EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
26th June 2021
ITAT e-Dwar
Recently, the Union Ministry of Law & Justice has released a portal called ‘Itat-e-Dwar’.
ITAT e-Dwar
- It is an e-filing portal of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
- It will enable online filing of Appeals, Applications, documents etc. by various parties.
- It would not only result in economization of the use of paper, savings in costs but also rationalization of the fixation of cases leading to quicker disposal of cases.
- It seeks to bridge the divide between the digital haves and the digital have nots leading to digital inclusion achieved by technology.
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
- It is a quasi-judicial institution set up in January, 1941.
- It specializes in dealing with appeals under the Direct Taxes Acts.
- The orders passed by the ITAT are final, an appeal lies to the High Court only if a substantial question of law arises for determination.
- It draws inspiration from its motto ‘Nishpaksh Sulabh Satvar Nyay’, which means impartial, easy and speedy justice.
- It stands out for its uniqueness of imparting justice to the litigants, by an inexpensive, easily accessible forum free from technicalities, regarded for its expert knowledge on the subject of Direct Taxes etc.
Rapid Antigen Test kit for COVID-19 by IIT-Delhi
Recently, the Minister of State for Education Shri Sanjay Dhotre had launched a Rapid Antigen Test kit for COVID-19.
Rapid Antigen Test kit for COVID-19
- It has been developed by the IIT Delhi researchers.
- It is used for in vitro qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen.
- It is a colloidal gold enhanced double antibody sandwich immunoassay for the qualitative determination of SARS-CoV-2 antigen in human nasal swabs, throat swabs and deep sputum samples.
- It is suitable for general population screening and diagnosis of COVID-19.
- It is directed towards an in vitro diagnostic kit for qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus antigens in nasopharyngeal swab, using the rapid immune chromatographic method.
- A SARS-CoV-2 positive specimen produces a distinct color band in the test region, formed by the specific antibody antigen colored conjugate complex"(Au-SARS-CoV-2-Ab)-(SARS-CoV-2-Ag)-(SARS-CoV-2-Ab)".
- A colored band always appears in the control region serving as procedural control regardless of the specimen contains SARS-CoV-2 or not.
- It is found to be suitable for early Ct values (Ct values between 14 to 32) with a Sensitivity- 90%, Specificity- 100% and Accuracy- 98.99%, and certified by the ICMR.
Enhanced Pinaka Rocket
Recently, the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully tested Enhanced Pinaka Rocket.
Enhanced Pinaka Rocket
- The enhanced range version of Pinaka Rocket System can destroy targets at distances up to 45 kms.
- All the flight articles were tracked by Range instruments including Telemetry, Radar and Electro Optical Tracking System deployed by ITR & Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE).
- It has been developed jointly by Pune based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) with manufacturing support from M/s Economic Explosives Limited, Nagpur.
Origin of Pinaka Missile System
- The development of the Pinaka was started by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the late 1980s.
- It was developed as an alternative to the multi-barrel rocket launching systems of Russian make, called like the ‘Grad’.
- After successful tests of Pinaka Mark-1 in the late 1990, it was first used in the battlefield during the Kargil War of 1999.
Features of Pinaka Missile System
- It is an indigenously developed rocket system which is named after Lord Shiva’s bow.
- It is primarily a multi-barrel rocket system (MBRL) system, can fire a salvo of 12 rockets over a period of 44 seconds.
- The one battery of Pinaka system consists of six launch vehicles, accompanied by the loader systems, radar and links with network based systems and a command post.
- The Mark-I version of Pinaka has a range of around 40 kilometres and the Mark-II version can fire up to 75 kilometres.
Significance of Pinaka Missile System
- The long range artillery systems like Pinaka are used for attacking the adversary targets prior to the close quarter battles which involve smaller range artillery, armoured elements and the infantry.
- The Mark-II version of the rocket has been modified as a guided missile system by integrating it with the navigation, control and guidance system to improve the end accuracy and increase the range.
- The navigation system of the missile is linked with the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System.
African Swine Fever
Nagaland has not reported fresh cases of African Swine Flu in the last two weeks.
- The disease was first reported in November-December, 2019 from the areas of China bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
- Earlier in April 2020, there were reported deaths of pigs due to the Classical Swine Fever (CSF).
- It is a highly contagious and fatal animal disease that infects and leads to an acute form of hemorrhagic fever in domestic and wild pigs.
- Other manifestations of the disease include high fever, depression, anorexia, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin, vomiting and diarrhoea among others.
- It was first detected in Africa in the 1920s.
- Historically, outbreaks have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe, South America, and the Caribbean.
- However, more recently (since 2007), the disease has been reported in multiple countries across Africa, Asia and Europe, in both domestic and wild pigs.
- The mortality is close to 100% and since the fever has no cure, the only way to stop its spread is by culling the animals.
- ASF is not a threat to human beings since it only spreads from animals to other animals.
- ASF is a disease listed in the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code and thus, reported to the OIE.
- Classical Swine Fever:
- CSF, also known as hog cholera, is an important disease of pigs.
- It is one of the most economically-damaging pandemic viral diseases of pigs in the world.
- It is caused by a virus of the genus Pestivirus of the family Flaviviridae, which is closely related to the viruses that cause bovine viral diarrhoea in cattle and border disease in sheep.
- Mortality is 100%.
- Recently, the ICAR-IVRI developed a Cell Culture CSF Vaccine (live attenuated) using the Lapinized Vaccine Virus from foreign strain.
- The new vaccine has been found to induce protective immunity from day 14 of the Vaccination till 18 Months.
World Organisation for Animal Health
- OIE is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide.
- It has 182 Member Countries. India is one of the member countries.
- OIE develops normative documents relating to rules that Member Countries can use to protect themselves from the introduction of diseases and pathogens. One of them is the Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
- OIE standards are recognised by the World Trade Organization as reference international sanitary rules.
- It is headquartered in Paris, France.
Agristack: The New Digital Push in Agriculture
Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft to run a pilot programme for 100 villages in 6 states.
- The MoU requires Microsoft to create a ‘Unified Farmer Service Interface’ through its cloud computing services.
- This comprises a major part of the ministry’s plan of creating ‘AgriStack’ (a collection of technology-based interventions in agriculture), on which everything else will be built.
- AgriStack:
- It is a collection of technologies and digital databases that focuses on farmers and the agricultural sector.
- AgriStack will create a unified platform for farmers to provide them end to end services across the agriculture food value chain.
- It is in line with the Centre’s Digital India programme, aimed at providing a broader push to digitise data in India, from land titles to medical records.
- The government is also implementing the National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NRLMP).
- Under the programme, each farmer will have a unique digital identification (farmers’ ID) that contains personal details, information about the land they farm, as well as production and financial details.
- Each ID will be linked to the individual's digital national ID Aadhaar.
- Need:
- At present, the majority of farmers across India are small and marginal farmers with limited access to advanced technologies or formal credit that can help improve output and fetch better prices.
- Among the new proposed digital farming technologies and services under the programme include sensors to monitor cattle, drones to analyse soil and apply pesticide, may significantly improve the farm yields and boost farmers' incomes.
- Potential Benefits:
- Problems such as inadequate access to credit and information, pest infestation, crop wastage, poor price discovery and yield forecasting can be sufficiently addressed by use of digital technology.
- It will also fuel innovation and breed investment towards the agricultural sector and augment research towards more resilient crops.
- Concerns:
- Absence of a Data Protection Legislation:
- In its absence, it might end up being an exercise where private data processing entities may know more about a farmer’s land than the farmer himself and they would be able to exploit farmers’ data to whatever extent they wish to.
- Commercialisation:
- The formation of ‘Agristack’ will imply commercialisation of agriculture extension activities as they will shift into a digital and private sphere.
- Absence of Dispute Settlement:
- The MoUs provide for physical verification of the land data gathered digitally, but there is nothing on what will be the course of action if disputes arise, especially when historical evidence suggests that land disputes take years to settle.
