Current Affairs 22 July 2024

Contents:

1. Need for increasing FDI inflows from China
2. ICJ: Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem violates international law
3. Domestic patent applicants outpaced foreign entities
4. Budget Session begins
5. PM emphasis on shared consciousness of heritage
6. Amoebic meningoencephalitis

Need for increasing FDI inflows from China

Context:

As per the latest Economic Survey, FDI inflows from China can help India increase global supply chain participation.

Relevance:

GS-III: Indian Economy (Growth and Development of Indian Economy, External Sector)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Enhanced focus on more FDI inflows from China
2. About Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
3. FDI in India
4. FDI Routes in India
5. Government Measures to Promote FDI

Enhanced focus on more FDI inflows from China:

• The Economic Survey 2023-24 has pointed out that increased foreign direct investment inflows from China can help increase India’s global supply chain participation and in-turn boost exports.
• As an effort to deepen India’s involvement in global value chains (GVCs), it needs to look at the successes and strategies of East Asian economies.
• China plus one’ strategy: It added that India can either choose to integrate into China’s supply chain or promote FDI from China, which id termed as ‘China plus one’ strategy.
  • Among these choices, focusing on FDI from China seems more promising for boosting India’s exports to the US.
• Current Status: China stands at 22nd position with only 0.37% share ($2.5 billion) in total FDI equity inflow reported in India during April 2000 to March 2024.

About Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a Foreign Portfolio Investment by a notion of direct control.
• FDI may be made either “inorganically” by buying a company in the target country or “organically” by expanding the operations of an existing business in that country.
• Broadly, FDI includes “mergers and acquisitions, building new facilities, reinvesting profits earned from overseas operations, and intra company loans”. In a narrow sense, it refers just to building a new facility, and lasting management interest.

FDI in India

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a major driver of economic growth and an important source of non-debt finance for the economic development of India.
• It has been the endeavor of the Government to put in place an enabling and investor friendly FDI policy. The intent all this while has been to make the FDI policy more investor friendly and remove the policy bottlenecks that have been hindering the investment inflows into the country.
• The steps taken in this direction during the last six years have borne fruit as is evident from the ever-increasing volumes of FDI inflows being received into the country. Continuing on the path of FDI liberalization and simplification, Government has carried out FDI reforms across various sectors.

FDI Routes in India

• Foreign investment was introduced in 1991 under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), driven by then FM Manmohan Singh.
• There are three routes through which FDI flows into India. They are described in the following table:

• Automatic route: By this route, FDI is allowed without prior approval by Government or RBI.
• Government route: Prior approval by the government is needed via this route. The application needs to be made through Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which will facilitate the single-window clearance of FDI application under Approval Route.

• Global Depository Receipts – GDR
• Foreign Depository Receipts – FDR
• Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds – FCCB
• Foreign institutional investors – FII

Government Measures to Promote FDI

• Factors such as favourable demographics, impressive mobile and internet penetration, massive consumption and technology uptake, played an important role in attracting the investments.
• Launch of Schemes attracting investments, such as, National technical Textile Mission, Production Linked Incentive Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana, etc.
• The government has elaborated upon the initiatives under the Atmanirbhar Bharat to encourage investments in different sectors.
• As a part of its Make in India initiative to promote domestic manufacturing, India deregulated FDI rules for several sectors over the last few years.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

ICJ: Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem violates international law

Context:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently said that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem violates international law and called for its withdrawal from Palestinian territories as soon as possible.

Relevance:

GS II: International Relations

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About International Court of Justice
2. Seat and role of ICJ
3. Judges of the court
4. The Israel-Palestine Conflict
5. Emergence of Hamas and the Oslo Accords
6. Territorial Disputes of Israel with Neighboring Countries

About International Court of Justice

• The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
•  It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
• The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations, and which held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.
• After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively. The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.
• The first case, which was brought by the UK against Albania and concerned incidents in the Corfu channel — the narrow strait of the Ionian Sea between the Greek island of Corfu and Albania on the European mainland — was submitted in May 1947.

Seat and role of ICJ

• Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
• It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
  • (The other five organs are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat.)
• According to the ICJ’s own description, its role is “to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies”. The court “as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world”.
• The judges of the court are assisted by a Registry, the administrative organ of the ICJ.
• English and French are the ICJ’s official languages.
• All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
• The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
• The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
• There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
• However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.

