Weekly Current Affairs (22nd to 30th September 2022) - 2 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Banking System Liquidity

Context: For the first time Liquidity in the banking system has moved into deficit mode after remaining in surplus mode for almost 40 months for the first time since May 2019.

What is Banking System Liquidity?

• Liquidity in the banking system refers to readily available cash that banks need to meet short-term business and financial needs.
• On a given day, if the banking system is a net borrower from the RBI under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), the system liquidity can be said to be in deficit and if the banking system is a net lender to the RBI, the system liquidity can be said to be in surplus.
  • The LAF refers to the RBI’s operations through which it injects or absorbs liquidity into or from the banking system.

What has Triggered this Deficit?

• The change in the liquidity situation has come due to advance tax outflows. This also increases the call money rate temporarily above the repo rate.
  • Call money rate is the rate at which short term funds are borrowed and lent in the money market.
  • Banks resort to these types of loans to fill the asset liability mismatch, comply with the statutory CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) and SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) requirements and to meet the sudden demand of funds. RBI, banks, primary dealers etc are the participants of the call money market.
• Besides, there is the continuous intervention of the RBI to stem the fall in the rupee against the US dollar.
• The deficit in the liquidity situation has been caused by an uptick in bank credit, intervention of the RBI into the forex market, and also incremental deposit growth not keeping pace with credit demand.

How can a Tight Liquidity Condition Impact Consumers?

• A tight liquidity condition could lead to a rise in the government securities yields and subsequently lead to a rise in interest rates for consumers too.
• RBI may increase Repo Rate, which can lead to a higher cost of funds.
• Banks will increase their repo-linked lending rates and the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR), to which all loans are linked to. This rise will result in higher interest rates for consumers.
  • The MCLR is the minimum interest rate that a bank can lend at.

Way Forward

• RBI’s actions will depend upon the nature of the liquidity situation. If the current liquidity deficit situation is temporary and is largely on account of advance tax flow, the RBI may not have to act, as the funds should eventually come back into the system.
• However, if it is long-term in nature then the RBI may have to take measures to improve the liquidity situation in the system.

Megh Chakra Operation

Context: The operation code-named “Megh Chakra” is being carried out following the inputs received from Interpol’s Singapore special unit based on the information received from the authorities in New Zealand.

• It is a pan-India drive against the circulation and sharing of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

What are the Key Highlights of the Megh Chakra Operation?

• Searches at 59 locations across 20 States and one Union Territory were conducted.
• It has been alleged that a large number of Indian nationals were involved in the online circulation, downloading and transmission of the CSAM using cloud-based storage.
• The operation is sought to collate information from various law enforcement agencies in India, engage with the relevant law enforcement agencies globally and coordinate closely through the Interpol channels on the issue.
• The probe had led to the identification of over 50 groups with more than 5,000 offenders, including the nationals of about 100 countries.
• A similar exercise code named “Operation Carbon” was conducted by CBI in November 2021.

What are the Issues Related to Child Sexual Abuse?

• Multi-layered Problem: Child sexual abuse is a multi-layered problem which negatively impacts children’s physical safety, mental health, well-being and behavioural aspects.
• Amplification Due to Digital Technologies: Mobile and digital technologies have further amplified child abuse and exploitation. New forms of child abuse like online bullying, harassment and Child Pornography have also emerged.
• Ineffective Legislation: Although Government of India has enacted the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO Act), it has failed to protect children from sexual abuse. The reasons for this can be the following:
  • Low Conviction Rate: The rate of conviction under the POCSO act is only about 32% if one takes the average of the past 5 years and the percentage of cases pending is 90%.
  • Judicial Delay: The Kathua Rape case took 16 months for the main accused to be convicted whereas the POCSO Act clearly mentions that the entire trial and conviction process has to be done in one year.
  • Unfriendly to Child: Challenges related to age-determination of the child. Especially laws that focus on biological age and not mental age.

What is Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012?

• It was enacted to protect the children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children.
• It defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as a matter of paramount importance at every stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child.
• It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography.
• It deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor.
• It also casts the police in the role of child protectors during the investigative process.
• The Act stipulates that a case of child sexual abuse must be disposed of within one year from the date the offence is reported.
• It was amended in August 2019 to provide more stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for sexual crimes against children.

