Daily Current Affairs 13 June 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme

• Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP) was launched by Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. Launching the scheme, Shri Tomar said that the unique cooperative sector development finance organization, National Cooperative Development Corporation, NCDC has embarked upon a series of initiatives in the cooperative sector entrepreneurship development ecosystem through capacity development, paid internship to youth and assured project loans on liberalized terms to young cooperators on start-up mode.
• The Minister said that NCDC has been proactive in delivering innovative solutions for the cooperative sector. In the series of initiatives by NCDC, the new scheme called Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP) will provide the young professionals an opportunity of practical exposure and learning from the working of NCDC and cooperatives as a paid intern. NCDC has also introduced a complementary scheme to promote start-up cooperative ventures. Sahakar Mitra would also provide an opportunity for professionals from academic institutions to develop leadership and entrepreneurial roles through cooperatives as Farmers Producers Organizations (FPO).
• Sahakar Mitra scheme is expected to assist cooperative institutions to access new and innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns gain experience of working in the field giving the confidence to be self-reliant. It is expected to be a win-win situation both for cooperatives as well as for young professionals.
• Under the scheme, professional graduates in disciplines such as Agriculture and allied areas, IT, etc. will be eligible for an internship.  Professionals who are pursuing or have completed their MBA degrees in Agri-business, Cooperation, Finance, International Trade, Forestry, Rural Development, Project Managementetc. will also be eligible
• NCDC has earmarked funds for Sahakar Mitra paid internship program under which each intern will get financial support over a 4 months internship period. The online application portal for internship applications available on the NCDC website was also launched by the Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister.

Source: PIB

2) State-of-the-art Flood Warning System for Mumbai Launched

iFLOWS

• Mumbai, a state-of-the-art Integrated Flood Warning System for Mumbai has been launched through video conference jointly by Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Uddhav Thackeray, and Union Earth Sciences Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan today.
• The system will help make the city more resilient, by providing early warnings for flooding, especially during high rainfall events and cyclones. Using this, it will be possible to have an estimate of the flood inundation 3 days in advance, along with 3 hours - 6 hours Nowcast (immediate weather updates). It will be very useful, especially if people need to be evacuated from low-lying areas as we will be able to forecast 12 hours in advance that a particular spot may get flooded.  The system will also forecast the rainfall in each pocket.

How the Prediction System Works

• The sophisticated system has been developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences using its in-house expertise, in close collaboration with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC). The system uses rain gauge data and local data such as data on land use, land topography, drainage systems, water bodies in the city, tide levels, infrastructure, and population, which has been provided by BMC. Using these as inputs, the prediction system models weather, rainfall, runoff, and water movement, tide and storm surge impacts based on which early Flood Warnings for the city will be provided. It will address the flood inundation due to rainfall, river bank breach, storm surge, obstruction of flow due to roads, buildings, rail lines, high tides, and sea-level rise.
• I-FLOWS is built on a modular structure and comprises seven modules. The Data Assimilation Module gathers a variety of dynamic data including IMD weather forecasts and under-water depth of rivers and lakes across Mumbai city. The Inundation Module will use the data to forecast flood inundation 3 days in advance, while the Flood Module will predict how the water will move across areas expected to be flooded. The Vulnerability and Risk Modules, which together comprise the Decision Support System, enables the administration to make smart decisions to manage the situation based on a scientific and holistic assessment of flooding risks. The Dissemination Module makes information available to field officials through various communication channels, enabling them to take prompt and informed field action.

How it came about

• Mumbai the state capital of Maharashtra, a megapolis and the financial capital of India has been facing floods with an increased periodicity which brings the city to a standstill despite its natural and stormwater drainage systems. In a bid to aid in the mitigation of the flood-prone city, Disaster Management Department of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) approached the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to develop an Integrated Flood Warning System for Mumbai, on the lines of a similar system developed for Chennai earlier. MoES initiated the development of the flood warning system in July 2019 using the expertise of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), in close coordination with Disaster Management Department of MCGM.

