9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – December 24th, 2021

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• India urgently requires resilient and empowered cities

GS Paper 2

• On Omicron: Before the third wave
• Needed, a public health architecture for India
• This clean cooking fuel plan needs more firing up
• So, no one killed news television ratings: Ring a bell?
• On Sports Culture – Every sportsperson is a champion
• India cannot take a black and white approach to Myanmar

GS Paper 3

• The spirit of disinvestment

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Prime Minister launches a Portal and Logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, in Varanasi
• Year-End- Review of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
• Scientists trace first clue to understand transient high energy pulses from magnetars several thousand times to that of the Sun
• Explained: Young India’s aspirations, worries
• Population not the sole factor in J&K limitation says officials
• ASIGMA: Indian Army Launches in-House Messaging Solution
• Olive Ridley turtles: Turtle trail to get a boost with mass tagging mission
• Tokenization: Why the RBI has given more time for tokenization
• National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) regains the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accreditation

Mains Oriented Articles

India urgently requires resilient and empowered cities

News:  Equitable and sustainable cities are the only solutions to balance the need for economic growth with the needs of people and the environment.

Cities across the world contribute about 80% of global gross domestic product. They are drivers of growth and dense labor marketplaces. However, recent developments have highlighted the severe economic, humanitarian, and ecological impacts of unbalanced urbanization in India.

What are the impacts of unbalanced urbanization in India?

Firstly, unbalanced development has made cities more vulnerable to environmental shocks that get more frequent and intense.

A World Resources Institute India report notes temperature rise and flooding as two key risks to Mumbai.

Mumbai’s municipal commissioner has highlighted the possibility of 70-80% submergence of key parts of the city by 2050.

Secondly, lack of adequate health infrastructure. It resulted in the mass movement of laborers towards their homes during the Pandemic. This mass movement of labor paralyzed industrial units, apart from civic and other services in cities.

So, building equitable and sustainable cities is the solution. However, there are certain problems with it.

What are the challenges in building equitable and sustainable cities?

Firstly, the reactive approach to development rather than the proactive approach often results in short-term gains that don’t keep pace with the city’s changing face.

Secondly, the issue of disaggregated management of cities. For instance, there are many different departments running a city, both from a planning perspective and for the provision of government services. This hampers the way city infrastructure and land usage get rolled out and increases the challenges for citizens in their interactions with the city administration.

What is the consequence?

A combination of the above results in large informality in how people live.

Lack of quality housing: Around 50% of a city’s population occupies 10% of the land and according to government data for 2016-17, 26-37 million families in urban India reside in informal housing. These areas are also more susceptible to natural disasters and crises

Poor access to state services: like water, sanitation, and health.

How implementing the 74^th amendment act in letter and spirit can solve the issue?

It envisaged city planning, land-use regulation, and city services to be managed by local governments in a holistic way.

Most importantly, it set out the basis for local empowered governments and active citizen participation. However, its roll-out is still slow in most cities.

What needs to be done to truly empower our city governments?

According to Praja’s Urban Governance Index, an empowered city government is the first step towards building equitable and sustainable cities.  It can be done by focusing on the following areas,

Empowered city-elected representatives: by investing in building capacity of the elected representatives. Municipal councilors are critical in this journey, given their structured participation in city processes and a better understanding of available resources and citizen needs.

Empowered city administration: Technology should be used to enable a data-based dialogue between local governments and the citizenry. It can be turned into a city data hub that is easily accessible to citizens and municipal employees for grievance redressal, or for sharing information on government services

Empowered citizens: citizens’ understanding of a city’s working and their ability to be a part of local governance needs to be enhanced. For example, Organizations like Mahila Housing Trust are attempting to innovatively do this at scale in places like Delhi and Gujarat.

GS Paper 2

On Omicron: Before the third wave

News: It is clear that Omicron variant is present within the community and is spreading rapidly. Although, the symptoms from the Omicron variant are mild and rarely result in death, the fact that many infections are said to be asymptomatic is a concern.

This situation, therefore, demands renewed efforts to contain, and the vaccine policy urgently needs revision.

What measures have been taken by the States to contain Omicron?

Some states such as Delhi and Odisha have been proactive in limiting social functions and banning public festivities over the holidays.

