Daily Current Affairs 27 June 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) 2020 World Drug Report

• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in its 2020 World Drug Report, has highlighted a wide range of possible consequences of the COVID­19 pandemic on illegal drug production, supply, and consumption.
• The report expressed concern over the adverse impact of the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. This could lead to an increase in the number of people resorting to illicit activities linked to drugs to make a living.
• As experienced during the 2008 economic crisis, it could result in reductions in drug­related budgets of the governments; an overall increase in drug use, with a shift towards cheaper and more harmful drugs.
• The measures are taken by governments to counter the pandemic inevitably had double­edged consequences on large­scale drug supply.
• Some countries, such as Italy, the
• Niger and countries in Central Asia, have experienced a sharp decrease in drug seizures, amid reports that drug traffickers have diverted their attention to other illegal activities, including cybercrime and trafficking in falsified medicines (in Balkan countries)
• Other countries, including Morocco and Iran, have reported huge drug seizures, indicating large­scale drug trafficking, while some have reported an increase in interdiction resulting from increased controls.
• The report, which is in six volumes, said the lockdown could hinder the production and sale of opiates in major producing countries. The key months for the opium harvest in Afghanistan are March to June. This year’s harvest took place during the pandemic.
• A recent uptick in heroin seizures in the Indian Ocean could be interpreted as an indication of an increase in the use of maritime routes for trafficking heroin to Europe along the ‘southern route’. If confirmed, the shift would indicate a change in the strategy of drug trafficking organizations as a result of the COVID­19 measures
• Around 269 million people used drugs worldwide in 2018, which is 30 percent more than in 2009.
• Over 35 million people suffer from drug use disorders.
• Rising unemployment and reduced opportunities caused by the pandemic are also likely to disproportionately affect the poorest, making them more vulnerable to drug use and also to drug trafficking and cultivation to earn money.
• The most used substances in 2018: Cannabis. Cannabis also remains the main drug that brings people into contact with the criminal justice system.
• Most harmful: Opioids.
• Who uses them? Adolescents and young adults account for the largest share of those using drugs, while young people are also the most vulnerable to the effects of drugs because they use the most and their brains are still developing.
• Low-income countries still suffer a critical shortage of pharmaceutical opioids for pain management and palliative care.

Source: The Hindu

2) President Promulgates Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020

• In pursuance of the commitment to ensure the safety of depositors across banks, the President has promulgated the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
• The Ordinance amends the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as applicable to Cooperative Banks. The Ordinance seeks to protect the interests of depositors and strengthen cooperative banks by improving governance and oversight by extending powers already available with RBI in respect of other banks to Co-operative Banks as well for sound banking regulation, and by ensuring professionalism and enabling their access to capital. The amendments do not affect existing powers of the State Registrars of Co-operative Societies under state co-operative laws. The amendments do not apply to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) or co-operative societies whose primary object and principal business is long-term finance for agricultural development, and which do not use the word “bank” or “banker” or “banking” and do not act as drawers of cheques.
• The Ordinance also amends Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, to enable the making of a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation of a banking company for protecting the interest of the public, depositors and the banking system and for securing its proper management, even without making an order of moratorium, to avoid disruption of the financial system.

Source: PIB

3) Navy Inducts Indigenously Developed Torpedo Decoy System

• Anti - Submarine Warfare capability of the Indian Navy has received a major boost today with the conclusion of a contract for Advanced Torpedo Decoy System Maareech capable of being fired from all frontline warships. Design & Development of this anti-torpedo decoy system has been undertaken indigenously DRDO labs (NSTL and NPOL). Bharat Electronics Limited, a Defence PSU, would undertake the production of this decoy system. The prototype of this system installed onboard a nominated naval platform had successfully completed all user evaluation trials and demonstrated the features as per the Naval Staff Qualification Requirements. 
• This induction not only stands testimony to the joint resolution of the Indian Navy and DRDO towards indigenous development of Defence technology but has also given a major fillip to the Government's 'Make in India' initiative and the country's resolve to become 'Atmanirbhar' in niche technology.

