9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – July 25th, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• India is greying – and what we can do about it

GS Paper 2

• Significance of bail: A shot in the arm for rule of law
• Adding digital layers of indignity
• Out of bounds: Unusual or onerous bail conditions ought to have no place in judicial orders
• The key to US-India partnership: Defence and technology cooperation
• Why Agnipath scheme needs to be extended to All India Services

GS Paper 3

• Weighing in on India’s investment-led revival
• MC12 over, it’s ‘gains’ for the developed world
• The challenges of fiberisation ahead of India’s 5G deployment
• Tackling Monkeypox
• A cultivated idea for cities

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

India is greying – and what we can do about it

News: Recently, Population trends and forecasts undertaken by the government and several other agencies were released in the public domain. The points that ageing is going to be one of the most critical concerns for India. 

Ageing refers to a demographic situation in which the population is heading towards such a situation where the share of 60+ population in the overall population steadily increases.  

Why is this a matter of concern for India? 

(1) Though the proportion of older persons in the overall population is low (8.6%), their overall number is very high (104 million), as per the 2011 census. The overall number is projected to be four times in 50 years, i.e., to reach 425 million by 2061. 

(2) The proportion of the older population of the total population is different in different states. This is because different states of India are at different stages of the demographic transitions. Therefore, their projected population share is going to range from 11.6% in Bihar to 23.9% in Kerala, by 2041.  

(3) Ageing in India is happening at a super-quick pace. In France and Sweden, the older population took 110 years and 80 years respectively to double its share from 7% to 14%. However, in the case of India, it is projected to take only 20 years to double. In 2061, every 4th person in India is expected to be 60+.  

(4), India is aging before becoming rich. The poverty rates are higher among older persons. As per the United Nations Population Fund 2012 study, 52% of the older population is economically fully dependent and 18% share is partially dependent (18%) on others for livelihood. Further, a large number of older persons continue to work or are forced to work because of economic conditions.  

For example, in 2021, almost 10% of the total workers in MGNREGA were 61 years or older. 

(5) The level of social security coverage and access to health services for the elderly is fairly low.  

Measures Taken for the older population in India so far 

The Indian government had launched the National Policy for Older persons in 1999.  This was launched even before the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. 

The Kerala government addresses the issue with initiatives and budgetary allocations right from the panchayat level.  

In the last two years, the ministry of social justice has been active in coming up with some innovative solutions.  

What should be done? 

There is a plethora of schemes for the elderly, but they are tokenistic because they lack the depth and financial support needed to make any meaningful impact. 

Given the scenario of the poor financial status of the elderly and lack of financial support for schemes under implementation, there is a need for high- level political engagement over this issue. 

There is a need for a differentiated approach to planning for older persons across states. 

There should be proactive and prospective policies and programmes on older population both at the national and state levels. These initiatives should be formulated and implemented with the engagement of all the stakeholders including corporates and civil society, 

There is much to learn from countries such as Taiwan and China on this front.  

GS Paper 2

Significance of bail: A shot in the arm for rule of law

News: In Satender Kumar Antil v. Central Bureau of Investigation (2022), the Supreme Court expressed its unhappiness with the current state of India’s criminal justice system. The court said that indiscriminate arrests are indicative of a colonial mindset and create the impression of India being a “police state”.

What is the significance of the court ruling?

The court highlighted the following a) Safeguarding basic human rights, b) the emphasis on quickening the pace of trials, c) Suggesting a new Bail Act, like that of the UK, d) Demanding that the agencies must be civilised towards both crime suspects and convicts, and d) Provision for electronic surveillance of those released on bail.

What are the reasons behind indiscriminate arrests?

a) Members of the lower judiciary often ask investigating officers why they did not arrest some suspects while arresting others, b) Courts suspect that the police lack integrity in discriminating between the accused, c) An average police officer invariably believes that it is only in the rigour of custody that a suspect will cough out the truth.

About the problem of overcrowding

The problem of overcrowding of prisons has accompanying issues such as corruption, crime and hygiene within prisons. This is because 1) There is an insistence during trial on judicial custody. This is different from what prevails in many countries, especially the U.K., where the grant of bail is much more liberal, 2) The court proceedings in India are lengthy and complex.

What are the other instances where the judiciary highlighted bail is the rule and jail as the exception?

In the State of Rajasthan, Jaipur V. Balchandalias Baliay (1977) case: The court held, “The basic rule is bail, not jail, except where there are circumstances suggestive of fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses.”

