Daily Prelims Notes 26 July 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

26 July 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Raigad landslide brings back focus on Madhav Gadgil report
2. SEBI chief says instant settlement of trades in the works
3. Ahamadiyyas
4. Full reserve banking: where banks act solely as custodians of customers’ money
5. President opens tribal arts gallery at Rashtrapati Bhavan as she finishes a year in office
6. The arduous quest to find the shape of the electron’s charge
7. Himachal floods: a man-made disaster?
8. High Court directs Goa to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby areas as tiger reserve within three months
9. No immediate cause for concern, epidemiologist tells DTE as MERS case detected in UAE
10. Sixth mass extinction will be worse than previously thought, say scientists
11. Finally, microorganisms and pollinators receive much needed support: Technical working group formed by FAO
12. Himalayas losing glaciers and snow: more hazards in the offing, a new study finds
13. Early Warnings for All
14. WEF’s ‘Saagu Baagu’ pilot benefits Telangana farmers
15. State Debt profile: Tamil Nadu tops with highest outstanding debt
16. SpiceJet comes out of DGCA’s enhanced surveillance regime
17. Recovery in India’s forex reserves
18. Why Lokmanya Tilak National Award for PM Modi has raised hackles in Congress
19. G20 commemorative coins

1. Raigad landslide brings back focus on Madhav Gadgil report

Subject : Environment

Section: Ecosystem

Concept :

• A landslide in Maharashtra’s Raigad district last week claimed 27 lives, flattened an entire village, and brought back into focus the 2011 Dr Madhav Gadgil report on conservation of the Western Ghats.
• During a discussion in the Maharashtra Assembly, state congress chief asked what had happened to the Madhav Gadgil Committee report on ecologically sensitive zones in the Western Ghats.

Madhav Gadgil Report

• In 2010 a Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) was created which was chaired by ecologist Dr Madhav Gadgil.
• The commission submitted its report to the Centre in 2011.
• The report recommended classifying 64 percent of the Western Ghats, spread over six states, into Ecologically Sensitive Zones called ESZ 1, ESZ 2 and ESZ 3.
• It also recommended designating the entire region as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
• Almost all developmental activities like mining, construction of thermal power plants, dams were to stop along with the decommissioning of similar projects that have completed their shelf life in ESZ 1.
• It said that both the Athirappilly and Gundia hydel project sites should not be accorded environmental clearance as they fall in this zone.
• Permissions and Prohibitions:
  • Genetically modified crops should not be allowed,
  • Use of plastic bags be prohibited,
  • Special Economic Zones should not be permitted,
  • New hill stations should not be allowed,
  • Changing the land use from farmland to non-farm land and
  • Stoppage of diversions of rivers to protect the ecology of the region,
  • Public lands should not be converted into private lands.

Recommendations:

• The report also suggested a bottom-to-top approach instead of a top-to-bottom approach in governance of the environment, indicating decentralization and more powers to local authorities.
• It recommended the establishment of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, as a professional body to manage the ecology of the region and to ensure its sustainable development.
• A ban on growing single commercial crops like tea, coffee, cardamom, rubber, banana and pineapple, which have led to fragmentation of forest, soil erosion, degradation of river ecosystems and toxic contamination of the environment.
• A policy shift is urgently warranted curtailing the environmentally disastrous practices and switching over to a more sustainable farming approach in the Western Ghats.
• Taking critical steps to involve citizens, including proactive and sympathetic implementation of the provisions of the Community Forest Resources of the Forest Rights Act.

Resistance to the Implementation of the WGEEP’s Recommendations:

• Stakeholder states resisted the Gadgil panel recommendations amid fears of hindrance to development and loss of livelihood.
• In particular, Kerala had objected to –
• The proposed ban on sand mining and quarrying,
• Restrictions on transport infrastructure and wind energy projects,
• Embargos on hydroelectric projects and inter-basin transfer of river waters, and
• The complete ban on new polluting industries.
• In 2012, the Union Environment Ministry constituted a High-Level Working Group on Western Ghats under former ISRO chief Dr K Kasturirangan, to formulate a report to replace WGEEP.

Recommendations of the Kasturirangan-led Panel:

• It notified only 37% (against 64% by Gadgil commission) of the area as ecologically sensitive.
• It also split the Western Ghats into cultural (human settlements) and natural (non-human settlements) region It was suggested that cultural lands be designated as an ESA.
• It also consisted of red, orange and green categories.
• The red list entailed a ban on mining, stone quarrying, thermal plans and certain construction and township projects.
• The orange category had activities that would be regulated and taken up with appropriate permissions.
• The green category allows all agricultural and horticultural activities and commercial activities.

Gadgil vs Kasturirangan Reports:

• The WGEEP was a pro-nature, pro-people report based on sound scientific information and feedback from central and state governments, zila parishads, gram panchayats and people.
• Gadgil criticised the Kasturirangan report as faulty and unscientific because local communities have no role in economic decisions, clearly in violation of constitutional provisions.

