Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 09-07-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 09-07-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

• Energy - India’s peak electricity demand peaks - For the first time, as many states witnessed high temperatures as also reopening after lockdowns, India's peak electricity demand surpassed 2 lakh MW (200 GW) on 7th July, 2021. Union Power Minister RK Singh informed that the highest demand level was touched at 12:01 hours. The installed power generation capacity of 3,83,373 MW in the country is nearly twice the peak demand level. This assumes importance given that energy consumption, especially electricity and refinery products, are linked to overall demand in the economy. Of India’s total electricity demand load pattern, industrial and agricultural consumption account for 41.16% and 17.69%, resp. Commercial electricity consumption accounts for 8.24%. Peak demand on an electrical grid is the highest electrical power demand in a specified time period and can be measured as annual, daily or seasonal and has the unit of power. Fluctuations may occur on daily, monthly, seasonal and yearly cycles. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the Rs.3.03 trillion power distribution company (discom) reform scheme, aimed at improving reliability and quality of power supply.
• Science and Technology - Bone tissue regeneration - A nano biomaterial with a stable link between two molecules was synthesized at Savitribai Phule Pune University, India, a development that may help in tissue regeneration. It is a biological or synthetic substance which can be introduced into body tissue as part of an implanted medical device or used to replace an organ, bodily function, etc. Critical size bone defects due to trauma or disease. These are very difficult to repair via the natural growth of host tissue. Therefore, there exists a need to fill these defects with a bridging (usually porous) material (termed scaffold), which should also, in combination with relevant cells and signaling molecules, promote the regeneration of new bone tissue. The biomaterials of choice for the development such scaffolds should exhibit bioactive properties i.e. react with physiological fluids and form tenacious bonds for bone formation.
• Healthcare and Medicine - Malaria free China - The World Health Organization (WHO) declared China as “malaria-free”. It is a result of a seven decade-long, multi-pronged health strategy that was able to entirely eliminate indigenous cases for four straight years. 40 countries and territories have been granted a malaria-free certification from WHO – including, most recently, El Salvador (2021), Algeria (2019), Argentina (2019), Paraguay (2018) and Uzbekistan (2018) [India is not yet Malaria free]. Malaria is a life threatening mosquito borne blood disease caused by plasmodium parasites. It is predominantly found in the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, South America as well as Asia. The parasites spread through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. It is preventable as well as curable. According to the World Malaria Report, 2020, the number of malaria cases worldwide in 2019 was around 229 million, with 4,09,000 lives lost to the mosquito-borne disease.
• Science and Technology - Safe refrigerated transportation of vaccines - The DBT-BIRAC supported startup Blackfrog Technologies has developed Emvólio, a portable, battery-powered medical-grade refrigeration device that improves the efficiency of the immunization by strictly maintaining preset temperature for up to 12 hours, thus enabling the safe and efficient transportation of vaccines to the last mile. Emvólio has a 2-litre capacity, enabling it to carry 30-50 vials, the standard for a daylong immunization campaign. The device also includes continuous temperature monitoring, location tracking, state-of-charge indication, communication with headquarters via live-tracking, and vital statistics for improved coverage. Blackfrog is an ISO-13485 certified manufacturer of medical devices, and Emvólio has been designed in accordance with WHO-PQS E003 standards. Set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise.
• Indian Economy - Cooperative movement in India gets a new Ministry - The government formed a separate Union Ministry of Cooperation, a subject that till date was looked after by the Ministry of Agriculture. In the Cabinet reshuffle of July 7, 2021, Home Minister Amit Shah was given charge of the new Ministry. Cooperatives are organisations formed at the grassroots level by people to harness the power of collective bargaining towards a common goal. In agriculture, cooperative dairies, sugar mills, spinning mills etc are formed with the pooled resources of farmers who wish to process their produce. The country has 1,94,195 cooperative dairy societies and 330 cooperative sugar mill operations. Cooperative sugar mills account for 35% of the sugar produced in the country. In banking and finance, cooperative institutions are spread across rural and urban areas. Village-level primary agricultural credit societies (PACSs) formed by farmer associations are the best example of grassroots-level credit flow. There are also cooperative marketing societies in rural areas and cooperative housing societies in urban areas.
• Healthcare and Medicine - India Covid Package Phase II - The Union Cabinet approved a new scheme ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II’ amounting to Rs.23,123 crore for FY 2021-22. The Phase-II of the Package has Central Sector (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) components. National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) would be strengthened by providing Genome Sequencing machines, besides sanctioning Scientific Control room, Epidemic Intelligence Services (EIS) and INSACOG Secretariat support. Support would be provided for implementation of Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) in all the District Hospitals of the Country (presently, it is implemented only in 310 DHs). Support would also be provided for expanding the National Architecture of eSanjeevani Tele-consultation platform to provide upto 5 lakhs tele-consultations per day from the present 50,000 Tele-consultations per day. Support would also be provided for IT interventions, including strengthening the Central War room at DoHFW, strengthening Country’s COVID-19 Portal, 1075 COVID help lines and COWIN platform.
• Governance and Institutions - Won't force users on new privacy policy - WhatsApp informed the Delhi High Court it would not force users to accept its new privacy policy until government of India passes the Data Protection Bill. It will also not limit functionality for those who have opted not to accept it, but will continue to display the update to users who haven't accepted it. India has plans to legislate a comprehensive law on data protection, but it is still in the works.
• People and Personalities - Largest EV battery maker's Founder now richer than Jack Ma with $49.5 bn wealth - The Chinese Founder of world's largest electric vehicle battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), Zeng Yuqun, has overtaken Alibaba Group Co-founder Jack Ma in wealth rankings. Zeng's net worth has jumped to $49.5 billion, while Ma's fortune currently stands at $48.1 billion (Bloomberg Billionaires Index). With this, Zeng has also become the fifth richest person in Asia. New industries are spawning new billionaires across leading economies.
• Defence and Military - Defence technology M.Tech. programme - A regular M.Tech. Program in Defence Technology was launched by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to impart necessary theoretical & experimental knowledge, skill and aptitude in various defence technology areas. This M.Tech. defence technology program can be conducted at any AICTE affiliated Institutes/Universities, IITs, NITs or private engineering institutes. Institute of Defence Scientists & Technologists (IDST) will provide support to the institutes for conducting this program, which can be conducted in online as well as offline formats. The program has six specialized streams - Combat Technology, Aero Technology, Naval Technology, Communication Systems & Sensors, Directed Energy Technology and High Energy Materials Technology.
• Environment and Ecology - JNPT alternative in Gujarat sparks protests, again - Public protests rekindled in South Gujarat, nearly 21 years after the state government decided to float global bids for a second time to develop an all-weather, multipurpose port at Nargol village in Umargam taluka of Valsad district. Being positioned as a future alternative to Jawaharlal Nehru Port or JNPT in Mumbai, the Gujarat government has been planning to develop a port in Valsad since 1997. The present location identified for building the port is at Nargol, located 140 kilometres north of Mumbai and 120 kilometres south of Surat. Recently the CM Vijay Rupani gave the go-ahead to Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to float global bids for a second time to build a multi-functional port at a cost of Rs 3,800 crore that will be capable of handling solid, liquid and container cargo. A port in Nargol has been in the pipeline to help divert port traffic from JNPT which is operating close to its full capacity.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

