Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• Social media genie is out of the bottle, and we are all trapped

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

Social media genie is out of the bottle, and we are all trapped

News– The recent violence in Manipur is yet another example of the unravelling of the social fabric of our country.

How has social media contributed to increased polarisation in the world?

Smartphones have allowed a person to check into the online world at all times. Social media has drowned the person in a virtual world where ideas, lies and hate proliferate and get transmitted.

Our disagreements about ideas hardens our attitudes towards the other person or the groups. As the hate is reciprocated, the two sides move further apart. It leads to the heart of darkness when words escalate into actual violence.

Social media has desensitised us from its effects. Earlier, a common medium to express a critique was to write a letter. The process took time. A person could reflect on what they had written. It often leads to a moderation of language.

Besides, one never shared this letter with an unknown community of persons. Social media has not only contributed to the deterioration of public discourse.

Social media represents an existential threat to democracy. Democracy requires dialogue and respect to build consensus and compromise on contentious issues.

Social media has amplified the most unpleasant aspects of human personality. It is a tendency to be narcissistic. They think their opinions are the most important of all. They are sociopathic, and don’t care less about the feelings of others.

What is the way forward to limit the impacts of social media?

The human brain is wholly unprepared for the sudden and profound effects of social media.

The situation is about to get worse with the new age ushered by AI.

The world’s richest companies have done little to control the misuse of their technologies. Governments are not sure about their response to social media.

There is a need for a citizen-led solution.  There is a need to replace social media with social connectedness.

We should opt for a world in which we cherish our interactions with real people, read newspapers with views from all sides of the political spectrum and rebuild the social fabric of our society.

GS Paper 2

Solidarity for peace – The G-7 must build a global consensus on the world’s challenges

News: Recently, Hiroshima G7 Summit occurred.

What are the key observations taken at the Hiroshima G7 Summit?

Japan brought all G-7 members with the EU leadership to the peace memorial for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing. The grouping issued a special “Hiroshima Vision Statement on Nuclear Disarmament”.

The G-7 members issued a separate statement on Ukraine, hitting Russia with more sanctions, but failed to highlight a path towards dialogue and ending the war.

The members also recognised G-7’s role in various areas. Such as transparent financing and debt sustainability for the developing world, compensating for the developed world’s contribution to global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

But the summit failed to propose concrete measures to help defray these responsibilities.

What is G7?

What are the concerns raised against the G7 grouping?

Holds only Euro-American worldview: After G7 expelled Russia over its annexation of areas of Georgia in 2008 and then Crimea in 2014, its worldview has been contracted.

What should be done?

The G-7 must build a global consensus on the world’s challenges and also include some of the world’s largest economies (China and India) or the fastest-growing GDPs, or the biggest global energy providers.

A wishlist for new Law Minister – On Legal Reforms

News– Recently Arjun Ram Meghwal was appointed as new law minister.

What are the reforms expected from the Law Ministery?

The task of the Law Minister involves a reasonable knowledge of the working of courts, parliamentary affairs, and government counsel. It requires astute diplomacy in dealing with judges and political demands.

There is a need to reduce litigation by the government so that the burden on the judiciary would be reduced.

There is an alarming proportion of cases with the government as a party in recent years. It needs to be reduced, particularly in the arena of service law where larger questions of law do not arise.

India should consider adopting some version of the Crown Prosecution Service of the UK. It allows for independent assessment of whether a case should lead to an indictment and trial.

Criminal justice system does not objectively decide whether material exists to oppose bail or frame charges. It is now standard format to treat the accused or the undertrial as a mortal enemy who must be stopped at all costs. This philosophy must be checked.

Another useful measure would be to encourage and enhance mediation and plea bargaining. To achieve this, the National Litigation Policy of 2010 needs to be updated and made mandatory.

He should engage with the technological initiatives of our Chief Justice and offer the encouragement of his ministry. He should attempt some reform in this respect.

There is a lack of a proper regulatory body for lawyers. The Bar Council of India now comprises a group of individuals who have exceeded their elected terms. They devote little time to regulate and reform.

A few lawyers charge exorbitant fees. They are unchecked by law. In addition, lawyers lack social security. The Covid years heavily impacted the lawyers. The Ministry of Law should overhaul the profession to serve the people in a more meaningful manner.

The new world – shaped by self-interest

News- A series of far-reaching events are shaping the 21st century.

What are important lessons from the recent geopolitical events?

The first lesson from global reactions to the war is geography still matters. Proximity and the neighbourhood are considerably more important. We are living in a hyper-globalised world, but we are also more local than ever before.

