9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – November 11th, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• Forgotten in India after fighting from world trenches

GS Paper 2

• Could India be a mediator between Russia and Ukraine?
• Should Chief Ministers have a say in the appointment of Governors?
• Content slot: On guidelines for television channels

GS Paper 3

• Global banking is a bright spot – on challenges to Global financial system
• What the Vande Bharat train says about the lopsided priorities of Indian modernity
• COP-27: An opportunity for rich nations to help vulnerable communities
• C-DOT emerges as govt’s biggest bet for India’s ongoing 5G rollout
• We must break ‘lock-ins’ of water usage in agriculture

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• What is the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, which India joined at COP27?
• Centre formulates action plan to promote exports of millets and value-added products of millets
• Centre issues e-waste management rules
• Content in national interest: What new TV broadcast guidelines say
• Significant inefficiencies: RBI report on municipal corporations
• Union Minister dedicates to the nation, India’s first national repository for life science data-‘Indian Biological Data Center(IBDC)’ at Faridabad, Haryana
• Vice-Chancellors must have served 10 years as professor, be picked from panel, says Supreme Court
• CDRI announces Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund at COP27
• Study links PM 2.5 pollutants to anaemia prevalence

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

Forgotten in India after fighting from world trenches

News-  The article explains India’s contribution in two world wars.

What was the contribution of India in two world wars?

Almost 1.5 million men volunteered to fight in the Great War. Indians mobilised four days after Britain declared war on Germany, with the support of nationalist leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi.

India raised the largest ever volunteer army, of 2.5 million, for the Second World War.

It also provided material and money along with non-combatant labourers.

Why is India unwilling to acknowledge its contribution in two world wars?

It arises from the uneasy relationship between the Indian contribution to fighting fascism on a global stage and the nationalist movement for freedom at home.

It began with the betrayal of nationalist expectations of greater autonomy for India in return for support during the Great War. This was compounded by the bitterness of Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declaring war on Germany on India’s behalf in 1939 without consulting Indian leaders.

The prevailing impression remains that wars were fought for somebody else, somewhere else.

GS Paper 2

Could India be a mediator between Russia and Ukraine?

News- The article explains the scope for India’s role in mediating between Russia and UKraine.

What has been the stance of India on the Ukraine issue?

India has strongly advocated for dialogue and diplomacy from the beginning of war. It has called for peace, respect for international law and support for the UN charter.

This has been India’s stance since the beginning of the war. However, the Indian position articulated by Jaishankar had a new element. He positioned India’s request in the context of the “Global South”.

Prime Minister Modi conveyed to President Putin in Samarkand in September that this is not an era of war. The global economy is simply too inter-dependent for a significant conflict anywhere. The Global South is feeling this pain very acutely.

Which events show the scope for mediation role by India?

Prime Minister Modi has had at least five phone conversations with President Vladimir Putin and at least three phone calls with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It indicates that New Delhi has communication channels with both sides.

Mexico had suggested that Modi, Pope Francis and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres mediate the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but there has been no progress on the proposal.

India is concerned over the rising oil price amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In Moscow, he offered help with issues including food grains and fertiliser shipments, and support for any initiative that de-risks the global economy.

What is the importance of strong bilateral ties with Russia?

The most important aspect of relations is energy issues. India is buying Russian oil at discounted prices even when there is a threat of western sanctions.

India has strategic stakes in defence ties with Russia.

A closer Russia-China strategic embrace is detrimental to India’s interests, given the US-China rivalry.

India might become a frontline state in the 21st century rivalry between China and America. In this context, India needs Moscow to keep its defence supplies going strongly with India, and not share sensitive technologies with China.

Putin has said that Russia does not transfer to any other country the military technologies shared with India. This is an assurance that India must constantly verify in respect of the weaponry and technologies that Moscow supplies to Beijing.

Should Chief Ministers have a say in the appointment of Governors?

News- The article explains the mechanims and powers of office of Governor.

What are the roles and responsibilities of a Governor?

The post of Governor is actually inherited from the past. The Mughals had Governors in order to be able to reach out to vast territories of the empire. The British also had Governors to be able to govern India.