India's Google tax collection rises sharply

• The story: India’s earnings from the contentious "2 per cent equalisation levy" (also called Google tax) on non-resident digital players like Google, Netflix, and Amazon quadrupled in the first quarter of FY22. This was in the backdrop of India agreeing to the global tax deal proposal at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which will require it to withdraw the equalisation levy by 2023.
• Details: Collection from this Google tax grew 260 per cent in the first quarter of 2021-22 at Rs.778 crore against Rs.216 crore during the same time last year. The mop-up was led by India’s IT hub Bengaluru, accounting for about half the collection at Rs.350 crore, a growth rate of 280 per cent over last year. It was followed by Hyderabad, which saw collection grow by 147 per cent to Rs.227 crore from Rs.92 crore last year. Delhi recorded a 1,064 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year to Rs.128 crore from Rs.11 crore. Mumbai saw collection grow to Rs.48 crore from Rs.14 crore last year in the same quarter.
• Why the sharp rise: E-commerce companies that fall under the scope of the equalisation levy include Adobe, Uber, Udemy, Zoom.us, Expedia, Alibaba, Ikea, LinkedIn, Spotify, and eBay. In 2020, several multinationals could not comply with the stiff timeline as the amendment to the payment form came barely three days prior to the deadline. There was economic inactivity in a large part of the first quarter last year, hence the sharp rise now.
• Figures involved: India collected a total of Rs.2,057 crore from the levy in 2020-21, an 85 per cent growth rate over Rs.1,136 crore in the FY2019-20. Meanwhile, direct tax collection net of refunds saw an 89 per cent growth rate over last year at Rs 2.64 trillion as against Rs 1.4 trillion last year. Gross direct tax collection is 65 per cent higher at Rs 3.4 trillion against Rs 2.06 trillion.
• OECD deal not too important for India: Contrary to the rising revenue potential of the equalisation levy, the OECD tax deal, being finalized, will have a limited revenue significance for India as residual profits of only the top 100 global players will be allocated to market countries.
• Indian demand: The equalisation levy has a much lower annual revenue threshold of Rs 2 crore (euro 0.2 million) as against euro 20 billion agreed upon by 130 countries at the OECD deal. India, along with other developing countries, was pitching for at least a euro 1 billion threshold to cover at least 5,000 global entities.

CBIC's AEO programme

• The story: India's Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) inaugurated the online filing of Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) applications. The web application ensures continuous real-time and digital monitoring of physically filed AEO applications.
• Points to note: The AEO is a programme (2007) under the aegis of the World Customs Organization (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate global trade which aims to enhance international supply chain security and facilitate the movement of goods.

1. An entity engaged in international trade is approved by WCO as compliant with supply chain security standards and granted AEO status. An entity with an AEO status is considered a ‘secure’ trader and a reliable trading partner.
2. Benefits of AEO status include expedited clearance times, fewer examinations, improved security and communication between supply chain partners. The AEO is a voluntary programme.

• Indian AEO programme: It was introduced as a pilot project in 2011, and security standards detailed in WCO SAFE Framework are the basis of the Indian AEO programme. There is a three tier AEO Status for Exporters and Importers. The three tiers are AEO T1, AEO T2, AEO T3, where AEO T3 is the highest level of accreditation.
• Goals: To provide business entities with an internationally recognized certification. To recognize business entities as “secure and reliable” trading partners. To incentivize business entities through defined benefits that translate into savings in time and cost. Secure supply chain from point of export to import. Enhanced border clearance. Reduction in dwell time and related costs. Customs advice/assistance if trade faces unexpected issues with Customs of countries.
• Business benefits: There are many -

1. Safe and compliant business - Worldwide recognition as safe, secure and compliant business partners in international trade.
2. Reciprocal recognition - India gets trade facilitation by a foreign country with whom India enters into a Mutual Recognition Agreement/Arrangement (MRA), an international agreement by which two or more countries agree to recognize one another's conformity assessment results (for example certifications or test results).
3. Cargo security - It enables Indian Customs to enhance and streamline cargo security through close cooperation with the principal stakeholders of the international supply chain viz. importers, exporters, logistics providers, custodians or terminal operators, custom brokers and warehouse operators.

