9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – July 16th, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Supreme Court’s refusal to club all FIRs against Nupur Sharma is bad in law
• The Ukraine war and the return to Euro-centrism
• I2U2 And The Middle Power Great Game
• The ‘permanent’ problem: Why is there a ‘caste system’ in govt employment?
• Learn These Lanka Lessons

GS Paper 3

• Stamp out this hate speech manufacturing network
• Time for vigilance-Increased testing and building awareness, not stigmatisation, can stop spread of monkeypox
• James Webb: It is just the beginning
• ‘Community evolves slowly in rainforests like India’s Kudremukh and Silent Valley’
• ‘Rainforest defaunation is huge — these species are key’

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Supreme Court’s refusal to club all FIRs against Nupur Sharma is bad in law

News: Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) refused to consolidate multiple FIRs filed in several states against the former spokesperson of a political party for remarks against the Prophet flies.

About multiple FIRs in the present case

At least nine FIRs have been filed in multiple states. All these FIRs were filed subsequent to the filing of the FIR by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell. The date and time of the occurrence of the alleged offence are the same in all the FIRs.

All the FIRs refer to the same television debate in which the former spokesperson made the remarks against the Prophet. The sections of the Indian Penal Code are almost the same in all the FIRs.

What are the previous cases on multiple FIRs?

TT Antony vs. State of Kerala case, 2001: In this, the SC held that only the earliest information in regard to the commission of an offence could be investigated and tried.

Babubhai vs. State of Gujarat case, 2010: The Court explained that the test to determine the sameness of the offence is to identify whether “the subject matter of the FIRs is the same incident, same occurrence or are in regard to incidents which are two or more parts of the same transaction”.

What are the challenges in present judgement on multiple FIRs?

The bench said that party spokespersons and journalists cannot be treated identically. The bench also said that the spokesperson has not unconditionally apologised for her remarks and her political clout is apparent from the fact that she has not been arrested despite an FIR being filed against her by the Delhi Police.

This has the following concerns,

Firstly, the Constitution does not create any hierarchical difference between journalists and ordinary citizens when it comes to the enforcement of fundamental rights. The right to approach the SC under Article 32 is in itself a fundamental right.

Secondly, seeking or tendering an apology may be a mitigating factor. But, the issue before the SC was whether to consolidate FIRs or not. Instead, the Court jumped into the merits of the case.

Thirdly, Consolidating FIRs will ensure that state actors do not abuse the statutory power of investigation. So, it is the SC which has to exercise its writ powers under Article 32 because high courts cannot transfer cases from one state to another.

Fourthly, the multiplicity of proceedings would result in a violation of the fundamental rights of the accused under Article 21 as parallel investigations might force him/her to join investigations in different police stations in different states.

At best, the former spokesperson may file an application requesting the SC to relieve her of the concession to withdraw the petition and have it re-heard on merits. But, the SC should work within the confines of judicial propriety and augment the sanctity of the institution of the SC.

The Ukraine war and the return to Euro-centrism

Context: The political and military aftermath of the Ukraine conflict could set the stage for the return of a Euro-centric world order.

Is the current world order Euro-centric?

No.

a) Decolonisation, b) the emergence of the United States as the western world’s sole superpower, and c) the rise of the rest. These factors have dramatically diminished the centuries old domination of the European states.

The contemporary international order is hardly Euro-centric, is dominated by the U.S., and challenged by rising great powers or superpowers.

It is moving toward a multipolar order, wherein Europe’s system shaping capabilities have been rather limited.

War and insecurity in Europe

Going forward, Europe will emerge as a major locus of trans-Atlantic security imagination. The process has clearly begun.

– The political and military aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine could potentially tilt the current global balance towards a new Euro-centric world order, albeit far less powerful and dominating than its earlier forms.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine has led to an unmissable feeling of insecurity in Europe, particularly in Germany.

– Berlin, has decided to spend an additional €100 billion for defence over and above its €50 billion annual expenditure on defence. It is set to announce a new national security strategy early next year.

– Currently, the U.S. continues to dominate the trans-Atlantic security landscape and this is likely to remain so. The new security consciousness in Europe will reduce Washington’s ability to continue as the fulcrum of the trans-Atlantic strategic imagination.

• The United States, fatigued from the Iraq and Afghan wars, does not appear to be keen on another round of wars and military engagements.

– If Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2024, the Europeans are likely to take their own security far more seriously.

Impact of Russia-Ukraine war

On multilateral institutions

Notably, there appears little faith in the United Nations or the UN Security Council anymore in Berlin, they have decided to put their faith in a revitalised EU and NATO.

