9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – March 1st, 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Debunking Russia’s international law justifications
• Nutritional adequacy may yet be able to enhance vaccine efficacy
• Ukraine’s situation, India’s national interest
• What to make of Indian opinion polls and our pollsters

GS Paper 3

• Reporting Cyberattacks

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• What rising loan disbursals mean for the economy?
• Russia-Ukraine crisis may give India opportunity to export more wheat
• International Monsoons Project Office launched
• India welcomes the IPCC Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on Climate Change
• Fat Fight: Higher tax likely on unhealthy foods
• Explained: Why digital lenders have come under the scanner
• Indian grey hornbill reintroduced in Gir after decades
• International Intellectual Property Index: India’s overall ranking on IP protection improves, says USCC report

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Debunking Russia’s international law justifications

News: Russian invasion of Ukraine is not justified under any circumstance. Russia has disrespected the UN charter and many other international laws.

What is the belief of Russia?

Russia has relied on a theory of remedial secession. The theory provides for the unilateral secession of a territory from the parent state in the most extreme cases.

However, the theory was most relevant in the case of decolonisation. It could have been used by Russia in case of severe violations of human rights and systemic oppression. But none of the allegations could be proved.

It first declared provinces in Ukraine, independent and then sent its forces as peacekeepers. The peacekeepers were sent to protect ethnic Russians. Ukraine has moved to the International Court of Justice to counter allegations of the genocide of Russians.

Coming to the independence of breakaway provinces, Ukraine agreed to the Minsk accord to recognize the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk. But Russia unilaterally declaring them independente is a clear violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter.

Why the Russian actions are not justified?

Violation of UN Charter: Russian missile strikes and Russian forces invading Ukraine are a violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. Article 51 recognizes the right of self-defense but Ukraine has not attacked Russia. Further, the right to collective self-defense under article 51 exists only for states, and Donetsk and Luhansk are not states under international law.

Humanitarian intervention: Russia has invoked a controversial doctrine of right to protect or Responsibility to Protect (R2P). This principle has often been used to justify use of force by third states in territory of a state which has failed to protect its citizens. Such actions may or may not be authorized by even Security Council. For example the 2011 military intervention in Libya received UN authorization while 1995 NATO bombing of Bosnian Serbs did not. In the present case, there is no evidence that ethnic Russians in Ukraine are facing atrocities.

Why International Criminal Court is unable to exercise its jurisdiction?

Russian actions can be defined as crime of aggression as stated under Article 8bis (2) of Rome Statute. However, ICC can not exercise jurisdiction until both the aggressor state and victim are party to the Rome statute.

What should global community do?

Russia believes in sphere of influence and notion of some countries having limited or partial sovereignty.  Russia views Ukraine as possessing limited sovereignty.

This also is a threat to the rule based order created after World War II. Russia has used cultural and civilizational exceptionalism to over ride rule of law. For example, Russian Constitutional Court can invalidate any judgement by Human rights mechanisms.

The global community should come together to check the rise of arbitrary state power and check the imperial rise of power.

Nutritional adequacy may yet be able to enhance vaccine efficacy

News: Stress, or sleep deprivation, have a direct influence on a person’s immune system. The main reason behind this is micronutrient deficiency.

How does micronutrient deficiency occur?

It occurs when either the food one consumes does not provide the body with sufficient vitamins and minerals, or requires an increase during specific stages in life, such as during pregnancy and lactation. Hidden hunger or micronutrient deficiency is larger trouble, as it impacts silently among well-fed urban populations that may be consuming nutrient-empty calories. Thus, it weakens their immune system despite their not feeling ‘hungry’.

This is where the need for multi-micronutrient supplements occurs. A single micro-nutrient supplement a day could help correct this deficiency.

What is the status of hunger globally?

Hunger has been rising across the world. The number of people who did not receive adequate nutrition increased by 10 million from 2018 to 2019. It increased to 161 million in 2020, mainly because of pandemic-related crises.  According to the 2021 Global Nutrition Report, 149 million children under 5 are stunted, and 45 million are ‘wasted’, while 30% of women of child-bearing age suffer from anemia.

