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

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Autonomy oils the wheels of higher education excellence
• Research first: On the UGC move on research papers by Ph.D. scholars
• In EWS verdict, a discrimination antithetical to equality
• India & EU: Standard deviations
• More judges please: Till collegium’s there GoI must clear names fast
• A court of the future: There is need to finetune mechanisms of accountability within judiciary

GS Paper 3

• What India needs to do to plug its defence gap
• Raising money for green transitions
• How Northeast Finally Took Wings
• Idea of war: The battlefields are changing

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Area under moderately dense mangroves fell in 10 years, shows data
• Nine countries join alliance to boost offshore windpower
• PM unveils 108-feet-long bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru
• Himalayan Gray Langur: Altitude decides simian attitude to diet
• Centre’s silence on judicial postings condemnable: Supreme Court
• At COP27, Biden tightens methane emissions rule
• Army Organizes Walong Mela in continuation of Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Battle of Walong
• Vaccine inequity: Disparity in access to doses hits low-income countries, says WHO

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Autonomy oils the wheels of higher education excellence

News- The article explains the autonomy related issues with Indian universities.

What are some facts associated with ranking of Indian universities?

The 2023 edition of the QS world university ranking includes only three of India’s higher educational institutions amongst the top 200 of the world. Another three are counted among the top 300 whereas two more in the top 400.

The Times Higher Education Ranking places only one Indian institution among the top 400 of the world. Barring one of the most eminent public-funded deemed universities of the country, all the rest are Institutions of National Importance.

What are issues related to autonomy of universities in India?

Best universities in the world enjoy a great degree of academic, administrative and financial autonomy. Autonomy is regarded as a necessary and sufficient condition to attain excellence.

Institutes of national importance in India are not only better funded but also generally enjoy a greater degree of autonomy than universities. They fall outside the regulatory purview of the UGC and the AICTE.

Universities are funded through the University Grants Commission. They are all subject to a very strict regulatory regime. They Abide by UGC regulations and AICTE guidelines in almost all aspects of their functioning be it faculty recruitment, student admission and the award of degrees. In many cases, they are micro-managed by the regulatory authorities.

Central universities in the country are also ranked on the basis of their obedience to regulatory compliances. Even in the academic domain, many of them are comfortable in publicly stating that they have adopted the model curricula, pedagogy and syllabi prescribed by the regulatory bodies.

What shows the importance of autonomy?

The best universities in the world are continuously sensitised about the importance of their autonomy and are trained and enabled to make their own decisions.The European University Association prescribes a ‘university autonomy tool’ that lets each member university compare its level of autonomy with the other European higher education systems across all member countries. A large number of commissions and committees, including the national policies on education have highlighted the need for higher education autonomy.

Higher learning centres in ancient India enjoyed no less academic, administrative and financial autonomy than the most autonomous universities in the world today.

What National Education Policy, 2020 says about autonomy?

The new education policy seeks to completely overhaul the higher education system. To attain this objective, it repeatedly emphasises the need for institutional autonomy.

The policy considers a lack of autonomy as one of the major problems of higher education. It promises to ensure faculty and institutional autonomy through a highly independent and empowered board of management which would be vested with academic and administrative autonomy.

It argues for a ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework and insists that the new regulatory regime would foster a culture of empowerment. It says that by relying on a robust system of accreditation, all higher education institutions would gradually gain full academic and administrative autonomy.

But it depends on implementation of policy.

Research first: On the UGC move on research papers by Ph.D. scholars

News- The article explains the recent move by UGC for removing the mandatory requirement of publishing papers for Ph.D. students.

What is the rationale behind this move?

This move is aimed at stemming the unhealthy practice of many scholars paying substandard, predatory journals to publish their papers without sufficient review. It has weakened the quality of India’s doctoral education.

The majority of doctoral students publish their papers in such journals. They do not go through the more time-consuming process of submitting their drafts to reputed journals, awaiting review and revising. Insufficiency of scholarship and stipends also compels the students to do so.

