Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Global Chip Shortage
- Purchasing Managers Index
- Special Emergency Session of UNGA
- Study on Gender Roles in India
- Right to Refuse Covid Vaccine
- United Nations Environment Assembly
- Places in News
1 . Global Chip Shortage
Context : In October, Intel’s chief executive Pat Gelsinger, ahead of the company’s third quarter earnings, said he expects the chip shortage to extend until at least 2023. The two CEOs predicted the supply of chipsets based on the pandemic’s effect on a component that has become a life-line for most gadgets we use every day. Now, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is worsening the global chip shortage crisis.
How did the shortage crisis begin?
- After reaching its peak in 2011, the laptop market growth slowed down with the rise of alternatives such as smartphones and tablets. Then, the pandemic hit. People switched to work from home, children connected to schools through laptops, and get-togethers happened over video calls. This shift led to a surge in demand for laptops and tablets.
- These devices in high demand run on thumbnail-sized semiconductor piece (or pieces some time), performing various functions on a single device. And manufacturers produce them as 200mm or 300mm wafers. These are further split into tiny chips.
- While the larger wafers are expensive and mostly used for advanced equipment, the devices that were in high demand needed smaller diameter wafers. But the manufacturing equipment required to make them were in short supply even before the pandemic began. That’s because the industry was moving in the direction of 5G , which required the expensive wafers.
- But high consumer demand for low-end products, coupled with large orders from tech firms chocked chip makers whose factories were also closed during lockdowns. As the industry gradually tried to pull itself out of the supply crunch, logistical complexities exacerbated the problem. And then cost of moving containers across the world drove up the price of the core component used in most electronic devices and automobiles.
Why is the Russian invasion impacting chip shortage?
- Ukraine supplies rare gases used to produce semiconductor fab lasers, and Russia exports rare metals like palladium to make semiconductors. This combination is required to build chipsets that power a range of devices, from automobiles to smartphones.
- Palladium is often used as an alternative to gold in making various devices as the metal is highly malleable and resistant to corrosion. The rare metal is considered to be softer than gold, but is still much harder and durable than the yellow metal. This quality of palladium gives it more protection against an impact and a greater resistance to denting. So, automobile makers, electronics manufacturers and biomedical device producers prefer the silvery-white metal.
- Russia and South Africa are the two largest producers of palladium. The silvery-white market would move into a severe deficit without those supplies, pushing the price up. While platinum and rhodium could be substituted for palladium, Russia is also a leading producer of the other platinum group metals.
- Palladium is used in nearly all electronic devices, and the metal is a key to make chipsets and circuit boards. It is used to make multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), which are important to make smartphone screens, stereo systems, and power circuit breakers.
- As Russia’s invasion into Ukraine escalates, the country is getting hit by Western sanctions. This could disrupt the country’s exports, leaving the semiconductor firms fewer options to source raw materials to make chip sets.
2 . Purchasing Manager’s Index
Context : India’s manufacturing sector saw an expansion in output and new orders in February as per the IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which rose to 54.9 from 54 in January. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity levels.
What does the PMI index mean?
- Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is a survey-based economic indicator designed to provide a timely insight into business conditions.
- The PMI is widely used to anticipate changing economic trends in official data such as GDP, or sometimes as an alternative gauge of economic performance and business conditions to official data, as the latter sometimes suffer from delays in publication, poor availability or data quality issues.
- The PMI is produced globally by IHS Markit although a small number of trade associations also produce local PMIs in certain markets, such as the ISM in the United States.
What does the Purchasing Managers’ Index measure?
- The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is a survey-based indicator of business conditions, which includes individual measures (‘sub-indices’) of business output, new orders, employment, costs, selling prices, exports, purchasing activity, supplier performance, backlogs of orders and inventories of both inputs and finished goods, where applicable.
- The surveys ask respondents to report the change in each variable compared to the prior month, noting whether each has risen/improved, fallen/deteriorated or remained unchanged.
- These objective questions are accompanied by one subjective ‘sentiment’ question asking companies whether they forecast their output to be higher, the same or lower in a year’s time.
- Originally compiled for manufacturing, IHS Markit pioneered the extension of coverage to other sectors in the 1990s, including services, construction and retail.
- The PMI and its sub-indices are widely used to anticipate changing economic trends in official data such as GDP, or sometimes as an alternative gauge of economic performance and business conditions to official data, as the latter sometimes suffer from delays in publication, poor availability or data quality issues.
What is a services PMI?
- The services PMI was introduced in 1996 by IHS Markit’s economists (known as NTC Research at the time) to accompany the existing manufacturing PMI.
