Lockdown 4.0 guidelines

Lockdown measures in place since March 24, 2020 have helped considerably in containing the spread of COVID-19. It has therefore been decided to further extend the lockdown till May 31, 2020. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI) issued an order, today, under the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005, in this regard.

Salient features of the new guidelines are as follows:

States to decide various Zones

• Under the new guidelines, States and Union Territories (UTs) will now delineate Red, Green and Orange zones taking into consideration the parameters shared by the Health Ministry. The zones can be a district, or a municipal corporation/ municipality or even smaller administrative units such as sub-divisions, etc, as decided by States and UTs.
• Within the red and orange zones, containment and buffer zones will be demarcated by the local authorities, after taking into consideration the Health Ministry guidelines.
• Buffer zones are areas adjoining each containment zone, where new cases are more likely to appear. In the buffer zones, more caution needs to be exercised.

Activities Prohibited throughout the Country

A limited number of activities will continue to remain prohibited throughout the country. These include

• all domestic and international air travel of passengers, except for domestic medical services, domestic air ambulance and for security purposes or purposes as permitted by MHA;
• metro rail services;
• running of schools, colleges, educational and training/coaching institutions;
• hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services, except for the running of canteens in bus depots, railway stations and airports;
• places of large public gatherings such as cinemas, shopping malls, gymnasiums entertainment parks, etc.;
• social, political, cultural and similar gatherings and other large congregations; and, access to religious places/places of worship for public.

However, online/ distance learning shall be permitted and encouraged; and, restaurants will be allowed to operate kitchens for home delivery of food items.

Opening up of Sports Activities

• Sports complexes and stadia will be permitted to open only for sports activities. However, spectators will not be allowed in these complexes.

Activities permitted with restrictions

• In order to facilitate the movement of persons, various modes of transport have already been opened up.
• Further, evacuation of foreign nationals from India, return of stranded Indian nationals from abroad, sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers, and intra-State and inter-State movement of stranded persons by bus and train, will continue to be allowed.
• Inter-State movement of vehicles and buses has also been allowed with mutual consent of the concerned States/ UTs. Intra-State movement of vehicles and buses can be decided by the States and UTs.
• National Directives for COVID-19 management
• The guidelines specify the National Directives for COVID-19 management, which shall apply to public places and work places.
• Under these guidelines, wearing of face covers is compulsory; spitting will be punishable with fine as may be prescribed in accordance with its laws, rules or regulations by the State/ UT local authority; and social distancing is to be followed by all persons in public places and in transport.
• Marriage related gathering shall not have more than 50 guests.
• For funerals/ last rites, the maximum number of persons allowed has been kept at 20.
• The National Directives also stipulate additional requirements for work places. The practice of work from home (WfH) should be followed to the extent possible; and staggering of work hours should be adopted in respect of all offices and other establishments.
• There should be provision for thermal scanning, hand wash and sanitizers at all entry and exit points and common areas; and all work places and other sensitive locations are to be sanitized regularly.
• In work places, social distancing would also need to be ensured through adequate distance between workers, adequate gaps between shifts, staggering the lunch break of staff and so on.

Stipulations regarding Shops and Markets

• Local authorities should ensure that shops and markets open with staggered timings, so as to ensure social distancing. All shops shall also have to ensure six feet distance (2 gaz ki doori) among customers and also not allow more than 5 persons at one time.

Night Curfew

• Night Curfew shall continue to remain in force on the movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, between 7 pm and 7 am.

Protection for Vulnerable Persons

• Vulnerable persons, i.e., persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, shall stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes.
• All activities to be Permitted other than the limited number of those that are prohibited or restricted
• All other activities will be permitted except those which are specifically prohibited under these guidelines. However, in containment zones, only essential activities shall be allowed, as mentioned earlier.

States to decide on activities within various Zones

• States/ UTs, based on their assessment of the situation, may prohibit certain other activities in the various zones, or impose such restrictions as deemed necessary.

Use of Aarogya Setu

• The Aarogya Setu mobile application is a powerful tool built by Government of India to facilitate quick identification of persons infected by COVID-19, or at risk of being infected, thus acting as a shield for individuals and the community.
• With a view to ensure safety in offices and work places, employers on best effort basis should ensure that the application is installed by all employees having compatible mobile phones.
• District authorities have been asked to advise individuals to install the Aarogya Setu application on compatible mobile phones and regularly update their health status on the app.

State/ UT Governments shall continue to strictly enforce the lockdown guidelines and they shall not dilute these guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in any manner.

