Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 18-05-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 18-05-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Indian Economy - India's gold imports jump to $6.3 billion - India's gold imports jumped to $6.3 billion (around Rs.46,400 crore) for the month of April 2021, due to a surge in domestic demand. This was according to Commerce Ministry data. Gold imports stood at $2.83 million (Rs.21.61 crore) in April 2020, the lockdown period. But silver imports during the month dipped by 88.53% to about $11.9 million (around Rs.88.6 crore). India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry. The rise in gold imports pushed the trade deficit to USD 15.1 billion in April 2021 as against USD 6.76 billion in the same month a year ago. Akshaya Tritiya, a highly auspicious day to purchase gold, saw muted sales as compared to pre-COVID numbers, with the new pandemic wave and resultant restrictions and partial lockdowns hitting consumer sentiment. Usually, 30-40 tonnes of gold is sold on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, but this time sales were not likely to reach even 1 tonne. Indian households sit on the world's biggest private stock of gold at more than 25,000 tonnes, which is worth more than Rs 110 lakh crore. As a country, the US holds the most gold at 8,133.5 tonnes. India's RBI's Gold Reserves increased to 676.61 Tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 668.25 Tonnes in the third quarter of 2020.
2. Science and Technology - Winchcombe Meteorite - A piece of the Winchcombe meteorite that touched down in the Winchcombe town in Gloucestershire in the UK in February 2021 will be displayed at the National History Museum. The Winchcombe Meteorite is a 103 gram fragment of black rock resembling coal. It is “astonishingly rare” as it is a carbonaceous meteorite. Out of about 65,000 known meteorite types, only about 1,000 are of carbonaceous type. Winchcombe Meteorite dates back to the birth of the solar system nearly 4.5 billion years ago and therefore examining it may offer clues about the beginning of the solar system and maybe even the Earth. Space agencies have launched specific missions to asteroids to be able to study them - OSIRIS-REx, Hayabusa2 and other missions. DIFFERENCE - Asteroids are rocky bodies found mainly in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. Space debris smaller than an asteroid are called meteoroids. When asteroids or meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors. When an asteroid or meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's called a meteorite.
3. Art and Culture - World's oldest Cave Art and climate change - Scientists have warned that environmental degradation is killing one of the oldest and most precious pieces of the world’s human heritage. Researchers reported that Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate. A team of scientists examined 11 caves and rock-shelters in the Maros-Pangkep region in Sulawesi. The artwork in the area includes what is believed to be the world’s oldest hand stencil (almost 40,000 years ago), created by pressing the hand on a cave wall, and spraying wet red-mulberry pigments over it. A nearby cave features the world’s oldest depiction of an animal, a warty pig painted on the wall 45,500 years ago. The cave art of Sulawesi is much older than the prehistoric cave art of Europe.
4. Social issues - Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) - Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Microsoft have signed MoU on Joint initiative for Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and Ashram Schools. Under affirmative action initiative, Microsoft will make AI curriculum available to tribal students in both English and Hindi at all EMRS schools under the Ministry to skill educators and students in next-generation technologies including Artificial Intelligence. Under this program in the first phase, 250 EMRS schools have been adopted by Microsoft out of which 50 EMRS schools will be given intensive training and 500 master trainers would be trained in the first phase.
5. Science and Technology - Low cost Magnetometer - Scientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, have developed a magnetometer for low cost, reliable & real-time measurements of magnetic fields. A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Some magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, one that measures the direction of an ambient magnetic field, in this case, the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field, also called the geomagnetic field, extends several tens of thousands of kilometres into space, and forms the Earth's magnetosphere. A paleomagnetic study of Australian red dacite and pillow basalt has estimated the magnetic field to be at least 3.5 billion years old. The strength of the field at the Earth's surface ranges from less than 30 microteslas (0.3 gauss) in an area including most of South America and South Africa to over 60 microteslas (0.6 gauss) around the magnetic poles in northern Canada and south of Australia, and in part of Siberia.
