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9th March 2023 Current Affairs

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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS BITS

TOPIC – 1 – Transit Anticipatory Bail

The Delhi High Court recently granted transit anticipatory bail to a person in an First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him by the Tamil Nadu police.

About Transit Anticipatory Bail:

  • A transit anticipatory bail is sought when a case against a person has been or is likely to be filed in a state different from the one in which the person is likely to be arrested.
  • The purpose of transit bail is to allow the person bail, so they can approach the appropriate court in the state in which the case has been filed for anticipatory bail.
  • In the absence of transit anticipatory bail, the result would be that another state’s police could arrest a person from their home state without them having the opportunity to apply for anticipatory bail at all.
  • The procedure to be followed in transit anticipatory bail is exactly the same as of any other anticipatory bail application. 
  • The concept of transit anticipatory bail is not codified in Indian law but has found its identity through judicial practice and legal precedents.

What is a Bail?

  • Bail is a judicial release of an accused person from custody on the condition that the accused person will appear in court at a later date.
  • Sections 436 to 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code deal with the concept of Bail.
  • Under the CrPC, bail can be granted to an accused person either by a police officer or by a judicial magistrate. 

What is an Anticipatory Bail?

  • It is the bail granted to a person in anticipation and apprehending arrest.
  • Under Section 438 of CrPC, any individual who discerns that he may be tried for a non-bailable offense can apply for anticipatory bail.
  • The application shall be made to the High Court or Sessions Court, where the crime is alleged to be committed.
  • Anticipatory Bail is bail before the arrest, and the police can’t arrest an individual if the Court has granted anticipatory Bail.

TOPIC – 2 – Incredible India Campaign

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India under its “Incredible India” brand line is participating in ITB, Berlin 2023, showcasing India’s rich & diversified tourism potential.

About Incredible India Campaign:

  • The ITB is a prestigious platform and is among the top international travel shows, where travel professionals come together to connect and showcase destinations and tourism products.
  • In view of promoting Incredible India holistically, the Ministry of Tourism has developed five thematic television commercials on different themes which are Adventure Tourism, Heritage Tourism, MICE Tourism, Art & Craft and Wellness Tourism.
  • Encouraging inbound travel and particularly in the backdrop of India’s G20 Presidency as well as grand celebrations of India@75 ‘Azadika Amrit Mahotsav’, the Ministry of Tourism has declared “Incredible India! Visit India Year 2023”.

Key facts about Incredible India Campaign

  • Incredible India is the name of an international tourism campaign maintained by the Government of India since 2002, to promote tourism in India.
  • Incredible India 2.0 Campaign: It aims to shift from generic promotions to promotional plans specific to the market and content creation with thematic creatives depending on different niche products such as spiritual, medical, and wellness tourism.
  • The Incredible India 2.0 campaign focuses on promoting niche tourism products, including yoga, wellness, luxury, and cuisine wildlife.
  • Incredible India 2.0 represents the post-pandemic plan for Indians in the sector.
  • Nodal Ministry:Ministry of Tourism.

Scheme under Incredible India 2.0 Campaign:

  • The Holistic Island Development plan focuses on the Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) and Lakshadweep Islands.

TOPIC – 3 – Hailstorm

The sudden change in the weather conditions in Madhya Pradesh hit the state’s farmers as their crops were damaged due to the heavy rain and hailstorm.

About Hailstorm:

  • Hail is a type of solid rain made up of balls or lumps of ice.
  • Storms that produce hail which reaches the ground are known as hailstorms. 

Conditions for Hailstorms to occur:

    • Highly developed Cumulonimbus clouds need to be present. These are the massive anvil or mushroom-shaped clouds that are seen during thunderstorms which can reach heights up to 65,000 feet.
    • There must be strong currents of air ascending through these clouds. These currents are commonly known as updrafts.
    • The clouds will need to contain high concentrations of supercooled liquid water.

How are Hails formed?

