Daily Current Affairs : 17th & 18th February 2021

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Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Lt Governor
  2. Newyork convention
  3. Preservarance
  4. National Hydrogen Mission
  5. Production Linked Incentive Scheme
  6. Money Bills
  7. Clause 6
  8. Facts for Prelims

1 . Lieutenant-Governor

Context : Kiran Bedi removed as Puducherry L-G

About Lieutenant-Governor

  • Governor is the head of the state, appointed by the President. After the 7th Constitutional Amendment, 1956 a Governor can be appointed for more than one state.
  • Lieutenant-Governor is the head of a Union Territory. However, in India, the post is present only in the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry. In other Union Territories, administrators are appointed.
  • The functions and powers of a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor are, more or less, the same. The LG, like the Governor, acts a titular head of the Union Territory. But, the powers of an LG are wider than that of a Governor.
  • This is because, a Governor of a state has to act solely on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, whereas, the LG does not need the approval of the Council of Ministers on every matter.
  • In case of Delhi, the government exercises no power in the domain of land, law, and police. The LG has complete discretion to decide upon any of these matters.

Points of difference between the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and Puducherry

Both Delhi and Puducherry has an elected legislature and government. But, the functions and powers of the Lieutenant Governors of Delhi and Puducherry are marked by certain differences.

  • The LG of Delhi enjoys greater powers than the LG of Puducherry.
  • The LG of Delhi is vested with “Executive Functions” that enable him to exercise powers in matters connected to public order, police and land “in consultation with the Chief Minister, if it is so provided under any order issued by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution”.
  • While the L-G of Delhi is guided by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Transaction of Business of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Rules, 1993, the L-G of Puducherry is guided by the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963.
  • Articles 239 and 239AA of the Constitution, as well as the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, clearly underline that the role of Centre is more prominent in the UT of Delhi, where the L-G is the eyes and ears of the Centre. Under the constitution, the Delhi Assembly has the power to legislate on all subjects except law and order and land.
  • Whereas, the Puducherry Assembly can legislate on any issue under the Concurrent and State Lists. However, if the law is in conflict with a law passed by Parliament, the law passed by Parliament prevails.

2 . Newyork convention

Context : Cairn aims to enforce the award under international arbitration rules, commonly called the New York Convention, and recover losses caused by India’s “unfair and inequitable treatment of their investments”, the court filing showed.

About Newyork Convention

  • Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, done in New York, 10 June 1958 (the New York Convention), is described as the most successful treaty in private international law.
  • It is adhered to by more than 160 nations. India is a signatory of the convention
  • The more than 2,400 court decisions reported in the Yearbook: Commercial Arbitration show that enforcement of an arbitral award is granted in almost 90 per cent of the cases. 
  • The two basic actions contemplated by the New York Convention are the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and the referral by a court to arbitration.

1. Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards

  • The first action is the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, i.e., arbitral awards made in the territory of another (Contracting) State.
  • This field of application is defined in Article I. The general obligation for the Contracting States to recognize such awards as binding and to enforce them in accordance with their rules of procedure is laid down in Article III. A party seeking enforcement of a foreign award needs to supply to the court (a) the arbitral award and (b) the arbitration agreement (Article IV).
  • The party against whom enforcement is sought can object to the enforcement by submitting proof of one of the grounds for refusal of enforcement which are limitatively listed in Article V(1). The court may on its own motion refuse enforcement for reasons of public policy as provided in Article V(2).
  • If the award is subject to an action for setting aside in the country in which, or under the law of which, it is made (“the country of origin”), the foreign court before which enforcement of the award is sought may adjourn its decision on enforcement (Article VI).
  • Finally, if a party seeking enforcement prefers to base its request for enforcement on the court’s domestic law on enforcement of foreign awards or bilateral or other multilateral treaties in force in the country where it seeks enforcement, it is allowed to do so by virtue of the so-called more-favourable-right provision of Article VII(1).

