India – U.S.A relations– More downs than ups

Trump 2016— few blows–>

• A decision on visa restrictions.
• A hard-hitting speech on India as the “tariff king”.
• Clubbing India and China both on trade and on receiving an unfair advantage on climate change, which was quoted as one of the reasons the U.S. was walking out of the Paris climate accord.

Mr. Trump’s South Asia policy, and the U.S.’s decision to revive the Quad and rename its Pacific Command as the ‘Indo-Pacific’ Command.

In 2018, India saw an impressive list of strategic gains:

1. The Strategic Trade Authorisation (STA)- 1 categorisation for India.
2. The first 2+2 dialogue.
3. The signing of the COMCASA in a shape acceptable to India.
4. The approval by Congress for a general waiver provision in the CAATSA.
5. A (temporary) waiver for India on Iran oil purchases and Chabahar.

U.S Policies with respect to China and Pakistan:

1. Given the 2017 Doklam conflict with China and continuing cross-border attacks by groups from Pakistan, Mr. Trump’s policy towards both India’s two neighbours became the U.S.’s most important foreign policy shift.
2. The U.S. suspended its military assistance payments, military sales and led the way on Pakistan’s grey-listing at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to designate more terrorists at the UN Security Council, including those that targeted India.
3. The U.S. offered India moral and military support to counter Chinese aggression, led its own attack on China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its 5G telecom push and vowed (not yet realised) a counter to China’s loans to countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Concerns:

• Regardless of the positives, several Trump decisions have come as a shock to India.
  1. The decision to forge talks with the Taliban, in concert with concessions to Pakistan in Afghanistan.
  2. Withdrawal of India’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status for exporters.

Developments over the past one year:

1. President Donald Trump has ended his first term in office with a big push for ties with India.
2. The U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in India for talks just a week before the elections.
3. Two rallies were held with the Indian Prime Minister in Houston and in Ahmedabad.
4. Unlike many other countries, and leaders in the American opposition party, Mr. Trump has not raised objections to the decision on Article 370, the arrest of leaders and telecom ban in Kashmir, or on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Japanese grant to strengthen Maldives Coast Guard

Maldives and Japan have signed an agreement for a Japanese grant of $7.6 million to be extended to the Maldives Coast Guard and the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Center.

• The development comes less than three months after the signing of the ‘Framework for U.S. Department of Defence-Maldives Ministry of Defence – Defence and Security Relationship’.
• The grant aid is the Maldives’s second major pact with a member of the Quad.
  • The Quad member countries’ Foreign Ministers had recently held discussions, including on ways to counter Chinese presence and influence in the region.

India’s position

• India had welcomed the Maldives’s first military agreement with the U.S., the Maldives’s first with a country other than India.
• India views the development as a positive one, as it did when Washington and Male earlier signed the defence pact that focusses on maintaining peace and security in the Indian Ocean, besides promoting a rules-based order that promotes stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

Gilgit-Baltistan a part of India, says MEA

Stating that it is intended to camouflage the illegal occupation of the region by Islamabad, India slammed Pakistan for its attempt to accord provincial status to the “so-called Gilgit-Baltistan”.

• 2018: A new order was introduced which transferred all powers of the Gilgit-Baltistan council to its assembly.
• This elevation will lead to adequate representation from the province on all constitutional bodies, including the National Assembly and the Senate.
• The Government will also start working on the Moqpondass Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Other Developments by China in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under CPEC:

• Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
• Kohala hydropower Project.
• Azad Pattan Hydel Power Project.

Security forces unfurl tricolour in former Maoist heartland

BSF and the Odisha police personnel unfurled the tricolour in front of the CPI (Maoist)’s “Martyr Pillar” at Gurasethu in Malkangiri district, Odisha.
Swabhiman Anchal, an erstwhile cut-off area, has been the bastion of the CPI(Maoist)

VAGIR

It is the 5th Scorpene conventional submarine of Project 75, i.e, the fifth of the Indian Navy’s six Kalvari-class submarines being built in India.

SITMEX

2nd edition of the India, Thailand and Singapore trilateral Naval exercise SITMEX-20 concluded in the Andaman Sea.
Was hosted by Singapore.
1st was hosted in 2019 by Indian Navy off Port Blair.

