Fed ex Chair Ben Bernanke shares Nobel with 2 other U.S. economists

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, who put his academic expertise on the Great Depression to work reviving the American economy after the 2007-­2008 financial crisis, won the Nobel Prize in economic sciences along with two other U.S.­based economists for their research into the fallout from bank failures.

• Mr. Bernanke was recognised on Monday along with Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig. The Nobel panel at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm said the trio’s research had shown “why avoiding bank collapses is vital.”
• Mr. Bernanke, 68, who was Fed chair from early 2006 to early 2014 and is now with the Brookings Institution in Washington, examined the Great Depression of the 1930s, showing the danger of bank runs — when panicked people withdraw their savings — and how bank collapses led to widespread economic devastation. 
• Mr. Diamond, 68, based at the University of Chicago, and Mr. Dybvig, 67, who is at Washington University in St. Louis, showed how government guarantees on deposits can prevent a spiraling of financial crises.

Super app

The concept of an everything app, or a “super app,” is massively popular in Asia as mobile is the main form of access to the internet in the region and tech companies across the world have tried to replicate it.

• Elon Musk saw an opportunity to create such an app by adding more tools and services to Twitter.
• Musk said he wanted Twitter to grow from its 237 million users to “at least a billion.”

What is a super app?

• Elon Musk refers to it as an “everything app,” such as the Swiss army knife.
• A super app is essentially a one-stop app that offers a suite of services by bundling a bunch of services or separate apps within it, to cover every need of the consumer such as messaging, social networking, peer-to-peer payments, health and wellness and e-commerce shopping.
• These offerings will often be bound by a common account and a robust in-app payment system.
• On the contrary, any other app in general will be specialising in one of these services or categories such as Uber for cabs, Swiggy for food and grocery delivery, and Netflix for movies and content.
• These Super apps are strongly aligned with emerging market governments because of their role in shrinking the grey economy.

Examples of super apps:

• Chinese super app WeChat is currently the most sophisticated super app globally. It has more than 1 billion monthly users and is a ubiquitous part of daily life in China.
• Alipay too has treaded a similar path in China and has a massive userbase.
• Grab, a leading super app across Southeast Asia, offers food delivery, ride-hailing, on-demand package delivery and financial services and investing.
• Gojek is Indonesia’s super app, which is now called GoTo.

Position of U.S.:

• Snapchat parent Snap Inc. previously introduced peer-to-peer payments called Snapcash, but ended the feature in 2018.
• It also made a push into mobile gaming and recently ended that venture as part of cost-cutting plans.
• Meta Platform Inc.’s Facebook and Instagram have also tried to expand beyond social networking and messaging into e-commerce.

India’s Position:

• Amazon in India, lets you pay utility bills, book travel, order food, groceries and so on.
• Paytm has been offering a multitude of services, including bill payments, ticket booking, gaming, investments and more.
• Reliance Jio’s intents offering a suite of services within its app. The app will have groceries, medicines, content, fashion and so on.
• Flipkart’s Phonepay too has been partnering with several other companies like Ola, Swiggy, MakeMyTrip, IRCTC to name a few to enable services across categories through Phonepay Switch platform.
• Tata Digital’s Tata Neu latest offering has brought together some of the top brands within their respective categories with a smoother and better user interface.

Biodiversity Mainstreaming

In a report released at the 8th World Forest Week held in Rome, on the side lines of the 26th  session of Committee on Forestry (COFO), Mainstreaming biodiversity in ‘production forests’ has been cited as paramount.

• The report was produced through a partnership between FAO and the non-profit Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the lead centre of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.
• In 2019, FAO adopted the Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors.

About:

• Mainstreaming biodiversity means embedding biodiversity considerations into policies, strategies and practices of key public and private actors to promote the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
• Mainstreaming biodiversity in forestry involves prioritising forest policies, plans, programmes, projects and investments that have a positive impact on biodiversity at the ecosystem, species and genetic levels.
• Biodiversity mainstreaming in the forest sector requires integrated multi-stakeholder approaches that cross-sectoral boundaries
• COFO is FAO’s forestry statutory body.
• CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organisations engaged in research about food security.

Significance:

• Forests are home to most of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.
• Forests cover 31 per cent of the world’s land surface & store an estimated 296 gigatonnes of carbon.
• The world’s forests provide habitats for about 80 per cent of amphibian species, 75 per cent of bird species and 68 per cent of mammal species. In addition, about 60 per cent of all vascular plants occur in tropical forests.
• The role of forests in maintaining biodiversity is explicitly recognised by the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030.