- Privacy and Exclusion Issues:
- Given that the proposed farmer ID will be Aadhaar-seeded, further issues of privacy and exclusion would emerge.
- Several researchers have demonstrated the vulnerability of the Aadhaar database to breaches and leaks, while Aadhaar-based exclusion in welfare delivery has also been well documented in different contexts.
- Also, making land records the basis for farmer databases would mean excluding tenant farmers, sharecroppers and agricultural labourers.
- Data shows that the population of farm labourers has outstripped that of farmers and cultivators.
Road ahead
- There is no denial that there is potential in data and technology in empowering farmers but only when the flow of information is balanced.
- The private firms working on pilot projects must effectively cooperate with state governments to reconcile the differences over land ownership.
- The government should move ahead with the project based on the results obtained from pilot trails.
LiDAR Based Survey of Forest Areas
Recently, the Union Environment Minister in a virtual event released the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) based survey of forest areas in ten states.
- The 10 mapped states are Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura.
- Survey of Forest Areas Project:
- The project was awarded to WAPCOS in July 2020 at a cost of over Rs. 18 crore for implementation in 26 states over 261897 hectares.
- WAPCOS is a Mini Ratna Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Jal Shakti Ministry.
- It is a first of its kind and a unique experiment using LiDAR technology which will help augment water and fodder in jungle areas thereby reducing human-animal conflict.
- LiDAR technology has been found to have 90% accuracy.
- States will be given Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds to use in this project.
- CAMPA is meant to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non-forest uses.
- CAMPA was established to manage the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) and it acts as the custodian of the CAMPA fund.
- One major ridge inside a forest block is identified in these states with an average area of 10,000 ha selected in each State; the area should have average rainfall of the state, and requires assisted natural generation.
- Significance:
- Besides reducing human-animal conflict, it will help us in identifying areas which need groundwater recharge which will in turn help local communities.
- It will help in catching rainwater and prevent stream run-off, which will help in recharging groundwater.
- It will help in recommending different types of Soil & Water conservation structures such as Anicut, Gabion, Gully Plug, Mini percolation tank, Percolation Tank, Field bund, Sunken pond, Farm pond etc.
LiDAR
- It is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges & variable distances.
- These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
- A LiDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.
- Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring LiDAR data over broad areas.
- LiDAR follows a simple principle — throw laser light at an object on the earth surface and calculate the time it takes to return to the LiDAR source.
- Given the speed at which the light travels (approximately 186,000 miles per second), the process of measuring the exact distance through LiDAR appears to be incredibly fast.
- Applications:
- Lidar is commonly used to make high-resolution maps, with applications in surveying, geodesy, geomatics, archaeology, geography, geology, geomorphology, seismology, forestry, atmospheric physics, laser guidance, airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), and laser altimetry.
Peter Pan Syndrome
Recently, a special court in Mumbai granted bail to an accused of sexually assaulting a minor as he was suffering from Peter Pan Syndrome (PPS).
- A syndrome is a combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.
- PPS is a psychological condition that is used to describe an adult who is socially immature.
- People who develop similar behaviours of living life carefree, finding responsibilities challenging in adulthood, and basically never growing up suffer from PPS.
- The term was coined by psychologist Dan Kiley to explain the behaviour of such men who ‘refuse to grow’ and behave their age in 1983.
- Dan Kiley got the idea of PPS after noticing Peter Pan, a fictional character created by Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie.
- Peter Pan was a care-free young boy, who never grew up.
- While the WHO (World Health Organization) does not recognise Peter Pan Syndrome as a health disorder, many experts believe it is a mental health condition that can affect one’s quality of life.
- Symptoms:
- PPS hasn’t officially been diagnosed as a health disorder, there are no clearly-defined symptoms or characteristics or even reasons which cause it.
- However, it could affect one’s daily routine, relationships, work ethic, and result in attitudinal changes.
- People Affected:
- It can affect anyone, irrespective of gender, race or culture. However, it appears to be more common among men.
- It affects people who do not want or feel unable to grow up, people with the body of an adult but the mind of a child.
- They don’t know how to or don’t want to stop being children and start being mothers or fathers.
