National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 21st June 2019

IT Act Amendments

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The government will soon notify amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Act that seek to make it mandatory for online platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter to trace the originator of “unlawful” content.

More on the Topic: 

• December, the government sought public comments on the draft amendments to the IT Act proposed with an aim to curb the spread of fake news. Besides tracing the origin of the message, the draft rules proposed the removal of “unlawful content” within 24 hours from the platform.
• The draft rules had drawn criticism from the Opposition as well as some experts over fears of “surveillance and censorship”. Additionally, platforms such as WhatsApp have been at loggerheads with the government over the issue of tracing the origin of a message.

Background:

• The government has pointed out that a number of lynchings occurred in 2018 mostly due to fake news being circulated on social media sites.
• It has further reasoned that social media had brought new challenges for the law enforcement agencies, including inducement for recruitment of terrorists, circulation of obscene content, spread of disharmony and incitement to violence.

About Draft amendments to the IT Act:

• The proposed amendments in the draft of the Information Technology [Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules] 2018, Rule 3(9) is bound to force social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter to remain vigil and keep users on their toes before posting or sharing anything that is deemed as “unlawful information or content”.
• The changes proposed by the central government is aimed at curbing fake news or rumours being spread on social media and check mob violence ahead.
• The changes will require online platforms to break end-to-end encryption in order to ascertain the origin of messages.
• The social media platforms to “deploy technology based automated tools or appropriate mechanisms, with appropriate controls, for proactively identifying or removing or disabling access to unlawful information or content”.
• As per the amendment, the social media platforms will need to comply with the central government “within 72 hours” of a query.
• There should be a ‘Nodal person of Contact for 24X7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and officers to ensure compliance. The social media platforms will be keeping a vigil on “unlawful activity” for a period of “180 days”.

Source: The Hindu

Navy to build 6 submarines

Topic: International Affairs

In News: The Navy issued an ‘Expression of Interest’ for shortlisting potential strategic partners for the construction of six P-75 (I) submarines costing nearly Rs. 45,000 crore.

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• This is the second project being undertaken under the latest Strategic Partnership (SP) Model, with the first being the procurement of 111 naval utility helicopters (NUH).
• This will provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capability of submarines in India, in addition to bringing in the latest submarine design and technologies as part of the project.
• All six submarines under this project will be built in India by the selected Indian Strategic Partner in collaboration with the selected OEM. In addition, the Navy will have the option to manufacture six more submarines under the project.
• The project would not only aid in boosting the core submarine and the ship building industry but also greatly enhance the manufacturing, industrial sectors, especially the medium, small and micro enterprises, by development of an industrial eco-system for manufacture of associated spares, systems, and equipment related to submarines.

Source: The Hindu

Antibiotic Misuse

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: In its latest advisory, WHO has suggested the adoption of ‘Access, Watch and Reserve’, an approach that specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections, which ones ought to be available at all times in the healthcare system, and those that must be used sparingly, or reserved and used only as a last resort.

More on the topic:

• WHO estimates that more than 50% of antibiotics in many countries are used inappropriately for treatment of viruses, when they only treat bacterial infections, or are the wrong choice of antibiotic (broader spectrum), thus contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
• Rx: Keep it simple. This is the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) prescription to combat the growing menace of antibiotic abuse and burgeoning resistance worldwide.
• The new campaign aims to increase the proportion of global consumption of antibiotics in the ‘Access’ group to at least 60%, and to reduce use of the antibiotics most at risk of resistance.
• Using ‘Access’ antibiotics lowers the risk of resistance because they are ‘narrow-spectrum’ antibiotics (that target a specific microorganism rather than several). They are also less costly because they are available in generic formulations.
• WHO has now urged all countries to adopt the Access, Watch and Reserve guidelines to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, adverse events and costs.
• When antibiotics stop working effectively, more expensive treatments and hospital admissions are needed, taking a heavy toll on already stretched health budgets.

Indian Action:

• In India, the Health Ministry has made it mandatory to display a 5mm-thick red vertical band on the packaging of prescription-only drugs to sensitise people to be cautious while buying these medicines that are widely sold without prescriptions.