PM @ Shangri-La Dialogue in June 2018 announced the conduct of a trilateral naval exercise. exercise is in line with India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision.

• Other Military Exercises between India and Thailand:
  • MAITREE (Army)
  • SIAM BHARAT (Air Force)
  • Indo-Thai CORPAT (Navy), which was conducted recently.
• Other Military Exercises between India and Singapore:
  • Bold Kurukshetra (Army)
  • Joint Military Training (Air Force)
  • SIMBEX (Navy)
    • Indian Navy (IN) is scheduled to host the 27^th edition of India – Singapore Bilateral Maritime Exercise SIMBEX-20 from 23^rd to 25^th November 2020 in Andaman Sea.
    • It has been conducted annually since 1994.

Cybercrimes to FIR

MoHA implementng–>  ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ –> deal with Cybercrimes in a Coordinated and Comprehensive manner.

One of the components of I4C is the operationalisation of the NCRP =National Cybercrime Reporting Portal to deal with all types of cybercrimes.

Article 246–>
 Public and Police order is the responsibility of the State. 

NCRP has been designed to report complaints related to cybercrimes and should not be treated as an FIR.

MoHA–>register FIRs based on the complaints on NCRP

Only 2.5% (5k/ 2lakhs) of total complaints registered are converted into FIRs.

NCRB–> no.s of crimes registered inc by 63.5% in 2019 compared to 2018.

List of Categories for Other Cyber Crimes:

1. Online and Social Media Related Crime
2. Online Financial Fraud
3. Ransomware
4. Hacking
5. Cryptocurrency-Related Crime
6. Online Trafficking
7. Online Gambling
8. Any Other Cyber Crime 

List of Categories for Women/Child related Cyber Crimes:

1. Child Pornography (CP) – Child Sexual Abuse Material
(CSAM)
2. Rape/ Gang Rape (RGR) – Sexually Abusive Content
3. Sexually Explicit Content

National Integration day= 19th Nov 1917 = Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi

NIC= National Integration Council= Extra Constitutional body headed by PM
Constituted by PM Nehru in 1961

What is convalescent-plasma therapy?

• Convalescent Plasma therapy involves transfusing certain components from the blood of people who have recovered from a virus attack into people who are very sick with the virus or people who are at high risk of getting the virus.
• When a pathogen like novel coronavirus infects, our immune systems produce antibodies. 
• The antibodies span out to identify and mark the invading virus. 
• White blood cells attach the identified intruders, and the body gets rid of the infection. 
• The therapy, like blood transfusion, harvests the antibody from a recovered patient and ingest into a sick person. 
• Helped by the antibody, the immune system mounts robust combat on the virus

How is it different from vaccination?

• This therapy is akin to passive immunization. 
• When a vaccine is administrated, the immune system produces the antibodies. Thus, in a later date, when the vaccinated person is infected by that pathogen, the immune system releases the antibodies and neutralises the infection. 
• Vaccination provides lifelong immunity.
• In the case of passive antibody therapy, the effect lasts only up to the time the antibodies injected remain the bloodstream. The protection given is temporary. 

PLACID is the world’s largest pragmatic trial on CPT conducted in 464 moderately ill, confirmed affected adults in a real-world setting, wherein no benefit of use of CPT could be established, the ICMR said.

PUSA decomposer

Bio-decomposer technique called ‘PUSA Decomposers’ for converting crop stubble into compost.

 Form of capsules made by extracting fungi strains that help the paddy straw to decompose at a much faster rate than usual.

• The fungi helps to produce the essential enzymes for the degradation process.
•  making a liquid formulation using decomposer capsules and fermenting it over 8-10 days and then spraying the mixture on fields with crop stubble to ensure speedy bio-decomposition of the stubble.
• It takes around 20 days for the degradation process to be completed.
• Under usual circumstances, shredded and watered paddy straw, which is mixed with soil, takes at least 45 days to decompose.
• It does not give enough time for farmers to prepare fields for the wheat crop on time.
• improves the fertility and productivity of the soil as the stubble works as manure and compost for the crops and lesser fertiliser consumption is required in the future.

