Daily Current Affairs 22 June 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Institutional deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• In Madhya Pradesh, institutional deliveries shot up to 90% in 2019 and were growing by 2-3% each year marking a good improvement in institutional deliveries.

Details:

• The National Health Mission (NHM) data notes that Madhya Pradesh has recorded a fall of 18.6% in institutional deliveries in April 2020, the first month of the COVID-19 lockdown, casting a shadow on an improving trend.

Concerns:

• Medical Infrastructure:
• Diversion of health infrastructure for the pandemic, including accredited social health activists and auxiliary nurse midwives, and the 108 ambulance service, and disrupted transport network has contributed to the decline in institutional deliveries.
• Many private health centers shut down during the lockdown further limiting the available health infrastructure.
• Fear of infection:
• The pandemic inhibited people from visiting a health center, fearing they would contract COVID-19.
• Effect on tribal population:
• Witnessing fewer institutional deliveries, tribal districts, most of which have few private units and have low awareness levels, were the hardest hit regions with a drastic drop in institutional deliveries.

Steps were taken:

• The Madhya Pradesh state government has directed district hospitals in all the 52 districts to reserve at least 30% services for non-COVID-19 care and to continue emergency care.

Way forward:

• There is a need to strengthen primary and secondary-level health services essential to deliveries.
• The State should assume the predominant role in providing quality universal maternal and child health services without too much dependence on private health services.

Source: The Hindu

2) A struggle to co-exist with humans

• The article notes the changes observed in the Himalayan realm and the effect it has had on the ungulates (large hoofed mammals).

Details:

• There has been an increase in domesticated cashmere goats and stray dogs that have started hunting ungulates including threatened, endangered, and rare ones such as kiang, chiru, saiga, and takin.
• The research study also draws similarities between the Himalaya and the Andes, both homes to unique ungulate fauna. Both are currently experiencing increased deglaciation, human colonization, climate alteration, and livestock & tourism-induced changes.

Concerns:

• The threat posed by stray dogs:
• A research study notes that the 400 million free-ranging dogs – through disease, predation, and displacement – have had a detrimental effect on the ungulate communities on every continent.
• Dogs prey on saiga, blue sheep, argali, chiru, kiang, goral, ibex, sambar, chital, and blackbuck.
• The high elevation dogs of Bhutan also harbor tapeworms which when consumed via grasses by yaks can cause coenurosis, a neurological disease that may result in about 10% mortality of young yaks.
• The threat posed by human activities:
• Human activities such as the seasonal relocation of agro-pastoralists to collect the worm fungus Cordyceps can also have an impact on the ungulates. These high-elevation environments have experienced minimal direct human disturbance, and this movement can lead to the displacement of native species.
• Many apex predators of the region have also suffered due habitat conversion and loss of prey base.
• Overharvest, poaching, and wildlife slaughter constituting the major issues of the 19th and 20th centuries will not be the most pressing in the 21st century instead, climate change and rapid destruction of habitat will constitute the key threat.
• High-elevation ungulates have been known to be affected through changes in ice and snow and the availability of snow patches.

Way forward:

• There is a need for conservation efforts to protect the remaining fauna of the region.
• The conservation efforts can simultaneously recognize that disturbed habitat and altered communities still offer important contributions to beta biodiversity.
• In ecology, beta diversity (β-diversity or true beta diversity) is the ratio between regional and local species diversity.
• Beta diversity measures the change in the diversity of species from one environment to another. In simpler terms, it calculates the number of species that are not the same in two different environments.

Source: The Hindu

3) Study on the human immune response to COVID-19.

• When infected by a virus, non-specific immune responses in the form of macrophages, neutrophils, and other cells tend to prevent the virus from causing symptoms.
• Soon after, the body makes antibodies specific to the virus called the immunoglobulins — IgG and IgM, called the adaptive response.
• In addition, cellular immunity kicks in when the body makes T cells that destroy cells that have been infected by the virus.
• The combination of adaptive response and cellular immunity may help prevent progression to severe illness or re-infection by the same virus. This process is often measured by the presence of antibodies in the blood.