What are the Related Constitutional Provisions?

• The Constitution guarantees to every child the right to live with dignity (Article 21), the right to personal liberty (Article 21), the right to privacy (Article 21), the right to equality (Article 14) and/or the right against discrimination (Article 15), the right against exploitation (Article 23 & 24).
  • Right to free and compulsory elementary education for all children in the 6–14-year age group (Article 21 A).
• The Directive Principles of State Policy, and in particular Article 39(f), cast an obligation on the State to ensure that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.

Modified Incentive Scheme for Semiconductor Chip-Making

Context: Recently, the Centre approved changes to the scheme for the development of a semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country in order to make India’s $10 billion chip-making initiative more attractive to investors.

What are the Approved Changes to India’s Chip-making Scheme?

Background:

• In 2021, India announced its roughly $10 billion dollar Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country.
• Also, a Design-Linked Initiative (DLI) scheme to drive global and domestic investment related to design software, IP rights etc. was announced.

Changes:

• Uniform 50% Fiscal Support: In the previous version of the scheme, the Centre was offering to fund 30% of the project cost for 45nm to 65nm chip production, 40% for 28nm to 45nm, and 50% or half of the funding for chips 28nm or below. The modified scheme provides uniform 50% fiscal support for all nodes.
• Setting-up of New Semiconductor Plants: Vedanta and Taiwanese chipmaker Foxconn have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a ₹1,54,000 crore semiconductor plant in Gujarat.
• Two other projects have also been announced:
  • A $3 billion plant in Karnataka by the International consortium ISMC.
  • ISMC is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor.
  • A $3.5 billion plant in Tamil Nadu by Singapore’s IGSS Ventures.
  • Production of the 45nm Chip: The modified scheme also emphasised the production of the 45nm chip, which is fairly less time-consuming and economical in terms of production.
  • These chips have high demand, driven primarily by automotive, power and telecom applications.

Significance:

• The changes will lead to the harmonisation of government incentives for all technology nodes of semiconductors.
• It will encourage all areas of chip-making to create an integrated ecosystem in India.
• PLI and DLI schemes had attracted many global semiconductor players for setting up semiconductor fabrication plants (fabs) in India and the modified programme would further expedite these investments and bring in more applicants.

Associated Concern:

• Although the scheme is an encouraging move, chip production is a resource-intensive and expensive process. The new scheme provides equal funding for all steps of the process. However, the outlay of the scheme remains $10 billion.
• It requires an investment of anywhere between $3 and $7 billion to just set up one semiconductor fab.

What are Semiconductor Chips?

About:

• Semiconductors are materials which have a conductivity between conductors and insulators.
• They can be pure elements, silicon or germanium or compounds; gallium, arsenide or cadmium selenide.
• The basic component of a semiconductor chip is a sliver of silicon, which is etched with billions of microscopic transistors and projected to specific minerals and gases, forming patterns to control the flow of current while following different computational instructions.
• The most-advanced semiconductor technology nodes available today are the 3 nm and the 5 nanometer (nm) ones.
• Semiconductors having higher nanometer value are applied in automobiles, consumer electronics and so on, while those with lower values are used in devices such as smartphones and laptops.
• The chip-making Process is complex and highly exact, having multiple other steps in the supply chain such as chip-designing done by companies to develop new circuitry for use in appliances, designing software for chips and patenting them through core Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
• It also involves making chip-fabrication machines; setting up fabs or factories; and ATMP.

Significance:

• Semiconductors are the thumbnail-sized building blocks of almost every modern electronic device from smartphones to connected devices in the Internet of Things (IoT). They help give computational power to devices.

Global Scenario:

• The chip-making industry is a highly-concentrated one, with the big players being Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S. among others. Infact, 90% of 5nm chips are mass-produced in Taiwan, by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
• Therefore, the global chip shortage, U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan, and the supply chain blockages owing to the Russia-Ukraine conflict have led major economies to enter the chip-making sector with a renewed push.
• The global semiconductor industry is currently valued at $500-$600 billion and caters to the global electronics industry currently valued at about $3 trillion.