Judges of the court

• The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
• To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies, a requirement that sometimes necessitates multiple rounds of voting.
• Elections are held at the UNHQ in New York during the annual UNGA meeting.
• A third of the court is elected every three years.
• The judges elected at the triennial election commence their term of office on February 6 of the following year.
• The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.
• Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.

The Israel-Palestine Conflict

Origins of Conflict:

• The conflict traces its roots back to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, where the British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour expressed official support for the establishment of a Jewish “national home” in Palestine.

Creation of Palestine:

• In 1948, Britain, unable to quell Arab-Jewish violence, withdrew its forces from Palestine, leaving the responsibility of resolving competing claims to the newly formed United Nations.
• The UN proposed a partition plan to establish independent Jewish and Arab states in Palestine, but it was not accepted by most Arab nations.

Arab-Israel War (1948):

• Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948 led to attacks by surrounding Arab states. Israel ended up controlling about 50% more territory than originally envisioned by the UN partition plan.

UN Partition Plan:

• The UN partition plan saw Jordan control the West Bank and Jerusalem’s holy sites, while Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip. However, it didn’t resolve the Palestinian crisis, resulting in the formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1964.

Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO):

• Founded with the goal of freeing Palestine from Israeli rule and Jewish dominance, establishing Muslim Brotherhood dominance in the Arab world.
• The United Nations granted PLO observer status in 1975, recognizing Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

Six-Day War (1967):

• Israeli forces seized the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt.

Camp David Accords (1978):

• The “Framework for Peace in the Middle East,” brokered by the U.S., laid the groundwork for peace talks between Israel and its neighbors and a resolution to the “Palestinian problem,” although this remained unfulfilled.

Emergence of Hamas and the Oslo Accords

Founding of Hamas (1987):

• In 1987, Hamas, a violent offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, was founded. It sought to fulfill its agenda through violent jihad and is regarded as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
• In 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian Authority’s legislative elections, leading to its control of Gaza and the expulsion of Fatah in 2007, resulting in a geographical split in the Palestinian movement.

First Intifada (1987):

• The First Intifada (Palestinian Uprising) began in 1987 as tensions in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza reached a boiling point.
• This uprising evolved into a small war between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army.

Oslo Accords (1993):

• In 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed the Oslo Accords. The agreements led to both parties officially recognizing each other and renouncing the use of violence.
• The Oslo Accords also established the Palestinian Authority, which was granted limited autonomy in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.

Israeli Withdrawal from Gaza (2005):

• In 2005, Israel initiated a unilateral withdrawal of Jewish settlements from Gaza, while maintaining tight control over all border crossings, effectively imposing a blockade on the region.

UN Recognition (2012):

• In 2012, the United Nations upgraded Palestinian representation to that of a “non-member observer state.”

Territorial Disputes of Israel with Neighboring Countries

West Bank:

• The West Bank is situated between Israel and Jordan, with its major city being Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of Palestine.
• Israel took control of the West Bank during the 1967 war and has since established settlements in the region.

Gaza:

• The Gaza Strip is located between Israel and Egypt.
• Israel occupied Gaza after the 1967 war but transferred control of Gaza City and day-to-day administration in most of the territory during the Oslo peace process.
• In 2005, Israel unilaterally removed Jewish settlements from Gaza, although it retains control over international access to the territory.

Golan Heights:

• The Golan Heights is a strategically important plateau captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 war.
• Israel effectively annexed the territory in 1981.
• The USA has officially recognized Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as part of Israel in recent developments.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Domestic patent applicants outpaced foreign entities

Context:

Domestic patent applications in FY24 have for the first time outpaced foreign applicants in FY24 as there was increased applications in sectors such as chemicals, pharma, computer science and information technology.

Foreign entities maintain a dominant share of patents granted in India that amounts to nearly two-thirds of the overall applications cleared.

Relevance:

GS III: Indian Economy

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What are Patents and IPR?
2. Patenting Trends in India Report

What are Patents and IPR?

