9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – November 7th, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Revive NJAC: The collegium system ultimately hurts the judiciary’s credibility. Parliament’s idea was better
• India should incentivize state-level fiscal responsibility
• Explained | The Uniform Civil Code
• Price regulation of UPI: Policymakers must be careful

GS Paper 3

• About winter pollution in Delhi: Severe policy lapse
• New hope for malaria vaccine: the science, challenges, opportunity
• About the proposed telecom bill: Do not let a licence raj for apps set India back
• Tap Diaspora Dollars … Now – on forex reserve issue
• Helicopter accidents in October point to broader concerns
• What the chip industry and the petroleum sector have in common

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• The Falcon Heavy launch: the most powerful operational rocket in the world
• ISRO’s RISAT-2 satellite makes re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere
• Apis karinjodian: New honeybee species, endemic to Western Ghats, found
• Where Mauna Loa, Hawaii’s biggest volcano, will erupt from
• All employees can opt for EPFO pension scheme: Supreme Court
• COP27 | U.N. climate talks open in Egypt, climate compensation on agenda for first time
• First amendment to Constitution challenged: What happened in SC in 1950 that provoked Nehru to amend Article 19(2)?
• Govt issues rules for waste-to-energy plan
• Rs 16K-crore green bond framework to cover funding across sectors
• Centre issues alert on illegal stay of Bangladeshi nationals
• Anthropological Survey of India builds tribal hut replicas to promote unique heritage
• A vision for women’s empowerment: the story of Ela Bhatt’s SEWA

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Revive NJAC: The collegium system ultimately hurts the judiciary’s credibility. Parliament’s idea was better

News: Recently, the Union law minister has said that the government “won’t stay silent forever” on Supreme Court’s collegium system of appointing judges, and the apex court’s 2015 rejection of Parliament-cleared NJAC.

What is National Judicial Appointments Commission?

NJAC was supposed to replace the collegium to make appointments to the higher judiciary more accountable. But SC rejected it before it could be tried out citing reasons such as a) Government interference in judicial appointments can undermine the independence of the judiciary, b) Executive overreach in judicial appointments in the 1970s and 1980s led to the collegium system.

Why India needs a system like NJAC?

An isolated judiciary raises suspicion of nepotism, which could raise questions about the judicial system’s credibility. Politics even plays a role in appointments decided behind the closed doors of the collegium.

So, India needs something like NJAC that aims to be a middle path to address apprehension of judges as well as meet standards of transparency and accountability.

What can be changed in NJAC to make it more functional?

India needs to tweak the NJAC rule to improve the system further. For instance, the earlier NJAC rule that any two commission members can veto a candidate had raised objections. This can be changed to encourage consensus-building on candidates.

India should incentivize state-level fiscal responsibility

News: To ensure fiscal discipline, the government at all levels must be made to face financial consequences of their decisions.

What are the recent decisions that led to a debate on state-level fiscal responsibility?

Earlier, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh restored the old pension scheme. Following them, the Punjab government too has given in-principle approval to restore the old pension scheme.

These are the states with two of India’s highest debt-to-GDP levels taking such fiscally extravagant action. The move backtracks on one of the crucial reforms that helped state governments bypass a ‘fiscal bullet’.

What is the importance of fiscal devolution?

The transfer system is supposed to address the problem of imbalance between revenue and expenditure powers. The fiscal devolution aims to correct spatial imbalances to ensure the economic stability of the Union. It aids states that cannot raise sufficient revenue on account of historical and geographical limitations. This is inevitable as substantive revenues are mobilized from a handful of urban agglomerates.

Nearly half of the weight in India’s devolution formula is income distance: i.e., the distance of a state’s per capita GSDP from the state with the highest per capita GSDP. This can lead to cases of perverse incentives, wherein some states over-rely on these devolutions.

As per the state budgets for 2022-23, of the total revenue receipts for states, the share expected from the Centre (sum of tax devolution and grants) ranges from 76% in Bihar and 57% in West Bengal to 27% in Gujarat.

How fiscal devolution is causing a lack of state-level fiscal responsibility?

Protected revenue and high devolutions have disincentivized the states to carry out reforms. This is because,

a) Under-reliance on the state’s own tax resources might be the reason Bihar prohibits the sale of alcohol, a significant tax source for most states, without affecting its fiscal health or sustainability, b) For a state, the primary source of budgetary resources is tax revenue (the predominant part being state GST) and the devolution of 41% of the general pool of taxes. This has resulted in a situation where a substantive portion of the state’s budget is an apportionment from the Union government. This led to a poor fiscal decision by state governments, c) To get states on board for the GST regime, financial assurance was provided to them by a ‘Protected Revenue’ clause.  It has resulted in a scenario wherein the state’s largest tax head (SGST) is divorced from the prevailing economic environment in the state.

