Daily Prelims Notes 22 August 2022
- August 22, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims Notes
22 August 2022
Table Of Contents
- Gross State Domestic Product
- US jobs-recession paradox
- Generalized System of Preferences (GSPs)
- Chinese companies and associated rules in India
- How phase-changing materials can build green structures
- Sequence for a just future: Can safeguards for digital genomic data from biodiversity be ensured
- Overseas borrowing, a double-edged sword?
- A toothy solution for stem cell harvesting
- ‘Forcible’ Aadhaar-voter ID linking
1. Gross State Domestic Product
Subject: Economy
Section: National Income
Context: Emerging from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, economies of 19 states and Union Territories exceeded their pre-Covid levels according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Details:
- In 2021-22, India’s GDP expanded at 8.7 per cent against a 6.6 per cent contraction in 2020-21.
- The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of the 19 states and UTs had contracted or recorded a negligible growth during 2020-21 while their economies bounced back and exceeded their pre-Covid (2019-20) levels in 2021-22.
- Kerala and Uttar Pradesh are the only exceptions with their GSDP continuing to remain below the pre-Covid levels.
States | Growth rate in 2021-22 |
Highest growth | Andhra Pradesh – 11.43 per cent |
Lowest growth | Puducherry – 3.31 percent |
Lowest growth among big states | Uttar Pradesh- 4.24 per cent |
Double digit growth | Rajasthan (11.04 per cent), Bihar (10.98 per cent), Telangana (10.88), Delhi (10.23 per cent), Odisha (10.19 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (10.12 per cent) including Andhra Pradesh. |
Causes of growth:
- Base effect-
- It refers to the impact of an increase in the growth rate (i.e. previous year’s growth) over the corresponding rise in growth rate in the current year (i.e., current growth).
- Post pandemic recovery
Concept:
- The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation compiles the GSDP figures as reported by the Directorate of Economics & Statistics of respective state governments.
- Compilation of GSDP is similar to that of compiling GDP of the entire economy i.e. measuring the volume in monetary terms, the total value of goods and services produced within the geographical boundary of the state.
- GSDP is the sum total of value added by different economic sectors (Agriculture, Industry & Services) produced within the boundaries of the state calculated without duplication during a year.
- From Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the Consumption of Fixed Capitals (CFC) is deducted to arrive at Net State Domestic Product i.e. NSDP = GSDP – CFC
- Consumption of Fixed Capital (CFC) is the value of fixed capital which is consumed during the process of production. It is calculated on the basis of life span of the fixed asset.
- GSDP at Current Price and Constant Price
- GSDP estimated for an accounting year is measured at current price is known as GSDP at current price.
- It is necessary to eliminate the effect of price inflation to compare the production over the years. This is done by calculating the value of GSDP at a particular base year price. The GSDP thus obtained is known as GSDP at constant prices. This gives a measure of the real growth of the economy.
- GSDP at Factor cost-Sector wise GVA estimates is known as GSDP at Factor Cost. No taxes and subsidies are taken into consideration while calculating individual GVA.
- GSDP at Basic Price-GSDP at factor cost + Production Tax – Production Subsidies = GSDP at Basic Price
- GSDP at Market Price-GSDP at Basic Price + Product Tax – Product Subsidies = GSDP at Market Price.
- For calculation of rate of Fiscal Deficit to Total GSDP, The GSDP at Market Price is the denominator factor.
Importance of State Domestic Product
- The State Domestic Product (SDP) or State Income is the most important indicator for measuring the economic growth of a State.
- These estimates of the economy, over a period of time, reveal the extent and direction of the changes in the levels of economic development.
- The State Domestic Product is classified under three broad sectors such as Primary sector, Secondary sector and Tertiary sector and is compiled economic activity wise as per the methodology prescribed by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and furnished to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).
- It throws light on the overall impact of various developmental programmes implemented by the Government and helps in inter-state comparison.
- The Finance Department prepares a macroeconomic framework statement and fiscal policy statement, every year, using the SDP estimates for placing before the Legislature during Budget Sessions as part of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2005.
Richest and poorest states in India by GDP
Maharashtra has the highest GSDP among 33 Indian States and Union Territories. As of the FY 2018-19, Maharashtra contributes 13.88% of India’s GDP at current prices, followed by Tamil Nadu (8.59%) and the most populous state Uttar Pradesh (8.35%). Other states in top 5 are Gujarat (7.92%)and Karnataka (7.87%).
India’s largest state Rajasthan is at number 7, behind West Bengal, poorest state Bihar is at number 14, and capital Delhi is at number 12.
The top 5 states share 46.6% of India’s total economy. Five states of South India together account for close to 30%. Eight states of North-East India share 2.8%.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands has the lowest GSDP in the list of 33 states/UTs. Followed by Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur.
Rank I State/Union Territory I Nominal GDP ₹ lakh crore = INR trillions
1 Maharashtra ₹28.18 lakh crore (US$400 billion) 2019-20
2 Tamil Nadu ₹19.43 lakh crore (US$270 billion) 2020–21[3]
3 Uttar Pradesh ₹17.05 lakh crore (US$240 billion) 2020–21[3]
4 Karnataka ₹16.65 lakh crore (US$230 billion) 2020–21
5 Gujarat ₹16.49 lakh crore (US$230 billion) 2019–20
6 West Bengal ₹12.54 lakh crore (US$180 billion) 2019–20
7 Telangana ₹9.78 lakh crore (US$140 billion) 2020–21
8 Andhra Pradesh ₹9.71 lakh crore (US$140 billion) 2019–20
9 Rajasthan ₹9.58 lakh crore (US$130 billion) 2020–21
10 Madhya Pradesh ₹9.17 lakh crore (US$130 billion) 2020–21
11 Kerala ₹8.54 lakh crore (US$120 billion) 2019–20
12 Delhi ₹7.98 lakh crore (US$110 billion) 2020–21
13 Haryana ₹7.65 lakh crore (US$110 billion) 2020–21
14 Bihar ₹6.12 lakh crore (US$86 billion) 2019–20
15 Punjab ₹5.41 lakh crore (US$76 billion) 2020–21
16 Odisha ₹5.09 lakh crore (US$71 billion) 2020–21
17 Assam ₹3.51 lakh crore (US$49 billion) 2019–20
18 Chhattisgarh ₹3.50 lakh crore (US$49 billion) 2020–21
19 Jharkhand ₹3.29 lakh crore (US$46 billion) 2019–20
20 Uttarakhand ₹2.53 lakh crore (US$35 billion) 2019–20
21 Jammu and Kashmir ₹1.76 lakh crore (US$25 billion) 2020–21
22 Himachal Pradesh ₹1.56 lakh crore (US$22 billion) 2020–21
23 Goa ₹0.815 lakh crore (US$11 billion) 2020–21
24 Tripura ₹0.597 lakh crore (US$8.4 billion) 2020–21
25 Chandigarh ₹0.421 lakh crore (US$5.9 billion) 2018–19
26 Puducherry ₹0.380 lakh crore (US$5.3 billion) 2019–20
27 Meghalaya ₹0.348 lakh crore (US$4.9 billion) 2020–21
28 Sikkim ₹0.325 lakh crore (US$4.6 billion) 2019–20
29 Nagaland ₹0.319 lakh crore (US$4.5 billion) 2019–20
30 Manipur ₹0.318 lakh crore (US$4.5 billion) 2019–20
31 Arunachal Pradesh ₹0.273 lakh crore (US$3.8 billion) 2019–20
32 Mizoram ₹0.265 lakh crore (US$3.7 billion) 2019–20
33 Andaman and Nicobar Islands ₹0.088 lakh crore (US$1.2 billion) 2018–19
Subject: Economy
Section: National Income
Context:
There is no historical precedent for a recessionary economy to produce 528,000 jobs in a month — as the US economy did in July
Details:
- A recession generally caused by an increase of interest rates by the Reserve Bank of a country.
- Rising rates cause systematic risks in the financial system, apart from declining consumption and demand due to higher cost of borrowing which causes decline in the economic activity of the country.
- Every US recession since World War II has been characterized by:
- Decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
- Simultaneous rise in unemployment.
- Economic contraction and unemployment typically move in together because they feed on each other:
- When there is a downturn, businesses lay off workers. As a result, people spend less money, which, in turn, dampens demand and lowers profits for businesses. So they lay off more workers, which further dents demand, and this ends up becoming cyclical.
- However, presently.
- Economic output in the US is contracting in line with the Fed’s rate-tightening.
- Unemployment rate is 3.5%, which is the lowest since 1970.
- The labour market is also showing record high ratios of new job openings to potential applicants—which points to the fact that companies are still reporting open job postings.
Cause?
- Massive inventory glut-given the rush to hoard commodities
- Surge in stock market on account of higher corporate earning
- Supply shortage given the demand-Excess liquidity, not debt, is the most likely cause for a recession
- It didn’t have the manufacturing capacity to meet the additional demand, but it had triggered the demand by handing over cash to people through a stimulus.
- Wage-price spiral
- People expect future prices to be higher and demand higher wages. But this, in turn, creates its own spiral of inflation as companies try to price goods and services even higher due to rise in the cost of production.
Implication-
- Less intense recession to the corporate sector
- More headroom for monetary tightening till employment starts to decrease
- On developing country like India
- When the Fed raises its policy rates, the difference between the interest rates of the two countries narrows, thus making countries such as India less attractive leaving capital outflows.
- A high rate signal by the Fed would also mean a lower impetus to growth in the US, which could be yet negative news for global growth
- Capital outflows follow currency depreciation and widening current account deficit & imported inflation.
3. Generalized System of Preferences (GSPs)
Subject: Economy
Section: National Income
Context:
The Centre may engage with the industry to assess the impact of the European Union’s decision to withdraw preferential tariff benefits for certain products from India, including electrical machinery, plastics, articles of stones and articles of leather, from January 2023
Details:
- Under the scheme, the EU allows preferential access to identified products originating in certain developing countries, in its markets in the form of reduced or zero rates of customs duties.
- According to EU rules, GSP beneficiaries can lose preferences for specific product categories that are deemed to have become sufficiently competitive
- The EU adopted a new Generalized Scheme of Preferences in 2012.
- It has 3 strands:
- GSP general arrangement: for all beneficiary countries
- GSP+: A special scheme with entire removal of tariffs on essentially the same product categories as those covered by the general arrangement.
- Everything But Arms: A special arrangement for least developed countries (as recognised and classified by the UN) giving them duty- and quota-free access for all products, except arms and ammunition.
About Generalized System of Preferences (GSPs)
- The scheme was first envisaged by the UN to help developing countries integrate with the world economy.
- It was instituted in 1971 under the aegis of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- It is an umbrella that comprises the bulk of preferential schemes granted by industrialized nations to developing countries.
- It involves reduced Most Favored Nations (MFN) Tariffs or duty-free entry of eligible products exported by beneficiary countries to the markets of donor countries.
- The 13 countries that provide GSP preferences to emerging and developing countries are:
- Australia
- Belarus
- Canada
- European Union
- Iceland
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Russia
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- USA
- The motive behind granting GSPs is to help developing countries and particularly least developed countries (LDCs) to promote productive capacity development and to encourage trade and investment.
4. Chinese companies and associated rules in India
Subject: Economy
Section: External Sector
Context: Scores of chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants are currently under the regulatory scanner for alleged violations of the companies law with respect to setting up of certain Chinese companies and their subsidiaries in India.
Concept:
- Chinese companies in the sense that they have Chinese directors as promoters.
- The incorporation process involves various services such as drafting and certifying the documents and submission of the same to the Registrar of Companies for their approval.
Steps taken:
- The corporate affairs ministry laid stricter norms for appointment of individuals from certain countries, including China, as directors on the boards of Indian companies, by making security clearance mandatory for such individuals.
- Land border-sharing nations’ citizens who are appointed as directors on boards of companies have to obtain a security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs along with the consent form.
- FEMA has been made mandatory for entities from such countries involved in amalgamations with Indian companies.
- The April 2020 guidelines required mandatory government approval for foreign investment coming from countries sharing land borders with the country. Previously, only investments from Pakistan and Bangladesh faced such restrictions.
- Aimed primarily at China, the new rule stated that foreign investors from these nations would have to seek regulatory approval before investing in India or increasing their stakes in Indian companies.
Registrars of Companies (ROC)
Registrars of Companies (ROC) appointed under Section 609 of the Companies Act covering the various States and Union Territories are vested with the primary duty of registering companies and LLPs floated in the respective states and the Union Territories and ensuring that such companies and LLPs comply with statutory requirements under the Act. These offices function as a registry of records, relating to the companies registered with them, which are available for inspection by members of the public on payment of the prescribed fee. The Central Government exercises administrative control over these offices through the respective Regional Directors.
5. How phase-changing materials can build green structures
Subject: Science and Technology
Context:
- The statement ‘70 per cent of the buildings India will have by 2030 are yet to be built’ has been repeated so often that it has become a cliché.
- The International Energy Agency has determined that carbon dioxide emissions from existing and new buildings may grow from 194 million tonnes in 2020 to 245 million tonnes by 2040.
‘Phase-Changing Materials’ or PCMs
- Materials that change phases while absorbing or releasing energy. Water becoming vapouror ice is a good example of such ‘phase-changing materials’, or PCMs.
- PCMs can be embedded into building materials either through macro encapsulation (hollows in slabs, walls or bricks filled with PCMs) or micro encapsulation (PCMs powdered and mixed with construction materials).
Benefits
- A recent study by AAridi of the University of Angers, France, and A Yehya of Harvard University notes that PCMs can save five to 14 times more energy in one unit volume than conventional sensible storage materials (water, masonry, or rock).
- PCMs can store a considerable amount of thermal energy in a building during off-peak load periods to balance the on-peak demand situation, it says.
- Furthermore, latent heat devices are better than sensible because they can store a large amount of heat with only a small to no temperature difference
- Latent heat is the heat energy required for a phase change without changing the temperature
- The study has delved into the relative merits of different types of PCMs in buildings — and has determined that coconut oil is the best.
Various types of PCMs
- PCMs can come from various sources — crude oil (paraffin wax), chemicals (salt hydrates) or plants (palm, soya or coconut oil).
- Four types of PCMs were studied: magnesium nitrate hexahydrate as salt hydrates, octadecane as paraffins, coconut oil, and coconut oil produced with biofertilisers.
Octadecane
- It was found costliest, at around $8 a kg, followed by coconut oil ($2 per kg), magnesium nitrate hexahydrate ($0.3 per kg).
- Octadecane, derived from crude oil, has the highest environmental impact among the four PCMs, but stores and releases the highest amount of energy because of its relatively high latent heat.
- This makes it desirable for small spaces.
The coconut oil
- This PCM using biofertilisers is ecofriendly, non-toxic, transparent, and has excellent chemical and thermo-physical properties for TES [thermal energy storage].
- Besides, coconut oil is relatively cheap and is obtainable, renewable, and biodegradable, unlike paraffin, which requires decades to be fully decomposed.
- Its production positively affects the economy of the agricultural communities that produce it, despite some issues related to cheap and child labour.
Waste to PCM
- The study notes that there are other bio-based PCMs, too, which may be used in combo, such as beef tallow combined with coconut oil, rapeseed oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, and soyabean oil, among others.
- There are PCM materials sourced from waste or by-products such as animal fats, fish wastes, pork lard, beef tallow, chicken fat, plastics and carbon PCM (C-PCM).
6. Sequence for a just future: Can safeguards for digital genomic data from biodiversity be ensured
Subject: Environment
Section: Biotechnology
Context: Negotiations on how to regulate the use of digital sequence information (DSI) of genetic resources could further delay the finalisation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Digital sequence information (DSI)
- This data is essentially electronic information on the sequences of the genetic material that make each biological resource unique.
Potential of DSI
- The vast potential of DSI was underscored during the pandemic when open access to the digital copy of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, uploaded by China, enabled researchers worldwide to develop vaccines against COVID-19 in record time.
Concerns
- Developing countries which are rich in biodiversity feel DSI provides a loophole through which developed countries can circumvent CBD.
- The CBD was established three decades ago to ensure that communities receive the benefits arising from the use of biodiversity.
- According to CBD, each country has sovereign rights over its genetic resources. Anyone who wants to access the material needs to first inform the country and set down mutually acceptable terms.
Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in Nairobi, Kenya
- Parties from Africa clearly said a decision on benefit-sharing from DSIs is important.
- A failure to come to a consensus could postpone the adoption of the framework
- They suggested setting up a fund under a multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism, which collects one per cent of the retail price of all commercial income resulting from the utilisation of genetic resources, from traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, or from DSIs.
- This fund, operated by the Global Environment Facility, could then be used to support conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and be made available to communities and countries in a competitive, project-based manner to support conservation of biological diversity and its sustainable use.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a legally binding treaty to conserve biodiversity has been in force since 1993. It has 3 main objectives:
- The conservation of biological diversity.
- The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity.
- The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
- Nearly all countries have ratified it (notably, the US has signed but not ratified).
- The CBD Secretariat is based in Montreal, Canada and it operates under the United Nations Environment Programme.
- The Parties (Countries) under Convention of Biodiversity (CBD), meet at regular intervals and these meetings are called Conference of Parties (COP).
- In 2000, a supplementary agreement to the Convention known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was adopted. It came into force on 11th September 2003.
- The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.
- The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) was adopted in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan at COP10. It entered into force on 12th October 2014.
- It not only applies to genetic resources that are covered by the CBD, and to the benefits arising from their utilization but also covers traditional knowledge (TK) associated with genetic resources that are covered by the CBD and the benefits arising from its utilization.
- Along with the Nagoya Protocol on Genetic Resources, the COP-10 also adopted a ten-year framework for action by all countries to save biodiversity.
- Officially known as “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020”, it provided a set of 20 ambitious yet achievable targets collectively known as the Aichi Targets for biodiversity.
- India enacted Biological Diversity Act in 2002 for giving effect to the provisions of the CBD.
Global Environment Facility
- It is an independently operating financial organization
- GEF is multilateral financial mechanism that provides grants to developing countries for projects that benefit global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.
- It was setup as a fund under World Bank in 1991
- In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, the GEF was restructured and moved out of the World Bank system to become a permanent, separate institution.
- Since 1994, however, the World Bank has served as the Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provided administrative services.
- It is based in Washington DC, United States.
- It addresses six designated focal areas:
- biodiversity,
- climate change,
- international waters,
- ozone depletion,
- land degradation and
- Persistent Organic Pollutants.
- The program supports an active portfolio of over 200 investments globally.
- GEF serves as financial mechanism for :
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
- Minamata Convention on Mercury
- India is both donor and recipient of GEF.
7. Overseas borrowing, a double-edged sword?
Subject: Economy
Section: External Sector
Context: Allure of cheaper rates may be deceptive as foreign currency loans can actually prove to be expensive
Multiple ways to boost companies’ capital
- The first method would be to infuse excess earnings into the company through retained earnings.
- The second would be to dilute the stake of existing shareholders of the company by creating a rights issue to infuse equity capital into the firm.
- The third, and arguably the quickest method, would be to borrow money from banks directly, NBFCs or the open market through issuing bonds/debentures.
- Fourth, borrowings denominated in foreign currencies
Arguments behind borrowing in foreign currencies
- When there is interest-rate disparity between the domestic and foreign markets (favouring the latter), it becomes cheaper to service such loans.
Risks
- It is crucial to note the borrower is still open to exchange risk, notwithstanding the difference in interest to be paid.
- If the domestic currency were to decline compared with the foreign currency, the company is liable to pay more than it had bargained for in real terms.
- Therefore, the currency risk must be offset by your revenue denominated in the foreign currency or by some other measure.
Example
- Vedanta, a mining company with a market capitalisation of ₹93,896 crore (at the time of writing this piece), had borrowed $1.2 billion in February 2021 when the U.S. dollar to rupee conversion rate stood at roughly ₹72.6 but touched a high of ₹80.03 on July 18 this year. The dollar, in nominal terms, appreciated by 10.6% in over a year-and-a-half. An increase of 10.6% in the total interest payments amounts to $1.394 billion.
Challenges
- The problem with borrowing in the current environment is the impending risk of a recession due to increased interest rates to curb inflation. Central banks worldwide, primarily the Federal Reserve, have raised rates unanimously.
- The effect of rising rates has two facets,
- the first being the threat of lower earnings from a shrinking economy, and
- the second being the depreciation of the rupee compared with foreign currencies.
- Although the borrowing of these companies remains constant, their revenues decrease due to a recession, increasing the real burden of their debt.
NCDs (non-convertible debentures)
- Debentures are long-term financial instruments that are issued by companies to borrow money.
- Some debentures have a feature of convertibility into shares after a certain point of time at the discretion of the debenture holder.
- The debentures which cannot be converted into shares are called non-convertible debentures (or NCDs).
- There are two types of NCDs-secured and unsecured.
- A secured NCD is backed by the assets of the company. If the company fails to pay the obligation, the investor holding the debenture can claim that through liquidation of those assets.