- It is not currently considered a psychopathology. However, a large number of adults are presenting emotionally immature behaviors in Western society.
- Psychopathology is a term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress or the manifestation of behaviours and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological impairment.
Wendy Syndrome
- The Psychologist who defined PPS also used the term Wendy Syndrome (WS) to describe women who act like mothers with their partners or people close to them.
- People suffering from WS are often seen making decisions, tidying up messes, and offering one-sided emotional support.
Sant Kabir Das Jayanti
Recently, Sant Kabir Das Jayanti was observed on 24th June, 2021 to mark the birth anniversary of Sant Kabirdas.
- Kabirdas Jayanti is celebrated on the Jyeshtha Purnima tithi, as per the Hindu lunar calendar.
- Sant Kabir Das was born in the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He was a 15th century mystic poet, saint and social reformer and a proponent of the Bhakti Movement.
- Kabir's legacy is still going on through a sect known as Panth of Kabir, a religious community that considers him as the founder.
- Teacher: His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu bhakti leader Ramananda.
- Literature: Kabir Das' writings had a great influence on the Bhakti movement and includes titles like Kabir Granthawali, Anurag Sagar, Bijak, and Sakhi Granth.
- His verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib.
- The major part of his work was collected by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev.
- He was best known for his two-line couplets, known as 'Kabir Ke Dohe'.
- Language: Kabir's works were written in the Hindi language which was easy to comprehend. He used to write in couplets to enlighten people.
- Bhakti Movement:
- Beginning: The movement probably began in the Tamil region around the 6th and 7th century AD and achieved a great deal of popularity through the poems of the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayanars (devotees of Shiva), the Vaishnavite and Shaivite poets.
- The Alvars and Nayanars travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods.
- The Nalayira Divyaprabandham is a composition by the Alvars. It is frequently described as the Tamil Veda.
- Classification: At a different level, historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories: saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without attributes).
- The saguna included traditions that focused on the worship of specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi, all often conceptualised in anthropomorphic forms.
- Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract form of god.
- Social Order:
- This movement was responsible for many rites and rituals associated with the worship of God by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of Indian subcontinent. For example, Kirtan at a Hindu Temple, Qawaali at a Dargah (by Muslims), and singing of Gurbani at a Gurdwara.
- They were often opposed to the establishment and all authoritarian monastic order.
- They also strongly criticized all sectarian zealotry and caste discrimination in society.
- Hailing from both high and low castes, these poets created a formidable body of literature that firmly established itself in the popular narratives.
- All of them claimed relevance for religion in social life, in the sphere of real human aspirations and social relationships.
- Bhakti poets emphasized surrender to god.
- The movement's major achievement was its abolition of idol worship.
- Role of Women:
- Andal was a woman Alvar and she saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu.
- Karaikkal Ammaiyar was a devotee of Shiva and she adopted the path of extreme asceticism in order to attain her goal. Her compositions were preserved within the Nayanar tradition.
- Important Personalities:
- Kannada Region: In this region, the movement began by Basavanna (1105-68) in the 12th century.
- Maharashtra: The Bhakti movement began in the late 13th century. Its proponents were known as the Varkaris.
- Among its most popular figures were Jnanadev (1275- 96), Namdev (1270-50) and Tukaram (1608-50).
- Assam: Srimanta Sankardeva (a Vaishnava saint born in 1449 AD in Nagaon district of Assam. He started the neo-Vaishnavite movement).
- Bengal: Chaitanya was a renowned saint and reformer of Bengal who popularised the Krishna cult.
- Northern India: From the 13th to the 17th centuries, a large number of poets flourished who were all Bhakti figures of considerable importance.
- While Kabir, Ravi Dass and Guru Nanak spoke of the formless god (nirgun bhakti), Meerabai (1498-1546) from Rajasthan composed and sung devotional verses in praise of Krishna.
- Surdas, Narasimha Mehta and Tulsidas also made priceless contributions to the canon of Bhakti literature and enhanced its glorious legacy.