Details:

• A study published in Nature Medicine suggests that antibodies formed against SARS-CoV-2 begin to decrease in number, just two-three months after infection.
• The study observed that IgG levels and neutralizing antibodies in a high proportion of individuals who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection start to decrease within two-three months after infection. This is unlike for 2002-2003 SARS and MERS coronavirus in which case the antibodies were found to last for longer periods.
• This does not necessarily mean that people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 can be reinfected soon after. The study notes that even if the antibody level decreases, it might still be protective.
• Besides inducing neutralizing antibodies, novel coronavirus has also been found to induce cellular immunity. As a result, the immune system’s T cells and B cells are elevated in an infected person.
• B cells produce antibodies.

Implications:

• The reduction in IgG and neutralizing antibody levels in the early convalescent phase might have implications for the immunity strategy and serological surveys being undertaken.
• These data might indicate the risks of using COVID-19 ‘immunity passports’ and support the prolongation of public health interventions, including social distancing, hygiene, isolation of high-risk groups, and widespread testing.

Source: The Hindu

4) Export estimates released by the Ministry of Commerce.

• Textile and apparel exports during April and May 2020 have declined 73.1% (in dollar terms) compared to last year.
• Cotton textile exports were 64.6 % lower. Export of man-made (MMF) yarn, fabrics, and made-ups were 71.1 % lower. Ready-made garment exports declined 78.1 %, according to the data shared by the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil).
• The export of cotton yarn has also declined steeply.

Challenges:

• Buyers in the U.S. and European Union (EU), the two major destinations for Indian cotton textiles and clothing, were canceling orders or invoking force majeure clauses within their contracts.
• Buyers are also looking at re-negotiating pre-existing orders. Buyers of cotton yarn were demanding a 15% to 20% price reduction.

Way forward:

• The government should support the industry during this critical time. The government measures should help enhance the overall competitiveness of the textile industry so that India becomes a hub for fabric and yarn production to serve the domestic and export markets.
• Textile and clothing exporters need production-linked incentives so that they are able to compete in the international market. The government should cover cotton yarn and fabrics under the scheme to reimburse State and Central levies.
• The cotton yarn could be given the 3% interest subvention benefit.
• The government should come out with measures to boost exports so that India does not lose out to competing countries.
• The government can consider relaxing trade restrictions. Textile exporters are awaiting a nod to export PPEs and MMF masks and the government can give a nod to help India utilize the export opportunities and not lose out to countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam already had advantages in the international market.

Source: The Hindu

5) KVIC starts reviving ancient glory of Pokhran potteries

• Seeking to restore the lost glory of the once-most famous pottery of Pokhran, a small town in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan where India conducted its 1st nuclear test, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) distributed 80 electric potter wheels to 80 potter families in Pokhran which has a rich heritage in terracotta products. Pokhran has over 300 potters’ families that are engaged with pottery for several decades, but potters started looking for other avenues due to heavy drudgery in the work and no market support.
• Apart from the electric wheels, the KVIC also distributed 8 blunger machines in a group of 10 potters, used for mixing the clay which can produce 800 kg clay in just 8 hours. Manually it takes 5 days to prepare 800 kg mud for pottery making. KVIC has created 350 direct employment in the village. All 80 potters who were given 15 days of training by KVIC came up with some exquisite pottery. The products ranged from Kulhar to decorative pieces like flower vase, sculptures and interesting traditional utensils like spherical bottles with a narrow mouth, Lotas with long spouts, and other spherical utensils used for cooking as well as decorative pieces.
• The KVIC Chairman has also instructed the State Director of KVIC in Rajasthan to facilitate the marketing and sale of the pottery products at Barmer and Jaisalmer railway stations to provide marketing support to potters. “Pokhran is one of the aspirational districts identified by the Niti Ayog. 400 railway stations selling eatables only in earthen/terracotta pots include Jaisalmer and Barmer, the two major railheads in Rajasthan that are closest to Pokhran. The state KVIC unit will facilitate the sale of their pottery at these railway stations given the high tourist footfall in these cities,” Saxena said.
• Notably, the KVIC has launched Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana in several remote areas in states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, J&K, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana, and Bihar. In Rajasthan, more than a dozen districts including Jaipur, Kota, Jhalawar, and Sri Ganganagar have been benefited by the program.
• Under the scheme, the KVIC also provides equipment like blunger and pug mills for mixing clay for making pottery products. The machines have eliminated drudgery from the process of pottery making and resulted in higher income of potters by 7 to 8 times.

