Daily Prelims Notes 13 July 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

13 July 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Bihar’s makhana and the wetlands they grow in
2. Researchers study the elusive dugongs of the Andamans with help from community stakeholders
3. How a tiny fish that fuels an Atlantic ecosystem is at the centre of industry debates
4. Scientists say the ‘Anthropocene epoch’ began in the 1950s: What it means, significance
5. EU parliament backs biodiversity bill in a close vote
6. Government imposes curbs on certain gold jewellery, articles
7. Cabinet clears commercial mining of Lithium
8. Government refers traders pleas against Amazon
9. In UNHRC vote, India stands against desecration of Koran
10. Great Expectations
11. Pakistan gets final IMF nod for $3-bn loan in stand-by arrangement
12. Guru Padmasambhava
13. Gambia mandates pre-shipment testing for Indian pharma
14. National Research Foundation
15. Different Kind of Moon Missions

1. Bihar’s makhana and the wetlands they grow in

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic geography

Makhana:

• Makhana is the seed of a water lily species, Euryale ferox, found in south and east Asia.
• Mithila Makhana or Makhan is a special variety of aquatic fox nut cultivated in the Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal.
• When harvested, it is actually a tough blackish seed. It undergoes long and laborious stages of drying, heating, grading and roasting before it is popped to take on the white form as we know it.
• Mithila Makhana is a GI-tagged product.

Micro-nutrients:

• Fox Nuts are rich in protein and fibre and have various micronutrients such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and iron.

Production of Makahana:

• For the region of Darbhanga in Bihar, both makhana and the wetlands they grow in, are very significant. Over 85% of India’s makhana comes from Bihar and almost a quarter of it is produced in Darbhanga’s wetlands.
• Almost 850 ponds in the district are currently used for makhana cultivation as per government documents. These wetlands, therefore, are important for the state’s makhana cultivation and the livelihoods they support.

Significance:

• The Maithili Brahmin community extensively uses and distributes Makhana during the Kojagara Puja festival.

Threats to the production of Makhana:

• The water bodies are losing to pollution, illegal construction and encroachments.
• A 2001 study found traces of toxic metals like lead, chromium, copper and cadmium in ponds and in the makhana that grew in them.

2. Researchers study the elusive dugongs of the Andamans with help from community stakeholders

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context:

• A recent study used reports from fishers, divers, Indian defence agencies and forest departments, over a five-year period, to monitor dugongs in the Andaman Islands.

Details:

• Dugong monitoring is challenging in areas such as the Andaman Islands. Citizen scientist and stakeholder networks are an effective and low-cost method for spotting dugong populations in such areas.
  • Due to the vastness of the islands, it is challenging to engage a population and one needs a strong rapport and network with communities.
• The recent findings seem to indicate that dugong populations in the Andaman Islands are recovering.
• Tamil Nadu has declared India’s first dugong conservation reserve in the Gulf of Mannar and the adjacent Palk Bay on the southeast coast of India.

About Dugongs:

• Dugongs (also known as Sea cows) are one of the only four surviving species of the order Sirenia– a once diverse group of marine mammals that include manatees.
• Found in the coastal waters of at least 39 countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Dugongs are herbivores and eat seagrasses.
• They give birth to a single calf. Their heavy bones and haemoglobin-rich blood enables them to stay underwater for long periods.
• The dugongs have to come up to the surface of the sea for breathing once in every 5-7 minutes. This is when they are the most vulnerable to attacks.
• ‘World Dugong Day’ is celebrated on May 28.
• Vulnerability:
  • Dugongs are categorised as vulnerable according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
  • Compared to other regions where the dugong is found, its population is low, with an estimated 250 in Indian waters.
• Habitat:
  • Dugongs live in seagrass meadows found in warm shallow coastal waters, which are their sole food source.
  • In India, they are sighted at the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.
• Threats:
  • Dugong populations have declined globally in recent decades due to habitat loss, bycatch, hunting and boat collisions and were believed to be locally extinct in Little Andamans Island.
  • Seagrass meadows are highly sensitive to severe weather events and human activities. Dredging, trawling, and runoff can significantly disrupt these ecosystems.
  • The tsunami in 2004 disrupted seagrass meadows around Little Andaman, part of the Andaman Islands, so significantly, that dugongs were thought to be locally extinct.