6. World Politics - Helmand fighting in Afghanistan - Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces resumed in the restive southern province of Helmand, ending a three-day ceasefire agreed by the warring sides to mark the Id-ul-Fitr holiday. Helmand is also known as Hillmand or Helman. It is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south, and the largest province by area. The province contains 13 districts. Lashkargah serves as the provincial capital. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region of the province, providing water used for irrigation. The Kajaki Dam, which is one of Afghanistan's major reservoirs, is located in the Kajaki district. Helmand is believed to be one of the world's largest opium-producing regions, responsible for around 42% of the world's total production. Since the 2001 War in Afghanistan, Helmand Province has been a hotbed of insurgent activities. It has been considered to be Afghanistan's "most dangerous" province. It is becoming clearer that with the US exit from Afghanistan, the role of regional countries, including India, Pakistan, China, Iran, Russia and others will be important.
7. Environment and Ecology - Lightning and animal deaths - Recently, 18 elephants died together on a hilltop in Assam. The preliminary post-mortem report indicated they had been struck by lightning. An animal in an open field may be struck directly by lightning if part of its body protrudes over other objects in the vicinity. That's "direct flash". Taller animals are more vulnerable. Then there's "Side Flash", when lightning strikes a tall object such as a tree, and generates a side flash that can strike an animal standing underneath the tree. Then comes "Touch Potential", if one part of a tall animal’s body is in contact with the ground while another part, at a higher elevation, comes in contact with a lightning-struck object. Then a partial current may pass through its body. The most common lightning hazard among four-legged animals is "Step Potential". When an animal’s front and hind feet are far enough apart, a partial current may pass through the body in certain circumstances.
8. World Economy - Protests outside Bezos house - A group of millionaires on 17th May protested in front of the world's richest man Jeff Bezos' houses in New York and Washington. The group 'Patriotic Millionaires' has members who have incomes of over $1 million or assets worth over $5 million and demands higher taxes for the rich. They campaigned with billboards reading "Cut the bulls**t. Tax the rich." The group said that the aim of the events is "challenging the faces of wealth inequality in this country and calling for higher taxes on the rich." The group accepts members with annual incomes over $1 million or assets valued at over $5 million, according to CNBC, and has over 15,000 followers on Twitter. Its website describes its focus as advocating for "a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system." Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person in the world, and Amazon have often been a talking point in discussions critical of the country's tax code. Amazon itself paid no federal corporate income taxes for years because the value of its tax rebates exceeded the federal corporate income tax requirements.
9. World Economy - Crypto update - Ethereum's Co-founder Vitalik Buterin has destroyed 90% of his Shiba Inu coin (SHIB) holdings, which amounts to $6.7 billion, and will donate the remaining 10%. SHIB's creators had gifted half of its total supply to Buterin. "I don't want to be a locus of power of that kind," Buterin said. The meme-based token surged nearly 900% in a fortnight in May 2021. Burning and donating the coins was the only option, Buterin said. He'd previously been given 50% of all Shiba Inu tokens by the coin's creators. It was the only way to avoid his transactions in Shiba Inu being interpreted as actions, or indicators on his part. Buterin also urged coin creators not to send large amounts of tokens to individuals or charities without their consent. The burned coins have effectively been taken out of circulation - "burning" a crypto token means sending it to a public address that is inaccessible, where it will then lay unused. (Shiba Inu (SHIB), also known as Shiba Token, is a decentralized cryptocurrency created by an anonymous person known as "Ryoshi" in August 2020. The creators intend to release the next coin, Bone Dogecoin Killer, in the near future. The meme coin has been named after the Japanese dog breed, Shiba Inu. Incidentally, Shiba Inu had claimed they are the 'Dogecoin Killer'.)
10. Indian Politics - Covid Update - The daily number of coronavirus cases in India dipped as 2,63,533 cases were reported on Tuesday as compared to 2,81,386 cases on Monday. The total number of cases in the country has now risen to 2,52,28,996. India has reported 4,329 COVID-19 deaths in last 24 hours, the highest ever rise in the number of daily deaths. The Centre said that India's been able to ensure that only 1.8% of the total population was infected with COVID-19. In comparison, 10.1% population was infected in the US, 7.3% in Brazil, 9% in France, 3.4% in Russia and 7.4% in Italy. That meant 98% of India's population remained vulnerable to COVID-19. An official of Haryana’s Hisar Municipal Corporation, Praveen Kumar, 43, who had performed the last rites for over 300 COVID-19 victims ever since the outbreak started, died on Monday due to the virus. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said Serum Institute of India needs to "get back on track and catch up on its delivery commitments to COVAX", once the "devastating" COVID-19 outbreak in India recedes. A latest report in The Economist magazine indicated that India may have had more than 10 lakh deaths already. NUMBERS - INDIA - Total cases: 25,227,970; New cases: 263,045; Total deaths: 278,751; New deaths: 4,340; Total recovered: 21,590,003; Active cases: 3,359,216.

