Daily Current Affairs 11 May 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current  Affairs Of Today Are

Daily Current Affairs 11 May 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020 Daily News Teller


    1) MISSION SAGAR

    • As part of the Government of India outreach amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Naval Ship Kesari has departed for Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, and Comoros, to provide Food Items, COVID related Medicines including HCQ Tablets and Special Ayurvedic Medicines with Medical Assistance Teams embarked, on 10 May 20. This deployment as ‘Mission Sagar’, is in line with India’s role as the first responder in the region and builds on the excellent relations existing between these countries to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant difficulties.
    • The deployment aligns with the Prime Ministers' vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region ‘SAGAR’ and highlights the importance accorded by India to relations with her neighboring countries and further strengthens the existing bond. The operation is being progressed in close coordination with the Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, and other agencies of the Government of India.
    • As part of Mission Sagar, Indian Naval Ship Kesari would enter the Port of Male in the Republic of Maldives, to provide them 600 tons of food provisions. India and Maldives are close maritime neighbors with strong and extremely cordial defense and diplomatic relations.
    Source: PIB

    2) COVID KAVACH ELISA

    • Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test “COVID KAVACH ELISA” for antibody detection for COVID-19.
    • COVID19 pandemic has spread across 214 countries with a total of 38,55,788 confirmed cases and 2,65,862 deaths. Most countries in the world are struggling to contain the pandemic using possible interventions. There is an augmented demand for various types of diagnostic tests by countries all across the globe. Most of the diagnostic material for COVID19 is imported into India from other countries. Therefore, Indian scientists are tirelessly engaged in developing indigenous diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID19.
    • ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune is the apex laboratory of the country with state-of-art infrastructure and expertise for research in virology. NIV’s competent scientific team successfully isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus from laboratory-confirmed patients in India. This, in turn, has paved the way for the development of indigenous diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2. 
    • While real-time RT-PCR is the frontline test for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance to understand the proportion of the population exposed to infection.
    • The scientists at ICMR-NIV, Pune have enthusiastically worked to develop and validate the completely indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection for SARS-CoV-2. The test was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has been found to have high sensitivity and specificity. Also, the test will have the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours. Moreover, ELISA based testing is easily possible even at the district level as the ELISA kit has an inactivated virus. There are also minimal bio-safety and bio-security requirements as compared to the real-time RT-PCR test. The test has the advantage of having much higher sensitivity and specificity as compared to the several rapid test kits which have recently flooded the Indian market.
    Source: PIB

    3) National Technology Day.