Social media, trends in technology and politics, and other factors promoted narrow spheres of interest. India was concerned about the Ukraine war and European instability. But Chinese aggression, Covid and the instability of Kabul were more important for it.

The second lesson pertains to the UN vote condemning the Ukraine war. 140 countries voted and condemned Russia. But, only a few sanctioned Russia.

Those sanctioning Russia today are champions of globalisation and development. Others are well within their rights to challenge the status quo.

It is often stated that India is on the fence. India is not on the fence. It is only standing its ground. It will choose its priorities just as every other country has done.

The recent visits by European leaders to China shows that value-based frameworks are untenable. Nations are driven by self-interest and the need to maintain lucrative economic relations. India is no different.

Even after Chinese hostilities on the Himalayan heights, trade relations matter for its economic needs. Distance matters; interest matters even more.

The third lesson derives from recent events. The Covid-19 outbreak saw the hijack of medical equipment and access to vaccines, and growing gaps in treatment capabilities.

When the pandemic struck, there was no superpower, there was no great power, and there was no big power. There were only selfish powers.

Similarly, the Afghan people were abandoned because it is important for higher powers to leave the country at a particular moment.

Chinese territorial incursions have provoked a range of self-serving responses from different actors. Some of these countries talk about defending democracy.

In a nutshell, there is no moral high ground. All that remains is the ruthless pursuit of national self-interest.

What is the importance of the global south in the present context?

If meaningful international dialogue is to be conducted, nations must right-size some of their perceptions about each other and themselves. In this context, Global South can be a possible bridge between competing positions.

But the “Global South” is a simple term, which does not show its heterogeneity. Very few countries would like to be categorised as “southern” as they continue to rise and shape global systems.

The organisation of the South over the next decade will have a far more profound impact than the West on the global balance of power, and on the contours of the new world order.

The tussle over ‘services’ in Delhi

News– Recently, a Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud held that the Delhi government can make laws and administer civil services in the national capital.

In response, The President promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 to make a fresh claim of power over the services in the capital.

What are the legal constitutional issues with the ordinance?

The Supreme Court had envisaged a “neutral civil service” for carrying out the day-to-day decisions of the Council of Ministers. The NCCSA attempts to bring civil service officers out of the administrative control of the elected Ministers.

The NCCSA negates the intrinsic link between government accountability and the principle of collective responsibility highlighted in the judgement.

The Ordinance, by creating the NCCSA, skirts the emphasis laid down in the judgement on the “triple chain of command” in the governance of Delhi.

The court had held that the civil services were accountable to the Ministers of the elected government, under whom they function. The Ministers were in turn accountable to the legislature, and the legislature ultimately to the people of Delhi.

The Ordinance also does not heed the President’s own Transaction of Business Rules of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, 1993.

As per Rules, on matters which fall within the ambit of the executive functions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, decision-making is by the government comprising the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at its head.

Does the Ordinance go against the Supreme Court judgement?

The Ordinance is based on the argument that the Supreme Court has itself acknowledged the superior authority of Parliament to make laws for the national capital.

A review petition filed by the Centre in the Supreme Court claimed that Delhi is not a “full-fledged State” but only a Union Territory. The Parliament is Delhi’s true legislature. However, the May 11 judgement addresses this contention. It acknowledges that though Delhi is not a full-fledged State, its Legislative Assembly has power to legislate upon the subjects in the State List and Concurrent List.

The judgement says that the Delhi assembly has power to legislate upon subjects to give effect to the aspirations of the people of NCTD. It has a democratically elected government which is accountable to the people of the NCTD.

As per SC, Under Article 239AA(3), NCTD was given legislative power which is similar to States. The Constitution created an “asymmetric federal model” with the Union of India at the centre, and the NCTD at the regional level.

The May 11 judgement had also referred to how the majority in a 2018 Constitution Bench judgement had held that the concept of federalism is applicable to NCTD.

The court had held that the executive power of the Delhi government was “coextensive” with its legislative power. The executive arm of the government covers all the subjects, including services, except public order, police and land.

For further reading- Delhi Ordinance

GS Paper 3

It’s time to ensure safer skies

News: It has been 13 years since an aircraft crashed in Mangalore resulting in the deaths of 158 people. But investigation agencies have still not identified the reasons for such accidents and provided corrective steps.

