Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

What are class action suits:

• A class action suit is a legal action or claim that allows one or many plaintiffs to file and appear for a group of people with similar interests. Such a group forms a “class”
• A class action suit derives from representative litigation, to ensure justice to the ordinary individual against a powerful adversary.

Does it exist in India:

India now has legal provisions for filing class action suits, but under four laws:

• Order 1 Rule 8 of the Civil Procedure Code refers to representative suits, which is the closest to a classic class action suit in a civil context in India. It does not cover criminal proceedings.
• Section 245 of the Companies Act allows members or depositors of a company to initiate proceedings against the directors of the company in specific instances. There are threshold limits, requiring a minimum number of people or holders of issued share capital before such a suit can proceed. This type of suit is filed in the National Company Law Tribunal. Currently, no class action matters have been filed under this provision.
• The Competition Act under Section 53(N) allows a group of aggrieved persons to appear at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in issues of anti-competitive practices.
• The Supreme Court has held that in certain complaints under the Consumer Protection Act, they can be considered as class action suits. (Rameshwar Prasad Shrivastava and Ors v Dwarkadhis Project Pvt Ltd and Ors)

Is a class action suit comparable with public interest litigation: For filing a public interest litigation (Article 32 or Article 226 of the Constitution), the plaintiff need not have a personal interest or claim in the matter. The PIL must serve a matter of public interest. A crucial difference is that unlike a class action suit, a PIL cannot be filed against a private party.

Points to be noted :

• According to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) estimates, over 390 million women in low- and middle-income countries do not have Internet access. South Asia has more than half of these women with only 65% owning a mobile phone.
• In India, only 14.9% of women were reported to be using the Internet. This divide is deepened by earlier mandates to register online to get a vaccination appointment. Recent local data revealed that nearly 17% more men than women have been vaccinated. While improving awareness of how to access vaccination and help are crucial to protecting women, the mindset around digital technology and device ownership must also change.
• The concept of feminism goes beyond the rights of women. It is about a way of life. In simple terms, it means being inclusive, democratic, transparent, egalitarian, and offering opportunities for all. We can call it equality through innovation.
• Feminist technology (sometimes called “femtech”) is an approach to technology and innovation that is inclusive, informed and responsive to the entire community with all its diversity.
• As part of the Generation Equality Forum, the goal is to double the number of women and girls working in technology and innovation. By 2026, the aim is to reduce the gender digital divide and ensure universal digital literacy, while investing in feminist technology and innovation to support women’s leadership as innovators.
• Through digital empowerment programmes and partnerships such as EQUALS  and International Girls in ICT Day celebration etc, through which more girls will choose STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as their academic focus, enter digital technology careers, and aspire to be the next leaders in digital technology.
• Companies should not look at gender-equal technology solely from an altruistic perspective, but from a pragmatic one.
• According to GSMA, closing the gender gap in mobile Internet usage in low- and middle-income countries would increase GDP by U.S.$700 billion over the next five years. Women and girls are the largest consumer groups left out of technology and could be major profit drivers.
• Women and girls do not have the same access to these technologies as men and boys, nor are they available at the same price. That is not acceptable.
• There is no need to reinvent the wheel. In the 1950s, dishwashers and washing machines were promoted as a method of emancipating women. Household goods producers, for example, target most of their advertising at women because they often control the household budget. Digital technology could be approached similarly.

ECONOMY

What is in news : Cabinet approves merger of Central Railside Warehouse Company Limited (CRWC) with Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC)

Why this move :

• Promoting ease of doing business and bringing private sector efficiencies in Public Sector Undertakings
• Unify similar functions of both the companies (i.e., warehousing, handling, transportation) through a single administration to promote efficiency, optimum capacity utilization, transparency, accountability, ensure financial savings and leverage railway siding for new warehousing capacities.

