9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – March 12th, 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• On resumption of international flights: Skies wide open
• New guidelines on abortion care will help prevent more than 25 million unsafe abortions: WHO

GS Paper 3

• Unshackling the creative sector
• Shock-proofing the economy: Quality jobs the best possible safety net
• Shutdown this misguided energy policy
• Mobile internet user growth slowed down drastically in 2021, shows data

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• India used more coal power in 2021 than in 2020 which could delay its Climate goals-IEA 
• Explained-When a missile misfires 
• ​​1954 Hague Convention and “Blue Shield” emblem: UN cultural agency moves to protect Ukraine’s heritage sites
• Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers releases guidelines for the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)”
• Kudankulam Village Panchayat adopts resolution against AFR facility
• “Species Richness” Survey: Migratory waterbirds: Encouraging trend of species diversity recorded
• Santhali Sohrai murals: An etch in time
• Important to adhere to convention on biological weapons: India
• Union Home Minister addressed the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB)
• India – Canada to re-launch the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

On resumption of international flights: Skies wide open

News: Government from next month will allow scheduled commercial international flights to resume operations. This will come as a big relief to the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors, which have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic. 

How has been the tourism and aviation sector been affected by the pandemic? 

The tourism and hospitality industry supports the aviation sector for its earnings and jobs growth, which was hit hard due to the COVID-19 and the accompanying curbs on overseas travel and domestic mobility.

According to the Official data show that in just nine months from march 2020 to December 2020, 21.5 million jobs were lost in tourism.  

How will the Ukrainian crisis impact the tourism and aviation sector? 

Oil prices have been soaring due to fears of disruptions to global energy supply chains. 

– As a result, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices have also jumped by almost 60% year-on-year. Fuel costs typically constitute about one fifth of a global airline’s operating expenditure and will definitely hurt the profit margin available to airlines. 

A range of commodities have seen a sharp jump in prices, this will lead to high inflation across the globe and will also affect the cost of overseas travel. 

Economic uncertainty triggered by the conflict in Eastern Europe and the residual fear among travellers of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus will make revival of tourism and aviation sector tough. 

What is the way forward? 

Although restoring visitor confidence through enforcement of COVID-19 protocols and widening vaccination coverage is a positive step.

Government must also consider lowering ATF prices by cutting duties. 

New guidelines on abortion care will help prevent more than 25 million unsafe abortions: WHO

News: The WHO released more than 50 recommendations that include clinical practice, health care delivery and law and policy interventions to support quality abortion care. The WHO also presented new guidelines on abortion care.

What were the reasons that compelled the WHO to bring these guidelines?

Globally, between 13,865 and 38,940 lives are lost yearly due to the failure to provide safe abortion.

Around 97% of unsafe abortions are done in developing countries. As per records, 53.8%, 24.8% and 19.5% of all unsafe abortions happened in the Asia (mainly in south and central Asia), Africa (mainly in eastern and western Africa) and in Latin America and the Caribbean respectively.

Abortion related laws in different countries

Most countries allow abortion under certain circumstances. About 20 countries do not provide any legal basis for abortion. More than 3 out of 4 countries mandates legal penalties for abortion like long-term imprisonment or heavy fines for people who perform or assist with the procedure for the abortion.

Why should the political barrier be removed?

The unsafe abortions occur more in those countries where abortion laws are highly restrictive than in those countries where laws are less restrictive.

It is because political barriers lead to critical delays in accessing treatment.  Therefore, it put women and girls at a greater risk of unsafe abortion, etc.

Restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions. In fact, it pushes women and girls to resort to unsafe practices. For example, in countries where abortion is mostly restricted, only 1 in 4 abortions are safe, whereas, in countries where the procedure is mostly legal, almost 9 out of 10 abortions are safe.

What are the new guidelines for abortion care?

It includes many simple interventions at the primary care level. Such interventions will improve the quality of abortion care provided to women and girls.

These include task sharing by a wider range of health workers; and making ensure that accurate information on care is available to all those who need it.

It includes providing safe abortion services to women like ensuring access to medical abortion pills,

It proposes telemedicine for abortion and family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It proposed removal of political barriers to safe abortion, such as criminalisation, mandatory waiting periods before receiving a requested abortion, third-party authorisation for abortion, restrictions on which health workers can provide abortion services.

What benefits can be accrued from the new guidelines?