Indian Scenario:

• India currently imports all chips and the market is estimated to touch $100 billion by 2025 from $24 billion now. However, for the domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips, India has recently launched several initiatives:
• The Union Cabinet has allocated an amount of ₹76,000 crore for supporting the development of a ‘semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem’.
• India has also launched the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) for manufacturing electronics components and semiconductors.
• In 2021, the MeitY also launched the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme to nurture at least 20 domestic companies involved in semiconductor design and facilitate them to achieve a turnover of more than Rs.1500 Crore in the next 5 years.
• India’s own consumption of semiconductors is expected to cross $80 billion by 2026 and to $10 billion by 2030.

What can be the Way Ahead for India’s Semiconductor Dream?

• Though India is focusing on “lagging-edge” technology nodes in the start to supply to the automotive and appliance sector, creating global demand may be difficult as big players like Taiwan offer viable cutting-edge chip-tech worldwide. Thus, attracting global players to set up here would be beneficial as they come with their customer base.
• Much of the current scheme outlay could be allocated to supporting other elements including display fabs, packaging and testing facilities, and chip design centres. However, the initial funding should focus on areas like design and R&D, for which India already has an established talent pool.
• Chip-making also requires gallons of ultrapure water in a single day, which could be a task for the government to provide to factories, compounded also by the drought conditions which often prevail in large parts of the country.
• Besides, an uninterrupted supply of power is central to the process, with just seconds of fluctuations or spikes causing millions in losses.
• Another task for the government is to drive up consumer demand in the semiconductor industry to not end up in a situation where these ventures remain successful only till taxpayers are forced to fund required subsidies.

World Environmental Health Day

Context: World Environmental Health Day 2022 is observed annually on September 26 to spread awareness globally regarding the health of the environment.

• The central idea behind celebrating this day is that the health of the human race is irrevocably intertwined with the health of the environment.

What are the Key Highlights of World Environmental Health Day?

History:

• The day was first observed by the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) in the year 2011. The main aim is the well-being of people across the globe.
• The IFEH is wholly dedicated to the development and dissemination of knowledge on the protection and subsequent improvement of environmental health.

Theme:

• The theme for this year is ‘Strengthening Environmental Health Systems for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.’

Significance:

• It is necessary that the world understands there is an integral connection between the environment, health and the economy. It is therefore important to invest in healthy and green recovery, close to all communities.
• It becomes all the more important for the human race to pay attention to the environment and try to create balance.
• The World Health Organization launched the "Manifesto for a healthy recovery of COVID-19”, with the objective of taking advantage of the momentum that we are facing worldwide.
• Environmental Health plays a pivotal role in the implementation of the SDGs. It is interesting to note that Environmental Health fits into 7 SDGs, 19 targets and 30 indicators of the SDGs.

What do we Know about India’s Environmental Health?

Present status:

• India was ranked at the bottom of the list of 180 countries with a paltry score of 18.9 on the Environmental Performance Index 2022.
• India ranked behind Myanmar at 179, Vietnam (178), Bangladesh (177) and Pakistan (176).

ICAO Joins International Solar Alliance

Context: Recently, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) during the 42nd session of ICAO Assembly in Montreal, Canada.

• Cochin International Airport in India became the world’s first fully Solar powered airport in the world in 2015.

What is the MoU About?

• The MoU carries forward the legacy of ISA.
• The event marks a new beginning for solar energy use in the global civil aviation sector.
• It will enable the solarization of the aviation sector across all Member States of ISA
• It aims to check the growth of CO2 emissions in the Aviation sector, leading to India’s Net Zero Targets.
• It will work towards providing information, providing advocacy, capacity building and demonstration projects.

What is the India’s Net Zero Target?

• India has pledged for Net Zero Carbon goal by 2070 in COP 26.
• India has pledged a target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy of which 100 GW will be solar energy by 2022 and reduction in emission intensity by 33-35% by 2030, to let solar energy reach the most unconnected villages and communities.

What is the International Solar Alliance (ISA)?

About:

• Co-founded by India and France during 2015, the ISA is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies.
• Its basic motive is to facilitate energy access, ensure energy security, and drive energy transition in its member countries.
• ISA is the nodal agency for implementing One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG), which seeks to transfer solar power generated in one region to feed the electricity demands of others.

