Daily Prelims Notes 22 December 2022

December 22, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

22 December 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Sovereign Green Bonds framework and ICAI

Subject: Economy

Context:

CA Institute has finalised the assurance standard on sustainability related information which will enable auditors to express an opinion on sustainability related aspects such as green bonds.

Details:

The resources mobilised by the government through sovereign green bonds will form part of the Centre’s overall market borrowings in 2022-23.

What- Sovereign Green Bond?

A sovereign green bond is a debt instrument issued by the Central or State government to borrow money from investors with the commitment that the mobilised fund will be spent on climate or ecosystem related activities.

Sovereign Green Bonds framework of India:

Sovereign Green Bonds will be issued for mobilising resources for green projects.
CICERO, an independent and globally renowned Norway-based second party opinion provider, was appointed to evaluate India’s green bonds framework and certify alignment of the framework with international best practices.
CICERO has rated India’s Green Bonds Framework as
- ‘Medium Green’ with a –”Good” governance score.
The payment of principal and interest on the Green Bonds will not depend on the performance of the eligible projects.
Green Finance Working Committee (GFWC) wil be constituted to validate key decisions on the issuance of sovereign green bonds.
The projects eligible to be financed or re-financed by the proceeds of Green Bond issuances fall under the following nine categories: renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, climate change adaptation, sustainable water and waste management, pollution prevention and control, green buildings, sustainable management of living natural resources and land use, and terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity conservation.
- Green expenditure can be in the form of equity only in the case of metro projects under the ‘Clean Transportation’ category.
- Expenditures directly related to fossil fuel are excluded.
- The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is allowed as an ‘eligible expenditure’ but only when it is used in public transportation projects i.e. subsidy/incentive for private transportation using CNG is excluded.
- Other excluded projects include hydropower plants larger than 25 MW, Nuclear power generation, direct waste incineration, alcohol, weapons, tobacco, gaming, palm oil industries, renewable energy projects generating energy from biomass using feedstock originating from protected areas, and landfill projects.
All eligible Green Expenditures will include public expenditure undertaken by the Government in the form of investment, subsidies, grant-in-aids, or tax foregone (or a combination of all or some of these) or select operational expenditures, R&D expenditures in public sector projects that help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy and enable country to meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It will be endeavored that all the proceeds get allocated to projects within 24 months following issuance.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established by the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949
It aims to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountancy in the country.
The Institute, functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.
The ICAI is the second largest professional body of Chartered Accountants in the world, with a strong tradition of service to the Indian economy in public interest.
The affairs of the ICAI are managed by a Council in accordance with the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988.
The Council consists of 40 members of whom 32 are elected by the Chartered Accountants and remaining 8 are nominated by the Central Government generally representing the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders.
Functions:
- Regulate the profession of Accountancy
- Education and Examination of Chartered Accountancy Course
- Continuing Professional Education of Members
- Conducting Post Qualification Courses
- Formulation of Accounting Standards
- Prescription of Standard Auditing Procedures
- Laying down Ethical Standards
- Monitoring Quality through Peer Review
- Ensuring Standards of performance of Members
- Exercise Disciplinary Jurisdiction
- Financial Reporting Review
- Input on Policy matters to Government

2. RBI Monetary Policy

Subject :Economy

Context:

A premature pause in monetary policy action would be a costly policy error at this juncture, the RBI governor stated in the MPC minutes.

Concept:

Monetary policy

It refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy.

RBI Monetary Policy Instances:

Hawkish Monetary Policy Stance
- In order to keep inflation in check, the Hawkish stance favours high-interest rates.
- A tight monetary policy is implemented to contract economic growth. Converse to accommodative monetary policy, a tight monetary policy involves increasing interest rates to constrain borrowing and to stimulate savings.
Dovish Monetary Policy Stance
- This monetary policy stance involves low interest rates.
- Low-Interest Rates would entice consumers to take credit (loans) from Banks and other sources.
- Economists who recommend Dovish Monetary Policy Stance, typically believe that lower interest rates will lead to a hike in Employment and an increase in Economic Growth.
- This stance might also lead to a possible weakening of the country’s currency.

