Daily Current Affairs : 23rd and 24th November 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. El-Nino
2. Procedure for scheduling new communities as Scheduled Tribes
3. Kuki Chin Refugee issue
4. India – Australia Trade Agreement
5. Project Unnati
6. India-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting
7. Facts for Prelims

1 . Kuki Chin

Context– As per reports, 274 people, including 125 women and children, crossed the Bangladesh border recently and entered the Lawngtlai district in Mizoram.

About the issue

• Kuki Chin Mizo community from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of the neighbouring country turned up in Mizoram after fleeing conflict between the Bangladesh Army and the Kuki Chin National Army (KNA)
  • The KNA is an ethnic armed group of rebels.
• These Bangladeshi nationals had entered Bonduk-bangsora, a village located near the tri-junction of Bangladesh, Myanmar and Mizoram and moved to a nearby village.
• They approached a Border Security Force (BSF) patrol base on the Bangladesh-Mizoram border in the early hours of November 20 and were allowed to cross over.
• The Mizoram government has approved the setting up of temporary shelters and other amenities for the community.
• Four schools have been turned into shelters for the refugees following the State government’s order that none of them will be deported or returned.
• The refugees will be housed on the same lines as the shelter given to over 40,000 refugees from Myanmar who have entered Mizoram since a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.
• The official said the “checks and balance” adopted for the Myanmarese refugees will also be put in place for the Bangladeshi refugees.

About Kuki-Chin Mizo community and the crisis

• The Chin-Kuki people and the Mizos belong to the Zo community and they share the same culture and ancestry.
• The trouble was brewing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for a long time over the Chin-Kuki community’s movement for autonomy, spearheaded by the Bangladesh-based insurgent group Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), also called Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF).
• The minority Kuki-Chin community has a population of around 3.5 lakh in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
• The KNA is locked in a conflict with the Bangladesh Army. The Bangladesh Army was allegedly taking the help of Myanmar’s largest extremist group Arakan Army in the offensive.

What does the law say?

• According to the MHA, foreign nationals who enter the country without valid travel documents are treated as illegal immigrants.
• The MHA had said that State Governments have no powers to grant ’refugee’ status to any foreigner since India is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol.
• They are, thus, being referred to as “officially displaced persons” in State government records, as India does not have a law on refugees.

2 . Procedure for Scheduling Communities as Scheduled Tribes

Context– The Union Government has put on hold a proposal to change the procedure for scheduling new communities as Scheduled Tribes, which has been in the pipeline for more than eight years. Instead, it will continue with the existing longer procedure.

Why was change needed?

• The proposal to change the procedure was based on the recommendations of a government task force constituted in February 2014, headed by then-Tribal Affairs Secretary Hrusikesh Panda.
• It called the existing procedure ‘cumbersome’ and ‘time-consuming’, adding that it defeats the Constitutional agenda for affirmative action and inclusion.
• It noted that as many as 40 communities had been excluded from the ST list or were facing delays in inclusion due to the current procedure and criteria and recommended their immediate inclusion.
  • or instance, several tribes pronounced or spelt their community’s name in different ways; some communities were split when new States were created, leaving them as ST in one State and not in the other; and some tribespeople were forcefully taken as indentured labour to other States where they were left out of the ST list.
• The Panda task force’s report, with suggestions to change the procedure and the criteria for scheduling new communities as STs, has been with the government since the change of power in 2014.

Current Procedure

• As per the current procedure, each proposal for the scheduling of a new community as ST has to originate from the relevant State Government.
• The proposal is sent to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which sends it to the Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI).
• Once approved by the Office of the RGI, it is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), and only after its approval is it sent to the Cabinet.

Panda Committee Report suggestions

• Examining this procedure, the Panda task force noted that if a proposal is defeated at any one of the stages, it is disallowed, and if the Office of the RGI says no twice, it is liable for rejection.
• The task force had pointed out that when the modalities were being framed in 1996, the erstwhile Ministry of Home Affairs’ had provided its opinion in a letter, saying that “The Office of the RGI should merely be required to provide information available with it,” because
  • it not only lacks sufficient anthropologists and sociologists to comment on proposals for exclusion or inclusion,
  • but also because no build-up of the data bank on tribes/castes based on the ethnographic study/surveys has been possible for long, limiting the ability of ORGI to do justice to this task.
• Citing this, the task force had recommended changes to the procedure, suggesting that once a proposal is received from a State Government, it should be circulated simultaneously to the NCST, the Office of the RGI and the Anthropological Survey of India, each of which would have six months to give their opinions.
• A special Committee on scheduling should then consider the proposal and the opinions of the above-mentioned authorities and make a final recommendation within one month.
• The Committee would consist of the Tribal Affairs Secretary, and representatives of the NCST, Office of the RGI, Anthropological Survey of India, State Government and the concerned State tribal research institute.

