Quote of the Day

 

“The most important thing about goals is having one.”
Geoffry F. Abert

“लक्ष्यों के बारे में सबसे महत्त्वपूर्ण चीज है उनका होना।”
जेफ्री ऍफ़ ऐबर्ट

Current Affairs – January 28, 2021

 

India

Home Ministry extends COVID-19 guidelines till February 28

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order on January 27, 2021 extending the COVID-19 “guidelines for surveillance, containment and caution” till February 28. The guidelines permit opening of cinema halls and theatres at a higher capacity as opposed to 50% seating strength allowed till now. Swimming pools have also been permitted to open for all.

Statue Govind Ballabh Pant unveiled at its new location in Delhi

A statue of freedom fighter Govind Ballabh Pant that was removed from the Parliament premises recently was unveiled at its new location, a roundabout opposite Gurdwara Rakab Ganj on Pandit Pant Marg in New Delhi on January 27, 2021. Pant served as Union Home Minister from 1955 to 1961.

Economy & Corporate

International Customs Day observed on Jan 27

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) observed the International Customs Day on January 27, 2021. The theme for this year as given by World Customs Organisation (WCO) is “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”.

Textiles Ministry signs MoU with Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan

The Textiles Committee of the Ministry of Textiles has signed a Memorandum of Understanding- MoU with Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan to boost export of Textile and Apparel to Japanese market. The main objective of the MoU is to provide required support to textile’s trade and industry for ensuring quality as per the requirement of Japanese buyers.

India’s new farm laws have potential to raise farm income: IMF

India’s recently-enacted agri laws have the potential to increase farmers’ income, but there is a need to provide a social safety net to the vulnerable cultivators, IMF’s Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has said.

World

India inks MoU with IEA for global energy security, sustainability

India on January 27, 2021 inked a strategic partnership agreement with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to strengthen cooperation in global energy security, stability and sustainability. This partnership will lead to an extensive exchange of knowledge and would be a stepping stone towards India becoming a full member of IEA. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Power Secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

India pledges $150,000 for UN peacebuilding as a token of engagement

1. S. Tirumurti, permanent representative of India to the United Nations, on January 26, 2021 announced a pledge of USD 150,000 to activities of the UN fund this year.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day observed on Jan 27

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (International Holocaust Remembrance Day) was observed on January 27, 2021. The day commemorates the tragedy of the Holocaust during the Second World War. On January 27, 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated by Soviet Union’s Red Army.

Russia’s lower house approves extension of arms control treaty with US

Russia’s lower house of parliament, State Duma, on January 27, 2021 approved an extension of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) with the United States for five years. The treaty limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the United States can deploy. The Kremlin said that the two countries had reached a deal to extend the pact which was signed in 2010 and is set to expire by the end of January 2021.

Indonesia: 2,968-m Mount Merapi volcano erupts

Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, erupted on January 27, 2021 with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing down its slopes. The 2,968-meter volcano is on the densely populated island of Java and near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. Merapi’s last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people.

Italy: PM Giuseppe Conte resigns

Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on January 26, 2021. He tendered his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella who invited him to stay on in a caretaker capacity. The coalition government has been fatally weakened by the withdrawal of Italia Viva party.

Antony Blinken sworn in U.S. Secretary of State

Antony Blinken was sworn in U.S. Secretary of State on January 26, 2021 after his 78 to 22 confirmation at the Senate.

What is Alpha Global Union?

 Recently, the Google workers from all around the globe have formed an international union called the “Alpha Global”. The new union has been named after Google’s parent company Alphabet. The union was formed in coordination with UNI Global Union.

About Alpha Global

• The Alpha Global union comprises of 13 different unions.
• These 13 unions represent the workers in 10 countries like United States, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
• The grouping has been formed with the aim to “build a more ethical and accountable company.
• It also aims to bring together the direct Alphabet employees besides the temporary, vendor, and contract workers.
• For now, Alpha Global will not have a legally binding agreement with the company.

What is the need of Global Union?

The problems created by Alphabet are not limited to any one country. It is problematic to all of them. These problems can easily be addressed on a global level. Formation of such global Unions will help in finding solutions.