Actions Taken

• In 2017, the Environment Ministry issued a draft notification, demarcating an area of 56,285 sq km in the Western Ghats as ESA as opposed to the 59,940 sq km recommended by the Kasturirangan committee.
• By 2022, the Centre announced a high-powered committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to conduct physical landscaping and submit a detailed report in a year’s time.
• Gadgil claimed that implementing its recommendations would have lessened the severity of the floods and landslides in Kerala in 2018.

2. SEBI chief says instant settlement of trades in the works

Subject : Economy

Section: Capital market

Concept :

• The securities market regulator has said it is working on real-time settlement of transactions in India’s stock exchanges.
• The announcement by Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), came after the regulator shortened the settlement cycle to trade-plus-one (T+1) from T+2.

Trade Settlement

• ‘Settlement’ is a two-way process that involves the transfer of funds and securities on the settlement date.
• As of now, there is a lag between trade and settlement — the settlement date is different from the trade date.
• A trade settlement is said to be complete once purchased securities of a listed company are delivered to the buyer, and the seller gets the money.
• The current cycle of ‘T+1’ in India means trade-related settlements happen within a day, or within 24 hours of the actual transaction. The migration to the T+1 cycle came into effect in January this year.
• India became the second country to start the T+1 settlement cycle in top listed securities after China, bringing operational efficiency, faster fund remittances, share delivery, and ease for stock market participants.

Instant Settlement

• SEBI has said it is working on a plan for “instantaneous” settlement of trades in the securities market.
• Same-day, or ‘T+0’, settlement of trades will be possible with the real-time payment system — Unified Payments Interface (UPI), online depositories, and technology stack.
• Under the current T+1 settlement cycle, if an investor sells securities, the money gets credited into her account the following day.
• Under the T+0 settlement cycle, if investors sell shares, they will get the money in their account instantaneously, and the buyers will get the shares in their demat accounts the same day.

Application Supported by Blocked Amount

• SEBI chairperson said the ASBA (in the secondary market) goes smoothly, then the next step is instantaneous settlement.
• SEBI approved a framework for an Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA)-like facility for trading in the secondary market. It is aimed at safeguarding investors’ money which is with stockbrokers, and also at bringing transparency.

3. Ahamadiyyas

Subject : History

Section: Modern History

Concept :

• In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the Ahmadiyya community has approached the Central government to intervene against a case of their exclusion from the larger Muslim community.
• This follows a resolution passed by the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board in February declaring them as ‘Non-Muslims’ or ‘Kafirs’.

Ahamadiyas

• Ahmadiyya Muslims are a sub-sect of the Sunni Muslims who originated in the 19th century in undivided Punjab, India.
• Its founder was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a reformist who wanted Islam to adapt in tune with modern times and assume a more liberal tone and tenor.
• He stressed on the role of Islam as a matter of personal faith and took an apologetic stand against ‘jihad’ which is using violence to spread Islam or for political motives.
• The Ahmadiyya sect as founded by him became a key example of the reformist movement in the Indian subcontinent in the late 19th century, a time when even Hinduism was also witnessing revivalist and reformist movements of its own, including the Arya Samaj and the Brahmo Samaj movements.
• But ironically, unlike the Hindus who received the reformist movements positively, Ahmadiyyas have become a major irritant for orthodox Muslims across the world.

Ahmadiyya Movement

• The Ahmadiyya forms a sect of Islam which originated from India. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889.
• It was based on liberal principles. It described itself as the standard-bearer of Mohammedan Renaissance, and based itself, like the Brahmo Samaj, on the principles of universal religion of all humanity, opposing jihad (sacred war against non-Muslims).
• The movement spread Western liberal education among the Indian Muslims.
• The Ahmadiyya community is the only Islamic sect to believe that the Messiah had come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to end religious wars and bloodshed and to reinstate morality, peace and justice.
• They believed in separating the mosque from the State as well as in human rights and tolerance.
• However, the Ahmadiyya Movement, like Bahaism which flourished in the West Asian countries, suffered from mysticism.

4. Full reserve banking: where banks act solely as custodians of customers’ money

Subject : Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Concept :

• Owing to the failures of three United States banks and one major European investment bank in March this year, it is important to understand the working type of the banks. (Full-Reserve Banking and Fractional reserve banking).

Full-Reserve Banking System

• Full-reserve banking is also known as 100% reserve banking.
• Full-reserve banking is a system where banks are prohibited from lending out the money they receive as demand deposits from customers.
• Instead, they are required to keep all customer funds in their vaults at all times.
• In this model, banks only act as custodians for depositors’ money and may charge a fee for this service.
• This stands in contrast to the current banking system, where banks pay interest to customers on their demand deposits.
• Under full-reserve banking, banks must maintain reserves equal to 100% of their demand deposits to ensure they can meet withdrawal requests and prevent a bank run, even if all depositors decide to withdraw their funds simultaneously.

How full-reserve banking system lend money?

• Time deposits are deposits that customers can withdraw from the bank only after a certain period of time that is agreed upon between the bank and its customers.
• Under a full-reserve banking system, banks can only lend money that they receive as time deposits from their customers.
• This arrangement gives banks the time to lend these deposits to borrowers at a certain interest rate, collect repayments from the borrowers, and finally repay depositors their money along with a certain amount of interest.

