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RSTV IAS UPSC – Pharmaceutical Marketing Malpractices

Pharmaceutical Marketing Malpractices Archives General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. In News: A recent report by a public health group on pharmaceutical marketing practices has revealed widespread use of bribes and inducement by Pharma companies to the doctors in order to increase the sale of their products.  The medical representative respondents also disclosed that the pressure on them was “tremendous” adding to their stress levels as they were “tracked by their supervisors using iPads.” Medical representatives also cited that only 10-20% doctors follow the MCI code of ethics, while in some cases doctors even demand “incentives” to push a product. Medical representatives of not just allopathy, but even ayurvedic and homeopathic companies, reported being under massive pressure to meet high sales targets. The report cited medical representatives as saying that that company officials even monitor business generated by doctors on whom they have ‘invested’ money. Pharma companies are holding training workshops or sessions for medical representatives, focused more on salesmanship and ‘managing customer (doctors) relations’, instead of enhancing their technical knowledge about the product they are handling. The report also noted a new trend – the  propaganda-cum-distribution companies these days float new entities that are franchisees of the pharma companies who buy drugs in bulk from manufacturers, give their own brand names and directly sell them to retailers and doctors at huge discounts and incentives including gifts, cash, hospitality and travel facilities Indian pharmaceutical companies received a third of the warnings the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued for misbranding, selling unapproved medicines and violating Current Good Management Practices (CGMP) so far this year. According to section 501(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) violations of CGMP by a drug manufacturer can result in its product being categorised as adulterated. Management oversight, non-conformity to standards, batch failures, contamination are some of the constituents of CGMP violations. An unhealthy alliance between doctors and pharma firms For doctors the Medical Council of India has a code of ethics which bars them from accepting any gifts, cash, travel facilities or hospitality from Pharma companies. However for the pharmaceutical companies there is a voluntary code known as Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical marketing practices or UCPMP which experts says is a not a very effective mechanism to check the prevailing malpractices.  What’s alarming is that there is no law to punish those guilty of the unethical practice; and the government refuses to blink. Result: patients are forced to buy costly medicines. In 2015, the government had notified the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), crucial for an industry that until now had nothing to regulate it—neither a law nor any guidelines. The Union government still sits on a 2015 proposal to enforce a uniform marketing practices code for pharma companies, entailing stringent penalties. A year and a half ago, a draft of regulatory codes which was sent to Law Ministry to reign in unethical practices under Essential Commodities Act was rejected. Yet, the Ministry of Health in a reply to a Right of Information (RTI) report said that the draft was being discussed [caption id="attachment_54250" align="aligncenter" width="330"] RSTV IAS UPSC – Pharmaceutical Marketing Malpractices[/caption] Source: DownToEarth The AMR Threat The health threat is posed to millions of unsuspecting people, who fall prey to irrational prescriptions pushing drugs that may be hazardous for health.  Rising use of antibiotics is the main cause of antimicrobial resistance, one of the world’s greatest health threats. Bacteria evolve resistance to drugs naturally over time, becoming superbugs, but mass or inappropriate use dramatically speeds up this process. The Way Ahead There is a need for a mandatory code for identifying and penalizing unethical promotion on the part of pharma companies.  Mandated disclosure by Pharmaceutical companies of the expenditure incurred on drug promotion Ghost writing in promotion of pharma products to attract disqualification of the author and penalty on the company Vetting of drug related material in Continuing Medical Education  Health care isn’t just another consumer product. It is more than that. The Hippocratic ideals of putting patients first are ingrained in our culture and reflected in the regulation of medical licenses and malpractice law. But although Hippocratic ideals have long been the basis of expectations for medical professionals, they haven’t yet been formally applied to health care companies. This is a major shortcoming in an era when the actions of large health systems, pharmaceutical companies, device companies, and insurance companies can have even greater effects on patients than the actions of individual clinicians. Connecting the Dots: Ethical practice can be enforced only through peer pressure. Legislation is no solution to the malady. Discuss. Explain the potential and problems being faced by pharmaceuticals industry in India. What is the socio-economic significance of this industry? How IPR issues have posed a serious threat to this sector? Do you think drug pricing policy in India needs an overhaul? Examine. You are the head of the Ethics Committee on Genetic Engineering. Your job is to examine the ethical dimensions in the field of genetic engineering. One day you receive an application for ethical clearance from a big pharma company which is planning to launch the technology of embryonic gene editing. This technology shall help expecting parents to have children with desired traits and qualities. Moreover, it shall also reduce the risk of chronic diseases in the lifecycle of the newly born. You get a felling that allowing this technology will create a controversy. A section in the society feels that it would be immoral to interfere with God’s creation. Moreover, such decision would also leave the poor and marginalised sections deprived of the fruits of the new technology as it is highly expensive. On the other hand, the scientific community backing this technology believes that such a ground breaking success should not be wasted on moral or ethical grounds. It has always been in the nature of human beings to innovate and invent, thereby, improving the quality of life. Gene editing would be immensely beneficial for humanity as it would open endless possibilities for improving human life and alleviate their sufferings. What decision would you take in this regard? Substantiate your view point with suitable reasoning. (250 Words) (20) (Refer Solution)

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Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 6th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 6th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Economy In News Anticipating shortage of domestic supplies, Alcohol manufacturers have sought a reduction in import duty to make it cost-effective for them to import Extra Neutral Alcohol from global markets. Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) is the primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages. It is a colourless food-grade alcohol that does not have any impurities.  It has a neutral smell and taste, and typically contains over 95 per cent alcohol by volume.  It is derived from different sources — sugarcane molasses and grains — and is used in the production of alcoholic beverages such as whisky, vodka, gin, cane, liqueurs, and alcoholic fruit beverages. ENA also serves as an essential ingredient in the manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products such as perfumes, toiletries, hair spray, etc.  Given its properties as a good solvent, ENA also finds industrial use and is utilised in the production of some lacquers, paints and ink for the printing industry, as well as in pharmaceutical products such as antiseptics, drugs, syrups, medicated sprays. Like ethanol, ENA is a byproduct of the sugar industry, and is formed from molasses that are a residue of sugarcane processing RBI keeps interest rate unchanged Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III - Economy In News The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced that it would not cut the repo rate (presently at 5.15%) in its last monetary policy review for the current calendar year Repo rate is the rate at which India’s central bank loans money to the banking system.  It is also the rate to which all new loans in the economy are benchmarked.  A cut in the repo rate would have signalled a further reduction in the interest rate new borrowers — hoping to avail loans for homes and cars etc. — will be charged by the banking system. Most economists and bankers expected the RBI to cut the repo rate in a bid to boost India’s sharply decelerating economic growth. In the first five bi-monthly policy reviews of 2020, the RBI had cut repo rate by 135 basis points.But only about 44 bps have been passed on to the consumers of new loans. The RBI believes that with more time, the monetary transmission will deepen. RBI also pointed to the fact that there is money in the market if one wants to borrow but credit off-take has been weak and it is unlikely to improve by another rate cut. When it comes to monetary policy, the RBI’s most important mandate is to maintain price stability. With rising inflation, RBI is worried that further cut in repo rate would further fuel inflation. Do You Know? The RBI is required by law to maintain retail inflation — which is based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) — at the 4% level (with a band of variation of 2 percentage point) Retail inflation rose to a 16-month high in October and breached the RBI’s target level of 4% even as India’s GDP growth decelerated for the sixth consecutive quarter to just 4.5% in Q2 (July to September), which is a new six-year low. The reason for the rise in inflation is the spike in food prices, as agriculture sector suffered from the unexpected weather shocks such as unseasonal rains (in Karnataka, Maharashtra & Kerala) [caption id="attachment_54222" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 5th December 2019[/caption] Src: Click here Uighur issue Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- International Relations In News On December 3rd, the US House of Representatives passed by a 407-1 vote a Bill -The Uighur Human Rights Policy Act 2019 -  that seeks to impose sanctions on senior Chinese officials for their involvement in the detention of Muslims. The billalso calls for the United States Secretary of Commerce to consider prohibiting the sale of US-made goods or services to any state agent in Xinjiang. The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group who live in East and Central Asia.They live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, where they are one of 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. Uyghurs primarily practice Islam. China has detained at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims, including ethnic Kazakhs and Uzbeks, in “re-education camps” in the country’s northwesternXinjiang province. The crackdown against the Muslims in the region — who are ethnically and culturally closer to central Asia than to the mainland Han Chinese — intensified after riots broke out in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009, in which over 200 people were killed. Do You Know? President Trump signed into law on November 27 The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act 2019. Under this law, the US government must impose sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong. Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Economy In News IEPFA signed a MOU with Bank of Baroda for Investor Awareness. In 2016, Government of India established IEPFA under the provisions of section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013. The Authority is entrusted with the responsibility of administration of the Investor Education Protection Fund (IEPF), make refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits/debentures etc. to investors and to promote awareness among investors. Zero FIR Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Polity& Governance In News In the context of the Hyderabad Veterinary doctor rape& murder case, her family alleged that the Shamsabad police station delayed the filing of an FIR citing jurisdictional issues FIR which stands for First Information Report has serial number, date of occurrence, time of occurrence, place of occurrence, contents of complaint etc. and it is lodged because of commission of cognizable offence (an offence in which police can take suo moto action and no prior approval from court is required).  Every police station has jurisdictional area for which they can take up the investigation if commission of cognizable offence area found under their jurisdiction. But in Zero FIR, any police station can register FIR irrespective of jurisdictional area but the investigation will be taken up the police in which place of occurrence reported in FIR.  The police station can register the zero FIR marking it serial number zero and transfer to the competent jurisdictional area which can carry out the investigation. The sanctity of legal process remains same in zero FIR. It is very helpful for people as it facilitates them by not allowing to make rounds of different police station for lodging the FIR. Do You Know? A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in LalitaKumari v. Govt. of U.P held that registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence. Inspite of the Justice Verma Committee report and also the multiple advisories issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the registration of Zero FIR, the police are still reluctant to register a case of cognizable offence especially in cases relating to heinous crimes against women.  Nirav Modi now a fugitive economic offender Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Economy In News A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court declared diamond trader Nirav Modi, an accused in the Punjab National Bank scam case, a fugitive economic offender. Nirav Modi is the second person to be declared a fugitive economic offender, under the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, after liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Now, the Union government can confiscate his assets. The declaration would also help in the extradition proceedings pending before a United Kingdom court About Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 The objective of the act is to deter economic offenders from avoiding the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. FEO is defined as an individualwho has committed offences involving an amount of 100 crore rupees or more and has ran away from India to avoid criminal prosecution. (MAINS FOCUS) INTERNAL SECURITY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights. Personal Data Protection Bill The Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, has been approved by the Cabinet and is slated to be placed in Parliament this winter session.  What do we mean by data? Data usually refers to information about messages, social media posts, online transactions, and browser searches. The individual whose data is being stored and processed is called the data principal in the PDP Bill.  This large collection of information has become an important source of profits, but also a potential avenue for invasion of privacy because it can reveal extremely personal aspects.  Companies, governments, and political parties can use it to find the most convincing ways to advertise online. Who handles data and how? Data is stored in a physical space similar to a file cabinet of documents, and  It is transported across country borders in underwater cables that run as deep as Mount Everest and as long as four times the Indian Ocean.  To be considered useful, data has to be processed, which means analysed by computers. Data is collected and handled by entities called data fiduciaries.  The fiduciary controls how and why data is processed,  The processing itself may be by a third party, the data processor. For example, in the US, Facebook (the data controller) fell into controversy for the actions of the data processor — Cambridge Analytica. The physical attributes of data — where data is stored, where it is sent, where it is turned into something useful — are called data flows.  Data localisation arguments are premised on the idea that data flows determine who has access to the data, who profits off it, who taxes and who “owns” it.  However, many contend that the physical location of the data is not relevant in the cyber world. How does the PDP Bill propose to regulate data transfer? To legislate on the topic, the Bill trifurcates personal data.  The umbrella group is all personal data — data from which an individual can be identified.  Some types of personal data are considered sensitive personal data (SPD), which the Bill defines as financial, health, sexual orientation, biometric, genetic, transgender status, caste, religious belief, and more.  Another subset is critical personal data. The government at any time can deem something critical, and has given examples as military or national security data. The approved Bill requires individual consent for data transfer abroad.  The Bill also requires sensitive personal data to be stored only in India.  It can be processed abroad only under certain conditions including approval of a Data Protection Agency (DPA).  The final category of critical personal data must be stored and processed in India. The Bill mandates fiduciaries to give the government any non-personal data when demanded. Non-personal data refers to anonymised data, such as traffic patterns or demographic data.   The Bill requires social media companies, to develop their own user verification mechanism.  While the process can be voluntary for users and can be completely designed by the company, it may decrease the anonymity of users and “prevent trolling”. The Bill includes exemptions for processing data without an individual’s consent for “reasonable purposes”, including security of the state, detection of any unlawful activity or fraud, whistleblowing, etc.  The Bill calls for the creation of an independent regulator DPA, which will oversee assessments and audits and definition making.  Each company will have a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who will liaison with the DPA for auditing, grievance redressal, recording maintenance and more.  It also grants individuals the right to data portability, and the ability to access and transfer one’s own data. It legislates on the right to be forgotten. With historical roots in European Union law, this right allows an individual to remove consent for data collection and disclosure. The two sides of the debate: For data localisation A common argument from government officials has been that data localisation will help law-enforcement access data for investigations and enforcement.  As of now, much of cross-border data transfer is governed by individual bilateral “mutual legal assistance treaties” — a process that almost all stakeholders agree is cumbersome.  In addition, proponents highlight security against foreign attacks and surveillance.  The government doubled down on this argument after news broke that 121 Indian citizens’ WhatsApp accounts were hacked by an Israeli software called Pegasus. Many domestic-born technology companies, which store most of their data exclusively in India, support localisation. Eg: Paytm and Reliance Jio. Many economy stakeholders say localisation will also increase the ability of the Indian government to tax Internet giants. Against the Bill Civil society groups have criticised the open-ended exceptions given to the government in the Bill, allowing for surveillance.  Moreover, some lawyers contend that security and government access are not achieved by localisation.  Even if the data is stored in the country, the encryption keys may still be out of reach of national agencies. Technology giants like Facebook and Google and their industry bodies, especially those with significant ties to the US, have slung heavy backlash.  Many are concerned with a fractured Internet (or a “splinternet”), where the domino effect of protectionist policy will lead to other countries following suit.  Much of this sentiment harkens to the values of a globalised, competitive internet marketplace, where costs and speeds determine information flows rather than nationalistic borders.  