The Standing Together for Nutrition consortium estimated that over the next 3 years, the covid crisis would cause an additional 3.5 million children to suffer stunting, 13.6 million children to suffer ‘wasting’, and an additional 283,000 deaths related to malnutrition among under-5 in low- and middle-income countries.

What are the issues associated with micronutrient deficiency?

Studies show that micronutrient deficiencies reduce vaccine efficacy because of the weak immune system.

Another study, in 2020, showed that iron deficiency in infants resulted in a reduced response to diphtheria, pertussis, and pneumococcal vaccines. Infants with iron deficiency anaemia saw an improved response to the measles vaccine when supplementary iron was given at vaccination time.

What should be the way forward?

The present research is largely focused on elderly demographic groups in high-income countries. There is a need for more clinical research on how to make vaccines more effective for various age brackets in various other geographies.

Ukraine’s situation, India’s national interest

News: Russian president announced military action in Ukraine to protect Russians from genocide and for de-Nazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

Why Russian belief is not correct?

Allegations of Nazism can’t be held against Ukraine as there is no evidence of genocide and the Ukrainian president himself is a Jew. Thus, this allegation stems from the ideology that Russia thinks Ukraine has no right to exist.

Also, Putin is trying to revive Czarist Russia and not the Soviet Union. This would involve making Belarus and Ukraine satellite states. But this narrative is now being challenged in Ukraine with the revival of Ukrainian nationalism.

How did the world countries react to Russia’s attack on Ukraine?

Germany, which earlier was friendly with Russia, has now come out with a strong response and five-pronged strategies. It involves military solidarity with Ukraine, punitive measures against Putin’s Russia, commitment to European collective defense through NATO, German rearmament, and a reduction in Germany’s energy and economic interdependence with Russia.

Many other European countries also closed their airspace to Russia. Countries are isolating Russia on multiple fronts, including football, which is a sacred ritual in Europe. Some European countries have started to help Ukraine by supplying arms and offering significant economic and humanitarian assistance. The EU also plans to buy $550 million worth of arms for Ukraine.

What does the BRICS Delhi Resolution say?

New Delhi BRICS Declaration commits to resolve all disputes by peaceful means and is opposed to unilateral use of force against any state. Members also oppose the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

But with the Russian attack on Ukraine, BRICS is losing its credibility.

What should India do in the present scenario?

India should suggest Russia to withdraw its armed forces from the entire Ukraine according to the Delhi Resolution of BRICS. If Russia is not paying attention to India’s suggestion, then India should announce its consideration of the U.S. proposed Draft Resolution in the UN General Assembly. It should adopt any reasonable amendments proposed by the UNGA.

India should also urge the United States to re-structure the objectives of Quad, outline a clear strategy to achieve the objectives, and mobilize the resources required.

What to make of Indian opinion polls and our pollsters

News

State assembly elections for several states have been completed recently. Now, attention has been shifted to the exit polls conducted by different pollsters. However, exit polls over the years have also attracted some negative reactions for their wrong predictions.

Why are opinion polls and their prediction viewed with apprehension?

This is due to the opacity around the methodology they use. No pollster other than Lokniti-CSDS provides details of its methodology. For example -How they conduct their surveys, what the margin of errors for vote-shares are, and the assumptions made while converting vote-share estimates into seat predictions all remain hidden.

The lack of disclosure around their funding only serves to heighten those suspicions.

What is the situation globally?

Opinion polls can go wrong even in countries with a long tradition of polling like UK and USA but their wrong forecasts are seen as errors. While in India, a wrong forecast by a pollster is seen as evidence of fraud or a scam.

This is because these countries have greater transparency and self-regulatory institutions that lend greater credibility to their pollsters.

Despite these shortcomings why are they still useful?

Exit polls are a statistical estimate so are subject to uncertainty.

Their findings carry more weight than newsroom or drawing-room speculation.

Also, since the 1980s, exit polls have had a better record than pre-poll surveys in India, and they have been largely correct in predicting election winners.

GS Paper 3

Reporting Cyberattacks

News

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is likely to come up with new cyber security regulations. These regulations are likely to put the onus organisations to report any cybercrime that may have happened against them, including data leaks.