  • It begins as a water droplet that is swept up by an updraft inside of a thundercloud.
  • Other supercooled water droplets which are already present inside the cloud will adhere to the water droplet’s surface, forming layers of ice around
  • As the water droplet reaches higher elevations within the cloud, it comes into contact with more and more supercooled particles. 
  • The hail embryo will grow larger and larger as it reaches higher altitudes in the updraft.
  • Finally, it will reach a size and weight where gravity will begin to act on it and pull it down.

TOPIC – 4 – Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM)

 

Recently, the Indian Navy has carried out a successful test-firing of a Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) and a ship-launched version of BrahMos missile.

About Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile:

  • This weapon system also called the ‘Abhra’ Weapon Systemis a state-of-the-art medium-range air defence weapon system.
  • It is a joint venture of DRDO and Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and is produced at Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
  • It is designed to destroy hostile aircraft, helicopters cruise missiles and drones at a 70km range.

What is a BrahMos missile?

  • It is a joint venture of India and Russia which makes supersonic cruise missiles
  • It has a speed of 2.8 Mach or about three times the speed of sound.
  • The missiles can be launched from a range of platforms such as submarines, ships, aircraft, or land.
  • BrahMos Aerospace is also developing the BrahMos NG, a compact version of the missile.
TOPIC – 5 – Securities-Based Lending
 
The Adani Group have recently prepaid loans backed by shares worth $902 million or 7,374 crores to foreign banks and Indian lenders ahead of their maturity in April 2025.
 
About Securities-Based Lending:
  • It is the practice of raising a loan by offering your existing investments in stocks/mutual funds/ Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as collaterals.
  • These kinds of loans are generally offered to high-net-worth individuals by large financial institutions and private banks.
  • The loan amount depends on the security the borrower is offering.
  • The loan can then be used for making purchases like real estate or personal items.
  • This loan cannot be used for making further security purchases.
  • Due to the inherent volatility in the nature of stocks/mutual funds, the risk of forced liquidation tends to be very high for these loans. 
  • Borrowers benefit from easy access to capital, lower interest rates, and greater repayment flexibility and also avoid having to sell their securities.

TOPIC – 6 – Guindy National Park

 

A total of 421 birds of 63 species were spotted during the two-day annual bird census at the Guindy National Park.

About Guindy National Park:

  • Guindy is India’s eighth-smallest national park and one of the very few national parks located inside a city.
  • It is located in the heart of Chennai’s metropolitan area of Tamil Nadu.
  • It is one of the last remnants of the tropical dry evergreen forests of the Coromandel Coast.
  • Flora: Tropical dry evergreen forest, Scrub and thorn forests.
  • Fauna: Blackbuck, Toddy cat, Civet cat, Jungle cat, Pangolin, Hedgehog, Shrew and black-naped hare etc.

Key facts about the tropical dry evergreen forests of India

  • The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest is a unique forest found only in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
  • Its distribution is restricted to the narrow coastal strip from Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in the north to Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu in the south.
  • The dissymmetric climatic condition of this region, where rainfall occurs both during summer and winter monsoons and extended the dry season from March to September, favours the development and sustenance of the Tropical Dry Evergreen forest in this narrow strip.
  • The TDEF has a mixture of trees, shrubs, lianas, and herbs and forms a complete canopy in pristine condition and provides habitat to a wide variety of animals including insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.

TOPIC – 7 – Hindu Rate of Growth

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan recently said India was “dangerously close” to the ‘Hindu rate of growth’.

About Hindu Rate of Growth:

  • It is a term describing low Indian economic growth rates from the 1950s to the 1980s, which averaged around 4%.
  • The term was coined by the late economist Raj Krishna in 1978 to describe the slow growth in the country.

What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

  • GDP is the final value of the goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a country during a specified period of time, normally a year.
  • The GDP growth rate is an important indicator of the economic performance of a country.
  • It can be measured by three methods, namely, Output Method, Expenditure Method, and Income Method

TOPIC – 8 – Interstellar Boundary Explorer

Recently, NASA engineers successfully reset the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft after it went into contingency mode for 3 weeks.