It will support interested countries to strengthen as well as ensure better implementation of the national policies and programmes which are related to contraception, family planning and abortion services.

The WHO claimed it would prevent more than 25 million unsafe abortions annually.

Conclusion: New guidelines can help provide the highest standard of care for women and girls

GS Paper 3

Unshackling the creative sector

News: A report commissioned by YouTube (YT), provide a glimpse of the “creator economy” in India.

Scope of YouTube Channels in India

YouTube platform hosts around 40,000 Indian channels with over 1 lakh subscribers and the number of channels earning revenues in excess of Rs 1 lakh jumped by 60 per cent year-on-year in June 2021.

The cost of setting up a YT channel is negligible. The big influencers end up hiring teams, setting up studios with fancy equipment and exploring alternative marketing and revenue generation options as well.

YouTube created the equivalent of 6.8 lakh full time jobs. It generated a “contribution” of Rs 6,800 crore (roughly $890 million) to India’s gross domestic product in the “creator economy” in India in 2020.

Other Creative Ecosystem

YT is the biggest player in this digital entertainment ecosystem, but it is also paralleled by other creative ecosystems

Indian Movie Industry: In 2019-20 (the pre-Covid year), the Indian movie industry (all languages) generated over Rs 14,000 crore in revenues from ticket sales, channel subscriptions, etc.

TikTok: Despite being banned in India; it still has a huge fanbase in India. Example, dozens of people circumvent the ban to access TikTok, and we can see desi TikTok content popping up on WhatsApp all the time.

Instagram: It is another platform for big influencers. It has a user-base of 180 million-plus. Plus, there’s Spotify, podcasters, and gamers, as well as smaller communities on Twitch.

What are the few challenges faced by the creator economy?

Indian Smartphone Mobile Users: Only about half of India’s mobile users have smartphones

Internet Connectivity: Most of India lives with pathetic 4G speeds, which is a big barrier. In contrast, some 90 countries already have commercial 5G, while India hasn’t even auctioned spectrum.

It can be described as a “hyper-pareto” market: – In these markets 95-99% of the revenue is being cornered by 1-5% of players. It is in contrast to a normal Pareto system, in which 80% of the revenue is accrued by 20% of the players in the system.

The practical barriers for a digital creator are mostly policy-related: TikTok is banned; creators pay 18% GST and fill in lots of intimidating paperwork on revenues.

What can be done?

More attention is required at removing policy barriers and red tape would help creators to maximise their potential.

If 5G rolls out, and smartphone penetration improves, growth rates in this digital creator economy could be turbocharged, despite the already large base of users.

Shock-proofing the economy: Quality jobs the best possible safety net

Context: India’s policy must be aligned with the present realities to make its economy shock proof to any external development.

India has gone through a number of crises in the Indian economy since 1962. For Example like India fought three wars, suffered droughts, first oil shock, double-digit inflation, which peaked at 26 per cent, imposition of Emergency 1975, the 1991 foreign exchange crisis, the Asian and then global financial crisis, and so on. In recent years, including, the “twin balance-sheet crisis”, the demonetization of 2016, the covid-induced crisis.

Now, there is a need to take an account of the resilience of economy to the past shocks and make it prepared for the present and future shocks. Only it will make it shock-proof.

What has been done by India to shock proof the economy, so far?

At commodity level: The food shortages are over; and the oil reserves have been built to mitigate the risk of an oil price shock.

At macroeconomic level: The foreign exchange reserves are more than comfortable, inflation has been trending lower, and therefore the currency is more stable.

At the firm level, the corporate balance sheets are better than before. For example, the debt-equity ratios have improved, profit margins have improved, and overseas debt is being discouraged. Therefore, there are now fewer zombie firms that lock up capital in half-dead enterprises and the Banks are better-capitalised.

At the individual level, the food security programme for two-thirds of the population, the rural employment guarantee scheme, the rolling out of a free health insurance programme for the bottom half of the population, and modest cash payments to different categories of individuals have been  provided as safety net at many front

At governance level: There is also greater transparency and better regulation (However, with scope for improvement in both.)

What are the ways to make economy shock-proof?

At individual Level: The rural employment guarantee act needs to be better funded, and the old-age pensions needs to be stepped up.

At commodity level: India has energy dependence on imports, for which there is no solution for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the capacity of the oil reserves can be doubled once oil prices fall.

