Daily Prelims Notes 2 September 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

2 September 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Indian-origin Singapore ex-minister elected President
2. One Nation, One Election
3. Special session of Parliament
4. Nobel body reverses invitation policy
5. Progress in National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
6. Study finds fish surprisingly resistant to marine heatwaves
7. Paris fumigated for 1st time as disease-carrying mosquito spreads, likely triggered by climate change
8. Largest indigenously developed N-plant unit in Gujarat starts ops at full capacity
9. LIGO India Project
10. India’s first solar observatory mission to be launched today
11. Court Allows Stem Cell Therapy for Two Autistic Kids

1. Indian-origin Singapore ex-minister elected President

Subject :IR

Section: Places in news

Context: Indian-origin Singapore ex-minister elected President.

More about the news:

• Indian-origin ex-minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam have been elected as the ninth president of Singapore with 70.4 per cent of the votes, and became the third Indian-origin person to head the prosperous city-state

Who is Tharman Shanmugaratnam:

• Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a distinguished economist.
• Tharman is the son of Emeritus Professor K. Shanmugaratnam, a medical scientist known as the “father of pathology in Singapore”.
• Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a distinguished economist and was the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the de facto central bank, between 2011 and 2023, and the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) between 2019 and 2023.
• He has served as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Group of Thirty, World Economic Forum  and a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism.

Some Details about Singapore:

• Singapore is an island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia.
•  It is located about one degree of latitude north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor to the north. 
• Singapore has four official languages i.e English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. 
• It has a highly developed market economy, based historically on extended entrepôt trade.
• Along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, Singapore is one of the Four Asian Tigers.

2. One Nation, One Election

Subject: Polity

Section: Elections

Context: Recently, the government has announced to form a committee to explore the feasibility of “one nation, one election”

More about the news:

• The government has constituted a committee headed by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of “one nation, one election”.
• The recent moves by the government have thrown open the possibility of advancing the general elections and some state polls, which are scheduled after and with the Lok Sabha contest

What is Simultaneous election:

• The concept of “One Nation, One Election” envisions a system in which all state and Lok Sabha elections must be held simultaneously.
• This will entail restructuring the Indian election cycle so that elections to the states and the center coincide.
• This would imply that voters will vote for members of the LS and state assemblies on the same day and at the same time.

What is the history holding of Simultaneous Election in India:

• Simultaneous elections have previously been conducted in India in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967.
• Soon after, this norm was discontinued following the dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies between 1968 -69. 
• Since then, the Indian Electoral system holds polls to Centre and states separately.

Urge for simultaneous elections:

• The idea of returning to simultaneous elections was raised in the Election Commission’s annual report in 1983. It was also mentioned in the Law Commission’s Report in 1999.
• Following the Prime Minister of India’s reintroduction of the idea in 2016, the NITI Aayog prepared a working paper on the subject in 2017.
• The Law Commission stated in its 2018 working paper that at least “five Constitutional recommendations” would be required to make simultaneous elections a reality in India again.
• In June 2019, PM Modi said that a committee would be formed to examine the issue and a meeting with leaders of political parties would be called.

What are the Constitutional challenges involved:

• The Indian Constitution provides for the dissolution of the legislature if the ruling party loses majority by passing a vote of no confidence.
• Clause (2) of Article 83, Article 172(1) of Indian constitution deals with the term of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies respectively.
• Through Articles 85(2)(b) and 174(2)(b) these Houses can be dissolved ahead of the scheduled expiry of the term of five years
• However, there is no provision for extension of the term unless a proclamation of Emergency is in operation.
• Bringing the terms of all the Houses to sync with one another necessarily calls for either extending the terms of several of the Houses or curtailing of terms or a combination of both, that too by two to three years in some cases.
• In such a case, simultaneous elections could not be held within the existing framework of the Constitution.
• These could be held together through appropriate amendments to:
  • The Constitution,
  • The Representation of the People Act 1951, and
  • The Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
• Since it will affect federal character, at least 50% of the states will require to ratify the constitutional amendments.

3. Special session of Parliament

Subject: Polity

Section: Elections

Context: Government calls a special session of Parliament from Sept. 18 to 22.

How Parliament Session is Convened:

• The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the government.
• The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which currently comprises nine ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, and Law.
• The decision of the Committee is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs are summoned to meet for a session.

