Daily Current Affairs : 31st August 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. World Bank report on Pandemic purchase challenge
2. LANINA
3. Factors affecting appreciation & Depreciation of Rupees
4. Facts for Prelims

1 . World Bank report on Pandemic purchase challenge 

Context: World Bank report highlights pandemic purchase challenge

Key highlights of the report

• A paper was released by the World Bank titled “India COVID-19 procurement: challenges, innovations, and lessons”
• The COVID-19 pandemic did not deter fraudulent business practices.
  • A company from Singapore tried to dispatch millions of substandard Chinese KN95 masks to India in 2021 by forging a third-party inspection certificate.
  • This was discovered by the dispatch inspection team of Hindustan Life Care Ltd. (HLL), and the bank guarantee of the supplier worth $9.75 million was encased.
  • The money is now lying in a separate account at the Indian Mission, Singapore.
• India was not the only target of fraud. The report also pointed out that 200 million substandard, soiled and second-hand medical nitrile gloves were purchased by the U.S. from a Thailand-based company during the pandemic.
• The World Bank (WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) jointly funded the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Strengthening Project worth $1.5 billion (₹11,983.5 crores) in India.
• The report says India managed to get many things right in its management of the pandemic including putting in place a central procurement agency (HLL Lifecare Ltd., finalized in February 2020).
  • This helped in accelerating emergency procurement. HLL supported the Central procurement division in the preparation of bidding documents as well as in bidding, evaluation and award of the contract.
  • It also helped in managing the supply chain to deliver commodities according to the needs of the States.
• It added that an expert panel was also put in place to develop specifications for overalls, goggles, and N95 masks which supported the Health Ministry’s long-term market development and production of Emergency Medical Equipment (EME) in India.
• India also managed efficient distribution of medical supplies nationwide, put in early restrictions and created empowered inter-ministerial groups to achieve prompt procurement decisions during emergencies.
• It listed the achievements of India during the pandemic and said that the country managed to scale up from 18 to over 2,500 testing laboratories rapidly within a span of four months and became ready to face future pandemics and health emergencies that pose serious challenges for global supply chains.

About World Bank

• The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects.
• The World Bank is the collective name for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), two of five international organizations owned by the World Bank Group.
• It was established along with the International Monetary Fund at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference.
• After a slow start, its first loan was to France in 1947. In the 1970s, it focused on loans to developing world countries, shifting away from that mission in the 1980s.
• For the last 30 years, it has included NGOs and environmental groups in its loan portfolio. Its loan strategy is influenced by the Millennium Development Goals as well as environmental and social safeguards.

World Bank – Working

• The World Bank is run by a president and 25 executive directors, as well as 29 various vice presidents.
• IBRD and IDA have 189 and 174 member countries, respectively.
• The U.S., Japan, China, Germany and the U.K. have the most voting power.
• The bank aims for loans to developing countries to help reduce poverty. The bank is engaged in several global partnerships, and initiatives and takes a role in working toward addressing climate change.
• The World Bank operates several training wings, and it works with the Clean Air Initiative and the UN Development Business. It works within the Open Data Initiative and hosts an Open Knowledge Repository.

2 . La – Nina

Context: La Nina conditions prevailing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean since September 2020 have entered the third year. There are only six instances of La Ninã lasting for more than two years since 1950s data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show.

Key highlights

• This year, India has received 740.3mm rainfall which was quantitatively 7 per cent above the seasonal average till August 30. Out of the 36 states/Union Territories, 30 have received rainfall categorized as ‘normal’ or ‘excess’ or ‘large excess’.
• By mid-August, meteorologists at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA, and India’s Monsoon Mission Climate Forecast System (MMCFS) confirmed that the La Ninã conditions will stay till the end of 2022.
• La Niña years are infamous for frequent and intense hurricanes and cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. La Niña favours a higher rate of cyclone formation in the Bay of Bengal,

 What is El Nino & La Nina

• During normal conditions in the Pacific Ocean, trade winds blow west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia.
• To replace that warm water, cold water rises from the depths — a process called upwelling.
• El Niño and La Niña are two opposing climate patterns that break these normal conditions. Scientists call these phenomena the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
• El Niño and La Niña can both have global impacts on weather, wildfires, ecosystems, and economies. Episodes of El Niño and La Niña typically last nine to 12 months but can sometimes last for years.
• El Niño and La Niña events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule. Generally, El Niño occurs more frequently than La Niña.

