Daily Current Affairs : 10th & 11th April 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Designated Terrorist under UAPA
  2. IPCC Report
  3. Mullaperiyar issue
  4. Microbots
  5. Sangeet Natak and Lalit Kala academi
  6. Facts for Prelims

1 . Designated Terrorist under UAPA


Context : The Union Home Ministry has designated Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as a “terrorist “ under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA). So far, 32 people have been designated as terrorists in the country.

About Unlawful Activitire Prevention Act

  • UAPA law is aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.
  • Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India
  • The National Integration Council appointed a Committee on National Integration and Regionalisation to look into, the aspect of putting reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.
  • Pursuant to the acceptance of recommendations of the Committee, the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963 was enacted to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.
  • In order to implement the provisions of 1963 Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Bill was introduced in the Parliament

Provisions and Amendments

  • Main objective of the original bill was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India
  • In 2004, the government chose to strengthen The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It was amended to overcome some of the difficulties in its enforcement and to update it in accordance with international commitments. By inserting specific chapters, the amendment criminalised the raising of funds for a terrorist act, holding of the proceeds of terrorism, membership of a terrorist organisation, support to a terrorist organisation, and the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. It increased the time available to law-enforcement agencies to file a chargesheet to six months from three.
  • The law was amended in 2008 after the Mumbai attacks, and again in 2012. The definition of “terrorist act” was expanded to include offences that threaten economic security, counterfeiting Indian currency, and procurement of weapons, etc. Additional powers were granted to courts to provide for attachment or forfeiture of property equivalent to the value of the counterfeit Indian currency, or the proceeds of terrorism involved in the offence.
  • In 2019 Act was again amended to designate an individual as a “terrorist”

What is Unlawful Activity as per the Act

  • Section 2(o) of UAPA as it stands today, defines “unlawful activity”
  • Unlawful activity, in relation to an individual or association, means any action taken by such individual or association (whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise),—
    • which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, on any ground whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which incites any individual or group of individuals to bring about such cession or secession; or
    • Which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; or
    • Which causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India;

Who is designated as a Terrorist under the act

  • Section 15 defines a “terrorist act” as any act committed with intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, security, economic security, or sovereignty of India or with intent to strike terror or likely to strike terror in the people or any section of the people in India or in any foreign country.
  • Section 35 of UAPA: It seeks to empower the central government to designate an individual a “terrorist” if they are found committing, preparing for, promoting, or involved in an act of terror through a notification in the official gazette, and add his name to the schedule 4 0f theact.
    • The government is not required to give an individual an opportunity to be heard before such a designation.
    • At present, in line with the legal presumption of an individual being innocent until proven guilty, an individual who is convicted in a terror case is legally referred to as a terrorist, while those suspected of being involved in terrorist activities are referred to as terror accused. The act does not clarify the standard of proof required to establish that an individual is involved or is likely to be involved in terrorist activities.
  • Insertion to schedule of treaties: The Act defines terrorist acts to include acts committed within the scope of any of the treaties listed in a schedule to the Act.  The Schedule lists nine treaties, including the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings (1997), and the Convention against Taking of Hostages (1979).  Act has added another treaty to the list- International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (2005).

What happens when an individual is declared a terrorist?

  • The designation of an individual as a global terrorist by the United Nations is associated with sanctions including travel bans, freezing of assets and an embargo against procuring arms However UAPA act does not provide any such detail.
  • The act also does not require the filing of cases or arresting individuals while designating them as terrorists.
  • The act also seeks to give the central government the power to remove a name from the schedule when an individual makes an application. The procedure for such an application and the process of decision-making will also be decided by the central government.
  • If an application filed by an individual declared a terrorist is rejected by the government, the act gives him the right to seek a review within one month after the application is rejected.
  • Under the act, the central government will set up the review committee consisting of a chairperson (a retired or sitting judge of a High Court) and three other members. The review committee will be empowered to order the government to delete the name of the individual from the schedule that lists “terrorists”, if it considers the order to be flawed.
  • Apart from these two avenues, the individual can also move the courts challenging the government’s order.

Investigation

  • Under the Act, investigation of cases may be conducted by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above.  The Bill additionally empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to investigate cases.
  • Prior approval of Director General of Police: The investigating officer has to take prior permission of the Director General of Police of a state for conducting raids, and seizing properties that are suspected to be linked to terrorist activities.
  • Approval for seizure of property by NIA:  If the investigation is conducted by an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the approval of the Director General of NIA would be required for seizure of such property. 