What are the Constitutional Provisions w.r.t. Parliamentary Sessions:

• The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution.
• Like many other articles, it is based on a provision of the Government of India Act, 1935.This provision specified that the central legislature had to be summoned to meet at least once a year, and that not more than 12 months could elapse between two sessions.

What is a Special Session of Parliament:

• The Constitution does not use the term “special session”.
• The term sometimes refers to sessions the government has convened for specific occasions, like commemorating parliamentary or national milestones.
• For the two Houses to be in session, the presiding officers should chair their proceedings.
• The presiding officers can also direct that the proceedings of their respective Houses would be limited and procedural devices like question hour would not be available to MPs during the session.
• While the Constitution doesn’t explicitly mention “special sessions,” Article 352, which pertains to the Proclamation of Emergency, does make a reference to a “special sitting of the House.”
• Parliament added the part relating to the special sitting through the Constitution Forty-fourth Amendment Act, 1978.
• Its purpose was to add safeguards to the power of proclaiming Emergency in the country.
• It specifies that if a Proclamation of Emergency is issued and Parliament is not in session, then one-tenth of Lok Sabha MPs can ask the President to convene a special meeting to disapprove the Emergency.

4. Nobel body reverses invitation policy

Subject: IR

Section: International Body

Context: The Nobel Foundation that administers the prestigious awards, has reversed its invitation policy and invited Russia, Belarus and Iran

More about the news:

• The Nobel Foundation that administers the prestigious awards, has reversed its invitation policy and invited Russia, Belarus and Iran, as well as the leader of a far-right Swedish party, who had previously been banned.
• The foundation said that invitation for the 2023 events was extended to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway and parties “that have parliamentary representation via democratic elections,”

More details about Nobel Prize:

• The Nobel Prize was set up when businessman and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel died and left the majority of his fortune to the establishment of prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace
• The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually in six categories: Peace, Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economic Sciences.
• The Economic Sciences category was added later in 1968 and is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
• The first Prizes were awarded in 1901 
• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the others are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.
• The Nobel Prize consists of a Nobel Medal and Diploma, and a document confirming the prize amount
• The Nobel Prize cannot be given posthumously and it cannot be shared between more than three people.
• One cannot nominate himself/herself for a Nobel Prize.

Some details about the Nobel Foundation:

• The Nobel Foundation, a private institution established in 1900, has ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the intentions of Alfred Nobel’s will.
• They also ensure that the prize-awarding institutions are guaranteed independence in their work of selecting recipients.
• The Foundation is also tasked with strengthening the Prize’s position by administering and developing the brands and intangible assets that have been built up during the Nobel history, which spans more than 100 years.
• The Nobel Foundation also strives to safeguard the prize-awarding institutions’ common interests.

How are the Nobel Prize laureates selected:

What are the institutions that choose winners:

• The Nobel Committees of the prize-awarding institutions are responsible for the selection of the candidates, the institutions being:
  • Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: The Karolinska Institutet
  • Nobel Prize in Literature: The Swedish Academy
  • Nobel Peace Prize: A five-member Committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting)
  • Prize in Economic Sciences: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Who are the Indians (or individuals of Indian origin) who have been honoured with the Nobel:

• Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913),
• C V Raman (Physics, 1930)
•  Hargobind Khorana (Medicine, 1968)
•  Mother Teresa (Peace, 1979)
•  Subramanian Chandrashekhar (Physics, 1983),
• The Dalai Lama (Peace, 1989)
•  Amartya Sen (Economics, 1998)
•  Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2009)
•  Kailash Satyarthi (Peace, 2014).

Seven years on, mission to clean the Ganga remains a work in progress

5. Progress in National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

• Launched in: 2014
• Outlay: ₹20,000 Crore
  • 80% of the outlay is for the purpose of setting Sewage treatment Plants (STPs).
• Core Objective: To ensure that no untreated sewage flows into the river.
• Steps tekan to achieve the objective: Installation of treatment plants along the banks of Ganga river.
• Progress: Till now treatment plants are capable of treating only 20% of the sewage estimated to be generated in the five major states that lie along the river.
• Future prospect: It is expected to increase to about 33% by 2024, and about  60% by 2026.
  • These calculations are premised on sewage to the tune of 11,765 million litres per day (MLD) being generated in the five States – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal – through which the river courses.
• The NMCG plans on setting up sewage treatment plants (STPs) capable of treating about 7,000 MLD of sewage by 2026, remaining capacity will be set up by the states.