About the PIL on the Mangalore runway

In 1997, a Bangalore-based NGO filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court regarding the second runway in Mangalore airport. The NGO warned, “The inevitable consequence could be that the plane will come crashing down the hillsides from a height of 80-100 metres…”

But the High Court dismissed the PIL and the Supreme Court has said that the “Government shall comply with all applicable laws and also with environmental norms.” The government agencies also did not comply with laws or norms.

About the Mangalore air accident

All these led to the loss of 158 lives in 2010 when AIE 812 crashed on landing in Mangalore. The aircraft overshot the runway, plunged down the hillside as the petitioners had warned, and burst into flames. The reports found that the aircraft crashed into the illegal concrete structure on which the Instrument Landing System Localiser antenna was mounted.

The International Civil Aviation Organization asked India to ensure that all localiser structures were frangible. But, in Mangalore airport, the structure was replaced with steel girders.

About the reform committee and its recommendations

The Ministry of Civil Aviation constituted the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC) after the Mangalore crash. The focus was on critical runways, such as in Mangalore and Calicut.

The CASAC pointed out

a) There is a failure of the court of inquiry report in identifying serious errors and taking corrective steps, b) The failure to provide the mandatory Runway End Safety Areas (RESA) at Calicut could result in fatal accidents on the runway if any aircraft touched down late at high speed. So, the committee recommended having RESA at both ends, c) The narrow service road would prevent quick rescue by rescue and firefighting vehicles.

But the Ministry and the DGCA ignored the CASAC observations.

What are the other issues diminishing India’s aviation sector?

India is inducting a large number of aircraft into our skies without the minimum number of qualified professionals to man critical stations such as cockpit, ATC and engineering. Further, the low availability of pilots leads to the available pilots being fatigued in their work. This is bound to lower the safety standards in India.

So, now it is time for the court to pick up these issues and suggest reforms.

The economics of climate change in India

News: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a report titled “Report on Currency and Finance: Towards a Greener Cleaner India”. The report highlights the impact of climate change on India’s economy and measures needed to address them.

How has climate change affected India?

There has been change in temperature and precipitation pattern in India.

As per the RBI report, the annual average temperature in India has been increasing gradually.

The south west monsoon has also become unpredictable. The annual average rainfall in India has gradually declined while intense wet spells as well as dry spells have increased in India.

India is relatively more exposed to floods and storms than droughts and heatwaves. Such incidences pose significant risks to agricultural production and food price volatility.

How vulnerable is India to climate change?

India’s diverse topography exposes it to varying temperature and precipitation patterns, which in turn makes the country susceptible to extreme weather events. These events have implications for the Indian economy. (Chart 1)

At present, major economic activity happens in the services sector as against the agriculture and allied sectors in India.

This has significant implications for carbon emissions because services are globally considered to be emission-light with relatively lower energy intensity of output.

Whereas, metal industries, electricity and transports are the highest emission-intensive sectors, together accounted for around 9 percent of India’s total GVA in 2018-19. (Chart 2)

Therefore, fossil fuels have a large share in India’s primary energy consumption and this needs to change. (Chart 3)

                                                                                                             (Chart1)                                                    (Chart 3)

                                                                      (Chart 2)

Source: All Images from The Indian Express

What is the macroeconomic impact of climate change on India?

Climate change can adversely impact both the supply side as well as the demand side. It can stroke inflation, reduce economic output, trigger uncertainty and change consumer behaviour.

Some of the findings of impact of climate change on India are:

• According to Niti Aayog in 2019, around 600 million of India’s population are facing severe water stress, with 8 million children below 14 years in urban India at risk due to poor water supply.
• The World Bank in 2020 said that India could account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses from heat stress associated with productivity decline by 2030.
• The IPCC Working Group in 2022 stated that India is one of the most vulnerable countries globally in terms of the population that would be affected by the sea level rise.

Further, if the shift towards becoming a low-carbon economy is too rapid, it could also damage a country’s financial stability.

Are policies effective in providing some solutions?

Impact on GDP: Policy actions will have a negative impact on India’s GDP. Global scenarios of “current policies” and “nationally determined contributions (NDCs)” have the highest negative impact on output, whereas rapidly moving towards Net Zero by 2050 will hit GDP.

Impact on Inflation: Moving towards net zero by 2050 will spike inflation far more in the immediate future than continuing on current policies.

Therefore, these trade-offs will become sharper as India tries to achieve the twin goals of achieving net zero emissions by 2070 and becoming an advanced economy by 2047.

The challenge of AI

News: The rapid emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software has led to a widespread debate across the world on its potential impact on the economy and security.

