Daily Current Affairs 28 April 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Effect of the Pandemic on cropping pattern.

In the light of the national lockdown in place, there has been a notable reverse migration of the agricultural laborers from Punjab to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Details:

Agricultural experts are expecting greater areas under cotton cultivation in Punjab and Haryana in the following season. Initial estimates note that Punjab can see around three lakh acres of the additional area under the cotton crop in the coming Kharif season.
There would likely be a shift from paddy cultivation and other crops towards cotton cultivation.

Causes:

Lack of laborers for paddy cultivation:

Paddy cultivation is labor-intensive.
The reverse migration of agricultural laborers has led to a drastic labor shortage in Punjab.
Labor from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have expertise in planting paddy but with many of them back to their native places, paddy cultivation will go down.
In such a situation, sowing cotton is a viable option for farmers.

Government’s push for crop diversification:

In light of the ecological and environmental effects of intensive paddy cultivation in the state of Punjab, the State government has been pushing for crop diversification.
As part of the crop diversification attempts, the government has been promoting cotton sowing.
The Punjab Government has set a target of enhancing the area under cotton cultivation from 9.7 lakh acres last year to 12.5 lakh acres in 2020, in a bid to promote crop-diversification.
This could aid the acreage under cotton.

Reduced demand for guar:

There has been a steep decline in market demand for guar. The farmers may sow less guar crop as its prices have remained subdued and shift to cotton.

Additional information:

In Punjab and Haryana, Bt cotton is sown in over 95% of the total area and the rest 5% consists of indigenous cotton varieties.
Cotton is a Kharif crop.

Source: The Hindu

2) Issues faced by the industries due to restrictions during the lockdown.

Background:

The Central Government has been planning for a phased lifting of the lockdown measures in place.
The Centre has slowly been easing restrictions, first allowing the reopening of essential sector businesses and then permitted industries located in rural areas, as well as certain sectors including construction, information technology, and hardware, to begin work subject to certain restrictions.

Details:

A recent nationwide Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) survey has noted that the relaxation measures announced by the government were not sufficient for the effective functioning of the industries.

Almost 50% of the industries which have been allowed to reopen still face hurdles in obtaining permits to function and obtaining passes for employees.
Over 60% of the surveyed companies also said that the movement of inputs and finished goods is still disrupted.
As per the survey, the unavailability of workers or their inability to travel to the workplace was the single largest reason that prevented businesses from operating. Difficulties in the transport of men and materials have created a major bottleneck for the industries.

Suggestions from the industries:

CII has demanded that businesses should be allowed to function without the need for permits in non-containment areas or permits that may be granted on a self-certification basis.
CII suggested that employees be allowed to use their own private vehicles and that government passes should be replaced by company letters.

Source: The Hindu

3) South China Sea dispute

In the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, China has been busy increasing its presence in the South China Sea.
If the dispute were to aggravate, Asia-Pacific researchers believe it could have serious consequences for diplomatic relations and stability in the region.

What’s the issue now?

The focus this time is on two disputed archipelagos of the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands in the middle of the South China Sea waters, between the territory of Vietnam and the Philippines.
Beijing unilaterally renamed 80 islands and other geographical features in the area, drawing criticism from neighboring countries who have also laid claim to the same territory.

What is the Spratly Islands dispute about?

The ongoing territorial dispute is between China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia concerning the ownership of the Spratly Islands archipelago and nearby geographical features like corals reefs, cats, etc.
Brunei has contained its objections to the use of its maritime waters for commercial fishing.
The islands may have large reserves of untapped natural resources including oil.

What is the Paracel Islands dispute about?

Located in the South China Sea, almost equidistant from China and Vietnam.
Beijing says that references to the Paracel Islands as a part of China's sovereign territory can be found in 14th-century writings from the Song Dynasty.
Vietnam on the other hand, says that historical texts from at least the 15th century show that the islands were a part of its territory.
With increased tensions accelerated by Colonial powers, China and Vietnam fought over their territorial disputes in January 1974 after which China took over control of the islands.

In retaliation, in 1982, Vietnam said it had extended its administrative powers over these islands.
In 1999, Taiwan jumped into the fray laying its claim over the entire archipelago.
Since 2012, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam have attempted to reinforce their claims on the territory by engaging in the construction of government administrative buildings, tourism, land reclamation initiatives, and by establishing and expanding military presence on the archipelago.

Understanding UNCLOS:

United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea defines the rights, responsibilities of nations concerning their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

Source: Indian Express

4) CERT-In to conduct a security audit of COVID-19 data

Kerala Government’s decision to conduct a security audit of the information shared with Sprinklr.

