Current Affairs Reverse Engineering – CARE (21-06-2024)
| News at a Glance |
| Science and Technology: IIIT-Delhi project on antimicrobial resistance wins joint second prize in global competition |
| Polity and Governance: Post Office Act, 2023 comes into force |
| Bhartruhari Mahtab appointed pro tem Speaker of Lok Sabha |
| Economy: Can GM crops promise food security? |
| International Relations: Biden bans U.S. sales of Kaspersky software over Russia ties |
IIIT-Delhi project on antimicrobial resistance wins joint second prize in global competition
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS3- Science and Technology
Context: AMRSense: Empowering Communities with a Proactive One Health Ecosystem
Why in News
- A project by the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIIT-Delhi), has won the joint second prize in Trinity Challenge’s second competition, on tackling the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Key Highlights
- The Trinity Challenge is a charity supporting the creation of data-driven solutions to help protect against global health threats.
- The project, ‘AMRSense: Empowering Communities with a Proactive One Health Ecosystem,’ was led by Tavpritesh Sethi of IIIT-Delhi in collaboration with CHRI-PATH, 1mg.com, and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
- AMRSense addresses the challenges of engaging, motivating, and training community health workers (CHWs) in AMR surveillance and management, compounded by the lack of a comprehensive data ecosystem and analytics capabilities
What is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)?
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top global public health and development threats. It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.
- The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens.
- AMR affects countries in all regions and at all income levels. Its drivers and consequences are exacerbated by poverty and inequality, and low- and middle-income countries are most affected.
- AMR puts many of the gains of modern medicine at risk. It makes infections harder to treat and makes other medical procedures and treatments – such as surgery, caesarean sections and cancer chemotherapy – much riskier.
Four components
- In India, where over 9,00,000 ASHA workers face limited awareness, insufficient training, and low motivation, there is a significant gap in community-level AMR data collection and evidence-based management.
- AMRSense tackles these issues through four major components:
- community engagement by empowering CHWs with AI-assisted data recording tools for accurate and simplified data collection; data integration by creating a unified AMR data ecosystem through the integration of antibiotic sales, consumption, and WHONet-compliant surveillance data using open-source tools and APIs;
- predictive analytics by using federated analytics across the OneHealth ecosystem for integrative insights on AMR;
- the AMRaura Scorecard for monitoring and evaluating AMR trends to guide targeted interventions and demonstrate the benefits of data collection.
- The IIIT-Delhi project shared the second prize with another project, also from India, titled ‘OASIS: OneHealth Antimicrobial Stewardship for Informal Health Systems.’
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q1. The project ‘AMRSense: Empowering Communities with a Proactive One Health Ecosystem’ addresses the challenges of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) primarily by:
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Which of the following are the reasons for the occurrence of multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens in India? (2019)
Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 2, 3 and 4 Ans: (b) |
| Answer 1 – D
Explanation –
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Post Office Act, 2023 comes into force
Source: Indian Express
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-law/post-office-act-2023-9404840/
UPSC Relevance: GS2- Polity and Governance
Context: About Post Office Act
Why in News
The Post Office Act came into force on June 18. It had been passed in the Rajya Sabha last year, on December 4, and in the Lok Sabha on December 18.
Key highlights
- Repealing the 125-year-old Indian Post Office Act of 1898, the Act contains provisions that allow the Centre to intercept, open, or detain any item, and deliver it to customs authorities.
Post Office Act
- The Act came in to “consolidate and amend the law relating to Post Office in India,” which today provides many services beyond simply mail delivery, the primary concern of the older Indian Post Office Act of 1898.
- The Post Office network today has become a vehicle for delivery of different citizen-centric services, which necessitated the repeal enactment of a new law, the Act states.
- Section 9 of the Act allows the Centre to, by notification, empower any officer to “intercept, open or detain any item” in the interest of state security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, emergency, public safety, or contravention of other laws.
- This provision also allows post officers to hand over postal items to customs authorities if they are suspected to contain any prohibited item, or if such items are liable to duty.
- This is similar to Sections 19, 25, and 26 of the 1898 Act.
- Section 19(1) disallowed persons from sending by post “any explosive, dangerous, filthy, noxious or deleterious substance, any sharp instrument not properly protected, or any living creature which is either noxious or likely to injure postal articles” or postal service officers in the course of transmission.