Source: PIB

6) Study showing stars of varied ages can co-exist in open clusters, provides a clue to stellar evolution in the Milky Way Galaxy

Picture of three open star clusters understudy

• Stars in our Galaxy are formed from the molecular clouds present in the Galaxy. It is believed that the majority of stars in our Galaxy are formed in the star clusters making them important clues to understanding the star formation mechanism. Open star clusters are a system of stars bound by gravity in which stars are born from the same molecular clouds. All the stars in a cluster follow the evolutionary sequence as per their initial masses at the time of the formation of these stars.  Open clusters are also important in probing the formation and evolution of Milky Way Galaxy as they are distributed throughout the Galactic disk.
• Astronomers at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous science institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Govt. of India, have found that stars of varied ages can co-exist in open clusters. This challenges earlier understanding that stars in an open cluster have the same age.
• The scientists measured the light from three poorly studied open clusters NGC 381, NGC 2360, and Berkeley 68 observed using the 1.3-m telescope at Devasthal situated in the lap of the Himalaya for studying the evolution of stars in these clusters. They found two different stellar evolutionary sequences in the cluster NGC 2360, which has been observed in very few open clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy until now.
• The astronomer Dr. Yogesh Joshi and his research student Jayanand Maurya observed thousands of stars in three open clusters NGC 381, NGC 2360, and Berkeley 68. The clusters are found to be relatively older, having ages between 446 Million years to 1778 million years.
• Other than the stellar evolution, the researchers also studied the dynamical evolution of these clusters for the first time. The mass distributions of stars belonging to the clusters have shown the preferential distribution of massive stars in the inner part of the clusters while low mass stars are found towards the outer region of the clusters.
• It is believed that some of the very low mass stars have in fact, left their parent clusters and may be roaming like a free star like our own Sun. Their study lent important insight about the stellar and dynamical evolution of these clusters. These scientists are further aiming to do an in-depth analysis of many more open star clusters in the near future using the observational facilities available at their institute along with the supplementary data provided by the space missions.
• Their study has been recently published in 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,' a leading journal in the field of astronomy and astrophysics published by the OXFORD University Press in the UK.

Source: PIB

7) Detection of fluorine in hot Extreme Helium Stars solves their evolution mystery

