Mix important: Using a wide mix of species, not all of them trees, is important. Most plantations, having been created for commercial purposes, are monocultures. But trees, shrubs and ground-covering herbs all coexist in natural forests, and the Miyawaki versions therefore have this variety from the start. Not only does that pack more greenery into a given space, it also encourages the plants to grow faster—for there are lots of positive ecological relations in a natural forest. Vines rely on trees for support. Trees give shade to shrubs. And, beneath the surface, plants’ roots interact with each other, and with soil fungi, in ways that enable a nutrient exchange which is only now beginning to be understood.
• Process: After selecting their species, the gardeners gather seeds and plant them at random, rather than in rows. And they plant at high density. The seedlings therefore have to fight for sunlight, so only the fastest-growing survive. Trees planted in this way can shoot up as much as 14% more rapidly than normal. For three years, the gardeners water and nurture their handiwork. Then it is left to fend for itself. A couple of decades later the whole thing reaches maturity.
• Success track record: Dr Miyawaki has supervised the planting of more than 1,500 of these miniature forests, first in Japan, then in other parts of the world. India is also keen. In Mumbai, more than 2,00,000 trees are found in Miyawaki forests throughout the city and its suburbs. The authorities in Tirunelveli, in the country’s south, use the Miyawaki method to create green cover in the city’s schools. Hyderabad started growing the largest individual forest of the lot, across four hectares, in 2020. The method is becoming popular outside Asia, too. In Europe, Belgium, France and the Netherlands are all home to Miyawaki forests. There are also a handful in Latin America. Wherever they are planting, though, gardeners are not constrained to follow nature’s recipe book to the letter. Miyawaki forests can be customised to local requirements. A popular choice, for example, is to include more fruit trees than a natural forest might support, thus creating an orchard that requires no upkeep.
• Summary: The Miyawaki method will never work for large-scale reafforestation. It is too labour intensive. Relying on nature and the passage of time is probably the best bet for replanting extensive areas of damaged woodlands, though technophiles dream of speeding things up by distributing seeds by drone. But if the goal is to improve immediate locales, rather than to save the planet from global warming, go for the Miyawaki method!

Clinical trials on a computer

• The story: Everyone knows how expensive clinical trials are, and risky as well for the participants. The search is on for computer models good enough to replace warm bodies for at least the preliminary phases of trials.
• New approaches: Scientists are investigating stent-like devices called intracranial flow diverters. These control the passage of blood through brain arteries and are used to treat cerebral aneurysms (bulges that form in an arterial wall), in which blood then accumulates. If a cerebral aneurysm bursts, it causes a so-called haemorrhagic stroke, damaging surrounding tissue by engulfing it in blood. Inserting a flow diverter directs the bloodstream away from the aneurysm, permitting blood already within the bulge to stay in place and clot, thus blocking the aneurysm up.

1. The researchers’ experimental “subjects” were computer models derived from detailed three-dimensional scans of the brains of 82 volunteers with cerebral aneurysms.
2. The team inserted software representations of flow diverters into these models and recorded the consequences for virtual blood flow through the virtual brains in question.
3. They then compared their results with those from three trials of the procedure carried out in the real world in recent years. They confirmed what these real trials had found—that the flow diverters do indeed encourage clots to form in aneurysms—and they rated the stents’ effectiveness at this task as similarly good.

• Ischaemic strokes: These are a consequence of a vessel getting blocked. This stops blood flowing to the part of the brain distal to the blockage, which then dies. The virtual trials showed that the risk of an ischaemic stroke did indeed rise if a flow-diverter was fitted near an arterial fork. It also predicted that patients with higher than normal blood pressure were at even greater risk of such fork-related strokes—a finding that had not (and still has not yet) been shown in the real world.
• Virtual or real: Though it is hard to imagine virtual trials of this sort completely replacing real ones, they could certainly reduce their number by suggesting in advance which avenues are worth exploring. They might also reduce the need for animal trials—and might indeed be more effective than these if they proved better models of human physiology than the laboratory mice now popular for the purpose.
• Advantages: Virtual trials bring other advantages, too. One is that the same procedure can be tested over and over again in the same “patient”, but with different variables. The observation about blood pressure which emerged was made this way.