Concerns about the Act

  • The new changes undermine human rights as the central government can brand a person a terrorist without an adjudication by the judiciary and such sweeping power in the hands of the central government is troublesome.
  • If an individual is wrongfully designated it could amount to social exclusion and deprivation of livelihood of the designated individual, which falls within the ambit of right to life and liberty under Art 21 of the Constitution.
  • The updated law though is not anti-federal but has enough teeth to violate the basic human rights of the citizens.

2 . IPCC Report


Context : In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has laid out several scenarios on the steps that ought to be taken to keep temperatures below 2°C. It warned that even temporarily exceeding the warming level of 1.5°C over the next two decades would mean additional severe impact, some irreversible.

How is this report prepared?

  • Scientists from around the world including India are part of the Working Group III of the IPCC. They analyse the various interventions that can be made to ensure that temperature rise by the end of the century is minimal.
  • The group does this by assessing the most credible, updated literature on the scientific, technological, environmental, economic and social aspects of mitigating the impact of climate change. This specific group studies social developments, such as decisions taken at the annual Conference of Parties (COP), progress on clean energy technologies and availability of finance.
  • Placing the data in the context of climate science, the scientists analyse the role played by various groups such as forest communities, indigenous tribes and businesses, in addressing climate change and finally recommend steps that must be taken over three periods: until 2030, until 2050 and until 2100, on what needs to be done to limit temperature rise.
  • A key part of the report, called the Summary for Policymakers, was approved by 195 member-governments of the IPCC, through a virtual approval session that started on March 21. The latest report is the third instalment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed this year.

What are the key messages?

  • Total net anthropogenic GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions have continued to rise from 2010–2019, as have cumulative net CO2 emissions since 1850. Average annual GHG emissions during 2010-2019 were higher than in any previous decade, but the rate of growth between 2010 and 2019 was lower than that between 2000 and 2009.
  • By 2019, the largest growth in absolute emissions occurred in carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industry followed by methane. The per-unit costs of several low-emission technologies have fallen continuously since 2010, however innovation has lagged in developing countries due to weak enabling conditions.
  • Even if countries adhered to their promises towards reducing emissions, called Nationally Determined Contributions, warming will still exceed 1.5°C during the 21st century. Keeping warming below 2°C would then rely on a rapid acceleration of mitigation efforts after 2030.
  • Tracked financial flows were still falling short of the levels needed to achieve mitigation goals across all sectors and regions. The challenge of closing gaps was largest in developing countries as a whole. Increasing financial flows can be supported by clear policy choices and signals from governments and the international community, it said.
  • According to the scientists, limiting warming to around 1.5°C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43% by 2030; at the same time, methane would also need to be reduced by about a third. Even if this happened, it is almost inevitable that this ceiling would be temporarily breached but, with appropriate action, it could again dip by the end of the century.
  • The global temperature will stabilise when carbon dioxide emissions reach net zero. For 1.5°C, this meant achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions globally in the early 2050s; for 2°C, it is in the early 2070s. Even limiting warming to around 2°C would still require global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by a quarter by 2030, the report stressed.

What are the implications of this report for India?

  • The report’s warning against opening new coal plants is of relevance to India. The panel finds that all coal-fired power plants, without the technology to capture and store carbon (CCS), would need to be shuttered by 2050 if the world aspired to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
  • According to the Central Electricity Authority, India had about 211 GW of operational coal-fired power plants — roughly 10% of global capacity. As per Global Energy Monitor data, another 31 GW was being constructed and about 24 GW in various pre-construction phases.
  • None of the existing under construction coal-fired power plants in India have CCS facilities. India has committed to a net-zero year, or when it would cease to be a CO2 emitter, of 2070 and has defined a pathway to transition to renewable energy sources but also insisted on its right to coal use given its developmental needs as well underlining that the historical responsibility of climate change from fossil fuel rested with the developed countries, who needed to shoulder much of the mitigating burden.
  • The Centre has “welcomed” the report and said it recognises India’s position that developed countries must do more to mitigate climate change.

3 . Mullaperiyar issue


Context : On April 8, the Supreme Court ordered the reconstitution of the Mullaperiyar dam’s supervisory committee, which will include one technical expert each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala (the two States involved in the dispute concerning safety of the dam), and empowered the panel with functions and powers on par with those of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), a body envisaged under the Dam Safety Act, 2021.

