Current Affairs 27 August 2024

Contents

1. Unified Lending Interface
2. Pragyan rover finds evidence of magma ocean on moon
3. India and Singapore Second ministerial meeting
4. Vaccine Derived Polio infection
5. National Task Force For Safety & Security Of Medical Professionals
6. Typhoon Shanshan

Unified Lending Interface

Context:

The Reserve bank of India to launch Unified Lending Interface platform that will benefir borrowers.

Relevance:

GS3-Indian Economy

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About Unified Lending Interface
2. About UPI
3. Positive Impacts of UPI
4. Negative Impacts of UPI

About Unified Lending Interface:

• As a result of digital revolution, India has embraced the concept of digital public infrastructure which encourages banks, NBFCs, fintech companies and start-ups to create and provide innovative solutions in payments, credit, and other financial activities.
• For digital credit delivery, the data required for credit appraisal are available with different entities like Central and State governments, account aggregators, banks, credit information companies and digital identity authorities.
• However, these data sets are in separate systems, creating hindrance in frictionless and timely delivery of rule-based lending.
• Hence, the launch of ULI platform will facilitate a seamless and consent-based flow of digital information, including land records of various states, from multiple data service providers to lenders.
• This initiative will significantly will cut down the time taken for credit appraisal, especially for smaller and rural borrowers.
• The platform will reduce the complexity of multiple technical integrations, and will enable borrowers to get the benefit of seamless delivery of credit, and quicker turnaround time without requiring extensive documentation.
• The ‘new trinity’ of JAM-UPI-ULI will be a revolutionary step forward in India’s digital infrastructure journey

About UPI:

• UPI is an enhanced version of the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), offering round-the-clock funds transfer for quicker, smoother, and easier cashless transactions. It integrates multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, consolidating various banking features such as seamless fund routing and merchant payments.
• NPCI manages various payment systems, and UPI stands as the largest among them, including the National Automated Clearing House (NACH), IMPS, Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS), Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), and RuPay.
• Prominent UPI applications include PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and BHIM, the latter being a government initiative. As part of an agreement, India’s UPI will be linked to Singapore’s PayNow.
• NPCI introduced UPI with the collaboration of 21 member banks in 2016.

Positive Impacts of UPI:

• Ease of usage: Simplified digital transactions via smartphones.
• Financial Inclusion: Access to digital payments for all individuals.
• Decreased Cash Dependency: Curbing illicit transactions and risks.
• Boost to Digital Economy: Promoting digital entrepreneurship and innovation.

Negative Impacts of UPI:

• UPI as Petty Cash Alternative: Growing reliance on UPI for smaller transactions, replacing petty cash.
• Limited Transaction Flexibility: Confusing limits set by various apps and banks impacting transaction flexibility.

• Infrastructure Challenges: Difficulties keeping up with the surge in UPI payments, necessitating infrastructure upgrades.
• Security and Fraud Prevention: Rising cyber threats and fraud risks requiring robust security measures.

-Source: The Indian Express       

Pragyan rover finds evidence of magma ocean on moon

Context:

The Pragyan rover has found crucial evidence bolstering the claim about the lunar surface being made up of magma.

Relevance:

GS III- Space

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Significance of the findings
2. About Chandrayaan-3
3. Mission Objectives

Significance of the findings:

•  The finding bolsters the claim that the moon’s surface was composed of magma when it was first formed 4.5 billion years ago and lends credence to the Lunar Magma Ocean hypothesis.
• This theory puts forwards that the moon was formed out of a giant collision which melted several kilometres of the moon’s surface.
• This meant that, at its inception, the moon was entirely covered by an ocean of hot magma, which took millions of years to cool and solidify into rocks.

About Chandrayaan-3:

• As the name suggests, the Chandrayaan-3 is the successor to the Chandrayaan-2 mission and it will likely attempt another soft-landing on the lunar surface.
• It will be almost a repetition of the July 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission in the configuration of spacecraft, the landing spot on the moon and the experiments to be conducted on the lunar surface.
• Although scores of landers sent by Russia, the U.S. and the Chinese have explored the moon’s surface, so far, no other agency has landed in the southern hemisphere of the moon. ISRO hopes to be the first to do so.

Mission Objectives

• Try and build on the evidence of water molecules shown by Chandrayaan-I and study the extent and distribution of water on the Moon
• Study topography, seismography, composition of lunar surface and the lunar atmosphere
• The study of ancient rocks and craters can offer indications of origin and evolution of the Moon.
• The South Pole region of the Moon also contains clues to the fossil records of early solar system. Thus, it will improve our understanding of the early solar system as well.

