14th April 2020 Current Affairs in English
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14th APRIL 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Actions giving results; no new cases in 25 districts, says govt.
- Odisha govt. modifies second phase lockdown guidelines
- Free tests only for the poor, clarifies SC
- MGNREGA jobs crash to 1% of normal
- Karnataka to turn to real estate for funds
- Persistent hypoxia triggered deaths
- urged to revoke patent on cancer drug
- Free extension of foreign visas till April 30
- All policy tools at disposal to fight virus impact: RBI
- FRAI urges PM to allow petty shops to open
- Online child porn traffic rises by 95%
- Sacking by subterfuge
1. Actions giving results; no new cases in 25 districts, says govt.
Information in News
- India registered the largest spike in deaths due to COVID-19 on Monday, with 51 being reported in the past 24 hours, the highest since the first case was reported in January.
- The Union Health Ministry, however, on Monday said that implementation of its action plan had started yielding results in 25 districts across 15 States, which had reported cases earlier.
- “These districts have no case reported since the last 14 days and constant vigil is being maintained to ensure that no new cases may occur in future,” Joint Secretary ïn the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said at the daily press briefing.
- The districts include Gondia in Maharashtra, Rajnandgaon, Durg and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, and Davangere, Kodagu, Tumakuru and Udupi in Karnataka. COVID-19 cases have been reported from 364 of the 736 districts across the country.
- The identified five verticals under which we will be working including digital and molecular surveillance, rapid and economical diagnostic, hospital assistive devices and PPEs; and supply chain and logistics support systems.
Reference
2. Odisha govt. modifies second phase lockdown guidelines
Information in News
- From April 15 to 30, the Odisha government has made relaxations to kick-start activities relating to agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, forest, drinking water and e-commerce.
- E-commerce activities would function during the extended lockdown period when companies engaged in home delivery of goods and services would be allowed to operate without any hindrance.
- Restaurants could carry out home delivery but could not allow people to eat inside. Similarly, dhabas would remain open and people could fetch their food to eat outside.
- Activities relating to MGNREGS, Swachh Bharat and rural housing schemes would go on and the Panchayati Raj Department would also facilitate construction and repair of drinking water facilities.
- Farmers can dig farm ponds and purchase agricultural implements (Fertilizer, Insecticides).
- Cooperatives banks and other such institutions can disburse loans to farmers during the lockdown period.
Reference
3. Free tests only for the poor, clarifies SC
Information in News
- The Supreme Court on Monday modified its April 8 order to clarify that free testing for COVID-19 shall continue to be made available to the poor eligible under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
- Free testing would also be made available to any other category of economically weaker sections of society as notified by the government from time to time, the court said.
- Private labs would continue to charge the Indian Council of Medical Research rates of up to ₹4,500 for tests from people who can afford to pay.
The court further directed the Health Ministry to identify beneficiaries among the weaker sections of society, including workers belonging to low income groups in the informal sectors and beneficiaries of Direct Benefit Transfer who can be made eligible for free testing. It directed the Ministry to issue appropriate guidelines in this regard within a week.
Reference
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/free-tests-only-for-the-poor-clarifies-sc/article31334539.ece
4. Centre may raise loan to pay GST dues to States
Information in News
- The Union government is exploring raising a loan to pay the shortfall of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation amount to the States as the latter have had to ramp up spending to combat the outbreak of COVID-19.
- According to senior officials in the Finance Ministry, the idea has been circulated and since the GST Act prohibits withdrawal of funds from the Consolidated Fund, raising loans is being seen as a way out.
- The option of raising a loan on the cess account was discussed and agreed as an option, and the loan accrued would be paid from cess accruals in the future.
Reference
5. MGNREGA jobs crash to 1% of normal
Information in News
With worksites closed, activists urge SC to ensure wages for all those registered.
- Employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has collapsed to just over 1% of the usual rate this month due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
- Activists petitioned the Supreme Court demanding that the government pay full wages to all active job card holders during this time, following its own instructions issued to other employers.
- Data from the MGNREGA website show that less than 1.9 lakh families have been provided work under the scheme so far in April 2020, in comparison to almost 1.6 crore households which were provided work in March, and the 1.8 crore households employed under the scheme in February before the lockdown began.
- Chhattisgarh was the highest employment generator under the scheme in April, providing work to more than 70,000 families, followed by Andhra Pradesh with more than 53,000 households given work.
- Overall, 7.6 crore families hold active job cards under the scheme, and almost 5.5 crore families found work under the scheme last year.
- The crash in employment rates under the scheme is despite the fact that migrant workers returning to villages should have increased demand in rural areas.
- No exceptions from restrictions were provided for the MGNREGA under the lockdown, although States were asked to continue implementing the scheme while following social distancing guidelines.
- While announcing the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana relief package last month, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said MGNREGA daily wages would be increased by ₹20, and would support the 13.6 crore families who hold job cards.