More Info on IFLOW Click Here

Source: PIB

3) NHAI becomes first construction sector organization to go ‘Fully Digital’

• As one of the biggest reform, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has gone ‘Fully Digital’, with the launch of unique cloud-based and Artificial Intelligence-powered Big Data Analytics platform – Data Lake and Project Management Software. The entire project management workflow of NHAI is transformed from manual to the online portal based, wherein the complete project execution operations including ‘workflow with timelines’ and ‘alert mechanism’ have been configured. All project documentation, contractual decisions, and approvals are now being done through the portal only.
• With advance analytics, the Data Lake software will forecast the delays, likely disputes, and will give advance alerts. Thus apart from expediting the decision making, it will also facilitate in taking correct and timely decisions as the system is likely to predict the financial impacts of different alternatives based on the historical data. This will reduce a lot of disputes.
• NHAI has a history of having a large number of arbitration cases pending with a huge amount of claims and counterclaims. The majority of the disputes are generic in nature like delay in handing over of encumbrance free site, shifting of utilities, idling charges of plant, machinery, equipment, manpower, and delay in decisions, etc. These disputes can be minimized as the Data Lake software has provisions to keep track and check on all these constraints and will ensure work is carried out within the deadlines in a transparent manner. As all processes are going to be portal-based, decision-making is going to be faster and will eventually diminish the chances of litigation in the future.
• The complete project documents and correspondences will be stored in digital format in the cloud-based ‘Data Lake’ linked with GIS tagging and Unique Project ID, so that the project data can be easily retrieved as and when required from any location. NHAI’s all contractors/ concessionaires/consultants/Authority Engineers (AE)/ Independent Engineers (IE) and Project Directors (PDs)/ Regional Officers (ROs) have already started using it extensively. NHAI’s e-Office module is also integrated into the system so that all correspondences can flow digitally in a secure manner from field units to HQ seamlessly.
• In the current Covid-19 pandemic scenario, when most of the organizations are facing serious challenges in working, NHAI employees are continuing their works undeterred and happily without any fear of physical contacts and touching of physical files.  Rather, the lockdown period was used by NHAI to train its employees about using Data Lake.
• The Data Lake will bring revolutionary changes to NHAI with benefits like No delays, Quick decision making, No question of missing records, Work from anywhere/anytime. It will enhance transparency, as all officers and stakeholders, connected with the project can see what is going on on a real-time basis which will amount to concurrent performance audits by the seniors.

Source: PIB

4) Shipping Ministry approves Revised cost estimates to augment Ship Repair facilities in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

• Ministry of Shipping has approved the Revised Cost estimate of an amount of Rs. 123.95 crore for augmenting Ship Repair facilities in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Shipping activities are the lifeline of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as the majority of the development activities are linked to it. To keep the shipping activities alive without any interruption, the ship repair facilities are needed to be developed. Due to significantly increased ship movements, the existing repairing facilities at Port Blair are being augmented by the Ministry of Shipping. The existing dock length will be extended by 90 meters This augmentation will boost shipbuilding and ship repairing industry and facilitate the ‘Make In India’ initiative of the Government of India.
• The project ‘Extension of Dry Dock-II at a marine dockyard including supply, installation, and commissioning of Dry Dock Pumps and accessories in Port Blair, South Andaman” was sanctioned by Ministry of Shipping under Central Sector Scheme to the tune of Rs. 96.24 crores, with a stipulated date of completion of 42 months during February 2016. The scope of work was to extend the existing dock by 90 meters in length to accommodate more and bigger vessels. This facility was to double the existing capacity of ship repair facilities at Port Blair and generate employment opportunities and enhance the income of islanders. The project had been awarded and the preliminary work commenced at the site on 07.03.2017.
• Due to some technical changes in the project, there was cost and time overrun. Ministry of Shipping has now approved the Revised Cost Estimate for an amount of Rs. 123.95 crore. The extension facility of the Dry dock will be made available to the Shipping industry by August 2021.

Source: PIB

5) Reservation Not a Fundamental Right: Supreme Court

Recently, the Supreme Court of India has said that reservation of seats provided to certain communities is not a fundamental right.

Key Points

• All political parties from Tamil Nadu had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre to implement 50% Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation in the all-India NEET seats surrendered by the state.
• They have accused the Centre of “violating the right of the people to have a fair education” by neither implementing the 50% quota for OBC in Tamil Nadu nor providing a 27% reservation for OBC candidates in other states for the All India Quota seats.
• However, the Supreme Court pointed out that a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution can be filed only in case of violation of fundamental rights.
• The Court observed that the Right to Reservation is not a fundamental right.
• Earlier, the Court had ruled that reservation in promotion is not a fundamental right.
• The fundamental rights have been classified under the six categories- Right to Freedom, Right to Equality, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights, and Right to constitutional remedies.
• They are mentioned in Part III (Articles 12 to 35) of the Indian Constitution.