Challenges:

• Deforestation is the greatest driver of the loss of valuable biodiversity, with around 10 million hectares lost to deforestation each year, mainly for agricultural expansion.
• Other threats include over-harvesting of timber, invasive species, climate change, desertification and forest fires.
• On the one hand, much progress has been made towards mainstreaming biodiversity in production forest management. On the other hand, biodiversity continues to decline globally.
• Weak governance is the biggest challenge to law enforcement.
• Lack of documentation on species and inadequate definitions of institutional mandates and instruments for cross-sectoral collaboration such as in Ethiopia.

Recommendations of the report:

• Halting and reversing deforestation.
• Combating illegal and unregulated forest activities.
• Recognising the forest tenure of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
• Preventing the conversion of natural forests into monospecific forest plantations.
• Ensuring the sustainable management of harvested species.
• Managing and controlling invasive and overabundant species.
• Leveraging global momentum on restoration to enhance biodiversity conservation.
• Adopting a multisectoral perspective.
• Providing economic incentives.
• Facilitating market-based instruments.
• Investing in knowledge and capacity development.
• in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the involvement of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and the private sector in biodiversity management should be a priority and laws, policies and national strategies for biodiversity conservation should consider forests other than protected areas.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

A revised action plan to fight the serious challenge of air pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) has come into force after a sudden dip in air quality in the capital and its neighbouring areas.

About Graded Response Action Plan:

• Supreme Court’s in M. C. Mehta vs. Union of India (2016) expressed concerns regarding air quality in the National Capital Region of Delhi.
• The action plan was formulated in 2016 and notified in 2017 for Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) due to this judgement.
• GRAP was formulated after several rounds of meetings were held between the EPCA and state government representatives and domain experts.

The GRAP for Delhi-NCR is divided into four stages of air quality:

• Stage one for “poor” Air Quality Index (AQI) ranging between 201 and 300,
• Stage two for “very poor” AQI of 301-400,
• Stage three for “severe” AQI of 401-450 and
• Stage four for “severe plus” AQI more than 450.

What does each stage entail:

Stage 1:

• In stage one, a ban on construction and demolition activities at specific sites will be implemented.
• Also, agencies should ensure that all solid waste is lifted from dedicated dump sites, and none is dumped on open land.
• Heavy fines are to be imposed for openly burning municipal solid waste and biomass.
• Roads will be mechanically cleaned and water sprinkled from time to time.
• The ban on firecrackers should be followed as per the directions of respective courts.

Stage 2:

• In stage two, mechanised sweeping of roads will be done daily, while water will be sprinkled using dust suppressants at least on alternate days.
• Authorities would need to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to discourage the use of generators.

Stage 3:

• At stage three, the frequency of cleaning roads intensifies.
• Water would be sprinkled daily before peak traffic hours.
• Authorities will levy different rates on public transport services to encourage off-peak travel.
• A strict ban will be enforced on all construction activities, except ongoing construction of railway, metro, airport and hospital projects.
• The State government will be empowered to impose restrictions on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel light motor vehicles (LMVs).

Stage 4:

• During stage four, when the air quality rises to dangerous levels, entry of all trucks, except those carrying essential commodities, will be restricted.
• Four-wheeler diesel LMVs would also be banned except those used for essential or emergency services.
• All construction and demolition activities would have to be stopped.
• The respective governments could, meanwhile, take a call on allowing public, municipal and private offices to work on 50% strength.
• Additional emergency measures like closing schools, non-emergency commercial activities and plying of vehicles on an odd-even basis may also be enforced.

The GRAP includes a graded advisory for the public including properly tuning engines of their vehicles, ensuring accurate air pressure in tyres and updating PUC (pollution under control) certificates.

Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Mela

Central Government to organise PM-National Apprenticeship Melas on October 10.

• It is being organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, as part of the Skill India Mission to boost career opportunities and practical training among the youth.
• Every month, the apprenticeship mela will be hosted wherein selected individuals will receive a monthly stipend in accordance with government criteria for gaining new skill.
• To be eligible to apply, the students must have a 5th-12th grade pass certificate, a skill training certificate, an ITI Diploma, or a graduate degree to participate.
• Candidates will also earn National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)-recognized certifications, improving their employability after the training.

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS):

• The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), launched in 2016, aims to promote apprenticeship training in the country by providing stipend support to the apprentices, undertake capacity building of the apprenticeship ecosystem and provide advocacy assistance to support rapid growth.

Objectives:

• To develop skilled manpower for the industry by promotion of on-the-job experiential training.
• To encourage establishments to enrol apprentices by sharing partial stipend support to the apprentices.
• To provide up-skilling opportunities for candidates who have undergone short-term skill training.
• To encourage enrolment of apprentices in small establishments (MSMEs), and those located in under served areas like in aspirational districts and in North-East region.