3. How a tiny fish that fuels an Atlantic ecosystem is at the centre of industry debates

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic Geography

Context:

• Researchers hoped to find evidence of a healthy new generation of ospreys when they checked 84 nests of the fish-eating bird in mid-June at Mobjack Bay, an inlet at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. They found only three young.

Details:

• It was the lowest reproductive number in more than 50 years.
• The decline is mainly due to the bay-wide depletion of ‘Atlantic menhaden (little silvery fish)’, the favourite food of those birds.

Atlantic menhaden:

• The fish are nutrient-rich, a good source of omega-3 fatty acids; they consume smaller organisms like plankton, and they filter huge quantities of ocean water.
• Hundreds of millions of the little silvery fish play a crucial role in the ecology of coastal waters, which includes feeding bigger fish like striped bass and weakfish; marine mammals including whales and dolphins; and birds like bald eagles, great blue herons and brown pelicans.
• They are also useful for commercial fishing industries and in reduction fisheries, in which they are ground up and turned into products including fish oil and fish meal.

What is the concern?

• This year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a federal regulator, increased the amount of menhaden allowed to be caught to 233,550 metric tons throughout the Atlantic coast for the next two years, about 20% higher than the previous two years.
• Removal of such large quantities of fish from the bay is degrading the ecosystem.
• The disappearance of most of the menhaden from the bay is contributing to the disappearance of the many species (for example: Osprey and Striped bass) that rely on menhaden.

Positive signs for menhaden elsewhere:

• Outside the Chesapeake Bay, the number of menhaden has increased.
• Evidence of their recent abundance can be found off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, where more of their predators, include humpback whales, tuna, sharks and bald eagles.

4. Scientists say the ‘Anthropocene epoch’ began in the 1950s: What it means, significance

Subject :Environment

Section: International conventions

Context:

• In a major development that could change the Earth’s official geological timeline, geologists have said sediments at Crawford Lake in Canada’s Ontario have provided evidence of the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch — a proposed geological epoch that began when human activity started to have a significant impact on the Earth.

Details:

• Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) have estimated that the new epoch started sometime between 1950 and 1954.
• They revealed the findings after analysing the lake’s bottom sediments, which have over the years captured the fallouts of large-scale burning of fossil fuels, explosion of nuclear weapons and dumping of plastic and fertilisers on land and in water bodies.
• The data show a clear shift from the mid-20th century, taking Earth’s system beyond the normal bounds of the Holocene (the epoch that started at the end of the last ice age 11,700 years ago).
• Anthropocene Working Group (AWG):
  • It is a group of geologists who have been working since 2009 to make the Anthropocene part of the planet’s time scale.

What is the Anthropocene epoch?

• The term was first coined by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen and biology professor Eugene Stoermer in 2000.
• It denotes the present geological time interval, in which the Earth’s ecosystem has gone through radical changes due to human impact, especially since the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
• There are numerous phenomena associated with this epoch, such as:
  • Global warming,
  • Sea-level rise,
  • Ocean acidification,
  • Mass-scale soil erosion,
  • The advent of deadly heat waves,
  • Deterioration of the biosphere and other detrimental changes in the environment.
• Many of these changes will persist for millennia or longer and are altering the trajectory of the Earth System, some with permanent effect.
• They are being reflected in a distinctive body of geological strata now accumulating, with the potential to be preserved into the far future.

What have the geologists found?

• The 79 feet deep and 25,800 square-foot-wide Crawford Lake was chosen for examination as its layers of sediment preserved the annual impact of human activities on the Earth’s soil, atmosphere and biology.
• There are distinct and multiple signals starting around 1950 in the water body, which showed that “the effects of humans overwhelm the Earth system”.
• The presence of plutonium (due to the detonation of nuclear weapons) gives a stark indicator of when humanity became such a dominant force that it could leave a unique global fingerprint’ on our planet.
• Approval: A final approval might come at the 37th International Geological Congress in Busan, South Korea, which will take place next year

Earth’s geological time:

• The modern geologic time scale was formulated in 1911 by Arthur Holmes.
• A representation of time based on Earth’s rock record is called the geologic time scale.
• The planet’s geological time scale is divided into five broad categories:
  1. Eons,
  2. Epochs,
  3. Eras,
  4. Periods,
  5. Ages.
• While eon is the broadest category of geological time, age is the smallest category.
• Each of these categories is further divided into sub-categories. For instance, Earth’s history is characterised by four eons, including Hadeon (oldest), Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic (youngest).
• As of now, we’re in the Phanerozoic eon, Cenozoic era, Quaternary period, Holocene epoch and the Meghalayan age.

