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According to Union Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, 5G telecom services will be made available in India from October 2022 onwards and the industry would decide on the pricing structure.
As soon as spectrum auction ends, within a few days itself, we will allocate the auctions. We expect that the rollout will happen starting in October, and within a year or so, we should have a good rollout of 5G in the country.
Stating that the 5G rollout all over the world has been slow, he said, “We believe that we will probably buck the trend of having a much faster rollout of 5G compared to many other geographies since our other costs are significantly under control.
He said in case of high pricing for 5G services, the government would intervene and state-owned BSNL, which will rollout 5G “very rapidly”, will act as a market balancer.
As regards pricing of 5G services, on an average in the world, cost of telecom services is ₹2,400 [per month] while it is around ₹200 per month in India, data cost is lowest in India in the world,” he said without giving any specific number.
He said that as of Saturday, the government had fetched ₹1.49 lakh crore from 5G spectrum auction and expressed the confidence that this would cross ₹1.5 lakh crore.
Close to ₹1.49 lakh crore has been committed by the industry for buying spectrum. This shows how the sector is maturing in a very nice way.
The 5G spectrum auction is doing well shows that the industry is taking off, the results are very good. Industry has come out of the old phase, entering a sunrise stage, where new infusion of capital investment can happen.
States
Clear payment to power generators, says Modi (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who virtually took part in the grand finale of the ‘Ujwal Bharat, Ujwal Bhavishya Power @2047’ programme, said a few State governments are faltering in their payments to the power generators and this could affect the power supply and development in the States.
Combining payment default and subsidies, the State governments have to pay the power generators to the tune of about ₹1.25 lakh crore.
The programme was organised by the Ministry of Power as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at AU Convention Hall on Beach Road in Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Modi said after taking over as PM in 2014, his prime focuses was to introduce reforms in the power sector to transform it into a driving force for the economy.
We concentrated on four aspects – generation, transmission, distribution and connection. In 2014, about 18,000 villages across the country did not have any form of electricity connection. Now all of them are connected.
The Prime Minister also virtually launched the Solar Portal for common man and a few other projects. Floating solar plant Mr. Modi also dedicated to the nation a 92MW floating solar power project set up at the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) Kayamkulam unit in Kerala.
He said India had resolved to create 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by the completion of 75 years of independence.
So far, about 170 GW capacity has been installed from nonfossil sources,” he said, adding that India is among the top four to five countries in terms of installed solar capacity.
The Kayamkulam plant is the second largest floating solar power project of the NTPC after the 100MW plant at Ramagundam in Telangana.
News
New ewaste rules threaten jobs, collection network (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A proposed framework by the Centre for regulating e-waste in India has upset a key link of India’s electronic waste collection system and threatens the livelihood of thousands.
Electronic waste, or electronic goods that are past their shelf life, is largely handled by India’s vast informal sector. Spent goods are dismantled and viable working parts refurbished, with the rest making their way into chemical dismantling units.
Many of these units are run out of unregulated sweatshops that employ child labour and hazardous extraction techniques. This electronic detritus also contributes to contaminating soil as well as plastic pollution.
To address all of this, the environment ministry brought the E waste (Management) Rules, 2016, that introduced a system of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compelling makers of electronic goods to ensure a proportion of the goods they sold every year was recycled.
They are expected to maintain records annually demonstrating this. Most companies however didn’t maintain an in-house unit in charge of recycling and this gave rise to network of government-registered companies, called Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO) who acted as an intermediary between manufacturers of electronic goods and formal recycling units, that were technologically equipped to safely and efficiently recycle end-of-life electronic goods.
PROs typically bid for contracts from companies and arrange for specified quantities of goods to be recycled and provide companies certified proof of recycling that they then maintain as part of their records. Several PROs work on consumer awareness and enable a supply chain for recycled goods.
As of March, the Central Pollution Control Board has registered 74 PROs, and 468 authorised dismantlers who have a collective recycling capacity of about 1.3 million tons.
The Environment Ministry estimated 7,70,000 tons of e-waste to have been generated in 2018-19 and around one million tons in 2019-20 of which only a fifth (about 22% in both years) has been confirmed to be “dismantled and recycled.”
States fail to give Ministry details of elephant reserves (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Elephant Range States across India, have ignored an 18-month-old instruction from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), to furnish information on their Elephant Reserves.
The MoEFCC had, on January 12, 2021, written to the chief wildlife wardens of the Elephant Reserve States, to provide the details for the compilation of information on Elephant Reserves (ERs) by its Project Elephant Division.