What is Fractional reserve banking?

• The current banking system operates on fractional-reserve banking, where banks primarily hold cash deposits from customers in their vaults.
• However, they can lend out more money than the physical cash they possess, as most lending occurs in the form of electronic money.
• This practice creates electronic loans that can exceed the actual cash reserves.
• If borrowers demand cash withdrawals exceeding the bank’s physical cash, it can lead to a bank run due to insufficient cash to meet the demand.

Why Bank runs are rare?

• Bank runs are rare due to several reasons.
• Non-cash instruments: Firstly, most transactions in modern economies occur through checks and non-cash instruments, reducing the demand for physical cash. This lessens the likelihood of a large number of customers seeking immediate cash withdrawals simultaneously.
• Bail out: Secondly, central banks intervene by providing emergency cash to banks, ensuring they can meet sudden increases in customer cash demands.

5. President opens tribal arts gallery at Rashtrapati Bhavan as she finishes a year in office

Subject :History

Section: Art and culture

Concept :

• On a day when India’s first President from the tribal community Droupadi Murmu completed one year in office, the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday got a unique gallery titled ‘Janjatiya Darpan’dedicated to tribal arts, culture and heroes.
• The gallery, which is around 2,200 square feet, has been developed by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, an autonomous institution under the Union Culture Ministry.
• The gallery showcases different themes like unsung tribal freedom fighters, traditional natural resource management practices like Halma, tribal art like Dokra, musical instruments and various scripts like Gunjala Gondi.
• Janjati heroes – Gallery consists of different themes such as unsung tribal freedom fighters, traditional natural resource management practices such as Halma, Dokra art, Gunjala Gondi script, and Warli.
• In addition, the contemporary photographs of various Janjatis of Bharat by Satish Lal Andhekar were also displayed at the gallery.
• Koya Pagide – The gallery has some of the very rare and unique artefacts such as scroll (Koya Pagide) depicting the life history and genealogy of Koya Janjati community from Bhadrachalam.
• Gunjala Gondi Script – The Gunjala Gondi Script along with its detailed history is put on display at the gallery.
• Navachara
• An Artificial Intelligence enabled gallery developed by Rashtrapati Bhavan in collaboration with Intel India.
• This gallery exhibits immersive innovations and indigenous AI solutions created by students and AI coaches.
• It is equipped with six interactive exhibits that provide insights into the grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhavan and ignite a sense of inspiration for democratizing AI skills.
• Sutra-kala Darpan
• It is a Textile Collection which shows the remarkable collection of antique textiles of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Rashtrapati Bhavan is a repository of distinct textile traditions, ranging from zardozi and gold-embroidered velvets in its carpets, bed and table coverings, to fine muslin and silk drapes.

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

• The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) was established in 1987 as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, as a centre for research, academic pursuit and dissemination in the field of the arts.
• The IGNCA has a trust (i.e. Board of Trustees), which meets regularly to give general direction about the Centre’s work. The Executive Committee, drawn from among the Trustees, functions under a Chairman.
• It is a research unit under Project Mausam.
• Project ‘Mausam’ is a Ministry of Culture project with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), New Delhi as the nodal agency.
• The central themes that hold Project ‘Mausam’ together are those of cultural routes and maritime landscapes that not only linked different parts of the Indian Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their hinterlands.
• A project on design and development of a Vedic Heritage Portal was initiated at IGNCA, under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The portal aims to communicate messages enshrined in the Vedas.

6. The arduous quest to find the shape of the electron’s charge

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Msc

Concept :

• Physicists use extreme precision tests to search for flaws in the Standard Model. A new study used a strong electric field in a molecule to measure the electric dipole moment of its valence electrons, and concluded by finding no evidence of ‘new physics’.
• The result precludes the existence of certain hypothetical particles

Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics

• The standard model of elementary particles is a theoretical construct in physics that describes particles of matter and their interaction.
• It describes the elementary particles of the world as being connected by mathematical symmetry, just as two objects are connected by bilateral (left-right) symmetry.
• These are mathematical groups generated by continuous transformations from, say, one particle to another.
• According to this model there are a finite number of fundamental particles which are represented by the characteristic “eigen” states of these groups.
• The particles predicted by the model, such as the Z boson, have been seen in experiments.
• The last to be discovered, in 2012, was the Higgs boson which gives mass to the heavy particles.

Why is the Standard Model believed to be Incomplete?

• Because it gives a unified picture of only three of the four fundamental forces of nature — electromagnetic, weak nuclear, strong nuclear and gravitational interactions — it totally omits gravity.
• So, in the grand plan of unifying all forces so that a single equation would describe all the interactions of matter, the standard model was found to be lacking.
• Also, it does not include a description of dark matter particles.
• So far these have been detected only through their gravitational pull on surrounding matter.

How are the Symmetries related to Particles?

• The symmetries of the standard model are known as gauge symmetries, as they are generated by “gauge transformations”.
• Gauge transformations are a set of continuous transformations (like rotation is a continuous transformation). Each symmetry is associated with a gauge boson.
• For example, the gauge boson associated with electromagnetic interactions is the photon. The gauge bosons associated with weak interactions are the W and Z bosons. There are two W bosons — W+ and W-.