Accommodative Monetary Policy Stance
- This happens when a central bank (RBI) attempts to expand the overall money supply to boost the economy when the economic growth is slowing down. The major aim is to increase spending.
- This is also known as “easy monetary policy”.
- It does this by running a succession of decreases in the Interest rates, making the cost of borrowing cheaper.
Neutral Monetary Policy Stance
- The policy rates neither stimulate (speed up) nor restrains (slowdown) the economic growth by taxation and government spending. Economic conditions are just right.
- The Key Policy Rates are neither increased or decreased.

Instruments of monetary policy:

Statutory Liquidity ratio (SLR)
- To combat inflation, the RBI must raise the SLR. When the SLR is raised, banks are required to keep a larger amount in safe and liquid assets. As a result, the bank’s ability to lend to the market declines, lending rates rise. Market liquidity will shrink, as a result, inflation is controlled.
- The RBI must decrease SLR to fight deflation, which works the opposite way.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)
- To combat inflation, the RBI must raise the CRR. When the CRR is raised, banks are required to keep a larger amount of cash with the RBI.
- As a result, the bank’s ability to lend to the market declines, lending rates rise. Market liquidity will shrink, as a result, inflation is controlled.
Repo Rate
- During periods of high inflation, the RBI raises the repo rate to reduce the flow of money in the economy. A rise in the repo rate disincentivizes banks from borrowing from the RBI.
- As a result, market liquidity decreases. Lending rates rise, making borrowing more expensive for businesses and industries, slowing investment and money supply in the market. It aids in the control of inflation.
Reverse Repo rate
- To combat high levels of inflation, the RBI raises the reverse repo rate. It encourages banks to park funds with the RBI (more certainty of return + higher interest rate) rather than lend to the private sector.
- As a result, market liquidity is reduced and borrowing interest rates rise. Borrowing will be more expensive for private players, reducing investment. It aids in the control of inflation.
Standing deposit facility
- The standing deposit facility is a collateral-free liquidity absorption mechanism implemented by the RBI with the intention of transferring liquidity out of the commercial banking sector and into the RBI.
- Increase in the SDF would reduce the money supply in the economy.
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
- Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) is a provision made by the Reserve Bank of India through which scheduled commercial banks can obtain liquidity overnight, if inter-bank liquidity completely dries up.
Open Market Operation (OMO)
- To combat higher levels of inflation, the RBI drains the market of excess liquidity by selling government securities. Banks lend money to the RBI by borrowing government securities. This reduces the economy’s excess liquidity. Lending rates rise, making borrowing more expensive, stifling private investment. As a result, it prevents inflation.
Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS)
- To combat inflation, the RBI, in a manner similar to the Open Market Operations, sucks out excess liquidity in the economy by selling government securities. Banks lend money to the RBI by borrowing government securities. This reduces the economy’s excess liquidity. Lending rates rise, making borrowing more expensive, stifling private investment. As a result, it prevents inflation.

3. Risks associated with private crypto

Subject :Economy

Context:

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das warned against the private cryptocurrencies that could lead to the ‘next financial crisis’.

Concept:

Cryptocurrency:

A cryptocurrency or crypto, is a virtual currency secured by cryptography. It is designed to work as a medium of exchange, where individual ownership records are stored in a computerised database using blockchain technology.

Defining traits

No intrinsic value
Scarce
Not issued by central banks
Based on blockchain-a decentralized public ledger
Understanding transaction

Merits of cryptocurrency

Basic feature of a currency: scarce and acceptability
Corruption Check: As blocks run on a peer-to-peer network, it helps keep corruption in check by tracking the flow of funds and transactions.
Time Effective: Cryptocurrencies can help save money and substantial time for the remitter and the receiver, as it is conducted entirely on the Internet, runs on a mechanism that involves very less transaction fees and is almost instantaneous.
Cost Effective: Intermediaries such as banks, credit card and payment gateways draw almost 3% from the total global economic output of over $100 trillion, as fees for their services.
Increase digitalisation
Difficult to counterfeit: as based on blockchain technology

