Daily Prelims Notes 3 September 2023

September 3, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

3 September 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Govt notifies ONE-nation, ONE-election panel

Subject: Polity

Section: Elections

Context: The Centre named an eight-member high-level committee to “examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections” to Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.

More about the news:

The law ministry has formed a high-level committee to study the proposal of simultaneous elections in the country.
The committee is headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve, and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the committee’s meetings as a special invitee.
The panel would “examine and make recommendations” for holding simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha, assemblies and local bodies, and propose changes in the existing law.
It is also required to examine if any constitutional amendment is required to be ratified by the states, and analyze and recommend possible solution in a scenario of simultaneous elections emerging out of a hung House, adoption of no-confidence motion, or defection, or any such other event.
The committee has also been asked to “suggest a framework for synchronisation of elections and specifically, suggest the phases and time frame within which simultaneous elections may be held if they cannot be held in one go.
Crucially, the committee will also examine the modalities of using “a single electoral roll and electoral identity cards” for voters in elections at all three levels – Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies.
It will also examine the logistics and manpower required, including EVMs, VVPATs

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.

It will need at least five constitutional amendments. The articles that would require amending are:

Article 83 (2): It says the Lok Sabha’s term should not exceed five years but it may be dissolved sooner.
Article 85 (2) (B): A dissolution ends the very life of the existing House and a new House is constituted after general elections.
Article 172 (1): A state assembly, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years
Article 174 (2) (B) – The Governor has the power to dissolve the assembly on the aid and advice of the cabinet. He Governor can apply his mind when the advice comes from a Chief Minister whose majority is in doubt.
Article 356 – Imposition of President’s Rule in states.

For a Constitutional Amendment, two-third members of the House must be present for the vote. A consensus of all political parties and state governments is needed.
After the Constitutional Amendment Bill is passed in parliament, it needs to be ratified by half the states in India through resolutions in their assemblies.
Even if the Constitution is amended to bring about simultaneous Lok Sabha and state polls, huge resources will be needed. This would include over 25 lakhs Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and 25 lakh VVPATs (Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail) to conduct the polls. For perspective, the Election Commission is scrambling with just over 12 lakh EVMs now.
A parliamentary standing committee had highlighted that in South Africa, elections to national as well as provincial legislatures are held simultaneously for five years and municipal elections are held two years later.
In Sweden, elections to the national legislature (Riksdag) and provincial legislature/county council (landsting) and local bodies/municipal assemblies (Kommunfullmaktige) are held on a fixed date – the second Sunday in September for four years.
In the UK, the term of parliament is governed by the Fixed-term Parliament Act, 2011

2. Cells with minimal genome can evolve as fast as normal cells

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Biotechnology

Introduction

Dairy farming introduced gene mutations in humans to digest milk.
Mutations in non-essential genes can drive evolution in complex organisms.
Challenge: How does a simple organism with essential genes evolve with minimal targets for selection?

Experimental Setup:

Mycoplasma mycoides Genome (Sourced from goat, cattle gut)
Created minimal cell (Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn3.B) with 493 genes compared to non-minimal cell (JCVI-syn1.0).
Genome minimization reduced minimal cell fitness by over 50%.

Testing Evolution

Minimal and non-minimal cells grown separately for 300 days, equivalent to 40,000 years of human evolution.
Minimal cells showed mutation rates comparable to non-minimal cells.
Despite the minimal cell’s reduced fitness due to genome minimization, the researchers found that it could evolve as fast as a normal cell.

Comparison and Genetic Pathways

Size difference: Non-minimal cells increased by 80%, while minimal cells remained the same size.
Examination of genomes of adapted cells reveals distinct genetic pathways.

Significance of Findings

Significant contribution to microbial evolution.
Relevance to synthetic biology and the adaptability of engineered cells.
Life’s robustness and adaptability even with minimal genomes.
Implications for treating clinical pathogens, engineered microorganisms, and the origin of life.

