Daily Current Affairs 4 April 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Lockdown lifts National Capital air quality

The ongoing lockdown has pushed pollution levels in Delhi to a 5year low and, across India, the number of cities that recorded ‘good’ on the air quality index (AQI) jumped from 6 — on March 16 — to 30 as on March 29, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board.
PM 2.5, the most dangerous pollutant, measured at the pollution monitoring station in Anand Vihar, New Delhi, ranged from 16 g/m3 42g/m3 (microgram per meter cubed) from March 25 to April 1, the first week of the lockdown.
By comparison, PM 2.5 had ranged from 72187g/m3 during the corresponding period last year, and 72 171g/m3 in 2018.
In 2016, it spanned 49 116g/m3, station data on the website of the CPCB show
Overall, up to 44% reduction in PM10 levels was observed in Delhi during March 22-23, 2020, compared to the previous day. The PM2.5 reduction was 8% on the curfew day but declined to 34% next day owing to negligible combustion activities on March 22-23, 2020, in and around the city
The key factor that triggered the decline was the number of onroad vehicles, which contributed to a 51% reduction in NOx levels and a 32% reduction in carbon monoxide levels during March 22-23 as compared to March 21. Unlike in the winter months, Delhi and other regions of the Indo Gangetic Plains generally tend to have better air quality in March, aided by consistent wind and sunlight, which help flush out pollutants
The impact of meteorological factors was partially favorable... however the reduction in air pollution can be largely attributed to transport and commercialindustrial restrictions
Research studies have attributed the key sources of PM2.5 in summer to be: dust and construction activities (35%), transport sector (20%) and industry (20%).
During the lockdown, PM10 and PM2.5 levels were reduced by about 35-40%.
The cessation of industries contributed to this reduction by 10%, vehicles 10-15% and dust another 10-15%, the organization calculated.
As on March 29, a total of 91 cities were under ‘Good’ (0 50) and ‘Satisfactory (51 100)’ categories, with 30 cities with ‘Good’ AQI values.
However, Lucknow, Muzaffarpur, Kalyan, Guwahati, and Singrauli were under the ‘Poor’ category during March 25-28.
High emission levels in Lucknow and Guwahati were noted for PM2.5, attributable to ‘local’ combustion-related activities.
As on March 29, no city was under the ‘Poor’ AQI (251-300) category

Source: The Hindu

2) The National Commission for Women (NCW)

The first week of the nationwide lockdown, which has left many facing job losses, uncertainty over salaries forced isolation and stressed households, has resulted in a steep rise in violence against women. The National Commission for Women (NCW), which receives complaints from across the country, has recorded more than two-fold rise in genderbased violence.
The total complaints from women rose from 116 in the first week of March (March 2 8), to 257 in the final week of March (March 23April 1). Complaints of rape or attempted rape have risen sharply from two to 13, while cases of domestic violence have increased from 30 to 69 over the same comparative period. Simultaneously, there has been an almost three-fold increase in police apathy towards women’s complaints, with the NCW receiving 16 complaints on the issue as compared to six earlier.
Similarly, complaints relating to the “right to live with dignity” too have doubled, rising from 35 cases to 77.
Such cases could pertain to discrimination based on gender, class or caste or all three of them combined.
Activists believe that these may only be the tip of the iceberg, as many women will not be able to reach out because of restrictions on movement and lack of privacy inside homes. Jagori, a Delhibased NGO, which runs helplines for women victims of violence, has, in fact, experienced a 50% drop in calls.

National Commission for Women

The National Commission for Women (NCW) is the statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the Indian Constitution, as defined in the 1990 National Commission for Women Act. The first head of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik. As of 30 November 2018, Rekha Sharma is the chairperson

Activities

The objective of the NCW is to represent the rights of women in India and to provide a voice for their issues and concerns. The subjects of their campaigns have included dowry, politics, religion, equal representation for women in jobs, and the exploitation of women for labor. They have also discussed police abuses against women
The commission regularly publishes a monthly newsletter, Rashtra Mahila, in both Hindi and English

