Daily Current Affairs : 13th and 14th March 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Geneva Convention
2. SRS Special Bulletin
3. Census
4. Warren Hasting
5. ISS & Russia
6. GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care)
7. Facts for Prelims

1 . Geneva Convention

Context : As the Russian military continues to sweep through the country marching on to the capital, Kyiv, there is growing concern surrounding the issue of human rights violations. However, as the evidence of casualties in the civilian population continues to mount, the world will increasingly look to the Geneva Conventions, a set of principles outlining norms for combatant behaviour during a war, for standards to which the invading Russian forces can be held.

What are the Geneva Conventions guidelines during wartime?

• The Geneva Conventions are a set of four treaties, formalised in 1949, and three additional protocols, which codify widely accepted ethical and legal international standards for humanitarian treatment of those impacted by war.
• The focus of the Conventions is the treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war, and not the use of conventional or biological and chemical weapons, the use of which is governed respectively by the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Protocol.

Treaties

• The First Geneva Convention protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war. This convention extends to medical and religious personnel, medical units, and medical transport. While recognising distinctive emblems of these organisations, the convention has two annexes containing a draft agreement relating to hospital zones and a model identity card for medical and religious personnel.
• The Second Geneva Convention protects wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war. This convention also extends to hospital ships and medical transports by sea, with specific commentary on the treatment and protections for their personnel.
• The Third Geneva Convention applies to prisoners of war, including a wide range of general protections such as humane treatment, maintenance and equality across prisoners, conditions of captivity, questioning and evacuation of prisoners, transit camps, food, clothing, medicines, hygiene and right to religious, intellectual, and physical activities of prisoners.
• The Fourth Geneva Convention, which most imminently applies to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, protects civilians, including those in occupied territory. The other Geneva Conventions were concerned mainly with combatants rather than civilians. However, based on the experience of World War II, which demonstrated the horrific consequences of having no convention for the protection of civilians in wartime, the Fourth Convention comprising 159 articles outlines the norms for this critical dimension of conflict.
• Along with the Additional Protocols of 1977, the Fourth Convention expounds upon the general protection of populations against certain consequences of war, the conduct of hostilities and the status and treatment of protected persons, distinguishing between the situation of foreigners on the territory of one of the parties to the conflict and that of civilians in occupied territory. This convention also spells out the obligations of the occupying power vis-à-vis the civilian population and outlines detailed provisions on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied territory. As the International Committee for the Red Cross, a key medical intermediary in such situations, explains, this convention also contains a specific regime for the treatment of civilian internees, including three annexes on hospital and safety zones, and model regulations on humanitarian relief.

Which countries are signatories?

• The Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states. The three Protocols have been ratified by 174, 169 and 79 states respectively.
• In 2019, perhaps anticipating the possibility of its invading Ukraine in the near future, Russia withdrew its declaration under Article 90 of Protocol 1. By withdrawing this declaration, Russia has pre-emptively left itself with the option to refuse access by any international fact-finding missions to Russian entities, individuals or resources that might potentially, in Moscow’s reckoning, find Russia responsible for violations of the Geneva Conventions standards.
• Further, the four conventions and first two protocols of the Geneva Conventions were ratified by the Soviet Union, not Russia, hence there is a risk of the Russian government of the day disavowing any responsibility under the Conventions in toto.

What would be the steps for potential prosecution under the Conventions?

• Under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, it is the ICC that has jurisdiction in respect of war crimes, in particular “when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.”
• Under the statute, ‘war crimes’ refers to “Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions… [including] wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health; extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power; wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial; unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; taking of hostages.”

2 . Maternal Mortality Rate

Context : India’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has improved to 103 for the period between 2017 and 2019. However, despite an overall improvement, the ratio has remained the same for some states, according to the Sample Registration System’s (SRS) estimate released by the Registrar General of India. In some states, like West Bengal, Haryana and Uttarakhand, the ratio has worsened.

About MMR

• MMR is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period.
• Maternal mortality in a region is a measure of reproductive health of women in the area
• The target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by United Nations aims at reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.