The removal of a compulsory requirement is also in line with global regulatory standards.

The removal of the mandatory requirement is also an acknowledgement of the diversity in academic disciplines. In some branches of the humanities, the publication of a monograph is a more accepted method of communicating with academic peers than journal papers.

UGC hopes that by removing the mandatory requirement, it can help create a more conducive atmosphere for self-motivated research by students and universities.

What are the concerns related to this step of UGC?  

Publishing papers is certainly considered essential for any top researcher. The UGC has also emphasised that it would be advisable for scholars to publish papers in high-quality journals for their own sake. It would add value to their PhD for any post-doctoral opportunities.

The removal of mandatory requirements may result in a further dilution of quality, as the worth of a researcher and a university is judged on the basis of papers published and cited. Funding is also dependent on such benchmarks.

What is the way forward?

To encourage students to publish their paper in mandatory journals, put the onus on university research advisory council and doctoral supervisors.

Higher levels of funding are urgently needed to ensure that the UGC’s move does not backfire.

In EWS verdict, a discrimination antithetical to equality

News: The Supreme Court of India in Janhit Abhiyan vs Union of India case upheld the constitutional validity of granting 10% reservation to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the upper castes.

What are the salient features of the 103rd constitutional amendment?

What are the Supreme Court rulings on the 103rd constitutional amendment?

Can the state provide reservations and alter the reservation criteria?

The 103rd amendment provides reservation exclusively on economic grounds. The Constitution demands equality, but it does not tether Parliament to any precise version of the concept.

So State could plausibly be acting within its power in deciding that a classification resting solely on economic status furthers substantive equality. Further, the inclusion of an additional layer of affirmative action does not by itself rise to the level of a basic structure violation.

What will be the impact of the recent judgement?

Reservations permitted for SC, ST and OBCs are intrinsic to the guarantee of equality. This position has been regarded as an axiom of constitutional law at least since the five-judge Bench ruling in the State of Kerala vs N.M. Thomas (1975).

This is because they together constitute 82% of the country’s population. By reversing the existing logic of affirmative action the court opened the pandora’s box of more such reservation requests. This in the long run creates a form of discrimination that is antithetical to what equality truly demands.

India & EU: Standard deviations

News: Recently, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has said that Indian clearing corporations will not be recognised as such in Europe because “no cooperation arrangements” could be signed between ESMA and the Indian regulators. The ESMA regulations could kick in from April 2023, unless the parties to the negotiations agree to extend the deadline.

What are the reasons behind the ESMA rules?

Negotiations have been ongoing since 2017 to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which ESMA can inspect the six clearing corporations that operate under RBI and SEBI licences. ESMA also demands six clearing corporations pay a licence fee of €50,000 each per year, to join the ESMA certified panel.

Under the proposed ESMA rules, any investor based in Europe will not be able to use India´s clearing house mechanism to invest in government bonds. Instead, the investor will have to deploy his/her own capital as a counterparty to guarantee the trade, making it a costly exercise.

What was the view of Indian regulators on ESMA decision?

The RBI and SEBI officials blame ESMA for insisting on clauses that supposedly dilute Indian sovereign rights on domestic financial markets. This is because both Japan and the US have obtained the rights under which these checks will take place only with prior authorisation from the RBI or SEBI.

What are the potential impacts of ESMA rules?

a) This can be considered a precursor of similar controversies in other sectors as Europe tries to tighten standards across all types of markets, such as carbon credit, green hydrogen and data.

b) While the ESMA step affects all financial markets, the primary impact will be on government bonds. The decision encouraged FTSE Russell and other global fund managers to drop plans to include Indian government and public sector bond papers in their index funds.

Indian entities such as Clearing Corporation of India, Indian Clearing Corporation Limited and NSE Clearing Limited are considered puny – the difference in size is almost 10 times.

What are the other areas in which India is unwilling to comply with European standards?

European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): India does not recognise it and insists it will set its own data protection standards under a law to be passed by Parliament. The Minister of electronics and IT has said that this is because India “has a thriving ecosystem of innovators”.