Source: The Hindu

3) DST sets up rapid response center at SINE, IIT Bombay to combat COVID-19

Department of Science & Technology, Government of India in a rapid response to combat COVID-19 global pandemic approved setting up of a Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) at a total cost of Rs 56 Cr to scout, evaluate and support the innovations and start-ups that address COVID-19 challenges. The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), a technology business incubator at IIT Bombay supported by DST has been identified as the Implementing Agency of the CAWACH.
Given the impact of COVID-19 as a pandemic globally that has jolted countries across the world to take immediate actions and scale up responses to detect, treat and reduce transmission to save people’s lives, DST is playing a critical role to pace up India’s efforts to fight the crisis.
While the nation is under a health emergency, various solutions to address the pandemic are being undertaken at research institutions & laboratories. Urgent measures are being taken by Governments at both Centre and State level to shore up these efforts and infuse resources in various forms to contain the further havoc of COVID-19.
DST’s effort at this hour of need is to support R&D initiatives in this direction by boosting innovations offering comprehensive solutions like Ventilators, Diagnostics, Therapeutics, Informatics and other intervention for control and mitigation of COVID-19.
The support will be provided to startups at different stages for the fast-tracking commercialization process and journey and scale-up across geographies which will have a significant impact in the long term.
The CAWACH’s mandate will be to extend timely support to potential startups by way of the requisite financial assistance and fund deployment targeting innovations that are deployable in the market within the next 6 months.
CAWACH will identify up to 50 innovations and startups that are in the area of a novel, low cost, safe and effective ventilators, respiratory aids, protective gear, novel solutions for sanitizers, disinfectants, diagnostics, therapeutics, informatics, and any effective interventions to control COVID-19.
It will provide access to pan India networks for testing, trial and market deployment of these products and solutions in the identified areas of priority COVID-19 solutions. This will help to address various challenges faced by the country due to the severe impact of COVID-19.
“CAWACH program of DST is focused on leveraging the youthful energy, intelligence and extraordinary innovative potential of our technology incubators and startups and empowering them for scale-up to speedily address the multi-dimensional challenges of COVID-19 across respiratory aids, disinfection systems, protective gear and coatings, information and monitoring assists, diagnostics, and a plethora of other relevant materials, devices, and solutions”
DST is taking a lead from the front and upping efforts across its wide resource network of highly committed institutions, researchers, experts, incubators, innovators and startups in the hour of this grave national need and health crisis.

Source: PIB

4) India to raise Sheikh Saeed case at FATF if he walks free

The decision by a Pakistani court in Sindh to acquit Ahmed Omar Sheikh Saeed of murdering journalist Daniel Pearl will be raised by India at the next meeting of the Financial Action Task Force, where Pakistan’s Grey List status will come up for discussion.

Who is Ahmed Omar Sheikh Saeed?

The British-born Saeed has been in a Pakistani prison since he was arrested for the kidnapping and killing of the Wall Street Journal’s correspondent in Pakistan in 2002.
He was in Indian prisons from 1994-1999.
In December 1999, Saeed was released along with Masood Azhar and another alleged terrorist Mushtaq Zargar by the Indian government in exchange for 155 hostages aboard the hijacked IC-814.
Once he was released along with Azhar at Kandahar, Saeed is believed to have become a key aide to Osama Bin Laden and was allegedly a part of Bin Laden’s plans for the Al-Qaeda’s attacks in the U.S.

Details:

The next FATF meeting is expected in June 2020 but may be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
India plans to not just raise Saeed’s history with terrorism in India, but his links with Al-Qaeda and, more specifically, his role in the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. at the FATF meeting.
Saeed has not yet been tried in that case and the Pakistani government’s actions in the next few days would be closely watched.
Officials indicated that if Pakistan’s federal government doesn’t file a strong appeal against the acquittal and Saeed walks free, it would also show how transnational norms against terror financing were being flouted by Islamabad.

Note:

It was noted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that Pakistan had largely addressed 14 of 27 action items, with varying levels of progress made on the rest of the action plan.
The FATF plenary meeting at Paris concluded in February 2020, retained Pakistan in the ‘Grey List’ in which it was placed by the FATF in June 2018.
The FATF had strongly urged Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by June 2020. It has urged the country to continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies.