The Governor has administrative and political functions to perform. These include addressing the joint session of the Assembly and the Budget session, and signing Bills that have been passed by the Assembly.

We are a federal country. So, there is a need to ensure unity and some level of uniformity across the Union. The post of Governor as a link between the Centre and the States.

Why did the Sarkaria Commission recommend that CM should be consulted in appointment of Governors?

Many times, Governors  take decisions as directed by the Union Home Ministry and the Central government. They have shown little regard for the Assembly or the State and changed governments at their will.

The Governor is supposed to be an independent, non-partisan person. He/she is supposed to keep the interests of the State in mind. The relationship between the Governor and the Chief Minister is what determines smooth functioning.

Should the CM be consulted in the appointment of the Governor?

Governors have to make independent decisions. These are deciding a government, the numbers, or the vote of confidence. The Governor at times has to go against the will of the Chief Minister.

The Governor has to be independent to function in a non-partisan manner. He should not be beholden to the ruling party or to the Chief Minister.

There should be general consultation. The opinion of the Chief Minister would go a long way in helping make the functioning of the Governor in a State more effective.

What about the NCRWC suggestion for a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chief Minister of the State concerned to select a Governor?

The total composition of the committee is of the ruling party at the Centre. It should be the Vice-President, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Leader of the Opposition, and maybe the Chief Minister of the State.

We have no criteria, no minimum qualifications laid out for a Governor. These are often retirement perks or rewards for loyalty to a particular party. Governors cannot be called before a court of law. These are things which have to be kept in mind. The appointment of Governors cannot be according to the whims and fancies of the Prime Minister.

What should be the way forward for the Governor?

Therefore, there has to be cooperation and coordination between the State government and the Governor, irrespective of their political loyalties.

The majority and vote of confidence has to be decided on the floor of the House.

The Governor is supposed to be a friend, philosopher and guide. He should  help from the back for sorting out issues and resolving disputes, even between political parties. The Governor should also advise the Centre on what is happening and what needs to be done.

Content slot: On guidelines for television channels

News: Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the “Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in India, 2022”. Under this, the channels would have to mandatorily broadcast content on themes of national importance and socially relevant issues for at least 30 minutes every day.

What are the key provisions of the guidelines?

Why mandatorily broadcasting content is justified?

The idea of such a mandate has been around since 2008 because,

a) According to the government, airwaves and frequencies are public property and need to be used in the best interest of society. So, all channels (except foreign channels) will have to air content for the service of the public.

b) According to a FICCI-EY report, India’s television subscriptions are estimated to add another 42 million by 2025 from 178 million in 2021. Under these circumstances, public service broadcast is not a bad idea in a diverse country with myriad issues.

What are the concerns associated with mandatorily broadcasting content?

Creates room for further interference: The guidelines says “the Central Government may, from time to time, issue a general advisory to the channels for telecast of content in the national interest, and the channel shall comply with the same”. This suggests that the centre will keep an eye on the media.

Issues related to funding: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in 2008 suggested a public service obligation. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has on-boarded it. But, there is still no clarity on compensation norms and who will fund the bill for the public service component on TV. This issue is still  persistent with the recent guidelines also.

News channels could claim the first right to protest: The air-time devoted to this exercise can easily exceed 30 minutes. So, news channels might protest the mandatory move.

So, the government has to drop its diktat of mandatorily broadcasting content.

GS Paper 3

Global banking is a bright spot – on challenges to Global financial system

News- The article explains the present economic situation across the world and future of the world economy. It also tells about the challenges to the world financial system.

What are the challenges to the world financial system by the IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report, October 2022?

China’s housing market woes: Stringent lockdowns in China have impacted home sales. Buyers do not want to make advance payments for the purchase of properties. As a result, developers face liquidity pressures and many have gone bankrupt. Banks’ exposure to the property is 28 per cent of total loans.

Poor market liquidity: Central banks are tightening monetary policy and shrinking their balance sheets. This has meant less liquidity in the market. Investors would like to sell securities when interest rates rise. Investors trying to exit their holdings of securities end up incurring losses that can trigger panic.

