Current Affairs Jul 15 – GES Reporter

MoU between India and Kingdom of Denmark

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Denmark on Cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine.

Benefits:

The bilateral Memorandum of Understanding will encourage cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Denmark through joint initiatives and technology development in the health sector and development of research in the health sector..
It will strengthen bilateral ties between India and Denmark.

PIB

Coking Coal

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Steel of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation on cooperation regarding coking Coal, which is used for Steel making.

Benefits:

The MoU shall benefit the entire steel sector by reducing their input cost.
This may lead to reduction in cost of steel in the country and promote equity and inclusiveness.
The MoU will provide an institutional mechanism for co-operation in the coking coal sector between India and Russia.
The objectives of the MoU is to strengthen cooperation between Govt. of India and Govt of Russia in the steel sector.
The activities involved in the cooperation are aimed at diversifying source of coking coal.

About Coking Coal

Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is used to create coke, one of the key irreplaceable inputs for the production of steel.
There are many varieties of coal in the world, ranging from brown coal or lignite to anthracite. The property that really sets coking coals apart from other coals is its caking ability, which is the specific property required in order to make coke suitable for steel making.
High quality coking coals are in great demand by steel producers, who need these coals to make high quality coke to maximise the productivity of their blast furnace operations.

PIB

Extension of term of the Commission constituted under Article 340

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister has approved the Eleventh Extension of the term of the Commission constituted under Article 340 of the Constitution to examine the issue of Sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central List by 6 months beyond 31st July 2021 and upto 31st January 2022.

Benefit

The proposed extension of tenure and addition in its terms of reference shall enable the “Commission” to submit a comprehensive report on the issue of sub-categorization of OBCs, after consultation with various stake holders.

Implementation Schedule:

The Order of extension of the term of the “Commission” by 6 months beyond 31.7.2021 and till 31.01.2022 would be notified with the approval of the President.

PIB

Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary for further five years from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2026 at a total cost of Rs.9000 crore,
- - out of which Central share will be Rs.5357 crore including Rs.50 crore for the Gram Nyayalayas Scheme and their implementation in a Mission Mode through National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.

Why?

Several courts are still functioning in rented premises with insufficient space and some in a dilapidated condition without basic amenities. Lack of residential accommodation to all the judicial officers also adversely affects their working and performance.

Gram Nyayalaya

The Cabinet also approved the decision to support the Gram Nyayalayas by proving recurringand non-recurring grants for a period of 5 years with a total outlay of Rs 50 crores.
However, funds will be released to the states only after the notified Gram Nyayalayas are operationalised and Nyayadhikaris have been appointed and reported on the Gram Nyayalaya portal of Department of Justice.

The major activities of the Scheme:

A Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has been in operation since 1993-94.
Adequacy of judicial infrastructure is critical for reduction of pendency and backlog of cases in Courts.
Though the primary responsibility of infrastructure development for the subordinate judiciary rests with the State Governments, the Central Government through this CSS augments the resources of the State Governments for construction of court buildings and residential quarters for Judicial Officers (JO) in all the States / UTs.
The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 that came into force from 2 October 2009was enacted for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas for speedy and easy access to justice system in the rural areas of India.
A scheme of central assistance was formulated simultaneously to fund the initial cost in terms of non-recurring expenses for setting up of these courts with the assistance limited to Rs. 18.00 lakhs per Gram Nyayalaya as a one-time measure.

PIB

National AYUSH Mission

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the continuation of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme from 01-04-2021 to 31-03-2026 with financial implication.
The Mission was launched on 15-09-2014.
Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission is being implemented by Ministry of AYUSH with the objectives of providing
- - cost effective AYUSH Services, with a universal access through upgrading AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries,
  - co-location of AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs),
  - strengthening institutional capacity at the State level through upgrading AYUSH educational institutions,
  - setting up of new upto 50 bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital, AYUSH Public Health programmes and
  - operationalization of 12,500 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres to provide services of a holistic wellness model based on AYUSH principles and practices so as to empower masses for “self-care” to reduce the disease burden, and out of pocket expenditure.
The Mission is addressing the gaps in health services through supporting the efforts of State/UT Governments for providing AYUSH health services/education in the country, particularly in vulnerable and far-flung areas.
Under NAM special focus is given for specific needs of such areas and for allocation of higher resources in their Annual Plans.