Such provision is part of the Data Protection Bill 2021 and European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) also.

What are the advantages of Incidence reporting?

If incidences are reported, organisations can be alerted about the associated security vulnerabilities.

Firms not yet affected can also take precautionary measures such as deploying security patches and improving their cyber security infrastructure.

However, it has been seen that firms are reluctant to notify the breach incidents to the regulators.

Why are firms reluctant to report such incidents?

Reputation of firms-This is because any security or privacy breach has a negative impact on the reputation of the associated firms.

Market performance-In the long term, it is seen that breached companies underperformed in the market. After one year, share price of breached firms fell 8.6% on average, resulting in a poor performance in the stock market.

How can the government overcome this issue of non-compliance?

Ensuring the implementation of the regulation– It can be done through periodic cyber security audits which can identify incidents that might not have been reported by the firm.

However, the regulators in most countries including India do not have such capacity to conduct security audits frequently and completely. So, to overcome this issue government can empanel third party cyber security auditors for the conduct of periodical cyber security impact assessments for government departments. Private firms can also be mandated to publish periodic security audit reports.

Government has set up Common Criteria Testing Laboratories and certification bodies to certify IT security products and protection profiles. The same scheme can be extended towards cyber security audits and assessments.

IBM has set up a large cyber security command centre in Bengaluru, other large firms can also be encouraged to set up such centres for protection of their firms’ assets.

What is the cyber security situation world-wide?

Worldwide private firms, government services, especially critical utilities, are prone to cyber-attacks and breach incidents. The ransomware attack against the nationwide gas pipeline in 2021 in the U.S. virtually brought down the transportation of about 45% of all petrol and diesel consumed on the east coast.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

What rising loan disbursals mean for the economy?

Source: This post is based on the article “What rising loan disbursals mean for the economy?” published in Livemint on 1st March 2022.

What is the News?

There has been a rise in lending by commercial banks in recent months. This has come after nearly two years of dismal banking operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

According to RBI data, Bank credit growth for 2021 was at 9.2% as against 6.6% for 2020.

How does bank credit help the economy?

Economic Development: Increased lending by financial institutions enables prospective entrepreneurs to transform their talent into profitable commercial ventures. That is how India has seen the emergence of new generations of entrepreneurs. 

Empowerment of weaker sections: Bank credit is crucial in empowering the socially and economically weaker sections of society—such as empowering women entrepreneurs through ventures such as Sewa and Lijjat Papad.

What impacts bank credit disbursal?

There should be demand in the economy. Banks should be able to attract deposits, which in turn are given out as credit. However, deposits from the public depend on financial sector stability.

Monetary policy, specifically reserve ratios as prescribed by RBI also acts as a determining factor.

Why was there a slowdown in bank credit during the pandemic?

Demand declined as people conserved cash in the wake of the pandemic. Even though bank deposits saw a rising trend, demand and supply-side disruptions resulted in a sharp decline in credit growth. 

Why is there an increase in Bank Credit growth now?

There has been a rise in bank lending due to: ​​a) improvement in consumer and business confidence, b) increase in demand and c) the government placing its thrust on infrastructure spending and capacity expansion.

Russia-Ukraine crisis may give India opportunity to export more wheat

Source: This post is based on the article “Russia-Ukraine crisis may give India opportunity to export more wheat” published in The Hindu on 28th February 2022.

What is the News?

The Russia-Ukraine conflict may give India an opportunity to ship more wheat in the global markets.

How much do Russia and Ukraine contribute to Wheat exports?

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of wheat, accounting for more than 18% of international exports. In 2019, Russia and Ukraine together exported more than a quarter (25.4 %) of the world’s wheat.

The top five countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of wheat include Russia, the United States, Canada, France and Ukraine.

Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of wheat. Combined, Russia and Ukraine cover more than 70% of Egypt’s imported wheat demand.

Turkey is also a big spender on Russian and Ukrainian wheat, with 74% of its imports coming from those two countries in 2019.

What is India’s contribution to Wheat exports?

India is the second-largest producer of wheat, with a share of around 13.5% of world total production. India produces around 107 MT of wheat annually, with a major chunk of it going towards domestic consumption.