Opponents say protectionism may backfire on India’s own young startups that are attempting global growth, or on larger firms that process foreign data in India, such as Tata Consulting Services and Wipro. Conclusion: Without an enabling law, the exemptions provided in the bill will fall short of securing accountability from the state for activities such as dragnet surveillance. The grey areas must spark public and parliamentary debate before a final legislation comes to fruition. Connecting the dots : The data protection bill ticks many boxes. Critically examine  ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Money-laundering and its prevention Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) A Mumbai PMLA judge declared jeweller Nirav Modi, a “fugitive economic offender” (FEO) on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Background: Diamantaire Nirav Modi is wanted in the Rs13,570 crore-fraud caused to the Punjab National Bank.  He left the country to avoid criminal prosecution,  After getting him declared a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO), way has been paved for the premier probe agency to confiscate his offshore assets. He is the second citizen to be declared FEO under the special law.  Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya was the first Indian national to be declared earlier this year. Both Mallya and Nirav Modi are in the United Kingdom, and fighting extradition to India. Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO): An FEO is defined by The Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018 as “any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to a scheduled offence has been issued by any court in India, who (i) has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or (ii) being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution”. The FEO Act aims “to provide for measures to deter fugitive economic offenders from evading the process of law in India by staying outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts, to preserve the sanctity of the rule of law in India and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”. The FEO Bill came into effect in 2018. Why was such a law required? Economic offences relate to fraud, counterfeiting, money-laundering, tax evasion, etc.  Among the laws available for prosecuting these offences are The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, The Benami Properties Transactions Act, 1988, and The Companies Act, 2013. Sections of The Indian Penal Code, 1860 and The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, also cover offences such as forgery and cheating. In 2017, Finance Ministry released a draft Bill to address cases of high-value economic offenders fleeing the country to avoid prosecution.  It was observed that existing civil and criminal laws did not contain specific provisions to deal with such offenders, and that a new legal framework was needed to prosecute them. The ministry also argued that procedures under these laws were time-consuming, led to roadblocks in investigation and impacted the financial health of banks. In March 2018, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that over 30 businessmen, under investigation by the CBI and the ED, had absconded to avoid facing prosecution before Indian courts. What is the process for declaring an individual an FEO? Under the Act, an application must be filed in the special court asking that a particular individual may be declared an FEO. The application must be accompanied by “reasons for the belief that an individual is a fugitive economic offender; any information available as to the whereabouts of the fugitive economic offender; a list of properties or the value of such properties believed to be the proceeds of crime, etc.” The special court may then issue a notice to the individual to appear at a specified place, and drop the proceedings if the individual complies. If, however, the special court is satisfied that an individual is an FEO, it may, record so in order, along with reasons.  The court may then order the confiscation of the properties of the accused individual in India or abroad. In the case of Nirav Modi, the ED filed an application under the FEO Act in July 2018. In the case of Mallya, the application was moved in June 2018, when the Act was still an Ordinance. Connecting the dots: With new rules, ‘fugitive economic offender’ law has more teeth. Comment. (TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE) Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section) Note:  Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.  Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”. Q.1) Consider the following statements about Extra Neutral Alcohol It acts as the primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages It serves as an essential ingredient in the manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products such as perfumes, toiletries, hair spray Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Uyghurs often seen in news is predominantly associated with which country?  South Africa Australia Myanmar China Q.3) Consider the following statements Repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) loans money to the banking system  The RBI is required by law to maintain retail inflation — which is based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) — at the 2% level (with a band of variation of 1 percentage point) Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Consider the following statements about Zero First Information Report (FIR) in Zero FIR, any police station can register FIR irrespective of jurisdictional area but the investigation will be taken up the police in which place of occurrence reported in FIR.  It is very helpful for public as it facilitates them by not allowing to make rounds of different police station for lodging the FIR. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 and 2 only 2 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3 Q.5) Consider the following statements about Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO FEO is defined as an individual who has committed offences involving an amount of 100 crore rupees or more and has ran away from India to avoid criminal prosecution. Only after theSupreme Court declares the person as FEO, the Government can confiscate all his properties. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 and 2 only 2 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3 ANSWERS FOR 05 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 B 2 D 3 C 4 C 5 C MUST READ Bail basics: On Chidambaram case The Hindu A strategic pause: On RBI holding interest rate The Hindu A potential seedbed for private profits The Hindu  Behind the rage, Iranians dream of democracy  The Hindu Two-nation Citizen IE

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RSTV IAS UPSC – Climate Change & India

Climate Change & India Archives TOPIC: General Studies 3 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation In News: The 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held in Spain from 2nd December this year. CoP 25 holds a lot of significance as countries prepare to move from pre 2020 period under Kyoto protocol to post 2020 period under Paris Agreement.  India is all set to stress upon the need for fulfilling pre 2020 commitments by developed countries and that pre 2020 implementation gaps should not present an additional burden to developing countries in the post 2020 period.  The Situation According to the 2019 WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached another new record high. This continuing long-term trend means that future generations will be confronted with increasingly severe impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures, more extreme weather, water stress, sea level rise and disruption to marine and land ecosystems. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned, in its 2019 Emissions Gap Report, that greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030 are needed to meet the internationally agreed goal of a 1.5°C increase in temperatures over pre-industrial levels. Scientists agree that’s a tall order, and that the window of opportunity is growing smaller.  The 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, more commonly known as COP25, will be the “the COP of implementation”. At the summit, countries will finalize the mechanisms for meeting their climate commitments, and at least try to stave off the worst-case scenario. Because the UNFCCC had non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries, and no enforcement mechanism, various extensions to this treaty were negotiated during recent COPs, including most recently the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, in which all countries agreed to step up efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures and boost climate action financing. COP25 is the final COP before we enter the defining year of 2020, when many nations must submit new climate action plans. Among the many elements that need to be ironed out is the financing of climate action worldwide. Currently, not enough is being done to meet the three climate goals:  Reducing emissions 45 per cent by 2030 Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 (which means a net zero carbon footprint) Stabilizing global temperature rise at 1.5°C by the end of the century Setting rules for international carbon markets A carbon market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for emission reductions they make in excess of what is required of them. These credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange of money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission reductions as their own and use them to meet their own emission reduction targets. A carbon market already existed under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the earlier climate agreement that will expire next year and get replaced by Paris Agreement. In the last one decade, as several countries walked out of the Kyoto Protocol and no one was feeling compelled to meet their emission reduction targets, the demand for carbon credits had waned. As a result, developing countries like India, China and Brazil had accumulated huge amounts of carbon credits. These credits are now in danger of getting redundant. What happens to the carbon credits already accumulated? Brazil has been arguing that these accumulated carbon credits should remain valid under the new carbon market to be instituted. But the developed countries have been resisting this, claiming that the weak verification mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol had allowed dubious projects to earn credits. India, which has accumulated 750 million certified emission reductions (CERs), is backing Brazil’s position on this. Resolution of this tussle is key to the success of the Madrid meeting. But there are other pending issues as well, like those related to ensuring transparency in the processes, and methods of reporting information. Developing countries will also try to ensure that there is greater appreciation and recognition of the issue of loss and damage. They are trying to institute a mechanism to compensate countries that suffer major losses due to climate change-induced events like cyclones or floods. Many countries plan to meet their climate goals in part by buying carbon credits to offset their own emissions, paying to prevent deforestation in other countries, or planting trees.  