Daily Current Affairs 6 April 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Ayushman Bharat

The Central government has decided to provide free testing and treatment of COVID-19 under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. This, it notes, will help more than 50 crores Ayushman beneficiaries to get free testing and treatment in designated private hospitals across India
The impaneled hospitals can use their own authorized testing facilities or tie-up with an authorized testing facility for the scheme. These tests would be carried out as per the protocol set by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and by private labs approved/registered by the ICMR. Similarly, treatment of COVID-19 by private hospitals will be covered under AB-PMJAY
The objective of the decision was to increase the supply of testing and treatment facilities and increase access by roping in the private sector through AB-PMJAY scheme as per the ICMR guidelines

Ayushman Bharat Yojana

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is a flagship scheme of the Indian government's National Health Policy which aims to provide free health coverage at the secondary and tertiary level to its bottom 40% poor and vulnerable population. PM-JAY is the world's largest and fully state-sponsored health assurance scheme which covers a population of the combined size of the USA, Mexico, and Canada. It was launched in September 2018, under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India.

Key Features

PM-JAY is a health assurance scheme that covers 10.74 crores households across India or approx 50 cr Indians.
It provides a cover of 5 lakh per family per year for medical treatment in impaneled hospitals, both public and private.
It provides cashless and paperless service to its beneficiaries at the point of service, i.e the hospital.
E-cards are provided to the eligible beneficiaries based on the deprivation and occupational criteria of the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011).
There is no restriction on family size, age or gender.
All previous medical conditions are covered under the scheme.
It covers 3 days of hospitalization and 15 days of post-hospitalization, including diagnostic care and expenses on medicines.
The scheme is portable and a beneficiary can avail medical treatment at any PM-JAY impaneled hospital outside their state and anywhere in the country

Challenges

The scheme has faced some challenges in its year and a half journey, mainly that of fraudulent medical bills.
There have been media reports of misuse of the Ayushman Bharat scheme by unscrupulous private hospitals through the submission of fake medical bills. Under the Scheme, surgeries have been claimed to be performed on persons who had been discharged long ago and dialysis has been shown as performed at hospitals not having kidney transplant facility.[9] There are at least 697 fake cases in Uttarakhand State alone, where fine of Rs one crore has been imposed on hospitals for frauds under the Scheme. However, unlike the earlier RSBY (Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana) era, plagued by lax monitoring of insurance fraud, AB-PMJAY involves a robust information technology infrastructure overseeing transactions and locating suspicious surges across the country. Many hospitals have been blacklisted and the constantly evolving fraud-control system will play a major role in streamlining the scheme as it matures.[citation needed] Initial analysis of high-value claims under PMJAY has revealed that a relatively small number of districts and hospitals account for a high number of these, and some hint of an anti-women bias, with male patients getting more coverage. Despite all efforts to curb foul-play, the risk of unscrupulous private entities profiteering from gaming the system is clearly present in AB-PMJAY.

Source: The Hindu

2) ICMR issues rule book on ‘large outbreaks’

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) public guidelines to manage a large outbreak and guidelines on the use of rapid antibody test kits.

Background:

The Health Ministry has stated that 30% (about 1,000 positive cases spread across 17 States) of India’s total case count is attributable to one event, the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi.
Hence India’s official position is that there is no evidence of community transmission in the country.

Details:

The plan for large outbreaks specifies:

Active surveillance for cases and contacts in the identified geographic zone
Expansion of laboratory capacity for testing of all suspect cases of high-risk contacts and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness cases
Operationalizing surge capacities created for isolation (COVID-19 hospitals/COVID-19 dedicated blocks) to hospitalize and manage all suspect/confirmed cases
Implementing physical distancing measures with strict perimeter control
Providing chemoprophylaxis with hydroxy-chloroquine to all asymptomatic healthcare workers and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases.

Given the increasing need for more testing and the fact that hundreds of antibody kit manufacturers have been approved in India to offer tests, ICMR has also issued detailed guidelines on the use of rapid antibody testing kits.

Antibody testing kits:

The real-time RT-PCR kits are used to detect an ongoing infection. Unlike RT-PCR kits, the antibody testing kits can indicate if a person has ever been infected by the virus and gives authorities an estimate of whether there are asymptomatic carriers of the infection in a community.
The antibody testing kits can give results within 15 minutes to two hours.
However, testing negative via an antibody kit doesn’t automatically rule out infection and needs to be supplemented by a PCR test.

Significance:

Though the number of cases and the pattern seem to indicate that the virus spread is under control, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has issued public guidelines for the management of a large outbreak as a precautionary measure.
Knowing the proportion of asymptomatic carriers to positive cases gives an insight into the infectivity of the disease, transmission patterns and helps prepare for the long-term management of the epidemic.