The shifting trajectory of India’s foreign policy

3rd India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue that took place in Delhi recently, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for Geo-Spatial Cooperation was signed. With this signing India is now a signatory to all U.S.-related foundational military agreements.

• BECA= Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement–> for Geo-Spatial Cooperation would entitle India to receive highly classified U.S. defence and sensitive geo-spatial intelligence information.

U.S. Defence Secretary, Mark Esper, stated –> India would be the most consequential partner for the US in the Indo-Pacific in the current century.

U.S. has been vocal about the importance of India in the regional and global affairs and has shown keen interest in collaborating with India

Concerns

1. Compromising India’s independence in military matters– US INDIA signed 4 military agreements.– India’s claims of maintaining strategic autonomy will increasingly sound hollow.
2.  latest BECA would no doubt provide India with access to highly classified information but it would also require India to share some sensitive information
3. closer alignment with the U.S. and its Indo-Pacific policy, India is being viewed as being part of the wider anti-China ‘coalition of the willing’.

Impact on India-Neighbors ties:

• May have a -ve impact on its relations with the Chinese + Asian counterparts
• Several of India’s neighbours (Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh), normally perceived to be within India’s sphere of influence, currently seem to distance from India.
•  India’s approach to counter China by allowing for U.S.’s entry into the region would only cede more space for the U.S.  Both China and the U.S., seem to be making inroads and enlarging their influence here.
• Maldives has chosen to enter into a military pact with the U.S. to counter Chinese expansionism in the Indian Ocean region.
• India needs to devote attention to try and restore India-Iran ties which have frayed in recent years due to the U.S.’s sanctions
• ndia’s membership of SCO does offer the potential for increasing its influence in the Central Asian region and also offers a platform to engage with two powerful nations of the Asian continent- Russia and China.

Affects India’s standing in NAM:

• India currently has a detached outlook towards the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and has increasingly distanced itself from the African and Latin American group in terms of policy prescriptions.

India’s relationship with Russia:

• The seemingly increasing India’s alignment with the U.S. would have a negative effect on the India-Russia ties.
• India can hardly hope to count on Russia as a strategic ally particularly at a time, when Russia-China relations have vastly expanded and a strategic congruence exists between the two countries.
• India will ose unique character of having a working relationship with the major powers of the world if India-Russia relations were to deteriorate

A secure future for platform workers

The Code on Social Security Bill, 2020, replaces 9 laws related to social security. A “Social Security Fund” will be created on the financial side in order to implement these schemes. These include the 

1. Employees’ Provident Fund Act, 1952,
2. Maternity Benefit Act, 1961,
3. Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.

Social Security
Social security refers to protection measures provided to workers to ensure healthcare and income security in case of certain contingencies such as old age, maternity, or accidents.

Defines platform work:

1. The Code on Social Security Bill for the first time in Indian law, attempted to define ‘platform work’ outside of the traditional employment category.
2. “Platform work means a work arrangement outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship in which organisations or individuals use an online platform to access other organisations or individuals to solve specific problems or to provide specific services or any such other activities which may be notified by the Central Government, in exchange for payment.”
3. Social Security–> bring the platform workers under the ambit of social security schemes, including life and disability insurance, health and maternity benefits, provident fund and skill up-gradation.

Concerns:

1. No differentiation between platform work and unorganized work
2. No fixed accountability
3. Continued reliance on platform companies:

Way forward:

Employment status to platform workers

1. global conversation on platform workers’ rights has been around the misclassification of platform workers as ‘independent contractors’ as against the granting of employee status to platform workers.
2. The emerging amendments to labour laws in Canada and the U.S. have shown that a move towards granting employee status to platform workers would help guarantee minimum wage and welfare benefits to such workers.
3. India too should work towards granting employment status to platform workers.

Meghalaya govt. encouraging illegal mining’

Meghalaya’s Directorate of Mineral Resources granting coal mining licence.
NGT= National Green Tribunal had banned ecologically unsafe and hazardous rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya.
Meghalaya used to earn an average of Rs.600 crores from coal trade annually before the ban was imposed.

• state government has been seeking resumption of mining in a “scientific manner”, which would ensure ecological sustainability.
• The Supreme Court through its order had asked the state government to facilitate systematic, safe, scientific and planned utilization of mineral resources and to streamline mineral-based development of the State.
•  SC order–> Meghalaya’s Directorate of Mineral Resources would be conducting an orientation and sensitization programme for all coal mine owners in East Jaintia Hills district.
•  preparation of a geological report and feasibility study on resuming mining in the state.
•  mining lease would be under scientific coal mining plan according to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.

 The Labour Code Bills

Parliament has passed 3 labour code bills aimed at labour welfare reforms covering more than 50 crores organized and unorganized workers in the country. 3 bills–

1. Social Security Code, 2020.
2. Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020
3. Industrial Relations Code, 2020

Believed to be the watershed movement for labour law energy as for the 1st time, the migrant workers, gig workers are included and doors for social security to those in the self-employment sector are also opened.

The two new provisions are:

• The company will provide the retrenched worker with 15 days of wages last drawn by him to reskill himself.
• Any worker who has served even less than a term of 5 years to a company will get proportionate gratuity.
  • Gratuity is given by the employer to his/her employee for the services rendered by him/her during the period of employment. It is usually paid at the time of retirement but can be paid earlier, provided certain conditions are met

A National Floor Level Minimum Wage will be set by the Centre and will be revised every five years,  while states will fix minimum wages for their regions, which cannot be lower than the floor wage.

Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020

• Free health checkup once a year by the employer for workers which are more than a certain age.
• Legal right for getting an Appointment Letter given to workers for the first time.
• Cine Workers have been designated as Audio Visual Worker, so that more and more workers get covered under the OSH code (The Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981). Earlier, this security was being given to artists working in films only.

C. Industrial Relations Code, 2020

• Provision for accumulation of one day leave for every 20 days worked, when work has been done for 180 days instead of 240 days.
• In the event of death of a worker or injury to a worker due to an accident at his workplace, at least 50 % share of the penalty would be given. This amount would be in addition to Employees Compensation.
• Inspector to be now made as Inspector – cum- Facilitator and introduction of Random, Web Based Inspection System to remove to Inspector Raj.

Consolidation and simplification of the Complex laws: The three Codes simplify labour laws by subsuming 25 central labour laws that have been on the table for at least 17 years.

• It will provide a big boost to industry & employment and will reduce multiplicity of definition and multiplicity of authority for businesses.

The maternity leave is increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. women were allowed to work in mines under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY).

Banks told to pay back interest on interest, says RBI

RBI informed the SC –> it had advised banks + financial companies to fully comply with a government scheme to pay back borrowers compound interest, or interest on interest, charged on their loans during the 6-month moratorium.

• The RBI said that its circular was issued after the Finance Ministry approved the scheme for ex-gratia payment of the difference in the compound interest and simple interest charged between March 1 and August 31, 2020 for 8 categories of loans worth up to ₹2 crore by November 5, 2020.
• The RBI has advised commercial banks, cooperative banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial companies to comply with the government’s payback scheme and take necessary actions within the stipulated timeline.

Significance:

• The Union Cabinet had approved the scheme in October 2020.
• The government scheme is meant to bring additional relief to borrowers affected by the pandemic-induced financial distress.
• The scheme will cover MSME, education, housing, consumer durables, credit card, auto, personal and consumption loans.
• The Central Government has directed that all lending institutions shall give effect to the scheme and credit the amount calculated as per the scheme into the accounts of the borrowers by November 5, 2020.

‘GDP shrank 8.6% in Q2 pushing economy into a recession’

The RBI bulletin notes a sharp rebound of the Indian economy from May/June owing mainly to the reopening from lockdowns. This has helped slow the pace of economic contraction to 8.6% in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

he manufacturing industry has been normalising faster than contact-intensive service sectors, this seems to be indicative of a short-lived contraction. 

Finance panel for PPPs on health infra

15th Finance Commission has mooted a greater role for PPP= public-private partnerships to ramp up health infrastructure and scale up public spending on health from 0.95% of the GDP to 2.5% by 2024.

