21st April 2020 Current Affairs in English

21st  April 2020 Current Affairs in English

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^21th  APRIL 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Corona related information and various measures taken by Govt. and States
2. Yamuna water quality improves during lock down: govt. report
3. Takeover fears (A nuanced approach on Chinese investments Using automatic route may have been better.
4. The invisible face of the fallout 

1. Corona related information and various measures taken by Govt. and States

• Eighteen States and Union Territories have “shown improvement” in containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Odisha and Kerala leading the pile, by Health Ministry.
• These were States with a ‘doubling time’ (an indicator of how quickly cases increase) of more than 8.5 days and thus “above” the national average of 7.5 days. This was due to effective measures taken to contain the spread of the virus, Joint Secretary in the Ministry Lav Agrawal said at the daily briefing.
• Kerala has led the States with a doubling rate of 72 days followed at a considerable distance by Odisha at 39.8 days, according to the numbers.
• Longer doubling times have helped stagger the burden on healthcare facilities and improve recovery.
• Several states notably Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka — have said that a sizeable number of those testing positive appeared to be asymptomatic.
• The nature of the infection was that 80% of those afflicted would show mild or no symptoms and the likelihood of antibody tests showing up positive, decreased as one approached the period symptoms started to manifest.

Kerala

• Following the Centre’s strong objections to Kerala easing certain COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the State government on Monday decided not to allow plying of buses in cities, opening of restaurants and pillion riding on two-wheelers.
• In a letter to Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose, on Sunday, the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had said the State government had “diluted” the national timetable for the lifting of curfew sanctions and had “violated” Central government orders and provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Disaster management act in 2005

• The enactment of the disaster management act in 2005, it has enacted a new multidisciplinary focus on disaster prevention and risk reduction and a move away from a relief-centric regime.
• The institutional framework under the Act mandated the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority and state disaster management authorities as the bodies responsible for disaster preparedness and risk reduction at the respective levels.
• The Disaster Management Division of the ministry of Home Affairs’ retained responsibility for steering the national disaster response overall.
• And, it mandated the concerned Ministries and Departments to draw up their own plans in accordance with the National Plan.
• The Act further contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as the creation of funds for the response, National Disaster Mitigation Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels.

2. Yamuna water quality improves during lockdown: govt. report

Information in News

• The quality of water in the Yamuna has improved along the Delhi stretch during the nationwide lockdown, compared to April last year, according to a report by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
• A National Green Tribunal (NGT)–appointed monitoring committee had earlier this month asked the DPCC and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to measure the quality of water in the Yamuna.
• DPCC (Delhi Pollution Control Committee) Report shows,
  • Of the nine locations from where the DPCC took samples, five have shown 18%-33% reduction in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels.
  • Four of the nine locations where dissolved oxygen (DO) was nil in 2019 showed DO levels of 2.3-4.8 mg/l.
• Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had also shown the quality of water has improved during the lockdown and DJB officials had said that it was also due to increased discharge of water from Haryana.

Reasons for the Quality improved

• Due to lockdown effect.
• The dilution is also contributing to the improvement of water quality.
• It was also due to increased discharge of water from Haryana.
• An increased flow of water in the river has also contributed to less pollution.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) 

• BOD is the amount of oxygen needed by microorganisms to decompose organic matter (waste or pollutants) under aerobic reaction (in the presence of oxygen).
• A higher BOD level means that more oxygen is needed to decompose a large quantity of organic matter (waste or pollutants) present in the water. So, a higher value of BOD means that the water is more polluted.

Dissolved oxygen (DO)

• Dissolved oxygen is the amount of dissolved oxygen present in the water which is needed for aquatic life to survive. The quality of water increases with an increase in DO levels.
• A DO level of 5 mg/l or above is the recommended level for bathing in a river and DO levels over 5 mg/l were found only in two locations closer to where the river enters Delhi, as per the report.

Yamuna River

• It is the right-bank tributary of the Ganga.
• It rises from the Yamunotri glacier on the Banderpunch range.
• After cutting a deep gorge across the Shivaliks, it flows south-west and enters the Ganga plain at Paonta Sahib.
• It flows southwards till Agra and moves south-east till it merges with the Ganga at Allahabad.
• The Tons river, the Chambal river, the Sind river, the Betwa river and the Ken river are its four main right-bank tributaries.
• The Hindon, the Sharda river, the Varuna river, the Giri river are its major left-bank tributaries.

National Green Tribunal

• The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
• NGT established for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
• Enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
• The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
• The Tribunal’s dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
• The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
• Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible.
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.
• India is one of only a few countries to have a specialized environmental court system.

The NGT deals with civil cases under the seven laws related to the environment, these include:

1. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,
2. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977,
3. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,
4. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,
5. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,
6. The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and
7. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Structure of NGT

• The Tribunal comprises of the Chairperson, the Judicial Members and Expert Members.
• They shall hold office for term of five years and are not eligible for reappointment.
• The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with Chief Justice of India (CJI).
• A Selection Committee shall be formed by central government to appoint the Judicial Members and Expert Members.
• There are to be least 10 and maximum 20 full time Judicial members and Expert Members in the tribunal.

