National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 9th March 2020

Sex selective Abortion and Infanticide

Topic: Social Issues

In News: Recently a case of infanticide was reported at Tamil Nadu’s Usilampatti.

More on the Topic:

• The female infant was killed by feeding with the toxic milk of a local herb by the parents.
• This is not an isolated case in a nation of missing girls. Data on sex ratio at birth (SRB) culled from the Civil Registration System, show an alarming fall over the years. From 903 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2007, it dropped to 877 in 2016.
• Four States have an SRB equal to or below 840: Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan (806), Bihar (837), Uttarakhand (825) and Tamil Nadu (840).
• Infanticide have come down but sex selective abortion at scan centres continues as the preferred vehicle for parents (and grandparents) obsessed with son preference.

Government Policies:

• The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act was enacted and amended to arm the state to deal this pernicious practice.
• The Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign aimed at saving girl children has a huge unfinished task in front of it.
• Tamil Nadu, at one stage under the leadership of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, effectively employed the Cradle Baby Scheme to counter infanticide, along with effective awareness campaigns.(Tamil Nadu’s two decade old Cradle Baby Scheme tries to ensure that female babies who would otherwise have been killed are given up for adoption.)
• The cradles are still there, and the babies are coming too, but the SRB has been steadily dropping since 2011.

Way Ahead:

• Government has to ramp up awareness building exercises.
• Utilise technology to monitor every single pregnant woman right down to taluk levels until at least one year after birth.
• While punitive aspects might offer a measure of deterrence, true change can only be brought about by a change in attitude.
• The weapon that the government needs to use now is one that will be powerful enough to eliminate the perversion of son preference from people’s minds.

Source: Hindu

Red Panda

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: According to a study done by TRAFFIC, an NGO, on Assessment of Illegal Trade-Related Threats to Red Panda in India and Selected Neighbouring Range Countries, the younger generation in the state does not show much interest in such products.

More on the Topic:

• Arunachal Pradesh is presumed to hold the largest red panda population in India.
• In the state, red pandas have been reported from 11 districts.
• During the period under review (July 2010–June 2019), no incidence of poaching or illegal wildlife trade in red panda was reported from Bhutan or India.
• In India, the species is reported from three states, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal.
• The red panda is called habre in parts of Darjeeling and Sikkim, Aaye-michunji in Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh and Matchibel in the Garo hills of Meghalaya.
• Currently there is no targeted poaching in the area, however there are incidences where red pandas get accidentally trapped in snares set up for catching other wildlife species, primarily Himalayan musk deer, or Alpine musk deer.
• IUCN Status: The red panda is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008

Source: Indian Express

Competition Commission of India

Topic: Governance

In News: Competition Commission of India organized Fifth Edition of National Conference on Economics of Competition Law at New Delhi.

More on the topic:

• Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
• The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
• Composition: A Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.

Duty of the Commission:

• To eliminate practices having adverse effects on competition.
• Promote and sustain competition.
• Protect the interests of consumers.
• Ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

Source: PIB

AYUSH Grid and NAMASTE Portal.

Topic: Government Schemes

In News: Ayush Grid and Namaste portal has been developed by Ayush Ministry.

More on the Topic:

• AYUSH Grid, initiated by the Ministry of AYUSH, aims to bring onboard all AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) facilities including hospitals and laboratories and to promote traditional systems of healthcare.
• The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have already inked a pact to collaborate with each other for the digitisation of the AYUSH sector.
• National AYUSH Morbidity and Standardized Terminologies Electronic Portal (NAMASTE Portal) was launched on 17th October, 2017 (2nd Ayurveda day).
• The portal provides standardized terminologies & morbidity codes for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems of medicines.
• Morbidity codes provide a comprehensive classification of diseases described in the traditional medicines system.

Source: PIB

SC on Land Acquisition

Topic: Governance

In News: The Supreme Court ruled that old claims cannot be revived or projects held up by unending litigation under Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

More on the Topic:

• SC upheld Section 24 (2) of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013 (LARR-2013)
• The 2013 Act replaced the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and provides for higher compensation to those deprived of land by the government for both public and private sector projects.
• It also mandates consent of a majority of land-owners and contains provisions for rehabilitation and resettlement.
• The section 24(2) of LARR-2013 deal with land acquisition compensation awards made five years “prior or more” to the coming of existence of the 2013 Act
• The provision said that in such cases, if the physical possession has not been taken “or” the compensation is not paid, the acquisition proceeding is “deemed to have lapsed”.
• The government, if it so wishes, would have to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings under the new Act of 2013, which provides for fair compensation.
• The land acquisition proceeding under Section 24(2) would only lapse if the authorities have neither taken physical possession nor paid the compensation due to the landowner for five or more years prior to January 1, 2014.
• In Other words, an “or” in the Section was “interpreted” as an “and”.
• Thus, there is no lapse if possession has been taken and compensation has not been paid. Similarly, there is no lapse if compensation has been paid and possession not taken of the land.

Source: PIB

Coral Bleaching

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Scientists have warned that the Great Barrier Reef will face a critical period of heat stress over the coming weeks, following the most widespread coral bleaching the natural world has ever endured.

More on the Topic:

• Warming ocean temperatures, a sign of climate change, is associated with the deteriorating health of the Reef. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which spreads across a length of over 2,300 km and is roughly the size of Italy, is home to about 3,000 coral reefs, 600 continental islands, 1,625 type of fish, 133 varieties of shark and rays and 600 types of soft and hard corals.

What is coral bleaching?

• According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), when corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light or nutrients, they expel the algae living in their tissue, causing them to turn white, hence bleached.
• Coral bleaching does not mean the corals are dead, but make them vulnerable, hence increasing their mortality. Warm ocean temperatures are one condition that could lead to coral bleaching. For instance, in 2005, the US lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year due to a massive bleaching event.
• In January 2010, cold water temperatures in the Florida Keys caused a coral bleaching event that resulted in some coral deaths.

How does it affect the Great Barrier Reef?

• The Great Barrier Reef, which covers an area of 344,400 sq km makes up roughly 10 per cent of the world’s coral reef ecosystems. Today, the reef is a Marine Park and World Heritage Area and supports a range of activities and contributes over AUD $5.6 billion each year to the Australian economy and is also responsible for creating over 70,000 jobs.
• 2019 Outlook Report says that climate change was the greatest threat to the Reef. Other threats included coastal development, land-based run-off and direct human use, such as activities like illegal fishing.
• Significantly, coral bleaching events such as the ones that took place in 2016 and 2017 have had severe impacts on the Reef, causing changes in its ecosystem. However, some parts of the reef that escaped the impact of the bleaching and cyclones still remain in good condition.

Source: Indian Express

Mac Binding

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: According to a recent order issued by the government, Internet has been restored in Jammu and Kashmir, but the connectivity will be made available “with mac-binding”.

More on the Topic:

• Every device has a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a hardware identification number that is unique to it. While accessing the Internet, every device is assigned an IP address.
• Mac-binding essentially means binding together the MAC and IP addresses, so that all requests from that IP address are served only by the computer having that particular MAC address.
• In effect, it means that if the IP address or the MAC address changes, the device can no longer access the Internet. Also, monitoring authorities can trace the specific system from which a particular online activity was carried out.

Source: Indian Express