Daily Current Affairs 4 August 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Retro-­style splashdown: SpaceX with NASA crew is back on Earth

• Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth in a dramatic, retro­style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to finish an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. 
• It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another
• SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.
• The last time NASA astronauts returned from space to water was on July 24, 1975, in the Pacific to end a joint U.S.­ Soviet mission known as Apollo­-Soyuz.
• Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken returned to earth in their SpaceX Dragon capsule named Endeavour, less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida. The capsule parachuted into the calm gulf waters about 40 miles off the coast of Pensacola

Crew Dragon:

• It is a part of the Dragon 2, a class of reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX.
• It is the fifth class of US spacecraft to take human beings into orbit, after the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs.
• The rocket, named Falcon 9, which carried the spaceship into the orbit, was also built by SpaceX.
• It is done under the Demo-2 Mission of NASA and SpaceX.

Significance of Private Participation:

• The landing by SpaceX flight is a culmination of more than decade-long efforts to enable private players to build and operate what essentially is a commercial taxi-service to space, and allow NASA to concentrate on deep space exploration, and work more vigorously towards taking humans to the moon, and Mars.
• The United States now plans to return to the Moon in 2024 under the Artemis mission, establishing a launching pad to Mars by 2030.

India and Private Space Companies:

• While many private companies are operating in the space sector in the United States, their contribution is not significant in India.
• Most of them collaborate with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in building and fabricating the components that go into making rockets and satellites.
• However, launch services, including the building of rockets or launch vehicles are still a monopoly of the government space agency, i.e. ISRO.

Importance of Private Participation in India

• Space tourism is one of several opportunities that Indian businesses may be keen to explore. A policy framework to enable private participation in this sector, of course, would have to be formulated by the government.
• A small satellite revolution is underway, globally, 17,000 small satellites are expected to be launched between 2020 and 2030. A strong private sector in space will help India to tap into this lucrative commercial space launch market.
• Increasing space competitiveness:
• Singapore is offering itself as a hub for space entrepreneurship based on its legal environment, availability of skilled manpower, and equatorial location.
• New Zealand is positioning itself as a location for private rocket launches.
• China, too, has changed its rules to allow private commercial space activity.
• ISRO has been a genuine global pioneer of aerospatial cost compression on several fronts. Cost-effectiveness has given the agency a distinct edge in the commercial arena of satellite launch services.
• With such a valuable base of expertise within the country, it is only natural to expect the emergence of a private space industry that could prove globally competitive.

Way Forward

• The landing by the SpaceX flight underlines the fact that space research and exploration is now a much more collaborative enterprise than earlier.
• There is also a growing realization that space agencies need to direct their energies and resources more towards scientific research and deep space exploration.
• It’s been fifty years since the landing on the moon and efforts to take human beings to Mars and other celestial bodies, needs to be expedited.
• Getting back to the Moon would also require huge amounts of financial resources that most of the space agencies and private players are expected to infuse fresh investments and also technological innovation that will benefit everyone.

Source: The Hindu

2) Multilingual Education (MLE) of Odisha 

• At a time when the new National Education Policy lays emphasis on mother tongue-based instructions up to Class 5, Odisha seems to be at an advantage position to make it happen for its diverse tribal communities in the State. 
• The State has been working on multilingual education (MLE) for more than the past two decades. 
• Odisha occupies a unique position in the tribal map of India for having the most diverse tribal communities. The State is home to 62 different tribal communities including 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs). 
• These tribes speak 21 languages and 74 dialects. Of the 21 tribal languages, seven have their own scripts. There are a total of 3,500 tribal language teachers under the MLE program in the State. 
• Academy of Tribal Language and Culture in collaborating with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) is probably the only institute in the entire country which has prepared supplementary readers in 21 tribal languages for Class 1 to 3
• The government has come up with lexicons in 21 tribal languages. 
• Tribal children are now
• able to read supplementary readers — printed stories or folklores written in Odia scripture, but in tribal languages. Supplementary readers are bilingual and pictorial books that are easy to comprehend. 