What needs to be done to improve state-level fiscal responsibility?

1) Healthy competition between Indian states for investments, incentivizing political innovation and development, is critical to improving the fiscal responsibility of states, 2) The Union government has to adopt a competitiveness framework that transfers fiscal resources based on the state’s GSDP performance, 3) The government has to increase the share of conditional transfers (possibly at least 5% of the divisible pool) based on reforms, quality of expenditure and fiscal sustainability in place of the current regime.

All this will raise revenues and improve the quality of public expenditure. Apart from that, it will also ensure state governments face the financial consequences of their fiscal misadventures.

Explained | The Uniform Civil Code

News- The article explains the Uniform Civil Code.

What is Uniform Civil Code?

It would be a uniform set of laws that would replace the distinct personal laws of each religion with regard to matters like marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance.

Article 44 says that the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

What do the debates of constituent assembly say about UCC?

Naziruddin Ahmad– Certain civil laws in all communities were inseparably connected with religious beliefs and practices. He felt the UCC would be against the right to freedom of religion. the time for UCC had not yet come. The process had to be gradual and not without the consent of the concerned communities.

KM Munshi– He rejected the notion that a UCC would be against the freedom of religion. The Constitution allowed the government to make laws covering secular activities related to religious practices if they were intended for social reform. UCC will lead to benefits such as promoting the unity of the nation and equality for women. If personal laws of inheritance, succession and so on were seen as a part of religion, then many discriminatory practices of the Hindu personal law against women could not be eliminated.

BR Ambedkar– He had an ambivalent stance toward the UCC. He felt that while it was desirable, it should remain purely voluntary in the initial stages.

What are various arguments around UCC?

There is plurality in already codified civil and criminal laws. The concept of “one nation, one law “ for personal matters is very difficult. Constitutional framers also did not intend total uniformity, which is why personal laws were placed in entry 5 of the Concurrent List.

All Hindus are not governed by a homogenous personal law even after the enactment of the Hindu Code Bill, neither are Muslims and Christians under their personal laws. Hindu Code Bill was amended multiple times to finally be separated into four different Acts.

There is still no uniform applicability of Muslim personal law or the Shariat Act that was passed in 1937. The Shariat Act is not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir and Muslims continue to be governed by customary law which is at variance with the Muslim personal law in the rest of the country. The applicability also varies for certain sects of Muslims.

Goa case is more complex. The UCC has legal pluralities. The Goa Civil Code permits a certain form of polygamy for Hindus. The Code gives certain concessions to Catholics as well.

What is the stand of the Supreme Court?

Shah Bano Begum judgement, 1985 called for the implementation of the UCC.

The Court also called on the government to implement the UCC in the 1995 Sarla Mudgal judgement as well as in the Paulo Coutinho vs Maria Luiza Valentina Pereira case (2019).

What has the law commission said?

The paper on reform of family laws by the Law Commission stated that a unified nation did not necessarily need uniformity. Secularism could not contradict the plurality prevalent in the country.

UCC is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage. It recommended that discriminatory practices, prejudices and stereotypes within a particular religion and its personal laws should be studied and amended.

It suggested certain measures in marriage and divorce that should be uniformly accepted in the personal laws of all religions. Some of these amendments include fixing the marriageable age for boys and girls at 18 years so that they are married as equals, making adultery a ground for divorce for men and women and simplifying the divorce procedure. It also called for the abolition of the Hindu Undivided Family as a tax-exempt entity.

What is the stand of the government?

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Parliament this year that the government currently had no plans to set up a panel to implement the UCC. It requested the 22nd Law Commission of India to undertake an examination of various issues relating to the same.

Price regulation of UPI: Policymakers must be careful

News- The article explains the issue of price regulation of UPI payment.

Why might a regulator want to intervene in the price setting of the payments market?

Goals of financial inclusion or viewing digital payments as a public good.

Addressing market failures such as the presence of dominant firms or externalities.

What are the challenges associated with intervention in the price setting of the payment market?

In the case of UPI, the government subsidises the operational costs of facilitating UPI transactions, which is reportedly inadequate. In January 2022, the Payments Council of India reported that the industry expected a loss of Rs 5,500 crore. This to be the best allocation of limited government resources.

Merchant discount rate on UPI payment is 0.25%. It is not reasonable. MDR cap is set at 0.9 percent for debit cards and an MDR of 2 per cent being proposed for RuPay credit cards on UPI.

There are behavioural challenges in moving from zero MDR to a positive MDR. Anchored at a zero MDR since January 2020, merchants  with thin margins may hesitate to accept an increase in MDR.

What can be the further course of action?

Consumers benefit more if the size of the merchant network accepting a payment instrument is larger. Merchants benefit more if many consumers use debit cards.