Source: The Hindu

5) DRDO develops equipment for effective sanitization of public spaces

In the continuing quest for developing indigenous solutions to combat the Corona Virus Pandemic, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is ready with technologies for sanitizing areas of different sizes. The Centre for Fire Explosive & Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi has developed two configurations of sanitizing equipment. These are spinoffs from technologies developed for fire suppression applications.

Portable Backpack Area Sanitisation Equipment

The CFEES, Delhi with the help of its industry partner has developed portable sanitization equipment for spraying decontamination solutions consisting of one percent Hypochlorite (HYPO) solution for sanitization of the suspected area.
The portable system can be mounted as a backpack and can be carried by the operations personnel. This system incorporates low-pressure twin fluid (air & disinfectant liquid) technology to generate very fine mist. The system is capable of disinfecting up to 300 square meter area. The application areas can include hospital reception, doctor chambers, office spaces dealing with the general public, corridors, pathways, metro and railway stations, bus stations, etc.

Trolley Mounted Large Area Sanitisation Equipment

The Centre with the help of its industry partner has also developed a higher capacity which is carried on a trolley. The system incorporates low-pressure single fluid (disinfectant liquid) technology generating a very fine mist. It is capable of disinfecting up to 3,000 square meter area.
It has a tank capacity of 50 liters and has a lancing (throw) distance of 12-15 meters. This is useful for disinfecting hospitals, malls, airports, metro stations, isolation areas, quarantine centers, and high-risk residential areas.
Two of these systems are being provided to Delhi Police for immediate use. These can be made available to other agencies with the help of industry partners.

Source: PIB

6) GRACE-FO mission

New satellite-based, weekly global maps of soil moisture and groundwater wetness conditions were developed by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) on March 31, 2020.

How were these maps produced?

Data available from NASA and German Research Center for Geosciences’ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On (GRACE-FO) satellites were used to derive these global maps.

The satellite-based observations of changes in water distribution were integrated with other data within a computer model that simulated water and energy cycles.
The model then produced — among other outputs — time-varying maps of the distribution of water at three depths: Surface soil moisture, root zone soil moisture (roughly the top three feet of soil) and shallow groundwater.
The maps have a resolution of up to 8.5 miles, providing continuous data on moisture and groundwater conditions across the landscape.

Why do we need these data?

The scientific community believes data available through this project would fill existing gaps in understanding the full picture of wet and dry conditions that can lead to drought.
These tools are absolutely critical to helping us the address and offset some of the impacts anticipated, whether it is from population growth, climate change or just increased water consumption in general.
The data would also help in managing the selection of appropriate agricultural crops and predicting yields.

About GRACE-FO mission:

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO) mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
GRACE-FO is a successor to the original GRACE mission, which began orbiting Earth on March 17, 2002. The GRACE missions measure variations in gravity over Earth’s surface, producing a new map of the gravity field every 30 days.
GRACE-FO will continue the work of tracking Earth’s water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.
These discoveries provide a unique view of Earth’s climate and have far-reaching benefits to society and the world’s population.

Source: Down to earth

7) Operation Sanjeevani

Recently, India supplied 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines to the Maldives, under Operation Sanjeevani as assistance in the fight against COVID 19.

Key Points

The medicines were delivered by a Hercules C-130J-30 aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
The medicines include influenza vaccines, antiviral drugs such as lopinavir and ritonavir among others as well as consumables such as catheters, nebulizers, urine bags, and infant feeding tubes.

Lopinavir and ritonavir have been used to treat patients with COVID-19 in some countries.

In March India also dispatched a 14-member Army medical team to the Maldives to set up a viral testing lab there and gifted 5.5 tonnes of essential medicines.

Previous India’s Assistance to the Maldives

1988: Under Operation Cactus the Indian Armed Forces have helped the government of Maldives in the neutralization of the coup attempt.
2004: India has helped the Maldives after the tsunami.
2014: Under 'Operation Neer' India supplied drinking water to the Maldives to deal with the drinking water crisis.
The two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) given by India to the Maldivian armed forces have been used in saving Maldivian lives.

