Daily Prelims Notes 14 February 2024

Daily Prelims Notes

14 February 2024

Table Of Contents

1. State borrowing limits: Ready for dialogue with Kerala, Centre informs SC
2. Why India wants to develop high-altitude pseudo-satellite vehicles, powered by the Sun
3. PM announces Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana
4. The role of X chromosome in auto-immune diseases
5. Gupteswar forest in Odisha declared as Bio-Diversity Heritage site
6. From restoring forests to river basins, seven conservation initiatives across continents recognised by UN
7. On the rights of forest-dwellers
8. Clause in draft India-EFTA pact may hit drug industry
9. The untapped potential of stem cells in menstrual blood

1. State borrowing limits: Ready for dialogue with Kerala, Centre informs SC

Subject: Polity

Section: Federalism

Context:

• The Union government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it is prepared to engage with the Kerala government on the limits the Centre imposed on the state’s borrowing powers.

More on news:

• This development came after a two-judge bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice K. V. Viswanathan suggested that the finance secretary of Kerala meet with the Union finance minister to resolve the matter.
• Finance ministry clarified that there was no proposal to relax the existing terms for borrowing capacity of state governments, including Kerala, for 2023-24. 
• Centre applies a common yardstick while fixing the annual borrowing limit of all state governments under Article 293(3) of the Constitution, and that it is guided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission.

Arguments by Kerala Government:

• The Kerala government challenged the Centre’s decision to impose a ceiling on its borrowing amount.
• Kerala argued that this restriction resulted in a severe crisis in its budget operations and violated the principles of fiscal federalism.
• Section 4 of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003, imposed a net borrowing ceiling on Kerala, restricting its borrowings from all sources, including from the open market.

Centers view:

• The Union government stated that any financial stress faced by the Kerala government was primarily due to poor financial mismanagement.
• According to the Union government, “substantial financial resources” were provided to the Kerala government from financial years 2020-21 to 2023-24, over and above the amount recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. 
• The Union government also said any state defaulting on debt servicing could create reputation issues and a domino effect, threatening India’s financial stability.
• The Attorney General emphasized that all states require permission from the Centre to borrow from any source.
• This permission is granted while considering the overall objectives of macroeconomic stability for the country as a whole.
• The borrowing limits are fixed in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner as guided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission.
• Reckless borrowing by states to finance unproductive expenditure could crowd out private borrowing from the market.

2. Why India wants to develop high-altitude pseudo-satellite vehicles, powered by the Sun

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Space tech

Context:

The Bengaluru-based National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) successfully flew a prototype of a new-generation unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is being seen as a huge technology breakthrough.

More on news:

• HAPS technology is still under development.
• Several countries, and companies, have developed and flown such vehicles with encouraging success, but none has mastered the technology yet. 
• The world record for a vehicle of this class is held by the Airbus-manufactured Zephyr, which flew continuously for 64 days in August 2022 before crashing.
• For India, HAPS is another technology area where it is entering the race at a relatively early stage.
• The primary utility of HAPS vehicles is in the field of surveillance and monitoring, but there are other situations, like disaster management, wherein it can be very useful.
• The prototype tested by NAL last week spent eight and a half hours in the air.
• Next month, NAL, a unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), plans to keep it in flight for at least 24 hours.
• The full-scale machine that NAL is trying to build, by 2027, would be aiming to remain in the air for 90 days at a stretch.

What is the need for such UAVs?

• The kind of jobs that HAPS are meant to do are currently done by UAVs and satellites, but both have certain limitations.
• The normal UAVs, or drones as they are commonly called, are mostly battery-powered and cannot remain in the air beyond a few hours. 
• Continuous monitoring is not something they can do very effectively. 
• In addition, they fly at relatively low levels, because of which their vision is restricted to small areas.
• Satellites can observe much larger areas, but the ones in low-earth orbits are continuously moving with respect to Earth.
• They cannot be constantly keeping an eye on the target area. 
• Geostationary satellites, located at a height of about 36,000 km above the ground, can keep a constant gaze over one area. But these are fairly expensive, and once deployed, cannot be repurposed or reoriented.
• HAPS are meant to overcome all these shortcomings wrt satellites.
• HAPS work like geostationary satellites but with added flexibility.
• They can be easily redeployed over another location, or can be reequipped with a different payload, something that is not possible with a geostationary satellite.