About Interstellar Boundary Explorer:

  • NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) was launched in October 2008 to study the outer edge of the heliosphere.
  • The spacecraft is designed to map the boundary where winds from the Sun interact with winds from other stars.
  • The solar system’s boundary is studied by observing energetic neutral atoms or ENAs.
  • ENAs are high-energy particles produced at the very edge of our solar system.

Major discoveries of IBEX

    • This spacecraft fully mapped the heliosphere within a year after its launch.
    • Its most famous discovery is uncovering a dense region of particles, the ‘IBEX ribbon

What is Heliosphere?

  • Heliosphere is the region where the constant flow of particles from our Sun, called the solar wind, collides with material from the rest of the galaxy.

TOPIC – 9 – Yaoshang Festival

Recently, the five-day-long Yaoshang festival, Manipur’s version of Holi, has begun

About Yaoshang Festival

  • The festival is celebrated every year on the full moon of Lamta month (February-March) of the Meitei lunar calendar.
  • The festival is celebrated by the Meitei people who are predominantly Hindu.
  • It is celebrated at the same time as Holi and is known as ‘Manipur’s version of Holi’.
  • The five-day-long celebration begins with the burning of ‘yaoshang’ (a small thatch hut/straw hut) which is constructed with bamboo and straws on the first day
  • The highlight of the festival is the ThabalChongba, a traditional Manipuri folk dance where boys and girls hold hands and sing and dance in a circle. 
  • The festival marks the rejuvenation of the spirit of life and commemorates the birthday of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
  • Children visit neighbours to ask for a monetary donation which is called

Who are the Meitei people?

  • Meiteis are the dominant population of Manipur in northeastern India. 
  • A majority follow Hinduism while more than 8% are Muslims, locally known as
  • The Marup system (literally, “friendship association”), a type of cooperative saving and credit institution, is an intriguing aspect of Meitei village’s socio-economic organisation.
  • They speak a Tibeto-Burman language, they differ culturally from the surrounding hill tribes by following Hindu customs. 

TOPIC – 10 – Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)

 

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) recently asked the general insurers to talk to transport authorities of 28 states and eight union territories to provide mandatory covers for the uninsured vehicles.

Why in News?

  • The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has recently come up with a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy to achieve 100% motor insurance.

About IRDAI:

  • It is an autonomous and statutory body established under the IRDA Act 1999.
  • It is the apex body that supervises and regulates the insurance sector in India.
  • Objective: To protect the interests of policyholders, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry in India.
  • Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Finance
  • Head Office: Hyderabad.
  • Composition: IRDAI is a 10-member body– a Chairman, five full-time members, and four part-time members appointed by the Government of India.

Functions:

    • To have a fair regulation of the insurance industry while ensuring financial soundness of the applicable laws and regulations.
    • Frame regulations periodically so that there is no ambiguity in the insurance industry.
    • Registering and regulating insurance companies;
    • Protecting policyholders’ interests;
    • Licensing and establishing norms for insurance intermediaries;
    • Promoting professional organizations in insurance;
    • Regulating and overseeing premium rates and terms of non-life insurance covers;
    • Specifying financial reporting norms of insurance companies;
    • Regulating investment of policyholders’ funds by insurance companies;
    • Ensuring the maintenance of solvency margin by insurance companies;
    • Ensuring insurance coverage in rural areas and of vulnerable sections of society.

TOPIC – 11 – Fluoride Remediation

A new study shows rice husk biochar removes fluoride from groundwater and reduces fluorosis.