Picking up pace

• As of July 2023, STPs capable of treating 2,665 MLD have actually been commissioned, and are now functional.
• From 2014, when the mission was first announced, to 2021, only 811 MLD of capacity was completed. In the last financial year 2022-23, 1,455 MLD capacity was completed.
• Challenges:
  • Land acquisition process
  • Detailed Project Report needs revision
  • Lack of coordination between center and states
  • Though NMCG is a ₹20,000 crore mission, the government has so far given in-principle approval for projects worth ₹37,396 crore, of which only ₹14,745 crore has been released to States for infrastructure work, as of June 2023.
• So far the maximum number of plants have been set up, or upgraded in the case of older plants, in
  • Uttarakhand (36),
  • Uttar Pradesh (35), and
  • West Bengal (11).

Dolphins thriving

• The river’s water quality is now within prescribed limits of notified primary bathing water quality.
• Dolphins and Indian carp (a fish species that only thrive in clear water) populations are increasing which is a sign of improved water quality.
• The typical parameters used by the Central Pollution Control Board — such as the levels of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, and faecal coliform — vary widely along various stretches of the river.
• The NMCG is now working to develop a water quality index, on the lines of the air quality index, to be able to better communicate about river-water quality, he added.

For details of initiatives related to cleaning of Ganga river: https://optimizeias.com/arth-ganga-rejuvenation/

6. Study finds fish surprisingly resistant to marine heatwaves

Subject: Geography

Section: Physical geography

Context:

• A new study has found that fish are surprisingly resistant to heatwaves in the ocean.

About the study:

• Researchers in Canada, Europe and the United States collaborated on the study, titled Marine heatwaves are not a dominant driver of change in demersal fishes.
• The study relied on data from long-term scientific trawl surveys of continental shelf ecosystems in North America and Europe conducted between 1993 and 2019.
  • Trawl surveys are conducted by towing a net above the seafloor to assess the abundance of species at the ocean’s bottom.
• During the survey period, 248 marine heatwaves with extreme sea bottom temperatures were included in the analysis.

Blob:

• The Blob was a large mass of relatively warm water in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America.
• The Blob is caused by a combination of warmer air temperatures (that warms the ocean’s surface), changes in the patterns of wind speed, direction and duration (wind helps mix the ocean and by bringing cool water from depth) and the persistent mass of warmer water along the equator known as ENSO.
  • This very warm mass of water is unusual, an anomaly.
  • Nothing like it has been seen in the climate record since climatologists have been recording data in this region.
  • It is unprecedented in its magnitude (how warm and widespread) and its duration (to last multiple years).

Impact of blob on marine ecosystem:

• The scientists looked at the infamous “Blob” that hit the British Columbia coast from 2014 to 2016.
• The researchers studied how it affected populations of demersal fish or groundfish, which include some of the world’s largest fisheries like Alaskan pollock and Atlantic cod.
• They found no evidence that marine heatwaves have a significant impact on regional fish communities.
• While the Blob resulted in a 22 per cent loss of groundfish biomass in the Gulf of Alaska, a 2012 marine heatwave resulted in a 70 per cent biomass gain in the Northwest Atlantic.
• The scientists also considered whether marine heatwaves were causing changes in the composition of fish communities, looking for losses of species associated with cold water and an increase in species associated with warm water (known as “tropicalisation”).
• They found no consistent signature for such losses caused by marine heatwaves.

Marine heatwaves can lead to:

• decay and bleaching of sponges and corals,
• seabirds dying in large numbers,
• water bodies witnessing harmful algal blooms,
• decimation of seaweeds and
• increased marine mammal strandings.

7. Paris fumigated for 1st time as disease-carrying mosquito spreads, likely triggered by climate change

Subject: Environment

Section: Climate Change

Context:

• Paris health authorities sprayed insecticides in public spaces in the city’s southeast like gardens and trees, which are breeding grounds for mosquitoes to check the spread of disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes found to be rapidly expanding in Europe.

Details:

• Experts have linked their proliferation to climate change.
• This was the first fumigation exercise in Paris.
• The aim is to reduce the risk of dengue transmission.