- the power to intercept any prohibited or restricted articles during transmission by post, or any postal article for public good during emergency or in the interest of public safety could also be exercised by the government and its officials under Sections 25 and 26 of the 1898 Act.
- The Law Commission in 1968, while examining the 1898 Act, observed that the term emergency is not explicitly defined, thereby allowing significant discretion while intercepting goods.
The Post Office exempt from liability
- Section 10 exempts the Post Office and its officer from “any liability by reason of any loss, mis-delivery, delay, or damage in course of any service provided by the Post Office,” except such liability as may be prescribed.
- The 1898 Act too exempted the government from liability for any lapses in postal service, except where such liability was undertaken expressly.
- Moreover, the Act removes all penalties and offences under the 1898 Act. For example, offences committed by post office officials such as misconduct, fraud, and theft, among others, have been deleted entirely.
- At the same time, if anyone refuses or neglects to pay the charges for availing a service provided by the Post Office, such amount shall be recoverable “as if it were an arrear of land revenue due” from them.
Removes Centre’s exclusivity
- The Act has removed Section 4 of the 1898 Act, which allowed the Centre the exclusive privilege of conveying by post, from one place to another, all letters.
- Effectively, this exclusivity was already lost by the 1980s, with the rise of private courier services.
- Since neither the Post Office Act of 1898 nor the Indian Post Office Rules, 1933 had defined the term “letter” anywhere, courier services bypassed the 1898 law by simply calling their couriers “documents” and “parcels”, rather than “letters.”
- The Act, for the first time, regulates private courier services by bringing it under its ambit.
- While the government acknowledges its lack of exclusivity, it has also widened the ambit of the law in order to intercept and detain any postal article, as opposed to just letters.
Opposition highly critical of the Bill
- Several members of the Opposition had vociferously criticised the Bill when it was in Parliament, saying that despite promising to update the Colonial law, it keeps the most draconian provisions that it contained.
- Over the past decade we have often seen this Government, in the guise of decolonising our minds and updating colonial era lore, bringing in legislation that is equally if not more arbitrary and unreasonable, and that more often than not encroaches upon the fundamental rights of countless Indians.
- Even as it seeks to revise a colonial Bill, this Bill retains its draconian and colonial provisions, that too while eliminating the burden of accountability which a governmental enterprise like India Post ought constitutionally to shoulder.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q2. Which of the following statements about the new Post Office Act, which repeals the 1898 Indian Post Office Act, are correct?
Select the correct answer: A. Only 1 B. Only 2 C. Only 3 D. 1 and 3 |
Q. Consider the following statements (2023):
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer: (a) |
| Answer 2 D
Explanation
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Office of pro tem Speaker of Lok Sabha
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 2- Parliament, Polity and Governance
Context: Pro tem Speaker
Why in News
- President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Bhartruhari Mahtab, seven-term MP from Cuttack, as the pro tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday.
Key Highlights
- President is pleased to appoint Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Member, Lok Sabha as Speaker Protem under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of Speaker till election of the Speaker
- The newly elected members of the 18th Lok Sabha will make oath or affirmation before the pro tem Speaker.
- The seniormost MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are Kodikunnil Suresh (INC) and Virendra Kumar (BJP), both of who are now serving their 8th term.
- The latter is now a Union Minister and hence it was expected that Kodikunnil Suresh would be the Speaker Protem. Instead, a 7-term MP, Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed Speaker Protem.
Who is the pro-tem Speaker of Lok Sabha?
- Being the Presiding Officer of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker has to fulfil certain key duties related to its day-to-day proceedings.
- Article 94 of the Indian Constitution states: “Whenever the House of the People is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the House of the People after the dissolution.
- In the new Lok Sabha, the Speaker of the House is decided by a simple majority.
- Until her selection, the pro-tem Speaker is chosen to administer some important duties.
- ‘Pro-tem’ essentially means ‘for the time being’ or ‘temporarily’.
- The Constitution does not mention the post. However, the official ‘Handbook on the Working of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs’ speaks about the ‘Appointment and Swearing in of Speaker pro tem’.
How is the pro-tem Speaker chosen?
- The handbook states when the Speaker post falls vacant before a new Lok Sabha, “the duties of the Speaker are to be performed by a Member of the House appointed for this purpose by the President as Speaker pro tem”.