Background:

As part of its efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Kerala state government had roped in the U.S.-based company, Sprinklr to analyze the personal health data collected by field-level workers from nearly 1.75 lakh people categorized as “vulnerable and potentially exposed” to the pandemic.
The analysis of this data using data analytics techniques and tools was expected to aid the government in its containment efforts of COVID-19.
The government had received flak for its move to use disaster management funds for procuring the healthcare worker mobile application from the firm. There have also been privacy concerns involving a foreign firm and allowing it access to sensitive data.
The government’s move had been challenged and recently the High Court of Kerala has come out with certain guidelines to ensure the security of the data collected and captured in the Amazon Cloud system.

Details:

In the wake of the controversy, the Kerala Government has decided to carry out a security audit by CERT-In.
CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is the nodal agency responsible for dealing with cybersecurity threats.
CERT-In (the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is a government-mandated information technology (IT) security organization. CERT-In was created by the Indian Department of Information Technology in 2004 and operates under the auspices of that department.
It’s the purpose: The purpose of CERT-In is to respond to computer security incidents, report on vulnerabilities, and promote effective IT security practices throughout the country. According to the provisions of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, CERT-In is responsible for overseeing the administration of the Act.

Source: The Hindu

5) World Military Expenditure, 2019

The global military expenditure rose to $1917 billion in 2019 with India and China emerging among the top three spenders, according to a report by a Swedish think tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
In 2019, China and India were, respectively, the second and thirdlargest military spenders in the world. China’s military expenditure reached $261 billion in 2019, a 5.1% increase compared with 2018, while India’s grew by 6.8% to $71.1 billion
In 2019, the top five largest spenders — U.S. ($732 bn), China, India, Russia ($65.1 bn) and Saudi Arabia ($61.9 bn) — accounted for 62% of the global expenditure
“India’s tensions and rivalry with both Pakistan and China are among the major drivers for its increased military spending,” the report quoted SIPRI
The $71.1 billion spent by India on defense in 2019 was 2.4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). India was at the fourth position in 2018 with Saudi Arabia at the third.
Stating that India’s expenditure in 2019 was 6.8% more than that in 2018, the report says the country’s military expenditure has risen significantly over the past few decades. “It grew by 259% over the 30year period of 1990– 2019, and by 37% over the decade of 2010–19. However, its military burden fell from 2.7% of GDP in 2010 to 2.4% in 2019
While India’s defense spending excluding pensions, which constitute a significant part, has been growing in absolute terms, it has been going down as a percentage of its GDP as noted by the report. For instance, the defense allocation in the latest budget for 2020-21 which was ₹3.37 lakh crore, excluding defense pensions, accounts for about 1.5% of the country’s GDP, the lowest in recent times
In comparison, Pakistan’s military expenditure rose by 70% over the decade 2010–19, to reach $10.3 billion while the military burden increased from 3.4% of GDP in 2010 to 4% in 2019, says the report. Pakistan was in the 24th position in 2019 compared to the 19th in 2018.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Sweden, dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis, and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. SIPRI is based in Stockholm.
SIPRI was ranked among the top three non-US worldwide think tanks in 2014 by the University of Pennsylvania Lauder Institute's Global Go To Think Tanks Report. In 2016 it ranked SIPRI in the top twenty-eight among think tanks globally

SIPRI’s mission is to:

undertake research and activities on security, conflict, and peace;
provide policy analysis and recommendations;
facilitate dialogue and build capacities;
promote transparency and accountability; and
deliver authoritative information to global audiences.

Source: The Hindu

6) The basic structure and the Kesavananda Bharati case

Exactly forty-seven years ago, on April 24, 1973, Chief Justice Sikri and 12 judges of the Supreme Court assembled to deliver the most important judgment in its history. The case of Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala had been heard for 68 days, the arguments commencing on October 31, 1972, and ending on March 23, 1973.
By a 7-6 verdict, a 13-judge Constitution Bench ruled that the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution is inviolable, and could not be amended by Parliament. The basic structure doctrine has since been regarded as a tenet of Indian constitutional law.

Background of the case:

All this effort was to answer just one main question: was the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution unlimited? In other words, could Parliament alter, amend, abrogate any part of the Constitution even to the extent of taking away all fundamental rights?
In the early 1970s, the government of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had enacted major amendments to the Constitution (the 24th, 25th, 26th, and 29th) to get over the judgments of the Supreme Court in RC Cooper (1970), Madhavrao Scindia (1970) and the earlier mentioned Golaknath.
In RC Cooper, the court had struck down Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalization policy, and in Madhavrao Scindia it had annulled the abolition of privy purses of former rulers.
All the four amendments, as well as the Golaknath judgment, came under challenge in the Kesavananda Bharati case– where relief was sought by the religious figure Swami Kesavananda Bharati against the Kerala government vis-à-vis two state land reform laws.

