Daily Current Affairs 17 October 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

 Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Civil society gears up for big funds squeeze

New norms on foreign donations and covid-19 could end up shrinking the money pool for philanthropy and CSR.

What are the changes over the years?

• The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) Act was first brought in by the Indira Gandhi government during the Emergency in 1976.
• Its aim was to protect the ‘sovereignty’ of India from ‘foreign hands’ at a time when global powers were engaged in a cold war.
• The law prohibited political parties, electoral candidates, and even cartoonists from accepting foreign contributions.
• In 2010, the government made the renewal of registrations mandatory every five years and placed a 50% limit on administrative expenses.

What the Key changes in FCRA, 2010?

• Prohibition to accept foreign contribution: These include: election candidates, editor or publisher of a newspaper, judges, government servants, members of any legislature, and political parties.

Transfer of foreign contribution:

• Under the Act, foreign contributions cannot be transferred to any other person unless such person is also registered to accept foreign contributions.
• FCRA registered organizations are barred from transferring foreign donations to smaller non-profits (a practice known as sub-granting) who often find it difficult to access donors on their own.
• Aadhaar for registration: The Act states that a person may accept foreign contribution if they have obtained a certificate of registration from the central government or obtained prior permission from the government to accept foreign contribution. The bill makes Aadhaar mandatory for registration.
• Restriction in the utilization of foreign contribution: The Bill gives government powers to stop the utilization of foreign funds by an organization through a “summary inquiry”.
• Reduction in use of foreign contribution for administrative purposes: The bill decreases administrative expenses through foreign funds by an organization to 20% from 50% earlier.
• More government power: FCRA registration can be suspended now after a summary inquiry and the period of suspension can extend up to a year (from 180 days earlier).

What are the various concerns associated with the amendments?

• Reduce the availability of funds: The crunch is also because a chunk of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds which NGOs depend on went to the PM-Cares fund.
• Reduce the number of philanthropic initiatives: Civil society organizations will be overburdened as they are already affected by COVID-19. For Example, the cancellation of FCRA registration (in 2015) forced the environmental rights watchdog Greenpeace to halt its India operations
• Affect COVID-19 relief activities: the FCRA amendments could squeeze the once-vibrant not-for-profit sector of funds.
• Reduce accountability: the changes will push NGOs to become mere government contractors rather than raise questions on policy matters or defend the rights of tribal communities
• Reduce political empowerment of people: The FCRA amendments will halt the emergence of local leadership from marginalized communities. For example, crowdfunding platforms like Our Democracy have raised funds for committed individuals helping them contest elections.

Source: Mint

2) Global Hunger Index 2020

India has been ranked at 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020.

Global Hunger Index

• Annual Report: Jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
• It was first produced in 2006. It is published every October. The 2020 edition marks the 15th edition of the GHI.
• Aim: To comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
• Calculation: The GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger. It is calculated based on four indicators:
• Undernourishment: Share of the population with insufficient caloric intake.
• Child Wasting: Share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
• Child Stunting: Share of children under age five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.
• Child Mortality: The mortality rate of children under the age of five.
• Scoring:
• Based on the values of the four indicators, the GHI determines hunger on a 100-point scale where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.
• Each country’s GHI score is classified by severity, from low to extremely alarming.

Global Scenario:

• Worldwide Hunger: Represented by a GHI score of 18.2 (moderate level), down from a 2000 GHI score of 28.2 (serious).
• Factors:
• The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, as well as a massive outbreak of desert locusts in the Horn of Africa and other crises, are exacerbating food and nutrition insecurity for millions of people.
• It needs to be noted that 2020 GHI scores do not reflect the impact of Covid-19 on hunger and undernutrition.
• The above-mentioned crises come on top of existing hunger caused by conflict, climate extremes, and economic shocks (random, unpredictable events).
• Region-wise Performance: Africa South of the Sahara and South Asia have the highest hunger and undernutrition levels among world regions, with 2020 GHI scores of 27.8 and 26.0, respectively—both considered serious.
• SDG 2 Progress: The world is not on track to achieve the second Sustainable Development Goal - known as Zero Hunger for short - by 2030.

Indian Scenario:

• Overall Performance:
• With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is “serious”.
• It ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index. In 2019, India’s rank was 102 out of 117 countries.
• Comparison with Other Countries:
• India features behind Nepal (73), Pakistan (88), Bangladesh (75), Indonesia (70) among others.
• Out of the total 107 countries, only 13 countries fare worse than India including countries like Rwanda (97), Nigeria (98), Afghanistan (99), Liberia (102), Mozambique (103), Chad (107) among others.
• Performance on the Indicators:
• Undernourishment: 14% of India’s population is undernourished (2017-19). It was 16.3% during 2011-13.
• Child Wasting: 17.3% (2015-19), it was 15.1% in 2010-14.
• Child Stunting: 34.7%, it has improved significantly, from 54% in 2000 to less than 35% now.
• Child Mortality: 3.7%, it was 5.2% in 2012.

Some Related Initiatives by India

• Eat Right India Movement: An outreach activity organized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for citizens to nudge them towards eating right.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan: Launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2018, it targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anemia (among young children, women, and adolescent girls).
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana: A centrally sponsored scheme executed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is a maternity benefit program being implemented in all districts of the country with effect from 1st January 2017.
• Food Fortification: Food Fortification or Food Enrichment is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A & D to staple foods such as rice, milk, and salt to improve their nutritional content.
• National Food Security Act, 2013: The National Food Security Act, (NFSA) 2013 legally entitled up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
• Mission Indradhanush: It targets children under 2 years of age and pregnant women for immunization against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD).
• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme: Launched on 2nd October 1975, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme offers a package of six services (Supplementary Nutrition, Pre-school non-formal education, Nutrition & health education, Immunization, Health check-up, and Referral services) to children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Suggestions

• Governments, private actors, and NGOs should carefully coordinate their responses to overlapping food and health crises and work with community organizations to make sure interventions are culturally acceptable, reach the most vulnerable, and preserve local ecosystems.
• Food should be priced not only by its weight or volume but also by its nutrient density, its freedom from contamination, and its contribution to ecosystem services and social justice.
• Governments should expand access to maternal and child health care, as well as education on healthy diets and child feeding practices.
• Supporting smallholder farmers in becoming sustainable and diversified producers; governments and NGOs must seek to improve those farmers’ access to agricultural inputs and extension services, coupling local and indigenous agricultural knowledge with new technologies.
• Existing human rights-based multilateral mechanisms and international standards—such as the Committee on World Food Security—must be strengthened to support inclusive policy-making and sustainable food systems.

Source: The Hindu

3) Report on Food Consumption: WWF

• Recently, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has published the report “Bending the Curve: The Restorative Power of Planet-Based Diets”.
• The report offered a detailed analysis of food consumption patterns in 147 countries and six regions and the national dietary guidelines (NDGs) across 75 countries. For each country and region, the impacts of diets were assessed on various environmental and health indicators.
• Food consumption patterns vary widely and can best be characterized by massive inequality.
• Different consumption patterns are observed in the richest and poorest countries, with European countries consuming approximately 600 grams per day more food (1,800 g/day) than African countries (1,200 g/day).
• Although under-nutrition and obesity affect almost all countries, the rate of underweight people is up to 10 times higher in the poorest countries as compared to other countries.
• The rate of overweight/obese people is up to five times higher in the richest countries.

Major Concerns:

• Premature deaths in low- and middle-income countries due to unhealthy diets, under-consumption as well as over-consumption.
• India needs to be extra careful in figuring out the changes in the diet because there could be an increase in biodiversity loss due to a shift to a healthier and planet-friendly diet and extensively increased consumption.
• The country has to first increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and dairy to meet its nutritional requirements.

