Daily Current Affairs : 19th and 20th November 2022

by

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Climate change and dengue
  2. Technical Terminologies in Indian Languages
  3. PM Kisan
  4. Loss and damage fund
  5. Draft Digital Protection Bill
  6. Independent Indian Environment Service
  7. Vikram – S
  8. Facts for Prelims

1 . Climate Change and Dengue

Context: As per a 2019 paper in Nature Microbiology, dengue-endemic countries will see increased dengue cases due to climate change through faster viral amplification, and increased vector survival, reproduction and biting rates. This will lead to longer periods of spread and hence, more cases of dengue.

Spread of Dengue around the world

  • Each year, nearly 100 million dengue cases and about 10,000 deaths are reported from over 125 countries, and about half the global population are in countries that provide suitable environmental conditions for dengue spread.
  • By October 21, France had already recorded 65 dengue cases of local origin from nine transmission events, the highest since 2006 when surveillance for dengue began
    • In comparison, in 2020, France witnessed 14 cases from six transmission events followed by nine cases from two events in 2019
  • For the first time in Europe, one event causing 34 cases on a single day was recorded in France on October 21, 2022.
  • The U.S. too reported one locally transmitted case of dengue this year in Arizona.
  • Meanwhile, Vietnam and the Philippines reported over 3,00,000 cases (as on November 15) and over 1,70,000 cases (as on October 1), respectively.

Impact of Climate Change

  • As climate change and land use disrupts ecology and viruses get more opportunity to spread. This is evident from the slow creep northward of dengue around the world
  • There has been faster viral amplification, and increased vector survival, reproduction and biting rates.
  • Increased temperature due to climate change will also allow the vector and virus to spread to countries that are currently free of dengue.
  • The epidemiological situation of dengue this year in Europe is considered “exceptional” as the number of events and the total number of locally transmitted cases far exceed those seen in the period 2010 to 2021, as per a report in Eurosurveillance.
  • France has witnessed especially warm spring and summer this year which might have contributed to increased “vector activity and transmission efficacy of dengue virus”.
    • Environmental conditions thus have a major impact on the efficiency of the vector system as well as on vector density and host-vector contacts.
  • Only certain times of the year are hot enough for the mosquito to transmit dengue efficiently enough to cause an outbreak, but dengue season in Europe is only increasing each year with climate change.
  • Furthermore, with climate change and increasing global trade, we may see more parts of Europe with the right combination of factors for dengue outbreaks.

About Dengue

  • Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus (Genus Flavivirus), transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes, principally Aedes aegypti.
  • This mosquito also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika infection.
  • Dengue is caused by one of any of four related viruses: Dengue virus 1, 2, 3, and 4.  For this reason, a person can be infected with a dengue virus as many as four times in his or her lifetime.

2 . Technical Terminologies in Indian Languages

Context: Close to three million scientific and technical terms in all modern Indian languages will soon be searchable via Google.

More about the news

  • Technical terms from disciplines like Linguistics, Public Policy, Finance, Agriculture and Engineering will also be available on the website — shabd.education.gov.nic — and will be launched as an app, too.
  • The domain for the website has been registered and it’s expected to become operational before the start of the next academic session.
  • The project is an initiative of the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) under the Ministry of Education.
  • As of now, they are working on 22 official languages, but the ambit will be widened to include other Indian languages as well.
  • The website would provide a standardised vocabulary for reference which can be easily accessed on the Internet.
  • The aim is to create an official vocabulary in Indian languages that can be accessible to all through a simple Google search.

Mechanism adopted by CSTT

  • Different committees are working simultaneously on the project. Subject-based committees are focused on finding the words for their areas of expertise while language committees are collating the “standard versions”.
  • The words are being taken from dictionaries, glossaries and reference materials published by the CSTT over the years.
  • The commission is being aided by the National Translation Mission of the Education Ministry’s Department of Higher Education.

Importance of the initiative

  • The initiative will enable teachers, writers and translators as well as students to access such terminology when they need it in the course of their work.
  • The National Education Policy (NEP) advocates teaching in the mother tongue and local languages as far as possible.
  • The NEP says that the promotion of Indian languages will be integrated into school and higher education at every level.
    • In order to help students learn these languages, the availability of high quality learning materials in the form of workbooks, textbooks, videos, plays and novels is required.
  • Moreover, the languages should have consistent updates of their vocabulary in the dictionary, so that students have access to the latest topics and issues.

About Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT)-

  • CSTT was established in 1961 in pursuance of a Presidential Order dated April 27, 1960, with the objective to evolve technical terminology in all Indian Languages.
  • Its objective is of evolving and defining scientific and technical terms in Hindi and all Indian languages.
  • It publishes a large number of textbooks and monographs, apart from its quarterly journals, the Vigyan Garima Sindhu and Gyan Garima Sindhu.
  • It also undertakes the publication of administrative and departmental glossaries that are widely used by various government departments, institutions, research laboratories, autonomous organisations and public sector undertakings, besides organising workshops, seminars, symposiums, conferences, and orientation and training programmes, to increase the use and popularise standard technical terminology in Hindi and other Indian languages.

3 . PM KISAN

Context: The number of farmers who received the 11th instalment of funds from the Prime Minister’s Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) has fallen by 67%, according to the Agriculture Ministry’s response to a Right to Information query from activist Kanhaiya Kumar.

About the news

  • The Agriculture Ministry’s instalment-wise payment success report showed that only 3.87 crore farmers recieved the 11th instalment of ₹2,000 in their accounts in May-June 2022.
  • This is a sharp drop from the 11.84 crore farmers who recieved the first instalment back in February 2019, just before the Lok Sabha elections.
  • The latest 12th instalment was disbursed in October 2022.
  • From 11.84 crore farmers in the first instalment, the trend of decrease started from the sixth instalment which was received by 9.87 crore farmers.
    • The seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth instalments were received by 9.30, 8.59, 7.66 and 6.34 crore people respectively.

About PM-Kisan

  • PM Kisan is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India.
  • It has become operational from 1.12.2018.
  • Under the scheme an income support of 6,000/- per year in three equal installments will be provided to all land holding farmer families.
  • Definition of family for the scheme is husband, wife and minor children.
  • State Government and UT administration will identify the farmer families which are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines.
  • The fund will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

4 . Draft Digital Protection Bill

Context: The first draft of the Bill was presented by an expert panel headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna in July 2018.

About the News

  • The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 has now been released by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), and the government is now asking for public comments and consultations on the bill.
  • The bill is supposed to outline the rights and duties of ‘digital nagriks’ or citizens while laying out the process and rules for data collection when it comes to companies.

Terms

  • The bill uses the term “Data Principal” to denote the individual whose data is being collected.
  • The term “Data Fiduciary” the entity (can be an individual, company, firm, state etc), which decides the “purpose and means of the processing of an individual’s personal data.”
  • The law also makes a recognition that in the case of children –defined as all users under the age of 18— their parents or lawful guardians will be considered their ‘Data Principals.’
  • Concept of ‘consent manager’- a consent manager platform will enable an individual to have a comprehensive view of her interactions with Data Fiduciaries and the consent given to them.
  • Under the law, personal data is “any data by which or in relation to which an individual can be identified.”
  • The bill also talks of ‘Significant Data Fiduciaries, who deal with a high volume of personal data.
    • The Central government will define who is designated under this category based on several factors ranging from the volume of personal data processed to the risk of harm to the potential impact on the sovereignty and integrity of India.
    • Such entities will have to appoint a ‘Data protection officer’ who will represent them. They will be the point of contact for grievance redressal.

Provisions

  • The new Bill now being called the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, has provisions on ‘purpose limitations’ around data collection, grounds for collecting and processing personal data.
  • The proposed legislation offers significant concessions on cross-border data flows, in a departure from the previous Bill’s contentious requirement of local storage of data within India’s geography.
    • According to the new draft, the Centre will notify regions to which data of Indians can be transferred.
  • The draft also proposes to impose significant penalties on businesses that undergo data breaches or fail to notify users when breaches happen.
    • Entities that fail to take “reasonable security safeguards” to prevent personal data breaches will be fined as high as Rs 250 crore.
    • If an entity fails to notify users about a data breach, the fine could go as high as Rs 200 crore.
  • The penalties will be decided by the Data Protection Board of India– as established by the new law. However, orders of the board can be challenged in a High Court.
  • The bill also ensures that individuals should be able to “access basic information” in languages specified in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
  • The bill also makes it clear that individual needs to give consent before their data is processed and that “every individual should know what items of personal data a Data Fiduciary wants to collect.
  • Individuals also have the right to withdraw consent from a Data Fiduciary.
  • The government could also exempt certain businesses from adhering to provisions of the Bill on the basis of the number of users and the volume of personal data processed by the entity.
    • Example- Startups.

Data Bill based on seven principles-

According to an explanatory note for the bill, it is based on seven principles.