Source: PIB

4) Aatma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the "Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan" - a 125-day campaign aimed at providing employment to migrant workers and others in Uttar Pradesh affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The "Atma Nirbhar UP Rojgar Abhiyan" targets 1.25 crore people, including laborers and migrant workers, cutting across 31 districts in Uttar Pradesh, who lost their jobs owing to the coronavirus pandemic, under various central and state government programs.
• The scheme is an extension of the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan (GKRA) that was virtually launched by the Prime Minister on June 20 in six states across India covering 116 districts.
• The UP Atma Nirbhar Rojgar Abhiyan initiative also aims at promoting entrepreneurship at the local level, besides encouraging industries and other sectors to generate employment opportunities in the region.
• The government will employ 1.25 crore people under this scheme, out of which 60 lakh will get employment in rural areas and 40 lakh under micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). We will also train people through various industries involved in employment and also we will set up a separate government unit to sharpen the capacity building of skilled workers
• UP will benefit immensely when clusters of industries are being created to promote such local products across the country under the AatmaNirbhar Rojgar Abhiyan.

Source: PIB

5) Pune NGO aims to revive the spirit of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’

• In a bid to revive the Independence-era spirit of the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’, named after nationalists Lala Lajpat Rai, ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, and to mark the death centenary of Tilak, Pune-based non-governmental organization (NGO) ‘Sarhad’ will launch a series of literary and cultural programs to strengthen connections between Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The rationale behind the event:

• Punjab, Bengal, and Maharashtra have played significant roles during the struggle for Indian Independence. The historical association and cultural bonds among the three States were solidified in the modern era by the trinity of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’.
• After Independence, while the socio-cultural bonds between Maharashtra and Punjab have grown stronger, Maharashtra’s ties with Bengal have somewhat weakened, despite a rich pedigree of literary and cultural affinity in the past.

Highlights:

• It will be a two-year-long event and is named ‘Maharashtra-Bengal friendship chapter’.
• It is envisioned as a people’s cultural revivalist movement in these two States.
• It will commence on Tilak’s death centenary (August 1, 1920-August 1, 2020) and will go on till August 15, 2022, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the great philosopher, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.

A brief overview of contributions made by Lal- Bal- Pal:

• The triumvirate had played a stellar role in the second phase of the Swadeshi movement which gathered momentum after the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon in 1905, and which called for the boycott of all imported items and the use of Indian-made goods.
• Lal-Bal-Pal mobilized Indians across the country against the Bengal partition, and the demonstrations, strikes, and boycotts of British goods that began in Bengal soon spread to other regions in a broader protest against the Raj.
• The nationalist movement gradually faded with the arrest of its main leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak and retirement of Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh from active politics.

Some facts:

• In 1895, Lal started the Punjab National Bank—the first Indian bank to begin solely with Indian capital, and that continues to function till date.
• In 1917, Lal founded the Indian Home Rule League of America there.
• In 1884, Tilak founded the Deccan Education Society in Pune, and under the banner, opened the New English School for primary studies and Fergusson College for higher education.
• Bipin Chandra Pal was of a strong opinion that mass reliance on Swadeshi goods would help people get rid of their poverty.

Source: The Hindu

6) Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report

• 2020 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report released by UNESCO.
• In line with its mandate, the 2020 GEM Report assesses progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education and its ten targets, as well as other related education targets in the SDG agenda.

Key findings:

• COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in education systems across the world. About 40% of low- and lower-middle-income countries have not supported learners at risk of exclusion during this crisis, such as the poor, linguistic minorities, and learners with disabilities.
• Efforts to maintain learning continuity during the pandemic may have actually worsened exclusion trends. During the height of school closures in April 2020, almost 91% of students around the world were out of school.
• Issues with alternatives: Education systems responded with distance learning solutions, all of which offered less or more imperfect substitutes for classroom instruction.
• Many poorer countries opted for radio and television lessons, 55% of low-income, 73% of lower-middle-income, and 93% of upper-middle-income countries adopted for online learning platforms for primary and secondary education.
• Even as governments increasingly rely on technology, the digital divide lays bare the limitations of this approach. Not all students and teachers have access to an adequate internet connection, equipment, skills, and working conditions to take advantage of available platforms.