-Source: The Hindu, Down to Earth       

India and Singapore Second ministerial meeting

Context:

India and Singapore are going to hold the second round of ministerial roundtable meeting. It aims to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it.

Relevance:

GS-II: International Relations

Dimensions of the Article:

1. History of India-Singapore Relations
2. Relations with Singapore related to Defence and Security
3. Trade Relations with Singapore
4. Indian Diaspora and Culture in Singapore

India–Singapore relations

History of India-Singapore Relations

• India and Singapore share long-standing cultural, commercial and strategic relations, with Singapore being a part of the “Greater India” cultural and commercial region. Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere is an area composed of many countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture.
• Following its independence in 1965, Singapore was concerned with China-backed communist threats as well as domination from Malaysia and Indonesia and sought a close strategic relationship with India, which it saw as a counterbalance to Chinese influence and a partner in achieving regional security.
• Singapore had always been an important strategic trading post, giving India trade access to the Far East.
• Diplomatic relations between India and Singapore were established in 1965 right after Singapore’s independence.
• Military relations between the two nations had been limited due to foreign policy differences in the Cold War era, as Singapore was allied with NATO, whilst India established itself as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Relations with Singapore related to Defence and Security

• In 2003, India and Singapore signed a bilateral agreement on expanding military cooperation, conducting joint military training, developing military technology and achieving maritime security.
• The Singaporean Navy and the Indian Navy have conducted joint naval exercises and training since 1993 such as SIMBEX and MILAN near India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• India and Singapore have also expanded their cooperation in fighting terrorism.

Trade Relations with Singapore

• Singapore is the 8th largest source of investment in India and the second largest amongst ASEAN member nations.
• Total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Singapore into India till 2018 was 19% of total FDI inflow.
• Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) singed between India and Singapore was the first comprehensive agreement covering trade in goods, services and investments signed by India with any of its trading partners.

Indian Diaspora and Culture in Singapore

• More than 500,000 people of Indian origin live in Singapore.
• Singapore’s large Indian diaspora through a number of cultural societies and Singapore’s official support sustains a high level of cultural activity in Singapore.
• Ethnic Indians constitute about 9.1% or around 3.5 lakhs of the resident population of 3.9 million in Singapore.
• ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) was held in Singapore on 6-7 January 2018 as part of commemoration of 25 years of ASEAN-India Partnership.
• Singapore celebrated the 4th International Day of Yoga (IDY) through 173 yoga sessions and attended by approx. 8000 people.
• Even on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, celebrations were launched with a projection of Gandhiji’s video on the world’s largest HD video screen at Suntec Convention Centre.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Vaccine Derived Polio infection

Context:

A two-year-old child from Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district reportedly tested positive for polio.

Relevance:

GS II- Health

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is Vaccine Derived Polio infection?
2. What is Polio?
3. Recent Outbreaks of Polio
4. Polio in India
5. India’s Pulse Polio Programme
6. Steps taken by the Government to maintain polio free status in India

What is Vaccine Derived Polio infection?

• A vaccine-derived poliovirus is a strain related to the weakened version of the live poliovirus contained in the oral polio vaccine (OPV) and become neurovirulent (able to cause paralysis and circulate in communities).
• The neurovirulent virus is referred to as vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV).
• This is a very rare event. In the 10 years leading up to 2015 there were around 750 cases of paralysis caused by VDPVs reported worldwide.

What is Polio?

• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines polio or poliomyelitis as “a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children.”
• The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g., contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
• Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
• In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent.
• There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.
• There are three individual and immunologically distinct wild poliovirus strains:
  1. Wild Poliovirus type 1 (WPV1)
  2. Wild Poliovirus type 2 (WPV2)
  3. Wild Poliovirus type 3 (WPV3)
• Symptomatically, all three strains are identical, in that they cause irreversible paralysis or even death.
• However, there are genetic and virological differences, which make these three strains separate viruses which must each be eradicated individually.

Recent Outbreaks of Polio

• In 2019, polio outbreaks were recorded in the Philippines, Malaysia, Ghana, Myanmar, China, Cameroon, Indonesia and Iran, which were mostly vaccine-derived in which a rare strain of the virus genetically mutated from the strain in the vaccine.
• Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two countries that are having the most trouble in controlling the spread of Polio effectively.
• In 2018, a total of 8,60,000 children in Afghanistan did not receive polio vaccine due to security threats.

Polio in India

• India received polio-free certification by the WHO in 2014, after three years of zero cases.
• This achievement has been spurred by the successful pulse polio campaign in which all children were administered polio drops.
• The last case due to wild poliovirus in the country was detected on 13th January 2011.