Management of crypto assets: The EU this year has brought issuers and crypto asset service providers under a regulatory framework for the first time. But India has refused to accept the domain of private crypto and considers labelling them is equivalent to the lottery.

Global corporation tax: India levies a 2% DST on revenues generated from digital services offered in India. So, India opposed the so-called Pillar One that entails the removal of the Digital Services Taxes.

European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: It is essentially a carbon tax coming into force in 2023. It will first apply to any imports of steel, cement, aluminium, and fertilisers from third countries into the EU. India´s G20 Sherpa has described the upcoming carbon tax as the biggest challenge for Indian exporters.

Euro New Car Assessment Programme: Recently the European Commission proposed new standards to reduce air pollution from new motor vehicles.

But, India has pushed the road transport and highways ministry to develop comparable Indian standards instead of following the European ones.

How this will impact India-EU free trade agreement?

EU trade agreements have provisions for mutual recognition of standards. Europe argues that these new international standards give its industry and businesses the advantage to establish worldwide partnerships and sell their products or services globally.

On the other hand, India views these as non-tariff barriers. As those standards offer Europe an advantage to overcome the disadvantage of low costs elsewhere.

More judges please: Till collegium’s there GoI must clear names fast

News: The Supreme Court issued notice to the Union law secretary over the delay in accepting the collegium-cleared judge appointments.

What are the concerns of the Judiciary and Government on Judicial appointments?

Recently, the Union law minister has criticised the collegium system.

The judges criticise the Centre for neither appointing nor communicating its reservations on the names reiterated by the collegium. The court observed that the collegium ensures judicial independence.

The collegium system can do with more transparency and diversity in appointments. But, neither has GoI attempted to revive the National Judicial Appointments Commission since 2015, nor has SC taken meaningful, proactive steps towards fostering transparency or diversity.

What should be done to ensure proper Judicial appointments in time?

a) There must be no inordinate delays in appointing judges cleared by the body – GoI should object only in rare cases and do so quickly, b) The Centre should to enact an NJAC. But until then, both the collegium and GoI must adhere to set timelines in clearing Judicial appointments.

There are seven vacancies in SC and 335 in HCs. Each vacancy filled could have shrunk their combined pendency burden of 60 lakh cases by hundreds of cases every month. So, the court and government should understand that the delays are hurting ordinary litigants.

A court of the future: There is need to finetune mechanisms of accountability within judiciary

News: The Supreme Court need some course corrections to ensure accountability within the judiciary.

Why does the SC need accountability within the judiciary?

This is because a) The Supreme Court sits in final judgment over decisions not only of the high courts in the states and UTs but also over a hundred tribunals functioning throughout India, b) The verdicts of the Supreme Court, including constitutional amendments, is binding on all other courts and authorities in the country (Article 141), and c) There is virtually no area of legislative or executive activity which is beyond the highest court’s scrutiny.

How can the Supreme Court ensure accountability within the judiciary?

The judiciary as an institution needs to preserve its independence. To do that the court must strive to maintain the confidence of the public in the established courts.

Enacting a law like the American model: In the United States, under the Judicial Councils Act, 1980, the independence of the judiciary has been undertaken by the judges. The Act protects the higher judiciary from some of its own members who have gone wrong.

The Act confers powers on bodies comprised of judges to take such action against a federal judge “as is appropriate, short of removal.” Indian citizens need the reassurance of a system of judicial accountability. This can be done by separate legislation along the lines of the US model.

Create a case management blue print: Innumerable reports of Law Commissions focussed on all aspects of judicial governance. But due to a lack of a case management plan, high courts are having the largest number of roadblocks and delays.

In the Salem Advocate Bar Association case, the justices had requested the high courts to implement a detailed case management blueprint. The top court has to come up with such a blueprint.

Ensure proper judicial governance:

-The Supreme Court must be entrusted with direct responsibility for the functioning of the high courts. Only then a) The SC be an effective apex court, b) The Supreme Court can be made answerable for judicial governance for the entire country.