The expected outcomes of the mission are as follows:

Better access to AYUSH healthcare services through increased healthcare facilities offering AYUSH services and better availability of medicines and trained manpower,
Improvement in AYUSH education through a well-equipped enhanced number of AYUSH Educational institutions,
To focus on reducing communicable/non-communicable diseases through targeted public health programmes using AYUSH systems of Healthcare.

PIB

Constitution of an Expert Committee on Longevity Finance

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has been established as a unified regulator to develop and regulate financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in India.
Global estimates suggest that there are one billion people in the silver generation (a global cohort of individuals aged 60 and older) with a combined spending power of $15 trillion and the size is ever expanding.
Development in medicinal science and technology will support extending of lifespan and longevity of the silver generation.
It is estimated that by 2040, there will be more members of the silver generation than people under 20.
This demographic change will throw open new challenges and opportunities especially in the areas of wealth management, health, insurance, and other investment products.
IFSCA, in its endeavour to develop a Longevity Finance Hub in GIFT IFSC has constituted an Expert Committee to recommend approach towards development of Longevity Finance Hub and provide road map for the same.
The expert committee is being co-chaired by Ms. Kaku Nakhate, President and Country Head (India), Bank of America, and Mr. Gopalan Srinivasan, Ex-CMD, New India Assurance Company Limited.
The committee members comprise of leaders from the entire longevity finance ecosystem including from areas such as banking, insurance, wealth management, FinTech, legal, compliance and management consultancy.

PIB

Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000

Why in News?

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has requested States and Union Territories (UTs) to direct all police stations under their jurisdiction not to register cases under the repealed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
It has also asked the States and UTs to sensitize law enforcement agencies for the compliance of the order issued by the Supreme Court on 24.03.2015.
The MHA has also requested that if any case has been booked in States and UTs under section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, such cases should be immediately withdrawn.
The Supreme Court in its judgment on 24.03.2015 in the matter of Shreya Singhal Vs. Union of India, had struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
This made Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 null and void with effect from the date of the order, therefore 24.03.2015 and hence no action could be taken under this section.

What Section 66A says:

“Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device

any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or
any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,
any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.”

Section 66A provides punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services.
These messages may be any information created, transmitted or received on a computer system, resource or device including attachments in the form of…
- - Text, Images, Audio, Video, Any other electronic record which may be transmitted with the message
The law targets messages that…
- - Are grossly offensive or menacing
  - Proffer false information intending to cause annoyance, inconvenience, intimidation, insult, obstruction, etc.,
  - Are intended at deceiving the addressee about the origin of the message

PIB

Behaviour of Intestinal Bacteria

Why in News?

