Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Living Planet Report, Index
Mains level: Not Much
There has been a 69 per cent decline in the wildlife populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, across the globe in the last 50 years, according to the latest Living Planet Report by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
What is Living Planet Report?
- The Living Planet Report is published every 2 years by the World Wide Fund for Nature since 1998.
- It is based on the Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculations.
- The report is the world’s leading, science-based analysis, on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity.
Issues raised by various versions of the report
- The 2018 report found a “decline of 60% in population sizes” of vertebrate species overall from 1970 to 2014.
- The tropics of South and Central America had an 89% loss compared to 1970.
- The 2018 report calls for new goals post-2020 alongside those of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The 2020 report says systemic changes are necessary to stop the destruction of global wildlife populations, including a complete overhaul of food production and consumption industries.
- The 2022 report found that vertebrate wildlife populations have declined by an average of almost 70% since 1970, and attributes the loss primarily to agriculture and fishing.
What is the Living Planet Index (LPI)?
- The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a measure of the state of the world’s biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats.
- The LPI was adopted by the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) as an indicator of progress towards its 2011-2020 targets.
- It can play an important role in monitoring progress towards the post-2020 goals and targets negotiated at COP15 this December.
| Features of the LPI |
Common misconceptions |
| The LPI is shows the average rate of change in animal population sizes |
The LPI doesn’t show numbers of species lost or extinctions, although some populations do decline to local extinction |
| Species and populations in the LPI show increasing, declining and stable trends |
Not all species and populations in the LPI are in decline |
| About half of the species we have in the LPI show an average decline in population trend |
The LPI statistic does not mean that 69 per cent of species or populations are declining |
| The average change in population size in the LPI is a decline of 69 per cent |
The LPI statistic does not mean that 69% populations or individual animals have been lost |
| The LPI represents the monitored populations included in the index |
The LPI doesn’t necessarily represent trends in other populations, species or biodiversity as a whole |
| The LPI includes data for threatened and non-threatened species – if it’s monitored consistently over time, it goes in! |
The species in the LPI are not selected based on whether they are under threat, but as to whether there is robust population trend data available |
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)
Mains level: Not Much
The Supreme Court has indicated that it may consider taking up Kerala’s review of the Supreme Court’s judgment to have a 1km eco-sensitive zone ringing protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country.
What are the Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)?
- Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the MoEFCC around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
- The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas.
- They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.
How are they demarcated?
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does NOT mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
- However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not, subject to certain safeguards.
- Besides Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 states that central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations or processes on the basis of certain considerations.
- The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones (NDZs).
Defining its boundaries
- An ESZ could go up to 10 kilometres around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
- Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.
- Further, even in the context of a particular Protected Area, the distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.
Activities Permitted and Prohibited
- Permitted: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of green technology for all activities.
- Prohibited: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
- Under regulation: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.
What is the recent SC judgment that has caused an uproar in Kerala?
- On June 3, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court heard a PIL that sought to protect forest lands in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, but was later expanded to cover the entire country.
- In its judgment, the court while referring to the 2011 guidelines as “reasonable”, directed all states to have a mandatory 1-km ESZ from the demarcated boundaries of every protected area.
- It also stated that no new permanent structure or mining will be permitted within the ESZ.
- If the existing ESZ goes beyond 1-km buffer zone or if any statutory instrument prescribes a higher limit, then such extended boundary shall prevail, the court, as per the Live Law report, said.
Why are people protesting against it?
- There is a high density of human population near the notified protected areas.
- Farmer’s groups and political parties have been demanding that all human settlements be exempt from the ESZ ruling.
- The total extent of the wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala is eight lakh acres.
- If one-km of ESZ is demarcated from their boundaries, around 4 lakh acres of human settlements, including farmlands, would come within that purview.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Carbon Dating
Mains level: Not Much
A Varanasi district court has rejected the plea to conduct carbon-dating of the disputed structure known to have been found inside the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque.
What is Carbon Dating?
- Carbon dating, also called radiocarbon dating is method of age determination that depends upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (Carbon-14).
- This method was developed by the American physicist Willard F. Libby about 1946.
- Carbon-14 is continually formed in nature by the interaction of neutrons with nitrogen-14 in the Earth’s atmosphere.