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

Covid and ventilation

• The story: People love air-conditioned space. Sadly, the Covid virus does so, too. With the reopening of restaurants, gyms, malls, and offices, which may sometimes be poorly ventilated, the transmission of the coronavirus may be rapid.
• The questions: How to assess the risk in a closed space? How to identify recirculation zones? How can a simple intervention like a pedestal fan help?  Covid-19 spreads through the respiratory route. To minimise the risk of infection, people have to pay attention to the flow of air in indoor spaces such as homes, classrooms, restaurants, etc.
• Drops analysed: When a person infected with the coronavirus speaks, shouts, laughs or sneezes, they emit droplets. These droplets range in size from the very small (referred to as aerosols) to large, but still less than a millimetre in size.

1. While large droplets fall to the ground under gravity within 1-2 metres of the person emitting them, smaller aerosols can stay suspended in the air and can be carried over large distances, over 8 metres away. So masks help.
2. Masks trap droplets, dramatically decreasing the range over which they are carried. Thus, they are a very effective way to minimise the number and range of droplets emitted by people. Well-fitted, high filtration efficiency masks such as the N-95 masks virtually eliminate the chance of droplets infecting the wearer.
3. However, the quality of the fit is critical, and a perfect fit, with no gaps, is difficult to achieve in practice with a typical mask. Wearing two masks, one surgical and one cloth, reduces risk substantially.

• Outdoors are best: For infectious airborne pathogens, the chances of infection are greatly reduced through good ventilation. When one is outdoors, normal draughts of wind are sufficient to disperse pathogens and dilute their concentration. Dense crowds or markets carry a higher risk, even if they are outdoors, since large numbers of people are close by.
• How to calculate risk: In indoor settings, ventilation is normally poorer than in outdoor locations, and the risk of infection is higher. The risk of contracting infection is based on the number of people in a closed space, the time of exposure, and the ventilation in the room. The greater the number of infected people in a room, and the longer one spends in that room, the higher the possibility of getting infected.
• Ventilation works best: The simplest measure of ventilation is the average air exchange rate. This tells us how often the air in a room is replaced with fresh air. Consider an exhaust fan that vents the air from a room. An exhaust fan with a rating of 250 cubic feet per minute working at full capacity will, on average, exchange the air in a 15 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft room in about 6 minutes. In general, the higher the fan rating, the better the ventilation.

1. Pedestal fans placed near doors or windows can also be very effective. On the other hand, ceiling fans circulate the air in a room, rather than venting these out directly, and can improve ventilation only with open doors and windows.
2. Well ventilated airy rooms with open doors and windows reduce the risk of infection. An online calculator is available at: https://indoor-covid-safety.herokuapp.com/

• One of the assumptions underlying these air exchange calculations is that the air in the room is well mixed and has the same, uniform concentration of pathogens everywhere. But parts of the room, such as corners, have pockets of air that form recirculating zones. Pathogens trapped in these zones are not easily vented out. A person sitting in a recirculating zone will be more exposed to infectious pathogen, thus increasing the risk of infection. A well-ventilated zone will have smoke moving quickly towards the "out zone". If the smoke rises vertically upwards, or spirals in the same area, this indicates a recirculating zone (bad for us).
• Summary: Small, closed, air-conditioned rooms carry greater risk. As India enters the monsoon season, it's best to leave doors and windows open, ensuring that these spaces sustain a through-flow of air and that zones of recirculation are avoided.

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

UN Report on International tourism

• The story: A report by UNCTAD and UN’s World Tourism Organisation (WTO) stated that international tourism arrivals were set to stagnate in 2021, except in some Western markets.
• Report's finding: The stagnation would result in losses of $2.4 trillion, and the tourism sector is not expected to rebound fully until 2023. It underlines that COVID-19 vaccination and certificates are key to restore confidence in foreign tourism. Vaccination will provide a lifeline for several countries including small island states which rely mainly on tourism sectors to provide jobs. International arrivals plunged by 73% in 2020 from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. It resulted into estimated losses of $2.4 trillion in tourism and allied sectors. The report expects certain recovery in second half of 2021 at least for North America and Europe.
• Three scenarios: The report sets three scenarios for 2021, showing international tourism arrivals forecast to decrease by 63% to 75% from pre-pandemic levels. It will cause losses of about $1.7 trillion to $2.4 trillion.
• World Tourism Organization (UNWTO): It is a United Nations specialized agency to promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, the UNWTO is the leading international organization in the area of tourism, promoting tourism as the driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability.