The mystery of how does the bacterial resident of the human intestine, the E-coli move towards or away from chemicals—a phenomenon called chemotaxis, has intrigued scientists for a long time.
coli bacteria show chemotaxis in response to different chemicals present in human gastrointestinal tract.
Scientists have now found the condition that is most suitable for getting the best chemotactic performance.
The new finding will help track behavior of E-Coli bacteria in response to chemical signals.
The response of E-Coli to chemicals in the intestine bacteria plays a crucial role in the functioning of the human intestine.
Many organisms in nature respond to the chemical signal received from their environment by showing bodily motion or as chemotaxis.
A sperm cell finds the ovum using chemotaxis. White blood cells that are needed for healing injuries find the site of injury or inflammation by chemotaxis.
Butterflies also track flowers, and male insects reach their targets by using chemotaxis. Understanding chemotaxis involves how it is affected by various conditions present inside the cell or in the environment.
coli uses its run-and-tumble motion to migrate towards the region with more nutrients.
The nutrient molecules bind to the chemo-receptors present on the cell membrane, and this input signal is processed by the sensing module of the signaling network, finally modulating the run-and-tumble motion of the cell.
The adaptation module of the signaling network ensures that the intracellular variables do not deviate too far from their average values.
One important aspect of signaling network of chemotaxis is the cooperativity or clustering tendency of the chemo-receptors, which helps amplifying the input signal, and as a result, E.coli can respond to even very weak concentration gradient.
Thus receptor clustering was known to increase the sensitivity of the cell.
However, some recent experiments have shown that receptor clustering also causes fluctuations in the signaling network triggering scientists to explore conditions that activate the best chemotactic performance.
In a recent study, have theoretically shown that there is an optimum size of the receptor clusters at which the E.coli cell shows the best-directed motion guided by chemical signal received from its environment.
To quantify performance, they measured how fast the cell climbs up the concentration gradient or how strongly the cell is able to localize in the nutrient-rich region.
According to the team, good performance also means a strong ability of the cell to distinguish between nutrient-rich and nutrient-depleted regions in space.
The team found all these measures reach a peak at a specific size of the receptor clusters.

PIB

Effective ban on new petrol, diesel cars from 2035

Why in News?

The European Union proposed an effective ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars as of 2035 which, as part of a broad climate package, will accelerate a switch to zero-emission electric vehicles (EVs).
Proposed a 55%cut in CO2 emissions from cars by 2030 versus 2021 levels, much higher than the existing target of a 37.5% reduction in CO2emissions by that time.
Also proposed a 100% cut in CO2 emissions by2035, which would make it impossible to sell new fossil-fuel-powered vehicles in the 27-country bloc.
In order to boost sales EV sales, Brussels proposed legislation that would require countries to install public charging points along major roads with a maximum distance of 60 kilometres (37.3 miles) between them by 2025.
All the Commission’s proposals will need to be negotiated and approved by EU member states and the European Parliament,which could take around two years.

THE HINDU

Operation Sankalp

Why in News?

The Indian Navy’s Operation Sankalp has provided safe passage to an average 16 Indian-flagged merchant vessels in the Gulf region everyday.

About

Operation Sankalp was started in June 2019 after there were explosions on board two oil tanker ships in the Gulf of Oman amid increased tensions between Iran and the U.S.
Since then, an Indian Navy ship with an integral helicopter embarked has been continuously deployed in the north-west Arabian Sea [off R’as al Hadd], Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf from June 2019, to show presence, instil confidence in Indian maritime community and provide assistance to Indian-flagged merchant vessels.
India is dependent for about 85% of its demand for oil on imports. In 2019-2020, around 62% of India’s oil imports valued at approximately $66 billion came from the Gulf region.
For the same year, India’s exports and imports from the region stood at around $51 billion and $108.2 billion, respectively. These constitute 8.1% and 11.4% of India’s total exports and imports, respectively.

THE HINDU

UV-C technology

Why in News?

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology has said that Ultraviolet-C or UV-C Disinfection Technology will soon be installed in Parliament for the “mitigation of airborne transmission of SARS-COV-2’’.
The UV-C air duct disinfection system was developed by CSIR-CSIO (Central Scientific Instruments Organisation).

What is UV?

Ultraviolet (UV) is a type of light or radiation naturally emitted by the Sun. It covers a wavelength range of 100-400 nm. The human visible light ranges from 380–700 nm.
UV is divided into three bands: UV-C (100-280 nm), UV-B (280-315 nm) and UV-A (315-400 nm).
UV-A and UV-B rays from the Sun are transmitted through our atmosphere and all UV-C is filtered by the ozone layer.
UV-B rays can only reach the outer layer of our skin or epidermis and can cause sunburns and are also associated with skin cancer.
UV-A rays can penetrate the middle layer of your skin or the dermis and can cause aging of skin cells and indirect damage to cells’ DNA. UV-C radiation from man-made sources has been known to cause skin burns and eye injuries.

