Context: Recently, Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) urged for quickly enhancing the telecom network capacity to cope with the rising data traffic amidst nation-wide lockdown.

• With data traffic in the country surging by at least 30% in the past few days amid most people working from home.
• It said there is a need to quickly enhance telecom network capacity for which the States need to align their policies with the Centre's Right of Way (RoW) 2016 norms.
• Telecom services come under essential services and thereby are exempted from the lockdown.
• To maintain data usage and smooth functioning of telecom services 24/7 , the telecom sector needs critical, robust infrastructure.
• The states need to align their policies with the Centre's Right of Way (RoW) 2016 norms.
• With more than three years gone, only 16 States out of 36 States/UT’s have broadly aligned their policy with RoW Policy 2016.

About TAIPA

• Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association(TAIPA) was constituted in 2011 as an industry representative body registered under the Indian Society registration act, 1860.
• All leading independent telecom infrastructure providers like Bharti Infratel, Indus Towers, ATC India Tower Corp., GTL Infrastructure, Tower Vision and Reliance Infrastructure are the members of the Society which visualizes itself to be the official voice for the Telecom Infrastructure industry.
• The association is dedicated to interact, discuss and deliberate with the Ministries, Policy Makers, Regulators, Financial institutions and Technical bodies etc. for the knowledge collection & dissemination for promotion of healthy growth in telecom services.
• The telecom infrastructure providers provide an Integrated Neutral Host Platform that is used by diverse and often competing operators resulting in the rapid deployment of networks supporting over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers.
• The new and upcoming technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence and virtual reality will be highly successful since the easy availability and accessibility of shared towers, a key input for the growth of this sector.
• The role and objectives of this society is primarily to be one-voice of the industry and emphasize the need to bring ‘Telecom Infrastructure Services’ under key utilities segment, to promote sharing of valuable resources, to improve competitiveness, to develop a unified industry voice on issues affecting tower erection, maintenance and service work etc.

The key objectives of the industry body are as follow:

• To ensure that the industry is given ‘Key Infrastructure’ status
• To promote formulation of ‘National Telecom Infrastructure Policy’ mandating the sharing of Towers
• To ensure ‘No Charges’ being put on IP-1s in terms of License Fee, etc. for providing cost-optimized services
• To mandate Authorities in-charge of Highways, Ports, Rails etc to share Right of Way
• To formulate uniform policy across India with regard to tower setup, maintenance and service work
• To organize a single-window clearance of all Municipal and Statutory approvals
• To get financial support out of USO Fund for every tower built / operating in Rural regions of the nation
• To organize incentives for deploying Alternate Energy Technologies
• To get further support from the Government by Tax Holidays & other Concessions, etc.

About Right of Way (RoW) rules,2016

• Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued Right of Way (RoW) rules for rollout of communication networks.
• It aims to facilitate the installation of mobile towers, optic fibre and copper cables in a time-bound, non-discretionary manner.
• The rules aim to rationalise administrative expenses across the country to a maximum of Rs 1000 per km for fibre, and a maximum of Rs 10,000 per application for overhead towers.
• It provides for fast-tracking decisions on RoW permits within 60 days after application

Context: Recently,The Reserve Bank of India has raised the limit for short term credit that the government can borrow from the central bank.The limits for this credit facility, known as ‘Ways and Means Advances’, has been raised sharply to Rs 1.2 lakh crore for the first half of 2020-21.

• The increased limit comes at a time when government expenditure is expected to rise as it battles the fallout of a spreading Coronavirus. The availability of these funds will give the government some room to undertake short term expenditure over and above its long term market borrowings. On Tuesday, the government announced that it will borrow Rs 4.88 lakh crore or 62 percent of its planned borrow.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gives temporary loan facilities to the central and state governments. This loan facility is called Ways and Means Advances (WMA).

When was Ways and Means Advances introduced?

• The WMA scheme for the Central Government was introduced on April 1, 1997, after putting an end to the four-decade old system of adhoc (temporary) Treasury Bills to finance the Central Government deficit.

Purpose of the WMA scheme

• The WMA scheme was designed to meet temporary mismatches in the receipts and payments of the government. This facility can be availed by the government if it needs immediate cash from the RBI. The WMA is to be vacated after 90 days. Interest rate for WMA is currently charged at the repo rate. The limits for WMA are mutually decided by the RBI and the Government of India.

How does it work?

• The government can avail of immediate cash from the RBI, if required. But it has to return the amount within 90 days. Interest is charged at the existing repo rate.
• If the WMA exceeds 90 days, it would be treated as an overdraft (interest rate on overdrafts is 2 percentage points more than the repo rate).

What is WMA limit?

• The limits for Ways and Means Advances are decided by the government and RBI mutually and revised periodically. For the second half of the 2019-20 financial year, RBI set Rs 35,000 crore as limit for Ways and Means Advances.

Types of WMA

• There are two types of Ways and Means Advances — normal and special.
• Special WMA or Special Drawing Facility is provided against the collateral of the government securities held by the state. After the state has exhausted the limit of SDF, it gets normal WMA. The interest rate for SDF is one percentage point less than the repo rate.
• The number of loans under normal WMA is based on a three-year average of actual revenue and capital expenditure of the state.

Context: Recently, Union Labour Ministry notifies amendment in EPF Scheme to allow withdrawal of non-refundable advance by EPF members in the event of outbreak of pandemic COVID-19.
Key Findings under the Amendment

• The notification permits withdrawal of upto the amount of basic wages and dearness allowance for three months or upto 75% of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, in the event of outbreak of epidemic or pandemic. 
• The employees working in establishments and factories across entire India, who are members of the EPF Scheme, 1952 are eligible for the benefits of non-refundable advance.
• The amended scheme Employees Provident Fund (Amendment) scheme,2020 has come into force from 28 March,2020.

About Employees Pension Scheme (EPS)

• EPF is the main scheme under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. 
• The scheme is managed under the aegis of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• It covers every establishment in which 20 or more persons are employed and certain organisations are covered, subject to certain conditions and exemptions even if they employ less than 20 persons each.
• Under EPF scheme, an employee has to pay a certain contribution towards the scheme and an equal contribution is paid by the employer. 
• The employee gets a lump sum amount including self and employer’s contribution with interest on both, on retirement.Of the employer’s share of 12 %, 8.33 % is diverted towards the EPS.
• As per the rules, in EPF, employee whose ‘pay’ is more than Rs. 15,000 per month at the time of joining, is not eligible and is called non-eligible employee. 
• Employees drawing less than Rs 15000 per month have to mandatorily become members of the EPF. 
• However, an employee who is drawing ‘pay’ above prescribed limit (at present Rs 15,000) can become a member with permission of Assistant PF Commissioner, if he and his employer agree.

Context: Recently, the Reserve Bank of India has announced more measures to fight economic disruptions caused by the Coronavirus, like extension of realisation period of export proceeds and allowing States to borrow more.
Extended the Realisation Period of Export Proceeds

• The time period for realisation and repatriation of export proceeds made up to or on July 31, 2020 has been extended to 15 months from the date of export.
• Earlier, the value of the goods or software exports made by exporters is required to be realised fully and repatriated to the country within nine months from the date of exports.
• The measure will enable exporters to realise their receipts, especially from COVID-19 affected countries, within the extended period, and also provide greater flexibility to exporters to negotiate future export contracts with buyers abroad.
• Export activities have been disrupted in the wake of the pandemic and lockdown in many countries.

Increased Ways and Means Limit

• RBI has formed an advisory committee to review the Ways and Means limit for State governments and Union Territories.
• Till the panel submits its report, the RBI has increased the Ways and Means advances limit by 30% for States and union territories.
• The revised limits will come into force with effect from April 1, 2020 and will be valid till September 30, 2020.
• Recently, the Central Government has hiked Ways and Means Advance (WMA) limit with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by 60%.
• The ‘Ways and Means Advances’ is a scheme that helps meet mismatches in receipts and payments of the government. Under this scheme, a government can avail itself of immediate cash from the RBI.

Deferred implementation of countercyclical capital buffers (CCyB)
Background

• The rule was first introduced in Basel III as an extension of another buffer (called the capital conservation buffer). Basel III is a voluntary set of measures agreed upon by central banks all around the world.

Recently,The RBI has deferred the implementation of Counter Cyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) for banks.

• It has decided that it is not necessary to activate CCyB for a period of one year or earlier, as may be necessary.
• It is intended to protect the banking sector against losses that could be caused by cyclical systemic risks increasing in the economy.
• It require banks to hold capital at times when credit is growing rapidly so that the buffer can be reduced if the financial cycle turns down or the economic and financial environment becomes substantially worse.
• Banks can use the capital buffers they have built up during the growth phase of the financial cycle to cover losses that may arise during periods of stress and to continue supplying credit to the real economy.

About capital conservation buffer (CCB)

• CCB is a relatively new concept, introduced under the international Basel III norms.
• The concept says that during good times, banks must build up a capital buffer that can be drawn from when there is stress.
• In India, the minimum capital requirement is 9 per cent and the CCB would be 2.5 percentage points over and above the minimum capital requirement.

Significance of Capital Conservation Buffer

• It is designed to ensure that banks build up capital buffers outside periods of stress which can be drawn down, as losses are incurred.
• Regulations targeting the creation of adequate capital buffers are designed to reduce the procyclical nature of lending by promoting the creation of countercyclical buffers as suggested Basel 3 norms. 
• During credit expansion, banks have to set aside additional capital, while during the credit contraction, capital requirements can be loosened. Systemically important banks are subject to higher capital requirements.
• The capital buffers increase the resilience of banks to losses, reduce excessive or underestimated exposures and restrict the distribution of capital. These macroprudential instruments limit systemic risks in the financial system.

RBI has taken some measures to safeguard the economy from impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are the measures?

• RBI has cut the Repo Rate by 75 basis points (bps) from 5.15% to 4.4%.
• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and Bank Rate has been reduced from 5.40% to 4.65%
• Reverse Repo Rate is reduced by 90 bps to 4%
• Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of banks to be reduced by 100 bps to 3%
• Banks are permitted to grant moratorium i.e. a temporary halt, on all term loans of 3-months of instalments.
• These measures will inject liquidity of Rs 3.74 lakh crore to the system.

What do these policy cuts mean?

• The cut in repo rate and CRR are the sharpest after the 2008 response to the global financial crisis.
• With a high 90 bps cut in the reverse repo rate, lenders are being nudged away from parking funds in RBI’s reverse repo corridor.
• This rate cut and other liquidity facilities need to be enveloped in a package of macro and micro-prudential relaxations and regulatory forbearance.

What does the 3-months moratorium mean?

• This is not a waiver, but only a deferment i.e. a borrower does not have to pay interest or repay the principal on a loan for 3 months.
• Since non-payment will not lead to non-performing asset classification by banks, there will be no impact on credit score of the borrowers.
• But, the payments will be cumulated and will need further spreading out over the next quarter.
• Help for MSMEs is provided by enhancing Working Capital draw limits, by reducing margins or extending the WC cycle.
• The moratorium will reduce anxiety among businesses and individuals who will see a fall in income/cash flows.

Will these measures be effective?

• The effectiveness also depends on stakeholders’ perception of the credibility of the authorities’ response functions.
• As the shock to an already weakened economic system was a public health crisis, the first task is to stabilise the economy.

The ?1.7 Lakh Crore relief package – named PMGKY- was announced by Union government to alleviate the distress caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Do You Know?

• The cost of the COVID-19 lockdown in India is pegged at nearly ?9 lakh crore
• This is the third shock that the informal economy faces, after demonetisation and GST.
• US announced 2 trillion USD (Rs 148 Lakh crore) stimulus package to fight COVID-19

The Key features of PMGKY are:

• Healthcare Workers: Insurance cover of ?50 lakh
• Food grains to Poor: 80 crore poor people under National Food Security Act will receive five extra kg of wheat or rice and 1 kg of pulses
• MGNREGA workers (13.63 crore): Wage increased from ?182/day to ?202/day
• Jan Dhan Women Account holders (20.4 crore): DBT of ?500/ month for next three months 
• Senior Citizens, disabled & Poor widows (3 crore): Ex-gratia of ?1000 (through existing pension schemes)
• Farmers (8.7 crore): Front loading of ?2000 to them under existing PM Kisan Yojana
• Ujjwala Beneficiaries (8.3 crore): Free cylinders for next three months
• Wage earners: Those earning below ?15000/month in firms having less than 100 workers will receive 24% of their monthly wages into their PF accounts for next three months
• Construction workers: Centre has directed States to use Construction worker’s welfare fund to give relief to 3.5 crore registered workers

Is there a specific strategy used by government in this relief package?

1. Government has followed two-pronged approach
   • Ensuring a steady supply of food and cooking gas to poor people
   • Easing cash woes of the vulnerable sections of society
2. Fiscally prudent: By utilizing existing schemes funding for the package is kept within the budget so as to retain control over the deficit 
3. Preserving Financial resources -Given the uncertainty over the length of crisis – government may announce future relief packages to adapt with changing situation

Challenges:

• Modest cash transfer might not be enough given the drying up of incomes for the vulnerable sections of society
• Implementation issues: People may face difficulties to draw money from their accounts during the lockdown
• Migrant labourers may find difficulties to access the extra food grain announced
• Package does not address the challenges being faced by Informal MSMEs and other hard-hit sectors.

Way ahead:

• Intervention by RBI like providing regulatory forbearance, moratorium on interest payments, changing classification norms, and ensuring easy access to credit. 

• Centre needs to enhance the resources of State through measures like
  • Releasing all the pending dues owed to the state governments on account of GST compensation. 
  • Assist states in raising finances from markets (by giving sovereign guarantees)
  • Sharing bonanza from fall in crude oil prices. 
  • Consult States to ensure that supply chain, spread across multiple states, of essential commodities is not disrupted
  • Harvest time – may lead to price fall or wastage due to disruption caused by lockdown – States to be financially supported (agriculture is a State subject)
• Civil Society and Corporates needs to pitch in during this crisis with their financial and human resources

Context: Having been stuck for the last two weeks amid lockdown in the country, truckers raise concerns over  e-way bills for goods in transit or in godowns, which were getting expired and could not be renewed on due dates.

About E-way bills

• E-Way Bill is the short form of Electronic Way Bill.
• It is a unique document/bill which is electronically generated for the specific consignment/movement of goods from one place to another, either inter-state or intra-state and of value more than INR 50,000, required under the current Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
• It offers the technological framework to track intra-state as well as inter-state movements of goods of value exceeding Rs 50,000, for sales beyond 10 km in the GST regime.
• The e-Way Bill has been made compulsory from 1st April 2018.
• When e-Way Bill is generated, a unique e-Way Bill Number (EBN) is made available to the supplier, recipient and the transporter.