• World Customs Organisation: The WCO was established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations. It represents 183 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade. It is the only international organization with competence in Customs matters and which can rightly call itself the voice of the international Customs community. It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
• SAFE framework: In June 2005 the WCO Council adopted the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE Framework) that would act as a deterrent to international terrorism, to secure revenue collections and to promote trade facilitation worldwide. The SAFE Framework has emerged as the global Customs community’s concerted response to threats to supply chain security, equally supporting facilitation of legitimate and secure businesses. It prescribes baseline standards that have been tested and are working well around the globe.

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

NGT warns NHAI roads cannot destroy environment

• The story: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and its contractors for environmental violations in the ongoing four-laning project of National Highway 44 from Udhampur to Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir. NGT noted that nothing tangible was done by the NHAI in the last four years to prevent the illegal and unscientific dumping and disposal of debris at the site.
• Ignored: This was despite the NGT giving a number of orders on the same. Debris was making its way into the Chenab river and other water bodies due to the dumping. The NGT warned that the project would be halted, if protection of environment was not ensured.
• The order: Its order said - "While construction of roads is a necessity, it cannot be at the cost of environment. The principle of sustainable development cannot be avoided. If protection of environment cannot be ensured, the project may have to be halted to prevent damage to the environment by unauthorised muck dumping destroying the overall environment." The order was passed June 28, 2021 by a bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justices Sudhir Agarwal, M Sathyanarayanan and Brijesh Sethi.
• Case history: On October 21, 2016, a resident of the area where the project was being implemented, had filed an application in the NGT. On August 24, 2018 the NGT had directed the constitution of a monitoring committee to be headed by Justice JR Kotwal, former Judge of the J&K High Court to give an independent report. On February 12, 2019, the NGT had noted that debris was still being disposed improperly. It had directed the contractors to pay interim compensation for damage to the tune of Rs 1 crore each and a performance guarantee of the same amount for improving the situation within the next three months. On July 11, 2019, the NGT had directed the contractors to furnish performance guarantees of Rs 2 crore each and the NHAI to furnish a performance guarantee of Rs 1 crore to the Central Pollution Control Board  for remedying the situation. On September 28, 2020, it was found that the NHAI and its contractors had failed to take any remedial action and damage to the environment was continuing.
• Continued violations: The Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board (JKPCB) July 31, 2020 had filed its pollution report before the NGT. The report said various debris dumping sites had been put to use without proper preparation and that the gabion walls constructed at foot of these sites were inadequate to meet the desired purpose. Most of the dumping sites had attained their full capacity, the report had added. Such sites needed to be stabilised and rehabilitated by using engineering and botanical methods. The dumping of debris was being done in an unscientific manner with the results that loose debris had made its way to the Chenab and other water bodies. Dumping was being carried out illegally at forest-designated areas like Nashri despite its closure. Likewise in Chanderkote, a non-designated area, debris was going directly into the Chenab. A report warned that the debris would result in silting of the Salal Hydro Electric Power Project, leading to “disastrous consequences in terms of power generation”.
• Serious fallout: The NGT directed the JKPCB to initiate prosecution against the violators and ensure compliance within two months. It also said that the NHAI, a government organisation had failed to perform its obligation of preventing violations by not taking action against its errant contractors. The managing director of NHAI and chairman of JKPCB have been directed to remain present in person via video conferencing with their respective action-taken reports October 6, 2021, the next date of hearing in the case by the NGT.

Abnormal temperatures kill more than 7 lakh annually in India

• The story: An international team, led by researchers at Monash University in Australia, found that globally more than five million extra deaths a year can be attributed to non-optimal temperatures. Nearly 7,40,000 excess deaths in India annually can be attributed to abnormal hot and cold temperatures related to climate change.
• Break-up of deaths: Deaths related to hot temperatures increased in all regions from 2000 to 2019, indicating that global warming due to climate change will make this mortality figure worse in the future. In India, the number of deaths per year linked with abnormal cold temperatures is 6,55,400, while that associated with high temperatures is 83,700. The team looked at mortality and temperature data across the world from 2000 to 2019, a period when global temperatures rose by 0.26 degrees Celsius per decade.

1. The study was the first to definitively link non-optimal temperatures to annual increases in mortality, and found 9.43 per cent of global deaths could be attributed to cold and hot temperatures.
2. This equates to 74 excess deaths for every 1,00,000 people, with most deaths caused by cold exposure.
3. Global warming may "slightly reduce the number of temperature-related deaths, largely because of the lessening in cold-related mortality. In the long-term climate change is expected to increase the mortality burden because heat-related mortality would increase.

• Different regions: The data shows geographic differences in the impact of non-optimal temperatures on mortality, with Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest heat and cold-related excess death rates. Cold-related death decreased 0.51 per cent from 2000 to 2019, while heat-related death increased 0.21 per cent, leading to a reduction in net mortality due to cold and hot temperatures. Of the global deaths attributed to abnormal cold and heat, the study found more than half occurred in Asia, particularly in East and South Asia. Europe had the highest excess death rates per 100,000 due to heat exposure, and Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest death rates per 100,000 due to exposure to cold. The largest decline of net mortality occurred in Southeast Asia while there was temporal increase in South Asia and Europe.
• Worsening: The mortality data from this study is significantly higher than the second-largest study published in 2015, conducted across 13 countries/regions, which estimated 7.7 per cent of deaths were related to cold and hot temperatures. The importance of taking data from all points of the globe was to get a more accurate understanding of the real impact of non-optimal temperatures under climate change.

