Daily Current Affairs 7 May 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Study of flowering plant endemism of Northern Western Ghats highlights the importance of plateaus in conservation plans

• Scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology have come up with plant data of the Northern Western Ghats which indicates that plateaus, in addition to the forests, should be prioritized for the conservation of the Northern Western Ghats.
• It is the plateaus and the cliffs that harbor most of the endemic species, thus increasing their importance in conservation plans.

  

  Abutilon ranadei, a Critically Endangered endemic species from the northern Western Ghats

  
  
• ARI team led by Dr. Mandar Datar and Dr. Ritesh Kumar Choudhary has published a paper in the international journal Phytotaxa after thoroughly investigating the Northern Western Ghats to produce an updated checklist of 181 local endemic plant species, including four monospecific genera.
• They have found that a majority of the endemic species are therophytes, which complete their life cycle in a short period during monsoon.
• The Western Ghats of India is one of the global biodiversity hotspots owing to the endemism that is sheltered by a chain of mountains. The northern part of this biodiversity hotspot, along with the Konkan region, is considerably different from its southern and central counterparts on account of lesser precipitation and extended dry season.
• A notable geographical feature of the Northern Western Ghats is the presence of plateaus and cliffs that display maximum endemic species, unlike forests. Forests of the Northern Western Ghats harbor many species which are not endemic.
• Although the Northern Western Ghats region has been floristically surveyed well, the local endemism of the flowering plants in the area is not much explored. Scientists have various estimates about the species that are endemic to the region, and the understanding of habitats, seasons, and plant distribution is limited.
• The study conducted by the ARI team suggested that the Northern Western Ghats is the region of rapid diversification of specific herbaceous endemic genera like Ceropegia, Glyphochloa, Dipcadi, and Eriocaulon.
• Dr. Mandar Datar stated, "To project the Northern Western Ghats prominently on the world vegetation map, it is absolutely necessary to complete the IUCN threat status assessment on priority, which is underrepresented for the region."
• The team firmly believes that the published data can be used as a proxy for conservation planning and effective protection measures of the Northern Western Ghats. 

Source: PIB

2) DST INSPIRE Faculty develops nanomaterials having energy storage application & optical sensors for water pollution control

• A recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty Award instituted by the Department of Science & Technology(DST), Govt. of India. Dr. Ashish Kumar Mishra, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, along with his group, has made significant achievements in developing nanomaterials based supercapacitors to achieve high energy density and power density of supercapacitors.
• Increasing energy demand due to the growth of the human population and technological advancement poses a great challenge for human society. The high energy density of supercapacitors suggests that constant current can be withdrawn for longer duration without recharging. Hence automobiles can run longer distances without charging. Supercapacitors can be an alternative for such purposes.
• Dr. Mishra and his research group at IIT (BHU) have developed a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) at a moderate temperature of 100°C with high capacitance performance. The production process is a cost-effective one, making it suitable for commercial purposes. This work has been published in Materials Research Express.
• The group which works on carbon (Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene) and metal dichalcogenides (MoS2, MoSe2, etc.) nanomaterials based supercapacitors to achieve high energy density and power density of supercapacitors, have also developed a novel green approach for the synthesis of Iron-based nanocatalyst, which can be used for large scale production of Cabon Nanotubes.
• In addition to energy storage, Dr. Mishra’s group is also working on optoelectronic applications of nanomaterials. In this context, they are working on developing novel nanostructures of carbon and metal dichalcogenides semiconductors for photodetection and Surface-Enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Through this work, they have demonstrated excellent photodetection behavior of different architectures of nanoscale MoS2 for the detection of visible light. The high photoresponsivity obtained in this work can be useful to develop ultrafast detectors for signaling purposes. The work has been published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
• The SERS can help detect harmful molecules present in water at ultra-low concentrations. His group has successfully demonstrated the detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G), an organic laser dye up to the lowest limit of sub-nano-molar concentration using rGO and MoS2 nanomaterials. This work has been published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C. They have also examined the nonlinear optical response of the material developed, which suggests that some of these materials can be used to develop protectors for high power light sources like lasers.
• Their focus on energy and optoelectronics devices paves the way for the development of cost-effective and efficient devices, which can be used for energy storage applications. Their findings make way for materials that can be used as advanced photodetectors and also be used as optical sensors for water pollution control.