Headquarters:

• The Headquarters is in India with its Interim Secretariat being set up in Gurugram.
• Member Nations:
• A total of 109 countries have signed the ISA Framework Agreement and 90 have ratified it.
• All member states of the United Nations are eligible to join the ISA.

Observer Status to International Solar Alliance:

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has granted Observer Status to the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• It will help provide for regular and well-defined cooperation between the Alliance and the United Nations that would benefit global energy growth and development.

What is the International Civil Aviation Organisation?

• ICAO is a United Nations (UN) specialized agency, established in 1944, which laid the foundation for the standards and procedures for peaceful global air navigation.
  • The Convention on International Civil Aviation was signed on 7th December 1944 in Chicago commonly known as the ‘Chicago Convention’.
  • It established the core principles permitting international transport by air, and also led to the creation of the ICAO.
• India is among its 193 members.
• It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Floods on Mars

Context: China’s Zhurong rover that landed on Mars in 2021 has found evidence of major floods that took place billions of years ago by studying underground layers.

• The rover studied its landing site - Utopia Planitia - vast plains in Mars’s northern hemisphere.
• These are the rover’s first results of the radar imager. Radio waves from the radar bounce off underground materials to reveal their grain size and ability to hold an electric charge. Stronger signals typically indicate larger objects.

What are the Findings?

• The radar did not find any evidence of liquid water down to 80 metres, but it did detect two horizontal layers with interesting patterns.
  • In a layer between 10 and 30 metres deep, the reflection signals strengthened with increasing depth.
  • An older, thicker layer between 30 and 80 metres down showed a similar pattern.
• The older layers (30 and 80 metres) are probably the result of rapid flooding that carried sediments to the region more than three billion years ago, when there was a lot of water activity on Mars.
• The upper layer (between 10 and 30 metres deep) could have been created by another flood some 1.6 billion years ago, when there was lots of glacial activity.
• Radar data is not enough to discern if the underground materials were sediments or volcanic remnants.

What is Zhurong Rover?

• Zhurong named after a Chinese mythical fire god, is China's first Mars rover carried by China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft in 2021.
• During the mission, Zhurong will explore the colossal basin of Utopia Planitia on Mars' northern hemisphere, which was probably formed by an impact early in the planet's history.
• Weighing about 240 kilograms, the ‘Zhurong’ rover is slightly heavier than NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers, but only one-fourth the weight of Perseverance and Curiosity (NASA).
• It is powered by retractable solar panels and fitted with seven primary instruments — cameras, ground-penetrating radar, a magnetic field detector and a weather station.
• The purpose of the radar is to look for signs of ancient life as well as subsurface water.

What are the Key Points Related to Mars?

Size and Distance:

• It is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System.
• Mars is about half the size of Earth.

Similarity to the Earth (Orbit and Rotation):

• As Mars orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 24.6 hours, which is very similar to one day on Earth (23.9 hours).
• Mars' axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This is similar to Earth, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees.
• Mars has distinct seasons like Earth, but they last longer than seasons on Earth.
• Martian days are called sols—short for ‘solar day’.

Other Features:

• The reason Mars looks reddish is due to oxidation or rusting of iron in the rocks, and dust of Mars. Hence it is also called the Red Planet.
• It has the largest volcano in the solar system i.e., Olympus Mons.
• It has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Abortion Rights for Single Women

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court has allowed all women in the country, regardless of marital status, can undergo an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy to access safe and legal abortion care.

What is the SC’s Ruling?

Ruled over an Old Law:

• It has ruled over a 51-year-old abortion law (The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971) which bars unmarried women from terminating pregnancies which are up to 24-weeks old.
  • The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 and its Rules of 2003 prohibit unmarried women who are between 20 weeks to 24 weeks pregnant to abort with the help of registered medical practitioners.
  • The latest amendment to the MTP Act was made in 2021.

Right to Choose under Article 21:

• Court held that the rights of reproductive autonomy, dignity and privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution gives an unmarried woman the right of choice as to whether or not to bear a child on a similar footing as that of a married woman.

