UPSC Current Affairs – January 8, 2021

During recent cooperation reviews, India reiterated its commitment to timely complete Mongolia’s first oil refinery being built with an Indian line of credit. The project holds significance as China unfolds its Belt and Road Initiative ambitions in Mongolia despite the latter’s uranium pact and support for India’s UNSC bid. As Moscow looks to expand energy exports to Beijing, Ulaanbaatar is vital for New Delhi’s vision of an inclusive Indo-Pacific.

Apart from historical Buddhist links, present outreach spans defense exercises, IT, solar potential and the ASEAN-led East Asia Summit where both participate. With Mongolia offering new minerals and coking coal for India’s steel demands, realizing priority ventures can deepen multi-sectoral ties. A green, transparent North East Asian model led by India and Japan has takers in Ulaanbaatar wary of debt traps.

India Highlights GST, IPR Policy and Infrastructure Growth to WTO’s Trade Policy Review

India’s 7th Trade Policy Review by the WTO’s 164 members concluded recently, the first since 2015. Highlighting GST rollout, IP rights framework, digitization for transparency and infrastructure boosts across sectors, India requested permanent public stockholding support for food security too. But global trade’s tilt towards protectionism and uncertainty amidst RCEP walkout and import curbs continue as critiques.

With economic revival facing pandemic pressures, experts advised harnessing export potential via competitive trade pacts. As voices urging self-reliance and boosting domestic industry rise, balancing openness with judicious safeguards remains India’s policy tightrope for post-COVID strategic autonomy.

India Signs Yen 50 Billion Loan Pact With Japan to Fund National Health and Welfare Schemes

India and Japan inked an agreement for a 50 billion Yen ODA loan to finance national schemes that assist vulnerable groups amid COVID-19 including cash transfers and insurance for health workers. Along with boosting hospital capacities benefiting grassroots, the 0.65% interest credit demonstrates Tokyo’s development partnership’s scale and speed.

Japan has now extended approximately 5800 crore in fiscal aid this financial year supplementing project assistance. With Japanese investments in India also rising beyond infrastructure to technology and manufacturing, strategic cooperation is expanding to a human security focus on fighting shared risks. As Asian partners balance ties with a domineering China, collaborative recovery efforts via transparent, sustainable terms signal the future.

Debate Reignites on Payment for Women’s Unpaid Household Labour and Gender Roles

The manifesto promise by a Tamil Nadu party of a monthly payment to homemakers has revived the complex debate on recognizing and monetizing unpaid domestic work by India’s women. Though legally invalid currently, several experts advocate it to enable financial independence, uplift GDP accounting by including such gendered labour and incentivize responsibility sharing within households.

However, given low awareness on existing rights like inheritance and challenges in countering violence even today, direct wage risks misuse as an entitlement without changing regressive mindsets. A multifaceted shift in attitudes, opportunities at education and workplaces and family roles through discussions can best unlock women’s agency and potential.

Supreme Court Issues Notice Seeking Bar on Disqualified MLAs in Bypolls

The Supreme Court has sought the Centre and Election Commission’s responses on barring disqualified state legislators from bypolls if their Assembly’s term is still ongoing. It invokes the Tenth Schedule’s prohibition from being a member that applies until the House’s five year term under Article 172 ends as per a membership freeze.

The context is frequent recent incidents of mass legislator resignations bringing down governments with the same figures rotating ministerial posts after reelection. Since Speakers’ delays in deciding such vacation of office have long haunted anti-defection policies, stopping subsequent electoral routes for the term can enforce constitutional spirit. However, vacancies also weaken representation which merits examination before structural changes.

Karbi Anglong Autonomous District Seeks Statehood Amid Long Pending Demand

The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council in Assam has sought full statehood under Article 244A following a 50-year wait for the Centre to heed its plea. Apart from greater devolution covering judicial powers and revenue control, the Sixth Schedule district also wants its name embodied in any future province created.

Tribal belts currently depend on discretionary grants from state governments that hamper funding and delay development. Karbi Anglong, once a United Mikir and North Cachar Hills hub, contends its autonomous state demand protects political rights and cultural safeguards for the hill population. With targeted capacity building, an incremental decentralization approach allowing self-rule in select areas can demonstrate effectiveness before redrawing state boundaries.

MoSPI Implementing India’s First Natural Capital Accounting Project on UN Lines

The Statistics Ministry is implementing India’s first Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) project in line with UN’s System of Environmental-Economic Accounting framework. Funded by the EU and jointly executed by the UN, it helps quantify renewable stocks, ecosystem valuations and services across five countries.

Under this, progress includes publishing annual EnviStats India environment accounts from 2018 and an India EVL lookup tool tabulating state-wise ecosystem values for policymaking. Other aims are integrating metrics on water, minerals, forests etc with economic parameters like GDP to capture sustainable growth accurately. Building natural capital data along with mechanisms for community participation and market incentives can propel evidence-based green transition.

WHO Sounds Caution On Coronavirus Variant in South Africa Amid Vaccine Rollouts

Even as immunization expands, the WHO has flagged a new SARS-CoV-2 variant identified in South Africa potentially resistant to current treatments and vaccines. The 501Y.V2 lineage, distinct from the British mutant strain, contains key spike protein alterations that enable easier human cell penetration for the virus.

With its spread unclear and Covid shots just debuting, scientists are urgently probing monoclonal antibody and serum efficacy against it. Though India has no cases yet, genomic surveillance strengths must watch variants as norms ease and questions swirl on mutation impacts. Alert information exchange and monitoring viral evolution are vital when routing the pathogen globally hinges on how variants respond to countermeasures.