• has recommended steps to fix the skewed availability of healthcare across India as poorer States have the worst facilities.
• The creation of an Indian Medical Service cadre as envisaged in the Civil Services Act, 1951

GOI clears Rs. 11,000-cr. of PLI proposals by Samsung, others

MEITy approved 16 proposals by electronics manufacturers under its PLI= Production Linked Incentive Scheme. Manufacture include ATMP= Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging units.
Scheme will be implemented through a Nodal Agency which shall act as a Project Management Agency (PMA). 

Approved firms include 5 international mobile phone makers + 5 domestic firms

• Int. firms approved–> Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron are contract manufacturers for Apple iPhones.
• 6 proposals have been approved under the Specified Electronic Components Segment too.

Centre unveils incentives to boost manufacturing—
New scheme focuses on 10 sectors. Sectors have been identified on the basis of

1. their employment creation potential
2. the vision to make India self-reliant.
3. Sunrise sectors and products with linkages with the global value chain have been prioritized.

The selected sectors include 

• food processing, telecom and networking products, electronics, textiles, speciality steel, automobiles and auto components, solar photovoltaic modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, pharmaceuticals and white goods, such as air conditioners and LEDs.
• Companies will get incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units.
• Estimated outlay of about Rs. 1.46 lakh crore for over the next 5 years, with around ₹57,000 crore allocated for automobiles and auto components production.

Plan—

1. PLI scheme would encourage domestic manufacturing investments
2. inc domestic investments would lead to job creation–> boost Indian economy
3. Vision of making India self-reliant. This will help reduce imports.
4. make Indian manufacturers globally competitive,
5. Clear signal to potential foreign investors that India is not turning protectionist as foreign companies are also encouraged to set shop in India as the government is providing incentives.
6. strong ecosystem across the value chain and integrating India with the global value chains.
7. Wants to become Export hub.

Parliamentary Panel to counter bio terrorism

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health’s report on the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and its management.

Commitee with deliberation DoHFW–> report provides a seven-point action plan that is needed to ensure security against biological weapons.

• Strengthening disease surveillance, including at animal-human interface.
• Training and capacity building for management of public health emergencies arising from use of bio-weapons.
• Strengthening research activities related to development of diagnostics, vaccines and drugs.
• The Health Ministry should pursue strategic partnerships among different nations

Fiscal deficit reaches 120% of annual target

Union Govt’s fiscal deficit further widened to ₹9.53 lakh crore~120% of annual budget estimate, at the end of October of the current fiscal (2020-21) mainly due to poor revenue realisation.

FRBM= Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act suggests that bringing the fiscal deficit down to ~3% of GDP is the ideal target.
Govt pledged to get FD~ 3.5% of GDP this financial year.

GDP contracts- NSO

1st quarter= 23.9% decline (record)
2nd quarter= 7.5%

 India, ASEAN to expand trade despite RCEP walkout

17^thASEAN-India Summit was held in a virtual format.

India and ASEAN countries said they would explore ways to increase trade between them despite India’s exit from the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.

• The RCEP is expected to be signed between China, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and 10 Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) nations.
• It is expected that they would leave in a clause allowing India to rejoin at a later date.
• PM announced a $1 million contribution to the ASEAN COVID-19 recovery fund

Annual Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report released by IVAC

IVAC= International Vaccine Access Centre
India has made significant progress in its vaccination coverage to prevent child pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths.

The report suggests that India has achieved the global target of 90% coverage for 3 of the 5 vaccines whose coverage is monitored in the report. These vaccines are:

1. Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT) vaccine
2. Measles-containing-vaccine first dose
3. Haemophilus influenzae type B
4. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)
5. Rotavirus vaccine

India’s coverage of rotavirus vaccine increased by 18 percentage points (35% rotavirus coverage in 2018 expanded to 53% in 2019),
coverage against pneumococcal pneumonia increased by 9 percentage points (6% PCV coverage in 2018 expanded to 15% in 2019).

•  2019, India completed the “100-day agenda” (an unprecedented national scale-up of rotavirus vaccine). This landmark vaccine expansion will help protect 26 million children born each year against life-threatening cases of rotavirus diarrhoea.
• Of the 15 focus countries included in the report, India is one of just four countries that exceeded targets for exclusive breastfeeding.
• The report tracked progress by analysing 10 indicators from the latest available data on how countries are delivering key interventions — including breastfeeding, immunisation, care-seeking and antibiotics, oral rehydration solution (ORS), and zinc supplementation — shown to prevent pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths.