• An extreme helium star or EHe is a low-mass supergiant that is almost devoid of hydrogen, the most common chemical element of the universe. There are 21 of them detected so far in our galaxy. The origin and evolution of these Hydrogen deficient objects have been shrouded in mystery. Their severe chemical peculiarities challenge the theory of well-accepted stellar evolution as the observed chemical composition of these stars does not match with that predicted for low mass evolved stars.
• A study by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology which detected the presence of singly ionized fluorine for the first time in the atmospheres of hot Extreme Helium Stars makes a strong case that the main form of these objects involves a merger of a carbon-oxygen (CO) and a Helium (He) white dwarf.
• The research published in the Astrophysical Journal, led by Anirban Bhowmick (Ph.D. student, IIA, Bengaluru), Prof. Gajendra Pandey (IIA) and Prof. David Lambert (the University of Texas at Texas-Austin), which showed fluorine abundances determined from singly ionized fluorine (F II) lines suggest a very high enrichment of fluorine, about a factor of 100 to 10000 times higher than normal stars.
• Clues to the evolution of extreme helium stars require accurate determinations of their chemical composition, and the peculiarities, if any, become very important. Fluorine plays a very crucial role in this regard to determine the actual evolutionary sequence of these hydrogen deficient objects. Severe fluorine enrichment w.r.t normal stars (of the order of 800 − 8000) was observed in the cool EHes along-with the cooler classical hydrogen deficient stars, the RCB variables (R Coronae Borealis Stars) hinting at a close evolutionary connection between them. The scientists explored the relationship of hot EHes (EHes having effective temperature ≥ 14000K), with the cooler EHes, based on their fluorine abundance and spotted it in the former, thus establishing an evolutionary connection across a wide range of effective temperature.
• High-resolution echelle spectra of 10 hot EHes were obtained from Hanle Echelle Spectrograph (HESP) mounted on the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) in Hanle, Ladakh, (remotely operated by IIA) including data from McDonald Observatory, USA, and ESO archives.
• By comparing the observed fluorine abundances with other abundances of the key elements, the scientists could determine the formation channels responsible for fluorine enrichment. The varied range of observed fluorine abundance across stars having similar atmospheric parameters points out the difference in the individual star’s evolution and the ensuing nucleosynthesis. Particularly, the enrichment of fluorine in the atmospheres of carbon-rich EHes and the absence of the same in carbon-poor EHes suggest that fluorine is profusely produced during the merger of a He-CO WD resulting in a carbon-rich EHe, whereas He-He WD merger that results in carbon-poor EHes does not account for fluorine overabundance.
• The detection of enhanced fluorine abundances in the atmospheres of hot EHes solves a decade-old mystery about their formation. It firmly places hot EHes in an evolutionary sequence with cool EHes and other hydrogen-deficient stars and zeros in on the evolutionary scenario, which involves the merger of two double degenerate white dwarfs (WDs).

Observed F ii lines in 3850  ̊A window of the hot EHe V2205 Oph (solid line) with key lines marked. Synthetic spectra are shown for four fluorine abundances.

Source: PIB

8) Atal Innovation Mission partners with Coal India Ltd to boost its Innovation & Entrepreneurship initiatives

• Coal India Limited (CIL) has agreed to partner with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog to support proactively the flagship mission’s innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across the country. A Statement of Intent (SoI) of a strategic partnership between AIM and Coal India Limited was signed and exchanged in a virtual e-summit for the same on Friday, June 19.
• AIM has various innovation programs and entrepreneurial ecosystem building initiatives such as Atal Tinkering Labs ( ATL) at a school level, Atal Incubation Centres ( AIC) at institutional levels, Atal Community Innovation Centres ( ACIC) for Tier-2, Tier3 cities, and rural India, Atal New India Challenges ( ANIC) at the industry level and Applied Research and Innovation ( ARISE) for stimulating innovations in the MSME industry.
• The collaboration between CIL and AIM intends to conduct various activities/programs to support greater awareness and promotion of the innovation ecosystem through the above-mentioned AIM programs and newer initiatives.
• Meanwhile, according to the SoI signed, the partnership has been categorized program wise were in under Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) CIL has agreed for the adoption of select ATLs Schools, help in conducting teacher training sessions, and providing mentoring support to ATL students via Mentors of Change.
• Similarly, under Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACICs), CIL has agreed for adoption and support of ACICs close to their areas of operation, supporting the youth in their journey of societal innovation, hosting community innovation challenges and other innovation-based events to spread the impact of the innovation ecosystems being built in the under-served regions of the country.

Source: PIB

9) Who does Galwan Valley belong to?

• Violence in the Galwan Valley on the India-China border has claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.

Background:

• Recently, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement claimed that the entire Galwan valley is located “on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”, which followed a statement from the People’s Liberation Army stating that “China always owns sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region”.
• India has dismissed the claims.