Vehicles with invalid or non-functional FASTag to be charged double toll Fee applicable to their category

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued notification for amendment in the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008 which provide that if a vehicle which is not fitted with FASTag or the vehicle is without a valid or functional FASTag, enters into “FASTag lane” of the Fee plazas, then they shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the fee applicable to that category of vehicles.

What is FASTag?

• FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction.
• FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted. The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen after the tag account is active.
• The tag is valid for five years and comes in seven different colours — violet, orange, yellow, green, pink, blue, black. Each colour is assigned to a particular category of vehicles.
• It was rolled out in April 2016, and the Government made it mandatory from December 1, 2017 for all new cars and trucks to be fitted with a FASTag before they were sold.
• To encourage the use of FASTags, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) refunds 5% of the total monthly transactions.
• Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) (a company incorporated by National Highways Authority of India) and National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) are implementing this program.
• FASTag is presently operational at both, national and state highways.

5th tranche of Atma Nirbhar Bharat package- Structural Reforms

Part of: GS-III- Economy- Economic reforms (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Finance Minister in her announcement of the fifth tranche of measures to address the economic situation in the country amid COVID-19, outlined structural reforms with focus on seven areas of MNREGA, Health and Education, Business during COVID, Decriminalisation of Company Act, Ease of doing business, Policy related to Public Sector Units, State government and resources related to it.

Imp Announcements

• MNREGA: MGNREGA scheme, an additional Rs 40 thousand crore will be allocated for employment generation in the rural parts of the country. She said this will help to generate nearly 300 crore person days to provide relief to the migrant workers.
• The policy aimed at allowing private players in all sectors was the need of the hour and the government will chalk out a coherent policy for the same. She asserted that at least one Public Sector Enterprise (PSEs) would continue to remain in every strategic sector even after allowing private companies. Finance Minister added that the maximum number of enterprises in strategic sectors will be limited to four. She informed the government will soon notify the list of strategic sectors requiring the presence of PSEs.
• On the support extended to the State Government more than Rs 46 thousand crore have been devolved in April and revenue deficit grants of more than 12 thousand crores in April and May have also been given to the states despite the centre's stressful resources.
• The government's decision to increase the net borrowing ceiling for the states from 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (PT) would result in increased resources of Rs 4 lakh 28 thousand crores for them.
• She said, more than Rs 11 thousand crores have been released to the states as advance from the State disaster relief fund in the first week of April and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released another Rs 4 thousand 113 crores for direct anti-COVID activities.
• On the Health reforms and initiatives taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, public expenditure will be increased and Health and Wellness Centres in rural and urban areas will be ramped up.
• She said infectious diseases hospital blocks and integrated public health labs will be set up in all districts to handle the such pandemic situations in the country. The National Digital Health blueprint will be implemented under the National Digital Health Mission.
• In a major relief to the MSMEs, Finance Minister announced a substantial hike in the minimum threshold to initiate insolvency proceedings. The threshold which was earlier Rs one lakh has now been increased to Rs one crore which will insulate a large number of MSMEs in the country from insolvency proceedings against them.
• She also announced special insolvency resolution framework for MSMEs which will be notified soon. No fresh insolvency proceedings will be initiated up to the next year and COVID-19-related debts will not be considered as default payments for proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
  PM-e-Vidya programme for multi-mode access to digital online education will be launched shortly which will consist of e-content and QR-coded textbooks for all grades.
• She said, one TV channel per class from 1 to 12 will be operated and extensive use of Radio and Community Radio will be encouraged.
• Top 100 universities will be permitted to automatically start online courses by 30th of this month. She also announced, an initiative by the name of 'Manodarpan' which will be launched for psychological support of students, teachers and their family for mental health and emotional well-being.
• Speaking over, decriminalization of companies act, violation involving minor technical and procedural default will not be accounted which in turn will help to de-clog the criminal courts and NCLT.

Finance Minister highlighted that the improvement in rankings in starting a business and in terms of insolvency resolutions have together contributed to an overall improvement in India’s ranking in Ease of Doing Business. She added that the further reforms will include Indian public companies being able to directly list securities in permissible foreign jurisdictions.

Under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan package, free food grains were provided to 80 crore people and under the PM Kisan Yojana more than Rs 16 thousand crore have been given to the 8.19 crore people through direct benefit transfer.

She said, more than Rs 10 thousand crores were released to 20 crore Jan Dhan accounts of women and construction workers got Rs 3 thousand 950 crores. She said 6.81 crore beneficiaries got the cylinder under the Ujjawala scheme and 12 lakh EPFO holders have withdrawn the advance amount. She said, Shramik Special trains were operated for the migrant workers and 85 per cent of the cost was borne by the Central Government.