Chennai has made the Marina Beach and other beaches out of bounds for New Year celebrations.

Haryana has decreed that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into public places, and that includes fuel pumps and mandis, with effect from January 1.

Delhi and Maharashtra have also strengthened beds and oxygen supply.

All these steps are praiseworthy, but unlikely to stop the spread of the virus unless they are taken on a national level.

What is the WHO’s recommendation on boosters?

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) has recognised a “modest to minimal” reduction of vaccine protection against severe disease six months after second dose. It has, therefore, called for “targeted” administration of boosters.

What is the way forward?

Centre can also play a significant part in containing the Omicron variant:

Decrease the gap b/w first and second dose: A little under half the population is awaiting the second dose, which is known to offer viable protection against Omicron. Vaccine supplies are no longer an issue, hence, the government should shorten the gap between the first and second doses so that more Indians are fully vaccinated.

Booster dose for the vulnerable: The Centre urgently needs to consider booster doses for the elderly, the vulnerable, and front line workers. It would be a good idea if the states were given the freedom to take this decision.

Mix and match trials: With the West’s growing reliance on mRNA vaccines, which are unavailable in India, GoI must invest in local research on booster and mix-and-match trials.

Fast track approvals for foreign vaccines: A booster typically requires a different vaccine from the original two doses. Since the bulk of India has had the Covishield jab, the booster would have to be the indigenous Bharat Biotech-ICMR Covaxin. This is simply not being produced in large enough numbers to be available for boosters. Hence, fast-tracking approvals for foreign vaccines should be considered.

Further, as their safety is well established since they have been administered to large numbers of people across the world (including among the vast Indian diaspora), the foreign vaccine makers’ demand to waive indemnity must be considered.

Needed, a public health architecture for India

News: India conducts numerous health surveys, most prominent of which is NFHS. Lately, there have been various additions into NFHS which have made it disoriented and lacking any specific policy purpose. 

There is need for selected comprehensive surveys that can broadly cover major public health themes for a complex country like ours.  

What is the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)?

Read about NFHS here. 

NFHS is used by many researchers, policymakers and is frequently used by NITI Aayog for its various rankings. 

It is conducted in a representative sample of households, where respondents are mostly women. 

Funding for different rounds of NFHS has been provided by some international organisations like United States Agency for International Development (USAID), etc and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Issues have been raised on the quality of the agencies conducting NFHS and their workers too.

What are other public health surveys in India, and the associated issues? 

Apart from NFHS, Health Ministry conducts the National NCD Monitoring Survey (NNMS), the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS), etc. 

– Overinclusion, like inclusion of questions on HIV, non-communicable diseases, or NCDs in NFHS, has lead to extremely huge NFHS questionnaires. This affects the quality of data. Example: In NFHS-4,the women’s questionnaire was 93 pages long. 

– Surveys done for research should not be confused with those done for programme monitoring and surveillance needs.   

– Irregularity and uncertainty of other surveys: NFHS is the only major survey that India has a record of doing regularly. One does not know if and when the other surveys will be repeated.  

– Multiple surveys also raise the issue of differing estimates, as is likely, due to sampling differences in the surveys. For example: wide divergence in sex ratio at birth reported by the NFHS and the Sample Registration System (SRS). 

What should be the way forward?

– Need to end overdependence on NFHS: There is a need to identify a set of national-level indicators and surveys that will be done using national government funds at regular intervals. 

– Need to ensure that the data is collected in an orderly and regular manner with appropriate budgetary allocation. 

– There should be clarity of purpose behind conducting a survey and their need should be reanalysed. 

– States should invest in conducting focused State-level surveys. 

– For a detailed understanding of some issues, each round of survey can focus on a specific area of interest. Other important public health questions can be answered by specific studies (which may or may not need a national-level study), conducted by academic institutions on a research mode based on availability of funding.

– It is also very essential to ensure that the data arising from these surveys are in the public domain. So that it can be analysed through different viewpoints. 

This clean cooking fuel plan needs more firing up

News: LPG Penetration in India has reached a significant level, but there is still need for some adaptations so that this momentum for clean fuel is maintained.  

What is the status of adoption of clean fuel in India?

Around eight crore customers were enlisted in late 2019 for LPG connections. 

Previously, there were hundreds of villages where there was not a single LPG connection, but they now have a noticeable presence of LPG users and distributors. 