    • A high-level digital conference on ‘Rebooting the Economy through Science, Technology and Research Translations titled RESTART’ will be organized by Technology Development Board (TDB) a statutory body of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Monday, May 11, 2020, to celebrate the National Technology Day.
    •  the COVID 19 crisis, technology has been at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic. As the world adjusts to its new normal, business leaders world over are rethinking and devising new strategies to harness technologies that would help drive resilience and make them emerge from the crisis stronger.
    • Keeping in mind the need of the hour to formulate a comprehensive action plan to reboot the economy, TDB is celebrating National Technology Day, focusing on technological solutions towards that end. These technologies would include, medical technologies, advanced technologies, and manufacturing that would prepare India for the post-Covid-19 time.
    • The conference will bring together Scientists, Technocrats, Government officials, Diplomats, WHO officials and dignitaries from national and international Industry, Research Institutions and Academic Institutions on a single platform to share their insights on the role played by S & T in the global healthcare crisis and find solutions that not only address the current pandemic but will also help us in facing the challenges ahead.
    • The conference will have technical sessions on ‘Medicines & Medical Technologies’; ‘Advanced Materials – New Technology Horizons’;‘Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Sustainable Future and Global Innovation’& Technology Alliance for Global Economic Leadership.
    • TDB, on behalf of the Ministry of Science & Technology, celebrates May 11 every year as National Technology Day to commemorate achievements of innovations and technological excellence in the country. The day has a historical perspective as it was on May 11, 1998, that India achieved a major technological breakthrough by successfully carrying out nuclear tests at Pokhran. Further, the first indigenous aircraft "Hansa-3" was test flown at Bangalore on this day; and India also performed successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. Since 1999, the day is being celebrated as National Technology Day.
    • The celebration of Technology Day symbolizes India’s quest for scientific inquiry, technological creativity & innovations, and the integration of these developments into national socio-economic benefits and global presence.
    • Apart from the digital conference, a virtual exposition has been planned along with companies whose technologies have been supported by TDB. Various organizations and companies will be showcasing their products in the exposition through a digital B2B lounge. People from across the world can visit the stalls at the conference.
    • The National Technology Day occupies a significant place in the technological innovations for India for it is the day India successfully tested nuclear bombs in Pokhran on May 11, 1998. The National Technology Day was named by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee on May 11 as a reminder of India's technological achievements.
    • On May 11, 1998, India successfully test-fired its Shakti-1 nuclear missile in an operation called Pokhran-II, also codenamed as Operation Shakti. The nuclear missile was tested at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. This was the second test which was conducted after Pokhran 1 codenamed Operation Smiling Buddha, in May 1974.
    • The National Technology Day celebrates major achievements which were considered a groundbreaking and important contribution of scientists and engineers in the field of science and technology. Here are five things you should know about this day.
    • The day is a significant milestone in the history of India’s technological innovations as India successfully tested nuclear bombs in Pokhran on May 11, 1998, and is commemorated every year by honoring the architects of such innovations.
    • The focus this year was ‘Commercialising Indigenous Technologies: Journey from Beachside to Business Programme’ and dignitaries suggested ways to take this forward. 
    • Every year the Technology Development Board of India (a statutory body) celebrates the day by awarding individuals with National Award for their contribution to science and technology in India. President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind emphasized the common attributes of the technologies awarded. “First, they offer solutions that are necessary for the Indian context and contribute to the social and economic needs of our people. Second, they achieve all this at competitive prices. Third, and this to my mind is the most critical, they don’t compromise on quality,” he said.
    • The day also commemorates the flight of Hansa-1, India's first-ever indigenous aircraft developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories.
    • Lastly, on this day, the DRDO - Defense Research and Development Organisation last test-fired the Trishul missile which is a surface-to-air, short-range missile, quick reaction.
    Source: PIB

    4) Sal forest tortoise habitat stretches over unprotected areas 

    A study by ecologists from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

    Details:

    Sal forest tortoise:

    • Habitat:
      • Also known as the elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), the Sal forest tortoise is widely distributed over eastern and northern India and Southeast Asia.
    • Threat:
      • Sal forest tortoise is heavily hunted for food. It is collected both for local use, such as decorative masks, and international wildlife trade.
      • Around 29% of the predicted distribution of the species falls within high occurrence fire zones or areas where there is management burning.
      • Sal forest tortoise in northeast India is exposed to the risk of jhum fire. Apart from the direct fatalities due to the forest fires, the fires also open up habitats, which increase the chance of people finding the tortoise easily.
      • Forest fires also decrease soil moisture levels which may disturb the forest floor ecosystem affecting the predominantly ground-based animals.
    • Conservation status:
      • Sal forest tortoise has been recently assessed as critically endangered.
      • According to the IUCN, the population of the species may have fallen by about 80% in the last three generations (90 years). Once widely distributed the Sal tortoise is now no longer common over its habitat.

    Concerns:

    • Threatened status:
      • 23 of the 29 species of freshwater turtle and tortoise species found in India come under the threatened category in the IUCN red list and are under severe existential threat due to human activities.
    • Faulty demarcation of protected areas:
      • The study by Wildlife Institute of India found that the areas designated as protected areas have only a small overlap with the actual habitat of the Sal forest tortoise.
        • Over 90% of the potential distribution of the Sal forest tortoise falls outside the current protected area network. In northeast India, the representation of the species in protected areas is least.
        • There is little to no connectivity among most of the protected areas where the species is present.
      • Protected areas are designated in a largely mammal-centric way. Many reptiles and amphibians which are equally threatened live outside protected areas where exploitation risk is more.