UPI involves payment service providers of payers and payees, the remitter and beneficiary banks as well as NPCI. The market for merchant acquisition is usually more competitive and can be left unregulated. If necessary the interchange fee between the two payment service providers can be regulated. If both markets are sufficiently competitive, regulation should focus upon establishing a floor charge.

A related example is available in the telecom industry. Facilities provision is regulated through the interconnection. Retail prices for the telecom services segment are left to the market.

The next step is to determine the price level. The optimal level would depend on whether the regulator cares only about total welfare of all stakeholders  and whether the issuing and acquiring banks make positive margins on each transaction.

In general, benefits of regulatory intervention outweigh the costs of intervening. The costs of intervening not only include the administrative costs, but also potential costs arising from setting the wrong interchange fee or cap.

Policymakers must collect more data on costs of transfer, user preferences, both merchants and consumers. They should undertake a thorough analysis of substitutability and competition in the digital payments sector.

GS Paper 3

About winter pollution in Delhi: Severe policy lapse

News: The winter pollution in Delhi is devastating. North India’s vehicular, industrial and agricultural pollution does not blow away and instead fills the lungs of hundreds of millions, damaging many in irreparable ways.

What is the reason for winter pollution in Delhi?

Apart from stubble burning, climatic factors like the temperature dropping and the wind speed slowing are also reasonsable. Instead of dissipating the pollutants, they make them hang in the air near the surface in the form of smog.

A private study by the Centre for Science and Environment confirms, local sources of pollution, especially vehicular emissions, constituted 51 per cent of the PM2.5 content of the air. The contribution of other activities was relatively small — about 11% by industrial units, 13% by household activities, 7% by construction work, 5% by the burning of garbage and other wastes, 4% by road dust, and the rest by other factors.

How can North India solve winter pollution in Delhi?

a) Self-interests of politicians: The governments need to increase awareness around the long effects of smog on weak lungs.

b) Farsighted influential stands: The problem of pollution does not lie in checking stubble burning alone. Curbing the local sources of pollutants is equally important. This can be done by,

-Experts suggest that an improvement in the public transport services in the metropolis, with a well-planned integration of metro rail and bus services, and greater use of non-polluting means of travel like electric vehicles are essential. These steps should be incorporated.

-The traffic-control system also needs to be spruced up to avoid traffic snarls and jams on the roads, which aggravate air pollution.

-Manually sweeping roads and burning tree leaves and other wastes should be strictly barred at all times of the year.

c) Consider the issue as nationalism of shame: Instead of indulging in blame games, the governments of the states concerned need to discuss joint strategies to combat this calamity.

Unless a holistic approach is adopted to curb all sources of pollution simultaneously, winter pollution in Delhi is hard to surmount.

New hope for malaria vaccine: the science, challenges, opportunity

News: Malaria kills nearly 600,000 people every year, the majority of whom are children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa. The need to develop an effective vaccine against the disease has long been a top priority.

What are the promising breakthroughs in Malaria vaccines?

RTS,S/ASO1 (RTS.S): Its trade name “Mosquirix” was endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently.

Although RTS,S/AS01 has modest efficacy and reduces severe malaria cases by only about 30% after four doses given to children under age 5, it still provides significant public health benefits and could save thousands of lives every year.

However, RTS,S/AS01 fails to meet the WHO’s own benchmark for malaria vaccine efficacy of 75 per cent set in 2015.

R21/Matrix M: It is a modified version of Mosquirix and has been developed by researchers at the University of Oxford.

This vaccine demonstrated an efficacy of 77% in phase 1 and 2 trials among 450 children in Burkina Faso. In early September 2022, a booster dose of R21/Matrix-M showed a high efficacy of 80%.

Phase 3 trials of R21 are already underway in four African countries.

What are the commonalities of both Malaria vaccines?

RTS,S and R21 both contain the same part of a major protein that is found on the surface of the liver stage parasite, called sporozoite.

Both contain hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), a protein that has the ability to self-assemble and that helps in the formation of virus-like particles of the CSP antigen fused with it.

What are the differences between both Malaria vaccines?

The amount of the HBsAg: RTS,S has about 20 per cent of the fusion protein, with the remaining 80 per cent made up of HBsAg antigen, produced separately.

R21, on the other hand, is made up entirely of the CSP fusion protein moieties, resulting in much higher proportion of CSP antigen displayed on the virus-like particle surface, which significantly raises its exposure to the immune system of the host.

Why has India not been more successful in developing the Malaria vaccine and other vaccines?

Basic malaria research in India has been robust and there are well established malaria research and control centres across the country. Despite that, India is not able to develop vaccines because,

a) There is a major gap is in the establishment of safe and scientifically robust control human infection models in India for diseases like malaria or influenza, b) Absent of Controlled Human Malaria Infection (CHMI) model: Scientists have carried out phase 1 safety trials of two experimental blood-stage malaria vaccines developed and produced in the country. But further development of these vaccines has been a challenge in the absence of the CHMI model in India.