European states are deeply worried about globalisation-induced vulnerability and this has set in a rethink about the inherent problems of indiscriminate globalisation. This turn away from multilateralism in favour of ‘Europeanism’ will further undercut global institutions.

Implications of the new Euro-centric world order

It can lead to an even stronger regulatory, norm/standard-setting superpower of the Europe, backed with military power.

The EU already has a worryingly disproportionate ability to set standards for the rest of the world. Instruments such as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Assets Act or its human rights standards will be unilaterally adopted, and will be unavoidable by other parts of the world.

A euro-centric worldview of ‘friends and enemies’ will define its engagement with the rest of the world. India is a friend, but its take on the Ukraine war is not friendly enough for Europe!

Norm setting and system-shaping discussions are likely to be conducted by Europeans, among Europeans, for Europeans and non-Europeans. This will lead to fewer consultations and even lesser consensus with the rest of the international community. This will not be a truly global world order.

Way forward

European states want to see their wars and conflicts as threatening international stability and the ‘rules-based’ global order.

There is little recognition in the West today that the global non-West’s political priorities are altogether different — from addressing abject poverty and underdevelopment to managing social cohesion and local conflicts.

The genuine surprise in western capitals at the lack of interest in other parts of the world about the Russian aggression in Europe, is indicative of the inherent Euro-centric view of the European nations about the world.

I2U2 And The Middle Power Great Game

Context: In October 2021, Indian and Israeli foreign ministers sat together and created the ‘West Asia Quad’ with Anthony Blinken and Abdullah bin Zayed on a screen.

Nine months later, Joe Biden is sitting with Yair Lapid (former foreign minister), now prime minister of Israel, with the Indian PM and Mohammed bin Zayed in technological proximity, to start of the first summit of the same Quad, renamed as ‘I2U2’.

What are some opportunity areas for I2U2?

Connectivity: The I2U2’s emphasis on connectivity, transportation and a ‘food corridor’ should enable movement of critical supply chains seamlessly across South Asia, Gulf and Middle East all the way to the Mediterranean and southern Europe.

One simple example is the Etihad Rail project that promises to link all of the Gulf with its partners by 2030. That could open up more than one market for India.

Standards and benchmarks: The new Quad will not only work to “reduce trade barriers, but also harmonise standards and benchmarks” for production and trade. That’s important for Indian agri exports, which suffer at the hands of phytosanitary issues.

The setting of rules and benchmarks is a big component of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) signed just a couple of months ago. From technology to food and finance, these new plurilateral arrangements are bringing middle powers together to the new rules-making table.

Regional integration: India is hoping to make the most of the opportunities created by the Abraham Accords.

Strategic quotient: The region brings together the world’s biggest stakeholders, and, for the first time in decades, the Middle East is not the source of the latest global problem.

What are some factors that lead to the formation of I2U2?

A grouping like the I2U2 has been made possible by several developments:

– In recent years, Delhi has responded to the new diplomatic and strategic dynamic in the region — by giving a political imprimatur to the relationship with Israel and engaging more deeply with the Gulf monarchies

– The foreign office also seems to have shed its earlier wariness about the US’s role in West Asia. Washington, in turn, seems both comfortable with and keen for India playing a more proactive role.

The Abraham Accords of 2020, under which the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco now have formal ties with Israel too altered the diplomatic calculus in West Asia.

• That Delhi is already a player in this ongoing realignment is a prospect for cautious optimism about India’s place at the diplomatic table in the region.

Way forward

It’s time for India to throw off its own “hesitations of history” and step out of the closet for a larger role in the region. In the more medium term, India might want to consider bringing Iran into the QUAD. Perhaps even Russia.

It is important to take into account the immense capital accumulation in the West Asian region, and how it has been deployed in infrastructure projects and corridors as far as Africa.

Despite the presence of the Indian diaspora, and the country’s energy needs, Delhi currently has a negligible presence in these projects.

It must gradually address this deficit, and the I2U2 could help in that regard.

The I2U2 is a validation of New Delhi’s nimble foreign policy in West Asia as well as a pointer to the as yet untapped potential in the region.

The ‘permanent’ problem: Why is there a ‘caste system’ in govt employment?

News: Recently, protests were seen against the Agnipath scheme which was launched to cut costs in the armed forces as schemes like one rank-one pension were putting pressure on the public purse.

Therefore, this has raised debate over the nature of employment in government institutions.

Types of government employment?