At firm level: The firms should build buffers against supply shocks. There is a need for concerted indigenisation push in strategic sectors like defence.

At governance level: A scrutiny is required at governance level. It is because the crisis like IL&FS have been due to problems at the level of boards of directors, the auditing firms, and credit-rating agencies.

Others: It can help minimise the premature deaths that push vulnerable families into crisis. The focus should be made on better road engineering. It is important to reduce the high toll of traffic accidents.

However, better quality jobs for better-qualified people would be a better safety net. An unemployment allowance should be the next big social-security initiative. It is because abovesaid shock-proofing requires a larger macro-economic transformation, which will take time and can’t be achieved in the foreseeable future.

Shutdown this misguided energy policy

News: On March 3, a fire broke out near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine during the course of a military battle that could have triggered a major nuclear disaster.

Trends of Nuclear Accident in the Past

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered severe accidents after an earthquake and a tsunami hit it. The cooling system was broken and as a result radioactive cores continued producing heat and eventually melted down. It attracted the world’s attention towards the dangers of nuclear energy.

However, the Indian government in dec. 2021 said that it is planning to build “10 indigenous reactors” and had granted “in principle approval” for 28 additional reactors, including 24 to be imported from France, the U.S. and Russia.

Why is the Indian governments’ nuclear policy misguided?

Given the post-Fukushima global and national trends in the nuclear industry, such a policy seems misguided;

Nuclear power is not an economical source of electricity: nuclear power plants are capital intensive and recent nuclear builds have suffered major cost overruns. For example, V.C. Summer nuclear project in South Carolina (U.S.) was abandoned due to cost overrun, after an expenditure of over $9billion.

Renewable-energy technologies have become cheaper: As per one estimate, the cost of electricity from solar photovoltaics and wind turbines in the U.S. declined by 90% and 72%, respectively, between 2009-21. The cost of for solar power, and solar-wind hybrid project was ₹2.14 per unit and ₹2.34 per unit respectively whereas power from the EPRs at Jaitapur was at least ₹ 15 per unit excluding transmission costs.

Global Nuclear Energy Share is declining: In contrast to India’s policy projection, the world’s nuclear power share in total electricity has declined from 17.5% in 1996 to just 10% in 2020.

Unviable Imports: India has to import many light-water reactors but imports are not happening on ground. For example, even after 13 years of the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal, not a single new nuclear plant has been established.

Design Issues in foreign reactors: Of the 24 foreign reactors with “in principle” approval, (a) 6 reactors are of the VVER (water-water energetic reactor) design which are already facing operational problems at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, (b) some reactors proposed to be imported from the U.S., has the same design that was abandoned in South Carolina, and (c) Some are of the EPR design that France has been unable to successfully complete in its home country.

Safety Concern:  For example, the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster raised concerns about safety of nuclear plants. In fact, many multinational nuclear suppliers demanded that they be indemnified of liability for the consequence of any accident in India. Therefore, India’s liability law was enacted to largely protects them. It means, manufacturers do not really believe in their own claims about how safe their reactors are.

Protest Against Nuclear Plants:  for example, “locals turned against” the Mithivirdi nuclear project after the Fukushima disaster in Gujarat.

Climate Change Induced Disasters: Climate change will increase the risk of nuclear reactor accidents. For example, A wildfire approached the Hanul nuclear power plant in South Korea. Also, in 2020, a windstorm caused the Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant in the US to cease its operations. The frequency of such extreme weather events is likely to increase in the future.

Way Ahead

Therefore, nuclear power is not the right choice to “adapt” to climate change, and to mitigate India’s carbon emissions since it cannot be deployed at the necessary scale.

The resources spent on nuclear plants will yield quicker results if they are redirected to renewables.

Mobile internet user growth slowed down drastically in 2021, shows data

News: On March 8, the RBI launched a renewed payments service for feature phones. The service called UPI123Pay was a successor to BHIM USSD 2.0 service, which allows feature phones to make payments using interactive voice response (IVR), app functionality, missed calls, and proximity sound-based payments.

Why has the RBI launched the payment service for featured phones?

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been successful among smartphone users in the country. So, this new service will be helpful in onboarding more users who are using feature phone for digital payments in India.

In India, there are nearly 400 million feature phone users. As per data by the end of December 2021, around 389 million mobile users did not have access to mobile internet, and around 765.8 million had access to mobile Internet

What are the challenges to promotion of digital payment in India?