2. Referral by a court to arbitration

  • The second action contemplated by the New York Convention is the referral by a court to arbitration. Article II(3) provides that a court of a Contracting State, when seized of a matter in respect of which the parties have made an arbitration agreement, must, at the request of one of the parties, refer them to arbitration (unless the arbitration agreement is invalid).
  • In both actions the arbitration agreement must satisfy the requirements of Article II(1) and (2) which include in particular that the agreement be in writing.

3 . Perseverance

Context : NASA’s science rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere on Thursday and landed safely on the floor of a vast crater, its first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.

About Perseverance

  • The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA’s quest to explore the past habitability of Mars.
  • The main Science objectives of the mission are :
    • Sample Return Mission: Is there life on Mars?
    • Producing oxygen on Mars: A critical requirement
    • Looking for underground water on Mars
    • Testing a helicopter to fly on Mars

Sample Return Mission

  • Perseverance is the first step in a multi-step project to bring samples back from Mars. The study of the returned rock samples in sophisticated laboratories all over the world will hopefully provide a decisive answer on whether life existed on Mars in the past.
    • As the first step, Perseverance will collect rock and soil samples in 43 cigar-sized tubes. The samples will be collected, the canisters will be sealed, and left on the ground.
    • The second step is for a Mars Fetch Rover (provided by the European Space Agency) to land, drive, and collect all samples from the different locations, and return to the lander.
    • The Fetch Rover will then transfer the canisters to the Ascent Vehicle. The Mars Ascent Vehicle will meet with an Orbiter after which the Orbiter will carry the samples back to Earth.
  • This long-term project is called MSR or Mars Sample Return. MSR will revolutionise our understanding of the evolutionary history of Mars. If MSR is successfully executed, we will have a reasonable answer of whether there was microscopic life on Mars.

Producing oxygen on Mars

  • For a human mission to Mars to materialise, the cost needs to be reasonable. For costs to be reasonable, there needs to be a technology and infrastructure in place to manufacture oxygen on Mars using raw materials available on Mars.
  • Without a robust way to manufacture oxygen on Mars, human missions to Mars will be very expensive, and unrealistic.
  • Perseverance will have an instrument – MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment – that will use 300 watts of power to produce about 10 grams of oxygen using atmospheric carbon dioxide.
  • Should this experiment be successful, MOXIE can be scaled up by a factor of 100 to provide the two very critical needs of humans: oxygen for breathing, and rocket fuel for the trip back to Earth.

Looking for underground water on Mars

  • Perseverance will carry the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX).
  • RIMFAX will provide high resolution mapping of the subsurface structure at the landing site.
  • The instrument will also look for subsurface water on Mars – which, if found, will greatly help the case for a human mission or the cause of a human settlement on Mars.

Testing a helicopter to fly on Mars

  • The Mars Helicopter is really a small drone. It is a technology demonstration experiment: to test whether the helicopter can fly in the sparse atmosphere on Mars.
  • The low density of the Martian atmosphere makes the odds of actually flying a helicopter or an aircraft on Mars very low. Long-distance transportation on Mars has to rely on vehicles that rely on rocket engines for powered ascent and powered descent.

Technologies for Entry, Descent, and Landing

  • The mission uses technological innovations already demonstrated successfully, especially for entry, descent, and landing (EDL).
  • The landing system on Mars 2020 mission includes a parachute, descent vehicle, and an approach called a “skycrane maneuver” for lowering the rover on a tether to the surface during the final seconds before landing.
  • This type of landing system provides the ability to land a very large, heavy rover on the surface of Mars in a more precise landing area than was possible before Curiosity’s landing. Mars 2020 takes things one step further.
  • It adds new entry, descent, and landing (EDL) technologies, such as Terrain-Relative Navigation (TRN). This sophisticated navigation system allows the rover to detect and avoid hazardous terrain by diverting around it during its descent through the Martian atmosphere. A microphone allows engineers to analyze entry, descent, and landing.
  • It might also capture sounds of the rover at work, which would provide engineers with clues about the rover’s health and operations, and would be a treat to hear.

