Daily Prelims Notes 15 October 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

15 October 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Eating right, for the environment: WWF’s diet chart to help curb climate change, biodiversity loss
2. Ocean currents protect Galápagos Islands from global warming
3. Organic fertiliser: A must for the next green revolution
4. NGT slaps Rs 500-cr fine on Karnataka govt for failing to protect Bengaluru lake-
5. India’s green push for second-generation bioethanol
6. GSLV MkIII to make commercial foray by launching 36 satellites on Oct 23
7. Court rejects plea for carbon dating of Gyanvapi ‘shivling’
8. Global Hunger Index is out, India in ‘serious’ category at rank 107
9. INS Arihant successfully fires SLBM; very high accuracy: Govt
10. TRIPS
11. Govt probe on Nayanthara-Vignesh Shivan ‘surrogacy’ to clear air, no complaints so far, says Tamil Nadu health official
12. The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) has rejected a request made by banks to exempt certificates of deposit (CDs) from deposit insurance coverage.
13. IRDAI proposes conditions for investment by private equity funds as promoters in insurance companies.
14. Longwood Shola forest
15. Kolar gold mines

1. Eating right, for the environment: WWF’s diet chart to help curb climate change, biodiversity loss

Subject: Environment

Context-

• Cutting down on meat consumption can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions is well known.
• But global non-profit World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says much more is needed to slow climate change and biodiversity loss.
• Ahead of World Food Day (October 16), WWF outlined a sustainable diet plan that can help address a host of environmental challenges while also providing health benefits.

It encouraged the following consumption patterns:

• Plant-heavy diet:
  • Growing plants requires less water and land and emits lower volumes of greenhouse gases than meat, dairy and egg production.
  • Incorporating more fruits, vegetables and wholegrains in our diet can reduce the impact our food system has on the environment.
• Diversify the platter:
  • Seventy-five percent of the global food supply comes from only 12 plant and five animal species.
  • The global dependence on a small range of food threatens the diversity of species in agriculture, weakens our food systems and is also not the most nutritious.
• Cut food waste:
  • Planning meals, shopping smart and more efficient storage of food items can help reduce food waste.
  • Nearly 570 million tonnes of the global food waste occurs at the household level.
• Proteins beyond meat:
  • Around 60 per cent of the greenhouse gas emission from agriculture is due to animal farming.
  • Consuming more mushrooms, peas, beans and nuts to meet our protein requirements can help reduce this burden.
• Pay attention to logos:
  • Being aware of and choosing food packages based on eco-labels can go a long way.
  • The organisation listed out some logos one can look for while grocery shopping.
  • These include: Organic, Rainforest Alliance (for sustainable agriculture), Fairtrade (protecting farmers and workers in developing countries), Freedom Food (animal welfare), MSC and ASC (Marine stewardship council and Aquaculture Stewardship Council, for seafood) and RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil).
• Fat, sugar, salt best avoided:
  • Cultivation of sugarcane and sugar beet causes soil erosion and is often associated with intensive use of water and pesticides.
  • Simple lifestyle choices such as choosing water over sugary drinks and saving cakes, sweets, chocolates, cured meat, fries and crisps for special occasions can make a significant difference.
  • New sugar plantations are replacing natural habitats, leading to biodiversity decline.

2. Ocean currents protect Galápagos Islands from global warming

Subject: Geography

Context- Cold ocean currents have sheltered the Galápagos Islands from global warming, according to a recent study.

What the study has found-

• The islands are protected from an otherwise warming Pacific Ocean by a cold, eastward equatorial ocean current. And this current has been gaining strength for decades.
• The temperatures in waters along the west coast of the Galápagos have dropped by 0.5 degrees Celsius since the early 1990s.
• This phenomenon is a cause for cautious optimism for the second-largest marine reserve in the world.
• The island is a biodiverse ecosystem — home to several endangered species. It is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Flora and fauna of the Galápagos could assist reseed failing ecosystems and maintain the region’s fisheries.
• Corals do not bleach and die in these waters off the west coast of Ecuador. So, the marine food chain does not suffer, unlike in the warm waters nearby.

Other threats-

• But, the island group is certainly in need of greater protection from overfishing as well as the pressures of growing eco-tourism.
• The human pressures on this area and the mechanism that keeps it alive are at odds. It’s a major resource that should be protected.