Who should generate an e-Way Bill?
GST Registered Person

• When a registered person causes the movement of goods/ consignment, either in the capacity of a consignee (i.e., buyer) or consignor (i.e., seller) in his/her vehicle or hired vehicle or railways or by air or by ship, then either the registered person or the recipient should generate the e-Way Bill.

Unregistered Person

• When an unregistered person causes the movement of goods, through his/her conveyance or hired conveyance or using the services of a transporter, then the e-Way Bill needs to be generated either by the unregistered person or by the transporter.

Circumstances to issue e-Way Bill

• Ideally, e-Way Bill should be generated before the commencement of movement of goods above the value of INR 50,000 (either individual invoice or consolidated invoice of multiple consignments).
• The movement of goods will be either about a supply/ reasons other than supply (like return)/ inward supply from an unregistered person.
• For purposes of an e-Way Bill, supply is considered either a payment in the course of business/ a payment which may not be in the course of business/ no consideration of payment (in the case of barter/ exchange).

Context: Recently,the Government of India promulgated the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 to bring into effect various tax compliance related measures announced on March 24 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

• Extension of several time limits related to direct and indirect tax filings have been extended to June 30, so has the date for passing of order or issuance of notice by tax authorities under various direct taxes and Benami Law.
• The Ordinance also amended the provisions of the Income-tax Act to provide the same tax treatment to the PM-CARES Fund as available to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
• It also allowed for 100% exemption of donations made to PM Cares fund, set up to aid containment and relief efforts against the virus outbreak. Also, the limit on deduction of 10% of gross income shall also not be applicable for such donations.
• Taxpayers can avail the Sabka Vishwas Legal Dispute Resolution Scheme 2019 till June 30, giving more time to settle their indirect tax disputes.
• Government has enabled itself by amending the CGST Act, 2017, to extend due dates for various compliances including statement of outward supplies, filing refund claims, filing appeals, among others, on recommendations of the GST Council.

About Ordinance

• Ordinances are like a law but not enacted by the Parliament but rather promulgated by President of India when Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha or either of those is not in session. 
• Union Cabinet’s recommendation is a must for an ordinance to be promulgated.Using ordinances, immediate legislative actions can be taken.
• For an ordinance to exist, it should be approved by the Parliament within six weeks of it being introduced. 
• Parliament is required to sit within 6 weeks from when Ordinance was introduced. 

Ordinance Making Power of President
Article 123 deals with the ordinance making power of the President. President has many legislative powers and this power is one of them. He can only promulgate the ordinance under these circumstances:

• When both the houses or either of the house is not in session
• Circumstances occur where the President thinks it necessary to act without waiting for houses to assemble.
• No instructions are needed by President’s when he promulgates an ordinance
• His power to promulgate ordinance is not a discretionary power. Council of Ministers’ (headed by PM) advice is a pre-requisite
• The ordinance introduced by him can be withdrawn anytime

There are the following limitations

• President can promulgate an ordinance only when both the houses are not in session or only one house is in session.
• For an ordinance to be promulgated, such circumstances should be there which deem it necessary for President to legislate through the ordinance
• The President cannot promulgate an ordinance unless he is satisfied that there are circumstances that require taking ‘immediate action’.
• Ordinances must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of reassembling or they shall cease to operate. They will also cease to operate in case resolutions disapproving the ordinance are passed by both the Houses.

Context: Recently, India has invoked the peace clause of the World Trade Organization for exceeding the ceiling on support it can offer farmers for rice for the marketing year 2018-2019, marking the first time any country has taken recourse to this safeguard.
Issue

• “India’s breach of commitment for rice, a traditional staple food crop… arises from support provided in pursuance of public stockholding programmes for food security purposes which were in existence as of the date of the Bali Ministerial Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes.
• In its notification to the organisation, Govt.said that under its public stockholding programmes for food security purposes, rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses, among others, are acquired and released in order to meet the domestic food security needs of India’s poor and vulnerable population, and “not to impede commercial trade or food security of others.” 
• India is confident that it has met the conditions to be able to use the peace clause – and not distort trade or adversely affect the food security of other members – and that no country will raise a dispute.
• The peace clause protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached. High subsidies are seen to be distorting global trade.

About WHO Peace clause

• Peace clause’ available to India under the Bali agreement that says no member can take action against another on the food subsidy issue till a final agreement is reached on the issue, the deadline for which is the 11th ministerial in 2017.
• It is a mechanism which protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached (10% of the concerned crop’s value of production).
• It is available to the developing nations till a ‘permanent solution’ is found by the WTO members to the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes.

Context: Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released ‘Emissions Gap Report’, according to which India is the fourth-largest emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs).
About Emission Gap

• Also called the “Commitment Gap”, it is the difference between the low level of emissions that the world needs to drop to, compared with the projected level of emissions based on countries’ current commitments to decarbonization.
• Every year, the report looks at the expected size of the gap in 2030 and progress countries are making in closing it.
• It looks at different scenarios based on the pledges that countries made to reduce or minimize their emissions under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The Emissions Gap Report measures and projects three key trendlines

• The amount of greenhouse gas emissions every year up to 2030.
• The commitments countries are making to reduce their emissions and the impact these commitments are likely to have on overall emission reduction.
• The pace at which emissions must be reduced to reach an emission low that would limit temperature increase to 1.5°C, affordably.

About Emissions Gap Report, 2019

• G20 nations collectively account for 78 per cent of all emissions, but only five G20 members have committed to a long-term zero emissions target.
• In the short-term, developed countries will have to reduce their emissions quicker than developing countries, for reasons of fairness and equity.
• All nations must substantially increase ambition in their NDCs, as the Paris commitments are known, in 2020.
• The world will fail to meet the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year.
• Global temperatures are set to rise about 3.2 degrees C by 2100.
• The top four emitters (China, USA, EU and India) contributed to over 55% of the total emissions over the last decade, excluding emissions from land-use change such as deforestation.

Solutions to curb this emissions

• A full decarbonization of the energy sector is necessary and possible.
• Renewables and energy efficiency are critical to the energy transition.
• The potential emission reduction thanks to renewable energy electricity totals 12.1 gigatonnes by 2050.
• Electrification of transport could reduce the sector’s CO2 emissions by a huge 72 per cent by 2050.
• Each sector and each country has unique opportunities to harness renewable energy, protect natural resources, lives and livelihoods, and transition to a decarbonization pathway.

Context: Despite the lockdown, India officially moved to a regime of tighter emission norms for motorised two- and four-wheelers.

• In 2016, the government had said India would directly progress from BS-IV norms to BSVI, skipping the intermediary stage. Nearly Rs 60,000 crore was spent on the switch-over to BS-VI fuels.

All you need to know about BS-VI fuels

• At fuel stations, only the low-sulphur fuel that complies with Bharat Stage-VI emission norms will be sold and so will cars at stores, whose engines meet the stricter norms.
• As per BS-VI emission norms, petrol vehicles will have to effect a 25% reduction in their NOx, or nitrogen oxide emissions.
• Diesel engines will have to reduce their HC+NOx (hydro carbon + nitrogen oxides) by 43%, their NOx levels by 68% and particulate matter levels by 82%. 
• BS-VI petrol and diesel, which have sulphur content of just 10 parts per million, were set to be costlier by Rs. 1/litre each, but state-run oil firms decided to maintain the current prices by adjusting the levy against cheaper crude.
• The emission norms of all models of two-wheelers in India are ahead of Europe (2021) and Japan (2022), and India is the first country to adopt this level of Emission Norms.

About Bharat Stage Emission Norms

• Bharat stage (BS) emission standards are laid down by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine and spark-ignition engine equipment, including motor vehicles.
• The first emission norms were introduced in India in 1991 for petrol and in 1992 for diesel vehicles. Followed these, the catalytic converter became mandatory for petrol vehicles and unleaded petrol was introduced in the market.
• The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Compared to the BS4, BS6 emission standards are stricter. Whereas makers use this variation to update their vehicles with new options and safety standards, the biggest modification comes in the permissible emission norms.

Context: The nationwide lockdown, to prevent COVID-19, has led to minimal air pollution in over 90 cities including Delhi.
Key Findings

• During the lockdown, the government has asked the people to avoid unnecessary travel which has significantly reduced the traffic movement.
• Other factors which have contributed to the improved air quality are shutting down of industries and construction sites and rains.

According to the centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the measures against COVID-19 have led to a drop in:

PM 2.5

• It is an atmospheric Particulate Matter of diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, which is around 3% of the diameter of a human hair.
• It causes respiratory problems and also reduces visibility.
• It is an endocrine disruptor that can affect insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity thus contributing to diabetes.

Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)

• NOx pollution is mainly caused due to high motor vehicle traffic and can increase the risk of respiratory conditions.
• Generally in March, pollution is in the moderate category in the Air Quality Index while currently, it is in the satisfactory or good category.
• Under the good category, pollution is considered to be at the lowest and the air is believed to be the healthiest to breathe.

According to Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB) 

• Air quality in the National Capital Territory of Delhi is presently in the good category.
• Kanpur, which has high pollution levels normally, is in the satisfactory category.
• 92 other cities with CPCB monitoring centres have recorded minimal air pollution, with the air quality ranging between good and satisfactory.

About Air Quality Index

• The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality.
• It focuses on health effects one might experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
• AQI is calculated for Eight Major Air Pollutants namely PM2.5, PM10, Carbon monoxide, Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide,Ammonia, Lead and Ground-level ozone

About Ground-level ozone

• It is also found in the stratosphere and protects from ultraviolet (UV) rays, while in the troposphere (ground level) it acts as a pollutant.
• It is not a primary pollutant but a secondary one.
• Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight.
• Ground-level ozone and airborne particles are the two pollutants that pose the greatest threat to human healh in India

Other Observations and Suggestions

• The low AQI and the blue skies prove that air pollution was mostly anthropomorphic (man-made), which can be reduced by conscious efforts.
• Reducing air pollution by rapidly slowing down the economy is not an ideal way so mindful use of technologies and low-emission alternatives can be opted to minimise the pollution.
• It was also emphasised that air pollution weakens the lungs so countries like India with higher pollution and lower nutrition levels will be more affected by COVID-19 leading to higher morbidity and deaths.

Context: Recently, Researchers from the Australian Antarctic Program revealed that they had recorded temperatures as high as 9.2 degrees Celsius at Casey station in the continent east earlier this year, indicating a heatwave event.

Background 

• Heat waves are classified as three consecutive days with both extreme maximum and minimum temperatures. Between January 23 and 26, the station recorded minimum temperatures above zero degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius.

Key Findings

• Scientists are concerned about the effect that the heat wave could have on Antarctica’s ecology, both positive and negative. 
• Most life exists in small ice-free oases in Antarctica, and largely depends on melting snow and ice for their water supply. 
• Melted ice flooding can provide additional water to these desert ecosystems, leading to increased growth and reproduction of mosses, lichens, microbes and invertebrates. 
• However excessive flooding can dislodge plants and alter the composition of communities of invertebrates and microbial mats. 
• It is believed that the unusual temperatures were linked to meteorological patterns which occurred in the Southern Hemisphere during the spring and summer of 2019. 
• These patterns were influenced in part by the early break-up of the ozone hole in late 2019, due to rapid warming in the stratosphere. 
• Global cooperative efforts being undertaken to repair and eventually close the hole in the ozone layer would help reduce regional shifts in the climate system.

About Antarctica

• Situation: Antartica, centred on the South Pole, is situated 960 km from South America, 2,700 km from Australia and 4,000 km from South Africa. It is surrounded by Southern or Antarctic Ocea, formed the southern waters of Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean.
• Shape: Except for the deep indentations of the Ross and Weddell Seas and the projecting peninsula, the continent is roughly circular in shape.
• Size: Fifth largest continent.
• Climate: World’s coldest continent and remains covered with very thick layer of ice, therefore, known as ‘white continent’. Precipitation, in the form of snow (equal to 5 cm of rain) making Antarctica, one of the earth’s great desert.
• The Land: Antarctic Continent is the highest of all the continents, averaging 6000 feet in elevation. Ice sheet covers 95% of Antarctica, and exposed areas are rugges and mountainous. The principal mountain chain is Trans Antarctic which divides the continent in almost two equal parts. Ellsworth Mountain, fringing the coast, contains Antarctica’s highest peak, the Vinson Massif (5,140m). Mt. Erebus, the only active volcano, is located on the Ross Island.

Context: Recently, the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) banned sunscreen products with chemicals include those containing 3 Os: oxybenzone, octocrylene and octinoxate known to be harmful to coral reefs and marine life.
 Key Findings

• The ban came into effect on March 30, 2020, making USVI territory the first in the United States to implement it.
• Sunscreens containing the 3 Os — oxybenzone, octocrylene and octinoxate — harm the coral reefs that protect the Virgin Islands’ shoreline.
• Sunscreens containing mineral alternatives such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide have been exempted.
• The concentration of these chemicals is 40 times more than acceptable levels in some of the territorial waters.
• The archipelago nation of Palau is set to become the first country to enact a sunscreen ban, which will take effect in 2020.

About the Triple Threat: Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, and now Octocrylene

• Oxybenzone is a photo-toxicant, especially in the presence of ultraviolent light. This means that the greater the light intensity, especially in the UV and near-UV spectrum, new forms of toxicity manifest, and usually in a dose-dependent manner of both oxybenzone and light. It can have devastating effects on invertebrates, especially on juvenile developmental stages. In coral, it can cause coral bleaching, DNA damage, planula deformity, mortality, and skeletal endocrine disruption.
• Octinoxate filters UV-B rays from the sun. It does not protect against UV-A rays. It dissolves in oil, which makes it a fat-seeking substance in the body. It is formed by combining methoxycinnamic acid and 2-ethylhexanol- compounds which are not harmful on their own. When mixed together, they form a clear liquid that does not dissolve in water. It is found in hair color products and shampoos, sunscreen, lipstick, nail polish, and skin creams. In products other than sunscreens, it is used as a UV filter to protect the products from degrading when exposed to the sun. It is approved for use in cosmetics worldwide; the maximum concentration in ready-for-use preparations varies according to local legislation. According to the U.S. FDA the recommended use levels is up to 7.5 percent.
• Octocrylene is an organic compound used as an ingredient in sunscreens and cosmetics. It is an ester formed by the reaction of 3,3-diphenylcyanoacrylate with 2-ethylhexanol. It is a viscous, oily liquid that is clear and colorless.The extended conjugation of the acrylate portion of the molecule absorbs UVB and short-wave UVA (ultraviolet) rays with wavelengths from 280 to 320 nm, protecting the skin from direct DNA damage.