Concerns

Financial

Lack of backing – Such currency don’t have an intrinsic value or legal backing Such digital currency may not be accepted as a medium of exchange, store of value or a unit of account — essentially de-recognising the three key functions of money.
Sovereign guarantee: Cryptocurrencies pose risks to consumers. They do not have any sovereign guarantee and hence are not legal tender.
Market volatility: Their speculative nature also makes them highly volatile. For instance, the value of Bitcoin fell from USD 20,000 in December 2017 to USD 3,800 in November 2018.
Money laundering: Cryptocurrencies are more vulnerable to criminal activity and money laundering. They provide greater anonymity than other payment methods since the public keys engaging in a transaction cannot be directly linked to an individual.
Regulatory bypass: A central bank cannot regulate the supply of cryptocurrencies in the economy. This could pose a risk to the financial stability of the country if their use becomes widespread. It will make monetary policy transmission difficult.
Weaken central bank: disturb the sovereignty of the central bank. When the crypto is introduced, other governmental departments such as IT and telecom will need to be involved for its smooth functioning. This may, initially at least, create coordination and implementation issues.
Uncertainty in financial markets: Many public sector and private banks have been hit by a huge number of fraudulent transactions. The situation could worsen when there is an increasing shift to digital currencies without having proper regulation.

Other-

Risk in security: A user loses access to their cryptocurrency if they lose their private key (unlike traditional digital banking accounts, this password cannot be reset).
Malware threats: In some cases, these private keys are stored by technical service providers (cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets), which are prone to malware or hacking.
Power consumption: Since validating transactions is energy-intensive, it may have adverse consequences for the country’s energy security (the total electricity use of bitcoin mining, in 2018, was equivalent to that of mid-sized economies such as Switzerland)
Expensive: access to digital currency transactions is expensive because those interested will need to have a computer, tech gadgets and internet connectivity.
Compromise on privacy– While transacting in cash in a retail store,one may not leave any trial whereas with crypto will leave a trial. This could make the ordinary citizens feel uncomfortable.
In a developing economy like India where access to the internet and digital literacy are still a challenge, coexistence of cash and crypto will be an unrealistic option making it difficult to understand and penetrate. Thus, could increase income inequality.

4. Stabilisation fund and carbon market

Subject :Economy

Context:

India plans to set up a stabilisation fund to make carbon credits attractive.

Details:

A stabilisation fund will be set up to keep prices of credits in its planned carbon market above a certain threshold.
It will ensure that the credit prices remain attractive for investors and that the market succeeds in cutting emissions.
Money in the fund would be used by a market regulator to buy carbon credits if prices fell too low.

Why?

In the European Union, a credit worth 1 tonne of carbon dioxide was reduced to 5 euros in 2012 from around 30 euros in 2008, but creation of a market stability reserve in 2019 led to a price rise between 75 and 95 euros per tonne.

Carbon markets:

These are essentially a tool for putting a price on carbon emissions— they establish trading systems where carbon credits or allowances can be bought and sold.
- A carbon credit is a kind of tradable permit that, per United Nations standards, equals one tonne of carbon dioxide removed, reduced, or sequestered from the atmosphere.
- Carbon allowances or caps, meanwhile, are determined by countries or governments according to their emission reduction targets.

Types of carbon markets?

There are broadly two types of carbon markets that exist today— compliance markets and voluntary markets.

Voluntary markets are those in which emitters— corporations, private individuals, and others— buy carbon credits to offset the emission of one tonne of CO 2 or equivalent greenhouse gases.
- Such carbon credits are created by activities which reduce CO 2 from the air, such as afforestation.
- In a voluntary market, a corporation looking to compensate for its unavoidable GHG emissions purchases carbon credits from an entity engaged in projects that reduce, remove, capture, or avoid emissions.
  - For Instance, in the aviation sector, airlines may purchase carbon credits to offset the carbon footprints of the flights they operate.
- In voluntary markets, credits are verified by private firms as per popular standards. There are also traders and online registries where climate projects are listed and certified credits can be bought.

Compliance markets— set up by policies at the national, regional, and/or international level— are officially regulated.
- Today, compliance markets mostly operate under a principle called ‘cap-and-trade”, most popular in the European Union (EU).
- Entities in this sector are issued annual allowances or permits by governments equal to the emissions they can generate. If companies produce emissions beyond the capped amount, they have to purchase additional permits, either through official auctions or from companies which kept their emissions below the limit, leaving them with surplus allowances.This makes up the ‘trade’ part of cap-and-trade.
- The market price of carbon gets determined by market forces when purchasers and sellers trade in emissions allowances.
- These markets may promote the reduction of energy use and encourage the shift to cleaner fuels.