School closures also interrupted support mechanisms from which many disadvantaged learners benefit.

• Resources for blind and deaf students may not be available outside schools.
• Children with learning disabilities or those who are on the autism spectrum may struggle with independent work in front of a computer or the disruption of daily school routines.
• For poor students who depend on school for free meals or even free sanitary napkins, closures have been a major blow.
• Cancellation of examinations in many countries, including India, may result in scoring dependent on teachers’ judgments of students instead.
• This could be affected by stereotypes of certain types of students.

Source: The Hindu

7) Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21)

• Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21) for 272 Most Affected Districts’ was e-launched by Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment observes 26th June every year as “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking”. It is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction which coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention which include assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, dissemination of information, and public awareness.
• National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction for the period 2018-2025 which aims at reduction of adverse consequences of drug abuse through a multi-pronged strategy involving education, de-addiction, and rehabilitation of affected individuals and their families. The Action Plan includes components for preventive education and awareness generation, capacity building, treatment and rehabilitation, setting quality standards, focussed intervention in vulnerable areas, skill development, vocational training and livelihood support of ex-drug addicts, State/UT specific interventions, surveys, studies, evaluation, and research, etc.

Indian Government has taken many policy and other initiatives to deal with the drug trafficking problem:

• It constituted Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) in November 2016 and revived the scheme of “Financial Assistance to States for Narcotics Control”.
• In 2017, the government approved new Reward Guidelines with the increased quantum of reward for interdiction or seizure of different illicit drugs.
• Narcotics Control Bureau has been provided funds for developing new software i.e. Seizure Information Management System (SIMS)which will create a complete online database of drug offenses and offenders.
• The government has constituted a fund called “National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse” to meet the expenditure incurred in connection with combating illicit traffic in Narcotic Drugs; rehabilitating addicts, and educating the public against drug abuse, etc.
• The government is also conducting National Drug Abuse Survey to measure trends of drug abuse in India through the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment with the help of the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of AIIMS.

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2020

• Observed on 26 June.
• Theme: “Better Knowledge for Better Care”.
• Why June 26th? The date June 26 is to commemorate Lin Zexu’s dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong, ending on June 25, 1839, just before the First Opium War in China.

Source: PIB

8) Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)

• Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras are collaborating with their counterparts in Germany to develop new materials for green energy solutions.
• This project has been taken up under the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration or SPARC.
• It aims at developing alternative technologies to produce green hydrogen in anticipation of the transition to a hydrogen-based economy.

Need for and significance of the project:

• Conventional methods of generating hydrogen result in a large quantity of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that imposed serious environmental concerns.
• This project aims to develop novel low-cost electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions.

What is SPARC?

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• The scheme aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world.
• Under this Scheme, 600 joint research proposals will be awarded for 2 years to facilitate strong research collaboration between Indian research groups with the best in class faculty and renowned research groups in the leading universities of the world, in areas that are at the cutting edge of science or with direct social relevance to the mankind, specifically India.
• Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the National Coordinating Institute to implement the SPARC program.

Source: The Hindu

9) Global report on the illegal wildlife trade

• The first global report on the illegal wildlife trade was recently released by FATF. It is called the “Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade” report.
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has described illegal wildlife trade as a “global threat”, which also has links with other organized crimes like modern slavery, drug trafficking, and arms trade.

Key findings:

• The illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year.
• Criminals are frequently misusing the legitimate wildlife trade, as well as other import-export type businesses, as a front to move and hide illegal proceeds from wildlife crimes.
• They also rely regularly on corruption, complex fraud, and tax evasion.
• There is a growing role of online marketplaces and mobile and social media-based payments to facilitate the movement of proceeds warranting a coordinated response from government bodies, the private sector, and civil society.
• According to the 2016 UN World Wildlife Crime report, criminals are illegally trading products derived from over 7,000 species of wild animals and plants across the world.