About 

  • Fluoride is one of the pollutants in groundwater.
  • It is primarily caused by geological processes but is also contributed through anthropogenic activities across India.
  • A team from Nalanda University investigated the potential of renewable biochar produced from rice husk biomass to absorb fluoride pollutants from groundwater.
  • Fluoride remediation using biochars showed significant removal at neutral pH.
  • Biochar-mediated sand columns can be used for defluoridation in hand pumps and tube wells.
  • Fluorosis – It results from excessive fluoride intake from various sources, including food, water, air and excessive use of toothpaste.
  • Prolonged fluoride consumption in higher concentrations in drinking water can cause dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis, kidney diseases and arthritis.
  • Dental fluorosis, or brown stains on the teeth caused by weakened enamel, is one of the most noticeable symptoms due to fluorosis.

TOPIC – 12 – Holi Colours

Holi is a harvest festival which is celebrated by playing with colours.

About 

  • Traditionally, natural gulaal or colour is made from dried flower petals, vegetable dyes, starch, leaves, etc.
  • Natural Holi gulaals are made with turmeric or henna (mehndi) flowers such as Marigold, Chrysanthemum, and Rose.
  • They also have ingredients like gram flour or rice flour.
  • Food-grade colours are also used in making colours are synthetic.
  • The dry colours, commonly known as ‘gulals’ or ‘abeer’, have 2 components – a colorant and a base.

Colours

Ingredients

Black

 Lead oxide

Green

 copper sulphate and Malachite green

Silver

Aluminium bromide

Blue

Prussian blue

Red

 Mercury sulphate
  • Ill effects of synthetic colours – Dry colour may cause cutaneous problems.
  • The chemicals in the synthetic colours can harm skin, respiratory tract, and eyes.
  • They also harm the environment, adding particulate matter (PM) to the air.
  • These particulate matter cause ocular infections and breathing trouble.
  • These chemicals take years to decompose.

TOPIC – 13 – Scrub typhus

A team of Indian scientists has identified a significantly more effective treatment for severe scrub typhus.

About 

  • Scrub typhus is a life-threatening infection that kills thousands of people every year.
  • Scrub typhus infection is caused by the bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi.
  • Transmission – Scrub typhus is transmitted to humans by bites from tiny infected mites.
  • It is a major public health threat in India, other South Asian countries, and around the tropics.

Scrub typhus kills an estimated 10% of the approximately one million people infected by it every year.

  • Symptoms – Fever associated with headaches, coughs, shortness of breath, confusion and disorientation.
  • Treatment – Till date, monotherapies using either doxycycline or azithromycin was the commonly used treatment.
  • Combination therapy with doxycycline and azithromycin is more effective than monotherapies is now identified.

TOPIC – 14 – Decentralised Algorithms

Twitter’s former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey launched his new social media platform, Bluesky, a decentralised Twitter spinoff.

About 

  • A traditional Web2 social media platform runs on a centralised server controlled by a single company.
  • A decentralised social networks are networks where user data and content are stored on a block chain and independent servers rather than centralized servers.
  • Disadvantages of centralised social media platforms – Increasing censorship by big tech, data exploitation, and non-democratic administration of their social media platforms.
  • Collection of user information by tech platforms to better monetise their social media business. 
  • One-sided censorship from owners of such platforms.
  • Advantages of decentralised social media platforms – Decentralised algorithms are gaining popularity in cryptocurrency, NFTs, etc.
  • A decentralised social network allows for more privacy and security and gives users control over their data, digital identity and content, fostering transparency, as anyone can view the data at any time.
  • Other decentralised platforms – Mastodon, Minds, and Steemit.

TOPIC – 15 – PMLA against Cryptocurrency

The central government has brought the trading of cryptocurrency and digital assets within the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through a gazette notification.

About 

  • Any activities related to the trading of cryptocurrency and digital assets would be covered within the ambit of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
  • These include
    1. Exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies.
    2. Exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets.
    3. Transfer of virtual digital assets.
    4. Safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over such assets.
    5. Participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and sale of a virtual digital asset.
  • Virtual Assets – The definition of ‘virtual assets’ includes cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens as that in the Income-Tax Act.
  • Agencies – The responsibility of maintaining transparency, identity, and following regulations is on cryptocurrency exchanges.
  • Indian crypto exchanges will have to report suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU-IND).
  • Any financial wrongdoing involving cryptocurrency assets can now be investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.