Corporate debt at risk: Rising interest rates pose challenges for firms with high debt. The IMF’s sensitivity analysis shows that under conditions of stress 50% of small firms would have difficulty servicing debt. Banks are bound to be impacted.

Leveraged finance under pressure: Leveraged finance is lending to companies with high debt or a poor credit history. It is, therefore, of the high-yield variety. An increasing share of leveraged finance in recent years is credit that is outside the regulated bank market and the financial markets and is of poor quality.

Housing price declines: Rising interest rates could trigger a steep decline in housing prices worldwide. This will have adverse implications for banks.

What is the present economic situation?

The Ukraine conflict poses the biggest challenge to growth since the global financial crisis of 2007. As per IMF, the world economy will grow at 3.2 per cent in 2022 and 2.7 per cent in 2023. Growth in 2023 will be the lowest since 2010, leaving aside the pandemic year of 2020.

GSFR report is that the world’s banks seem well-placed to cope with the very worst.

All growth forecasts at the moment are based on the economic conditions continuing same as present. Like, if the Ukraine conflict remains at the present level, oil prices will be around $92 per barrel, and inflation will start getting normal in the next couple of quarters.

What if the situation worsens?

Global economic growth will be severely hit. The IMF looks at this scenario. Growth will drop from the baseline projection of 3.2% to below minus 3% in 2023 before recovering to around 3 per cent in 2024.

The global Common Equity Tier I ratio in banking will be well above the regulatory minimum of 4.5%.

Banks in emerging markets would face a serious problem. Banks accounting for a third of banking assets would lack the minimum capital required.

How do we explain these outcomes?

There has been a big change in the banking system following GFC. Bankers have come to realise that it pays to have capital way above the regulatory norm. As a result, banks have performed well when it comes to capital adequacy. That is the reason for the robustness of the banking system even in these difficult times.

That is true of the Indian banking system as well. The 12 public sector banks together have reported a second quarter increase of more than 50 per cent in profit after tax  over the previous year. Loans in the banking system are growing at 17 per cent.

What the Vande Bharat train says about the lopsided priorities of Indian modernity

News:  India has developed in all fields but the problem still persists which gives us the real image of India.

What are the achievements made and problems associated with them?

Railways: Vande Bharat express was launched with all modernity but it collided with cows on the track. This shows that with modern trains there should also be development amongst local governments, fencing of the tracks, etc.

Medical facilities: India is considered to be the home to medical facilities around the world but most of the primary care clinics in India don’t have enough doctors and India has amongst the worst health indicators of any country.

Unvaccinated children: India has produced the highest vaccines in the world but it is also the home to the largest number of unvaccinated children in the world.

Food stock: India is a country where foods are stored as buffer stock while tens of millions of Indian children go hungry and are stunted.

Illiteracy: India has the most prestigious engineering institutions that offer visas to serve US’s university while half its children are unable to read and write at the minimum level expected for their age.

Laws: Laws in India say that all cars must have seat-belts while basic road laws are broken in India by jumping the red light, over-speeding, etc.

Sports: India has the richest sports leagues in the world while performance is dismal at most global sporting competitions.

Digitisation: Most of the children in India do not have the digital devices or access to the internet which they needed during the school closures in the pandemic, even though India is said to be leading in the use of technology.

Slum areas: Luxurious houses and colonies in India are built alongside overflowing sewage, garbage storage areas, etc.

Rivers: Modern infrastructures are built alongside the banks of the holy rivers while the rivers themselves are not clean.

Poverty alleviation: India’s economic development is expected to lift millions out of poverty while the recent estimate of World Bank shows that the number of people living in extreme poverty had increased by 5.6 crore in 2020.

These all gives the problems existing with the development made in India. Therefore, these needs to be addressed.

What can be the way forward?

India can learn from other modern countries and priorities its development accordingly.

Some of the areas that India can focus are – improving primary health care and primary education, improving public infrastructure, comprehensive sanitation infrastructure, environmentally friendly roads and policies, etc.