India accounts for even less than 1% of world wheat export. However, its share has increased from 0.14% in 2016 to 0.54% in 2020. Presently, India’s central pool of wheat stands at 24.2 million tonnes, twice more than the buffer and strategic needs.

International Monsoons Project Office launched

Source: This post is based on the article “International Monsoons Project Office launched” published in PIB on 28th February 2022.

What is the News?

The Union Minister of Earth Sciences has launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO) on the occasion of National Science Day 2022.

What is the International Monsoons Project Office?

The International Monsoons Project Office(IMPO) will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM),Pune.

The IMPO is India’s contribution to global monsoon research coordination.

It would support activities and connections related to international monsoon research that would be identified and fostered under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme and the World Weather Research Programme.

What is the significance of setting up IMPO?

The setting up of IMPO in India would mean expanding an integrated scientific approach to solve the seasonal variability of monsoons, enhancing the prediction skill of monsoons and cyclones and strengthening monsoon research for better support operations and services.

What is the World Climate Research Programme(WCRP)?

It is an international programme that helps to coordinate global climate research.

It was established in 1980, under the joint sponsorship of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Council for Science (ICSU), and has also been sponsored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO since 1993.

What is the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP)?

The programme is coordinated by WMO. It focuses on advancing and promoting research in weather, its prediction and its impact on society.

India welcomes the IPCC Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on Climate Change

Source: This post is based on the article “India welcomes the IPCC Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on Climate Change” published in PIB on 28th February 2022.

What is the News?

India has welcomed the release of the Working Group II (WG2) contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

What is Working Group II’s Sixth IPCC Report? 

IPCC Assessment Reports are the most comprehensive evaluations of the state of the earth’s climate. So far, 5 assessment reports have been produced, the first one was released in 1990.

IPCC has been releasing the Sixth IPCC Assessment Report. The report was created by three working groups of scientists.

The Working Group I report was released in August 2021. Now the Working Group II report has been released with the title “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”.

What are the key highlights from the Working Group II’s Sixth IPCC Report?

Most populated regions are at high risk: Cities, which house more than half of the world’s population, are at the highest risk from climate change. 

Poor most hurt: Climate impacts do not distinguish between borders, but the poorest are hit the hardest. Low-income populations face the largest gap in adaptation action, in terms of what is happening versus what is needed.

Every degree of rising in warming increases risks: The adverse impacts, as well as related losses and damages, escalate with every increment of global warming. Up to 14% of species face a very high risk of extinction at global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) over pre-industrial levels. The risk increases to 29% at 3 °C and 39% at 4 °C of global warming.

Some changes irreversible: Some climate change-driven losses, such as the extinction of species, are irreversible. Others are approaching irreversibility with accelerating climate change. These include the retreat of glaciers and thawing of permafrost, particularly in the Arctic region. 

Impact on health, food, agriculture: Climate change has conclusively affected the physical and mental health of people around the world. Human society will increasingly face heat stress, water scarcity, threats to food security and flood risks as the crisis worsens. 

Fat Fight: Higher tax likely on unhealthy foods

Source: This post is based on the article “Fat Fight: Higher tax likely on unhealthy foods ” published in Economic Times on 1st March 2022.

What is the News?

Niti Aayog in its annual report has suggested that the Government can take actions such as taxation of foods high on sugar, fat and salt and front-of-the pack labelling to tackle rising obesity in the population.

Obesity Problem in India

The incidences of overweight and obesity are increasing among children, adolescents and women in India.

As per the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. 

According to the National Family Health Survey(NFHS-5) 2019-20, the percentage of obese women increased to 24% from 20.6% in 2015-16 while the percentage for men rose to 22.9% from 18.4% four years earlier.

In states like Telangana, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, nearly one-third of men and women (in the age group of 15-49 years) are overweight or obese. 

Moreover, the National Center for Biotechnology Information has estimated that by 2030, Indians would account for 27.8% of worldwide obesity. 

What has Niti Aayog suggested in its report to tackle obesity?

India can take actions such as higher taxation on foods high on sugar, fat and salt and front-of-the pack labelling to tackle rising obesity in the population.