The Advanced Light Helicopter is a multi-role, new generation helicopter in the 5.5-ton weight class, indigenously designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Relations Between the Two Countries

History: India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links. India was among the first to recognize the Maldives after its independence in 1965 and later established its mission at Male in 1972.
Defense: India provides the largest number of training opportunities for the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF), meeting around 70% of their defense training requirements.

‘Ekuverin’ is a joint military exercise between India and Maldives.

Disaster Management: The Government of India has provided large-scale assistance to the Maldives in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and during the 2014 Male water crisis.
Trade and Tourism: India is Maldives’ 4th largest trade partner after UAE, China, and Singapore. In 2018, India was the 5th largest source of tourist arrivals in the Maldives.

The Maldivian economy is heavily dependent on its tourism sector, which is the major source of foreign exchange earnings and government revenue.

Source: The Hindu

8) Impact of Lockdown on Banks

Banks are concerned about the build-up of Non-performing Assets (NPAs) as the disruption caused to business operations and supply chains during the 21-day lockdown period will take time to repair.
This is even though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has injected fresh liquidity into the banking system and given banks leeway to deal with potential stress in loan accounts.

Non-Performing Asset

NPA refers to a classification for loans or advances that are in default or are in arrears on scheduled payments of principal or interest.
In most cases, debt is classified as non-performing, when the loan payments have not been made for a minimum period of 90 days.
Gross non-performing assets are the sum of all the loans that have been defaulted by the individuals who have acquired loans from the financial institution.
Net non-performing assets are the amount that is realized after the provision amount has been deducted from the gross non-performing assets.

Concerns of Bankers

Fresh NPAs

The 21-day period lockdown would cause pain to lenders, especially in loan
accounts from sectors including Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), airlines, real estate, auto dealers, gems and jewelry, metals among others.
Banks are concerned about MSME loans and those extended to manufacturing sectors, such as auto, steel, renewable energy, as those where fresh NPAs are looming.
According to the RBI’s financial stability report, the share of large borrowers in scheduled commercial banks’ total loan portfolios and their share in GNPAs was at 51.8%and 79.3% respectively, in September 2019.

Problems Within Different Sectors

Even if the lockdown is lifted on April 14, operations of several companies in specific sectors will not see business getting back to normal as the labor has moved out and the production may not be able to restart.
Apart from these, capital intensive sectors such as aviation, real estate, consumer durables, and jewelry may take a long time before there is a demand revival.
Renewable power is struggling because of the complete disruption of supply chains from China, as a result of which they are way behind on project schedules and could face payment issues from their customers, the power discoms.
Fear of Extended Lockdown: Measures by the RBI will provide banks some relief during the next three months, but a buildup of bad loans looks inevitable. While moratorium provides temporary relief to borrowers and helps check the NPAs during that period, an extended lockdown is expected to have a significant adverse effect on the economy.

Analysis By Different Rating Agencies

Moody’s Investors Service: It expects a deterioration in banks’ asset quality due to disruption in economic activity. It has changed the outlook for the Indian banking system to negative from stable.
According to a report released by Crisil: The asset classes will see continuing pressures on asset quality due to weaker profiles of borrowers and expectation of only a gradual economic recovery. In a study of 35 sectors, both from manufacturing and services, there is a sharp variation in resilience in a post-COVID-19 landscape.

High Resilience Category: Pharmaceuticals, telecom, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), fertilizer, oil refineries, power & gas distribution, and transmission are among the sectors comprising nearly 44% of the debt.
Moderate Resilience Category: Another 52% debt is in sectors such as automobile manufacturers, power generators, roads, and construction.
Least Resilient Category: Around 4% of debt in sectors such as airlines, gems and jewelry, auto dealers and real estate, given the discretionary nature of goods and services, and weak balance sheets.

Source: Indian Express

9) Demand for MGNREGA Work Increased

The demand for work by households under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) program surged to a nine-year high in 2019-20.

Key Points

According to the MGNREGA official portal, 5.47 crore households sought MGNREGA works, the highest since 2010-11, when the number was 5.5 crore.
More individuals too worked under MGNREGA in 2019-20, with 7.86 crores employed at various sites across the country. This is the highest since 2012-13 when 7.97 crore individuals worked under this program.