What should be done to reform India’s criminal justice system?

Even if not framed a separate law, the existing legal provisions, especially the Criminal Procedure Code, are adequate to curb the overeager practices of law enforcement agencies. Hence, India’s arbitrary and cruel practices must change.

The political and bureaucratic leadership should convince themselves of the role of ethics in public life.

Adding digital layers of indignity

Context: The article provides many examples to prove that outsourcing humane aspects of governance to technologies lead to dehumanisation.

Right to live with dignity is a constitutional imperative. Digital initiatives in governance like Centralised data dashboards have become the go-to mode for assessing policies. It has lowered the value of principles such as human dignity and hardships in accessing rights.

Author has provided one such example. Natho Ba, an MGNREGA worker wasn’t able to access his own MGNREGA wages because his biometrics wouldn’t work. Moreover, the bank manager also used dehumanised technocratic vocabulary “His fingers are defective”.

Thus, when trust and humane aspects of governance are outsourced to technologies, dehumanisation is the likely outcome.

Some examples of dehumanised nature of technocratic initiatives

1) Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)

An important component of ICDS is supplementary nutrition for children in the 0 to 6 years age group, pregnant women and lactating mothers.  In 2021, the Union government launched the Poshan Tracker, a centralised platform, to monitor all nutrition initiatives, including ICDS.

Updating of Aadhaar of ICDS rights-holders, including children, on the Poshan Tracker is mandatory. Subsequent Central funds for supplementary nutrition to States is dependent on this. However, as per government clarifications, only the Aadhaar of mothers need to be authenticated at Anganwadis.

Technocratic issues

Nearly three-fourths of children between the ages of 0 to 5 years do not have Aadhaar cards, and Supreme Court orders specify that children cannot be denied their rights for lack of Aadhaar.

This is the case despite Common Service Centres (CSC) owners reported that biometrics of 42% of the users don’t work on the first attempt.

36% of children under the age of five are stunted and nearly one-third of children in this age group are underweight. Thus, creating new hurdles for children in the name of digitisation will worsen this situation.

2) National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app

As per the order, the app will record “two time-stamped and geo-tagged photographs of the workers in a day”. It was intended to “increase citizen oversight of the programme besides potentially enabling processing of payments faster.”

Technocratic issues

1) Earlier, MGNREGA workers could complete their share of work and leave for household work or for other for supplementary income. However, now they have to now stay back at the worksite even after completing their work only to get photographed and geo-tagged.

2) Photo attendance is taken by Mates who are usually local women in charge of worksite supervision. Now, the mates need to own a phone, many of whom doesn’t have that. Many of them are forced to take loans to buy smartphones to use the app.

3) Now there are technical issues. Workers are losing money when they are unable to upload their attendance due to technical glitches. Network connectivity is another issue.

4) The sense of being constantly watched induces fear among people. Gradually, it forms a habit among the subjects of internalising and accepting this form of coercion.

Social audits need strengthening instead of technocratic solutions of transparency. Democratic dictum suggests that people should be able to ‘see’ the state clearly, not the other way around. It is the dignity and trust of people at stake otherwise.

Out of bounds: Unusual or onerous bail conditions ought to have no place in judicial orders

News: The Supreme Court recently disapproved the tendency among some courts to impose unusual conditions for bail.

About the case

In a land grabbing case, the interim bail order of the District Magistrate, asked the person to take possession of the property and, after putting up a boundary wall and barbed wire around it and deliver it to the Custodian, Evacuee/Enemy Property.

The Allahabad High Court also granted interim bail based on similar conditions. But the Supreme Court had taken an exception and asked the lower courts to not impose conditions that went beyond what was necessary to ensure the presence or attendance of an accused during the trial.

What are the conditions to grant bail?

The conditions for not granting bail have specific objectives. Such as preventing the accused from fleeing justice and precluding any scope for tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses.

These objectives are usually secured by directing them to stay in a particular place and asking them to record their presence before a police officer or a court at a specified frequency.

What are the previous instances of permitting bail with unusual conditions?

Some recent examples include a) being asked to do a spell of community service, b) apologising to victims, c) reading a moral treatise or chapters from Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography.

For instance, in 2020, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had ordered a man accused of molesting a woman to visit the victim at home and agree to her tying a ‘rakhi’. However, the SC denounced the attempt to convert a ‘molester’ into a ‘brother’ by judicial mandate.

What should be done?

The sharp observations, whether oral or part of detailed orders, can often help in conveying a sense of the judicial conscience. But their casual use of such will undermine public confidence in the court’s impartiality. The courts has to avoid these.