On what basis these categories are divided?

• According to the New York-based Paleontological Research Institution, a variety of event categories are used to determine the division dates of the numerous eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. These occasion categories comprise, but are not restricted to:
  • The first occurrence of a species: All biological forms are included in this (plants, animals, bacteria, etc). The “first of first” species are of particular interest (e.g., the first oxygen-breathing organism, the first seed-producing plant, and so on).
  • Key species going extinct or catastrophic extinctions: A huge number of species going extinct in a short period of geologic time is known as a mass extinction. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, when most dinosaur species became extinct, is a well-known illustration of mass extinction.
  • Major worldwide climate shifts: when the climate significantly diverges from the average for the time, as during ice ages.
  • Supercontinental formation and/or breakup: When all significant landmasses on the surface of the Earth combine to form one landmass, supercontinents are created.
  • Catastrophic events: Major catastrophes can result in or set off other occurrences like extinctions and climate change. Major floods, meteorite impacts, and volcanic eruptions are examples of catastrophic catastrophes.
  • Global magnetic polarity shifts: The planet’s magnetic polarity “flips” on an irregular basis, with the North pole switching places with the South pole.

5. EU parliament backs biodiversity bill in a close vote

Subject :Environment

Section: International conventions

Context:

• The European Parliament on July 12, narrowly backed a key biodiversity bill aimed at rewilding EU land and water habitats, overcoming a backlash by conservative lawmakers who said it would hurt farmers.

About the ‘Nature Restoration Act’:

• The Nature Restoration Act, initiated by the European Commission, aims to resuscitate degraded ecosystems by boosting forested areas, marine habitats and increasing connectivity between rivers.
• The nature restoration law will place recovery measures on 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030, rising to cover all degraded ecosystems by 2050.
• It notably seeks to grow populations of bees, birds and butterflies — especially on farmland, which would also be encouraged to bring back marsh– and peatlands previously drained.
• Why is the law needed?
  • Europe’s nature is in bad health. More than 60% of its soils are unhealthy and 81% of habitats are in poor condition.
  • A recent study found the abundance of farmland birds has halved in the past 40 years.

Controversy over the bill:

• According to the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), it would reduce EU food security, punish producers reeling from the pandemic and energy crisis and limit possibilities to build wind and hydroelectric energy facilities.
  • Less land for farmers, less sea for fishermen, less activity for businesses, and fewer European products and jobs for our citizens
• A non-governmental organisation lobbying for maritime environmental protections, Seas At Risk, also criticised the bill.

Seas at Risk:

• Seas At Risk is an association of environmental organisations from across Europe, working together to ensure that life in our seas and oceans is abundant, diverse, climate resilient, and not threatened by human activities.
• Its mission is to promote ambitious policies for marine protection at European and international level.
• With over 30 members representing the majority of European countries, Seas At Risk speaks for millions of citizens that care deeply about the health and well-being of seas and oceans.
• Headquartered in Brussels.

6. Government imposes curbs on certain gold jewellery, articles

Subject :Economy

Section: External Sector

In News: The government on Wednesday imposed import restrictions on certain gold jewellery and articles, a move which would help cut import of non-essential items.

Key Points:

• Now an importer would need a permission of licence from the government for importing these gold products.
• However, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said that the restrictions will not be there for imports under the India-UAE free trade agreement.
• As per the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification, the import policy of these products has been amended from free to restricted.
• The move comes as importers over the last few months have been using a policy flaw to source plain gold jewellery from Indonesia without paying any import taxes.
• India levies a 15% tax on gold imports.

7. Cabinet clears commercial mining of Lithium

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic Geography

In News: The government has cleared amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, to allow commercial mining of lithium and other critical minerals, including beryllium, titanium, niobium, tantalum and zirconium.