The addition of new internet users has been declining for the last five years and dipped to single digits in 2021. Data indicates that it is well below the expected values from different estimates of the number of smartphone users.

Decline in growth of smartphone users in India: For instance, data from Statista shows that India was estimated to have over 931 million smartphone users in 2022. But The Indian Cellular and Electronics Association had said that India is expected to get 829 million smartphone users by 2022.

Given the proliferation of smartphones, the pace of replacement of feature phones would decline in rural and urban areas.

Way Ahead

The digital payment forecasts can be upended in India with the launch of smartphones at an affordable price band.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

India used more coal power in 2021 than in 2020 which could delay its Climate goals-IEA

Source: This post is based on the article “India used more coal power in 2021 than in 2020 which could delay its Climate goals-IEA” published in Down to Earth on 12th Mar 22.  

What is the news?

According to a recent analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) India’s coal based electricity generation has increased in 2021 than the previous year. This is going to increase further in future and will lead delay India’s efforts to reach its climate goals. 

Findings of the report

India’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in 2021 reached 80 megatonnes (Mt) above pre-pandemic levels in 2019. This could be due to a slowdown in the renewable energy sector.  

Commodity prices are on a high. This has increased the cost of producing solar photovoltaic modules, wind turbines and biofuels. 

Is the global pattern also same as that observed in India? 

Developing countries: China’s CO₂ emissions increased 750 Mt between 2019 and 2021. 

The United States and many European countries switched to coal from gas, adding roughly 250 Mt of CO₂ in 2021. However, advanced countries kept their CO₂ emissions under check even as their battered economies returned to the pre-pandemic state. 

Why is the trend different in advanced economies? 

Across advanced economies overall, structural changes such as increased uptake of renewables, electrification and energy efficiency improvements avoided an additional 100 Mt of CO₂ emissions in 2021. 

Although per capita emissions of advanced countries were higher. 

Explained-When a missile misfires

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained-When a missile misfires” published in Indian express on 12th March 2022.  

What is the news?

Pakistan recently made the claim that an unarmed Indian missile landed 124 km inside its territory, which India has conformed and cited technical malfunction as the reason that led to the accidental firing of a missile. 

What are the protocols that countries need to follow before conducting tests? 

According to the ballistic missiles agreement signed in 2005,

– Each country must provide the other an advance notification on a flight test it intends to take for any land or sea launched, surface-to-surface ballistic missile.

– The pre-notification has to be “conveyed through the respective Foreign Offices and the High Commissions, as per the format annexed to this Agreement. 

However, regarding this incident, there was no prior contact between the two countries. 

One of the reasons for this may have been that for the kind of missile that was tested, there was no mandatory clause to pre inform. Both the countries has not disclosed the type of missile that was involved in the incident. 

What may be the probable reasons for the change of missile’s trajectory? 

This can happen due to various reasons like wrong target coordinates, target data fed into the missile gets corrupted. 

​​1954 Hague Convention and “Blue Shield” emblem: UN cultural agency moves to protect Ukraine’s heritage sites

Source: This post is based on the article “​​UN cultural agency moves to protect Ukraine’s heritage sites” published in Indian Express on 12th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

UNESCO is in contact with Ukrainian authorities to mark cultural sites and monuments with the distinctive “Blue Shield” emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict to avoid deliberate or accidental damages.

What is the 1954 Hague Convention?

The convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict also known as the Hague Convention was adopted in 1954 under the auspices of UNESCO.

Aim: To protect cultural property such as monuments of architecture, art or history, archaeological sites, works of art, manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest, as well as scientific collections of any kind regardless of their origin or ownership.

Significance: It is the first and the most comprehensive multilateral treaty dedicated exclusively to the protection of cultural heritage in times of peace as well as during an armed conflict.

India is a party to this convention.

What is Blue Shield?

Blue Shield was founded in 1996. It is an independent, neutral, non-governmental, non-profit, international organization which strives to protect heritage during armed conflicts and disasters across the world.

This includes all forms of cultural property including museums, monuments, archaeological sites, archives, libraries and audiovisual material, and significant natural areas, as well as intangible heritage.

The 1954 Hague Convention designates an emblem for a cultural property that should be protected, and for identification of those working to protect it. The Blue Shield organization took up the emblem of the Convention as a symbol of their protective work, set in a blue circular background. 

Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers releases guidelines for the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)”

Source: This post is based on the article “Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers releases guidelines for the scheme Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)” published in PIB on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

The Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has released the guidelines for the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)”.

What is the Scheme for Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry(SPI)?

Aim: To strengthen the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make India a global leader in the Pharma Sector. 

Components of the Scheme: The scheme has 3 components/sub-schemes:

Assistance to Pharmaceutical Industry for Common Facilities (APICF): It aims to strengthen the existing pharmaceutical clusters’ capacity for their sustained growth by creating common facilities. Financial assistance will be provided for creation of Common Facilities.

Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS): It aims to facilitate Micro, Small and Medium Pharma Enterprises (MSMEs) with a proven track record to meet national and international regulatory standards. An interest subvention or capital subsidy on their capital loans will be provided to meet those standards.

Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices Promotion and Development Scheme (PMPDS): It aims to facilitate the growth and development of Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Sectors through study/survey reports, awareness programs, creation of databases, and promotion of industry. 

Kudankulam Village Panchayat adopts resolution against AFR facility

Source: This post is based on the article “Kudankulam Village Panchayat adopts resolution against AFR facility” published in The Hindu on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

Kudankulam Village Panchayat has passed a resolution against the construction of the ‘Away From Reactor (AFR) facility at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) site for storing nuclear waste.

What is the Away From Reactor(AFR) Facility?

The storage of spent fuel in a nuclear power plant is two-fold:

One facility is located within the reactor building/service building, generally known as the Spent Fuel Storage Pool.

Another is located away from the reactor, called the Away From Reactor (AFR) Spent Fuel Storage Facility, but within the plant’s premises.

The spent fuel storage pool inside the reactor building has a limited capacity and is used for immediate storage of the spent fuel removed from the reactor during refuelling.

The fuel remains in the pool initially for a few years for it to be cooled sufficiently before it is shifted to the AFR facility. The AFR Facility is functionally similar to the ‘Spent Fuel Pool’ inside the reactor building, except in terms of capacity.

Why is the State Government and Village Panchayat opposing the facility?

Tamil Nadu Government and village panchayat are of the view that the AFR site would lead to radioactive pollution (spread of radioactivity) and spoil the groundwater, which is used for drinking water and irrigation.

What are the Central Government’s arguments in favour of the facility?

The proposed AFR facility at Kudankulam Nuclear Plant is for storage of spent fuel only and not for storage of nuclear waste, as perceived by a few.

The design of the facility ensures that there would not be any adverse impact of the facility on the personnel, the public and the environment.

“Species Richness” Survey: Migratory waterbirds: Encouraging trend of species diversity recorded

Source: This post is based on the article “Migratory waterbirds: Encouraging trend of species diversity recorded” published in The Hindu on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

Every year, the Wildlife Department of Punjab conducts a waterbirds census exercise in six major wetlands which include Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary, Ropar Conservation Reserve, Harike Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanjli Wetland, Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve and Ranjit Sagar Conservation Reserve.

However, the census could not be done this year on account of dense fog conditions. Instead, a “Species Richness” Survey was conducted by the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation with support from the WWF-India.

Note: Every winter, the birds make their way to India through the Central Asian Flyway, which covers a large continental area of Europe–Asia between the Arctic and the Indian Oceans.

What are the key findings from the Species Richness Survey?

91 species of waterbirds were recorded from the six protected wetlands.

The waterbird count was highest in the Harike Wildlife Sanctuary followed by the Keshopur–Miani Community Reserve, Ropar Conservation Reserve and Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary.

Wetlands like Keshopur–Miani and Shallpattan are the only wetlands in Punjab to host the migratory population of common crane and the resident population of the Sarus crane.

The Ropar and Nangal wetlands host the three migratory water species of the family Podicipedidae i.e., black-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe and Greater Crested Grebe along with the resident Little Grebe.

Eurasian Coot was one of the most common water birds spotted in almost all protected wetlands of Punjab during the survey.

Santhali Sohrai murals: An etch in time

Source: This post is based on the article “Santhali Sohrai murals: An etch in time” published in Down To Earth on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand are changing their ways of painting traditional Sohrai murals to modernity.

What is Sohrai?

Sohrai is a harvest festival of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal. 

It is also called the cattle festival. It is celebrated after harvest and coincides with the festival of Diwali. It is celebrated by Prajapati, Santal, Munda and Oraons among others.