What is the dispute?

  • Located in Idukki district of Kerala, the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar dam is owned, operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu for several purposes, including irrigation, drinking water supply and hydro-power generation.
  • In late 1979, after the eruption of the controversy over the structural stability of the dam, it was decided at a tripartite meeting that the water level be lowered to 136 feet against the full reservoir level of 152 feet so that Tamil Nadu could take up strengthening measures.
  • In view of execution of a large portion of the measures, the Supreme Court, in 2006 and 2014, held that the water level be raised to 142 feet, up to which Tamil Nadu stored water even last year.
  • The court’s judgment of 2014 also provided for the formation of the supervisory committee and the completion of the remaining work by Tamil Nadu. But, there has been no end to litigation over the dam with Kerala witnessing landslides in recent years.
  • Though there had been no reports of landslides in the vicinity of the dam site, the events in other parts of the State led to a renewed campaign against the dam.
  • The Kerala government proposed that the existing dam be decommissioned and a fresh one be built, the options of which are not completely acceptable to Tamil Nadu which wants to complete the remaining strengthening work and restore the level to 152 feet.

Why was the Dam Safety Act framed? How does it affect Mullaperiyar?

  • The Central government had mooted a bill on dam safety on account of the absence of a proper dam safety institutional framework. The Dam Safety Act, 2021, which came into force last December, deals with the subjects of surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of stipulated dams across the country, all of which hold relevance to the Mullaperiyar dam.
  • Broadly, the law, which holds dam owners responsible for the construction, operation, maintenance, and supervision of dams, has designed two sets of bodies, one at the level of the Union government and another at the level of States.
  • The National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) would devise dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations while the NDSA would implement policies and address unresolved issues between States, apart from being the regulatory body.
  • At the other level, the State Dam Safety Organisation and State Committees on Dam Safety have been envisaged. There is one more function attached to the NDSA, by which the NDSA would assume the role of a State Dam Safety Organisation for a dam located in one State and owned and operated by another. This is why Mullaperiyar comes under the law’s purview.

What has the Supreme Court ruled?

  • Apart from vesting the supervisory committee with powers and functions of the NDSA, the court has empowered it to decide on all outstanding matters related to the safety of the dam and conduct a fresh review of its safety.
  • For any act of failure, “appropriate action” will be taken against the persons concerned not only for having violated the directions of the court but also under the Act, which talks of one year imprisonment or fine or both for refusal to comply with directions of bodies formed under the law.
  • As required by the Supreme Court in its latest order, the two States are expected to nominate, within two weeks, one representative each to the supervisory committee, in addition to one nominee each.

4 . Micro-swimmers


Context : In the 1966 Hollywood film, Fantastic Voyage, a group of scientists enter the bloodstream of a colleague to remove a blood clot from his brain, by shrinking themselves and their submarine, Proteus, to the size of a cell. This element of science fiction is on its way to becoming a reality, as recent research aims at moving microbots into the bloodstream to deliver drugs.

About the research

  • The research is led by MPI-IS and Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF), Stuttgart, Germany.
  • Research has shown that it is possible to use light as a fuel to move microbots in real-body conditions with intelligent drug-delivery that is selectively sensitive to cancer cells.

About Micro bots

  • Made from the two-dimensional compound poly (heptazine imide) carbon nitride (aka PHI carbon nitride), these microbots are nothing like the miniaturised humans.
  • They range from 1-10 micrometre (a micrometre is one-millionth of a metre) in size, and can self-propel when energised by shining light.
  • The PHI carbon nitride microparticles are photocatalytic. “Like in a solar cell, the incident light is converted into electrons and holes. These charges drive reactions in the surrounding liquid. The charges react with the fluid surrounding them. This reaction, combined with the particle’s electric field, makes the microbots (micro-swimmers) swim.
  • As long as there is light, electrons and holes are produced on the surface of the swimmers, which in turn react to form ions and an electric field around the swimmer. These ions move around the particle and cause fluid to flow around the particle. So this fluid flow causes the micro-swimmers to move,” said Dr. Sridhar, “With light, we not only move the microbots but can direct their motion towards a specific goal.”
  • Just like the fragrance of incense wafts from a region of high concentration to low, the ions move from the bright surface of the micro-swimmer to the rear end. The diffusion of the swimming medium in one direction propels the micro-swimmer in the opposite direction. This is like a boat moving in the direction opposite to the oar strokes.
  • The particles are nearly spherical, and the incident light illuminates one-half of the sphere, leaving the other dark. As photocatalysis is light-driven, it occurs only on the brightened hemisphere. As the ions move from the bright side to the dark side, micro-swimmers march towards the direction of the light source.