  • The first is that “usage of personal data by organisations must be done in a manner that is lawful, fair to the individuals concerned and transparent to individuals.”
  • The second principle states that personal data must only be used for the purposes for which it was collected.
  • This third principle talks of data minimisation, while the fourth puts an emphasis on data accuracy when it comes to collection.
  • The fifth principle talks of how personal data that is collected cannot be “stored perpetually by default,” and storage should be limited to a fixed duration.
  • The fifth principle talks of how personal data that is collected cannot be “stored perpetually by default,” and storage should be limited to a fixed duration.
  • The sixth principle notes that there should be reasonable safeguards to ensure there is “no unauthorised collection or processing of personal data.”
  • Finally, the seventh principle “is that the person who decides the purpose and means of the processing of personal data should be accountable for such processing.”

Issues and Challenges with the New Data Protection Bill, 2022-

  • Two rights are missing from the Bill-
    • Right to data portability- It allows the data principal to receive in a structured format all the personal data they had provided to the data fiduciary and data that the data fiduciary generated on the data principal while processing for provisioning of its services.
      • This empowered data principals by allowing them to choose between different platforms.
      • For example, if the data principal was not satisfied with the social media platform they were currently using, they could request for porting of their data to another social media platform and avail of its services without having to provide all their personal data again.
    • RIght to be Forgotten- it allows the data principal to ask the data fiduciary to stop the continuing disclosure of their personal data.
      • The DPDP Bill, 2022 subsumes this right under the right to erasure.
      • This conflation between the general right to erasure with the right to be forgotten which is specific to disclosure of personal data compromises on the right to freedom of speech and expression of other individuals.
  • Age of Digital Consent- It is the age at which an individual can consent to their personal data being processed. It continues to be 18 in the new Bill.
    • In effect, this would mean parental consent would be required every time children and adolescents want to access the internet. This becomes an issue for three reasons.
      • First, the high threshold of 18 years negates evolving capacity as it does not recognise that the consent of a toddler is different from that of a teenager.
      • Second, it would result in unequal access to the internet and,
      • Finally, requiring consent from parents would hamper autonomous development of children since parents may not want them to be exposed to viewpoints contradictory to their own.
  • Data Localization Requirements-
    • The DPDP Bill, 2022 aims to strike a balance by allowing for cross border data flow to “countries and territories” notified by the Central government.
    • However, the draft legislation fails to provide any guidance or criteria for the consideration of the Union government while making this notification.
    • The criteria is left to the Central government itself to be specified under its rule making power.
  • Reduced scope of proposed Data Protection Board of India (DPB)-
    • Out of the 22 clauses in the DPDP Bill, the Central government has been provided with rule making power in around 14 clauses.
    • This is an issue because the government forms one of the largest data fiduciaries in the country. As such, it becomes important the agency making the rules should be at an arm’s length from the government so as to ensure impartial protection of the interests of data principals.
    • Vesting these powers with the Union government which would itself be subject to these rules creates conflict of interest.
      • For example, the government has the power to specify “fair and reasonable” purposes for which it can process personal data without consent.
    • Moreover, the DPDP Bill, 2022 fails to provide adequate legislative guidance for framing these rules. This leads to the concern of excessive delegation of legislation.
    • Lastly, the Central government exercises greater control over the proposed DPB because it will appoint members of the DPB, set out the terms and conditions of appointment and lay out the functions that the DPB will perform.
  • Exemptions to State’s processing of personal data-
    • First, the Union government has the power to specify “fair and reasonable” purposes for which it can process personal data without consent.
    • Second, an exemption from most data protection obligations is provided if the processing is undertaken “in the interests of prevention, detection, investigation of any offence or any other contravention of any law” This may be in violation of the ‘necessity and proportionality’ test laid down by the Supreme Court in Puttaswamy vs Union of India.
    • A complete exemption can be provided for when personal data is being processed “in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, maintenance of public order or preventing incitement to any cognizable offence relating to any of these”.
    • Lastly, and this is an addition to the PDP Bill, 2019, the Union government can now notify exemption to certain data fiduciaries based on just the “volume and nature of personal data” processed, irrespective of the purpose for which it is being processed.
    • Moreover, storage limitation does not apply to government agencies which means they can continue to retain personal data for an unlimited period of time even when the purpose of processing ceases to exist and there is no legal requirement to store the data.
  • Nature of penalties-
    • In a move that can be seen as disempowering the data principals, the DPDP Bill, 2022 does not allow them to seek compensation from data fiduciaries for harms they have suffered due to unlawful processing.
    • In a very unusual move and perhaps the only one of its kind among data protection legislations, the DPDP Bill, 2022 places duties on data principals.
      • If they are non-compliant, it could lead to penalties upto ₹10,000.