20th summit SCO–>  PM seeks respect for ‘territorial integrity’

20th Summit of SCO Council of Heads of State was held on the 10^th of November 2020

PM urged the members of the SCO to respect “territorial integrity” and “sovereignty”

• India has traditionally supported infrastructure and connectivity projects in the SCO region and cited examples of the Chabahar port and the North-South Corridor
• India’s firm belief in regional peace, security and prosperity and raising voice against terrorism, smuggling of illegal weapons, drugs and money-laundering
• He announced that in 2021, the National Museum of India will hold an exhibition on the Buddhist heritage of the SCO countries.

India China talk

• Defence Minister held talks with his Chinese counterpart in September 2020 in Moscow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting.
• In September 2020, External Affairs Minister met his Chinese counterpart, in Moscow, where they agreed on a five-point plan for disengagement and de-escalation.

China begins work on rail line up to Arunachal border

China has begun work on a strategically significant railway line (its second major rail link to Tibet) that will link Sichuan province with Nyingchi, which lies near the border with India’s Arunachal Pradesh.

 Army builds extreme weather habitats for troops in Ladakh

 backdrop of the ongoing deliberations on a proposed disengagement and de-escalation plan to end the stand-off in eastern Ladakh.

 ‘Severe’ air pollution for 6th day in Delhi

The newly formed Commission on Air Quality Management has given the CPCB powers to operationalise measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on air pollution, as an interim measure.

• The GRAP is a set of emergency measures to be implemented to control air pollution depending upon the air quality.

Armenia, Azerbaijan agree on peace deal

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on a deal with Russia to end fierce clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh, after a string of Azerbaijani victories in its fight to retake the disputed region.

The agreement sparked outrage in Armenia with angry protesters storming the government headquarters in the capital Yerevan.

 Pfizer and BioNTech

Multinational Drug Company Pfizer and BioNTech have announced that their vaccine candidate against COVID-19 based on the mRNA technology has achieved success in the first interim analysis from phase 3 study.

mRNA= Messenger ribonucleic acid or mRNA plays a vital role in human biology, specifically in a process known as protein synthesis. 
mRNA = single-stranded molecule that carries genetic code from DNA in a cell’s nucleus to ribosomes, the cell’s protein-making machinery.
 mRNA technology-based vaccine reduces the risks of untoward reactions in people

 mRNA technology-based vaccines need to be refrigerated to nearly minus 70°C and India, with its limited cold chain infrastructure, lacks efficient vaccine storage capacity.

The early results of the phase 3 study have indicated the candidate vaccine being “90% protective” in the nearly 40,000 volunteers involved in the trial.

Covaxin by Bharat Biotech commnecement of Phase 3 trials

Govt. to govern OTT platforms

Gazette notification placing ‘Over the Top’ (OTT) platforms or video streaming service providers like Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime and digital news under the ambit of MEITy= Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

January 2019, 8 video streaming services had signed a self-regulatory code that laid down a set of guiding principles for the content on these platforms. The code prohibited 5 types of content.

GOI had refused to support this code.

Strengthening public health capacities in disasters

Analyzes important lessons for India’s health care sector from the COVID-19 pandemic experience.

Lacunae in India’s approach:

Inadequacy of the Indian public health sector:
public health expenditure =1.02 – 1.28 % of GDP.. compared to  the targeted public expenditure of 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025 under the National Health Programme.

Drawbacks in private sector:

• The private sector accounts for a large share of the Indian health sector
•  large majority of private hospitals in the country are small enterprises. Many of these small hospitals are unsuitable for meeting disaster-related care needs.
• weak regulation and poor organization
• rivate sector, led by the profit motive, has in many instances indulged in overcharging despite the capping of treatment prices by the governments
• do not prefer to invest in disaster preparedness 

Neglect of public health in disaster management:

• In 2005, India enacted the Disaster Management Act, laying out an institutional framework for managing disasters across the country. The act prescribed a systematic scheme for prevention, mitigation, and responding to disasters of all kinds.
• e public health angle in disasters and disaster management has been largely under-emphasised
• Disaster Management Act fails to identify progressive events as disasters, thus neglecting pressing public health issues such as tuberculosis and recurrent dengue outbreaks.

