UPSC Daily Current Affairs - 6 May

India-Indonesia RelationsWhy in news?Recently, India-Indonesia expressed satisfaction with their progress in defence collaboration at the 7th India-Indonesia Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting.

About India-Indonesia Relations

Background

• India and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in 1951.
• India and Indonesia have shared two millennia of close cultural and commercial contacts.
• India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Indonesia along the Andaman Sea.

Convergence between India-Indonesia Relations

• Geo-Strategic Cooperation: India and Indonesia strategic relations are driven by their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and have shared vision of the Indo-Pacific. Indonesia is critical to India’s Act East Policy because Indonesia lies at the intersection of the Pacific Ocean, the Malacca Straits and the Indian Ocean.
• China Factor: The rise of China and its assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific is the driving engine of the relationship. Both countries have territorial disputes with China. Indonesia has irreconcilable differences with China over the nine-dash line in the south China sea.
• Economic Cooperation: Indonesia is the second largest trading partner of India in the ASEAN region. Bilateral trade has increased from USD 4.3 billion in 2005-06 to USD 38.84 billion in 2022-23.
• Defence Cooperation: Both countries enjoy close defence cooperation. India and Indonesia are jointly developing the Sabang deep sea port which lies close to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Garuda Shakti, Samudra Shakti are joint military exercises between Indonesia and India.
• Cultural Cooperation: The Hindu, Buddhist and later Muslim faith travelled to Indonesia from the shores of India. The Indonesian folk art and dramas are based on stories from the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

• Close relations with China: Though India and Indonesia have close defence relations, Indonesia is not ready to go against China on certain economic matters. The total trade value of the two countries as of October 2022 reached US$122.47 billion.
• Kashmir Issue: Indonesia has largely maintained a neutral stance on the Kashmir issue. However, sometimes Indonesia takes a stand opposing India during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meets. During the 1965 Indo−Pakistani War, Indonesia supported Pakistan.
• Islamic identity politics: Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Indonesia’s summoning of the Indian ambassador over the Delhi riots (CAA Riots), has impacted the relationship.
• Trade deficit: India runs a trade deficit with Indonesia. India's balance of trade is roughly negative $21.89 billion. India is one of the largest buyers of coal and crude palm oil from Indonesia and imports minerals, rubber, pulp & paper and hydrocarbons reserves.

• Trade in Local Currency: Trading in national currencies is crucial. It is expected to slash transaction costs as countries can bypass the use of American dollars. It will also likely bring bilateral trade to greater heights.
• Support in Multilateral forums: Though both countries have shared vision about the Indo-Pacific. However, they should support each other in promoting international law and norms, freedom of navigation and the objectives of peace and security.
• Domestic politics: Both countries should strengthen their bilateral ties to a level where their respective domestic politics does not spill over onto their bilateral relations.

E-Commerce Sector 

Why in news?

Recently, Invest India forecasts India's e-commerce to soar to $325 billion by 2030.

More about the news

Challenges faced by India’s E-commerce sector

• Low Internet penetration: Internet is the backbone of e-commerce. Nearly 665 million Indians or 45 per cent of the rural population did not have access to the internet as of 2023.
• Absence of Cyber Laws: Cybersecurity governance falls under the Information Technology Act of 2000, regulating e-commerce, electronic contracts and data protection. The act does not take care of subjects such as individual property rights, content regulation to privacy and data protection specific legislation.
• Digital Illiteracy: In urban areas, digital literacy is relatively higher at 61% as compared to just 25% in rural areas. Digital illiteracy is one of the main reasons for this gap.
• Problem in Payment gateways: The payment gateways have an unusually high failure rate by global standards. Ecommerce companies using Indian payment gateways are losing out on business, as several customers do not reattempt payment after a transaction fails.
• Logistics Problem: Given the huge extent of the country, there are thousands of cities that are not easily reachable. An absence of unified access to a substantial proportion of potential customers is affecting the growth of the sector.
• Inconsistent Postal Address: The postal addresses in India are neither consistent nor do they accurately convey or represent geolocation.

• Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020
• These rules were notified by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
• The Consumer Protection (Ecommerce) Rules 2020 attempts to combine the teeth of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Indian exchange control laws (IEC Regulations) and the Information Technology Act 2000, to ensure fair play in technology and data driven ecommerce environments.
• The Rules are applicable to all goods and services bought or sold over digital or electronic networks including digital products.
• The rules provide for the appointment of a nodal person of contact or an alternate senior designated functionary in every company, who is resident in India, to ensure compliance with the Indian Laws.
• Every e-commerce entity shall provide for disclosure of material information on the e-commerce marketplace in a clear and accessible manner. Every seller has to make sure that descriptions, images, and other content of goods or services are accurate.
• Where an e-commerce entity offers imported goods or services for sale, it shall mention the name and details of any importer.
• Every e-commerce entity shall establish an adequate grievance redressal mechanism by appointing a Grievance Officer.
• The rules prohibit the display or promotion of misleading advertisements by e-commerce entities.
• No e-commerce entity shall impose cancellation charges on consumers cancelling after confirming purchase unless similar charges are also borne by the e- commerce entity, if they cancel the purchase order unilaterally for any reason.
• Every e-commerce entity shall only record the consent of a consumer for the purchase of any good or service offered on its platform where such consent is expressed through an explicit and affirmative action,
• No e-commerce entity shall adopt any unfair trade practice, whether in the course of business on its platform or otherwise.

