National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 27th February 2020

Revamping Information Technology Act, 2000

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The government will soon kick-start the process of revamping Information Technology Act, 2000, with an aim to bring it in tune with the technological advancements with a focus on stronger framework to deal with cybercrimes.

More on the Topic:

• An expert committee will be set up with members from the government as well as the industry for discussion on the new IT Act.
• Need For Changes: The IT Act is now 20 years old, and during this time, the IT ecosystem has developed beyond recognition. New technology has become very pronounced, the whole ecosystem of consumers has changed vastly.
• Challenges: The biggest challenge is the number of consumers the system have to handle.
• Presently in India, technology has become the centre of digital payment and delivery of services such as GST and UPI. There is also concerns of misuse of technology.

Source: Hindu

Technical Textiles Mission

Topic: Government Policies

In News: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the setting up of a National Technical Textiles Mission at an total outlay of ₹1,480 Crore.

More on the Topic:

• The aim is to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles and increase the use of technical textiles in the domestic market.
• The Mission will be implemented for four years from 2020-2021 and will have four components,

1. Focus on research and development and innovation.
2. Promotion and development of market for technical textiles.
3. Export promotion.
4. Education, training and skill development. The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas.

· Technical Textiles is a high technology sunrise sector which is steadily gaining ground in India. · Technical textiles are functional fabrics that have applications across various industries including automobiles, civil engineering and construction, agriculture, healthcare, industrial safety, personal protection etc.

Source: Hindu

US President’s Visit to India

Topic: International Affairs

In News: The President of the United States of America, paid a State Visit to India on 24-25 February 2020, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

More on the topic:

• Prime Minister Modi and President Trump vowed to strengthen a India-U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, anchored in mutual trust, shared interests, goodwill and robust engagement of their citizens.
• President Trump welcomed India’s recent decision to procure MH-60R naval and AH-64E Apache helicopters.
• The leaders looked forward to early conclusion of defence cooperation enabling agreements including Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement.
• The leaders resolved to enhance security of their homelands through cooperation and to jointly fight international crimes like human trafficking, terrorism and violent extremism, drug-trafficking and crimes in cyberspace.
• They applauded the endeavor by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for development and launch in 2022 of a joint mission with the world’s first dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite.
• India and US is looking forward to increase higher education collaboration and educational exchange opportunities, including through the “Young Innovators” internships, and welcomed the recent growth in the number of Indian students in the United States.
• They hailed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that seeks to promote access to high quality, safe, effective, and affordable medications for Indian and U.S. consumers. They welcomed the conclusion of an MoU which will help both countries address mental health challenges through innovative approaches.

Strategic Convergence in the Indo-Pacific:

• Taking note of their countries’ shared commitment to advancing effective development solutions in the Indo-Pacific and globally, Prime Minister Modi and President Trump look forward to a new partnership between USAID and India’s Development Partnership Administration for cooperation in third countries.
• India and the United States took note of efforts towards a meaningful Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and solemnly urged that it not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of all nations according to international law.

Partnership for Global Leadership:

• President Trump reaffirmed the support of the United States for India’s permanent membership on a reformed N. Security Council. He also reaffirmed U.S. support for India’s entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group without any delay.
• Prime Minister Modi and President Trump expressed interest in the concept of the Blue Dot Network, a multi-stakeholder initiative that will bring governments, the private sector, and civil society together to promote high-quality trusted standards for global infrastructure development.
• President Trump welcomed India’s role in continuing to provide development and security assistance to help stabilize and provide connectivity in Afghanistan.
• Prime Minister Modi and President Trump denounced any use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms. They called on Pakistan to ensure that no territory under its control is used to launch terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks.
• The leaders intend to foster cooperation among their industry and academia for open, secure, and resilient supply of strategic materials and critical infrastucture, and to independently evaluate the risk associated with deployment of emerging technologies.

Source: Hindu

MH-60R naval and AH-64E Apache helicopters.

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: The India-US Joint Statement issued at the end of the presidential visit highlighted India’s recent decision to procure MH-60R naval and AH-64E Apache helicopters.

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MH-60 Romeo Seahawk:

• The MH-60 Romeo Seahawk, made by Lockheed Martin, is one of the most advanced naval helicopters in the world, used by the US Navy among others. It will be purchased directly from the US government under a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement with the US Department of Defence (DoD).
• It is the most capable and mature Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) multi-mission helicopter available in the world today.
• The MH-60 is designed to hunt down submarines and will add to the strategic depth and combat capability of the Indian Navy. It is capable of launching Hellfire missiles from the right and left extended pylons.
• It also has an advanced system for passive detection, location, and identification of emitters. It can not only track and hunt ships, but is also used by the US Navy as an anti-submarine weapon.