Changes in land use, including deforestation, currently accounts for around a quarter of global emissions. While long-lived trees in diverse, native ecosystems have the potential to store tremendous reserves of carbon, trees planted for offsets are often temporary.  In some cases, eucalyptus or palm oil plantations can be counted as “reforestation,” despite the fact that they are planted only to be cut down (eucalyptus) or have measurably devastating impacts on the environment (oil palms). Cabinet approves India's stand at upcoming UN COP 25 on climate change India is a Party to the  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol (KP) Paris Agreement (PA): Has mechanisms like global stock-take and ratcheting up action every 5 years to address climate change and avoid adverse consequences. For addressing the challenge of climate change, India adheres to the paramountcy of the UNFCCC processes. It has proactively contributed to multilateral efforts to combat climate change and continues to do so while undertaking its own independent, enhanced initiatives in climate mitigation and adaptation besides meeting all its commitments under the UNFCCC, its KP and PA. Independent studies rate India’s efforts highly and compliant with the requirements under PA. Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure: Will serve as a platform to generate and exchange knowledge on different aspects of climate and disaster resilient infrastructure 'Leadership Group for Industry Transition' launched jointly by India and Sweden, will provide a platform for government and the private sector in different countries to work together on accelerating low carbon growth and cooperation in the area of technology innovation. India will also insist upon the principle of ‘equity and common but differentiated responsibilities’: It means that while all countries should do their best to fight global warming, developed countries – with deeper pockets, who were primarily responsible for the climate mess – should take a bigger share of the burden than the developing and under-developed countries. Conclusion Because the clock is ticking on climate change, the world cannot afford to waste more time, and a bold, decisive, ambitious way forward needs to be agreed. The Madrid meeting will determine how, or whether, the promises of the Paris Agreement will be turned into action. Note: The abbreviation ‘COP’ expands as ‘Conference of Parties’ and here the word ‘parties’ refers to the countries that were parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These ‘parties’ generally meet every year and next week’s meeting will be the Silver Jubilee conference. COP 22: Marrakesh, Morocco COP23: Bonn, Germany COP24: Katowice, Poland COP25: Madrid, Spain – The effort would be to get the ‘Paris rulebook’ all done and dusted so that all rules are in place for the agreement to kick-in. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries.  Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets. The mechanism is seen by many as a trailblazer. It is the first global, environmental investment and credit scheme of its kind, providing a standardized emissions offset instrument, CERs. A CDM project activity might involve, for example, a rural electrification project using solar panels or the installation of more energy-efficient boilers. The mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction or limitation targets. Zero Carbon Law New Zealand’s Parliament passed The Zero-Carbon Act, which will commit New Zealand to zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner, as part of the country’s attempts to meet its Paris climate accord commitments. This is the first legislation in the world to make a legally binding commitment to living within 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. The key aims of the Act include:  Reduce all greenhouse gases (except methane) to net zero by 2050, Reduce emissions of biogenic methane (produced from biological sources) up to 24-47 percent below 2017 levels by 2050 and to 10 percent below 2017 levels by 2030 Establish an independent Climate Change Commission  Establish a system of emissions budget. About Biogenic methane  It is emitted by livestock, waste treatment and wetlands. The Act proposes separate targets for biogenic methane because methane is a short-lived gas and degrades into the atmosphere over the decades even though it is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide Must Read:  60 Crore Indians at Risk Rising Oceans, Sinking Cities Connecting the Dots: a) What does this canvas of global climate politics mean for India? b) Discuss the factors responsible for long term climate change. What evidences do we have that support current global warming. Explain. c) Which of the following are the possible impacts of Climate Change? Decline in average yield potential of maize and rice  Rise in infectious diseases High frequency of deadly heat waves Select the correct answer from the codes given below. 1 and 2 only 2 and 3 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3

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Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 5th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 5th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) Nod for Data Protection Bill Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Security In News The Union Cabinet approved the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill in Parliament. The draft bill, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, was prepared by a high-level expert committee headed by former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna. Some of the features of the proposed bill are: The bill classifies ‘sensitive personal data’ as including passwords, financial data, health data, sex life, sexual orientation, biometric data, genetic data, transgender status, intersex status, caste or tribe, and religious or political belief or affiliation.  The draft Bill says that such sensitive personal data can be processed only with the explicit consent of the person, and this consent needs to be informed, clear, and specific, as defined by the Bill itself. The draft bill also has a provision for the right to be forgotten, where the person “shall have the right to restrict or prevent continuing disclosure of personal data”. There is also a provision for the central government to notify categories of personal data as critical personal data, which will then be only processed in a server or data centre located in India. Personal data is to be stored in India, but can be processed outside with the consent of the person. The draft Bill also specifies penalties for not following its provisions, including a penalty of ₹5 crore or 2% of turnover, whichever is higher, if no action is taken on a data leak. World Malaria Report 2019  Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- Health In News World Malaria Report 2019 was recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO). Globally, there were 228 million cases of malaria in 2018, down from 251 million cases in 2010 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and India accounted for 85 per cent of the global malaria burden in 2018 Compared to 2017, India reported 2.6 million fewer cases in 2018. This makes India the country with the largest absolute reductions among the countries that share 85% of the malaria burden. The major challenges in India remains decreased funding, treatment failures and vector resistance to pyrethroids, the insectides used against the vectors Do You Know? Malaria is mainly caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites. It is transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria is transmitted by blood, so it can also be transmitted through an organ transplant, a transfusion and use of shared needles or syringes. It is preventable and curable. Delhi to get 11,000 hotspots across city Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Infrastructure In News Delhi government announced the installation of 11,000 hotspots across Delhi as part of the free Wi-Fi scheme promised by the AamAadmi Party in its 2015 manifesto. Of the 11,000 hotspots, around 4,000 would come up near bus stands and the remaining 7,000 across marketplaces with each constituency to get 100 hotspots each The total expenditure on the installation will be around ₹100 crore, The people of Delhi will be able to locate a Wi-Fi connection after every 500 metres, with the hotspot connections supporting a radius of 100 metres.  Every user will get free 15 GB data per month, with a data limit of 1.5 GB per day.  On an average, the maximum speed of the connection will be 200 Mbps, but the estimated speed will be between 100 and 150 Mbps Each hotspot would be able to support 150-200 users simultaneously.  The Delhi government will pay the rent every month to the company for each hotspot installed Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS) Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Polity In News The Election Commission of India has reviewed the system and process of registration of political parties. Accordingly, the PPRTMS will be implemented through an online portal, to facilitate tracking of status of application by applicants.  The salient feature in the PPRTMS is that the applicant (who is applying for party registration from 1st January, 2020 onwards) will be able to track the progress of his / her application and will get status update through SMS and email.  The applicant is required to provide contact mobile number and email address of the party / applicant in his application if he/she wishes to track the progress of the application. The Registration of Political Parties is governed by the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. HAJ Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – International Affairs In News India has signed the bilateral annual Haj 2020 agreement with Saudi Arabia With this agreement India has become the first country to make the entire process for pilgrims going on Haj completely digital. An online application, e-visa, Haj mobile app, 'e-MASIHA' health facility, "e-luggage pre-tagging" providing all information in India itself regarding accommodation and transportation in Mecca and Madina will be provided to 2 lakh Indian Muslims going for Haj in 2020.  