- The neutrons required for this reaction are produced by cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere.
How it works?
- Radiocarbon present in molecules of atmospheric carbon dioxide enters the biological carbon cycle: it is absorbed from the air by green plants and then passed on to animals through the food chain.
- Radiocarbon decays slowly in a living organism, and the amount lost is continually replenished as long as the organism takes in air or food.
- Once the organism dies, however, it ceases to absorb carbon-14, so that the amount of the radiocarbon in its tissues steadily decreases.
The half-life concept
- Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 ± 40 years—i.e., half the amount of the radioisotope present at any given time will undergo spontaneous disintegration during the succeeding 5,730 years.
- Because carbon-14 decays at this constant rate, an estimate of the date at which an organism died can be made by measuring the amount of its residual radiocarbon.
Its uses
- It has proved to be a versatile technique of dating fossils and archaeological specimens from 500 to 50,000 years old.
- The method is widely used by geologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and investigators in related fields.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NGLV, PSLV, SSLV, GSLV
Mains level: Not Much
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a Next-Gen Launch Vehicle (NGLV), which will one day replace operational systems like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
What is the news?
- PSLV, often dubbed the ‘trusted workhorse’, “will have to retire” one day, said ISRO chairman.
What is NGLV?
- NGLV will feature a simple, robust design that allows bulk manufacturing, modularity in systems, sub-systems and stages and minimal turnaround time.
- Potential uses will be in the areas of launching communication satellites, deep space missions, future human spaceflight and cargo missions.
What all modifications would be required?
- In NGLV, ISRO is understood to be looking at a cost-efficient, three-stage, reusable heavy-lift vehicle with a payload capability of 10 tonnes to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO).
- NGLV will feature semi-cryogenic propulsion for the booster stages which is cheaper and efficient.
- For that, at least 10 tonne capability to GTO is needed.
- Correspondingly, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) capability will be twice that.
- However, payload capability will be lower when the rocket is reusable.
Back2Basics: Various satellite launch vehicles in India
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jaiprakash Narayan-JP
Mains level: Not Much
Union Home Minister unveiled a 15-foot statue of Jayaprakash Narayan or JP on his 120th birth anniversary at the socialist icon’s birthplace, Sitab Diara village in Bihar’s Saran district.
Who was Jayaprakash Narayan?
- JP was born in 1902 in Bihar’s Sitab Diara, a village prone to frequent-flooding, after which his family moved to a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Balia district.
- He quit college to join the non-cooperation movement, before going to study at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx.
Political affiliations
- JP returned to India in 1929 and joined the freedom struggle and the Indian National Congress, upon the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru and drawn by a speech by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
- He went on to become the founding members of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP).
- However after independence took it out of the Congress and formed the Socialist Party, which was merged with J B Kripalani’s Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party to form the Praja Socialist Party.
Dissociation from active politics
- While Nehru was keen on JP joining the Union government, JP sought to distance himself from electoral politics, opting to focus on social causes instead.
- He was disillusioned with political parties and called for communitarian democracy.
- Parties, he believed, were centralized and susceptible to moral and financial corruption.
The JP movement
- Students in Gujarat began demonstrating in late 1973, in response to mounting mess bills.
- The protests became widespread in the state, with workers, teachers and several other groups joining in the movement, calling for a change in government.
- JP saw the youth of Gujarat that had been able to bring about political change as an alternative route from electoral.
- The protests against corruption grew widespread, and students of Bihar began their movement in March 1974.
- The students approached JP, who left his self-imposed political exile and led the movement. At a rally in Patna he called for Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution).
Opposition to the Emergency
- When Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency on June 25, 1975, JP shifted his focus to opposing the authoritarian rule and opposition parties looked to him for leadership.
- The Socialists were naturally drawn to him ideologically, while the RSS and its political front the Jana Sangh sought to return to the mainstream, and were happy to be dissolved into the Janata Party that JP had formed.
- JP is celebrated for launching a popular, mass movement against the Indira Gandhi government, which led to the formation of the Janata Party government in the 1977 general election.
- This was the first non-Congress government in the country.
Try this PYQ:
Who among the following were the founders of the “Hind Mazdoor Sabha” established in 1948?