Constitutional Provisions for Reservation in Education and Jobs

• Various provisions in Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution empower the State to make special provisions in education and jobs respectively for the socially and educationally backward section of the society and for the economically weaker section.
• Although these provisions are mentioned in Part III (fundamental rights) of the Constitution, their nature is like directives to the state i.e. they are not binding on the state.
• SC/ST Reservation:
• The state (both Centre and the states) is permitted to make any special provision for the advancement of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. For example, reservation of seats or fee concessions in public educational institutions and providing reservation in government jobs if they are not adequately represented.
• The quota for SCs is 15% and for STs, it is 7.5%
• Other Backward Class (OBC) Reservation:
• The state (both Centre and the states) is empowered to make provision for the advancement of OBCs regarding their admission to educational institutions and government jobs.
• The quota limit for OBCs is 27%. However, various state governments have different quota limits for OBCs in their state. E.g Tamil Nadu (50% reservation for OBCs).
• In the Indra Sawhney 1992 judgment, the Supreme Court fixed the upper limit for the combined reservation quota i.e. should not exceed 50% of seats.
• Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Reservation:
• The 103rd Constitution Amendment Act, 2019, empowers both Centre and the states to provide a 10% reservation to the EWS category of society in government jobs and educational institutions.

Writ Jurisdiction

• The Supreme Court under Article 32 and the High courts under Article 226 of the Constitution can issue the writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, and quo-warranto.
• The Parliament under Article 32 can also empower any other court to issue these writs. However, no such provision has been made so far.
• The difference in writs of Supreme Court and High court.
• The Supreme Court can issue writs only for the enforcement of fundamental rights whereas a High court can issue writs for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights and also for an ordinary legal right.
• The Supreme Court can issue writs throughout the territory of India whereas a High court can issue writs within its territorial jurisdiction.
• A remedy under Article 32 is in itself a Fundamental Right and hence, the Supreme Court may not refuse to exercise its writ jurisdiction. On the other hand, a remedy under Article 226 is discretionary and hence, a High court may refuse to exercise its writ jurisdiction.
• The Supreme Court is thus constituted as a defender and guarantor of the fundamental rights.

Source: Indian Express

6) India Rankings 2020: NIRF

• Recently, ‘India Rankings 2020’ of Institutions of Higher Education was released.
• These rankings come days after the QS World University Rankings which showed that India’s best institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have slipped in the global list.

Key Points

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has taken this important initiative of creating a National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which has been used for the past five years for ranking institutions of higher education in different categories and domains of knowledge.
• NIRF was launched on 29th September 2015.
• Objective: To encourage institutes to compete against each other and simultaneously work towards their growth. Also, these rankings attract foreign students, providing a solid base for the ‘Study in India’ program for the growth of higher education in India.
• NIRF is one of the criteria for private institutions' assessment for the Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Scheme.
• IoE Scheme is a government's scheme to provide the regulatory architecture for setting up or upgrading 20 Institutions (10 from the public sector and 10 from the private sector) as world-class teaching and research institutions.
• NIRF outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country. The methodology draws from the overall recommendations and broad understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by MHRD.
• Broad Parameters:
• Teaching, Learning, and Resources.
• Research and Professional Practices.
• Graduation Outcomes.
• Outreach and Inclusivity.
• Peer Perception.
• 90% of the parameters in NIRF are completely objective and fact-based, while only 10% is based on the subjective parameter of perception by academic peers and employers.
• In international rankings, Indian institutions’ low ranking is due to the high weightage given to the perception which is a subjective parameter.
• It is acknowledged that Indian institutions struggle on the “internationalization” parameter in global rankings and the NIRF rankings are believed to reach a point where international institutions will want to be included in the Indian ranking system rather than vice versa.
• Overall, 3,771 institutions registered in the ranking framework this year which is a 20% increase in comparison to 2019.
• This is the fifth consecutive edition of these rankings. This year ‘Dental’ category has been introduced for the first time bringing the total tally to 10 categories/subject domains.
• Rankings (top three):

Source: The Hindu

7) Rights Issue

Recent reports suggest that several companies, including Mahindra Finance, Tata Power, Shriram Transport Finance among others are planning to raise funds through “rights issue” amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Points