The disruption caused by the coronavirus lockdown, however, may impact the final figure of the person-days generated in March 2020.

The gram panchayats not recording any MGNREGA expenditure has also declined. This shows that more and more panchayats are using MGNREGA to provide unskilled work to the unemployed.
These new MGNREGA figures coincide with the sharp fall in GDP growth rate to 5% in 2019-20, the lowest in a decade.
The demand for works under MGNREGA is surging even though wages have been flattening in recent years.

In 2019-20, average MGNREGA wage per day per person was Rs 182.09, barely Rs 3 higher than Rs 179.13 in 2018-19.

The data also showed that 263.73 crore person days were generated during 2019-20, slightly lower than 267.96 crores in 2018-19 but significantly higher than the total person-days generated during each financial year from 2012-13 to 2017-18.
During 2019-20, the Centre released Rs 72,162.13 crore for the MGNREGA, the highest ever amount, and substantially higher than the Rs 62,125.07 crore released in 2018-19.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005

The Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members (at least 18 years of age) volunteer to do unskilled work.
The central government bears the full cost of unskilled labor, and 75% of the cost of material (the rest is borne by the states).
It is a demand-driven, social security and labor law that aims to enforce the ‘right to work’.
The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Government of India in association with state governments, monitors the implementation of the scheme.
Agriculture and allied activities constitute more than 65% of the works taken up under the program.
Social inclusion, gender parity, social security, and equitable growth are the founding pillars of MGNREGA.

Source: Indian Express

10) Effect of BCG Vaccine on COVID-19

Recently, Doctors and scientists in India have expressed caution on a study, which argues that countries that have deployed the BCG-tuberculosis vaccine in their immunization programs have seen fewer deaths from COVID-19.
BCG, or bacilli Calmette-Guerin, is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease.

Key Points Related to Study

BCG Vaccine Policy and COVID-19 Deaths

The middle and high-income countries

Countries that have universal BCG policy had 0.78 deaths per million people.
The countries that never had a universal BCG policy had a larger mortality rate, with 16.39 deaths per million people, a significant variation.

Low and middle-income countries, even if they had universal immunization policies, were excluded from the analysis because they were also likely to have low testing rates for COVID-19 infection and therefore fewer reported deaths.
India having a universal BCG policy in place and relatively fewer deaths as a proportion of confirmed coronavirus infections weren’t included in the analysis.

BCG Vaccine confers a strong immune response

The BCG vaccine is known to confer a strong immune response and a significant degree of protection against leprosy and non-invasive bladder cancers.
Those countries where the elderly were likely to have had a BCG shot in their childhood were likely to be better protected against coronavirus because COVID-19 was particularly lethal to the elderly.

Cases of Different Countries

Japan (which has a BCG policy since 1947) had one of the early cases of COVID-19 but it has maintained a low mortality rate despite not implementing the most strict forms of social isolation.

Japan had 1,655 cases and 65 deaths as of March 29.

Iran, which has seen at least 3,000 deaths, began implementing its BCG vaccination policy only in 1984 and therefore anyone over 36 was vulnerable.
Spain, France, the United States, Italy, and the Netherlands:

These countries don’t have universal BCG policies and have seen many deaths from COVID-19.
Many of these countries don’t have a universal program because BCG has been shown to not be always protective against tuberculosis in adults as well as an increased risk of mycobacterium (bacteria) species.
Italy, where the COVID-19 mortality is very high, never implemented universal BCG vaccination.

Views of Indian Scientists and Doctors

it is premature for India, which has had a consistent TB vaccination policy since 1968, to take comfort from the study.
Australia, the Netherlands, the United States are going to vaccinate healthcare workers with BCG. This may provide some evidence.

Source: The Hindu

11) Classes in Distance Mode

The Centre is planning to start the next academic year virtually.
Many schools have been shut since early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even before the countrywide lockdown.

Key Points

This means that the new academic calendar will begin as usual in April for classes 9 to 12, though the last academic year may have been somewhat truncated, with examinations postponed in some cases including the CBSE exams for classes 10 and 12.