5 . Independent Indian Environment Service

Context: The Supreme Court has refused to intervene and direct the government to create an independent Indian Environment Service within the All India Service cadre.

Why SC took this decision?

  • There cannot be a mandamus to implement a report- SC said.
  • Perusing government records, the court pointed out that the Centre has already responded that it would not be taking any steps forward in this regard.
  • SC said Parliament can take a decision on this demand on its own.

Demand for IES- TSR Subramanian Report

  • The creation of IES was recommended by a committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian in 2014.
    • The committee was established to review environmental laws in the country and to bring them in line with the then required needs.
    • It will act as an expert group in the public and quasi-governmental sectors over the next decades, regarding environmental matters.
  • The report had also suggested amendments to almost all green laws, including those relating to environment, forest, wildlife and coastal zone clearances.
  • A Parliamentary Standing Committee rejected the report on the grounds that it ended up diluting key aspects of environmental legislation designed to protect the environment.
  • The Centre never formally accepted this report and neither constituted a new committee as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

Need for IES-

  • There is a lack of trained personnel involved in the administration, policy formulation, and supervising the implementation of policies of the state and central governments.
  • India had a strong environmental policy and legislative framework but weak implementation has resulted in environmental governance being criticised by conservation experts and the judiciary.
  • It pointed out that there was no effective coordination amongst various Ministries/institutions regarding the integration of environmental concerns.

Challenges-

  • IES will overlap with the already existing one All India Service (Indian Forest Service).
  • Apart from this, IES will also pose the challenge to federal structure.

6 . Vikram – S

Context: Vikram-S, India’s first private rocket lifted off from ISRO spaceport. The 6-metre-tall launch vehicle Vikram-S is named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the country’s space programme

More about the news-

  • Developed by Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited, the 6-metre tall vehicle hit a peak altitude of 89.5 kilometers and then splashed into the Bay of Bengal about five minutes after the launch.
  • This mission was titled Prarambh.

About Vikram-S

  • The rocket Vikram-S is a single-stage solid fuelled, sub-orbital rocket developed over two years by incorporating advanced technologies including carbon composite structures and 3D-printed components.
  • It is equipped with a gross lift off mass of 545kg, and payload mass of 80 kg.
  • Vikram-S carried with it three customer payloads, which will map the measurement and validation of certain flight parameters and payload integration processes.
  • This was a technology demonstration flight to showcase the capabilities of the company.
  • The rocket will help validate the technologies that will be used in the subsequent Vikram-1 orbital vehicle of Skyroot that is planned for launch next year, subject to technical clearance by IN-SPACe.
  • Founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka in June 2018 Skyroot Aerospace is a two-time national award-winning space startup, with 200 employees
  • It is the largest funded private space start up in India with ₹526 crore raised as capital till date.

Space for private sector-

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opened up the space sector for private stakeholders in June 2020 and this has enabled unlocking of the immense potential of the Indian Space Sector.
  • The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has been operating as a single-window, autonomous nodal agency of Department of Space (DOS) to boost the private space sector economy in India.
    • The establishment of IN-SPACe was announced in June 2020.
    • It is an autonomous and single window nodal agency in the Department of Space for the promotion, encouragement and regulation of space activities of both government and private entities.
    • It also facilitates the usage of ISRO facilities by private entities.
    • The programme also witnessed the exchange of MoUs between IN-SPACe and private sector companies working in the field of space-based applications and services.

7 . Facts for Prelims

Nicobari Hodi-

  • The Nicobari hodi is the Nicobari tribe’s traditional craft.
  • It is an outrigger canoe, very commonly operated in the Nicobar group of islands.
  • The technical skills for building a hodi are based on indigenous knowledge inherited by the Nicobarese from their forefathers.
  • The hodi is built using either locally available trees or from nearby islands, and its design varies slightly from island to island.
  • h. A 60- to 80-year-old tree with a straight trunk or one having a slight incline to one side is preferred to make Hodi craft.
  • Hodis are used for transporting people and goods from one island to another, for sending coconuts, and for fishing and racing purposes.
  • The tuhet, a group of families under a headman, consider the hodi an asset.
  • Hodi races are held between islands and villages.
  • The Geographical Indications Registry at Guindy, Chennai, has received an application from the Tribal Development Council, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, seeking the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Nicobari hodi craft.
    • This is the first application from the Union Territory seeking a tag for one its products.

