Daily Current Affairs 31 October 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

 Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Production linked incentive (PLI) is not a protectionist scheme

• Any tariff protection to promote local manufacturing in India will come with an inbuilt sunset clause, the self­-reliance mission must not be equated to it becoming a ‘protectionist’ and closed economy. 
• The government is set to extend the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and electronics announced under the Atma-Nirbhar Bharat package to six more sectors
• Explaining the rationale for the PLI schemes that It will soon become valid for ‘nine to 10’ sectors from four at present this is meant to incentivize investors already in the country to put up globally comparable capacities in scale and competitiveness.
• India’s efforts towards self­reliance were not dissimilar to what other nations are doing to insulate themselves from global supply chain shocks and revive the economy. 
• But it will be done in a global context. It will be done with India remaining open and trying to regain its share in global and regional production chains, it will be done concerning rulebound multilateral trading orders. It will not imply in any sense any form of isolation, closed economy, or protectionism
• The country will do its best to increase the share of trade in its gross domestic product (GDP). 
• If there is any support given to domestic enterprises, it will all be targeted towards creating globally competitive capacities and any support that we give them through tariffs would have an in­built sunset clause. I wanted to emphasize India’s commitment to a global economy with open order
• India is an open economy and will remain so. The tariff (import duties) protection given for domestic firms will not be forever and will have a sunset clause which means it will have an end date.
• "Aatma Nirbhar Bharat" should not be confused with that India is going to be a closed economy or protectionist or isolationism but rather it is giving "support" to its domestic industries so that they can become globally competitive and after that these incentives may be withdrawn. 
• The present policy of giving tariff protection to domestic industries is entirely different from the pas policies (in the post-independence period) as in the past we did not allow even domestic private firms not foreign firms in India and no foreign capital and it was a kind of Command Economy under govt. control. Presently, we are allowing/attracting foreign capital (FDI), attracting foreign firms, private companies, promoting exports but the only thing we are saying is for some time we will give support to the companies who are going to establish manufacturing/production capacity in India. I think it's a good move if we can phase out this support after some time to allow these firms in India to compete globally because protection/support for long makes the economy less efficient in the long term but in short term, it is a good move.

Source: The Hindu

2) Code on Wages restricts sexual harassment

• Those indulging in sexual harassment of any form could run the risk of losing out on bonus dues from
• their employers, thanks to a provision in the Code on Wages that the government is currently framing rules for
• Among other things, the Code on Wages lays down norms for annual bonus dues that accrue to employees, replacing the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. The new Code, expected to become operational once the government notifies the rules, includes ‘conviction for sexual harassment’ as a ground for denying bonus payouts to employees. 
• As per the extant law, bonus dues are barred only in case of employees dismissed for fraud, violent conduct, and theft, or sabotage.
• As per the PoSH law guidelines, firms are required to form an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to inquire into complaints. The Committee is required to make recommendations to employers on the action required under its inquiry in such complaints. 
• ICC has the power to decide if someone is guilty and report it further to the police, though not all sexual harassment cases translate into a police case. 
• The rules under the Code on Wages should clarify whether the conviction would cover cases of outcomes of the investigation by the Internal Complaints Committee arriving at a conclusion to pay
• compensation to the victim or not.” While the other disqualification triggers for withholding bonus dues, like theft and violent conduct are explicitly restricted to actions on an employer's premises of the employer, the trigger referring to conviction under sexual harassment doesn’t include such a condition about the location of the incident. 
• At this point, it is not clear if sexual harassment incidents or related crimes against women outside the workplace could lead to dismissal of employees with loss of bonus payments. But yes, harassing a co­worker irrespective of where it is done, should come under this provision's purview

Source: The Hindu

3) Removal of sand from the Pampa river

• The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has justified the removal of sand from the Pampa river before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), claiming that the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction over the decisions taken under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005
• A report has been filed before the Southern Bench of the tribunal that took suo motu notice of a report ‘Forest dept. told to permit sand removal from Pampa
• The State respondents were told to file their independent responses as well regarding the circumstances under which the National Disaster Management Act was invoked for the purpose of desilting. They were asked to explain the circumstances that led them to take such an immediate action without following the necessary procedures
• The member­secretary of the KSDMA said in his report that only the Supreme Court or the Kerala High Court can entertain any suit or proceedings concerning the orders issued by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Pathanamthitta. The sand removal had snowballed into a controversy after the State Forest Department revoked an order issued by the District Collector, Pathanamthitta, permitting Kerala Clays and Ceramic Products to transport costly river sand from Triveni at Pampa.

Source: The Hindu

4) CPCB insisted railways control pollution

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has “insisted” that the Ministry of Railways devise a modern environmental management plan to control air, water, and noise pollution at major railway stations.
• The CPCB had called for the formation of a joint committee comprising Railway and State government /local body officials to ensure basic civic amenities and improve environment conditions at Class­I stations. The move follows a high­level meeting convened by the CPCB involving top officials of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development. 
• The Railways in turn requested the CPCB to assign due weightage to different components/parameters in the template for environment performance based on the rating of railway stations that are currently under review by the CPCB.
• However, the central agency insisted on developing a modern environmental plan to address issues relating to air, water, and noise pollution in each of the 720 stations taken up for assessment across the country
• A separate template on environmental assessment and management would be prepared for all metro stations
• Poor quality of environment parameters, particularly noise levels, has been an issue of concern at major stations. Joint inspections conducted by the central and state pollution control authorities at select stations in the past two years revealed that a majority of them, including the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central railway station and the Tiruchi junction in Southern Railway, had not complied with the green norms under various statutory rules of the CPCB.
• The CPCB has now advised that the Ministry of Railways shall be responsible for the implementation of various pollution control measures.

Source: The Hindu

5) Quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey

• Recently, the National Statistical Office (NSO) released the quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for October-December 2019.
• This dataset differs from the Annual Report of Periodic Labour Force Survey, which covers both rural and urban areas. However, unemployment data for urban areas is released quarterly.

Unemployment Rate:

• It eased in urban areas to 7.9% in October-December 2019 compared to 9.9% in October-December 2018.
• However, state-wise data showed that urban unemployment rate was higher than the national average in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Female unemployment rate decreased to 9.8% in October-December 2019 compared to 12.3% in October-December 2018.
• Male unemployment rate moderated to 7.3% in October-December 2019 from 9.2% in October-December 2018.

Labour Force Participation Rate:

• It rose to 37.2% in October-December 2019 from 36.3% in October-December 2018.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

• PLFS is India’s first computer-based survey launched by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2017.
• It has been constituted based on the recommendation of a committee headed by Amitabh Kundu.
• PLFS has a two-fold objective:
• To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
• To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
• Before PLFS, the NSSO (previous name of NSO) used to bring the data related to employment and unemployment based on its quinquennial (every 5 years) household socio-economic survey program.

Key Terms

• Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labor force.
• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in the labor force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
• Activity Status: The activity status of a person is determined based on the activities pursued by the person during the specified reference period.
• Usual Status: The activity status determined based on the reference period of the last 365 days preceding the date of survey, it is known as the usual activity status of the person.
• Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined based on a reference period of the last 7 days preceding the date of the survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.

National Statistical Office

• NSO is the central statistical agency of the Government-mandated under the Statistical Services Act 1980 under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• It is responsible for the development of arrangements for providing statistical information services to meet the needs of the Government and other users for information on which to base policy, planning, monitoring, and management decisions.
• The services include collecting, compiling and disseminating official statistical information.
• All business operations in NSO are done in compliance with international standards, procedures and best practices.