    Way forward:

    • Monitoring needed:
      • Given the fact that tortoises are equally threatened as the tigers, there is the need for regular monitoring of the species.
      • Given the scarce information available on Sal forest tortoise, enhanced monitoring will help increase the understanding of the species and aid conservation efforts.
    • Focused efforts:
      • In summer Sal forest tortoises select moist patches such as dry stream beds. Such areas should be protected from the spread of forest fire.
    • Transboundary collaboration:
      • Given that the species is found even in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, transboundary collaboration may aid the conservation efforts.
    • Additional information:
      • Transboundary conservation reserves for tigers:
      • Manas for the Indo-Bhutan region
      • Sundarban for the India-Bangladesh region.
      • The critically endangered brackish water turtle (Batagur Baska) is distributed in India and Bangladesh.
    Source: The Hindu

    5) Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Act

    The Environment Ministry has extended the deadline for receiving public comments on the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2020.

    Details:

    • The EIA Notification 2020 is to replace and supersede the 2006 notification.
    • The new EIA Notification proposes fundamental changes in the environmental regulatory regime in India.
    • Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Act is the law that governs how the threat posed by large infrastructure projects to the environment ought to be evaluated.
    • It is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural, and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.
    • EIA is basically a tool used to assess the positive and negative environmental, economic, and social impacts of a project. This is used to predict the environmental impacts of a project in the pre-planning stage itself so that decisions can be taken to reduce the adverse impacts.

    Objectives of Environmental Impact Assessment

    • Identifying, predicting, and evaluating economic, environmental, and social impacts of development activities.
    • Providing information on the environmental consequences for decision making.
    • Promoting environmentally sound and suitable development by identifying appropriate alternatives and mitigation measures.

    Importance of Environmental Impact Assessment

    • EIA is a good tool for prudent environment management.
    • It is government-policy that any industrial project in India has to secure EIA clearance from the Environment Ministry before approval for the project itself.

    Concerns:

    • There are some concerns regarding the new clauses in the draft notification.
      • Concept of post-facto clearance. This provision could lead to extensive damage to the ecology before it is evaluated.
      • A provision in the new notification states that violations could only be reported by the project developer himself and/or government authorities. Citizens or civil society cannot report any violations.
      • The construction sector accounts for a large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. New construction projects up to 1,50,000 sq.m do not need detailed scrutiny by an expert committee or EIA. This marks an increase from the earlier limit of 20,000 sq.m. This new provision would result in a large proportion of construction projects being out of the scope of EIA.
    • Some sections have questioned the urgency in passing a critical notification.

    Way forward:

    • The notification should be discussed in the Parliamentary standing committee and the Environment Minister should have an extensive consultation with environmental groups.
    Source: The Hindu

    6) Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD)

    The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), a think-tank under the Union Home Ministry has published guidelines to aid law enforcement agencies to identify fake news and videos.

    Background:

    • Digital news has led to an increased incidence of fake news or yellow journalism.
      • Fake news is published with the intent to damage an agency, entity, or a person and gain financially or politically and it often uses sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership.
    • Photos, audio recordings, and videos can be edited easily to mislead the recipient.
    • In the wake of the pandemic, fake news and videos have spread panic, increased hatred, and communal violence.
    • Miscreants have used fake URLs to mislead people who wanted to donate to the PM-CARES fund.

    Details:

    • Spotting fake news:
      • The guideline mentions several indicative signs that officials must look for to identify possible fake news.
      • The officers should read beyond “outrageous” headlines designed to attract clicks and read the whole article. A possible case of fake news could be when headlines, visuals, or captions do not support the content or when genuine contents or sources are impersonated with false or made-up sources.
      • A search on the author of the article would also enable insights into the veracity of the news.
      • The investigating officer must stay alert to clues such as language since such websites and links usually have spelling mistakes.
    • Cross-checking:
      • The officials should refer to trusted news sources to verify whether the story is being reported elsewhere. When a story is reported in multiple places, it is more likely to be true.
      • The manual also gives an indicative list of websites that could be accessed for fact-checking.
      • The guidelines ask police and other investigating agencies to use open domain tools for collecting more information on fake videos.
      • Given the fact that because the open domain tools and websites are hosted on foreign servers/cloud systems, BPRD has cautioned that the Investigating officer may consider the case sensitivity before resorting to these tools since there is the risk of data leakage that may influence or mislead an investigation.

    Conclusion:

    • The extensive spread of fake news has the potential to gravely impact individuals, as well as the society at large, and hence fake news detection in cyberspace is an important issue for law enforcement agencies.
    • The step-by-step procedure laid in the guidelines will assist Law enforcement agencies in spotting and systematically investigating fake news. It will also help in the effective prosecution of offenders involved in such mischievous acts.
    Source: The Hindu

    7) Locusts Appeared Early in Rajasthan

    • Recently, scientists at the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) observed groups of desert locusts at Sri Ganganagar and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan.
    • This has raised the alarm bell for the authorities as they caused huge damage to the growing rabi crops along with western Rajasthan and parts of northern Gujarat during December 2019-January, 2020.
    • The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is a short-horned grasshopper. These winged insects differ from normal hoppers.
    • The genesis of present desert locust upsurge lies in the Mekunu and Luban cyclonic storms that struck Oman and Yemen, respectively in 2018.
      • These storms turned large desert areas in remote parts of the southern Arabian Peninsula into lakes, which allowed the insects to breed undetected across multiple generations.

    Locust

    • A locust is a large, mainly tropical grasshopper with strong powers of flight. They differ from ordinary grasshoppers in their ability to change behavior (gregarize) and form swarms that can migrate over large distances.
      • Gregarization means the transformation of solitary insects etc. into a swarm due to rapid growth in population.
    • Locusts are generally seen during June and July as the insects are active from summer to the rainy season.
    • Locusts have a high capacity to multiply, form groups, migrate over relatively large distances (they can fly up to 150 km per day), and, if good rains fall and ecological conditions become favorable, rapidly reproduce and increase some 20-fold in three months.
    • The threat to Vegetation: Locust adults can eat their own weight every day, i.e. about two grams of fresh vegetation per day. A very small swarm eats as much in one day as about 35,000 people, posing a devastating threat to crops and food security.
    • If infestations are not detected and controlled, devastating plagues can develop that often take several years and hundreds of millions of dollars to bring under control with severe consequences on food security and livelihoods.
    • Locust Control measures include destroying egg masses laid by invading swarms, digging trenches to trap nymphs, using hopperdozers (wheeled screens that cause locusts to fall into troughs containing water and kerosene), using insecticidal baits, and applying insecticides to both swarms and breeding grounds from aircraft.
      • Organophosphate insecticides such as Malathion are effective against locusts.
    • The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) provides information on the general locust situation to the global community and gives timely warnings and forecasts to those countries in danger of invasion.
      • The FAO raised alarm over the locust outbreak in northeast Africa and Saudi Arabia in February 2019.

    Locusts in India

    • Four species viz. Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), Bombay Locust ( Nomadacris succinct), and Tree locust (Anacridium sp.) are found in India.
    • The existing series of locust swarms that have entered India via Pakistan had originated in Iran. Movement of locusts is facilitated by summer dusty winds, which flow from the Arabian Sea, taking along these creatures from Sindh in Pakistan to western Rajasthan.
    • The last major locust outbreak that was reported in Rajasthan was in 1993.
    • Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is responsible for monitoring, survey, and control of Desert Locust in Scheduled Desert Areas mainly in the States of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
    Source: Indian Express

    8) Helicopter Money

    Recently, the Telangana Chief Minister suggested that the helicopter money can help states to come out of the economic chaos created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Key Points

    • Helicopter money:
      • It is an unconventional monetary policy tool, which involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public, to stimulate the economy during a recession (decline in general economic activity) or when interest rates fall to zero.
      • Under such a policy, a central bank "directly increases the money supply and, via the government, distributes the new cash to the population to boost demand and inflation.".
      • The term was coined by American economist Milton Friedman. It basically denotes a helicopter dropping money from the sky.
    • Difference between helicopter money and quantitative easing:
      • Helicopter money should not be confused with quantitative easing, because both aim to boost consumer spending and increase inflation.
      • In the case of helicopter money, the currency is distributed to the public and there is no repayment liability.
      • Whereas in the case of quantitative easing, it involves the use of printed money by central banks to buy government bonds. Here the government has to pay back for the assets that the central bank buys.
    • Benefits of helicopter money:
      • It does not rely on increased borrowing to fuel the economy, which means that it doesn’t create more debt.
      • It boosts spending and economic growth more effectively than quantitative easing because it increases aggregate demand – the demand for goods and services – immediately.
      • Issues with helicopter money:
      • It does not involve repayment liability, therefore many people argue that it’s not a feasible solution to revive the economy.
      • It may lead to over-inflation.
      • It may devalue the currency in the foreign exchange market.
    Source: The Hindu

    9) National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research and Covid-19

    National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa has contributed to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic through significant analytical work in the different laboratories for research work.
    • It also actively participated in the various webinars and sessions organized by the Ministry of Earth Sciences during the lockdown.