How does the Carbon Market work?

A country sets a limit on emissions and then allocates a corresponding quantity of tradable permits, or credits, to emitters.
The quantity reduces over time.
If a company wants to emit more, it can buy more credits at the market price, but it will also consider whether constraining or even cutting its emissions might be more profitable.
The Indian market would cover emissions of carbon dioxide and also five other greenhouse gasses valued in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission would probably be the market regulator.
In the compliance market- participation would be obligatory for entities in a dozen sectors, such as oil refining, steel, aluminium and cement
The voluntary market would be open to other entities.

India Carbon Market?

India’s carbon market is being set up in two phases. In the first phase, between 2023 and 2025, the existing energy-savings certificates will be converted to carbon credits.
Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 empowers the Centre to specify a carbon credits trading scheme.
- Under the Bill, the central government or an authorised agency will issue carbon credit certificates to companies or even individuals registered and compliant with the scheme. These carbon credit certificates will be tradeable in nature. Other persons would be able to buycarbon credit certificates on a voluntary basis.
Notably, two types of tradable certificates are already issued in India—
- Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and
- Energy Savings Certificates (ESCs).
  - These are issued when companies use renewable energy or save energy, which are also activities which reduce carbon emissions.

Derivatives trade: Sebi extends suspension in seven agri commodities

Context: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the suspension on derivatives trading of seven commodities for one more year till December 20, 2023. The ban was on paddy (non-basmati), wheat, chana, mustard seeds, soyabean, crude palm oil and moong

Capital and commodity markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has suspended futures and options trading for one year in a host of agricultural commodities including chana, mustardseed, crude palm oil, moong, paddy (Basmati), wheat and soyabean and its derivatives.

Derivatives on several commodities have been banned/suspended as many as 19 times in the last two decades, with some facing multiple suspensions. The latest was the year-long futures tradingbanon7agri-commoditiesonDecember20,2021. A September report by NCDEX said the suspension of futures contracts in the past have not resulted in the desired impact of controlling the prices. At best, there have been minor corrections in the short term. The extension will hit the NCDEX as these commodities contributed nearly 54 percent of the total deposits between April 2021 and July 2021

Concept –

Derivative is a product whose value is derived from the value of one or more basic variables, called bases (underlying asset, index, or reference rate), in a contractual manner. The underlying asset can be equity, forex, commodity or any other asset.
A derivative can trade on an exchange or over-the-counter.
Common derivatives include futures contracts, forwards, options, and swaps.

Options

An option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (or sell) an asset at a specific price at any time during the life of the contract.
They tend to be fairly complex, options contracts tend to be risky. Both call and put options generally come with the same degree of risk. When an investor buys a stock option, the only financial liability is the cost of the premium at the time the contract is purchased.
Options are based on the value of an underlying security such as a stock. As noted above, an options contract gives an investor the opportunity, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the asset at a specific price while the contract is still in effect. Investors don’t have to buy or sell the asset if they decide not to do so.

Futures

A futures contract gives the buyer the obligation to purchase a specific asset, and the seller to sell and deliver that asset at a specific future date unless the holder’s position is closed prior to expiration.
Options may be risky, but futures are riskier for the individual investor. Futures contracts involve maximum liability to both the buyer and the seller
A futures contract requires a buyer to purchase shares—and a seller to sell them—on a specific future date, unless the holder’s position is closed before the expiration date.
Futures contracts tend to be for large amounts of money. The obligation to sell or buy at a given price makes futures riskier by their nature.
They are preferred by speculators.

Swaps

Swaps are private agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows in the future according to a prearranged formula. They can be regarded as portfolios of forward contracts. The two commonly used swaps are:
- Interest rate swaps: These entail swapping only the interest related cash flows between the parties in the same currency and
- Currency swaps: These entail swapping both principal and interest between the parties, with the cash flows in one direction being in a different currency than those in the opposite direction.

Forwards

Forward contracts or forwards are similar to futures, but they do not trade on an exchange.
These contracts only trade over-the-counter.