The key to US-India partnership: Defence and technology cooperation

News: To improve India-US relations, the recently concluded India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue recognised closer cooperation in scientific research and critical emerging technologies.

About the present political scenario

The 21st century is a bipolar era dominated by the US and China.

Status of China: China is now home to a manufacturing-led and technology-driven economy, competing head-on with the US in areas like biotech, robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced materials.

Status of India: India’s consistent commitment and concerted policy action focused on building domestic capabilities in critical technologies, key manufacturing industries and pursuing important structural economic reforms has started yielding results. The possibility of India’s continuing rise over this century seems to be stronger.

Hence, Asia might once again take its place as the geo-economic epicentre of the world.

What is the present approach of India-US on China?

India: India once welcomed Chinese involvement in its economy, has recalibrated after the 2020 Galwan face-off.

The US: The US once see non-democratic China as a benign partner, has now sees it as a threat.

According to the former Foreign Secretary, unlike India and the US, which are both well-established republics with deep democratic cultures, China is “a party with a state attached to it.” At present, India and the US are natural allies to confront the challenges posed by an expansionist and aggressive China in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Why does the US want to engage with India more?

1) India is not a part of the geopolitical and cultural West yet is “westernised” enough to be comfortable in that bloc, 2) Unlike some other countries in the Indian Subcontinent, India never has been nor will be anybody’s servant, 3) Demographic and economic trends position India as a global force that will have the weight to stride alongside America and China.

How to improve India-US relations?

a) Beyond the consumer tech and software sectors, both countries should broaden the technology collaboration in areas like artificial intelligence, drones, advanced materials, space technology, semiconductors, and biotech.

b) India and the US should be closely aligned in addressing the threat posed by an authoritarian China.

The combined financial firepower, human capital, and technology prowess available between the India and US would place the world safer. So, the India-US partnership is not a convenience but a necessity for the new multipolar world order.

Why Agnipath scheme needs to be extended to All India Services

News: Recently, the government has launched an Agnipath scheme for the armed forces of the country with a view to make these a leaner force without compromising on their combat abilities. Thereafter, a similar scheme is being demanded with regard to the All-India Services (AIS). 

Argument Against such a scheme for AIS 

The AIS have rendered excellent services to the country despite the severe constraints under which the officers function. 

To cope with the increasing responsibilities, there has been a steady expansion of the civil services.  

The government activities today cover a much wider spectrum. Now the welfare schemes are being undertaken on a massive scale. To cope with the increasing responsibilities, there has been a steady expansion of the civil services. 

The law-and-order problems have become far more complex and people are not happy with police. But, still, no one would ask for abolition of police as it would result in lawlessness and chaos. Thus, it is same with the civil services. 

Argument in favour of Agnipath like scheme for AIS 

There is a huge sense of dissatisfaction over the performance of the civil services, particularly AIS. For example, the people are generally dissatisfied with the performance of the police and there are credible complaints about its brutality, third-degree methods and extra-judicial killings. 

It has been noticed that once an officer is selected for the AIS, he/she develops a smug attitude that his/her career for the next 30/35 years is now secure. Therefore, there is a lack of pressure to perform, an incentive to innovate, and a desire to excel.  

Senior officers of the IAS and IPS have gone to the Supreme Court for reforms in the civil services and the police.  

The judiciary has, from time to time, given directions for reforms but these have not been implemented in letter and spirit. 

In the last few decades, the AIS have grown in size and have become very, very top-heavy. There are a number of officers who are holding top positions but have very little work to do. Therefore, they are frustrated and look for politicians to get a top post in the bureaucratic mainstream.  

What could be the Features of the Agnipath Scheme for AIS? 

Performance Appraisal System 

(1) There should be a performance-appraisal system in three stages. There should be strict review once when the AIS officers have completed 15 years of service, then after 25 years of service, and, finally, after 30 years of service. 

(2) After the first stage of performance appraisal, 25% officers should be weeded out, 10% officers at the second stage and 5% officers at the third stage. Weeding out should be for poor performance, charges of corruption, any other misconduct of a serious nature, or for being physically unfit. 

Screening at each stage will have to be very rigorous and the mechanism to do so must be impartial.  

The appraisal system should be devised to doubly ensure that the officers are not victimised for political reasons. The officers may be given copper/silver/golden handshakes at the three stages. 

