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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 April 2020

::NATIONAL::

SC asks central government to treat migrants humanely

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the police and the authorities to treat migrant workers journeying home in fear of COVID-19 in a humane manner.
Considering the situation, we are of the opinion that the State governments/Union Territories should endeavour to engage volunteers along with the police to supervise the welfare activities for the migrants,” a Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, said.
The court ordered the government to ensure that migrant workers stopped from crossing the inter-State borders were given food, shelter and medicines. The government said it was imperative to stop the mass migration as there was a likelihood that three out of every 10 workers might be carrying the coronavirus. The court expressed its satisfaction with the government measures.
The Bench, through videoconferencing, asked the government to urge community and religious leaders to speak to the migrant workers lodged in shelters. It asked the government to have trained counsellors talk to the workers.
The court directed the government, represented by Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, to set up an expert committee and a dedicated portal within 24 hours to disseminate authentic information about the virus and stop the spread of fake news.
A status report filed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said the propagation of deliberate or inadvertent false information was the “single most unimaginable hindrance” faced by the government in its battle against the virus.
Chief Justice Bobde said that Section 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant) of the IPC makes it a penal offence to disobey orders made by government authorities in public interest.
The court, on March 30, sought a report from the government on the steps taken about the largescale movement of workers. Tuesday’s order came on petitions by advocates AlakhAlokSrivastava and RashmiBansal for a direction to the government to redress the “heart-wrenching and inhuman plight of thousands of migrant workers” walking back to their villages from the cities without essentials.

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Health ministry releases revised guidelines on Hydroxychloroquine combination

The Union Health Ministry has allowed the use of Hydroxychloroquine in combination with Azithromycin under close monitoring for patients with severe disease and requiring ICU management as per the revised Guidelines on Clinical Management of COVID–19.
Hydroxychloroquine was previously under testing and was allowed to be administered only to doctors and caregivers in direct contact with COVID-19 positive cases.
The Health Ministry has noted that no specific antiviral have been proven to be effective as per currently available data. However, based on the available information (uncontrolled clinical trials), the following drugs may be considered.
It has, however, cautioned that the medication is presently not recommended for children less than 12 years, pregnant and lactating women. “The revised guidelines are based on currently available information and would be reviewed from time to time as new evidence emerges,” it added.
Health Ministry’s Revised National Clinical Management of COVID-19 is intended for clinicians taking care of hospitalised adult and paediatric patients of COVID–19. “This is not meant to replace clinical judgment or specialist consultation but rather to strengthen clinical management of these patients and provide up-to-date guidance,” noted the document.
“We are also offering support to treating physicians and AIIMS, New Delhi is running a 24x7 helpline to provide support to the treating physicians on clinical management. The helpline number is 9971876591. The identified nodal doctor of the State, appointed for clinical management of COVID–19 should only contact AIIMS Call Centre,” said a senior Health Ministry official.

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::ECONOMY::

Govt.extends existing foreign trade policy by an year

The Government today extended the existing foreign trade policy (2015-20) for one year till March 2021 amid coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown to contain the virus spread.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, DGFT in a notification said, the existing foreign trade policy 2015-20 which is valid up to March 31 this year is extended up to March 31, 2021. Various other changes are also made extending the date of exemptions by one year and extending validity of DFIA and EPCG authorisations for import purposes.
Exports during April-February this fiscal dipped by 1.5 per cent to 292.91 billion dollars.Imports during the period declined by 7.30 per cent to 436 billion dollars, leaving a trade deficit of 143.12 billion dollars.
Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) is an export promotion scheme under which an exporter can import certain amount of capital goods at zero duty for upgrading technology related with exports.
On the other hand, advance authorisation is issued to allow duty free import of inputs, which is physically incorporated in export product. Under the Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) scheme, exportersare allowed to import certain goods like sugar at zero duty.