Suggestions:

• There is a need to strike a balance in how countries consume their food as well as a shift to a plant-based diet which is the need of the hour.
• However, this dietary shift will impact different countries differently. While some countries will need to reduce their consumption of animal-source foods, others may need to increase them.
• The shift will not only improve human health by preventing over-consumption of any food but will also reverse the biological loss that has occurred until now and improve environmental health.
• The shift to more plant-based diets will cut down carbon emissions by 30%, wildlife loss by 46%, agriculture land use by 41%, and premature deaths by 20%.
• A sustainable environment and human health can be achieved by following a few lifestyle changes that include eating foods which are:
• More sustainable.
• More plant-based food and less animal-based.
• Healthy and locally grown and minimally processed.
• More diverse instead of just one kind.
• Countries should not solely depend on the domestic production and biodiversity-rich countries, including India, should import food from higher-yielding and less biodiverse nations.

New Launch:

• The WWF has launched a new platform known as Planet-Based Diets Impact and Action Calculator.
• One can calculate their consumption and find out the impact caused by their diet on the environment.
• The platform also shows national level impacts. This will help people living anywhere in the world to make a conscious decision by finding out if their diet is good for them as well as their environment.

Source: Down To Earth

4) World Food Day

• World Food Day is celebrated to commemorate the establishment of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 16th October 1945.
• The Prime Minister of India released a commemorative coin of Rs. 75 denomination to mark the 75th Anniversary of the FAO.
• FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

About World Food Day:

• It is observed annually on 16th October to address the problem of global hunger.
• It emphasizes on the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) i.e. Zero Hunger.
• The theme for 2020: “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.”
• There has been a renewed focus on food, nutrition, health, immunity, and sustainability due to the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

75th Anniversary of FAO:

• Over the years, FAO has helped to increase agricultural production and eradicate hunger all over the world, including India, and has played an important role in increasing nutrition.
• 2020's Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme is also a major achievement for the FAO as the program was started by FAO.

Indian Context:

• FAO has closely watched India's fight against malnutrition in the past decades but its scope had many constraints.
• Due to reasons such as pregnancy at a young age, lack of education and information, inadequate access to drinking water, lack of cleanliness, etc. India is lagging behind in achieving the expected results of “malnutrition free India” by 2022, envisaged under the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan).
• FAO supported India's proposal to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• The move will encourage the intake of nutritious food, increase their availability further and benefit small and medium farmers who mostly grow coarse grains on their land where there is a problem of water and the land is not so fertile.

Highlighted Indian Initiatives

• Eat Right India and Fit India Movement along with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Jal Jeevan Mission, and other efforts will improve the health of Indians and heal the environment.
• Introduction of 17 new biofortified varieties of crops to overcome the shortcomings of the common variety of crops that lack important micronutrients.
• Example: MACS 4028 Wheat, Madhuban Gajar, etc.
• Increased ambit and effective implementation of the Food Security Act, 2013.
• Amendments to the APMC (agricultural produce market committee) Acts to make them more competitive.
• Steps to ensure that farmers get one and a half times the cost as Minimum Support Price (MSP), which along with government procurement, is an important part of ensuring the country's food security.
• Development of a large network of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
• Amendments in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to deal with the issue of grain wastage in India.
• The government is making efforts to make India Trans Fat free by 2022, a year ahead of the World Health Organisation (WHO) target, in synergy with the vision of New India @75 (75 years of India’s independence).
• Trans Fat is a food toxin present in Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (PHVOs) (e.g. vanaspati, shortening, margarine, etc.), baked, and fried foods.
• It is a major contributor to the rise in non-communicable diseases in India and also a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Eliminating CVD risk factor is especially relevant during Covid-19 as people with CVD are predisposed to have serious conditions having an impact on mortality.

Source: PIB

5) India & its Sex Ratio

• Recently, C Rangarajan (former Chairman, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council) argued that there is an urgent need to reach young people both for reproductive health education and services as well as to cultivate gender equity norms.
• His arguments are based on the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report (2018) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population 2020.

SRS Report

• SRS is the largest demographic sample survey in the country that among other indicators provides direct estimates of sex ratio, fertility rate, etc. through a nationally representative sample.
• It is brought by the Office of Registrar General.

United Nation Population Fund

• The UNFPA is aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. It is headquartered in New York.

