Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 February 2022

::NATIONAL::

World Wetlands Day

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav on World Wetlands Day 2022 stated that the government is taking affirmative action, involving communities and citizens, in halting and reversing wetlands degradation and loss.

About:

The Union Environment Minister was speaking at the national level celebration of World Wetlands day 2022 held at Sultanpur National Park, a Ramsar site of Haryana.
India now has a network of 49 Ramsar sites covering an area of 10,93,636 hectares, the highest in South Asia.
Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in UP provides a safe wintering and staging ground for a large number of species of the Central Asian Flyway while Khijadiya Wildlife Sanctuary is a coastal wetland with rich avifaunal diversity providing a safe habitat to endangered and vulnerable species.
On the occasion, “National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas” prepared by the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad was also released highlighting the changes which have happened in Wetlands across the country in the past decade.
The original Atlas was released by SAC in 2011 and has over the years been used extensively by all the State Governments also in their planning processes.

Saffron Bowl Project

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh informed about the Safforn Bowl Project.

About:

North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) under Saffron Bowl project has identified few locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya for saffron cultivation.
In Arunachal Pradesh, there is a good growth of organic saffron with flowers.
In Meghalaya, sample plantations were grown at Cherrapunji, Mawsmai and Lalingtop sites.
The following sites have been identified in Meghalaya under the said project:

Barapani,
Cherrapunji,
Mawsmai,
Shillong, and
Lalingtop.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India’s stakes in its ties with Ukraine & Russia

India this week gave its first official statement amid the ongoing tension between Russia and the West led by the US over Ukraine.
Ukraine has become a bone of contention in Moscow’s relations with the West.
With Russian troops massed near its border and NATO’s forces on standby in case Russia attacks its neighbour.
Ukrainian forces have been patrolling the border in the east and the north, including in Chernobyl in Ukraine.

How did this start?

It began in mid-December when Russia told Western powers, including the US, that it had a list of demands.
Russia wants a guarantee from the West “in writing” to stop any further eastward expansion of NATO.
Russia demanded that Ukraine should never be allowed to join NATO.
French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to resolve the crisis.
US President Joe Biden too has had a video call with Putin.

Why is Russia doing this?

The New Yorker’s editor David Remnick, has written a book, Lenin’s Tomb: Last Days of the Soviet Empire.
In which he quotes Vladimir Lenin as saying: “For us, to lose Ukraine would be to lose our head.”
Putin had called the break-up of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the last century”.
Throughout his 22-year rule so far, he has sought to restore Russia’s influence in the countries that were part of erstwhile Soviet Union.

What are the historical connections?

Historians say that Russia and Ukraine had been linked since the 9th century when Kyiv became the capital of the ancient state of Rus.
From 1654, the two were united by treaty under the rule of the Russian tsar.
They speak closely related languages and later formed, with Belarus, the Slav core of the Soviet Union.
Later, Ukraine played a key role not only in the creation of the USSR but also in its dissolution.

Is there a geography and resource angle too?

After Russia, Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe too.
It has major ports on the Black Sea and shares borders with four NATO countries.
Europe depends on Russia for about one third of its natural gas.
It providing enormous leverage for Putin in any dispute with the West and one of the main pipelines passes through Ukraine.
Controlling this Ukrainian territory would enhance Russia’s pipeline security.

How did the West come into the picture?

Since the Cold War ended, NATO has expanded eastward by taking in 14 new countries, including some that were part of the Soviet Union.
Russia views this as a threat, and feels the West is not respecting the non-threatening commitments made in the early 1990s.
Ukraine is not a NATO member but has an assurance made in 2008 that it will eventually be able to join.
After a pro-Russian president was removed in 2014, Ukraine has come closer politically to the West.
It has done joint military exercises with NATO and been delivered weapons including US anti-tank missiles.

Where does India stand on this?

Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made its first statement on the crisis on Friday.
India calls for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts for long term peace and stability in the region and beyond.
Now Russia has emerged as a key diplomatic player amid the tension between India and China.

Japan raises human rights issues in China

Japan’s parliament passed a rare resolution expressing concern about rights issues in China, including the treatment of its Uighur Muslim population and the city of Hong Kong.

Key findings:

It comes at a time of increased focus on China’s rights record as the country prepares to host the Beijing Winter Olympics this month.
Japan balancing the pressure put on China by close ally Washington. The United States and China are Japan’s biggest trading partners.
A majority vote in the lower house approved the resolution, which expresses “serious concerns over the human rights situations” in China’s Xinjiang region, Tibet, Hong Kong and Inner Mongolia.
The resolution also calls on Japan’s government to engage constructively on rights issues in China.

About Uyghurs:

There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, China.
Uyghurs speak their own language and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close toCentral Asian nations.

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:ECONOMY::

Crypto tax

Union Budget 2022 has announced a 30 per cent tax on any income from the transfer of virtual digital assets.

About:

Any income from virtual digital assets(including crypto) is taxable at 30 per cent.
1 per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) on payments made for transfer of digital assets.
Any loss made on such transactions cannot be set off against any other gain.
Gift of virtual currencies is also taxable in hands of recipient.

Implications:

To ensure that persons engaging in crypto trading will not be allowed to escape taxnet.
Currently, there are estimated 15 million to 20 million crypto investors in India,with total crypto holdings of around Rs40,000 crore.
The cryptocurrencies will be recognised as assets and not currencies.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Turmeric for cancer treatment

Indian scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have found that curcumin, which is extracted from turmeric, can be used in the treatment of cancer.

Key highlights:

Turmeric is a key ingredient in a traditional Indian kitchen and is used in treating a variety of ailments at home and is considered a panacea.
They have developed nano-curcumin structures to encapsulate the RNAi and other molecules that help in targeting specific tissues.
The proposed bio-drug is non-toxic, bio-compatible with a higher uptake efficiency.
It shows effective site-specific delivery with regression of tumors in two different mouse models of colon and breast cancer.

RNAi-based therapy: