CURRENT AFFAIRS 27 FEB 2023

Topic 1: The Right to be Forgotten

Context:  The Delhi High Court is all set to hear a doctor’s plea for enforcement of his ‘Right to be Forgotten’.

Key details:

• What is the Right to be Forgotten?
  • The “Right to be Forgotten” is the right to remove or erase content so that it’s not accessible to the public at large.
  • It empowers an individual to have information in the form of news, video, or photographs deleted from internet records so it doesn’t show up through search engines, like Google in the present case.

• Indian law related to Right to be Forgotten
  • Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 says that organizations who possess sensitive personal data and fail to maintain appropriate security to safeguard such data, resulting in wrongful loss or wrongful gain to anyone, may be obligated to pay damages to the affected person.
  • The IT Rules, 2021 do not include this right but lay down the procedure for filing complaints with the designated Grievance Officer so as to have content exposing personal information about a complainant removed from the internet.
  • In 2019 the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill in the Lok Sabha.
    • Clause 20 under the draft bill mentions the “Right to be Forgotten” as the right to restrict or prevent the continuing disclosure of personal data by a data fiduciary.
    • This bill is yet to be passed by the parliament, owing to a parliamentary joint committee’s suggestion to amend 81 of the 99 sections.

• Court rulings:
  • The right is not recognized by a law or a statute in India expressly.
  • The courts have repeatedly held it to be endemic to an individual’s Right to Privacy under Article 21 since the Apex Court’s 2017 ruling in “K.S.Puttaswamy vs Union of India”.
  • However, the court also recognized that such a right can be restricted:
    • by the right to freedom of expression and information or
    • for compliance with legal obligations, or
    • for the performance of tasks in the public interest or
    • on grounds of public interest in the area of public health or
    • scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, or
    • for the establishment and exercise or defense of legal claims.

Origins of this Right

• The Right to be Forgotten originates from a 2014 European Court of Justice ruling where it was codified for the first time.
• Thereafter, it was included in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in addition to the right to erasure.

Arguments for and against the Right to be forgotten:

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Topic 2: ALMA telescope

Context: The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA), a radio telescope comprising 66 antennas located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile is set to get software and hardware upgrades.

Key details:

• About ALMA:
  • ALMA is a state-of-the-art telescope that studies celestial objects at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths.
    • These wavelengths can penetrate through dust clouds and help astronomers examine dim and distant galaxies and stars out there.
  • It also has extraordinary sensitivity, which allows it to detect even extremely faint radio signals.
  • The telescope consists of 66 high-precision antennas, spread over a distance of up to 16 km.
• Who operate ALMA?
  • ALMA is operated under a partnership among the United States, 16 countries in Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Chile.
• Who constructed it?
  • It is fully functional since 2013.
  • The radio telescope was designed, planned and constructed by:
    • the US’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO),
    • the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and
    • the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
• Location of the telescope:
  • ALMA is situated on the Chajnantor plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert as the millimetre and submillimetre waves observed by it are very susceptible to atmospheric water vapour absorption on Earth.
  • The desert is the driest place in the world, meaning most of the nights here are clear of clouds and free of light-distorting moisture, making it a perfect location for examining the universe.
• Notable discoveries made by ALMA
  • In 2013 it discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the universe’s history than they were previously thought to have existed.
  • In 2014 ALMA provided detailed images of the protoplanetary disc surrounding HL Tauri — a very young T Tauri star in the constellation Taurus.
  • In 2015, the telescope helped scientists observe a phenomenon known as the Einstein ring, which occurs when light from a galaxy or star passes by a massive object en route to the Earth.
  • More recently, as part of the Event Horizon Telescope project (a large telescope array consisting of a global network of radio telescopes), it provided the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy.

What is a radio telescope and how it works?Radio telescope is an astronomical instrument consisting of a radio receiver and an antenna system that is used to detect radio-frequency radiation emitted by extraterrestrial sources.Because radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, radio telescopes must be very large in order to attain the resolution of optical telescopes.

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Topic 3: Sursingar, Mandolin and Karakattam

Context: Prime Minister of India spoke of several musical instruments and folk artists who he hoped would continue to inspire everyone at the grassroots towards making performing arts more popular.

Sursingar

• The Sursingar, a stringed musical instrument that is similar to the sarod, but which is older and produces deeper notes.
• The instrument is made of wood and has a gourd attached to a hollow wooden handle with a metal fingerboard.
• The Sursingar (along with the Rudra Veena and the Surbahar) usually accompanies Dhrupad – the genre of Hindustani vocal music which has a low, deep, and thoughtful pitch.

