Current Affairs 26 May 2021 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 26 May 2021  focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

1. EU Imposes Sanctions Against Belarus
2. Panel To Define Hate Speech
3. Buddha Purnima
4. BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland
5. Total Lunar Eclipse And Supermoon

EU Imposes Sanctions Against Belarus

Source : The Hindu
GS III : Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Why in News ?

European countries have moved to sanction Belarus and ban its state airline from flying to Europe as they sought to punish President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime for forcing a Ryanair passenger flight to land in the country so it could arrest a leading dissident onboard.

Key Facts

• Belarus allegedly used a false bomb threat to divert the airliner to its capital Minsk.
• To arrest a 26-year-old Belarusian blogger who played a key role in last year’s mass protests against Lukashenko.
• Incident called the incident air piracy and state-sponsored hijacking.
• Many other countries announced that their flights are currently avoiding Belarus airspace.

Earlier Sanctions

• 2004 : EU first introduced restrictive measures against Belarus following the disappearance of two opposition politicians, a journalist and a businessman several years earlier.
• 2006/2008 : US also imposed targeted financial sanctions.
• 2020 : EU and the United States financial sanctions as a result of crack down.

How this sanction affect Belarus ?

• European Union member states agreed quickly to drawing up fresh individual and targeted economic sanctions against Belarus.
• Landlocked eastern European nation and for Belarus’ airlines to be banned from flying in Europe reduce its access to other countries.
• The EU had a 3 billion Euro investment package ready for Belarus that it will now freeze until the country turns democratic.

Panel To Define Hate Speech

Source : The Hindu
GS II : Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures

Why in News ?

Home Ministry Panel to Define Hate Speech to make an attempt for Hate Speech. 

Key Facts

• The Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws constituted by the Home Ministry is attempting for the first time to define such speech.
• The panel in-fact set up for suggesting reforms in the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
  • It now propose a separate section on offences relating to speech and expression.
  • Itwill attempt to define hate speech.
• There is no clear definition of what constitutes a hate speech in the IPC.
• Background
  • An extreme or harsh point of view would not amount to hate speech, the Bombay High Court quashed an FIR against a Navi Mumbai resident.
  • Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea challenging the legal validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that deals with the offence of sedition.

What is Freedom of Speech and Expression ?

• Article 19(1)(a) of Indian Constitution says that
  • All citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression.
  • Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express one’s own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode.
• The right to express one’s views is a protected and cherished right in democracy.

What is Hate Speech ?

• Simply put Hate Speech is considered as a reasonable restriction on freedom of speech and expression.
• The Bureau of Police Research and Development recently published a manual for investigating agencies on cyber harassment cases that defined hate speech as
  • A language that denigrates, insults, threatens or targets an individual based on their identity and other traits such as sexual orientation or disability or religion etc.
• Restriction to Free Speech
  • Article 19(2) ot the constitution
    • Provides for the reasonable restrictions against free speech in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
  • Provisions in Indian Penal Code
    • Section 153A Indian Penal Code Hate speech constitutes a criminal charge which is the offence of promoting communal disharmony or feelings of hatred between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
    • Section 153B of the Indian Penal Code categorises the offence of promoting religious, racist, linguistic, community or caste hatred or incites any religious, caste or any other disharmony or enmity within India, through any speech either in written form or spoken.
    • Section 298 of the IPC, similarly, classifies the offence of uttering words with the deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person.
    • Section 505 of the IPC, criminalises the act of delivering speeches that incite violence.
  • The 123(3A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 criminalises hate speech by election candidates.
• United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech defines Hate Speech as
  • Hate speech is in itself an attack on tolerance, inclusion, diversity and the very essence of our human rights norms and principles. More broadly, it undermines social cohesion, erodes shared values, and can lay the foundation for violence, setting back the cause of peace, stability, sustainable development and the fulfillment of human rights for all.

Buddha Purnima

Source : Indian Express
GS II : Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times

Why in News ?

Buddha Purnima also known as Buddha Jayanti is an auspicious day that marks the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

• It is believed that this was also the day he attained enlightenment.
• Buddha Purnima falls on a full moon night, usually between April and May, and it is a gazetted holiday in India.

Buddha Purnima

• Also called as Vesak Celebrations.
• The festival marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha and is celebrated by the Buddhist community across the country as well as in countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia etc.
• The festival holds special importance and is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm.
• The date of the festival typically falls in the month of April or May.
• During Vesak, dharma wheel symbol is commonly seen.
  • Dharma wheel is also called dharmachakra.
  • The great teachings of Gautam Buddha are represented through this wheel.

BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland

Source : Down To Earth
GS III : Science and Technology 

Why in News ?

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland  signed a Memorandum of Undersatnding (MoU) to launch a BioHub facility.

• BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland MoU allow rapid sharing of pathogens between laboratories and partners.
• Facilitate a better analysis and preparedness against them.

Key Facts

• The move is significant in the view of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
• The BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland MoU underline the importance of sharing pathogen information to assess risks and launch counter measures.
• How this Helps ?
  • Safe reception, sequencing, storage and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, so as to facilitate global preparedness against these pathogens.
• Switzerland supports the WHO BioHub initiative in its initial phase by providing the necessary infrastructure of a Swiss biosafety laboratory in Spiez.
• Contribute to the establishment of an international exchange system for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.

Current Method

• Most pathogen sharing is done bilaterally between countries and on an ad hoc basis.
• This process can be slow and leave some countries without access to the benefits and tools.
• The BioHub will enable Member States to share biological materials via the BioHub under pre-agreed conditions.
• The condition include
  • Biosafety
  • Biosecurity
  • Other applicable regulations.
• This will ensure timeliness and predictability in response activities.

COVID and BioHub

• Following results from the pilot project he BioHub will expand from SARS-COV-2 and its variants.
• Also to other pathogens, and connect partners with other repositories and laboratory networks in 2022.

Total Lunar Eclipse And Supermoon

Source : Indian Express
GS III : Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights

Why in News ?

The Moon will have the nearest approach to Earth on May 26 and therefore will appear to be the closest and largest Full Moon or supermoon of 2021.

Key Facts

• The  event has a speciality with both Total Lunar Eclipse And Supermoon

  

• A supermoon and a total lunar eclipse have not occurred together in nearly six years.
• On this event two celestial events will take place at the same time.
• Because of the total lunar eclipse, the moon will also appear to be red.
• This is because the Earth will block some of the light from the Sun from reaching the moon and as the Earth’s atmosphere filters the light, it will soften the edge of our planet’s shadow giving the Moon a deep rosy glow. 

About Supermoon

• NASA notes that a supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth at the same time that the Moon is full.
• As the Moon orbits the Earth,
  • There is a point of time when the distance between the two is the least called the perigee when the average distance is about 360,000 km from the Earth
  • A point of time when the distance is the most called the apogee when the distance is about 405,000 km from the Earth.
• In a typical year, there may be two to four full supermoons and two to four new supermoons in a row.

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