Geographical advantage

• From space, the Galápagos may appear to be a collection of minuscule specks in the eastern Pacific Ocean. However, it is their precise position on the equator that makes them significant.
• The equatorial undercurrent in the Pacific Ocean is bound to the equator by the force of the planet’s rotation.
• Under the ocean’s surface,a swift circulation of cold, nutrient-rich water flows from west to east.
• Some of this water is forced to the surface when it reaches the Galápagos Islands.
• The nutrient-rich water triggers photosynthesis and leads to an explosion of food for a wide variety of animals.
• The cold ocean current creates a cooler, more stable environment for coral reefs and marine life and birds that often live much closer to the poles.
• It is described by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention as a “living museum and showcase of evolution.”
• Galápagos is home to the critically endangered — Galápagos penguin, Galápagos fur seal and Galápagos sea lion.

Effect of El Niño–

• El Niño is a climate pattern that causes unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
• El Niño poses a threat to the island group. It shuts down the cold current every couple of years, causing penguin populations to collapse.

Effects of Ocean Currents-

• Climatic Conditions:
  • Currents influence the climatic conditions of the regions in which they flow.
  • The warm Equatorial currents raise the temperature of the region in which they flow. Similarly, the cold currents lower the temperature of the places where they flow.
  • For example, the British Isles would have been extremely cold without the warm North Atlantic Drift.
  • The hot climate of Peru is cooled by the cold Peru Current.
• Rainfall:
  • The winds blowing over warm currents pick up and carry moisture and bring rainfall like the North Atlantic Drift brings rainfall in some areas located along the western coasts of Europe.
  • On the contrary, cold currents do not bring rainfall and make the region cooler and drier.
  • The Kalahari Desert hardly experiences rainfall due to the cold Benguela current.
• Fog Formation:
  • The meeting of the warm and the cool currents results in the formation of fog.
  • The ship’s face danger due to the fogs caused by the meeting of the warm currents with the cold currents.
  • This has resulted in the wreckage of many ships in the past as they are not able to view icebergs due to poor visibility.
• Creates Fishing Zone:
  • The mixing of warm and cold currents results in the deposition of planktons. Therefore, at such places, fishes can be found in abundance.
  • For example- Warm gulf stream and Cold Labrador current meets at Grand Bank (major fishing zone), USA.
  • Warm Kuroshio current and cold Oyashio current meets at Japan coast forming major fishing zone.
• Desert formation:
  • Cold ocean currents have a direct effect on desert formation in west coast regions of the tropical and subtropical continents.
  • There is fog and most of the areas are arid due to desiccating effects (loss of moisture). For example- They include the biggest Sahara Desert (3.5 million square miles), the Great Australian Desert and other hot deserts like the Arabian Desert, Iranian Desert, Thar Desert, Kalahari and Namib Deserts.
• Violent Storms:
  • At times the meeting line of a warm and a cold current may result in a violent storm.
  • The hurricanes which occur off the coast of the U.S.A. follow the line where the Gulf Stream merges with the Labrador Current.

3. Organic fertiliser: A must for the next green revolution

Subject :Environment

Context-

• India’s growth story on the path of economic reforms has transformed the country into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
• The central government has announced schemes worth crores for various sectors. Similar steps need to be undertaken for the organic fertiliser industry, as India has the potential to become the hub of organic fertiliser production in the world.

Organic fertilizer-

• Organic fertiliser can be categorised into two segments, according to government rules: Bio-fertiliser and organic manure.
• Bio-fertilisers are composed of living microorganisms attached to solid or liquid carriers and are useful for cultivable land, as these microorganisms help in increasing the productivity of soil and/or crops.
• Organic manure, on the other hand, refers to partially decomposed organic matter like digestate from a biogas plant, compost and vermicompost, which provides nutrients to the soil/crops and improves yield.

Production-

• India produces more than 150,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW), based on estimated MSW generation data from the National Solid Waste Association of India and the Central Pollution Control Board.
• Considering collection efficiency of 80 per cent and the organic part of MSW to be 50 per cent, the total organic waste generated per day in India comes to around 65,000 tonnes per day.
• Even if half of this is diverted to the biogas industry, the government can leverage this by reducing in import of fossils and fertilisers.

The demand for Organic Fertilisers–

• The popularity of organic farming has grown in the domestic market in recent years.
• The market size for Indian organic packaged food is expected to grow at a rate of 17 per cent and cross Rs 871 million by 2021.
• The significant rise of this sector is linked to growing awareness about the harmful effects of synthetic fertiliser on soil, rising health concerns, expanding urban population base and increased consumer expenditure on food goods.
• Because organic manure can be improved with the use of bio fertilisers to meet nutrient requirements, both biofertilizers and organic manure have the potential to eliminate the usage of synthetic fertilisers completely.

