Daily Prelims Notes 19 January 2025

Daily Prelims Notes

19 January 2025

Table Of Contents

1. Maharashtra forms panels to safeguard ancient forts
2. Can Bhopal waste be safely disposed of?
3. Modi distributes 65 lakh property cards across 12 States and Union Territories
4. Faunal Diversity in Munnar: 24 New Species Documented in Recent Survey
5. India’s First Tele-Robotic Heart Surgery Across 286 km
6. Declining Fertility Levels in India

1. Maharashtra forms panels to safeguard ancient forts

Sub: History

Sec:  Art and Architecture

Context:

• The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra has announced the formation of district-level committees to protect ancient forts in Maharashtra from encroachment.
• By January 31, the committees are required to prepare a comprehensive list of all encroachments and submit it to the government.

Objective:

• The primary objective of these committees is to remove existing encroachments on forts and prevent future encroachments and ensure the proper preservation of these forts.
• The committees will operate at the district level and will address concerns regarding the structural integrity of forts and also ensure the enforcement of law and order at these historical sites.

Significance of the move:

• Maharashtra is home to 47 centrally-protected forts, under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and 62 State-protected forts, managed by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums.
• These forts are a vital part of the State’s cultural legacy and require robust measures to ensure their conservation and preservation.

Some Important forts in Maharashtra:

2. Can Bhopal waste be safely disposed of?

Sub: Env

Sec:  Pollution

Context:

• On January 2, 2025, authorities in Madhya Pradesh began moving 358 tonnes of hazardous waste from the defunct Union Carbide facility in Bhopal to the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district.
• The waste consists of materials used to manufacture fertilizers, which were part of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster that killed over 4,000 people. The waste had been lying at the Union Carbide facility for nearly 40 years.

Court’s Mandate:

• In December 2024, the Madhya Pradesh High Court set a four-week deadline for the disposal of the hazardous waste.
• Protests in Pithampur over fears of harmful emissions have delayed the incineration process, with the Madhya Pradesh High Court extending the deadline to February 2025.

Why Pithampur:

• The Central government allocated ₹126 crore to assist the state in incinerating the waste and depositing its residue in the Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility (TSDF) at Pithampur.
• The Pithampur facility was chosen by the Supreme Court in 2012 as the most suitable destination for the hazardous waste, as it is the only TSDF in the state with both a landfill and an incinerator.

Trial Process:

• The waste includes chemicals like naphthol, carbaryl, and reactor residues, all byproducts from the fertilizer production process at Union Carbide.
• A trial incineration in 2015 successfully destroyed 10.1 tonnes of waste, with emissions reportedly within legal limits.

Environmental Concerns:

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) conducted tests on water samples around the Pithampur TSDF, which revealed elevated concentrations of chloride, sulphate, fluoride, and total dissolved solids.
• However, experts have suggested these issues are related to natural groundwater quality, not directly caused by the TSDF operations.
• Environmental concerns were also raised about the amount of ash and residue generated from incineration. It is reported that the residue is four times the weight of the original waste. However, the CPCB has promised to manage the residue in a landfill with proper leachate containment.

Future Steps:

• To address local concerns, the state plans to improve public confidence by conducting awareness programs.
• Additionally, another trial incineration of a 90-kg batch of the waste will be conducted at 1,200°C. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), organic compounds like naphthol are destroyed at temperatures between 590°C to 650°C.
• The incineration process will be closely monitored to ensure emissions remain within legal limits. If the emissions exceed safe levels, the state plans to reduce the batch size and extend the duration of incineration.

3. Modi distributes 65 lakh property cards across 12 States and Union Territories

Sub: Schemes

Sec:  Rural Dev

Context:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed over 65 lakh property cards to rural families across 50,000 villages in 12 States and Union Territories under the SVAMITVA scheme.

About the scheme:

• The SVAMITVA scheme (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) was launched by the Government of India in 2020.
• Its aim is to provide a Record of Rights (RoR) to families owning houses in rural areas through surveys utilizing advanced drone technology. The scheme seeks to digitize rural properties, thus empowering rural India and enhancing its economic prospects.

Objectives of the SVAMITVA scheme:

• Providing legal recognition to property rights of rural families, especially in disputed areas.
• Monetization of rural properties by facilitating access to institutional credit such as bank loans.
• Reducing property-related disputes by officially mapping properties in rural areas.
• Enabling better property tax assessments and village-level planning.

Bhu-Aadhaar System:

• Alongside the SVAMITVA scheme, the Bhu-Aadhaar system has been implemented to further empower rural India. This system has issued over 23 crore unique identification numbers for land plots, making it easier to identify and manage rural land.

4. Faunal Diversity in Munnar: 24 New Species Documented in Recent Survey

Sub: Env

Sec: Biodiversity

Why in News

• A recent faunal survey conducted in the Munnar Wildlife Division has led to the discovery of 24 new species of birds, butterflies, and odonates. This exercise has significantly enhanced the region’s faunal checklist and highlighted Munnar’s ecological richness.
• Organized By: The Forest Department in collaboration with the Travancore Nature History Society.

