Comprehensive Current affairs 5 September 2020

 RTI reveals no earnings to CSIR labs from technology transfer

Some labs of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) — India’s premier laboratory research network — have earned no money from technology transfer since at least 2015, according to data by the Council accessed by The Hindu via the Right to Information Act.

Of the 38 labs of the CSIR, 11 responded with information to The Hindu’s queries, posed in February, on the number of technologies developed, numbers licensed and the money earned from technology transfer since 2015. Some said they were unable to respond because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Five of the labs that responded said they had received “no royalty from technologies commercialised 2015-2020”. These were the CSIR-IMTECH (Institute of Microbial Technology), Chandigarh; CSIR-AMPRI (Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute), Bhopal;

 CSIR-IIP (Indian Institute of Petroleum), Dehradun; CSIR-Fourth Paradigm, Bengaluru; CSIR-CBRI (Central Building Research Institute), Roorkee.

The CSIR’s revenue isn’t from technology transfer alone but also from providing consultancy services and the RTI response didn’t include such revenues.

Not all research labs of the CSIR are for technology development and several have a mandate of developing technologies for poorer sections of society, according to a CSIR official.

UN experts flag concern on EIA notification.

A group of Special Rapporteurs to the United Nations has written to the Centre expressing concern over the proposed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020 and sought the government’s response on how the provisions of the notification were consonant with India’s “obligations under international law”.

In their letter, the five experts say the proposed notification appeared to have clauses that obstructed people’s rights to a safe, clean and healthy environment.

These were the clauses that exempted several large industries and projects from public consultation — as part of the environment impact assessment process — and the rapporteurs argued that the exemptions were unwarranted, particularly when there was a serious gas leak from (LG Polymers) chemical plant in Visakhapatnam on May 12.

India calls for protection of foreign students and stranded seafarers at G20 meet.

India has called upon Governments around the world to ensure that interests of foreign students are protected and movement of stranded seafarers back to their home country facilitated.

Participating in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Extraordinary virtual Meeting, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar also proposed development of voluntary ‘G20 Principles on Coordinated Cross-Border Movement of People’ in the backdrop of Covid-19.

 These principles are based on three elements. Standardisation of testing procedures and universal acceptability of test results, Standardisation of ‘Quarantine procedures’ and Standardisation of ‘movement and transit’ protocols.

He also highlighted the steps taken by India in the wake of the pandemic. This virtual meeting was convened in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Dr.Jaishankar apprised the G20 Foreign Ministers about the steps taken by India including Vande Bharat Mission and creation of ‘travel bubbles’ for the welfare and protection of foreign citizens stranded here as well as its own citizens abroad. The meeting was convened by the current G20 Chair, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud, chaired the meeting.

The discussions centred on strengthening international cooperation across borders in the wake of COVID-19 crisis. The Ministers also exchanged national experiences and lessons learned from the cross-border management measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemics.

4). MEA asserts digital companies should abide by government rules.

India has said it remains open and continues to welcome FDI in the country including in the area of internet technology but companies must operate in accordance with the regulatory framework of government.

Responding to a query on banning of mobile apps, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said India has one of the most open regimes for FDI in the world and this includes for internet companies as well as digital technology companies.

He said digital technology companies while operating in India have the responsibility to abide by the rules and regulations issued by the concerned Ministries and departments of the government.

 Supreme court asks banks to maintain status quo interms of declaration of NPA’s

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed banks that loan accounts in the clear till the expiry of the moratorium on August 31 should not be declared as non-performing assets (NPAs) till further orders.

The order was passed amid apprehensions raised by individual borrowers and representatives of various commercial sectors on whether their loans would be declared NPAs on September 1, the day after the expiry of the moratorium.

The court is examining the question whether compound interest (interest on interest) should be charged on loans deferred during the moratorium period. The Bench is also examining the powers of the Centre and the National Disaster Management Authority to provide relief to borrowers, reeling under the financial effects of the pandemic.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre and RBI, submitted that the impact of the pandemic was varied for each sector. Some like pharma have fared well during the lockdown.

“The idea of moratorium was to defer repayment to ease the burden caused by COVID-19 and lockdown so that businesses can manage working capital. The idea was not to waive interest,” Mr. Mehta said.

Moratorium was to help those in distress and not meant as an opportunity for those already defaulting in their loan payments.

Instead of loan waiver, steps were being taken to revive the various sectors, he submitted. Loan accounts became NPAs only if payments were not made for 90 days. The moratorium period was excluded from 90 days. “Accounts do not become NPAs on September 1,” he assured the court.

Govt launches immunity boosting products under PMBJP

Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister D V SadanandaGowda today launched eight immunity boosting products under PradhanMantriBhartiyaJanaushadhiPriyojana for sale through JanaushadhiKendras across country.

 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gowda informed that the launch of new nutraceuticals is significant in view of the Corona-19 pandemic. These products will help in boosting immunity of the people. He said that products are comparable in quality and are cheaper by over 26 per cent than the market price.

Center of Excellence on Use of Artificial Intelligence in NHAI.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed a MoU with the IIT, Delhi to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Data Driven decision making and Advance Data Management System for Highways.

About:

Under the partnership, IIT Delhi will work with NHAI on developing advance analytics based on AI and ML, prepare simulation models, enhance data storage and retrieval capacities to further strengthen NHAI’s capabilities in data-driven decision making.

The collaboration will be undertaken on the identified thrust areas like the Project Management and Data Management, Highway Network Traffic Demand and Incident Management, Highway safety, Highway Work-zone Management, Highway Pavement Management System.