Mandolin

• The Mandolin usually have eight strings that are plucked with a pick, similar to a lute.
• It is smaller than the Veena, Sitar, or guitar, and was developed in Europe in the 18th century as an evolution of the older Mandora (Mandola).
• The greatest exponent of the Mandolin in Indian classical music was the late Uppalapu Srinivas, often known as ‘Mandolin’ Srinivas.

Karakattam

• Karakattam is an ancient folk dance of Tamil Nadu.
• Here performers in colourful saris dance with a pot (karakam) on their head to invoke Mariamman, the goddess of rain.

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Topic 4: The anatomy of heat waves

Context: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that the maximum temperatures over northwest, west, and central India would be 3-5°C higher than the long-term average.

What is a heat wave?

• According to the IMD, a region has a heat wave if its ambient temperature deviates by at least 4.5-6.4°C from the long-term average.
• There is also a heat wave if the maximum temperature crosses 45°C in plains or 37°C at a hill-station.

Heat waves in India:

• Heat waves are expected to become longer and more intense and frequent over the Indian subcontinent.
• They also extended further south into peninsular India due to a north-south pressure pattern set up by the La Niña.
  • La Nina is a world-affecting weather phenomenon in which a band of cool water spreads east-west across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
• The last three years have been La Niña years, which has served as a precursor to 2023 likely being an El Niño year.
  • The El Niño is a complementary phenomenon in which warmer water spreads west-east across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
• Heat waves tend to be confined to north and northwest India in El Niño years.
• In spring, India typically has air flowing in from the west-northwest.
  • In the context of climate change, West Asia is warming faster than other regions and serves as a source of the warm air that blows into India.
  • Air flowing in from the northwest rolls in over the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan and enters India with a bristling warmth.
  • While air flowing in over the oceans is expected to bring cooler air, the Arabian Sea is unfortunately warming faster than most other ocean regions.
  • The strong upper atmospheric westerly winds that come in from the Atlantic Ocean over to India during spring, control the near-surface winds.
  • This descending air compresses and warms up to generate some heat waves.
• Global warming and heat wave:
  • The Lapse rate (the rate at which temperatures cool from the surface to the upper atmosphere) is declining under global warming.
  • Global warming tends to warm the upper atmosphere faster than the air near the surface.
  • The sinking air is warmer due to global warming, and thus produces heat waves as it sinks and compresses.

Occurrence of Heat waves:

• Heat waves are forms for one of two reasons:
  • warmer air is flowing in from elsewhere or
  • it is being produced locally.
• It is a local phenomenon when the air is warmed by higher land surface temperature or because the air sinking down from above is compressed along the way, producing hot air near the surface.
• Air mass and heat waves
  • The north-northwestern heatwaves are typically formed with air masses that come from 800-1,600 km away and are around two days old.
  • Heat waves over peninsular India on the other hand arrive from the oceans, which are closer (around 200-400 km) and are barely a day old and are on average less intense.

Conclusion:

• Heat waves have a sophisticated anatomy with important implications for how well we can predict them.
• Early-warning systems can improve the quality of warnings and also increase how soon they can be issued.
• Sizeable investments in human and computational resources have already increased India’s forecast skills in the last decade.
• Mortality over India due to heat waves are substantially lower than those in other mid-latitude regions.
• India should further improve forecast warnings, issue them as soon as possible, and couple them with city-wide graded heat action plans to protect the vulnerable.

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Topic 5: Quote: Human spirit must prevail over technology

Context: A quote attributed to Albert Einstein, “Human spirit must prevail over technology”, warrants a proper analysis of uninterrupted discussion on the future of technology and human beings.

Meaning of the quote

• The quote is attributed to Albert Einstein.
• The quote focuses on how technology should only be subservient to the ‘human spirit’, and never be allowed to dominate over it.
• The quote emerges as a warning: it is up to humans to ensure that humanity is retained during the process and that anything potentially harmful is modified or discarded at the initial stages only.
• The quote also highlights how humans have a tendency to look past their own long-term benefits in the pursuit of what they perceive to be important – short-term and short-lived gains.
  • Example:
    • Despite decades of warning signs, humans have been unable to satisfactorily resolve the issue of rising global temperatures.
    • There have been several mechanisms like COP27 but there has not even been any global consensus to effectively tackle the issue.
    • Humans are still not letting their ‘spirits prevail’ over technology, making Einstein’s words sound even more like a prescient warning.