Apache helicopters:

• The Army will receive six Apache helicopters that will cost approximately $800 million.
• The six choppers for the Army will be in addition to the 22 Apache helicopters that have already been ordered for the Air Force. This will be a direct commercial sale.
• The Apaches can operate at high altitudes, and will be deployed along the Pakistan border. The Army is likely to get the helicopters armed with Stinger air-to-air missiles and Hellfire Longbow air-to-ground missiles.
• Among the Apache’s modern capabilities are the ability to shoot fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles, air-to-air missiles, rockets, and other munitions. It also has modern electronic warfare capabilities to provide versatility in network-centric aerial warfare.
• The choppers are all-weather capable and have high agility and survivability against battle damage. They can be easily maintained in field conditions as well as during operations in the tropical and desert regions.

Source: The Hindu

NISAR (satellite)

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite.

More on the Topic:

• The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequencie It will be used for remote sensing, to observe and understand natural processes on Earth.
• It will use advanced radar imaging to map the elevation of Earth’s land and ice masses 4 to 6 times a month at resolutions of 5 to 10 meters.
• It is designed to observe and measure some of the planet’s most complex natural processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.
• Under the terms of the agreement, NASA will provide the mission’s L band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a high-rate telecommunication subsystem for scientific data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and a payload data subsystem.
• ISRO will provide the satellite bus, an S band synthetic aperture radar, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services.
• All data from NISAR would be freely available 1 to 2 days after observation and within hours in case of emergencies like natural disasters.
• Data collected from NISAR will reveal information about the evolution and state of Earth’s crust, help scientists better understand our planet’s natural processes and changing climate, and aid future resource and hazard management.

Source: Hindu

World Air Quality Report 2019

Topic: Reports and Indices

In News: According to the World Air Quality Report 2019, India was the fifth most polluted country in 2019 and accounts for almost two-thirds of the world’s most polluted cities.

More on the Topic:

• Bangladesh emerged as the most polluted country for PM 2.5 exposure followed by Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and India.
• The Report highlights elevated air pollution levels as a result of climate change events, such as sandstorms, wildfires and pollution gains from the rapid urbanization of cities in regions such as Southeast Asia.
• While some achievements have been made in air quality monitoring infrastructure globally, there are still huge gaps in access to data around the world.
• It is to be noted that the World Air Quality Report is different from the State Of Global Air Report which is produced by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI).

India Specific Findings:

• 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are located in India with Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region ranked the world’s most polluted.
• Indian cities, on average, exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) target for annual PM 2.5 exposure by 500%.
• National air pollution decreased by 20% from 2018 to 2019, with 98% of cities experiencing improvements.
• The report, however, noted that the reduction in pollution in 2019 couldn’t be attributed to government interventions but to the slowing of the marketplace. (India launched a National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 that commits to reducing air pollution in 102 most polluted cities by a maximum of 30% by 2024)

·  The report was released by the pollution tracker IQAir and Greenpeace. The ranking is based on a comparison of PM 2.5 levels. · PM 2.5 is an atmospheric particulate matter of diameter of fewer than 2.5 micrometres, which is around 3% the diameter of a human hair. · It causes respiratory problems and also reduces visibility. It is an endocrine disruptor that can affect insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, thus contributing to diabetes. ·  It is very small and can only be detected with the help of an electron microscope.

Source: Hindu

Market Intelligence and Early Warning System

Topic: e-Governance

In News: Union Ministry of Food Processing has launched Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) Portal for Monitoring prices of TOP Crops (Tomato, Onion and Potato).

More on the Topic:

• The MIEWS Dashboard and Portal is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ platform for ‘real time monitoring’ of prices of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) and for simultaneously generating alerts for intervention under the terms of the Operation Greens (OG) scheme.
• MIEWS portal would help in planning and timely intervention for price stabilization and generating alerts.
• The portal would disseminate all relevant information related to TOP crops such as Prices and Arrivals, Area, Yield and Production, Imports and Exports, Crop Calendars, Crop Agronomy, etc in an easy to use visual format.
• A dashboard that would indicate low price and high price alerts as well as price forecasts for 3 month forward.
• Prices and arrivals of TOP crops across the country including interactive charts and comparisons with previous seasons.
• This portal is a novel initiative of MoFPI leveraging IT tools and furthering the goals of Digital India.

· In the budget speech of Union Budget 2018-19, a new Scheme “Operation Greens” was announced on the line of “Operation Flood”, with an outlay of Rs.500 crore to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs #), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. Accordingly, the Ministry has formulated a scheme for integrated development of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) value chain. Objectives: ·  Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market. ·  Price stabilisation for producers and consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties. ·  Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres. · Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters. · Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.

Mains Question(2019): What are the reformative steps taken by the government to make food grain distribution system more effective?

Source: Hindu