5. Money Variables

Subject :Economy

Context:

Note in circulation (NiC) increased by 7.98% as of December 2, 2022.

Concept:

Currency in Circulation (CiC) refers to currency notes and coins issued by the central bank within a country that is physically used to conduct transactions between consumers and businesses.It is a major liability component of a central bank’s balance sheet. Thus, Currency in circulation comprises of:

Currency notes and coins with the public
Cash in hand with banks.
- RBI’s definition, currency with public is arrived at after deducting cash with banks from total currency in circulation (CiC).

The demand for currency/money:

Demand for money is commonly associated with cash or bank demand deposits.
The demand for money explains people’s desire for a specific amount of money.
Motives for Demanding Money
- Transaction Motive
  - It refers to the demand for money to meet the current needs of individuals and businesses.
  - Individuals require money to meet their immediate needs, which is referred to as the income motive. Businesses, on the other hand, require money to carry out their operations, which is known as the business motive.
- Precautionary Motive
  - It refers to people’s desire to save money for various contingencies that may arise in the future.
  - Unemployment, sickness, and accidents are examples of contingencies.
  - The amount of money required for the precautionary motive is determined by a person’s nature and living conditions.
- Speculative Motive
  - The speculative motive for demanding money arises when holding money is perceived to be less risky than lending the money or investing it in another asset.
  - It refers to the motivation of individuals to hold cash in order to profit from market movements regarding changes in future interest rates.
  - For example, if a stock market crash appeared to be imminent, the speculative motive for demanding money would come into play; those anticipating a crash would sell their stocks and keep the proceeds as money.
- The precautionary and speculative motives serve as a store of value for various purposes.

Factors Affecting Demand for Money

Interest Rates– interest rates are earned on alternative assets such as bonds. People hold less money when interest rates rise relative to the rates available on money deposits. People hold more money when interest rates fall.
Technological Changes-Technological changes such as debit cards make the importance of holding cashless important.People who have easy access to current accounts may be able to keep less cash on hand. Thus, keep less money on hand when new technologies make it easier to convert wealth into money.
Availability of Credit-If credit becomes more widely available, precautionary demand for money will fall as people believe they can borrow – even if they face short-term difficulties.
Irrational Behavior of Asset Prices/ animal spirits-Markets can go through booms and busts as a result of psychological factors such as over-exuberance.During these bubble periods, demand for assets rises while demand for holding money falls.
Changes in National Income-When real GDP rises, more goods and services are available for purchase. They will cost more money to purchase.A fall in real GDP, on the other hand, will cause the money demand curve to fall.
Changes in the Price Level (inflation or deflation)-If the price of everything increases by 20%, you will need 20% more money to buy things. When the price level rises, the demand for money rises as well.

The money supply is the total stock of money circulating in an economy. In the most simple language, Money Supply is Currency in Circulation plus Deposits in Commercial Banks.

Monetary supply aggregates (Types of money supply)

Reserve Money (M0):-Reserve money is also called central bank money, monetary base, base money, or high-powered money.
- In the most simple language, Reserve Money is Currency in Circulation plus Deposits of Commercial Banks with RBI.
- Mo = Currency in circulation + Bankers’ deposits with the RBI + ‘Other’ deposits with the RBI
- It is the monetary base of the economy.
M1 (Narrow Money) =Currency with the public + Deposit money of the public (Demand deposits with the banking system + ‘Other’ deposits with the RBI).
M2=M1 + Savings deposits with Post office savings banks.
M3 (Broad Money) = M1+ Time deposits with the banking system
M4 = M3 + All deposits with post office savings banks

Factors affecting money supply:

The quantum of cash or banknotes in the economy depends on the requirement for meeting the demand for banknotes due to GDP growth, inflation, replacement of soiled banknotes and growth in non-cash modes of payment.

6. US-Canada Great Lakes turning acidic: study seeks to establish details

Subject Geography

Context:

Scientists are building a sensor network to detect the trends in the water chemistry of Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the first step towards developing a system that would be capable of measuring the carbon dioxide and pH levels of the Great Lakes over several years.

Details:

By 2100, even the Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario — might approach acidity at around the same rate as the oceans.