E-MASIHA (E-Medical Assistance System for Indian Pilgrims Abroad), an online system to maintain the health database of Indian pilgrims has been developed to deal with any emergency in Mecca and Madina. For the first time facilities were provided for digital pre-tagging of pilgrims' baggage. A portal of Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) – http://haj.nic.in/pto/ – has been developed which contains all the details of HGOs and their packages. Water regulation Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Environment Conservation In News Punjab Cabinet approved the creation of the Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority in a bid to check the depletion of groundwater in the State The authority would be empowered to issue general directions related to extraction and use of groundwater, besides ensuring optimal and efficient utilisation of all water resources in Punjab State, including canal irrigation.  It will also issue guidelines on recycling and reuse of water and its conservation. It cannot impose any restrictions or tariff on extraction of water for drinking, domestic and agriculture purposes It would, however, be required to issue tariff orders for use of water for industrial and commercial use. The step is therefore aimed at development, management and regulation of water resources of the State for ensuring their judicious, equitable and sustainable utilisation and management. PM-AASHA scheme Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II –Governance In News Less than 3% of this season’s sanctionedamount of pulses and oilseeds have actually been procured so far under the PM-AASHA scheme, Agriculture Ministry data show A total of 37.59 lakh metric tonnes of procurement had been sanctioned under the Centrally-funded scheme.However, only 1.08 lakh tonnes have been procured so far. The PM-AASHA or Pradhan MantriAnnadataAaySanrakshanAbhiyan, was announced in September 2018, as an effort to ensure that farmers growing pulses, oilseeds and copra actually get the minimum support prices they are promised for their crops each year. Apart from initiatives to allow cash payment to farmers or procurement by private traders, PM-AASHA’s main feature was a price support scheme whereby Central agencies would procure pulses and oilseeds directly from farmers. The Centre had budgeted ₹15,053 crore over two years to implement the scheme apart from an additional government credit guarantee of ₹16,550 crore for agencies undertaking procurement. Global Climate Risk Index 2020 Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Environment Conservation In News The Global Climate Risk Index analyses the extent to which countries and regions have been affected by weather-related events such as severe rainfall, storms, floods and heatwaves. The Index stresses on the level of vulnerability of nations to severe climate events, which they should view as warnings for more frequent or severe events in the future. The Global Climate Risk Index 2020 is published by International Environmental think tank Germanwatch. India was the fifth most climate-affected country in 2018, which suffered water shortages, crop failures and worst flooding, Japan, the Philippines and Germany were found to be the most climate-affected countries in 2018 followed by Madagascar, India and Sri Lanka The heatwave was one of the major causes of damage in 2018. Across Europe, extreme heat spells are now up to 100 times more likely than a century ago, says the report. The impact of heatwaves on African countries may be under-represented due to a lack of data. The index results showed that the “signs of climate crisis”, on all continents, could no longer be ignored. Bharat Bond ETF Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy In News The Union Cabinet approved the government’s plan to create and launch India’s first corporate bond exchange traded fund (ETF) — Bharat Bond ETF. Bharat Bond ETF will only holdbonds issued by public sector undertaking (PSUs) The ETF will comprise a basket of bonds issued byCentral Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Central Public Financial Institutions (CPFIs), and other government organisations and all will be initially AAA-rated bonds. The aim is to create an additional source of funding for the CPSEs, CPSUs, CPFIs, and other government organisations. The unit size of the bond has been kept at just ₹1,000 so that retail investors can invest and deepen India’s bond market Each ETF will have a fixed maturity date and initially they will be issued in two series, of three years and 10 years. Bond ETF will provide safety (underlying bonds are issued by CPSEs and other government-owned entities), liquidity (tradability on exchange) and predictable tax efficient returns (MAINS FOCUS) POLITY TOPIC: General Studies 2: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure. Citizenship Amendment Bill The Union Cabinet recently cleared the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill for Parliament to take over. The Citizenship Bill is now likely to be tabled in the LokSabha for clearance. Background The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister NarendraModi today cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, paving way for its introduction in Parliament during the ongoingWinter session.  In its amended form, the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 (CAB) seeks to provide Indian nationality to six minority communities — Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Jain and Buddhist — fleeing “persecution” from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Ever since it was first tabled in the Parliament in July 2016, the Bill has been mired in controversies for granting citizenship rights to specific communities.  History/Backgeound While illegal migrants cannot become Indian citizens, the government had exempted specified groups of illegal migrants in 2015 and 2016 from provisions of The Foreigners Act, 1946 and The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.  The Centre’s intervention meant that these particular categories of illegal migrants would not be deported or jailed for being in India without valid documents. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was tabled in LokSabhain  2016 during NDA-1 to amend The Citizenship Act, 1955 so that these people could be made eligible for citizenship of India. However, massive protests erupted in the North East and acted as a deterrent for the introduction of the Bill in RajyaSabha.  RajyaSabha adjourned sine die in 2019, without the Bill being tabled.  The Bill lapsed as the 16th LokSabha was dissolved. Highlights : The bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship. Under the earlier proposed Act, one of the requirements for citizenship is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years.  The Citizenship Bill 2019 relaxes this 11-year requirement to 6 years for applicants belonging to these six religions, and the aforementioned three countries. The Bill allows that registration of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders may be cancelled for violation of any law, including minor offences such as parking in a no-parking zone. Why the concern in Northeastern states? The North-eastern states have flagged concerns over the Citizenship Amendment Bill time and again.  The prospect of citizenship for massive numbers of illegal Bangladeshi migrants has triggered deep anxieties, including fears of demographic change, loss of livelihood opportunities, and erosion of the indigenous culture in the north-eastern states.  Massive protests had erupted in anticipation of the introduction of the Bill. What is the controversy around the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019? The government has maintained that the bill has significance equivalent to its decision on Article 370.  The government argued that the Bill aims to grant citizenship to minorities who have faced religious persecution in Muslim-majority foreign countries. The Opposition has attacked the government for leaving out Muslims, terming it in violation of Constitutional provisions. Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees the right to equality.  The BJP leaders have pitched the NRC and the CAB as a package that will root out illegal migrants but will provide citizenship to persecuted communities from the neighbouring Muslim-majority countries. Connecting the dots: Like NRC, the Citizenship Amendment Bill is flawed in conception. Analyse. POLITY TOPIC: General Studies 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections. Transgender Persons’ Bill, 2019 RajyaSabha has passed Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. The bill has already been passed in LokSabha in the ongoing Winter Session. What is this bill about? The bill seeks to provide a mechanism for social, economic and educational empowerment of transgender persons in India. The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to education, employment, healthcare, access to, or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public, right to movement, right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property, opportunity to hold public or private office, and access to a government or private establishment.  The Bill also seeks to provide rights of health facilities to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centres, and sex reassignment surgeries.  The Bill also has a provision of certificate of identity for a transgender person by making application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’. A revised certificate may be obtained only if the individual undergoes surgery to change their gender either as a male or a female. It also calls for establishing a National Council for Transgender persons (NCT). Offences against transgender persons will attract imprisonment between six months and two years, in addition to a fine. Why the transgender community is protesting against it? The Bill, which is supposed to protect the rights of transgender people, was drafted and passed without approaching anyone from the community. As a result, assumptions were made based on stereotypes.  