Challenges

  • The design of micro-swimmers or making them move in a particular direction is not new. “The body fluids and blood contain dissolved salts.
  • When salts are present, the salt ions stop the reaction ions from moving freely as they will just bind or recombine with them and stop them. So all the chemically propelled swimmers can’t swim in solutions containing salts.
  • To overcome this challenge, the researchers examined various materials such as titanium dioxide and cobalt monoxide and finally zeroed on polyheptazine imide (PHI) carbon nitride. While carbon nitride is an excellent photo-catalyst, the two-dimensional PHI has a sponge-like structure full of pores and voids and charge storage properties.
  • The researchers found that the ions in the salty solution passed through the pores of PHI carbon nitride. Thus, there was little or no resistance from the salt ions. Experiments were carried out in sample solutions as highly concentrated as water from the dead sea. “Salt ions present in the swimming medium do not affect the propulsion. Our organic material allows the ions to pass through them freely,” says Bettina Lotsch, a director at MPI-FKF, and co-author of the paper.

Uses

  • In addition to transporting salt ions from the fluid, the voids and pores on the microparticles worked as cargo bays and could soak up large amounts of drug.
  • The researchers found that Doxorubicin, a drug used to treat cancer, was readily absorbed. By changing the pH of the solution or by triggering it with light, the researchers showed the drug release could be activated.
  • The material also has an intelligent charge-storage property to store electrons when light is present. The environment of cancer cells is characterised by low oxygen. The stored electrons are sensitive to it. We use that to deliver drugs, targeting the cancer cells,” explains Dr. Sridhar.

5 . Sangeet Natak Academy & Lalit Kala Academy


About Lalit Kala Academy

  • The Lalit Kala Akademi was inaugurated in New Delhi in 1954, by the then Minister for Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
  • The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art is India’s national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in and outside the country.
  • The LKA was the principal establishment to direct its focus on activities in the field of visual arts. 
  • It is funded by the Union Ministry of Culture.

Sangeet Natak Akademi

  • Sangeet Natak Akademi, the apex body in the field of performing arts in the country, was set up in 1953 for the preservation and promotion of the vast intangible heritage of India’s diverse culture expressed in forms of music, dance and drama.
  • The management of the Akademi vests in its General Council. The Chairman of the Akademi is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years.
  • The functions of the Akademi are set down in the Akademi’s Memorandum of Association, adopted at its registration as a society on 11 September 1961.
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. 
  • The Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards are the highest national recognition conferred on practising artists.

6 . Facts for Prelims


Coastal Vulnerability Index

  • Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has carried out coastal vulnerability assessment for entire Indian coast at states level to bring out an Atlascomprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI).
  • While the maps determine the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast, the CVI uses the relative risk that physical changes will occur as sea-level rises are quantified based on parameters like: tidal range; wave height; coastal slope; coastal elevation; shoreline change rate; geomorphology; and historical rate of relative sea-level change
  • From this CVI, it can be delineated that Gujarat’s 124 coastal kilometers is going to get affected or 5.36%, Maharashtra 11 km or 1.22% and then Karnataka & Goa 48 km or 9.54%, Kerala 15 km or 2.39%, Tamil Nadu 65 km or 6.38%, Andhra Pradesh 6 km or 0.55 %, Odisha 37 km or 7.51% West Bengal 49 km or 2.56%, Lakshadweep Islands 1 km or 0.81%, Andaman Islands 24 km or 0.96km and Nicobar Islands 8 km or 0.97%.
  • Coastal vulnerability assessments can be useful information for coastal disaster management and building resilient coastal communities.
  • A coastal Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping (MHVM) was also carried out using parameters like sea level change rate, shoreline change rate, high-resolution coastal elevation, extreme water level from tide gauges and their return periods These parameters were synthesized to derive the composite hazard zones that can be inundated along the coastal low-lying areas due to extreme flooding events.
  • This MHVM mapping was carried for the entire mainland of India on a 1:25000 scale. These maps depict the coastal low-lying areas exposed to the coastal inundation

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