There is a presence of a caste system: (1) permanent, (2) contractual, and (3) casual employees.

It is noted that the strength of contractual employees has doubled in four years to 2.43 million. And their share in total government employment has soared.

What are the trends in government employment?

(1) The governments have been increasingly hiring contractual, and casual employees instead of permanent employees because the permanent category gets paid much better than the former two. Thus, these employees are cheaper than the permanent employees.

(2) The central and state governments don’t fill vacancies in the departments and agencies.

(3) The government employees don’t get paid, sometimes for months together. For example, a school teacher, a sanitation worker, or a social health (ASHA) worker.

Why governments and associate bodies are moving away from hiring permanent employees?

Cost. The permanent government employees receive guaranteed sum of money as salary, housing rent allowance, full inflation-indexation and job security, medical benefits for life and pension and so on. And at present, the governments are under tremendous fiscal pressures.

Productivity. In the absence of any reward system for work well done, there is no incentive to work. At the same time, statutory provisions make it hard to use the stick.

– For example, there have been cases in which the teachers with relatively comfortable salaries sit at home and send surrogates to teach on their behalf in return for part-payment out of the teacher’s salary.

What are the issues in the coming future?

The unfairness of this caste system is bound to remain in the future because one of the new labour codes is poised to encourage hiring on contract.

Way Forward

Five years ago, the pay commission had recommended for a minimum wage of Rs 18,000 per month,

Some years ago, the Supreme Court ordered that there should be no difference between permanent and contractual categories, in pay or benefits.

Learn These Lanka Lessons

News: In recent months, Sri Lanka has run out of fuel, millions are going hungry, the healthcare system is near collapse, inflation is soaring, the currency has crashed, and the debt-laden economy is bankrupt.

What are the causes of Sri Lanka’s Crisis?

At the heart of Sri Lanka’s crisis is the twin deficit problem which is related to unsustainable fiscal and current account deficits.

In fact, India’s own balance of payments crisis of 1991 and near crisis in 2013 were the result of India’s spiralling twin deficits.

Sri Lanka’s fiscal problems:

First, in the recent past, the government reduced the value added tax by half and abolished the capital gains tax. It eroded an already narrow tax base.

Second, there was a massive expenditure outgo on subsidies.

Other causes

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) deferred monetary tightening even as inflation soared and the currency also plummeted. This happened ostensibly under pressure from the government.

Sri Lanka has avoided taking IMF assistance and tried to find an alternative. A stigma attached to IMF assistance still persists in Asia. However, taking alternative help proved to be costly and time-consuming for the Sri Lankan government.

• Read more: Click here

Why is it unlikely to have a similar crisis in India in the coming future?

There are big differences between the external situation of India then and now.

First, at that time, there was a pressure built up in the exchange rate. Today, the exchange rate is tracking fundamentals more closely.

Second, at that time, India’s macro situation was fragile because of year-on-year high fiscal and current account deficits. Today there is more credibility on the fiscal front and the expected CAD of over 3% this year will hopefully be a one off.

Third, India’s war-chest of reserves are at a very good position at $600 billion. India lacked such a level of reserves at that time.

What are the lessons that can be learned from the Sri Lanka’s Crisis? 

The countries should diversify sources of foreign exchange earnings to avoid becoming hostage to problems in one sector or one geography.

Careful borrowing: Although, at present, the countries are forced to borrow bilateral loans due to dwindling multilateral sources of debt, the governments should borrow from countries that follow the Paris Club norms of responsible lending.

The governments shouldn’t float sovereign dollar bonds because the commercial entities within an economy already borrow in foreign currency. It is dangerous because a government can inflate away its domestic debt by printing money. But it cannot print dollars.

Sri Lanka’s crisis is also a reminder of the importance of timing of public policies. For example, it was a good step that the Sri Lankan government decided to encourage organic farming, but it should have been preceded by a campaign to educate farmers. Moreover, it should’ve been implemented after building buffer stocks to insure against possible production declines in the initial years.

Emerging and developing countries are at the mercy of a global order which has been shaped by advanced economic policies and priorities. Therefore, these countries should build their own safety-nets and do responsible economic management in order to protect themselves and prevent being hostage to vote bank politics.

GS Paper 3

Stamp out this hate speech manufacturing network

News: The recent attack on a judge of the Supreme Court of India by the IT cell of a prominent national political party has given the impression that there are a significant number of people opposed to judicial criticism.

What are Internet Trolls, and what is the political nexus of these trolls and hate speech?

According to the book “I am a Troll”,  Internet trolls are defined as persons who sow discord through inflammatory comments on the Internet. The book traces the growth of Internet trolls from the early 2000s and attributes its steep upward curve to the support it received from a senior political leader in Government.

The book also mentions that ‘office bearers of the party in power have publicly supported these trolls’. Thus, the hate speech tweets are manufactured by a factory of a political party that produces millions of hate speeches.

Targeting processes against persons/organisations were managed by ‘Tek Fog’ (a ‘sophisticated app used by online operatives to hijack major social media and encrypted messaging platforms’).

For instance,

-The Wire reported that a network of 757 Twitter accounts was used to mount attacks against the co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News and the recovery email id for the anonymous Twitter handle was that of a youth leader of a political party.

-The Wire commented that the handlers of ‘Tek Fog’ are politically aligned.

-Over eight lakh hostile replies were sent out to tweets by women journalists, of which over five lakh were classified as ‘offensive’.

– Newslaundry has reported that internet trolls are ‘well-oiled propaganda machine that will churn out fake videos and mass tweet links to gear up for Twitter storms’.

How to reduce hate speech over the internet?

The government should frame a criminal investigation by an independent special investigation team of the police. This must be followed by Prosecution.

This hate speech manufacturing networks must be crushed. This is vital for democracy to survive and for the judiciary not to be intimidated.

Time for vigilance-Increased testing and building awareness, not stigmatisation, can stop spread of monkeypox

News: India reported its first laboratory-confirmed, imported case of monkeypox virus from Kerala. To cut the transmission chain, people who have come in contact with him in Kerala have been isolated.

What is monkeypox?

The first human case was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the virus became endemic in 11 countries in Africa causing small outbreaks.

What is the significance of the recent monkeypox spread?

The first case of the virus outside Africa was first reported in the U.K. in May 2022. Since then, the virus has spread to over 63 countries.

With cases crossing the 10,000-mark in non-endemic countries, and numerous cases in Spain (2,034), the U.K. (1,735), Germany (1,556) and the U.S. (1,470), the risk of the virus becoming established in some of these countries are becoming increasingly real.

Further, for the first time, the virus has spread to more than a hundred people a year during any outbreak in endemic countries except Congo.

How does the virus spreading so rapidly?

The rapid increase in cases and geographical spread have primarily been due to human-to-human transmission largely during sexual contact, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM).

Few dance parties in Spain and Belgium have turned out to be super-spreader events.

According to the WHO, “undetected transmission for some unknown duration followed by recent amplifier events” to be responsible for cases being detected simultaneously in several countries outside Africa.

What are the findings about Monkeypox so far?

No attempts were made to study Monkeypox all these years, as the virus is endemic in 11 countries in Africa and causes only small outbreaks.

But the recent studies have found that,

-The virus appears to mutate at a much higher rate than what was assumed.

-Based on genome sequences from the current outbreak, the virus has found the emergence of a novel clade of the virus in early March.

-Monkeypox virus DNA has been found in samples of semen, saliva, urine, rectal swabs and faeces at high viral loads.

So increased testing, contact tracing and building awareness, and not stigmatising the infected people alone can stop the spread.

James Webb: It is just the beginning

News: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) located some 1.6 million km from Earth has received “deep field” images of the photons of the early formed stars.

These photons have travelled relatively unhindered through the ever-expanding vast and presumably empty open space of the universe for over 13 billion years.

Findings about Planet WASP-96 b

The JWST’s also captured images indicating signs of water, clouds and haze in the atmosphere of WASP-96 b.

The planet is a hot and puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant Sun-like star. It is located roughly 1,150 light-years away in the constellation Phoenix.

It has a mass less than half that of Jupiter and a diameter 1.2 times greater,

According to Nasa, WASP-96 b is much puffier than any planet orbiting our Sun.

Importance of the discovery

The images give detailed glimpse of the birth of stars/ the beginnings of the universe as well as the deepest looks into the far reaches of outer space in the universe.

It gave a glimpse of what the most distant galaxies would have looked like more than 13.1 billion years ago, less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

Importance of the finding related to Scope of JWST

According to NASA, these observations have demonstrated that the JWST telescope has the unprecedented ability over the Hubble telescope, to do detailed observation of outer space.

About the JWST Programmes

It will

– target exoplanets, comets which are located outside our solar system.

– study the first light in the universe, and also study the first galaxies that formed in the universe

– probe the atmospheres of planets around other stars and so on. Thus will characterise potentially habitable planets beyond Earth.