4 . National Hydrogen Mission

Context : Traditionally a slow mover in frontier electric vehicle (EV) technologies, India has made an uncharacteristically early entry in the race to tap the energy potential of the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen.

Background

  • Less than four months after the United States Department of Energy announced an investment up to $100 million in hydrogen production and fuel cell technologies research and development, India has announced a National Hydrogen Mission.
  • The proposal in the Budget will be followed up with a mission draft — a roadmap for using hydrogen as an energy source, with specific focus on green hydrogen, dovetailing India’s growing renewable capacity with the hydrogen economy
  • Proposed end-use sectors include steel and chemicals, the major industry that hydrogen has the potential of transforming is transportation — which contributes a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, and where hydrogen is being seen as a direct replacement of fossil fuels, with specific advantages over traditional EVs. A handful of mobility-linked pilots are already under way.

Why hydrogen — and its types

  • Hydrogen’s potential as a clean fuel source has a history spanning nearly 150 years
  • The most common element in nature is not found freely. Hydrogen exists only combined with other elements, and has to be extracted from naturally occurring compounds like water (which is a combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom). Although hydrogen is a clean molecule, the process of extracting it is energy-intensive.
  • The sources and processes by which hydrogen is derived, are categorised by colour tabs.
    • Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is called grey hydrogen; this constitutes the bulk of the hydrogen produced today.
    • Hydrogen generated from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage options is called blue hydrogen
    • Hydrogen generated entirely from renewable power sources is called green hydrogen.
    • In the last process, electricity generated from renewable energy is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Green hydrogen : ydrogen Energy Mission

  • Green hydrogen has specific advantages. One, it is a clean burning molecule, which can decarbonise a range of sectors including iron and steel, chemicals, and transportation.
  • Two, renewable energy that cannot be stored or used by the grid can be channelled to produce hydrogen.
  • This is what the government’s Hydrogen Energy Mission, to be launched in 2021-22, aims for. India’s electricity grid is predominantly coal-based and will continue to be so, thus negating collateral benefits from a large-scale EV push — as coal will have to be burnt to generate the electricity that will power these vehicles.
  • In several countries that have gone in for an EV push, much of the electricity is generated from renewables — in Norway for example, it is 99 per cent from hydroelectric power. Experts believe hydrogen vehicles can be especially effective in long-haul trucking and other hard-to-electrify sectors such as shipping and long-haul air travel.
  • Using heavy batteries in these applications would be counterproductive, especially for countries such as India, where the electricity grid is predominantly coal-fired.

How hydrogen fuel cells work

  • Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not a source of energy. Hydrogen fuel must be transformed into electricity by a device called a fuel cell stack before it can be used to power a car or truck.
  • A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy using oxidising agents through an oxidation-reduction reaction.
  • Fuel cell-based vehicles most commonly combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity to power the electric motor on board. Since fuel cell vehicles use electricity to run, they are considered electric vehicles.
  • Inside each individual fuel cell, hydrogen is drawn from an onboard pressurised tank and made to react with a catalyst, usually made from platinum. As the hydrogen passes through the catalyst, it is stripped of its electrons, which are forced to move along an external circuit, producing an electrical current. This current is used by the electric motor to power the vehicle, with the only byproduct being water vapour.
  • Hydrogen fuel cell cars have a near zero carbon footprint. Hydrogen is about two to three times as efficient as burning petrol, because an electric chemical reaction is much more efficient than combustion.

FCEVs and other EVs

Electric vehicles (EVs) are typically bracketed into four broad categories:

  • Conventional hybrid electric vehicles or HEVs combine a conventional internal combustion engine system with an electric propulsion system, resulting in a hybrid vehicle drivetrain that substantially lowers fuel usage. The onboard battery in a conventional hybrid is charged when the IC engine is powering the drivetrain.
  • Plug-in hybrid vehicles or PHEVs too have a hybrid drivetrain that uses an IC engine and electric power for motive power, backed by rechargeable batteries which can be plugged into a power source.
  • Battery powered electric vehicles or BEVs have no IC engine or fuel tank, and run on a fully electric drivetrain powered by rechargeable batteries.
  • Fuel cell electric vehicles or FCEVs use hydrogen gas to power an on-board electric motor. FCEVs combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, which runs the motor. Since they’re powered entirely by electricity, FCEVs are considered EVs, but unlike BEVs, their range and refuelling processes are comparable to conventional cars and trucks.
  • The major difference between a BEV and a hydrogen FCEV is that the latter enables a refuelling time of just five minutes, compared to 30-45 minutes charging for a BEV. Also, consumers get about five times better energy storage per unit volume and weight, which frees up a lot of space for other things, while allowing the rider to go farther.