About Coral Reefs

• They are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral.
• They are important hotspots of biodiversity in the ocean and animals in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria.
• They secrete CaCO3 to form a hard skeleton.
• They are found only in the tropical seas between 30°N-25°S and the salinity requirement is 27 to 40%.
• Optimal temperature is 23°C-25°C, and must not fall below 20°C and above 35°C.

Importance of Coral reefs to Environment

• Coral reefs control the level of carbon dioxide in the water by converting it into a limestone shell.
• They support a wide range of species and maintain the quality of the coastal biosphere.

Context: Recently,Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations released report on Peatland degradation which play a crucial role in regulating global climate by acting as carbon sinks, are facing degradation and need to be urgently monitored.
Key findings of the report

• Peatlands cover only three per cent of Earth’s surface. However, their degradation due to drainage, fire, agricultural use and forestry can trigger release of the stored carbon in a few decades.
• The report highlights important case studies from Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Peru in their attempts to map and monitor peatlands.
• Peatlands contain 30 per cent of the world’s soil carbon.
• When drained, these emit greenhouse gases, contributing up to one gigaton of emissions per year through oxidation, according to the report.

Mapping peatlands

• Peatlands are formed due to the accumulation of partially decomposed plant remains over thousands of years under conditions of water-logging.
• To prevent their further degradation, these areas should be urgently mapped and monitored.
• Peatland mapping tells us where the peat is and what condition it is in.
• Together, with conservation and restoration measures, mapping also helps in maintaining water regulation services (reduction of flood intensities) and biodiversity.
• For countries keen on reducing emissions, monitoring the ground water level of peatlands is vital, or else they can turn into carbon emission sources.
• Mapping methodologies include both ground and remotely-sensed input data.
• The monitoring exercise of Peatlands requires a mix of satellite and ground-based exercises.

About Degraded peatlands

• Badly degraded peatlands that have been drained for a longer period of time, potentially burned and intensely managed can become hydrophobic.
• In this case, their re-wetting would not occur via natural means.
• Though peatlands in North America and the Russian Federation are still intact, about 25 per cent have degraded in Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, East Africa, southern America and the Amazon.

Restoration measures

• Indonesia, which has 40 per cent of all tropical peatlands, has taken corrective measures to alter drainage and deforestation since the 1980s.
• Their government created the Peat Ecosystem Restoration Information System (PRIMS), an online platform that provides information on the condition of peatlands and restoration efforts undertaken.
• Restoration work of highland peatlands was also conducted in the Hindukush Himalayan (HKH) region.
• This was done to ensure water security for cities in their watersheds.
• According to an ICIMOD report, the total peat area, excluding China, in the HKH region was 17,106 square kilometres in 2008. The degrading peat area was 8,236 square kilometres.
• In India, peatlands occupy roughly 320–1,000 square kilometres area.

Other benefits

• Peatlands occur in different climate zones. While in tropical climate, they can occur in mangroves, in Arctic regions, peatlands are dominated by mosses. Some mangrove species are known to develop peatland soils under them.
• Besides climate mitigation, peatlands are important for archaeology, as they maintain pollen, seeds and human remains for a long time in their acidic and water-logged conditions.
• The vegetation growing on pristine peatlands provide different kinds of fibres for construction activities and handicrafts.
• Peatlands also provide fishing and hunting opportunities. It is also possible to practise paludiculture or wet agriculture on rewetted peatlands.
• According to the Greifswald Mire Centre Strategy 2018-2022, rewetting of peatlands reduces emissions and can play an important role in achieving the objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Context: Recently,China’s National Health Commission published a list of recommended treatments, apart from western medicine and Chinese medicine, the list included Tan Re Qing, injections that contain bear bile powder.
Background

• Ever since the attention, China has faced enormous pressure from Chinese citizens as well as people from round the globe to end the use of wildlife as a resource.
• Subsequently, the Chinese government finally began laying the groundwork to impose a permanent ban on the trade and consumption of live wild animals for food.
• However, the trade of wild animals for medicine, pets, and scientific research will still carry on in China, although it will be subject to “strict” approval and quarantine procedures.
• Wherein it has recommended the use of Tan Re Qing, an injection that contains bear bile.
• Bear's bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid, also known as ursodiol. It has been clinically proven to help dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease.

About Bear's bile

• Tan Re Qing is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder of the bear. 
• The bile from various species of bears, including Asiatic black bears and brown bears, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine since the 8th century. 
• Bear's bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid, also known as ursodiol. 
• It has been clinically proven to help dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease. Ursodeoxycholic acid has been available as a synthetic drug worldwide for decades.
• The process of extracting bile from the live bear is painful and can cause agony to the animal. Hence, a  synthetic version of ursodeoxycholic acid has been available for decades.

About Asiatic Black Bear

Common names: Asiatic black bear, Himalayan black bear
IUCN status - vulnerable (A2cd+3d+4d); CITES Appendix I
Scientific name: Ursus thibetanus
Physical Description

• The Asiatic Black Bear has a coat of smooth black fur and can be distinguished by a V of white fur on its chest. It is similar in appearance to the brown bear, but with a slighter build.

Ecology & Habitat

• Broad leaved and coniferous forests to an elevation of 4,300m.

Population & Distribution

• The Asiatic black bear occupies a narrow band from southeastern Iran through Afghanistan and Pakistan, across the foothills of the Himalayas, to Myanmar. It occupies all countries in mainland Southeast Asia except Malaysia and has a patchy distribution in southern China. Another population cluster exists in northeastern China, the southern Russian Far East, and into North Korea. A small remnant population exists in South Korea. They also live on the southern islands of Japan (Honshu and Shikoku) and on Taiwan (China) and Hainan. There are no accurate estimates of population size available.

Threats

• Illegal hunting for body parts, specifically the gall bladder, paws and skin poses the main threat, together with habitat loss caused by logging, expansion of human settlements and roads.

Context: Recently, a study was conducted by scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) which has proved that the Himalayan Ibex is a distinct species from the Siberian Ibex.
About the Study

• The paper, ‘Genetic evidence for allopatric speciation of the Siberian Ibex (Capra sibirica) in India,’ has recently been published in Endangered Species Research, an international peer-reviewed journal.
• The researchers, under a project funded through the National Mission on Himalayan Studies implemented by the Ministry of Environment, undertook field surveys and collected faecal samples from Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
• Himalayan Ibex is distributed in the trans-Himalayan ranges of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh up to the river Sutlej.

About Himalayan Ibex

• It is listed as Least Concern species as per IUCN Red List.
• The Himalayan Ibex male is distinguished from other ibex because of his characteristic horn and beard.
• The Ibex does not always migrate to lower heights in winter and mostly stays at fairly high altitude using wind-blown ridges.
• It is found in the Trans Himalayas region of Ladakh and the Greater Himalayas and Pir Panjals of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
• It is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Threats: Poaching also occurs in some areas by military personnel, road maintenance workers, and others, especially in areas accessible by vehicle.
About Siberian Ibex

• It is a wild goat species which is listed as Least Concern as per IUCN Red List.
• It is distributed in diverse habitats, ranging from cold deserts, rocky outcrops, steep terrain, high-land flats and mountain ridges to low mountains and foothills.
• Its distribution extends from Mongolia towards Altai, Hangai, Gobi-Altai, the Hurukh mountain ranges as well as Sayan Mountains near Russia.
• Its Distribution: In Asia, Most Siberian ibexes are seen in central and northern Asia, Afghanistan, western and northern China (Primarily Xinjiang), north-western India, south-eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, eastern Uzbekistan, Mongolia, northern Pakistan, and south-central Russia.

About National Mission on Himalayan Studies 

• Implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Vision: To support the sustenance and enhancement of the ecological, natural, cultural, and socioeconomic capital assets and values of the IHR. 
• Mission: To launch and support innovative studies and related knowledge interventions (that do not tread on the beaten path) towards the sustenance and enhancement of the ecological, natural, cultural, and socio-economic capital assets and values of the IHR. 
• The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is the section of the Himalayas within India, spanning 10 Indian states (administrative regions) namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal of Indian Republic.

The NMHS envisages to work towards a set of linked and complementary goals including 

• Fostering conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, 
• Enhancing supplementary and/or alternative livelihoods for IHR peoples and overall economic and ecological well-being of the region, 
• Controlling and preventing pollution in the region, 
• Fostering increased/augmented human and institutional capacities and the knowledge and policy environments in the region, 
• Strengthening, greening, and fostering development of climate-resilient core infrastructure and basic services assets. 

Context: According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the strict enforcement of 21-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the pollution in Kaveri river and its tributaries.

• According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the Cauvery and tributaries like Kabini, Hemavati, Shimsha, and Lakshmana Tirtha are regaining their decades-old status in terms of water quality.
• Also the untreated sewage from residential areas, pollutants from industries, religious waste material from pilgrims, and construction debris had been polluting the rivers.
• These rivers were flowing with hazardous elements such as lead, fluoride, faecal coliform, and some suspended solids in highly dangerous quantities. 
• It is evident that the lockdown has significantly brought down the pollution level in rivers, said sources in KSPCB.
• However, the board will test the water samples at the regional laboratory in Mysuru under the national programme Monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resources and Global Environmental Monitoring Scheme.

About Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS)

• It was introduced in 1975 at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
• It is a global operation that collects information to better understand and protect the Earth’s environment.
• This effort is made with the cooperation of other countries, who contribute data to the GEMS.

About Monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resources (MINARS)

• It is a National Programme of monitoring national aquatic resources.
• It was started in 1984, with a total of 113 stations spread over 10 river basins.
• The present network comprises 870 stations on rivers, lentic water bodies and subsurface waters.

About Cauvery River

• It also Known as Dakshina Ganga or the Ganga of the South.
• It rises at an elevation of 1,341 m at Talakaveri on the Brahmagiri range near Cherangala village of Kodagu (Coorg) district of Karnataka.
• The total length of the river from origin to outfall is 800 km.
• The Cauvery basin extends over states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry draining an area of 81 thousand Sq.km.
• It is bounded by the Western Ghats on the west, by the Eastern Ghats on the east and the south and by the ridges separating it from Krishna basin and Pennar basin on the north.
• The Nilgiris divide the basin into two natural and political regions i.e., Karnataka plateau in the North and the Tamil Nadu plateau in the South.

Tributaries of the Cauvery River

• Left Bank: the Harangi, the Hemavati, the Shimsha and the Arkavati.
• Right Bank: Lakshmantirtha, the Kabbani, the Suvarnavathi, the Bhavani, the Noyil and the Amaravati joins from right.

Why in News?

The Centre has decided to postpone the first phase of the 2021 Census, earlier planned to start on 1st April 2020, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

What is the current situation?

• The 21-day national lockdown called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is until April 15.
• But the return of any semblance of normalcy in daily life will take many more weeks, if not months.
• India is still struggling to make sense of the extent and intensity of the pandemic and the accompanying and inevitable economic calamity.
• It is certain that all resources will need to be mobilised, first for combating the malady and then for tending society and the economy back to its health and dynamism.

What was the original schedule?

• According to the original schedule, there were two phases,
  1. 1st phase (April to September 2020) - House listing and updating of the National Population Register, and
  2. 2nd phase (February 2021) - Population enumeration.
• As the Census is a massive exercise, which involves mass contact and diversion of resources, the Centre has postponed it.

What does this suspension mean?

• As the Centre has put off the first phase until further orders, the State governments can now focus on the pressing task of combating the coronavirus.
• This suspension opens a fresh window, and an entirely new context, for reconciliation between the Centre and States on the exercise itself.
• The NPR exercise and the allied questions regarding citizenship rights had turned India into a cauldron of discord.
• But, the pandemic has forced the collective attention of the country on the interconnectedness of modern life.

Why did the State governments oppose?

• Several State governments had made their opposition clear to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• They also made their opposition to the additional questions in the NPR pro forma that many fear is a prelude to something more cynical and divisive that is based on some quaint ideas of nationhood.
• The Centre clarified that people could choose not to respond to these questions, but never bothered to address the underlying concerns.

What could the Centre do?

• The Centre can turn this crisis into an opportunity to restore mutually respectful terms for relations with States and harmony among communities — both currently frayed.
• Unshakeable national unity is essential for the country to tide over the pandemic crisis.
• The Centre must use this sobering backdrop to analyse India’s priorities as a country and revisit its idea of citizenship and plans for the NPR.

Context: Recently,Ministry of Corporate Affairs introduces the “Companies Fresh Start Scheme, 2020” and revised the “LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020” to provide relief to law abiding companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) in the wake of COVID 19.
Key Provision of Schemes

• These schemes incentivise compliance and reduce compliance burden during the unprecedented public health situation caused by COVID-19.
• The schemes provide a one-time waiver of additional filing fees for delayed filings by the companies or LLPs with the Registrar of Companies during the currency of the Schemes, i.e. during the period starting from 1stApril, 2020 and ending on 30th September, 2020.
• They also significantly reduce the related financial burden on them, especially for those with long standing defaults, thereby giving them an opportunity to make a “fresh start”.
• Both the Schemes also contain provision for giving immunity from penal proceedings, including against imposition of penalties for late submissions.
• They also provide additional time for filing appeals before the concerned Regional Directors against imposition of penalties, if already imposed.

About Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

• It is a partnership in which some or all partners have limited liability. It therefore exhibits elements of partnerships and corporations.
• In an LLP, one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner’s misconduct or negligence.

Salient features of an LLP

• It is a body corporate and legal entity separate from its partners. It has perpetual succession.
• Being the separate legislation (i.e. LLP Act, 2008), the provisions of Indian Partnership Act, 1932 are not applicable to an LLP and it is regulated by the contractual agreement between the partners.
• Every Limited Liability Partnership shall use the words “Limited Liability Partnership” or its acronym “LLP” as the last words of its name.

Composition of LLP

• Every LLP shall have at least two designated partners being individuals, at least one of them being resident in India and all the partners shall be the agent of the Limited Liability Partnership but not of other partners.

Need for and significance LLP

• LLP format is an alternative corporate business vehicle that provides the benefits of limited liability of a company but allows its members the flexibility of organizing their internal management on the basis of a mutually arrived agreement, as is the case in a partnership firm.
• This format would be quite useful for small and medium enterprises in general and for the enterprises in services sector in particular.
• Internationally, LLPs are the preferred vehicle of business particularly for service industry or for activities involving professionals.