The JWST’s first deep field images have revealed that it has far more powerful ability than the Hubble’s telescope. The JWST is planned for the next-generation Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Public (DEEP) survey and other programmes

Its programmes will target distant galaxies. This will include giant galaxies, as well as the dwarf galaxies which are far smaller than what Hubble Space Telescope could capture.

It shall identify supermassive black holes that sit at the centre of almost every large galaxy.

It shall observe Mars and the gas giants, dwarf planets like Pluto and Eris, and even smaller bodies in our solar system like asteroids, comets, and Kuiper Belt Objects.

It is also slated to study brown dwarfs and other matters of cosmic evolution.

‘Community evolves slowly in rainforests like India’s Kudremukh and Silent Valley’

Context: The Silent Valley national park in Kerala and Kudremukh national park in Karnataka. The former had witnessed a rich conservation history involving a people’s movement to stop a dam and creating a national park. Whereas, the latter is one of the first rainforests that is present in the Western Ghats.

An ecological principle

In natural ecosystems like forests, the species get together to form a community. Further, there won’t be just one dominant species of trees in the ecosystem, there would be diverse kinds of trees living there. Thus, it means there will be incredible diversity in a forest ecosystem.

For Example, tropical rainforests in South America or Southeast Asia could have 800 to 1,000 different species in one hectare alone.

This varies, depending on the history of how species evolved over time and climate.

There will be different levels of diversity between a forest in India, Borneo or Panama.

What are the processes that maintain such diversity in an ecosystem?

Each species has its own ‘niche’ or requirement for the resources like light, water and some nutrients. For example, all the species don’t use resources at the same level. Some thrive in bright sunshine, some in dark and some in dappled sunshine.

Therefore, these differential requirements of light, water and soil nutrients lead to species differentiation and prevent any one species from becoming dominant in complex ecosystems like tropical rainforests.

There are continuous interactions between plants, insects and fungi. It ensures no one species becomes dominant, and a community is upheld. For example,

(a) Small organisms enable diversity in the complex ecosystem through the process of eating plants and regulating the population of the plants and trees.

(2) The disease-causing pathogens act as enemies of trees. The population of the trees may be destroyed by these pathogens. In such a situation, other species come in and establish themselves in that space.

Role of Human Actions on these complex interactions:

(1) Humans have modified forests. The large forest places have been chopped up into smaller pieces for agriculture, roads or logging.

(2) Further, such human interventions like fragmentations of forests, increase the ability of the natural enemies like pathogens to impact the plants.

The rodents work with greater strength in fragmented forest or near forest edges as compared to interiors of forest. For example, rodents like porcupines and wild rats are able to eat more seeds in an impacted fragment versus a less disturbed forest.

Way Forward

These rainforest ecosystems in South India have diverse systems, like rainforests below, grasslands and sholas in the upper regions.  Therefore, it is important to preserve them as these are sanctuaries of nature’s evolutionary history.

‘Rainforest defaunation is huge — these species are key’

News: There is rampant destruction of ecosystems worldwide. Over the years, the expansive tropical forest ecosystems in Mexico, etc. have become small, and isolated patches of vegetation, leading to their fragmentation.

Whether processes of evolution in biodiversity can survive such habitat fragmentation?

No. There are mutually beneficial interactions between plants and animals in tropical rainforests. For example, pollination and seed dispersal.

The interactions between plants and animals in tropical rainforests also jointly regulate the ecosystem. Further, all species can live in a balance.

Now, there would be disastrous consequences, if the understory of a rainforest where the interactions between plants and animals have evolved and takes place, like seed dispersal to plant regulation, is removed.

The deforestation or the destruction of the forest will damage the processes of interactions between plants and animals. Further, it will also lead to the process of defaunation or loss of animal life.

Scale of defaunation

Over the last four decades, the vertebrates’ animals have shrunk by 30%.

Over the last 40 years, there has been an approximately 50% rate of decline or Tropical defaunation.

In the Brazilian Amazon, the most diverse rainforest on Earth, we are losing 40 million vertebrates’ monkeys, birds, deer each year due to hunting and poaching. The same trend is consistent in all the world’s rainforests.

Further, removal of animals also leads to cascading consequences. For example, when parent monkeys are removed from a rainforest, the baby monkeys cannot survive without their parents.

What are the solutions?

(1) To spread awareness of defaunation. The use of the term ‘defaunation’ may help citizens and policy makers to measure the magnitude of the loss of animal life.

(2) Scientists and ecologists must engage the global public to stop the destruction of habitats, which is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss.