Acidification of water bodies:

Acidification of oceans or freshwater bodies takes place when excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere gets rapidly absorbed into them.
Scientists initially believed this might be a good thing, as it leaves less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But in the past decade or so, it has been established that absorption of carbon dioxide leads to a lowering of the pH, which makes the water bodies more acidic.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US government, ocean water has become 30 per cent more acidic in the past 200 years.

Consequences of acidification:

The five lakes would witness a pH decline of 0.29-0.49 pH units — meaning they would become more acidic — by 2100.
Acidification may lead to a decrease in native biodiversity, create physiological challenges for organisms, and permanently alter the structure of the ecosystem.
It would also severely impact the hundreds of wooden shipwrecks that are believed to be resting at the bottom of these lakes.
As per research, their pH levels had declined three times faster in 35 years than in oceans since the Industrial Revolution. This may result in the loss of some species.
As a result of the increase in acidity the ability of water fleas to defend themselves against predators was compromised.

About the Great Lakes:

The Great Lakes are five interconnected bodies of water straddling the US-Canada border that drain into the Gulf of St Lawrence in the North Atlantic through the St Lawrence River.
These five lakes form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and the second largest by total volume containing 21% of the world’s surface freshwater by volume.
The US-Canada border passes through Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario while Lake Michigan lies entirely in the US.
Lakes Michigan and Huron are sometimes considered as a single water body.
- Taken together, they are the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area.
By itself, Lake Huron is the world’s third-largest freshwater lake, after Lake Superior (one of the five lakes, and the world’s largest freshwater lake) and Lake Victoria.

Significance of the Great Lakes:

The Great Lakes are believed to have been born some 20,000 years ago, when the Earth started to warm and water from melting glaciers filled the basins on its surface.
They contain a fifth of the world’s total freshwater and are a crucial source of irrigation and transportation.
They serve as the habitat for more than 3,500 species of plants and animals.

7. Human evolution didn’t stop at split from chimpanzees, 155 tiny new genes identified: Study

Subject :Science and Technology

Context:

Humans have evolved to gain 155 tiny new genes, but their role in health and diseases is currently unclear, according to a new study.

Details:

Some of the new genes have evolved from scratch, building on ‘junk’ or non-coding DNA sequences.
- Non-coding sequences do not code for amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
Mutations can allow new genes to be born from a piece of DNA that was not previously a gene.
Alternatively, new genes can evolve from existing genes when they get accidentally duplicated. Over the years, they gather mutations to form a new gene.

Reference genome:

Researchers from Greece and Ireland studied the human ‘reference’ genome.
- It is not a DNA sequence of a single person but an accepted representation of the human genome sequence.
They compared this with the genomes of 99 vertebrate species and tracked the relationship of these genes across evolution. As many as 155 microgenes stood out as unique.
- Microgenes are simply very small genes.
- 44 of the 155 new genes are associated with growth defects.
- 3 of the 155 new genes have links with diseases such as muscular dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa and Alazami syndrome.
It is possible that periods of environmental change are conducive to the evolution of new genes because they might be important for adaptation.

8. Why farmers have been urging the Centre to control the import of arecanuts

Subject :Geography

Context:

The country’s arecanut farmers are faced with an unfair challenge as imports of cheaper varieties, especially from Bhutan, flooded the domestic markets and dragged down the price of the product after the central government relaxed import restrictions.
In Karnataka, about 35-40 per cent of the crop has been affected in 2022

Minimum import price (MIP):

MIP is the rate below which no imports are allowed.
Imports without MIP or at low rates threaten domestic prices and lead them to crash.
In September this year, the central government allowed the import of 17,000 tonnes of green (fresh) arecanut from Bhutan without a minimum import price (MIP).
Import of arecanut has taken place mostly from Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Indonesia.

Arecanut:

It is a tropical crop generally known as the betel nut.
It is a palm tree species under the family of Arecaceae.
Arecanut is considered a horticulture crop in the state, a commercial crop at the national level and dry fruit at the international level.
Areca nut is not a native crop of India.
It was from Southeast Asia that the crop spread to Asia and India where it is cultivated as a cash crop.
Karnataka produces about 80% of the arecanut in the country, followed by Kerala and Assam.
Globally, India is the leading producer of arecanut, followed by Bangladesh, Myanmar and Indonesia.
Indonesia is the top exporter of arecanut and Thailand is the top importer.
These crops are generally impacted by yellow leaf disease, blast disease and fruit rot disease.
Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited or CAMPCO is founded in 1973 for the development of these crops in Karnataka and Kerala.