What are the potential impacts of AI on economy and security?

Economy: Generative AI with a substantial creative capacity will impact the current employment levels in software and business-processing services because the services they sell can easily be done by AI-based programmes.

AI also provides a tool for less proficient workers to narrow the gap with more able ones. For example, a worker with poor English-language skills could use AI to become as useful as an English language-educated worker.

Security: There are many security challenges like – a) AI-powered surveillance systems could infringe on privacy rights, b) AI-automated cyberattacks and c) AI-powered weapons to target and attack humans. AI can also deepen the impact of fake news, fake voices and hacking.

Moreover, AI based drones can be made to attack a particular type of target, where the drones would be free to choose a specific target that meets the programmed criteria.

However, any such effect of AI can only happen with human interventions because AI software lacks human type of judging skills to evaluate situations and make decisions accordingly.

Must Read: Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence): Benefits and Challenges – Explained

What can be done to control the misuse of AI?

There has been growing consensus on establishing a regulatory regime for creating and using AI. For instance, the G7 proposes to set up a Working Group for this purpose and the EU is on the way to formulate regulations.

Countries are also looking to regulate the basic design of AI apps to control the risks of misuse. However, if this is done, then AI can be misused for political gains.

For instance, China has introduced controls on AI development which involve prior official approval of AI apps before they are released and also require them to ensure consistency with the “core values of socialism”.

Therefore, this type of politicization should be avoided because the internet remains the strongest base of our freedom and democracy.

What should be the stand of India on AI?

India must work to build local competence to develop AI because it is the technology of the future.

However, the foundation of the main part of AI is a language model. This poses a major challenge for India in developing AI because it is a multilingual country.

Moreover, AI services require very large server systems and it is emerging technology. Therefore, India should get involved in industry because this will improve the chances of India in holding a significant presence in the AI market.

What lies ahead?

AI will have the same impact like the computer age that liberated us to focus on a higher level of intelligence activity but also exposed us to anonymous frauds.

Hence, the main task is to prepare our children for the huge opportunities AI provides and ensure that the risks are kept manageable.

Burden of proof – on Proposed regulation for unlawful trades

News: Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has released a consultation paper “Prohibition of unexplained suspicious trading activities”.

This paper outlines the proposed regulations to tackle issues like insider trading, front-running, and pump and dump scams.

What are the challenges faced by regulators in the financial market associated with trading?

Some of the offences like the following are difficult to prove, like:

• Front-running trades based on “material non-public information” (MNPI). For example, an employee of mutual fund company can know about a deal in advance and place trade in their personal account.
• Insider trading on the basis of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI). Like company results, change of management.
• Pump and dump schemes involve buying a stock and spreading rumours about good news in that company to “pump up the price”, and then “dump” shares by selling them at a profit.

Regulators face difficulty in proving guilt of the perpetrators, due to evasive tactics used by such as mule accounts, layering funds, and sharing transfers through a complex web of entities.

Mule accounts are used to earn profits. There is no apparent connection between the owner of the account and the perpetrators. Coordination is carried out through encrypted services such as WhatsApp.

In 2022, around 5,000 suspicious trading alerts were generated, involving 3,588 unique entities, but SEBI could not find conclusive proof of communication of UPSI or MNPI in most instances.

How the proposal tackles this issue?

If SEBI highlights a suspicious trading activity and believes MNPI or UPSI was involved, it can start a presumptive proceeding against the parties concerned. The burden of proving the allegations wrong will on the parties.

However, the challenge is that the burden of proof cannot be placed upon the accused. It can lead to many problems. Instead of such regulations, the regulator should strengthen its surveillance and evidence-collection methods.

Strangers & Secrets – spy scandal in DRDO

News: Recently, a DRDO scientist, allegedly fell for a Pakistani “honey-trap”. He is accused on spying for enemy country.

The accused had access to over 50 DRDO establishments, including laboratories, and headed an R&D division overseeing India’s missile launcher programmes.

What are the cyber threats faced by military infrastructure of India?

First concern is the integrity of hardware, which is largely not manufactured in India.

Second concern is human error. Over the last six years, more than 20 serving and retired army staff were reportedly arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s ISI. “Honey-traps” is one of the methods used to lure.

What are the guidelines issues by DRDO?

The army has issued a circular warning personnel against posting or forwarding official communication on WhatsApp and storing data on devices at home.

Similarly, DRDO has also suggested not to entertain unknown numbers, avoid chats with unknown people, and not to share information.

What more can be done?