-All judges who are constitutionally entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the rights of citizens must also be seen to be persons of righteousness. So, they must make annual financial disclosure statements publicly like the judges in the US.

Be a role model institute: Judges must set an example for ministers, central and state, for members of Parliament and of state legislatures, and for all high officials of government.

GS Paper 3

What India needs to do to plug its defence gap

News- The article explains the challenges associated with defence manufacturing in India. It also tells about the achievements of India in this sector.

What are the issues related to defence manufacturing in India?

There is a high dependency index foreign suppliers for major military inventory items. This dependency is a challenge to national security and dilutes India’s quest for credible strategic autonomy.

Global level crises like Covid and Russia invasion of Europe that disrupted the global supply chain and weakening rupees adds to challenges faced by the defence sector.

India does not yet have the domestic competence to fully design and manufacture any significant combat platform and. It is dependent on the foreign supplier for the critical components.

India is now going to manufacture the C295 transport aircraft in a collaboration with AirBus. But  the reality is that the engine, avionics, landing gear, etc, will come from abroad and the integration will be done by the Indian entity.

India has not invested enough in the national research and development (R&D) effort. As per data collated by the World Bank, India has been able to allocate only 0.66% of GDP towards R&D in 2028, while the world average is 2.63 per cent. Israel spent 5.34% and the USA 3.45%.

India missed the industrial design and manufacturing bus, a national competence demonstrated by nations like South Korea and China, over the last five decades.

Technological advances have made the design and manufacture of the semiconductor chip the new currency of national prosperity and military power.India is yet to acquire a strong credentials in this field.

What are the achievements of India in defence manufacturing?

Our defence exports have grown eight times in the last five years. We are exporting defence materials and equipment to more than 75 countries of the world. In 2021-22, defence exports from India reached about Rs 13,000 crore. The government has now set a target of Rs 40,000 crore.

India has commissioned indigenously-designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. It fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from the INS Arihant. It awarded the manufacture of a military transport aircraft (C 295) to a major private sector entity;

The induction of the made in India Prachand LCH and the conclusion of a deal with Russia to manufacture a Kalashnikov-type light weapon in India are other achievements.

Raising money for green transitions

News- The article explains the issue of finance for green transition.

What are the challenges associated with green transition?

Besides technical and economic challenges, it has a human dimension also.

Workers that are currently engaged in the non-renewable energy sector may face livelihood related issues.

There can be political opposition to the shutting down of industry. The opposition could also come from trade unions and other local bodies. This can be counter-productive because the transition can appear insensitive at worst.

What are issues related to climate finance?

Shifting to renewables requires planning and resources. Emerging countries face challenges related to access to capital.

Not only the source and scale of finance, but the channel of this finance is also important to consider. Take the case of South Africa where the mechanics of finance have some interesting lessons. At COP26 in Glasgow, five developed countries agreed to channel $8.5 billion to South Africa. But very little of this materialised. With more time, it has become clear that almost all of this finance is loans.

Several multilateral development banks are also supporting projects for just transitions. But the limitations of these MDBs remain. They continue to have inflexible governance structures in terms of voice and vote, leadership selection. This undermines the legitimacy of these institutions in the eyes of the emerging market countries.

The GCF was established to address some of the prevalent challenges of climate finance. But it has its own challenges. It is slow and hard to access. It appears less able to engage directly with countries; in fact some of us are arguing that the GCF should have more strategic clarity rather than try to do it all.

What is the way forward for green transition? There is a need for “just transitions”. The negative impacts on workers and communities should be reduced, and the benefits should be fairly distributed.

There is a need to strengthen GCF. It is the only institution which combines a very large scale with legitimacy and ownership. It could reduce dependence on the policies and concessionality imposed by MDBs, and avoid fragmentation of finance.

How Northeast Finally Took Wings

News: The efforts taken by the current government have changed resulted in the growth and development in the North eastern states of India.

What progress has been made by PM Modi?