7. Himachal floods: a man-made disaster?

Subject :Geography

Section: Physical geography

Context:

• Flash floods during this year’s monsoon season have caused unprecedented damage to both lives and assets in Himachal Pradesh. The death toll has crossed 150, and the estimated total loss amounts to ₹10,000 crore.
• Other than climate change, human induced disasters resulting from planned development have played a significant role in causing such colossal losses. In the last five years (before 2022), 1,550 people lost their lives and nearly 12,444 houses were damaged.

Increased precipitation in Himalayan region:

• The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) VI report has clearly stated that the Himalayas and coastal regions of India will be the hardest hit by climate change.
• In the Himalayas, there is a noticeable pattern of increased precipitation occurring in shorter periods of time.
• The India Meteorological Department data shows that the normal rainfall during this period is expected to be between 720mm and 750 mm.
• This year, the precipitation so far has been attributed to the combined effect of the south-west monsoon with western disturbances.

Anthropogenic factors:

• Apart from climate change, anthropogenic factors have significantly contributed to the disaster:
• The State Development Model initiated in 1971 and with the Dr. Parmar model (named after the founding Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Parmar) of development, Himachal Pradesh ranking second in social development indices.
• However, to generate the financial resources the exploitation of natural resources, including forests, water, tourism, and cement production have started.
• This led to:
  • Rapid construction of hydropower projects, often causing damage to rivers and their ecosystems,
  • Widening of roads without proper geological and engineering assessments,
  • Expansion of cement plants altering land use patterns, and
  • A shift in agricultural practices to cash crop economies that affected the landscape and river systems.

Role of Hydropower plants in these man-made disasters:

• Currently, there are 168 hydropower projects in operation, generating 10,848 MW of electricity.
• By 2030, 1,088 hydropower projects will be commissioned to harness 22,640 MW of energy.
• One of the main reasons for the devastating impact of floods in the region is the uncontrolled construction of these hydropower projects.
• The “run of the river” dams, diverts water through tunnels burrowed into the mountains, and the excavated material (muck) is often disposed of along the riverbeds.
  • During periods of higher precipitation or cloudbursts, the water returns to the river, carrying the dumped muck along with it.
• This destructive process is evident in rivers like Parvati, Beas and Sutlej, as well as many other small hydropower dams.
• Moreover, long tunnels spanning 150 km have been planned or commissioned on the Sutlej river causing significant harm to the entire ecosystem.

How tourism oriented development leads to damage to the environment?

• The road-widening projects, often carried out by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under the public-private-partnership (PPP) approach.
• This has resulted in bypassing essential geological studies and mountain engineering skills.
• Traditionally, mountainous regions are not cut with vertical slits but are terraced, minimising the damage to the environment.
• But in many roads-widening projects the mountains have been cut vertically, leading to massive landslides and damage to existing roads.
• Even during the normal rainfall  it leads to slips and slides, amplifying the magnitude of the destruction during heavy rain or floods.

How have cement plants harmed the environment?

• The establishment of massive cement plants and extensive cutting of mountains in districts like Bilaspur, Solan, Chamba have resulted in significant land use changes that contribute to flash floods during rainfall.
• The cement plants alter the natural landscape, and the removal of vegetation leads to reduced capacity of land to absorb water.

How have crop patterns changed?

• There is a significant shift in both landholdings and produce.
• More farmers are now embracing a cash crop economy over traditional cereal farming. This shift has implications for the transportation of these crops to markets within a short timeframe owing to their perishable nature.
• In response to this need, roads are being constructed hastily without considering essential land cutting and gradient requirements or without creating proper drains or designated areas for dumping muck.

8. High Court directs Goa to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby areas as tiger reserve within three months

Subject :Environment

Section: Protected Area in news

Context:

• The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on July 24 directed the Government of Goa to notify the 208 sq. km. Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve, and issue a notification within three months.

Tiger population:

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that 3,726 to 5,578 tigers live in the wild worldwide.
• Out of these, the tiger population in India, as per the 2023 Tiger Census, is estimated at 3,167.
• In 1947, at the time of Independence of India, the estimate [of tigers in the wild] in India was 40,000 tigers. Therefore, in less than 76 years, the tiger population has decreased by almost 92%.

Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS):

• Goa is the only state in India which has protected the complete Western Ghats’ section within a state.
• This region is part of the Western Ghats landscape, and is regarded as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot.
• Goa’s four wildlife sanctuaries are located on the eastern side of the state in the Western Ghats, covering an area of about 750 km2 (290 sq mi).
• The Mahdei Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park all fall within the Mhadei River basin.
• Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is located just to the south of Mhadei in Goa.
• The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is a 208.5-km2 (80.5-mi2) protected area in the Indian state of Goa in the Western Ghats of South India.
• It is located in the North Goa District, Sattari taluka near the town of Valpoi.
• The sanctuary is an area of high biodiversity, and is being considered to become a Project Tiger tiger reserve because of the presence of Bengal tigers.
• The sanctuary is administered by the Goa State Forest Department.
• The sanctuary includes the Vagheri Hills, some of the highest peaks in North Goa.
• The Mhadei River, known downstream as the Mandovi River, the lifeline of the state of Goa, originates in Karnataka, travels28.8 km (17.9 mi) in Karnataka, passes 9.4 km (5.8 mi) through the Mahdei Wildlife Sanctuary and meets the Arabian Sea at Panaji after traveling 81.2 km (50.5 mi) in Goa.