9. Lalbazar is becoming the hub for dokra metalcraft

Subject: Art and Culture

Bengal village Lalbazar basks in the glory of an ancient metalcraft.
Nestled in the forests with a population of not even a hundred people, Lalbazar was a nondescript village until not too long ago.
Today it’s not only an art hub but also moving towards becoming a centre for dokra, a metalcraft popular in Bengal, all thanks to a Kolkata artist who made the place his second home four years ago.
Lalbazar – The tiny village of Lalbazar, surrounded by forests, sits close to the State’s border with Jharkhand, and has a population of some 80 people.
Also known as Khwabgaon — or dream village, a name given to it by art lovers — it is located 4 km from Jhargram, the nearest town and their window to the world

Dhokra metal craft

Dhokra sculptures, a type of folk art, is a non–ferrous metal casting technique also known as Lost-wax process.
Dhokra is an alloy of brass, nickel and zinc which gives an antique look.
The oldest specimen using such technique was during Harappan Period (famous Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro).
Dhokra Damar tribes are the traditional metalsmiths of West Bengal and Odisha. Their technique of lost wax casting is named after their tribe, hence Dhokra metal casting.
Dhokra Tradition is practised in the following states: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Nagaland (Konyak Naga Tribe).
Its motifs are mostly drawn from folk culture which includes animal figures like elephant, horse, gods and goddesses, containers with lids, lamp and lamp stands, intricate designs in shape of trees and branches.

Recent changes in the craft:

Beeswax, which was one of the primary inputs, is not used any more, since it is far more expensive and no longer easy to procure.
The traditional animal figurines — horses, elephants, camels and so on — are slowly being replaced by more functional things such as paperweights, pen holders etc.

Lost Wax technique

Lost-wax process or the cire-perdue is a method of metal casting in which a molten metal is poured into a mould that has been created by means of a wax model.
Once the mould is made, the wax model is melted and drained away. A hollow core is then filled with molten metal which takes the shape of the mould.

10, Palm Leaf Manuscript Museum

Subject :History

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate a palm-leaf manuscript museum with modern audio-visual technology at the renovated Central Archives, Fort, here on Thursday.

About the news

The Archives Department in association with Kerala Museum of History and Heritage has set up a palm-leaf manuscripts museum in the Fort area in Thiruvananthapuram.
The museum is loacted in a 400-year-old building which now holds the regional office of the State Archives Department.
It will feature a rare collection of over one crore palm-leaf manuscripts available with the Archives Department with the aim of communicating their importance to the public.
Manuscripts featuring ancient alphabets, including Vattezhuthu, Kolezhuthu and Malayanma will also be on display.
Representative ones will be selected from the vast collection of palm-leaf manuscripts, and be put up for display.
Visitors will first be greeted with an introductory session that highlights the history and importance of palm-leaf manuscripts in the state.
The museum will be divided into three sections, namely Travancore, Kochi and Malabar and these will again have subsections.
A heaven for history enthusiasts, the museum is expected to give a strong boost to research into the manuscripts..

About Palm Leaf Manuscripts:

Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves.
Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE.
Their use began in South Asia and spread to other regions, as texts on dried and smoke-treated palm leaves of Palmyra palm or the talipot palm.
Their use continued till the 19th century, when printing presses replaced hand-written manuscripts.
One of the oldest surviving palm leaf manuscripts of a complete treatise is a Sanskrit Shaivism text from the 9th-century, discovered in Nepal, now preserved at the Cambridge University Library.
The Spitzer Manuscript is a collection of palm leaf fragments found in Kizil Caves, China.
They are dated to about the 2nd-century CE and are the oldest known philosophical manuscript in Sanskrit related to buddhism.