Source: The Hindu

3) National Security Act

The Uttar Pradesh government has said that six persons associated with the Tablighi Jamaat who have been accused of misbehaving with women staff at the district hospital in Ghaziabad will be charged under the National Security Act (NSA).

About National Security Act, 1980:

It allows preventive detention for months if authorities are satisfied that a person is a threat to national security or law and order.
The person does not need to be charged during this period of detention.
The goal is to prevent the individual from committing a crime.
It was promulgated on September 23, 1980, during the Indira Gandhi government.

As per the National Security Act, the grounds for preventive detention of a person include:

acting in any manner prejudicial to the defense of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India.
regulating the continued presence of any foreigner in India or to make arrangements for his expulsion from India.
preventing them from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order or from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community it is necessary so to do.

What the Constitution says?

Article 22 (3) (b) of the Constitution allows for preventive detention and restriction on personal liberty for reasons of state security and public order.
Article 22(4) states that no law providing for preventive detention shall authorize the detention of a person for a longer period than three months unless: An Advisory Board reports sufficient cause for extended detention.
The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 has reduced the period of detention without obtaining the opinion of an advisory board from three to two months. However, this provision has not yet been brought into force, hence, the original period of three months still continues.

Duration:

Under the National Security Act, an individual can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months; the state government needs to be intimated that a person has been detained under the NSA.
A person detained under the National Security Act can be held for 10 days without being told the charges against them.
Appeal: The detained person can appeal before a high court advisory board but they are not allowed a lawyer during the trial.

Criticisms:

The NSA has repeatedly come under criticism for the way it is used by the police. As per a Law Commission report from 2001, more than 14 lakh people (14,57,779) were held under preventive laws in India.

How Is It Draconian?

Typically, if a person is arrested, then he/she enjoy certain rights bestowed by the Indian Constitution. The person has to be informed of the reason for the arrest. Under Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the person arrested has to be informed.
However, in the case of the NSA, the person can be held up to ten days without being informed of the reason.
Sections 56 and 76 of the same penal code guarantee the detained person to be produced before a court within 24 hours. Apart from this, Article 22(1) of the Constitution allows the detainee to seek legal advice from a legal practitioner. However, under the NSA, none of these above mentioned basic rights is permitted to the suspect.

Source: The Hindu

4) Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination

According to US-based research, a combination of reduced morbidity and mortality could make the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination a “game-changer” in the fight against novel coronavirus.

What is BCG Vaccine?

Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB).
In countries where TB or leprosy is common, one dose is recommended in healthy babies as close to the time of birth as possible.
In areas where tuberculosis is not common, only children at high risk are typically immunized, while suspected cases of tuberculosis are individually tested for and treated.

How can TB vaccine help fight COVID-19?

The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of tuberculosis bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack TB bacteria.
This is called an adaptive immune response, because the body develops a defense against a specific disease-causing microorganism, or pathogen, after encountering it.
Most vaccines create an adaptive immune response to a single pathogen.
Unlike other vaccines, the BCG vaccine may also boost the innate immune system, first-line defenses that keep a variety of pathogens from entering the body or from establishing an infection.

But, what’s the concern now?

Doctors and scientists in India have expressed caution on this study, which argues that countries that have deployed the BCG-tuberculosis vaccine in their immunization programs have seen fewer deaths from COVID-19.
They say, it is premature for India, which has had a consistent TB vaccination policy since 1968, to take comfort from the study.

Source: Down To Earth

5) Lights-off event

The Power Ministry’s clarification that the mass switching off of electric lights will not harm India’s power grid.

Background:

There are apprehensions that the lights-off event can lead to disruptions in the power supply.
There are concerns that the sudden dip and spike in supply may cause instability in the grid and fluctuation in voltage and current frequency which may harm the electrical appliances.

Details:

The power ministry assuaging fears has stated that the electricity grid is robust and stable and adequate arrangements and protocols were in place to handle the variation in demand.
Electricity authorities after having studied the power consumption patterns across India have come up with a plan to handle the expected dip and surge in consumption.
Power System Operation Corporation (Posoco) Ltd, a public sector company in charge of managing the grid load, has stated that it expects a dip and surge of the order of 12 to 14 gigawatts, which is roughly 10% of electricity consumed at any given point in time in India.

Power plant characteristics:

Different types of power plants have different abilities to handle a sudden increase or decrease in load. The control we have on these plants varies.
Unlike, coal-fired plants and nuclear plants, where it is hard to suddenly reduce or increase their power generation, hydro plants and gas-fired plants are capable of catering to fast-changing loads more effectively.

Measures being taken:

Based on the inherent characteristics of different power plants, Power System Operation Corporation (Posoco) Limited has come up with a strategy to use hydro and gas resources to help the grid retain its stability.