• Definition:
  • A patent is a significant Intellectual Property Right (IPR) granting an exclusive monopoly by the government to an inventor for a limited, pre-defined period.
  • It provides a legal right to prevent others from replicating the invention.
• Types of Patents:
  • Product Patent: Protects the rights to the final product, preventing anyone other than the patent holder from manufacturing it during a specified period.
  • Process Patent: Allows others to manufacture the patented product by altering certain processes in the production exercise.
• History in India:
  • Initially, India adopted process patenting in the 1970s, which enabled the country to become a significant producer of generic drugs on a global scale.
  • Due to obligations under the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, product patenting is now also permitted in India.
    • TRIPS is an international legal agreement among all member nations of the World Trade Organization.

Patenting Trends in India Report

• Release: Nasscom released the report on World Intellectual Property Day.

Trends:

• In FY2023, India witnessed 83,000 patents filed, with an annual growth rate of 24.6%, the highest in two decades.
• Patents granted also saw significant growth, doubling between FY2019 and FY2023.
• Share of patents filed by Indian residents doubled over the last decade, exceeding 50% in FY2023.

Key Areas:

• Healthcare: Dominated patent applications, particularly in medical imaging, diagnosis, report generation, and testing.
• Other Areas: Significant filings in Automation/Software Development and Retail/e-commerce.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

• Maximum patents filed in image processing, Natural Language Processing, and Predictive modeling.
• Emerging Areas: Gen AI, Medical Data Processing, and Cognitive computing witnessed notable filings.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Budget Session begins

Context:

The Budget session is set to begin soon and the government has listed six Bills for this session, including the Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, to replace the Aircraft Act, 1934, to improve “ease of doing business” in the civil aviation sector.

Relevance:

GS III: Indian Economy

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is Union Budget?
2. Terms Related to Union Budget

What is Union Budget?

According to Article 112 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Budget of a year, also referred to as the annual financial statement, is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the government for that particular year.

Terms Related to Union Budget:

Annual Financial Statement : It encompasses the receipt and expenditure of the Indian government. The information on the Consolidated Fund of India, Contingency Fund of India and Public Accounts is provided.

Revenue – Receipt & Expenditure        

Revenue Receipt:

• The receipts received which cannot be recovered by the government.
• It comprises income amassed by the Government through taxes and non-tax sources like interest, dividends on investments.

Revenue Expenditure:

• Expenditure incurred by the Union Government for purposes other than for the creation of physical or financial assets.
• It includes those expenditures incurred for the usual functioning of the government departments, grants given to state governments and interest payments on the debt of the Union Government etc.

Capital – Receipt & Expenditure        

Capital Receipt:

• Receipts which generate liability or decrease the financial assets of the government.
• It includes borrowings from the Reserve Bank of India and commercial banks and other financial institutions.
• It also consists of loans received from foreign governments and international organization and repayment of loans granted by the Union government.

Capital Expenditure:

• Spending incurred by the government which results in the formation of physical or financial possessions of the Union government or decrease in financial liabilities of the Union Government.
• It contains expenditure on procuring land, equipment, infrastructure, expenditure in shares.
• It also includes mortgages by the Union government to Public Sector Undertakings, state and union territories.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

PM emphasis on shared consciousness of heritage

Context:

The Prime Minister of India recently inaugurated the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC)

• As part of his speech in the session, he said that as part of India’s vision of “development as well as heritage”, India was committed to promoting global cooperation and engaging local communities in heritage conservation efforts.

Relevance:

Prelims, GS-I: Art and Culture, GS-II: International Relations

Dimensions of the Article:

1. UNESCO World Heritage Committee
2. What are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
3. About UNESCO
4. Areas of Specialization of UNESCO are:

UNESCO World Heritage Committee

• The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
• It monitors the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
• It is composed of 21 states parties that are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.
• India was elected to the 21-member WHC in the 23rd General Assembly in 2021 for a period of four years (2021-2025).
  • This is India’s fourth term on the WHC.

What are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

• UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of distinctive cultural or physical importance which is considered of outstanding value to humanity.
• It may be a building, a city, a complex, a desert, a forest, an island, a lake, a monument, or a mountain.
• They have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy as they have a special cultural or physical significance and outstanding universal value to the humanity.
• Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites.
• At present, India has 38 World Heritage Properties. All the sites under the Ministry are conserved as per ASI’s Conservation Policy and are in good shape.