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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• 1. ECONOMY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage

• The story: The Union Cabinet approved a Rs.18,100-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturers of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage, to reduce imports. The scheme is called the "National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage (NPACC)". It is under the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

• Points to note: The government is determined to push manufacturing in India, and has tried the Make in India programme since 2014. Now, since 2020, the new PLI scheme has been brought in to give subsidies to corporates.

1. The PLI scheme aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units. It invites foreign companies to set units in India, however, it also aims to encourage local companies to set up or expand existing manufacturing units. The scheme has also been approved for sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, IT hardware including laptops, mobile phones & telecom equipment, white goods, chemical cells and textiles, etc.
2. Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) - ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required. Such battery storages will cater not only to electric vehicles but also to the consumer electronics industry and electricity grids.

• NPACC: The plan is to set up 50 gigawatt hour (GWh) manufacturing capacity for ACC batteries by attracting investments totaling Rs.45,000 crore. It requires each selected ACC battery storage manufacturer to set-up an ACC manufacturing facility of minimum 5 GWh capacity, achieve a domestic value addition of at least 25% and incur the mandatory investment Rs.225 crore /GWh within 2 Years. The beneficiary firms need to ensure a minimum 60% domestic value addition at the Project level within five years. The incentive will be disbursed over a period of five years. It will be paid out on the basis of sales, energy efficiency, battery life cycle, and localization levels.
• Expected benefits: It will facilitate demand creation for battery storage in India, and also help the Make-in-India and Atmanirbhar Bharat programmes. It will push demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs), which are proven to be significantly less polluting, and will help reduce India's GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions. It will do import substitution of around Rs. 20,000 crore every year. It will promote newer and niche cell technologies.

• Knowledge centre:

1. PLIS - In order to boost domestic manufacturing and cut down on import bills, the central government in March 2020 introduced a scheme that aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units. The idea of PLI is that since the government cannot continue making investments in these capital intensive sectors as they need longer times for returns, what it can do is to invite global companies with adequate capital to set up capacities in India. The kind of ramping up of manufacturing that India needs requires across the board initiatives, but the government can’t spread itself too thin. The total outlay for all the PLI schemes is ₹1.97 lakh crore over a five-year period.
2. Make in India - The Make in India initiative was launched by PM Modi in September 2014 as part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives. Devised to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub, Make in India was a response to a critical situation. By 2013, the much-hyped emerging markets bubble had burst, and India’s growth rate had fallen. The promise of the BRICS Nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) had faded, and India was tagged as one of the so-called ‘Fragile Five’. PM Modi brought this programme to put new life into manufacturing. However, by 2021, the share of manufacturing in GDP has remained stuck at just 15%, and not moved up.

Indian PSUs - role and relevance

• The story: In May 2021, the government announced it will be using three public sector enterprises (PSEs) for manufacturing Covaxin to augment the manufacturing capacity under Mission COVID Suraksha. Several other PSEs in the steel, petroleum and natural gas sectors have supplemented the efforts of the government in making available liquid medical oxygen as well as transportation of it.
• Since 1950s: India adopted the Fabian socialism model in 1950s, under PM Nehru's leadership. The PSEs in India, since their inception, played a pivotal role in realising the objective of achieving higher growth and equitable socio-economic development. Their sustained contribution to the economic and social fabric of the country has become even more relevant in the present scenario.
• Relevance of PSEs: Historically, PSEs have provided a very strong infrastructure base for the economy as well as for the industry. These PSEs were set up with socio-economic objectivity and not only profit have created a right kind of infrastructure for the economy. So to say the government has no business to be in doing business is not entirely correct.

1. Employment creation - The PSEs were regarded as one of the key generators of remunerative employment in the formal sector, providing safe and secure jobs.
2. Asset building - The contribution of PSEs towards creation of national assets in the initial decades following Independence is particularly noteworthy, especially in sectors that are regarded as high risk and low return on investments by the private sector.
3. Global dootprint - Indian PSEs are already present across the globe in regions such as the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America and there is tremendous potential for Indian CPSEs and PSEs to expand their global footprint further by enhancing their competitiveness.
4. Social responsibility - Indian PSEs (or PSUs) have ensured that the reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs are adhered to. That has created lakhs of job opportunities for the under-privileged members of Indian society, and delivered social justice.

• Remodelling: Perhaps there indeed is a need to revisit the PSE policy, but more in terms of their functioning. These companies should be run by a professional board without government interference. These PSEs could be run under the PPP model or as JVs too. For the industry’s future growth and development, the government also needs to urgently focus on providing support in some key areas in the following domains: revival of PSUs, land, finance/banking/working capital, utilities and services, environmental issues and R&D. The govt. may adopt a Competitiveness Model for transforming CPSEs into efficient and globally competitive entities.

The key elements of such a model will be -

1. Clarity in Roadmap and Objective
2. Role Demarcation
3. Operational Independence
4. Independent and Empowered Board
5. Level Playing Field
6. Future Ready

• Summary: India should be very careful in deciding the future of the PSUs (PSEs), as they have played a role that the private sector perhaps would not have. In the post-pandemic India, where economic hardships will be a given, it would be wrong to let jobseekers totally be at the mercy of the private sector. India still isn't developed enough to allow market forces alone to decide capital and opportunities allocation.

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• 2. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper

Organic farming in India

• The story: Organic farming in India is in a nascent stage. About 2.78 million hectare of farmland was under organic cultivation as of March 2020, according to the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. This is just two per cent of the 140.1 million ha net sown area in the country.