Below is a summary of the survey areas:

Findings from the Survey:

Birds:

• New Bird Species: Brown Hawk Owl, Barred Buttonquail, Spotted Owlet, Mottled Wood Owl, Baya Weaver, Red Munia (Red Avadavat), Richard’s Pipit, Jerdon’s Bushlark, Golden-Headed Cisticola, Large Grey Babbler, and Chestnut-Bellied Nuthatch.
• Notable Bird Species: Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Steppe Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Spot-bellied Eagle Owl, Indian Eagle Owl, and Blue-eared Kingfisher.

Butterflies:

• Endemic Butterfly Species: Red-disc Bushbrown, Palni Bush-Brown, Palni Fritillary, Palni Four-ring, Nilgiri Four-ring, Nilgiri Clouded Yellow, and Nilgiri Tiger.
• Grass Jewel (smallest butterfly in the State) abundant at Chinnar.
• Southern Birdwing (largest Indian butterfly) recorded in multiple camps.

Odonates (Dragonflies and Damselflies):

• New Odonate Species: Cratilla lineata calverti, Macrodiplax cora, Palpopleura sexmaculata, Tholymis tillarga and Lestes elatus.

Below is a table summarizing species:

5. India’s First Tele-Robotic Heart Surgery Across 286 km

Sub: Sci

Sec: Health

Why In News

• In a ground breaking achievement, Indian doctors successfully performed two complex heart surgeries using the country’s first indigenous surgical tele-robotic system, SSI Mantra, over a distance of 286 kilometers.

Surgical Tele-Robotic System: SSI Mantra

• Developed By: SS Innovations, a medical technology company.
• India’s first-of-its-kind indigenous surgical tele-robotic system.
• Enabled surgeries to be conducted remotely, bridging the distance between Gurugram and Jaipur.
• Developed the MantraSync module, a proprietary tele-surgical network ensuring seamless integration with SSI Mantra.
• Certified by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Class B and Class C surgical devices, ensuring safety, efficacy, and regulatory compliance for use in hospitals across India.

Procedures Conducted:

• Internal Mammary Artery Harvesting:
  • Involves removing the artery for coronary artery bypass grafting.
  • Considered an essential step in cardiac surgeries.
• Total Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass:
  • A complex cardiac surgery performed while the heart continues to beat.
  • Highlights the precision and expertise required for such procedures.

• Latency: Achieved a latency of 35-40 milliseconds (1/20th of a second), allowing near-instantaneous execution of commands.
• Key Benefits:
  • Enhanced precision in surgical procedures.
  • Reduced operational time.
  • Minimal trauma due to smaller incisions and reduced blood loss.
  • Faster recovery and reduced chances of infection.

6. Declining Fertility Levels in India

Sub : Geo

Sec : Human Geo

Context:–  A comprehensive demographic analysis of global fertility in 204 countries and territories from 1950-2021 has found that fertility is declining globally and that future fertility rates will continue to decline worldwide, remaining low even under successful implementations of pro-natal policies.

What is TFR (Total Fertility Rate)?

• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would have during her reproductive years, assuming she experiences the prevailing fertility rates of a specific period.
• A TFR of 2.1 is considered the replacement level, meaning the population will remain stable without migration if every woman has, on average, 2.1 children.

Trends of TFR in India:

• Historical Perspective: In the 1950s, India had a high TFR of 6.18. Over the decades, this has declined steadily due to socio-economic changes and family planning initiatives.
• Current Level: The Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) 2021 study notes that India’s TFR was 1.9 in 2021, below the replacement level of 2.1.
• Future Projections: By 2100, the TFR in India is expected to drop further to 1.04, indicating an average of barely one child per woman.

Reasons for Declining Fertility:

• Female Empowerment:
  • Increased female literacy.
  • Greater workforce participation.
  • Changing societal norms, with women prioritizing careers and financial independence over early marriage and motherhood.
• Changing Attitudes:
  • Preference for late marriage or choosing not to marry.
  • Reduced desire for large families.
• Migration:
  • Increased migration for education and employment, leading to delayed or reduced family formation.

Supra – State Divide in Fertility levels

Southern states such as Kerala, Tami Nadu, and Karnataka achieved replacement-level fertility much earlier than northern states.

Eg. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have relatively higher Total Fertility Rates (TFR) at 3.0 and 2.4, respectively. In contrast, southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu have significantly lower TFRs of approximately 1.8 and 1.4, respectively.

Implications of Declining Fertility:

• Ageing Population:
  • Demographic transition with a rising elderly population and declining youth workforce.
  • Increased demand for healthcare and social security.
• Economic Challenges:
  • Shrinking labor force affecting economic productivity.
• Social Challenges:
  • Increased pregnancy-related health issues due to delayed motherhood.
  • Changing family structures with fewer children to support ageing parents.
• Regional Concerns:
  • Southern states with TFR less than 2.1 are facing several challenges such as:-
• Ageing Population: The proportion of elderly residents in Kerala is rapidly increasing. By 2036, the aged population is projected to surpass the number of children, accounting for 23% of the state’s population.
• High Migration: Educated youth frequently migrate to other states or countries in search of better opportunities. This “brain drain” leaves behind a shrinking young workforce to support the economy and care for the ageing population.
• Low Birth Rate: This has also resulted in an increasing number of older mothers, contributing to pregnancy-related morbidities and additional healthcare challenges.