• Reason:
• Recently, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has concluded its rights issue and raised a total of Rs. 53,124 crore and witnessed an oversubscription of 1.59 times.
• RIL’s Rights Issue is India's largest rights issue.
• The successful rights issue of RIL and the big demand (oversubscription) shows that there is a huge demand in the market for the shares of companies with strong credentials at a good price.
• Definition:
• A rights issue is a mechanism by which companies can raise additional capital from existing shareholders.
• It is different from public issues (Initial Public Offer) and private placement.
• Advantages:
• A company would offer a rights issue to raise capital which can be used to clear its debt obligations, acquire assets, or facilitate expansion without having to take out a loan from a bank.
• It is a more efficient mechanism of raising capital. Under it, there is no requirement of shareholders’ meeting and approval from the board of directors is sufficient and adequate.
• Therefore, the turnaround time for raising this capital is short and is much suited for the current situation (Covid-19 pandemic).
• Disadvantages:
• Raising funds through the right issue might create pressure on the company.
• The value of each share may get diluted.
• If the share price decreases post rights issue then investors may lose the holding value.
• Holding value is an indicator of an asset that someone has in his/her portfolio. It is a value that sums the impacts of all the dividends that would be given to the holder in the future, to help them estimate a price to sell or buy assets.
• Stock exchanges put a restriction on the amount on which a company can raise via the right issue.
• Reforms Under Rights Issue:
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has provided some permanent reforms in the rights issue, it has also provided some temporary relaxations in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
• Permanent Reforms: In November 2019, SEBI streamlined the rights issue process and the timelines for completion was significantly reduced from T+55 days to T+31 days — a 40% cut in the time.
• The ‘T’ stands for the transaction date, which is the day the transaction takes place.
• It has also reduced the notice period of a rights issue to at least 3 working days from 7 days earlier.
• Temporary relaxations: SEBI relaxed certain guidelines for the right issues that open on or before 31st March 2021.
• It reduced the eligibility requirement of the average market capitalization of public shareholding from Rs. 250 crore to Rs. 100 crore for a fast track rights issuance.
• Market capitalization is the value of a company that is traded on the stock market. It is calculated by multiplying the total number of shares by the present share price.
• It reduced the minimum subscription requirement from 90% to 75% of the issue size.
• Listed entities raising funds upto Rs. 25 crores (the erstwhile limit was Rs. 10 crores) through a rights issue are now not required to file draft offer documents with SEBI.
• Listed Entity means an entity that is listed on a recognized stock exchange(s).

Source: Indian Express

8) Nature Index 2020: Index of Scientific Research

• Recently, a journal of science i.e. the Nature Research has released the Nature Index 2020.
• The Nature Index provides a database of high-quality research output and collaboration at the institutional, national, and regional levels of institutions from different countries.

Key Points

• The top three countries in the index are the US, China, and Germany respectively.
• Criteria for the Ranking
• Sectors: Academic and Corporate.
• Subjects: Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences.
• Journal Group: Nature and Science.
• The overall ranking of India is 12th in the index.
• Top 3 Ranking of Institutions from India:
• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
• Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc)
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)

The Nature Index

• The Nature Index is a database of author affiliation information collated from research articles published in an independently selected group of 82 high-quality science journals.
• The database is compiled by Nature Research.
• Nature Research is a part of Springer Nature which is an American German academic publishing company based in Germany.
• The Index is updated monthly and also releases annual tables of countries.

Source: PIB

9) Lonar Crater

• Recently, the water in the Lonar lake in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra was found to be turning reddish over the past few days.
• The local administration of the district has requested the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, to find out the reason behind it.

Key Points

• The color of water in Maharashtra's Lonar lake, also known as Lonar crater, has changed to red.
• It is said to be normal when the lake gets rainwater.
• Probable Reasons:
• Algal Bloom:
• An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems and is often recognized by the discoloration in the water.
• Change in color is generally attributed to algal bloom in the lake around the time of monsoon.
• Change in Salinity:
• Due to the evaporation of water, the salinity in the water has increased. Hence, it is believed to be a factor behind the change in color.
• Biological Change:
• The color change seems to be a biological change in the Lonar crater as during the lockdown phase, there was no disturbance to the lake and naturally, it has turned red.
• The State Forest Department has sent samples to the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in Nagpur and Agarkar Research Institute in Pune
• Some experts have attributed the change to the mixing of Dunaliella algae with halobacteria, forming a beta carotene pigment and turning the water pink. 
• There have been such instances in other parts of the world. In a lake in Iran, the water turns reddish due to an increase in salinity. We are still studying the phenomenon, but no artificial occurrence certainly resulted in the change in color

Lonar Lake

• Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument, saline, soda lake, located at Lonar in Buldhana district, Maharashtra.
• Geo-heritage refers to the geological features which are inherently or culturally significant offering insight to earth’s evolution or history to earth science or that can be utilized for education.
• Geological Survey of India (GSI) is the parent body that is making efforts towards the identification and protection of geo-heritage sites.
• It is situated inside the Deccan Plateau—a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock created by eruptions.
• It is believed to have been created over 52,000 years ago when a meteorite hit the Earth.
• It is formed in basaltic rock with a diameter of 1.85 km and a depth of 500 feet.