• Details: A few states have taken the lead in improving organic farming coverage, as a major part of this area is concentrated only in a handful of states. Madhya Pradesh tops the list with 0.76 million ha of area under organic cultivation — that is over 27 per cent of India’s total organic cultivation area. The top three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra — account for about half the area under organic cultivation. The top 10 states account for about 80 per cent of the total area under organic cultivation.

1. Only a fraction of area is converted under organic. Sikkim is the only Indian state to have become fully organic so far. A majority of the states have only a small part of their net sown area under organic farming.
2. Even the top three states that account for the largest area under organic cultivation — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra — have only around 4.9, 2.0 and 1.6 per cent of their net sown area under organic farming respectively.
3. A few states such as Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Goa and Sikkim have 10 per cent or more of their net sown area under organic cultivation.  All these states, except Goa, are in hilly regions.
4. Union Territories such as Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh also have 10 per cent or more of their net sown area under organic cultivation, but their agricultural area is very small. Almost all other states have less than 10 per cent of their net sown area under organic.

• Organic farming coverage: Policy initiatives do not mean greater organic coverage. Low organic farming coverage prevails in several states, despite at least 20 of them having a policy or a scheme with regard to organic farming. States like Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have expressed their desire to become fully organic or natural-farming states. Apart from the states with 100 per cent organic ambition, there are only a select few that have set specific measurable targets.

1. Some states have had a policy for several years but have not been able to cover much area in absolute terms under organic cultivation. For example, Karnataka and Kerala have had an organic policy since 2004 and 2010 respectively, but have only 1.1 and 2.7 per cent of their net sown area organically cultivated.
2. On the other hand, states such as Rajasthan, which formulated their policy recently, have covered a significant area. This also indicates that the conversion to organic area in states may have started much before the actual policy enactment.
3. Currently, only around 12 states — Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Sikkim, Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh — have their own state organic certification agencies accredited by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
4. Some states have either developed or are still in the process of forming organic brands such as MP Organic, Organic Rajasthan, Nasik Organic, Bastar Naturals, Kerala Naturals, Jaivik Jharkhand, Naga Organic, Organic Arunachal, Organic Manipur, Tripura Organic and Five Rivers by Punjab.

• Organic coverage largely under NPOP: India introduced the organic farming policy in 2005. The 2.78 million ha was covered under organic farming in India is about two per cent of the 140.1 million ha net sown area in the country. Of this, 1.94 million ha is under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP); 0.59 million ha under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY); 0.07 million ha under Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Regions (MOVCDNER) and 0.17 million ha under state schemes or non-schemes. This shows that NPOP scheme covers about 70 per cent of the organic area of the country, of which 30 per cent is under conversion.

1. The NPOP scheme, which started in 2001, covers about 70 per cent of the organic area of the country of which 30 per cent is under conversion. PKVY and MOVCDNER schemes started in 2015-16 and cover 21.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent of the total organic area in the country.
2. The remaining 6.1 per cent of area under organic cultivation is either under a state scheme or not related to any scheme. During 2015-16 to 2018-19, around 96 per cent of total certified organic food production was under NPOP certification and the remaining four per cent was under Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of certification.
3. India’s top organic state Madhya Pradesh has about 90 per cent of its organic area under NPOP. The top three states — Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan — collectively have over 80 per cent of their organic area under NPOP. Only a few states like Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Bihar covered more by PKVY than NPOP.

• Summary: Even though India has a very small organic area under cultivation, in terms of number of organic farmers it is being ranked first. India has over 1.9 million farmers as of March 2020, which is 1.3 per cent of 146 million agricultural landholders. In addition, there are farmers who are not certified and hence not counted, especially by-default organic farmers in hilly, tribal and rain-fed regions.

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• 3. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