Declaration of an area as a tiger reserve:

• According to subsection (1) of section 38V of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972, “The state government shall notify an area as a Tiger Reserve on the suggestion of the tiger conservation authority.”
• The recommendation is required to be accepted by the state.
• A tiger reserve’s limits may not be changed without the National Board for Wild Life’s approval and the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s suggestion. Unless it is in the public interest and with the consent of the National Board for Wild Life and the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
• No State Government may de-notify a tiger reserve.
• Critical tiger habitats (CTH) are designated under the Wild Life Protection Act (WLPA), which is also known as the core of tiger reserves.
• According to the law, these regions must be preserved inviolate for the conservation of tigers without compromising the rights of the Scheduled Tribes or other forest inhabitants.
• The state government notifies CTH after consulting with the committee of experts it formed specifically for the purpose.

List of Tiger Reserves in India:

9. No immediate cause for concern, epidemiologist tells DTE as MERS case detected in UAE

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Health

Context:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a man had been infected with the deadly Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• Al Ain is a city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi on UAE’s border with Oman.
• The man had no record of contact with dromedary camels, which spread the disease.

About MERS-CoV:

• MERS-CoV is a viral respiratory disease belongs to the same family as the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
• MERS was first detected in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. But since then, it has been regularly reported from multiple countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
• In total, 27 countries have reported cases since 2012, leading to 858 known deaths due to the infection and related complications.
• MERS-CoV is also considered to be a coronavirus with a high mortality rate.
• One in every three of officially reported cases have died. But the fact is that this is an overestimate of mortality because many of the subclinical cases are not documented.
• Transmission:
  • MERS is a zoonotic disease. A person gets infected on coming in contact with dromedary camels. But cases of human-to-human transmission have been reported in the past.
  • The dromedary is not the only reservoir of MERS-CoV.
  • It is found in bats, cattle, sheep and goats as well.
  • Even more importantly, some of the largest number of cases during the 2012 MERS outbreak were reported from South Korea which does not have a native camel population.
• Symptoms:
  • The main symptoms of MERS are fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and in some cases, pneumonia.

10. Sixth mass extinction will be worse than previously thought, say scientists

Subject: Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context:

• The planet’s sixth mass extinction, fuelled by human activities, may trigger a rapid biodiversity imbalance, according to scientists.

About the Study:

• The researchers analysed more than 71,000 animal species from five strata, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects and found that the next mass extinction will be worse than previously thought.
• The study offers the first comprehensive global scale picture of four categories of trends — decreasing, stable, increasing and species for which they remain unknown (for vertebrates and insects) — sourcing data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
• Nearly 50 per cent of the animal population across all strata is being driven towards extinction.
• Mass extinction occurs when 75 per cent of the world’s species collapses in less than 2.8 million years.
• Study findings:
• The analysis portrayed a widespread global erosion of species, with 48 per cent undergoing declines, while 49 per cent remain stable and 3 percent of species currently increasing.
• Around 33 per cent of the species currently categorised as ‘non-threatened’ by the IUCN Red List show a declining trend. The declining population pattern indicates an imminent extinction.
• Extinction threat is particularly severe for amphibians compared to others and the decline was higher in the tropical regions than temperate.
• The mammals with declining populations were estimated to be 56 per cent.
• The insect population is dropping at a rate of 54 per cent, with just two per cent undergoing population growth.
• The researchers estimated that “around 40 percent of global species many become extinct in coming decades”.

What happens when species go extinct?

• Impact can be tangible such as in the form of a loss in crop pollination and water purification.
• If a species has a specific function in an ecosystem, the loss can lead to consequences for other species by impacting the food chain.
• Effects of extinction will worsen in the coming decades as the resulting genetic and cultural variability will change entire ecosystems.
• When the number of individuals in a population or species drops too low, its contributions to ecosystem functions and services become unimportant, its genetic variability and resilience are reduced, and its contribution to human welfare may be lost.

About the Mass Extinctions:

• Mass extinction refers to a substantial increase in the degree of extinction or when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short period of time.
• So far, during the entire history of the Earth, there have been five mass extinctions.

Sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction:

• Some researchers have pointed out that we are currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction as the result of human-induced climate change.
• More than 99 per cent of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth are extinct.
• As new species evolve to fit ever-changing ecological niches, older species fade away. But the rate of extinction is far from constant.

11. Finally, microorganisms and pollinators receive much needed support: Technical working group formed by FAO

Subject: Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context:

• A new intergovernmental technical working group on microorganism and invertebrate genetic resources (MIGR) was set up during the 19th regular session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), which was held July 17-21, 2023 in Rome, Italy at the FAO headquarters.