Context: Recently,The government has tested an application that triggers e-mails and SMS alerts to an authorised government agency if a person has jumped quarantine or escaped from isolation, based on the person’s mobile phone’s cell tower location.
Key Findings

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has shared a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with all telecom service providers regarding the application called COVID-19 Quarantine Alert System (CQAS).
• CQAS collects phone data, including the device’s location, on a common secured platform and alerts the local agencies in case of a violation by COVID patients under watch or in isolation.
• Developed By: The DoT and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), in coordination with telecom service providers, have developed and tested the application.
• Working:The CQAS prepares a list of mobile numbers, segregates them on the basis of telecom service providers, and the location data provided by the telecom companies is run on the application to create geo-fencing.

About Geo-fencing

• It is a location-based service in which an app or other software uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a geographical location.
• It will only work if the quarantined person has a mobile phone from Airtel, Vodafone-Idea or Reliance Jio, as “BSNL/MTNL” do not support location based services. BSNL and MTNL are government owned.
• The Centre is using powers under the Indian Telegraph Act to “fetch information” from telecom companies every 15 minutes to track COVID-19 cases across the country.
• The government has tested an application that triggers e-mails and SMS alerts to an authorised government agency if a person has jumped quarantine or escaped from isolation, based on the person’s mobile phone’s cell tower location. The “geo-fencing” is accurate by up to 300 m.
• The location information is received periodically over a secure network for the authorised cases with “due protection of the data received”.

Legal Provision

• The States have been asked to seek the approval of their Home Secretaries under the provisions of Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, for the specified mobile phone numbers to request the DoT to provide information by email or SMS in case of violation of “geo-fencing”.
• The provisions of Section 5(2) under the Act, authorises State or Centre to access information of a user’s phone data in case of “occurrence of any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety.”

About the working of App

• The mobile application works via geo-fencing feature. The application would allow government authorities to ‘register the asymptomatic carriers and track them to effectively monitor their movement.
• The movement of potential carriers would be monitored and tracked using geo-fencing feature.
• In case the potential carrier tried to break the fence setup for them, the app would trigger an alert to the authorities, which can then track down the suspects and curb the spread of COVID-19.

Need of Geo-fencing

• One of the biggest challenges that India faces in its fight against Coronavirus in the country is about tracking the potential carriers to curb the spread of this highly infectious disease.
• To address this challenge, centre has come up with an application, which can be used to identify and isolate the potential carriers, who are Currently Asymptomatic.

About Global Positioning System (GPS) 

• It is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The system provides critical capabilities to military, civil and commercial users around the world. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

About Radio frequency identification (RFID) 

• The systems use RFID tags to annotate and identify objects. When objects are processed, an RFID reader is used to read information from the tags attached to the objects. The information will then be used with the data stored in the back-end databases to support the handling of business transactions. Like any information technology (IT), radio frequency identification (RFID) presents security and privacy risks that must be carefully mitigated through management, operational, and technical controls.

About Wi-Fi 

• It is the name of a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections.It allows local area networks to operate without cable and wiring. It is making popular choice for home and business networks. A computer’s wireless adaptor transfers the data into a radio signal and transfers the data into antenna for users.

About Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT)

• It was established in August 1984 as an autonomous Telecom R&D Centre of DoT.
• It is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• It is a registered ‘public funded research institution’ with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology.
• Its goal was to develop telecommunication technology to meet the needs of the Indian telecommunication network.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and IT launched a mobile ap called AarogyaSetu which will help people in identifying the risk of getting affected by the CoronaVirus.

About AarogyaSetu

• It is a mobile app which is developed in public-private partnership to bring the people of India together in a resolute fight against COVID-19.
• It joins Digital India for the health and well-being of every Indian.
• It will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the Corona Virus infection.
• It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
• Once installed in a smart phone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone.
• The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts is tested positive.
• The App will help the Government take necessary timely steps for assessing risk of spread of COVID-19 infection, and ensuring isolation where required.
• Available for free on iOS and Android, the app is accessible in 11 languages and the idea behind is to reach out to users informing them about risks of infection, best practices and relevant medical advisories.
• Multiple private coronavirus tracker platforms have also been proposed by private developers, although with the concerns of privacy at hand, it remains to be seen if such apps find any audience.
• The App’s design ensures privacy-first.The personal data collected by the App is encrypted using state-of-the-art technology and stays secure on the phone till it is needed for facilitating medical intervention.

Context: Recently,Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a Special Purpose Vehicle which has  taken a number of initiatives in the fight against COVID-19 Pandemic.

About Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

• It is a state-of-the-art national public procurement platform of Ministry of Commerce and Industries, that has used technology to remove entry barriers for bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-marketplace with a wide range of goods and services.
• The portal has introduced many steps to enable quick, efficient, transparent and cost-effective purchases during the coronavirus lockdown.

Following categories have been created for medical supplies in addition to the 32 existing ones and are live on GeM:

• Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Sample Collection Kit
• Reusable vinyl/rubber gloves (cleaning)
• Eye protection (visor/goggles)
• Disposable thermometers.
• Single-use towels
• UV tube light for sterilization.
• Surgical Isolation Face Shield
• Medical waste incinerator

Following categories have been created for auxiliary supplies in addition to 52 categories and 7 services that existed:

• General purpose tool kit
• Wrought aluminum utensils
• With this, all categories recommended by NITI Ayog in medical and auxiliary supplies are now on GeM. 
• All OEMs, resellers and suppliers for the above newly created categories are being identified for onboarding on GeM.
• A total of 173, out of which 120 are Medical Related and 53 are Auxiliary, COVID-19 related categories are available on GeM.

The World Bank increased procurement threshold at GeM for COVID 19 Response Project, from $ 1 Lakh to $ 1 Million.

GeM facilitates

• Listing of products for individual, prescribed categories of Goods/ Services of common use.
• Look, estimate, compare and buying facility on dynamic pricing basis.
• Market place buying of majority of common User Items.
• Buying Goods and Services online, as and when required.
• Transparency and ease of buying.
• Useful for low value buying and also for bulk buying at competitive price using Reverse Auction/ e-bidding.
• Continuous vendor rating system.
• Return policy.

Context:  MHRD Innovation Cell, AICTE, MEITY Startup Hub, InnovatioCuris and other institutions of global and national prominence organise Fight Corona IDEAthon.

About Fight Corona IDEAthon

• Fight Corona IDEAthon is a 2-day online ideathon which is an initiative jointly organised by MHRD Innovation Cell, AICTE, MEITY Startup Hub, InnovatioCuris and other institutions of global and national prominence offering support in terms of Technology, Knowledge, Outreach, etc., with Forge Accelerator as the Partner incubator, in the endeavour to scout for accessible and affordable technological solutions that can contain the rapid spread of infection, ease the mounting pressure and ensure a quick return to normalcy.

Awards and Opportunities

• Ideas and solutions that demonstrate a proof of potential shall be awarded cash prizes up to Rs. 7 lakhs (sponsored by AICTE and AWS) and shall be offered innovation grants up to Rs. 40 lakhs to enable them to accelerate further development of their ideas and prototypes. Selected startups and innovators shall be offered incubation support with access to industry partners, industrial-grade prototyping lab and pilot production facilities, co-working facilities, business support services, mentoring and expertise in tech, strategy and venture development, corporate grants, etc.
• Few international agencies like worldstartup.co, United Nations Technology and Innovation lab, and Crowdera have also come forward to support the participants.

Need of this move
Challenges and problem statements have been sought from healthcare professionals, government officials and other stakeholders working on the ground and are curated under 8 different categories such as - 

• Personal Hygiene & Protection;
• Awareness;
• Preparedness & Responsible Behavior; 
• Medical Systems - Diagnostic & Therapeutic, Screening, Testing & Monitoring - Devices & IT/Digital/Data Solutions; 
• Protecting Most Vulnerable Groups, Community Task Forces/Working Groups;
• Remote Work & Remote Education; 
• Stabilizing Affected Businesses; and 
• Open Category where one has the flexibility to choose and solve their own challenges.

Problem statements of high magnitude soliciting innovative technological solutions like the

• Design of reusable/washable masks; 
• A system that can disinfect currency notes/coins; 
• Mobile applications with an ability to provide right, reliable and authentic information to curb infection and the spread of panic;
• A non-invasive diagnostic kit; 
• Alternate solutions for ventilators to treat patients who face chronic breathing problems; 
• Storage Kits to collect test samples from homes and transport them to laboratories, etc. are put forth for student innovators, educators, researchers, professionals and startups to ideate and innovate feasible products.
• Therefore, this platform will try to cater to all these problems and will provide a platform to look into the ideas and feasible products.

Context: With an aim to curtail the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent 21-day lockdown, the RBI has announced a slew of economic measures.
Background

• After the Government’s announcement of Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana, the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has come out with its own measures to help deal with economic fall out of COVID-19 pandemic.This was the first time that the MPC met outside its bi-monthly meeting calendar.

Key Findings

• The Reserve Bank of India cut its repo rate by 75 basis points (bps) to 4.4 percent. Besides this, the central bank also cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for the banks by 100 bps to 3 percent with effect from March 28 for the next one year. 
• The reverse repo rate has also been reduced by 90 basis points to 4 percent in a bid to maintain financial stability and revive growth. RBI to undertake repo operation of up to Rs 1 lakh crore to infuse liquidity into market. 
• Cash reserve ratio of all banks reduced by 100 bps to 3 percent with effect from March 28 for 1 year; to release Rs 1.37 lakh crore liquidity. 
• RBI permits all lending institutions to allow 3-month moratorium on payment of installments on term loans. Moratorium on term loan, deferring of interest on working capital will not classify as default, not to impact credit history of borrower. 
• Interest on working capital facilities to be deferred by three months and such deferment not to be considered for NPA. This is one of the key takeaways from RBI's announcements as many people have been financially affected due to the lockdown implemented to prevent novel coronavirus from spreading in India. 
• RBI has also been conducting many other monetary operations for better liquidity management as it scrambles to keep the banking sector healthy in a bid to support the economy in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

About Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

• The Monetary Policy Committee of India is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India.
• The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least 4 times a year and it publishes its decisions after each such meeting.
• The committee comprises six members – three officials of the Reserve Bank of India and three external members nominated by the Government of India.
• They need to observe a “silent period” seven days before and after the rate decision for “utmost confidentiality”.
• The Governor of Reserve Bank of India is the chairperson ex officio of the committee.
• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was amended by Finance Act (India), 2016 to constitute MPC which will bring more transparency and accountability in fixing India’s Monetary Policy.
• The monetary policy are published after every meeting with each member explaining his opinions.
• The committee is answerable to the Government of India if the inflation exceeds the range prescribed for three consecutive months.
• Key decisions pertaining to benchmark interest rates used to be taken by the Governor of Reserve Bank of India alone prior to the establishment of the committee.
• The Governor of RBI is appointed and can be disqualified by the Government anytime.

Different Terminologies in Banking Sector

• Loan moratorium period refers to a particular period of a loan tenure during which the borrower does not have repay anything. It can be described as a waiting period before the borrower will have to start paying the equated monthly instalments (EMIs) for his or her loan. It doesn’t mean that he is completely waived off his loans.
• REPO rate (now 4.4%) denotes Re Purchase Option – the rate by which RBI gives loans to other banks. In other words, it is the rate at which banks buy back the securities they keep with the RBI at a later period.
• Bank gives loan to the public at a higher rate, often 1% higher than REPO rate, at a rate known as Bank Rate.
• RBI at times borrows from banks at a rate lower than REPO rate, and that rate is known as Reverse REPO rate (now 4%).
• CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio corresponds to the percentage of cash each bank have to keep as cash reserve with RBI (in their current accounts) corresponding to the deposits they have. For example, say if State Bank of India (SBI) got a total deposit of Rs. 1 crore with them, they need to keep 4 % of that as cash reserve with RBI (around 4 lakh rupees).
• The banks and other financial institutions in India have to keep a fraction of their total net time and demand liabilities in the form of liquid assets such as G-secs, precious metals, approved securities etc. The Ratio of these liquid assets to the total demand and time liabilities is called Statutory Liquidity Ratio(18.25%).

Context: In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Railways has decided that the period from 22.03.2020 to 14.04.2020 shall be treated under “Force Majeure”.
About Force Majeure

• A Force Majeure (FM) means extraordinary events or circumstances beyond human control such as an event described as an Act of God (like a natural calamity).
• Force majeure refers to a clause that is included in contracts to remove liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations.
• Force majeure clauses excuse companies (or other parties to a contract) from meeting certain obligations when events beyond their control interfere with their ability to hold up their end of the bargain.
• If invoked, the clauses can relieve companies from commitments, temporarily or permanently, without being in breach of their agreement.

Implication of “Force Majeure” by Indian Railways

• During this Force Majeure period, no demurrage, stacking, stabling, detention and ground usage charge shall be leviable. This step was taken in the view of Recent Pandemic.
• An average 20,000 wagons of coal and 1,700 wagons of petroleum products are being loaded every day, the data showed. “Close coordination is being maintained with the State Governments so that rakes of essential commodities are handled smoothly without any delay, amidst various restrictions imposed in the wake of Covid-19,”
• Zonal Railways have been advised to coordinate with State Government authorities to ensure logistics support in order to keep up the essential Goods Transportation.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched “Lifeline Udan” flights as part of India’s war against COVID-19 under which it supplied 37.63 tonnes of medical supplies across country.
About Lifeline Udan

• Its primary objective is transportation of medical and essential supplies across the country and beyond.
• The carriers involved in Lifeline Udan operations include Air India, Alliance Air, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pawan Hans.
• It is being supported by Airports Authority of India (AAI), AAICLAS (cargo and logistics subsidiary of AAI), AI Airports Services (AIASL), PPP airports and private ground handling entities.
• Private carriers like IndiGo, Spicejet and Blue Dart are operating medical cargo flights on a commercial basis.
• The flights are being coordinated by a control room set up at Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) under the direct supervision of the MoCA leadership.
• The Lifeline Udan cargo includes COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, gloves and other accessories required by Corona Warriors across the country.
• The Lifeline Udan flights are planned using a hub and spoke model.
• North East Region (NER) is being connected by Lifeline Udan through the regional hubs in Kolkata, Bagdogra and Guwahati.
• A website for Lifeline Udan flights has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and MoCA to enable seamless coordination between various agencies.

About UDAN scheme

• UDAN scheme was launched on 27 April 2017. It functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India).
• The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) is known as Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN).
• The main objective of the scheme is to make air travel affordable and possible in the country. It also aims to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development of all regions and states of India.
• The airlines compete to win subsidies to operate flights that link small airports with bigger airports in the country

Context: Recently,PM Modi appealed to the citizens, "Kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund. This Fund will also cater to similar distressing situations if they occur in the times ahead."