What needs to be done to promote vaccine research in India?

The government should provide long-term continuous funding. Further, regulatory and logistic processes need to be better coordinated to assist scientists in the development of novel vaccines against infectious diseases.

India should capitalise on the highly successful and deeply committed vaccine-producing biopharma industry and a strong scientific base. This will make India in leading the world in developing and producing vaccines.

About the proposed telecom bill: Do not let a licence raj for apps set India back

News: India’s proposed telecom bill could transform how the internet is used in India.

About the proposed telecom bill

What are the concerns associated with the proposed telecom bill?

Definition of telecommunication services: This includes almost every aspect of the present online experience instead of limited services.

Government’s monopoly: The government claims a default monopoly over all such services in India, with private players needing a licence to operate, just as telecom firms do. So Gmail, WhatsApp and Zoom, among other apps on handsets, would suddenly need a government nod.

Impact right to free expression: The internet is not owned by any state. Nor do apps use the state-allotted spectrum to work. But the licensing would imply a new level of control on the users might right to free expression.

Encompassing licence raj: Licensing would hand the state arbitrary authority over market entry. This tends to promote toll collection and suffocate innovation.

Only a maximalist ownership role of the state would allow state overlordship of chat enablers. This is an approach taken by colonial and communist regimes, not democratic administrations that prioritize business and social freedom.

What needs to be done?

The Supreme Court has held privacy to be part of fundamental rights, which makes it essential to our democratic freedoms. The draft telecom bill violates them in both commercial sense and Constitutional wisdom. Parliament must not enact it in its current form.

Tap Diaspora Dollars … Now – on forex reserve issue

News: India’s economy is currently facing problems due to the increasing Current Account Deficit (CAD), declining forex reserves, inflation amongst others.

What are the concerns for Indian economy?

US Federal Reserve: The monetary policy adopted by the US Fed Reserve has impacted worldwide currencies including the rupee in India.

Forex Reserves: India’s forex reserves have fallen over $100 bn this year because India is spending its reserves to control the volatility of the rupee in the currency market. Even the value of other currencies included in the forex reserves have depreciated against dollar.

Slowdown in exports: Exports have slowed down in India due to the slow economic growth in the West as it is the largest export market for India.

What steps can be taken by India to control the volatility of the rupee?

First, it can leave rupee to depreciate totally depending on the market forces. However, this may increase inflation and disrupt businesses.

Second, RBI can raise interest rates higher and faster. However, they may affect the borrowers of loans and will impact the people with low incomes.

Third, India can raise a large amount of dollars through a special focused program. This would increase its forex reserves and control the rupee volatility. India has used this program in the past.

How has India raised dollar in the past through different programs?

India has previously raised dollars through various programs from the Indian diaspora.

1. a) the first time India brought dollars in 1998 due to the sanction imposed on it. It raised Resurgent India Bonds, b) the second time was in 2000 when rupee depreciated. It was tackled by issuing India Millennium Deposits, c) the third time was in 2013 when rupee witnessed a freefall. RBI raised $35 bn through a special FCNR deposit scheme.

However, raising dollars might be expensive but it shows India’s potential to tackle the economic situation and trust of India’s diaspora on India.

It also shows that India does not have funding constraints for its external liabilities and it doesn’t need to depend on foreign investment to finance its public debt.

What can be the course of action?

India’s domestic economic conditions are better than the past three time when it raised dollars. Therefore, India should consider raising dollars through various programs to control the volatility of the rupee and increase its forex reserves.

Helicopter accidents in October point to broader concerns

News: There has been increase in the helicopter accidents in India. According to a report, between 1990 and 2019, more than 150 people lost their lives in accidents of commercial helicopters.

What are the reasons behind helicopter accidents?

There are many reasons behind the accidents such as pilot error, bad weather, and hitting of the cables.

These cables are used by locals in mountains to transport goods. They are not marked by warning signs and are not visible especially in the poor weather conditions.

However, the number of accidents of helicopter and flights have decreased in the last decade compared to the earlier periods. Moreover, there also concerns with the Indian aviation standards.

What are the concerns with the Indian aviation standards?

According to an audit conducted on eight parameters, India scored above the world-average in six of the eight parameters but lagged behind in two – personnel licensing and training, and civil aviation organization.

These two parameters require procedures to ensure that personnel and organizations meet the established requirements before they are licensed to fly.

Therefore, a poor score in the licensing regime and organizational processes along with pilot errors raise deeper concerns about Indian aviation.

What the chip industry and the petroleum sector have in common

News- The article explains the similarities between the petroleum and semiconductor industry.

What are similarities between the petroleum industry and semiconductor industry?

Both industries are dominated by a handful of countries and corporations. Both are capital intensive and cyclical. both sit at the centre of interdependent global relations. Both are in the cross hairs of international geopolitics and are characterised by technological dynamism.

