Daily Current Affairs 21 March 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Earthquakes near Dams

The National Centre of Seismology (NCS) monitors the earthquake activity in the country on a 24X7 basis. Also, the Hydro-Power Project Authorities have placed seismic systems in and around dam sites to monitor the seismicity close to dams.
The Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, is a nodal agency for carrying out periodic inspection of dams to ensure their safety.
A total of 18 earthquakes with magnitude 3.0 and above have been recorded by the NCS network in the close vicinity of major dams during the last three years.
The occurrence of earthquakes in and around dams is not always associated with the huge water storage. It depends upon the pre-existing geological I tectonic setting of the region. The reservoir
triggered events have been reported in different parts of the world in an active tectonic regime. In India, such events have been reported mainly from the Koyna-Warna region, which hosts a major dam.
The major dams in India have been designed and constructed taking into consideration the seismic vulnerability of the region. However, the Central Dam Safety Organization, under the Central Water Commission carries out regular inspections for Dam safety.

Source: PIB

2) Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Lok Sabha passed the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 are the unique initiatives of the Government of India to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country.
Introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will amend the principal acts of 2014 and 2017. It will grant statutory status to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public-Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur and declare them as Institutions of National Importance along with already existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017;

Background

IIITs are envisaged to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology.
Under the Scheme of Setting up of 20 new IIITs in Public-Private Partnership (IIIT PPP) mode as approved by the Union Cabinet on 26.11.2010, 15 IIITs are already covered by the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, while remaining 5 IIITs are to be included under the Schedule of the Act.

Implementation Strategy and targets

The objective of the present proposal is for the formalization of IIITs at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala, and Raichur. After the passage of the Act by the Parliament, they will be covered under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme in PPP mode.

No. of beneficiaries

The emerging needs of the industry and the economy, as a whole for skilled technical manpower, is expected to be met from the talent pool of trained personnel of the institutes.

States/districts covered

States: Gujarat (Surat), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Bihar (Bhagalpur), Tripura (Agartala), Karnataka (Raichur).
Every Institute shall be open to all persons irrespective of gender, caste, creed, disability, domicile, ethnicity, social or economic background

Source: PIB

3) Tech For Tribals

A game-changing and unique project aimed to transform 5 crores, Tribal Entrepreneurs, under the name “Tech for Tribal” has been launched by TRIFED. It was launched on19thMarch 2020 by TRIFED and IIT-Kanpur along with IIT-Roorkee, IIM Indore, Kalinga Institute of Social Science, Bhubaneshwar and SRIJAN, Jaipur in the first phase of organizing tribal entrepreneurship and skill development program.
Tech for Tribals, an initiative of TRIFED supported by the Ministry of MSME, aims at capacity building and imparting entrepreneurship skills to tribal forest produce gatherers enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri VanDhan Yojana(PMVDY). The trainees will undergo a 30 days program over six weeks comprising 120 sessions.
Under the Tech for Tribals program, the Partners will develop course contents relevant to Entrepreneurship in Value Addition and Processing of Forest Produces. The course curriculum will include Achievement Motivation and positive psychology, Entrepreneurial Competencies, Identification of locally available NTFP based Business Opportunities, Round the Year capacity utilization, Product positioning - Grading / Sorting, Branding, Packaging, Product certifications, Bankable Project Report preparation, Market Survey, Business Plan Preparation, Distribution Channels- Retail sales, supply contracts with manufacturers, Good Manufacturing Practice(GMP), Total Quality Control(TQC), Hygienic Operations management, Operational and Financial statements, Business Strategy & Growth, Digital literacy& IT adoption, etc.
The Tech for tribals capacity building program will ensure a higher success rate of the Tribal Entrepreneurs by enabling and empowering them to run their business with marketable products with quality certifications.
VanDhan products will be marketed through all available distribution channels. TRIFED over the last three years has revamped itself as a network of 120 outlets across the country of which 72 are owned and operated by TRIFED themselves. TribesIndia outlets are already operational at the airports of Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Pune, Goa, Kolkata. TRIFED also has aggressively pursued its eCommerce strategy with its own website (www.tribesindia.com) and is also available on other major e-com portals such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm, Amazon India, Amazon Global, etc. To push Government institutional purchases, TribesIndia has a presence in Government eMarket Place (GeM). National Level Tribal Festivals namely Aadi Mahotsav, along with other exhibitions, are being organized in various cities all over the country are other efforts being taken to expand the marketing opportunities for TribesIndia products and country’s tribal heritage.