Santhali

• Santhali, a widely spoken tribal language in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts which has been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, is medium of instructions in more than 500 schools primary schools. 
• Although it is easy to prescribe local language as a medium of instructions up to Class 5, it is very difficult to implement it.
• Subject experts should be roped in to prepare textbooks advised for different classes in local languages

Source: The Hindu

3) ‘Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020

• To achieve a manufacturing turnover of $25 bn or ₹1,75,000 crore, including exports of $5 bn in aerospace and defense goods and services by 2025, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) put out a draft ‘Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020
• The DPEPP 2020 is envisaged as overarching guiding document of MoD to provide a focused, structured and significant thrust to defense production capabilities of the country for self­reliance and exports
• The share of domestic procurement in overall defense procurement is about 60%. To enhance procurement from domestic industry, it is incumbent that procurement is doubled from the current ₹70,000 crores to ₹1,40,000 crore by 2025
• On increasing defense exports, the policy states that Defence Attachés have been mandated and are supported to promote the export of indigenous defense equipment abroad. This effort would be supplemented by selected Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU), which would work as export promotion agencies for certain countries with earnings linked to a success fee, to promote export of defense products abroad
• Subject to strategic considerations, domestically manufactured defense products will be promoted through Government to Government agreements and Lines of Credit/Funding.

Aerospace industry 

• The opportunities in the aerospace industry have been identified in the following segments — aircraft build work, aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), helicopters, engine manufacturing, and MRO work, line replaceable units, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and upgrades, and retrofits.
• A Project Management Unit will be set up for estimation of development and production lead times specifications and technologies involved.

The policy has laid out the following goals and objectives:

• To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (US$ 25Bn) including export of Rs 35,000 Crore (US$ 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.
• To develop a dynamic, robust, and competitive Defence industry, including Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces with quality products.
• To reduce dependence on imports and take forward "Make in India" initiatives through domestic design and development.
• To promote the export of defense products and become part of the global defense value chains.
• To create an environment that encourages R&D rewards innovation creates Indian IP ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defense industry.
• The Policy brings out multiple strategies under the following focus areas:

Procurement Reforms

• Indigenization & Support to MSMEs/Startups
• Optimize Resource Allocation
• Investment Promotion, FDI & Ease of Doing Business
• Innovation and R&D
• DPSUs and OFB
• Quality Assurance & Testing Infrastructure
• Export Promotion

Source: The Hindu

4) Government is planning to release Report on leopard sightings

• As part of its global tiger census, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is set to release a dedicated report on leopard sightings by the month­end.
• The last formal census on India’s leopards was conducted in 2014 which estimated the cat’s population at between 12,000 and 14,000. They also estimated 8,000 leopards in the vicinity of the tiger habitat.
• While the quadrennial tiger survey is the centre­piece of the WII and environment ministry­coordinated undertaking, the exercise also estimates the population of other animals by relying on camera trap images.
• This year,  nearly 26,838 camera trap locations, across 72,000 sq km of tiger habitat, yielded 34 million images of which 76,651 and 51,777 were of tigers and leopards respectively, the tiger survey
• Two reports were submitted, one for tiger and for leopards. The task was humongous because leopards are also found outside forest areas
• Like the previous survey, forest departments in 18 States with tiger reserves conducted the study, dividing protected areas into 15­ square-kilometer grids to look for leopard scat and other signs of the animal. 
• Where there were indications of leopards, camera traps were set up and the number of leopard images was recorded. Repeats were excluded. Based on these numbers and spread, the researchers then extrapolated the leopard population.
• Critics had pointed out that conducting a leopard survey, along with the tiger survey, is problematic as the former is adapted to living on the edge of forests and human habitats, unlike the tiger which is an elusive creature. This had led to gross errors in estimating the true numbers of leopards.

Source: The Hindu

5) Serum Institute of India (SII) gets the nod for vaccine trials

• The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval to the Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, to conduct Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford University­Astra Zeneca COVID­19 vaccine (COVISHIELD).

Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN)

• The Health Ministry also announced the use of the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN), an innovative technological solution aimed at strengthening immunization supply chain systems across the country
• This is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM), to get real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country. This system has been used with the requisite customization during the COVID pandemic for ensuring the continuation of the essential immunization services and protecting our children and pregnant mothers against vaccine-preventable diseases
• It stated that eVIN enabled real­time monitoring of stocks and storage temperature of the vaccines kept in multiple locations across the country
• eVIN has reached 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be rolled out in the remaining States and UTs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh, and Sikkim. At present, 23,507 cold chain points across 585 districts of 22 States and 2 UTs routinely use the eVIN technology. Over 41,420 vaccine cold chain handlers have been introduced to digital record­keeping by training them on eVIN. Nearly 23,900 electronic temperature loggers have been installed on vaccine cold chain equipment for accurate temperature review of vaccines in storage