What constitutes the basic structure?

The Constitutional Bench ruled by a 7-6 verdict that Parliament should be restrained from altering the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution.
The court held that under Article 368, which provides Parliament amending powers, something must remain of the original Constitution that the new amendment would change.
The court did not define the ‘basic structure’, and only listed a few principles — federalism, secularism, democracy — as being its part. Since then, the court has been adding new features to this concept.

‘Basic structure’ since Kesavananda:

The ‘basic structure’ doctrine has since been interpreted to include the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, the doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign democratic republic, the parliamentary system of government, the principle of free and fair elections, welfare state, etc.

What do critics say?

Critics of the doctrine have called it undemocratic since unelected judges can strike down a constitutional amendment.
At the same time, its proponents have hailed the concept as a safety valve against majoritarianism and authoritarianism.

Outcomes and implications of the judgment:

If the majority of the Supreme Court had held (as six judges indeed did) that Parliament could alter any part of the Constitution, India would most certainly have degenerated into a totalitarian State or had a one-party rule.
At any rate, the Constitution would have lost its supremacy.

The 39th Amendment prohibited any challenge to the election of the President, Vice-President, Speaker and Prime Minister, irrespective of the electoral malpractice. This was a clear attempt to nullify the adverse Allahabad High Court ruling against Indira Gandhi.
The 41st Amendment prohibited any case, civil or criminal, being filed against the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, or the Governors, not only during their term of office but forever. Thus, if a person was a governor for just one day, he acquired immunity from any legal proceedings for life.

If Parliament were indeed supreme, these shocking amendments would have become part of the Constitution.

Source: Indian Express

7) Basava Jayanthi

The Prime Minister greeted the people on Global Basava Jayanthi – 2020 held digitally on April 26, 2020, connecting followers in India and abroad.
Basava Jayanthi is an annual event celebrated in the honor of the birth of Vishwaguru Basaveshwara, the 12th-century philosopher and social reformer who gave a unique spiritual path to mankind.

Key Points

Basaveshwara was born in Bagevadi (of undivided Bijapur district in Karnataka) during 1131 AD. He is the founding saint of the Lingayat sect.
His spiritual discipline was based on the principles of Arivu (true knowledge), Achara (right conduct), and Anubhava (divine experience) and it brought a social, religious, and economical revolution in the 12th century.
This path advocates a holistic approach to Lingangayoga (union with the divine). This comprehensive discipline encompasses bhakti (devotion), jnana (knowledge), and kriya (action) in a well-balanced manner.
In Kalyana, the Kalchuri king Bijjala (1157-1167, AD) appointed Basaveshwara as a karanika (Accountant) in the initial stage, in his court and later as the Prime minister.
Here, Basaveshwara revolted against all the social evils of the traditionalistic society and brought a drastic change in various facets.
His practical approach and act of establishment of ‘Kalyana Rajya’ (Welfare state) brought a new status and position for all the citizens of the society, irrespective of class, caste, creed, and sex.
Anubhava Mantapa:

He established the Anubhava Mantapa, which was a common forum for all to discuss the prevailing problems of socio, economic and political strata including religious and spiritual principles along with personal problems.
Thus, it was the first and foremost Parliament of India, where Sharanas (citizens of welfare society) sat together and discussed the socialistic principles of a Democratic setup.
All those discussions of Sharanas were written in the form of Vachanas.

Vachanas were an innovative literary form written in simple Kannada language.

Basaveshwara gave two more very important socio-economic principles. They are:

Kayaka (Divine work): According to this, every individual of the society should take up the job of his choice and perform it with all sincerity.
Dasoha (Equal distribution):

There must be an equal income for equal work.
The worker (Kayakajeevi) may lead his day-to-day life by his hard-earned income. But he should not preserve the money or property for tomorrow. He must utilize the surplus money for society and the poor.

On 14th November 2015, the Prime Minister of India inaugurated the statue of Basavanna along the bank of the River Thames at Lambeth in London.

Source: PIB

8) Strategic Petroleum Reserves

Recently, India has decided to fill its strategic petroleum reserves given the slump in crude prices.

This will help on two fronts: India will get cheap oil for its reserves and it will also help in resolving the storage problem for refiners.

Key Points

Strategic petroleum reserves are huge stockpiles of crude oil to deal with any crude oil-related crisis like the risk of supply disruption from natural disasters, war, or other calamities.
According to the agreement on an International Energy Programme (I.E.P.), each International Energy Agency (IEA) country must hold emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net oil imports.