- With the service sector accounting for a larger proportion of GDP than manufacturing for most developed economies, the services PMI was born out of a need for analysts (and in particular central bank policymakers) to better understand changing business conditions in the wider economy.
- The services PMI has fewer questions than the manufacturing PMI due to some questions, such as inventories, not being relevant to many service providers.
- Coverage includes financial services, consumer services and all other business services.
Composite Purchasing Managers Index
- The composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and service sectors.
- The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current business conditions to company decision makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
- Each country PMI survey for the manufacturing or service sector is based on questionnaire responses from panels of senior purchasing executives (or similar) at over 400 companies.
- The composite PMI is a number from 0 to 100. A PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared with the previous month.
- A PMI reading under 50 represents a contraction, and a reading at 50 indicates no change
3 . Special Emergency session of UN General Assembly
Context : India, once again, abstained as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted 141-5 (35 abstentions) to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling upon Moscow to unconditionally withdraw its troops.
About the News
- Voting on the resolution occurred after representatives of more than 120 countries, territories and associations, made remarks over two days at a special emergency session of the UNGA.
- The session was convened after a similar resolution failed to pass the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday when Russia exercised its veto.
- The resolution, co-sponsored by 96 countries, condemns the February 24 “special military operation” [invasion] by Russia. It says no territories acquired through force will be recognised and calls for Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally” withdraw from Ukraine.
About Special Emergency Session of UNGA
- Under the resolution 377A(V), “Uniting for peace”, adopted by the General Assembly on 3 November 1950, an “emergency special session” can be convened within 24 hours:
- Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security.
- If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefor.
- Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations“
4 . Study on Gender Roles in India
Syllabus – Social Issues, Indian society
Context– Study on gender roles by Pew Research Center, a Washington DC based non- profit organisation
About the Study
- The study, titled “How Indians view gender roles in families and society” is based on a survey of 29,999 Indian adults conducted from November 2019 to March 2020.
Key Findings
- Good Political Leaders – 55% of Indians believed that men and women make equally good political leaders, nine in ten Indians agree with the notion that a wife must always obey her husband.
- Child Care – Although most Indians expressed egalitarian views on gender roles, with 62% saying that both men and women should be responsible for child care, traditional norms still held sway, with 34% convinced that child care “should be handled primarily by women
- Earning Money – A “slim majority (54%) says that both men and women” should be responsible for earning money, as many as 43% believed that earning an income is mainly the obligation of men. Also, 80% of Indians agreed with the idea that when there are few jobs, men should have more rights to a job than women.
- Gender Preferences : Nearly 94% said it is very important for a family to have at least one son, with the corresponding figure for daughters being 90%. About 64% of Indians also said that sons and daughters should have equal rights to inheritance from parents. But while four-in-10 adults said that sons should have the primary responsibility to care for ageing parents, only 2% said the same about daughters. Indian women are typically not much more likely than Indian men to express egalitarian views on son preference and gender roles, the study found that similar views prevailed among young Indian adults (18 to 34) relative to their elders.
- Sex Selective Abortion – 40% of Indians saw “sex selective abortion as acceptable in at least some circumstances”. However, 42% found this practice “completely unacceptable”.
- Gender Attitudes – The study, noting that a global median of 70% said that it was very important for women to have the same rights as men, found a similar ratio in India, with 72% of Indians saying gender equality is very important. However, Indians were less likely than people in North America (92% median), Western Europe (90%), and Latin America (82%) to place a high value on gender equality. They were more likely to do so compared to sub-Saharan Africa (48% median) and the Middle-East-Northern Africa region (44%). In South Asia, Indians were more likely to bat for gender equality than Pakistanis (72% to 64%). The survey found that Indians with a college degree were less likely to hold traditional views on gender roles, although this did not extend to all gender-related issues.
5 . Right to Refuse Covid Vaccine
Context– Supreme court has ordered the Government to respond to advocate Prashant Bhushan’s argument that a person has an absolute right to refuse COVID vaccine and States cannot compel them to take the vaccine on the pain of denying them basic rights.
Arguments of the Petitioner
- Though the Centre had made vaccination voluntary, several States had issued notification making vaccination mandatory by denying basic rights and services to people who are not inoculated against the virus.
- Even children were denied access to school if they were not vaccinated. Reports suggests that children, who have very little chance of contracting the virus, are showing symptoms of myocarditis after vaccination.
- Decision whether or not to get inoculated solely concerns individual health and not public health as vaccinated people, as their unvaccinated counterparts, continue to get and transmit the virus.