Government launched “Purvodaya” mission in 2014 to bring development, especially basic infrastructure to the Northeast.

The region was declared as a priority area and pledged to turn it into a growth engine for India. All the ministries were asked to spend at least 10% of their budget in the northeastern region.

These efforts brought change in the North eastern states, especially in the aviation sector.

What changes came in the aviation in North-East?

A separate budget was allocated for the aviation sector which led to the inclusive growth on aviation. Further, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme acted as multiplier effects for the local economies with the increase in the number of flights.

For example, airports in five northeastern states Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years.

Airports of Sikkim and Assam are attracting travelers from all over the world. The airport in Arunachal Pradesh has also been brought on the civil aviation map for the first time. Krishi UDAN has also helped in the exporting agri-products worldwide.

Advance Landing Grounds (ALGs) are now developed for commercial air services to connect the remote areas. These were airstrips built shortly before the 1962 Sino-India war and are strategically important for India.

These developments in the aviation sector along with the improvement in rail and road connectivity has helped North-eastern states to get inclusive development.

What are the future projects for the North-Eastern States?

The routes under UDAN have been planned in such a way that ensures connectivity both vertically and horizontally, i.e., within the Northeast region as well as, connectivity with the rest of India.

There are also plans to provide helicopter services in the remotest areas. Two international air routes under PM’s “Act East Policy” – between Imphal-Mandalay and Agartala-Chittagong will be operationalised soon.

These all development will attract private investments in the North-eastern states ensuring that they are not excluded from the nation’s overall development.

Idea of war: The battlefields are changing

News:  The article discusses the need to adapt to advance defense technologies.

How has the battlefield changed?

The battlefield has seen the development of machine guns, tanks, anti-tanks and now the use of drones in the battlefields have changed the scenario.

Further, the latest warfare in the Ukraine has raised concerns and challenges on the future of large armoured formations, big battleships and manned fighter aircraft.

Why are the challenges?

The use of Advanced Technologies and weapons have made it difficult to stand in the war.

The Ukraine Russia war is a great example of it. Ukrainians have used defence technologies in the war against Russia and it made it difficult for the Russian army to fight the war.

They never get within the visual range of the Russian army and attack with the use of drone and satellite communication or by small guerrilla-like bands armed with American or British equipment.

This has made it difficult for the Russian Army to completely invade Ukraine.

This also shows Russia’s inability to adapt to the technology in its defence even though it saw drones earlier being used in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Further, Missile technology has developed so much that big warships and any other defence assets will be vulnerable to the attacks.

The same applies to aircraft technologies. If advanced technologies are not adopted then it would be difficult to launch air attacks as it is being witnessed in the case of Russia.

Therefore, this shows that there is an urgent need to sync defense with the latest technology to withstand the attack from the opponent.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Area under moderately dense mangroves fell in 10 years, shows data

Source: The post is based on the article “Area under moderately dense mangroves fell in 10 years, shows data” published in Business Standard on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

India has joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) which was launched at the 27th Conference of the Parties(COP27) in Egypt.

What are Mangroves?

Click Here to read

What is the status of Mangroves cover?

Mangrove area Worldwide: Asia has the maximum share of mangrove area in the world. 

– However, only North and Central America recorded growth in the mangrove area between 1999 and 2020.

Mangrove area: Mangrove area in India has recorded an increase of 7.07% in 2021.

– Among them, Moderately dense mangrove forests have reduced by 10.68% between 2011 and 2021.

– But the Very dense Mangrove forests and Open Mangrove forests have recorded a marginal increase of 5.13% and 27.14% respectively.

Highest forest cover under mangroves: Overall, West Bengal has the highest forest cover under mangroves among the nine states and three Union Territories. 

– However, the area under mangroves in the state declined by 1.90% between 2011 and 2021.

Highest increase in mangrove cover: Andhra Pradesh has recorded the highest increase of 69.05% in moderately dense mangrove area between 2011 and 2021. 

– Odisha recorded the highest increase of 95.35% in open mangrove area.