Key Observations

• As per the 2020 data, during the period of 2016-18, India’s MMR decreased by 7.4% at 113, as compared to the MMR in 2015-17 which was at 122. India’s MMR was about 556 in 1990 and 254 in 2004-06.
• According to the latest data, barring Karnataka (83), all southern states, including Kerala (30), Andhra Pradesh (58), Telangana (56) and Tamil Nadu (58) have the lowest MMR. Maharashtra (38) also has the lowest MMR in the country.
• The ratio has worsened in states such as West Bengal (109), Haryana (96), Uttarakhand (101) and Chhattisgarh (160). As per the 2020 data, West Bengal’s MMR was 98, Haryana’s 91, Uttarakhand’s 99 and Chhattisgarh’s 159.
• However, despite a country-wide improvement, the ratio in some states have remained above 150, much higher than the UN’s SDG target.
• Uttar Pradesh’s MMR in 2017-19 was 167, compared to 197 in 2016-18; Assam’s MMR was 215 and now it’s 205; and Madhya Pradesh’s MMR was 173 and now it’s 163.
• Rajasthan managed to improve its MMR from 164 in 2016-18 to 141 in 2017-19. Similarly, Bihar also improved its MMR from 149 in 2016-18 to 130 in the latest survey.

3 . Census

Context : The Union government has amended the Census Rules framed in 1990 to allow the details to be captured and stored in electronic format and also to enable self-enumeration by respondents.

About the News

• The decennial Census exercise will be held for the first time both in the digital mode and through paper schedules (questionnaire /forms). The first phase of Census 2021 — Houselisting and Housing Census along with updating the National Population Register (NPR) — was scheduled to be held from April-September 2020 but was postponed indefinitely. The second and main phase — Population Enumeration — was to be concluded by March 5, 2021.

About Census

• The Indian Census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on different characteristics of the people of India. With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time tested exercise has been bringing out a veritable wealth of statistics every 10 years, beginning from 1872 when the first census was conducted in India non-synchronously in different parts.
• The responsibility of conducting the decennial Census rests with the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• It may be of historical interest that though the population census of India is a major administrative function; the Census Organisation was set up on an ad-hoc basis for each Census till the 1951 Census. The Census Act was enacted in 1948 to provide for the scheme of conducting population census with duties and responsibilities of census officers. The Government of India decided in May 1949 to initiate steps for developing systematic collection of statistics on the size of population, its growth, etc., and established an organisation in the Ministry of Home Affairs under Registrar General and ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India.
• This organisation was made responsible for generating data on population statistics including Vital Statistics and Census. Later, this office was also entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 in the country.

4 . Warren Hasting

About Warren Hastings

• Warren Hastings served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first de facto Governor-General of Bengal in 1772–1785.
• He and Robert Clive are credited with laying the foundation of the British Empire in India
• During his term, the First Anglo-Maratha war and the second Anglo-Mysore war were fought.
• The Regulating Act of 1773 brought the presidencies of Madras and Bombay under Bengal’s control. It raised Hastings from Governor to the new post of Governor-General, but limited his power by making the Governor-General one member of a five-man Supreme Council
• He supported Sir William Jones in the formation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1785
• In 1785, after ten years of service, during which he helped extend and regularise the nascent Raj created by Clive of India, Hastings resigned. He was replaced by General Charles Cornwallis, the Earl Cornwallis; Cornwallis served as Commander-in-Chief of British India and Governor of the Presidency of Fort William, also known as the Bengal Presidency.
• On his return to England, Hastings was impeached in the House of Commons for alleged crimes and misdemeanors in India, notably embezzlement, extortion and coercion, and an alleged judicial killing of Maharaja Nandakumar. 

Reforms

• From 1772 a new system of justice was established. Each district was to have two courts – a criminal court ( faujdari adalat ) and a civil court (diwani adalat). Maulvis and Hindu pandits interpreted Indian laws for the European district collectors who presided over civil courts. The criminal courts were still under a qazi and a mufti but under the supervision of the collectors.
• A major problem was that the Brahman pandits gave different interpretations of local laws based on different schools of the dharmashastra. To bring about uniformity, in 1775 eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu laws. N.B. Halhed translated this digest into English. By 1778 a code of Muslim laws was also compiled for the benefit of European judges. Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court was established, while a court of appeal – the Sadar Nizamat Adalat – was also set up at Calcutta.
• The principal figure in an Indian district was the Collector. As the title suggests, his main job was to collect revenue and taxes and maintain law and order in his district with the help of judges, police officers and darogas. His office – the Collectorate – became the new centre of power and patronage that steadily replaced previous holders of authority

5 . ISS and Russia

Context : After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia including a ban on transfer of technology and on Russian banks. Sanctions could disrupt the functioning of the Russian spacecraft that serviced the International Space Station. This could lead to the Russian segment of the ISS, which helps in correcting the orbit of the ISS being affected.

What is Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS?

• The ISS is built with the co-operation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
• Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS. Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support. Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
• They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back. Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.

Why does the orbit of the ISS need to be corrected?