(3) What’s left must be protected and focus on refaunation via rewilding and translocation to the homes. It will help revive vital ecosystem processes and control rodents that carry dangerous pathogens.

(4) It is also very important to respect the knowledge of indigenous societies. These have conserved viable forestry and sustainable agriculture through diversified land use, mosaics of agriculture, agripastoral and forest management systems that save biodiversity.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

NIRF 2022: Union Education Minister Releases India Rankings 2022 of higher educational institutes

Source: The post is based on the article “Union Education Minister Releases India Rankings 2022 of higher educational institutes” published in PIB on 15th July 2022

What is the News?

The Union Education Minister has released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings 2022.

What is the National Institutional Ranking Framework(NIRF)?

Launched in: 2015 by the Ministry of Education.

Purpose: To rank colleges, universities and research institutions and also provides an overall ranking of all of them combined.

Parameters: The framework judges institutions under five broad groups of parameters of 1) Teaching, Learning and Resources(TLR), 2) Research and Professional Practice(RP), 3) Graduation Outcomes(GO), 4) Outreach and Inclusivity(OI) and 5) Perception (PR).

Categories: The rankings have been announced for 11 categories. This includes overall, university, management, college, pharmacy, medical, engineering, architecture, ARIIA (Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements), law and research institutions.

What are the key rankings of NIRF 2022?

Overall: IIT-Madras has retained its number one position in the overall educational institutes and engineering categories this year as well.

Universities: Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru tops the Universities Category for the seventh consecutive year. It stood first in the Research Institutions Category for the second consecutive year.

Management: IIM Ahmedabad tops in Management subjects retaining its first position for the third consecutive year.

Medical: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi occupies the top slot in Medical for the fifth consecutive year.

Colleges: Miranda House retains the 1st position amongst Colleges for the sixth consecutive year.

Union Minister launches Y- 3023 Dunagiri, Project 17A frigate at GRSE Ltd, Kolkata

Source: The post is based on the article “Union Minister launches Y- 3023 Dunagiri, Project 17A frigate at GRSE Ltd, Kolkata” published in PIB on 15th July 2022

What is the News?

The Defence Minister has launched Y- 3023 Dunagiri.

What is Y- 3023 Dunagiri?

Y- 3023 Dunagiri is the fourth warship of Project 17A.

Built by: Garden Reach Shipbuilders Limited (GRSE) for Indian Navy

Named After: The ship is named after an earlier frigate. The former one was a Leander class ASW frigate which was decommissioned in 2010.

Features: The ships are designed with extensive use of low-observability technologies, including the use of composite materials and radar-absorbing coatings.These materials assist the vessel in maintaining a low radar cross-section(RCS). 

– Further, the vessel’s physical profile also aids in stealth. It has an enclosed mooring deck, flush deck-mounted weapon systems and a reduced number of antennae. 

– The ship has a discreet physical build and visual profile along with an improved roll stabilization. This enables it to voyage into enemy territory in a trice during maritime conflicts.

What is Project 17A?

Project 17A frigates were christened after the former-Nilgiri-class frigates which served in the Indian Navy between 1972 and 2013. 

The first six ships of the series were allotted the names utilized by the older class — Nilgiri, Himgiri, Taragiri, Udaygiri, Dunagiri, and Vindhyagiri.

INS Nilgiri and INS Himgiri — were launched in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The third ship — INS Udaygiri — was launched in May 2022.

Iran and Belarus to be new SCO members

Source: The post is based on the article “Iran and Belarus to be new SCO members” published in The Hindu on 16th July 2022

What is the News?

Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) grouping.

What is Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO)?

Click Here to read about it

Members of SCO:

China, Russia and four Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and 

Tajikistan — were the founding member of the SCO while India and Pakistan joined the SCO in 2017.

In the 2021 SCO summit in Dushanbe, the members of SCO agreed to admit Iran as a member while Belarus has also begun the membership process.

What is the reason behind the expansion of SCO?

China and Russia are looking to frame the SCO as a counter to the West — particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Moreover, China has also drawn a sharp contrast between SCO and NATO. It said that SCO is a cooperative organization based on non-alignment and not targeting a third party. On the other hand, NATO is based on Cold War thinking. The logic of NATO is to create new enemies to sustain its own existence.

What are the upcoming summits of SCO?

The 2022 annual summit of the SCO will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The 2023 SCO summit will be hosted by India.

Note: Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital”.

Explained: How much alcohol is unsafe, based on age

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: How much alcohol is unsafe, based on age” published in Indian Express on 16th July 2022

What is the News?