This all has become possible due to the successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

How Ujjwala has delivered such positive results? 

– Successful implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) or PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh) scheme of 2014 freed up the financial resources needed to make large-scale programme for deposit-free LPG connections a reality.  

– Production of cylinders, pressure regulators, hose and affordable LPG stoves was enhanced. 

– New distributors/dealers were appointed to reach remote pockets. 

– Political representatives helped to sustain enthusiasm for Ujjwala, and ensure its implementation on ground. 

What are the environmental and health benefits of clean fuel? 

– Adoption of LPG/Clean fuel by pregnant women is said to give huge health gains in future. 

– LPG is not a greenhouse gas (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and assigned with a global warming potential (GWP) factor of zero.  

What are the challenges in furthering the cause of clean fuel in India?

– In rural areas people use multiple types of cooking stoves – LPG, fuelwood, induction or electric heater, etc to lower their dependency on any single source. 

– According to the recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, there was a higher prevalence of TB in households that were using solid fuels when compared to those using clean cooking fuels in most States. 

– Pandemic has resulted in LPG prices having gone up and governmental support focusing on other challenges. 

What is the way forward?

– Need for a sustainable basket: Overall, the push has to be such that every household moves toward adopting a more sustainable cooking energy basket. 

Solar, electric heater, improved biomass chulha and biogas can be part of this as they also have similar health and environmental benefits as LPG. This can be done by introducing alternative remunerative uses for cow dung and bio mass. 

Chhattisgarh has introduced a scheme on procurement of cow dung. 

– Further Improvements in demand-supply chain of LPG with options for refill financing for poor households.  

– Women’s incomes can be given a boost through the National Rural Livelihoods Mission which can nudge them to choose a more sustainable cooking mix. 

So, no one killed news television ratings: Ring a bell?

News: Suspension of news TV ratings is illogical. It would lead to a severe loss of credibility and revenue for the news genre. The ratings need to be restored at the earliest.

Why the news rating suspension is not justified? 

Firstly, if the suspension was because of some case of television rating point (TRP) adulteration in Mumbai, then why did the suspension not apply to non-news channels.

Secondly, if the issues were Sample-size inadequacy, then channels that have even smaller samples than for news are not stopped. For example, English special-interest channels.

Even if the above-said issues (TRP adulteration & Sample-size inadequacy), are the reasons for stalling news TV ratings, there are solutions to address these issues.

What are the suggestions that could make BARC data malpractice (if any)-proof?

First, the raw data collected programmatically by BARC should be parallelly stored in the safe custody of an independent body like the Indian Statistical Institute, or the like, outside BARC control. This will ensure that such raw data stays as it is, tamper-proof, for any future reference.

Second, all interference in data analysis, like eliminating any exception or aberration, should be done under a transparent and uniform standard operating procedure. It should be available for an audit review.

Three, the sample homes should be audited and rotated periodically to ensure that they offer a fair representation of the country’s TV-watching population.

Four, Sampling inadequacy can be addressed if minute-by-minute data is not collected for low-viewership genres. If the sample applies to the entire day/week/month, the inadequacy of its size could easily be dealt with.

Five, data ratings should be done on a monthly rolling average, so that TRPs are used only as a tool to measure advertising potential and do not adulterate journalistic content.

On Sports Culture – Every sportsperson is a champion

News:  The belief that unless you are winning, you are not a champion is a fallacy. The very fact of participating in sport makes you a champion, and it’s time to recognize that.

Over the last decade, India’s sporting culture has seen tremendous improvement in terms of

-Parental support,

-The expansion of government and corporate programs such as Khelo India, Fit India, and TOPS,

-The overall social acceptance of sports as a career.

However, there is a lack of attention towards people who are not able to succeed in sports even after giving their best hard work.

The complete lack of definition about what makes a successful sports career further exacerbates this situation.

How Success in academic is different from Success in Sports?

Sports’ definition of “success” is largely borrowed from academia. In academics, almost everyone succeeds eventually.

Whereas, In sports, it’s the reverse. This eventually leaves less than 5 percent of those entering sport as good enough to be termed a “success”. These are people who win medals at the Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, etc.