These were the areas where today’s modern country has focused to reach the modernity.

Therefore, India should also focus on these things because developing modern trains, infrastructure will not serve the purpose when the base is itself weak.

COP-27: An opportunity for rich nations to help vulnerable communities

News: The article discusses the developments made at CoP-27 Summit.

What were the major developments made at CoP-27 Summit?

There are two important developments – a) inclusion of “loss and damage” and b) early warning of the hazardous weather globally.

The UNFCCC has decided to compensate countries that suffered loss and damage and came up with a plan to ensure that everyone on the planet is warned of hazardous weather in the next five years.

These concepts are not new as loss and damage was first discussed at COP 19 in Warsaw in 2013. Efforts were made in developing warning systems to protect people in the past. However, the required progress wasn’t made.

What are the Challenges?

One of the major concerns is the investment. Developing countries are not taking efforts to fulfil their funding commitments while the harm caused by the extreme weather condition is increasing.

For example, the economic loss from cyclone Amphan in India and Bangladesh in 2020 was assessed at $15 billion.

Therefore, there will be a need to solve the issue of funding of the developed countries.

C-DOT emerges as govt’s biggest bet for India’s ongoing 5G rollout

News: The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has emerged as the government’s biggest bet for India’s ongoing 5G rollout.

The Department of Space, the home ministry and other key ministries plan to leverage C-DOT’s capabilities on artificial intelligence, cyber security, optical fibre, machine-to-machine communication, and even reconnaissance.

About Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT)

C-DOT was established in 1984 as an autonomous Telecom R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications. It is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

It is also a registered public-funded research institution with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research(DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

How did C-DOT help in India’s telecom revolution?

C-DOT research has focused on the design and production of ‘Made in India’ telecom technology suited to the Indian landscape. This helped India to a) Set up reliable telecom infrastructure that allowed public call offices or PCOs to mushroom nationwide, b) Establish digital exchanges, c) Create network infrastructure that supported successive waves of 2G, 3G and 4G rollouts and d) Recently, it designed a fully indigenous non-standalone (NSA) 5G core in record time. This NSA core has been installed at the state-owned telecom company, BSNL’s premises in Chandigarh.

Note: The 5G core is the heart of a 5G mobile network. The core domain handles a wide variety of essential functions in the mobile network, such as connectivity and mobility management, authentication and authorisation, subscriber data management and policy management, among others.

As of August 2022, India had 1.17 billion telecom connections, of which 98 per cent were mobile phone connections, and an estimated 65% were smartphones. This phenomenal rise over the past three decades in an economically distressed nation is credited to C-DOT.

Why C-DOT is essential for India’s ongoing 5G rollout?

Development of standalone (SA) 5G core

At present C-DOT is working on the development of India’s first-ever indigenously built standalone (SA) 5G core. It is a technological improvement on the NSA core.  The NSA core technology leverages existing networking infrastructure, but the SA core modernises network infrastructure to suit the myriad needs of enterprises.

Need for SA Core: a) The SA core will be necessary for achieving optimal capability in many of the classic use cases of 5G that have been showcased by both the government and industry, b) Only an SA Core can provide a long list of high-tech applications, ranging from robotics, advanced manufacturing and remote surgery, to advanced retail and logistics operations, requires ultra-low latency.

5G radio and antennas

C-DOT is also set to launch the first domestically developed 5G radio and antennas in the next six months.

5G Radio Access Network (RAN)

5G RAN allows the disaggregation of network equipment components, enabling a telecom company to source hardware and software from different vendors for network building.

5G alliances program

Under it, C-DOT has set up 10 consortiums to deliver a complete suite of 5G products by 2024. The focus is on domestic companies from across the value chain. This helps in quickly identifying export opportunities for India’s telecom tech.

What are the present challenges faced by C-DoT?

Charges of recruiting favourites to crucial posts, and of furnishing false progress reports about C-DoT

a) Commercialising the newly developed technologies remains the bigger challenge, b) Amount of customisation: c) C-DOT’s longtime partner BSNL has often proved to be a problem. BSNL was unhappy with a C-DOT-Tata Group consortium currently working to provide BSNL with 5G equipment because of the higher costs, d) C-DOT often struggled to hire the required number of researchers. Further, researchers often have to get into administrative roles which drains their time.

