Questions of the Day
- Consider the following statements with respect to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI):
(1) CBI functions under the Ministry of Home.
(2) CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act.
Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
2. Consider the following statements with respect to Havana Syndrome:
(1) It is a recently detected ailment in the indigenous people of Havana, Cuba.
(2) People with this syndrome experience some odd physical sensations and peculiar sounds.
Choose the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
3. “Mount Nyiragongo”, recently seen in news due to its volcanic eruption is located in:
(a) Africa
(b) South America
(c) New Zealand
(d) Europe
MAP OF THE DAY
Remember that : Gulf of Bothnia :- Between Finland and Sweden
Gulf of Finland :– Between Finland and Estonia
Countries Touching Baltic Sea :- Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden.
Prelims Specific Factual News Items
1) Sedition (Section 124A of IPC)
- Sedition is a crime under Section 124A, IPC.
- Section 124A, IPC defines sedition as an offence committed when “any person by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India”.
- Disaffection includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. However, comments without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, will not constitute an offence under this section.
- Punishment for the Offence of Sedition:
- Sedition is a non-bailable offence. Punishment under the Section 124A ranges from imprisonment up to three years to a life term, to which fine may be added.
- A person charged under this law is barred from a government job.
- They have to live without their passport and must produce themselves in the court at all times as and when required.
2)AmbiTAG- India’s first indigenous Temperature Data Logger :-IIT Ropar has developed “AmbiTAG” which is India’s first indigenous temperature data logger developed for cold chain management. About AmbiTAG AmbiTAG is shaped as USB device. It continuously records temperature of its immediate surroundings. It can detect temperatures “from -40 to +80 degrees” in any time zone for 90 days on a single charge.
- The device has been developed under Technology Innovation Hub – AWaDH (Agriculture and Water Technology Development Hub) and it’s Startup ScratchNest.
Agriculture and Water Technology Development Hub
- AWaDH is a research center at IIT Ropar established with support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) to carry out extensive research in the field of agriculture and water.
3)Maldhari tribal community has been given the right to conserve the community forests in the Banni
grasslands in Gujarat according to Forest Rights Act, 2006. Maldharis are tribal herdsmen community inhabiting
Banni grasslands.
4) BHUTAN IS THE ONLY CARBON-NEGATIVE COUNTRY IN THE WORLD :- The government of Bhutan has a history of basing political decisions on a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, and abandoning economic growth as their compass. It’s the only country in the world to make such a switch and the first country to become carbon negative.
5) IMD increases monsoon rain outlook to 101% :- First we need to know what is LPA :- LPA is Long Period Average.
Period is of 50 years. (average Rainfall is taken) Earlier for 1951-2000 , LPA was 89 cm rainfall. Now News LPA for Period 1961-2010 is 88 Cm.
Now what is Normal, above normal and Excess rainfall:-A normal monsoon is one when rainfall is between 96% and 104% of the LPA.
An “above normal” monsoon occurs when rainfall remains between 104% 110% of the LPA.
If the rainfall is more than 110% of the LPA, then it is called “excess”.
IMD was Formed in 1875. It is under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
6) Former Chief Secretary of West Bengal Alapan Bandyopadhyay was served a show cause notice by the Union Home Ministry under Section 51 of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005, punishable by imprisonment of up to two years or a fine or both.
The Section pertains to “punishment for obstruction” for refusal to comply with a direction given by the
Central government.
The DM Act, 2005, came into existence after the 2004 tsunami. It was invoked for the first time in the wake of
the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 24, 2020, the Centre, through the National Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA) headed by the Prime Minister, invoked the provisions of the Act to streamline the management
of the pandemic, empowering district magistrates to take decisions and centralise other decisions on the supply of oxygen and movement of vehicles.
7) NCPCR tracks data on orphans : Bal Swaraj, an online tracking portal of a national child rights body, shows details of nearly 10,000 children in the country in immediate need of care and protection. They include children aged between zero and 17 orphaned or abandoned during the COVID19 pandemic
since March 2020.
About NCPCR : The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) emphasises the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights and recognises the tone of urgency in all the child related policies of the country. For the Commission, protection of all children in the 0 to 18 years age group is of equal importance.
NCPCR is a statutory body set up in 2007 under Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.
Its objective is to protect, promote and defend child rights in India including rights adopted in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, 1989, ratified by India in 1992. (This convention defines child as a human being below 18 years of age).
It falls under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women & Child Development
8)Europe demands explanation after U.S.Danish spying claims :- France, Germany and other European countries demanded answers on Monday following reports the U.S. spied on its allies using Danish underwater cables, as questions mounted over whether Denmark knew about the operation.