Foreign affairs updates

• Myanmar sanctions: The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada imposed coordinated sanctions on Myanmar’s ruling junta on 17th May, in the latest attempt to pressure the country’s military leadership. In announcing the sanctions U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said political and financial pressure on the junta would continue “as long as it fails to stop violence and take meaningful action to respect the will of the people. The United Nations General Assembly was due to vote today on a draft resolution calling for “for an immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all weapons and munitions” to Myanmar, but the move has now been delayed. More than 800 people have been killed since Myanmar’s Feb. 1 coup, the activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported.
• Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions: The White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke separately with both Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a bid to cool tensions after Armenia accused Azerbaijani troops of invading its territory last week. Sullivan said that “military movements near un-demarcated borders are irresponsible and provocative” and called on both sides to “conduct formal discussions to demarcate their international border.”
• Vaccine diplomacy: President Joe Biden announced that the United States would share an extra 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with other countries, adding to the 60 million already promised from the country’s AstraZeneca stockpile. The additional doses will come from U.S. stocks of Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, marking the first time that U.S.-approved vaccines will be shared overseas. Taking a swipe at Russia and China, Biden said “we will not use our vaccines to secure favors from other countries.” The Biden administration has yet to announce where it will send its excess vaccines.
• War in Tigray: The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation in his native Tigray as “horrific” as the conflict enters its seventh month. Roughly five million people are in need of humanitarian aid, Tedros said, adding that sexual violence is “rampant.” The European Union condemned the Ethiopian government for using “humanitarian aid as a weapon of war,” as it continues to block aid to the region. Ethiopia’s foreign ministry has denied any problems with aid access.
• A thaw in France-Rwanda ties: Rwandan President Paul Kagame said that a French report from March concluding that the country had a “serious and overwhelming” responsibility for the 1994 Rwandan genocide was “a big step forward” during a visit to Paris. Kagame’s remarks may represent a turning point in relations between the two countries as French President Emmanuel Macron, who commissioned the report, works to confront Paris’s role in the genocide, which has been criticized for decades. Macron is set to visit Rwanda later in May. While the nearly 1,000 page French report stopped short of accusing Paris of being complicit in the massacres, Rwanda’s report, released a month later, blamed France for its knowledge of preparations for the killings. Despite such discrepancies that have arisen as both countries work to create a shared history of the event, Kagame said that the groundwork has been laid for better relations, and that “when you talk about overwhelming responsibility … that means a lot.”
• Divorces in China: The number of divorces in China dropped 70 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to data published by the Chinese ministry of civil affairs. Marital bliss is unlikely the reason for the decrease, however. On January 1, China introduced a “cooling off” period, making couples wait 30 days before finalizing their decision, with the petition voided if couples fail to show up for two appointments between 30 and 60 days after applying. Chinese media reported couples having difficulties finding appointments in Shenzhen, Shanghai, and other cities, which is likely to have contributed to the dramatic drop.
• Indian Covid and the world: India’s total reported coronavirus cases crossed the 25 million mark on 18th May, making it only the second country, after the United States, to record so many cases. The milestone comes as the country also reported its highest one day death toll as 4,329 people are reported to have died from the virus. Although the number of new recorded daily cases dropped below 300,000 for the first time since April 21 it may not point to a downward trend. World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan has warned that India’s high positivity rate in testing—around 20 percent—is a warning that the worst has not passed, especially because some parts of the country lack the infrastructure for mass testing. The world is worried about the Indian variants of the virus reaching other places, and leading to immune escape cases.

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• 4. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

India still doesn't accept Community Transmission tag

• The story: A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that India continues to label itself as a country with no Community Transmission (CT) since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Countries such as the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, France have all labelled themselves as being in the ‘community transmission’ stage whereas Italy and Russia do not label themselves as being in ‘community transmission’.
• Points to note: The 'Community Transmission (CT)' is one of the stages of the pandemic. Broadly, CT is when new cases in the last 14 days can’t be traced to those who have an international travel history, when cases can’t be linked to specific clusters. CT classification is now divided into four levels, from low incidence (CT1) to very high incidence (CT4).

• Four Stages of pandemic:

1. Stage 1-Imported Transmission - It is reported among the travellers entering the country via the borders and airports. This can be controlled through thermal screening and quarantine.
2. Stage 2-Local Transmission - It is defined as the transmission through direct contact with an infected person within the country.
3. Stage 3-Community Transmission - It signifies that a virus is circulating in the community and can affect people with no history of travel to affected areas or of contact with an infected person.
4. Stage 4- Epidemic - It is when the disease actually becomes an epidemic in a country, such as it (Covid-19) was in China, with large numbers of infections and a growing number of deaths with no end in sight. It is then considered to be endemic or now prevalent in the region.

• India's current classification: India opts for the lower, less serious classification called ‘cluster of cases’. It says 'Cases detected in the past 14 days are predominantly limited to well-defined clusters that are not directly linked to imported cases'. It is assumed that there are a number of unidentified cases in the area. This implies a low risk of infection to others in the wider community if exposure to these clusters is avoided.
• Implications: India’s refusal to describe itself as being in community transmission shows an “ostrich in the sand” approach since being in CT — far from being stigmatic or an indicator of failure shows how authorities addressed a pandemic. If cases were still a cluster, it would mean that the government ought to be prioritising testing, contact tracing and isolating to prevent further infection spread. While on the other hand being in CT, it meant prioritising treatment and observing advisories to stay protected. Community transmission means that the health system has now lost track of the trajectory of the virus and infections are happening without the source of the infection being known.
• Summary: If and when the government accepts community transmission, pandemic control strategy will move on to the next phase, which is the mitigation phase, when the focus will be to ensure that only those people get to the hospital who really need medical care. This would ensure lives are saved. Keeping track of infections or containing them would then no longer be the primary strategy.

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• 5. POLITY AND CONSTITUTION (Prelims, GS Paper 2, GS Paper 3)

Legislative Council - Role and Relevance

• The story: The West Bengal government decided to set up a Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). For setting up the Council, a Bill has to be introduced in the Assembly and then a nod from the Governor is required. The Legislative Council in the State was abolished in 1969.