3 . El Nino

Context: A new study projects that climate change will significantly impact El Niño-La Niña weather patterns approximately by 2030 — a decade before what was earlier predicted. This is bound to result in further global climate disruptions.

What is the El Niño phenomenon?

• El Niño is the warming of sea water in the central-east Equatorial Pacific that occurs every few years.
• During El Niño, surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rise, and trade winds — east-west winds that blow near the Equator — weaken.
• Normally, easterly trade winds blow from the Americas towards Asia. Due to El Niño, they falter and change direction to turn into westerlies, bringing warm water from the western Pacific towards the Americas.
• The phenomena of upwelling, where nutrient-rich waters rise towards the surface, is reduced under El Niño.
• This in turn reduces phytoplankton. Thus, fish that eat phytoplankton are affected, followed by other organisms higher up the food chain.
• Warm waters also carry tropical species towards colder areas, disrupting multiple ecosystems.
• Since the Pacific covers almost one-third of the earth, changes in its temperature and subsequent alteration of wind patterns disrupt global weather patterns.
• El Niño causes dry, warm winter in Northern U.S. and Canada and increases the risk of flooding in the U.S. gulf coast and southeastern U.S. It also brings drought to Indonesia and Australia.

What is La Niña phenomenon?

• La Niña is the opposite of El Niño. La Niña sees cooler than average sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial Pacific region.
• Trade winds are stronger than usual, pushing warmer water towards Asia.
• On the American west coast, upwelling increases, bringing nutrient-rich water to the surface.
• Pacific cold waters close to the Americas push jet streams — narrow bands of strong winds in the upper atmosphere — northwards. This leads to drier conditions in Southern U.S., and heavy rainfall in Canada.
• La Niña has also been associated with heavy floods in Australia. Two successive La Niña events in the last two years caused intense flooding in Australia, resulting in significant damage.

What is ENSO?

• The combination of El Niño, La Niña, and the neutral state between the two opposite effects is called the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
• Southern oscillations are large-scale changes in sea level pressure in the tropical Pacific region.
• ENSO’s scale is significant enough to influence global climate.

New Climate Change Study

• According to the study, published in the Nature Communications journal, increased SST variability from ENSO in the eastern Equatorial Pacific (EP) will emerge around 2030 (error margin of +/- 6 years), more than a decade earlier than that of the central Pacific (CP) ENSO.
• If CP and EP are not separated, SST variability from ENSO will occur almost four decades earlier than previously suggested.
• Changes in the equatorial Pacific will be visible first due to a stronger increase in the EP-ENSO rainfall response, leading to increased SST variability.

What is the effect on India’s monsoons?

• In India, El Niño causes weak rainfall and more heat, while La Niña intensifies rainfall across South Asia, particularly in India’s northwest and Bangladesh during the monsoon.
• At present, India, like the rest of the globe, is witnessing an extended ‘triple dip’ La Niña. This, in part, is why India saw surplus rain in September, a month that usually sees the monsoon retreat, for the third year in a row.

4 . India – Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement – ECTA

Context: The India-Australia trade pact was ratified by the Australian Parliament on November 22. It will significantly open up opportunities for many Indian business sectors.

About News

• Bipartisan support was extended by Australia to the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) that was signed by India with the previous Australian administration under Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
• The negotiations had begun over a decade ago in 2011, but were restarted in September 2021.

Features of ECTA

• The ECTA is guided by a Preamble and is divided into multiple sections that will govern what is hoped to be the most expansive bilateral trade since the two countries established diplomatic ties before India attained independence.
• It has a section on goods exports, and lays out clearly “Rules of Origin” that are aimed at creating anti-dumping measures.
  • The rules of origin are based on the principle that they should be wholly obtained or produced in the territory of one or both of the parties.
  • This section ensures that waste material will not be exported by either side unless they contribute to the production of any of the items listed in the ECTA.
• There are also sections that are aimed at providing remedies and mechanisms for resolving trade disputes.
• The Commerce Ministry underlined that this is the first trade deal signed by India that has a compulsory review mechanism after 15 years of implementation.