The penetration of organic fertilisers is low-

• The proportion of organic fertilisers in the overall fertiliser consumption was only 0.29 per centfor  2018-19 and 0.34 per cent for 2019-20.
• With the promotion of biogas production, the government can reap the benefits of its bi-product — fertiliser.

Fertiliser from Biogas-

• Biogas/gobar gas plants not only produce biogas but also organic fertilisers. There is also great value in the organic fertiliser also known as digestate, which is the biogas plant’s effluent.
• Biogas can be utilised for heating, electricity and even vehicular purposes (after upgrading), whereas digestate can help realise the vision to have a second green revolution.
• Digestate can provide organic carbon to the continuously depleting soil, apart from its standard nutrition value.
• In India at present, bio-fertiliser production is just over 110,000 tonnes( carrier-based 79,000 tonnes and liquid-based 30,000 tonnes) and 34 million tonnes of organic manure, composed of farmyard manure, city compost and vermicompost, among others.
• The organic manure (digestate) from a biogas plant can be applied at the rate of around 40 tonnes per hectare of cultivable land.

The step taken by the government-

• The Centre has shown the intent of promoting the industry through its SATAT scheme.
• It has no doubt allocated 468 crores towards Central Financial Assistance in the earlier budget.
• But the industry needs much more support to save the future governments billions of dollars because if all the projects applied under SATAT scheme materialise, it will help the country save $16 billion year-on-year. 
• Bio-compressed natural gas (bio-CNG) and solid organic manure or digestate can be produced in large quantities under the SATAT programme, under which more than 5,000 projects have been started across the country by the industry.

4. NGT slaps Rs 500-cr fine on Karnataka govt for failing to protect Bengaluru lake-

Subject: Environment

Context-

THE NATIONAL Green Tribunal (NGT) on October 10 imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 500 crore on Karnataka for its failure in maintaining and taking steps to restore Chandapura lake.

The NGT directed the state government to collect the compensation amount from encroachers, erring officials and violators of the environmental norms.

NGT order-

• The NGT took suo-motu cognisance of The Indian Express report- ‘Lakes of Bengaluru: Industrial effluents, raw sewage; stinky tale of Chandapura lake’ published on November 21, 2021.
• The tribunal then constituted a seven-member joint committee of officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), National Wetland Authority, State Wetland Authority and the District Magistrate, Bengaluru, to ascertain the facts with regard to the violation of buffer zone, solid waste management guidelines at Chandapura lake in Anekaltaluk.
• The amount may be deposited within one month and kept in a ring-fenced account with the State PCB (pollution control board) which will be the responsibility of the Chief Secretary, Karnataka.
• The amount may be utilised for restoration measures preferably within six months, as per directions and supervision of a Monitoring Committee.
• The same will be headed by Chairman, State Wetland Authority,” NGT order read.
• There are illegal encroachments and construction activities, unchecked violations of environmental norms by the industries, and failure to protect and regulate buffer zones and catchment areas of the lake and control pollution.
• The water quality of the lake has deteriorated.
• The NGT in its order stated that the state has not furnished data on the quantum of sewage discharge into the lakes.
• If the amount is found to be surplus, the same may be utilised by the state for restoration measures as per the District Environment Plans of the concerned Districts.
• It is a matter of common knowledge that there is general degradation of the environment and a much more proactive approach is expected from the State.

About NGT-

• Established on 18th October, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
• Established for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four places of sitting of the Tribunal.
• The Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
• NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
• With the establishment of the NGT, India became the third country in the world to set up a specialised environmental tribunal, only after Australia and New Zealand, and the first developing country to do so.

 Composition:

• Sanctioned strength: The act allows for up to 40 members (20 expert members and 20 judicial members).
• Chairman: Is the administrative head of the tribunal, also serves as a judicial member and is required to be a serving or retired Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court of India.

5. India’s green push for second-generation bioethanol

Why 2G bioethanol?

Ethanol-blended petrol is regarded as one of the most acceptable alternative fuel blends for transportation; however, the use of molasses and broken grains for its production raises the question of food vs fuel. Second-generation (2G) bioethanol could help to secure long-term sustainability with improved economics for the Indian biofuel market.

Recently GOI announced the launch of the “Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries” September 23, 2022.

“Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries”: https://optimizeias.com/mission-integrated-biorefineries/

• The biorefineries aim to produce ethanol. Blended petrol with 20 per cent ethanol is also known as
• India aims to sell only E20 blended petrol from
• In 2021, GOI launched a report, Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in Indiaby 2025,to set a plan for the phase-wise rollout of E20 in the country.
• About 1,016 crore litres of ethanol will be required to achieve 20 per cent blending by 2025-26, as per the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas estimation. Sugarcane-derived molasses and broken or surplus grains like rice and maise are primarily used to generate ethanol.
• Presently, these two feedstocks can generate about 684 crore litres/year of ethanol collectively, which is proposed to be expanded to 1,500 crore litres by 2025.
• This, in turn, will necessitate the production of about 165 lakh metric tonnes of grains and 60 lakh metric tonnes of sugar in the year 2025 for ethanol utilisation. Besides the food versus fuel debate, the move will also significantly increase the water footprint

Is there any alternative?

• Yes, agricultural or lignocellulosic waste.
• India is the second-largest producer of agricultural waste in the world after China and generates about 500 million tonnes of agricultural waste per year, of which more than half is either discarded or burned.
• Inappropriate management of this agricultural waste generates greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, endangering both people and the environment.
• Second-generation (2G) bioethanol production technology has the potential to tap this agricultural waste and convert it into ethanol.
• Twelve commercial plants and ten demonstration plants of 2G biorefineries (using agricultural waste as substrate) have already been proposed to be built under the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (JaivIndhan-Vatavaran Anukool Fasal Awashesh Nivaran) Yojana in regions with adequate biomass supply.

PM JI-VAN envisages setting up of 12 commercial scale 2G bioethanol projects and 10 demonstration scale 2G bioethanol projects based on non-food biomass feedstocks and other renewable feedstocks with a total financial outlay of Rs. 1969.50 crore.

The scheme will provide support to these 2G bioethanol Projects with a Viability Gap Funding in two phases:

• Phase-I (2018-19 to 2022- 23): wherein six commercial projects and five demonstration projects will be supported.
• Phase-II (2020-21 to 2023-24): wherein remaining six commercial projects and five demonstration projects will be supported.

6. GSLV MkIII to make commercial foray by launching 36 satellites on Oct 23

Subject : Science and Technology

Context-

• INDIAN SPACE Research Organisation’s heaviest rocket, GSLV Mk-III, is set to launch 36 satellites of the One Web communication constellation from the country’s only spaceport at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on October 23.
• With this, the GSLV Mk-III will enter the global commercial launch service market.
• The space agency has also thrown open a viewing gallery for the people to witness the launch, which has been done for the first time since the pandemic started.

Purchaser Organisation-

• The launch aboard India’s heaviest rocket was purchased by the United Kingdom-based Network Access Associated Limited through the New Space India Limited, one of the commercial arms of the space agency.
• Bharti group-backed One Web is a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit to provide broadband services.

ISRO’s Commercial Launch-

• India currently has three operational launch vehicles –PSLV, GSLV, and GSLV Mk III.
• ISRO has also developed a small satellite launch vehicle, whose first development flight was partially successful.
• Since its first operational flight, the PSLV has conducted at least eight commercial-only launches.
• The vehicle has established itself in the global market, having launched at least 345 foreign satellites from 36 countries, with its most notable flight being the 2017 PSLV-C37 mission that put 104 satellites in orbits (of which 101 were foreign commercial satellites).

First commercial launch of GSLV MK lll-

• This is the first time that India’s heaviest rocket is being used for a commercial launch.
• Also, this will be the first time a rocket other than India’s workhorse – Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)– is being used to carry out a commercial launches.
• This will be the second flight of the GSLV Mk III— after it joined the ISRO fleet having completed two development flights— since it carried India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2.
• The other heavier launch vehicle, GSLV, has a spottier record with fourteen launches so far, including the development flights.
• However, only eight of the missions were a complete success. None of these missions was commercial ones.

7. Court rejects plea for carbon dating of Gyanvapi ‘shivling’

Subject : Art and Culture

Context : A Varanasi court Friday rejected a plea for carbon dating of what is said to be a Shivling, found during a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex earlier this year.

Concept :

• A Shivling was said to have been found in the wazukhana. But the mosque management said it was part of the fountain system of the wazukhana.

What is Wazukhana ?

• Wazukhana is an ablution pond where worshippers wash themselves before praying at the mosque.
• Wazukhanas in historical mosques date back to the time when there were no proper water pipelines.
• Hence, the wazukhanas were established as ponds with fountains to provide sufficient water for the purpose of washing.
• A number of people could make use of the pond simultaneously without wastage of water.

About Radiocarbon Dating:

• Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method that provides objective age estimates for carbon-based materials (Organic materials) that originated from living organisms.
• An age could be estimated by measuring the amount of carbon-14 present in the sample and comparing this against an internationally used reference standard.
• The method was developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby and it is one of the radiometric dating methods.