Alphabet Workers Union (AMU)

The alphabet workers union was launched by the United States and Canada. It is a minority union. It initially had over 200 workers affiliated with the Communications Workers of America. Within a week, AWU grew to over 700 members.

UNI Global Union

It was earlier known as the Union Network International (UNI). It is a global union federation for skills and services. It helps in gathering the national and regional trade unions. It is based in Nyon, Switzerland. This union federation represents more than 20 million workers from over 150 different countries in the skills and services sectors. The union represents the Cleaning & Security, Graphical & Packaging, Hair & Beauty, Information, Communication, Technology and Services Industry (ICTS). It also includes the Media, post and logistics, Entertainment and Arts, Private Care and Social Insurance, Women and Youth.

What is Economic Survey?

 The economic survey for 2020-2021 will be tabled in the parliament on January 29, 2021 days before the presentation of Union Budget on February 1, 2021

Key Facts

• The Economic survey will be released with the focus on the impact of lockdown and COVID -19 on the economy.
• It is expected that, the survey will provide an overview of how much did the COVID 19 pandemic affect the economy.
• It will also provide a road map to revive the Indian economy.
• The road map for the 5 trillion economy is also expected to be laid down.

What is economic survey?

• The Economic Survey is a flagship annual document that reviews the development in the Indian economy.
• The survey reviews the development of economy over the past fiscal year and presents a holistic preview of the Budget.
• It is released by the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance.
• The survey is prepared by the country’s Chief Economic Advisor and tabled in both houses of Parliament one day before the budget presentation.
• The document is also discussed by the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) and his team during a press conference.
• Presently, Krishnamurthy Subramanian is the CEA of India.

Significance of the Economic Survey?

The document helps in reviewing the development of the Indian economy over the past year. It also summarises the performance on major development programs besides highlighting the policy initiatives of the central government. The economic survey also projects the India’s GDP growth for the next fiscal and suggests measures to boost the growth. For the year 2020, the Economic Survey had projected growth of Indian economy by 6 to 6.5 per cent and had suggested new ideas for boosting the manufacturing like ‘assemble in India for the world’ which in turn created jobs. However, the growth was disrupted because of Covid-19 outbreak.

World’s richest men, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, fight over satellite fleets

 The world’s two richest men are duking it out before U.S. regulators over celestial real estate for their satellite fleets.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to operate Starlink communications satellites at a lower orbit than first planned.

Jeff Bezos’s Amazon.com Inc. says the move would risk interference and collisions with its planned Kuiper satellites, which like Starlink are designed to beam internet service from space.

A dispute that would normally be confined to regulatory filings is spilling into public view, in a spat that showcases the large personalities involved as billionaires chase dreams in the sky.

“It is SpaceX’s proposed changes that would hamstring competition among satellite systems,” Amazon tweeted Tuesday from its official news account. “It is clearly in SpaceX’s interest to smother competition in the cradle if they can, but it is certainly not in the public’s interest.”

The statement followed a tweet from Musk, the richest person according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation,” Musk said in a tweeted reply to coverage by CNBC journalist Michael Sheetz.

Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and is signing up early customers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Amazon last year won FCC permission for a fleet of 3,236 satellites and has yet to launch any.

Amazon earlier urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s request for lower orbits. It said the change would put SpaceX satellites in the midst of the Kuiper System orbits, according to filings at the agency.

SpaceX pushed back in calls to the FCC, saying its plans wouldn’t increase interference for what it termed Amazon’s “still nascent plans.”

A lower orbit allows quicker internet service because the signal doesn’t travel as far. SpaceX told the FCC that having the satellites closer to Earth lessens the risk of space debris because they would fall out of orbit more quickly than higher spacecraft.

SpaceX eventually plans to operate some 12,000 satellites and has won FCC authorization for about 4,400 birds, including 1,584 at 550 kilometers — where its satellites currently orbit. The company is seeking permission to stage another 2,824 satellites at the same approximate altitude, rather than twice as high as originally proposed.

Source: Indian Express, 27/01/21

The Anthropocene era has placed an ethical challenge before the human race

 With the rapid advance of the manufacturing sector and deeper penetration of the global market since the Second World War — what is known as the Great Acceleration — the emission of carbon dioxide increased in geometric proportions. The Keynesian revolution from the 1940s to the beginning of the 1980s made massive investments in infrastructure with the aim of increasing demands. It has been observed that Keynesianism did not replace capitalism but made it ordinary, acceptable to the masses.

