DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 DAILY NEWS DIARY Of 05.05.2021 FOR PRELIMS AND MAINS 1 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 Warm Greetings. ➢ DnD aims to provide every day news analysis in sync with the UPSC pattern. ➢ It is targeted at UPSC – Prelims & Mains. ➢ Daily articles are provided in the form of Question and Answers • To have a bank of mains questions. • And interesting to read. • Providing precise information that can be carried straight to the exam, rather than over dumping. Enjoy reading. THE HINDU - TH INDIAN EXPRESS - IE BUSINESS LINE - BL ECONOMIC TIMES - ET TIMES OF INDIA - TOI 2 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 INDEX Essay Paper 1. Gender Gap and still too few women in politics ………………………………………………………………………….04 GS 3 ❖ Science & Technology 1. Oxygen Concentrator…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..05 ❖ Science & Technology 2. Central Government nod for trials in 5G technology.......................................................................06 Snippets: 1. Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA)…………………………………………………………….........................07 2. Increased rural distress in the second wave....................................................................................08 3 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 ESSAY PAPER Editorial Q- India plagued with Gender Gap and still too few women in politics, that came to light after the recent elections. Comment? INTRODUCTION = The gender gap in India has widened to 62.5%, largely due to women’s inadequate representation in politics, technical and leadership roles, decrease in women’s labour force participation rate, poor healthcare, lagging female to male literacy ratio, income inequality. India in 2021 has slipped 28 places and has been ranked 140th among 156 nations participating in the rankings. It is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trailing and Bangladesh being at the top. The report states that the country fared the worst in political empowerment, regressing from 23.9% to 9.1%. Recent Examples – A crucial factor in the latest round of assembly polls was the women’s vote. But while issues seen to be prioritised by women attracted more attention from political parties, a commensurate increase in women representatives in assemblies remains elusive. 1. In Bengal where Mamata Banerjee as the lone woman CM in the country heavily banks on her female support base. Her government has introduced a plethora of welfare schemes to empower and woo young women. Yet the number of women candidates fielded by TMC in the latest polls was just 50 out of 291. Women’s representation in the new Bengal assembly remains unchanged at 40 out of 294. 4 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 2. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu the winning DMK’s manifesto was replete with women-centric schemes ranging from enhanced maternity leave for women government employees to free bus passes for women. But at the level of representation, the number of women MLAs in the state assembly has actually declined from 21 in 2016 to just 12 out of 234 this time. 3. Kerala raises some hopes with an increase in women MLAs from eight to 11 out of 140. This includes state health minister K Shailaja’s historic 60,000 vote margin victory. But women MLAs have never exceeded 10% of the total strength of the Kerala assembly. While parties say that winnability is the prime factor in ticket distribution, social biases often skew the perception of winnability. The merit argument will not have credibility until Parties make more space for women in their rank and file. Don’t expect women voters to be satisfied with welfare schemes in their name. They should demand and get a more just share in political representation and elsewhere. GS 3 ❖ Science & Technology Q- What is an oxygen Concentrator and how does it help? BACKGROUND = Unlike medical oxygen sourced from industrial units, which are supplied via cylinders, concentrators are devices that can be operated at home. When is an oxygen concentrator needed? When blood saturation levels drop below 94%, it could be a sign of respiratory distress. Usually this merits hospitalisation, but due to the surge in COVID-19 cases and oxygen beds in short supply. 1. The device could help those whose saturation levels range between 88 and 92 if they can’t access hospital services. 2. Any lower would require more intensive oxygenation and any higher would mean that an improvement in lung function can obviate the need for such a device. What does a concentrator do? An oxygen concentrator takes in air and separates the oxygen and delivers it into a person via a nasal cannula. Air is 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen and a concentrator that works by plugging into a source of electricity delivers air that is upto 95% oxygen, easeing the burden on the lungs. However in cases of severe respiratory distress, it may be necessary to provide oxygen that is almost 99% pure and an oxygen concentrator is not up to that job, How does it work? A concentrator consists of a compressor and sieve bed filter. The former squeezes atmospheric air and also adjusts the pressure at which it is delivered. The sieve bed is made of a material called Zeolite that separates the nitrogen. There are two sieve beds that work to both release oxygen into a tank that’s connected to the cannula as well as release the separated nitrogen and form a continuous loop that keeps producing fresh oxygen. 5 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 Are all concentrators the same? These products come with a variety of specifications. There are those with varying oxygen outputs. For COVID-19 patients, a device with a 5L-10 L output is recommended. What’s important though is that it delivers air that contains at least 90% pure oxygen. The cost of these devices can range from ₹40,000 to ₹90,000. There are also pulse and continuous flow concentrators where the latter delivers oxygen at a constant rate and the other uses a sensor to deliver a puff of oxygen when a user is about to inhale. ❖ Science & Technology Q- How is the Central Government nod for trials in 5G technology a boon for Indian Service Providers while being a bane for China? BACKGROUND = The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) gave permission to Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to conduct trials for the use and application of 5G technology. The applicant TSPs include Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd., Vodafone Idea Ltd. and MTNL. These TSPs have tied up with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers, which are Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT. This formally leaves out Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE from the 5G race in India. 1. TSPs are encouraged to conduct trials using 5Gi technology in addition to the already known 5G technology, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has also approved the 5Gi technology, which was advocated by India, as it facilitates much larger reach of the 5G towers and radio networks. 2. The 5Gi technology has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT) and IIT Hyderabad. 3. The duration of the trials is for six months, which includes a time period of two months for the procurement and setting up of the equipment. 4. Each TSP will have to conduct trials in rural and semi-urban settings also, in addition to urban settings, so that the benefit of 5G technology proliferates across the country and is not confined to the urban areas 6 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 5. With 5G technology data, download rates are expected to be 10 times that of 4G while giving up to three times greater spectrum efficiency. The trials will be on a non-commercial basis. Snippets GS 2 ❖ Social Justice Q- Discuss the need for Schemes related to children, pregnant, lactating women remaining functional amidst the pandemic? ▪ In view of several children being affected by COVID - the Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA) demanded that all schemes related to children, pregnant and lactating women should remain functional 7 +91 99899 66744 [email protected] Page DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2021 and be considered essential services. And also demanded that there should be a special mechanism in place to track children who test positive, test their families and provide care. ▪ Children who need institutional care should be identified proactively and ensured access. This can be done in coordination with the child welfare committees and Anganwadi centres and monitored by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights [DCPCR] ▪ The DRRAA also said growth monitoring, identification and follow-up of severely malnourished children must continue and depending on the local situation, a provision for cooked meals that are delivered at home be made available. ▪ Additionally the mohalla clinics should be converted into vaccine centres with priority given to adults in households with children and pregnant women. Full vaccination [both doses] of all front-line workers must be ensured as soon as possible. ASHA, Anganwadi workers and helpers should receive an additional payment for their work during this period as they are underpaid and not considered full-time employees GS 3 ❖ Economic Development Q- Why is there an increased rural distress in the second wave and what steps are being by RBI to ease their burden? BACKGROUND = The pandemic’s second wave is affecting rural households far more than last year With a large number of microfinance staffers, borrowers and their families hit by COVID-19, impacting many more livelihoods than during the first wave.