Source: PIB

3) ‘Darbar Move’ 

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has asked the Centre and the Union Territory (UT) administration to take a final call on the continuation of the 148-year-old practice of shifting capitals annually between Srinagar and Jammu, which burdens the exchequer.

Details:

• The court observed that the Darbar Move results in wastage of a tremendous amount of time, efforts, and energy on inefficient and unnecessary activity. It is taxing for security forces too.
• Over 10,000 employees shift capital annually.
• Hundreds of trucks are usually plied to carry furniture, office files, computers, and other records to the capital.
• Evaluating the cost incurred by the Darbar Move on the exchequer, the court noted that if the practice was rationalized, the amount of money, resources, and time that could be saved, could be utilized towards the development of the Union Territory, which has otherwise witnessed much turmoil.
• Over the years, there have been voices raised against the century-old practice which involves heavy funding towards ensuring the smooth conduct of the move.
• However, the regional parties advocate the continuation of the practice to help in the emotional integration between two diverse regions of J&K.

Darbar Move:

• It is a bi-annual movement of the ‘darbar’ between Jammu and Srinagar.

• It is the name given to the bi-annual shift of the secretariat and all other government offices of Jammu and Kashmir from one capital city to another.
• From May to October, governmental offices are housed in the state’s summer capital, Srinagar, and the other six months in its winter capital, Jammu.
• The practice was introduced in 1872 by a Dogra monarch to escape the harsh winters of the Kashmir Valley.

Source: The Hindu

4) Iran to get a new currency

The Iranian Parliament has authorized the replacement of the rial with another basic unit of currency called the toman.

Background:

• For many years, Iran’s government debated changing the national currency, the rial, by slashing four zeros off its face value.
• It is an acknowledgment of how American sanctions and economic mismanagement have contributed to inflation in the country.
• Since 2018, when the Trump administration repudiated the nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions on Iran, the value of Iran’s currency has fallen by roughly 60%.
• The COVID-19 pandemic, that turned Iran into a regional epicenter of the disease, appears to have played a decisive role, contributing to a further devaluation of the rial since February 2020.

Details:

• Each toman will be worth 10,000 rials under the new system.
• This decision has been taken in a move to simplify the transactions.
• Slashing the extra zeros would vastly simplify financial calculations in Iran by eliminating the need for Iranian shoppers to carry loads of rials to make purchases.
• The change is the outcome of a draft bill presented in early 2019 by the Governor of Iran’s central bank.
• It is worth noting that the currency has been devalued 3,500 times since 1971 and that Iran had no choice but to save the face of its national currency.
• The Guardian Council, a body of conservative clerics that supervises Parliament, is expected to ratify the law, and then the central bank will have two years to implement the change — removing rials from circulation and issuing tomans instead.

Criticisms:

• Opponents argued that the plan was an added expense at a time when the government was already facing a budget deficit of between 30-50% for the coming fiscal year.
• The effect of the currency change, the critics opine, amounted to just cosmetic window dressing.
• Fereydoun Khavand, an Iranian economist in Paris, said governments typically arrived at changing the national currency as the last stage of an economic overhaul like European countries had done after the Second World War or Turkey in recent years.
• Iran has done the opposite, partly because of the crippling effect of U.S. sanctions, which have severely limited the country’s ability to sell oil or to conduct international financial transactions.
• Under these circumstances, he said, other basic economic changes the Iranian government may want to undertake are difficult.
• It is opined that the Iranian government is in a financial bind with no prospect of financial aid coming from the outside or from inside, so they are trying this.