About (PM-CARES) Fund

• It stands for Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations(PM-CARES)Fund
• It has been set up as a public charitable fund keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected.
• Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust and its Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

Following modes of payments are available on the website pmindia.gov.in -

• Debit Cards and Credit Cards
• Internet Banking
• UPI (BHIM, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayTM, Mobikwik, etc.)
• RTGS/NEFT
• The account number for the PM CARES fund is 2121PM20202 with IFSC code SBIN0000691. The SWIFT code is SBININBB104 and the UPI id is pmcares@sbi.
• It also accepts micro-donations too. It will strengthen disaster management capacities and encourage research on protecting citizens.
• Further, the donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G).

Context: According to UN trade report, the world economy will go into recession this year with a predicted loss of trillions of dollars of global income due to the coronavirus pandemic, spelling serious trouble for developing countries with the likely exception of India and China.
Key Findings of the Report

• According to the new analysis from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• The UN trade and development body titled 'The COVID-19 Shock to Developing Countries: Towards a 'whatever it takes' programme for the two-thirds of the world's population being left behind', commodity-rich exporting countries will face a $2 trillion to $3 trillion drop in investments from overseas in the next two years. 
• With two-thirds of the world's population living in developing countries facing unprecedented economic damage from the COVID-19 crisis, the UN is calling for a $2.5 trillion rescue package for these nations.
• It said that in recent days, advanced economies and China have put together massive government packages which, according to the Group of 20 leading economies (G20), will extend a $5 trillion lifeline to their economies.
• "This represents an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis, which will attenuate the extent of the shock physically, economically and psychologically,".
• "Even so, the world economy will go into recession this year with a predicted loss of global income in trillions of dollars. This will spell serious trouble for developing countries, with the likely exception of China and the possible exception of India.
• Recently, the ICRA, Moody’s and other leading market observers have predicted that the growth rate of India is to decline. 
• However, they did not bring out factors that might put India in recession mode. This says that though India is to get affected economically by the virus, the impacts are to be minimal as compared to other developing countries.
• Further, given the deteriorating global conditions, fiscal and foreign exchange constraints are bound to tighten further over the course of the year.
• The UNCTAD estimates a $2 trillion to $3 trillion financing gap facing developing countries over the next two years.
• In the face of a looming financial tsunami this year, the UNCTAD proposes a four-pronged strategy that could begin to translate expressions of international solidarity into concrete action. 
• The speed at which the economic shockwaves from the pandemic has hit developing countries is dramatic, even in comparison to the 2008 global financial crisis.
• "The economic fallout from the shock is ongoing and increasingly difficult to predict, but there are clear indications that things will get much worse for developing economies before they get better.

How it Impact Developing nations?

• The report shows that in two months since the virus began spreading beyond China, developing countries have taken an enormous hit in terms of capital outflows, growing bond spreads, currency depreciations and lost export earnings, including from falling commodity prices and declining tourist revenues.
• Lacking the monetary, fiscal and administrative capacity to respond to this crisis, the consequences of a combined health pandemic and a global recession will be catastrophic for many developing countries and halt their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Even as advanced economies are discovering the challenges of dealing with a growing informal workforce, this remains the norm for developing countries, amplifying their difficulties in responding to the crisis.
• "Advanced economies have promised to do 'whatever it takes' to stop their firms and households from taking a heavy loss of income,".
• "But if G20 leaders are to stick to their commitment of 'a global response in the spirit of solidarity', there must be commensurate action for the six billion people living outside the core G20 economies"
• According to reports, the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has soared past 35,000 while the number of confirmed cases topped 750,000 globally.

About United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

• It was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body
• It is principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues report to the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.
• The conference ordinarily meets once in four years
• Its headquarter in Geneva
• Its goals — “Prosperity for all” by maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis

Functions of this organisation

• It formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology
• It undertakes research, policy analysis and data collection for the debates of government representatives and experts
• It provide technical assistance tailored to the specific requirements of developing countries, with special attention to the needs of the least developed countries and of economies in transition

Reports released by this organisation

• World Investment Report
• Least Developed Countries Report
• Trade and Development Report
• Trade and Environment Review
• Information Economy Report
• Review of Maritime Transport
• Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) under which manufacturers’ exports and some agricultural goods from the developing countries enter duty-free or at reduced rates in the developed countries.

The transfer of Chief Justice Vijaya K. Tahilramani from the Madras High Court to Meghalaya is shocking and disconcerting. She had presided over a court of 75 judges and administered a subordinate judiciary in 32 districts in addition to the Union Territory of Puducherry. In contrast, the Meghalaya High Court has only three judges and a subordinate judiciary in just seven districts.

The transfer of a Chief Justice from one of the bigger High Courts to one of the smallest High Courts in the country is an obvious case of downgrading and amounts to public humiliation of the highest judicial officer in a State. Her response to this humiliation has been graceful but resolute — resignation.

Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over transfer of judge-

• The Supreme Court derives its power to select, appoint and transfer judges from its verdicts in Three Judges Cases.
• After a spate of “punishment transfers” of upright judges by the Central government during the Emergency in 1975, the judiciary arrogated to itself the power in order to preserve judicial independence.
• Thus, the collegium system consisting of the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court was put in place.
• However, the apex court’s power to transfer is not unfettered and absolute and can only be carried out in public interest for better administration of justice.
• The Supreme Court can order a judge’s transfer to improve the functioning of either of the High Courts or if there are close relatives of the judge practicing in the same Court.
• The apex court can also do so if the judge has litigation or property interest in the State or has become controversial and so her continuance in the same High Court is not conducive.

What can be done-

• The Supreme Court cannot function as a sentinel of justice unless it puts its own house in order. Its functions, both judicial and administrative, have to be transparent and accountable.
• The collegium is not a creation of the Constitution, but of the court itself.
• Yet, when the collegium’s decisions are called into question for having been influenced by extraneous considerations, there is no institutional check.
• The government’s attempt to have a National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2015 and the system of collegium has continued with its opaqueness and inconsistencies.
• A proper mechanism needs to be placed whereby the selection and transfer of judges needs to be carried on in public scrutiny.

Conclusion-

In recent times, despite its judicial pronouncements in cases such as the entry of women into Sabarimala and triple talaq, the Supreme Court has not exactly covered itself with glory in cases of women on its own administrative side.

 Any arbitrary transfer by the Supreme Court collegium reduces the High Court judges to a subordinate status. Further, the collegium system, by its opacity, has failed to build a fearless and strong judiciary and serve the public interest.

Context: Recently,The Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed by the Karnataka Assembly in order to bring about major changes in the functioning of the rural local bodies in Karnataka.

Salient features of the Bill

• The Bill amends the Karnataka Gram swaraj and Panchayat Raj act, 1993.
• It reduces the term of the offices of presidents and vice-presidents of gram panchayats, taluk panchayats and zilla panchayats from five years to 30 months.
• No-confidence motion could not be moved against the presidents and vice-presidents of all three-tiers of local bodies before 15 months from the date of election. At present, no-confidence motion can be moved within 30 months from the date of election.
• The Deputy Commissioner would preside over the meeting while no-confidence motion is considered in taluk panchayat and the regional commissioner would preside in the case of Zilla Panchayats.
• In case the no-confidence moved is defeated, then no such motion is to be moved again in the next six months.
• The Bill envisages some electoral reforms and that included closing of liquor shops 48 hours before the polling of panchayats.
• On property tax collection by Gram Panchayats: It has proposed no tax on vacant land in airport or industrial area or industrial areas where plantations are grown. It proposes to levy 0.10% tax on the capital value of the property on the runway area of an airport.

Context: Recently,Sixty two Cantonment Boards spread over 19 States/Union Territories, across the country, with a population of approx. 21 lakh  (including military and civil) have geared up to the challenge posed by Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Key Findings

• Instructions have been issued to all the Cantonment Boards to identify beds in hospitals/health centres and guest houses for any eventuality.
• Presidents and Chief Executive Officers of the Cantonment Boards are in constant touch with civilian authorities in their respective areas and providing required assistance whenever needed.
• All the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are being strictly adhered to by all the Cantonment Boards.
• All the Cantonment offices buildings, residential areas, school premises, libraries, parks and markets are being sanitised regularly.
• Task forces have been set up consisting of office staff to ensure supply of essential commodities, food items, etc, especially for poor people residing in Cantonment areas.

About Cantonment Boards

• It is a civic administration body in India under control of the Ministry of Defence.
• It is neither elected nor a statutory body. A cantonment board is for municipal administration for civilian population in the cantonment area.
• The overall municipal administration of the Cantonment areas comes under Cantonment Boards which are democratic bodies.
• The Cantonment areas were and are primarily meant to accommodate the military population and their installations.
• Cantonments are different from the Military Stations in that the Military Stations are purely meant for the use and accommodation of the armed forces and these are established under an executive order whereas the Cantonments are areas which comprise of both military and civil population.

Cantonments are divided into four categories, namely,

• Category I – population exceeds fifty thousand.
• Category II – population exceeds ten thousand, but does not exceed fifty thousand.
• Category III – population exceeds two thousand five hundred, but does not exceed ten thousand.
• Category IV – population does not exceed two thousand five hundred.

Members

• The board comprises elected members besides ex-officio and nominated members as per the Cantonments Act, 2006.
• The term of office of a member of a board is five years.
• A cantonment board consists of eight elected members, three nominated military members, three ex-officio members (station commander, garrison engineer and senior executive medical officer), and one representative of the district magistrate.

Context: Recently, the Chinese fishing fleets have been seen raiding the rich waters of the South China Sea that are internationally recognised as exclusively Indonesia’s to fish which worried Fishers in Natuna islands say they feel vulnerable with Beijing’s presence in South China Sea becoming more aggressive.

Concerns

• Backed by Chinese coast guard ships, Chinese fishing fleets have been raiding the rich waters of the South China Sea that are internationally recognised as exclusively Indonesia’s to fish.
• The Chinese steel trawlers scrape the bottom of the sea, destroying other marine life. So not only does the Chinese trawling breach maritime borders, it also leaves a lifeless seascape in its wake.
• The latest episode occurred in February 2020, fishers said, when Chinese boats flanked by coast guard vessels dropped their trawl nets yet again. It seemed as if the coronavirus outbreak peaking in China at the time hadn’t diminished the country’s global ambitions.
• Wary of offending its largest trading partner, Indonesian officials have played down incursions by Chinese fishing boats. But with the Chinese presence growing more aggressive, fishers in the Natunas are feeling vulnerable.
• China’s illegal fishing near the Natunas carries global consequence, reminding regional governments of Beijing’s expanding claims to a waterway through which one-third of the world’s maritime trade flows. But local leaders in the Natunas don’t control what happens near their shores.
• The Chinese fishers are helping feed the country’s growing appetite for seafood by trawling the South China Sea. But they are also serving a broader purpose. Beijing wants Chinese fishers to operate there because their presence helps to embody China’s maritime claims.

About South China Sea

• The South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
• It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north of the island of Borneo.
• Bordering states & territories (clockwise from north): the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
• It is connected by Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea.
• It contains numerous shoals, reefs, atolls and islands. The Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal are the most important.

Importance of South China Sea

• It is a key commercial thoroughfare connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, and its seabed is rich with natural resources. One third of global shipping, or a total of US$3.37 trillion of international trade, passes through the South China Sea.
• About 80 per cent of China’s oil imports arrive via the Strait of Malacca, in Indonesia, and then sail across the South China Sea to reach China.
• The sea is also believed to contain major reserves of natural resources, such as natural gas and oil.
• The US Energy Information Administration estimates the area contains at least 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Other estimates are as high as 22 billion barrels of oil and 290 trillion cubic feet of gas.
• The South China Sea also accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s fisheries, making it a key source of food for hundreds of millions of people.

About Natuna Islands

• The major island and reef formations in the South China Sea are the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Pratas Islands, Natuna Islands and the Scarborough Reef.
• The Natuna Regency is an archipelago of 272 islands located in the south part of the South China Sea in the Natuna Sea.
• Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of Natuna is slightly overlapped by China’s widely disputed South China Sea claim.

Context: Recently, a study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases has estimated the mean duration from onset of symptoms (coronavirus) to death to be about 18 days and that of hospital discharge to be about 25 days.

• This finding is based on data on 24 deaths that occurred in mainland China and 165 recoveries outside of China.
• The estimates of the case fatality ratio for COVID-19, are substantially higher than for recent influenza pandemics (eg, H1N1 influenza in 2009).
• With the rapid geographical spread observed to date, COVID-19 therefore represents a major global health threat in the coming weeks and months.
• Till April 1, 8.53 lakh cases of COVID-19 had been reported world-wide, with 41,887 deaths.
• The estimate of the proportion of infected individuals requiring hospitalization, when combined with likely infection attack rates (around 50-80%), show that even the most advanced health-care systems are likely to be overwhelmed.

Key Findings of the report are as follows

• Infection Fatality Rate- Infection fatality ratio takes into account the total number of people that might carry the virus without showing symptoms.
• These people are not a part of the “official number of cases” in China.
• Overall infection fatality rate for China, where coronavirus first hit, was 0.66%.
• However, recently, China has disclosed the number of asymptomatic (people showing no symptoms) cases.
• China has found more than 43,000 cases of asymptomatic infection through contact tracing.
• Contact tracing: It is the process of identifying, assessing and managing people who have been exposed to a disease to prevent transmission.
• Crude Fatality Ratio: The crude rate does not take into account the severity of the infection, which means it just compares the total number of cases with the total number of deaths.
• Infection Fatality Rate is lower than Crude Fatality Ratio
• Age and Severity of Coronavirus: Severity of coronavirus depends on the age of a patient, and the overall case fatality ratio (number of deaths per positive case) could be 1.38%.
• In those above 60 years, it was found to be 6.4%; in those above 80 years, 13.4%; and in people aged below 60 years, 0.32%.

Context: Recently, The World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared COVID-19 an orphan disease, or a rare disease.
Current Scenario

• In an egregious misuse of the Act, the FDA granted Gilead Sciences orphan drug status for its antiviral drug, Remdesivir, on March 23. 
• Which originally developed to treat Ebola but found ineffective, the drug is now being tested for treating COVID-19. Clinical trials are already in Phase III. 
• But in an interesting turn of events, on March 25 Gilead announced that it had submitted a request to the FDA to cancel its orphan drug designation for Remdesivir. 
• It alluded to the fact that abbreviated trials were behind the initial designation, though it is well known that there are other avenues for abbreviated trials in such circumstances.
• Earlier, Gilead had sought the orphan status to the Remdesivir drug to expedite approval of the drug. However, advocates for global access to medicines, rejected the company’s argument.
• Gilead’s exorbitant pricing of its drug to treat hepatitis C and its drug to treat HIV also attracted attention in the past.
• In recent years, drug companies have been accused of exploiting the law to reap profits, in sales.

About Gilead Sciences

• Gilead Sciences, Inc., is an American biotechnology company that researches, develops and commercializes drugs. The company focuses primarily on antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and influenza, including Harvoni and Sovaldi.