India’s Pulse Polio Programme

• With the global initiative of eradication of polio in 1988 following World Health Assembly resolution in 1988, Pulse Polio Immunization programme was launched in India in 1995. Children in the age group of 0-5 years administered polio drops during National and Sub-national immunization rounds (in high-risk areas) every year.
• The Pulse Polio Initiative was started with an objective of achieving hundred per cent coverage under Oral Polio Vaccine.
• It aimed to immunize children through improved social mobilization, plan mop-up operations in areas where poliovirus has almost disappeared and maintain high level of morale among the public.

Steps taken by the Government to maintain polio free status in India

• Maintaining community immunity through high quality National and Sub National polio rounds each year.
• An extremely high level of vigilance through surveillance across the country for any importation or circulation of poliovirus and VDPV is being maintained.
• All States and Union Territories in the country have developed a Rapid Response Team (RRT) to respond to any polio outbreak in the country.
• To reduce risk of importation from neighbouring countries, international border vaccination is being provided through continuous vaccination teams (CVT) to all eligible children round the clock.
• Government of India has issued guidelines for mandatory requirement of polio vaccination to all international travelers before their departure from India to polio affected countries namely:  Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Syria and Cameroon.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express    

National Task Force For Safety & Security Of Medical Professionals

Context:

The first meeting of the National Task Force formed by the Supreme Court to make recommendations for safety, security and working conditions of medical professionals will be held today.

• The meeting will be chaired by Cabinet Secretary, Government of India.

Relevance:

GS II: Polity and Governance

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Ground Reality
2. Immediate Needs for a Safe Work Environment
3. Global Measures to Protect Healthcare Workers
4. Need for Action in India
5. Government Initiatives

Ground Reality

Legal and Administrative Framework

• Decentralized Responsibility: Health and law and order are primarily the responsibility of State governments or Union Territory administrations. This decentralization means that responses and regulations can vary significantly from one region to another.
• Lack of Centralized Data: There is no central record of the number of fatalities among medical professionals due to violence, which complicates efforts to address the issue systematically and measure the effectiveness of interventions.

Historical Context and Ongoing Issues

• The case of Aruna Shanbaug underscores the longstanding nature of violence against healthcare workers in India, highlighting not just extreme cases of assault but also the daily risks faced by medical staff.

Immediate Needs for a Safe Work Environment

• Infrastructure Improvements: Many medical facilities in India suffer from infrastructural deficiencies such as poor lighting and inadequate security measures, which can increase the vulnerability of healthcare workers.
• Security Enhancements: There is a crucial need for the implementation of robust security measures including:
  • Improved Lighting: Ensuring that all areas within medical facilities are well-lit to prevent dark spots where assaults can occur.
  • Security Personnel: Deploying trained security guards to monitor sensitive areas within hospitals and respond quickly to incidents.
  • Surveillance Systems: Installing cameras and conducting regular monitoring can help deter potential assailants and document incidents should they occur.
  • Controlled Access: Managing access to various parts of hospitals through manned checkpoints can prevent unauthorized access and reduce the risk of violence.

Broader Implications

• Cultural and Educational Campaigns: Beyond physical and legal measures, there is a need for cultural change regarding how healthcare workers are viewed and treated. Education campaigns that highlight the critical role and rights of healthcare professionals could foster greater respect and understanding.
• Policy and Legislation: Advocacy for comprehensive national legislation, akin to the protections offered in other countries, could provide a uniform level of security and legal recourse for healthcare workers across all states and territories in India.

Global Measures to Protect Healthcare Workers

• United Kingdom:
  • The National Health Service (NHS) has a zero-tolerance policy towards violence.
  • This policy is supported by dedicated security teams and an elaborate reporting system to handle incidents immediately and effectively.
• United States:
  • In many states, assaults on healthcare workers are classified as felonies, providing a strong legal deterrent against such acts.
  • The severity of the legal repercussions underscores the seriousness with which these incidents are treated.
• Australia:
  • Hospitals have incorporated several safety protocols, including the deployment of security personnel and the installation of panic buttons.
  • Mandatory de-escalation training for staff helps in managing potentially volatile situations without escalating to violence.

Need for Action in India

In light of the effective measures taken by these countries, there is a pressing need for India to enhance the protection of its healthcare workers:

• Legislative Action: Implementing a Central Protection Act could provide a legal framework for the protection of healthcare workers, similar to those in place in other countries.
• Adoption of Best Practices: By learning from the systems implemented internationally, India can develop a more robust approach to safeguarding healthcare workers. This might include stricter security protocols, comprehensive training for handling aggression, and more substantial legal penalties for offenders.