Key Points:

• The government will be able to grant a single exploration licence to companies through such auctions. A single exploration licence is expected to encourage more private investment in the sector, where currently private presence is limited.
• The amendment effectively paves the way for withdrawal of the ban on lithium mining by private players and also on these other critical minerals.
• Mining companies are likely to get exploration rights on the basis of available baseline survey data. These companies explore the area from the reconnaissance stage and bring it up to the level required for starting mining operations.
• Recently, the Mines Ministry compiled the first ever report on identification of Critical Minerals for India. Some 30-odd critical minerals identified include the likes of titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zircon, niobium, germanium, nickel, graphite, silicon, antimony, beryllium, bismuth, among others.
• Critical minerals refer to those that are at risk of supply shortage, which may have a larger impact on the economy compared to that of other raw materials.
• The government has also come up with a production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) for advanced chemistry cells. Another for niche batteries manufactured with newer chemistries is also in the works.
• The Geological Survey of India has found the presence of significant lithium reserves totalling 5.9 million tonnes in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. Another reserve has been found in Rajasthan.
• After the recent lithium finds in Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has begun six projects on lithium investigation in Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, and Andhra Pradesh.
• India has been import dependent on some of these key critical minerals like lithium, nickle, copper, cobalt and others. In FY23, India’s lithium import bill was around ₹23,171 crore; and covered electric accumulators, including separators.

NITI composite water management index

Key Points:

• NITI Aayog first launched and conceptualised the Composite Water Management Index in 2018 as a tool to instil the sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states.
• The CWMI is an important tool to assess and improve the performance of States/ Union Territories in efficient management of water resources.
• This has been done through a first of its kind water data collection exercise in partnership with the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Rural Development and all the States/ Union Territories.
• NITI Aayog has ranked all states in the index on the composite water management, comprising 9 broad sectors/themes with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of ground water, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance.
• The index would provide useful information for the States and also for the concerned Central Ministries/Departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources.
• As per the NITI Aayong documents about 820 million people in India, living in twelve river basins across the country have per capita water availability close to or lower than 1000m3 – the official threshold for water scarcity as per the Falkenmark Index.

Key Findings:

• CWMI 2.0 was released in Aug, 2019. It ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17.
• Gujarat hold on to its rank one in the reference year (2017-18), followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• In North Eastern and Himalayan States, Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged number 1 in 2017-18 followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura and Assam.
• The Union Territories have for the first time submitted their data and Puducherry has been declared as the top ranker.
• In terms of incremental change in index (over 2016-17 level), Haryana holds number one position in general States and Uttarakhand ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States.
• On an average, 80% of the states assessed on the Index over the last three years have improved their water management scores, with an average improvement of +5.2 points.

8. Government refers traders pleas against Amazon

Subject :Economy

Section: National Income

In News: Centre has asked the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) to take action on trade body CAIT’s representation seeking urgent steps against Amazon India, in light of recent US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint against the e-commerce giant.

Key Points:

• Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the Commerce and Industry Ministry has forwarded Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT)’s representation to the DCA and CCI
• The US Case:
  • FTC, in its complaint, charged that Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling them into Amazon Prime. Specifically, Amazon used manipulation, coercive or deceptive user interface designs known as “dark patterns” to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions, FTC had submitted to the US court.
  • FTC charged that Amazon put in place a cancellation process designed to deter consumers from successfully unsubscribing from Prime.
• What CAIT plea says:
  • Amazon as per the representation Amazon is favouring a few preferred/controlled related sellers and service providers at the cost of smaller independent sellers and service providers.
  • It is using the same deceptive tactics as seen in the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint.

9. In UNHRC vote, India stands against desecration of Koran

Subject: International Relations

Section: International Organizations

Concept:

• Recently, India voted in favour of a draft resolution tabled in the UN Human Rights Council that condemns and strongly rejects recent “public and premeditated” acts of desecration of the Holy Quran.
• UN Human Rights Council adopted the draft resolution ‘Countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence’, with 28 members voting in favour, seven abstentions and 12 nations voting against.

United Nations Human Rights Council

• It is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world.
• It was created by the General Assembly on 15 March 2006 by replacing the Commission on Human Rights.
• It has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis.
• The members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
• The Council’s Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution.

Seats distribution

• African States: 13 seats, Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats, Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats, Western European and other States: 7 seats and Eastern European States: 6 seats.

Function:

• It investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in UN member states, and addresses important thematic human rights issues such as freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, women’s rights, LGBTI rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.

10. Great Expectations

Subject : Polity

Section: Federalism

Concept :

• According to Bibek Debroy, normative recommendations of Finance commissions (FC) remains on paper.

Types of recommendations made by the Finance Commission:

• Vertical devolution-Vertical devolution which is done between Centre and State.
• Horizontal distribution– Distribution made between states, on the basis of a formula varying State-to-State.
• Grant-in-aid -Such sums as Parliament may determine for states to be in need of assistance, and different sums may be fixed for different states.