Engineering challenges of HAPS

• The primary challenge is to generate enough solar power to keep the aircraft flying, the payloads operating, and the batteries charging.
• The batteries need to be enough to continue the operations through the night.
• There are design-related challenges as the  aircraft needs to be extremely lightweight to minimize the power requirement, but it also has to be stable.
• This is one of the reasons why this aircraft is meant to fly in the stratosphere. 
• The region between 17 and 23 km above the earth’s surface is climatologically conducive for their flight.
• The wind speed is very low and ideal for light-weight aircraft to remain stable.
• It helps that this height, much above the region in which civilian aircraft fly, is favorable for observation and surveillance activities.
• But temperatures at that height can drop to -50 degree Celsius or lower. 
• Electronics need to be kept warmer, and that is an additional burden on power resources.
• Also, air density is just about 7 percent of what it is at sea level. 
• That creates acute complications for the aircraft, for example in producing lift and thrust.
• Because of limitations of space and weight, solar cells and batteries need to have very high efficiencies.

India and the HAPS

• For India, HAPS is another technology area where it is entering the race at a relatively early stage.
• In the last few years, there has been great emphasis on promoting research in emerging technologies, so that the country is not dependent on others for critical technologies of the future.
•  Joining technology development at an early stage also results in capacity building, early adoption of technologies, control over patents, business opportunities and spin-off technologies.
• India had moved into HAPS technology development at the right time, and the successful test flight showed that it had capabilities similar to some of the other countries trying to develop this technology.

3. PM announces Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana

Subject: Schemes

Section: Environment

Context:

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi  announced the launch of rooftop solar scheme for free electricity – PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.

More on news:

• The scheme was first announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Interim Budget 2024-25.

About the scheme:

• The scheme Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, with an investment of over Rs. 75,000 crores, aims to light up 1 crore households by providing up to 300 units of free electricity every month.
• The scheme aims to incentivise the adoption of solar energy among residential consumers, promoting sustainability and reducing reliance on conventional energy sources.
• It is a grid connected rooftop solar PV system, where the DC power generated from a solar panel converted to AC power using a power conditioning unit/Inverter and is fed to the grid.
• All stakeholders will be integrated into a National Online Portal.
• In order to popularize this scheme at the grassroots, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats shall be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions.
• The scheme will lead to more income, lesser power bills and employment generation for people.
• Under the scheme, subsidies will be given directly to people’s bank accounts.
• The government has appointed eight central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) to implement the scheme across all states and union territories of the country.
• These include NTPC, NHPC, EESL, PowerGrid, Grid-India, THDC, SJVN and NEEPCO. 
• These CPSUs will be responsible for installation of rooftop solar in one crore households.
• Under rooftop installation, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are fixed atop a building, home, or a residential property

4. The role of X chromosome in auto-immune diseases

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Health

Context:

• A 2023 University of Oxford study shows autoimmune diseases affect about 10% of the population, with a higher incidence in women (13%) than men (7%).

Details:

• The higher susceptibility of women to autoimmune diseases has puzzled researchers for decades, considering factors like environmental influences, genetics, hormonal imbalances, and lifestyle habits.
• However, Scientists discovered a molecular coating on one of the two X chromosomes in women, potentially explaining the gender disparity in autoimmune disease susceptibility.
• X-Chromosome Inactivation:
  • This molecular coating, a mix of RNA and proteins, is crucial for X-chromosome inactivation, ensuring only one set of X chromosomes is active in female cells.
• Role of XIST Molecule:
  • The process involves the XIST molecule, which mutes gene expression but allows some genes to escape inactivation, potentially leading to autoimmune diseases. XIST also triggers inflammatory immune responses and autoantibody production.

Experimental Findings:

• Bioengineered male mice expressing a modified version of XIST showed increased autoantibody levels and immune cell activity when introduced to a lupus-like disease, indicating a susceptibility to autoimmune attacks.
• Further studies are needed to identify specific XIST-related antigens contributing to sex-biased immunity, aiming for improved detection and diagnosis of autoimmune diseases in women.

Implications for Women:

• Since XIST is expressed only in cells with two X chromosomes, this points to why women are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases and attacks.

Source: TH

5. Gupteswar forest in Odisha declared as Bio-Diversity Heritage site

Subject: Environment

Section: Protected Area

Context:

• The pristine Gupteswar Forest, adjacent to Gupteswar Shiva temple in Odisha’s Koraput district has been declared as the fourth Biodiversity-Heritage Site ( BHS) of the state.

Details:

• The state has now four BHSs. The other three are Mandasaru BHS in Kandhamala district, Mahendragiri BHS in Gajpati district, and Gandhamardan BHS in Bargarh and Bolangir districts.