While others end up being categorized as “failures” and exit the sport at some stage or the other. Adding to their miseries, the lack of viable post-playing career options as a safety net makes their exit more painful.

Why do we need to look at education and sport from different lenses?

Firstly, in school/education, the number of successful/promoted/graduated/pass students is very high. Whereas in sports, medals are the sole benchmarks of success. Out of many finalists, only one will emerge as the winner.

Secondly, in education, people move on from board results. Whereas, in sport, people leave when they actually fail.

Thirdly, institutions have the support of positive, constructive alumni. But in sport, the scenario is like an organization that has to fire people and the attitude of the people/players is like employees who are laid off.

What needs to be done?

It is important to celebrate the stories of, 95% of people, who have taken successful careers outside sports. Unless these stories are celebrated like our Olympic and world champions, we will be missing out and losing huge human potential.

What is the way forward?

Sport gives us values for life, be it lessons about “failure” or the foundation for our health or the fun and re-creation.

It teaches discipline, the attitude of hard work, awareness and intelligence, planning, and teamwork.

These benefits in physical and cognitive areas should encourage each one of us to play sport.

The positives of sport are immense, but the abnormality discussed above needs to be challenged to have a sustained model for growth in our country.

India cannot take a black and white approach to Myanmar

News: Myanmar has seen a lot of political disorder since the military coup in February 2021. The Indian foreign Secretary’s recent visit to Myanmar will help India-Myanmar bilateral relation to adjust to this change. 

India needs to adopt a pragmatic approach. 

What are the new and emerging challenges in the India-Myanmar relations? 

1) Dilemma to engage with Military regime: Since the coup, India has been firm that the gains made by Myanmar over the last decade on the path towards democracy should not be lost. 

Further, any democratic transition in Myanmar cannot be done without involving the Junta, so it is imperative that India keeps all channel of communication open with it.  

2) Most of the countries in India and Myanmar’s neighbourhood like ASEAN members, Japan, Korea etc have started to deeply engage with the military regime in Myanmar and India can’t lag behind.  

3) China’s growing dominance: Ever since the coup, China’s economic grip over Myanmar has only become tighter with a special focus on projects critical for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Hence, India needs to have continuous dialogue with Myanmar keep the security situation in North east under control. 

Chinese capacity to create trouble in the North East was visible recently, from the last month’s deadly attack on an Assam Rifles convoy near the Myanmar border in Manipur. Its increasing influence over Myanmar, only provides with further options to destabilise Indian border areas.

4) Porous borders and Pandemic: India-Myanmar have porous borders at many places. For India, a humanitarian crisis as a result of the pandemic-induced economic crisis in Myanmar can become a major issue. 

GS Paper 3

The spirit of disinvestment

News: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has raised questions in a recent report on a smaller deal, involving the purchase by Chennai Port Trust.

What is the issue?

The government is forcing one PSU to buy another to achieve its disinvestment target. For instance, in the recent past, the ONGC took over HPCL.

In the more recent incident, the Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) was forced to buy the government’s two-thirds stake in Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL).

The CAG has rightly pointed out that the current ChPT deal and other similar deals defeat the spirit of disinvestment.

What are the issues/challenges associated with it?

Firstly, It reduces a comapny’s ability to invest and operate. The ChPT is burdened by further debt and an additional interest burden of Rs 142 crore a year. In the case of ONGC, it was forced into a very adverse cash situation.

Secondly, high cost of borrowing. ChPT had to borrow a large part of the Rs 2,400-crore it had to pay for acquiring KPL. This had to be borrowed from the market at 8 per cent interest, according to the auditor. The government could have borrowed the same amount at a much lower interest rate than ChPT did.

Thirdly, the overall drag of public sector borrowing on India’s financial savings increases.

Fourthly, the government is not ready to provide the benefits of ownership to the PSU’s. For instance, even after ONGC has taken over the HPCL, the government continues to appoint the senior management of HPCL.

Why are the reasons behind the government’s steps?

First, the government is faced with a stressed fiscal resource.

Second, an inadequate realization of disinvestment targets; For example, only 5 percent of the 1.75 trillion targets has been achieved so far.

Third, if one public sector unit buys another, then disinvestment does not amount to a higher private share in ownership.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Prime Minister launches a Portal and Logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, in Varanasi

Source: This post is based on the following articles:

– ‘Prime Minister launches a Portal and Logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, in Varanasi’ published in PIB on 23^rd Dec 2021.

– “PM inaugurates and lays the foundation of multiple projects in Varanasi” published in PIB on 23^rd Dec 2021.

What is the news?

The Prime Minister has launched several initiatives during his visit to Varanasi.

What are the initiatives launched by the Prime Minister?

–  Portal and Logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme (CAS) of milk products

It has been developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

What is the Conformity Assessment Scheme (CAS) of milk products?

Why was it launched? NDDB and BIS have been involved in certification of Process and Products of Dairy Products respectively. However, there was no unified certification process. This was making it difficult for dairy plants to avail end to end certification.

What is the purpose of the CAS Scheme? It is a unified, first of its kind certification scheme for dairy Products. It has brought product and process certification under one umbrella with a unified logo featuring the earlier respective logos BIS-ISI mark & NDDB-Quality Mark and Kamdhenu Cow.

Benefits of the scheme: The scheme will, a) Simplify the certification process, b) Create an instantly recognisable logo for public to be reassured about dairy product quality, c) Increase the sales of milk and milk products in organized sector and in turn enhancing income of farmers and, d) Develop a quality culture in the dairy sector.

–  Gharauni: It is a rural residential rights record under the Swamitva scheme of the Union ministry of panchayati raj.It has been distributed to over 20 lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh.

–  Banas Dairy Sankul: It is a dairy facility that will be located at UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Varanasi. This facility can process 5 lakh litre of milk per day.

–  Biogas based electricity generation plant: It has been launched at the Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Plant at Ramnagar, Varanasi to make them energy self-sufficient.

Year-End- Review of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Year-End- Review of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas’ published in PIB on 23^rd Dec 2021.

What is the news?

The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has launched several initiatives to boost the Petroleum & Natural Gas sector.

These initiatives are:

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY) 2.0

Refill Portability: It enables customers to choose his/ her distributor at the time of booking the refill. Under this, a customer not satisfied with services of his parent distributor can pick any distributor from the list of distributors of the same company serving in his locality/area. This would create competition and result in better customer satisfaction.

Hassle-free Non-subsidised LPG Connection (Across the counter): Under this, LPG Non-subsidised domestic connection can be issued across the counter with the submission of requisite proof of ID and self-declaration of address by the customer. 

Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme

National Policy on Biofuels-2018: It envisages an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030.

Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT): It has been launched to extract economic value from biomass waste in the form of Compressed BioGas (CBG) and bio-manure.

Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy: It was launched in 2015 for awarding discovered acreages and monetize the unmonetized discoveries. The policy has multiple attractive features like revenue sharing contract model with low regulatory burden, no minimum biddable work programme, no prior technical qualification required, etc.  

Setting up of Pressure Swing adsorption (PSA) Oxygen Plants: A total of 101 Plants are commissioned and others are at a later stage of commissioning.

Setting up of Jumbo facilities: In some refineries, LMO (Liquid Medical Oxygen)  is not produced, but Oxygen at low pressure is available. This cannot be liquefied or transported via cylinders. As this Oxygen can be used for medical purposes, hence jumbo Covid care Facilities have been set up adjacent to the refinery premises.

Scientists trace first clue to understand transient high energy pulses from magnetars several thousand times to that of the Sun

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Scientists trace first clue to understand transient high energy pulses from magnetars several thousand times to that of the Sun’ published in PIB on 23^rd Dec 2021.

What is the news?

An international group of astronomers has obtained the first clues about extremely rare giant eruptions lasting 3.5 milliseconds that emerged from a magnetar located 13 million light years away.

What are Magnetars?

When massive stars like supergiant stars with a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses collapse, they might form neutron stars. Among neutron stars (neutron stars are the remnants of giant stars that died in a fiery explosion known as a supernova. They have a mass of about 1.4 times that of the sun) stands out a small group with the most intense magnetic field. These are known as magnetars.

Magnetars experience violent eruptions or intense bursts in the form of transient X-ray pulses which are several orders higher than that of the Sun. Even inactive magnetars can be thousands of times more luminous than the Sun.

So far, only 30 magnetars located within the Milky Way have been discovered.

What is the study undertaken by Astronomers?