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

US war in Afghanistan ends, what about refugees now

• The story: As news from Afghanistan goes from bad to worse, the Taliban took over more districts as Afghan forces surrendered military outposts, and had their weapons seized. With no respite from the violence, Afghans are fleeing. In the north, where the fighting has intensified, more than 56,000 people have been displaced. A major refugee crisis is starting.
• No end to crisis: After more than 40 years of war, refugee crises is a standard feature of life in Afghanistan. There are nearly 3 million registered Afghan refugees worldwide, equivalent to around 1 in 10 of all refugees.

1. A perfect storm of five factors suggests the next crisis could be especially acute: (i) an emboldened and expanding insurgency, (ii) terrorist violence, (iii) the U.S. withdrawal, (iv) a fading peace process, and (v) severe drought conditions to boot.
2. Those fleeing are likely to seek entry in Pakistan and Iran, already home to several million Afghan refugees each.
3. The United Nations estimates around 585,000 “undocumented returnees” from Iran and nearly 7,000 returnees from Pakistan reentered Afghanistan this year.
4. Europe, via the Mediterranean Sea route, has become an increasingly popular destination for Afghan refugees, but European Union states have deported thousands of Afghans too. Increased fighting in northern Afghanistan means Central Asian states will also face influxes of refugees.
5. In the event of a refugee crisis, many countries will face international pressure to accommodate Afghan refugees. But there will also be internal pressures not to admit them.

• Fencing itself up: Pakistan is building a fence along its border with Afghanistan, and a key suspect in a recent terror attack was revealed to be of Afghan origin. Pakistani National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf said that it was time for the dignified return of Afghan refugees.
• What to do: The least politically risky option for Afghanistan’s neighbors is to house refugees in facilities just across their borders, hoping the U.N. and aid groups will help finance them. EU states, and especially those that participated in the NATO mission, should also do their part to accommodate Afghan refugees. In recent years, they have deported them using the excuse they are economic migrants rather than war refugees. The country is now embroiled in full-scale civil war, so that excuse does not work.
• US role: The crisis is an opportunity for the Biden administration to back up its pledge to help restore U.S. global leadership. It should increase funding to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and related institutions to ensure Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asian states have the support they need to help Afghan refugees.
• Summary: The best way to tackle a refugee crisis is to give people fewer incentives to leave. As the fighting mounts, this will admittedly become a hard sell.

India-EU on agriculture

• The story: A virtual meeting between India’s Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and a Member of the European Commission (EC), Agriculture was held. The momentum of the India-European Union (EU) relations especially since the last India-EU Summit in July, 2020 was acknowledged. The Indian Prime Minister had earlier participated in the India-European Union (EU) Leaders’ Meeting.
• Points to note:

1. EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - Launched in 1962, it is a partnership between agriculture and society, and between Europe and its farmers. It is a common policy for all EU countries, managed and funded at European level from the resources of the EU’s budget. It aims to support farmers, improve agricultural productivity, ensure a stable supply of affordable food, safeguard EU farmers, tackle climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources etc.
2. EU Farm to Fork Strategy - It is at the heart of the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. It aims to accelerate transition to a sustainable food system. Reforms were undertaken by the EU in the CAP as well as the Farm to Fork Strategy to make agriculture green as well as sustainable. The EU has also set a target of bringing 25% of the area in the EU under Organic Farming by 2030.
3. G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting 2021 - It is one of the ministerial meetings organized as part of the G20 Leaders Summit 2021, which will be hosted by Italy in October 2021, and will focus on three broad, interconnected pillars of action: People, Planet, Prosperity. Both India-EU are looking forward to bilateral cooperation at the summit.

• United Nations Food System Summit 2021: The United Nations (UN) Secretary General has called for the first ever UN Food Systems Summit to be held in September 2021 to strategize the actions for positive change in Agri-food systems in the world to realize the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The EU and India are looking forward to strengthening their cooperation at the summit.
• India’s stand: 70% of Indian rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82% of farmers being small and marginal.

1. There are efforts to increase farmers income, including an Agriculture Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs One Lakh Crore for development of farm gate and agriculture marketing infrastructure in rural areas. There also is the scheme of formation of 10000 Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs) to help small and marginal farmers in marketing of agricultural produce.
2. India raised the issue of fixing the Maximum Residual Limit (MRL) of Tricyclazole used in rice crop which has been a concern for India and is affecting India’s Basmati Rice Exports to the EU. The MRL is the maximum concentration for a pesticide on a crop or food commodity resulting from the use of pesticide according to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which is expressed in ppm. Tricyclazole is a fungicide used for the control of rice blast but it is not approved for use in the EU.

• European Commission (EC): It is an executive body of the EU, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. The EU is a group of 27 countries that operate as a cohesive economic and political block. The Commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries headed by a director-general who is responsible to a commissioner. It operates as a cabinet government, with 28 members of the Commission. There is one member per member state. These members are proposed by member countries and European Parliament gives final approval to them. One of the 28 members is the Commission President proposed by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament.
• Summary: India and the European Union have been negotiating a free trade deal, but it is pending since 2007. For closer convergence between India and the EU, both should engage in finalisation of the trade deal as soon as possible.

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

Cairn wins freeze on Indian assests in Paris

• The story: The London-listed Cairn Energy PLC has won a judicial order in its favour for seizing Indian propeties in France. It has identified high-value assets of the Indian government in the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Mauritius, France, and the Netherlands for enforcing an arbitration award that went against India.
• Developments: Cairn has a favourable order from a French tribunal for seizing 20 properties - valued at 20 million euros - of the Indian government. The Union government will contest the French court order.

1. The Tribunal judiciaire de Paris ordered freezing (through judicial mortgages) residential real estate owned by the government in central Paris.
2. The firm said the court order affected some 20 centrally located properties belonging to the government and valued at more than 20 million euros, as part of a guarantee of the debt owed to Cairn Energy PLC.
3. One of the properties is believed to be India House, which houses Indian students.
4. Some experts said the government owned properties in France but these were not commercial government properties and would fall under the New York Convention, under which properties owned by foreign governments could not be seized.