- Contrary to this, there is no backing in unsecured NCDs if company defaults.
8. A toothy solution for stem cell harvesting
Subject: Science and Technology
Section: Biotechnology
Context:
- The bone marrow has till now been the single most common source of stem cells.
- However, other sources such as the umbilical cord or adipose tissue are being tapped too.
New Research regenerative, or stem cell therapy
- Irrespective of the age of the donor, stem cells from gingival or gum tissue help regenerate neuronal cells [or nerve cells].
- This finding could eventually help in the treatment of nerve-related disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Why gingiva?
- It is very difficult to extract cells from the bone marrow. These would come from the knee cap of a donor who may not be healthy and is likely afflicted with arthritis or some such condition related to the bone.
- The recovery time after extraction of bone marrow tissue is more compared with that for gingival tissue.
- Extracting bone tissue is a highly invasive procedure.
- Gingiva offers no such complication. Anyone can donate gingival tissue and the healing time is about 7-10 days.
- With age, stem cells tend to develop tumours over time. This was not observed in the lab growth derived from gingival tissue.
Limitation
- However, when the stem cells were induced to develop osteoblasts or bone cells, or adipose tissue, the ability declined with the increasing age of the donor.
- Only in the regeneration of neuronal cells, stem cells derived from gingival tissue were uniformly effective, despite age differences.
Use of stem cells in regenerative therapy
- Stem cells are the basic building blocks that help generate other cells — which could either be stem cells or other specialised cells for specific functions, such as blood cells, nerve cells, bone cells or heart muscle cells.
- In the treatment of cancer, an infusion of stem cells from a donor or from oneself has shown promise.
- Cancer is a disease that kills numerous cells in a short period of time. To negate the effect of cancer, stem cells perform the critical function of regenerating healthy cells to replace the damaged ones.
- Stem cell therapy was first tried in 1958 by French oncologist Georges Mathé, who performed the first bone marrow graft to help save six Yugoslavian nuclear researchers who had been accidentally irradiated.
- Stem cells are useful not just in cancer treatment but also in understanding how diseases occur and affect the body, and in testing new drugs, according to the Mayo Clinic website.
- Stem cells can be derived from embryos, bone marrow, fat tissue or perinatal fluids such as umbilical cord blood.
Autologous stem cell therapy
- It is the treatment using one’s own stem cell for age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s would be ideal.
- Here can avoid chances of rejection of cells or other complications
Allogeneic therapy
- It involves the use of donated stem cells.
- Chances of rejection of cells or other complications are there
Covid-19 treatment
- Interestingly, the team expanded the experiment to see if stem cell-induced regeneration can help reverse lung damage due to Covid-19 infection.
- The team measured improvement in lung condition across eight parameters including presence of blood clots and fibroids, and the infiltration of immune cells into the lungs.
9. ‘Forcible’ Aadhaar-voter ID linking
Subject: Government Schemes
Context :Despite clarifications from various government authorities that the linking of Aadhaar with the voter identity card is “voluntary”, there have been instances of people being warned by booth-level officers that their voter ID would be cancelled if it is not linked to their Aadhaar number.
Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Features
- De-Duplication of Electoral Roll: It provides for amendment of section 23 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1950, enabling the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem.
- This aims to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places.
- This will help in stopping bogus voting and fraudulent votes.
- This linking is in consonance with 105th report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personal, Public Grievances and Law and Justice.
- Multiple Qualifying Dates: The citizens get voting rights when they turn 18. However, many are left out of the electoral rolls even after turning 18. This is because in the system, 1st January is the qualifying date.
- According to the bill, four qualifying dates will be declared for updating the voting rolls to include those who have turned 18 — the first day of the months of January, April, July and October.
- Bringing Gender Neutrality: The language for registration of ‘wives of service voters’ will now be replaced by ‘spouse’. This will make the laws more “gender-neutral”.
- Service voters are those serving in the armed forces, armed police forces of a state serving outside it and government employees posted outside India.
Concerns
- The Ministry of Law and Justice recently amended Form 6, and introduced Form 6B to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “These forms make it compulsory for those who have Aadhaar to provide their Aadhaar Numbers in order to vote“
- The move, however, has drawn flak from various sections of society citing violations to an individual’s right to privacy. Many have also flagged concerns that the linkage would help in creating voter profiles which may be used to influence the voting process.