The information sought included history and background of establishing the ERs; the date of notification of their notification; the area notified; and the number of circles, forest divisions, ranges, private or revenue land within the reserves.
Apart from the map of each ER, the States were also asked to provide within January 30, 2022, the total population of elephants, threats, challenges and issues in these ERs, five-year data on human-elephant conflicts, and management interventions done by the forest departments, to conserve elephants.
Replying to an application filed by an Assam-based activist under the Right to Information Act, the MoEFCC said on July 27, that it was yet to receive any information on the ERs from the Elephant Range States.
Data uploaded on the Wildlife Institute of India’s website say the elephant population across 16 States in the country ranged between 27,785 and 31,368 in 2012. While Karnataka had up to 7,458 elephants followed by Assam with 5,281, Maharashtra had only four.
Industry status for tourism to benefit several sectors (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Indian Economy)
Following the industry status being accorded to the tourism and hospitality sector in Rajasthan, more sub-sectors of tourism are likely to get the benefit.
The power tariff and other taxes levied on tourism operators, have become at par with other industries, against the earlier requirement of payment, at much-higher commercial rates.
The State government’s Tourism Department has received representations from half-a-dozen sub-sectors claiming that being an integral part of the tourism industry, they should be allowed to avail of the new benefits.
According to the sources in the department, over 700 applications for issuance of entitlement certificates, have been received so far.
The benefit of industry sector has already been extended to as many as 24 categories of tourism units since the formal grant of the status on May 28. The concessions as industry will bring a financial burden of ₹700 crore a year, on the State exchequer.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had announced in his 2022-23 budget speech in the State Assembly in February this year, that the tourism and hospitality sector would be granted industry status.
Tourism is also going to be projected as a thrust sector in the “Invest Rajasthan-2022” summit, scheduled to be held in Jaipur in October, this year.
Industries Minister Shakuntala Rawat said here on Saturday, that the grant of industry status to the tourism sector and the allocation of ₹1,000 crore for tourism development in the 2022-23 State Budget, would make Rajasthan a frontrunner in the sector, which brings a significant amount of revenue to the State.
World
China is holding military drill near Taiwan (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
China said it was conducting military exercises Saturday off its coast opposite Taiwan after warning Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. House of Representatives to scrap possible plans to visit the island democracy, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
The ruling Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, was conducting “live-fire exercises” near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province. The Maritime Safety Administration warned ships to avoid the area.
Such exercises usually involve artillery. The one-sentence announcement gave no indication whether Saturday’s exercise also might include missiles, fighter planes or other weapons.
Pelosi, who would be the highest-ranking American elected official to visit Taiwan since 1997, has yet to confirm whether she will go.
President Xi Jinping warned his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, in a phone call on against “external interference” in Beijing’s dealings with the island.
China says Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations. It sees visits by American officials as encouragement for the island to make its decades-old de facto independence official.
The Ministry of Defense warned Washington this week not to allow Pelosi, who is Biden's equal in rank as leader of one of three branches of government, to visit Taiwan. A spokesman said the PLA would take unspecified “strong measures” to stop pro-independence activity.
The PLA has flown growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers near Taiwan and has in the past fired missiles into shipping lanes to the island. Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland.
The two governments say they are one country but disagree over which is entitled to national leadership. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars in trade and investment.
Russia suspends gas supply to Latvia (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Latvia, a day after a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners of war was bombed leaving scores dead.
Gazprom suspended its gas supplies to Latvia, due to violations of the conditions of purchase. Gazprom drastically cut gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to about 20 percent of its capacity. It had reduced gas flows to Europe twice in June.
The Russian state-run company had earlier announced it would choke supply to 33 million cubic metres a day—half the amount it has been delivering since service resumed last week after 10 days of maintenance work.
European Union states have accused Russia of squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
Gazprom cited the halted operation of one of the last two operating turbines for the pipeline due to the "technical condition of the engine".
The EU this week agreed a plan to reduce gas consumption in solidarity with Germany, where the Nord Stream pipeline runs to, warning of Russian "blackmail".
Russian strikes continued to rain down on Ukrainian towns and cities on Saturday, a day after Russia's defence ministry accused Kyiv of striking a prison in Russian-held territory with U.S.-supplied long-range missiles, in an "egregious provocation" designed to stop captured soldiers from surrendering.
It said that the dead included Ukrainian forces who had surrendered after weeks of fighting off Russia's brutal bombardment of the sprawling Azovstal steelworks in the port city of Mariupol.