Australia’s access to India’s agriculture market-

• Under this agreement, Australia will get the opportunity to export certain varieties of agricultural produce like potatoes, lentils, and meat products with some caveats.
• However, bovine meat is not part of the agreement.
• Australia may also send machineries that are required for food processing under this agreement.
• In a historic first, India may open up to a wide-range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks including Australian beer.
  • Australian wines costing over $5 may face lower import duties in the Indian market.
  • A Joint Dialogue for Wine may be created with participation from industry players and government representatives to ensure cooperation and benefits for both countries.

Services Sector

• Australia has offered wide ranging commitments in around 135 sub-sectors and Most Favoured Nation in 120 sub-sectors which cover key areas of the Indian services sector like IT, ITES, business services, health, education and audio-visual services.
• Indian chefs and yoga teachers will get specific entry quotas into Australia, while Indian students in Australia will be able to secure work visas for periods ranging from 18 months to four years on a ‘reciprocal’ basis.
• As per the rules framed under the pact, students completing a diploma in Australia will be considered for an 18-month work visa; and those completing their under-graduation may get two years and those with a Ph.D. may be considered for a four-year visa.

Pharmaceutical Sector

• India and Australia have agreed to enable fast track approval for patented, generic and biosimilar medicines.
• Therapeutic Goods Regulators of both sides will have a role to play in monitoring and ensuring smooth trade in pharma products between the two sides.
• Both sides have agreed to audits of imports that require sanitary and phytosanitary inspection as per the law of the land.
• The importing side will ensure that plants and plant products, animal products and other goods, and their packaging are inspected through recognised methodologies.
• If either party finds examples of non-compliance, remedial measures will be taken by both sides.

Dispute Settlement Mechanism

• Under Article 13.5, both parties have agreed to hold consultations and make every effort to find a solution — in case of disputes that may emerge in the course of trade in goods or services.
• They have also recognised that in case they have to resort to international arbitration, they may opt for an organisation (i.e, World Trade Organization) where both are members.
• They may also use ‘good offices’ and form panels with qualified members drawn from government and business to resolve the disputes.
• The dispute resolution may range from 45 days to 15 months.

Significance of the agreement

• The ECTA is expected to increase trade between the two sides to $45-50 billion over five years, from the current estimate of $27 billion, and create over 10 lakh additional job opportunities.
• Under this agreement, India will give 85% of Australia’s exports zero-duty access to its domestic market.
• India is expected to get zero-duty access to Australia for its goods over five years.
• Australia will provide ‘preferential access’ to all the labour-intensive sectors of export items from India such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, engineering products, medical devices and automobiles.
• India will also allow Australia to export raw materials under preferential terms like coal and mineral ores.
• India’s pharma industry will get a big boost because medicines which have already gone through a rigorous approval process from the U.S. and the U.K. will have a pathway of fast-track mechanism to get approval in the Australian regulatory system.
• The agreement will strengthen geopolitical partnership between India and a friendly democratic country like Australia.

5 . Project Unnati

Context: Facing less than a lukewarm response to project Unnati, which aims to reduce dependence on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by imparting skill training to its beneficiaries, the Union Rural Development Ministry wants to link performances of the States under the project with its labour budget for the upcoming financial year.

About Project Unnati

• It is a skilling project that intends to upgrade the skill base of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries.
• It aims improve their livelihoods, so that they can move from the current partial employment to full-time employment and hence reduce their dependence on Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
•  This project is meant for providing training for one adult member (of age 18-45 years old) of a household who has completed 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in the previous financial year from the year of commencement of the project.
• The household from which, candidates are selected for the training, are continuing to enjoy 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
• The candidate undergoing training are paid a stipend for a maximum period of 100 days and for one program per household as per the wage rate prevailing in the concerned State/UT as per the provisions of the project.
  • Full expenditures towards a stipend, against wage loss compensation, are entirely borne by Central Government.
• The Ministry adviced that at least 20% of the households that complete 100 days of work under MGNREGS should be targeted by the States under the scheme [Unnati] to fully utilise its potential.
• Under the project, the selected candidates are skilled using three established training programmes — the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDU-GKY), the Rural Self Training Institute (RSETI) and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
  • The Grameen Kaushal Yojana is a placement-linked programme, in which 70% of the trained candidates have to be compulsorily employed with a minimum salary of ₹6,000 per month.
  • The RSETI is for entrepreneurial skills where persons in the age group of 18-45 get short-term residential training with long-term hand-holding support for up to two years.
  • Krishi Vigyan Kendra trains candidates in trades related to the agricultural sectors.
• 2,00,000 beneficiaries shall be imparted training under this project in a span of three years in 26 States and 2 UTs.