- Administering oaths to the new MPs is the pro-tem Speaker’s primary duty. Under Article 99 of the Constitution, “Every Member of the House shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the President or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.”
- Normally, three other elected members of the Lok Sabha are also appointed by the President for the MPs to take oath before them.
- According to the handbook, the seniormost members (in terms of number of years of membership of the House) are generally chosen for the purpose, though there have been exceptions.
- As soon as the new government is formed, the Legislative I Section of the Government of India prepares a list of the seniormost Lok Sabha members.
- It is then submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs or the Prime Minister for identifying an MP as Speaker pro-tem and another three members for oath-taking.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q3. Consider the following statements with regards to Lok Sabha:
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
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Q. With reference to Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, consider the following statements (2022)
Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 3 only (b) 1, 2 and 3 (c) 3 and 4 only (d) 2 and 4 only Answer – (a) |
| Answer 3- C
Explanation
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Can GM crops promise Food Security?
Source: Indian Express
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/gm-crops-food-security-9404105/
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS3- Agriculture, Economy
Context: About Gene Revolution
Why in News
- A new “gene revolution” is being heralded as a cure-all for a growing global appetite and a climate-hit food system.
Key Highlights
- A new “gene revolution” is being heralded as a cure-all for a growing global appetite as food systems are decimated by extreme weather.
- Farmers have cross-bred fruits, grains or vegetables to create tastier or higher-yielding hybrids for millennia.
- But it wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists first employed bioengineering to transfer genes from one organism to another to produce “transgenic” crops.
About Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
- When these genetically modified organisms (GMOs) first hit shelves in the 1990s, they were dubbed Frankenstein foods. Resistance to GMO crops was based on a continuing public fear that they’re harmful to human health, even if long-term studies said eating them was as safe as conventional varieties.
- Now in the 2020s, a new “gene revolution,” whereby DNA can be genetically “edited” without splicing in genes from a separate organism, is bolstering biotech crop industry claims that it can ensure food security for a global population expected to approach 10 billion by 2050.
- The World Economic Forum (WEF), a consistent advocate of GM technology, says that research into new rice, maize, wheat, potato and cassava strains, for example, will further help these vital food staples survive extreme weather and “new climate-induced diseases” in a warming world.
- It points out the latest bioengineering technology that helps plants and soils better capture and store planet-heating carbon from the atmosphere.
Industrial-scale GMOs perpetuate climate change
- Many scientists and environmental campaigners don’t agree that GM crops can promise food security or help fight the climate change-induced extreme droughts and floods that are decimating agriculture.
- New GMOs will continue to perpetuate an “agro-industrial system” that “bears substantial responsibility for the climate crisis,” Anneleen Kenis, lecturer in political ecology and environmental justice at Brunel University, London.
- Currently, food systems generate around one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions fuelling climate change.
- And in the US, more than half of harvested cropland is produced with genetically modified seeds.
- Kenis’ research argues that GMOs often involve “large-scale monocultures” of limited crop varieties that also require great amounts of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation.
Transgenic Crops?
- Transgenic crops are plants that have been modified through genetic engineering techniques.
- These crops have had specific genes inserted into their DNA to give them new characteristics or traits that are not naturally found in the species through traditional breeding methods.
- Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) and transgenic organism are two terms that are used interchangeably.
- However, there is a slight difference between GMO and transgenic organism.
- Although both have altered genomes, a transgenic organism is a GMO containing a DNA sequence or a gene from a different species.
- While a GMO is an animal, plant, or microbe whose DNA has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q4. of the following statements about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and transgenic organisms are correct?
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
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Q. Other than resistance to pests, what are the prospects for which genetically engineered plants have been created? (2012)
Select the correct answer using the codes given below: (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 3 and 4 only (c) 1, 2 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 Ans: (c) |
| Answer 4 C
Explanation
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Biden bans U.S. sales of Kaspersky software over Russia ties
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS2- International relations
Context: What is the Copernicus EMS rapid response service?
Why in news
- The Biden administration on June 20 announced plans to bar the sale of antivirus software made by Russia’s Kaspersky Lab in the United States, citing the firm’s large U.S. customers, including critical infrastructure providers and state and local governments.