About Orphan drug act in USA

• Privileges under the Act are conferred to companies for drugs to treat a disease that affects less than 200,000 people.
• Regulations for revocation: if the number of people suffering from the disease exceeds 200,000 after designation but before approval, this would not be a ground for revocation.
• If a disease is rare: Companies are provided incentives to develop therapies, or orphan drugs, for rare diseases. Without these incentives, companies  find it difficult to recoup their R&D costs given the small number of people suffering from the rare disease. 
• For instance in The USA, companies get incentives under the Orphan Drug Act, 1983.
• The Act allows seven years of market exclusivity and financial incentives to innovators of these drugs. 

Purpose of the act : To provide financial incentives for drugs that may reasonably expect to generate relatively small sales. 
Negative impact on health care system

• In case of orphan drug status being granted, generic manufacturers would not be able to market a drug to treat COVID-19 with the same active ingredient till the seven-year period of market exclusivity does not end.
• This would have given the patent holder company a free hand in pricing policies and licensing conditions, which would have had disastrous consequences on the healthcare system.
• The orphan drugs are often highly priced. This would reduce its accessibility to the needy and vulnerable.

Its Impact on India

• While the orphan drug status of Remdesivir would have no impact on India, Gilead Sciences does hold a patent in India, which it is likely to claim for if it is successful in developing the drug.

About Rare Diseases

• A rare disease is a health condition of low prevalence that affects a small number of people compared with other prevalent diseases in the general population.
• There is no universally accepted definition of rare diseases and the definitions usually vary across different countries.
• Though rare diseases are of low prevalence and individually rare, collectively they affect a considerable proportion of the population.
• 80% of rare diseases are genetic in origin and hence disproportionately impact children.In India there are 56-72 million people affected by rare diseases.

Context: Recently, Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology, has developed a one-step curable anti-microbial coating which, when coated on different surfaces such as textile, plastic and so on could kill a range of virus types including COVID 19.
About this Covalent Coating

• It is a one-step curable anti-microbial coating.
• It can kill a range of virus types including COVID-19 when it was applied on different surfaces such as textile, plastic and so on.
• It was found out that the coating could completely kill influenza virus as well as resistant pathogenic bacteria and fungi, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and fluconazole-resistant C. albicans spp.
• It is anticipated that the coating may inactivate SARS-CoV-2 upon contact and can help prevent contamination if coated on various surfaces.
• The coating can be fabricated on a variety of surfaces, and its ease and robustness eliminate the necessity of skilled personnel for procurement of the coating.
• The coating can be fabricated on a variety of surfaces, and its ease and robustness eliminate the necessity of skilled personnel for procurement of the coating.
• The molecules developed have an ability to chemically cross-link with different surfaces upon UV irradiation.
• Upon the formation of the coating, it has been shown to permeabilize the membranes of pathogens (i.e. bacteria) leading to their inactivation.
• Molecules were designed, keeping in mind their optimum solubility in a wide range of solvents (such as water, ethanol, chloroform etc.) and a cost-effective three to four-step synthetic strategy with easy purification and high yield.
• For coating on cotton, the sheets were dipped in a water solution of the compounds whereas, for other cases, ethanolic substrates were drop-casted on them followed by UV irradiation.
• After coating, the surfaces were evaluated for their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activity.

Significance of this Research

• Microbial attachment and their colony formation on different surfaces play a major role in the transmission of deadly infections in the community as well as healthcare settings.
• The recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has created an unprecedented stir in the global public health. Corona virus, like influenza, is also an enveloped virus.
• Therefore it is anticipated that the coating may inactivate SARS-CoV-2 upon contact and can help prevent contamination if coated on various surfaces.
• The molecule can be synthesized in large scale through a CRO (Contract Research Organization) and can be coated on various personal protective tools such as masks, gloves, gowns, etc. in collaboration with the private organizations.
• The molecules can also be coated on other medical devices and tools to avoid hospital-acquired or nosocomial infections.

Context: Researchers have been working on a hybrid system that creates the building blocks for organic molecules by capturing the energy of sunlight. And this system works by combining bacteria and nanowires.

   Background 

• If humans ever hope to colonize Mars, the settlers will need to manufacture on-planet a huge range of organic compounds, from fuels to drugs, that are too expensive to ship from Earth.
• We can’t ship packages between Mars and Earth back on forth: one, that would be extremely expensive; two, it is not sustainable. So it is necessary for us to have a plan to produce most items locally.
• The only other requirement, besides sunlight, is water, which on Mars is relatively abundant in the polar ice caps and likely lies frozen underground over most of the planet?.

About Nanowires 

• They are incredibly thin silicon wires that are about a hundredth of the width of a human hair. 
• They are used as electronic components, sensors, and solar cells. In order to work it, we only need sunlight and water, which Mars has plenty on its vast surfaces in frozen form.

How does the system work? 

• The system works like photosynthesis.
• The left side of the reactor is the chamber which contains the nanowire-bacteria hybrid that reduces CO2 to form acetate. Oxygen is produced on the right side.
• The team first demonstrated the nanowire-bacteria hybrid reactor five years ago; however, the solar conversion efficiency was only about 0.4%. 
• The researchers tried to increase the efficiency by putting more bacteria onto the nanowires, however, that idea wouldn't make the cut.
• The efficiency of the system is comparable to the plant that best converts CO2 to sugar, which is sugar cane by 4-5% efficiency.
• Top efficiency is achieved by operating at the optimal acidity for bacteria, which gave more efficient conversion of solar energy to carbon bonds.  
• The silicon nanowires are essentially like an antenna: They capture the solar photon just like a solar panel. Within these silicon nanowires, they will generate electrons and feed them to these bacteria. Then the bacteria absorb CO2, and spit out acetate. 
• The biohybrid can also pull carbon dioxide from the air on Earth to make organic compounds and simultaneously address climate change, which is caused by an excess of human-produced CO2 in the atmosphere.
• We can almost think of this as planting new trees. While producing energy, it helps with climate change too. It brings a good deal for everyone involved.

Context: Recently, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States has approved the use of Convalescent plasma collected from patients recovered from COVID-19, to treat seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

About the Therapy

• It seeks to make use of the antibodies developed in the recovered patient against the coronavirus. 
• The whole blood or plasma from such people is taken, and the plasma is then injected in critically ill patients so that the antibodies are transferred and boost their fight against the virus.

Need of the hour

• While clinical trials are underway to evaluate the safety and efficacy of administering convalescent plasma to patients with COVID-19, the FDA is granting clinicians permission for use of investigational convalescent plasma under single-patient emergency Investigational New Drug Applications (INDs), since no known cure exists and a vaccine is more than 1 year away from becoming available.

WHO guidelines in this regard

• It mandate a donor’s permission before extracting plasma. 
• Plasma from only recovered patients must be taken, and donation must be done from people not infected with HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, or any infectious disease. 
• If whole blood is collected, the plasma is separated by sedimentation or centrifugation, then injected in the patient.
• If plasma needs to be collected again from the same person, it must be done after 12 weeks of the first donation for males and 16 weeks for females, the WHO guidelines state.

Can it be Done in India ?

• India has facilities for removing 500 ml of plasma from a donor using aphaeresis.
• Experts say the treatment could be effective for patients in the age group 40-60, but may be less effective for people aged beyond 60 years.
• The move would require a series of approvals as India has never done this before for combating any disease.
• While plasma transfers immunity from one person to another, it is not known if it can save lives in COVID-19 infection. 
• However, past records show the efficacy of treatment against diseases like Spanish Flu, HINI etc.. when no specific vaccination or treatment was available for them.So it can be tried by India.

Context: Diseases caused by coronaviruses, such as COVID-19, are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.As the novel coronavirus has spread across continents, studies are underway to better understand its origin and how it is transmitted.

• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), SARS-CoV was transmitted to humans from civet cats, and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels.
• Both the viruses, however, are believed to have originated from bats and subsequently passed on to other animals.
• While researchers are yet to conclude how the novel coronavirus, which was first detected in China’s Wuhan, originated, many believe it could be traced back to bats.
• Many studies over the years have found bats to be a natural reservoir for a large number of zoonotic viruses that have caused outbreaks in many countries in the past. These include rabies, Marburg, Nipah and Hendra viruses. 
• Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China were able to trace the origin of the SARS virus to these bats in a remote cave in the country’s southeastern Yunnan province.
• Research suggests that bats, which make up a quarter of all mammal species, have developed stronger immune systems through the process of evolution which enabled them to fly.
• Studies have shown that when bats fly, the energy requirements in their bodies cause cells to break down into bits of DNA which are then released. While most organisms would treat such DNA particles as foreign invading bodies, in bats such responses are more muted. 
• Due to this weakened response, bats do not develop inflammations, which can cause a considerable toll on the body’s energy. This phenomenon is believed to be the reason so many viruses can exist in their bodies. 
• In a 2007 study at the American Society of Microbiology that predicted the emergence of a SARS-like coronavirus epidemic. Coronaviruses are well known to undergo genetic recombination, which may lead to new genotypes and outbreaks.

How do germs spread between animals and people?
Zoonotic transmission can occur in any context in which there is companionistic (pets), economic (farming, etc.), predatory (hunting, butchering or consuming wild game) or research contact with animals.

• Contamination of food or water supply: Eating or drinking contaminated food can cause various types of diseases in humans.
• Direct contact: While petting or touching animals, and bites or scratches.
• Indirect contact: Coming into contact with areas where animals live and roam.
• Vector-borne: Being bitten by a tick, or an insect, like a mosquito or a flea food-borne

Type of disease that passes from an animal or insect to a human

• Ebola: There are 6 species of Ebola Virus identified till date namely Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan, Taï Forest, Reston and Bombali.It is Transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. Its host are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family.
• Nipah: It is transmitted to humans from animals (such as bats or pigs), or contaminated foods and transmitted directly from human-to-human.Its host are Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family.
• Zika: It is transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes and infected people can transmit Zika through transfer of body fluids including sexual intercourse.
• Avian/Bird Flu: It is caused by H5N1 virus, a subtype of the influenza A virus. Human infections occur through infected bird-to-human contact or contact with surfaces and objects  contaminated by their droppings but Human-human transmission is limited.
• Swine Flu: It is caused by H1N1 virus. It occur in people with direct exposure to pigs spread from person to person, similar to seasonal influenza viruses.
• Kyasanur forest disease: It is caused by Kyasanur Forest disease Virus(KFDV), a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. Rodents, shrews and monkeys after being bitten by an infected tick are the common host by which its transmission to humans occur after a tick bite or contact with an infected animal.
• Rabies: It is caused by Ribonucleic Acid(RNA) virus that is present in the saliva of a rabid animal.It is transmitted to humans following a bite of a rabid animal.
• West Nile Virus: It is caused by the West Nile Virus.Birds are the natural host which transmits it to humans through bites from infected Culex mosquitoes.
• Monkeypox: It is caused by monkeypox virus transmitted to people from wild animals such as rodents and primates and Human-to-human transmission caused by contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials.
• Dengue: It is caused by Dengue virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus of the family Flaviviridae and it is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected female Aedes Aegypti mosquito.
• Hantavirus: They are family of viruses which are spread mainly by rodents.It does not spread from one person to another and can be contracted if someone comes in contact with a rodent that carries the virus.
• Malaria: It is caused by Plasmodium parasites which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

Context: Recently, the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) returns in Bihar as toddler dies in Muzaffarpur.While the causes of AES are still researched, the association with hypoglycaemia and litchi fruit has again drawn attention.
About Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)

• It is a basket term used for referring to hospitals, children with clinical neurological manifestation that includes mental confusion, disorientation, convulsion, delirium, or coma.
• It is a severe case of encephalitis transmitted by mosquitoes and is characterized by high fever and inflammation of the brain.
• It is coined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2006, to signify a group of diseases which seem similar to one another but are difficult to differentiate in the chaotic environment of an outbreak.
• It most commonly affects children and young adults and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality.

Symptoms

• Its Symptoms include confusion, disorientation, coma, or inability to talk, high fever, vomiting, nausea, and unconsciousness.
• The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme in India has set up countrywide surveillance for AES through sentinel sites with a focus on detecting Japanese encephalitis (JEV).

About Cause of the Disease

• It is considered a very complex disease as it can be caused by various agents including bacteria, fungi, virus and many other agents.
• Viruses are the main causative agents in AES cases, although other sources such as bacteria, fungi, parasites, spirochetes, chemicals, toxins, and noninfectious agents have also been reported over the past few decades. It is not Vaccine-Preventable.
• It is mostly caused by Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) (ranging from 5%-35%) and, Nipah virus, Zika virus, Influenza A virus, West Nile virus, Chandipura virus, mumps, measles, dengue, scrub typhus, S.pneumoniae are also found as causative agents for AES.

About Litchi Fruits

• It outbreaks in north and eastern India have been linked to children eating unripe Litchi Fruit on empty stomachs.
• It contains the toxins hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG), which cause vomiting if ingested in large quantities. Hypoglycin A is a naturally occurring amino acid found in the unripened litchi that causes severe vomiting (Jamaican vomiting sickness), while MCPG is a poisonous compound found in litchi seeds.

How it Affects Children?

• The Blood glucose falls sharply causing severe brain malfunction (encephalopathy), leading to seizures and coma, and death in many cases.
• It is because the under-nourished children lack sufficient glucose reserve in the form of glycogen and the production of glucose from non-carbohydrate source is blocked midway leading to low blood sugar level. It causes serious brain function derangement and seizures.

Road Ahead

• Measures needed to be taken are by Increase access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities, improve nutritional status of children at risk of JE/AES, Preparative measures to be in place before the possible outbreaks, Vector control, Better awareness generation among children, parents through Anganwadi workers, ANMs etc.

Context: Recently,The Union Health Ministry has allowed the use of Hydroxy chloroquine in combination with Azithromycin under close monitoring for patients with severe disease and requiring ICU management as per the revised Guidelines on Clinical Management of COVID–19.

Key Findings

• Hydroxy chloroquine was previously under testing and was allowed to be administered only to doctors and caregivers in direct contact with COVID-19 positive cases.
• The Health Ministry has noted that no specific antiviral has been proven to be effective as per currently available data. However, based on the available information (uncontrolled clinical trials), Hydroxy chloroquine may be considered.
• Its usage in some patients has shown a significantly reduced viral load in nasal swabs.
• It is known to have a variety of side-effects, and can in some cases harm the heart.
• It has been cautioned that the medication is presently not been recommended for children less than 12 years, pregnant and lactating women.