• Points to note: India has a bicameral system of legislature. Just as the Parliament has two Houses, the states can also have a Legislative Council in addition to the Legislative Assembly through Article 169 of the Constitution.

1. Six States having a Legislative Council today are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
2. In 2020, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the resolution for abolition of the Legislative Council. This resolution is yet to be cleared by the Parliament of India to finally abolish the council.
3. In 2019, the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council was abolished through the J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019, which reduced the State of J&K to the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

• Article 169 (Creation and Abolition): The Parliament can abolish a Legislative Council (where it already exists) or create it (where it does not exist) by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the members of each House present and voting, if the legislative assembly of the concerned state, by a special majority, passes a resolution to that effect.

• Special majority implies -

1. A majority of the total membership of the assembly and
2. A majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the assembly present and voting.

• Compositio: Under Article 171 of the Constitution, the Legislative Council of a state shall not have more than one-third of the total strength of the State Assembly, and not less than 40 members. Like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber, that is, it is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. The tenure of a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years.
• Manner of election: One-third of the MLCs are elected by the state’s MLAs, Another 1/3rd by a special electorate comprising sitting members of local governments such as municipalities and district boards, 1/12th by an electorate of teachers and another 1/12th by registered graduates. The remaining members are appointed by the Governor for distinguished services in various fields namely, literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.
• LC vis-à-vis Rajya Sabha: The legislative power of the Councils are limited. Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack a constitutional mandate to do so. Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to legislation by the Council. Again, unlike Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs cannot vote in elections for the President and Vice President. The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairperson while a member from the Council itself is chosen as the Council Chairperson.
• Role of Legislative Council: It can ensure individuals who might not be cut out for the elections are able to contribute to the legislative process (like artists, scientists, etc). It can keep an eye on hasty decisions taken by the Legislative Assembly.
• Arguments Against Legislative Council: It can delay legislation, also it is considered a burden on the state budget. It can also be used to park leaders who have not been able to win an election.

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• 6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

Organoids grown in labs

• The story: Laboratory-grown organoids — tiny cellular structures that mimic an organ’s anatomy and functions — are becoming increasingly useful in medical research. Such micro-models of the brain, lungs and other organs have been around for years, but creating them for bone tissue has proved uniquely difficult.
• Details: Bone stands apart because its different cell types exist within an extracellular matrix, a continuously remodeled network of collagen and minerals. Previous organoid attempts have failed to capture how human bone cells form in parallel with this matrix and interact with it. Now, however, researchers say they have developed a lifelike model that will help them better understand a range of challenging bone diseases.
• Getting the bones right: A new study in Advanced Functional Materials presents the first organoid with a “unified view” of bone formation’s critical early stages, according to lead author Anat Akiva, a cell biologist at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Akiva and her colleagues found that by applying mechanical force to mimic the stresses that shape bones in the human body, they could trigger bone marrow stem cells to transform into bone-building osteoblasts and growth-regulating osteocytes, which together produce all the proteins they need to function.
• Understanding disorders: The researchers’ process also spurred growth of an extracellular matrix closely resembling that of human bone tissue. The end product after four weeks of growth: a miniature cylinder of woven bone, which in living bodies is the type of bone laid down first and later replaced with a more mature form. Researchers could use this new tool to watch what happens at the molecular level when the building process goes wrong, causing bone disorders that affect tens of millions of people worldwide.
• Brittle bone disease: One such disorder is osteogenesis imperfecta, or “brittle bone disease,” a genetic condition that weakens the extracellular matrix and can cause hundreds of spontaneous bone fractures over a person’s lifetime. Bone cancers such as osteosarcoma also involve dysfunctional bone formation, and this model could explore how cancer cells infiltrate the extracellular matrix and make unwanted new bone. Bone organoids could additionally help doctors develop highly personalized therapies. To craft a treatment plan, investigators could grow organoids from patients’ living tissue samples and test how an individual’s bones would respond to various interventions.

Fabric made from Fungi

• The story: Biofabrication companies are increasingly excited about the prospect of using fungi to produce sturdy, sustainable alternatives to plastic and leather. New findings suggest that Indigenous Americans were already making “mycotextiles” at least a century ago. The study, published in Mycologia, confirmed the fungal origin of two wall pockets crafted by a Tlingit woman in Alaska in 1903. Some historical mycotextile use has also been reported in Europe.
• How it was found: Author of the Study learned of the artifacts while working as collections manager at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art. The original owner had labeled one of the pockets, found in the museum’s collection: “Pair of fungus bags. Wedding present from Indian neighbors.” Intrigued, researchers spent years calling experts to confirm this identification— but none had heard of fungal textiles, and her inquiries attracted little interest.
• They finally made progress by taking a closer look using Dartmouth’s electron scanning microscope facility.