In case of a severe oil supply disruption, IEA members may decide to release these stocks to the market as part of collective action.
India became an associate member of the International Energy Agency in 2017.

India’s strategic crude oil storages are currently located at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Mangaluru (Karnataka), and Padur (Karnataka).

The government has also given approval for setting up of two additional facilities at Chandikhol (Odisha) and Padur (Karnataka).

The concept of dedicated strategic reserves was first mooted in 1973 in the US, after the OPEC oil crisis.
Underground storage is, by far the most economic method of storing petroleum products because the underground facility rules out the requirement of large swathes of land, ensures less evaporation, and, since the caverns are built much below the sea level, it is easy to discharge crude into them from ships.
The construction of the Strategic Crude Oil Storage facilities in India is being managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL).

ISPRL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

Source: Indian Express

9) Saudi Arabia abolishes flogging

Recently, Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging (whipping or lashing) as a form of punishment and the death sentence for minors.
The Islamic kingdom has no codified system of law. The individual judges interpret Islamic law (Sharia) and come up with their own sentences.

Key Points

Abolition of Flogging as Punishment:

Before abolition, flogging was mandatory as a form of corporal punishment and could extend to hundreds of lashes.
Courts ordered it for murder, breach of peace, homosexuality, consumption or possession of alcohol, adultery, and insulting Islam, among others.

Abolition of Death Sentence for Minors:

It ensures that no-one who committed crimes as minors could receive the death sentence for those crimes. Instead, the individual will receive a prison sentence of no longer than 10 years in a juvenile detention facility.
However, there is a possibility of exception for people who carry out terrorism-related crimes as minors.
The practice of capital punishment for crimes committed by people under the age of 18 was in contradiction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

However, the country still practices public executions and other forms of corporal punishment such as amputation for theft. It has been criticized for them as well.

Human rights organization Amnesty International lists Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s most prolific executioners, after Iran and China. In its latest report, it said the kingdom had executed 184 people in 2019.
The country has also been widely criticized for the continued repression of dissidents and political activists.
The Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) jurisdiction was expanded from the trials of alleged violent extremists to include political dissidents, religious minorities, and human rights activists.

SSC was created in 2008 to prosecute detainees held after the 2003 terrorist attack claimed by al-Qaeda.

Reforms Taken

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has overseen a series of social and economic reforms known as ‘Saudi Vision 2030’.
These are aimed at modernizing the country, reducing its dependence on oil, expanding its economy, developing the public service sector, and bringing it in line with international human rights norms.

Other Earlier Reforms

In 2018, Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on women drivers.
Before the ban was lifted, the law made it compulsory for every woman to have a male guardian and seek their consent for almost everything.
Before the change in the law, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world that did not allow women to drive.
In 2019, the country reformed the laws relating to women.
Women over the age of 21 would be able to receive passports and travel abroad without permission from a male guardian.
Apart from that, women can also be able to register the marriage, divorce, or the birth of children and obtain family documents.
They can now also be the legal guardian of their children, a position hitherto reserved for men.

10) Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Recently, the United States State Department has accused China and Russia of conducting nuclear tests with low yields, in violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Key Points

CTBT was negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996.
The Treaty intends to ban all nuclear explosions - everywhere, by everyone. It was opened for signature in 1996 and since then 182 countries have signed the Treaty, most recently Ghana has ratified the treaty in 2011.

A comprehensive test ban has been defined as a “zero yield” test ban that would prohibit supercritical hydro-nuclear tests but not sub-critical hydrodynamic nuclear tests.
Hydronuclear tests study nuclear materials under the conditions of explosive shock compression. Their yield ranges from negligible all the way up to a substantial fraction of full weapon.
Subcritical (or cold) tests are types of tests involving nuclear materials and possibly high-explosives that purposely result in no yield.

The Treaty will enter into force after all 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty will ratify it.

These States had nuclear facilities at the time the Treaty was negotiated and adopted.

As of August 2011, 36 of these States have ratified the Treaty. Eight states still need to do so: China, North Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States.

India, North Korea, and Pakistan have not yet signed the Treaty.
All three have also undertaken tests after 1996; India and Pakistan in May 1998 and North Korea six times between 2006 and 2017.
The CTBT has therefore not entered into force and lacks legal authority.

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO):

The organization promotes the Treaty so that it can enter into force.
It establishes a verification regime to monitor adherence to the Treaty. The verification system is built around a network of over 325 seismic, radionuclide, infrasound, and hydroacoustic (underwater) monitoring stations.
The organization was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Vienna. It employs a staff of roughly 260 from the CTBT’s the Member States.

Source: The Hindu