(a) B. Krishna Pillai, E.M.S. Namboodiripad and K.C. George
(b) Jayaprakash Narayan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and M.N. Roy
(c) C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, K. Kamaraj and Veeresalingam Pantulu
(d) Ashok Mehata, T.S. Ramanujan and G.G. Mehta
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sloth Bear
Mains level: NA
The first World Sloth Bear Day was observed yesterday to generate awareness and strengthen conservation efforts around the unique bear species endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
Sloth Bear
- The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is an important species and endemic to the Indian subcontinent with small populations in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
- Classified as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, sloth bears are endemic to the Indian sub-continent and 90% of the species population is found in India.
- Listed under Schedule I of the (Wildlife Protection) Act of India, 1972, the species has the same level of protection as tigers, rhinos and elephants.
- Commercial international trade of the sloth bear (including parts and derivatives) is prohibited as it is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
- The sloth bears are omnivorous and survived on termites, ants and fruits.
Why protect sloth bears?
- For a long time, sloth bears were exploited as dancing bears. Though the practice has been banned there are still a few cases of rescue.
- Sloth bears are one of the most aggressive extant due to large human populations often closely surrounding reserves that hold bears.
- Aggressive encounters and attacks are relatively frequent, though in some places, attacks appear to be a reaction to encountering people accidentally.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Israeli region for mapping
Mains level: Not Much
Israel has reached a US-brokered agreement with Lebanon to settle their long-disputed maritime border. This has been seen as a historic deal.
Israel-Lebanon Boundary Issue
- The draft agreement aims to settle Israel and Lebanon’s competing claims over offshore gas fields in the region.
- A major source of friction was the Karish gas field, which Israel insisted fell entirely within its waters and was not a subject of negotiation.
- The issue is a little over a decade old, after the two countries declared overlapping boundaries in 2011 in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Since both countries have been technically at war, the United Nations was asked to mediate.
- The issue gained significance after Israel discovered two gas fields off its coast a decade ago, which experts had believed could help turn it into an energy exporter.
Key terms of the Agreement
- The agreement seeks to resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in an area that Lebanon wants to explore for natural gas.
- The gas field in question is located on the maritime boundary between the two countries and this agreement would allow both countries to get royalties from the gas.
- It also sets a border between the maritime waters of Lebanon and Israel for the first time.
Why is this agreement signed?
- Averting terror threats: The agreement is expected to avert the immediate threat of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, after fears of escalation if negotiations fell apart.
- Energy exploitation: The agreement will create new sources of energy and income for both countries, particularly important for Lebanon, which is facing a crippling energy and financial crises.
- Alternative energy for Europe: It could also have a potentially wider impact: it would likely provide Europe with a potential new source of gas amid energy shortages caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
What the agreement does not address?
Ans. Blue Line Issue
- The agreement does not touch on the shared land border between Israel and Lebanon, which is still disputed, but where both countries are committed to a ceasefire.
- This border is also called the Blue Line, a boundary that was drawn up by the UN after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.
- This land border is currently patrolled by the United Nations forces.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC)
Mains level: Geospatial technology
PM has inaugurated the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) in Hyderabad.
What is UNWGIC?
- The first United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress was held in Deqing, Zhejiang Province, China in 2018.
- The United Nation Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) organizes the UNWGIC every four years.
- It is hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of India.
- The objectives are enhancing international collaboration among the Member States and relevant stakeholders in Geospatial information management and capacities.
- The theme of UNWGIC 2022 is ‘Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind’.
Objectives of UNWGIC
- The move aims to provide high-quality and trustworthy geospatial data to support global and national policy agendas.
- It also stresses international cooperation and coordination in the development of human data linked to geography.
- It promotes societal development and well-being, addresses environmental and climate challenges, and embraces digital transformation and technological advancement.
Why collaborate on geospatial technology?
- Geospatial technology can be used to create intelligent maps and models which help to collect geographically referenced data.
- Decisions based on the value and importance of resources, most of which are limited, can become easy through geospatial technology.
- Intelligent maps and models can be created using geospatial technology.
- It can be used to reveal spatial patterns hidden in large amounts of data that are complex to access collectively through mapping.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SCO
Mains level: Not Much
Pakistan has been invited to the closing ceremony of the ongoing Joint Anti-Terror Exercise (JATE) within the ambit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) being hosted by India.
What is the news?