Aedes albopictus:

• The mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is an invasive species and is native to the tropical areas of Southeast Asia.
• It was first spotted in France in 2004.
• Ten years ago, in 2013, the Aedes albopictus mosquito was established in 8 EU/EEA countries, with 114 regions being affected.
• Now in 2023, the mosquito is established in 13 countries and 337 regions.

Mosquito spread in European region:

• The establishment of mosquito species is defined as having self-sustained mosquito populations that are overwintering and reproducing in a given administrative region.
• The mosquito species Aedes albopictus, a known vector of chikungunya and dengue viruses, is establishing itself further northwards and westwards in Europe, according to the latest data from ECDC.
• Also, Aedes aegypti, known to transmit dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, Zika and, potentially, West Nile viruses, has been established in Cyprus since 2022 and may continue to spread to other European countries.
• The mosquito’s spread has also been quite rapid across the rest of Europe.
• There have been sporadic cases of the diseases caused by the mosquito in the continent, but the number of these local infections have grown over the years.
• Probable reason for spread:
  • Climate change may have a role to play in this.
  • This is because warmer weather has shortened the incubation period for its eggs while winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the pests.
  • The European health agencies have recognised mosquito-borne diseases as a growing threat and have urged residents to be more proactive in reporting sightings of the mosquito.

8. Largest indigenously developed N-plant unit in Gujarat starts ops at full capacity

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Nuclear Technology

Context:

The third unit of the indigenously developed 700-megawatt electric (MWe) nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP3) in Gujarat has commenced operations at full capacity.

Details:

• This comes a little over three years since the unit achieved its ‘first criticality’ – a technical term that signifies the initiation of a controlled, but sustained nuclear fission reaction – in July 2020.
• On June 30 this year, the unit had started commercial operations.
• India is further planning to build a 900 MWe Pressurised Water Reactors (PWRs) of indigenous design.

About kakrapar nuclear power plant:

• Kakrapar Atomic Power Station is a nuclear power station in India, which lies in the proximity of Mandvi, Surat and Tapi river in the state of Gujarat.
• Four units of the 700MWe reactor are being constructed at Kakrapar (KAPP-3 and 4) and Rawatbhata (RAPS-7 and 8) site in Rajasthan currently.
• Originally expected to be commissioned in 2015.
• Built by: Larsen & Tubro (L&T).
• operated by: State-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).
• It will help in India’s expansion plan of Nuclear Power Plant capacity from 7480 MWe to 22480 MWe by 2031.
• Currently, nuclear power capacity constitutes around 2 percent of the total installed capacity of 4,17,668 MW.

Significance of KAPP-3:

• KAPP-3 is the country’s first 700 MWe unit and the biggest indigenously developed variant of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).
• For India, the operationalisation of its first 700MWe reactor is a significant scale up in technology, both in terms of:
  • the optimisation of its PHWR design as the new 700MWe unit addresses the excess thermal margins (thermal margin refers to the extent to which the operating temperature of the reactor is below its maximum operating temperature) — and
  • marks an improvement in the economies-of-scale, without significant design changes to the 540 MWe reactor.

• Now India has experience in:
  • Making large size pressure vessels
  • Own isotope enrichment plants

Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR):

• A PHWR is a nuclear reactor that uses heavy water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and neutron moderator.
• PHWRs frequently use natural uranium as fuel, but sometimes also use very low enriched uranium.
• The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure to avoid boiling, allowing it to reach higher temperature (mostly) without forming steam bubbles, exactly as for a pressurized water reactor.
• While heavy water is very expensive to isolate from ordinary water (often referred to as light water in contrast to heavy water), its low absorption of neutrons greatly increases the neutron economy of the reactor, avoiding the need for enriched fuel.
• The high cost of the heavy water is offset by the lowered cost of using natural uranium and/or alternative fuel cycles.
• As of the beginning of 2001, 31 PHWRs were in operation, having a total capacity of 16.5 GW(e), representing roughly 7.76% by number and 4.7% by generating capacity of all current operating reactors.
• Till now, the biggest reactor of indigenous design was the 540 MWe PHWR, two of which have been deployed in Tarapur, Maharashtra.