Source: PIB

4) Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana

The Ministry of Textiles is implementing converged Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana (MGBBY) for providing social security benefits like life, accidental & disability insurance coverage to handloom weavers/workers in the age group of 51-59 years across the country, who have already enrolled under the scheme on 31.5.2017. The annual premium of Rs.470/- is shared as under:

Government of India Rs.290/-
Weaver Rs.80/-
Implementing Agency Rs.100/-
Total Premium Rs.470/-

Benefits:

Natural Death Rs.60,000/-
Accidental Death Rs.1,50,000/-
Total Disability Rs.1,50,000/-
Partial Disability Rs.75,000/-

To provide the benefits to all handloom weavers/workers in an effective manner, the Government of India has organized Hasthkala Sahyog Shivirs in handloom clusters across the country in association with State Governments and LIC for creating awareness among the weavers for enrollment under the Scheme. The claim benefits are provided by LIC directly into the bank account of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

The Ministry of Textiles also regularly organizes awareness programs and camps through its Weavers’ Service Centres to facilitate enrolment of handloom weavers/workers under Government Flagship Insurance Schemes.

Source: PIB

5) A key cellular mechanism in Huntington Disease unraveled

Huntington disease (HD) is a progressive genetic disorder affecting the brain that causes uncontrolled movements, impaired coordination of balance and movement, a decline in cognitive abilities, difficulty in concentrating and memory lapses, mood swings, and personality changes.
It is caused by a mutation in a gene called HTT. The HTT genes are involved in the production of a protein called huntingtin. They provide the instruction for making the protein. When the genes mutate, they provide faulty instructions leading to the production of abnormal huntingtin proteins and these form into clumps. The clumps disrupt the normal functioning of the brain cells, which eventually leads to the death of neurons in the brain, resulting in Huntington disease.
While it is known that the clumps formed by the abnormal huntingtin protein disrupt several cellular processes, it is not known whether they also influence the key process in the formation of other proteins in the cell.
A team of scientists from the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) in Pune led by Dr. Amitabha Majumdar has been working to gain insights into this by studying the HTT gene in fruit flies. They observed that the pathogenic Huntingtin protein causes a decrease in the overall protein production in cells and that the Huntingtin clumps collect together (sequester) molecules of another protein called Orb2, which is involved in the process of protein formation.
They speculated that the Huntingtin clumps were possibly making molecules of Orb2 unavailable to carry out their normal function associated with protein formation, leading to the observed reduction in proteins in the cell. To gain clarity on this, they induced the cells to produce Orb2 in excess and found that this did indeed reduce the adverse effects of the faulty Huntingtin protein, which supported their speculation.
In humans, a family of proteins called CPEB is equivalent to the Orb2 protein in fruit flies. The scientists conducted further studies and found that CPEB proteins are also sequestered by the pathogenic Huntingtin clumps, similar to the Orb2 protein molecules. This suggests that the insights gained through the studies carried out by this group in fruit flies are relevant to and valuable in understanding HD in humans.
Orb2 protein is also crucial for the maintenance of memory in fruit flies. Therefore, sequestration of Orb2 by Huntingtin clumps may hold relevance to the memory-related issues associated with HD as well. The findings of Dr. Majumdar are expected to pave the way for further exploration to understand this disease better.
The research team has published a report on their work in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences The team included Hiranmay Joag, Vighnesh Ghatpande, Meghal Desai, Maithili Sarkar, Anshu Raina from NCCS and Mrunalini Shinde, Ruta Chitale, Ankita Deo and Tania Bose from S.P.Pune University.

Source: PIB

6) Defense Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh unveiled the draft Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020 that aims at further increasing indigenous manufacturing and reducing timelines for procurement of defense equipment.
These and several other such innovative measures were part the Draft finalized by a high-level committee headed by DG Acquisition, Ministry of Defence that was set up in August 2019.