Editorial

3. Takeover fears(A nuanced approach on Chinese investments Using automatic route may have been better)

Information in News

• The government’s decision to ban foreign direct investments (FDI) through the automatic route from neighbouring countries that share a land border with India has raised eyebrows.
• This is mainly because the move is seen as aimed at Chinese investors who could exploit cheap valuations in the depressed economic conditions post-lockdown to pick up equity interest in select companies.
• India is not alone in this fear of “opportunistic takeovers”, as Press Note 3(2020 Series) of the Commerce Ministry described it. Italy, Spain, France and Australia have already taken similar action to protect their businesses from foreign (read Chinese) investors fishing for distressed entities in need of cash in the post-COVID-19 scenario.
• China’s investment in India has been on a sharp upcurve in the last five years.
• According to a Brookings India study, the total current and planned investment by Chinese entities is over $26 billion. Chinese capital is invested not just in brick-and-mortar industries but in technology and fintech start-ups where Alibaba and Tencent have funded a host of Indian names such as Paytm, Swiggy, Ola, Zomato and BigBasket.
• It is quite possible that a move to curb or control Chinese investment in Indian companies was always on the cards and that COVID-19 was a good excuse to pull the trigger.
• There has always been unease over the fact that there is a thin line that divides the state sector from private enterprise in China and several companies there trace linkages back to the security apparatus of that country.
• So, while the decision to introduce a layer of government approval is probably valid in the current circumstances, the government could have adopted a more nuanced approach.
• Greenfield investments should have been kept out of the purview as they do not pose a threat of takeover of existing business; to the contrary, they create new capacities and businesses in the country.
• A distinction should also have been made based on the class of investors: venture capital funds are financial investors who may not necessarily be interested in taking over and running a business.
• While the FDI route has been plugged, it is not clear what happens to investments that come through the market route.
• SEBI has already sent out missives to custodians asking for details of Chinese holdings in listed entities. How will this be regulated? And again, what happens to FDI that comes in through entities registered in countries that do not share a land border with India but which may trace their beneficial ownership to China?
• And, now that the wall has been raised, approvals should be quick for investment proposals in the technology start-up space, where cash burn is high and existing investors are often tapped for a top-up investment.

Additional Information:

• Foreign investment was introduced in 1991 under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), driven by then FM Manmohan Singh.
• There are two routes by which India gets FDI.
  • Automatic route: By this route, FDI is allowed without prior approval by Government or RBI.
  • Government route: Prior approval by the government is needed via this route. The application needs to be made through Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which will facilitate single-window clearance of FDI application under Approval Route.
• There are several ways in which companies can invest directly in foreign markets:

1. 1. Construction of facilities or investment in facilities in a foreign market (Greenfield investments)
   2. Mergers and acquisitions Investment in a joint venture located in a foreign market
   3. Investment in a joint venture located in a foreign market

Greenfield investment and Brownfield Investment

Greenfield investment is investment in new plants. It is establishing new production capacity by an investor or company. On the other, Brownfield investment is an investor investing in an existing plant. Brownfield investment is mainly made through merger and acquisitions.

Greenfield FDI and Brownfield FDI

Applying the same criteria,

• Greenfield FDI in India is investment by a foreign investor in fresh production facilities. It is a situation where an MNC starts a new venture in India by constructing new operational facilities.
• This new production capacity creation will bring new physical assets (like plants and machineries), creates fresh employment and adds to more production of the concerned good. Often Greenfield FDI has a merit that it brings superior technology by the MNC.
• Brownfield FDI is investment made by a foreign company in existing production arrangements. An important form of Brownfield investment is merger and acquisition by foreign MNCs in India. Here, a domestic company is taken over by the MNC.
• Greenfield FDI makes additional production capacity, whereas Brownfield FDI is purchase of existing production capacities. The latter is just a transfer of ownership of existing firm from a domestic entrepreneur to a foreign one.

4. The invisible face of the fallout 

Information in News

The traditional gender role that women play distinctly affects them in  global crises as seen in numerous examples.

While catastrophes (Corona) affect people at large, the economical, sociological and psychological impact that each catastrophe has on women is profound. Data indicate the need to address this during and after these catastrophic episodes.

Case Studies

1. In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the coastlines of countries in the region, including India, were affected and more than 2,00,000 people were killed or listed missing; a fourth of them were women.
   • Women lack many life skills such as swimming and climbing.
   • Women also faced hygiene challenges in these camps due to inadequate sanitation facilities.
2. In the United States, which has a high incidence of tornadoes, families headed by  women are affected the most. Women often are engaged in sector-specific employment which when impacted result in unemployment. 
3. In Kerala, after the floods in 2018-19, Flood-destroyed kitchens forced women to cook in the open air with whatever they were left with.

• According to World Health Organization data, around 70% of the world’s health workers are women, 79% of nurses are women.
• According to 2015-16 National Family Health Survey, around 30% of women in the age group 15 to 49 years face domestic violence.
• A recent report highlighted how the National Commission for Women has received 587 complaints relating to crimes against women from March 23 to April 16, out of which 239 were related to domestic violence.