- The government had ignored getting an informed consent from people about vaccination by being opaque about vaccine trials and by not putting the entire data and inconsistencies up for public and independent scientific scrutiny.
- Vaccines are creating more variants of COVID19 virus. Mass vaccination creates more variants when the virus tries to escape the effects of the vaccine. Over 90% of the population have already got COVID after the Omicron wave.
Previous Judgements
- In late June 2021, the Meghalaya High Court delved into the question of whether the COVID-19 vaccine can be made mandatory. This was done in the context of the multiple orders of the State that mandated vaccination of shopkeepers, vendors, and taxi drivers as a condition for continuing with their business. The court balanced the welfare function of the state to maintain public health with the individual right to livelihood, which is a part of the right to life. The justification behind providing a fundamental right to health, and in extension, a right to vaccination to people is to fulfil the welfare purpose of the state. By coercing people to take the vaccination, this very element of welfare will be vitiated.
- Accordingly, the court held that while the state may take actions to disseminate information about the vaccination and encourage them to opt for the same, it cannot make it mandatory for anyone, least of all make it a compulsory condition affecting the right to livelihood of an individual. The Meghalaya High Court thus gives the individual’s right to life and personal liberty primacy over the right to vaccination and the welfare consideration underlying it.
- Madras High Court laid down a different stance, by holding the “larger interest of public health” on a higher pedestal than individual autonomy. The case related to vaccination of homebound persons and persons with disabilities who could not leave their beds/homes, and the petitioner was seeking measures by the State to facilitate the same. The State had responded that adequate measures were being taken to vaccinate such persons, however, this was met with reluctance in some people towards vaccination. The court observed that vaccination is important not only to protect oneself but also public health, and in such a circumstance, it is “doubtful” whether a right to refuse the vaccine can exist. Once again, the state’s role in persuading people to get vaccinated was highlighted, but it is clear that according to the Madras High Court, there is no right to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Therefore, while one court made the right to refuse the vaccine a possible reality, the other held its exercise to be doubtful.
Conflict with Fundamental Right
- The core dilemma surrounding compulsory vaccination and what Supreme court should assess is with respect to the balance required between the state’s interest and obligation to maintain public health and the individual’s right to life and personal liberty, which protects one’s autonomy.
6 . United Nations Environment Assembly
Context : One hundred and seventy-five countries, parties to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) signed a mandate which makes it legally binding for the signatories to address the full life of plastics — from production to disposal, to end plastic pollution.
Key Provisions
- According to the mandate, the treaty will tackle the whole life cycle of plastic — not just post-consumer waste. This is a critical shift in international policymakers’ approach to the crisis, which previously focused on plastic as a “marine litter” issue.
- The mandate recommends measures to tackle plastic production, which as of now is slated to almost quadruple by 2050, and take up 10-13% of global carbon budget, endangering climate.
- The mandate also recommends addressing the toxic burden of plastic, following hundreds of studies showing the impact of plastic in the environment and its presence in air, agricultural lands, and drinking water. Toxic chemicals from plastic have been shown to enter the human body through a variety of routes, causing infertility, cancers, and metabolic dysfunction, among others.
- The Indian text proposed voluntary action, which remained a separate document throughout the negotiations, with a majority of countries favouring binding commitments. The term voluntary was retained as an option upon insistence by India.
- A Global Plastics Treaty adhering to the blueprint laid out in Wednesday’s mandate will join the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement as one of the most significant international environmental laws in world history.
Indian Context
- India has banned single-use plastic, which will come into effect on July 1.
- The Centre has also recently issued fresh guidelines for manufacturers, brand owners, importers of plastics making it mandatory to recycle and has drawn up a pathway to incorporate the large informal sector, which is involved in plastic recycling, in a more formal circular economy.
About United Nations Environment Assembly
- The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. UNEA enjoys the universal membership of all 193 UN Member States and the full involvement of major groups and stakeholders. It gathers ministers of environment in Nairobi, Kenya every 2 years.
- It is Hosted by the UN Environment Programme.
- The resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) took place online and in Nairobi from 28 February – 2 March 2022.
- The overall theme for UNEA-5 was “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” highlighting the pivotal role nature plays in our lives and in social, economic and environmental sustainable development.
- UNEA-5 was an opportunity for Member States to share best practices for sustainability. It aimed to create momentum for governments to build on and catalyze impact on multilateral environmental efforts to protect and restore the natural world on which our economies and societies depend.
7 . Places in News
Kherson Port- The first sizeable city Russia claimed to have seized in Ukraine. It is located in southern part of Ukraine, bordering black sea