Panel for weeding out AIS 

There should be a panel for weeding out at different stages. The members can be the retired judges, officers of impeccable integrity drawn from different services, distinguished members of the civil society and representatives from all the state governments of the country.  

Every time the review is undertaken, three to five from the panel should be chosen by lottery, taking care that they are from states other than the one whose officers’ performance is going to be reviewed.  

If an officer feels aggrieved by the decision of the panel, he should be able to approach a tribunal. 

Benefits of this scheme for AIS 

The periodic trimming of services would ensure that officers become performance-oriented, acquire new skills and a flair for innovation in administration. The complacency and smugness would disappear in a majority of cases.  

The bureaucratic top would become lighter. It would also ensure that the structure of services becomes pyramid-shaped and not the trapezium it is now.  

GS Paper 3

Weighing in on India’s investment-led revival

News: Recently, India’s Finance minister addressed third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting. She said that India’s long-term growth prospects are embedded in public capital expenditure programmes. Thus there is a need to analyse trends in government’s investment policies and their impacts.

The phases of Public investment-led economic growth in India

India’s post-Independence economic growth was led by the public investment.

During Asian financial crisis of 1997, the then government initiated public road building projects. These projects led to an investment and export-led boom in the 2000s.

The project were Golden Quadrilateral (to link metro cities using a high-quality road network) and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (to ‘provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected habitations’).

However, in 2010s, real Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) rate declined, which saw a rise to 32.5% in 2019-20 from a low of 30.7% in 2015-16. This trend continued even during pandemic years.

Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the shares of agriculture and industry in fixed capital formation/GDP fell from 7.7% and 33.7% to 6.4% and 32.5%, respectively. Whereas the share of services rose from 49% in 2014-15 to 52.3% in 2019-20.

What are the present issues in the present Public investment-led economic growth strategy?

The budgetary definition of investment refers to financial investments. It include purchase of existing financial assets, or loans offered to States. Thus, it is not just capital formation representing an expansion of the productive potential.

The National Accounts Statistics suggests that over 90% of Gross Capital Formation (GCF) consists of fixed investments. However, the productive potential of investment depends on its composition.

Within the service sector, although investment in roads and communications rose, but declined in industries and agriculture. There is a need for balance between “directly productive investments” (in farms and factories) and infrastructure investments.

Although a good amount of time and resources were dedicated to improve ease of doing business in India under ‘Make in India’ campaign. However, it didn’t result in a boost to industrial investment, let alone foreign investment.

The contribution of foreign capital to financing GCF fell from 3.8% in 2014-15 (or 11.1% in 2011-12) to 2.5% in 2019-20.

The lack of domestic capacity for essential raw industrial materials and capital goods could prove costly.

MC12 over, it’s ‘gains’ for the developed world

News: About the recently concluded 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The European Union (EU) and some other developed countries are the overwhelming winners, while India finds itself on the losing side.

How developed countries gain at MC12 on the Covid-19 fight?

In October 2020, India and South Africa put forth a proposal seeking to temporarily suspend the protection of intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights, industrial designs and trade secrets. The proposal garnered the support of almost 100 countries at the WTO.

However, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and the United States opposed the proposal. Later, the US agreed to limit the proposal only to vaccines.

Counterproposal: The European Union (EU) made a counter-proposal to undermine the proposal made by India and South Africa. This counter proposal provided a cosmetic simplification in certain procedural aspects of compulsory licensing in patent rules. This formed the basis of the final outcome at the MC12.

Significance of the proposal: It adds stringent conditions that are not in the WTO rulebook.

What are the other gains for the EU at MC12?

WTO reforms: The EU sought to make fundamental changes to the institutional architecture of the WTO. It also sought to give a formal role to the private sector in WTO processes. The EU has secured both these objectives in the ministerial outcome.

Environment issues: The EU has also managed to create a window to pursue negotiations on issues related to trade and the environment at the WTO. This is an issue of concern for many developing countries.

What were the failures of India at MC12?

A permanent solution to public stockholding: Despite having the support of more than 80 developing countries, this issue has not found mentioned anywhere in the ministerial outcome.

Instead, the developed countries have succeeded in diverting attention from India’s interest by agreeing that food security is multidimensional, requiring a comprehensive solution.

On other issues: 1) India failed to secure the right to raise revenues by taxing electronic transmissions, 2) On fisheries subsidies, India gets two years to have suitable regulatory mechanisms in place to monitor fish catch and reporting. If not, then the subsidies to traditional fishermen will be prohibited.