Reference
6. Karnataka to turn to real estate for funds
Information in News
- We expect ₹15,000 crore from auctioning 12,000 corner sites of BDA, says CM.
- The State government, which is staring at a severe financial crunch due to the lockdown in the wake of COVID-19, on Monday decided to turn to real estate sector and monetize government properties besides allowing real estate growth that would bring in additional financial resources to the treasury.
- The monetisation of real estate will also come in the form of amending the law governing permission to allow sites in private and cooperative housing societies, which will help hundreds of housing societies that are waiting for government approval for releasing the sites.
- It was also decided to speed up the disposal of cases related to regularisation of unauthorised constructions that are pending before the High Court and Supreme Court.
- If the courts decide on the matter, thousands of people owning unauthorised houses will be relieved, the statement said.
Reference
7. Floor test is Governor’s discretion
Information in News
This is how the system of parliamentary governance operates, says SC judgment.
- A Governor can call for a floor test any time he objectively feels a government in power has lost the confidence of the House and is on shaky ground, the Supreme Court held on Monday.
- In a judgment, a Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta concluded that a Governor can call for a trust vote if he has arrived at a prima facie opinion, based on objective material, that the incumbent State government has lost its majority in the Assembly.
- The trust vote is to uphold the political accountability of the elected government to the State legislature.
- In directing a trust vote, the Governor does not favour a particular political party. It is inevitable that the specific timing of a trust vote may tilt the balance towards the party possessing a majority at the time the trust vote is directed. All political parties are equally at risk of losing the support of their elected legislators, just as the legislators are at risk of losing the vote of the electorate. This is how the system of parliamentary governance operates
- The intention behind a trust vote was to enable the elected representatives to determine if the Council of Ministers commanded the confidence of the House. It was the MLAs, and not the Governor, who made the ultimate call whether a government should stay in power or not.
- The Governor’s requirement to have a trust vote does not “short-circuit” any disqualification proceedings pending before the Speaker.
- A Governor need not wait for the Speaker’s decision on the resignation of rebel MLAs before calling for a trust vote.
Reference
8. Persistent hypoxia triggered deaths
Information in News
- Persistent hypoxia (reduced oxygen in the cells) was the main trigger for the death of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 in the State, according to doctors.
- In some patients, it happened all of a sudden. In some, their condition did not improve even though they were provided oxygen supply.
Reference
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/persistent-hypoxia-triggered-deaths/article31335416.ece
9. Govt. urged to revoke patent on cancer drug
Information in News
- The Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) has written to the Health Ministry to revoke the Indian patent on Remdesivir, patent No. 332280 granted in A.No.’821 under Section 66 of the Patents Act, 1970, in public interest, immediately.
- Remdesivir, a potential anti-viral drug under testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients.
- Remdesivir is produced by Gilead Life Sciences.
- The efficacy of the drug in curing extremely sick COVID-19 patients, particularly those requiring ventilator assistance, is still being investigated.
- The CPAA said the patent on the drug would make it unaffordable and this would include cancer patients who are at heightened risk of complications from the viral infection.
- The patent ought to be revoked not only on the grounds that it could incentivise other manufacturers to make the drug and offer it cheaply but also on the grounds that the drug wasn’t “novel.”
- The CPAA provides for the treatment and rehabilitation of cancer patients.
- The Office of the Controller of Patents is the Indian body responsible for granting patents. The government has the authority to revoke a patent on a drug if it deems it to be essential.
- Several drugs are in the clinical trial stage, and combination drugs used to treat HIV – Lopinavir and Ritonavir (Kaletra) are also being tested to combat the SARS-Cov2 virus that causes COVID-19.
- Drugs that are useful in the treatment of RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses, like hepatitis C (HCV), HIV, Ebola, etc. are being tested as treatment regimens for COVID-19.
Gilead Life Sciences notes
- While there are no antiviral data for remdesivir that show activity against 2019-nCoV at this time, available data in other coronaviruses give us hope.
- Remdesivir has demonstrated in vitro and in vivo activity in animal models against the viral pathogens MERS and SARS, which are coronaviruses that are structurally similar to 2019-nCoV.
- There are also limited clinical data available from the emergency use of remdesivir in the treatment of patients with Ebola virus infection.
Reference
10. Free extension of foreign visas till April 30
Information in News
The regular visa, e-visa or stay stipulation of foreign nationals who had been stranded because of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent travel restrictions and whose visas had expired from February 1-March 30, “would be extended till April 30” on gratis basis after they apply online, the MHA said.
Reference
11. All policy tools at disposal to fight virus impact: RBI
Information in News
Inflation may ease sooner and faster; agriculture expected to remain resilient: MPC meeting minutes
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will not hesitate to use any conventional or unconventional policy instruments to mitigate the adverse economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The six-member MPC, at a non-scheduled meeting held in the last week of March, had decided to reduce the policy interest rate by 75 basis points (bps) to 4.4%, as the nationwide lockdown brought economic activity into a grinding halt.