Sex Ratio at Birth:

• The biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 1,050 males to 1,000 females or 950 females to 1,000 males.
• The SRS Report 2018 shows that the sex ratio at birth in India declined marginally from 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018.
• The sex ratio is measured as the number of females per 1,000 males.
• The UNFPA State of World Population 2020 estimated the sex ratio at birth in India as 910, which is on the lower side of the index.
• This is a cause for concern because this adverse ratio results in a gross imbalance in the number of men and women and its inevitable impact on marriage systems as well as other harms to women.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR):

• According to SRS Report 2018, TFR has been declining in India for some time now. It declined from 2.4 to 2.2 during the period between 2011 and 2018.
• In 2011, 10 states had a fertility rate below the replacement rate. This increased to 14 states in 2020.
• Fertility is likely to continue to decline and it is estimated that replacement TFR of 2.1 would soon be reached for India as a whole.
• TFR is the number of children a mother would have at the current pattern of fertility during her lifetime.
• The replacement rate is the average number of children born per woman—at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, without migration.
• Many people believe that the population would stabilize or begin to reduce in a few years once replacement fertility is reached.
• However, this is not so because of the population momentum effect, a result of more people entering the reproductive age group of 15-49 years due to the past high-level of fertility.
• For instance, the replacement fertility level was reached in Kerala around 1990, but its annual population growth rate was 0.7% in 2018, nearly 30 years later.

Challenges Involved:

• Regressive Mindset: There is considerable son preference in all states, except possibly in Kerala and Chhattisgarh. This son’s preference is derived from a regressive mindset. E.g.: People associate girls with a dowry.
• Misuse of Technology: Cheaper technology like ultrasound helps in sex selection.
• Failure in Implementation of Law: The Prenatal Conception and Prenatal Determination Act (PC-PNDT), 1994 which punishes healthcare professionals for telling expectant parents the sex of a child with imprisonment and hefty fines, have failed to control the sex selection.
• Reports found major gaps in the training of personnel implementing PC-PNDT. Poor training meant that they were unable to prepare strong cases against violators to secure convictions.
• Illiteracy: Illiterate women in the reproductive age group of 15-49 years have higher fertility than literate women.

Government Initiative- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme:

• The sharp decline in sex ratio as pointed by Census 2011 data called for urgent action. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme was launched in 2015 in Panipat, Haryana to address the issue of decline in child sex ratio and related issues of empowerment of girls and women over a life cycle continuum.
• It is a triministerial effort of the ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, and Human Resource Development (now Ministry of Education).

Suggestions Made:

• Increasing female education and economic prosperity will help to improve the ratio.
• Rollout campaigns on sensitization towards women and children, making women safety cells, ensuring the safety of women on public transport systems, making cyber-crime cells are some other initiatives that need to be taken.
• Given the complexity of son preference resulting in gender-biased sex selection, government actions need to be supplemented by improving women’s status in the society.
• Reaching out to young people could reduce the effect of population momentum and accelerate progress towards reaching a more normal sex-ratio at birth.

Source: Indian Express

6) Increased Emissions of N2O

• According to a recent research paper, human emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) have increased by 30% between 1980 and 2016.
• The research was conducted through an international collaboration between the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) and the Global Carbon Project of Future Earth, a partner of the World Climate Research Programme.

Nitrous Oxide (N2O):

• It is a greenhouse gas (GHG) 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).
• It has the third-highest concentration, after CO2 and methane (CH4), in Earth’s atmosphere among GHGs responsible for global warming.
• N2O is also the only remaining threat to the ozone (O3) layer, for it accumulates in the atmosphere over a long period of time, just like CO2.
• It can live in the atmosphere for up to 125 years.
• Its global concentration levels have increased from 270 parts per billion (ppb) in 1750 to 331 ppb in 2018, a jump of 20%.
• The growth has been the quickest in the past five decades because of human emissions.