DAILY EDITORIAL BITS

EDITORIAL – 1 – SWAMIH investment fund

Why in news?

  • The Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) Investment Fund I has raised Rs 15,530 crore since its inception in November 2019.
  • This amount has been raised with an aim to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stressed, brownfield and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) registered residential projects that fall in the affordable, mid-income housing category.

What’s in today’s article?

  • SWAMIH investment fund

What is the SWAMIH investment fund?

  • About
    • It is a social impact fund specifically formed for completing stressed and stalled residential projects.
    • The objective of the scheme is to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stalled housing projects falling under the affordable and middle-income housing categories.
  • Fund Sponsored by
    • Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
  • Fund Managed by
    • SBICAP Ventures Ltd., a State Bank Group company.
  • Eligibility criteria for funding under SWAMIH
    • Real estate project must be registered under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) 2016.
    • Project must be classified as a non-performing asset (NPA) or be under insolvency proceedings.
    • The project should have been declared as a “stalled” or “delayed” project by a competent authority.
    • The fund is available only for projects that fall under the affordable and mid-income housing categories.
      • Affordable or Mid-income Housing units is defined as any housing units that do not exceed 200sqm RERA carpet area and are priced as following (as applicable):
        • Less than INR 2cr in Mumbai Metropolitan Region;
        • Less than INR 1.5cr in National Capital Region, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad;
        • Less than INR 1cr in the rest of India
    • Net-worth positive projects are also eligible for SWAMIH funding.
      • A project is considered net-worth positive if the value of sold receivables plus unsold inventory is greater than cost to complete construction and to service the investment by the Fund.

What is significance of SWAMIH investment fund?

  • Lender of last resort for distressed projects
    • The Fund considers:
      • first-time developers,
      • established developers with troubled projects,
      • developers with a poor track record of stalled projects,
      • customer complaints and NPA accounts, and
      • even projects where there are litigation issues.
    • Hence, it is considered as the lender of last resort for distressed projects.
  • Catalyst for better collections & sales
    • The Fund’s presence in a project often acts as a catalyst for better collections and sales primarily in projects that were delayed for years.
  • Timely delivery of homes and growth of real – estate
    • This Fund has one of the largest domestic real estate private equity teams focused only on funding and monitoring the completion of stressed housing projects.

How many projects so far have been financed by the Fund?

  • Since its inception in 2019, SWAMIH has
    • Provided final approval to about 130 projects with sanctions worth over Rs 12,000 crore;
    • Completed 20,557 homes and aims to complete over 81,000 homes in the next three years across 30 tier 1 and 2 cities.
  • The Fund has been able to complete construction in 26 projects and generate returns for its investors.
  • It has also played a critical role in the growth of many ancillary industries in real estate and infrastructure sector having successfully unlocked liquidity of more than Rs. 35,000 crore.

EDITORIAL – 2 – Great Indian Bustards’ protection

Why in news?

  • The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has proposed that only power lines below 33 KV need to go underground and the rest be fitted with bird-diverters.
  • Conservationists have objected to the proposal by saying that the move could lead to the “extinction” of the Great Indian Bustards.

What’s in today’s article?

  • Great Indian Bustards
  • News Summary

Great Indian Bustards (GIBs)

  • GIBs are the largest among the four-bustard species found in India.
    • The other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican and Bengal florican.
  • Being terrestrial birds, they spend most of their time on the ground with occasional flights to go from one part of their habitat to the other.
  • They feed on insects, lizards, grass seeds etc. GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems.

Habitat and Status

  • This bird, found mainly in Rajasthan and Gujarat, has been categorized as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
    • As per the 2021 report of the IUCN, they are on the verge of extinction with hardly 50 to 249 of them alive.
  • GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent but it has now shrunken to just 10% of it.
  • Among the heaviest birds with flight, GIBs prefer grasslands as their habitats.