Recently, it has been decided that the CBSE will conduct exams only for the main subjects: required for promotion or maybe crucial for admission in higher educational institutions.

The Centre plans to restart classes in the distance mode, with teaching via dedicated TV and radio channels in English and Hindi.

There is an existing program, Swayam Prabha, which is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting high-quality educational programs on a 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has been asked to create a structured program for schools class-wise. This is being done along with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) using their syllabus.
The material will be ready for use by schools following the NIOS or the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus.
For the State Boards

Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) mobile app has been offered to the States as a platform to provide content in local languages.
If States are willing to produce the content in local languages, the Centre can give them 2-3 hours on the channel.

Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing

Diksha Portal was launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
in 2017 for providing a digital platform to teachers allowing them to learn and train themselves and connect with the teacher community.
It is built considering the whole teacher's life cycle - from the time student teachers enroll in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.
States, government bodies and even private organizations, can integrate DIKSHA into their respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs, and capabilities.
It also provides access to NCERT textbooks and lessons, following the regular school curriculum.

National Institute of Open Schooling

NIOS, formerly known as National Open School (NOS) was established in November 1989 as an autonomous organization in pursuance of National Policy on Education 1986 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
NIOS provides several Vocational, Life Enrichment and community oriented courses besides General and Academic Courses at Secondary and Senior Secondary level.
It also offers Elementary level Courses through its Open Basic Education Programmes (OBE).
The government of India has vested NIOS with the authority to examine and certify learners registered with it up to pre-degree level courses whether Academic, Technical or Vocational.

Source: The Hindu

12) Suggestions for COVID-19 and Lockdown Exit

Recently, the Prime Minister of India has held a video conference with the Chief Ministers of the States on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
He emphasized the importance of formulating a common exit strategy to ensure a steady re-emergence of the population after the lockdown is over.

Key Suggestions

Seamless supply lines for medical equipment and drugs and raw materials.
Coordinated and prioritized testing, tracing, isolation, and quarantine among and in all states.
Appointment of district-level disease surveillance officers for optimum penetration of the combating strategy.
Ensuring that there are separate hospitals for COVID-19 patients and proper protection to the doctors attending the patients.
Speedy online training of doctors in the treatment of COVID-19.
Going beyond the route of Agricultural Produce Marketing Corporations (APMC) for the procurement of this season’s harvest. Starting a truck pooling scheme for ferrying produces to the market.
Using the amount from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to fight COVID-19. The Centre will release ₹11,000 crores from the SDRF by the end of April.
Rapid disbursement of grants under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana.
Recruitment of volunteers from the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the National Service Scheme (NSS) in the effort to combat the crisis.
Coordination between NGOs and crisis management groups and the sharing of strategies.
Promotion and use of traditional immunity-boosting methods mentioned in Ayurveda to minimize the number of people with weak immunity. The Ministry of AYUSH has also issued an advisory regarding this.

Scientists on Lockdown

Lockdown is only a temporary solution and this period should be used to prepare the healthcare system to avoid its social costs and to realize long-term epidemiological benefits.
The government needs to reveal a post-lockdown plan that will ensure that the rate of new infections is kept low in a sustainable manner after the lockdown ends.
Social distancing and better hygiene are helpful yet insufficient measures by themselves.
If the lockdown period will not be used responsibly, it might lead to a possible bounce-back effect.
The currently restricted testing-policy creates the risk that a large number of mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic cases will remain undetected even at the end of the lockdown period.
These cases could easily serve as the nucleus for the epidemic to bounce back.
The problem of reverse migration (from cities to suburban/rural areas) has also been highlighted. The exodus triggered by the lockdown will rapidly spread the virus to all parts of the country.
This can lead to both an epidemiological and a humanitarian crisis.
Instead of stopping the reverse migration, the forces should be used to stock up food-grains, ensure fast cash transfers for the food security and welfare of workers.
Scientists have offered their complete support to the people and possible expertise in combating this disease and in ensuring that the country emerges from this difficult period with as little loss of life as possible.