Domination by few– The supply of petroleum is dominated by the OPEC and mega-sized public and private multinational companies, often referred to as the “super majors”.

The US is the most powerful player. Every chip produced in the world has a direct or indirect connection with the country. The software for chips  is provided by three US based companies.

Samsung  and Hynix, which together produce 44% of the world’s memory chips. TSMC,  fabricates 37% of the world’s logic chips and 92% of the most advanced chips. Both companies are Korean and Taiwanese respectively. Both are protected by the US military security blanket.

Geopolitics– Geopolitics is at the core of both industries. Every oil import dependent country has reached to the Middle East to secure access to petroleum. At times, they have weaponized their efforts to safeguard this objective. The Saudi embargo of exports to the pro-Israeli Western world in 1973; the US intervention in Iraq in 2003 and the current cutback of Russian gas to Europe are three examples of this phenomena.

Semiconductors have also been the consequence of the “technology Cold War” between the US and China. The US has imposed sanctions on the physical and intellectual export of chip technology to China. President Xi has called for a “full scale assault” to “rejuvenate” China.

Global scale– Both petroleum and semiconductor chips have a global footprint. Petroleum is tradable across the world. Oil and gas prices are cyclical. They reflect the capital intensity and long lead times of the investment cycle.

The value chain of semiconductors straddles the globe. Investment to create part or all of this value chain runs into billions and the returns depend on engineering precision and technical talent.

What is the case for India?

India has struggled for more than five decades to reduce its dependence on external sources of petroleum supply. It has not been successful. India’s import dependence is now more than 80 per cent.

India has recently embarked on a journey to develop domestic chip fabrication facilities.. There are two lessons they should internalise from historical experience-

One, chip nationalism will be economically costly and could be technologically regressive. They should be cautious about decoupling from the international supply chain.

Two, government support should be limited to financial support, nimble cooperation, and the creation of an innovative ecosystem. Bureaucratic intervention should be minimal.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

The Falcon Heavy launch: the most powerful operational rocket in the world

Source: The post is based on the article “The Falcon Heavy launch: the most powerful operational rocket in the world” published in The Hindu on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

Recently, SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy rocket into a geosynchronous Earth orbit from the Kennedy Space Center. The company hails this as the most powerful operational rocket in the world. This is the fourth launch of the giant rocket system, and the first one in nearly three years since its last launch in 2019.

About the launch of the recent Falcon Heavy rocket

The rocket is carrying satellites to space for the U.S. military in a mission named as U.S. Space Force (USSF)-44. The mission deployed two spacecraft payloads.

One of which is the TETRA 1 microsatellite and the other is for national defence purposes. It will place the satellites for the Space Systems Command’s Innovation and Prototyping.

Note: Space Systems Command (SSC) is the oldest military space organisation in the United States Armed Forces. It is responsible for developing, acquiring, equipping, fielding and sustaining lethal and resilient space capabilities.

What are the specifications of the Falcon Heavy rocket?

Rocket engine: Falcon Heavy has 27 Merlin engines. Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles.

Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. These engines were designed for recovery and reuse.

Lifting capacity: Around 64 metric tonnes into orbit.

Note: Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy.

Previous launches: The Falcon Heavy debuted in 2018 when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sent his personal electric sports car with a dummy driver, into space as a test payload. The car is still in space, orbiting around the sun.

SpaceX launched the other two Falcon Heavy missions in 2019. Prior to this, it was recently launched in June 2019.

What is the significance of the Falcon Heavy rocket?

Falcon Heavy has 27 Merlin engines which together generate more than five million pounds of thrust at lift-off, equalling around eighteen 747 aircraft at full power. This makes it the most capable rocket flying.

What is the future of the Falcon Heavy rocket?

SpaceX is said to be working on even bigger rockets. The company is targeting early December to launch its giant Starship rocket system.

Starship to be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry an excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.

ISRO’s RISAT-2 satellite makes re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere

Source: The post is based on the article “ISRO’s RISAT-2 satellite makes re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere” published in The Hindu on 4th November 2022. 

What is the News?

ISRO’s RISAT-2 satellite has made an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

What is RISAT-2?

RISAT-2 or Radar Imaging Satellite-2 was launched in 2009 by PSLV-C12 launch vehicle.

It is India’s first dedicated reconnaissance satellite possessing day-night as well as all-weather monitoring capability.

It was also used to track hostile ships at sea that were deemed a military threat.

The principal sensor of Risat-2 was an X-band synthetic-aperture radar from Israel Aerospace Industries.

Significance: RISAT-2 is a clear example of ISRO’s capability to carry out spacecraft orbital operations in an efficient and optimal way.

– For instance, RISAT-2 Satellite carried 30 Kg of fuel for an initial designed life of 4 years. But with the proper maintenance, RISAT-2 provided very useful payload data for 13 years.