• Due to its enormous weight and the ensuing drag, the ISS tends to sink from its orbit at a height of about 250 miles above the Earth. It has to be pushed up to its original line of motion every now and then. This is rather routine, even for smaller satellites, says Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai, former director of ISRO and presently Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology.
• Approximately once a month this effort has to be made. It is not necessarily a regular operation, and may be missed once and compensated for later.
• The other reason for altering the path of the ISS is to avoid its collision with space debris, which can damage the station.
• These manoeuvres need to be done as and when the debris is encountered.

6 . GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care)

Context : The story so far: Scientists in the United Kingdom as part of a research project, GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care), have identified 16 new genetic variants that make a person more susceptible to a severe COVID-19 infection.

What is the GenOMICC study?

• The GenOMICC— reportedly the largest of its kind — is a research study that brings together clinicians and scientists from around the world to find the genetic factors that lead to critical illnesses. While millions suffer from infectious diseases every year, even though most cases are mild, some people become extremely unwell and need critical care.
• This may be because of their genes and the GenOMICC project is about identifying them. The scientists involved compare the DNA of critically-ill patients with members of the general population.
• However, ferreting out such differences requires a large number of people and comparing their genetic structures at multiple levels of resolution. Since 2015, the GenOMICC has been studying emerging infections such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), flu, sepsis, and other forms of critical illness.

How was the GenOMICC study for COVID-19 done?

• Researchers from the GenOMICC consortium, led by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with Genomics England, sequenced the genomes of 7,491 patients from 224 intensive care units in the United Kingdom.
• Their DNA was compared with 48,400 other people who had not suffered from COVID-19, and that of a further 1,630 people who had experienced mild symptoms. Determining the whole genome sequence for all participants in the study allowed the team to create a precise map and identify genetic variation linked to severity of COVID-19.

What are the key findings?

• The team found key differences in 16 genes in ICU patients compared to the DNA of the other groups. It also confirmed the involvement of seven other genetic variations already associated with severe COVID-19 discovered in earlier studies by the same team. The 16 new genetic variants included some that had a role in blood clotting, immune response and the intensity of inflammation. A single gene variant, the team found, disrupted a key messenger molecule in immune system signalling — called interferon alpha-10 — that increased a patient’s risk of severe disease. There were variations in genes that control the levels of a central component of blood clotting — known as Factor 8 — that were linked with critical illness in COVID-19. This highlights the gene’s key role in the immune system and suggests that treating patients with interferon, which are proteins released by immune cells to defend against viruses, may help manage disease in the early stages.

How useful are these findings?

• The overarching aim of genome association studies is to not only correlate genes but also design treatments. For instance, the knowledge that interferons play a role in mediating a severe infection is already being used in drug therapies in the management of severe COVID. A study called the COVIFERON trial tested three kinds of interferon on the management of severe COVID but found no significant benefit in alleviating disease. Genomics studies reveal an association with certain conditions but don’t necessarily explain how the genes direct the chain of chemical reactions that bring about an adverse outcome. But the knowledge of the gene helps to design targeted drugs. New technologies, such as CRISPR, allow genes to be tweaked or silenced and therefore this approach could be used to make new medicines. The GenOMICC study isn’t the only one of its kind. Several consortia globally are working on identifying genes that may explain different disease outcomes.

7 . Facts for Prelims

Solar Spicules

• These are jets of plasma, shooting out from the Sun’s outermost layer – the Chromosphere – and making incursions into its atmosphere.
• Solar spicules rise like forests from the Sun’s Chromosphere and pierce the Sun’s atmosphere or Corona. A typical spicule may be 4,000-12,000 kilometres long and 300-1,100 kilometres wide. These are structures that are believed to transport momentum to the solar wind and to provide heat to the solar Corona, which, intriguingly, can be a million degrees Celsius hotter than the Chromosphere.

EDGES

• The EDGES (Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature) telescope, placed in an Australian desert, recorded an unusual signal that the group claims is the sign of the cosmic dawn.

Vibrant Village Programme

• Border villages with sparse population, limited connectivity and infrastructure often get left out from the development gains. Such villages on the northern border will be covered under the new Vibrant Villages Programme.
• The activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralized renewable energy, direct to home access for Doordarshan and educational channels, and support for livelihood generation.
• Additional funding for these activities will be provided. Existing schemes will be converged. We will define their outcomes and monitor them on a constant basis”

 Hypothalamus

• The hypothalamus is a gland in your brain that controls your hormone system. It releases hormones to another part of your brain called the pituitary gland, which sends hormones out to your different organs.