- The National Security Guard (NSG) is hosting the multinational JATE “Manesar Anti-Terror 2022”, under the framework of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).
- Pakistan team would be participating in the event as a member of the SCO.
What is SCO RATS?
- Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism.
- It is headquartered in Tashkent.
- Its head is elected to three-year term.
- Each member state of SCO sends permanent representative to RATS
About Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO)
- The SCO, in which China plays an influential role, is also comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
- India and Pakistan were admitted into the bloc in 2017.
- It is Eurasian economic, political and security organisation headquartered in Beijing, China.
- Its main objective is military cooperation between member states.
- It is primarily centred on security-related concerns of Central Asian members with main threats being terrorism, separatism and extremism.
- It was established in June 2001 as a successor of Shanghai Five mechanism which was established in 1996 with China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan as members.
- Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia enjoy observer status of SCO.
- Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Nepal are dialogue partners of SCO.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BH Series
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway has issued a draft notification proposing new rules to further increase the scope of implementation of the BH series vehicle registrations.
Bharat series (BH-series)
- There was a procedure of re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state.
- A vehicle bearing BH registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
- Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark –
Registration Mark Format:
- YY BH #### XX
- YY – Year of first registration
- BH- Code for Bharat Series
- ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
- XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)
Why such move?
- Station relocation occurs with both Government and private sector employees.
- Such movements create a sense of unease in the minds of such employees with regard to transfer of registration from the parent state to another state.
- Under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered.
Who can get this BH series?
- BH-series will be available on voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State PSUs and private sector companies/organizations.
- The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two.
- This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT.
- After the completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NOPEC
Mains level: Global oil prices manipulation by OPEC
US legislation NOPEC which could open members of oil producing group OPEC+ to antitrust lawsuits has emerged as a possible tool to tackle high fuel prices.
What is NOPEC?
- NOPEC stands for No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC).
- It is a bill to protect US consumers and businesses from engineered oil spikes.
- But some analysts warn that implementing it could also have some dangerous unintended consequences.
Why such a move by the US?
- OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, agreed to steep production cuts, curbing supply in an already tight market.
- After the decision, the US decided to reduce the group’s control over energy prices.
Key feature of the NOPEC bill
- The bipartisan NOPEC bill would tweak US antitrust law to revoke the sovereign immunity that has protected OPEC+ members and their national oil companies from lawsuits.
- If signed into law, the US attorney general would gain the option to sue the oil cartel or its members, such as Saudi Arabia, in federal court.
- It is unclear exactly how a federal court could enforce judicial antitrust decisions against a foreign nation.
Is such bill effective?
- Previous versions of the NOPEC bill have failed amid resistance by oil industry groups, including the top US oil lobby groups.
- Saudi Arabia has rebuffed repeated lobbying during visits by Biden officials not to cut production.
- Instead, OPEC+ has agreed to cut output by the most since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Implications of NOPEC
- NOPEC more or less is a knee-jerk reaction from the US against oil hegemony of the OPEC+.
- If passed into law, it could lead to unintended blowback.
- In 2019, for example, Saudi Arabia threatened to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passed a version of the NOPEC bill.
- There is a possibility that other countries could take similar action on the US for withholding agricultural output to support domestic farming, for example.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vyommitra, Gaganyaan Mission
Mains level: Not Much
Vyommitra, the humanoid designed and developed by the ISRO to fly aboard unmanned test missions ahead of the Gaganyaan human space-flight mission, is undergoing pre-flight ground tests at the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU).
Vyommitra
- The AI-based robotic system is developed at a robotics lab at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram.
- Vyommitra will be used for an unmanned flight of ISRO’s GSLV III rocket in December 2020, which, along with a second unmanned flight in July 2021.
- This will serve as the test of ISRO’s preparedness for its maiden manned space mission, Gaganyaan, being targeted for 2022 to mark 75 years of India’s independence.
Functions of the humanoid
- Vyommitra, equipped with a head, two arms and a torso, is built to mimic crew activity inside the crew module of Gaganyaan.
- Attaining launch and orbital postures, responding to the environment, generating warnings, replacing carbon dioxide canisters, and operating switches, monitoring of the crew module, receiving voice commands, and responding via speech (bilingual) are among the functions listed.
- It will have a human-like face, with lips synchronized for movement to mimic speech.