Details:

• The commission is a scientific and technical body that provides policy guidance towards conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and genetic resources specifically geared towards food and agriculture.
• Microorganisms help in bioremediation and nutrient cycling in the soil along with those that are relevant to ruminant digestion (livestock such as cattle).
• In the case of pollinators, biological control agents and bio-stimulants, they recommended setting up a global pollinator platform to respond to the situation.
• However, parties hope to use the evidence created by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production, and the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services which provide evidence of biodiversity loss due to current agriculture practices such as use of pesticides and fertilisers, and monocultures.
• Members also discussed overlaps, or ‘mission creep’, between the commission’s work with that of Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Global Pollinators Watch:

• The goal of Global Pollinator Watch, a home-based citizen science program, is to equip members of the public with the training and resources they need to collect data that will help us to better understand pollinator presence and abundance in regions around the world.
• These data will enable us to track the critical timing of pollinator activity and the host plants that they rely on for part of their life cycles, and ultimately, to help reduce pollinator decline.

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity (IBPES):

• It is an independent intergovernmental body, established by member States in 2012.
• It strengthens the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

12. Himalayas losing glaciers and snow: more hazards in the offing, a new study finds

Subject: Environment

Section: Climate change

Context:

• A recent report on the effect of climate change on the Hindu Kush Himalaya warns of glacier volume loss of 30% to 50% by 2100.

Details:

• The rapid melting of glaciers, snow and permafrost is making the mountain region more hazardous. More meltwater will be drained into the rivers till mid-century after which the water availability will steadily decline.
• The ecosystem and societies in the region are facing a hard limit for adaptation if the global warming levels are allowed to escalate.

Water, ice, society and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya or the HI-WISE report:

• Released by Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
• The HI-WISE report follows the HKH Assessment Report (2019), which assessed literature published till 2017, focusing on aspects of climate change, cryosphere, water and biodiversity.
• The report focuses on the cryosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere-society linkages in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
• The HI-WISE report aims to inform the people of the Hindu Kush Himalaya, as well as decision-makers, practitioners and the global community on the rapidly changing cryosphere in the region and its impacts on water, biodiversity, and societies.
• The report highlighted the ecosystem degradation and changes in species structure and composition.

Significance of Himalayan glaciers:

• The Himalayas are known as the Water Tower of Asia, as Himalaya is the water source for 16 countries, including India and China, feeding over two billion people living in various river basins.
• Even the people living downstream are heavily reliant on meltwater originating from mountains for agricultural, domestic, and industrial uses.

Karakoram anomaly:

• A projected 30%-50% loss in glacier volume by the end of the century at the global warming level between 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius.
• The Karakoram range, too, is losing glaciers, making the “Karakoram Anomaly” a thing of the past.
• Karakoram Anomaly refers to the anomalous growth and stability of glaciers in central Karakoram, in contrast to the retreat of glaciers in other parts.
• Consequences:
  • It would result in increased water discharge into the rivers.
  • More extreme weather events like glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) that happened in Chamoli or Melamchi are a possibility.
  • The snow cover days have declined at an average rate of five days per decade with most of the changes at lower elevations.
  • Seasonal shift in the snow cover with a notable decrease during the summer and winter months.

Climate change and permafrost thawing:

• Permafrost is essentially any ground that stays frozen — 0 degree Celsius or lower — for at least two years straight.
• These permanently frozen grounds are often found in Arctic regions such as Greenland, Alaska (the United States), Canada, Russia and Eastern Europe. Permafrost is also present in higher altitudes of the mountains like the Himalayas.
• Thawing permafrost in the Himalayas has been reported to be a cause for impending climate disasters.
  • Permafrost thaw makes surfaces, slopes and infrastructure unstable, making a good case for a change in government policies on large hydropower projects in the region.
  • Permafrost thaw leads to increased sedimentation in rivers which damages dams and turbines.

13. Early Warnings for All

Subject: Geography

Section: Physical geography

• Aim:
  • The “Early Warnings for All” initiative is a groundbreaking effort to ensure that everyone on Earth is protected from hazardous weather, water, or climate events through life-saving early warning systems by the end of 2027.
• Project partners:
  • The Early Warnings for All initiative is co-led by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), with support from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and other partners.
  • The Early Warnings for All initiative partners beyond the UN with the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, civil society, Big Tech companies, donor governments, development banks, and the insurance sector.

The Early Warnings for All initiative is built around four key pillars: 

1. Disaster risk knowledge and management
   • Systematically gather data and conduct risk evaluations under the supervision of UNDRR.
2. Detection, observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting
   • Advancing hazard monitoring and early warning systems under the direction of WMO.
3. Warning dissemination and communication
   • Conveying clear risk information and early warnings under the leadership of ITU.
4. Preparedness and response capabilities
   • Develop national and community response capacities under the guidance of IFRC.

