National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 6th March 2020

Freedom in the World 2020 report

Topic: Reports and Indices

In News: According to a global survey named  Freedom in the World 2020 India has become one of the world’s least free democracies.

More on the Topic:

• The Freedom in the World 2020 report ranks India at the 83rd position, along with Timor-Leste and Senegal. This is near the bottom of the pile among the countries categorised as “Free”, with only Tunisia receiving a lower score.
• India’s score fell by four points to 71, the worst decline among the world’s 25 largest democracies this year.
• India scored 34 out of 40 points in the political rights category, but only 37 out of 60 in the civil liberties category, for a total score of 71, a drop from last year’s score of 75.
• Reasons for the fall in the index: The annulment of autonomy and the subsequent shutdown of Kashmir, the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, as well as the crackdown on mass protests have been listed as the main signs of declining freedom in the report.
• According to the report India continues to earn a Free rating and held successful elections in 2019, the government has distanced itself from the country’s founding commitment to pluralism and individual rights, without which democracy cannot long survive.
• The internet blackout in Kashmir is the longest shutdown ever imposed by a democracy.
• Freedom of expression was under threat in India, with journalists, academics and others facing harassment and intimidation when addressing politically sensitive topics.
• Comparison with China: India has long been seen as a democratic counterweight to China and hence a strategic partner for the United States in the region. However, that view is changing, with India attracting criticism similar to that levied against China.
• Just as Chinese officials vocally defended acts of state repression against Uighurs and other Muslim groups before international audiences in 2019, PM firmly rejected criticism of his Hindu nationalist policies, which included a series of new measures that affected India’s Muslim populations from one end of the country to the other.

·  The report was released by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog, which has been tracking global political and civil liberties for almost half a century. ·  The report derives its methodology from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. ·  It covers 195 countries, awarding scores based on political rights indicators such as the electoral process, political pluralism and participation and government functioning, as well as civil liberties indicators related to freedom of expression and belief associational and organisational rights, the rule of law and personal autonomy and individual rights.

Source: Hindu

The QS World University Subject Rankings 2020

Topic: Reports and Indices

In News: IIT Bombay has topped the list in the Engineering and Technology subjects in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020 released recently.

More on the Topic:

• The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which had secured a rank of 164 in ‘Arts & Humanities’ in the 2019 QS ranking, has improved its position by two spots this time.
• In the ‘Social Sciences & Management’ field too, JNU has improved its rank from 355 last year to 284.
• QS uses four key metrics to compile the rankings including academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper and the h-index which measures how productive an institution’s research faculty are.
• The highest ranking an Indian institute has got this year is the 41st rank globally. This is shared by both Delhi University’s School for Developmental Studies and IIT Bombay’s Mining and Minerals Department.
• IIT Bombay has topped the list in the Engineering and Technology subjects with the 44th rank, followed by IIT Delhi (47), IIT Kharagpur (86) and IIT Madras (88).

Source: Indian Express

Swamp wallabies

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: A recent study found that Swamp wallabies are able to have two simultaneous pregnancies at different stages of gestation, indicating a unique method of mammalian reproduction that leaves them able to be pregnant and lactating for their entire reproductive lives.

More on the topic:

• Swamp wallaby is a marsupial (young are carried in a pouch) related to the kangaroo.
• It typically conceives a new embryo day before delivering the new-born from its previous pregnancy.
• The new embryo enters diapause (a period of suspended development in an insect, other invertebrate, or mammal embryo, especially during unfavourable environmental conditions), allowing its older sibling to be born and move to the mother’s pouch.
• This latency lasts several months until the older joey begins to wean, signaling that it is time to continue development. Then, a few weeks later, the fetus is born and another pregnancy has already started.

Source: The scientist

Merger of Banks

Topic: Economy

In News: The government has approved a scheme for the amalgamation of 10 state-owned banks into four. After the process is complete, India will have 12 PSBs instead of 27 back in 2017.

More on the Topic:

• As per the proposal, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI) would be merged into Punjab National Bank (PNB). The move will make PNB India’s second biggest public sector bank after State Bank of India (SBI).
• Syndicate Bank will be merged with Canara Bank, creating India’s fourth largest public sector bank.
• Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be merged together to create fifth largest public sector bank.
• Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank will be merged to form India’s seventh largest public sector bank.