Great Expectation of FC (as per 13 Finance Commission):

• Case disposal- It is expected that about 14,825 courts can dispose of 225 lakh pending as well as freshly filed cases of a minor nature within a year.
• State Litigation Policy-There was also a “condition” about state governments formulating a “State Litigation Policy” which will again leave the courts overburdened.
• Horizontal Distribution- For equitable horizontal distribution, the measurement of cost disabilities is important. And the data needed for doing so is not available and the FC made recommendations without proper calculations.

Way Forward:

• Technical in approach- The Commission is supposed to be technical in its approach and logical in its procedure.
• Subject Experts- Recommendations provided to the President require members who are experts in the subject matters related to the Commission.
• Rule out irregularities- Actions must, therefore, be taken in order to rule out the irregularities taking place within and by the Commission.

For  notes on Finance Commission, refer – https://optimizeias.com/centre-to-roll-out-process-to-set-up-16th-finance-commission-soon/

11. Pakistan gets final IMF nod for $3-bn loan in stand-by arrangement

Subject : International Relations

Section: International Organisation

Concept :

• After months-long negotiations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the $3 billion Standby Arrangement for Pakistan.
• The IMF said that the programme would focus on the “implementation of the FY24 budget to facilitate Pakistan’s needed fiscal adjustment and ensure debt sustainability“, Dawn reported.
• The approval allows for an immediate disbursement of $1.2 billion, the report said.

IMF and its Bailout

• The IMF is an international organization that provides loans, technical assistance, and policy advice to member countries.
• Established in 1944 to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange rate stability, balanced economic growth, and poverty reduction.
• Headquarters located in Washington, D.C., and it has 190 member countries.
• An IMF bailout, also known as an IMF program, is a loan package provided to financially troubled countries.
• Bailout programs have specific terms and conditions that borrowing countries must meet to access the funds.

Types of Bailouts

Stand-by Arrangements

• Description: Short-term lending programs for countries with temporary balance of payments problems.
• Duration: 1-2 years
• Conditionality: Specific macroeconomic policies for stabilization

Extended Fund Facility

• Description: Medium-term lending programs to address balance of payments difficulties from structural weaknesses
• Duration: Longer Term
• Conditionality: Extensive conditionality and significant reforms

Rapid Financing Instrument

• Description: Loan program providing quick financing for countries with urgent balance of payments needs.
• Duration: Flexible
• Conditionality: Fewer conditions and shorter application process

12. Guru Padmasambhava

Subject : Art and Culture

Concept :

About Guru Padmasambhava

• Guru Padmasambhava was born in India and travelled all across Himalayan region in the 8th century to spread Buddhism and Buddhist teachings
• Guru Padmasambhava is highly revered in Bhutan.
• There is an image or painting of the Guru Padmasambhava in every Bhutanese home or temple.
• Guru Padmasambhava was also known as Guru Rinpoche is widely venerated as a “second Buddha” by adherents of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, the Himalayan states of India, and elsewhere.
• Guru Padmasambhava is also considered to be the founder of Nyingma tradition, oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

13. Gambia mandates pre-shipment testing for Indian pharma

Subject : International Relations

Section : Places in news

Concept :

• Western African nation The Gambia, where the deaths of at least 66 children last year was linked to an Indian cough syrup, has introduced a pre-shipment inspection and testing for Indian pharmaceuticals.

About Gambia

• It is the smallest country within mainland Africa.
• It is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean.
• Banjul is the capital of Gambia.

Geography of Gambia

• The Gambia is a very small and narrow country whose borders mirror the meandering Gambia River.
• It lies between latitudes 13 and 14°N, and longitudes 13 and 17°W.
• Senegal surrounds the Gambia on three sides, with 80 km of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean marking its western extremity.
• It contains three terrestrial ecoregions: Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, West Sudanian savanna, and Guinean mangroves.

Ethnic groups:

• The Mandinka ethnicity is the largest ethnic group.
• There are other ethnic groups like Fula, Wolof, Jola/Karoninka, Serahule / Jahanka, Serers, Manjago, Bambara, Aku Marabou and Bainunka.

14. National Research Foundation

Subject : Polity

Section : National Body

Concept :

National Research Foundation (NRF)

• NRF is a proposed entity that will replace the Science and Engineering Research Board of India (SERB) and catalyse and channel interdisciplinary research for accelerating India’s ambitious development agenda, through impactful knowledge creation and translation.
• The NRF’s Goals:
• Promote interdisciplinary research that will address India’s most pressing development challenges.
• Minimize duplication of research efforts.
• Promote the translation of research into policy and practice.