It requires a transgender person to approach a District Magistrate to obtain a certificate stating that they are transgender. It’s only after this that they will be able to change their gender to either Male or Female on government-issued identification cards. The process to obtain this certificate is to show proof of sex reassignment surgery, which A) is not something all transgender people want B) is a very expensive procedure, which many aren't able to afford C) does not have a clear definition regarding how the District Magistrate will actually examine the person or their documents D) is a violation of privacy.  It also does not specify the kind of surgery they are expecting, because there is more than one type. This also contradicts the 2014 NALSA (National Legal Services Authority of India) judgement by the Supreme Court, which gave transgender people the right to self-identify, and did not mandate surgery. The bill also says that a transgender person is someone with intersex variations. However, not every intersex person identifies as transgender, and not every transgender person is intersex. The Bill makes sexual abuse against a transgender person a punishable offence. However it fails to clearly define what constitutes sexual abuse. Also, the minimum sentence is six months and can extend to a maximum of just two years. The Bill does not provide any reservations to transgender people, who often come from disadvantaged backgrounds and find it hard to get mainstream jobs or quality education.  If the family of a transgender person is unable to take care of them, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation centre, with orders from the court. This denies the right of a person to join other transgender communities, such as the hijra community. The Bill does not have any provisions to apprehend those who discriminate against, bully, or harass transgender people at educational institutes, workplaces or anywhere else.  The Bill also has no mention of things like marriage rights, adoption rights, property rights, social security, or pension. This deprives the transgender community of some of the most fundamental rights. Conclusion: It’s true that not all problems can just be legislated away. At the heart of the issue here is social prejudice and trans-phobia. Unless this is addressed at a basic societal level, no law will be able to empower the marginalised and persecuted transgender community. Connecting the dots: The Transgender Persons Act should have factored in suggestions from the community. Justify. (TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE) Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section) Note:  Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.  Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”. Q.1) Consider the following statements Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS) has been introduced by NITI Aayog which will enable applicants to track the status of their application of registration with Election Commission of India. The Registration of Political Parties is governed by the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Global Climate Risk Index is released by which of the following organisation/body? United Nations World Economic Forum Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change International Environmental think tank Germanwatch Q.3) Consider the following statements about Bharat Bond -ETF It is India’s first corporate bond exchange traded fund  It will hold bonds issued by public sector undertaking (PSUs) and also Corporates having market Capitalization of more than 10000 Crore Rupees. It will provide safety, liquidity (tradability on exchange) and predictable tax efficient returns Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 and 2 only 2 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3 Q.4) Consider the following statements about World Malaria Report 2019 It is released by World Health Organisation 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and India accounted for 85 per cent of the global malaria burden in 2018 Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 and 2 only 2 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3 Q.5) Consider the following statements India has become the first country to make the entire process for pilgrims going on Haj completely digital. E-MASIHA (E-Medical Assistance System for Indian Pilgrims Abroad), an online system to maintain the health database of Indian pilgrims has been developed to deal with any emergency in Mecca and Madina. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 and 2 only 2 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3 ANSWERS FOR 04 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 B 2 D 3 A 4 C 5 B MUST READ Rape, impunity and state of denial The Hindu Close encounters: On faking anti-Naxal fight The Hindu Another quota question: On creamy layer for SCs The Hindu In a WTO Without Dispute Settlement ET The current economic slowdown needs a multi-pronged response IE

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RSTV IAS UPSC – The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 Archives TOPIC: General Studies 1:  Social empowerment General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources In News: The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019 seeks to ban commercial surrogacy and contravention of the bill can invite imprisonment up to 10 years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh. The bill was passed by the 17th Lok Sabha by a voice vote in the Budget Session and moved for consideration to the Upper House by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on November 19. The Bill defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple. Regulation of surrogacy: The Bill prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy.  Altruistic surrogacy involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.  Commercial surrogacy includes surrogacy or its related procedures undertaken for a monetary benefit or reward (in cash or kind) exceeding the basic medical expenses and insurance coverage. Purposes for which surrogacy is permitted: Surrogacy is permitted when it is:  (i) for intending couples who suffer from proven infertility;  (ii) altruistic;  (iii) not for commercial purposes;  (iv) not for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation; and  (v) for any condition or disease specified through regulations Eligibility criteria for intending couple: The intending couple should have a ‘certificate of essentiality’ and a ‘certificate of eligibility’ issued by the appropriate authority. Also, only legally married heterosexual couples can opt for surrogacy. Now this excludes single persons, divorcees, live-in couples, widows and widowers, gay couples among others. Who can be a surrogate mother? - To obtain a certificate of eligibility from the appropriate authority, the surrogate mother has to be:  (i) a close relative of the intending couple;  (ii) a married woman having a child of her own;  (iii) 25 to 35 years old;  (iv) a surrogate only once in her lifetime; and  (v) possess a certificate of medical and psychological fitness for surrogacy Further, the surrogate mother cannot provide her own gametes for surrogacy. What is considered as an offence under the Bill? (i) Undertaking or advertising commercial surrogacy;  (ii) Exploiting the surrogate mother;  (iii) Abandoning, exploiting or disowning a surrogate child; and  (iv) Selling or importing human embryo or gametes for surrogacy.   The penalty for such offences is imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine up to 10 lakh rupees. The Bill specifies a range of offences and penalties for other contraventions of the provisions of the Bill. Why the Bill? The Bill explains that lack of legislation on surrogacy has led to its rampant commercialisation, unethical practices, exploitation of surrogate mothers, abandonment of children born out of surrogacy and import of human embryos and gamets. In line with the recommendations of the Law Commission of India, it proposes to address these issues and protect the rights of surrogate mother and child. Some women can get pressured to 'lend' their wombs by husbands and in-laws who are happy that there is no sex involved, and don't really care about the emotional, medical and physical repercussions on the woman acting as surrogate. There is a lot of money to be made here, way more than prostitution and with no fear of social ostracism. The shift to altruistic-only surrogacy was made in the context of sensational news reports about cases of surrogate babies being abandoned and exploited — surrogate mothers being kept in “surrogacy brothels” and rich foreigners using the bodies of poor Indian women to have children. BUT Parliamentary panel's unaddressed concerns Apart from stressing on the need to first regulate ART clinics, the 2017 Parliamentary panel, attached to the Rajya Sabha, had proposed several significant changes which the 2019 Bill ignores. Therefore, the need to send the Bill again to the same panel is unclear. The changes the panel had recommended included defining 'close relative', redefining 'infertility', removing restrictions on surrogacy to 'altruistic' purpose alone, reversing the burden of proof on the accused, removing the need for written permission for abortion and specifying review and appeal procedures etc. The panel objected to limiting surrogate to a 'close relative' and making it 'altruistic' saying that these would lead to coercion and further exploitation of women due to family pressure, given the social, legal, emotional and ethical dynamics involved. It said limiting to 'close relative' (which has not been defined) would not only cause acute dearth and unavailability of women but also had no connection with the objective of stopping the exploitation of surrogates and therefore, both related and unrelated women should be permitted. It questioned limiting eligibility for surrogacy in the definition of 'infertility' to those unable to conceive for 'five years', with a provision to add eligibility conditions on some future date, while the WHO and the ART Bill of 2014 proposed a period of 'one year'. Such limitation would not only impair chances of parenthood to many, as people get married late these days with their biological clock ticking, but also violate their reproductive rights, the panel said. It proposed a one-year period, which should be waived off for medical reasons. The panel also objected to limiting surrogacy to only legally married couples and requiring them to be certified as infertile. Calling the certification unnecessary, it said restricting it to legally married couple amounted to imposing prohibition on widows, divorced women, live-in partners, which was not fair given the stigma attached to infertile women. It demanded to know the rationale behind the denial of compensation to a surrogate mother, who would undergo hardships for nine months and beyond, while doctors, hospitals and lawyers involved in the process would get paid for theirs. Besides, it suggested that impoverished women should be allowed for paid surrogacy to provide for her family needs. The panel's other objections and suggestions which have been ignored are: definition of surrogacy should be precise, explicit and descriptive with no scope for misinterpretation, removal of restrictions on donating gamete, removal of written permission for abortion without setting a time limit for it - the rationale for which wasn't clear since the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 already provided for it and time was of essence in abortion - and providing safeguards against huge discretionary powers to the District Medical Board for issuing essential certificates. Criticisms There is undoubtedly a danger of exploitation and abuse in commercial surrogacy. The cases that have come up establish that possibility. But formulating a law on the basis of exceptions is ultimately counterproductive.  