Source: The Hindu

5)  ‘Copycat’ groups come to the fore

The Delhi police have cracked down on the ‘Bois Locker Room’, an Instagram page where teenage boys were allegedly discussing gang rape of minor girls.

Details:

• The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) had issued notices to Instagram and the Delhi Police.
• About 10 members of the group have been identified and are being dealt with as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.
• The police have registered a case under Sections 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC and Sections 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and 67A (publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.

Issues:

Rumour mongering:

• One of the fallouts of the matter was the rumor-mongering that started either to take focus away from the core issue or to malign others similarly with fabricated evidence.

Copycat groups:

• Cyber experts have observed scores of Copycat groups with similar names or themes that were formed within hours of the matter becoming public knowledge.
• Cyber experts said the copycat groups were trying to capitalize on the dubious fame and gain followers.
• The pages have been created with the obvious intent to cash in on the attention and gain followers.

Lack of clarity in-laws:

• There are no clear laws for many of the instances that are coming to light.
• For example, there are so many instances of body shaming but no laws that deal with cyberbullying.
• Effect on Free Speech:
• While it is argued that the firms (here, Instagram) are liable if platforms are misused, punitive action could have a ‘chilling effect on free speech’.
• Without an actual crime being committed, it will be tough for platforms to provide user data to law enforcement.
• This could also lead to grave harm when it comes to conversations around politics or other thorny issues that often happen in chat groups online.

Source: The Hindu

6) Co-operative Banks Under Sarfaesi Act

Recently, the Supreme Court held that Co-operative banks established under State law and multi-State level co-operative societies come within the ambit of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (Sarfaesi) Act of 2002.

Key Points

• Conflicting decisions by high courts: The judgment came given several conflicting decisions by high courts on the issues of
• Whether the Co-operative banks can be called ‘Banks (financial Institution)’ under the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 or,
• Whether the Parliament has legislative competence to regulate financial assets of cooperative banks formed under state law.
• The argument was that under Lists I and II of the 7th Schedule, the Constitution provides for distinct fields of legislative entries for the state legislature and Parliament and once there is already a valid law made by the state referring to its own field, there should not be a parallel parliamentary law on the same topic.
• Supreme Court verdict:
• Upholding the central government notification of January 28, 2003, which brought co-operative societies within the purview of the Sarfaesi Act, the Supreme court said Co-operative banks come within the definition of “Banks” under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 for the purposes of the Sarfaesi Act.
• The recovery procedure under the Sarfaesi Act is also applicable to co-operative banks and there is no clash with the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The court also ruled that the Parliament has legislative competence to provide procedures for the recovery of loans under the Sarfaesi Act concerning cooperative banks.
• The court thought that recovery of dues would be an essential function of any financial institution and co-operative banks cannot carry on any activity without compliance of provisions of the banking Act and any other legislation applicable to such banks and the RBI Act.

Sarfaesi Act

• Banks utilize Sarfaesi Act as an effective tool for bad loans (Non-Performing Asset) recovery.
• The Sarfaesi Act is effective only against secured loans where banks can enforce the underlying security.
• The following are the main objectives of the Sarfaesi Act.
• It provides the legal framework for securitization activities in India.
• It gives the procedures for the transfer of NPAs to asset reconstruction companies for the reconstruction of the assets.
• Enforces the security interest without the Court’s intervention.
• It gives powers to banks and financial institutions to take over the immovable property that is pledged to enforce the recovery of debt.
• A major feature of Sarfaesi is that it promotes the setting up of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) and asset securitization companies (SCs) to deal with NPAs accumulated with the banks and financial institutions.
• The Act provides three alternative methods for recovery of non-performing assets, namely:
• Securitization
• Securitization is the practice of pooling together various types of debt instruments (assets) such as mortgages and other consumer loans and selling them as bonds to investors.
• Asset Reconstruction
• Asset reconstruction is the activity of converting a bad or non-performing asset into performing assets with the help of Asset reconstruction companies.
• Enforcement of Security without the intervention of the Court.
• If the borrower defaults, the bank may enforce security interests by:
• Take possession of the security;
• Sale or lease or assign the right over the security;
• Appoint the Manager to manage the security;
• Ask any debtors of the borrower to pay any sum due to the borrower.