Performance of the scheme so far

• Since its inception in 2020, just a little over 25,000 persons have been trained under the project, falling far short of its target of 2 lakh.
• The performance so far has been far below this 20% target. In the 2020-21 financial year for example, 71 lakh households worked for 100 days in the country under the MGNREGS but only 8,658 persons received training under the Unnati project.
• Similarly, in 2021-2022, the number of eligible households stood at 59 lakh, but only 12,577 persons were trained.
• The project was slated to end on March 2022 but has now been extended by two years.

6 . India – ASEAN Defence Meeting

Context: The maiden India-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting was held today at Siem Reap, Cambodia to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of India-ASEAN relations in 2022, which has also been designated as ‘ASEAN-India Friendship Year’.

More about the news

• The meeting was co-chaired by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia General Tea Banh.
• It preceded the 9th ASEAN-Defence Ministers Meeting’ (ADMM) Plus scheduled to take place tomorrow.
• The Raksha Mantri, in his address, highlighted the historic and robust ties that India shares with ASEAN countries.
  • India-ASEAN relationship was elevated recently to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the ASEAN-India Summit held in Cambodia on November 12, 2022.
  • The centrality of ASEAN in the Indo- Pacific region as the cornerstone of India’s Act East Policy was also emphasised upon.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday also made two proposals for expanding the scope and the depth of the India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) defence relations.
• These include an initiative for women in United Nations Peace Keeping (UNPK) operations and another initiative on marine plastic pollution.

Women in UNPK

• Initiative for women in UNPK operations’ includes conduct of tailor-made courses for women peacekeepers of ASEAN member states at the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping in India and conduct of a ‘Table Top Exercise’ in India for women officers from ASEAN incorporating facets of UNPK challenges.

Initiative on Marine Plastic Pollution

• It includes channelising of the energy of the youth towards addressing the critical issue of marine pollution.
• The ASEAN members were informed about the significant work done by the NCC in the cleaning of Indian beaches and raising awareness about plastic pollution in the coastal community.
• Coordination between the NCC and the equivalent youth organisations of ASEAN countries was suggested for a collective effort in this direction in the region.

7 . Facts for Prelims

Measles-

• Measles is an acute viral respiratory illness.
• It remains a major cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.
• Measles is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
• Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 °C (104 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes.
• Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days.
• Measles is an airborne disease which spreads easily from one person to the next through the coughs and sneezes of infected people.
• Once a person has become infected, no specific treatment is available, although supportive care may improve outcomes.
• While often regarded as a childhood illness, it can affect people of any age. Most people do not get the disease more than once.
• Measles is not known to occur in other animals.
• In India, measles vaccination falls under the Universal Immunisation Programme. India has a target of eliminating the viral disease by 2023.

Nyingma Sect

• The Nyingma sect is the oldest of all Buddhist sects.
• Nyingma in Tibetan means “ancient” and has roots going back to the 8th century when the indigenous Bon religion was strongly adhered to by Tibetans.
• Its teachings are mainly based on those of Padmasambhava, called Guru Rinpoche and Shantarakshita who were brought to Tibet through the rule of the Emperor Trisong Detsen from 742 to 797 CE.
• Guru Padmasambhava, is thus called the founder of the Nyingma Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
• The Nyingma sect is also known as the Red Hat sect because its Lamas wear red robes and hats.
• Nyingma Sect Buddhist teachings are classified into nine yanas with ‘Dzogchen’ being most important. Dzogchen (Great Perfection) philosophy revolves around pure awareness which can be achieved through meditation and learned from a Dzogchen master.
  • This Vajrayana tradition involves use of ritual, symbols and tantric practices to achieve nirvana.
• The followers of the sect are spread across Tibet, Bhutan, Ladakh, Sikkim and other Himalayan Buddhist pockets.

Indo-Pacific Regional DIalogue (IPRD)

• The IPRD is an apex level international annual conference of Indian Navy, and is principal manifestation of Navy’s engagement at the strategic-level.
• The National Maritime Foundation (NMF) is Navy’s knowledge partner and chief organizer of each edition of the event.
• The IPRD seeks to foster exchange of ideas and promote deliberations on regionally relevant maritime issues.
• Being a Track 1.5 event that aims to encourage discussions on public policy, the IPRD endeavors for a balanced representation from government and non-government agencies and institutions.
• The first two editions of IPRD were held in 2018 and 2019 respectively at New Delhi. IPRD 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 outbreak.
• The third edition of IPRD was held in 2021 in online mode.
• The aim of each successive edition of the IPRD is to review both opportunities and challenges that arise within the Indo-Pacific.
• Through this annual dialogue, the Indian Navy and the NMF, continue to provide a platform for incisive discussions pertaining to the geopolitical developments affecting the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific.
• The fourth edition of IPRD is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from 23 to 25 November’ 22.
  • The theme of IPRD-2022 is ‘Operationalising the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)’, which was articulated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangkok at the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) on 04 November 2019.
  • The IPOI Is a comprehensive and inclusive construct for regional cooperation that is focused on seven interconnected spokes or pillars: Maritime Security, Maritime Ecology, Maritime Resources, Disaster Risk-reduction and Management, Trade-Connectivity and Maritime Transport, Capacity-building and Resource sharing, and Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation.
• The 2022 edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD-2022) is appropriately centered upon the IPOI and its operationalization, with particular but not exclusive focus upon the pillars of ‘Maritime Security’