Greater role for public sector:

• Given the lacunae in the private sector, a strong public sector capacity is imperative for dealing with disasters

Integration of disaster management with primary health care:

Community engagement, disease surveillance, and essential health-care provision,

• important characteristics of primary care, are central themes to disaster management as well.
•  The primary care sector offers a low cost and highly effective investment opportunity in the healthcare sector.

SC–>GOI–> Mechanism against fake news?

Inability on the government’s part may well see the job go to an “outside agency,” the court said.

The Affidavit filed by  Information and
Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare in the Tablighi Jamaat case didnt satisfy CJI, Bobde.

Govt said news published in via internet mediaare neutral + fair… but failed to comment on TV media.

Cable TV Act exists but TV channels contents isnt working.

1633–> NIshad Bagh nera Dal lake… made by Asif Khan = elder bro of Noor Jahan..

Myth of Online education

>60% of govt enrolled students= could not access Online Education
5 states.. 26 districts… 1522 Schools.. >80k students

Smile for All vs State of Rajasthan –>
Smartphones shold be given by State Govt. to 25% underpriviledged students.

CJI= S A Bobde–> SC is discouraging the use of Art 32

Art 32 is a fundamental Right that gives the right to approach SC seeking enforcement of other FR recognized by COI.

India’s wholesale inflation rose by 1.48%

DOON opposes 10k felling of trees for Airport expansion

Approval given by NWB= National Wildlife Board
UK share LAC with China.. so Jolly Grant Airport has its importance.

 ‘Sea sparkle’ has affected marine food chain: CMFRI

Karnataka coast has been witnessing the bloom of Noctiluca scintillans that has displaced microscopic algae called diatoms.

• toxic blooms of N. scintillans are linked to massive fish and marine invertebrate kills.
• Though the species does not produce a toxin, it is found to accumulate toxic levels of ammonia, which is then excreted into the surrounding waters, possibly acting as the killing agent in blooms.
• the unicellular phytoplankton that lives inside N. scintillans can photosynthesise, turning sunlight into energy. They help their host cell survive even when food is scarce. Thus, N. scintillans acts as both a plant and an animal.

12 BRICS Summit by Russia

Global Stability, Share Economy & Innovative Growth.

JIm-O-Neil cined teh word BRICS.

India attended 1st BRICS Finance Minister & Central Bank Governor’s Meet.

Peru gets 3rd President within a week.

Interim President= Sargesti

ECBBC= neighbours..
Currency= Sol

RBI moots DBS takeover as LVS faces moratorium.

Central Govt on the advice of RBI puts moratorium on LVB for a period of 30 days.

LVB=  Lakshmi Vilas Bank

What is a moratorium?

• When a moratorium is placed on a bank’s operations for a specified period of time, under such a situation depositors will not be able to withdraw funds at wilSir J.C. Bose to demonstrate the generation and reception of radio waves l.
• There would be a ceiling on the limits of money that can be withdrawn by the bank’s customers

DBS’s Singapore based Indian Unit bank
Was going to give 90.5% stakes to 2nd largest HOusing Finance Company= Indiabulls Housing Finance Lmt

FB to be banned in Solomon Islands

Cant criticize Govt in FB… banned in China+ North Korea+ Iran
Solomon Island bw Australia & South America in Pacific Ocean.
PM= Manasseh Sogavare

DIPAM inks agreement with World Bank

WB will provide Monetary advisory services to DIPAM for Asset monetization.

DIPAM is mandated with facilitating monetization of non core Assets of govt CPSEs under strategic disinvestment.

MPL is Team India’s kit sponsor.

Women U-17 Fifa World Cup cancelled in India

Was supposed to happen in 2020 but postponed to 2022

GMRT accorded prestigious IEEE Milestone status

GMRT=  Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in Pune

 1895 (recognised in 2012)– Sir J.C. Bose to demonstrate the generation and reception of radio waves

1928 (Nobel Prize-winning in 1930)– C V Raman ‘scattering of light’ phenomenon