Tensions, pressure, violence faced by Women during Pandemic

• 70% of world Health workers are women. So, Health workers in general are highly vulnerable and not ensuring their safety is a high risk that can severely impact the health system.
• India has a million-plus accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers who are an integral part of its health system. ASHAs, who work at the ground level, are reporting incidents of attacks while on COVID-19 duty. Stringent action against their tormentors is needed to ensure their professional safety.
• In many households where both partners work, the work from home (WFH) concept is now common. As traditional role play is still prevalent in most sections of Indian society, the equal division of household responsibilities among couples is still distant. Women from all strata face substantial additional household work.
• Alongside this is the fear of job loss and reduced income which can create mental pressure on women, in turn affecting their physical well-being.
• A large number of daily wageworkers resort to alcohol consumption. The ban on alcohol sales, as a part of the national lockdown, is contributing to domestic tensions, leading to women abuse.
• Hormone-induced depression among women is another key point that needs to be understood and acknowledged. Women are twice as likely to face depression when compared to men.
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) among re-productive age groups, pregnancy-related depressive conditions, postpartum depression (PPDs) among new mothers as well as premenopausal and menopausal symptoms are common, interfering in everyday life and relationships. The lockdown is adding more intensity to these conditions.

Way Forward

What is important is to develop a culture of including women’s safety in the planning phase itself irrespective of whatever the nature of the crisis is.

• Assigning ASHA workers to specifically address women’s welfare during this pandemic.
• Setting up exclusive cells to quickly address domestic violence and women’s health-related issues, including men in conversations, and even online counselling for alcoholism in men are not difficult to implement.
• Steps such as roping in non-governmental organisations, psychology students, teachers and volunteers and also using technology platforms would help speed action.

a. National Family Health Survey (NFHS)

• The National Family Health Survey is a survey carried out on a massive scale across the country to collect information on many parameters which would ultimately help the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) to frame policies and programs to help in upliftment of the vulnerable groups in India. 
• First survey was conducted in 1992-93.
• The objective of conducting the NFHS is to collect information of the following
  • Fertility
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Reproductive Health
  • Nutrition
  • Anaemia
  • Infant and Child Mortality
  • Family Planning
• MOHFW has appointed International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai as the Nodal agency.

b. Accredited social health activist (ASHA)

• An accredited social health activist(ASHA) is a community health worker instituted by the government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) as a part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

ACCREDITED SOCIAL HEALTH ACTIVIST (ASHA)

One of the key components of the National Rural Health Mission is to provide every village in the country with a trained female community health activist ASHA or Accredited Social Health Activist. Selected from the village itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. Following are the key components of ASHA:

• ASHA must primarily be a woman resident of the village married/ widowed/ divorced, preferably in the age group of 25 to 45 years.
• She should be a literate woman with due preference in selection to those who are qualified up to 10 standard wherever they are interested and available in good numbers. This may be relaxed only if no suitable person with this qualification is available.
• ASHA will be chosen through a rigorous process of selection involving various community groups, self-help groups, Anganwadi Institutions, the Block Nodal officer, District Nodal officer, the village Health Committee and the Gram Sabha.
• Capacity building of ASHA is being seen as a continuous process. ASHA will have to undergo series of training episodes to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence for performing her spelled out roles.
• The ASHAs will receive performance-based incentives for promoting universal immunization, referral and escort services for Reproductive & Child Health (RCH) and other healthcare programmes, and construction of household toilets.
• Empowered with knowledge and a drug-kit to deliver first-contact healthcare, every ASHA is expected to be a fountainhead of community participation in public health programmes in her village.
• ASHA will be the first port of call for any health related demands of deprived sections of the population, especially women and children, who find it difficult to access health services.
• ASHA will be a health activist in the community who will create awareness on health and its social determinants and mobilise the community towards local health planning and increased utilisation and accountability of the existing health services.
• She would be a promoter of good health practices and will also provide a minimum package of curative care as appropriate and feasible for that level and make timely referrals.
• ASHA will provide information to the community on determinants of health such as nutrition, basic sanitation & hygienic practices, healthy living and working conditions, information on existing health services and the need for timely utilisation of health & family welfare services.
• She will counsel women on birth preparedness, importance of safe delivery, breast-feeding and complementary feeding, immunization, contraception and prevention of common infections including Reproductive Tract Infection/Sexually Transmitted Infections (RTIs/STIs) and care of the young child.
• ASHA will mobilise the community and facilitate them in accessing health and health related services available at the Anganwadi/sub-centre/primary health centers, such as immunisation, Ante Natal Check-up (ANC), Post Natal Check-up supplementary nutrition, sanitation and other services being provided by the government.
• She will act as a depot older for essential provisions being made available to all habitations like Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORS), Iron Folic Acid Tablet(IFA), chloroquine, Disposable Delivery Kits (DDK), Oral Pills & Condoms, etc.
• At the village level it is recognised that ASHA cannot function without adequate institutional support. Women’s committees (like self-help groups or women’s health committees), village Health & Sanitation Committee of the Gram Panchayat, peripheral health workers especially ANMs and Anganwadi workers, and the trainers of ASHA and in-service periodic training would be a major source of support to ASHA.