Train all military and defence research staff on how to check the IP address of any stranger chatting in a friendly manner. Also, make it mandatory for them to immediately report such encounters.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

How lasers are helping calcium-41 break into radiometric dating

Source: The post is based on the article “How lasers are helping calcium-41 break into radiometric dating” published in The Hindu on 23rd May 2023

What is the News?

A study has shown that Calcium-41 can be used the same way as Carbon-14 in carbon dating but with several advantages.

What is Radiometric Dating?

When an organic entity is alive, its body keeps absorbing and losing carbon-14 atoms. When it dies, this process stops and the extant carbon-14 starts to decay away. 

Using the difference between the relative abundance of these atoms in the body and the number that should’ve been there, researchers can estimate when the entity died. This process is called radiometric dating.

What is the drawback of using Carbon-14 for Radiometric Dating?

Carbon-14 – Radiocarbon (Carbon 14) is an isotope of the element carbon that is unstable and weakly radioactive.

It has a half-life of 5,700 years, so the technique can’t determine the age of objects older than around 50,000 years.

What is Calcium-41?

Calcium-41 is a rare long-lived radioisotope of calcium with a half-life of 99,400 years.

It is produced through cosmic ray interactions in the soil and is found in the Earth’s crust.

But the issue with Calcium-41 is that it occurs rarer, occurring once in around 10^15 Calcium atoms.

How did researchers overcome this drawback of Calcium-41?

Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China pitched a technique called atom-trap trace analysis (ATTA) to spot these atoms.

ATTA is both extremely sensitive and selective and is based on laser manipulation and the detection of neutral atoms.

In this method, the sample is vaporized, and the atoms are laser-cooled and loaded into a light and magnetic field cage.

By tuning the laser’s frequency, Calcium-41 atoms can be detected through electron transitions.

What are the applications of Calcium-41?

Scientists are currently exploring Calcium-41 in earth-science applications. 

In warmer climates, glaciers retreat and allow rock below to accumulate calcium-41. In colder climates, glaciers advance and block the calcium-41 from reaching the rock. 

This way, scientists hope to use ATTA to study how long some rock has been covered by ice.

The bitter truth about artificial sweeteners

Source: The post is based on the article “The bitter truth about artificial sweeteners ” published in Livemint on 23rd May 2023

What is the News?

Artificial sweeteners have emerged as the go-to substitute for Indians who want to indulge their sweet tooth in a ‘healthy’ way. 

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned against freely replacing sugar with non-sugar substitutes.

What does WHO say about the use of Non-Sugar Sweeteners(NSS) or artificial sweeteners?

Non Sugar Sweeteners(NSS) are sugar substitutes made from chemicals that have little-to-no calories and are generally marketed as aiding weight loss, maintenance of healthy weight and controlling blood glucose in individuals with diabetes. 

WHO has said that higher, long-term intake of NSS causes an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality.

How much are artificial sweeteners consumed in India?

The sugar and sweetener sector in India grew 4% in volume terms in 2022, with the market expected to grow at an average annual pace of 2.6% in value terms in the next four years.

Around 13.2 million tonnes of sugar and sweeteners were sold in India last year. Hence, it is no surprise that diet-related Non-communicable diseases(NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are rising quickly in the country with the health ministry estimating a $3.5 trillion loss to economic output due to NCDs between 2012 and 2030.

What does FSSAI have to say about artificial sweeteners?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has allowed five artificial sweeteners saccharin sodium, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose and neotame-—for use by the food industry and listed maximum permitted levels. 

These are used in items such as juices, beverages, Sweets, chewing gum and confectionery. Currently, every ad for sugar-free items has to state the names of artificial sweeteners it contains.

Methane mitigation policies cover 13% emissions, most not stringent enough: Study

Source: The post is based on the article “Methane mitigation policies cover 13% emissions, most not stringent enough: Study” published in Down To Earth on 23rd May 2023

What is the News?

According to a study, only 13% of methane emissions are covered by global methane mitigation policies.

What is Methane?

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Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years.

It is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution.

Agriculture, fossil fuels as well as solid waste and wastewater are the three major sources of methane.

What are Methane Policies?

Methane policies are actions by governments that explicitly aim to monitor, prevent, or reduce methane emissions from anthropogenic sources. 

Currently, 281 policies are in place across sectors that release methane, including energy, waste, and agriculture.

The researchers found that 90% of identified national policies were from three regions: North America (39%), Europe (30%), and Asia Pacific (21%).

The policies targeting fossil methane (coal, oil, and gas) are lower than biogenic methane (released by living organisms).