In an investigative report on Sunday, Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) and other European
media outlets said the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had eavesdropped on Danish underwater Internet cables from 2012 to 2014 to spy on top politicians in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden
EDITORIALS OF THE DAY
Editorial 1 : Covid – Diplomacy 2.0
Author has highlighted the difference between the Covid- Diplomacy in the First wave and in the Second wave.
Covid Diplomacy 1.0 :- During the First wave the Indian Government started the Vande Bharat Mission in which the Aim was to bring the Indian Nationals Back to India from abroad. Also the Indian Government moved ahead with the Vaccine Maitri by sending the Covid Vaccines and the medicines to the neighbouring countries.
Covid – Diplomacy 2.0 : In and After the Second wave the tables have turned a bit and India is at the receiving end. The vaccine shortage occurred and thus India became dependent on the countries like USA and Russia for the Vaccines.
India also got Oxygen Concentrators, covid related supplies from the countries like Singapore etc.
Another Challenge in the Covid diplomacy 2.0 is that Bhutan which was totally dependent on India for the Vaccine but we gave them only 550000 doses though we promised to give them more than 10 lakh doses.
Next challenge in the Covid Fight is that we have to be ready for the Next waves as well.
Editorial 2 : Breaking the cycle of child labour is in India’s hands
Data : -As the world enters the third decade of the 21st century, 152 million children around the world are still in child labour, 73 million of them in hazardous work.
The Census of India 2011 reports 10.1 million working children in the age group of 5-14 years, out of whom 8.1 million are in rural areas mainly engaged as cultivators (26%) and agricultural labourers (32.9%). While multiple data vary widely on enrolment/attendance ratios in India, UNESCO estimates based on the 2011 Census record 38.1 million children as “out of school” (18.3% of total children in the age group of 6-13 years).
Good News for India :- One piece of good news is that child labour in India decreased in the decade 2001 to 2011, and this demonstrates that the right combination of policy and programmatic interventions can make a difference.
What Steps has India Taken to Curb the Child Labour :- Policy interventions such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005, the Right to Education Act 2009 and the Mid Day Meal Scheme have paved the way for children to be in schools along with guaranteed wage employment (unskilled) for rural families.
Concerted efforts towards convergence of government schemes is also the focus of the implementation of the National Child Labour Project. Ratifying International Labour Organization Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 in 2017, the Indian government further demonstrated its commitment to the elimination of child labour including those engaged in hazardous occupations.
The two ILO Conventions on child labour are Convention No.138 on Minimum Age and Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. These Conventions are “fundamental” Conventions. This means that, under the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work , all ILO member States have an obligation to respect, promote and realize the abolition of child labour , even if they have not ratified the Conventions in question.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment operated online portal (Pencil Portal ) (www.pencil.gov.in) allows government officials, law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organisations to share information and coordinate on child labour cases at the national, State and local levels for effective enforcement of child labour laws.
While child labour has declined during the past decade globally, estimates indicate that the rate of reduction has slowed by two thirds in the most recent four- year period.
Issues After Pandemic :- Author says that in the Pandemic many children are getting dropped out of education ( those who were already in the near range of Poverty line.
Also Digital divide like lack of access to online education because of infrastructural challenges has further deteriorated the condition.
Many Agricultural labourers and workers have lost their jobs in the pandemic and thus their children will find it very difficult to continue education, especially in the rural areas.
So overall the Author says that the government has to be in toes to restore the students back to education and devise other means to increase the income of the population so that the menace of Child labour remains at the lowest possible levels.
Editorial 3 :- What explains the surge in FDI inflows?
Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in 2020-21 is $81.7 billion, up 10% over the previous year, reported a recent Ministry of Commerce and Industry press release. “Measures taken by the Government on the fronts of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country.”
As per the Author :- The Net Inflows include :-
(i) “direct investment to India” and
(ii) “repatriation/disinvestment”.
Now the author says that in actuality The disaggregation shows that “direct investment to India” i.e the First Component has declined by 2.4%. Hence, an increase of 47% in “repatriation/disinvestment” entirely accounts for the rise in the gross inflows. In other words, there is a wide gap between gross FDI inflow and direct investment to India.
Also Author says that the Maximum Inflows have been in the Form of FPI ( Foreign Portfolio Investment ) which in itself is Hot Money and is not that beneficial for the economy since it does not bring any technology or does not stays for long time. It is very volatile and vanishes as soon as the market in the country weakens or profit declines.
So, the mystery of the surge in gross FDI inflows is solved. It is entirely on account of net foreign portfolio investment.