The major changes proposed in the new DPP are:

Indigenous Content ratio hiked
Given the experience gained by the domestic industry, the Draft proposes increasing the Indigenous Content (IC) stipulated in various categories of procurement by about 10% to support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. A simple and realistic methodology has been incorporated for the verification of indigenous content for the first time.
The use of raw materials, special alloys, and software incentivized as the use of indigenous raw material are a very important aspect of ‘Make in India’ and Indian Companies are world leaders in software.
Assurance of procurement on a single vendor basis from Aero Engine manufacturing unit and chips from FAB manufacturing units established in the country.
New Category Buy (Global – Manufacturer in India) has been introduced with a minimum of 50% indigenous content on the cost basis of the total contract value. Only the minimum necessary will be bought from abroad while the balance quantities will be manufactured in India. This would be in preference to the ‘Buy Global’ category as manufacturing will happen in India and jobs will be created in the country.
Leasing introduced as a new category
Leasing has been introduced as a new category for acquisition in addition to existing ‘Buy’ & ‘Make’ categories to substitute huge initial capital outlays with periodical rental payments. Leasing is permitted under two categories i.e, Lease (Indian) where Lessor is an Indian entity and is the owner of the assets and Lease (Global) where Lessor is a Global entity. This will be useful for military equipment not used in actual warfare like transport fleets, trainers, simulators, etc.
A new Chapter is introduced for procurement of software and systems related projects as in such projects, obsolescence is very fast due to rapid changes in technology and flexibility in the procurement process is required to keep up with the technology.
A new Chapter is introduced for Post Contract Management to facilitate and provide clear guidelines for issues arising during the contract period as typically Defence contracts last for a long period
Timelines for procurement reduced by reducing the process for accord of Acceptance of Necessity which would be a single stage of projects less than Rs.500 crore and in case of repeat orders. Trial methodology and Quality Assurance Plan to be part of RFP.
Field Evaluation Trials to be conducted by specialized trial wings and the objective of trials will be to nurture competition rather than eliminate for minor deficiencies.
A comprehensive Chapter introduced for ‘Make’ to cover procurement from manufacturers in India including start-ups and innovators and from research projects of DRDO.
Product support
The scope and options for Product Support have been widened to include contemporary concepts in vogue, namely Performance-Based Logistics (PBL), Life Cycle Support Contract (LCSC), Comprehensive Maintenance Contract (CMC), etc to optimize life cycle support for equipment. The capital acquisition contract would normally also include support for five years beyond the warranty period.
The draft of DPP 2020 has been prepared by a Review Committee headed by Director General (Acquisition) based on the recommendations of all stakeholders, including private industry. To accrue advantage of domain specialization of various subject matter experts, eight sub-committees headed by Lt Gen/equivalent officers were constituted to assist the review committee. These committees carried out extensive deliberations and interactions over six months to formulate their respective charters.
The first DPP was promulgated in 2002 and has since been revised several times to provide impetus to the growing domestic industry and achieve enhanced self-reliance in defense manufacturing.
Modified offset guidelines proposed to give emphasis on the export of products rather than components. Higher multipliers proposed for procurement from MSMEs and units established in Defence Industrial Corridors. Higher multipliers proposed for Transfer of Technology to private Companies / DPSUs / OFB and DRDO.

Source: PIB

7) ‘World Sparrow Day’ (20 March)

House Sparrow, once an integral part of our immediate environment, all but disappeared almost two decades ago. The common bird that lived in the cavities of our houses and polished off our leftover food, today sits on the red list of the endangered species of The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Scientific studies have established that the house sparrows follow us everywhere and simply cannot live where we don't. Fossil evidence from a cave in Bethlehem dating back 4,00,000 years suggests that the house sparrow shared its space with early humans.
According to a 2018 Royal Society of London report, the bond between humans and sparrows goes back 11,000 years, and the starch-friendly genes of the house sparrow tell us a story linked to our own evolution. Agriculture, the study said, triggered similar adaptation in three very different species – dogs, house sparrows, and humans.
Around the start of agriculture, the urban house sparrow split from the wild birds; it has a pair of genes, AMY2A, that helps it digest complex carbohydrates, the reason that it shares our love of starchy wheat and rice.
Conservationists attribute the decline in the population of house sparrows to the unfriendly architecture of our homes, chemical fertilizers in our crops, noise pollution that disturbs acoustic ecology and noxious exhaust fumes from vehicles. The debate about whether the digital revolution has jammed the air passages is inconclusive, but common people say it is no coincidence that the house sparrow started disappearing in the late 1990s when mobile phones came to India.
Concerted efforts are being made to bring back the house sparrow. According to scientist-conservationist Mohammed Dilawar, "Earlier, the house sparrow and other common species were not considered conservation material by scientists, and common people were far removed from conservation as a subject."
A vigorous campaign by the outfit he heads, "Nature Forever", led to March 20 is observed as the 'World Sparrow Day' and the house sparrow being declared the state bird of Delhi in 2012. Today, Dilawar says, "it enjoys a high profile globally, its conservation, a people's movement." However, data is not available on the impact of the campaign that focusses on simple, doable and affordable things like putting nesting boxes and water/grain bowls in balconies.