Source: The Hindu

6) The potential impact of COVID-19 on the Indian economy.

PMG’s report titled Potential impact of COVID-19 on the Indian economy.

Background:

India’s real GDP decelerated to its lowest in over six years in the third quarter of 2019-2020, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 poses fresh challenges.

Details:

The steps taken to contain the spread of coronavirus, such as the nationwide restrictions for 21 days have brought economic activity to a standstill and could impact both private consumption and investment.
Though Indian businesses remain largely insulated from the global supply chain disruption caused by the outbreak due to relatively lower reliance on intermediate imports, their exports to COVID-19 infected nations could take a hit.
According to KPMG’s report India’s private consumption, investment and external trade, the three major contributors to GDP will get affected.

Source: The Hindu

7) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

India seeks $6 billion loans from AIIB, ADB to combat COVID-19.
The central government is in talks with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and ADB to secure these loans to further the testing and infrastructure facilities in the country.

Background:

India has already secured $1 billion funding from the World Bank to better its health sector for fighting against the coronavirus pandemic according to previous reports. The World Bank has approved a fast-track $1 billion “India COVID Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project” to help India prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic and better its public health preparedness. It was the largest ever healthcare sector support from the World Bank.

What is AIIB?

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.
It is headquartered in Beijing.
It commenced operations in January 2016.
By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors today, it aims to connect people, services, and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.

Various organs of AIIB:

Board of Governors: The Board of Governors consists of one Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country. Governors and Alternate Governors serve at the pleasure of the appointing member.
Board of Directors: Non-resident Board of Directors is responsible for the direction of the Bank’s general operations, exercising all powers delegated to it by the Board of Governors. This includes approving the Bank’s strategy, annual plan, and budget; establishing policies; taking decisions concerning Bank operations, and supervising management and operation of the Bank and establishing an oversight mechanism.
International Advisory Panel: The Bank has established an International Advisory Panel (IAP) to support the President and Senior Management on the Bank’s strategies and policies as well as on general operational issues. The Panel meets in tandem with the Bank’s Annual Meeting, or as requested by the President. The President selects and appoints members of the IAP to two-year terms. Panelists receive a small honorarium and do not receive a salary. The Bank pays the costs associated with Panel meetings.

Significance of AIIB:

The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having the potential for “scaling up financing for sustainable development” for the concern of global economic governance. The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank.

Source: The Hindu

8) Round-tripping

In a major relief for New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV), the Supreme Court has quashed an income tax reassessment notice issued by revenue authorities against the premier news broadcasting company.

What’s the issue?

The income tax department had accused NDTV of “round-tripping” finances in connection with a July 2007 issuance of step-up coupon bonds amounting to $100 million through its U.K. subsidiary.

What is round-tripping?

Round tripping refers to money that leaves the country through various channels and makes its way back into the country often as foreign investment. This mostly involves black money and is allegedly often used for stock price manipulation.
Round tripping is often done through a series of transactions that don’t have any substantial commercial purposes, which makes it fall within the trappings of GAAR.

How does the money return to India?

It could be invested in offshore funds that in turn invest in Indian assets. The Global Depository Receipts (GDR) and Participatory Notes (P-Notes) are some of the other routes that have been used in the past.

Why round-tripping happens?

Several observed factors promote round-tripping. Mainly, Tax concessions allowed in the foreign country encourages individuals to park money there and then reroute it.

Source: The Hindu

9) Southern Naval Command Designs Training Capsule for Non-Medical Personnel

The COVID core working group of Southern Naval Command has prepared a Training Capsule for Battle Field Nursing Assistant (BFNA) to train nonmedical personnel who will work as force multipliers in times of emergencies.
The core team consisting of Command Medical Officer, Commanding Officers of INS Venduruthy & INHS Sanjivani and Command Training Officer have used the BFNA concept and developed a small capsule.
Basic concepts of Hand Hygiene, donning and doffing of PPE, the concept of Biomedical waste management and carriage of casualty have been covered simply for the non-medical personnel. Simple strategies for infection prevention have also been dealt with in this course.
The training is actively being carried out at all units of Southern Naval Command as an attempt to train non-medical personnel who will work as force multipliers in times of emergencies. A total number of 333 personnel have been trained to date in Southern Naval Command.

10) Privacy Concern Over Aarogya Setu App

Recently, legal experts raised concerns over the privacy policy of the Aarogya Setu app, launched by the government, to allow people to assess if they are at risk of contracting COVID-19.
They are of the view that there is a need for clarity on how the data collected by the app be stored and used by the government.

Aarogya Setu App

Aarogya Setu app has been launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
It will help people in identifying the risk of getting affected by the CoronaVirus.
It will calculate risk based on the user's interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
Once installed on a smartphone, the app detects other nearby devices with Aarogya Setu installed.
The App will help the Government take necessary timely steps for assessing the risk of the spread of COVID-19 infection and ensuring isolation where required.