Nine countries join alliance to boost offshore windpower

Source: The post is based on the article “Nine countries join alliance to boost offshore windpower” published in Economic Times on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

Nine countries including Britain, Germany, the United States and Japan have joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance(GOWA).

What is Global Offshore Wind Alliance(GOWA)?

Global Offshore Wind Alliance(GOWA) was set up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Denmark and the Global Wind Energy Council.

Purpose: The alliance brings together governments, the private sector, international organizations and other stakeholders to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind power.

Target: To contribute to achieving a total global offshore wind capacity of a minimum of 380 GW by 2030.

What is Offshore wind energy?

Offshore wind energy refers to the deployment of wind farms inside the water bodies. They utilize the sea winds to generate electricity. These wind farms either use fixed-foundation turbines or floating wind turbines. 

A fixed-foundation turbine is built in shallow water, whereas a floating wind turbine is built in deeper waters where its foundation is anchored in the seabed. Floating wind farms are still in their infancy.

Offshore wind farms must be at least 200 nautical miles from the shore and 50 feet deep in the ocean. 

Offshore wind turbines produce electricity which is returned to shore through cables buried in the ocean floor. The coastal load centres distribute this electricity based on priority.

What are the advantages and challenges of Offshore wind energy?

Click Here to read

PM unveils 108-feet-long bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru

Source: The post is based on the article “PM unveils 108-feet-long bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru” published in PIB on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has unveiled a 108-feet-long bronze statue of Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru. The statue has been named as the Statue of Prosperity.

Who is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is a 16th-century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire. He belonged to the Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka.

He is credited as the founder of Bengaluru City. It is said that he conceived the idea of a new city while hunting with his minister and later marked its territory by erecting towers in four corners of the proposed city.

He is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs.

One of his social reforms was to prohibit the custom of amputating the last two fingers of the left hand of unmarried women during “Bandi Devaru”, an important custom of Morasu Vokkaligas.

Himalayan Gray Langur: Altitude decides simian attitude to diet

Source: The post is based on the article “Altitude decides simian attitude to diet” published in The Hindu on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

A study has found that different elevations of habitation make one group of Himalayan Gray Langur prefer fruits and another group feeds on flowers.

About Himalayan Gray Langur

Himalayan Gray Langur or the Chamba Sacred Langur (Semnopithecus ajax) is a colobine, meaning leaf-eating monkey. 

It was once considered a subspecies of the Semnopithecus entellus, commonly known as the Bengal Sacred Langur or Hanuman Langur, but it was separated as a species in 2005.

It is considered an endangered species globally as its population is estimated to be less than 1,500 mature individuals in 15-20 groups.

Habitat: They inhabit areas between 2,200-4,000 metres above mean sea level in the subtropical, tropical moist temperate, alpine, coniferous and broadleaved forests and scrublands.

Geographical distribution: In the Indian Subcontinent, their distribution is reported from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and from Pakistan and Nepal.

Characteristics: The Himalayan Grey Langur is normally confused with other species of langurs but can be easily identified by its larger size and outer sides of both the fore and hind limbs which are covered with silvery-dark coloured hair.

What was the study conducted by the researchers?

Researchers studied the diet composition of five groups of Himalayan Grey Langur in and around the Kalatop-Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh. They especially concentrated on two groups, one inhabiting the Kalatop forest and the other based in the Khajjiar forest.

The domains of the two groups were only 208 meters apart but the altitudinal gap made a huge difference.

For instance, the study found that different elevations of habitation make one group of Himalayan Gray Langur prefer fruits and another group feeds on flowers.

Centre’s silence on judicial postings condemnable: Supreme Court

Source: The post is based on the article “Centre’s silence on judicial postings condemnable: Supreme Court” published in The Hindu on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has sought an explanation from the Centre as to why there was a delay in processing names recommended by the apex court collegium for appointment as judges to the top court and high courts.

What was the case about?

A contempt petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the government for breach of the SC’s directives on judges appointment in April 2021.

The court had set a fixed four-month timeline for the government to act on the Collegium’s recommendations.