Source: Indian Express

10) New guidelines for import of exotic species

• Union Government has issued advisory to streamline the process for import and possession of exotic live species in India.
• The move comes as the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has raised global concern about illegal wildlife trade and zoonotic diseases.

What are exotic live species?

• Exotic live species are animal or plant species moved from their original range to a new one most often by people.
• Some of the most sought after exotic species in India are Ball python, Scarlet Macaw, sea turtles, sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps), marmoset, and grey African parrots.

What it includes? What it does not?

• According to the advisory, the phrase “exotic live species” includes “animals named under the Appendices I, II and III of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora” and “does not include species from the Schedules of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972”. 

Need for regulation:

• While the import of live exotic animals is covered under Customs Act in India, wildlife experts have long been asking for stringent laws and guidelines to document and regulate numbers of exotic species being kept as pets by individuals and breeders in India.
• Many citizens have kept CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) enlisted exotic animal species in their possession.
• However, there is no unified information system available of such stock of species at the State or Central level.
• Besides, often these species are illegally trafficked into the country to avoid lengthy documentation and scrutiny. 

As per the recently released guidelines:

• Environment Ministry will collect stock information from the holders of such species through voluntary disclosure in the next six months.
• The registration will be done for the stock of animals, new progeny, as well as for import and exchange.
• The declarer would not be required to produce any documentation in relation to the exotic live species if the same has been declared within six months of the date of the issue of the advisory.
• For any declaration made after six months, the declarer shall be required to comply with the documentation requirement under the extant laws and regulations.
• Further, a person trying to import a live exotic animal will have to submit an application for grant of a license to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the provisions of the advisory.
• The importer will also have to attach a No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the chief wildlife warden of the state concerned along with the application.

Implications and significance of this move:

• This will help in better management of the species and guide the holders about proper veterinary care, housing, and other aspects of the well-being of the species.
• The database of exotic animals will also help in the control and management of zoonotic diseases on which guidance would be available from time to time to ensure the safety of animals and humans.

Source: The Hindu

11) International Criminal Court (ICC)

• U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order authorizing sanctions against individuals involved in an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into whether U.S. forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
• The order authorizes Secretary of State to block assets in the U.S. of ICC employees involved in the probe
• It also authorizes to block entry into the U.S. of these individuals.

What’s the case?

• ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants to investigate possible crimes committed between 2003 and 2014, including alleged mass killings of civilians by the Taliban, as well as the alleged torture of prisoners by Afghan authorities and, to a lesser extent, by U.S. forces and the CIA.
• The ICC decided to investigate after prosecutors’ preliminary examination in 2017 found reasonable grounds to believe war crimes were committed in Afghanistan and that the ICC has jurisdiction.

Why the US is opposing?

• Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked The Hague-based ICC set-up to prosecute war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. He says, the Court has jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself.
• Besides, the U.S. government has never been a member of the court.

About ICC:

• The International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague, is the court of last resort for prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
• It is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
• Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002.
• Funding: Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organizations, individuals, corporations, and other entities.

Composition and voting power:

• The Court’s management oversight and legislative body, the Assembly of States Parties, consists of one representative from each state party.
• Each state party has one vote and “every effort” has to be made to reach decisions by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, decisions are made by vote.
• The Assembly is presided over by a president and two vice-presidents, who are elected by the members to three-year terms.

Criticisms:

• It does not have the capacity to arrest suspects and depends on member states for their cooperation.
• Critics of the Court argue that there are insufficient checks and balances on the authority of the ICC prosecutor and judges and insufficient protection against politicized prosecutions or other abuses.
• The ICC has been accused of bias and as being a tool of Western imperialism, only punishing leaders from small, weak states while ignoring crimes committed by richer and more powerful states.
• ICC cannot mount successful cases without state cooperation is problematic for several reasons. It means that the ICC acts inconsistently in its selection of cases, is prevented from taking on hard cases, and loses legitimacy.

Source: The Hindu