Safety features of PHWR:

• In terms of safety features, the PHWR technology scores high
• The biggest advantage of the PHWR design is the use of thin walled pressure tubes instead of large pressure vessels used in pressure vessel type reactors.
• This results in a distribution of pressure boundaries to a large number of small diameter pressure tubes and thereby lowers the severity of the consequence of an accidental rupture of the pressure boundary than in a pressure vessel type reactor.
• Additionally, the 700 MWe PHWR design has enhanced safety through dedicated ‘Passive Decay Heat Removal System’, which has the capability of removing decay heat (the heat released as a result of radioactive decay) from the reactor core without requiring any operator actions, on the lines of similar technology adopted for Generation III+ plants to negate the possibility of a Fukushima type accident that happened in Japan in 2011.
• The 700 MWe PHWR unit, like the one deployed in KAPP, is equipped with a steel-lined containment to reduce any leakages and a containment spray system to reduce the containment pressure in case of a loss of coolant accident.

9. LIGO India Project

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Space Technology

• LIGO is an international network of laboratories that detect the ripples in spacetime produced by the movement of large celestial objects like stars and planets.
• LIGO-India will be located in Hingoli district of Maharashtra, about 450 km east of Mumbai, and is scheduled to begin scientific runs from 2030.

LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)

• It is an international network of laboratories meant to detect gravitational waves.
• Under this, two large observatories (~ 3000 Km apart) were built in the US (Hanford Site, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana) with the aim of detecting gravitational waves by laser interferometry.
• Interferometry is a technique which uses the interference of superimposed waves to extract information.
• Besides the US, such gravitational wave observatories are currently operational in Virgo in Italy and KAGRA in Japan
• LIGO-India will be the fifth, and possibly the final node of the planned network.

Why is a Fifth LIGO Observatory Needed?

• Extremely low strength of gravitational waves make their detection very difficult.
• Therefore, LIGO-India is part of the plan to expand the network of gravitational wave observatories in order to increase the chances of detecting these waves from anywhere in the observable universe.
• This will improve the accuracy and quality of information taken from them.

Gravitational Waves

• These are the ripples in space-time produced by the movement of large celestial bodies like stars and planets.
• Gravitational waves provide a new way to explore the universe, especially in ‘dark’ areas where electromagnetic radiation is absent.
• These were postulated over 100 years ago in Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity that encapsulates the current understanding of how gravitation works.
• The celestial bodies’ movements could disturb space-time, creating gravitational waves—ripples in space-time.
• They were first discovered in 2015 by two LIGOs based in the United States.
• In 2017, this experimental verification of the century-old theory received the Nobel Prize in Physics (to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne).
• Until now, at least 10 events producing gravitational waves have been detected.

LIGO-India’s Site and Equipment

• Site Selection: Hingoli was chosen due to low seismic activity, vital for precise measurements.
• Geographical Impact: Spans 430 acres, affecting six villages, boosting the local economy and infrastructure.
• Equipment: Features 4-km arms with 1.2m diameters vacuum chambers and highly-reflective mirrors for accurate gravitational wave detection.
• Precision Engineering: Mirrors polished to nanometer scales, vacuum chambers maintained at near-absolute vacuum for precise measurements.
• Security: Strict access control maintains a controlled environment to protect sensitive experiments.

Future Prospects and Benefits

• LIGO-India is poised to become a hub for international collaboration, attracting researchers from around the world to work on groundbreaking experiments.
• The project’s extended operational life of 30 years ensures its enduring contribution to the scientific community.
• LIGO-India is expected to generate vast amounts of data, providing valuable information for astronomy and astrophysics research.
• The development of technology and infrastructure for LIGO-India, including the fabrication of key components and the establishment of a data center, can stimulate India’s technological capabilities.

Local Impact and Scientific Outreach

• The project has created employment opportunities for locals, ranging from security personnel to administrative and support staff, providing a boost to the regional economy.
• Teachers in the Marathwada region have witnessed a surge of interest in astronomy among students, highlighting the project’s educational impact.
• The proposed science outreach center, ‘Light & Gravity’, represents a commitment to fostering scientific curiosity and knowledge in the local community.

10. India’s first solar observatory mission to be launched today

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Space Technology

Introduction

India’s first solar observatory mission, named AdityaL1, is set to launch on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. This mission aims to provide valuable insights into various aspects of solar activity and space weather.

Launch Details

• Launch Vehicle: The mission will be launched onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
• This mission is one of the longest missions involving ISRO’s PSLV.
• The spacecraft will stay in earthbound orbits for 16 days, during which it will undergo five maneuvers to gain the necessary velocity for its journey.
• Afterward, It will undergo a TransLagrangian1 insertion maneuver, marking the beginning of its 110-day trajectory to its destination.
• AdityaL1 will be positioned approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, directed towards the sun.
• This is about 1% of the distance between the Earth and the sun.