Overall, India’s negotiators need to undertake a careful examination to learn lessons from the dynamics at the MC12 and make course corrections.

The challenges of fiberisation ahead of India’s 5G deployment

News: Prime Minister of India in his 2020 Independence Day speech, laid out the vision to connect every village in the country with Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) in 1,000 days. Also, India is preparing to auction off about 72 Ghz of airwaves to rollout 5G services in the country. However, the fiberization is required to rollout such an infrastructure.

What is fiberisation and its significance?

The process of connecting radio towers with each other via optical fibre cables is called fiberization.

It helps provide full utilisation of network capacity, carry large amounts of data, and aid in providing additional bandwidth.

It provides a stronger backhaul support. The backhaul is a component of the larger transport that is responsible for carrying data across the network. It represents the part of the network that connects the core of the network to the edge.

What is the status of fiberisation in India?

At present, in India, only 33% of the towers are fiberized. It is very low compared to the 65%-70% in South Korea and 80%-90% in the U.S., Japan and China.

India’s fibre kilometer (fkm) per capita is just .09 compared to 1.35 in Japan, 1.34 in the U.S. and 1.3 in China. Ideally, a country needs 1.3 km of fibre per capita to ensure good fiberisation.

The tower sites which are connected via fibre are called fibre point of presence (POP). Currently, India’s fibre POP can just handle data at one to five Gbps speed.

What are the challenges to fiberisation in India?

First, India requires about ₹2.2 lakh crore of investment to help fiberise 70% towers. Another ₹2.5 lakh crore will be needed to set up 15 lakh towers in the next four years.

Second, to connect every village in the country with optical fiber cable (OFC) in 1,000 days, cables must be laid around 3.6 times the current average speed of 350 km a day.

Third, Indian Telegraph RoW Rules 2016 aim to incorporate nominal one-time compensation and uniform procedure for establishment of Overground Telegraph Line (OTL) anywhere in the country. While all States/UTs are required to implement these rules. The implementation in all states is not in complete alignment to the central rules. Furthermore, several districts and local bodies are following their own by-laws. Also, many central Ministries like Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Defense etc. are following their own departmental rules.

Other government initiatives for fiberisation

In October 2021, the DoT revised the RoW rules, making it easier to install aerial optical fibre cable in the country. This can enable infrastructure providers to deploy cables overhead via street light poles and traffic light posts.

DoT’s GatiShakti Sanchar online portal will enable centralisation of RoW approvals for telecom infrastructure projects, including 5G.

Tackling Monkeypox

News: Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared monkeypox a global health emergency. It is a signal to India to really scale up its response.  

Globally, nearly 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been detected. In India, 4 cases have been detected 

The US has ordered nearly 7 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine for delivery in 2022 and 2023.  

Measures that can be taken by India 

At present, the government should implement prevention and treatment strategies. Because in the future, the draconian lockdowns, movement curbs or alarmism can cause a lot of disorder.  

The community disease surveillance initiative must be initiated. The Healthcare workers should be in position to get reports of patients manifesting chickenpox-like symptoms because the monkeypox can be overlooked as chickenpox. 

The test-trace-isolate-treat-vaccinate strategy must be adopted. It refers to quarantining, contact tracing, testing, and ring vaccination for individuals who are at risk.  

Initially, all the medical workers can be vaccinated with the smallpox vaccine. It gives broad spectrum protection against monkeypox too, as per reports.  

What should be done? 

The Indian government must start negotiations for getting a manufacturing licence for the vaccine.  Further, the government should place bulk orders and make advance payments to incentivise vaccine companies to scale up production. 

The Centre and states must reform their communication strategies so that mis-information do not prevail among the people across the country. For example, informing people about the best practice to protect themselves, like wearing of mask in case of Covid.  

The agencies should work to assure the dignity of the patients. A lot of symptomatic persons did not approach health workers during the covid pandemic, due to the stigma attached to contracting Covid.  

A cultivated idea for cities

Context: Urban agriculture has not received the attention it merits. 

Urban agriculture is the practice of growing farm products in cities and their peri-urban areas(outskirts)  

In this practice, the farm products, such as vegetables, fruit, flowers, milk, eggs, mushrooms, and fish, can easily be produced in urban and semi-urban areas.  

What are the ways in which urban-agriculture can be done? 

The roofs, terraces, balconies, and walls of the residential dwellings even in densely populated cities, can be used for growing plants. For example, ornamental, medicinal, etc. can be grown in pots or other containers in roof-top gardening. 