Black Sea
In a recent event, Russia alleged that the British warship had breached its territorial waters in Black Sea which Britain and most of the world say belong to Ukraine.
- Russia seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and considers areas around its coast to be Russian waters.
- Geographical Location of Black Sea:
- The Black Sea, also known as the Euxine Sea, is one of the major water bodies and a famous inland sea of the world.
- This marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
- It is surrounded by the Pontic, Caucasus, and Crimean Mountains in the south, east and north respectively.
- The Turkish straits system - the Dardanelles, Bosporus and Marmara Sea - forms a transitional zone between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
- The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.
- The bordering countries of Black Sea are: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.
- Anoxic Water:
- There is a significant absence of oxygen in the water.
- The Black Sea happens to be the largest water body with a meromictic basin, which means the movement of water between the lower and upper layers of the sea is a rare phenomenon to find anywhere in the world.
- The anoxic condition is also caused due to the presence of the process of Eutrophication in the sea.
Anoxic Waters
- Anoxic waters are areas of sea water, fresh water, or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved oxygen and are a more severe condition of hypoxia.
- This condition is generally found in areas that have restricted water exchange.
- International Rules of Passage through Sea:
- Under international law of the sea (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982), innocent passage permits a vessel to pass through another state’s territorial waters so long as this does not affect its security.
RBI’s Proposals for Microfinance Institutions
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to lift the interest rate cap on Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), and said all micro loans should be regulated by a common set of guidelines irrespective of who gives them.
Proposals:
-
- RBI has suggested a common definition of microfinance loans for all regulated entities.
- Microfinance loans should mean collateral-free loans to households with annual household income of Rs 1,25,000 and Rs 2,00,000 for rural and urban/semi urban areas, respectively.
- For this purpose, ‘household’ means a group of persons normally living together and taking food from a common kitchen.
- RBI has mooted capping the payment of interest and repayment of principal for all outstanding loan obligations of the household as a percentage of the household income, subject to a limit of maximum 50%.
- Non-banking Financial Company (NBFC)-MFIs, like any other NBFC, shall be guided by a board-approved policy and the fair practices code, whereby disclosure and transparency would be ensured.
- There would be no ceiling prescribed for the interest rate. There would be no collateral allowed for micro loans.
- There can be no prepayment penalty, while all entities have to permit the borrowers to repay weekly, fortnightly or monthly instalments as per their choice.
- Significance of Proposal:
- RBI has reposed faith in the maturity of the microfinance sector with this step.
- This is a forward-looking step where the responsibility is of the institution to fix a reasonable interest rate on transparent terms.
- MicroFinance Institution (MFI):
- Microfinance is a form of financial service which provides small loans and other financial services to poor and low-income households.
- Indian microfinance sector has witnessed phenomenal growth over the past two decades in terms of increase in both the number of institutions providing microfinance and the quantum of credit made available to the microfinance customers.
- Microcredit is delivered through a variety of institutional channels viz.,
- Scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) (including small finance banks (SFBs) and regional rural banks (RRBs))
- Cooperative banks,
- Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)
- Microfinance institutions (MFIs) registered as NBFCs as well as in other forms.
- MFIs are financial companies that provide small loans to people who do not have any access to banking facilities.
- The definition of “small loans” varies between countries. In India, all loans that are below Rs. 1 lakh can be considered as microloans.
- Significance:
- It is an economic tool designed to promote financial inclusion which enables the poor and low-income households to come out of poverty, increase their income levels and improve overall living standards.
- It can facilitate achievement of national policies that target poverty reduction, women empowerment, assistance to vulnerable groups, and improvement in the standards of living.
Non-Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institution
- The NBFC-MFI is a non-deposit taking financial company.
- Conditions to qualify as NBFC-MFI:
- Minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs. 5 crore.
- At least 85% of its Net Assets in the nature of Qualifying Assets.
- The Qualifying Assets are those assets which have a substantial period of time to be ready for its intended use or sale.
- The difference between an NBFC-MFI and other NBFC is that while other NBFCs can operate at a very high level, MFIs cater to only the smaller level of social strata, with need of smaller amounts as loans.
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