Basic Principles of Carbon Dating:

• Radiocarbon (carbon14) is an isotope of the element carbon that is unstable and weakly radioactive.
• The stable isotopes are carbon 12 and carbon 13.
• Carbon 14 is continually being formed in the upper atmosphere by the effect of cosmic ray neutrons on nitrogen 14 atoms. It is rapidly oxidized in air to form carbon dioxide and enters the global carbon cycle.
• Plants and animals assimilate carbon 14 from carbon dioxide throughout their lifetimes. When they die, they stop exchanging carbon with the biosphere and their carbon 14 content then starts to decrease at a rate determined by the law of radioactive decay.
• Radiocarbon dating is essentially a method designed to measure residual radioactivity.

How Does Carbon Dating Work:

• Carbon-14 is a weakly radioactive isotope of Carbon; also known as radiocarbon, it is an isotopic chronometer.
• C-14 dating is only applicable to organic and some inorganic materials (not applicable to metals).
• Specifically, it cannot be used to determine the age of non-living things, like rocks, for example.
• Also, the age of things that are more than 40,000-50,000 years cannot be arrived at through carbon dating. This is because after eight to ten cycles of half-lives have been crossed, the amount of carbon-14 becomes almost negligible and undetectable.
• Gas proportional counting, liquid scintillation counting and accelerator mass spectrometry are the three principal radiocarbon dating methods.

Other Radiometric Methods

Single Crystal Fusion

• Also called single crystal argon or argon-argon (Ar-Ar) dating, this method is a refinement of an older approach known as potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating, which is still sometimes used.
• Both methods date rock instead of organic material. As potassium decays, it turns into argon.
• But unlike radiocarbon dating, the older the sample, the more accurate the dating — researchers typically use these methods on finds at least 500,000 years old.
• While K-Ar dating requires destroying large samples to measure potassium and argon levels separately, Ar-Ar dating can analyze both at once with a single, smaller sample.

Uranium Series Dating

• U-series dating includes a number of methods, each based on different uranium isotopes’ decay rates.
• The uranium-thorium method is often helpful for dating finds in the 40,000- to 500,000-year-old range, too old for radiocarbon but too young for K-Ar or Ar-Ar.

Trapped Charge Dating

• Over time, certain kinds of rocks and organic material, such as coral and teeth, are very good at trapping electrons from sunlight and cosmic rays pummeling Earth. Researchers can measure the amount of these trapped electrons to establish an age.

For further details about ‘Gyanvapi Case’ refer – https://optimizeias.com/gyanvapi-mosque-dispute

8. Global Hunger Index is out, India in ‘serious’ category at rank 107

Context-

• India ranks 107 out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index in which it fares worse than all countries in South Asia barring wartorn Afghanistan.

About GHI report-

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• GHI is jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
• GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicatorsundernourishment,child stunting,child wasting and child mortality.
• Countries are divided into five categories of hunger on the basis of their score, which are ‘low’, ‘moderate’, ‘serious’, ‘alarming’ and ‘extremely alarming’.
• Based on the values of the four indicators, a GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger, where zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.

Top scorers in the GHI 2022-

• 17 countries have been collectively ranked between 1 and 17 with a score of less than 5.
• The top 17 countries are Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Chile, China, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and Uruguay.

India specific findings-

• India’s score of 29.1 places it in the ‘serious’ category.
• India’s child wasting rate (low weight for height), at 19.3%, is worse than the levels recorded in 2014 (15.1%) and even 2000 (17.15), and is the highest for any country in the world and drives up the region’s average owing to India’s large population.
• Prevalence of undernourishment, which is a measure of the proportion of the population facing chronic deficiency of dietary energy intake, has also risen in the country from 14.6% in 2018-2020 to 16.3% in 2019-2021.
• This translates into 224.3 million people in India considered undernourished.
• But India has shown improvement in child stunting, which has declined from 38.7% to 35.5% between 2014 and 2022, as well as child mortality which has also dropped from 4.6% to 3.3% in the same comparative period.
• On the whole, India has shown a slight worsening with its GHI score increasing from 28.2 in 2014 to 29.1 in 2022.
• Though the GHI is an annual report, the rankings are not comparable across different years.
• The GHI score for 2022 can only be compared with scores for 2000, 2007 and 2014.

Performance of Neighbouring countries-

• South Asia, the region with the world’s highest hunger level, has the highest child stunting rate and by far the highest child wasting rate in the world.
• India also ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99). Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that performs worse than India on the index.
• China is among the countries collectively ranked between 1 and 17 having a score of less than five.