Right to Equality under Article 14:

• Prohibiting single or unmarried pregnant women with pregnancies between 20 and 24 weeks from accessing abortion while allowing married women with the same term of pregnancy to access the care was violative of the right to equality before law and equal protection (Article 14).
• A single woman may have suffered the same “change in material circumstances” as a married pregnant woman. She may have been abandoned or without a job or been a victim of violence during her pregnancy.

Not Constitutionally Sustainable:

• Artificial distinction between married and unmarried women is not constitutionally sustainable.
• The benefits of law extend equally to single and married women.
• Extended the Ambit of Reproductive RIghts:
• The term Reproductive Right is not restricted to having or not having children.
• Reproductive rights’ of women included a “constellation of rights, entitlements and freedoms for women”.
• Reproductive rights include the right to access education and information about contraception and sexual health, right to choose safe and legal abortion and right to reproductive health care.

Views on Marital Rape:

• For the sole purpose of the MTP Act, the meaning of rape must include marital rape to marshal a woman’s right to reproductive and decisional autonomy.

What is India’s Abortion Law?

Historical Perspective:

• Until the 1960s, abortion was illegal in India and a woman could face three years of imprisonment and/or a fine under Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
• It was in the mid-1960s that the government set up the Shantilal Shah Committee and asked the group, headed by Dr Shantilal Shah, to look into the matter of abortions and decide if India needed a law for the same.
• Based on the report of the Shantilal Shah Committee, a medical termination bill was introduced in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and was passed by Parliament in August 1971.
• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 came into force on 1st of April 1972 and applied to all of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Also, Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, criminalises voluntarily “causing miscarriage” even when the miscarriage is with the pregnant woman’s consent, except when the miscarriage is caused to save the woman’s life.
  • This means that the woman herself, or anyone else including a medical practitioner, could be prosecuted for an abortion.

About:

• Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 act allowed pregnancy termination by a medical practitioner in two stages:
  • A single doctor's opinion was necessary for abortions up to 12 weeks after conception.
  • For pregnancies between 12 to 20 weeks old, the opinion of two doctors was required to determine if the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury to her physical or mental health or if there is a substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously “handicapped” before agreeing to terminate the woman’s pregnancy.

Recent Amendments:

• In 2021, Parliament amended the law to allow for abortions based on the advice of one doctor for pregnancies up to 20 weeks.
• The modified law needs the opinion of two doctors for pregnancies between 20 and 24 weeks.
• Further, for pregnancies between 20 and 24 weeks, rules specified seven categories of women who would be eligible for seeking termination under section 3B of rules prescribed under the MTP Act,
  • Survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest,
  • Minors,
  • Change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood and divorce),
  • Women with physical disabilities (major disability as per criteria laid down under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016)
  • Mentally ill women including mental retardation,
  • The foetal malformation that has a substantial risk of being incompatible with life or if the child is born it may suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities to be seriously handicapped, and
  • Women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disasters or emergencies may be declared by the Government.

What are the Concerns?

Cases of Unsafe Abortions:

• Unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal mortality in India, and close to 8 women die from causes related to unsafe abortions each day, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)'s State of the World Population Report 2022.
• The women outside marriages and in poor families are left with no choice but to use unsafe or illegal ways to abort unwanted pregnancies.

Shortage of Medical Expert in Rural India:

• According to a 2018 study in the Lancet, 15.6 million abortions were accessed every year in India as of 2015.
• The MTP Act requires abortion to be performed only by doctors with specialisation in gynaecology or obstetrics.
• However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s 2019-20 report on Rural Health Statistics indicates that there is a 70% shortage of obstetrician-gynaecologists in rural India.

Illicit Abortions leading to Maternal Mortality:

• As the law does not permit abortion at will, it pushes women to access illicit abortions under unsafe conditions, thus result in maternal mortality.

Way Forward

• India's legal framework on abortion is largely considered progressive, especially in comparison to many countries including the United States where abortion restrictions are severely restricted — both historically, and at present.
• Further, there is a need for a serious rethink in public policy making, also accommodating all the stakeholders to focus on women and their reproductive rights, rather than drawing red lines those medical practitioners cannot cross while performing abortions.