Research and the Study:

• This is the most comprehensive study of global N2O emissions ever published, as it combines both natural and anthropogenic (man-made) sources.
• The study found that 43% of the total emissions came from human sources and most N2O emissions came from emerging countries like India, China, and Brazil.
• An increase in its emissions means that the climatic burden on the atmosphere is increasing from non-carbon sources as well, while the major focus of global climate change negotiations is currently centered on carbon, its emissions, and mitigation.
• It also highlighted the dichotomy of the climate crisis and global food security.
• A major proportion of the N2O emissions in the last four decades came from the agricultural sector, mainly because of the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
• The growing demand for food and feed for animals will further increase its global emissions, leading to a direct conflict between the way countries are feeding people and stabilizing the climate.

Suggestions:

• There are well-established practices and technologies like crop and manure management, the use of bio-fertilizers, to mitigate N2O emissions which need to be utilized to their full extent.
• Revised industrial and agricultural policies at the global level will reduce such emissions considerably.
• Reducing GHGs emissions will also have the co-benefits of reduced air and water pollution.
• There is a need to bring the non-carbon sources under the major global climate change negotiations.
• It is possible to slow down N2O emissions if countries implement the United Nations Global Campaign on Sustainable Nitrogen Management, 2019 held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• The focus of the event was to finalize the Colombo Declaration, a follow-up on the UNEA 4 Resolution on Sustainable Nitrogen Management which aims to further the dialogue on Nitrogen management.

Source: Down To Earth

7) First 'Har Ghar Jal' State: Goa

• Recently, Goa has become the first 'Har Ghar Jal' State in the country as it successfully provided 100% Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) in the rural areas covering 2.30 lakh rural households.
• Early Achiever: State's commitment and brisk efforts have ensured advancement and achievement of targets well before time, i.e. 2024 at the national level.
• Annual Action Plan: Goa prepared the State's Annual Action Plan (AAP) to provide 100% Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) in rural areas by 2021.
• Goa utilized the benefits of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) which aims to improve the quality of life and bring 'ease-of-living' to rural communities.
• Accordingly, fund allocation from the Union to Goa in 2020-21 has been increased to Rs. 12.40 Crore for the plan.
• The convergence of Schemes: The State explored through the convergence of various programs like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), 15th Finance Commission for rural local bodies, etc. for the strengthening of drinking water sources, water supply, greywater (any domestic wastewater excluding sewage) treatment & re-use and operation & maintenance.
• Water Testing Facilities: The State is in process of getting 14 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited water quality testing laboratories.
• Jal Jeevan Mission mandates training 5 persons in every village especially women to be trained in using Field Test Kits, so that water can be tested in the villages.

Jal Jeevan Mission

• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) envisages the supply of 55 liters of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024.
• JJM focuses on integrated demand and supply-side management of water at the local level.
• The creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and management of household wastewater for reuse, would be undertaken in convergence with other government programs/schemes.
• The Mission is based on a community approach to water and includes extensive Information, Education, and Communication as a key component of the mission.
• JJM looks to create a Jan Andolan for water, thereby making it everyone’s priority.
• Funding Pattern: The fund sharing pattern between the Centre and states is 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States, 50:50 for other states, and 100% for Union Territories.
• The total allocation to the scheme is over ₹3 lakh crore.

Source: PIB

8) Bioremediation Mechanism for Oil Spills

• The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai has developed an eco-friendly crude oil bioremediation mechanism technology using consortia (a group of two or more species) of marine microbes wheat bran (WB) immobilized (microbes controlled degradation) on agro-residue bacterial cells.
• Wheat bran is the hard outer layer of the wheat kernel. It's stripped away during the milling process.