9. INS Arihant successfully fires SLBM; very high accuracy: Govt

Subject :Science and Technology

Context-

• STRATEGIC STRIKE Nuclear Submarine INS Arihant carried out a successful launch of a Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) on 14/Oct/2022.
• The Ministry of Defence said the test is significant for the SSBN programme, a crucial element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability.
• The missile was tested to a predetermined range and impacted the target area in the Bay of Bengal with very high accuracy.
• A robust, survivable and assured retaliatory capability is in keeping with India’s policy to have ‘Credible Minimum Deterrence’ that underpins its ‘No First Use’ commitment.

About Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN)-

• Commissioned in 2016, INS Arihant is India’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile-capable submarine, classified under the SSBN programme.
• The SSBN is a hull classification symbol for nuclear-powered ballistic missile-carrying submarines.
• The SSBN are under the purview of India’s Strategic Forces Command.
• The family of indigenously developed Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), sometimes referred to as K family missiles are code-named after Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, a key figure in India’s missile and space programmes who also served as the 11th President of India.
• Under the SLBM family, missiles of various ranges have been developed including K-15 also called Sagarika, which has a range of at least 750km.
• India has also developed and tested the K-4 missiles from the same family which have a range of 3500 km.
• It is said that more members of the K-family with higher ranges are also on the cards. Launched in 2009, INS Arihant was commissioned in 2016.
• The next in the class, INS Arighat was said to have been launched in 2017.
• It is reportedly undergoing sea trials.

The capability of being able to launch nuclear weapons from submarines has great strategic importance in the context of achieving a nuclear triad, especially in the light of the ‘no first use’ policy of India.

10. TRIPS

Subject: Science and technology

Context:

Rich nations, developing countries divided over proposed IP waiver for Covid-19 diagnostics & therapeutics.

Details:

• In 2020, India and South Africa had proposed a waiver of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement (waiving IP rights like patents, copyright, and trademarks) for prevention, containment or treatment of Covid-19.
• 12th WTO Ministerial Conference-June 2022- agreed to temporarily waive intellectual property patents on Covid-19 vaccines without the consent of the patent holder for 5 years, so that they can more easily manufacture them domestically.
  • A decision on extending the waiver to cover the production and supply of Covid-19 diagnostics and therapeutics would be taken in the next six months.

Concept:

Present Waiver position:

• It waives only Article 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement–
  • 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement states the bulk of production should not be exported. This provision limits the supply of vaccines under compulsory licence to countries which can’t produce them.
• Thus, the waiver allows only the export of vaccines under a compulsory licence.
  • A compulsory licence is granted to allow a third party to produce patent-protected products including medicines.
• Example- Globally, vaccine production is concentrated in a few countries, including India.
  • This means Indian companies may use a compulsory licence under the Indian Patents Act to export a part of the production, but not the bulk of it. The waiver offers no advantage to Indian vaccine producers.
  • Under Section 92 of the 1970 Indian Patents Act, the central government has the power to allow compulsory licenses to be issued at any time in case of a national emergency or circumstances of extreme urgency.

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement:

• The TRIPS agreement was negotiated in 1995 at the WTO, it requires all its signatory countries to enact domestic law.
• The TRIPS Agreement is also described as a “Berne and Paris-plus” Agreement.
• The TRIPS Council is responsible for administering and monitoring the operation of the TRIPS Agreement.
• It guarantees minimum standards of IP protection.
  • TRIPS establishes minimum standards for the availability, scope, and use of seven forms of intellectual property namely, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, patents, industrial designs, layout designs for integrated circuits, and undisclosed information or trade secrets. 
  • It applies basic international trade principles regarding intellectual property to member states
• TRIPS Agreement lays down the permissible exceptions and limitations for balancing the interests of intellectual property with the interests of public health and economic development.
  • In 2001, the WTO signed the Doha Declaration, which clarified that in a public health emergency, governments could compel companies to license their patents to manufacturers, even if they did not think the offered price was acceptable.
  • This provision, commonly referred to as “compulsory licensing”, was already built into the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha declaration only clarified its usage.

11. Govt probe on Nayanthara-Vignesh Shivan ‘surrogacy’ to clear air, no complaints so far, says Tamil Nadu health official

Subject : Science and Technology

Context: TN government took a suo moto decision to probe the legalities surrounding actor Nayanthara and her husband Vignesh Shivan’s purported choice to opt for surrogacy.