Sovereign Credit Rating-

• A sovereign credit rating is an independent assessment of the creditworthiness of a country or sovereign entity.
• Sovereign credit ratings can give investors insights into the level of risk associated with investing in the debt of a particular country, including any political risk.
• At the request of the country, a credit rating agency will evaluate its economic and political environment to assign it a rating.
• Sovereign credit risk, which is reflected in sovereign credit ratings, represents the likelihood that a government might be unable—or unwilling—to meet its debt obligations in the future.
• Obtaining a good sovereign credit rating is usually essential for developing countries that want access to funding in international bond markets.
• Many countries seek ratings from the largest and most prominent credit rating agencies to encourage investor confidence.
• Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings are the three most influential agencies.
• Moody’s had in October 2021 raised India’s sovereign rating outlook to ‘stable’, from ‘negative’, while affirming the ‘Baa3’ rating, which is the lowest investment grade, just a notch above junk status.
• Moody’s says India’s ‘Baa3’ sovereign rating balances its strength of relatively high economic growth and weakness of one of the most highly indebted emerging market sovereigns.

Accident Relief Train-

• Indian Railways has an organized system of relief for managing accidents with its own resources.
• It consists of more than 6 thousand trained breakdown staff, 176 Accident Relief Trains (ARTs) and 86 Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) made using passenger coaches.
• All Accident Relief Trains and Accident Relief Medical Vans have pre-defined beats, inspection schedules and response time.
• In addition, there are 90 Break down Cranes of various capacities over Indian Railway system.
• All equipments in Accident Relief Trains and Accident Relief Medical Equipments have been standardized based on High Level Committee recommendations.
• Some of the items being imported for rescue, relief and restoration are- Medical equipments, Emergency Pneumatic air bags for lifting, Hydraulic Re-railing equipments (HRE), Firefighting equipments etc.
• Indian Railways is gradually replacing locomotive hauled Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) with Self Propelled Accident Relief Medical Vans (SPARMVs) to improve response during disaster.

Karmayogi Bharat Technology Platform-

• Karmayogi Bharat technology platform that was launched recently by the Prime Minister makes available many online courses for government officials.
• Under the Mission Karmayogi, a comprehensive Institutional Framework has been designed to deliver the program objectives effectively.
• The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Karmayogi Bharat forms a key pillar of the institutional framework with an aim to operate the iGOT Karmayogi platform, manage its overall governance and ensure that it meets the objective of anytime, anywhere, any-device learning for civil service officials to enhance their overall competency.
• The SPV has been incorporated on 31.01.2022 in the name of Karmayogi Bharat under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 as a 100% Government owned not for profit Company.
• The Prime Minister also launched the Karmayogi Prarambh module.
• The module is an online orientation course for all new appointees in various Government departments.
• It will include a code of conduct for Government servants, workplace ethics & integrity, human resource policies and other benefits and allowances that will help them to get acclimatized to the policies and transition smoothly into the new roles.
• They will also get an opportunity to explore other courses on igotkarmayogi.gov.in platform to enhance their knowledge, skills and competencies.

Aripatti heritage site-

• The Tamil Nadu government issued a notification declaring the Arittapatti village near Melur in Madurai district as a biodiversity heritage site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
• The Arittapatti village is surrounded by a chain of seven barren granite hillocks that act as a watershed and support close to 72 lakes, 200 natural spring pools and three check dams.
  •  The Anaikondan lake built during the reign of the Pandiyas in the 16th century is one among them.
• The village has a rich biological and historical significance with the presence of around 250 bird species, including three flagship raptor species – Laggar Falcon (Falco jugger), Shaheen Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata).
• The site also features various megalithic structures, Tamil Brahmi Inscriptions, Jain Beds and 2200-year-old rock-cut temples adding to its historical value.