- Once it is fully developed, Vyommitra will be able to use the equipment on board the spacecraft’s crew module, like safety mechanisms and switches, as well as receive and act on commands sent from ground stations.
What is the recent development?
- The IISU has successfully integrated it with a computer “brain”, which enables it to “read” control panels aboard the unmanned test flights and communicate with the ISRO ground stations.
- It has a certain level of intelligence.
- It is intended to operate and read the display panels and communicate back to ground station using its own voice.
Back2Basics: Gaganyaan Mission
- Gaganyaan is crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP).
- The IHSP was initiated in 2007 by ISRO to develop the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low Earth orbit.
- ISRO had been working on related technologies and it performed a Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment and a Pad Abort Test for the mission.
- If completed in meantime, India will become the fourth nation to conduct independent human spaceflight after Russia, US, and China.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Click Chemistry
Mains level: Read the attached story
Scientists Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on for discovering reactions that let molecules snap together to create desired compounds and that offer insight into cell biology.
What the scientists worked on?
- Sharpless came up with the term ‘Click Chemistry’ and worked extensively on it,
- Meldal came up with a special chemical structure called ‘Triazole’ which has many significant applications, and
- Bertozzi took the next step of developing click reactions that could work inside living organisms — ‘bioorthogonal’ reactions take place living systems without interfering with native biochemical processes.
What is Click Chemistry?
- Chemists often try to recreate complex chemical molecules found in nature, and this has applications, among other things, in the field of medicine – how to target and block pathogens in cells.
- However, this process can be complicated and time-consuming.
- Instead of trying to wrangle reluctant carbon atoms into reacting with each other, Barry Sharpless encouraged his colleagues to start with smaller molecules that already had a complete carbon frame.
- If chemists choose simple reactions – where there is a strong intrinsic drive for the molecules to bond together – they avoid many of the side reactions, with a minimal loss of material.
Applications of click chemistry
- Meldal through his experiments came up with the useful chemical structure called triazoles, whch are stable and are found in pharmaceuticals, dyes and agricultural chemicals.
- He also found that the reaction he used could bind together numerous different molecules.
- Bertozzi, using the work of Sharpless and Meldal, came up with an efficient and innovative method to map glycans, which are carbohydrate-based polymers made by all living organisms.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Opec+
Mains level: Global fuel dynamics
Oil prices rose about 1%, as OPEC+ members agreed to its deepest cuts to output since the 2020 COVID pandemic, despite a tight market and opposition to cuts from the United States and others.
What is OPEC+?
- The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
- OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
- Saudi and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.
Why is OPEC+ slashing production?
- Oil prices skyrocketed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- The cut made recently is the biggest of its kind since 2020 when OPEC+ members slashed outputs by 10 million bpd during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The reductions would boost prices and be extremely beneficial for the Middle Eastern member states, to whom Europe has turned for oil after levelling sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
- OPEC+ members are concerned that a faltering global economy would reduce the demand for oil, and the cuts are seen as a way to protect profits.
Concerns for India
- Even after importing cheap Russian oil, India has not seen any cut in fuel prices.
- Rising oil prices are posing fiscal challenges for India, where heavily-taxed retail fuel prices have touched record highs, threatening the demand-driven recovery.
- India imports about 84% of its oil and relies on West Asian supplies to meet over three-fifths of its demand.
- As one of the largest crude-consuming countries, India is concerned that such actions by producing countries have the potential to undermine consumption-led recovery.
- This would hurt consumers, especially in our price-sensitive market.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: District formation
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the DownToEarth.
What are Districts?
- India’s districts are local administrative units inherited from the British Raj.
- They generally form the tier of local government immediately below that of India’s subnational states and territories.
- A district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner/ Collector, who is responsible for the overall administration and the maintenance of law and order.
- The district collector may belong to IAS (Indian Administrative Service).
- Districts are most frequently further sub-divided into smaller administrative units, called either tehsils or talukas or mandals, depending on the region.
How are new districts carved?
- The power to create new districts or alter or abolish existing districts rests with the State governments.
- This can either be done through an executive order or by passing a law in the State Assembly.
- Many States prefer the executive route by simply issuing a notification in the official gazette.
Does the Central government have a role to play here?