About Hydroxy chloroquine

• It is used to prevent or treat malaria infections caused by mosquito bites. It does not work against certain types of malaria (chloroquine-resistant). 
• This medication is also used, usually with other medications, to treat certain auto-immune diseases (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis) when other medications have not worked or cannot be used. 
• It belongs to a class of medications known as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). It can reduce skin problems in lupus and prevent swelling/pain in arthritis, though it is not known exactly how the drug works.

About Azithromycin

• It is an antibiotic that fights bacteria.Azithromycin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as respiratory infections, skin infections, ear infections, eye infections, and sexually transmitted diseases.
• It is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. It is a macrolide-type antibiotic. It works by stopping the growth of bacteria.
• This medication will not work for viral infections (such as common cold, flu). Unnecessary use or misuse of any antibiotic can lead to its decreased effectiveness.

Context: To tackle suspicions of whether the novel coronavirus has spread into the community and if not prevent such a scenario, the Kerala government has announced ‘rapid tests’ that will ensure speedy results within half an hour.

• Over the last five days, Kerala’s health department reported 93 positive cases of novel coronavirus, taking the total number of infected to 202 since February and heightening fears of community transmission of the virus in the state.
• The government has received approval of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in this regard. The health department, in a statement said the testing will be done using kits approved by ICMR and National Institute of Virology, Pune.

About ‘rapid test’ for Coronavirus

• A rapid test is conducted to determine whether there has been any kind of recent viral infection in a person’s body.
• When a pathogen enters a human body, specific antibodies are released as a response to the virus.
• A rapid test can detect the presence of such antibodies in blood, serum or plasma samples quickly, indicating a viral infection. Rapid testing is conducted usually to check for community transmission of a virus during an epidemic.
• According to the health department, it is a simple test that can be done with a person’s blood sample and will give out results within 10-30 minutes. It is also a low-cost test.
• Even though a rapid test can be extremely helpful to check for community transmission during a global pandemic such as this, it is not a confirmatory test for SARS-CoV-2 that causes the coronavirus infection. Positive test indicates exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Negative test does not rule out Covid-19 infection.
• The person still has to be subjected to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for confirmation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A rapid test comes positive after 7-10 days of viral infection and remains positive for several weeks after that.
• Those with a history of recent foreign travel, people who may have had contact with foreign returnees, health workers who maintain close contact with Covid-19 patients, residents of a region reporting higher-than-usual cases of respiratory illness and those who have recovered from such respiratory illnesses can undergo rapid tests.

Context: Studying cultures of E. coli bacteria, a group of evolutionary biologists from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, has found that the population size determines the kind of fitness trade-offs the microbes adopt.
Key Findings

• Escherichia coli, also known as E. coli, is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms.
• Fitness trade-off may be understood in the following manner: Organisms do not have the capacity to maximise all their functions at the same time.
• Often when they enhance one function, another function suffers, or when they adapt to survive well in one environment, they cannot survive or reproduce well in another environments. This is called a fitness trade-off.
• This concept has been used by evolutionary biologists to explain why species prefer one environment to another.
• There are several ways in which the concept of fitness trade-off originates.
• Evolution causes some organisms to be generalists, by which it is meant that they can survive in different environments, and basically they will have an tolerable level of fitnessin all environments.
• The other option is they evolve into specialists, where the organism will have a high degree of fitness in a particular environment while having low fitness in other environments.
• An example of this is in the context of antibiotic resistance – generalists tolerate a wide range of distinct antibiotics (for example, multidrug resistant bacteria). On the other hand, specialist bacteria have to show a fitness trade-off.
• They resist one antibiotic (for instance, rifampicin) but become susceptible to another (for instance, tetracycline).
• The study experimentally affirms the link between population size and evolution of fitness trade-offs. Owing to their higher extent of specialisation, larger populations can become more vulnerable to sudden changes in the environment.
• If the environment abruptly shifts between two states that show fitness trade-offs with each other, then populations with a history of evolution at larger numbers would be at a greater disadvantage than historically smaller populations.
• For example, costs of antimicrobial resistance are expected to check the spread of resistant microbes if antimicrobials are removed abruptly from the environments. Moreover, pathogens are also expected to experience fitness trade-offs when they migrate across different hosts.

About Escherichia coli

• They are a bacterium that is commonly found in the gut of humans and other warm-blooded animals. While most strains are harmless, some can cause severe foodborne disease. 
• Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) is a bacterium that can cause severe foodborne disease.
• E. coli infection is usually transmitted through consumption of contaminated water or food, such as undercooked meat products and raw milk.
• Symptoms: Include abdominal cramps and diarrhea, which may be bloody. Fever and vomiting may also occur.
• Most patients recover within 10 days, although in a few cases the disease may become life-threatening.

Context: Recently,a new technology has been adopted by the Maharashtra hospitals in the fight of COVID-19 fight. The technology was developed by a Pune based Start Up.

About Scitech Airon

• It is a negative ion generator which helps to control the virus, bacteria, and fungal infections in a closed environment.
• It is designed in such a way that it could clean up the air and disinfect areas which are exposed to the infection through Covid 19 positive cases and suspects.
• A Pune based company, Jclean Weather Technologies, is the nodal company for manufacturing the Scitech Airon.
• Its usefulness in killing disease-causing viruses and bacteria has been scientifically tested by various globally renowned labs in different types of closed environments.
• The negative ions generated by the ionizer form clusters around microparticles such as airborne mold, corona or influenza viruses, mite allergens, bacteria, pollens, dust and so on and render them inactive through a chemical reaction by creating highly reactive OH groups called hydroxyl radicals.
• The detergent property generated by the ion generator helps in the breakdown of the outer protein of the allergens, viruses, and bacteria, which helps in controlling airborne diseases.
• It has been developed under the NIDHI PRAYAS program initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Significance of the technology

• It helps to control the virus, bacteria, and other fungal infections in a closed environment and could help purify the air and disinfect areas around COVID-19 positive cases and suspects. Hence it could ensure the wellbeing of the staff, doctors, and nurses who are working round the clock in quarantine facilities by enhancing their disease-resistance power and ability to fight the virus.

About NIDHI

• NIDHI (National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations), an umbrella program is pioneered by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups.

About Nidhi Prayas Program

• Department of Science & Technology has launched a NIDHI program (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations) under which programmes for setting up of incubators, seed fund, accelerators and ‘Proof of concept’ grant for innovators and entrepreneurs have been launched.
• Under NIDHI, PRAYAS (Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring innovators & Startups) programme has been initiated in which established Technology Business Incubators (TBI) are supported with PRAYAS grant to support innovators and entrepreneurs with grants for ‘Proof of Concept’ and developing prototypes.
• A maximum grant of Rs. 220 lakh is given to a TBI for establishing a PRAYAS Centre which includes Rs.100 lakh for PRAYAS SHALA, Rs. 20 lakh for operational cost of PRAYAS Centre and maximum of Rs. 10 lakh to one innovator for developing prototype. Funding for ten innovators is given to the TBI in a year.

Components of NIDHI

• NIDHI GCC - Grand Challenges and Competitions for
• NIDHI - PRomoting and and accelerating Young and
• NIDHI-Entrepreneur In Residence (NIDHI-EIR)-Suppo
• Startup-NIDHI
• NIDHI-Technology Business Incubator(TBI)-Converti
• NIDHI-Accelerator-Fast tracking a start-up throug
• NIDHI-Seed Support System (NIDHI-SSS)-Providing e
• NIDHI Centres of Excellence (NIDHI-CoE)-A World c and last one is Nidhi Prayas Program

Eligibility for Submission of a Proposal of PC

• STEPs/TBIs  promoted  by  Government  of  India  are  eligible  to  apply  under  the  PRAYAS Centers (PC).
• The  proposal  to  be submitted  by  aSTEP  /  TBI and  other  institutions  with  a  proven  track record in promotion of technology based entrepreneurship. The STEP / TBI is  supposed   to   have   adequate   expertise   and   infrastructure to  support  innovation  scouting,  screening,  selection  for funding  support  and  monitoring  of  progress  of development.
• Student applicants pursuing long term research projects like doctoral research projects or similar projects will not be supported under the program.
• The STEP/TBI should have been in existence for at least 3 years. This limit of time period will not apply  to  entities  created  by the central  government or state governments.
• A  pure R&D  proposal  for  academic  pursuits  and  industrial consultancy  will  not  be eligible for support.
• The  proposals  which  are  not  complete  or  do  not  meet  eligibility  criteria  will  not  be considered

Context: Recently,India has volunteered to participate in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ongoing solidarity trial for developing vaccines for Covid-19.
About the event of WHO

• It with its partners is organizing a study called the solidarity trial in many countries in which some of the untested treatments are compared with each other.
• The study has been designed to generate the robust data needed to show which treatments are the most effective.
• WHO’s multi-country solidarity trials aims to isolate drugs approved by regulators for other diseases that can be utilised in the Covid-19 fight.

Efforts of India

• Earlier we did not do it because our numbers were so small and contribution would have looked minuscule.
• Vaccine development wasn’t a priority for Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) currently because there are around 30 vaccine groups already in operation worldwide.
• Keeping in view the rising number of cases and challenges faced by India, the government has decided to participate in the solidarity trial.

About Solidarity Trail

• The Solidarity Trial will test four different drugs or combinations — remdesivir, a combination of two drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir, the two drugs plus interferon beta, and chloroquine.
• And will compare their effectiveness to what is called standard of care, the regular support hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

Challenges faced by India

• Most medical devices are shipped through international passenger flights. 
• However, with flight restrictions in place, such shipments have to solely depend on cargo flights. 
• As a result of this, cargo clearances have slowed down and a huge backlog is witnessed at customs. 
• Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents research-based medical technology companies that have a large footprint in manufacturing, R&D and healthcare worker training in India, is in constant engagement with the government to tackle the current COVID-19 situation in India.

Indian Scientists’ Response to CoViD-19 (ISRC)

• It is a voluntary group of scientists who regularly discuss the rapidly evolving situation with its dire need for science communication.
• With nearly 200 members, the group has scientists from institutions such as the NCBS, the IISc, the TIFR, the IITs, the IISERs and many others.
• The group aims to study existing and available data to bring out analyses that will support the Central, State and local governments in carrying out their tasks.
• This platform works through two channels — phone and WhatsApp to connect people in need with those who can provide help.

Context: Recently,NASA has selected a new mission to study how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms – known as solar particle storms – into planetary space. For the mission, NASA has awarded $62.6 million to design, build and launch SunRISE no earlier than July 1, 2023.

• The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) will look into how Sun generates and releases the giant weather storms, known as the solar particle storms, into space

About SunRISE Mission

• The mission will look into how Sun generates and releases the giant weather storms, known as the solar particle storms, into Space.
• The mission will also help in greater understanding of the solar system.
• It will study the impact that solar particle storms have on planets
• The findings would help safeguard astronauts from solar storms while they travel to Mars or the Moon.
• It can help protect astronauts traveling to the Moon and Mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects the space environment they must travel through.

About its working

• The mission design relies on six solar-powered CubeSats to simultaneously observe radio images of low-frequency emission from solar activity and share them via NASA’s Deep Space Network.
• The constellation of CubeSats would fly within 6 miles of each other, above Earth’s atmosphere, which otherwise blocks the radio signals SunRISE will observe.
• Together, the six CubeSats will create 3D maps to pinpoint where giant particle bursts originate on the Sun and how they evolve as they expand outward into space.
• This, in turn, will help determine what initiates and accelerates these giant jets of radiation.
• The six individual spacecraft will also work together to map, for the first time, the pattern of magnetic field lines reaching from the Sun out into interplanetary space.

About Solar storms

• They are violent events on the sun which can temporarily distort the earth’s magnetosphere – the region around the earth which is influenced by its magnetic field.
• Solar storms are a variety of eruptions of mass and energy from the solar surface.
• Flares, prominences, sunspots, coronal mass ejections are the common harbingers of solar activity, as are plages and other related phenomena seen at other wavelengths.
• These kinds of space weather activities affect earth and normal functioning of humans on earth.
• Solar storms can last only a few minutes to several hours but the effects of geomagnetic storms can linger in the Earth’s magnetosphere and atmosphere for days to weeks.

Note: A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020. On 6th August 2019, the Centre revoked J&K's special status under Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution and bifurcated it into the UTs of J&K and Ladakh.

Current changes 

• Anyone “who has resided for a period of fifteen years in the UT of J&K”.
• If someone has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in the UT of J&K.
• Or those registered as migrants and their children.
• Or the children of those central government officials, All India service officials, Officials of Public sector undertaking, autonomous body of central government, public sector banks, officials of statuary bodies officials of central universities and recognized research institutes of central government who have served in J&K for a period of ten years.
• Or children of residents of J&K who reside outside the Union Territory in connection with employment or business or for other professional or vocational reasons, but whose parents fulfil any of the conditions provided in the latest gazette notification will also be entitled to domicile status.
• The domiciles will be eligible for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level 4. The Level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.
• The reservation for domiciles would not apply to Group A and Group B posts, and like other UTs, recruitment would be done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
• The orders also empowers tehsildars to issue domicile certificates. The government has been empowered to notify any other officer as the competent authority to issue the certificate.

Implications of this Decision

• The order now formally allows people from outside J&K to apply for jobs in the UT. While Level IV jobs have been reserved for people with domicile status – as per their definition in the order – other non-gazetted and gazetted jobs have been opened for people from across the country, including people domiciled in J&K.

Context: Recently,45th anniversary of the entry into force of the Biological Weapons Convention was marked by 26th March 2020. The anniversary comes as the world is grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic.

About Biological Weapons Convention

• It is a convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction is usually referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC).
• It is a legally binding treaty that outlaws biological arms.
• It is the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.
• It opened for signature in 1972, and entered into force in 1975.
• India has ratified the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and pledges to abide by its obligations.

Members: It currently has 183 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories. Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC.
The BWC bans the development, stockpiling, acquisition, retention, and production of:

• Biological agents and toxins "of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes;"
• Weapons, equipment, and delivery vehicles "designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict."
• The transfer of or assistance with acquiring the agents, toxins, weapons, equipment, and delivery vehicles described above.

Exception: The BWC does not ban the use of biological and toxin weapons but reaffirms the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits such use. It also does not ban bio-defense programs.
Next Conference

• The Ninth BWC Review Conference will be held in Geneva in late 2021. On December 9, 2019, Sri Lanka was elected chairman of the 2020 Meeting of State Parties, an inter-sessional which will meet in December 2020 and discuss the agenda for the Ninth Review Conference.