Details

The committee, headed by a joint director-rank official, has been assigned to look into whether the couple — Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan — complied with the law while choosing surrogacy.Commercial surrogacy has been outlawed in India by the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act in December 2021, which came into effect on January 25, 2022. Only ‘altruistic surrogacy’ is now permitted, in which the bearing mother receives no financial assistance other than medical expenses.

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

• Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, a woman who is a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years or a couple, defined as a legally married woman and man, can avail of surrogacy if they have a medical condition necessitating this option.
• The law defines a couple as a married Indian “man and woman” and prescribes an age band of 23 to 50 for the woman and 26 to 55 for the man to opt for surrogacy.
• Single men are not eligible.
• It also bans commercial surrogacy, which is punishable with a jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs.
• The law allows only altruistic surrogacy where no money exchanges hands and where a surrogate mother is genetically related to those seeking a child, a married woman between the age of 25 and 35.

12. The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) has rejected a request made by banks to exempt certificates of deposit (CDs) from deposit insurance coverage.

Subject : Economy

Details:

• Banks pay an insurance premium of 12 paise per Rs 100 of deposit, including CD and Deposit insurance premium payment leads to outgo of funds.
• The DICGC Act does not allow for differentiation between various classes of depositors— institutional and non-institutional.
• DICGC cover is only available for deposits up to Rs 5 lakh. But CDs are issued by banks in lot size of Rs 25 crore/ Rs 50 crore/ Rs 100 crore, etc

Certificate of Deposit (CD)

• It is a negotiable, unsecured money market instrument issued by a bank as a Usance Promissory Note against funds deposited at the bank for a maturity period upto one year.
  • The PN can be Demand Promissory Note or Usance Promissory Note.
  • Demand Promissory Note has to be paid immediately on demand and Usance Promissory Note has to be paid after a certain time period.
• Certificate of Deposits (CDs) may be issued by:
  • Scheduled Commercial Banks;
  • Regional Rural Banks; and
  • Small Finance Banks.
• CDs may be issued to all persons resident in India and usually issued to institutional investors.
• General guidelines
  • In Primary market–CDs shall be issued only in dematerialised form and held with a depository registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India.
  • CDs shall be issued in minimum denomination of ₹5 lakh and in multiples of ₹5 lakh thereafter.
  • The tenor of a CD at issuance shall not be less than seven days and shall not exceed one year.
  • CDs may be issued at a discount to the face value.
  • CDs may also be issued on a fixed / floating rate basis, in case of floating rate it is linked to a benchmark published by a Financial Benchmark Administrator or approved by the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA) for this purpose.
  • In Secondary market CDs shall be traded either in Over-the-Counter (OTC) markets, including on Electronic Trading Platforms, or on recognised stock exchanges with the approval of the Reserve Bank.
  • Banks are not allowed to grant loans against CDs, unless specifically permitted by the Reserve Bank.
  • Issuing banks are permitted to buy back CDs before maturity. 

Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation:

• It came into existence in 1978 after the merger of Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC) and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd. (CGCI)  under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961.
• It serves as a deposit insurance and credit guarantee for banks in India.
• It is a fully owned subsidiary of and is governed by the RBI.

13. IRDAI proposes conditions for investment by private equity funds as promoters in insurance companies.

Subject : Economy

Details:

• In 2020, the government had increased the foreign direct investment limit in insurance firms from 49 per cent to 74 per cent under the automatic route.
• IRDAI had given in principle approval to PE funds to invest in insurers in 2017. 
  • Investment by PE funds is expected to bring in more foreign investment to the country.
• A private equity fund will be allowed to invest in any insurer as “promoter” if it has completed 10 years of operation and the funds raised by the PE fund is US $ 500 million or more.
• Investment in the capacity of an investor  in an Indian insurer should be less than 25 per cent of the paid-up equity capital of the insurer and should be restricted to not more than two life, two general, two health and two reinsurers.
  • It should not not below 26 per cent of the paid-up equity capital if the insurer has a track record of solvency ratio above control
• The minimum shareholding of promoters should be maintained at above 50 per cent of the paid-up equity capital of the insurer.