Government Initiatives

• Ministry of Health’s Directives: Recent directives require the heads of medical institutions to file an FIR within six hours of any incident of violence against healthcare workers.
• NMC Guidelines: The National Medical Commission has mandated that medical colleges develop comprehensive safety policies and take immediate actions following any incident of violence.

-Source: The Hindu, Air

Typhoon Shanshan

Context:

Japan is on High alert as Typhoon Shanshan nears and could make landfall in western Japan.

Relevance:

GS-I: Geography (Physical geography – Climatology, Important Geophysical phenomena), GS-III: Disaster Management

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Tropical cyclone
2. How are Cyclones Formed?
3. Why are Cyclones formed in a spiralling pattern?
4. What is a Low-pressure area?
5. How are Low-Pressure Areas formed?
6. Structure of a Cyclone

Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain or squalls.

Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names:

1. Cyclones in the Indian Ocean
2. Hurricanes in the Atlantic
3. Typhoons in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea
4. Willy-willies in Western Australia

“Tropical” refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas.

• “Cyclone” refers to their winds moving in a circle, whirling round their central clear eye, with their winds blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
• The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect.

How are Cyclones Formed?

1. Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. Warm water > Evaporation > Rising up of air > Low Pressure area.
2. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface, which ultimately re-condenses into clouds and rain when moist air rises and cools to saturation.
3. Water takes up heat from the atmosphere to change into vapour.
4. When water vapour changes back to liquid form as raindrops, this heat is released to the atmosphere.
5. The heat released to the atmosphere warms the air around.
6. The air tends to rise and causes a drop in the pressure.
7. More air rushes to the centre of the storm.
8. This cycle is repeated.

Why are Cyclones formed in a spiralling pattern?

• Simple answer is: Coriolis Effect.
• The Coriolis Effect causes any moving body on the rotating Earth to turn to the Right (clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the Left (counter clockwise) in the Southern Hemisphere.
• In Low-Pressure zones where air ascends, like in case of a cyclone, winds blowing from areas of high pressure inside towards areas of low pressure, are Deflected to the Right in Northern Hemisphere and to the Left in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Since they are deflected, they don’t arrive straight into the low-pressure zone, but instead end up circling around the low-pressure zone.

What is a Low-pressure area?

• A low-pressure area, low area or low is a region on the topographic map where the air pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations.
• Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence that occur in the upper levels of the atmosphere.
• The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as cyclogenesis.
• Within the field of meteorology, atmospheric divergence aloft occurs in two areas.
• The first area is on the east side of upper troughs, which form half of a Rossby wave within the Westerlies (a trough with large wavelength that extends through the troposphere).
• A second area of wind divergence aloft occurs ahead of embedded shortwave troughs, which are of smaller wavelength.
• Diverging winds aloft ahead of these troughs cause atmospheric lift within the troposphere below, which lowers surface pressures as upward motion partially counteracts the force of gravity.

How are Low-Pressure Areas formed?

• Thermal lows form due to localized heating caused by greater sunshine over deserts and other land masses.
• Since localized areas of warm air are less dense than their surroundings, this warmer air rises, which lowers atmospheric pressure near that portion of the Earth’s surface.
• Large-scale thermal lows over continents help drive monsoon circulations.
• Low-pressure areas can also form due to organized thunderstorm activity over warm water.

Structure of a Cyclone

• A cyclone’s center, known in a mature tropical cyclone as the eye, is the area of lowest atmospheric pressure in the region.
• Near the center, the pressure gradient force and the force from the Coriolis effect must be in an approximate balance, or the cyclone would collapse on itself as a result of the difference in pressure.

The eye

• The eye of the storm is the centre. It’s a relatively calm space.
• When the eye passes over an area, winds slow down and everything feels like it has cleared up.
• But this is the proverbial calm before the storm, as the part that comes after the eye usually inflicts the most damage.

The eyewall

• This is where the most effective part of a cyclone rests.
• The eyewall houses extremely high wind speeds, causing damage to both lives and property.
• It is a ring of thunderstorms, and changes in the eye or the eyewall affects the storm’s intensity.

Rainbands

• These are the outer parts of a cyclone where sudden bursts of rain happen.
• There can also be gaps betwen rainbands where no rain or wind occurs.

Landfall, what happens when a Cyclone reaches land from the ocean?

• Tropical cyclones dissipate when they can no longer extract sufficient energy from warm ocean water.
• A storm that moves over land will abruptly lose its fuel source and quickly lose intensity.
• A tropical cyclone can contribute to its own demise by stirring up deeper, cooler ocean waters. tropical cyclone can contribute to its own demise by stirring up deeper, cooler ocean waters.

-Source: The Hindu, Air