Key terms:

Gene Mutation: A gene mutation is a permanent alteration in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene. Mutations can result from changes in the nucleotide sequence of DNA and can lead to variations in an organism’s characteristics.
Evolution: Evolution is the process by which species change over time through the gradual accumulation of genetic changes. It leads to the development of new species from pre-existing ones.
Genome: A genome is the complete set of an organism’s genetic material, including all of its genes and non-coding sequences of DNA.
Synthetic Biology: Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from biology, engineering, and computer science to design and construct new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign existing biological systems for useful purposes.
Minimal Cell: A minimal cell is a simplified version of a biological cell that contains only the essential genes and components required for life.
Natural Selection: Natural selection is the process by which organisms with traits that confer a reproductive advantage in a given environment are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their genes to the next generation.
Fitness: Fitness in an evolutionary context refers to an organism’s ability to survive, reproduce, and pass on its genes to the next generation. It is a measure of how well an organism is adapted to its environment.
Genetic Variation: Genetic variation refers to the diversity of genetic material within a population. It arises from mutations, genetic recombination, and other processes and is a source of genetic diversity within a species.

3. Three-fourths of India’s irrigation sources run on electricity: study

Subject :Geography

Section: Physical Geography

Context:

The latest edition of the Minor Irrigation Census (MIC) — a compendium of borewells, tubewells, and other privately owned irrigation sources by farmers — finds that electricity is the dominant source of power to extract water, over diesel, windmills, and solar pumps.

About Micro Irrigation Census (MIC):

A micro irrigation scheme is a type of irrigation project that uses surface water or groundwater to irrigate a culturable command area (CCA) of up to 2,000 hectares.
Released by- Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The MIC reports aren’t a reflection of the present state of use.
Because data collection requires collecting granular data down to the block level, it takes a few years to compile and make the data public.

Six MICs have been conducted so far:

The First Census of Minor Irrigation schemes was conducted with reference year 1986-87.
The Second Census with reference year 1993-94 was conducted in all States and Union Territories, except Gujarat, Maharashtra and UTs of Chandigarh, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.
The Third Minor Irrigation Census with reference year 2000-01 was conducted in all States and Union Territories except Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.
The fourth Census in the series was conducted with reference year 2006-07 in all States and Union Territories except Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.
The Fifth MI Census was conducted with reference year 2013-14 in all States and Union Territories except Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.
The latest Sixth MI Census has been conducted with reference year 2017-18 in all States and Union Territories except Delhi, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.
The First census of water bodies has also been taken up in convergence with the sixth MI census.

Key findings of the sixth MIC:

Significant increase in electricity usage- From powering only 56% of sources in 2011 to 70% in 2017 shows electricity as powering 76% of sources – a slower growth rate.
- This electrification of groundwater withdrawal corresponds to a rise in the use of tube wells and borewells that are capable of extracting water at greater depths.
- While ‘dugwells’ or ponds that can draw water from a maximum depth of 15 meters, remain the dominant source of groundwater, their number has declined from 87 lakh to 82 lakh between the fifth and sixth editions.
- ‘Shallow’ tube wells, capable of drawing water from up to 35 metres too, have declined from 59 lakh to 55 lakh.
- ‘medium-sized’ wells – capable of withdrawing water from up to 70 meters – grew from 31 lakh to 43 lakh and ‘deep’ wells (beyond 70m) rose from 26 lakh to 37 lakh.
The report doesn’t discuss the causes for the increase of more powerful, and deep-reaching tubewells.

State wise analysis:

The groundwater situation varies across the country. Because different state governments announce different schemes where farmers are incentivised or get access to loans to buy such tubewells.
The lower growth in electrification is also likely to be a result of greater emphasis on energy efficient water extraction.
Overall, 23.14 million Minor Irrigation (MI) schemes were reported in the country from 695 districts and 6,47,394 villages. Out of all MI schemes, 21.93 million (94.8%) were for groundwater (GW) and 1.21 million (5.2%) for surface-water (SW) extraction.
Uttar Pradesh had the largest number of MI schemes in the country (17.2%) followed by Maharashtra (15.4%), Madhya Pradesh (9.9%) and Tamil Nadu (9.1%).
Leading States in GW schemes are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana whereas Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand have the highest share in SW schemes.
The number of MI schemes increased by about 1.42 million between the fifth and sixth editions.
Most of the schemes (96.6%) were privately owned and small and marginal farmers, having less than two hectares of land, owned the majority of MI schemes.

Ownership Breakdown:

Approximately 96.6% of MI schemes are under private ownership.
Among GW schemes, 98.3% are owned by private entities, and in SW schemes, this share is 64.2%.
For the first time, data on the gender of MI scheme owners was collected.
18.1% of individually owned schemes are owned by women.

Financing and Sources:

Around 60.2% of schemes are financed through a single source.
Own savings of individual farmers contribute significantly to single-source financing (79.5%).