Source: Indian Express

6) Mandatory Jute Bag Packaging

• Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, has approved that 100% of the foodgrains and 20% of the sugar shall be mandatorily packed in jute bags.
• The decision will give an impetus to the diversification of the jute industry.

Extended Norms:

• The decision mandates that initially 10% of the orders of jute bags for packing food grains would be placed through a reverse auction on the GeM portal, which will gradually help in a regime of price discovery.
• In a reverse auction, the sellers compete to obtain business from the buyer and prices will typically decrease as the sellers underbid each other.
• Price discovery is the process of determining the price of an asset in the marketplace through the interactions of buyers and sellers.

Statutory Provision:

• The government has expanded the scope of mandatory packaging norms under the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act, 1987, also known as the JPM Act.
• Under it, the Government is required to consider and provide for the compulsory use of jute packaging material in the supply and distribution of certain commodities.

Government Dependent Sector:

• The jute industry is predominantly dependent on the Government sector which purchases jute bags of value of more than Rs. 7,500 crore every year for packing foodgrains.
• This is done to sustain the core demand for the jute sector and to support the livelihood of the workers and farmers dependent on the sector.
• Nearly 3.7 lakh workers and several lakh farm families are dependent for their livelihood on the jute sectors so the government has been making concerted efforts for the development of the jute sector by:
• Increasing the quality and productivity of raw jute.
• Diversifying the jute sector.
• Boosting and sustaining demand for jute products.

Benefits:

• The move will benefit farmers and workers located in the Eastern and North-Eastern regions of the country particularly in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Tripura.
• The reservation norms in the present proposal would further the interest of domestic production of raw jute and jute packaging material in India, thereby, making India self-reliant in consonance with Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Source: PIB

7) Translocation of Corals in Mumbai

The National Institute of Oceanography will carry out the translocation of 18 coral colonies from the coast of Mumbai for the Mumbai Coastal Road Project.

Corals:

• Corals exhibit characteristics of plants, but are marine animals that are related to jellyfish and anemones.
• They are made up of genetically identical organisms called tiny polyps soft-bodied organisms.
• At their base is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which forms the structure of coral reefs.
• These polyps have microscopic algae called zooxanthellae living within their tissues. The corals and algae have a mutualistic (symbiotic) relationship. i.e.
• The coral provides the zooxanthellae with the compounds necessary for photosynthesis.
• In return, the zooxanthellae supply the coral with organic products of photosynthesis, like carbohydrates, which are utilized by the coral polyps for the synthesis of their calcium carbonate skeletons.
• Zooxanthellae are also responsible for the unique and beautiful colors of corals.
• There are 2 types of corals:
• Stony, shallow-water corals—the kind that builds reefs.
• Soft corals and deep water corals that live in dark cold waters.

Coral Reefs:

• Reefs begin when a polyp attaches itself to a rock on the seafloor, then divides, or buds, into thousands of clones. The polyp calicles connect to one another, creating a colony that acts as a single organism.
• As colonies grow over hundreds and thousands of years, they join with other colonies, and become reefs.
• Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor but they are among the most productive and diverse ecosystems on Earth. They are referred to as the rainforests of the sea for their biodiversity.
• Benefits: Coral reefs are like underwater cities that support marine life.
• According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), they provide at least half a billion people around the world with food security and livelihoods.
• Coral reefs also act as ‘wave breaks’ between the sea and the coastline and minimise the impact of sea erosion.
• According to a recent study of the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia, more life can be supported by dead coral remains than live corals.
• Protection: In India, they are under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972.
• Threats: Climate change remains one of the biggest threats to corals.
• Around the world, this threat has been visible in the “bleaching” of corals.

Coral Bleaching:

• It is a process during which corals, under stress from warm weather, expel the algae that give corals their brilliant colors and live in their tissues and produce their food.
• The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia has suffered six mass bleaching events due to warmer than normal ocean temperatures in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2016, 2017, and now 2020.
• The Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to one of the largest collections of coral reefs on the planet.