Need for early warning systems:

• These systems are a cost-effective tool that saves lives, reduces economic losses, and provides a nearly tenfold return on investment.
• Early warning systems have helped decrease the number of deaths resulting from hazardous weather, water, or climate events.
• According to the Global Commission on Adaptation, giving just 24 hours’ notice of an impending hazardous event can reduce damage by 30 percent.
  • Investing just US$800 million in such systems in developing countries would prevent losses of $3 to $16 billion annually.
• But major gaps still exist, especially in small islands and developing countries.
• The United Nations Secretary-General ensures that early warning systems protect everyone on Earth within the next five years.
• The Early Warnings For All initiative is fully aligned with the 2030 global agenda and supports key Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction provisions and the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals on poverty, hunger, health, water, clean energy, climate action and sustainable cities.

Challenges:

• Only half of the countries worldwide report having adequate multi-hazard early warning systems.
• And even fewer have regulatory frameworks that connect early warnings to emergency plans.
• Climate, weather, and water-related extremes have led to 15 times more deadly hazards for people in Africa, South Asia, South and Central America, and small island states. Vulnerable, least-developed countries that have not contributed significantly to the problem of climate change are bearing the brunt of this crisis.

14. WEF’s ‘Saagu Baagu’ pilot benefits Telangana farmers

Subject :Economy

Section: Msc

In News: Telangana’s “Saagu Baagu” (agricultural advancement) pilot project with the guidance of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has impacted the lives of over 7,000 chilli farmers in the State and the second phase of the project is set to take off.

Key Points:

• The impact on the lives of these farmers has been created by providing them access to agtech services such as AI-based advisories, soil testing, produce quality testing and e-commerce under “Saagu Baagu” pilot project.
• Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture Innovation” (AI4AI) initiative is the crux of the “Saagu Baagu” project, addressing the challenges of  fragmented technological infrastructure, high costs of operations, lack of access to data and limited technical expertise, while hampering the scale of their impact.
• AI4AI aims to transform the agriculture sector in India by promoting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies.
• The “Saagu Baagu” project focuses on transformation of each agriculture value chain by easing agri-tech services delivery to the end customer through administrative, policy support and through digital public infrastructure.
• aim to empower farmers with data-driven crop advisories and market intelligence, ultimately striving to foster agricultural prosperity
• The project was initiated in 2022 and is being implemented by Digital Green (in consortium with three agritech start-ups) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• In 2nd phase the project will be scaled up from 2023 onwards to 20,000 chilli and groundnut farmers in three districts.
• India’s first agricultural sandbox, an agricultural data exchange and agri-data management framework will be included in this phase to support agritech services.

15. State Debt profile: Tamil Nadu tops with highest outstanding debt

Subject :Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Key Points:

• Tamil Nadu has the highest amount of outstanding debt among all States and Union Territories. The State’s outstanding debt stood, as per budget estimates for 2022-23, at ₹7.54-lakh crore followed by Uttar Pradesh at ₹7.10-lakh crore, as per figues presented in the parliament
• The outstanding liabilities of Maharashtra, the country’s largest economy measured in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), stood at ₹6.80-lakh crore as per budget estimates for 2022-23. It was followed by West Bengal (₹6.08-lakh crore), Rajasthan (₹5.37-lakh crore) and Karnataka (₹5.35-lakh crore). The union territory of Puducherry had the lowest outstanding debt of ₹11,651 crore.
• Tamil Nadu has budgeted an outstanding debt ₹7.26-lakh crore for FY24. This constitutes 25.63 per cent of GSDP in 2023-24, well within the 29.1 per cent for limit set by the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
• Tamil Nadu topping the list of States with highest debt is not surprising as the State has consistently been the highest market borrower in the last three years.
• Market borrowings of States are done through issue of bonds under State Development Loans (SDLs).

16. SpiceJet comes out of DGCA’s enhanced surveillance regime

Subject :Economy

Section: Infrastructure

Context:: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has removed SpiceJet from its enhanced surveillance regime, signaling a resolution to the airline’s recent challenges.

Key Points: 

• The low-cost carrier had been facing several challenges that prompted the regulator to closely monitor its operations.
• The air carrier was put on surveillance twice due to following reasons:
  • The airline experienced repeated safety incidents due to which the regulator. placed it under intense scrutiny to ensure compliance with safety protocols. These restrictions were later lifted on October 30 of the same year.
  • The company also faced financial struggles later, when multiple lessors sought to repossess aircraft leased to the carrier. DGCA then decided to place the airline under enhanced surveillance again. The payment issues in these cases were eventually settled by the airline. Consequently, DGCA reinstated the enhanced surveillance regime.

What is the enhanced surveillance regime?

• • DGCA on receiving any report of any incident that may affect safety or air worthiness of the aircraft, may bring the airline under enhanced surveillance.
  • Enhanced surveillance involves increased night surveillance and spot checks to ensure the airline’s adherence to safety standards.
  • It may be triggered by financial difficulties too, as this can have indirect effect on aircraft maintenance and safety.

17. Recovery in India’s forex reserves

Subject :Economy

Section: External Sector

In News: India’s forex reserves breach $600 billion-mark, hover around 15-month high.