Apis karinjodian: New honeybee species, endemic to Western Ghats, found

Source: The post is based on the article “New honeybee species, endemic to Western Ghats, found” published in The Hindu on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

A new species of endemic Honeybee has been discovered in the Western Ghats. It has been named Apis karinjodian and given the common name Indian Black Honeybee.

What is Apis karinjodian?

Apis karinjodian is a species of honeybee that has been spotted from the Western Ghats after a gap of more than 200 years. 

The last honeybee described from India was Apis indica in 1798. But it was not considered a valid species till now. 

Characteristics: Apis karinjodian has evolved from Apis cerana morphotypes that got acclimatised to the hot and humid environment of the Western Ghats.

Distribution: The distribution of Apis karinjodian ranges from the central Western Ghats and Nilgiris to the southern Western Ghats.

The species has been classified as Near Threatened(NT) in the State based on the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

Significance: The ability of the Indian black Honey Bee to produce higher quantities of honey, which is thicker in consistency, opens up new avenues for increasing honey production.

Where Mauna Loa, Hawaii’s biggest volcano, will erupt from

Source: The post is based on the article “Where Mauna Loa, Hawaii’s biggest volcano, will erupt from” published in Indian Express on 6th November 2022. 

What is the News?

Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, may erupt in the near future.

Note: Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.

What is Mauna Loa?

Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii. It is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.

It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass.

It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.

– Kilauea is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean.

Will Mauna Loa erupt like Kilauea?

Mauna Loa’s eruptions differ from Kilauea’s in part because it is taller. Its greater height gives it steeper slopes, which allow lava to rush down its hillsides faster than Kilauea’s. 

Its enormous size may allow it to store more magma leading to larger lava flows when an eruption occurs. 

All employees can opt for EPFO pension scheme: Supreme Court

Source: The post is based on the following articles: 

– “All employees can opt for EPFO pension scheme: Supreme Court ” published in The Hindu on 5th November 2022. 

– “Centre, employees for detailed study of EPFO case verdict” published in The Hindu on 5th November 2022. 

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has upheld the Employees’ Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014 of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation as “legal and valid” while reading down certain provisions.

What is EPFO Pension scheme?

The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 originally did not provide for any pension scheme. 

In 1995, through an amendment, a scheme was formulated for employees’ pension. The scheme which is administered by the EPFO aims to provide employees with pension after the age of 58. 

Both the employee and the employer contribute 12% of the employee’s basic salary and dearness allowance to the EPF. 

The employee’s entire part goes to EPF while the 12% contribution made by the employer is split as 3.67% contribution to EPF and 8.33% contribution to EPS. Apart from this, the Government of India contributes 1.16% as well for an employee’s pension. Employees do not contribute to the pension scheme.

At that point of time, maximum pensionable salary was Rs 5,000 per month which was later raised to Rs 6,500.

What was the amendment in 2014?

The EPS amendment of 2014 had raised the pensionable salary cap to Rs 15,000 a month from Rs 6,500 a month and allowed members along with their employers to contribute 8.33% on their actual salaries (if it exceeded the cap) towards the EPS. It gave all EPS members, as on September 1,2014, six months to opt for the amended scheme.

However, the amendment required such members (with actual salaries over Rs 15,000 a month) to contribute an additional 1.16% of their salary exceeding Rs 15,000 a month towards the pension fund.

What is the Supreme Court ruling on 2014 amendments?

The court has struck down a requirement in the 2014 amendments that employees who go beyond the salary threshold (of ₹15,000 per month) should contribute monthly to the pension scheme at the rate of 1.16% of their salary.

The court also held that employees who were eligible to join the EPS Scheme but were unable to do so because they did not exercise their option by the deadline can do so within the next four months.

What was the government’s response to the verdict?

Ministry of Labour has said that it would come up with detailed guidelines for the employees and employers on implementing the verdict.

COP27 | U.N. climate talks open in Egypt, climate compensation on agenda for first time

Source: The post is based on the article “COP27 | U.N. climate talks open in Egypt, climate compensation on agenda for first time” published in The Hindu on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

Countries have agreed to discuss providing financial support to address Loss and Damage caused by climate change at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

What is Loss and Damage?

Loss and damage finance is a mechanism to support areas and communities that have already been severely affected by the climatic impact.

Developing countries have long demanded that their developed counterparts set up a finance facility to fund the losses and damages arising from climate change for which they are least responsible.

At COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow, high-income nations blocked a proposal for a loss and damage financing body instead of supporting a three-year dialogue for funding discussions.

The inclusion of the Loss and Damage agenda item in the COP27 marks the first ever time that it will be discussed formally in climate negotiations.

However, the developed countries accepted the agenda with a trade-off that it would not include ‘compensation and liability’ targeting to evade historical responsibility for emissions.