Under it, a Co-ordination Committee will be constituted for overall coordination and timely progress. It will be chaired by the Dean R&D, IIT Delhi

Researchers at IISC develops low cost printing technique

The researchers at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering in the Bengaluru based Indian Institute of Science have developed a low cost, on demand printing technique. This new technique replaces the nozzles of an inkjet printer with a mesh covered chemically treated nano wires that repel water.

Because of the short contact time of the impacting droplet with the mesh, the chances of clogging the pore are minimised. The mesh can also be easily cleaned and reused.

 This is useful for 3D printing of living cells, ceramic materials, electronic circuits and machine components.The Associate Professor in the Centre for Nano Science, ProsenjitSen says that the new technique reduces the operational cost of the printer.

P.Iniyan wins the 48th annual world open chess tournament

India’s GM P. Iniyan won the 48th annual world open chess tournament (online) recently. Usually held in Philadelphia, the USA, the tournament was conducted online following classical time control.

In a strong field that had 31 GMs, Iniyan scored 7.5 points from nine games. Iniyan and SananSjugirov (Russia) were tied on points but the former won on better tie-break.

Special focus on mains.

Q.) Concerning points made in the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report regarding Food security of India, what are the challenges and hurdles that India is facing to achieve full food security despite having many schemes. Critically Analyse.

Context:

Data from the latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report show that India retains the dubious distinction of being the country with the largest population of food insecure people.

Estimates presented in the report which was released by several United Nations organisations show that the prevalence of food insecurity increased by 3.8 percentage points in India between 2014 and 2019, the first term of the Narendra Modi government.

By 2019, 6.2 crore more people were living with food insecurity than the number in 2014.

 Authoritative indicators:

The SOFI report, which is published annually, presents the most authoritative evaluation of hunger and food insecurity in the world.

Since 2017, SOFI presents two key measures of food insecurity: the conventional measure called the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) and a new measure called the Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Food Insecurity (PMSFI).

Both of these are globally-accepted indicators of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 2.1 to end hunger and food insecurity.

While PoU is focused on estimating the proportion of population facing chronic deficiency of calories, the PMSFI is a more comprehensive measure of the lack of access to adequate and nutritious food.

Estimates of PoU are based on food balance sheets and national surveys of consumption. Given that consumption surveys are done infrequently in most countries, these estimates are often based on outdated data and are revised when better data become available.

The PMSFI is based on annual surveys that collect information on experiences of food insecurity (such as food shortages, skipping meals, and changing diet diversity because of a lack of resources).

The PMSFI uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), a gold standard in food security measurement developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), for estimating globally-comparable prevalence rates.

Given the solid conceptual foundations of this methodology and the ease of collection of data, FIES and the PMFSI have been widely adopted by countries across the world.

 FIES surveys:

The FAO commissions Gallup to include FIES questions in the Gallup®World Poll (FAO-GWP) survey conducted in more than 140 countries across the world. Many countries have also started conducting their own FIES surveys.

Unlike most other countries, the government of India neither conducts official FIES surveys nor accepts estimates based on FAO-GWP surveys.

Although FAO-GWP surveys are conducted in India, India is among the few countries that do not allow publication of estimates based on these surveys.

Consequently, as in the past years, estimates of PMSFI for India are not published in SOFI.

Country data:

The report provides three-year average estimates of the number of food insecure people for South Asia as a whole and for South Asia (excluding India). By taking a difference between the two, one can derive the estimates for India.

These estimates show that while 27.8% of India’s population suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity in 2014-16, the proportion rose to 31.6% in 2017-19.

The number of food insecure people grew from 42.65 crore in 2014-16 to 48.86 crore in 2017-19. India accounted for 22% of the global burden of food insecurity, the highest for any country, in 2017-19.

It is also noteworthy that while the PMSFI increased in India by 3.7 percentage points during this period, it fell by 0.5 percentage points in the rest of South Asia.

Availability of data and significance to PMSFI:

India has not released the latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) consumption expenditure survey data for 2017-18.

 As a result, conventional measures of poverty and food consumption are not available for recent years.

Lack of availability of data from this consumption survey also has implications for the FAO’s PoU estimates for India.

Because of a lack of regular availability of consumption survey data from most countries, the FAO uses supply-wise data on per capita food availability to measure changes in average per capita calorie intake.

While this is a reasonable approach, it has become untenable for India because of a large and growing disparity between the supply-side data and data from the consumption surveys.

Not only do the supply-side data show a much higher level of per capita availability of food than the amount of food that is captured to have been consumed in the surveys, even the direction of change between the two does not seem to be consistent.

While the per capita dietary energy supply in India increased by 3.8% between 2011-13 and 2015-17, the consumption survey data that became available through a media leak showed that the average consumption expenditure (covering food and other expenses) fell by 3.7% between 2011-12 and 2017-18.

On the whole, withholding of consumption survey data by the government has meant that SOFI continues to use outdated data for variability of food intake, making PoU estimates for India untenable.

Given this, estimates of the PMSFI for India have become particularly valuable.

Causes of suffering:

The significant rise in food insecurity, as shown by these data, is a clear manifestation of the overall economic distress during this period marked by a deepening agrarian crisis, falling investments across sectors and shrinking employment opportunities.

 The latest PLFS data have shown that the unemployment rates in the recent years have been higher than in the last four decades.

It is widely believed that demonetisation and introduction of the Goods and Services Tax were two prime causes of economic distress during this period.

A sudden imposition of an unprecedented and prolonged lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed focus on the problems of hunger and food insecurity.

With a sudden loss of livelihoods, a vast majority of India’s poor are faced with increased food insecurity, hunger and starvation. A number of starvation deaths have also been reported in the media.

Conclusion:

These estimates of the PMSFI provide an important baseline estimate for the situation before the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is critical for India to conduct a national survey on food insecurity to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security of different sections of the population.