1. The images revealed mycelia—intertwined threadlike fungal structures that permeate soil or wood and can form thick mats that are strong, supple and durable. It's just like leather, and cannot be ripped with hands.
2. Comparing details of the mycelia with modern species descriptions, it was determined that the bags were made from the agarikon fungus—a tree-decaying species that is now disappearing along with the old-growth forests of the western U.S. This was a significant fungus for Indigenous people. It was used medicinally and spiritually all along the Pacific Northwest coast.

• Modern history: Twentieth-century loggers described bandaging wounds with it, and the ancient Greeks used it to treat tuberculosis. Recent studies suggest agarikon extracts have antibacterial and antiviral properties, and they may even be effective in animals at treating some cancers. No biofabrication companies currently use agarikon mycelial mats. But researchers say they can be cultured in a laboratory, making this rare species a viable option for modern mycotextile applications, too.

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• 7. SOCIAL ISSUES (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

Covid hit education hard, new thinking needed

• The story: Due to a surge in Covid-19 infections in the Second Wave of infections, the education of students in the entire India is affected. When lakhs of schools and colleges remain shut for months together, there is a structural problem India must prepare for.
• Points to note: Online education was envisioned as an alternative means of spreading education, but it too fails, given the Indian students’ conditions. India is unlike Western nations, where basic amenities are a given. The availability and affordability of this system poses a barrier. While e-education is a privilege for the students from an upper and middle class, it has proved to be a nuisance for students from the lower middle class and people living below the poverty line.
• Long-Term exposure to internet: There are also implications of longer exposure to the internet for these young kids. This may create impediments to the development of the thinking process in the younger generation.
• Analytical thinking: The other important question is about the learning outcomes of online education. Google is the prominent and only platform to all queries, and as a result of that, students are not thinking on their own. Scientific outlook was the key parameter stressed upon since the inception of modern education in India. With time, we find society regressing on science, and it is imperative to not let the young generation of today lose its scientific temper.
• Increasing student isolation: Due to the pandemic and lack of physical classroom teaching, a peculiar feeling of isolation is developing in the minds of students. That’s a very serious issue. The trauma of the second wave will put a deep imprint on the student’s mind. Physical interaction and activities have been entirely absent, and that may also be contributing to new problems.
• Solutions: The whole infrastructure should be fully utilised, and if necessary, many more facilities should be invested in (and created) to impart education. As classroom teaching gives us the opportunity to impart many more things apart from information. Then comes content. Institutions should contemplate new content generation for each subject to overcome the absence of classroom teaching within the framework of the existing syllabus. This content would be of a new type, self-explanatory, and considering the lowest IQ of the class, it has to be attractive. The content should produce the same effect on the minds of the students that the best book imparts on the thinking faculty.
• Human touch: The teachers and non-teaching staff should visit the locality of the students (in and around the school area) on a weekly basis to supervise the whole work. They should take notes on the problems faced by students in understanding the reading material and also whether things are reaching them on time.
• Evaluation: The evaluation should be based on the capacity of analysis, and the questions should be framed in such a way that students need to apply their minds to answer the questions on each subject. In addition, the government should take the responsibility to vaccinate the whole teaching community as fast as possible to advance this learning process.

• Government initiatives:

1. E-PG Pathshala - An initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to provide e-content for studies.
2. SWAYAM - It provides for an integrated platform for online courses.
3. NEAT - It aims to use Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalized and customized as per the requirements of the learner
4. PRAGYATA - The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) released guidelines on digital education titled PRAGYATA. Under the PRAGYATA guidelines, only 30 minutes of screen time per day for interacting with parents is recommended for kindergarten, nursery and pre-school.
5. National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning - The NPTEL is a project of MHRD initiated by seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), along with the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. It was started in 2003 and its aim was to have web and video courses in engineering, sciences, and management.

• Summary: The Covid-19 has shown the extent to which the Indian system of education exploits inequalities. It's time to set the record right.

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• 8. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, GS Paper 1, GS Paper 2)

Breakthrough Infection concept

• The story: Indian health experts announced that the increase in “breakthrough infections” in the country may be due to the mutant varieties.
• What are these: The Breakthrough infections are those where the COVID-19 virus (or any other virus) is detected in a person who has received two (or prescribed number) doses of vaccines. The person gets infected with the COVID-19 virus after the second dose. According to Indian Council of Medical Research, around two to three breakthrough infections occur per 10,000 infections. In the US, 5,814 COVID-19 breakthrough infections were found out of 75 million vaccinated people.
• Causes: First is age. As the age of the person increases, the immune system of the body undergoes a series of changes. The count of naïve B cells and naïve T cells decreases. These naïve cells are the ones that respond to the new pathogens that the immune system has not yet encountered. Then comes Antibody interference. The maternal antibodies in the infants limits the efficacy of the infant immune system. In an infant, the immune system is not completely activated and it produces less antibodies. Virus evolution is next. The virus mutations blocks the immune responses generated by the vaccines.
• Poor quality of vaccines too is responsible. Maintaining vaccine temperatures are highly important. If the vaccine is kept after expiration date or is stored in incorrect temperature, the vaccine loses its potency. Appropriate vaccine dosages are essential. The vaccine dosages are fixed based on age and weight. If patients receive lower dose than the recommended then there will be no adequate immune response. Vaccines with weaker strains that is of poor quality will fail to ensure future immunity.