What is Sohrai Art Form?

Sohrai painting is an indigenous art form practised by tribal women in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.

The paintings are done on mud walls to welcome the harvest and to celebrate the cattle. The women clean their houses and decorate their walls with murals of Sohrai arts.

This art form has continued since 10,000-4,000 BC. It was prevalent mostly in caves, but shifted to houses with mud walls.

Note: Sohrai Khovar painting received the Geographical Indication(GI) tag in 2020.

Key Features of Sohrai Art Form

The Sohrai art form can be monochromatic or colourful. The people coat the wall with a layer of white mud, and while the layer is still wet, they draw with their fingertips on it.

Their designs range from flowers and fruits to various other nature-inspired designs. The cow dung that was earlier used to cake the walls of the house is used to add colour.

The artists are spontaneous in their drawings. The designs are usually drawn from the artist’s memory. The personal experience of the artist and their interaction with nature are the biggest influence.

Important to adhere to convention on biological weapons: India

Source: This post is based on the article “Important to adhere to convention on biological weapons: India” published in The Hindu on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

India has emphasized on following the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention(BTWC) at the UNSC meeting on Ukraine. 

The meeting came after a request from Russia who claimed that the US is involved in bioweapon manufacture in the war-torn country, something that the US has strongly dismissed. 

What is the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention(BTWC)?

The Biological Weapons Convention(BWC) was negotiated by the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. It opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975. 

Purpose: The convention effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. 

– If a state possesses any agent, toxin, or delivery system for them, they have nine months from entry into force of the treaty to destroy their stockpiles, or divert them for peaceful use.

Membership: The Convention has reached almost universal membership, with 183 States Parties and four Signatory States. India is also a party to the convention.

– Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BTWC: Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu.

Significance: It is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Drawbacks of the Convention: There is no implementation body of the BTWC, allowing for blatant violations as seen in the past. There is a review conference every five years to review the convention’s implementation and establish confidence-building measures.

Union Home Minister addressed the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB)

Source: This post is based on the article “Union Home Minister addressed the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) ” published in PIB on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

Union Minister of Home Affairs attended the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as the Chief Guest in New Delhi.

What is the National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB)?

National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) was established in 1986. It is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws(SLL).

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

Headquarters: New Delhi

What are the projects being implemented by NCRB?

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems(CCTNS)

Reports: NCRB brings out three annual reports i.e. Crime in India, Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India and Prison Statistics India. These reports are principal reference points for police officers, researchers, media & policymakers.

Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) project 

Central fingerprint bureau: 

The World’s First fingerprint Bureau was set up in Calcutta in 1897. A CFPB was established at Shimla in 1905. However, it was closed in 1922 as a result of the retrenchment proposals of the Inchcape Committee. 

The Present CFPB came into existence in 1955 under the administrative control of the Intelligence Bureau at Delhi. It was relocated to Kolkata in 1956. 

The administrative control of CFPB shifted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 1973, and since 1986, this has been under the administrative control of NCRB.

India – Canada to re-launch the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations

Source: This post is based on the article “India – Canada to re-launch the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations” published in PIB on 11th Mar 2022.

What is the News?

India and Canada held the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment(MDTI).

The meeting was co-chaired by India’s Commerce and Industry Minister and Canada’s Minister of International Trade.

What are the key highlights from the dialogue?

India and Canada have agreed to formally re-launch the negotiations for the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA).

They will also consider signing an Interim Agreement or Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) that could bring early commercial gains to both countries. 

India-Canada Trade

Total bilateral trade between India and Canada including goods and services crossed $11 billion. 

Major Indian exports to Canada include drugs and pharmaceutical products, iron & steel products, marine products, cotton fabrics & readymade garments (RMG) while key Canadian exports to India comprise pulses, fertilizers, coal and crude petroleum. 

What is the need for India to sign FTA with other countries?

India is gearing up to finalize FTAs with the UK, Australia, EU, Canada and other major economies. 

The Economic Survey highlighted India’s need for FTAs as it will help it to diversify exports and explore new shores for the promotion of its products. According to survey, 40% of India’s exports is limited to just seven countries. This indicates that India needs to do a lot more on widening its export basket and give a further push to promoting exports to new shores.

Moreover, negotiations for FTAs are a part of India’s broader strategy to sign “balanced” trade agreements with key economies. This move gained traction after India pulled out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) talks in 2019.