About :

• CWC is a Mini-Ratna Category-I CPSE set up in 1957 to provide for incorporation and regulation of Warehousing Corporations for the purpose of warehousing of agriculture produce and certain other commodities notified by the Central Government and for matters connected there with.
• CWC formed a separate subsidiary company named ‘Central Railside Warehouse Company Ltd.’ (CRWC) on 10th July 2007 to plan, develop, promote, acquire and operate Railside Warehousing Complexes / Terminals / Multimodal Logistics Hubs on land leased from Railways or acquired otherwise. CRWC is a lean organization with 50 employees and staff of 48 outsourced personnel. Presently, it is operating 20 Railside Warehouses across the country.

Where : Australia

What is in news : Recently, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has recommended that the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage Sites.Placement on the ‘‘in-danger list’’ is not considered a sanction.

Details :

• Australia, which is one of the world's largest carbon emitters per capita, has remained reluctant to commit to stronger climate action and has cited jobs as a major reason to back the country's fossil fuel industries.It has not updated its climate goals since 2015.
• The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan is the Australian and Queensland Government’s overarching framework for protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef by 2050.

Additional information

• Largest Coral Reef Area:
  • Indonesia has the largest coral reef area in the world.
  • India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Chagos have the maximum coral reefs in South Asia.
  • The Great Barrier Reef of the Queensland coast of Australia is the largest aggregation of coral reefs.
• Coral Reef Areas in India:
  • India has four coral reef areas: Gulf of Mannar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep islands and the Gulf of Kutch.
  • In India, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with help from Gujarat’s forest department, is attempting a process to restore coral reefs using “biorock” or mineral accretion technology.

What is in news : Recently, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that it will install seven new doppler radars in Maharashtra, including Mumbai in 2021.

Doppler Radar:

• It is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance.
• Based on Doppler principle the radar is designed to improve precision in long-range weather forecasting and surveillance using a parabolic dish antenna and a foam sandwich spherical radome.
• DWR has the equipment to measure rainfall intensity, wind shear and velocity and locate a storm centre and the direction of a tornado or gust front.

What is doppler effect : When the source and the signal are in relative motion to each other there is a change in the frequency observed by the observer. If they are moving closer, frequency increases and vice versa.

Why the radar :

• They will guide meteorologists, particularly in times of extreme weather events like cyclones and associated heavy rainfall.
• As the radar observations will be updated every 10 minutes, forecasters will be able to follow the development of weather systems as well as their varying intensities, and accordingly predict weather events and their impact.

Existing radars

• In January 2021, the Union Minister for Earth Sciences commissioned two of the ten indigenously built X-Band Doppler Weather Radars (DWR) to closely monitor the weather changes over the Himalayas.
• East Coast: Kolkata, Paradip, Gopalpur, Visakhapatnam, Machilipatanam, Sriharikota, Karaikal and Chennai.
• West Coast: Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Goa and Mumbai.
• Other Radars: Srinagar, Patiala, Kufri, Delhi, Mukteshwar, Jaipur, Bhuj, Lucknow, Patna, Mohanbar, Agartala, Sohra, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Nagpur.

What :

• The central nervous system is made up of two types of tissue: the grey matter and the white matter.
• The grey matter is mainly composed of neuronal cell bodies and unmyelinated axons. Axons are the processes that extend from neuronal cell bodies, carrying signals between those bodies. In the grey matter, these axons are mainly unmyelinated, meaning they are not covered by a whitish-colored, fatty protein called myelin.
• The grey matter serves to process information in the brain. Structures within the grey matter process signals generated in the sensory organs or other areas of the grey matter. This tissue directs sensory (motor) stimuli to nerve cells in the central nervous system where synapses induce a response to the stimuli. These signals reach the grey matter through myelinated axons that make up the bulk of the white matter in the cerebrum, cerebellum and spine.
• The grey matter includes regions of the brain involved in muscle control, and sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making, and self-control.

What is in news : The loss of smell and taste, which is among the most common symptoms associated with coronavirus infection, is writ large in the brain, says a study that scanned brain images from a group of volunteers to compare changes before and after COVID-19.