European Space Agency’s Support for Aditya-L1

• Deep Space Communication Support
  • ESA is offering deep space communication services to the mission.
  • ESA’s global network of deep space tracking stations, including locations in Australia, Spain, and Argentina, will track, command, and receive data from Aditya-L1 throughout its journey in the solar system.
  • ESA is also providing coordinated support from the Kourou station in French Guiana and the Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK, further enhancing communication capabilities.
• Ground Services
  • ESA is the primary provider of ground station services for Aditya-L1.
  • ESA stations will support the mission from its early stages, including the ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase,’ throughout the journey to L1, and during routine operations for the next two years.

Aditya L1 Payloads:

• Seven Specialized Payloads: Observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the corona using electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors.
  • Direct Sun Observation: Four payloads directly study the Sun’s dynamics.
  • In-situ Studies: Three payloads provide data on solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

11. Court Allows Stem Cell Therapy for Two Autistic Kids

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Biotechnology Technology

Context:

• The Delhi High Court recently granted permission for two children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to undergo stem cell therapy, overturning a recommendation by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) against such treatment.
• The EMRB recommendation had deemed the use, promotion, and advertisement of stem cell treatment for ASD as professional misconduct.

What are Stem Cells?

• Stem Cells: Stem cells are undifferentiated cells capable of developing into various specialized cell types. They can be broadly categorized into pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells.
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells: These are stem cells that have the potential to differentiate into all cell types in the adult body. They are naturally found in embryos.
  • Adult Stem Cells: These are tissue or organ-specific stem cells that can regenerate to form only the cell types specific to the organ or tissue from which they are derived.
• Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs): iPSCs are mature human adult cells that have been reprogrammed to exhibit characteristics similar to embryonic stem cells, making them pluripotent.

Medical Applications of Stem Cells

• Stem cell treatments fall under the umbrella of regenerative medicine, leveraging the regenerative properties of stem cells.
• Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been used for over 90 years to treat conditions like leukemia and lymphoma.
• Stem cell-based therapies are already used to treat patients, including bone marrow transplants for leukaemia, skin grafts for severe burns, and more recently corneal grafts for loss of sight due to ocular burns or infection. More stem cell therapies will be developed; however, some scientists and clinicians expect it will take at least 20 years before stem cell treatments become widely available.
• Increase understanding of how diseases occur. By watching stem cells mature into cells in bones, heart muscle, nerves, and other organs and tissue, researchers may better understand how diseases and conditions develop.
• Test new drugs for safety and effectiveness. Before using investigational drugs in people, researchers can use some types of stem cells to test the drugs for safety and quality. This type of testing will most likely first have a direct impact on drug development for cardiac toxicity testing.

Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

• ASD is a neurological and developmental disorder affecting communication, social interaction, learning, and behavior.
• There is no known cure for ASD; treatment focuses on symptom management and improving functionality.
• Conventional therapies include social skills training, behavior therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and medication.

Potential for Stem Cell Treatment in ASD

• Some experts suggest that stem cell therapy may hold promise for ASD due to its potential to regulate the immune system and enhance neural connectivity.
• However, current clinical trials have yielded mixed results, and the therapy is still in the experimental stage.
• Concerns include adverse reactions, debilitating side effects, limited long-term understanding, and the absence of established protocols.

EMRB’s Recommendations and Concerns

• EMRB recommended against stem cell therapy for ASD due to the lack of conclusive evidence.
• The board highlighted the risks associated with the treatment, including false hope from “predatory marketing”.
• The court’s decision doesn’t pass judgment on the overall validity of stem cell therapy for ASD but allows the ongoing treatment to continue.
• The NMC is authorized to take a final view on the recommendation according to the NMC Act.

National Medical Commission (NMC):

• Established through the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.
• It replaced the Medical Council of India.
• The NMC is responsible for regulating medical education and practice in India.
• Aims:
  1. Improve medical education access and quality
  2. Ensure ample high-quality medical professionals
  3. Promote equitable healthcare
  4. Encourage research adoption
  5. Assess institutions transparently.
  6. Maintain the medical register
  7. Enforce ethical standards
  8. Establish effective grievance redressal