Question of Bargaining Power: Exploitation takes place because of the unequal bargaining power between the surrogate mother and the surrogacy clinics, agents and intending parents. This can be addressed by a strong regulatory mechanism that introduces transparency and mandates fair work and pay for the surrogate mothers. Viewing commercial surrogacy as inherently exploitative and banning it only expands the potential for exploitation as it would force the business underground. Stigmatises the choice: Further, criminalisation of commercial surrogacy is a refusal by the state to actually consider the exercise of agency that leads a woman to become a surrogate mother. Interviews with women who chose to provide gestational services for a fee have shown that it is a well-considered decision made in constrained economic conditions. A ban on commercial surrogacy stigmatises this choice and reinforces the notion of the vulnerable “poor” woman who does not understand the consequences of her decisions and needs the protection of a paternalistic State. Relative or Patriarchy? As per the Bill, the surrogate mother must be a “close relative” of the couple. This is premised on the mistaken belief that exploitation and vulnerability do not exist within the family. Knowing the reality of patriarchal families in India, the stigma of infertility, the pressure of producing children to maintain lineage and the low bargaining power of women, it can be expected that young mothers will be coerced into becoming surrogates for their relatives. The Bill moves the site of exploitation into the private and opaque sphere of the home and family. Notion of ‘motherhood’ in Indian society: The severance of commerce from pregnancy is also tied in to the notion of motherhood being something natural, sacrosanct and above considerations. To be paid for the reproductive labour evokes unease and claims of “dehumanisation” and “commodification” in certain opponents of commercial surrogacy. Just a baby-producing machine? The Bill mandates the commissioning couple to only pay for the medical expenses and an insurance cover of sixteen months for the surrogate mother. The Standing Committee had recommended a model of compensated surrogacy which would cover psychological counselling of the surrogate mother and/or her children, lost wages for the duration of pregnancy, child care support, dietary supplements and medication, maternity clothing and post-delivery care. Connecting the Dots: Explain the technology that is employed in surrogacy. What are the issues involved with respect to surrogacy? Examine.

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Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 4th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 4th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) Chandrayaan 2 Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Space Science & Technology In News Nasa released some images showing the site of the Vikram lander's impact and the associated debris field.Nasa credited a Chennai-based techie with the discovery Nasa said the debrisis about 750 metres northwest of the main crash site where Vikram made a hard landing on September 7th 2019 Isro'sChandrayaan 2 mission was expected to make a soft landing on the Moon's surface when it lost contact with the Vikram lander ahead of the scheduled touchdown. Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander hard-landed on Moon's surface as reduction in velocity during its descent did not match with the designed parameters. The indigenously developed Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprising of orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan) was successfully launched on-board the indigenous GSLV MK III-M1 Mission on July 22, 2019 The Isro is planning to launch Chandrayaan 3 probably in November next year. What are the scientific objectives of Chandrayaan2 ? Moon provides the best linkage to Earth’s early history. Extensive mapping of lunar surface to study variations in lunar surface were essential to trace back the origin and evolution of the Moon.  Evidence for water molecules discovered by Chandrayaan-1, required further studies on the extent of water molecule distribution on the surface, below the surface and in the tenous lunar exosphere to address the origin of water on Moon. India would have been the first country to land a mission on the south pole of the Moon, if the landing was a success. EXERCISE HAND-IN-HAND-2019 Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – International Affairs In News The 8th India-China joint training exercise 'HAND-IN-HAND 2019' with the theme counter terrorism under United Nations mandate is scheduled to be conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya from 07 to 20 December 2019. The Chinese contingent from the Tibet Military command comprising of 130 personal and the Indian Contingent of similar strength will participate in the 14 day long training exercise.  The aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct of counter terrorist operations in semi urban terrain. Two tactical exercises are scheduled during the training; one on counter terrorism scenario and the other on Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations Src: Click here DRDO to develop naval fighter jet Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Security In News DRDO has offered to develop a new twin-engine deck-based fighter aircraft for the Navy based on the experience of the naval light combat aircraft (LCA) The new aircraft should be ready by 2026, after meeting the qualitative requirements. The naval LCA recently successfully completed the take-off and landing trials on the shore-based test facility in Goa Do You Know The Navy expected to have the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-I) Vikrant operational by 2022. The Navy is scheduled to host its largest multilateral exercise, MILAN off the coast of Visakhapatnam in March 2020, for which 41 countries have been invited. So far, over 15 countries have confirmed their participation.  However, China has not been invited as Indian Navy invited “like-minded” countries. U.S. threatens 100% tariffs on French goods Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- International Affairs In News On the sidelines of the NATO alliance talks, the U.S. announced that it could possibly levy duties up to 100% on $2.4 billion in French imports into the country.  The proposed tariffs could include French champagne, porcelain and some cheese varieties. The announcement comes after the office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) probe(301 probe) into France’s Digital Services Tax (DST) concluded that a French tax measure is discriminatory towards specific U.S. technology companies. The ‘301’ probe is a trade tool authorised by Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, which the U.S. uses to assert its rights under trade agreements if it decides American industries are facing “unfair” foreign trade practices. France’s DST is a 3% tax on the turnover of digital companies with global turnover of at least €750 million, of which €25 million is generated in France.  U.S. tech giants, including Google, Amazon and Facebook, had called for the tax to be scrapped. USTR said that the tax was inconsistent with prevailing tax principles due to its retroactivities, application to revenue rather than income and extraterritorial application. While this particular round of tariffs does not impact India directly, the USTR’s use of 301 probes is of relevance to the country. US in July had stated that a ‘301 probe’ was among the options the U.S. was considering at the time with regard to India.Currently, New Delhi and Washington are in the middle of a negotiation on a limited trade deal. PISA test Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II –Education In News The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a study done to produce comparable data on education policy and outcomes across countries It is initiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental economic organisation with 36 member countries. The study, which began in the year 2000, conducts a test evaluating 15-year-olds in member and non-member countries to assess the quality and inclusivity of school systems in these countries.  The PISA test is held every three years and the next test will be held in 2021, in which students from government schools in Chandigarh will represent India. PISA test does not assess students on their memory, but attempts to evaluate whether students can apply the knowledge they have gained through primary and secondary education.  India has participated in the PISA test only once before, in 2009. In this round of PISA, where students from Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu sat for the test, India ranked 72nd out of 73 countries, outranking only Kyrgyzstan. Since then, India has strayed away from the test until now. Didymos Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III – Space Science In News NASA and ESA want to hit an asteroid called Didymos The twin-asteroid system Didymos is a binary near-Earth asteroid.  