Key Points:

• India’s forex reserves are seeing a significant jump owing to various factors, definitively reversing the downtrend that started in March 2022, when dollar appreciated after the US Fed hiked rates and India’s balance of payment (BoP) saw lower net capital inflows.
• This trend reversed with the dollar index peaking in October 2022 as expectations of further Fed rate hikes waned.
• Forex reserves jumped this year primarily due to revaluation gains as the dollar weakened and capital flows rose. Also, oil imports from Russia are not settled in dollar, which has also added reserves.
• India stands fourth among countries with the highest forex reserves. China, Japan and Switzerland are the top three, respectively.

What explains India’s forex reserves? 

• • Most countries, barring India, run large and persistent current account surpluses since they have a competitive exports market.
  • India, Brazil, and the US have built reserves through capital flows instead of huge current account surplus.

How are forex reserves measured?

• The RBI’s forex reserves refer to the assets the central bank holds to provide import cover and protect against external shocks. It has four components:

1. Foreign currency assets (FCA)
2. Gold,
3. Special Drawing Rights and
4. Reserve position in the IMF.

• RBI revalues these assets every week. Forex reserves are influenced by movements in exchange rates and gold prices. A depreciation of the US dollar or higher gold prices causes valuation gains. A strong dollar or fall in gold prices brings down the value of the non-dollar portion of the reserves.

Is this level of forex reserves sustainable?

• Rate hikes in the US trigger an inflow of foreign investments to the US treasury and, simultaneously, an outflow of capital from India.
• The US Fed has hiked rates by 75 basis points so far this year. Expectations are that the Fed may deliver a final rate hike of 25 basis points when it meets this week. This could increase capital outflows from emerging markets such as India.
• Also, there is a significant improvement in the Balance of Payment (BoP) with the current account deficit now projected at less than 2% of GDP.
• There is also a resumption in equity capital flows with India continuing to attract maximum flows among emerging market peers.

18. Why Lokmanya Tilak National Award for PM Modi has raised hackles in Congress

Subject: History

Section: Modern India

Context: The award has been instituted by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust in the memory of the nationalist ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak and is given on Tilak’s death anniversary.

Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak 

• Born on July 23, 1856, Tilak was a mathematician, philosopher, scholar and social reformer.
• To impart quality education to the country’s youth, he founded the Deccan Education Society in 1884.
• He also started two weeklies, Kesari (in Marathi) and Mahratta (in English), through which he criticised British policies of that time.
• Tilak joined the Congress in 1890, but due to ideological differences, he and his supporters were known as extremist leaders within the party.
• British arrested him on the charges of sedition in 1906 and a court sentenced him to six years of imprisonment in Mandalay (Burma)
• He was popularly known as Lokmanya. The famous slogan, “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”, was coined by him.
• Tilak with Annie Besant, Joseph Baptista, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah founded the All India Home Rule League in 1916.
• In the same year, he concluded the Lucknow Pact with Jinnah, which provided for Hindu-Muslim unity in the nationalist struggle.
• When BalGangadharTilak was imprisoned during the freedom struggle, he wrote a book titled ‘Gita-Rahasya’.
• The events like the Ganapati festival and ShivajJayanti were used by Tilak to build a national spirit beyond the circle of the educated elite in opposition to colonial rule.

19. G20 commemorative coins

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context: The government will issue two commemorative coins to mark G20 presidency. India holds the presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.

Are commemorative coins legal tender?

• Though commemorative coins are considered legal tender, they are not released for general circulation. One can source them from the specified agencies.

Details of commemorative coins

• According to a gazette notification, “The coins of ₹100 and ₹75 denominations shall only be coined at the mint for issue under the authority of the Central Government on the occasion of ‘India’s G20 Presidency.”
• The dimensions of both the coins will be similar. Shape will be circular with outside diameter of 44 millimeters. The number of serrations will be 200. The metal composition will be a quaternary alloy with a composition of silver (50 per cent), copper (40 per cent), nickel (05 per cent) and zinc (05 per cent).
• The face of both the coins will bear the lion capital of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with the legend ‘Satyamev Jayate’inscribed below, flanked on the left periphery with the word ‘Bharat’ in Devnagri script and on the right periphery with the word ‘India’ in English.
• It shall also bear the Rupee symbol ‘₹’’ and denominational value of ‘100’ and ‘75’ in the international numerals below the lion capital. On the reverse face, the coins shall bear the design of shall bear the design of the logo of India’s G20 Presidency in the centre. The inscription ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ shall be written in Devnagari script on the upper periphery of the coin and the inscription “ONE EARTH • ONE FAMILY • ONE FUTURE” in English shall be written on lower periphery of coins.
• The theme of India’s G20 Presidency — “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth · One Family · One Future”— is drawn from the ancient Sanskrit text of the Maha Upanishad.
• Essentially, the theme affirms the value of all life – human, animal, plant, and microorganisms – and their interconnectedness on the planet Earth and in the wider universe. The theme also spotlights LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), with its associated, environmentally sustainable and responsible choices, both at the level of individual lifestyles as well as national development, leading to globally transformative actions resulting in a cleaner, greener and bluer future.
• For India, the G20 Presidency also marks the beginning of “Amritkaal”, the 25-year period beginning from the 75th anniversary of its independence on 15 August 2022, leading up to the centenary of its independence.