• Legal aspects: French jurisdiction, however, allows ex-parte orders, which means that a decree can be given without hearing the other side. The Union ministry of finance said it did not receive any notice or order from any French court. The company sought a meeting with the finance minister to resolve the arbitration issue despite its hard stand and move to enforce the arbitration award.

1. The government filed an application on March 22, 2021, to set aside the December 2020 international arbitral award at The Hague Court of Appeal. India’s hearing of the appeal filed against the $1.2 billion award at The Hague is listed for September 24.
2. The company had in June filed a petition with the courts in the Southern District of New York, seeking judicial confirmation that Air India, the national carrier, could be classed as “the alter ego of the Indian state”, and thereby jointly liable for the arbitral award. Cairn registered the arbitration award in many jurisdictions, including the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Mauritius, France and the Netherlands. Action in France was the latest step in Cairn’s enforcement strategy of pursuing the government across multiple jurisdictions for its unpaid international arbitration award.

• Summary: Cairn Energy clarified it wanted an amicable settlement with the Indian government, and till that happened, it had to take all steps to protect its interests.

Controlling ministry of DPE shifted

• The story: The government reallocated the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) to the finance ministry from the ministry of heavy industries. The Finance Ministry now has six departments while DPE's parent ministry, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises will now be called the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
• Details: The DPE is the nodal department for all the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and formulates policy pertaining to CPSEs. These are companies in which the direct holding of the Central Government or other CPSEs is 51% or more. It lays down policy guidelines on performance improvement and evaluation, autonomy and financial delegation and personnel management in CPSEs, and collects and maintains information in the form of a Public Enterprises Survey on several areas in respect of CPSEs.

1. It will now be the sixth department in the finance ministry besides economic affairs, revenue, expenditure, financial services and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).
2. The shift of DPE to the Finance Ministry will help in efficient monitoring of the capital expenditure, asset monetisation and financial health of the CPSEs.

• History of DPE: The Estimates Committee of 3rd Lok Sabha (1962-67) had stressed the need for setting up a centralized coordinating unit, which could also make continuous appraisal of the performance of public enterprises. That led to the setting up of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in 1965 in the Ministry of Finance. In 1985, BPE was made part of the Ministry of Industry. In May, 1990, BPE was made a full-fledged Department known as the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).
• Role of DPE: Coordination of matters of general policy affecting all Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs). Restructuring or closure of PSEs including the mechanisms. Rendering advice relating to revival. Counselling, training and rehabilitation of employees in CPSEs under Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Categorisation of CPSEs including conferring 'Ratna' status, among others. (CPSEs are classified into 3 categories- Maharatna, Navratna and Miniratna, and presently, there are 10 Maharatna, 14 Navratna and 74 Miniratna CPSEs).
• Estimates Committee: It was first established during British Era in the 1920s but free India’s first Committee was established in 1950. It examines the estimates included in the budget and suggests ‘economies’ in public expenditure. Other Financial Committees of Parliament include - Public Accounts Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings. This committee tries to report the economy and efficiency in expenditures, and suggests what changes in policy or administrative framework can be done and what alternative policies can be considered to bring economy and efficiency.

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

UAPA and Stan Swamy's death

• History repeated: Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" was published 81 years ago, after the USSR saw the violent purges by Stan in late 1930s - there was political repression, police surveillance and suspicion / executions all around. When Father Stan Swamy died in a private hospital in Mumbai on July 5, 2021, ot was darkeness at noon, as well; he was an activist accused of terrorism, but his death was the result of majoritarian authority & no respect for rule of law.
• Who was he: Swamy was a Jesuit priest, who wrote more than 70 books, while spending life in upliftment of marginalised communities in Jharkhand; he used the legal system to fight for the unfairly targeted, and believed in the Constitution.

1. August 2018 - The Pune police raided his single room home, seized his computer, phone, and books. Another raid in August 2019 led to his October 2020 arrest by NIA (National Investigation Agency) on terror charges under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act); He was the 16th in a long list of public intellectuals, all suspected in violence in Bhima Koregaon case.
2. He was the oldest person arrested on terror charges, and who died while in custody of the state.
3. Evidence was flimsy from the start - propaganda material and communication with others (Sudhar Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao) - who too were arrested International forensic experts have questioned the authenticity of the evidences, but the State said all this will be seen during trial and till then, no bail (this was due to the Watali judgement in 2019 by Supreme Court).
4. Swamy's degenerative Parkinson's disease was ignored, and basic support rejected (e.g. a straw to drink water), showing the total lack of judicial sensitivity.

• Using UAPA: Justice Ajit Shah, writing for The Hindu, said that the reason the police and state are regularly using the UAPA to imprison people is the weak judiciary of today, full of weaknesses and apathy (so why does the CJI keep talking about liberty and fundamental rights when courts under him keep doing the opposite?)

1. "Presumption of innocence" is the central tenet of the criminal law and has almost broken down in India now - Watali judgement reference
2. April 2019 - The S.C. in "NIA vs. Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali" gave an interpretation of the UAPA that is now affecting everyone down the line - the new doctrine it gave said that the accused must remain in custody throughout trial even if all evidences are proven wrong and he is acquitted
3. The S.C. said that in such cases, Courts must assume all allegations in FIR made by the police must be true! Only if the accused produces material to the contrary can bail be considered, so the "burden of proving innocence is shifted to the accused" which is an impossible task
4. So admissibility of evidence at bail stage is excluded, excluding the Indian Evidence Act itself (hence, unconstitutional)

• Bail in UAPA: The bail hearings in UAPA have been reduced to a farce due to such high barriers, and it's impossible to get bail (so all inconvenient persons can be behind bars for years!). Hence, more and more sedition, terrorism, criminal conspiracy charges. Mere thought has now been elevated to being a crime - evidence in some cases is untenable, in some planted, and generally always weak; Courts cannot go into the merit of the case as the SC order binds them.
• Summary: When three student activists did get bail (Delhi HC judgement on 2020 riots case, June 2021) then the SC stepped in quickly and expresses surprise and clarifiying "no precedent". Coming generations will blame the judiciary for all this, but caged birds will surely keep singing.