According to NASA, while the primary body of Didymos is approximately 780 meters across, its secondary body or “moonlet” is about 160-meters in size, which is more typical of the size of asteroids that could pose the most likely significant threat to Earth. Amidst the growing concern of need of a planetary defence mechanism, scientists are trying to find ways to deflect asteroids from a collision course with Earth One such project is the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA), which includes NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera. DART is scheduled to launch in 2021 with an aim to slam into the smaller asteroid of the Didymos system at around 6 km per second in 2022. Hera will arrive at the Didymos system in 2027 to measure the impact crater produced by the DART collision and study the change in the asteroid’s orbital trajectory. Do You Know? There are around 25,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) that orbit the Sun on a trajectory that brings them close to our planet’s orbit.  However, certain near-Earth objects have been classified as “potentially hazardous” which are 140 metres or more in size and come within 0.05 AU (astronomical unit) to Earth The distance in space is usually measured in astronomical units where 1 AU is the distance between Earth and the Sun, which is around 93 million miles or 150 million kilometres (MAINS FOCUS) INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS TOPIC: General Studies 2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora. Ukraine – Trump issue The House Intelligence Committee released a 300-page impeachment report accusing President Donald Trump of trying to enlist Ukraine to help him in the 2020 presidential election and obstructing the congressional inquiry by trying to cover it up. Background: It revolves around efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to coerce Ukraine and other foreign countries into providing damaging narratives about 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidate Joe Biden as well as information relating to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.  Trump enlisted surrogates within and outside his official administration, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other foreign governments to cooperate in supporting conspiracy theories concerning American politicsTrump blocked but later released payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package to allegedly obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine.  Number of contacts were established between the White House and the government of Ukraine, culminating in a July 25, 2019, phone call between Trump and Zelensky The scandal reached public attention in mid-September 2019 due to a whistleblower complaint made in August 2019The complaint raised concerns about Trump using presidential powers to solicit foreign electoral intervention in the 2020 U.S. presidential election Takeaways from the report: The president leveraged Ukraine’s military aid and a White House meeting for political investigations. “subverted U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and undermined our national security in favor of two politically motivated investigations that would help his presidential reelection campaign.” Trump ‘ordered and implemented’ a campaign to conceal his conduct from the public and Congress. “The damage to our system of checks and balances, and to the balance of power within our three branches of government, will be long-lasting and potentially irrevocable if the president’s ability to stonewall Congress goes unchecked,” The report is a road map to the president’s possible impeachment and removal from office. “Today, we may be witnessing a collision between the power of a remedy meant to curb presidential misconduct and the power of faction determined to defend against the use of that remedy on a president of the same party,” Report prompts new phase in impeachment inquiry as Judiciary Committee considers articles of impeachment. “The release of the report largely concludes the investigation by the Intelligence Committee and moves the impeachment inquiry into a new phase led by the House Judiciary Committee, which plans to hold its first hearing” US impeachment process The US House of representative (435 members) needs to pass the impeachment motion by a simple majority, after investigation by judiciary committee  The motion of Impeachment then goes to the Senate (Upper House consisting of 100 members), where a trial presided by Chief Justice takes place with representative from House acting as prosecutors and the President & his attorneys presenting his defence A two-third majority in Senate is necessary to convict and remove the President. If the President is convicted, the Vice-President takes over the White House for remaining period of tenure. Indian Impeachment process In India, President can be impeached for violation of the Constitution (Article 61) The motion for impeaching President can be introduced in any House of Parliament.  After the investigation, the motion of impeachment must be passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House by both Houses of the Parliament. Connecting the dots: Subverted U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and undermined our national security in favor of two politically motivated investigations that would help his presidential re-election campaign. Comment INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS TOPIC: General Studies 2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora. Israel Palestine issue (Part-1) [caption id="attachment_53987" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 4th December 2019[/caption] Britain took control of the area known as Palestine after the ruler of that part of the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire, was defeated in WW1. The land was inhabited by a Jewish minority and Arab majority. Tensions between the two peoples grew when the international community gave Britain the task of establishing a "national home" in Palestine for Jewish people. For Jews, it was their ancestral home, but Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and opposed the move. Between the 1920s and 40s, the number of Jews arriving there grew, with many fleeing from persecution in Europe and seeking a homeland after the Holocaust of WWII. Violence between Jews and Arabs, and against British rule, also grew. UN In 1947, the UN voted for Palestine to be split into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem becoming an international city. That plan was accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by the Arab side and never implemented. The creation of Israel and the 'Catastrophe' In 1948, unable to solve the problem, British rulers left and Jewish leaders declared the creation of the state of Israel. Many Palestinians objected and a war followed. Troops from neighbouring Arab countries invaded. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes in what they call Al Nakba, or the "Catastrophe". By the time the fighting ended in a ceasefire the following year, Israel controlled most of the territory. Jordan occupied land which became known as the West Bank, and Egypt occupied Gaza. Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the West, and Jordanian forces in the East. Because there was never a peace agreement - each side blamed the other - there were more wars and fighting in the decades which followed. 1967: In another war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of the Syrian Golan Heights, and Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in neighbouring Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Neither they nor their descendants have been allowed by Israel to return to their homes - Israel says this would overwhelm the country and threaten its existence as a Jewish state Present day Israel still occupies the West Bank, and although it pulled out of Gaza the UN still regards that piece of land as part of occupied territory. Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.  Only the US recognises Israel's claim to the whole of the city. In the past 50 years Israel has built settlements in these areas, where more than 600,000 Jews now live. Palestinians say these are illegal under international law and are obstacles to peace, but Israel denies this. Tensions are often high between Israel and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. Gaza is ruled by a Palestinian militant group called Hamas, which has fought Israel many times. Israel and Egypt tightly control Gaza's borders to stop weapons getting to Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say they're suffering because of Israeli actions and restrictions.  Israel say it is only acting to protect itself from Palestinian violence. Conclusion: The situation isn't going to be sorted out any time soon. A new peace plan is being prepared by the United States, which has described it as the "deal of the century". Connecting the dots:  Any future solution must be one that rectifies past evils and offers democracy to all Palestinians. comment (TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE) Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section) Note:  Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.  Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”. Q.1) 1 Astronomical Unit (1 AU) is roughly equivalent to _______   100 million Kms Distance from Earth to the Sun Distance from Earth to the Moon None of the above Q.2) The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. It is conducted by United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture World Economic Forum Etudes Sans Frontières International Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Q.3) Consider the following statements about Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) initiative The aim of the initiative isto deflect asteroid- Didymos from a collision course with Earth It includes NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and the Japan Space Agency’s (JAXA) Hera mission. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) ‘301 probe’ often seen in news is related to which of the following ? Investigation into Human rights violation by UNHRC War crimes probe by International Criminal Court Trade tool by USA to assert its rights under trade agreements None of the above Q.5) Exercise HAND-IN-HAND is joint training exercise conducted between India and which other country? Nepal China Bhutan Afghanistan ANSWERS FOR 03 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 C 2 B 3 C 4 A 5 B MUST READ National shame: On gender sensitisation The Hindu Headwinds after a hard-line approach The Hindu Setting the clock back on intersex human rights The Hindu Tackling air pollution requires a holistic approach, not scapegoating farmers IE Surveys measuring the impact of government programmes have become less reliable IE

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