Source: The Hindu

6) MGNREGS running out of funds

• A new survey of 13 States, published by the Azim Premji Foundation (APF), shows what that statistic means on the ground — several gram panchayats in vulnerable areas have already exhausted their funds for the scheme; lower employment rates as the monsoon stops work in several States, and fewer livelihood options for more than four lakh families across the country which have completed their allotted 100 days of work.
• One-­third of the way through the financial year, government data show that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has used up almost half its allocated funds, spending more than ₹48,500 crores out of the expanded ₹1 lakh crore allocation announced following the COVID­19 outbreak.
• The APF has recommended that the Centre allocate another ₹1 lakh crore to the scheme, and double the permitted work limit to 200 days per household.
• The Gram Panchayats’ shelf of projects will likely end by August 2020. Therefore, a quick process of creating further sets of projects is urgently needed. In several Gram Panchayats, the approved projects have already been exhausted, the report said
• However, it commended the Odisha government for investing the pradhans of its Gram Panchayats with magisterial authorities for efficient decision­making concerning the implementation and making payments under MGNREGA. “The entire process cycle of implementation needs to be eased at this time of distress to respond to the current needs for work and payment
• Despite Kharif operations, the demand for work is still very high; but workers in several states have been given the impression that MGNREGA work is suspended during the monsoon season
• It named Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat as States where the monsoon has reduced available work, despite high demand. The Jharkhand government, on the other hand, has taken up 20,000 acres of land for fruit plantation work under MGNREGA, which is work that can continue to benefit workers through the monsoon as well.
• Ground observations suggest the payments are more or less in time where banking correspondents are in place,  It added that payments through banks continue to be inefficient as “rural branches of banks have limited capacity and infrastructure, and are often overwhelmed by the overcrowding.”
• The study noted that wages in the scheme are 25­-30% lower than the minimum wages for agricultural workers in most States.

About MGNREGA:

• MGNREGA is a program meant to be a lifeline to rural workers during this kind of distress circumstances. Therefore, it would be completely unfair to not enable MGNREGA to provide the support that it is designed to give when rural workers are facing the country’s worst challenge of unemployment and limited access to money and foodgrains. Over 12.2 crore laborers work in MGNREGA every year.
• The scheme was introduced as a social measure that guarantees “the right to work”. The key tenet of this social measure and labor law is that the local government will have to legally provide at least 100 days of wage employment in rural India to enhance their quality of life.

Key objectives:

• Generation of paid rural employment of not less than 100 days for each worker who volunteers for unskilled labor.
• Proactively ensuring social inclusion by strengthening the livelihood base of the rural poor.
• Creation of durable assets in rural areas such as walls, ponds, roads, and canals.
• Reduce urban migration from rural areas.
• Create rural infrastructure by using untapped rural labor.

The following are the eligibility criteria for receiving the benefits under the MGNREGA scheme:

• Must be Citizen of India to seek NREGA benefits.
• Jobseeker has completed 18 years of age at the time of application.
• The applicant must be part of a local household (i.e. application must be made with local Gram Panchayat).
• The applicant must volunteer for unskilled labor.

Key facts related to the scheme:

• The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Govt of India is monitoring the entire implementation of this scheme in association with state governments.
• Individual beneficiary oriented works can be taken up on the cards of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, small or marginal farmers or beneficiaries of land reforms or beneficiaries under the Indira Awaas Yojana of the Government of India.
• Within 15 days of submitting the application or from the day work is demanded, wage employment will be provided to the applicant.
• The right to get an unemployment allowance in case employment is not provided within fifteen days of submitting the application or from the date when work is sought.
• Social Audit of MGNREGA works is mandatory, which lends to accountability and transparency.
• The Gram Sabha is the principal forum for wage seekers to raise their voices and make demands.
• It is the Gram Sabha and the Gram Panchayat which approves the shelf of works under MGNREGA and fixes their priority.

Role of Gram Sabha:

• It determines the order of priority of works in the meetings of the Gram Sabha keeping in view the potential of the local area, its needs, local resources.
• Monitor the execution of works within the GP.