The defence ministry said 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed and 73 were taken to hospital with serious injuries, adding: "All political, legal and moral responsibility for this bloody massacre of Ukrainians lies with (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky personally, his criminal regime and Washington which backs them."
Science and Tech
Two monkeypox cases in India not linked to Europe (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Science and Tech)
Genome sequences of the first two imported cases of monkeypox detected in Kerala clearly show that they belong to a small cluster — A.2 — that was very different from the one that was first detected in the U.K. on May 6 this year and has since spread to more than 75 countries.
The genomes from the major outbreak of monkeypox cases in Europe and the rest of the world belong to the B.1 lineage.
The genomes of the virus collected from the first two cases in Kerala were sequenced by ICMR’s nodal lab, National Institute of Virology, Pune and deposited without delay in the global database GISAID.
In the first week of June, the CDC found that three of the 10 genomes sequenced from viruses collected in the U.S. were different from the viruses sequenced in Europe.
The genetic sequences of monkeypox cases strongly suggested that there were two distinct monkeypox outbreaks outside the endemic countries in Africa.
The two distinct clusters indicated that human-to-human transmission outside Africa was taking place for a longer time than what was assumed initially. The small cluster predominantly seen in the U.S., Thailand and now in India is the A.2 cluster.
All the three imported cases detected in Kerala were in men who had arrived from the Middle East. Writing in STAT, Helen Branswell noted that the three genomes from the viruses collected in the U.S. that belonged to the A.2 cluster were in people who had got infected from different parts of the globe — one in Nigeria, one elsewhere in West Africa, and the third in either the Middle East or East Africa.
Based on the wide geographical spread of the virus belonging to the A.2 cluster, Inger Damon, director of CDC’s division of high-consequence pathogens and pathology told STAT that the virus has been silently spreading outside the endemic countries for a longer time.
While all the three imported cases detected in Kerala were in people who had arrived from the Middle East, some of the cases detected elsewhere and falling in this cluster too are from people who have a travel history to Middle East or East Africa.
The large outbreak that began in Europe in early May this year and since grown to over 21,000 cases globally has been spreading primarily through human-to-human transmission.
The sustained transmission among humans has predominantly been among men who have sex with men (MSM) and had spread across Europe in a matter of few days due to two superspreader events. The small A.2 cluster is starkly different from the large B.1 cluster that represents the virus that began spreading in Europe.
COVID-19 reinfection common with BA.5 variant (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Science and Tech)
Compared with the earlier Omicron BA.2 subvariant, currently dominant Omicron BA.5 is linked with higher odds of causing a second SARS-COV-2 infection regardless of vaccination status, a study from Portugal suggests.
From late April this year to early June, researchers studied 15,396 adults infected with the BA.2 variant and 12,306 infected with BA.5. The vaccines and boosters were equally effective against both sublineages, according to a report posted on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
However, 10% of BA.5 cases were reinfections, compared to 5.6% of BA.2 cases, which suggests a reduction in protection conferred by previous infection against BA.5 compared to BA.2, the researchers said. Moreover, the vaccines appeared to be less effective in reducing the risk of severe outcomes for BA.5 compared with BA.2.
“Among those infected with BA.5, booster vaccination was associated with 77% and 88% reduction in risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation and death, respectively, while higher risk reduction was found for BA.2 cases, with 93% and 94%, respectively,” the researchers wrote.
While “COVID-19 booster vaccination still offers substantial protection against severe outcomes following BA.5 infection,” they said, their findings provide “evidence to adjust public health measures during the BA.5 surge.”
The spike protein on its surface that SARS-CoV-2 uses to break into heart muscle cells also triggers a damaging attack from the immune system, according to new research.
The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein interacts with other proteins in cardiac myocytes to cause inflammation, researchers said in a presentation at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions 2022.
In experiments with mice hearts, comparing the effects of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins and spike proteins from a different and relatively harmless coronavirus, the researchers found that only the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein caused heart dysfunction, enlargement, and inflammation.
One step closer to precision cancer therapies (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Science and Tech)
Our work over the last decade has helped identify a new target for killing cancer cells, opening the door for potential new therapy.
The target pathway is utilised by cancer cells to repair DNA double-stranded break repair and was published recently in the journal Cell Reports.