Royal Bengal Tiger-

  • Royal Bengal Tiger is the largest, fiercest, and most powerful member of the Big Cat family in India.
  • Royal Bengal Tigers are also known as Indian Tiger and Bengal Tiger. They constitute a large population of tiger families in the world. 
  • The Bengal tiger is the National animal of India.
  • It is found mostly in India, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Burma.
  • No two Bengal tigers look alike. Every Bengal Tigers has a unique stripe pattern.
  • Life Span- They live for 10 to 15 years.
  • They are usually spotted in swamps, mangroves, and grasslands.
  • Royal Bengal Tiger delivers a litter of 4-5 cubs and their gestation period is of 3 months.
    • Only 50% of tiger cubs survive and make it to adulthood.
  • These tigers never roar, while fighting with other tigers they hiss and fluff.
  • As per the latest tiger census report 2019, there are 2,967 Royal Bengal tigers in India. India has more than 75% of the total tiger population in the world.
    • India has lost 97% of its Royal Bengal Tiger population in the last century.
    • The main reason is Hunting, Poaching, Urbanization, Habitat loss, and the Illegal Wildlife Trade.
  • IUCN status: Endangered

Barren Island-

  • Barren Island is an island located in the Andaman Sea.
  • India’s only confirmed active volcano is located in Barren Island.
  • It is also the only active volcano along a chain of volcanoes from Sumatra to Myanmar.
  • This island, which lies on the seismically active tectonic plates in the Andaman Sea, can only be seen from afar while on a ship and no one is allowed to disembark.
  • The volcano last erupted here in 1991 and then again in 1994-95.

White Goods-

  • White goods are major household appliances and may include air conditioner, dishwasher, clothes dryer, drying cabinet, freezer, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.
  • These goods were traditionally available in white hence referred to as white goods.
  • India imports white goods primarily from China, Thailand, and Vietnam in the sector.
  • India’s biggest export destinations in white goods are the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, and the United States.
  • Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods (Air Conditioners and LED Lights) was launched in 2021 with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 6,238 crore.
    • This was in pursuance of Prime Minister’s clarion call for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ to bring manufacturing at the centre stage and emphasize its significance in driving India’s growth and creating jobs.
    • The Scheme is to be implemented over a seven-year period, from FY 2021-22 to FY 2028-29 and has an outlay of Rs. 6,238 crore.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)-

  • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia.
  • The bank is a multilateral development lender whose mission is financing the ‘Infrastructure for Tomorrow’ with sustainability at its core.
  • India is a founding member of AIIB with the second-highest voting share.
  • India holds 7.74% equity in the multilateral bank, next only to China (29.9%)
  • AIIB began its operations in Beijing in January 2016 and has since grown to 105 approved members worldwide.
  • It is headquartered in Beijing.

Prison Induction Document (PID)-

  • As a special measure to enrol prison inmates across the country, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has agreed to accept the Prisoner Induction Document (PID) as a valid document for enrolment or update of Aadhaar.
  • PID is generated from the ‘ePrison’ module and certified by the authorised Prison Officer with his signature and seal, for enrolment of Aadhaar.
  • Though the campaign to extend Aadhaar facility to prisoners was launched in 2017, the process did not take off on expected lines since enrolment to the scheme required valid supporting documents prescribed by the UIDAI.
  • Home Affairs Ministry has rolled out SOP for prison enrolments and asked Heads of Prisons in all States/Union Territories to facilitate the enrolment/updating of Aadhaar cards for prison inmates by conducting special camps at all prisons.

Old Pension Scheme-

  • Old Pension Scheme or OPS is a post-retirement benefit for government sector employees that assured a definite amount to be paid to the employee after his superannuation.
  • Popularly known as ‘Defined Benefit Scheme’, OPS secured the future of government employees with an amount which is 50% of their basic salary.
  • So, if the basic salary is Rs 10,000, the person would receive a fixed amount of Rs 5,000 per month as pension from the government.
  • With an increase in Dear Allowance twice a year, the government tries to balance the salary with the rising cost of living. Hike in DA also gives way for a higher salary and hence higher pension.
  • The entire amount of the Old Pension was paid by the government.
  • The budget for pensions used to be announced during the Budget announcement every year.
  • The union and state government were responsible for the payment of the yearly DA increase in the pension as well.
  • OPS was a financial liability for the government without any source to derive income from the corpus collected as savings of the government employee.
  • The old pension scheme, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued in the country from April 1, 2004. A New Pension Scheme was launched from the same date.

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