We must break ‘lock-ins’ of water usage in agriculture

News: The annual United Nations climate conference is underway in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The conference has entire days devoted to two crucial sectors agriculture and water. We must enable farmers to make choices that improve their earnings while helping them reduce their demand for water.

Water ‘lock-ins’ are among the factors that prevent progress in reducing water usage. So, lock-ins surrounding the use of water in agriculture must be tackled.

About the water crisis in India

India’s current system is focused towards growing high water-using and energy-intensive crops. The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) estimates that over 60% of irrigation in India is done through groundwater.

As of 2015, there were about 20 million pump sets using energy in India. Hence, the agricultural sector accounts for about 20-22% of total electricity consumption.

About lock-ins of water usage in India

Lock-ins dictate how farmers choose their crops, irrigate their fields and use energy. When generations of farmers follow certain patterns of behaviour in terms of crop choices or cultivation practices, it is hard for them to break out of it.

Most of the water is used to grow water-intensive crops like paddy. Almost a quarter of India’s net cultivable area is under rice cultivation. It is predominantly grown in the Punjab-Haryana belt. This is because there is less risk associated with such crops, given their large-scale procurement by the government at minimum support prices (MSPs).

Why breaking lock-ins of water usage is challenging?

There are many reasons for lock-ins that are carbon and water intensive.

a) Physical infrastructure in terms of cold storage, granaries and markets have all been set up to support current crop choices. New crops would require new supply chains that may be expensive to set up, b) Conventional agricultural methods have developed over centuries based on specific skills and expertise. Shifting to new methods of farming would need additional investments in capacity, c) Consumption patterns are based on crops that are currently grown. For instance, rice and wheat continue to dominate Indian kitchens. Adapting to less water-intensive crops such as millets will take time, even if there are nutritional benefits and d) The Indian farm sector displays siloed ways of thinking and working.

How India can break lock-ins of water usage?

1) Different government ministries and departments need to work in conjunction at the policy design stage to solve complex challenges that span sectors. For instance, India needs to assess changes in farmers’ energy consumption with green technologies, increase farmers’ income and also achieve less water use.

2) Changes required from production to consumption: Due to insufficient demand, the Haryana government’s introduction of maize in the MSP system has failed to divert farmers from rice and wheat cultivation.  So, the government has to create an ecosystem for farms to transition as done by Odisha’s Millet Mission.

Under the Odisha Millet Mission, the Odisha government ensured the complete procurement of millets, ensured its distribution, and encouraged the consumption of millets at local levels through Public Distribution System (PDS), Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and even the Midday Meal Scheme at schools.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

What is the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, which India joined at COP27?

Source: The post is based on the article “What is the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, which India joined at COP27?” published in Indian Express on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

At the 27th Session of Conference of Parties(COP27), Mangrove Alliance for Climate(MAC) was launched with India as a partner.

What is the Mangrove Alliance for Climate(MAC)?

Led by: United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia

Aim: To educate and spread awareness worldwide on the role of mangroves in curbing global warming and its potential as a solution for climate change.

Members: United Arab Emirates(UAE), Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan and Spain.

Working: The alliance works on a voluntary basis which means that there are no real checks and balances to hold members accountable. Instead, the parties will decide their own commitments and deadlines regarding the planting and restoring mangroves. 

– The members will also share expertise and support each other in researching, managing and protecting coastal areas.

What is the current state of mangroves?

South Asia houses some of the most extensive areas of mangroves globally, while Indonesia hosts one-fifth of the overall amount.

India holds around 3% of South Asia’s mangrove population. Besides the Sundarbans in West Bengal, the Andamans region, the Kachchh and Jamnagar areas in Gujarat too have substantial mangrove cover.

However, infrastructure projects — industrial expansion and building of roads and railways, and natural processes — shifting coastlines, coastal erosion and storms, have resulted in a significant decrease in mangrove habitats.