In the mid-1980s, the Thatcher-Reagan joint economic regime dismantled the welfare system of the previous decades and heralded the turn towards neoliberalism. The transformation of the social into a mere extension of the economy being complete, every human affair could be explained in market terms. With the rise of digital, virtual, and biotechnological systems from the 1990s, capital could operate as an integrative, hermetic bind transforming itself into a rationalised regime of the projective calculation for the market like never before. The combined result is humankind’s entry into an era where everything they do will have a direct impact on the planetary history from now on. In other words, mankind has entered the Anthropocene era leaving behind that of the Holocene.

The argument that the Anthropocene emerged dialectically from the contradiction of capitalism and nature, however, is problematic and has influential detractors. It can be conjectured that had the entire world gone socialist after the Russian Revolution, it would have produced more, and not less, greenhouse effect since the equitable distribution of resources across the population would have meant more purchasing power on a global scale.

Interestingly, the figure of the Anthropocene has now been constructed as the ultimate test of humanity’s capacity for self-overcoming through technologistic solutions. Apart from ensuring the faith of the global populace in the prevailing economic-technological order, it offers capitalism a new market. Bioengineering in the form of genome science is posing as the new form of a political messiah. Calling it a genetic bomb, French philosopher Paul Virilio explains the promises of this new science in terms of the installation of a new human being with a smaller ecological footprint because it uses fewer proteins, oxygen, and water, a creature made compatible with an earth of dwindling resources. The damage of ecology that so long compromised and promised conditions suitable for human biological existence now paves the way for the success of a new techno-market solution. If the bomb signalled the destruction of human life, decoding the human genome heralds the industrial production of life.

Is it possible even now for us as a collective to work out an escape from the impending doom? Can the Anthropocene be made liveable for humans? Time has come to develop a species sense, the sense that we as a species were born through the longue durée of geological and biological changes. The weave through which we are related to one another is the weave of power be it at the global, national, professional, or familial level. But along with this, we need what may be called an ethical understanding at the level of species. Though not connected intrinsically, the issues of power and ethics can be brought on the same plane through patient reflection.

Mere criticism of capitalism will not suffice. We need to imagine a feasible global systemic alternative where the human considers itself a part of the natural order and actively cooperates with it. The planet is not for humankind’s loot. The task is to reconfigure the political. The incorporation of the geobiological into the human calculus is oftentimes seen as an escape from the pressing issues of hunger and injustice. There is little awareness at present that unless the question of ecological impact is woven into the question of justice in human affairs, it will be of less and less practical relevance. The compass of the political must include ecological.

So far, human-social thinking has taken the natural and planetary world as constant, not affecting human affairs. The tree I see from my window will bloom at a particular time of the year, the planets and the sun will reside in their stately domains and have the same effect on our planet, and so forth. As a matter of fact, those functions of the human that resembled the animal world like food, nutrition, and reproduction were left out from the centre of human knowledge. Only those aspects of the human beings that are specific to our species being like language, justice, and the fight for it were considered the proper domain of human investigation. Hence, the difference between human-historical time and the time of geology thus never bothered us. History became the study of human consciousness.

The irony is in their attempt to transcend nature, humans made an abrupt fall into nature, allowing fundamental earthly forces to dictate their lives and unleashing the beast of geophysical forces that cannot be controlled by human endeavour. The pandemic moves around the world at great speed while climate change is a slow process occurring over centuries. Only a drastic reduction of the global population to half the present number in the next 30 years and a practice of ascetic life can save the planet. It is difficult but not impossible. The textures of our comportment as we conduct our lives and engage in different transactions with not only humans but nature at large deserves its due importance. This is the domain of spirituality. Today’s politics begins from here.

Written by Manas Ray

This article first appeared in the print edition on January 28, 2021 under the title ‘The ecological is political’. The writer is former professor in cultural studies at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata.

Source: Indian Express, 28/01/21

Quote of the Day

 

“Everything is always created twice, first in the mind and then in reality”
Anonymous

“हर चीज का सृजन दो बार होता है, पहली बार दिमाग में और दूसरी बार वास्तविकता में।”
अज्ञात