About the Gupteswar forests:

• The site is spread over 350 hectares of demarcated area. Along with its sacred grooves traditionally worshipped by the local community, the site is bestowed with a wide range of flora and fauna.
• Biodiversity in the forest: there is the presence of at least 608 faunal species including 28 species of mammals, 188 species of birds, 18 species of amphibia, 48 species of reptiles, 45 species of Pisces, 141 species of butterflies, 43 species of moths, 41 species of odonates, 30 species of spiders, six species of scorpion, and 20 species of lower invertebrates.
  • Threatened medicinal plants like Indian trumpet tree, Indian snakeroot, Cumbi gum tree, Garlic pear tree, Chinese fever vine, Rohituka tree, Jodpakli, Indian jointfir, a number of wild crop relatives of ginger and turmeric are found there.
• Fauna: mugger crocodile, kanger valley rock gecko, sacred Grove Bush Frog, and avifauna like black baza, Jerdon’s baza, Malaber trogon, common hill myna, white-bellied woodpecker, and banded bay cuckoo.
  • The limestone caves of Gupteswar are adorned with eight species of bats out of the total 16 species found in southern Odisha.
  • Among them, two species Hipposideros galeritus and Rhinolophus rouxii are under the near-threatened category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS):

• Such sites are mentioned in Section 37 of the Biodiversity Act 2002.
• According to the Act, these areas are areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems which comprise any of: “species richness, high endemism, presence of rare, endemic and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary significance, wild ancestors of domestic/cultivated species or landraces or their varieties, past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and having cultural or aesthetic values.”
  • The state government has the power to declare such a site within its jurisdiction. They need to consult the local bodies before doing so.
  • They can also call for suggestions, or consider the sites that have already been suggested by the Biodiversity Management Committees and other such authorities.
  • The rules for the management and conservation of such sites are made by the state governments themselves, in consultation with the Union Government.
  • The state government can also frame the schemes to compensate or rehabilitate the people who get economically affected, and/or displaced due to any such declaration of a bio-heritage site.
  • As of January 2024, India has 44 such sites.

Source: IE

6. From restoring forests to river basins, seven conservation initiatives across continents recognised by UN

Subject: Environment

Section: International Conventions

Context:

• The United Nations has named seven initiatives from Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean, and Southeast Asia as World Restoration Flagships.
• These projects aim to revive and preserve ecosystems on the brink of degradation due to wildfires, drought, deforestation, and pollution.

Details:

• The initiatives are expected to restore approximately 40 million hectares and create about 500,000 jobs.
• Awarded by the UNEP and FAO, these initiatives will receive technical and financial support from the UN.
• The announcement was made ahead of the 6th session of the UN Environment Assembly, scheduled for February 26-March 1, 2024, at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
• Part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: These awards are part of a broader campaign led by UNEP and FAO to prevent, halt, and reverse ecosystem degradation globally.
  • The initiatives support global commitments to restore one billion hectares, an area larger than China.

The seven projects are:

Source: DTE

7. On the rights of forest-dwellers

Subject: Environment

Section: Environmental laws and Institutions

Context:

• The notification of the Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary in Erode district of Tamil Nadu triggered concerns among forest-dwellers around it. They expressed fear that this may lead to their rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) being denied.

More About News:

• The Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary is located between the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu, the Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary of Karnataka.
• Six tribal forest villages were denied basic rights and facilities because these are not revenue villages and have been excluded from the sanctuary.

About Forest Rights Act, 2006:

• The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.

Objectives:

• To undo the historical injustice occurred to the forest dwelling communities.
• To ensure land tenure, livelihood and food security of the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.
• To strengthen the conservation regime of the forests by including the responsibilities and authority of Forest Rights holders for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.

What Rights Do Forest Dwellers Get Under the Act?

• The Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognises three types of Rights:

1. Land Rights:

• The Act gives the forest dwellers the right to ownership to land farmed by them, subject to a maximum of 4 hectares per family.
• Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands can be granted.
• The land cannot be sold or transferred to anyone except by inheritance.

2. Use Rights:

• The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce (such as tendu patta, herbs, medicinal plants etc.), grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
• Minor forest produce does not include timber.

3. Right to Protect and Conserve:

• The Act gives the forest dwelling communities the right to protect and manage the forest.
• This is vital for the thousands of village communities who are protecting their forests and wildlife against threats from forest mafias, industries and land grabbers.

Who Can Claim These Rights?

• Members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bonafide livelihood needs.
• It can also be claimed by any member or community who has for at least three generations (75 years) prior to 13th December, 2005 primarily resided in forests land for bona fide livelihood needs.

How Are These Rights Recognised?

• Section 6 of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides a transparent three step procedure for deciding on who gets rights:
• Step-1: Gram Sabha makes a recommendation – i.e. who has been cultivating land for how long, which minor forest produce to be collected, etc.
• Step-2: The Gram Sabha’s recommendation goes through two stages of screening committees at the Taluka and District levels.
• Step-3: The District Level Committee makes the final decision. The committees have six members – three government officers and three elected persons.