According to the Global Mangrove Alliance 2022 report, between 2010 and 2020, around 600 sq km of mangroves were lost of which more than 62% was due to direct human impacts.

Centre formulates action plan to promote exports of millets and value-added products of millets

Source: The post is based on the article “Centre formulates action plan to promote exports of millets and value-added products of millets” published in PIB on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released a comprehensive Millets exports promotion programme to promote Indian millets exports across the globe commencing December 2022.

Note: The millets export promotion programme comes at the backdrop of the proposal of India that was supported by 72 countries which led to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets(IYoM).

What is Millets exports promotion programme?

Prepared by: Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

Aim: To promote Indian millets exports across the globe commencing December 2022.

Key Features of the programme

The government will facilitate the participation of exporters, farmers and traders in 16 international trade expos and Buyer Seller Meet (BSMs) to promote exports of millets.

Indian missions abroad would be roped in branding and publicity of Indian millets.

Ambassadors of Foreign missions in India of the targeted countries would be invited to showcase various millet-based products.

APEDA will showcase millets and its value-added product at various global platforms.

APEDA would also organize food sampling and tasting at the retail level and in key local bazaars of targeted countries where individual, household consumers can gain familiarity with millet products.

The government is also mobilizing start-ups for export promotion of value-added products in the Ready to Eat(RTE) and Ready to Serve(RTS) categories such as noodles, pasta, breakfast cereals mix, biscuits, cookies, snacks, sweets etc.

About Millets production in India

India is one of the leading producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of around 41% in global production. 

India’s top five millet-producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. 

Exports of Millets: The share of export of millets is nearly 1% of the total millet production. India’s major millet exporting countries are U.A.E, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia among others.

– The varieties of millets exported by India include Bajra, Ragi, Canary, Jawar, and Buckwheat.

Millets market: It is estimated that the millets market is set to grow from its current market value of more than USD 9 billion to over USD 12 billion by 2025.

Centre issues e-waste management rules

Source: The post is based on the article “Centre issues e-waste management rules” published in Livemint on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has published the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022. The rules shall come into force from the 1st day of April, 2023.

What are the key provisions of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022?

Applicability of rules: The rules are applicable to every manufacturer, producer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler involved in the manufacturing, sale, transfer, purchase, refurbishing, dismantling, recycling and processing of e-waste or electrical and electronic equipment.

– However, these rules do not apply to waste batteries, packaging plastics, micro-enterprises and radio-active waste as they are already covered under the other provisions of the law.

Reduce the use of Hazardous substances: The rules mandate to reduce use of lead, mercury, and cadmium among others in the manufacturing of electronic equipment that has an adverse impact on human health and the environment.

Recycle products: It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to collect e-waste generated during manufacture and to ensure its recycling or disposal.

– Manufacturers shall use the technology or methods so as to make the end product recyclable. Further, they shall ensure that components or parts made by different manufacturers are compatible with each other so as to reduce the quantity of e-waste. 

Role of CPCB: The Central Pollution Control Board shall conduct random sampling of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market to monitor and verify the compliance of reduction of hazardous substances provisions.

Imports or placement in the market for new electrical and electronic equipment shall be permitted only for those which are compliant with provisions laid down by the government. If a product does not comply with the rules, the manufacturer will have to withdraw all samples from the market.

Content in national interest: What new TV broadcast guidelines say

Source: The post is based on the article “Content in national interest: What new TV broadcast guidelines say” published in Indian Express on 9th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released the ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India, 2022’.

Note: Uplink refers to a communication channel to transmit messages of electronic nature to a satellite. Downlinking, on the other hand, means the communication channel used to receive the electronic messages coming from the satellite.

What is the requirement for public service broadcasting under the guidelines?

The government has made it mandatory for all TV channels including private channels to undertake public service broadcasting for a minimum period of 30 minutes a day on themes of national importance and of social relevance.

The eight themes of national importance and of social relevance are: 1) education and spread of literacy, 2) agriculture and rural development, 3) health and family welfare, 4) science and technology, 5) welfare of women, 6) welfare of the weaker sections of the society, 7) protection of environment and of cultural heritage and 8) national integration.