El Niño

• During El Niño, trade winds weaken. Warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the Americas.
•  El Niño means Little Boy, or Christ Child in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. The full name they used was El Niño de Navidad, because El Niño typically peaks around December.
•  El Niño can affect our weather significantly. The warmer waters cause the Pacific jet stream to move south of its neutral position. With this shift, areas in the northern U.S. and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual. But in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast, these periods are wetter than usual and have increased flooding.
• El Niño also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast.
  • During normal conditions, upwelling brings water from the depths to the surface; this water is cold and nutrient rich.
  • During El Niño, upwelling weakens or stops altogether. Without the nutrients from the deep, there are fewer phytoplankton off the coast. This affects fish that eat phytoplankton and, in turn, affects everything that eats fish. The warmer waters can also bring tropical species, like yellowtail and albacore tuna, into areas that are normally too cold.

La Niña

• La Niña means Little Girl in Spanish. La Niña is also sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or simply “a cold event.”
• La Niña has the opposite effect of El Niño. During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.
•  These cold waters in the Pacific push the jet stream northward. This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.
• During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North. La Niña can also lead to a more severe hurricane season.
• During La Niña, waters off the Pacific coast are colder and contain more nutrients than usual. This environment supports more marine life and attracts more cold-water species, like squid and salmon, to places like the California coast.
•  As a result, La Nina causes drought in the South American countries of Peru and Ecuador, heavy floods in Australia, high temperatures in Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, off the Somalian coast and a comparatively better monsoon rains in India. Generally, El Nino and La Nina occur every 4 -5 years.
• La Niña years are also infamous for frequent and intense hurricanes and cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.

3 . Factors Affecting Appreciation and Depreciation of Rupees

Context: The rupee rebounded by 39 paise to close at an almost two-week high of 79.52 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, supported by foreign fund inflows and a correction in crude oil prices.

What does Rupee Appreciation or Depreciation mean?

• The value of money constantly changes with the development and depletion of society and its economic stature.  For instance, the value of one rupee in 1947 would not be the same as the value of the rupee in 2022. It has constantly changed both in terms of its appearance and purchasing power.
•  Discussing its value, the value of any currency is linked with the economic conditions and policies of its country. Any currency depends on certain factors that dominate the economy, contributing to its growth and fall.
•  In case of Rupee, some of the factors that contribute to its appreciation and depreciation are Inflation Rate, Employment Rate, Imports & Exports, Growth Rate, Interest Rates, Trade Deficit, Performance of the Equity Markets, Foreign Exchange Reserves, Foreign Investment Inflows etc. etc.

 Other aspects that contribute to appreciation or depreciation are:

•  Net Inflow/Outflow of Money: The overall inflow and outflow of money affect the value of a country’s currency. The more the inflow the better the value, the more the outflow the worse the value.
• Income Levels: When the incomes of the citizens increase, they tend to spend more, which increases the demand for imported goods, increasing the demand for foreign currencies, and contributing to an overall weakening of the local currency.
• Overseas Market: A country that has a trade surplus results in currency appreciation and the country that lacks or has a lesser trade surplus tends to have a weaker value of its currency.
• Trade Surplus: It means a country that sells more goods and services in overseas markets than it buys from others has a trade surplus, which means a greater inflow of foreign currency in the country than what we as a country pay for the imports. Trade Surplus is one of the many reasons that strengthens or weakens the rupee.
• Reserve Bank of India: Reserve Bank of India controls the value of the rupee through its several tools. One amongst them involves controlling the Rupee supply in the market.
  • Other ways through which the RBI controls the rupee are by changing the interest rates, tweaking the cash reserve ratio, relaxation or tightening of rules for fund flows and selling or buying dollars in the open market.
• Forex demand: One of the major reasons behind the rise and low of the currency is through Foreign Exchange Demand. The rates for the foreign exchange of currencies directly depends on the market scenario followed by the countries. Floating or flexible exchange rates are determined by market forces without any intervention of central governments.
  • For example, it may happen that due to heavy imports the supply of the rupee shows an increment while its value may fall, or a contrasting situation may arise where an increase in exports and high dollar inflows may result in strengthening the rupee.
• Another reason can be the rise in the travel and tourism industry.