Source: PIB

8) Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme

Recently, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs shared information about the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities (PM’s New 15 PP), in the Lok Sabha.

Key Points

PM’s New 15 PP is an overarching program covering various schemes/initiatives of the participating Ministries/Departments and is implemented throughout the country.

Aim:

To ensure that the benefits of various government schemes for the underprivileged reach the disadvantaged sections of the minority communities.
It also provides that, wherever possible, 15% of targets and outlays under various schemes should be earmarked for minorities.
The performance of schemes/initiatives is continuously evaluated by the concerned Ministries/Departments.
In the context of the PM’s New 15 PP, the Substantial minority population, has been used for the identification of relatively backward districts.
Districts with at least 25% of the total population belonging to minority communities have been identified as the Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs)
The program has four objectives further divided into focus areas with schemes under them. These are as follows:

Enhancing Opportunities for Education

Equitable availability of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Services
Improving access to School Education

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, etc.

Greater resources for teaching Urdu by Central assistance for recruitment and posting of Urdu language teachers.
Modernizing Madarsa Education
Central Plan Scheme of Area Intensive and Madarsa Modernization Programme.
Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities.
Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation.

Equitable Share in Economic Activities and Employment

Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY).
Swarn Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY).
Sampurna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY).

Upgradation of skills through technical training

Locate technical institutions in areas predominantly inhabited by minority communities and upgrade them to ‘Centres of Excellence’.

Enhanced credit support for economic activities

Strengthening the National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC).
Ensuring an appropriate percentage of the priority sector lending targeted for the minority communities.

Recruitment to State and Central Services

Improving the Conditions of Living of Minorities

Equitable share in the rural housing scheme

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

Improvement in condition of slums inhabited by minority communities

Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) which was earlier Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Prevention and Control of Communal Riots

Prevention of communal incidents

Posting of efficient, impartial and secular record in communally sensitive and riot prone areas.

Prosecution for communal offenses
Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots

Minorities

Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) have been notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
Constitutional Provisions:

The term "minority" is not defined in the Indian Constitution. However, the Constitution recognizes only religious and linguistic minorities.
Article 29: It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
Article 30: Under the article, all minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
Article 350-B: Originally, the Constitution of India did not make any provision concerning the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. But, the Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 inserted Article 350-B in the Constitution.

Parliamentary Provisions:

National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992

It defines a minority as “a community notified as such by the Central government.''

Source: PIB

9) School Health Programme: Ayushman Bharat

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) informed the Rajya Sabha about the implementation of the School Health Programme (SHP).

Key Points

About the Programme:

The School Health Programme (SHP) under Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 by the Prime Minister in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.
It is a joint collaborative program of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Vision:

The initiative targets both Education and Health and intends to facilitate an integrated approach to health programming and more effective learning at the school level.

Major Roles:

Under the program, teachers act as “Health and Wellness Ambassadors” and disseminate various key information by organizing culturally sensitive activity-based sessions for one hour per week for 24 weeks in a year to promote joyful learning.
Further, the students act as Health and Wellness Messengers in society. And every Tuesday is dedicated to Health and Wellness Day in the schools.

Objectives:

Awareness about age-appropriate information about health and nutrition to the children in schools.
Detection and treating diseases early in children and adolescents including identification of malnourished and anemic children.
Usage of safe drinking water in schools.
Promotion of safe menstrual hygiene practices by girls.
Promotion of yoga and meditation through Health & Wellness Ambassadors.
Encouragement for research on health, wellness and nutrition for children.

Themes:

The Programme is based on the 11 identified themes
Some of them are emotional wellbeing, interpersonal relationships, responsible citizenship, gender equality, reproductive health, HIV prevention, safety and security against violence and promotion of safe use of the internet.