- Commenting that there was a rising probability of a global recession, which may be deeper than the one experienced during the global financial crisis.
- The near-term growth outlook for India had also deteriorated sharply due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown.
- The RBI had refrained from making any growth forecast during the policy review meeting.
- The central bank said the inflation outlook had changed drastically due to the sharp fall in oil prices and food prices may also soften further on the back of record food grain and horticulture production.
- Adding the inflation outlook offered the scope for taking a “calculated risk on current levels of inflation which rule above the target and focus on the 12 months-ahead forecast.”
Reference
12. FRAI urges PM to allow petty shops to open
Information in News
- Federation of Retailers’ Association of India (FRAI), a representative body of about four crore micro, small and medium retailers selling soft drinks, mineral water, biscuits, cigarettes, pan and bidis across India, has appealed to the Prime Minister to allow their members to open their shops. It has also sought financial relief from the government.
- Appeal to the PM to immediately announce an economic package to compensate for the losses of petty retailers in daily income under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
- The profit of these micro retailers on selling the products is about ₹15,000 per month.
- While big grocery shops selling essential commodities are allowed to operate during the lockdown, why should our small shopkeeper brothers, who also sell similar goods of daily public needs, be deprived of to earn their livelihood?
Reference
https://www.thehindu.com/business/frai-urges-pm-to-allow-petty-shops-to-open/article31333742.ece
13. Online child porn traffic rises by 95%
Information in News
Consumption of child pornography after the lockdown in the country has gone up by 95% between March 24 and 26, as compared to average traffic before the lockdown, with online data monitoring websites showing an increase in demand for searches like “child porn,” “sexy child” and “teen sex videos.”
The India Child Protection Fund (ICPF) said in a statement citing data from Pornhub, the world’s largest pornography website.
- The ICPF was set up in January 2020 and aims to support NGOs with funding resources for curbing exploitation of children.
- The fund is managed by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s son, Bhuwan Ribhu.
- In a survey conducted in December on demand for child pornography in 100 cities, the ICPF found that on an average there were 5 million downloads per month.
- It also pointed out there was an increase in demand for violent content involving children.
Europol, the United Nations and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking)
- The paedophiles and child pornography addicts have increased activity to target children online to ‘groom’ them and befriending them on social media, building an emotional connection and luring them to perform sexual activities through photos and videos.
ICPF demands an urgent crackdown on child pornography through a pan-India tracker through the use of artificial intelligence which can monitor hosting, sharing, viewing and downloading of child sexual abuse material and provide the information to the government agencies.
Reference
14. Sacking by subterfuge
Information in News
Removal of A.P.’s top election official through ordinance route is a case of abuse of power
- The legality of the removal of the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commissioner (SEC) is seriously in doubt. That it was the culmination of an open conflict between the Election Commissioner, N. Ramesh Kumar, and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy makes it a glaring instance of misuse of power.
- The State government got the Governor to issue an ordinance to cut the SEC’s tenure from five to three years, and amend the criterion for holding that office from being an officer of the rank of Principal Secretary and above to one who had served as a High Court judge.
- This automatically rendered Mr. Kumar’s continuance invalid.
- Last month, just days before the local body polls were to be held, the SEC postponed the elections, citing the COVID-19 outbreak.
- The State government approached the Supreme Court, but the court declined to interfere.
- Having exhausted its legal remedy, the government should have waited for the ongoing fight against the disease to be over.
- Reddy’s allegation that the SEC, an appointee of his predecessor N. Chandrababu Naidu, postponed the polls to prevent a sweep by the YSR Congress may or may not be true.
- However, the Chief Minister has no legal right to terminate the SEC’s tenure, as the Constitution makes the holder of that post removable only in the same manner as a High Court judge.
- If courts uphold this means of dislodging the head of an independent election body, it would mark the end of free and fair elections.
Case Studies
- The State government seems to have gone by legal opinion that cited Aparmita Prasad Singh vs. State of U.P. (2007) in which the Allahabad High Court ruled that cessation of tenure does not amount to removal, and upheld the State Election Commissioner’s term being cut short.
- The Supreme Court, while dismissing an appeal against the order, kept open the legal questions arising from the case.
- The judgment seems erroneous, as it gives a carte blanche to the State government to remove an inconvenient election authority by merely changing the tenure or retirement age.
- This was surely not what was envisioned by Parliament, which wrote into the Constitution provisions to safeguard the independence of the State Election Commission.
- It is a well-settled principle in law that what cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly. Therefore, the removal of an incumbent SEC through the subterfuge of changing the eligibility norms for appointment may not survive judicial scrutiny.
In Constitution
- Further, the Constitution, under Article 243K, prohibits the variation of any condition of service to the detriment of any incumbent.
- Even if the State government argues that a change of tenure does not amount to varying the conditions of service, the new norm can only apply to the successor SEC, and not the one holding the office now.
Reference
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