Topoisomerase 1-targeted chemotherapy is one of the mainstays of treating cancer cells. Currently-used anti-cancer drugs (Camptothecin, Topotecan and Irinotecan) target a molecule (the enzyme Topoisomerase 1 or Top1) involved in DNA replication. While DNA replication is essential to cell division, runaway replication characterises cancer.
However, we found that cancer cells sometimes develop resistance to Topoisomerase 1-targeted chemotherapy through their intrinsic DNA repair toolbox.
Based on these insights, a combination of molecules (the protein PRMT5, and the enzyme TDP1) can be used as potential targets for developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics, thus taking us a step closer to developing precision medicine approaches for cancer patients.
Top1, an enzyme in all higher eukaryotes, is essentially responsible for relaxing DNA as it coils during replication (and transcription). The drugs directed at this pathway disrupt the activity of Top1 by changing its shape and rendering it ineffective.
While these result in a significant amount of cell death, including cancer cells, natural cellular repair mechanisms (using TDP1) often kick in and counteract the action of the drug.
We developed CRISPR-mediated knock-out cells where the PRMT5 (Protein arginine methyltransferase 5) enzyme in the cells is no longer present.
When challenged with a low dosage of camptothecin which is below the toleration levels used in chemotherapy, we found that the cancer cytotoxicity increased markedly. This helped confirm that PRMT5 deficiency in the cell is the target of the camptothecin.
FAQ
What has the SC said on PMLA’s validity? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court has upheld several provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that deal with a wide range of issues, from what constitutes the main offence to the powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the procedure for conducting searches and seizures and effecting arrests.
The manner in which the Act is being implemented has come in for much criticism in recent years, as several investigations have been opened against political functionaries opposed to the BJP.
The court has given its thumbs up to what are considered ‘draconian’ provisions, rejecting strong challenges to their validity.
Since the mid-1980s, there has been global concern over the proceeds of criminal activities such as drug-trafficking being ‘laundered’ or and used in financing terrorism.
The UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances adopted in Vienna in 1988 (Vienna Convention) was the first treaty that called upon nations to adopt domestic laws to combat drug trafficking.
As part of these laws, countries were asked to prohibit the conversion or transfer of property gained through dealing in narcotics to conceal its illicit origin.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in the G-7 Summit in Paris in 1989 in response to mounting concern over money-laundering.
The Task Force made recommendations from time to time to strengthen laws on the subject. The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2000 (Palermo Convention) also advocated legislative and other measures to combat organised crime, and specifically called for ‘criminalising the laundering of proceeds of crime’.
The PMLA was enacted in 2002 but came into force in 2005. Its provisions gave effect to India’s obligations to abide by international conventions.
The Union government used this background to argue that PMLA provisions as well as subsequent amendments were valid and necessary to fulfil the country’s obligations to combat the menace of money-laundering.
In its verdict, the Supreme Court agreed with the government’s contention. “Every provision in the 2002 Act will have to be given its due significance while keeping in mind the legislative intent for providing a special mechanism to deal with the scourge of money-laundering recognised world over and with the need to deal with it sternly.
Profiles
The next flashpoint in the U.S.China contest (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
In a phone call on July 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Joe Biden “that those who play with fire will perish by it”, referring to the Taiwan question.
The fact and status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China” was “crystal clear”, he said, adding that China “firmly opposes separatist moves toward ‘Taiwan independence’ and interference by external forces.
His comments underlined how Taiwan has become the latest flashpoint in already tense U.S.-China relations, with Beijing reacting angrily to a planned visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
If it goes ahead in the coming week when Ms. Pelosi will be travelling to Asia, it would mark the highest-level visit from the U.S. to the island since 1997.
Coupled with recent comments from President Biden suggesting that the U.S. had made a “commitment” to involve itself military if China attacked Taiwan — comments that the White House later walked back, subsequently clarifying there was no change in the long-standing U.S. approach of “strategic ambiguity” that leaves this question unanswered — Ms. Pelosi’s planned visit only confirmed views in Beijing that the U.S. was increasingly diluting its “One China Policy”.
Mr. Biden sought to dispel those perceptions in the phone call, and “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to our One China Policy” and “underscored that the United States policy has not changed.” He did, at the same time, also express U.S. opposition “to unilateral changes to the status quo by either side”.
Indeed, if China has grievances with recent U.S. moves, both Washington and Taipei have viewed China’s increasing military activity, such as frequent aerial intrusions into Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), and continued diplomatic pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally, which has seen the number of countries that maintain relations with Taiwan dwindle with many switching recognition to China, as destabilising cross-strait ties.