Background

There was a massive giant eruption that occurred in 2020 from a magnetar named GRB2001415. This eruption released energy equivalent to what the Sun would radiate in one lakh years.

The eruption was detected by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on board the International Space Station.

The Astronomers studied why this eruption took place.

What did they find out?

Like earthquakes on Earth, magnetars suffer starquakes produced on their crust due to high instability prevailing in their magnetospheres. 

This instability triggers Alfven waves that are also common in the Sun. The interactions between multiple Alfven waves ultimately release massive energies, appearing as giant flares lasting for a few milliseconds.

What is the significance of this study?

Firstly, this is the first extragalactic magnetar studied in detail.

Secondly, understanding these eruptions can shed light on the structure of these mysterious objects.

Thirdly, the study could also further pave the way in linking how magnetic stresses are produced around neutron stars.

Explained: Young India’s aspirations, worries

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Explained: Young India’s aspirations, worries’ published in Indian Express on 24^th Dec 2021.

What is the news?

Lokniti-CSDS has released a survey titled ‘Indian Youth: Aspirations and Vision for the Future’.

About the Survey

The survey interviewed youth aged 15-34 across 18 states in July-August 2021 to get an insight on their career aspirations, job preferences and expectations, their opinions on institutions of kinship and their mental health.

What are the key findings of the survey?

Occupational Status: a) Two fifths (39%) of the youth identify themselves as students, b) More young men (39%) compared to young women (11%) were working, c) Higher proportion of young women (42%) were studying than young men (36%) and d) Close to half of the youth in the 18-24 group were studying and only one in five were earning.

Employment: More than half (55%) said they would prefer a government job. A quarter (24%) said they would prefer to start their own business. When compared to the last survey, the preference for Government jobs (65%) has reduced and preference to start their own business has increased.

Moreover, the responses also showed a rise from 3% to 17% among those wanting to join the health sector. A possible reason for this could be the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marriage: 1) Many youths are now marrying at a later age than before, 2) There is a greater acceptance for the idea of inter-caste marriage with 61% supporting it, 3) The support for inter-faith marriage is still not widely accepted with only 45% of the youth favouring it.

Mental Health: Family’s financial security worries youth the most, followed by their own health.

About six in ten (56%) youth worried about their jobs and more than half (54%) about their physical appearance.

The majority of the youth said that they have never experienced suicidal thoughts, but close to two in ten (21%) did have such thoughts.

On a hypothetical question on whom they would approach if struggling with depression, 65% said a family member. This highlights the importance of family in Indian context. Only 3% said they would approach a mental health professional. The reason for this could possibly be social stigma. Around 9% said they would not approach anyone.

Population not the sole factor in J&K limitation says officials

Source: This post is based on the article “Population not the sole factor in J&K limitation says officials” published in The Hindu on 24^th Dec 2021. 

What is the news?

Members of opposition in J&K have objected to the Delimitation commission’s proposal for delimitation of J&K constituency. 

The J&K Delimitation Commission had recently proposed to increase six seats for the Jammu division and only one for the Kashmir division.

What is the provision against which objections have been raised?

Objections are being raised regarding use of a provision that has been a part of various Delimitation commission acts since 1952 onwards. 

This provision says that factors other than population like physical features, boundaries of administrative units, public convenience can be taken into account for delimiting constituencies. 

Why is the opposition criticising the proposal?

The opposition has argued that the increase in seats would tilt the balance of political power towards Jammu and away from the Kashmir Valley.

Has the provision been used in the past? 

There are cases where it has been used in the past too.

– Uttarakhand had all hill districts with 20% less population than the districts in the plains in the 2008 delimitation.

– Lakshadweep, which has one parliamentary constituency despite having a much smaller population.

ASIGMA: Indian Army Launches in-House Messaging Solution

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Indian Army Launches in-House Messaging Solution’ published in PIB on 24thDec 2021.

What is the News?

The Indian Army has launched a contemporary messaging application named ASIGMA (Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application). 

What is ASIGMA?

It is a web-based communication platform developed to meet real-time data transfer and messaging requirements of the Army.

Developed by:  It has been developed entirely in-house by a team of officers of the Corps of Signals of the Army. 

Where will it be deployed? The application is being deployed on the Army’s internal network as a replacement of the Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) messaging application, which has been in service for the past 15 years.