About Gram Sabha:

• Gram Sabha is a body consisting of all persons whose names are included in the electoral rolls for the Panchayat at the village level.
• The term is defined in the Constitution of India under Article 243(b).

What Are the Rights in the Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary?

• As per the new notification, cattle-grazers can no longer graze in the Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary.
• Bargur cattle, a traditional breed native to the Bargur forest hills, may now be prevented from accessing their traditional grazing grounds.
• In March 2022, the Madras High Court revised an older order imposing a total ban on cattle grazing in all the forests of Tamil Nadu and restricted the ban to national parks, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves.
• Tamil Nadu is the only State in the country where there is such a ban.
• This order is despite the FRA, which recognised “grazing (both settled or transhumant) and traditional seasonal resource access of nomadic or pastoralist communities” in all forests.

8. Clause in draft India-EFTA pact may hit drug industry

Subject: Economy

Section: External Sector

Context:

• A clause in a draft free trade agreement text being negotiated between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) could delay access to affordable, generic versions of patented drugs in India by a minimum of six years.

About Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA)

• TEPA aims to boost trade and investment between India and EFTA.
• Goals include tariff reduction, fair market access, and improved IP rights protection.
• Founded in 2018.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

• The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
• The organization operates in parallel with the European Union (EU), and all four member states participate in the European Single Market and are part of the Schengen Area.
• They are not, however, party to the European Union Customs Union.
• EFTA was established on 3 May 1960 to serve as an alternative trade bloc for those European states that were unable or unwilling to join the then European Economic Community (EEC), the main predecessor of the EU.
• The Stockholm Convention (1960), to establish the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the Swedish capital by seven countries (known as the “outer seven”: Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom).
• A revised Convention, the Vaduz Convention, was signed on 21 June 2001 and entered into force on 1 June 2002.
• Whilst the EFTA is not a customs union and member states have full rights to enter into bilateral third-country trade arrangements, it does have a coordinated trade policy.
• As a result, its member states have jointly concluded free trade agreements with the EU and several other countries.
• To participate in the EU’s single market, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway are parties to the Agreement on a European Economic Area (EEA), with compliances regulated by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court.

9. The untapped potential of stem cells in menstrual blood

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Biotechnology

Context

• Approximately 20 years ago, biologist Caroline Gargett discovered two types of cells in the endometrium through rigorous microscopy examination, suspected to be adult stem cells due to their regenerative capabilities.
• The discovery of these cells, known as endometrial stromal mesenchymal stem cells, opened new avenues for research in tissue repair and disease treatment.

Which blood cells are present in menstrual blood?

• Endometrial stem cells can be obtained non-invasively from menstrual blood and are referred to as menstrual blood-derived stem cells.
• Menstrual Stem Cells were first identified from menstrual blood in 2007.
• These menstrual stem cells could offer several advantages.
• They come from a source that’s easy to obtain from women.
• They could be used to treat patients without the fear of tissue rejection.

Endometrium

• Endometrium lines the inside of the uterus.
• The endometrium has a deeper basal layer that remains intact, and an upper functional layer that sloughs off during menstruation.
• During a single menstrual cycle, the endometrium thickens as it prepares to nourish a fertilised egg, then shrinks as the upper layer sloughs away.

Important Role:

• It plays a vital role in repairing and regenerating the upper layer of tissue that gets shed each month during menstruation.
• This layer is crucial to pregnancy, providing support and nourishment for a developing embryo.
• The layer, and the endometrial stem cells that prod its growth.
• It also appears to play an important role in infertility.

What are Stem Cells?

• A stem cell is a cell with the unique ability to develop into specialized cell types in the body.
• These cells provide new cells for the body as it grows, and replace specialized cells that are damaged or lost.
• In the future, they will be used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to disease.
• Human body is made up of numerous types of cells.
• Most cells are specialized for particular functions, like the red blood cells that carry oxygen in our bodies through the blood, but they are unable to divide.
• All stem cells regardless of their source have three general properties:
  • They are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods
  • They are unspecialized.
  • They can give rise to specialized cell types.

Embryonic stem cells vs Adult stem cells

• Stem cells come from two main sources: embryos or adult tissues.
• Embryonic stem cells can give rise to virtually any cell type in the body, but they are controversial because conventional procedures for obtaining them involve the destruction of an embryo.
• Adult stem cells, such as those found in bone marrow, do not pose the same ethical concerns, but they have limited powers and collecting them can require invasive procedures.