Linked with SDGs:

The Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) along with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have also developed curriculum framework and training material for training of nodal teachers, in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG- 3).
SDG 3 aspires to ensure health and well-being for all.

Integration with Other Initiatives:

The initiative is also linked with other government initiatives such as the Fit India movement, Eat Right campaign, Poshan Abhiyaan for an all-round and holistic development model of health for the school children.
Additionally, the government is implementing a few schemes on similar lines namely, Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Program and Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Programme.

Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Program intends to ensure the holistic development of the adolescent population.
Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Programme is aimed at early identification and intervention of diseases in children from birth to 18 years of age.

Source: PIB

10) World Consumers Day

What is it?

15 March is World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD), an annual occasion for celebration and solidarity within the international consumer movement. It marks the date in 1962 President John F Kennedy first outlined the definition of Consumer Rights.
The theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2020 is ‘The Sustainable Consumer’.

Significance of the day:

It is an opportunity to promote the basic rights of all consumers, for demanding that those rights are respected and protected, and for protesting the market abuses and social injustices that undermine them.

Key facts:

WCRD was first observed on 15 March 1983 and has since become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action.
Consumers International (CI), which was founded in 1960 organizes WCRD. It is the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers and has over 220 member organizations in 115 countries around the world.
Consumer Rights Day — India December 24th. On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President.

Source: PIB

11) What is a Country-by-Country (CbC) Report?

With Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT) notifying rules for furnishing “Country-by-Country Report” (CBC) specifying information about all large multinational enterprises (MNEs), the Finance Ministry has said that Joint Director of Income-tax (Risk Assessment)-1 has been designated as the Income-tax Authority before whom particulars of the parent entity and alternate reporting entity would be notified.

Background:

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has developed an Action Plan called “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan 13” to ensure that a multinational enterprise would report its profit correctly where it is earned.

What is a Country-by-Country (CbC) Report?

The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 13 report (Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting) provides a template for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to report annually and for each tax jurisdiction in which they do business the information set out therein. This report is called the Country-by-Country (CbC) Report.
This information enables an enhanced level of assessment of tax risk by both tax administrations.

What CBC contains?

Aggregated country-by-country information relating to the global allocation of income, the taxes paid, and certain other indicators of a multi-national company.
A list of all the constituent entities of the multi-national company operating in a particular jurisdiction and the nature of the main business activity of each constituent entity.

What is BEPS?

Base erosion and profit shifting refer to the phenomenon where companies shift their profits to other tax jurisdictions, which usually have lower rates, thereby eroding the tax base in India.
India in July 2019 ratified the international agreement to curb base erosion and profits shifting (BEPS)– Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures.
About the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting:
The Convention is an outcome of the OECD / G20 BEPS Project to tackle base erosion and profit shifting through tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations where there is little or no economic activity, resulting in little or no overall corporate tax being paid.

Overview and significance of the convention:

The Convention implements two minimum standards relating to the prevention of treaty abuse and dispute resolution through the Mutual Agreement Procedure.
It will be applied alongside existing tax treaties, modifying their application to implement the BEPS measures.
The Convention ensures consistency and certainty in the implementation of the BEPS Project in a multilateral context. The Convention also provides flexibility to exclude a specific tax treaty and to opt-out of provisions or parts of provisions through making of reservations.

Source: PIB

12) National Disaster Response Force

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has trained more than 15,000 staff deployed at the air and land ports across the country on the protocols to be followed given the COVID-19 outbreak.

About NDRF:

The Disaster Management Act has made the statutory provisions for the constitution of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the purpose of specialized response to natural and man-made disasters.

Why was it needed?

Two national calamities in quick succession in the form of Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Gujarat Earthquake (2001) brought about the realization of the need of having a specialist response mechanism at the National Level to effectively respond to disasters. This realization led to the enactment of the DM Act on 26 Dec 2005.

ROLE AND MANDATE OF NDRF:

Specialized response during disasters.
Proactive deployment during impending disaster situations.
Acquire and continually upgrade its own training and skills.
Liaison, Reconnaissance, Rehearsals and Mock Drills.
Impart basic and operational level training to State Response Forces (Police, Civil Defence, and Home Guards).
Community Capacity Building Programme.
Organize Public Awareness Campaigns.