The Finance Minister announced a slew of measures to help the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs sector that employs an estimated 11 crore people. The announcements ranged from Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), real estate, power distribution sector, to relaxations on contributions to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPFO). In her second announcement, the focus was on migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, the self-employed and small farmers. The third announcement saw major relief packages for agriculture and allied activities, while yesterday key sectoral reforms were announced in the sectors of coal, minerals, defence production, civil aviation, power distribution companies, space sector and atomic energy.

For more reading: Refer 15 to 17^th May DNA www.aspireias.com

Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme

Part of: GS-III- CULTURE (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Recently, the government has approved the launch of the ‘Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS)’ in order to give a boost to domestic defence and aerospace manufacturing.

The Government has accorded high priority to the development of the manufacturing base of the Defence and Aerospace sectors in the country under the “Make in India” initiative to reduce dependence on imports.

• In the above context, the government has already announced the establishment of Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• But, still one of the main impediments for domestic defence production is the lack of easily accessible state-of-the-art testing infrastructure.
• Defence Testing Infrastructure is capital intensive requiring continuous upgradation and it is not economically viable for individual defence industrial units to set up in-house testing facilities.

Objectives

• The Scheme aims to promote indigenous defence production, with a special focus on the participation of MSMEs and Start-Ups by bridging gaps in defence testing infrastructure in the country.

• It will also help to provide easy access and to meet the testing needs of the domestic defence industry.
• It will facilitate indigenous defence production, consequently reduce imports of military equipment and help make the country self-reliant.

Finance and Cooperation:

• The Scheme has an outlay of Rs 400 crore for creating state of the art testing infrastructure over the duration of five years. It envisages to set up test facilities in partnership with private industry.
• The projects under the Scheme will be provided with up to 75% government funding in the form of ‘Grant-in-Aid’.
• The remaining 25% of the project cost will have to be borne by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) whose constituents will be Indian private entities and State Governments.
  Only private entities registered in India and State Government agencies will qualify for forming the implementation agency for the Scheme.
• The SPVs under the Scheme will be registered under the Companies Act 2013.

Location of DTISs

The Scheme aims at setting up Greenfield Defence Testing Infrastructure mainly in DICs but is not limited to setting up Test Facilities in the DICs only.

Sovereign gold bond (SGB)-FAQ

What is a sovereign gold bond (SGB)?

A sovereign gold bond is a substitute for holding physical gold. The bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the government and are bonds denominated in gold. The government issues such bonds in tranches at a fixed price that investors can buy through banks, post offices and also in the secondary markets through the stock exchange platform.

What are the benefits of buying SGB?

These bonds are backed by a sovereign guarantee and can also be held in Demat form. Further, they are priced as per the underlying spot gold prices. Hence, investors who want to invest in gold can buy the bonds without worrying about the safe keeping of physical gold along with locker charges, making charges or purity issues. Plus, these bonds offer interest at the rate of 2.5% per annum on the principal investment amount. While the interest on the bonds is taxable, the capital gains at the time of redemption are exempt from tax. These bonds can also be used as collateral for availing loans from banks and NBFCs.

How are the bonds structured?

SGB has a fixed tenure of eight years, though early redemption is allowed after the fifth year from issuance. Since the bonds are listed on the exchange, these can be transferred to other investors as well. The bonds are priced in rupees based on the simple average closing price of gold of 999 purity, published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association for the last three business days of the week preceding the subscription period. At the time of redemption, cash equivalent to the number of units multiplied by the then prevailing price would be credited to the bank account of the investor.

How was the latest tranche priced?

The latest tranche, which closed for subscription last week, was priced at? 4,590 per gram. Those who apply online were eligible for a discount of? 50 per gram. Reports suggest that RBI will again issue such bonds in June, July, August and September.

Are there any risks in investing in SGB?

A capital loss is a risk since the bond prices would reflect any change in gold prices. If gold prices fall, the principal investment would fall proportionately.

Biodegradable metal implants

Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram both autonomous institutes under the Department of Science & Technology (DST) have jointly developed new generation Iron-Manganese based alloys for biodegradable metal implants for use in humans.