New Developments

Alternative Sealant

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a special sealant as an alternative to seam sealing tape which is critical in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The alternative sealant is based on the sealant used in submarine applications.
DRDO can mass produce this glue through the industry to support the seam sealing activity by suit manufacturers.

Bio Suit

DRDO has also developed a bio-suit to keep medical and other personnel safe from the virus.
Scientists developed it with the help of the industry at various DRDO laboratories by applying the technical know-how and expertise in textile, coating, and nanotechnology.
It has been subjected to rigorous testing for textile parameters as well as protection against synthetic blood.
The production of bio-suits was hampered due to the non-availability of seam sealing tapes but the development of the alternative sealant will boost its production now.

Handheld Infrared Temperature Sensor

Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, has designed and developed its own handheld InfraRed (IR) based temperature sensor for screening people at its entry gates.
The instrument has been manufactured through in-house resources at a cost of under ₹1000, a fraction of the cost of the temperature guns in the market.

Source: The Hindu

13) Impact of COVID-19 on Global Economy

Recently, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has observed that the economic uncertainty sparked by the COVID-19 will likely cost the global economy $1 trillion in 2020.
The observation is based on the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020 released by UNCTAD.

Key Observations

A slowdown in the global economy to under 2% for this year is envisaged which will probably cost in the order of $1 trillion.

Worst possible scenario: If the world economy grew at only 0.5% which would involve a $2 trillion hit to gross domestic product (GDP).
Best case scenario: With moderate declines in private consumption, investment and exports and offsetting increases in government spending, global growth would fall to 1.2% in 2020.

A global financial market is fluctuating due to the supply-chain interruptions from China and oil price uncertainty among major producers.

European economies had already been performing extremely badly towards the end of 2019.
Europe is almost certain to go into recession over the coming months.
The German economy is in a fragile state.
Italian economy and other parts of the European periphery are also facing very serious stresses right now.

Many parts of the Latin American region are also vulnerable.

Argentina, in particular, will be struggling as a consequence of the knock-on effects of this pandemic.

The least developed countries whose economies are driven by the sale of raw materials will also face hard consequences.
Heavily-indebted developing countries, particularly commodity exporters, face a particular threat due to the weaker export returns linked to a stronger US dollar.

The likelihood of a stronger dollar as investors seek safe-havens for their money and the almost certain rise in commodity prices as the global economy slows down means that commodity exporters are particularly vulnerable.

Suggestions

A series of dedicated policy responses and institutional reforms are needed to prevent a localized health scare from turning into a global economic meltdown.
Governments need to spend now to prevent more damaging meltdown in the coming times.
Chinese Government is likely to introduce significant expansionary measures – shorthand for increasing spending or tax cuts.
The US government is in an election year and it needs to do more than simply cutting taxes and reducing interest rates.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

It was established in 1964 to promote the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy.
UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body headquartered at Geneva in Switzerland.
Some of the reports published by it are:
Trade and Development Report
World Investment Report
The Least Developed Countries Report

Information and Economy Report
Technology and Innovation Report
Commodities and Development Report

Source: United Nations

14) How COVID-19 outbreak slipped through China’s system?

Nearly, 1 million are infected by COVID 19 across the world today. Though the spread initially started in December last year, until January 19, authorities in Wuhan maintained there was no proof of human-to-human transmission.
Studies suggest while China’s January 23 lockdown of 50 million people averted an additional 7,00,000 cases outside Wuhan, interventions one week and three weeks earlier may have brought down the number by 66% and 95%, respectively.

What led to the disaster?

Communication gap: Every province, city and even district in China has its own Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but these are subordinate to the health commission at every level so they do not directly report to the national level.
Encroachment on freedom of speech: Doctors were told that they could not speak about what was happening in Wuhan. This downplayed the severity of the situation.
Spread of infection: By the time the Wuhan province came under lockdown, as many as 5 million people had left.

Learning:

China finally came out in public on January 10 explaining the severing of the situation. Only it was too late for the world. If they had acted earlier, say by January 7, it may have been an entirely different equation. The most important lesson is there has to be more transparency and an open environment for sharing and discussion.

Source: The Hindu