Concept:

Private Equity Fund

• A Private Equity Fund, also known as Private Equity, is equity capital which comprises investors who invest directly in private companies.
• This equity capital is not listed on the stock exchange and usually follows a general investment criteria of investing in varied industries or follows an industry specific criteria.
• Private equity is medium-to-long-term financing offered in exchange for equity ownership in unlisted companies with great growth potential.
• Types of Private Equity
  • Distressed Funding: Money is invested in struggling companies with underperforming business divisions or assets in distressed funding. It is also known as vulture financing. The goal is to turn distressed companies around by making required changes to their management or operations, or by profitably selling their assets.
  • Fund of funds: As the name implies, this sort of investment focuses on other funds, typically mutual funds and hedge funds. They provide a backdoor into such funds for investors who cannot afford the minimum capital requirements.
  • Venture Capital: Venture capital refers to funds invested by individuals or investors to start-ups or small companies aspiring to establish a fresh concept and new entrepreneur.
  • Leveraged Buyouts: This is the most common type of private equity investing, and it entails buying a company outright with the goal of strengthening its commercial and financial health before disposing it for a profit to an interested party or launching an initial public offering (IPO).
  • Real Estate Private Equity: Commercial real estate and real estate investment trusts are two common areas where money is allocated. When compared to other types of private equity fundraising, real estate funds require a greater minimum investment amount. In this sort of funding, investor funds are locked up for several years at a time.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)

• It  is an autonomous and statutory body.
  • It was established by an act of parliament, specifying the composition of the Authority under section 4 of the IRDAI Act of 1999.
• It is responsible for managing and regulating the insurance and reinsurance industry in India.
• The Authority is a ten-member body, specified in section 4 of the IRDAI Act of 1999, consisting of:
  • a Chairman;
  • five whole-time members;
  • four part-time members;
    • All of the appointments are done by the Government of India.

14. Longwood Shola forest

Subject: Geography

 Context:

• The Longwood Shola, the last and the only urban shola forest in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu was recently granted the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy (QCC) accreditation, a forest conservation programme across the commonwealth countries to conserve unique indigenous forest patches.

Longwood Shola

• Longwood Shola, the only urban shola forest in the Nilgiris, is a 116-hectare forest patch interspersed with grasslands.
• The shola forest has proven to maintain the hydrological regime of the region, capturing rainwater through marshes and releasing it via streams and played a significant role in maintaining the biodiversity
• Home to the threatened Nilgiri marten and other rare fauna and flora, the forest patch is rich in biodiversity. The Nilgiritahr is endemic to the ecosystem.
• Longwood Shola is an ancient forest that has nutrient-rich soil formed over hundreds of years.
• Like other shola forests, Longwood Shola is nestled between two hills and acts as a perched aquifer, retaining the water that flows from these two hills
• The soil is dark and has high water retention capacity. Even in case of high rainfall, the soil has the capacity to absorb that water and release it in small amounts throughout the year
• The ecosystem services provided by Longwood Shola make a case for the urgent need to preserve urban forest patches across the world.

Shola forest

• Classified as ‘southern montane wet temperate forest
• The sholas are found in the upper reaches of the Nilgiris, Anamalai hills, Palani hills, Kalakadu, Mundanthurai and Kanyakumari in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala
• This is a unique system, seen at an elevation range of 1400-2700 km, where “the vast grassland is interspersed with forest made up of evergreen native trees which are dwarf in nature and hill slopes covered with native grass species.”
• The vegetation is a double-layered storey with a closed canopy.  Various features of shola (shola derived from Tamil solai meaning tropical rainforest) forests, such as persistent cloud cover, and moisture-capturing capabilities, make them play a critical role in hydrology and biogeochemistry.
• The shola-grassland ecosystem is one of the most diverse but threatened landscapes of the Western Ghats.
• These ecosystems are very sensitive to climate, making them vulnerable to climate change. 
• They have been degraded by many natural and anthropogenic pressures like land use changes to facilitate agriculture and infrastructure.

Daily Mapping

15. Kolar gold mines

Subject : Geography

Context:

• Centre to soon auction Kolar gold mines, likely to fetch ₹30,000 crore

Kolar gold mining 

• The Centre has decided to revive gold mining, auction tailing dumps and two blocks at the Kolar fields in Karnataka more than 22 years after it was shelved because the extraction of metals and minerals had become unviable.

Kolar Gold Fields 

• KGFs are located in Karnataka.

• During 1990’s the returns were 03g/tonne due to the depletion of the high grade ore reserve and increase in production costs.
• After the gold has finished the area has lost its glitter too as there is neither proper electricity supply nor drinking water.
• Lack of work or employment opportunities for people
• Mine wastes in the form of rock fragments and mill tailings have been stacked in huge piles and heaps in KGF, occupying about 15-20% of the lease area.

Gold Reserves in India

• Gold production in India is insufficient and is imported from Australia, Canada, and Myanmar.
• Kolar Gold Field, Hutti Gold Field and Ramgiri Gold Field are the most important gold fields.
• The largest reserves of gold ores are located in Bihar, Rajasthan , Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh , Jharkhand.