Current Affairs July 29

World Drowning Prevention Day

• There is a need to provide safe places away from water to children, teach swimming to them as well as improve flood risk management to avert deaths caused by drowning, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently flagged.
• At least 236,000 people drown every year; drowning is among the top 10 leading causes of death for children and youth aged between one and 24 years, the WHO noted on the first World Drowning Prevention Day marked July 25, 2021.
• It, in a statement, added that more than 90 percent of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells and domestic water storage vessels in low- and middle-income countries.
• The WHO urged all stakeholders — governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations, the private sector, academia and individuals —for a coordinated and multi-sectoral action on measures such as:

1. Installing barriers controlling access to water
2. Providing safe places away from water such as crèches for pre-school children with capable childcare
3. Teaching swimming, water safety and safe rescue skills
4. Training bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation
5. Improving flood risk management

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Earth Overshoot Day’ has shifted back to July 29

• Humanity has again used up all biological resources that our planet regenerates during the entire year by July 29, 2021, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
• Humanity currently uses 74 per cent more than what the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate — or 1.7 Earths. From Earth Overshoot Day until the end of the year, humanity operates on ecological deficit spending.

What caused the date to come back to what it was in 2019

• WWF noted that the prime driver was the 6.6 per cent increase in the global carbon footprint in 2020.
• There was also the 0.5 per cent decrease in ‘global forest biocapacity’ due to a rise in deforestation of the Amazon’s rainforests.
• Some 1.1 million hectares of rainforest were lost in Brazil alone, which is home to the largest swathe of Amazonian rainforest.
• Even worse, there would be a 43 per cent year-over-year increase in deforestation in 2021

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Nano-structured self-cleaning aluminium surface

• A group of researchers have recently developed a nano-structured self-cleaning sustainable aluminium surface by utilizing a simple and environment-friendly fabrication route.
• It could have multiple applications ranging from biomedical to aerospace and automobiles to household appliances, and the process is easily scalable to industrial-level production.

Aluminium

• Aluminium is a light metal, which has many industrial applications as it can be easily cast, machined and shaped.
• However, atmospheric degradation due to the accumulation of contaminants and humidity significantly limits its performance and sustainability.
• Besides, the leaching of aluminium also causes environmental and health-related issues.

Self-cleaning surface

• self-cleaning surface is stable over a wide range of temperature, from -80 to 350oC, improving its corrosion resistance property.
• In fact, it shows 40 times reduction in the corrosion rate when compared to the existing surfaces developed by other processing routes,”
• Because of their nanostructured morphology coated with hydrocarbons, these surfaces are capable of reducing bacterial adhesion and growth to a great extent and hence can be used in healthcare and medical devices, including dental implants and heart assistive devices.

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SC on vandalism by legislators

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that lawmakers cannot indulge in criminal acts on the Parliament or Assembly floors and then take cover behind the right to free speech.
• The court refused the Kerala government’s plea to withdraw prosecution of top Left Democratic Front (LDF) leaders accused of vandalism and wanton destruction of public property on the Assembly floor during a Budget speech in 2015.
• “Acts of vandalism cannot be said to be manifestations of freedom of speech and be termed as ‘proceedings’ of the Assembly.
• It was not the intention of the drafters of the Constitution to extend the interpretation of ‘freedom of speech’ to include criminal acts by placing them under a veil of protest,”
• Legislators cannot unleash violence, run riot in Parliament or a Legislative Assembly and then claim parliamentary privilege and immunity from criminal prosecution.
• Parliamentary privileges and immunities are not “gateways” for legislators to claim exception from the law of the land, especially criminal law,