About UNESCO

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.
• It is also a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), a coalition of UN agencies and organizations aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• UNESCO’s Headquarters are located in Paris and it has 193 Members and 11 Associate Members.
• Three UNESCO member states are not UN members: Cook Islands, Niue, and Palestine.
• While three UN member states (Israel, Liechtenstein, United States) are not UNESCO members.
• UNESCO sponsors many programmes such as in the fields of teacher training, science, promotion of media and press freedom, regional and cultural history, cultural diversity, natural and cultural heritage, translating world literature, human rights, etc.

Areas of Specialization of UNESCO are:

1. Education transforms lives and is at the heart of UNESCO’s mission to build peace, eradicate poverty and drive sustainable development.
2. Protecting Heritage and Fostering Creativity is another area of focus for UNESCO and it has adopted a three-pronged approach to make culture takes it rightful place in development strategies and processes:
   1. Spearheads worldwide advocacy for culture and development.
   2. Engages with the international community to set clear policies and legal frameworks
   3. Works on the ground to support governments and local stakeholders to safeguard heritage, strengthen creative industries and encourage cultural pluralism.
3. Science for a Sustainable Future is another area where UNESCO works to assist countries to invest in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), to develop national science policies, to reform their science systems and to build capacity to monitor and evaluate performance through STI indicators.
4. Regarding Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO helps to enable people to create and use knowledge for just and inclusive societies, support them in understanding each other and working together to build lasting peace.
5. UNESCO advances freedom of expression and the safety of journalists, combats online hate speech, as well as disinformation and misinformation through awareness raising initiatives.

-Source: The Hindu

Amoebic meningoencephalitis

Context:

Recently, five cases of Amoebic meningoencephalitis have been reported  in adolescents in Kerala in the past three months and with three young lives lost.

• The Kerala health Department has come out with technical guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the infection, possibly the first set of guidelines in the country on this rare but fatal infection.
• The causative organism was the amoebic parasite, Naegleria fowleri.

Relevance:

GS II: Health

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is Naegleria fowleri?
2. How does it infect humans?
3. Symptoms of PAM
4. Can climate change increase the spread of the infection?

What is Naegleria fowleri?

• Naegleria is an amoeba, a single-celled organism, and only one of its species, called Naegleria fowleri, can infect humans, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• It was first discovered in Australia in 1965 and is commonly found in warm freshwater bodies, such as hot springs, rivers and lakes.

How does it infect humans?

• The amoeba enters the human body through the nose and then travels up to the brain.
• This can usually happen when someone goes for a swim, or dive or even when they dip their head in a freshwater body.
• In some cases, it was found that people got infected when they cleaned their nostrils with contaminated water.
• Scientists haven’t found any evidence of the spreading of Naegleria fowleri through water vapour or aerosol droplets.
• Once Naegleria fowleri goes to the brain, it destroys brain tissues and causes a dangerous infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), according to the CDC.

Symptoms of PAM

• The first signs of PAM start showing within one to 12 days after the infection.
• In the initial stages, they might be similar to symptoms of meningitis, which are headache, nausea and fever. In the later stages, one can suffer from a stiff neck, seizures, hallucinations, and even coma.
• The US public health agency also observed that the infection spreads rapidly and on average causes death within about five days.
• The fatality of PAM is as such that only four people have survived out of 154 known infected individuals in the United States from 1962 to 2021.

Treatment for the infection

• As the Naegleria fowleri infection is rare and progresses quickly, scientists haven’t been able to identify any effective treatments yet.
• At present, doctors treat it with a combination of drugs, including amphotericin B, azithromycin, fluconazole, rifampin, miltefosine, and dexamethasone.

Can climate change increase the spread of the infection?

• According to the CDC, with the rising global temperatures, the chances of getting Naegleria fowleri infection will go up as the amoeba mainly thrives in warm freshwater bodies.
• The organism best grows in high temperatures up to 46°C and sometimes can survive at even higher temperatures.
• Various recent studies have found that excess atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to an increase in the temperature of lakes and rivers.
• These conditions provide a more favourable environment for the amoeba to grow.
• Heat waves, when air and water temperatures may be higher than usual, may also allow the amoeba to thrive
• So far, Naegleria fowleri has been found in all continents and declared as the cause of PAM in over 16 countries, including India.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express