Source: Indian Express

7) Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)

• Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) are accepting orders on WhatsApp and e-mail to facilitate medicine procurement during the lockdown.
• Under this initiative, the accepted orders are delivered at the patients’ doorsteps.

About PMBJP:

• ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’ is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. Of India, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
• Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementing agency of PMBJP. BPPI (Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India) has been established under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India, with the support of all the CPSUs.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE SCHEME:

• Ensure access to quality medicines.
• Extend coverage of quality generic medicines to reduce the out of pocket expenditure on medicines and thereby redefine the unit cost of treatment per person.
• Create awareness about generic medicines through education and publicity so that quality is not synonymous with only a high price.
• A public program involving Government, PSUs, Private Sector, NGO, Societies, Co-operative Bodies, and other Institutions.
• Create demand for generic medicines by improving access to better healthcare through low treatment costs and easy availability wherever needed in all therapeutic categories.

What is a generic medicine?

• There is no definition of generic or branded medicines under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945 made thereunder. However, generic medicines are generally those which contain the same amount of same active ingredient(s) in the same dosage form and are intended to be administered by the same route of administration as that of branded medicine.
• The price of an unbranded generic version of a medicine is generally lower than the price of a corresponding branded medicine because, in the case of the generic version, the pharmaceutical company does not have to spend money on the promotion of its brand.

How are they regulated in India?

• Drugs manufactured in the country, irrespective of whether they are generic or branded, are required to comply with the same standards as prescribed in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945 made thereunder for their quality.

Source: PIB

8) UNICEF “Lost at Home” report

UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has published a report named UN the “Lost at Home” report.

Key findings:

• Almost 33 million new displacements were recorded in 2019 — around 25 million were due to natural disasters and 8.5 million as a consequence of conflict and violence.
• There were 12 million new displacements of children in 2019: around 3.8 million of them caused by conflict and violence, and 8.2 million, due to disasters linked mostly to weather-related events.
• Natural disasters resulted in more new displacements than conflict and violence. Almost 10 million new displacements in 2019 were recorded in East Asia and the Pacific (39 %) — and almost the same number in South Asia (9.5 million).
• Coronavirus intensifying suffering: Camps or informal settlements are often overcrowded, and lack adequate hygiene and health services. Physical distancing is often not possible, creating conditions that are highly conducive to the spread of disease.
• Risks internally displaced children face include child labor, child marriage, trafficking.
• The largest number of internally displaced children due to conflict is found in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and sub-Saharan Africa. Internally displaced persons are concentrated in two regions — the Middle East and North Africa and West and Central Africa.

India and neighbors:

• More than five million people were internally displaced in India due to natural disasters, conflict, and violence in 2019, constituting the highest number of new internal displacements in the world during the period followed by the Philippines, Bangladesh, and China.
• India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and China accounted for 69% of global disaster-induced displacements.
• These were overwhelmingly caused by extreme conditions created by dangerous storms and floods.

What needs to be done to protect the children?

• Governments and humanitarian partners should work together to keep them safe, healthy, learning, and protected.
• Strategic investments are needed to address the child-specific drivers of displacement, in particular, violence, exploitation, and abuse.
• Better, timely, and accessible data — disaggregated by age and gender — is also critical to delivering on this agenda. Internally displaced children and youth themselves must have a seat at the table.

Source: The Hindu

9) Pulitzer Prize 2020:

• Three photojournalists from Jammu & Kashmir have won Pulitzer Prize 2020 in feature photography.
• These include Yasin Dar, Mukhtar Khan, and Channi Anand.