4. Early prediction of preeclampsia using a blood-derived biomarker

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Biotechnology

Context:

A liquid-biopsy approach that measures DNA-methylation levels in the blood may improve the detection of pregnancies at risk of developing preeclampsia at early stages, according to a study.

Preeclampsia:

Preeclampsia is a major cause of morbidities during gestation.
Early-onset preeclampsia — occurring before 34 weeks of gestation — is associated with a higher risk of severe disease and foetal mortality.
Low-dose aspirin at early stages of the disease (before 16 weeks of gestation) can reduce the risk of developing preeclampsia, but early identification of the disease is needed to initiate this intervention.
Previous studies have shown that widespread methylation changes in the placenta occur at delivery.

Liquid biopsy:

Liquid biopsy is a promising emerging tool for non-invasive diagnostics for preeclampsia.
The researchers detected differences in DNA methylation in the control pregnancies versus the pregnancies that developed preeclampsia.
The preliminary results suggest that cell-free DNA methylation profiling is a promising tool for presymptomatic PE risk assessment, and has the potential to improve treatment and follow-up in the obstetric clinic.

Biomarker:

It generally refers to a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated to examine normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention.

Application:

Biochemical biomarkers are often used in clinical trials, where they are derived from bodily fluids that are easily available to the early phase researchers.
They are also used in pre-clinical work to identify compounds that appear to modulate disease in in vivo models and therefore might be tried in human clinical trials.
Disease-related biomarkers give an indication of the probable effect of treatment on patients.

For details of Biomarker: https://optimizeias.com/biomarkers/

5. Chest X-ray interpretation using AI can detect more TB cases

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Health

Context:

India has a powerful technology — AI-assisted chest X-ray — to screen presumptive TB cases.

AI-assisted chest X-ray- qXR:

The AI algorithm (qXR) developed by the Mumbai-based Qure.ai, can help in early detection of people with presumptive TB disease in less than a minute, including people with subclinical TB.
The AI software combined with molecular tests for TB disease confirmation can vastly increase detection rates.
The qXR software got the European CE certification and the Indian drug regulator.
WHO recommendation:
- The qXR was one of the three AI algorithms that the WHO had referenced to when updating the TB screening guidelines in March 2021.
- Qure.ai’s AI algorithm has a CE certification for use in the paediatric population (person below 15 years of age).
  - Unlike in adults, paediatric pulmonary TB detection using X-rays is a challenge as radiological evidence of pulmonary TB in children is less specific.
- In 2021, WHO recommended the use of CAD products which use the AI to automate interpretation of digital chest X-rays for TB screening and triage in people older than 15 years.
- The qXR software meets the WHO requirement with over 90% sensitivity and more than 70% specificity in people older than 15 years.
The 2019 study demonstrated that qXR has the potential to increase capacity and aid TB diagnosis, especially in settings with a shortage of trained human readers which is a huge shortcoming in using chest X-rays for TB screening.
The qXR algorithm is already being used in over 50 countries.
In India, 24 States are using it in about 150 sites. But nowhere in India is the software used at scale.
- In some States, the qXR software is used in just one site, like in Kerala.
The use of the algorithm to screen the X-rays increased the yield (positivity) of GeneXpert molecular tests by 18-27%, as per a survey.
The qXR algorithm can also be used for detecting TB disease from film-based X-rays.

MyBeam device:

Active case finding got a boost when Qure.ai partnered with Mylab Discovery Solutions to use the qXR software in Mylab’s portable chest X-ray device (MyBeam).
This will enable screening of presumptive TB cases with the AI algorithm even in rural areas.
The portable device cuts the amount of X-ray exposure to 1/20th to 1/30th of a normal X-ray even while capturing all the details.

Ending TB by 2025:

As per the 2019-2021 National TB prevalence survey in India report, nearly 43% of TB cases would have been missed if a chest X-ray was not included.
Systematic screening for TB disease for early diagnosis is one of the main End TB strategies.
Large-scale use of AI-assisted chest X-rays for screening is the first crucial step in the TB care cascade to achieve this goal.

Lower adoption rate:

The AI algorithm was first installed in January 2021 at the S.K. Patil Hospital in Mumbai.
The Central TB Division’s directive to States to procure and deploy the tool for early TB disease diagnosis will go a long way in widespread adoption.
The absence of policy guidance has led to low adoption.
The Central TB Division is yet to recommend the use of qXR.

For details of TB: https://optimizeias.com/india-tb-and-its-goal/

6. What derives the process of atlantification in Arctic Ocean

Subject :Environment

Section: Climate Change

Context:

New research by an international team of scientists explains what’s behind a stalled trend in Arctic Ocean sea ice loss since 2007.