4 . Facts for Prelims

Solomon Islands

Context: Solomon Islands has suspended visits from all foreign Navies, citing a need to review approval processes, the country’s leader said on Tuesday, after a U.S. Coast Guard ship was unable to refuel at its port.

About Solomon Island

• Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu.
• Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal.
• The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the North Solomon Islands (a part of Papua New Guinea), but excludes outlying islands, such as the Santa Cruz Islands and Rennell and Bellona.
• The islands have been settled since at least some time between 30,000 and 28,800 BCE, with later waves of migrants, notably the Lapita people, mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population.
• In 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit them.
• Though not named by Mendaña, it is believed that the islands were called “the Solomons” by those who later received word of his voyage and mapped his discovery.
• During World War II, the Solomon Islands campaign (1942–1945) saw fierce fighting between the United States, British Commonwealth forces and the Empire of Japan, including the Battle of Guadalcanal.
• The official name of the then-British administration was changed from the “British Solomon Islands Protectorate” to “The Solomon Islands” in 1975, and self-government was achieved the following year.
• Independence was obtained, and the name changed to just “Solomon Islands” (without the definite article), in 1978.
• At independence, Solomon Islands became a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of Solomon Islands is Elizabeth II, who is represented in the country by a governor-general.

Nikah halala

Context: A five-judge Constitution Bench on Tuesday impleaded the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission of Women (NCW) and the National Commission of Minorities as parties in a batch of petitions challenging the Muslim Personal Law practices such as polygamy and  nikah halala.

About nikah halala.

• In Islam, ‘halala’ is a term that finds its roots in ‘halal’ that translates to something that is permissible, and therefore ‘lawful’.
• In context of marriage then, it means that a divorced woman can become ‘halal’ (lawful) for her husband again after nikah halala is complete.
• Islam dictates that a Muslim man has the liberty to divorce and remarry the same woman twice. However, if he decides to dissolve the marriage for the third time, he can only remarry the same woman if she first marries another man, consummates the marriage, and only if the man dies or willingly asks for divorce, can the woman go back to her first husband and remarry him.
• Indian Muslim jurist Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (1863-1943) explained nikah halala in Bahishti Zewar (a comprehensive handbook of Islamic beliefs and practices) that,
  • “A person pronounces a revocable (raji) talaq. He then reconciles and resumes cohabitation. Two or four years later, under provocation he once again pronounces a revocable talaq. On recovering from provocation, he again resumes cohabitation. Now two talaqs are over. Hereafter, whenever he pronounces a talaq, it will be counted as the third talaq, which will dissolve the marriage forthwith, and should a remarriage be desired by the parties necessitate halala (inter-mediatory marriage).”

CENTCOM

Context: Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) said that there can’t be adequate soft power without hard power and to be able to project soft power, we need to concurrently develop our hard power capabilities. He said Irrespective of the international treaties be it North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Quad, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) whatever friendship between countries will also come second to a nations security and self-interests amply evidenced by the way European countries have taken a stance in the ongoing conflict.

About U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)

• The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF).
• It covers the “central” area of the globe located between the European, Africa and Indo-Pacific Commands.
• Of all seven American regional unified combatant commands, CENTCOM is among four that are headquartered outside their area of operations (the other three being USAFRICOM, USSOUTHCOM, and USSPACECOM).
• CENTCOM’s main headquarters is located at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Florida.
  • A forward headquarters was established in 2002 at Camp As Sayliyah in Doha, Qatar, which in 2009 transitioned to a forward headquarters at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
• In January 2021, Israel became the 21st country of the AOR, added to another 20 nations including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

Lumpi pro vac

Context: The process is now underway to ensure the commercial availability of India’s indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac to protect livestock from Lumpy Skin disease.

About Lumpi-ProVac

• Lumpi-ProVac has been developed by the National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar (Haryana) in collaboration with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar (Bareilly).
• The vaccine was launched earlier this month by Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• Ever since the disease came to India in 2019, research institutes have been engaged in developing the vaccine.
• Lumpy skin disease: It is an infectious viral disease of cattle, which often occurs in epizootic form. The disease is characterized by the eruption of nodules in the skin, which may cover the whole of the animal’s body