However, certain channels are exempted from this such as ​​wildlife channels, foreign channels and live telecasts in the case of sports channels.

What is the rationale behind this?

The government has argued that since airwaves/ frequencies are public property they need to be used in the best interest of society.

However, representatives of several broadcasters pointed out that while airwaves may be public property, they had paid hefty fees for their use — any binding guidelines that adversely impact their commercial interests may not, therefore, be fair.

How will compliance be ensured with these guidelines?

Once the guidelines are implemented, the Ministry will monitor the channels for the broadcast of this content. In case of non-compliance, an explanation will be sought.

If a channel continues to be non-compliant, more steps can be taken based on specific advisories that will be issued from time to time, and on a case-to-case basis.

What are the other provisions of the guidelines?

Channels uplinking in frequency bands other than C-band must encrypt their signals. 

Uplinking and downlinking shall be subject to clearance and approval by the Ministry of Home Affairs and wherever considered necessary, of other authorities.

Broadcast companies will be allowed to uplink foreign channels from Indian teleports. This would help in making India a teleport hub for other countries.

Note: Currently, Singapore is considered the hub of teleport uplinking.

Significant inefficiencies: RBI report on municipal corporations

Source: The post is based on the article “Significant inefficiencies: RBI report on municipal corporations” published in Indian Express on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a document titled “Report on Municipal Finances”.

What are the key observations made by the report?

On Municipal Corporations (MCs): The rapid growth of urbanization in India has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in urban infrastructure which is reflected in the performance of urban local bodies especially Municipal Corporations(MCs). For instance,

– The size of municipal budgets in India is much smaller than peers in other countries. 

– The share of MCs own revenues (those they can raise on their own from tax and non-tax sources) has been declining and the share of government transfers has been increasing — which indicates a growing fiscal dependency on such grants from higher levels of government. 

– Municipal revenues/expenditures in India have stagnated at around 1% of GDP for over a decade. In contrast, municipal revenues/ expenditures account for 7.4% of GDP in Brazil and 6% of GDP in South Africa.

– MCs committed expenditure in the form of establishment expenses, administrative costs and interest and finance charges is rising but capital expenditure is minimal.

– MCs mostly rely on borrowings from banks and financial institutions and loans from Centre and State governments to finance their resource gaps in the absence of a well-developed market for municipal bonds.

On State Finance Commission(SFC): State governments have not set up state finance commissions(SFCs) in a regular and timely manner even though they are required to be set up every five years. 

– Accordingly, in most of the States, SFCs have not been effective in ensuring rule-based devolution of funds to Local governments.

What are the suggestions given by the report?

Municipal corporations should adopt sound and transparent accounting practices with proper monitoring and documentation of various receipts and expenditure items. 

MCs should explore different innovative bond and land-based financing mechanisms to augment their resources.

In order to improve the buoyancy of municipal revenue, the Centre and the states may share one-sixth of their GST revenue with them.

Union Minister dedicates to the nation, India’s first national repository for life science data-‘Indian Biological Data Center(IBDC)’ at Faridabad, Haryana

Source: The post is based on the article “Union Minister dedicates to the nation, India’s first national repository for life science data-‘Indian Biological Data Center(IBDC)’ at Faridabad, Haryana” published in PIB on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Union Minister of Science and Technology has inaugurated ‘Indian Biological Data Center’ (IBDC) at Faridabad, Haryana.

What is the Indian Biological Data Centre(IBDC)?

Indian Biological Data Centre(IBDC) is the first national repository for life science data in India. 

Mandate: To archive all life science data generated from publicly funded research in India. 

The data center is supported by the Government of India (GOI) through the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). 

Capacity: IBDC has a data storage capacity of about 4 petabytes and houses the ‘Brahm’ High Performance Computing(HPC) facility. The computational infrastructure at IBDC is also made available for researchers interested in performing computational-intensive analysis. 