Context: Recently,Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – Khorasan Province has claimed responsibility for the recent Kabul gurdwara attack.
Current Scenario

• On 25 March 2020, suicide bombers and assailants armed with guns attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (Sikh shrine) in Kabul (Afghanistan), in which 25 Sikh worshippers were killed.
• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – Khorasan Province has claimed responsibility for the attack and said that the attack was carried out in response to the Indian government's actions in Kashmir.
• One of the gunman was identified as Abu Khalid al-Hindi, an Indian citizen from Kerala.

About this Terror Organisation

• ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) is a terror group which was formed in 2015 by a Pakistani national and a former commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. 
• The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP) is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
• According to some media sources they are synonymous to the terms ISK, ISISK, IS-KP, or ISIS-K in referring to the group.
• The main activity of the group is in the border region of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. 
• However, its area of operations also includes other parts of South Asia, such as India where individuals have pledged allegiance to it. 
• Khorasan (also transcribed as Khurasan and Khorassan) was a province in north eastern Iran, but historically referred to a much larger area comprising the east and north-east of the Persian Empire.
• The United Nations Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee has imposed sanctions on ISIS-K. ISIS-K is now subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. 

Context: Recently, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has issued “Comprehensive Disability Inclusive Guidelines” to States and Union territories for protection and safety of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) in light of Pandemic Covid-19 (Corona Virus).

• These guidelines which are issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Home Affairs are applicable to all citizens, the following measures are suggested which need to be acted upon by various State/District authorities to give focused attention to protection and safety of persons with disabilities during COVID 19
• All information about COVID 19, services offered and precautions to be taken should be available in simple and local language in accessible formats; i.e. in Braille and audible tapes for persons with visual impairment, video-graphic material with sub-titles and sign language interpretation for persons with hearing impairment.
• Sign language interpreters who work in emergency and health settings should be given the same health and safety protection as other health care workers dealing with COVID-19.
• All persons responsible for handling emergency response services should be trained on the rights of persons with disabilities.
• During quarantine, essential support services, personal assistance, and physical and communication accessibility should be ensured e.g. blind persons, persons with intellectual/mental disability (psycho-social) are dependent on care giver support. 
• Caregivers of persons with disabilities should be allowed to reach Persons with disabilities by exempting them from restrictions during lockdown.
• The Resident Welfare Associations should be sensitized about the need of persons with disabilities so as to allow entry of maid, caregiver and other support providers to their residence after following due sanitizing procedure.
• Persons with disabilities should be given access to essential food, water, medicine, and, to the extent possible, such items should be delivered at their residence.
• The States/UTs may consider reserving specific opening hours in retail provision stores including super markets for persons with disabilities and older persons.
• Peer-support networks may be set up to facilitate support during quarantine for PwDs.
• Additional protective measures should be taken for persons with disabilities based on their impairment who need to be given travel pass during the emergency period.
• Persons with disabilities should be given priority in treatment, instead they should be given priority.
• Employees with blindness and other severe disabilities in both public and private sector should be exempted from essential services work.
• On-line counselling mechanism should be developed to de-stress persons with disabilities.
• 24X7 Helpline Number at State Level be set up exclusively for Divyangjan with facilities of sign language interpretation and video calling.

Mechanism to resolve disability specific issues during the period are 
1) State Commissioners for PwDs

• The State Commissioners for PwDs should be declared as the State Nodal authority in respect of persons with disabilities.
• They should be the overall in-charge to resolve disability specific issues during the crisis period.
• They will be responsible to ensure that all information about COVID 19, public restriction plans, services offered are available in local language in accessible formats.

2) District Commissioners for PwDs

• The District Officer dealing with empowerment of PwDs should be declared as the District Nodal authority in respect of persons with disabilities.
• He should have a list of PwDs in the District and monitor their requirements periodically.
• He will be responsible for resolving the issue within the resources available and if necessary may take the help of Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations/Resident Welfare Associations.

Legal Provisions

• Section 8 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 guarantees equal protection and safety for persons with disabilities in these situations.
• It also mandates Disaster Management Authorities at District/State/National levels to take measures to include persons with disabilities in disaster management activities and to keep them duly informed about these.
• These authorities are mandatorily required to involve the concerned State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities during disaster management. 

Context: According to a report from Ministry of HRD, access  to the National Online Education Platform SWAYAM and other Digital Initiatives of HRD ministry has tripled in the last one week.

• The Ministry of HRD through its Online/Digital Education Initiatives is trying to ensure that students can continue their learning sitting at their home, during this lockdown period.
• About 50,000 people have accessed SWAYAM since 23rd March 2020. This is over and above the 25 lakh students/learners who are already enrolled in the 571 courses of the January 2020 semester of SWAYAM. 
• SWAYAM has a repository of 1900 courses which are now being accessed by people from over 60 countries. 
• The  significant majority is from India and the other countries include USA, UAE, Germany, Nepal, Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.
• The videos of the SWAYAM Prabha DTH TV channels are viewed by around 50,000 people every day. 
• The National Digital Library is now being accessed by about 43,000 people daily which is more than twice the usual number of persons accessing it. 
• The Education portals of NCERT like Diksha, e-pathasala, NROER and NIOS and the other ICT initiatives like Robotics education (e-Yantra), Open Source Software for Education (FOSSEE), Virtual experiments (Virtual Labs) and Learning programming (Spoken tutorial) are also experiencing very large access rates.

About SWAYAM Portal

• SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active–Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is a programme initiated by Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality.
• Formation: SWAYAM platform is developed by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and NPTEL, IIT Madras with the help of Google Inc. and Persistent Systems Ltd. 
• Capacity: It would be ultimately capable of hosting 2000 courses and 80000 hours of learning: covering school, under-graduate, post-graduate, engineering, law and other professional courses.
• Objective: The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

Following are the key national coordinators of SWAYAM

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching for faculty of the Engineering/University/ Institutions
• National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) for engineering
• University Grants Commission (UGC) for post-graduation education
• Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) for under-graduate education
• NCERT for school education
• NIOS for school education
• IGNOU for out of the school students and
• IIMB for management studies
• National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) for teacher training programme.

There are a number of major courses which are offered by the SWAYAM Portal. These include: 

• Courses that are taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation.
• The courses hosted on SWAYAM is in 4 quadrants: (i) video lecture, (ii) specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded/printed, (iii) self-assessment tests through tests and quizzes and (iv) an online discussion forum for clearing the doubts.
• Categories of courses include - Engineering, Science, Humanities, Management, Language, Mathematics, Arts and Recreation, Commerce, General, Library, Education.
• Courses delivered through SWAYAM are available free of cost to the learners.
• Students wanting certifications need to register and shall be offered a certificate on successful completion of the course, with a little fee.
• At the end of each course, there will be an assessment of the student through proctored examination and the marks/grades secured in this exam could be transferred to the academic record of the students. 

Context: Recently, Many people linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which was held in Nizamuddin in Delhi, have tested positive for coronavirus.Over 200 have tested positive for COVID-19 from among 4,000-odd who had gathered in Delhi’s Markaz Nizamuddin, the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat.

History of the movement

• Its roots lie in the Deobandi version of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. 
• It was launched by Deoband cleric and prominet Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Khandhalaw in 1927 in Mewat. 
• Its emergence also coincided with Hindu proselytising movements.

About Tablighi Jamaat

• Markaz means center, and tablig means to convey the words of Allah and the Quran, hadith to others. At the same time, Jamaat means group. 
• Tabligi Jamaat means the group of a group. Tabligi Markaz means the center of spreading the word of Islam to other people.
• It is a non-political global Sunni Islamic evangelical movement of Indian origin, has now been termed as the “largest known viral vector” of the novel coronavirus in South Asia. 
• Tablighi Jamaat (or society for spreading faith) is a missionary movement that focuses on urging Muslims to return to primary Sunni Islam, particularly in matters of rituals, attire and personal behaviour.
• Started in 1927 by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in Mewat, India, it has been called “one of the most influential religious movements in 20th century Islam”.
• The proselytising movement aims to reach out to ordinary Muslims and revive their faith, particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behaviour.
• It established a network of madrasas and Mosque.
• It means 'the Society for Spreading Faith', is an Islamic missionary movement which aims to encourage Muslims to return to practising their religion during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behavior.

About its Teaching

• The teachings of Tabligh Jamaat are expressed in "Six Principles" namely
• The first is the kalimah, an article of faith in which the Tabligh accepts that there is no God but Allah and that Prophet Muhammad is his messenger. 
• The second is salaat, or prayer five times daily. 
• The third is ilm and dhikr, the knowledge and remembrance of Allah conducted in sessions in which the congregation listens to preaching by the imam, performs prayers, recites the Quran and reads the Hadith; the congregation also uses these sessions to dine together, thus fostering a sense of community and identity. 
• The fourth principle is ikram-i-Muslim, the treatment of fellow Muslims with honour. 
• The fifth is ikhlas-i-niyat, or sincerity of intention. 
• And the sixth is dawat-o-tabligh, or proselytisaton.
• They believe that God has sent us for good in the world. Somewhere we are getting away from the path of goodness and Islam. 
• So this havoc of God is for us. And after the prayers of Maghrib, special prayers are done for peace and salvation in the country.

Outreach of this Organisation

• In two decades after its launch, the Tablighi Jamaat had spread beyond the Mewat region. 
• In the first Tablighi conference held in 1941, approximately 25,000 people from across North India attended.
• After Partition in 1947, a Pakistan chapter was started in the town of Raiwind, Lahore. Currently, Bangladesh has one of the largest chapters. 
• The Tablighi Jamaat also has a significant base in the United States and Britian, which has a large Indian subcontinent diaspora. It also has a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

About Markaz

• Markaz means center, and tablig means to convey the words of Allah and the Quran, hadith to others.
• Markz gained so much fame from these works that he became known all over the world. People from all over the world started coming here and then became the center of bringing evil from good to good.
• In Markaz, on the instructions of Amir, the head, groups of people in every corner of the country and abroad, who are called Jamaat, started going to mosques to spread the message of Islam. 
• The committee made of the mosque of the area gives its list to the main center of the district and then it is sent to Markaz. 
• In Markaz, only the land and the sky are mentioned here, there is a complete ban on any kind of worldly things. 
• This is the reason why Tabligi Jamaat gets visas all over the world. Tabligi Jamaat's Jalsa takes place every year in every part of the country along with Bhopal. 
• A large crowd gathers in it. The Jamaat present in Markaj is completely dedicated to the country. 
• This is the reason that whenever there is any kind of loss in the whole country, they blame themselves instead of the government. 

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has written to Tribal Development Departments of all states for rescheduling of Holidays in Eklavya Model Residential Schools and Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools due to COVID-19.

Background

• STs, constitute 8.6% of the country’s total population and 11.3% of the total rural population.
• Despite the increase in literacy rates among STs from 8.53% in 1961 to 58.96% in 2011, and the fact that the Right to Education Act, 2009 makes it mandatory that all children between the ages of 6 and 14 be provided free and compulsory education, significant disparities exist in enrolment rates, drop-outs, across states, districts and blocks.
• In the case of tribals, dropout rates are still very high – 35.6% in Classes I to V; 55% in Classes I to VIII; and 70.9% in Classes I to X in 2010-11, according to the Statistics Of School Education 2010-2011.
• According to a 2014 UNICEF-sponsored South Asia regional study, economic and socio-cultural factors are reasons behind the education deprivation for certain groups in India, especially SCs, STs and Muslims.
• The India Human Development Survey shows the incidence of poverty is highest among the STs (49.6%), followed by the SCs (32.3%), and then the Muslims (30.6%).

About Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS)

• It was started in 1997 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas.
• It will enable ST children to avail of opportunities in high and professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors.
• It focus not only on academic education but on the all-round development of the students.
• Each school has a capacity of 480 students, catering to students from Class VI to XII.
• The grants were given for construction of schools and recurring expenses to the State Governments under Grants under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution.
• By 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an EMRS.
• It will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalaya and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.

About Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS)

• Wherever density of ST population is higher in identified Sub-Districts (90% or more), it is proposed to set up Eklavya Model Day Boarding School (EMDBS) on an experimental basis for providing additional scope for ST Students seeking to avail school education without residential facility.

Context: Recently,Tribes in Arunachal Pradesh have revived indigenous lockdown rituals to contain the spread of COVID-19.

• The border State’s West Siang district ceremonially entered the Arr-Rinam phase.

About Arr-Rinam

• It is a tribal lockdown ritual observed in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It follows the Ali-Ternam (the word Ali means epidemic and Ternam means forestall) ritual to ward off an epidemic.
• It is the Galo equivalent of lockdown imposed by consensus for 48 hours whenever an epidemic strikes.
• It was last performed almost four decades ago when a water-borne disease had affected many members of the community.
• However, these rituals have been performed periodically for livestock, primarily the semi-wild animal mithun, that are prone to contagious diseases.
• This time it has been imposed now on account of COVID- 19 spread.
• The Bos or deputy priests perform the Ali-Ternam under the guidance of a Nyibo (shaman). 
• The ritual ended with the community leaders sealing five major entry points of the district.
• The Adi community inhabiting East Siang and Lower Dibang Valley districts too performed a similar ritual called Motor that they believe lets shamans with legendary powers to locate wild herbs to combat an epidemic.
• In districts such as Papum Pare and East Kameng, the dominant Nyishi community observed Arrue involving self-quarantine. Rituals such as Khyasang-Ratar and Merii are performed for preventing the entry of an epidemic to a village.

About Galo community

• At about 1.5 lakh people, the Galos are one of the 26 major communities of Arunachal Pradesh, and dominate West Siang, Lepa Rada and Lower Siang districts.
• They have a big population in East Siang, Upper Subansiri and Namsai districts too.
• The Galos belong to the Tani group inhabiting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, besides Tibet.
• Mopin is the main festival in Galos which is celebrated for the prosperity of the villages. The Galos perform Popir dance.

About Adi community

• The Adi people are one of the most populous groups of indigenous peoples in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. 
• A few thousand are also found in the Tibet Autonomous Region (Previously Tibet) where they are called the Lhoba together with some of the Mishmi people.
• The Adis are experts at making cane and bamboo items.Solung (harvesting festival where animal sacrifices and rituals are performed) and Aran ( a hunting festival where all the male members of the family go for hunting) are two major festivals of the Adi tribes.

About Nyishi community

• The Nyishi community is the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. In Nishi, their traditional language, Nyi refers to "a human" and the word shi denotes "a being", which combined together refers to a human being. 
• The Nyishi are agriculturalists who practice jhum, known as rët rung-o in Nishi, which is a form of shifting cultivation. 
• In districts such as Papum Pare and East Kameng, the dominant Nyishi community observed Arrue involving self-quarantine.
• Nyishi Tribes also called Bangni are the tribal people of eastern Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh (formerly North East Frontier Agency).
• Nyishi is a Scheduled Tribe. It is the single largest tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.
• They speak the Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan family.