Key Highlights
- Moscow’s influence over the company was found to pose a significant risk, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a briefing call with reporters on Thursday.
- The software’s privileged access to a computer’s systems could allow it to steal sensitive information from American computers or install malware and withhold critical updates, enhancing the threat, a source added.
About Kaspersky
- Kaspersky Lab and the Russian Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
- Previously, Kaspersky has said that it is a privately managed company with no ties to the Russian government.
- The sweeping new rule, using broad powers created by the Trump administration, will be coupled with another move to add three units of the company to a trade restriction list.
- The plan to add the cybersecurity company to the entity list, which effectively bars a company’s U.S. suppliers from selling to it, and the timing and details of the software sales prohibition were first reported by Reuters.
- The moves show the Biden administration is trying to stamp out any risks of Russian cyberattacks stemming from Kaspersky software and keep squeezing Moscow as its war effort in Ukraine has regained momentum and as the United States has run low on fresh sanctions it can impose on Russia.
- It also shows the administration is harnessing a powerful new authority that allows it to ban or restrict transactions between U.S. firms and internet, telecom and tech companies from “foreign adversary” nations like Russia and China.
Tools Used
- Former President Donald Trump used them to try to bar Americans from using Chinese social media platforms TikTok and WeChat, but federal courts halted the moves.
- The new restrictions on inbound sales of Kaspersky software, which will also bar downloads of software updates, resales and licensing of the product, kick in on Sept. 29, 100 days after publication, to give businesses time to find alternatives.
- New U.S. business for Kaspersky will be blocked 30 days after the restrictions are announced.
- Sales of white-labeled products — that integrate Kaspersky into software sold under a different brand name — will also be barred, the source said, adding that the Commerce Department will notify companies before taking enforcement action against them.
- The Commerce Department will also entity list two Russian and one UK-based unit of Kaspersky for allegedly cooperating with Russian military intelligence to support Moscow’s cyber intelligence goals.
- Kaspersky’s Russian business is already subject to sweeping U.S. export restrictions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Growing Pressure
- Kaspersky has long been in regulators’ crosshairs. In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security banned its flagship antivirus product from federal networks, alleging ties to Russian intelligence and noting Russian law lets intelligence agencies compel assistance from Kaspersky and intercept communications using Russian networks.
- Media reports at the time alleged Kaspersky Lab was involved in taking hacking tools from a National Security Agency employee that ended up in the hands of the Russian government.
- Kaspersky responded by saying it had stumbled upon the code but said no third parties saw it.
- Pressure on the company’s U.S. business grew after Moscow’s move against Kyiv.
- The U.S. government privately warned some American companies the day after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 that Moscow could manipulate software designed by Kaspersky to cause harm, Reuters reported.
- The war also prompted the Commerce Department to ramp up a national security probe into the software, first reported by Reuters.
- The delayed unveiling of the prohibition is due in part to a “significant back and forth” with Kaspersky, which proposed mitigating measures instead of an outright ban.
- However, the agency concluded that the threats, especially the ties to the Russian government, meant “there really were no mitigating measures that could be implemented to address those risks.”
- Under the new rules, sellers and resellers who violate the restrictions will face fines from the Commerce Department, the source added.
- If someone willfully violates the prohibition, the Justice Department can bring a criminal case.
- Software users will not face legal penalties but will be strongly encouraged to stop using it.
- Kaspersky, which has a British holding company and operations in Massachusetts, said in a corporate profile that it generated revenue of $752 million in 2022 from more than 220,000 corporate clients in some 200 countries.
- Its website lists Italian vehicle maker Piaggio, Volkswagen’s retail division in Spain and the Qatar Olympic Committee among its customers.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
| Q5. What action did the US administration announce regarding Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software?
A. It plans to acquire Kaspersky Lab to enhance U.S. cybersecurity infrastructure. B. It intends to bar the sale of Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software in the United States. C. It will collaborate with Kaspersky Lab to improve global cybersecurity standards. D. It has decided to allow Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software for use in critical infrastructure.
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Q. With reference to “Software as a Service (SaaS)”, consider the following statements: (2022) (1) SaaS buyers can customize the user interface and can change data fields. (2) SaaS users can access their data through their mobile devices. (3) Outlook, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail are forms of SaaS.Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 Ans: (d) |
| Answer 5 B
Explanation
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