Eco-friendly Crude Oil Bioremediation Mechanism Technology

• Bioremediation: It can be defined as any process that uses microorganisms or their enzymes to remove and or neutralize contaminants within the environment to their original condition.
• In the marine ecosystem, deep-sea hydrocarbonoclastic (ability to degrade hydrocarbon) microbial consortium plays an important role in breaking down oil in the event of a spill.
• The microbial community serves as energetic primary degraders of a complex mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons into various aldehydes, ketones, and acidic metabolites.
• These hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria don’t depend on hydrocarbons for survival but have a metabolic mechanism where they use petroleum products as carbon and energy source and thus, help cleaning up oil spills.
• The complete breakdown and degradation of crude oil are achievable using wheat bran marine bacterial consortia (which are low-cost non-toxic agro-residues) in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Advantages of Immobilized State:

• They are more effective in their immobilized state than the free bacteria cells in degrading the oil spills.
• They could remove 84% of the oils within 10 days. The free bacterial cells degraded a maximum of 60% of the crude oil at optimized conditions.
• They are more versatile and resistant to adverse conditions.
• They have efficacy in treating accidental bulk discharge of oil in marine environments through non-toxic clean-up technology.

Oil Spill

• It is an accidental/uncontrolled release of crude oil, gasoline, fuels, or other oil by-products into the environment. Oil spills can pollute land, air, or water, though it is mostly used for oceanic oil spills.
• The recent MV Wakashio spill off Mauritius — about 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled into a sanctuary for rare wildlife after the Japanese ship struck a coral reef in 2020.
• Cause: They have become a major environmental problem, chiefly as a result of intensified petroleum exploration and production on continental shelves and the transport of large amounts of oils in vessels.
• Measure: Cleaning up of the oil spillage from the oceans without damaging the marine ecosystem is becoming an increasingly challenging task.
• Containment Booms: Floating barriers, called booms are used to restrict the spread of oil and to allow for its recovery, removal, or dispersal.
• Skimmers: They are devices used for physically separating spilled oil from the water’s surface.
• Sorbents: Various sorbents (e.g., straw, volcanic ash, and shavings of polyester-derived plastic) that absorb the oil from the water are used.
• Dispersing agents: These are chemicals that contain surfactants, or compounds that act to break liquid substances such as oil into small droplets. They accelerate their natural dispersion into the sea.

Source: Down To Earth

9) Bodoland Statehood Movement

• A new organization (All India Bodo People’s National League for Bodoland Statehood) has announced the revival of the Bodoland statehood movement ahead of the elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
• About Bodos: These are the single largest community among the notified Scheduled Tribes in Assam. Part of the larger umbrella of Bodo-Kachari, the Bodos constitute about 5-6% of Assam’s population.

About Bodo Statehood Movement:

• 1967-68: First organized demand for a Bodo state came under the banner of the political party Plains Tribals Council of Assam.
• 1986: The armed group Bodo Security Force arose, which subsequently renamed itself ‘National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)’, an organization that is known to be involved in attacks, killings, and extortions. It later split into factions.
• 1987: All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) renewed the demand.
• A fallout of the Assam Movement (1979-85), whose culmination - the Assam Accord - addressed the demands of protection and safeguards for the “Assamese people”, leading the Bodos to launch a movement to protect their own identity.
• The 1990s: Indian security forces launched extensive operations against the NDFB, causing the latter to flee to bordering Bhutan.
• In Bhutan, the group faced stiff counter-insurgency operations by the Indian Army and the Royal Bhutan Army in the early 2000s.

Government Interventions:

• 1993 Bodo Accord: The ABSU-led movement from 1987 culminated in a 1993 Bodo Accord, which paved the way for a Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC), but ABSU withdrew its agreement and renewed its demand for a separate state.
• 2003 Bodo Accord: In 2003, the second Bodo Accord was signed by the extremist group Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF), the Centre, and the state. This led to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
• BTC is an autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
• The area under the jurisdiction of BTC was called the Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD).
• 2020 Accord: The Central government signed a tripartite agreement with the state government and different Bodo groups, including four factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), for a “permanent” solution to the Bodo issue. Some features:
• It provides for “alteration of the area of BTAD” and “provisions for Bodos outside BTAD”
• The BTAD was renamed Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
• It provides for more legislative, executive, administrative, and financial powers to BTC.
• Provision for the rehabilitation of surrendered militants of NDFB and bringing a special development package of Rs. 1,500 crore for the region.

Present Revival of the Bodoland Statehood Movement:

• According to the new organization, the new (2020) accord has been a betrayal of the Bodo people. Besides being an inferior accord, it prescribes a reduction of the area currently under the BTC.
• The accord has a provision for excluding from the BTR villages with more than 50% non-Bodos and including villages with more than 50%, Bodo people left out of the BTC map after the 2003 accord.

Source: The Hindu

10) Guidelines for Digital Media Regulation

• Recently, the Centre has announced new guidelines for digital news platforms.

New Guidelines:

• The government has put emphasis on compliance to the 26% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap under the government approval route in digital media.
• 26% FDI through the government approval route in the digital media sector was brought in 2019. FDI in print media is capped at 26%, and that in TV news is 49%.
• The majority of the directors on the company’s board, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company would have to be an Indian citizen.
• All foreign employees working for more than 60 days would need security clearance.
• If the government denies or withdraw security clearance, the digital media company will ensure that the concerned person resigns or his/her services are terminated.
• The government has given a year to digital media news entities to align their shareholding with these requirements.

Application:

• The guidelines will be applicable to the following categories of entities registered or located in India:
• Digital media entities which streams/uploads news and current affairs on websites, apps or other platforms.
• News agency which gathers, writes and distributes/transmits news, directly or indirectly, to digital media entities and/or news aggregators.
• News aggregator, an entity which uses software of web applications to aggregate news content from various sources, such as news websites, blogs, podcasts, video blogs, user submitted links, etc in one location.

Benefits:

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will be considering in the near future to extend the following benefits, presently available to traditional media (print and TV), to digital media entities also:
• Press Information Bureau (PIB) accreditation for its reporters, cameramen, videographers enabling them with better first-hand information and access including participation in official press conferences and such other interactions.
• Persons with PIB accreditation can also avail Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) benefits and concessional rail fare.
• Eligibility for digital advertisements through the Bureau of Outreach and Communication.
• Similar to self-regulating bodies in print and electronic media, entities in digital media can form self-regulating bodies for furthering their interests and interaction with the Government.

Reason:

• Threat of fake news, propaganda vehicles, foreign influence and interference in India’s domestic affairs is more real than ever, particularly from India’s hostile neighbours like China and Pakistan.
• The guidelines could help the government in tightening the noose on Chinese and other foreign companies who are making investments in digital media in the country.

Foreign Direct Investment

• FDI is an investment made by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another country.
• Generally, FDI takes place when an investor establishes foreign business operations or acquires foreign business assets, including establishing ownership or controlling interest in a foreign company.
• It is different from Foreign Portfolio Investment where the foreign entity merely buys equity shares of a company. FPI does not provide the investor with control over the business.
• Routes through which India gets FDI:
• Automatic Route: In this, the foreign entity does not require the prior approval of the government or the RBI.
• Government route: In this, the foreign entity has to take the approval of the government.
• The Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP) facilitates the single window clearance of applications which are through approval route.
• This portal is administered by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Source: Indian Express

11) 36th NSG Raising Day

• National Security Guard (NSG) Raising Day is celebrated on 16th October.
• Formation: The decision to form an anti-terror federal contingency force was taken in 1984 when militancy in Punjab was at its peak. The NSG came into existence through the National Security Guard Act, 1986.
• Anti Terrorist Force: The NSG is an anti-terrorist force. They are been given the specific role to handle all the facets of terrorism in any part of the country as a federal contingency force.
• They are also informally referred to as the ‘Black Cats’ because of their menacing, all-black uniforms.
• Elements: It has two complementary elements:
• Special Action Group (SAG) comprising Army personnel.
• Special Rangers Group (SRG) comprising personnels drawn from State Police and Central Armed Police Force.
• Model: It is modelled on the elite anti-terror forces GSG-9 of Germany and SAS of the United Kingdom.
• Deployment: Since its raising the NSG has been used in Punjab in 1986 and Jammu & Kashmir. It played a significant role in thwarting Mumbai terror attacks (26/11 attacks).
• Not For VIP: In January 2020, the Centre decided to remove the NSG from providing security to VIPs, a task which it was not supposed to perform when it was originally formed.

Source: PIB