Details:

• Galwan river and Valley:
• The Galwan river has its source in Aksai Chin, on China’s side of the LAC, and it flows east to Ladakh, where it meets the Shyok river on India’s side of the LAC.
• The Galwan valley refers to the land that sits between steep mountains that buffet the Galwan River.
• Line of Actual Control:
• The LAC lies east of the confluence of the Galwan and Shyok rivers in the valley.
• After the clash on June 15, 2020, China has claimed that the entire valley lies on its side of the LAC, which pegs the LAC further west near the Shyok river.
• India has rejected the claim as “exaggerated and untenable”.
• Territorial claims and LAC claims:
• Territorial claims and LAC claims are not the same. The distinction between territorial claims and LAC claims is sometimes blurred.
• The LAC refers to territory under the effective control of each side, not to their entire territorial claim.
• The strategic importance of the Galwan valley:
• The Galwan valley is strategically located between Ladakh in the west and Aksai Chin in the east. At its western end are the Shyok river and the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road. Its eastern mouth lies close to China’s vital Xinjiang Tibet road.
• China has been objecting to India’s road construction activities at the western end of the valley, in the area between the Galwan-Shyok confluence and the LAC. India’s newly built Darbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road, which leads to the base of the Karakoram Pass, is within striking distance from the Galwan valley. The Chinese can disrupt traffic over an under-construction bridge along the DSDBO road, using heavy weapons.
• The Galwan Valley is also not far from Aksai Chin, which is occupied by China. China’s highway number G219 passes through Aksai Chin, which is a vital artery linking the sporadically restive Tibet and Xinjiang, the gateway to Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. In order to protect their strategic road in Aksai Chin built in the 1950s, the Chinese have unilaterally expanded their territorial claim line along commanding heights, including the Galwan Valley.

Concerns:

• Though the LAC has never been demarcated there have not been previous incidents in the valley. By now staking a claim to the entire Galwan Valley and up to the confluence of the rivers, China is, in India’s view, unilaterally altering the LAC.
• This goes against the 1993 Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement (BPTA), under which India and China agreed to strictly respect and observe the LAC between the two sides.

10) Annular Solar Eclipse

• India witnesses an annular solar eclipse on 21st June 2020.

Key Points

• A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching the earth. The shadow of the moon is then cast on the earth.
• There are three types of solar eclipses:
• Partial solar eclipse: When the sun, moon, and earth are not exactly lined up.
• Total solar eclipse: When the sun, moon, and earth must be in a direct line.
• Annular solar eclipse: It is a particular type of total solar eclipse. It occurs when the sun, moon, and earth are not only in a straight line but also in the same plane.
• The moon also must be farther away from the earth, which will allow it to not cover the disc of the sun completely, resulting in a narrow band of light around the dark color of the moon causing the ring of fire to be visible.
• Therefore, It is also called the ring of fire eclipse.
• The distance between the earth and the moon at the moment of the eclipse can dictate the type of eclipse that will take place.
• The distance between the earth and the moon is always changing due to the egg-shaped elliptical orbit of the moon.

Source: Down To Earth

11) National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

• Urjit Patel has been appointed chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). He will succeed in Vijay Laxman Kelkar.
• Urjit Patel is a former Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Governor.
• NIPFP is India’s premier economic think tank - a center for research in public economics and policies.

Key Points

• Formation: NIPFP is an autonomous body set up jointly by the Ministry of Finance, the erstwhile Planning Commission, and several state governments. It was founded in 1976. It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• Functions:
• It undertakes research, policy advocacy, and capacity building in areas related to public economics.
• One of the major mandates of the institute is to assist the Central, State, and Local governments in formulating and reforming public policies by providing an analytical base.
• Funding: It receives an annual grant from the Ministry of Finance and various State governments. However, it maintains an independent non-government character.
• Governing Body:
• It includes the Revenue Secretary, Economic Affairs Secretary, and the Chief Economic Advisor from the Union Finance Ministry and representatives from NITI Aayog, RBI, and three state governments.
• It also includes three distinguished economists, members of sponsoring agencies, and other invitees.
• It is involved in appointing the Chairman and the Director.
• The usual tenure of a chairman is four years, which can be extended.
• Location: New Delhi.

Source: Indian Express