Biorock Technology:

• It is a method to restore coral reefs using bio rock or mineral accretion.
• Under this low voltage electrical currents through seawater is applied, causing dissolved minerals to crystallize on structures, growing into a white limestone (CaCO3) similar to that which naturally makes up coral reefs and tropical white sand beaches.
• Biorock, also known as Seacrete or Seament, refers to the substance formed by electro-accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater.

Coral Translocation:

• The translocation of corals is at a nascent stage along the Indian coastline. It is difficult and has not been very successful in India.
• Pilot projects at various sites including, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman islands have been undertaken to study the survival rate, method and site of translocation, and creation of high heat-resistant coral colonies, etc.
• Transplanted corals are more susceptible to storm surges and bleaching from warming ocean waters.
• Experts are of the view that for a high survival rate, it is important to translocate corals in a place with similar environmental characteristics such as depth, current flow, amount of light, and pressure.

Source: Indian Express

8) National Unity Day 2020

• Every year, the National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) is celebrated on 31st October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• The Prime Minister launched the seaplane service from Ahmedabad to the Statue of Unity, Kevadia.
• The day was celebrated for the first time in 2014 when the Government of India decided to celebrate Patel’s birthday as the National Unity Day to recognize his monumental contribution and service to the nation.
• On this day, several events like Run For Unity, a nationwide marathon to increase awareness about Patel’s contributions, the National Unity pledge, Ekta Parade, etc. are organized.
• In 2018, the Government unveiled the Statue of Unity in Gujarat in Patel’s honor.
• It is the tallest statue (182-meter) in the world.
• In January 2020, it was added to the ‘Eight Wonders’ of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

• Born: 31st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat.
• Achievements:
• First Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India.
• Headed various Committees of the Constituent Assembly of India, namely:
• Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights.
• Committee on Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas.
• Provincial Constitution Committee.
• Integrated the farmer’s cause in Kheda Satyagraha (1918) and Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) with the national freedom movement.
• Women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel, which means ‘a Chief or a Leader’.
• Known as the “Iron Man of India” for playing an important role in the unification and integration of Indian princely states into the Indian federation and for convincing princely states to align with the Indian Union.
• Requested the people of India to live together by uniting (Ek Bharat) in order to create a foremost India (Shresth Bharat).
• This ideology still reflects in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative which seeks to make India self-reliant.
• Remembered as the ‘Patron Saint of India’s Civil Servants’ as he established the modern all-India services system.
• Death: 15th December 1950 in Bombay.

Source: Indian Express

9) Merger of Schools in Odisha: SATH Project

The Odisha government has identified around 8,000 schools in 15 districts which will be merged with other schools due to low enrollment (less than 20 students).

The merger is being carried out under the NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E) project and has been termed Consolidation and Rationalisation of schools.

SATH-E Project:

• Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH) focuses on two main sectors - Education and Health and to build three ‘Role Model’ States.
• SATH-E aspires to be a ‘Saathi’, to the educational system with the student and the teacher at its center”.
• In 2017, Odisha was among three states, along with Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, to be selected by NITI Aayog for the project.
• The initiative aims to transform elementary and secondary school education through goal-driven exercise and create role model states for education. The initiative culminates at the end of the 2020 academic year.
• Critical interventions including school mergers, remediation programs, training, monitoring teacher recruitment/rationalization, institutional reorganization at district and state level, and proper utilization of Management Information System (MIS) are in execution mode since January 2018.
• The merger of schools is advocated to help consolidate resources such as teachers, libraries, laboratories, and play equipment.
• MIS can assist the school manager in determining the aims of the school, formulating strategic plans, distributing resources, and evaluating staff performance as well as organizational success.
• Progress of the project is being monitored through a National Steering Group (NSG) and Central Project Monitoring Unit (CPMU) at the national level and State Project Monitoring Unit (SPMU) at the State level.