There are innovative ways like vertical farming, greenhouse agriculture, aeroponics, and hydroponics. These methods can be used in the urban areas to produce agricultural products for self-consumption or marketing in a limited space.  

Further, activities like rearing small milch animals, poultry, piggery, and bee-keeping can be conveniently taken up in and around cities. 

What are the benefits of urban agriculture? 

The Urban and peri-urban farming leads to environmental and socio-economic benefits. 

This can promote greenery around cities in the form of trees, shrubs, or other plants. This would be beneficial to combat pollution and to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and in reducing the overall carbon footprint of urban living.  

Further, the presence of decorative foliage and trees in the exteriors of houses, gardens, and along the roadsides adds to the beautification of cities. 

Trends of the Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture 

Global Level 

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is promoting urban and peri-urban farming to boost food and nutritional security across the world.  

Further, it has become an integral part of modern town planning in many countries. Various Urban civic bodies, which also act as the community organisations, are encouraging the cultivation of farm products in public and private land. 

Case of India 

At an individual level, people have traditionally been growing useful plants on terraces or in kitchen gardens. 

At city level, most towns located on the banks of rivers allow crop cultivation in the floodplain zones of the rivers during pre- and post-monsoon periods. But India is still a laggard in systematic urban farming.   

Efforts for Promoting Systematic Urban Farming in India 

In the early 2010s, the Planning Commission’s working group on horticulture, set up for formulating the 12th five-year plan (2012-17) recommended to promote urban agriculture on an organised scale around cities in India. This would meet local needs, environmental services and health care need.  

Thereafter, in 2011-12, a Central sector scheme was launched with the twin objectives of ensuring adequate supplies to consumers and creating opportunities for employment and income. The scheme was supposed to set up urban clusters for producing vegetables and fruit around mega cities.  

Nowadays, the peri-urban farming has come up around several big, medium, and small towns. The civic bodies of several metropolitan cities offer incentives for cultivating vegetables and other crops in peripheral areas, using recycled water.  

About Delhi Government’s Urban Agriculture initiative 

Recently, the Delhi government has announced an urban farming project, as part of the “Rozgar budget” of Delhi. The project will be implemented with the help of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). 

It involves training citizens to produce vegetables and fruit for self-consumption and sale. To do so, there may be around 400 awareness workshops and 600 entrepreneurship training sessions to be organized in Delhi. 

Further, a large number of kits containing seeds, organic manure, and bio-fertilisers would be distributed to households interested in taking up such farming.  

The project is anticipated to generate about 25,000 green jobs in the next five years. 

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Union Minister calls for including information about Anusilan Samity in NCF to inspire the next generation

Source: The post is based on the article “Union Minister calls for including information about Anusilan Samity in NCF to inspire the next generation” published in PIB on 24th July 2022.

What is the News?

The Union Education Minister has urged NCERT and the Education fraternity to include information about Anusilan Samity, especially in the upcoming National Curriculum Framework.

What is Anusilan Samity?

Anusilan Samity was a prominent secret revolutionary society operating from Bengal in the 20th century.

Aim: To overthrow colonial rule and give momentum to India’s struggle for freedom.

Founded by: Satish Chandra Pramatha Mitra, Aurobindo Ghose and Sarala Devi.

The organization had two prominent arms: Dhaka Anushilan Samiti (centred in Dhaka, modern-day Bangladesh) and the Jugantar group (centred in Calcutta).⁣

Method: From its foundation to its dissolution during the 1930s, the Samiti challenged British rule in India by engaging in militant nationalism, including bombings, assassinations, and politically-motivated violence.⁣

People associated with the Samity: Legends like Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das, Surendranath Tagore, Jatindranath Banerjee, Bagha Jatin were associated with Anusilan Samity. Hedgewar was also an alumnus of the Samity. 

Nationalist writings and publications by Aurobindo and Barindra Kumar Gosh including Bande Mataram and Jugantar Patrika(Yugantar) had a widespread influence on Bengal youth and helped the Anushilan Samiti to gain popularity in Bengal. 

China launches second space station module

Source: The post is based on the article “China launches second space station module” published in The Hindu on 25th July 2022.

What is the News?

China has successfully launched its second space station lab module named Wentian.

What is Wentian?

The Wentian (which means “quest for the heavens”) laboratory module is the second module of China’s Tiangong space station.

Purpose: The lab module will provide a bigger platform for scientific experiments in space. It will also function as a backup of the core module, Tianhe.

Features: The module is equipped with laboratory cabinets for life ecology, biotechnology and variable gravity science.