This trend has emerged despite readily available solutions to cut methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector.

What about Methane policies in India?

In India, there are no effective policies targeting methane emissions from rice cultivation and biomass burning (burning of crop waste residues such as rice paddy straw.

In 1997, the Government of India designed a policy to extract Coal bed Methane from coal-bearing areas prior to the mining of coal.

But the policy was ineffective in incentivising coal bed methane production.

At present, coal bed methane is not produced from any working or operational coal mines in the country

Note: Coal bed methane is the methane produced during the coal formation process, which gets trapped on the surface of the coal in tiny pores and fractures.

Education Ministry holds meet on PARAKH aimed at unifying 60 school Boards

Source: The post is based on the article “Education Ministry holds meet on PARAKH aimed at unifying 60 school Boards” published in The Hindu on 23rd May 2023

What is the News?

The Ministry of Education and PARAKH (The National Assessment Centre) has organized the 1st National level workshop on assessment with States and UTs.

What is PARAKH?

PARAKH stands for Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.

It has been set up as an organization under NCERT.

It has ​​ been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 which envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and latest research and promote collaborations between them.

Mandate: To work on bringing the school Boards across States and Union Territories on a common platform.

– To act as a common platform for interaction of all concerned stakeholders in order to develop a holistic approach that ensures a fair assessment system which promotes equity in performance and equivalence in the assessment of students.

Areas of work: PARAKH will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessments and examination reforms.

Electronic Cigarettes Act,2019: Centre seeks stricter implementation of ban on e-cigarettes

Source: The post is based on the article “Centre seeks stricter implementation of ban on e-cigarettes” published in The Hindu on 23rd May 2023

What is the News?

The Union Health Ministry has issued a public notice for stricter implementation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act which came into force in 2019.

What is the Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019?

Definition: The act defines electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as electronic devices that heat a substance, which may contain nicotine and other chemicals, to create vapour for inhalation.  

– These e-cigarettes can also contain different flavours and include all forms of electronic nicotine delivery systems, heat-not-burn products, e-hookahs, and other similar devices.

Banning of e-cigarettes: The Act prohibits the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution and advertisement of e-cigarettes in India.  

– Any person who contravenes this provision will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of up to one lakh rupees, or both.  

– For any subsequent offense, the person will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to three years, along with a fine of up to five lakh rupees.

Storage of e-cigarettes: Under the act, no person is allowed to use any place for the storage of any stock of e-cigarettes. If any person stores any stock of e-cigarettes, he will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to six months, or a fine of up to Rs 50,000 or both. 

Powers of authorized officers: If an authorized officer believes that any provision of the act has been contravened, he can search any place where trade, production, storage or advertising of e-cigarettes is being undertaken.  

– The authorized officer can seize any record or property connected to e-cigarettes found during the search. Further, he may take the person connected with the offence into custody.

De-risking, not decoupling: What’s this G7 strategy against China?

Source: The post is based on the article “De-risking, not decoupling: What’s this G7 strategy against China?” published in Indian Express on 23rd May 2023

What is the News?

G7 countries have said that they would build economic resilience for themselves, based on a strategy of diversifying and deepening partnerships and de-risking but not decoupling.

The word “de-risking” was again used in the statement to describe the G7 countries’ stance towards China on economic matters.

What is de-risking?

The US State Department describes de-risking as the phenomenon of financial institutions terminating or restricting business relationships with clients or categories of clients to avoid, rather than manage, risk. 

Simply put, de-risking is to move businesses away from areas that are considered risky in terms of the returns they could generate.

In the context of China, de-risking can be interpreted as a reduction of the reliance on China in the economic sphere — for the supply of materials or as a market for finished goods — so that potential risks to trade and disruption of supply chains are reduced.

How is de-risking different from decoupling?

Decoupling refers to the deliberate dismantling – and eventual re-creation elsewhere – of some of the sprawling cross-border supply chains that have defined globalization.

An expert has explained the two terms using an analogy from an investment perspective: Decoupling means cashing out your whole portfolio; de-risking means selling what you consider the riskiest assets, say, deleveraging on your margins.

Why is there a focus on de-risking instead of de-coupling?

De-risking ties with China became a more regular part of diplomatic conversations after the European Commission president said that it is neither viable – nor in Europe’s interest – to decouple from China. 

India too has endorsed de-risking. India’s Foreign Minister has said, “In this era of volatility and uncertainty, it’s important to de-risk the global economy and yet to ensure that there is very responsible growth”.