Features of NRF:

• The NRF will be presided by the Prime Minister and consist of 10 major directorates, focusing on different domains of science, arts, humanities, innovation and entrepreneurship.
• The NRF will have an 18-member board with eminent Indian and international scientists, senior government functionaries and industry leaders.
• The NRF will be registered as a society and have an independent secretariat.

Funding of the NRF:

• The NRF will operate with a budget of ₹50,000 crore for five years, with 28% (₹14,000 crore) funded by the government and 72% (₹36,000 crore) from the private sector.
• The government’s share is proposed to increase to ₹20,000 crore per year, with ₹4,000 crore sourced from the existing Science and Engineering Research Board’s budget.

Concerns over funding:

• The allocated funding for the NRF, less than 2% of the nation’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD), is considered inadequate compared to other major economies like the U.S. and China.
• India’s GERD was significantly lower than the U.S. and China in 2017-18, highlighting the need for increased investment in research and development.

Facilitating the “ease of doing science”:

• The NRF needs to minimise the time between grant application and fund disbursal, ensuring a maximum turnaround time of six months.
• Digital processing of paperwork and financial transactions should be implemented to eliminate the need for physical copies and streamline administrative processes.
• The NRF should have independent spending guidelines to provide flexibility while maintaining accountability, separate from the General Financial Rules and the government e-Marketplace (GeM).
• Timely release of funds should be ensured, and mechanisms should be established to facilitate and implement this effectively.

Private sector participation and funding:

• While the involvement of the private industry in the NRF is welcome, the mechanisms for raising ₹36,000 crore from the industry require more detailed planning and the establishment of secure mechanisms, such as escrow accounts.

Learning from international models:

• The NRF draws inspiration from international science agencies like the U.S. National Science Foundation and science agencies in Germany, the U.K., Switzerland, Norway, South Korea, and Singapore.
• The success of the NRF will depend on the government’s ability to set and implement transparent rules that differ from existing practices, with a focus on critical thinking, creativity, and innovation.

15. Different Kind of Moon Missions

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Concept :

• The Chandrayaan-3 mission is one of the several space missions lined up to go to the moon, including Russia’s Luna 25 mission and NASA’s Artemis II.

Different kinds of moon missions:

Flybys:

• These are the missions in which the spacecraft passed near the Moon but did not get into an orbit around it.
• These were either designed to study the Moon from a distance or were on their way to some other planetary body or deep space exploration and happened to pass by the celestial body.
• Examples of flyby missions were Pioneer 3 and 4 by the United States and Luna 3 of the then USSR.

Orbiters:

• These were spacecraft that were designed to get into a lunar orbit and carry out prolonged studies of the Moon’s surface and atmosphere.
• India’s Chandrayaan-1 was an Orbiter.
• Orbiter missions are the most common way to study a planetary body.
• So far, landings have been possible only on the Moon, Mars and Venus.
• All other planetary bodies have been studied through orbiter or flyby missions.

Impact Mission:

• These are an extension of Orbiter missions.
• While the main spacecraft keeps going around the Moon, one or more instruments on board make an uncontrolled landing on the lunar surface.
• They get destroyed after the impact, but still send some useful information about the Moon while on their way.
• One of the instruments on Chandrayaan-1, called Moon Impact Probe, or MIP, was also made to crash land on the Moon’s surface in a similar way.

Landers:

• These missions involve the soft landing of the spacecraft on the Moon.
• The first landing on the moon was accomplished on January 31, 1966, by the Luna 9 spacecraft of the then USSR.

Rovers:

• These are an extension of the lander missions.
• Rovers are special wheeled payloads on the lander that can detach themselves from the spacecraft and move around on the moon’s surface, collecting very useful information that instruments within the lander would not be able to obtain.
• The rover onboard Vikram lander in the Chandrayaan-2 mission was called Pragyaan.

Human missions:

• These involve the landing of astronauts on the moon’s surface.
• So far only NASA of the United States has been able to land human beings on the moon.
• So far, six teams of two astronauts each have landed on the moon, all between 1969 and 1972.
• After that, no attempt has been made to land on the Moon.
• But with NASA’s Artemis III, currently planned for 2025, humanity is set to once again to the lunar surface in more than 50 years.