Roles of Gram Panchayat:

• Receiving applications for registration
• Verifying registration applications
• Registering households
• Issuing Job Cards (JCs)
• Receiving applications for work
• Issuing dated receipts for these applications for work
• Allotting work within fifteen days of submitting the application or from the date when work is sought in the case of an advance application.
• Identification and planning of works, developing shelf of projects including determination of the order of their priority.

Responsibilities of State Government in MGNREGA:

• Frame Rules on matters about State responsibilities under Section 32 of Act ii) Develop and notify the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for the State.
• Set up the State Employment Guarantee Council (SEGC).
• Set up a State level MGNREGA implementation agency/ mission with an adequate number of high caliber professionals.
• Set up a State level MGNREGA social audit agency/directorate with an adequate number of people with knowledge on MGNREGA processes and demonstrated commitment to social audit.
• Establish and operate a State Employment Guarantee Fund (SEGF).

Source: The Hindu

7) Large Population and Assets to be Affected by Sea Level Rise

• Recently, a study in journal Scientific reports made predictions that a large population and assets will be globally affected as a consequence of Sea Level Rise (SLR).
• SLR is a consequence of climate change, which is predicted to increase coastal flooding by 2100.
• The global population potentially exposed to episodic coastal flooding will increase from 128-171 million to 176-287 million by 2100.
• 0.5-0.7% of the world’s land area is at risk of episodic coastal flooding by 2100, impacting 2.5-4.1% of the population.
• The value of global assets exposed to coastal flooding is projected to be between 6,000-$9,000 billion USD or 12-20% of the global GDP.
• Globally, of the 68% area that is prone to coastal flooding, over 32% can be attributed to regional SLR.
• For most of the world, flooding incidents that are typically associated with a 1 in a 100-year event could occur as frequently as 1 in 10 years, primarily as a result of SLR.

Sea Level Rise

• SLR is an increase in the level of the world’s oceans due to the effects of climate change, especially global warming, induced by three primary factors:
• Thermal Expansion: When water heats up, it expands. About half of the sea-level rise over the past 25 years is attributable to warmer oceans simply occupying more space.
• Melting Glaciers: Higher temperatures caused by global warming have led to greater-than-average summer melting of large ice formations like mountain glaciers as well as diminished snowfall due to later winters and earlier springs. That creates an imbalance between runoff and ocean evaporation, causing sea levels to rise.
• Loss of Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets: As with mountain glaciers, increased heat is causing the massive ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica to melt more quickly, and also move more quickly into the sea.
• Global sea level has been rising over the past century, and the rate has accelerated in recent decades. The average global sea level has risen 8.9 inches between 1880 and 2015. That’s much faster than in the previous 2,700 years.
• Regional SLR: SLR is not uniform across the world. Regional SLR may be higher or lower than Global SLR due to subsidence, upstream flood control, erosion, regional ocean currents, variations in land height, and compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers.
• Sea level is primarily measured using tide stations and satellite laser altimeters.
• Earlier, IPCC released ‘The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate’ which underlined the dire changes taking place in oceans, glaciers, and ice-deposits on land and sea.
• The report expects oceans to rise between 10 and 30 inches by 2100 with temperatures warming 1.5 °C.
  

Impacts of SLR

• Coastal Flooding: Globally, eight of the world's 10 largest cities are near a coast, which is threatened by coastal flooding. Jakarta (Indonesia) is being known as the world's fastest-sinking city, by about 25 cm into the ground every year. Other cities that regularly feature in the lists endangered by climate change include Guangzhou, Jakarta, Miami, Mumbai, and Manila.
• Destruction of Coastal Biodiversity: SLR can cause destructive erosion, wetland flooding, aquifer and agricultural soil contamination with salt, and lost habitat for biodiversity.
• Dangerous Storm Surges: Higher sea levels are coinciding with more dangerous hurricanes and typhoons leading to loss of life and property.
• Lateral and Inland Migration: Flooding in low-lying coastal areas is forcing people to migrate to the higher ground causing displacement and dispossession and in turn a refugee crisis worldwide.
• Effect on Communications Infrastructure: The prospect of higher coastal water levels threatens basic services such as internet access.
• The threat to Inland Life: Rising seas can contaminate soil and groundwater with salt threatening life farther away from coasts.
• Tourism and Military Preparedness: Tourism to coastal areas and military preparedness will also be negatively affected by an increase in SLR.