- The Centre has no role to play in the alteration of districts or creation of new ones. States are free to decide.
- The Home Ministry comes into the picture when a State wants to change the name of a district or a railway station.
- The State government’s request is sent to other departments and agencies such as the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Intelligence Bureau, Department of Posts, Geographical Survey of India Sciences and the Railway Ministry seeking clearance.
- A no-objection certificate may be issued after examining their replies.
Why create districts?
- A district enjoys multiple benefits in terms of endowments from the government for local administration and development.
- The formation of districts leads to the development of infrastructure, including transportation, telecommunication, water, sanitation, health, education and power facilities.
- A good infrastructure attracts potential investors and investments.
- New businesses and industries emerge and existing ones expand.
- This generates employment opportunities for the citizens in and around the district.
Challenges
- The question that arises is what limits a state to declare each place a district.
- The answer lies in the cost associated with the formation of a district.
- A district requires installing administrative offices and deploying officers and public servants.
- This adds to the burden on the government exchequer.
Way forward
- It is also essential to consult the local people who are the end beneficiaries of the decision to understand their aspirations and win their confidence.
- This will potentially mitigate the issues and conflicts between people and government and thereby satisfy the people’s needs at large, which is essential for inclusive growth of state and nation.
Conclusion
- In sum, any political change regarding the formation of a district in a state comes with its own advantages and challenges.
- Thus, the government and policymakers must mull over the decision and perform a cost-benefit analysis before district formation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cisgenders
Mains level: Abortion rights debate
In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional to distinguish between married and unmarried women while allowing abortion when the foetus is between 20-24 weeks.
What is the news?
- Going a step further, the court said the term ‘woman’ in the judgment included persons other than cisgender women.
What is cisgender?
- The term cisgender is used to define people whose gender identity and expression match the identity assigned to them at birth.
- When a child is born, it is assigned a gender identity based on its physical characteristics.
- Many believe that gender is a social construct, and growing up, the child may or may not confirm to the birth identity.
- For transgender people, their sense of gender identity does not match the one assigned to them at birth.
- Thus, a cisgender woman is a person who was assigned female at birth and continues to identify as a woman.
- On the other hand, a child assigned female at birth can feel it identifies more authentically as a man as it grows up.
Use of gender-inclusive vocabularies in official documents
- Before India’s Supreme Court used ‘cisgender’ in the context of reproductive rights, last year in June, the US government had replaced the word ‘mothers’ with ‘birthing people’.
- Those who advocate the use of ‘birthing people’ say it is not just women who give birth.
- Transmen — a person assigned the female gender at birth but who identifies as a man – and genderqueer people – who identify as neither man nor woman – also give birth.
Why the word cisgender is important?
- If there are ‘transgender’ people, there should be a word for those who are not.
- Giving a label to only one section of the population, especially when that is in the minority, implies that the others are default, ‘normal’, and only that section needs to be labelled.
- Having distinct words for transgender and cisgender people denotes that both are equally valid, neutral experiences, with neither being an aberration.
- Also, cis and trans are not the only gender identifiers in use.
- There are many other terms, such as gender-queer, gender fluid and gender variant.
- Some also choose not to use the traditionally gender-tied pronouns of he/she/her/his, and go for they/them.
Criticism of the term
- Some people, including those working on trans rights, feel terms like ‘cisgender’ belong in the realm of gender theory alone.
- They feel that their usage can be counterproductive – people are less likely to grasp a message if they have to look up the individual words that make up the message.
- Others feel that ‘cisgender’ as a counter to ‘transgender’ is restrictive – reinforcing a binary of genders that many choose to reject.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ponniyin Selvan
Mains level: Not Much
In all the buzz around the Tamil film Ponniyin Selvan: 1 or PS1, a fictional period drama, a point of focus has been the Chola dynasty that the film is based on.
Why in news?
- A notable actor has spoke about the progressiveness of the Chola era.
- He mentioned the architectural marvels and temples, the social setup of the time, and how cities were named after women.
Behind the name- PS1
- The fictional account of the Chola kingdom appeared in a weekly journal in the early 1950s and garnered popularity.
- These were later compiled into a novel called ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, which became the inspiration for the movie, whose second part is due for release in 2023.
Who were the Cholas?
- The Chola kingdom stretched across present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka around 9th to 12th century AD.