Regional Variations

Southeast Asia : With the spread of Indian culture to Southeast Asian countries like as Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines, these nations also became home to large collections.
Palm-leaf manuscripts called Lontar in dedicated stone libraries have been discovered by archaeologists at Hindu temples in Bali Indonesia and in 10th century Cambodian temples such as Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei.
Odisha: Palm leaf manuscripts of Odisha include scriptures, pictures of Devadasi and various mudras of the Kama Sutra.
Tamilnadu: Palm leaf manuscripts were used in the Tamil grammar book named Tolkappiyam which was written around 3rd century BCE.

11. US to send Patriot Missiles to Ukraine

Subject :Science and Technology

The U.S. will send $1.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine in a massive package that will for the first time include a Patriot missile battery and precision-guided bombs for their fighter jets, U.S. officials said.

Patriot missile

The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system that was first deployed in the 1980s and can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
Each Patriot battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers that can hold up to four missile interceptors each, a ground radar, a control station and a generator.
Its operational range is around 70 kilometer and the US has 16 Patriot battalions currently.
A 2018 International Institute for Strategic Studies report found those battalions operate 50 batteries, which have more than 1,200 missile interceptors.
The S. batteries are regularly deployed around the world.
The Patriot system is one of the most widely operated and reliable and proven air missile defense systems oand the theater ballistic missile defense capability could help defend Ukraineagainst Iranian-supplied ballistic missiles.

Countries with Patriot missiles

Patriots also are operated or being purchased by the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Romania, Sweden, Poland and Bahrain.

Patriot Missile – Wars

These missiles were used by the US military in Persian Gulf War, Iraq war, 2014 Israel – Gaza conflict, Syrian civil war, Yemen civil war, Saudi Arabian led intervention in Yemen, Saudi Arabian – Yemeni border conflict.

12. Millet lunch in the Parliament

Subject: Geography

To raise awareness on millets and prepare for 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with fellow parliamentarians across party lines, enjoyed a sumptuous lunch where millets were front and centre.

About International year of Millets:

India’s proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023 was approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2018 and the United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
This was adopted by a United Nations Resolution for which India took the lead and was supported by over 72 nations.
Objectives:
Awareness of the contribution of millet to Food Security and nutrition.
Inspire stakeholders to improve sustainable production and quality of millets.
Focus on enhanced investment in research and development and extension services to achieve the other two aims.

Government Initiatives to promote Millet production:

Millets are being promoted through technology dissemination, quality seeds through millet seed hubs, awareness generation, minimum support price and inclusion in PDS.
Efforts are now being done to include the nutrient-rich smaller millets in the mid-day meal schemes in government and government-aided schools in Karnataka and Telangana.
Millets as Nutricereals
The Union Agriculture Ministry, in April 2018, declared millets as “Nutri-Cereals”, considering their “high nutritive value” and also “anti-diabetic properties”.
Year of Millets
2018 was observed as the ‘National Year of Millets” and The UN General Assembly adopted an India-sponsored resolution to mark 2023 as the “International Year of Millets”.
Millet Mission
The Government of India’s Millet Mission comes under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), launched in October 2007.
The Centre’s Millet Mission will focus on developing farm-gate processing and empowering farmers through collectives while focusing on value-addition and aggregation of the produce.

“Millet in Minutes” products:

Recently APEDA launched a variety of “Millet in Minutes” products under the category of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) such as Upma, Pongal, Khichadi, Noodles, Biryani, etc.
This is a breakthrough in the food sector as it’s the first RTE millet product in the market to cater fast-paced world at their convenience in a healthy way.
All the millet products launched by APEDA are gluten-free, 100% natural and patented. All the RTE products are vacuum processed without any additives, fillers and preservatives.
Nutrition value is retained as original with a shelf-life of 12 months in ambient temperature.
Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millet Promotion (INSIMP):
Government announced an allocation of Rs. 300 crores in 2011-12 under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for promotion of millets as Nutri-cereals.
The scheme aimed to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated manner with visible impact to catalyze increased production of millets in the country.
SCO Millet Festival
India proposed to organize Millet Food festival under Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Mapping

Mudumalai National Park has been part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve since 1986 and was declared a tiger reserve together with a buffer zone of 367.59 km²

The protected area is home to several endangered and vulnerable species including Indian elephant, Bengal tiger, gaur and Indian leopard. There are at least 266 species of birds in the sanctuary, including critically endangered Indian white-rumpled vulture and long-billed vulture.