Where can this quote be used?

• ChatGPT:
  • There have been several discussions on how AI is going to affect humans in the future, both near and far.
  • There has been the usual fear about loss of jobs.
  • The rise of AI which can understand and respond in natural language has also raised questions about what it actually means to be a human.
  • One might make the observation that despite everything, “the human spirit must prevail over technology” since the ultimate aim of AI should be to make human lives better.
• Medical advancement:
  • The rapid pace at which the Covid-19 vaccines were developed and administered can be seen as an example of centring human welfare in the field of science.
• Public Administration:
  • In the context of public administration, AI can be used as a powerful tool in maintaining records and other similar activities, another instance of humans ‘prevailing’ over technology.

Similar quotes by Einstein:

• Without ‘ethical culture’, there is no salvation for humanity.
• Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
• A dictatorship means muzzles all round and consequently stultification. Science can flourish only in an atmosphere of free speech.
• Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.

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Topic 6: MIIRA

Context: India has introduced a draft to launch a global initiative to encourage the consumption and production of millet known as MIIRA.

What is MIIRA?

MIIRA stands for ‘Millet International Initiative for Research and Awareness’.

• Aim:
  • The MIIRA will be aimed at coordinating millet research programmes at the international level.
  • Besides setting up a web platform to connect researchers and holding international research conferences, the plan is also to raise awareness for promoting the consumption of millet.
• Significance:
  • This is significant as issues like food security and nutrition are among the key priority areas in the agriculture sector during India’s G20 Presidency.
    • India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022.

• Funding:
  • India will contribute the seed money.
  • Each G20 member will later have to contribute to its budget in the form of a membership fee.
• Secratariat:
  • The MIIRA secretariat will be in Delhi.

About Millets:

• Millets are small-grained cereals such as:
  • sorghum (jowar),
  • pearl millet (bajra),
  • foxtail millet (kangni/ Italian millet),
  • little millet (kutki),
  • kodo millet,
  • finger millet (ragi/ mandua),
  • proso millet (cheena/ common millet),
  • barnyard millet (sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora), and
  •  brown top millet (korale).
• These crops require much less water than rice and wheat, and are mainly grown in rainfed areas.
• Global producers:
  • Its major producers are the US, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan.
• Millets as Nutri Cereals:
  • The Agriculture Ministry declared millets as ‘Nutri Cereals’ for their high nutritive value.
  • Finance Minister of India has described millets as “Shree Anna”.

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Topic 7: Neocolonialism

Context: Recently a Revolutionary’s exhumed remains were reburied at a ceremony in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. Sankara was a charismatic anti-colonist and against neocolonialism.

About Neo-Colonialism:

• Neo-colonialism can be defined as the indirect control of the economic, political and socio–cultural life of colonies by their former colonial masters.
• Unlike colonialism which was direct control, neo-colonialism operates indirectly and secretly.
• It was first observed by Kwame Nkrumah, the former president of Ghana at the time when African countries were getting out of Colonization.
• Neo-colonization was also accounting for the exploitation of nations in place of development of poor countries.
• Dependency theory and Neo-Colonialism:
  • This theory declares that by the penetration of multinational corporations, economic sanctions, partnerships, and the like, developed countries intentionally foster and enforce a culture within developing countries that is economically dependent on their own.
  • Dependency theory contends that the weaker nation is further impoverished to the benefit of the stronger country due to the subsequent capitalist use of the weaker country’s resources and labour.
  • This practice continues because of the strong hegemony of the colonizing power.
• World Systems theory and neo-colonialism:
  • This theory says that the world is divided into segments including a powerful “core”, a moderate “semi-periphery”, and a weak “periphery” group of nations.
  • World systems theory explains how the core can dominate and take control of the resources and labour supplied by the periphery for a profit.
  • Just as in dependency theory, the core benefits because of these mechanics.
  • However, the periphery’s marginal benefits are acknowledged since they are provided with some economic gain.

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Topic 8: The Yellow River

Context: A new study has noted that the Chinese practice of building embankments is also to blame for the devastating floods the Yellow River has wrought in its basin from pre-history to the last century. 

About the Yellow River:

• The Yellow River or Huang He is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world.
• Origin: Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai province of Western China.
• It empties into the Bohai Sea.