Adaptation Strategies to the threat of SLR:

• Relocation: Many coastal cities have planned to adopt relocation as a mitigation strategy. For example, Kiribati Island has planned to shift to Fiji, while the Capital of Indonesia is being relocated from Jakarta to Borneo.
• Building Sea wall: Indonesia’s government launched a coastal development project called a Giant Sea Wall or "Giant Garuda" in 2014 meant to protect the city from floods.
• Building Enclosures: Researchers have proposed Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED), enclosing all of the North Sea to protect 15 Northern European countries from rising seas. The Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Red Sea were also identified as areas that could benefit from similar mega enclosures.
• Architecture to Steer Flow of Water: Dutch City Rotterdam built barriers, drainage, and innovative architectural features such as a "water square" with temporary ponds.

Way Forward

• Reducing future greenhouse gas emissions is the long-term goal we should all focus on to keep SLR in check. The Paris Agreement provides a clear vision on limiting global warming and thus, SLR.
• Some of the steps in this direction would include:
• Switching from fossil fuels to clean alternatives like solar and wind energy.
• Instituting carbon taxes on industries and subsidies for reducing the carbon footprint.
• Carbon sequestration by geoengineering and natural methods like restoring peatland and wetland areas to capture existing greenhouses gases.
• Afforestation and reducing deforestation.
• Subsidizing research on climate change.

Source: Indian Express

8) Quadrilateral Dialogue: China, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan

Recently, China convened a quadrilateral dialogue with the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Four-point Plan:

• China proposed a four-point plan to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, boost economic recovery and resumption of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects.
• The four-point plan included:
• To share consensus in fighting the pandemic as good neighbors.
• To learn from China and Pakistan’s joint prevention and control model of the pandemic.
• To look at opening up green channels as soon as possible by the four countries.
• Green channel is the route followed in passing through customs in an airport, etc by passengers claiming to have no dutiable goods to declare.
• China's expertise in the three countries in fighting Covid-19. It also included the vaccines that are being developed, to be shared with the three countries.
• Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan actively supported the four-point cooperation initiative proposed by China.

Other Discussed Issues:

• China also proposed extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan, as well as taking forward an economic corridor plan with Nepal, called the Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network.
• All four countries supported the maintenance of multilateralism, strengthened the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO), backed the realization of a ceasefire in Afghanistan during the epidemic, and the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Concerns for India:

• China asked the three countries at the quadrilateral meet to take advantage of their geography, strengthen exchanges and connectivity between the four countries and central Asian countries, and safeguard regional peace and stability.
• The remarks assume significance as it came amid the border tensions between India and China.
• The quadrilateral meeting also came at a time of deepening concerns over the India-Nepal relationship due to border disputes at the Kalapani region.
• Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Oli also accused India of trying to destabilize his government.

Way Forward

• China is making concrete strategic inroads in South Asia which will necessarily impact India's interests. Experts think that attempting to rope in three members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) grouping, without including India, is a provocative move by China and should be seen as a message.

Source: The Hindu

9) The UK to Issue Coin in Honour of Mahatma Gandhi

• Britain is considering minting a coin to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi.
• The consideration is seen as part of efforts to celebrate the achievements of people from the Black, Asian, and other Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
• The British Finance Minister has written a letter to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC), to consider recognizing the contribution of BAME communities on Britain's coinage.
• The RMAC is an independent committee made up of experts who recommend themes and designs for coins.
• The RMAC supports a campaign called ‘We Too Built Britain’, which seeks representation of non-white icons on the British currency.
• Recently, the murder of a Black man, George Floyd, in the United States due to police brutality has led to Black Lives Matter protests against racism, colonialism, and police brutality across the globe.
• Triggered by the death of George Floyd, some British institutions began re-examining their past, which includes their history, colonialism, and racism.

Black Lives Matter Protest

• It is a global movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against African-American people.
• Its mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
• The movement was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s (African-American) murderer in the USA.

Mahatma Gandhi

• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1869, at Porbandar in Gujarat and died on 30th January 1948 in New Delhi.
• He was a lawyer, politician, social activist, writer and became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India.
• He advocated for non-violence throughout his life and played a key role in India's struggle for independence.
• His birthday, October 2, is observed as the International Day of Non-Violence by the United Nations.
• He is considered as India’s Father of the Nation.

Source: The Hindu