Why Merger is Good?

• The merger benefits include getting economies of scale and reduction in the cost of doing business.
• Technical inefficiency is one of the main factors responsible for banking crisis. The scale of inefficiency is more in case of small banks.
• Mergers help small banks to gear up to international standards with innovative products and services with the accepted level of efficiency.
• Mergers help many PSBs, which are geographically concentrated, to expand their coverage beyond their outreach. A better and optimum size of the organization would help PSBs offer more and more products and services and help in integrated growth of the sector.
• This will also end the unhealthy competition going on even among public sector banks as of now. In the global market, the Indian banks will gain greater recognition and higher rating.
• The volume of inter-bank transactions will come down, resulting in saving of considerable time in clearing and reconciliation of accounts.
• The burden on the central government to recapitalize the public sector banks again and again will come down substantially. This will also help in meeting more stringent norms under BASEL III, especially capital adequacy ratio.
• Customers will have access to fewer banks offering them wider range of products at a lower cost. From regulatory perspective, monitoring and control of less number of banks will be easier after mergers. This is at the macro level.

Concerns:

• Mergers will result in immediate job losses on account of large number of people taking VRS on one side and slow down or stoppage of further recruitment on the other. This will worsen the unemployment situation further and may create law and order problems and social disturbances.
• The weaknesses of the small banks may get transferred to the bigger bank also. New power centres will emerge in the changed environment.
• Mergers will result in clash of different organizational cultures. Conflicts will arise in the area of systems and processes too.
• When a big bank books huge loss or crumbles, there will be a big jolt in the entire banking industry. Its repercussions will be felt everywhere.

Source: Money Control

BHOG Certification

Topic: Government Schemes

In News: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has awarded it the BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God) certificate to Indore’s(M.P) famous Khajrana Ganesh temple.

More on the Topic:

• The BHOG certificates ensure quality of food offered to devotees and deities as well. It was launched as a precautionary measure to maintain hygiene of food at temple.
• The project apart from maintaining the quality of foods at temples, also gives training for food handlers on basic food safety. It incudes Gurudwaras, Temples, Mosques. The project has also made it mandatory for the Prasad stalls and vendors that sell Prasad in and around temple premises to obtain BHOG certificate.

Source: PIB

Gene-editing tool CRISPR

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Scientists in the US have used the gene-editing tool CRISPR inside a person’s body for the first time, moving a step closer to curing a type of blindness.

More on the Topic:

• Many scientists believe CRISPR is an easier tool for locating and cutting DNA at a specific spot.
• The people in this study have Leber congenital amaurosis, caused by a gene mutation that keeps the body from making a protein needed to convert light into signals to the brain, which enables sight.

CRISPR Technology:

• CRISPR technology is a simple yet powerful tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops.
• CRISPR-Cas9 technology behaves like a cut-and-paste mechanism on DNA strands that contain genetic information.
• The specific location of the genetic codes that need to be changed, or “edited”, is identified on the DNA strand, and then, using the Cas9 protein, which acts like a pair of scissors, that location is cut off from the strand. A DNA strand, when broken, has a natural tendency to repair itself.
• Scientists intervene during this auto-repair process, supplying the desired sequence of genetic codes that binds itself with the broken DNA strand.

Source: Hindu

Jeevan Kaushal Curriculum

Topic: Government Schemes

In News: The Minister of Human Resource Development informed about the implementation of Jeevan Kaushal (life skills) curriculum in the Lok Sabha.

More on the Topic:

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has developed life skills (Jeevan Kaushal) curriculum for undergraduate students at Universities and Colleges.
• It covers the courses on communication skills, professional skills, leadership & management skills and universal human values.
• The implementation of curriculum is suggestive.

The objectives of the curriculum are:

• Enhancement of self awareness
• Creation of emotional competency and emotional intelligence
• Learning through practical experiences
• Development of interpersonal skills
• Time and Stress management
• Achievement of excellence with ethics.

Model Mains Question: Discuss the challenges related to higher education in India. Suggest corrective measures that need to be taken in this regard.

Source: The Hindu