Located at: Regional Centre of Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad-Haryana with a data ‘Disaster Recovery’ site at National Informatics Centre(NIC), Bhubaneshwar.

Vice-Chancellors must have served 10 years as professor, be picked from panel, says Supreme Court

Source: The post is based on the article “Vice-Chancellors must have served 10 years as professor, be picked from panel, says Supreme Court” published in The Hindu on 11th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has quashed the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor of Soban Singh Jeena University of Uttarakhand for being in violation of the provisions of the University Act, 2019 and the University Grants Commission Regulations of 2018. 

What was the case about?

A challenge petition was filed in the Supreme Court by a Professor whose appointment as VC of Soban Singh Jeena University was set aside by the Uttarakhand High Court in 2021.

The contention against the professor’s appointment was that he did not have the requisite 10-year teaching experience as a professor of the varsity.

What was the Supreme Court ruling on this case?

The Supreme Court said that the Vice-Chancellor appointment has to be made out of the panel of the names recommended by the Search-cum-Selection Committee.

A Vice-Chancellor should also have a minimum teaching experience of 10 years as a professor in a university.

Since the professor’s name was not recommended by the Search-cum-Selection Committee and he also did not have the minimum teaching experience of 10 years, his appointment as VC was quashed by the Supreme Court. 

CDRI announces Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund at COP27

Source: The post is based on the article “CDRI announces Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund at COP27” published in Business Standard  on 10th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure(CDRI) has announced the launch of Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund(IRAF) at the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.

What is Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund(IRAF)?

IRAF is a multi-donor trust fund launched by CDRI with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction(UNDRR).

Purpose: To support global action on disaster resilience of infrastructure systems, especially in developing countries and Small Island Developing States(SIDS).

– The fund will offer customized technical assistance, capacity building, research, knowledge management, and advocacy across the infrastructure life cycle for countries at all stages of development.

Supported by: Governments of India, the United Kingdom, Australia and the European Union.

Managed by: The fund will be managed by the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (UN MPTFO).

Significance: The fund will play a crucial role in equipping the coalition to deliver improved infrastructure governance, inclusive infrastructure services, diversified knowledge, and financing for resilient infrastructure globally.

Note: One of the first initiatives to be supported by the IRAF is the Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States(IRIS).

Study links PM 2.5 pollutants to anaemia prevalence

Source: The post is based on the article “Study links PM 2.5 pollutants to anaemia prevalence” published in Indian Express on 9th November 2022.

What is the News?

A study has been released titled ‘Reducing the burden of anaemia in Indian women of reproductive age with clean-air targets’.

What are the key findings of the study?

Long-term exposure to fine airborne particulate matter — PM 2.5 pollutants — may increase the prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age through systemic inflammation.

For every ten microgram/cubic metre of air increase in ambient PM2.5 exposure, the average anaemia prevalence among women increases by 7.23%.

Among PM 2.5 sources, sulphate and black carbon are more associated with anaemia than organics and dust.

Further, among sectoral contributors, Industry was the biggest.This was followed by the unorganized sector, domestic sources, power sector, road dust, agricultural waste burning and transport sector.

Measures Taken: India has launched a programme under the POSHAN Abhiyaan aiming to make the country ‘anaemia-free’ and set a target of reducing anaemia in Women of Reproductive Age(WRA) to below 35% by 2022. 

Suggestions: Anaemia prevalence will fall from 53% to 39.5% if India meets its recent clean-air targets, taking 186 districts below the national target of 35%.

About the Prevalence of Anaemia in India

Anaemia is characterized by diminished blood hemoglobin concentration and is often accompanied by a decrease in red blood cells. This results in a decrease in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

Women of reproductive age may suffer from anaemia due to menstruation, dietary iron deficiency, genetic disorders, parasitic infections and inflammation from infections and chronic diseases. 

India’s anaemia prevalence among women of reproductive age (15-45 years) is among the highest in the world.

The National Family and Health Survey 2015–2016 (NFHS-4) reported that 53.1% of WRA and 58.5% of children under five were anaemic.

The World Health Organization(WHO) has set a global target to halve anaemia among women of reproductive age by 2053.