What are the observations made by the Supreme Court on this?

The Supreme Court noted that currently there are 10 recommendations pending with the government where the Collegium has reiterated its decision on the appointment of a candidate as a judge of the HC. 

Separately, there are 11 names recommended by the Collegium that are also pending with the government without reason.

This implies that the Government neither appoints the persons and nor communicates its reservation, if any, on the names.

This method of keeping the names on hold whether duly recommended or reiterated is becoming some sort of a device to compel these persons to withdraw their names as has happened.

What did the Supreme Court say on the Collegium system?

The Supreme Court said that there were enough “checks and balances” in the current collegium system of judicial appointments.

Note: Recently, the Union Law Minister had called the collegium system of appointing judges “opaque” and “not accountable”. 

At COP27, Biden tightens methane emissions rule

Source: The post is based on the article “At COP27, Biden tightens methane emissions rule” published in TOI on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

The US President has announced new initiatives at COP27 to strengthen the U.S. Leadership in tackling Climate Change.

What are the new initiatives announced by the US President at COP27?

1. Doubling the US pledge to the adaptation fund to $100 million for global climate resilience.

2. Expanding access to its early warning system for African countries and 

3. Strengthening proposed domestic methane regulations in the oil and gas sector that would reduce the country’s methane from covered sources by 87% below 2005 levels.

This will help in meeting the Global Methane Pledge(GMP) target which has been endorsed by over 130 countries representing half of the global methane emissions. 

India and the Global Methane Pledge(GMP)

India is among the top 10 emitters of methane but chose not to sign the Global Methane Pledge. This was because there was a possibility of expanding this pledge to cover mitigation in farm and livestock sectors.

This would affect India’s agriculture and livestock sector which plays an important role in its rural economy, and it is necessary to protect them from being affected.

Army Organizes Walong Mela in continuation of Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Battle of Walong

Source: The post is based on the article “Army Organizes Walong Mela in continuation of Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Battle of Walong” published in AIR on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

Indian Army organized Walong Mela in continuation of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Battle of Walong.

What is the Battle of Walong?

Walong is one of India’s easternmost villages in Arunachal Pradesh.

In the 1962 India-China War, the Indian Army defended against China in all sectors except one — Arunachal Pradesh’s Walong.

The Battle of Walong was the only counterattack India could manage in the war.

The Indian Army held back the Chinese troops for 27 days, which forced the Chinese to deploy its reserve division from Tawang to Walong.

Vaccine inequity: Disparity in access to doses hits low-income countries, says WHO

Source: The post is based on the article “WHO releases first data on global vaccine market since COVID-19” published in PIB on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the Global Vaccine Market Report, 2022.

This is the first report to capture the implications of COVID-19 on global vaccine markets. 

What are the key findings of the report?

The vaccine supply base remains highly concentrated as ten manufacturers alone provide 70% of vaccine doses (excluding the COVID vaccine). 

Lack of equitable vaccine distribution: African Region received just 3% of all COVID-19 vaccine doses. 

– The HPV vaccine against cervical cancer has been introduced in only 41% of low-income countries – despite their carrying much of the disease burden – compared to 83% of high-income countries.

Affordability is an obstacle to vaccine access.

Free market dynamics is depriving some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people of their right to health. Therefore, changes are much needed in the global vaccine market to save lives, prevent disease and prepare for future crises.

What are the recommendations given by the report?

For Government: 1) Frame clear immunization plans and more aggressive investment and stronger oversight of vaccine development, 2) Emphasize on regional research and manufacturing hubs and 3) Pre-agreeing rules for government collaboration in times of scarcity on issues such as vaccine distribution.

For Industry: 1) Focus research efforts on WHO priority pathogens, 2) Ensure transparency and 3) Facilitate technology transfer and commit to specific equity-driven allocation measures. 

For International Organizations and Partners: 1) Prioritize Immunization Agenda 2030 goals, 2) Support country-driven initiatives and 3) Push for the application of resolutions on market transparency.