What is the significance of this decision?

Inclusion in the formal agenda is just the first step. The actual provision for compensation for climate disasters is a long way ahead. 

Getting the rich and developed world to make money available for climate response has been a difficult struggle. And quantifying loss due to climate impact is complicated. But this decision has set a positive tone for the COP-27 conference.

First amendment to Constitution challenged: What happened in SC in 1950 that provoked Nehru to amend Article 19(2)?

Source: The post is based on the article “First amendment to Constitution challenged: What happened in SC in 1950 that provoked Nehru to amend Article 19(2)?” published in The Hindu on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea challenging the expansion of restrictions to the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression that was made by the first amendment to the Constitution. 

What was the Constitution First Amendment Act, 1951?

The First Amendment was passed in 1951 by the Provisional Parliament, members of who had just finished drafting the Constitution as part of the Constitutional Assembly.

It sought to make several consequential changes — from exempting land reforms from scrutiny to providing protections for backward classes in the Constitution. It also expanded on the scope of the restrictions on the right to free speech.

What changes did the First Amendment make to the right to free speech (Article 19)?

The first amendment made two key changes:

First, it introduced the qualification “reasonable” to the restrictions that Article 19(2) imposed. The insertion of the term “reasonable” keeps the door open for the courts to step in and examine the legitimacy of the restrictions imposed by Parliament.

Second, the amendment introduced into the Constitution the specific terms “public order” and “incitement to an offense”. This set of new narrower terms in the provision was necessitated by two Supreme Court rulings in 1950, that went against the state’s power to curb free speech.

What were these two verdicts passed by the Supreme Court?

Romesh Thapar Case: In 1949, the Madras government banned ‘Cross Roads’, a left-leaning magazine, for its criticism of the government’s foreign policy. This led to the first significant free speech ruling by the Supreme Court in Romesh Thappar v State of Madras.

The petitioner had challenged Section 9(1-A) of the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1949 as unconstitutional. This provision authorized the government to impose restrictions for the wider purpose of securing “public safety” or the “maintenance of public order”.

The court examined whether these provisions fell within the scope of the restrictions allowed in Article 19(2). The government argued that the words “undermining the security of the State” in Article 19(2) could be equated with “public safety” and “maintenance of public order.”

In its majority opinion in the case, the court disagreed with the government and struck down the provision as unconstitutional. 

Brij Bhushan Case: In 1950, the Chief Commissioner of Delhi issued a “pre-censorship order” on the RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ which too was critical of the government. 

Its publisher challenged Section 7(1)(c) of the East Punjab Public Safety Act, which allowed pre-publication scrutiny of material “prejudicial to public safety or the maintenance of public order”.

The Supreme Court struck down the provision as unconstitutional. The court held that the pre-censorship of a journal was an unreasonable restriction on the liberty of the press.

Govt issues rules for waste-to-energy plan

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt issues rules for waste-to-energy  plan” published in Livemint on 5th November 2022. 

What is the News?

The Government of India has issued guidelines for rolling out its waste-to-energy programme.

What is a Waste-to-energy Programme?

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy 

Aim: To help companies in the production of Biogas, BioCNG and power from urban, industrial, and agricultural wastes and residues.

The programme is part of an umbrella scheme called the National Bioenergy Programme.

Implementing Agency: Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency(IREDA) 

Under the scheme, the government will offer Central Financial Assistance(CFA) to project developers while implementing agencies including inspection firms will be paid service charges for commissioning the waste-to-energy plants.

– If the waste-to-energy plants are set up in special category states such as the North East, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Uttarakhand, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the eligible CFA will be 20% higher than the standard CFA pattern.

Rs 16K-crore green bond framework to cover funding across sectors

Source: The post is based on the article “Rs 16K-crore green bond framework to cover funding across sectors” published in Business Standard on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

The Ministry of Finance is expected to soon release a framework for its maiden Rs 16,000-crore Green Bond issuance.

What is Green Bond?

A green bond is essentially a fixed-income instrument, just like the regular corporate or government bond, but it is issued to raise capital specifically for climate-related or environmental projects. 

This specific use of the funds distinguishes green bonds from regular papers (the funds raised via regular bonds have no such strings attached).

About the proposed Green Bond Framework

As part of the Fiscal Year(FY-23) borrowing calendar, the Finance Ministry had announced that it would issue sovereign green bonds worth Rs 16,000 crore.

The framework is expected to cover the funding of green and sustainable infrastructure across the road, railway, urban transportation, agriculture and social sectors apart from renewable energy projects.

Significance: Once issued, India will join the club of 25 nations so far whose governments have issued bonds to exclusively fund climate sustainability and green infrastructure projects and initiatives.