Challenges:

• Jurisdictions often do not have the required knowledge, legislative basis, and resources to assess and combat the threat posed by the funds generated through the illegal trade.
• Criminal syndicates are misusing the formal financial sector to launder the proceeds.
• Funds are laundered through cash deposits, under the guise of loans or payments, e-banking platforms, licensed money value transfer systems, and third-party wire transfers via banks.
• Accounts of innocent victims are also used and high-value payments avoided to evade detection.
• Front companies, often linked to import-export industries, and shell firms are used for the movement of goods and trans-border money transfers.

What needs to be done?

• The report says the financial probe is key to dismantling the syndicates involved, which can in turn significantly impact the associated criminal activities.
• Jurisdictions should consider implementing good practices. They include providing all relevant agencies with the necessary mandate and tools; and cooperating with other jurisdictions, international bodies, and the private sector.
• Legislative changes are necessary to increase the applicability of anti-money laundering laws to illegal wildlife trade-linked offenses.

Source: The Hindu

10) Navigating the New Normal: NITI Aayog

• The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, in partnership with several other stakeholders has launched a behavior change campaign called ‘Navigating the New Normal’, and its website.

Key Points

• The campaign has two parts:
• Covid-safe behavioral norms: The first is a web portal, containing resources informed by behavioral science and the use of nudge and social norms theory, related to Covid-safe behavioral norms during the ongoing Unlock phase, and
• Wearing of Masks: The second is a media campaign focused on the wearing of masks.
• The portal focuses on the easy implementation of four key behaviors in the unlock phase: mask-wearing (essential focus), social distancing, Hand hygiene, and not spitting in public.
• Citizens Role: It aims at desired social behavior in which the enforcement burden shifts from the Government to the citizens.
• Sector Specific: The website will have sector-specific collaterals and guidelines for health, nutrition, and public transport (in metro cities).
• International Examples: Japan and South Korea have made ‘mask-wearing’ a socially accepted norm.
• Recent Examples/Initiatives in India:
• Recently, Meghalaya has issued a new health protocol which also lays emphasis on the Behaviour Change Model for living with Covid-19.
• The Economic Survey 2019 to lays out an ambitious agenda for behavioral change by applying the principles of behavioral economics to several issues, including gender equality, a healthy and beautiful India, savings, tax compliance, and credit quality.

Behavioural Science

• Behavioral science is a method of analysis that applies psychological insights into human behavior to explain their decision-making
• In reality, decisions made by people often deviate from classical principles. Drawing on the psychology of human behavior, science provides insights to ‘nudge’ people towards desirable behavior.

Nudge Theory

• According to the Nudge theory, people, rather than being forced, can be encouraged and influenced to pursue or desist from certain actions through nudges.
• It does not talk about penalizing people if they do not behave in a particular manner, rather it encourages them to make desirable decisions.
• It believes that Humans are not-so-rational and often need encouragement or intervention — a nudge — to get going and do what’s best for the country or society at large.
• American economist Richard Thaler has won the 2017 Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions to behavioral economics.

Limitations of Behavioural Science

• Continuous Efforts vs One-time Action - Give It Up campaign for LPG subsidy was a comparatively easy policy as it requires only a one-time action of affluent households, whereas task is very difficult in case of living with Covid-19, Beti Bachao, Beti Padao and SBM, as it requires continuous effort to dislodge mind-sets that prevailed for decades.
• Specific Targeting is Required: To make this campaign a success, the focus must be on special areas of concern such as small factories and poor laborers, who comprise a large part of the vulnerable population. Example: Advertising campaigns such as the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme did not target specific states where child sex ratios were already skewed (although it was effective in Haryana, which also has a very poor sex ratio).
• Case of Confirmation Bias: The applications of behavioral insights appeared to be a result of confirmation bias (to the extent that past policies were viewed with a behavioral lens).

Way Forward

• As the lockdown is lifted, people will resume their normal activities. This raises the challenge of minimizing the spread of od Covid-19 without impacting the movement of people. This signals a need for change and creation of a “New Normal” – where we adapt our routine activities to enable consistent compliance to the COVID-19 protective behaviors.

Source: PIB