What is Tiangong Space Station?

It is a planned Chinese Permanent space station to be placed in Low Earth orbit.

The Space Station roughly will have one-fifth the mass of the International Space Station.

The space station consists of three modules — the core module, Tianhe and two lab modules, Wentian and Mengtian.

The Tianhe module was launched in 2021 and the Mengtian module is set to be launched in October 2022.

Sports Code: Explained | Why are Indian sports bodies under scandal and scrutiny?

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained | Why are Indian sports bodies under scandal and scrutiny?” published in The Hindu on 24th July 2022.

What is the News?

The sports Bodies like the All India Football Federation(AIFF) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) face potential ban/suspension if elections to the executive body are not done immediately.

What is the Sports Code?

The Sports Code or National Sports Development Code of India was introduced in 2011 by the Central government.

Purpose: To introduce good governance practices in the management of sports at the national level without interfering with the autonomy of the national sports bodies.

The code lays down restrictions on the age and tenure of the office-bearers of federations apart from envisaging transparent functioning along with free and fair elections.

What happens when a sports body is found in violation of the sports code?

The respective federations can be put under a Committee of Administrators (CoA). That is what happened with the football and hockey association.

For example, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member CoA led by a former Supreme Court judge to run the AIFF whose president had to resign as continuing in the post would be in violation of the Sports Code as he had been the president for more than 12 years.

– Similarly, the Delhi High Court observed that the Sports Code was violated by Hockey India and a CoA was formed to run the game’s administration in India.

Study on Snow Leopard and its prey

Source: The post is based on the article “Study on Snow Leopard and its prey” published in The Hindu on 25th July 2022.

What is the News?

A study by the Zoological Survey of India(ZSI) on the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) has thrown up interesting insights into the elusive mountain cat and its prey species.

About Snow Leopard 

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Habitat: Snow leopards have a vast but fragmented distribution across the mountainous landscape of Central Asia, which covers different parts of the Himalayas such as Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim.

Study on Snow Leopard and its prey species

The study has revealed a strong link between habitat use by Snow Leopard and its prey species Siberian ibex and blue sheep.

For instance, the study has found that the snow leopard detection probability was high if the site was used by its prey species, i.e., ibex and blue sheep. Whereas, in the case of the prey species, the probability of detection was low when the predator (snow leopard) was present and detected.

Importance of Snow Leopards in the ecosystem 

Higher up in the mountains, predators such as snow leopards regulated the populations of herbivores such as the blue sheep and Siberian ibex thereby safeguarding the health of grasslands.

However, the long-term absence of snow leopards could cause trophic cascades as populations of blue sheep and Siberian ibex would likely increase leading to depletion of vegetation cover.

Explained: Making use of forex reserves

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: Making use of forex reserves” published in Indian Express on 25th July 2022.

What is the News?

From a peak of $642.45 billion in 2021, India’s foreign exchange reserves have dipped to $572.71 billion as of July 2022. That’s a fall of almost $70 billion in just over 10 months.

What are Forex Reserves?

Click Here to read it 

Why have India’s forex reserves fallen?

The major reasons that led to the massive fall in the forex reserves are: 

FPI outflows: There has been a significant outflow of funds from the domestic market by Foreign Portfolio Investors(FPIs).To date in 2022, FPIs have withdrawn $30.3 billion from the Indian financial market.

Rising oil prices: Due to rising oil prices, the import bill goes higher, and India needs to pay more money if the price of oil is rising, which means more outflow of dollars leading to a higher trade deficit.

FCA accounts suffer due to growing dollar strength: A large part of forex reserves is by way of foreign currency assets(FCA) accounts. In FCA, the dollar, euro and pound constitute a significant part. But with the outbreak of hostilities in Eastern Europe, both the pound and euro have been sliding, which had an effect on India’s forex reserves.

Safeguarding rupee in focus: According to analysts, the major focus of the RBI has been to prop up the rupee and in doing so it ended up depleting the forex reserves to some extent.

Maritime Partnership Exercise Between Indian Navy And Japan Maritime Self Defense Force In The Andaman Sea

Source: The post is based on the article “Maritime Partnership Exercise Between Indian Navy And Japan Maritime Self Defense Force In The Andaman Sea” published in PIB on 24th July 2022.

What is the News?

A Maritime Partnership Exercise(MPX) was conducted between Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and Indian Navy in the Andaman Sea.

About the Exercise

India and Japan have been carrying out regular exercises in the Indian Ocean Region(IOR) towards reinforcing maritime association. 