Details:

The findings indicate that stronger declines in sea ice will occur when an atmospheric feature known as the Arctic dipole reverses itself in its recurring cycle.
The analysis helps explain how North Atlantic water influences Arctic Ocean climate, a process scientists call “Atlantification.”

Atlantification of Arctic ocean:

Atlantification is the increasing influence of Atlantic water in the Arctic. Warmer and saltier Atlantic water is extending its reach northward into the Arctic Ocean.
This change in the Arctic climate is most prominent in the Barents Sea, a shallow shelf sea north of Scandinavia, where sea-ice is disappearing faster than in any other Arctic region, impacting the local and global ecosystem.

Key findings of the research:

Analysis shows that the Arctic dipole alternates in an approximately 15-year cycle and that the system is probably at the end of the present regime.
In the Arctic dipole’s present “positive” regime, high pressure is centered over the Canadian sector of the Arctic and produces clockwise winds.
Low pressure is centered over the Siberian Arctic and features counterclockwise winds. This wind pattern drives upper ocean currents, with year-round effects on:
- regional air temperatures,
- atmosphere-ice-ocean heat exchanges,
- sea-ice drift and exports, and
- ecological consequences.
Water exchanges between the Nordic seas and the Arctic Ocean are critically important for the state of the Arctic climate system” and sea ice decline is “a true indicator of climate change.”
Ocean responses to wind pattern:
- Decreased flow from the Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait east of Greenland, along with increased Atlantic flow into the Barents Sea, located north of Norway and western Russia.
- These alternating changes in the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea are referred to as a “switchgear mechanism” caused by the Arctic dipole regimes. This mechanism can lead to potentially more suitable living conditions for sub-Arctic boreal species near the eastern part of the Eurasian Basin, relative to its western part.
- Counterclockwise winds from the low-pressure region under the current positive Arctic dipole regime drive freshwater from Siberian rivers into the Canadian sector of the Arctic Ocean.
- This westward movement of freshwater from 2007 to 2021 helped slow the overall loss of sea ice in the Arctic compared to 1992 through 2006. The freshwater layer’s depth increased, making it too thick and stable to mix with the heavier saltwater below. The thick layer of freshwater prevents the warmer saltwater from melting sea ice from the bottom.

Fram strait:

The Fram Strait is the passage between Greenland and Svalbard.
The Greenland and Norwegian Seas lie south of Fram Strait, while the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean lies to the north.
Fram Strait is noted for being the only deep connection between the Arctic Ocean and the World Oceans.
The dominant oceanographic features of the region are the West Spitsbergen Current on the east side of the strait and the East Greenland Current on the west.

7. India’s iconic raptors are declining fast, warns new report

Subject :Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

India’s raptors (birds of prey) are declining fast and the reasons for the decline are poorly understood, according to the State of India’s Birds 2023: Range, trends, and conservation status released on August 25, 2023.

What does the report say?

Raptors are in decline globally due to:
- loss of habitat,
- pesticide accumulation
  - Harriers have declined in their breeding range in Europe due to pesticide use. Harriers winter in India and some, like the Pallid Harrier have shown a 70 per cent decline.
- targeted killing.
All woodland species, and White-eyed Buzzard and Common Kestrel among generalists continue to decline at a lower rate than earlier.
In contrast, open country specialists show a particularly strong decline both in the long term and currently, although Black-winged Kite and Western Marsh Harrier show trends that are roughly stable in the long term.
Some raptors in India are on the decline as they need large tracts of high-quality habitat to serve their dietary needs which the country no longer has.
- An example of this is the Tawny Eagle. It is becoming increasingly difficult to see today and is of High Conservation Concern like many other large raptors.

Declining vulture population:

International Day for Vulture Awareness: 2 September
India’s vulture populations started plummeting in the 1990s due to the widespread use of diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in veterinary medicine. When vultures fed on the carcasses of animals treated with diclofenac, they experienced kidney failure, leading to their rapid decline. Populations of some vulture species have decreased by over 99 per cent, pushing these birds to the brink of extinction.
The diclofenac ban (since 2006) may have slowed vulture declines in some places, but the analyses in this report shows that countrywide, vultures continue to decline: Indian Vulture by over 8% every year, and Red-headed and White-rumped Vultures by over 5% and 4% respectively.
Several Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS), including diclofenac and aceclofenac, continue to be produced for human use and can thus be used for livestock as well.
Besides drugs, vultures are now facing challenges in that carcasses are being buried. Moreover, feral dogs compete with the birds at carcass dumps. Carcasses poisoned to kill feral dogs often cause vulture deaths as collateral damage.
Recently the Government has banned aceclofenac and ketoprofen. But Nimesulide, another NSAID that is also harmful to vultures, still remains in use.