Take away from Japanese model of education

• The Japanese education philosophy transitioned from an extremely examination-focused, rote memorisation-based approach to the ‘Chi-Toku-Tai’ approach in the 1970s.
• ChiToku-Tai’ as the defining features of Japanese schooling. Chi, which translates to ‘know’ lay an emphasis on building strong academic abilities.
• Toku, translates to ‘virtue’ and refers to mindfulness, self-discipline, and cooperative abilities.
• And last, Tai, translates to ‘body, and refers to physical and mental well-being
• ‘zest for life’ approach, this philosophy focuses on holistic ability extending beyond academic prowess to include ‘kansei’ which roughly translates to ‘sensitivity’.
• This approach aims at developing a knowledgeable mind which can appreciate beauty and nature, hold a sense of justice, and respect life and labour.
• Moral education includes norms that define socially responsible and considerate behaviour towards everyone including nature.
• Integrated studies encompasses experiential learning and independent thinking where students identify problems in their local communities and think of solutions
• volunteering for a treasure hunt activity involving third graders in Tokyo gave us an interesting insight into collectivism.
• Teams had to find the hidden treasure; however, the primary target was not the treasure but to keep the unit together.
• Teams could only move forward when all its members were together and agreed on the next strategy.

Criticism population policy

• Single-minded focus on this policy instrument ignores the issue of a preference for male children, which is dominant in the country.
• An earlier study of women’s fertility in Hindi heartland States showed that the proportion of graduate women who had two living daughters but still wanted another child was 23.7% in Bihar, 27.3% in U.P. and 28.3% in Rajasthan.
• This is nothing but an indicator of a preference for sons in a patriarchal and caste-dominated society.
• Given such a preference for male children, the two-child norm will only increase sex-selective abortions of girl children, and female infanticide, since couples will want to maintain both the two-child norm as proposed to be enacted by the government as well as their preference for sons.
• The experience of China also shows that if the state imposes its decision on families’ fertility choices, such a decision is bound to fail. With the one-child policy, the proportion of the aged population is increasing in China.
• Fewer younger workers are available, which might result in a slowdown of economic growth.
• As a result, the government has been forced to relax the one-child policy and adopt a three-child policy.
• In India too, as per the population projection report, the proportion of people aged 60 years and above will increase from 13.8% in 2011 to 23.1% in 2036. The two-child norm will only further aggravate the problem of ageing

GST and fiscal federalism

• At the time of introducing the new indirect tax regime, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law assured States a 14% increase in their annual revenue for five years (up to July 1, 2020).
• But the Union government has deviated from the statutory promise and has been insisting that States avail themselves of loans
• Last year, the Union government increased the borrowing ceiling of the States from 3% to 5% for FY 2020- 21.
• But conditions are attached to 1.5% of the 2% of increased ceiling. It is the States which have to bear the burden of welfare and relief measures during the pandemic
• The Fifteenth Finance Commission had recommended ₹2,412 crore as a sector-specific grant and ₹1,100 crore as a State-specific grant for Kerala
• As per the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, compensation on account of the implementation of GST will be available for a period of five years.
• Compensation beyond five years requires a constitutional amendment.
• The GST Act says it is a law to provide for compensation to the States for the loss of revenue arising on account of the implementation of the GST for a period of five years or for such period as may be prescribed on the recommendation of the GST Council
• The present compensation period will end in 2021-22. Beyond this period,
• As per Section 4(f ) of Article 279A, the Union government can consider introducing any special rate to raise additional resources during the pandemic (any natural calamity or disaster).
• Section 4(f ) says: “The Goods and Services Tax Council shall make recommendations to the Union and the States on — Any special rate or rates for a specified period, to raise additional resources during any natural calamity or disaster”.
• Article 279A was inserted through the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act.

KDU bill

• General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University (or KDU) Bill.
• main demand is that the government keep military and civilian education separate,”
• “This Bill is not just about one university, it is essentially a model of private education, subsidised by the government and run by the military. It is an assault on the country’s public education system,”
• The KDU Bill, scheduled for parliamentary debate on August 6, seeks to change the governance structure of the University that was set up in 1980 as an Academy exclusively for the tri-forces, and named after Sri Lanka’s former Prime Minister.
• The proposed changes could pave way for a greater military role in education policy and administration, academics warn
• “The proposed KDU Bill offers a privatised, military model of higher education, which will take Sri Lanka on a trajectory towards militarisation of society as a whole.