Centre issues alert on illegal stay of Bangladeshi nationals

Source: The post is based on the article “Centre issues alert on illegal stay of Bangladeshi nationals” published in The Hindu on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

The government of India has issued an alert on the illegal stay of Bangladeshi nationals in India. 

Directors General of Police of States/Union Territories has been told to take appropriate action on the illegal immigrants who sneaked into the country along the Bangladesh border in West Bengal and settled across the country.

Who are Illegal Migrants?

Foreign nationals who enter into the country without valid travel documents are treated as illegal immigrants. 

All foreign nationals including those who enter into India without valid travel documents or overstay beyond the validity of their visa period are governed by the provisions contained in The Foreigners Act, 1946, The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 & The Citizenship Act, 1955.

Exemptions are given from the provisions of The Passport (Entry into India) Act,1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946 on a case-to-case basis.

What are the steps taken by Government to tackle illegal migrants?

The Central Government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to ensure effective surveillance and domination of land borders to check the infiltration of illegal migrants. 

Physical infrastructure in the form of border fencing, floodlighting, construction of border roads and establishment of border outposts have been created. 

Vulnerable border outposts are regularly reviewed and strengthened by deploying additional manpower, special surveillance equipment and other force multipliers. 

A technological solution in the form of a Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) has been implemented in some vulnerable border areas. 

Border guarding forces also conduct regular patrolling, lay nakas and establish observation posts and carry out anti-tunnelling exercises to stop illegal infiltration. 

Anthropological Survey of India builds tribal hut replicas to promote unique heritage

Source: The post is based on the article “Anthropological Survey of India builds tribal hut replicas to promote unique heritage” published in The Hindu on 7th November 2022. 

What is the News?

To showcase the heritage of tribal communities, the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) has recreated the huts of several communities at its different regional centres.

Which tribal communities huts were recreated by the Anthropological Survey of India(AnSI)?

Jarawas are indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India. They live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands. The traditional Jarawa hut is called a chadda.

Shompen or Shom Pen: They are the indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar Island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

– Note: Both the Jarawa and Shompen communities are Particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTGs) living in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. While the population of Shompen people is said to be less than 300, there are about 500 members of the Jarawa tribe.

Khasis: Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam and in certain parts of Bangladesh. 

– The Khasi people form the majority of the population of Meghalaya and is the state’s largest community. They are among the few Austroasiatic-speaking peoples in South Asia. A cultural tradition of the Khasi people is that they follow the matrilineal system.

Dorla also called Dora are a tribal people community found mainly in Bastar area of central India. They are mainly found in Dantewada and Bijapur districts of present-day Chhattisgarh.

Betta Kuruba (Betta meaning ‘Hill’, Kuruba meaning ‘shepherd’) tribe lives in the hilly regions of Karnataka and is one of the few indigenous communities of the Nilgiris.

What is the Anthropological Survey of India(AnSI)?

Anthropological Survey of India is the only research organization to pursue anthropological research in a governmental setup. 

Its genesis was from the Zoological and Anthropological section of the Indian Museum which became the Zoological Survey of India in 1916. 

In 1945, the Anthropology section of the Zoological Survey was carved out to eventually become the Anthropological Survey of India (An.S.I).

Headquarters: Kolkata, West Bengal

A vision for women’s empowerment: the story of Ela Bhatt’s SEWA

Source: The post is based on the article “A vision for women’s empowerment: the story of Ela Bhatt’s SEWA” published in Indian Express on 4th November 2022. 

What is the News?

Ela Bhatt, noted Gandhian, leading women’s empowerment activist and renowned founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) has passed away.

What is the Self-Employed Women’s Association(SEWA)?

SEWA is the single largest Central trade union registered in 1972 with a base of over 2.1 million members from India and in neighbouring nations.

It grew out of the Textile Labour Association (TLA) — founded by Anasuya Sarabhai and Mahatma Gandhi in 1920.

It was founded on the principle “poor do not need charity, they need an enabling mechanism to come out of the vicious circle of poverty and vulnerability”.

Objectives: It has twin goals: Full employment: Achieve work security, food security and social security and Self-reliance: At individual and community levels in terms of economic as well as decision making abilities.

Membership: With an annual membership fee of Rs 10, SEWA allows anyone (women) who is self-employed to become a member.

What are the importance and achievements of SEWA?

It has helped rehabilitate women in personal, and even political or social crises by empowering them through skilling and training.

In 1974, SEWA Bank was established to provide small loans to poor women which was recognised by the International Labour Organisation as a microfinance movement.

The Unorganised Workers Social Security Act (2008), the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (2011), and the Street Vendors Act (2014) are seen as successes of SEWA’s struggle.

The PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi(PM-SVANidhi) scheme is seen as being inspired by SEWA’s microfinance model.

During the pandemic, SEWA launched Anubandh, an e-commerce platform to connect sellers with buyers, to keep kitchen fires burning through the lockdowns.