Features: The app has a variety of contemporary features including multi-level security, message prioritisation and tracking, a dynamic global address book and various options to meet the Army’s requirements. 

Significance: The app meets all futuristic user requirements and boasts of an enhanced user experience. It is also in line with the Government of India’s, Make in India initiative.

Olive Ridley turtles: Turtle trail to get a boost with mass tagging mission

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Turtle trail to get a boost with mass tagging mission’ published in The Hindu on 24th Dec 2021.

What is the News?

Scientists have resumed the Project of tagging Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery along the Odisha coast.

About the Project

Launched by: It is a collaborative Project of the Zoological Survey of India in association with the Odisha Forest and Environment Department.

Nesting Sites Covered: The project of tagging of the Olive Ridleys is being carried out at three mass nesting sites — Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth and Rushikulya. The project is being undertaken after a span of about 25 years. 

Purpose: The tagging of the turtles will help in finding the extent of travel and location of the turtles after congregation, nesting, etc for further research on turtle behaviour.

The tags on the turtles are also uniquely numbered, containing details such as the name of the organisation, country code and email address. If researchers in other countries come across the tagged turtles, they will email their location in longitude and latitude.

Moreover, the metal tags attached to turtles are non-corrosive, and they do not harm their body. It can be removed later.

Rushikulya River: It is one of the major rivers in the state of Odisha. The River originates at the Daringbadi hills of the Eastern Ghats range. The place from where the river originates, Daringbadi is called the ‘Kashmir of Odisha‘. The river meets the Bay of Bengal at Puruna Bandha in Ganjam.

Devi River: It is one of the principal distributaries of Mahanadi. It flows through Jagatsinghpur district and Puri district across Odisha state in India and joins the Bay of Bengal.

Tokenization: Why the RBI has given more time for tokenization

Source: This post is based on the article ‘Why the RBI has given more time for tokenization’ published in Livemint on 24th Dec 2021.

What is the News?

Reserve Bank of India(RBI) had issued guidelines banning the storage of customer card numbers by online merchants and payment aggregators and introducing the concept of Tokenization. These guidelines were scheduled to come into effect on 1 January but have now been postponed to 1st July 2022.

How are the transactions processed today?

There are four-five players involved in processing one card transaction —the merchant, the payment aggregator, the issuing bank and the card network. 

Currently, when a transaction happens on a merchant platform, the data is sent to the payment aggregator (PA). The PA next sends the details to either the issuing bank or the card network. 

Then the issuing bank sends an OTP and the transaction flows back. The number on which the transaction is built is the card-on-file(CoF). 

What do the new guidelines aim to bring?

RBI wants to ensure that consumers are protected from fraud. It, therefore, came up with the concept of ‘tokenization’—a process of replacing actual card details with a unique alternate code called the token.

In this method, CoF will be replaced with a token. But for this, an end-to-end rewiring of the processing leg is required.

What business models can get impacted by Tokenization?

E-mandates (recurring payments) will stand ineffective from 1 July. 

Card EMIs account for 25% of online e-commerce sales. That option will no longer be available. 

Cashbacks/discount offers by banks will be impacted too. 

A user may not be able to use the saved card detail on a merchant platform to make a transaction. S/he will have to enter the card details every time a transaction is made.

National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) regains the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accreditation

Source: This post is based on the article ‘National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) regains the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accreditation’ published in PIB on 23rd Dec 2021.

What is the News?

National Dope Testing Laboratory(NDTL) has regained the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accreditation.

What is the National Dope Testing Laboratory(NDTL)?

NDTL is a premier analytical testing & research organization established as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It is the only laboratory in the country responsible for human sports dope testing. 

What is the significance of NDTL getting back the accreditation?

NDTL accreditation was suspended in 2019 because of its failure to comply with global standards.

During the suspension period, urine samples collected by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) were being sent primarily to the WADA-accredited lab in Doha.

The process had made the anti-doping programme very expensive for the country because of the significant cost involved in sending samples abroad.

Hence, getting back the accreditation will reduce the cost and will be a boost to India’s efforts to achieve the highest global standards of excellence in sport. 

Note: The government of India is planning to introduce the National Anti-Doping Bill 2021 in Parliament. The Bill gives the NADA powers to conduct raids to nab dope offenders.