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Survey finds easier buying of goods by customers via offline mode

A majority of consumers have been able to buy essential goods from local retailers during the ongoing lockdown as against from e-commerce platforms, according to a survey by online social community platform LocalCircles.
About 55% of the respondents in the survey said they were still unable to get most essential goods via e-commerce platforms as against 38% who stated that they were unable to buy these from their local retail stores.
The survey, between March 30 and 31, which received 17,048 responses from consumers located in 178 districts across the country, however, showed that the overall situation in terms of access to essential goods had improved from an earlier survey on March 27-28.
That survey had showed 59% of those who ordered essential goods via an e-commerce app could not receive them, while 40% of those who went to local retail stores could not get most of the essential goods that they had wanted.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India calls for global framework for enhancing access to medicine to fight COVID

The Trade and Investment Ministers of the G20 and guest countries have decided to keep their markets open, and ensure smooth and continued operation of vital medical supplies and logistics networks.
A statement issued at the end of the meeting, said that emergency measures designed to tackle COVID-19, if deemed necessary, must be targeted, proportionate, transparent, and temporary.
The measures should not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains, and be consistent with WTO rules.
In the second such meet through videoconferencing, India has called for creating global framework for further enhancing affordable access to medicines for fighting pandemics and facilitating easier movement of health professionals across national borders.
In his interventions, Commerce and Industry Minister PiyushGoyal stressed on the need to uphold multilateral commitments and improve upon its effectiveness to meet current challenges.

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U.S to lift sanction on Venezuela, outlines transition plan

The U.S. is prepared to lift sanctions on Venezuela in support of a new proposal to form a transitional government representing allies of both Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, officials said.
The plan, which will be presented on Tuesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, echoes a proposal made over the weekend by Mr.Guaidū that shows how growing concerns about the coronavirus, which threatens to overwhelm the South American country’s already collapsed health system and crippled economy, are reviving U.S. attempts to pull the military apart from Mr.Maduro.
What’s being dubbed the “Democratic Framework for Venezuela” would require Mr.Maduro and Mr.Guaidū to step aside and hand power to a five-member Council of State to govern the country until presidential and parliamentary elections can be held in late 2020, according to a written summary of the proposal.
The plan also outlines for the first time U.S. requirements for lifting sanctions against Mr.Maduro, officials and the oil industry.Those accused of grave human rights abuses and drug trafficking are not eligible for sanctions relief.
But for sanctions to vanish, U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said the council would need to be functioning and all foreign military forces from Cuba or Russia would need to leave the country.
Still, any deal is unlikely to win Mr.Maduro’s support unless the issue of his future is addressed and he’s protected from the U.S. justice system, said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

IIT students develop drones to sanitise larger areas

A group of students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, has developed a drone with an automated sprayer to sanitise large areas including roads, parks and footpaths, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The student group, which has a start-up called "Racerfly", has approached the Assam and Uttarakhand governments offering to join the fight against the coronavirus pandemic with their sprayer system which they claim can accomplish the task in less than 15 minutes which would otherwise take a person 1.5 days of work.
According to Anant Mittal, a Civil engineering student at IIT Guwahati, the sprayer system can be deployed and operated by just one operator sitting and monitoring at one spot, eliminating the need of many cleaners manually spraying disinfectants. Also, these drones can be used to record videos as as well.
"The drone will help in sanitizing large areas by just one person spraying and monitoring using a mobile app, hence eliminating the need for more cleaners who use manual spraying disinfectant. This will help in following social distancing guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to fight COVID-19. The drone which is crash proof, is equipped to adjust itself to terrain height and avoid obstacles," Mittal said.
"A single drone can replace around 20 workers, which can be really helpful in the current situation. Once we get a go ahead, we can make 15 drones within 15-20 days and next 50 by the end of this month," Mittal said.
The country reported 11 new deaths due to coronavirus on Monday and the government reported 227 fresh cases of infection nationwide -- the highest for a day.

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::SPORTS::

Lord’s cricket stadium opened up for national health services

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has decided to provide parking and storage spaces available at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground to the National Health Services (NHS) staff battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the custodian of cricket laws are also providing food to City Harvest London, which helps redistribute fresh surplus food to organisations that feed the hungry.

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