So, can UV-C kill coronavirus?

UV-C radiation (wavelength around 254 nm) has been used for decades to disinfect the air in hospitals, laboratories, and also in water treatment. But these conventional germicidal treatments are done in unoccupied rooms as they can cause health problems.
UV-C radiation can destroy the outer protein coating of the SARS-Coronavirus.
222-nm, known as ‘far-UVC light’, efficiently kills airborne human coronaviruses – alpha HCoV-229E and beta HCoV-OC43. This is different from SARS-CoV-2 virus.
researchers showed that 99.7% of SARS-CoV-2 viral culture was killed when exposed to 222 nm UV-C irradiation at 0.1 mW/cm2 for 30-seconds.

‘Re-wilding’

Why in News?

The recent attempt of Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) to reintroduce into the wild an abandoned nine-month-old cub named Mangala after rearing it in ‘captivity’ for two years has once again brought the controversial concept of ‘re-wilding’ of abandoned or injured animals under the lens.

What is the intervention known as ‘re-wilding’?

As per the Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under Section 38(O) of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, there are three ways to deal with orphaned or abandoned tiger cubs.
The first is to make an effort to reunite the abandoned cubs with their mother.
Second, if a reunion of the cub with its mother is not possible, then shift the cub to a suitable zoo.
Third, reintroduction of the cub into the wild after a certain time when it appears that the cub is capable of surviving in the wild independently. This is what is known as ‘re-wilding’.
NTCA stresses that the tiger cub should be reared in an in situ enclosure for a minimum of two years, and during this time, each cub should have a successful record of at least 50 ‘kills’.

Is the concept of re-wilding limited to big cats like tigers and leopards?

Re-wilding is not limited to cats. There have been efforts to reintroduce other endangered species, including scavengers, into the wild after rearing them in captivity.
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in collaboration with the Haryana Forest and Wildlife Department has been running a vulture conservation centre named ‘Jatayu’ near Pinjore for the last 17 years.
An Elephant Rehabilitation Centre (ERC) has been running in Yamunanagar, Haryana, in collaboration with Wildlife SOS.

Dismissal of J&K govt employees

Why in News?

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has dismissed 11 Jammu and Kashmir government employees for alleged terror links under provisions of Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution.

Constitutional provision

Article 311 of the Constitution deals with ‘Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State’.
Under Article 311(2), no civil servant can be “dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges’’.
Subsection (c) of the provision, however, says this clause shall not apply “where the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State it is not expedient to hold such inquiry”.
The safeguard of an inquiry also does not apply in cases of conviction on a criminal charge [311(2)(a)], or “where the authority…is satisfied that for some reason, to be recorded by that authority in writing, it is not reasonably practicable to hold such inquiry”. [311(2)(b)]
Section 126 of the constitution of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir too, while providing safeguards to civil servants/government employees like in Article 311 of the Indian Constitution, laid down exceptions under which a person could be dismissed without holding an inquiry.

Remedy available

The only available remedy to a terminated employees is to challenge the government’s decision in the High Court.

Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs

The Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it is able to absorb, scientists have confirmed for the first time.
The giant forest had previously been a carbon sink, absorbing the emissions driving the climate crisis, but is now causing its acceleration.
Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef and soy production. But even without fires, hotter temperatures and droughts mean the south-eastern Amazon has become a source of CO2, rather than a sink.
Growing trees and plants have taken up about a quarter of all fossil fuel emissions since 1960, with the Amazon playing a major role as the largest tropical forest.
The trees produce much of the region’s rain, so fewer trees means more severe droughts and heatwaves and more tree deaths and fires.

THE GUARDIAN