    National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research

    • National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) was established as an autonomous Research and Development Institution of the Ministry of Earth Sciences in 1998.
      • It is located in Goa.
    • It is the nodal agency for planning, promotion, coordination, and execution of the entire gamut of polar and southern ocean scientific research in the country as well as for the associated logistics activities.
    • Its responsibilities include:
      • Management and upkeep of the Indian Antarctic Research Bases “Maitri” and “Bharati”, and the Indian Arctic base “Himadri”.
      • Management of the Ministry’s research vessel ORV Sagar Kanya as well as the other research vessels chartered by the Ministry.
      • Scientific research activities being undertaken by several national institutions and organizations in Antarctica, the Arctic, and in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean.
      • Geoscientific surveys of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and its extended continental shelf beyond 200m, deep-sea drilling in the Arabian Sea basin through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), exploration for ocean non-living resources such as gas hydrates and multi-metal sulfides in mid-ocean ridges.
        • IODP is an international marine research collaboration that explores Earth's history and dynamics using ocean-going research platforms to recover data recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks and to monitor subseafloor environments.
    Source: PIB

    10) Abolition of Posts in MES

    Recently, the Defence Minister of India has approved a proposal for the abolition of several posts in the Military Engineering Service (MES).
    This move is in line with the recommendations of the Lt. Gen. D.B. Shekatkar (Retd.) Committee.
    MES is the infrastructure development agency for the armed forces and defense establishments.

    Key Points

    • Optimum Utilisation of Resources: This step of the abolition of around 9000 posts of basic and industrial staff will lead to significant savings.
      • Almost 70% of the budget is used for payment of salaries and allowances and leaves very little money for actual infrastructural development.
    • Restructuring of the Workforce: The committee also recommended to restructure the civilian workforce in a manner that the work of the MES could be partly done by departmentally employed staff and other works could be outsourced.
    • Efficient & Lean Workforce: Its goal is to make the MES an effective organization with a leaner workforce, well equipped to handle complex issues efficiently and cost-effectively.
    • Projected Savings: The recommendations can save up to ₹25,000 crores in defense expenditure if implemented over the next five years.
      • According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India was among the top three top military spenders in the world in 2019 after the US and China.

    Shekatkar Committee

    • It was an 11-member committee, appointed by the erstwhile Defence Minister in mid-2016.
    • It was headed by Lt. Gen. D.B. Shekatkar (Retd).
    • It had the mandate to suggest measures to enhance combat capability and rebalance defense expenditure of the armed forces.
    • It submitted its report in December 2016.
    • Recommendations:
      • It made about 99 recommendations from optimizing defense budget to the need for a Chief of the Defence Staff.
        • Of these, the first batch of 65 recommendations about the Army was approved in August 2017.
      • It recommended that India’s defense budget should be in the range of 2.5-3% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), given current and future threats.
      • It had also suggested the establishment of a Joint Services War College for the training of middle-level officers, with three separate war colleges at Mhow (Madhya Pradesh), Secunderabad (Telangana), and Goa, focusing on training younger officers.
      • The committee had also mooted for the Military Intelligence School at Pune to be converted to a tri-service intelligence training establishment.
      • The recommendations on the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff post and a Department of Military Affairs have been already implemented.
      • Restructuring of Army headquarters
        • The Army headquarters had instituted 4 studies with an overall aim to enhance the operational and functional efficiency of the force, optimize budget expenditure, facilitate modernization, and address aspirations.
        • These studies are Re-organisation and right-sizing of the Indian Army, Re-organisation of the Army Headquarters, Cadre review of officers, and review of terms of engagement of rank and file.
      • Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) Model
        • In the model, the assets owned by the government are operated by the private industries.
        • The main advantage of the model is that it is efficient and will boost competitiveness among private entities.
      • Closure of Military Farms and Army Postal Establishments in peace locations.
      • Other recommendations that have been implemented include optimization of signals establishments, restructuring of repair units, redeployment of ordnance echelons, better utilization of supply and transportation units and animal transport entities, etc.
    Source: The Hindu

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