According to a study published in Lancet, young people face higher health risks from alcohol consumption than older adults.

This study is based on the analysis of the Global Burden of Disease. It is the first-ever study to report alcohol risk by geographical region, age and sex.

What are the key findings of the study on Alcohol?

Young men are at the greatest risk of harmful alcohol consumption: Males between the ages 15-39 are at the greatest risk of harmful alcohol consumption. In every region, males in this age group comprised the largest segment of the population drinking unsafe amounts. 

– In this age group, the analysis found no health benefits to drinking alcohol. There are only health risks with 60% of alcohol-related injuries occurring among this segment including motor vehicle accidents, suicides and homicides.

People Aged above 40: For adults over age 40, too, health risks from alcohol consumption vary by age and region. However, consuming a small amount of alcohol can provide some health benefits for people in this age group such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes.

India: In India, 1.85% of females and 25.7% of males in the 15-39 age group consumed unsafe amounts of alcohol in 2020. This was lower than 1.79% of females and 23% of males in the 40-64 age group who consumed unsafe amounts.

Suggestions: The researchers suggested that global alcohol consumption recommendations should be based on age and location with the strictest guidelines targeted toward the 15-39 age group. 

Govt releases Natural Resource Accounting to track mineral, energy deposits

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt releases Natural Resource Accounting to track mineral, energy deposits” published in Business Standard on 16th July 2022

What is the News?

The Government Accounting Standards advisory board(GASAB) has come up with a Natural Resource Accounting(NRA) for tracking and maintaining the natural resources of India.

Note: India is a signatory to the 2016 UN General Assembly Resolution —“Transforming the World, the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development” which requires the preparation of Natural Resource Accounts(NRA).

What is the Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board(GASAB)?

GASAB was established in the year 2002 by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance.

Purpose: To formulate and improve standards of government accounting and financial reporting and enhance accountability mechanisms.

Chairperson: Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (Government Accounts) 

Members: The Board has high-level representation from the important accounting heads in Government, Ministry of Finance, Department of Post, Finance Secretaries of states, RBI and heads of premier accounting & research organizations.

What is Natural Resource Accounting(NRA)?

GASAB had prepared a concept paper on Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) envisaging short, medium and long-term goals starting from 2020.

The first goal was the preparation of asset accounts on mineral and energy resources, more importantly of the non-renewable and finite resources which would ultimately aid in building resilience to environmental issues like climate change.

To date, all 28 States and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have prepared the Asset Accounts for 2020-21. The Asset Accounts captured details of 34 major minerals, 58 minor minerals and all four fossil fuels.

The formats of asset accounts have been designed in keeping with the prescriptions of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting central framework(SEEA).

Note: The UN adopted the System of Economic and Environmental Accounting(SEEA) framework in 2012. It is an internationally accepted framework for NRA.

Why indigenous HPV vaccine has the potential to drastically bring down the incidence & deaths caused by cervical cancer in India?

Source: The post is based on the article “Why indigenous HPV vaccine has the potential to drastically bring down the incidence & deaths caused by cervical cancer in India?” published in Indian Express on 15th July 2022

What is the News?

The Serum Institute of India(SII)’s Vaccine “Cervavac” has received the Drugs Controller General of India’s(DGCI) approval for market authorisation.

What is Cervavac?

Click Here to read about it

Why does one need to prevent HPV to reduce Cervical Cancer?

Cervical cancer continues to be one of the only vaccine-preventable cancers. 

Almost all cervical cancers are found in women who have a history of HPV infection.

So, the best way to prevent cervical cancer is to prevent an HPV Infection in the first place. And, that is what the HPV vaccines like Cervavac do.

Who should be given Cervavac vaccines?

Since the virus is sexually transmitted, it has to be given to teenage girls before they are sexually active. Once an infection happens, the vaccine cannot clear it out. Hence, the effectiveness of the vaccine keeps dropping with age.

For those who are past the age of HPV vaccination, regular screening is the best way to keep an eye out for whether they have cervical cancer.

What will be the impact of this development?

The impact will be tremendous if we are able to vaccinate 90% of teenage girls. It will drastically bring down the incidence and deaths caused by cervical cancer in India.

India sees about 1.2 lakh cervical cancer cases a year and around 67,000 deaths a year.

Are there other vaccines against HPV available?

At present, there are two HPV vaccines available – GSKs Cervarix and Merck’s Gardasil.  Cervarix is not readily available in India and the other one is costlier.