Other threats to vultures:

Electrocution from power lines
Issue of accidental poisoning

Role of vultures:

Vultures play a critical role in maintaining the ecological balance by scavenging ungulate carcasses and preventing the spread of diseases.

Positive trends in the report:

There are some positive trends too.
Generalist species like Shikra, Booted Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, and Brahminy Kite (which occupy a range of habitats, including human habitats) and woodland species appear to have suffered the least declines in the long term.

For details on vultures and their conservation plan: https://optimizeias.com/centre-prohibits-production-distribution-of-two-drugs-toxic-for-vultures/

8. What We Learnt From a Sahara Space Rock Left Over From the Dawn of the Solar System

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

In May 2020, some unusual rocks containing distinctive greenish crystals were found in the Erg Chech sand sea, a dune-filled region of the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria.

Erg chech 002:

The rocks turned out to be from outer space: lumps of rubble billions of years old, left over from the dawn of the Solar System.
They were all pieces of a meteorite known as Erg Chech 002, which is the oldest volcanic rock ever found, having melted long ago in the fires of some now-vanished ancient protoplanet.
Researchers have now analyzed lead and uranium isotopes in Erg Chech 002 and calculated it is some 4.56556 billion years old, give or take 120,000 years. The results also cast doubt on some common assumptions about the early Solar System.

Aluminum in the solar system:

Around 4.567 billion years ago, our Solar System formed from a vast cloud of gas and dust.
Among the many elements in this cloud was aluminium, which came in two forms:
First is the stable form, aluminium-27.
Second is aluminium-26, a radioactive isotope mainly produced by exploding stars, which decays over time into magnesium-26.
Importance of Aluminium -26:
- It is useful to understand how the Solar System formed and developed. Because it decays over time, scientists use it to date events – particularly within the first four or five million years of the Solar System’s life.
- The decay of aluminium-26 was the main source of heat in the early Solar System.
- This decay influenced the melting of the small, primitive rocks that later clumped together to form the planets.

Uranium, lead and age

However, to use aluminum-26 to understand the past, we need to know whether it was spread around evenly or clumped together more densely in some places than in others.
To figure that out, we will need to calculate the absolute ages of some ancient space rocks more precisely.
As Aluminum 26 decays relatively quickly (after around 705,000 years, half of a sample of aluminium-26 will have decayed into magnesium-26), so it alone is not useful, but combining aluminum 26 data with uranium and lead data, can give desired results.
There are two important isotopes of uranium (uranium-235 and uranium-238), which decay into different isotopes of lead (lead-207 and lead-206, respectively).
The uranium isotopes have much longer half-lives (710 million years and 4.47 billion years, respectively), which means we can use them to directly figure out how long ago an event happened.

Meteorite groups

Erg Chech 002 is an “ungrouped achondrite”.
Achondrites are rocks formed from melted planetesimals, which are solid lumps in the cloud of gas and debris that formed the Solar System.
The sources of many achondrites found on Earth have been identified.
Most belong to the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite clan, which are believed to have originated from Vesta 4, one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System. Another group of achondrites is called angrites, which all share an unidentified parent body.
Still other achondrites, including Erg Chech 002, are “ungrouped”: their parent bodies and family relationships are unknown.

A clumpy spread of aluminum:

Erg Chech 002 was found to contain a high abundance of lead-206 and lead-207, as well as relatively large amounts of undecayed uranium-238 and uranium-235.
Measuring the ratios of all the lead and uranium isotopes helped to estimate the age of the rock with such unprecedented accuracy.
The comparison with a group of achondrites called volcanic angrites showed that the parent body of Erg Chech 002 must have formed from material containing three or four times as much aluminum-26 as the source of the angrites’ parent body.
This shows aluminum-26 was indeed distributed quite unevenly throughout the cloud of dust and gas which formed the solar system.

Significance:

The results contribute to a better understanding of the Solar System’s earliest developmental stages, and the geological history of burgeoning planets.
Further studies of diverse achondrite groups will continue to refine our understanding and enhance our ability to reconstruct the early history of our Solar System.