Sahyadri Tiger Reserve

Why in news?

The Maharashtra Forest department is gearing up for translocation of a few tigers from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to Sahyadri Tiger Reserve.

More about the news

• The Maharashtra Forest department is awaiting the final go-ahead from the Union Environment Ministry; the NTCA had cleared the translocation plan in October 2023.
• The translocation project is an important step in conservation of tigers in the forests of the northern Western Ghats, which form a key wildlife corridor between Maharashtra and Karnataka.
• This corridor allows connectivity of tiger population in Sahyadri reserve, Radhanagari wildlife sanctuary, Amboli reserve forest, Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in Goa and Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary and Kali tiger reserve in Karnataka.
• The 2023 tiger population estimation report also highlighted the threats posed to the wildlife corridor between the STR and Karnataka’s forests from mining activities, road projects and human settlements.

About Sahyadri Tiger Reserve

• The Sahyadri Tiger Reserve is located in the Sahyadri Ranges of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra.
• It is part of the ecoregions of North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests and North Western Ghats montane rain forests.
• These ranges form a common boundary between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, and constitute rich evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests.
• The habitat of Sahyadri is composed of woodlands, grasslands and plateau, the latter locally referred to as “Sadaa”, which are lateritic in nature with considerable habitat value.
• The reserve was notified in 2010 by amalgamating the Chandoli national park and Koyna wildlife sanctuary.
• The Tiger Reserve is home to the endangered species of top carnivores such as the Tiger, Wild dog, and Leopard. The herbivores include Gaur, Sambar, Four Horned Antelope, Mouse Deer and Giant Squirrel.
• The Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) is one of only five tiger reserves in the country — Kaval in Telangana, Kamlang in Arunachal Pradesh, Dampa in Mizoram and Satkosia in Odisha being the other four — with zero tigers within the reserve.

Mullaperiyar Dam 

Why in news?

Recently, Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court, accusing Kerala of obstructing work on Mullaperiyar dam.

About the Dam

• Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River of Idukki district of Kerala.
• The dam is built at the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar rivers.
• It is located 881 m (2,890 ft) above the sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats. The Periyar National Park is located around the dam's reservoir.
• The dam was constructed with limestone and “Surkhi" (burnt brick powder and a mixture of sugar and calcium oxide).
• Although the dam is located in Kerala, it is operated by Tamil Nadu following an 1886 lease indenture for 999 years that was signed between the Maharaja of Travancore and the Secretary of State for India for the Periyar Irrigation works.
• The dam's purpose was to divert the waters of the west-flowing River Periyar eastward to the arid rain shadow regions of the Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu.

About Periyar River

• Periyar, is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala.
• The source of the river lies in the remote forests of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The river originates from Chokkampatti Mala, a peak on the southern boundary of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
• The Periyar has a total length of approximately 244 kilometres and a catchment area of 5,398 square kilometres.
• It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns.
• Its major tributaries are Muthirapuzha River, Mullayar River, Cheruthoni River, Perinjankutti River and Edamala River.
• Before joining the sea, the river bifurcates into the Marthandavarma and the Mangalapuzha branches.
• The Mangalapuzha branch joins Chalakudy River and empties into the Lakshadweep Sea at Munambam and the Marthandavarma branch drains into the Cochin backwater system (part of Vembanad Lake).

Thrombocytopenia Syndrome

Why in news?

Recently, AstraZeneca has admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine can result in a rare side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.

About

• Covishield, a vaccine is developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
• Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) is a rare condition in which blood clots form in unusual places in the body, and the number of platelets in the blood drops. Platelets are small cells that help blood to clot, so having too few of them can be dangerous.
• The condition was observed in people who received adenoviral vector COVID-19 vaccines, such as Vaxzevria, Covishield (AstraZeneca) and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
• TTS seems to occur because the body's immune system reacts to the vaccine by making antibodies that attack a protein involved in blood clotting.
• Symptoms of TTS can include severe headaches, stomach pain, swelling in the legs, trouble breathing, and problems with thinking or seizures.
• According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TTS is classified into two tiers based on the location of the blood clot and the severity of the symptoms.