The exercises were aimed at enhancing interoperability and streamlining seamanship and communication procedures. 

From the Indian side, INS Sukanya, an offshore patrol vessel participated in the exercise.

What are the other exercises between India and Japan?

DHARMA GUARDIAN: It is an annual military exercise between India and Japan since 2018.

SHINYUU Maitri: It is a bilateral exercise between the Indian Air Force and the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF).

JIMEX: It is a bilateral maritime exercise between India and Japan.

Sahayog-Kaijin: Joint bilateral exercise between the Indian Coast Guard and the Japan Coast Guard.

Explained: Inside the minds of bees, and what we can learn from their intelligence

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: Inside the minds of bees, and what we can learn from their intelligence” published in Indian Express on 25th July 2022.

What is the News?

According to the book “The Mind of the Bee”, bees possess not only a remarkable level of cognitive intelligence but also a high degree of “consciousness”, which makes them think and feel like beings.

What is Consciousness?

Consciousness has been understood as a concept different from ordinary brain intelligence (which commonly is known to include the cognitive ability of thinking and reasoning). 

Consciousness includes the ability to be “sentient” and experience feelings and emotions. It is thought to encapsulate a sophistical level of self-awareness and imagination — feelings and emotions that allow us to perceive ourselves while simultaneously interacting with the world around us.

The nature of animal consciousness is far more difficult to assess as humans are fundamentally unable to understand the minds of animals and live the world through their eyes. However, it is now accepted that animals too possess some form of consciousness. 

Previous Studies on Cognitive ability of Honey Bees

According to previous studies, 

– Honey bees use a kind of “waggle dance” for communicating with each other.

– Bees could learn to solve complex puzzles to access their reward – sugar. They could also teach other bees to perform the same task, but while incorporating important improvements in the task.

– Bees have also been found to be able to form democracies where a subset can communicate their decisions to a group of over 10,000.

What does this book say about Honey Bees?

According to the book, Honey Bees have a mind of their own and have distinct personalities. They are even able to distinctly identify the faces of humans.

For instance, bees likely felt emotions like fear and anxiety and consequently changed their demeanour when exposed to past locations of trauma and danger – such as a flower on which they were once attacked by a spider.

Explained: What are tetrapods, and did their removal cause ‘unusual vibrations’ along Mumbai’s Marine Drive

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: What are tetrapods, and did their removal cause ‘unusual vibrations’ along Mumbai’s Marine Drive” published in Indian Express on 22nd July 2022.

What is the News?

In Mumbai, the unusual vibrations (like earthquakes), coinciding with high-tide times, were the result of the relocation of tetrapods as part of the ongoing Coastal Road Project(MCRP).

What are Tetrapods?

Tetra pod in Greek means four-legged. These are four-legged concrete structures that are placed along coastlines to prevent erosion and water damage.

Tetrapods were first used in France in the late 1940s to protect the shore from the sea. Each tetrapod can weigh about two tonnes, sometimes up to 10 tonnes.

What is the importance of Tetrapods?

Each of the Tetrapods’ four legs extends out in a different direction, leaving space in between its legs. This allows the tetrapod to dissipate the force of the incoming waves by making the water flow around and not against it. 

A group of tetrapods also reduces displacement by mutually interlocking. Moreover, their weight and design permit them to battle any weather conditions, and their interlocking, porous barrier dissipates the power of waves and currents.

Explained: Monkeypox declared ‘public health emergency’ by WHO – What this means

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: Monkeypox declared ‘public health emergency’ by WHO – What this means” published in Hindustan Times on 24th July 2022.

What is the News?

The Monkeypox outbreak has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern(PHEIC) by the World Health Organization(WHO).

What is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern(PHEIC)? 

A Public Health Emergency of International Concern(PHEIC) is the WHO’s highest alert level.

It is part of the international health regulations(IHR) which have been the governing framework for global health security since 2007.

Definition: The WHO defines PHEIC as an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease and potentially requires a coordinated international response.

Implication: The definition implies that the situation is serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected and carries implications for public health beyond the affected country’s border. 

Condition: The WHO reserves the designation for only those diseases that need a coordinated international response to prevent them from potentially escalating into a pandemic.

Previous instances: The alert has previously been issued for Ebola, H1N1 Swine Flu, Poliovirus, Covid-19 and Zika Virus.

What is the significance of this declaration?

The declaration would help speed up the development of vaccines and the implementation of measures to limit the spread of the Monkey Pox.