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

China’s Moon samples open a new era

• The story: Chinese scientists started analyzing the first new samples brought back from the moon in 45 years, specimens that could reset the clock on not just lunar chronology but also planetary bodies' evolution across the solar system.
• Chang'e 5 mission: China's Chang'e 5 mission's return capsure came to Earth in December 2020, having collected about 1.7 kilograms of rock and soil from Oceanus Procellarum (the Ocean of Storms) in the northwestern corner of the moon's near side. Orbital imagery suggests the crust there formed about 1.5 billion years ago. This youth is strange, as modelling shows that a small body like the moon should by then have lost the internal heat remaining from its formation. That heat was needed to drive volcanic resurfacing and crust development. So how exactly was such a young crust created?
• Using other tricks: Since samples from this region were missing, scientists estimated its surface age by counting impact craters. The logic used was that older surfaces would bear more such scars than younger ones would. This technique extends to any solid planetary body. Samples that U.S. and Soviet missions collected from the moon's equatorial, northeastern and northern regions between 1969 and 1976 indicate those surfaces are three billion to four billion years old.

1. The Apollo samples were ground truth for the crater-counting models but the earlier samples cover only those older regions
2. Anything that happened between roughly three to one billion years ago, there weren't any samples
3. If the new specimens prove younger than the crater-counting models suggest, the whole chronology of the moon needs correcting
4. Other measurements, such as radioactivity, may help explain lunar volcanoes' extended activity.

• Why important: Learning this history is not only key to lunar evolution; it also helps age-date Mercury, Mars, Earth and other bodies. A six-month time frame for Chinese investigators to submit requests for samples will end in July or August 2021. China's policy is to open future allocations to international research teams. The decade-old "Wolf Amendment" bans NASA-backed entities from working with China, but exceptions are possible, and other agencies (including the National Science Foundation) are not subject to the Congressional rule.
• Summary: U.S. and China may conduct an Apollo-Chang'e 5 sample swap. The moon's story may just be re-written for good!

Ancient Crab Nebula's highest energy particles

• The story: A little before sunrise on July 4, A.D. 1054, astronomers of the Song Dynasty in China saw an unknown star lighting up the eastern sky. The glow remained visible to the naked eye during the day for almost a month, and it was from an explosion caused by the spectacular death of a star located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus.
• Crab nebula: What died now is known as the Crab Nebula, one of the most beautiful and well-studied objects in the sky. Scientists have long known the Crab Nebula as a very energetic astrophysical object beaming off radiation ranging from radio waves to gamma rays.

1. Now scientists say it is even more energetic than they thought. Using an array of state-of-the-art detectors on the eastern edges of the Tibetan Plateau, a team reported that it had detected light particles with energies up to more than a quadrillion electron volts (1 PeV) from the famous supernova remnant
2. That is a potential challenges to classical theories of physics

• Cosmic Accelerator: The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) has detected tens of thousands of very energetic photons from the Crab Nebula since 2019. It is now accurately measuring the nebula’s energy spectrum — how many photons of each level of energy it emits — in the higher end of the range, between 0.3 and 1.1 PeV. It is surprising them to note the two photons carrying the highest energies ever detected from the Crab Nebula: one at 0.88 PeV, and the other at 1.1 PeV. The tiny particles arrived at Earth and were studied. This is an extreme event, and beyond imagination.
• How is the Crab Nebula accelerating these particles: Born in the supernova explosion observed nearly 1,000 years ago, the nebula’s heart carries a pulsar, a dense neutron star spinning 30 times every second. The rotation of the pulsar generates an outward wind made of pairs of electrons and their antimatter counterparts, positrons, which interact with the surrounding nebula to create shock waves and a natural particle accelerator. When accelerated particles gain the energy to escape, some bump into massless, low-temperature photons from the cosmic microwave background and pass a significant part of their energy on to these particles of light. The photons then dash outward, with some heading straight to Earth, bringing with them important information about the Crab Nebula itself.

1. To send a record-breaking 1.1-PeV photon to Earth, the original electron from the Crab Nebula must have been about 2.3 PeV
2. This energy is about 20,000 times what can be achieved by an electron accelerator on Earth
3. The particles in the nebula should lose energy quickly because when electrons travel along curved paths releasing synchrotron radiation, causing them to cool down
4. Since the pulsar is just about the size of earth's largest collider, so there must be an incredible mechanism in the Crab Nebula to maximize acceleration against energy loss.

• LHAASO: Whenever a very high-energy particle strikes Earth’s atmosphere, it triggers a cascade of secondary particles in an event known as an “air shower.” Ground-based detectors like LHAASO record these air shower events and reconstruct the type, energy and trajectory of the primary particles, which are too elusive to trace. LHAASO is one of the largest and most sensitive instruments of its kind, with three arrays of detectors. The largest is the Square Kilometer Array, with some 6,000 aboveground counters and more than 1,100 subsurface muon detectors to catch cosmic rays and gamma rays. The second array, the Water Cherenkov Detector Array, uses huge water ponds and light-activated scintillators to look for high-energy gamma rays. Finally, the experiment uses 18 wide-field-of-view Cherenkov telescopes for detecting blue radiation called Cherenkov light that is emitted during air showers.