For instance, non-branded namkeens, bhujias, vegetable chips and snack foods attract 5% GST while for branded and packaged items, the GST rate is 12%. Further, the government can increase the tax on these non-branded products.

Explained: Why digital lenders have come under the scanner

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: Why digital lenders have come under the scanner” published in Indian Express on 1st March 2022.

What is the News?

RBI has cancelled the Certificate of Registration(CoR) issued to P C Financial Services Pvt Ltd, which was primarily engaged in mobile app-based lending operations through an app called ‘Cashbean’.

The registration was cancelled as the company was found charging a usurious rate of interest and other charges to its borrowers in an opaque manner apart from indulging in unauthorised use of logos of the RBI and Central Bureau of Investigation for recovery from the borrowers.

What is Digital Lending?

Digital lending refers to the online disbursal of loans where all processes, even loan approval and recovery, take place remotely, typically through mobile apps.

What are the concerns with Digital Lending?

As per the RBI Working Group report, there were around 600 illegal lending apps that usually charge high-interest rates, adopt unacceptable and high-handed recovery methods and operate in an opaque manner.

The number of these lending apps will increase further. These apps could also collect the user’s personally identifiable information (PII), financial data and other sensitive details which can then be used to compromise the user’s accounts, carry out phishing attacks and identity theft.

What are the suggestions of the RBI working group on Digital Lending?

The RBI is likely to come out with a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital lending soon. The working group set up by the RBI has proposed stringent norms for digital lenders. These norms include: 

– A separate legislation should be enacted to oversee Digital Lending.

– Digital lending apps should be subjected to a verification process by a nodal agency to be set up in consultation with stakeholders.

– Regulators may consider introducing interest rate caps in a phased manner, broadly in line with the effective interest rates of credit cards.

– Disbursement of loans should be made directly into the bank accounts of borrowers, and servicing of loans should be done only through the bank accounts of the digital lenders.

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Indian grey hornbill reintroduced in Gir after decades

Source: This post is based on the article “Indian grey hornbill reintroduced in Gir after decades” published in Hindustan Times on 1st March 2022.

What is the News?

Gujarat Forest Department is reintroducing the Indian grey hornbill(IGH) in Gir Forest after almost ninety years when they vanished from this largest contiguous forest tract in western India.

What is an Indian Grey Hornbill?

Indian Grey Hornbill ( Ocyceros birostris) is a fairly common hornbill species found only in the Indian subcontinent. It is a medium-sized hornbill with a brownish-grey body.

IUCN Status: Least Concern.

Diet: They feed on fruits and berries from fig trees, insects, reptiles (snakes, lizards), small birds (mostly fledglings) but on occasion can go after slightly bigger adult birds as well.

Significance: It plays an essential role in the ecosystem as prime dispersers of seeds. It is also one of the few hornbill species found in urban areas in many cities, where they are able to make use of large trees in avenues.

These birds are known to be arboreal, i.e. spend most of their time on tall trees but may descend for food and to collect mud pellets for nesting. 

Threats: They are threatened primarily by habitat loss in the city and the cutting down of large trees, which is important for both food and nesting.

International Intellectual Property Index: India’s overall ranking on IP protection improves, says USCC report

Source: This post is based on the article “India’s overall ranking on IP protection improves, says USCC report” published in Business Standard on 28th February 2022.

What is the News?

The International Intellectual Property Index, 2022 has been released.

What is the International Intellectual Property Index?

Released by: Compiled by the US Chambers of Commerce.

Type: Annual report

Purpose: The index benchmarks the IP framework in 55 global economies, with Ghana and Honduras added as two new economies in the tenth edition.

Parameters: The index ranks countries based on 50 unique indicators. These indicators are divided across nine categories of protection: 1) Patents, 2) copyrights, 3) trademarks, 4) design rights, 5) trade secrets, 6) commercialization of IP assets, 7) enforcement, 8) systemic efficiency and 9) membership and ratification of international treaties.

What are the key findings of the index?

India has been ranked 43 out of 55 countries in the Index. It has improved its overall IP score from 38.4% to 38.6%. The United States topped the index, followed by the UK, Germany, Sweden and France.