Key Issues

The key issue is there is not enough information available on what data will be collected, how long will it be stored and what uses it will be put to.
No specification on the issue of how the government will use data if the data gets shared with the government of India.
On the data retention part, the app’s privacy policy specifies only the data available on the app and does not specify for how long the Government of India will retain server-side data.
Additionally, there was also a question of proportionality with the app and whether it will be as effective as envisaged in containing the COVID-19 outbreak.

India’s situation is different from countries like Singapore, where a good number of people have smartphones.
In India compared to its population, smartphone users are very less which means very few people will be able to download the app.

Way Forward

The app privacy policy needs detailed clarification on data collection, its storage, and uses.
The Government of India must specify how it will deal with the app’s data and how long it will retain the server-side data.
According to the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy judgment (2017), the right to privacy is a fundamental right and it is necessary to protect personal data as an essential facet of informational privacy.

Source: Indian Express

11) Amendments to the J&K Order

The Ministry of Home Affairs has amended the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order-2020.
The Order was issued by the Ministry on 31st March 2020.

Key Amendments

Protection to domiciles to “any post” in the government including senior-level positions in Group A and Group B category. This reserves all jobs in the Union Territory for only its domiciles.

Earlier the protection to domiciles was provided only in Group D and entry-level non-gazetted government posts. This opened all other government posts to anyone from the rest of the country.

The amended order also removed the clause that any person fulfilling the criteria of domicile eligibility will “deemed to be” a domicile. The power to issue domicile certificates has been given to “tahsildar”.

Criteria for Domiciles in J&K

Someone who has resided for 15 years in the UT of J&K, or
Someone who has studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in the UT of J&K, or
Someone who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants).
Children of Central government officials, All India Services, PSUs, autonomous body of Centre, Public Sector Banks, officials of statutory bodies, Central Universities, recognized research institutes of Centre who shall have served in J&K.
Children of such residents of J&K who reside outside J&K in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons but their parents fulfill any of the conditions provided.

Source: The Hindu

12) Harvesting Season & COVID-19 Lockdown

COVID-19 lockdown has suspended the supply chain of India’s rice exports as well as badly impacted lakhs of Odisha’s tribals by hampering the sale of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) being collected during March-June.

Key Points

Sale of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Hampered

COVID-19 lockdown has coincided with the harvesting season of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP). This has made the sale of NTFP impossible.

Forest products are seasonal in nature and the tribals earn their major incomes (60%-80%) from March to June.
The hard cash earned during these months is critical for their sustenance during the monsoon season when employments dry up.

Major NTFPs collected during the summer season include Wild honey, tamarind, mango, tendu leaves, sal leaves, sal seeds, mahua seeds, neem seeds, karanji (Pongamia) seeds, mahua flowers and tejpatta (bay leaf).
As per a conservative estimate, Odisha’s NTFP market pegs at ₹5000 crores.

Suggestions

The Odisha government should immediately establish and ensure collection centers function under the Van Dhan Vikash Kendra scheme.

The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras aims to boost the economic development of tribals involved in the collection of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and provide a sustainable MFP-based livelihood in MFP-rich districts.

Tribal Development Co-operative Corporation of Odisha, which facilitates the marketing of tribal products, must also intervene.

Rice exports suspended on supply chain disruption: Indian traders have stopped offering quotes to overseas buyers as they are not sure when they would be able to ship their cargoes.

Shipments have stalled as transport has become very difficult because of the lockdown.
About 400,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice and 100,000 tonnes of basmati rice, meant for March-April delivery, are either stuck at ports or in the pipeline due to the lockdown.
India's export volumes have fallen by four to five times.
The halt in Indian rice exports has allowed rival countries such as Thailand to raise shipments in the short term.
India mainly exports non-basmati rice to Bangladesh, Nepal, Benin and Senegal, and premium basmati rice to Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

Labour issue

A severe shortage of labor, triggered by a 21-day lockdown to deal with coronavirus pandemic, will impact harvesting of winter crops of India.

The northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh rely on farm laborers from eastern India for harvesting.
Most of the laborers returned home to their villages after the 21-day lockdown that began on March 25, fearing the virus and facing wage disruptions.

Farmers worry that the unprecedented labor shortage will make it tougher to get mechanical harvesters to fields or even pluck by hand crops.
Late harvests mean lower yields, reduced returns, and a smaller window to plant next season's crops.
Farmers' next problem is the struggle of taking produce to market, with few trucks available to carry large volumes.

Most farmers sell produce only at wholesale markets which, in turn, depend on armies of laborers to unload, weigh and pack vast amounts of grain.

This could also delay farmers' payments for produce.

Source: The Hindu