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

Covid crosses grim 40 lakh deaths milestone

• The story: The world crossed a grim milestone on 7th July, with Covid-19 deaths crossing the four million (40 lakh) mark. That is more than four times the number of deaths that happen in India in a normal year. Although the daily death count has come down to an extent, between 6,000 and 8,000 deaths are still being reported every day from across the world. India alone is accounting for 800 to 900 of these deaths.
• Highest: With over six lakh deaths until now, the United States has the highest number of Covid-19 fatalities, followed by Brazil (over five lakh) and India. which recently crossed four lakh. India’s share in the global death toll has remained steady, at around 10%, for months now.
• Latin America: Brazil has been reporting a large number of deaths since August-September last year, and so has Mexico. But in the last few months, countries like Peru, Colombia and Argentina have seen a very sharp rise in Covid-19 deaths. In fact, Peru has now emerged as the country with the highest number of deaths per million population — nearly 6,000, when the world average is only about 51. India has a per-million proportion close to 300 while the United States has seen over 1,800 deaths per million population. Brazil and Colombia have more than 2,000 deaths per million.
• Lambda variant: The high fatality rates in countries like Peru and Colombia has triggered global attention towards the Lambda variant of the virus. This is the most dominant one in circulation in Latin America, and accounts for over 80% of all infections in Peru. As of now, the Lambda variant has not been linked to increased fatality, but researchers also note that there haven’t been enough studies on this variant.
• Vaccines preventing deaths: The death count is showing a declining trend in the countries with relatively better penetration of vaccines. The US and countries in Europe that have the best access to vaccines are seeing much fewer deaths now, even when there is a rise in the number of cases. In the United Kingdom, for example, the daily count of cases right now is nearly 10 times what it was at the end of May. In countries like France, Italy or Germany, deaths have been declining steadily.
• Summary: As of now, the maximum number of deaths are being reported from Brazil, where more than 1,500 deaths are getting recorded every day. Indonesia has been reporting almost as many deaths as India these days. Russia is in the same range.

Cooperation Ministry - the logic of it

• The story: Indian government formed the "Ministry of Cooperation", headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, in July 2021. The goal is to strengthen the cooperative movement. This move was indicated first in the Budget speech by finance minister on 01st Feb, 2021.
• Details: Till now, this subject was looked after by the Ministry of Agriculture.

1. The Ministry of Cooperation will provide a separate administrative legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country.
2. It will try deepening Co-operatives as a true people based movement reaching upto the grassroots.
3. In India, a Co-operative based economic development model is quite relevant where each member works with a spirit of responsibility. The Ministry will work to streamline processes for ‘Ease of doing business’ for co-operatives and enable development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).

• Cooperative movement: By definition, cooperatives are organisations formed at the grassroots level by people to harness the power of collective bargaining towards a common goal. In agriculture, cooperative dairies, sugar mills, spinning mills etc are formed with the pooled resources of farmers who wish to process their produce. India has 1,94,195 cooperative dairy societies and 330 cooperative sugar mill operations. In 2019-20, dairy cooperatives had  procured 4.80 crore litres of milk from 1.7 crore members and had sold 3.7 crore litres of liquid milk per day. Cooperative sugar mills account for 35% of the sugar produced in India.

1. In banking and finance, cooperative institutions are spread across rural and urban areas. Village-level primary agricultural credit societies (PACSs) formed by farmer associations are the best example of grassroots-level credit flow.
2. These societies anticipate the credit demand of a village and make the demand to the district central cooperative banks (DCCBs). State cooperative banks sit at the apex of the rural cooperative lending structure. Given that PACSs are a collective of farmers, they have much more bargaining powers than an individual farmer pleading his case at a commercial bank.
3. There are also cooperative marketing societies in rural areas and cooperative housing societies in urban areas.

• Finances: NABARD’s annual report of 2019-20 counts 95,238 PACSs,363 DCCBs and 33 state cooperative banks in India. The state cooperative banks reported a total paid-up capital of Rs 6,104 crore and deposits of Rs 1,35,393 crore, while the DCCBs’ paid-up capital stood at Rs 21,447 crore and deposits at Rs 3,78,248 crore. The DCCBs, whose main role is disbursal of short-term loans to the farming sector (crop loan), distributed Rs 3,00,034 crore in loans. The state cooperative banks, which mainly finance agri-processing industries such as sugar mills or spinning mills, disbursed Rs 1,48,625 crore in loans.
• Laws governing cooperative societies: Cooperation is in the concurrent list, so both the central and state governments can govern them. A majority of the cooperative societies are governed by laws in their respective states, with a Cooperation Commissioner and the Registrar of Societies as their governing office. In 2002, the Centre passed a MultiState Cooperative Societies Act that allowed for registration of societies with operations in more than one state. These are mostly banks, dairies and sugar mills whose area of operation spreads across states. The Central Registrar of Societies is their controlling authority, but on the ground the State Registrar takes actions on his behalf.
• Hope for growth: Over the decades, the cooperative structure managed to flourish and leave its mark only in a handful of states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka etc. Under the new Ministry, the cooperative movement may get the required financial and legal power needed to penetrate into other states also. Cooperative institutions get capital from the Centre, either as equity or as working capital, for which the state governments stand guarantee. This formula had seen most of the funds coming to a few states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka while other states failed to keep up.
• Political angle: Cooperative institutions, be it the village-level PACS or the urban cooperative housing societies, elect their leaders democratically, with members voting for a board of directors. In states like Maharashtra, these served as schools for development of leadership. In Gujarat, Amit Shah had headed the Ahmedabad District Central Cooperative Bank for a long time. In the present Maharashtra legislature, there are at least 150 legislators who have had some connection with the movement, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The purse strings of the local economy always remain with the cooperative institutions.