5 . PLI Scheme for Telecom

Context : The Union Cabinet approved the production-linked incentive scheme for the telecom sector with an outlay of ₹12,195 crore over five years.

Main Objective of the Scheme

  • The scheme aims to make India a global hub for manufacturing telecom equipmen
  • It is expected to lead to an incremental production of about ₹2.4 lakh crore, with exports of about ₹2 lakh crore over five years and bring in investments of more than ₹3,000 crore.
  • According to an official release, the core ‘component’ of this scheme is to offset the import of telecom equipment worth more than ₹50,000 crore.

Benefits

  • Scheme was also likely to generate 40,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities and generate tax revenue of ₹17,000 crore from telecom equipment manufacturing, including core transmission equipment, 4G/5G Next Generation Radio Access Network and wireless equipment, access and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) access devices, other wireless equipment and enterprise equipment such as switches and routers.
  • It would surely incentivise telecom service providers,” who opt for equipment manufactured locally, thus saving on substantial costs relating to imports.

About PLI Scheme

  • Production-Linked Incentive or PLI scheme is a scheme that aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales (over FY 2019-20) from products manufactured in domestic units.
  • The scheme invites foreign companies to set up units in India, however, it also aims to encourage local companies to set up or expand existing manufacturing units and also to generate more employment and cut down the country’s reliance on imports from other countries.

6 . Money Bills

Context : In a pre-emptive move, the Congress has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him not to bypass the Rajya Sabha by declaring seven key Bills, including one on the privatisation of two public sector banks, as money Bills.

About Money Bill and Financial Bill

  • Under Article 110 (1) of the Constitution, a Bill is deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains only provisions on all or any of the following:
  1. imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax;
  2. regulation of borrowing by the government;
  3. custody of the Consolidated Fund or Contingency Fund of India, and payments into or withdrawals from these Funds;
  4. appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
  5. declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or the increasing of the amount of any such expenditure;
  6. receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of India or the custody or issue of such money or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a State; or
  7. any matter incidental to any of the matters specified in (a) to (f).
  • In a general sense, any Bill that relates to revenue or expenditure is a Financial Bill. A Money Bill is a specific kind of Financial Bill, defined very precisely: it must deal only with matters specified in Article 110 (1) (a) to (g).
  • A Money Bill is certified by the Speaker as such — only those Financial Bills that carry the Speaker’s certification are Money Bills. Financial Bills that are not certified by the Speaker are of two kinds: Bills that contain any of the matters specified in Article 110, but do not contain only those matters [Article 117 (1)]; and ordinary Bills that contain provisions involving expenditure from the Consolidated Fund [Article 117 (3)].

Advantages of Moneybill over Financial Bill

  • The procedure of introduction and passage of a Money Bill. Under Article 109 (1), such a Bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha.
  • Once passed by Lok Sabha, it goes to Rajya Sabha — along with the Speaker’s certificate that it is a Money Bill — for its recommendations.
  • However, Rajya Sabha can neither reject nor amend it, and must return it within 14 days, after which Lok Sabha may accept or reject all or any of its recommendations.
  • In either case, the Bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses.
  • Under Article 109 (5), if Rajya Sabha fails to return the Bill to Lok Sabha within 14 days, it is deemed to have been passed anyway.
  • Non-Money Bills cannot become law unless agreed to by both Houses, and in case of a deadlock (if, for example, Rajya Sabha continues to block legislation indefinitely), the way out is a joint sitting of both Houses (Article 108). This question does not arise in the case of a Money Bill, since it does not go to a joint sitting, and Lok Sabha can override the wish of Rajya Sabha.