- The dynasty was founded by the king Vijaylaya, described as a “feudatory” of the Pallavas.
- Despite being a relatively minor player in the region among giants, Vijaylaya laid the foundation for a dynasty that would rule a major part of southern India.
Might of the Cholas
(1) Defense
- One of the biggest achievements of the Chola dynasty was its naval power, allowing them to go as far as Malaysia and the Sumatra islands of Indonesia in their conquests.
- The domination was such that the Bay of Bengal was converted into a “Chola lake” for some time.
(2) Economy
- While the extent of this domination is disputed, the Cholas had strong ties with merchant groups and this allowed them to undertake impressive naval expeditions.
- In general, even merchant guilds, which had close ties to the court, had to hire their own guards because roads could be dangerous.
(3) Culture
- Another feature is how the practice of building grand temples, common to the dynasties of the region around this time, was ramped up in an unprecedented way by the Cholas, according to Kanisetti.
- The grand Brihadeeswara temple of Thanjavur, built by the Cholas, was the largest building in India in that period.
- Additionally, artworks and sculptures were commissioned by Chola kings and queens, including the famous bronze Nataraja idols.
Women under the Cholas
- The role of women in the royal family is being brought to focus given their impact on public life.
- But that is not to suggest that ordinary women wielded equal power as men.
- The royal women’s proximity to male power was valued, rather than women in general.
Local annexations
- When the Chola King Rajadhiraja came to power in 1044, he was able to “subdue” Pandyan and Kerala kings, and presumably to celebrate these victories performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice.
- The Chola rulers sacked and plundered Chalukyan cities including Kalyani and massacred the people, including Brahmans and children.
- They destroyed Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of the rulers of Sri Lanka.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ayushman Bharat
Mains level: Success of India's health policies
India has completed four years of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the world’s largest public health insurance programme.
What is Ayushman Bharat?
- Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
- It was launched in September 2018 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- It is a centrally sponsored scheme and is jointly funded by both the union government and the states.
- It has subsumed the on-going centrally sponsored schemes – Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS).
Features of the scheme
- It will have a defined benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year.
- Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
- It will be an entitlement based scheme with entitlement decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database.
- The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities.
- To control costs, the payments for treatment will be done on package rate (to be defined by the Government in advance) basis.
India’s health expenditure post Ayushman Bharat
Ans. India’s public healthcare spending is still among the lowest in the world.
- Total health expenditure declined to 3.2% of GDP in 2018-19 from 3.3% in 2017-18, while the government’s health expenditure (centre and state) as a percentage of GDP fell from 1.35% to 1.28% in the same period.
- National health estimates showed the Centre’s share decreasing to 34.3% in 2018-19 from 40.8% in the previous year, while that of states rose from 59.2% to 65.7%.
- Out-of-pocket spending as a percentage of total health expenditure declined to 48.2% in 2018-19, though it is significantly higher than the world average of 18.1% in 2019
What about health insurance penetration?
Ans. Retail health insurance covers a meagre 3.2% of the country’s population.
- With a population of 1.36 billion, India is the world’s second most populous country, and is expected to surpass China soon.
- Launched in 2018 to provide universal health coverage, AB-PMJAY, takes care of the bottom 50% of the population of approximately 700 million individuals.
- The top 20% of the population is covered through social and private health insurance.
- Therefore, about 30% of the population, or about 400 million, is “the missing middle”— they don’t have any financial protection for health emergencies.
Why is sound healthcare important for the economy?
- Covid-19 exposed the economic consequences of poor healthcare. Higher out-of-pocket healthcare spending hits savings and consumption.
- In the work space, poor health impacts physical and mental abilities, increase turnover and lead to lower productivity.
- Data shows that 7% of India’s population is pushed into poverty every year due to healthcare costs.
Way forward
- Healthcare management and disease prevention should be the focus, along with an all-encompassing healthcare system, including OPD.
- The government also needs to pay attention on healthcare cover for “the missing middle” population.
- As a pilot, states may allow the authority already implementing the AB-PMJAY scheme in the state to cover the missing middle.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nobel Prize, Neanderthal, Hominins, Denisovians
Mains level: Not Much
Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine for his discoveries on human evolution that provided key insights into our immune system and what makes us unique compared with our extinct ancestors.