Threats

  • Scientists of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have been pointing out overhead power transmission lines as the biggest threat to the GIBs.
    • WII research has concluded that in Rajasthan, 18 GIBs die every year after colliding with overhead powerlines.
    • These birds, due to their poor frontal vision, cannot detect powerlines in time and their weight make in-flight quick manoeuvres difficult.
  • Kutch and Thar desert are the places which have witnessed creation of huge renewable energy infrastructure over the past two decades.
  • This led to installation of windmills and construction of power lines even in core GIB areas.

Conservation measures

  • In 2015, the Central government launched the GIB species recovery programme.
  • Under the programme, the WII and Rajasthan Forest department have jointly set up conservation breeding centres where GIB eggs harvested from the wild are incubated artificially and hatchlings raised in controlled environment.
  • The plan is to create a population which can act as insurance against the threat of extinction and release the third generation of these captive-bred birds into the wild.

Supreme Court’s intervention

  • The SC in April 2021 ordered that all overhead power transmission lines in core and potential GIB habitats in Rajasthan and Gujarat be made underground.
  • The SC also formed a three-member committee, including Devesh Gadhvi, the member of the bustard specialist group of IUCN, to help power companies comply with the order.
  • Again, in November 2022, the court sought reports from chief secretaries of the two states in six weeks on installation of bird diverters in priority areas.
  • It also asked them to assess the length of transmission lines that need to go underground.

News Summary: Great Indian Bustards’ protection

  • Recently, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) issued Draft Central Electricity Authority (Construction of Electric Lines in Great Indian Bustard Area) Regulations, 2023.
    • CEA is India’s apex power regulator. It seeks to make technical standards & regulations in the power sector of the country.
    • CEA is primarily responsible for standards related to safety of power grid.
  • According to this, all electric lines of 33 kV and below passing through the ‘Great Indian Bustard Area’ will be underground, while those above 33KV will be overhead lines installed with bird flight diverters.
  • The petitioners in the Supreme Court case have objected to the regulations.
    • As per them, this regulation is in direct violation of the court’s directives and a threat to the endangered species.
    • They have also claimed that the overhead power lines are the biggest threat to the birds.

EDITORIAL – 3 – U.N. takes step towards new way of tracking Greenhouse gases

Why in News?

  • The U.N.’s World Meteorological Organisation has come up with a new Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Infrastructure.

What’s in today’s article?

  • About WMO (History, Activities, Members, Governance Structure, etc.)
  • News Summary (About Global GHG Monitoring Infrastructure)

About World Meteorological Organisation (WMO):

  • The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization.
  • It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the roots of which were planted at the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.
  • Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention in March 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences a year later.
  • Secretariat – Geneva, Switzerland

What does WMO do?

  • WMO coordinates the activities of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in 193 States and Territories so that basic weather, climate and water services are made available to anyone who needs them, when they need them.
  • These weather, climate and water services contribute towards socio-economic development, environmental management and policy formulation.
  • WMO guarantees the publication of observations and statistics and furthers the application of meteorology and hydrology (including the monitoring and predictions of climate change and ozone) to all aspects of human activities.
  • WMO also encourages research and training in meteorology and hydrology and their related applications and contributes towards reducing the impact of weather- and climate-related hazards.

Members & Governance Structure:

  • WMO Members include a total of 187 Member States (including India) and 6 Member Territories.
  • The WMO is governed by the World Meteorological Congress, which is composed of all WMO Members.
  • The World Meteorological Congress meets every four years to review, and give policy guidance to, WMO Programmes.

News Summary:

  • The United Nations announced that it had taken a significant step towards trying to fill a key gap in the fight against climate change: standardised, real-time tracking of greenhouse gases.
  • The U.N.’s World Meteorological Organisation has come up with a new Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Infrastructure.

About Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Infrastructure:

  • Currently, most GHG monitoring undertaken globally relies heavily on research capabilities and research funding.
  • The intermittent nature of most research funding and the competitive processes used for its allocation makes sustained global monitoring difficult to achieve.
  • The proposed Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Infrastructure will establish an internationally coordinated approach to observing network design, and to acquisition, international exchange and use of the resulting observations.
  • It will engage and closely collaborate with both the broader scientific community, and other UN agencies and international coordination entities involved in GHG monitoring activities.
  • The WMO’s new platform will integrate space-based and surface-based observing systems, and seek to clarify uncertainties about where GHG emissions end up.
  • It should result in much faster and sharper data on how the planet’s atmosphere is changing.

EDITORIAL – 4 – Data Protection Bill: Govt plans to ease norms for cross-border flow of data

Why in News?

  • The government is considering some changes to the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022.
  • These could include allowing global data flows by default to all jurisdictions other than a specified negative list of countries, a provision on “deemed consent,” etc.

What’s in Today’s Article?

  • What is the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022?
  • News Summary Regarding the Changes to the Bill under Consideration

What is the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022?

  • Background:
    • The Original bill (2019) was prepared by retired SC Justice B N Srikrishna, to provide for protection of personal data of individuals and establish a Data Protection Authority.
    • The revised draft (2022) was released after the government withdrew an earlier version that sparked outrage from Big Tech and civil society.
    • The Bill is a key pillar of an overarching framework of technology regulations the Centre is building which also includes –
      • The Digital India Bill – the proposed successor to the IT Act 2000;
      • Indian Telecommunication Bill 2022; and
      • A policy for non-personal data governance.
  • Salient provisions in the new draft:

    • It provides for the purpose, specified grounds and limitations for collecting and processing of personal data.
    • A Data Protection Board as the adjudicating body to enforce the provisions of the Bill. Also, a Data Protection Officer and an independent data auditor to evaluate compliance with provisions of the law.
    • Offers significant concessions on cross-border data flows.
      • The Centre will notify regions, based on their data security landscape, to which data of Indians can be transferred.
      • The previous Bill required businesses to keep a copy of some “sensitive personal data” within India and prohibits the export of undefined “critical” personal data from the country.
      • It was one of the most serious issues raised by IT
      • The new Bill takes a softer stance on data localisation rules and allows data flow to specific worldwide destinations based on predetermined evaluations.
    • Companies will no longer be required to retain user data, which no longer serves its business purpose.
    • Users will have the right to have their personal data in the custody of enterprises corrected and erased.
    • Companies should not process personal data that is “likely to cause harm” to children (less than 18 years of age) and cannot run targeted advertising on children.
    • National security-related exemptions: The Centre has been empowered to exempt its agencies from adhering to provisions of the Bill in the interest of –
      • Sovereignty and integrity of India,
      • Security of the state,
      • Friendly relations with foreign states,
      • Maintenance of public order or preventing incitement to any cognisable offence.
    • Keeping in mind the start-up ecosystem of the country, the government could also exempt certain businesses from adhering to provisions of the Bill on the basis of volume of users and personal data processed.
    • Penalties for companies: Ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 500 crore for data breaches and noncompliance.
    • Penalties for users: A customer who provides fraudulent documentation for an online service or files frivolous grievance complaints may be penalised up to Rs 10,000.
  • Concerns:
    • Wide-ranging, excessively vague exemptions to the state agencies: This may not qualify the test of ‘necessity’ and ‘proportionality’ as laid down in the landmark right to privacy (KS Puttaswamy) judgement of 2017
    • Reduced independence of a proposed regulator: The appointment of the chairperson and members of the proposed Data Protection Board is completely left to the discretion of the central government.
      • This is unlike the Data Protection Authority (under the 2019 Bill), which was envisaged to be a statutory

News Summary Regarding the Changes to the Bill under Consideration:

  • After receiving input from a variety of stakeholders, the proposed data protection Bill changes are currently being considered.
  • The current provision on cross-border data flows is likely to be amended with the Bill allowing cross-border data flows to all geographies with an official blacklist of countries where transfers would be restricted.
  • This change is seen as a move to ensure business continuity for enterprises and to place India as a crucial part of the global data transfer network – an important element of trade negotiations the country is currently exploring with the EU, etc.
    • One concern has been unchecked data transfers to China.
    • Recently, apps and websites believed to transfer data to China have been blocked and scrutiny has stepped up (changes in FDI policy) over funds coming into India from Chinese entities.
    • This called for prior approval of the government for FDI by any entity based in any country (earlier Pakistan or Bangladesh) sharing a border with India.
  • Private entities may be excluded from ‘deemed consent’ provisions which allow for personal data processing for certain purposes without requiring fresh consent.
    • Under the original draft, if a user has voluntarily shared her data with an entity for a certain purpose, that entity can assume her consent for other adjacent purposes.

EDITORIAL – 5 – Hindu Rate of Growth

Why in news?

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter received a word of caution from the former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan.

What is the issue?

  • India’s GDP for Q3 slowed to 4.4%, and for Q1, it grew by 13.2%, this slowdown in growth was termed as worrying by Raghuram Rajan.
  • A report by the State Bank of India (SBI), dismissed arguments that India is dangerously close to Hindu rate of growth.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.

What is meant by Hindu rate of growth?

  • It was coined by late economist Raj Krishna in 1978.
  • It describes the slow growth in the country, which basically refers to the low pace of economic growth rates during 1950s to 1980s.
  • During this period, the Indian economy averaged 3.5%.
  • Only if the rate of growth is persistently slow and accompanied by low per-capita GDP, then it will be known as Hindu rate of growth but it has to factor in population growth as well.

Before economic reforms of 1991, India’s economic growth remained stagnant and low, while per capita income averaged around 1.3%.

When did India outgrow the Hindu rate of growth?

  • The GDP growth rate data suggests that India started growing faster than the Hindu rate of 3.5% long before the crisis and reforms of 1991.
  • India’s average annual GDP growth rate between 1956 and 1975 was 3.4% almost exactly the Hindu rate of growth.
  • However, between 1981 and 1991 that is, a full decade before the crisis and reforms, India’s growth averaged 5.8%.

How India’s GDP has been growing?

  • GDP – It shrunk by unprecedented 23.8% in the first quarter of the financial year 2020-2021, due to the pandemic.

GDP FY23

  • As lockdowns started to ease and business activities resumed, India’s GDP also started rising.

pace of growth

  • Russia-Ukraine – FY22-23 brought fresh economic challenges in the form of war, impacting almost all major economies of the world, slowing the pace of growth, pushing inflation to record highs.

What SBI report said on savings and investment?

  • Quarterly growth numbers are noisy and should be best avoided for any serious interpretation.

sbi 1

  • Gross capital formation (GCF) – The GCF of the government touched a high of 11.8% in 2021-22, up from 10.7% in 2020-21.
  • Private sector investment – This also had domino effect on private sector investment that jumped from 10% to 10.8% over the same period.
  • Gross savings – In 2021-22, gross savings have risen to 30% from 29% in 2020-2021.

sbi 2

  • Household savings – It increased sharply during the pandemic on account of sharp accretion in financial savings such as deposits.

sbi 3

  • Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) – It measures additional units of capital investment needed to produce additional units of output.
  • Reducing ICOR in the current years reflects a relatively increasing efficiency of capital and shows that the economy is on a sound footing.
  • From that point of view, future GDP growth rates even at 7% could still mean a decent number by any standards.

What is the conclusion?

  • The country is making rapid progress in all fields and willing to compete with the best in almost all spheres.
  • In a world where each country is taking care of its own, India too has learnt to do the same.
  • As things stand today, India is still far from the 3.5% level that is associated with the Hindu rate of growth.
  • However, it is noteworthy that India had been decelerating in the 3 years leading up to the pandemic and grew by just 3.9% in the year just before Covid.