7 . Clause 6

Context : In the first official reaction by the Assam government on the recommendations of a committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which promises safeguards to “Assamese people”, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said its suggestions could not be implemented as they were “far from legal reality”.

About Clause 6

  • Part of the Assam Accord that came at the culmination of a movement against immigration from Bangladesh, Clause 6 reads: “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”
  • For recognition as citizens, the Accord sets March 24, 1971 as the cutoff. Immigrants up to the cutoff date would get all rights as Indian citizens.
  • Clause 6 was inserted to safeguard the socio-political rights and culture of the “indigenous people of Assam”.

What has happened since?

  • Several committees have been set up over the years to make recommendations on implementation of Clause 6. None of them made headway on the provision’s contentious issues, however, until the latest one that was set up by the Home Ministry in 2019.
  • Following widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, now an Act, in December and January, the government gave an urgent push to Clause 6 to pacify the Assamese community.
  • Headed by retired High Court judge Biplab Kumar Sarma and including members of the legal fraternity, retired civil servants, scholars, journalists and AASU office-bearers, the committee was asked to fast-track its report. It submitted its report in February but the government did not make its contents public.

What has it recommended?

Its brief was to define the “Assamese people” and suggest measures for the safeguard of their rights. The definition of “Assamese people” has been a subject of discussion for decades. The committee has proposed that the following be considered Assamese people for the purpose of Clause 6:

All citizens of India who are part of:

  • * Assamese community, residing in the Territory of Assam on or before January 1, 1951; or
  • * Any indigenous tribal community of Assam residing in the territory of Assam on or before January 1, 1951; or
  • * Any other indigenous community of Assam residing in the territory of Assam on or before January 1, 1951; or
  • * All other citizens of India residing in the territory of Assam on or before January 1, 1951; and
  • * Descendants of the above categories

Why 1951?

  • During the Assam agitation, the demand was for detection and deportation of migrants who had illegally entered Assam after 1951. The Assam Accord, however, set the cutoff at March 24, 1971. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was updated based on this cutoff.
  • Clause 6 is meant to give the Assamese people certain safeguards, which would not be available to migrants between 1951 and 1971. If the recommendation is accepted, those who migrated between 1951 and 1971 would be Indian citizens under the Assam Accord and NRC, but they would not be eligible for safeguards meant for “Assamese people”.

What are these safeguards?

Among various recommendations, key are reservation of seats in Parliament, Assembly and local bodies; reservation in jobs; and land rights. The panel recommends the Assamese people be given:

  • 80 to 100% reservation in the parliamentary seats of Assam, Assembly seats and local body seats be reserved for the “Assamese people”.
  • 80 to 100% of Group C and D level posts (in Assam) in central government/semi-central government/central PSUs/private sector
  • 80 to 100% of jobs under Government of Assam and state government undertakings; and 70 to 100% of vacancies arising in private partnerships
  • Land rights, with restrictions imposed on transferring land by any means to persons other than “Assamese people”.

Several other recommendations deal with language, and cultural and social rights. On language, it recommends:

  • Assamese language shall continue to be official language throughout the state with provisions for use of local languages in Barak Valley, Hill Districts and the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts.
  • Mandatory provision of an Assamese language paper for recruitment in state government services with alternatives for Barak Valley districts, BTAD and Hills Districts.
  • To set up Academies for all-round development of each of the indigenous tribal languages including, Bodo, Mishing, Karbi, Dimasa, Koch-Rajbongshi, Rabha, Deuri, Tiwa, Tai and other indigenous languages.

8 . Facts for Prelims

Spatial Mark Resight

  • The Spatial Mark-Resight (SMR) models applied by the scientists are used to count leopard.

Jurisdiction on Social Media Intermediaries

  • Offences pertaining to social media intermediaries are statutorily defined by Parliament.
  • The field is occupied by a Central Act.

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