Does a tropical ozone hole exist? Experts are divided

Source: The post is based on the article “Does a tropical ozone hole exist? Experts are divided” published in Down To Earth on 15th July 2022

What is the News?

According to a recent study, a new ozone hole has been detected over the tropics, at latitudes of 30 degrees South to 30 degrees North.

What is Ozone Hole?

Researchers used a different definition of the ozone hole in this study. The study defined it as an area with ozone loss larger than 25% compared to the normal ozone value.

According to NASA, an ozone hole is an area where ozone levels drop below the historical threshold of 220 Dobson Units (DU is the measure of ozone concentrations).

Ozone Hole over Tropics

The study has claimed that a new ozone hole has been detected over the tropics, at latitudes of 30 degrees South to 30 degrees North.

This ozone hole is located at altitudes of 10-25 km over the tropics. It is about seven times larger than Antarctica.

It also appears across all seasons, unlike that of Antarctica, which is visible only in the spring.

Risks Involved: The Tropical ozone hole, which makes up 50% of Earth’s surface could cause a global concern due to the risks associated with it. It is likely to cause skin cancer, cataracts and other negative effects on the health and ecosystems in tropical regions.

What are the criticisms against this study?

Firstly, the mechanism of ozone loss proposed by this study has been discredited.

Secondly, this study used the 1960s dataset on ozone changes. The trouble is that there were very few observations in the 1960s and most were based on model reconstructions which were poor.

Explained: What are randomized controlled trials, how do they work?

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: What are randomized controlled trials, how do they work?” published in Indian Express on 15th July 2022

What is the News?

Economist and Nobel laureate Michael R Kremer has said that for a diverse country like India Randomized Controlled Trials(RCTs) must be carried out at multiple sites for better analysis and to see differences across states.

What are Randomized Controlled Trials(RCTs)?

RCTs involve dividing a population into smaller groups, in order to comparatively see the outcomes of an external stimulus. 

For example, if the aim of a study is to understand whether a free grains distribution scheme helped improve the nutrition levels among people living in a district, researchers will first create two groups within the population, and then put people into those groups randomly.

– One group (called the control group) does not receive the grains or the external stimulus, while the other group (treatment group) does. 

– After a designated period of time, details of how both the groups are doing would be collected. In this way, the goal is to understand what is the overall impact of introducing something new could be.

Nobel Prize: Micheal R.Kremer and fellow economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo won the 2019 Nobel Prize winner in Economics. They had made use of RCT for their research on poverty. 

What are the criticisms against the use of RCTs?

Firstly, Angus Deaton, the winner of the Economics Nobel in 2015 said RCTs do not equalize two groups and warned against over-reliance on RCTs to frame policies.

– For instance, there may be more women in one group, or one group may have more people having some kind of distinctiveness that affects the result. As a result, the outcomes may not give an accurate view.

Secondly, RCTs cannot be used to study something after it has happened, they need to be planned beforehand. 

Thirdly, RCTs show results for a particular population in an area. It may not be proof that the same results will be achieved elsewhere especially if the sample size is not big or the trial deals with a very specific kind of population subgroup.

Explained: What is the Flag Code and how has it been changed recently?

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: What is the Flag Code and how has it been changed recently?” published in Indian Express on 14th July 2022

What is the News?

The government of India has amended the Flag Code of India, 2002 allowing for the National Flag to be made from polyester and other machine-made fabric, besides the traditional handspun and handwoven khadi.

What is the Flag Code of India?

The Flag Code of India took effect on January 26, 2002. 

The act brings together all laws, conventions, practices, and instructions for the display of the National Flag. It governs the display of the National Flag by private, public, and government institutions.

As per Clause 2 of the Flag Code, there shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members of the general public, private organizations, educational institutions etc. consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.

What is the recent amendment made to the Flag Code of India?

The Government of India has amended the Flag Code of India, 2002 to allow the National Flag made of polyester or machine-made flag.

Hence, from now on, the National Flag can be made of hand-spun, hand-woven or machine-made cotton/polyester/wool/silk/khadi bunting.

Why was this amendment made?

The government has said this change would make the national flag affordable for people and help ensure the success of the Centre’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ programme.

Har Ghar Tiranga programme is to be launched on August 15 this year to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. The programme aims to encourage every citizen to hoist the national flag at home.

Concerns associated with the amendment: However, this amendment has also been questioned on the grounds that: a) It would break the association between the Tricolour, the Independence movement and khadi and b) Allowing tricolour production using non-khadi fabric would end up benefitting countries like China.