Svante Paabo: His work, explained
- Svante Paabo’s seminal discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human.
- Hominins refer to the now-extinct species of apes that are believed to be related to modern humans, as well as modern humans themselves.
- Paabo found that gene transfer had occurred from these now extinct Hominins to Homo sapiens following the migration out of Africa around 70,000 years ago.
- This ancient flow of genes to present-day humans has physiological relevance today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections.
- Paabo established an entirely new scientific discipline, called paleogenomics that focuses on studying the DNA and genetic information of extinct hominins through reconstruction.
What is the relation between evolution and biology?
- Paabo’s discoveries have established a unique resource, which is utilized extensively by the scientific community to better understand human evolution and migration.
- We now understand that archaic gene sequences from our extinct relatives influence the physiology of present-day humans.
How did Paabo establish the linkage?
- Paabo extracted DNA from bone specimens from extinct hominins, from Neanderthal remains in the Denisova caves of Germany.
- The bone contained exceptionally well-preserved DNA, which his team sequenced.
- It was found that this DNA sequence was unique when compared to all known sequences from Neanderthals and present-day humans.
- Comparisons with sequences from contemporary humans from different parts of the world showed that gene flow, or mixing of genetic information among a species, had also occurred between Denisova and Homo sapiens – the species of modern-day humans.
- This relationship was first seen in populations in Melanesia (near Australia) and other parts of South East Asia, where individuals carry up to 6% Denisova DNA.
- The Denisovan version of the gene EPAS1 confers an advantage for survival at high altitudes and is common among present-day Tibetans.
What are the challenges in carrying out such research?
- There are extreme technical challenges because with time DNA becomes chemically modified and degrades into short fragments.
- The main issue is that only trace amounts of DNA are left after thousands of years, and exposure to the natural environment leads to contamination with DNA.
Back2Basics: Neanderthal Man
- Neanderthals were humans like us, but they were a distinct species called Homo Neanderthalensis.
- Together with an Asian people known as Denisovans, Neanderthals are our closest ancient human relatives. Scientific evidence suggests our two species shared a common ancestor.
- Current evidence from both fossils and DNA suggests that Neanderthal and modern human lineages separated at least 500,000 years ago. Some genetic calibrations place their divergence at about 650,000 years ago.
- The best-known Neanderthals lived between about 130,000 and 40,000 years ago, after which all physical evidence of them vanishes.
- They evolved in Europe and Asia while modern humans – our species, Homo sapiens – were evolving in Africa.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: LCH Prachanda
Mains level: Not Much
The indigenous Light Combat Helicopter LCH-Prachand was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF).
LCH- Prachand
- The LCH has been designed as a twin-engine, dedicated combat helicopter of 5.8-ton class, thus categorized as light.
- It features a narrow fuselage and tandem — one behind the other — configuration for pilot and co-pilot. The co-pilot is also the Weapon Systems Operator (WSO).
- While LCH inherits many features of the ALH-Dhruv, it mainly differs in tandem cockpit configuration, making it sleeker.
- It also has many more state-of-art systems that make it a dedicated attack helicopter.
Features, the significance of LCH
- LCH has the maximum take-off weight of 5.8 tonnes, a maximum speed of 268 kilometers per hour, range of 550 kilometers.
- It has endurance of over three hours and service ceiling the maximum density altitude to which it can fly — of 6.5 kilometres.
- LCH is powered by two French-origin Shakti engines manufactured by the HAL.
Combat capabilities
- The helicopter uses radar-absorbing material to lower radar signature and has a significantly crash-proof structure and landing gear.
- A pressurised cabin offers protection from nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) contingencies.
- With these features, the LCH has the capabilities of combat roles such as destruction of enemy air defence, counter-insurgency warfare, combat search and rescue, anti-tank, and counter surface force operations.
Why need indigenous LCH?
- It was during the 1999 Kargil war that the need was first felt for a homegrown lightweight assault helicopter that could hold precision strikes in all Indian battlefield scenarios.
- This meant a craft that could operate in very hot deserts and also in very cold high altitudes, in counter-insurgency scenarios to full-scale battle conditions.
- India has been operating sub 3 ton category French-origin legacy helicopters, Chetak and Cheetah, made in India by the HAL.
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