The study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, was able to paint a picture of a distinct loss of grey matter, in regions of the brain associated with smell and taste in those who had tested positive for the coronavirus compared to those who hadn’t

What is in news : The 67the death anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee was observed as ‘Balidan Diwas’

Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee

• Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born in a Bengali family on 6th July 1901. His father Ashutosh Mukherjee was a judge of the Calcutta High Court.
• He started his initial education in Bhawanipur’s Mitra Institution in 1906. He passed his matriculation exam and was admitted to Presidency College.
• He stood seventeenth in the Inter-Arts Examination in 1916 and graduated in English, securing the first position in first class in 1921.
• He lost his father in 1924, the same year he enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court.
• At the age of 33, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee became the youngest vice-chancellor of Calcutta University in 1934.
• During Mukherjee’s term as Vice-Chancellor, Rabindranath Tagore delivered the university convocation address in Bengali for the first time, and the Indian vernacular was introduced as a subject for the highest examination.
• Mukherjee demanded the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan. A meeting held by the Mahasabha on April 15, 1947, in Tarakeswar, authorised him to take steps for ensuring partition of Bengal.
• In May 1947, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee wrote a letter to Lord Mountbatten telling him that Bengal must be partitioned even if India was not. He also opposed a failed bid for a united but independent Bengal made in 1947 by Sarat Bose, the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose, and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali Muslim politician.
• After he left the Indian National Congress due to difference of opinion with the then-Prime Minister Dr Jawaharlal Nehru on Jammu and Kashmir issues, he co- founded Janata Party in the year 1977-1979, which later on became the Bharatiya Janata Party.
• Shyama Prasad Mukherjee died after 40 days of being arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir State police for entering the state without permit.

What is in news : Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries in Dushanbe (Tajkistan) agreed to cooperate in the joint fight against the threats of “international terrorism”, “extremism”, “separatism” and “religious radicalism”.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):

• It is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.
• It’s creation was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
• It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002, and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
• The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

GOALS:

• Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas;
• Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

Bodies under SCO:

• Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.
• SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) meets once a year to discuss the organisation’s multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues, and also to approve the organisation’s annual budget.
• The organisation has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.
• The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a term of three years.

MEMBERS:

• SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;
• SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Mongolia;
• SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

What is in news : Ranked choice voting that made its debut in New York City's mayoral is  one of the most high-profile tests yet for a system gaining use in pockets across the US. The system is based on a simple premise: Democracy works better if people aren't forced to make an all-or-nothing choice with their vote.

How does ranked choice voting work:

• In New York City's version, voters get to rank up to five candidates, from first to last, on their ballot.
• If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters — more than 50% — that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election
• If nobody hits that threshold, ranked choice analysis kicks in.
• Vote tabulation is done in rounds. In each round, the candidate in last place is eliminated. Votes cast ranking that candidate first are then redistributed to those voters' second choices.
• That process repeats until there are only two candidates left. The one with the most votes wins.

BENEFITS

• One benefit of the system is that nobody “wastes” their vote by picking an unpopular candidate as their first choice.
• You can follow your heart and rank someone you like No. 1, even if you suspect that candidate doesn't stand a chance. If that person is eliminated, you still get a say in who wins the race based on your other rankings.
• Another benefit is that it's tough for someone to get elected without broad support. In a traditional election, it's possible for someone with fringe political views to win in a crowded field of candidates, even if they are deeply disliked by a majority of voters.
• That's theoretically less likely in a ranked choice system. A candidate could get the largest share of first-choice votes, but still lose to someone who is the second or third choice of a large number of people

NEGATIVES

• The system is tough to grasp. It requires voters to do a lot more research. It also makes races less predictable.
• Transparency and trust are also potential problems. Ordinarily, candidates, the public and news organizations can see votes coming in, precinct by precinct, and know exactly who is leading and where their support is coming from.
• Under the modern ranked choice system, the process of redistributing votes is done by computer. Outside groups will have a harder time evaluating whether the software sorted the ranked votes accurately.
• And there may be instances where candidates who seem to have a comfortable lead in first-place votes on election night lose because relatively few voters rank them as their second or third choice. That could lead to people questioning the results.