WHO-ILO Study: Long working hours bad for health

• The story: A study conducted by the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation recently found that the long working hours kills hundreds of people every year.
• Key learning: Around 7,45,00 people died of stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016. This is 29% higher than that of 2000. Around 3,47,000 people died of heart disease and 398,000 people died of stroke in 2016. The diseases killed these people mainly because they worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of heart diseases due to long working hours increased by 42%. Also, the number of strokes increased by 19%. Working 55 hours a week increased risks of strokes by 35% and increased the risk of ischemic heart disease by 35%. In 2016, around 488 million people were exposed to long working hours, that is, working 55 hours a week.
• Disease burden: The work-related disease burden was high in men as compared to that of women. Around 72% of the work-related disease and eventual death occurred in men. Also, such disease burden was high in people living in the Western Pacific, that is, those in South Korea, China, Japan and Australia and also other South East Asian countries.
• History: The study has included 22 studies on stokes and 37 studies on ischemic heart diseases. Also, it collected data from more than 2,300 surveys in 154 countries. The study did not include COVID-19 period. It comes at a time when the number of working hours is increasing. Currently, the number of people working long hours stands at 9% of the total population. This will increase if COVID-19 impacts are added.

Simorgh Supercomputer of Iran

• The story: Iran recently launched its supercomputer called Simorgh. This supercomputer is hundred times more powerful than the previous Iranian supercomputers.
• About: The Supercomputer has been named after the phoenix like bird called the Simurgh, and was developed by the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, the capital of Iran. It is located at the Iranian High Performance Computing Research Centre.
• Capacity: The performance capacity of the simorgh Supercomputer is 0.56 petaflops. It is to reach 1 petaflops in two months. In its subsequent levels it is to reach to speed of 10 petaflops. It comprises of 42 racks in an area of 250 square metres. In future this is to be upgraded to 400 square metres. The total budget of the supercomputer is expected to be 9 million USD.
• Applications: The Supercomputer is to be used for image processing, artificial intelligence work load, traffic and weather data. It will also be used for cloud hosting local private firms.
• Spotlight: The US had imposed sanctions on Iran and the doors of business is completely closed to the country. The US had imposed anti terrorism trade sanctions and has been trying to slow down its nuclear programme for decades. Thus, Iran should have got the US chips used in supercomputers illegally. Iran never discloses its hardware specifications. In 2001, the Amirkabir university developed a 32-node PC based on Intel Pentium processors. Again in 2007, the country had its hands on 216 AMD cores which in turn led to the most powerful supercomputer of all time. Iran is using bitcoin mining facilities to buy required raw materials from US and other countries. Most of these are illegal under the sanctions imposed against the country.

Kelp forest and Sunflower sea stars

• The story: The scientists in the United States are breeding the Sunflower sea stars off coast of Washington State. Between 2013 and 2017, warming of oceans killed 5.75 billion sunflower sea stars. Around 91% of the world sunflower sea stars are found between the sea waters of Mexico and Alaska. The scientists believe that reviving the Sunflower sea star will help in reviving kelp forests.
• What happened to Kelp forests: The Sunflower sea stars were once found in the ocean floor in the north east Pacific. They mainly fed on purple urchins. The Sunflower sea stars are extinct in California and are near extinction in other parts of the ocean. Thus, the purple urchins increased in number. The purple urchins mainly fed on sea weeds. As their population increased, they started consuming more and more sea weeds. This was disastrous to the other marine species such as Abalone that depend on sea weeds. So, the kelp forest cover fell by more than 95% since 2014.
• Learning: The near extinction of just one species has such huge impact on the ecosystem. It is simply wiping out the eco system. Thus, the plan of repopulating the sunflower sea star has been adopted. This plan is being referred to as the “Jurassic Plan Approach”.
• About sunflower Sea Star: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has listed the Sunflower sea star as Critically Endangered. It is one of the largest sea stars in the world. They have twenty-four limbs.
• Kelp forest: The Kelp forests are underwater areas with high density of kelp. It covers large part of the world coastline. Also, they are considered as the most productive and dynamic ecosystem on the earth. Kelp is a type of large, brown seaweed that grows in shallow, nutrient-rich saltwater near coastal fronts around the world.

9.1 Today's best editorials to read

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• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

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