About the Prize:

• Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 and has been awarded for the achievements in magazines, newspapers, online journalism, musical composition, and literature.
• The award was established by the provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, he made his fortune as a newspaper publisher.
• The award is administered by Columbia University.
• Pulitzer prize is awarded yearly in 21 categories. Each winner receives a cash award and a certificate. A gold medal is awarded to the winner in Public Service Category.

Source: Indian Express

10) Silent Hypoxia

Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, medical practitioners have reported a condition called silent or happy hypoxia, in which patients have extremely low blood oxygen levels, yet they do not show signs of breathlessness.

It has left medical practitioners confused and many of them are now advocating for its early detection as a means to avoid a fatal illness called Covid pneumonia.

Key Points

• Hypoxia
• It is a condition wherein there is not enough oxygen available to the blood and body tissues.
• Hypoxia can either be generalized, affecting the whole body, or local, affecting a region of the body.
• Normal arterial oxygen is approximately 75 to 100 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and normal pulse oximeter readings usually range from 95 to 100%.
• Values under 90% are considered low.
• When levels fall below 90%, patients could begin experiencing lethargy, confusion, or mental disruptions because of insufficient quantities of oxygen reaching the brain.
• Levels below 80% can result in damage to vital organs.
• Silent Hypoxia
• It is a form of the oxygen deprivation that is harder to detect than regular Hypoxis because patients appear to be less in distress.
• Covid pneumonia, a serious medical condition found in severe Covid-19 patients, is preceded by silent hypoxia.
• Many Covid-19 patients with oxygen levels below 80% look at ease and alert. There have been a few cases of oxygen levels below 50% as well.
• Those with such low levels of oxygen would normally appear extremely ill but not in silent hypoxia cases.
• In many cases, Covid-19 patients with silent hypoxia did not exhibit symptoms such as shortness of breath or coughing until their oxygen fell to acutely low levels, at which point there was a risk of acute respiratory distress (ARDS) and organ failure.
• Reasons:
• The reason why people are left feeling breathless is not because of the fall in oxygen levels itself but due to the rise in carbon dioxide levels that occur at the same time when lungs are not able to expel this gas efficiently.
• In some Covid-19 cases, this was not the response, and patients did not feel breathless.
• It happened because, in patients with Covid pneumonia, the virus causes air sacs to fall, leading to a reduction in levels of oxygen. However, the lungs initially do not become stiff or heavy with fluid and remain compliant meaning they can expel carbon dioxide and avoid its buildup. Thus, patients do not feel short of breath.
• A medical device called a pulse oximeter can be used in the early detection of silent hypoxia.
• Active Covid-19 or suspected cases can check their oxygen levels early on by using the device.
• A fall in oxygen levels can serve as a signal for seeking additional treatment immediately.
• Concerns have been raised against it arguing that the frequent use of the device would lead to increased anxiety.

Pulse Oximeter

• It is a test used to measure the oxygen level (oxygen saturation) of the blood.
• The device measures the saturation of oxygen in red blood cells (RBCs) and can be attached to a person’s fingers, toes, nose, feet, ears, or forehead.
• The method is easy and painless and the device can be reused or disposed of after use.
• It is generally used to check the health of patients with known conditions that affect blood oxygen levels like heart and lung conditions.

Covid Pneumonia

• It is a potentially deadly condition in Covid-19 patients which affects the lungs’ ability to transfer oxygen and causes breathing difficulties.
• When a person cannot inhale enough oxygen and exhale enough carbon dioxide, pneumonia can lead to death.
• Covid pneumonia is especially severe because it is viral and it completely affects the lungs instead of small parts.
• Other kinds of pneumonia which are caused mainly by bacteria and can be treated using antibiotics are less severe than Covid pneumonia.
• Patients are required to be put on ventilator support in such severe cases to ensure adequate circulation of oxygen in the body.

Source: Indian Express