• The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), which like other mass transit systems has taken a financial hit due to the pandemic, is contemplating issuing Namma Metro Bond Series II to raise ₹500 crore for Phase II of the project.
• Karnataka on Wednesday launched a dedicated war room for animal welfare, said to be the first such initiative in the country.The 24x7 war room, which operates from the Pashupalana Bhavan in Hebbal, will give information on the rearing of cows, sheep, goat, pigs, and rabbits besides poultry farming. People can also get information on the availability of various breeds of cattle and the approximate price range. Farmers can get information on immediate measures to be followed to protect their
• Maharashtra and Karnataka have agreed in principle to a water-for-water formula between them to combat drought.The formula involves Maharashtra releasing 4 tmcft of water during summer months and Karnataka releasing the same quantum of water from the Almatti backwaters to Maharashtra. This water will be utilised by Maharashtra for supply of drinking water to around 40 villages in Jat taluk.
• IBM and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) on Wednesday launched the IBM-IISc Hybrid Cloud Lab to advance research in hybrid cloud technologies and drive breakthrough innovations. Located at the IISc. campus in Bengaluru, students and faculty across departments of the institute would work alongside IBM Research scientists on cutting-edge technologies that can help organisations leverage the power of hybrid cloud by enabling faster, seamless, and more secure adoption of hybrid cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI), said IBM. The IBM-IISc Hybrid Cloud Lab is expected to bring together a talented community of scientists, faculty and students, who are passionate about solving some of the toughest research challenges that enterprises face today
• The State government of Karnataka is considering a proposal to amend the Inams Abolition Act to give one more opportunity to farmers to apply for occupancy rights.State had more than 70,000 acres of Inam Land (land gifted to various persons and institutions by the erstwhile rulers), cultivated by farmers. When the Inams Abolition Act was brought in earlier to provide occupancy rights to those cultivating them, a large number of farmers had not applied owing to a lack of awareness
• New Zealand registered the biggest triumph in its cricket history as it beat India by eight wickets in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC)
• TO ENCOURAGE more people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the Kishori Ram Hospital in Bathinda has announced free gifts, sponsored by donors, as incentives.
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid homage to Shri Jagannathrao Joshi Ji, senior leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party, on his 101st birth anniversary.
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved allocation of additional foodgrain under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (Phase IV) – for another period of 5 months i.e. July to November, 2021 @ 5 kg per person per month free of cost for maximum 81.35 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) (Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Households) including those covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). In 2020, Government of India had announced the “Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana” (PM-GKAY) for all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) as part of the pro-poor PM GaribKalyan Package for the period April-November, 2020.
• Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), launched its programme in Bhutan.India was chosen as the Partner Jurisdiction and has provided the Tax Expert for this programme. This programme is expected to be of about 24 months’ duration through which India in collaboration with the UNDP and the TIWB Secretariat aims to aid Bhutan in strengthening its tax administration by transferring technical know-how and skills to its tax auditors, and through sharing of best audit practices. The focus of the programme will be in the area of International Taxation and Transfer Pricing.
• “Active collaborations, research partnerships and leveraging each other’s strengths are the ways ahead to fight pandemics like COVID-19,” said Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar in his address at the plenary session of the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security on the topic ‘Role of Military Agencies in fighting against COVID-19’, in Moscow, Russia

• Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie in the early 1900s. His character is one of a care-free young boy, who never grows up. He features in several of Barrie's books and plays, and has since been adapted in numerous films, television series and comics. These works describe stories of Peter and his friend Wendy travelling to Neverland, a mythical island, where they meet fairies, pirates and mermaids, amongst other creatures.
• It is said that people who develop similar behaviours -- of living life carefree, finding responsibilities challenging in adulthood, and basically, "never growing up" -- suffer from Peter Pan Syndrome
• While the World Health Organization does not recognise Peter Pan Syndrome as a health disorder, many experts believe it is a mental health condition that can affect one's quality of life.
• Wendy Syndrome takes after Wendy Darling, who appears beside Peter Pan but is seen as playing an antithetical character. She is often called a "mother", taking on the role of an adult or someone more mature.