About Anti-biotics:

• Antibiotics are drugs that treat infections caused by bacteria, such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections and Strep throat.
• They work by either killing bacteria directly or preventing them from reproducing, making it manageable for our immune system to eliminate the bacteria.
• Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats we face as a global community.
• Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, not viruses. This is because viruses lack the physical structures and cellular machinery that antibiotics interfere with in order to prevent bacterial growth and replication.
• Antibiotic resistance is when certain bacteria are no longer eliminated by certain antibiotics.
• For example, in the case of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacterium, S. aureus, is no longer killed by the antibiotic, methicillin.
• Antibiotics and antifungals are both essential to combat infections in people, but antibiotics are also used widely to prevent disease in farm animals, and antifungals are also applied to prevent agricultural plants from rotting.

Model Mains Question: What is antibiotic resistance?Analyse how it will affect Global health adversely.

Source: Economic Times

Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast since 2000: study

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Comparing data obtained by Cold War-era spy satellites with images from modern stereo satellites, scientists have shown that Himalayan glaciers have lost more than a quarter of their ice mass since 1975, with melting occurring twice as fast after the turn of the century as average temperatures rose.

More on the Topic:

• Analysed four decades of ice loss for 650 of the largest glaciers across a 2,000 km transect across the Himalayas.
• “The scientists observed that the annual mass losses suggest of the total ice mass present in 1975, about 87% remained in 2000 and 72% remained in 2016,”.
• One can find similar mass loss rates across sub-regions and a doubling of the average rate of loss during 2000–2016 relative to the 1975–2000 interval.
• The study notes an average increase of 1° Celsius temperature since 2000. The study rules out other causes for glacier changes, such as the deposition of soot on snow and ice and changing precipitation patterns.

Why Glaciers/Cryosphere important:

• Albedo: Snow and ice have high albedo. They reflect much of the insolation, which helps in cooling of the earth. Thus, presence or absence of snow and ice affects the heating and cooling of Earth’s surface. This influences the entire planet’s energy balance.
• Feedback Loop: Melting ice reduces the reflective surface. And, the ocean and land are darker in color, they absorb more solar radiation, and then release the heat to the atmosphere. This causes more warming and so more ice melts. This is known as a feedback loop.
• Storage of Carbon: The permafrost of the polar region has trapped tonnes of carbon inside its soil. If ‘feedback loop’ aggravates, this carbon will be released in form of methane- a powerful greenhouse gas- which will catalyze the global warming.
• At polar regions, sea-water is converted into sea ice. As a result, surrounding water gets saltier. Saltier water has higher density, it sinks and initiates thermohaline circulation patterns across the oceans of the world.
• These Ocean currents act like a conveyer belt, transporting warm water from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, currents regulate global climate. Some of these currents affect rain and drought situation via El-Nino La-Nina effect.
• Melting of cryosphere affects the volume of water in oceans. Any changes in the water cycle, affects global energy / heat budget, and thereby global climate.

Model Mains Question: How does Cryosphere affect Global Climate?

Source: The Hindu

NHRC questions frailty of health infrastructure

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry (MoHFW), and all States and Union Territories, over what it termed was the “deplorable public health infrastructure in the country.”

More on the Topic:

• The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of several media reports on recent deaths across the country due to “deficiencies and inadequacies in the healthcare system”.
• This comes in the wake of over 100 children dying in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) recently.
• The Commission has observed that large number of deaths of innocent people including women, children and elderly persons, are taking place due to lack of proper medical care, infrastructure, manpower and due to administrative failure, across the country.

What the constitution says:

• The Commission has reminded the Central/State Governments of their constitutional duty under Article 21 of the Constitution under which Right to Life is guaranteed. Quoting the Supreme Court of India, the Commission has observed that right to live with human dignity is part of Right to Life.
• Referring to the widespread malnutrition prevalent in several States, the Commission observed that it is the primary duty of the State under Article 47 of the Constitution to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people, which the Commission observed, the State has failed.

Source: The Hindu

Kutiyatam

Topic: Art and Culture

In News: Friday review-Hindu

More on the Topic:

• Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre, which is practised in the province of Kerala, is one of India’s oldest living theatrical traditions.
• Originating more than 2,000 years ago, Kutiyattam represents a synthesis of Sanskrit classicism and reflects the local traditions of Kerala.
• In its stylized and codified theatrical language, neta abhinaya (eye expression) and hasta abhinaya (the language of gestures) are prominent. They focus on the thoughts and feelings of the main character.
• Actors undergo ten to fifteen years of rigorous training to become fully-fledged performers with sophisticated breathing control and subtle muscle shifts of the face and body.
• The actor’s art lies in elaborating a situation or episode in all its detail. Therefore, a single act may take days to perform and a complete performance may last up to 40 days.

Source: The Hindu