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

LIC to have CEO and MD and no Exec Chairman

• The story: The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is creating new posts for Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (LIC) instead of having an Executive Chairman.
• Details: These changes were outlined in backdrop of launch a mega initial public offering (IPO). Changes were made by Department of Financial Services under Finance Ministry by amending Life Insurance Corporation of India (Employees) Pension (Amendment) Rules. Some other rules have also been amended under LIC Act, 1956. After the changes, LIC will now be governed by Companies Act and SEBI Act. It will also require to prepare its quarterly balance sheet with profit or loss figures.
• Who will appoint CEO and MD: The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director will be appointed by the Central Government under section 4 of the LIC Act, 1956. Presently, the LIC top management comprises Executive Chairman and four Managing Directors. Chairman of LIC is a government of India Secretary rank officer. As the executive powers will now go to proposed MD and CEO, LIC is likely to get Non-executive Chairman. Non-executive chairman would chair the board meetings. Role and designation of four MDs of LIC is not yet clear.
• Other PSEs: The posts of Chairman and MD in nationalised banks are split. State Bank of India has an Executive Chairman and four MDs. SEBI had recently underlined that post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of listed companies need to be split from April 1, 2022. SEBI is of the view that, separation of roles will reduce excessive concentration of authority in single individual.

‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’

• The story: The Union Cabinet has approved modifications in the ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’ on July 8, 2021.
• Changes: Plans are to expand the “Rs 1-lakh-crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF)”. It will expand the beneficiary institutions including Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in order to avail credit of up to Rs 2 crore from AIF. This will be utilized to set up cold storage, sorting, grading and assaying units. The Central government has sanctioned projects of worth Rs 4,300 crore from the fund, so far.
• Modifications so far: The repayment period has been also been increased from 4 years to 6 years up to 2025-26. Government extended overall period of this scheme from 10 years to 13 years. Scheme will be valid up to 2032-33. Eligibility to avail loans from AIF has been extended to state agencies or APMCs, national and state federations of cooperatives, federations self-help groups (SHGs) and federations of farmers producers organisations (FPOs).
• Interest: As per current norms, interest subvention for loan of up to Rs 2 crore by one organisation or farmer is eligible in only one location under the scheme. If one eligible entity puts up projects in different locations then all projects will be eligible for interest subvention. However, private sector entity can have a maximum of 25 such projects. This limitation of 25 projects will not be applicable to state agencies, national & state federations of cooperatives, federations of SHGs and federation of FPOs.

Zika virus reported in Kerala

• The story: Amid the surge in covid-19 cases in State, Kerala has officially confirmed its first case of Zika virus, which is a mosquito-borne viral infection. Samples of 13 persons, suspected to be positive with Zika virus, have been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune.
• Zika virus: Symptoms of this viral infection include fever, skin rashes, muscle & joint pain, malaise, conjunctivitis and headache. The Zika virus is a member of virus family Flaviviridae which spreads by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes like A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Its name has been derived from Zika Forest of Uganda, where virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus has similar genus with dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Virus has been known to occur within narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia since 1950s. It started spreading eastward from 2007. As a result, it became epidemic in 2015–2016.
• Spread: It is spread through Aedes species of mosquitoes. These viruses are found in high density across the state. Aedes mosquitoes, a carrier of dengue, breed in stagnant freshwater and rest indoors mostly. These viruses are linked to birth defects and development of Guillain-Barre syndrome, where immune system of individual attacks the nerves. Sometimes, it infection can be symptomless. This can seriously harm the development of foetus in pregnant women and lead to congenital anomalies.
• Cure: There are no vaccines or cure for Zika virus, currently.

Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021

• The story: The "Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021" was published by UN department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). It was launched at 2021 session of High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
• Key points: The report highlighted the impacts of COVID-19 on SDG implementation. It also identifies areas which require urgent and coordinated action. Report was prepared using data and estimates in Global SDG Indicators Database comprising of global, regional and country data & metadata on official SDG indicators.
• Specifics: There has been progress in availability of internationally comparable data on SDGs. Number of indicators included in global SDG database has increased from 115 in 2016 to 211 in 2021. However, covid-19 pandemic has disrupted data operations like population censuses, worldwide.

    SDG 1: Global poverty rate is estimated to be 7% in 2030, missing the target of eradicating poverty.
    SDG 2: 22% of children under 5 are stunted, 6.7% suffer from wasting, while 5.7% are overweight.
    SDG 3: covid-19 has halted or reversed progress in health. It has reduced life expectancy.
    SDG 4: 9% of children in grades 1-8 have come below minimum reading proficiency levels in 2020.
    SDG 5: 25.6% of national parliamentarians are women, 36.3% are local government representatives while 28.2% are occupied at managerial positions.
    SDG 6: 2 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and 3.6 billion people are deprived of safely managed sanitation.
    SDG 7: 2.6 billion people are vulnerable to dangerous and inefficient cooking systems.
    SDG 8: covid-19 led to loss of 255 million full-time jobs.
    SDG 9: Manufacture of medium- and high-tech products contributed for economic recovery in 2020;
    SDG 10: For every 100,000 persons, 311 are refugees in 2020.
    SDG 11: Half of world’s urban population has access to public transport.
    SDG 12: Global material footprint has increased by 70% between 2000 and 2017.
    SDG 13: Global average temperature was at 1.2 Degree Celsius in 2020.
    SDG 14: Dead zones have increased from 400 in 2008 to 700 in 2019.
    SDG 15: During 2000-2020, 100 million hectares of forest were lost.
    SDG 16: Child labor has increased to 160 million in 2020. It accounted for first increase for two decades.
    SDG 17: About 3.7 billion people (half of world’s population) are still not online.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

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