Benefits of biodegradable implants

• Biodegradable materials (Fe, Mg, Zn, and polymer), which can participate in the healing process and then degrade gradually by maintaining the mechanical integrity without leaving any implant residues in the human body are better alternatives to currently used metallic implants which remain permanently in the human body and can cause long-term side effects like systemic toxicity, chronic inflammation, and thrombosis.
• The ARCI team employed both conventional melting and powder metallurgy techniques in the manufacturing of the new Fe-Mn-based biodegradable alloys and stents having dimensions of a Diameter: of 2 mm, Length: of 12 mm and Wall thickness: 175 µm.
• Iron-Manganese based alloy Fe-Mn (having Mn composition of more than 29% by weight) is a promising biodegradable metallic implant which exhibits a single austenitic phase (a non-magnetic form of iron) with MRI compatibility.
• The Fe-Mn alloy produced at ARCI exhibited 99% density with impressive mechanical properties and behaved as a nonmagnetic material even under a strong magnetic field of 20 Tesla.
• These properties are comparable to presently used permanent Titanium (Ti) and stainless-steel metallic implants. The alloy also showed a degradation rate in the range of 0.14-0.026 mm per year in the simulated body fluid, which means that the Fe-Mn alloy exhibits mechanical integrity for 3-6 months and completely disappears from the body in 12-24 months.
• During the degradation process, calcium phosphate deposits on the implant due to local alkalization and saturation of calcium and phosphate, allow cells to adhere to the surface to form tissues.
• Fe-Mn-based alloys are suitable for biodegradable stent and orthopaedic implant applications.

BPDS and POMID disinfectant sprays

Scientists at CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur, have developed two mobile indoor Disinfection Sprayer units. These units can be used for cleaning and disinfecting pathogenic micro-organisms effectively, especially in hospitals.

Called Battery Powered Disinfectant Sprayer (BPDS) and Pneumatically Operated Mobile Indoor Disinfection (POMID), these units can be used to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces such as tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, and cardboards. Intermittent usage of these disinfecting units can help minimize the risk of transmitting coronavirus to people who inadvertently come in contact with those surfaces.

Advantages of BPDS and POMID

• The sprayer systems in both BPDS and POMID are designed with two-stage spraying units and separate storage tanks to clean and disinfect the indoor areas by the number of fixed and flexible nozzles set in the lower and upper tiers.
• There is also an industrial variant of the Disinfectant Sprayer for heavy usage and to cover a larger area.
• POMID mobile indoor disinfectant unit is made of steel frames mounted on four wheels. This system comprises compressors, piping and fittings and sprays nozzles.
• The hand-held flexible spray arm can be used in any direction as per requirement.
• POMID unit has two storage tanks each with a capacity of 10 litres. BPDS unit is a cordless machine with a two-nozzle spray system and an extended arm spray unit. It has a storage capacity of 20 litres and a battery backup time of 4 hours on a single charge.
• The gross weight of the system is (empty tank) 25 kg.
• CSIR-CMERI developed indoor sprayer systems consist of dual-chamber storage for disinfectants and cleaning and have better nozzle design, better arrangement of nozzles and lesser droplet sizes. The sprayed disinfectant can thus cover a greater surface area for the specified volume of liquid.
• The particle size and the number of particles of disinfectant are two important parameters in determining the effectiveness of the sprayed disinfectant.
• This technology will have relevance even beyond the current COVID-19 crisis since viruses have existent throughout and a substantial number of cases of such influenza has been spreading throughout the globe every year.

Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘AMPHAN’

The depression over southeast Bay of Bengal (BoB) intensified into a deep depression in the same afternoon, into a cyclonic storm ‘AMPHAN’ (pronounced as UM-PUN)’ in the same evening over the central parts of south BoB.

It further intensified into a severe cyclonic storm about 990 km south of Paradip (Odisha), 1140 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal) and 1260 km south-southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh).

MicroRNA- Why does old age makes it more difficult to fight COVID-19

• A group of tiny RNA — that is supposed to attack the SARS-CoV-2 when it infects human bodies — diminishes with age and in people with chronic health problems, which may explain why older individuals and those with pre-existing health conditions are more vulnerable to Covid-19.
• MicroRNAs play a big role in controlling gene expression, and are a frontline defence when viruses invade.
• According to a study published in Aging and Disease, the microRNA numbers dwindle with age and under chronic medical conditions, which reduces a person’s ability to respond to viruses.
• The team from Augusta University had looked at the RNA sequence of two coronaviruses — SARS, which surfaced in 2002, and SARS-CoV-2.
• They also looked at the sequence of microRNAs that appeared to be attacking these viruses, and then used computer simulation to figure out the results.
• They found 873 microRNAs that target the SARS-CoV-2 genome. These microRNAs were associated with more than 72 biological processes — from the production of molecules to immune response.