Concerns with Merger of Schools:

• Activists have argued that closure or merger of schools is in violation of section 3 and 8 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
• Section 3 provides to every child of the age of six to fourteen years the right to free and compulsory education in a neighborhood school till the completion of elementary education.
• Section 8 assigns duties to the appropriate Government to ensure that it provides free and compulsory elementary education to every child, in a neighbourhood school.
• Majority of these schools are from tribal belts on hilly terrains. Closure of schools in a village will only increase the dropout rate as it won’t be feasible for students to travel far to attend school.
• Parents are also concerned that if their children fail to attend school, they will also be deprived of the midday meals.

State Government’s Response:

• Students who will have to travel to a distant school will be provided with a daily allowance of Rs. 20 and students from schools facing closure will also be provided a one-time facilitation allowance of Rs 3,000.
• If the distance to school is more than 1 km, students will be provided travel allowance as per Right To Education (RTE) norms.
• Further, the district collectors have been authorized to cancel the merger if genuine concerns arise.

Source: Indian Express

10) Shivalik Elephant Reserve: Uttarakhand

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has asked the Uttarakhand government to consider avoiding sensitive areas of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve while exploring land suitable to use for the expansion of Dehradun’s Jolly Grant Airport.
• Background: The area proposed for the expansion, is a part of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve and it falls within a 10-km radius of Rajaji National Park.
• Protests: Children and social activists have tied protective strings around the trees marked to be cut, similar to the Chipko movement of the 1970s when villagers in Chamoli hugged trees to stop contractors from feeling them.
• Concerns: The expansion will threaten hundreds of species of fauna in Thano (near Rajaji National Park) and the elephant corridor nearby.
• The State also falls in seismic Zone-IV and V, as per the Earthquake Zoning Map, and uprooting Thano will lead to soil erosion, a factor that exacerbated the 2013 Kedarnath floods, endangering countless lives.
• Earlier, social activists had criticized Chardham Pariyojana on environmental grounds.
• It is a program taken up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for connectivity improvement for Chardham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri) in Uttrakhand.
• Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the 2011 order of the Madras High Court (HC) on the Nilgiris elephant corridor, affirming the right of passage of the animals and the closure of resorts in the area.

Shivalik Elephant Reserve:

• It was notified in 2002 under the ‘Project Elephant’.
• Project Elephant was launched by the Government of India in the year 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with the following objectives:
• To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors.
• To address issues of man-animal conflict.
• The welfare of captive elephants.
• The Kansora-Barkot Elephant Corridor is located near it.
• It is considered to have one of the highest densities of elephants found in India.
• The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) occurs in the central and southern Western Ghats, North-east India, eastern India and northern India and in some parts of southern peninsular India. As per the Elephant Census, 2017, Karnataka has the highest population of Indian elephants.
• It is included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).
• It is ‘Endangered’ as per the IUCN Red List.

Rajaji National Park:

• Location: Haridwar, along the foothills of the Shivalik range, spans 820 square kilometers.
• Background: Three sanctuaries in the Uttarakhand i.e. Rajaji, Motichur, and Chila were amalgamated into a large protected area and named Rajaji National Park in the year 1983 after the famous freedom fighter C. Rajgopalachari; popularly known as “Rajaji”.
• Features:
• This area is the North-Western Limit of the habitat of Asian elephants.
• Forest types include sal forests, riverine forests, broad-leaved mixed forests, scrubland, and grassy.
• It possesses as many as 23 species of mammals and 315 bird species such as elephants, tigers, leopards, deers, and ghorals, etc.
• It was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2015.
• It is home to the Van Gujjars in the winters. Van Gujjars are one of the few forest-dwelling nomadic communities in the country.

Other Protected Areas in Uttarakhand:

• Jim Corbett National Park (first National Park of India).
• Valley of Flowers National Park and Nanda Devi National Park which together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary.
• Gangotri National Park.
• Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary.

Source: Indian Express