New TDS rules applicable from July 1

• The story: A new Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) rule is coming into effect from July 1, 2021. Under it, a non-filer of income tax for past two financial years will be subjected to higher taxation. The TDS or TCS will be charged at double rate specified in relevant provision of Income Tax Act or 5 per cent.
• Details: Provisions of this section will be applicable to TDS deductions on resident payments including shareholder dividends and service payment to vendors rent. But it will not be applicable on salary, winnings from lottery or crossword, horse race, trust income and cash withdrawals. Such non-filers will bear higher tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collected at source (TCS). Higher tax will be levied on them if such tax deduction will amount to Rs 50,000 or more in each of past two years.
• Enforcement: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has introduced a utility tool called Compliance Check for Section 206 AB & 206 CCA, to enforce these new rules. This tool will ease compliance burden of tax deductions who will use this functionality to identify non-filers. This functionality is already functioning on reporting portal of income tax department.
• Benefits: The tax deductor would be able to conduct a single PAN (permanent account number) search or bulk search with the help of Compliance check tool. For a single search, deductor can get income tax return filing information about specific person on portal. This information can be downloaded in PDF format. Tax deductor can also get bulk search involving multiple PANs. To enable this service, tax deductors & collectors would be required to check functionality of PAN of vendor from whom TDS is to be deducted.

CBSE-NPCI launch a "Financial literacy curriculum"

• The story: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have partnered to introduce a financial literacy curriculum for students of Class VI. It was launched as part of new elective ‘financial literacy’ subject which will enable students to understand basic financial concepts at preliminary stage of their education.
• Details: The textbook covers crucial topics with respect to financial awareness, and comprises teamwork and basic financial concepts of Banking, security & modes of Digital Payments including Cards, UPI, Wallets, and more. It highlights the origin of banking, transition from coins to paper money, types of banks and other operations & services carried out by banks. It highlights the significant role of RBI and GOI in promoting Digital Payments movement from currency, banking, savings & investments to advanced concepts such as UPI, IMPS, USSD, NACH, mPoS, QR Codes, and ATMs. It covers all that a child might find very useful at later stage in their life, and elaborates the role of UIDAI and importance of Aadhaar, and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS).
• NEP: The new education policy (NEP) emphasizes on need of nurturing a digital mindset among students. This book will help in meeting this objective of NEP. This textbook focuses on overall digital payment system. It is a small module on financial literacy which will educate students on finance from an early age. It stresses on growth of money and refers to Skills Root.

Deciding whether Facebook is a monopolist or not

• The story: When President Joe Biden named one of his own, Lina Khan, to head the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), critics of Big Tech thought it was finally happening. A Congressional committee approved six bills to rein in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. Then, on June 28th, 2021, a federal judge summarily dismissed two antitrust cases against Facebook.
• Did not expect: The unexpected ruling, which sent Facebook’s market value past $1trn, was a reminder that in America the swelling “techlash” may yield meagre results.

1. Judge James Boasberg threw out one of the cases, brought by 46 states, on a technicality.
2. The complaint, which accused Facebook of acquiring nascent rivals, such as Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, to cement its social-networking dominance, was deemed too tardy. The judge found the second case, lodged by the FTC, “legally insufficient”.
3. The FTC had asserted that Facebook has a “dominant share of the market (in excess of 60%)” without explaining what that market is. And it defined “personal social networking” to exclude things like professional networks (LinkedIn) or video-sharing sites (YouTube).

• Tricky business: It's true that delineating digital markets is tricky. Like Facebook, most social-media firms do not charge users, so the typical approach of looking at an industry’s consumer-derived sales is no use. Facebook does have paying customers, firms that buy ads on its platforms, but the extent of that market, too, is hazy. Looking just at social-media advertising its share rises to 60% in America (though globally Facebook’s share is declining). But what qualifies as social media is amorphous, as features and rivals pop up and fizzle.
• Legal points: The judge said that Facebook has market power (“no one who hears the title of the 2010 film ‘The Social Network’ wonders which company it is about”) and he has given the ftc 30 days to show this more precisely. He threw out one of the agency’s core claims. The FTC accused Facebook of stifling competition by blocking rivals from its platform. According to Supreme Court precedents, the judge pointed out, such conduct is legal: monopolists have no “duty to deal”.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

• We offer you 7 excellent editorials from across 10 newspapers we have scanned. 

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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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