Daily Prelims Notes 23 January 2023

January 23, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

23 January 2023

Table Of Contents

Subject: History

Section: Art and Culture

Context: Odisha Governor has backed the entry of foreign nationals inside the world-famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, wading into a debate that has lasted for decades and periodically triggered controversy.

About Jagannath Temple:

The temple is believed to be constructed in the 12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
Jagannath Puri temple is called ‘YamanikaTirtha’ where, according to the Hindu beliefs, the power of ‘Yama’, the god of death has been nullified in Puri due to the presence of Lord Jagannath.
This temple was called the “White Pagoda” and is a part of Char Dham pilgrimages (Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, Rameswaram).
There are four gates to the temple- Eastern ‘Singhdwara’ which is the main gate with two crouching lions, Southern ‘Ashwadwara’, Western ‘VyaghraDwara and Northern ‘Hastidwara’. There is a carving of each form at each gate.
In front of the entrance stands the Arunastambha or sun pillar, which was originally at the Sun Temple in Konark.
Jagannath, Lord of the Universe, comes to Bada Danda (the Grand Road) along with his siblings during the nine-day Rath Yatra (car festival) in June-July every year, an occasion when non-Hindus can have His darshan.
As the deities go on a sojourn to the Gundicha temple, their birthplace, devotees from around the world throng Puri for a glimpse of the Lord.
Jagannath PuriYatrais the most famous Vaishnavite rituals observed in India and abroad.
On the occasion, devotees pray to three deities – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Lordess Subhadra
Only Hindus are allowed inside the shrine to offer prayers to the sibling deities in the sanctum sanctorum. A sign at the Lion’s Gate (main entrance) of the Temple clearly states: “Only Hindus are allowed”.

Why no non-Hindus?

It has been the practice for centuries, even though there is no clearly articulated reason for it.

Some historians believe that multiple attacks on the Temple by Muslim rulers might have led the servitors to impose restrictions on the entry of non-Hindus. Others have said that this was the practice from the time the Temple was built.

Patitapaban darshan: Lord Jagannath is also known as Patitabapan which literally means “saviour of the downtrodden”. So all those who are barred from entering the Temple because of religious reasons get the privilege of a darshan of the Lord in the form of Patitapaban at the Lion’s Gate.

Past controversies

In 1984, the servitors famously opposed the entry of Indira Gandhi inside the Temple, saying she had married a non-Hindu.

In November 2005, Thai Princess Maha Chakri Srinidhorn, who was on her maiden visit to Odisha, viewed the Temple from the outside because foreigners are not allowed.

In 2011, a proposal by Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, then adviser to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, supporting the entry of non-Hindus into the Temple to boost Odisha’s tourism potential, triggered a major controversy. Mohapatra had to withdraw his statement.

2. ‘Chargesheets are not public documents’: SC ruling

Context: The Supreme Court held that chargesheets are not ‘public documents’ and enabling their free public access violates the provisions of the Criminal Code of Procedure as it compromises the rights of the accused, victim, and the investigation agencies.

What is a chargesheet?

A chargesheet, as defined under Section 173 CrPC, is the final report prepared by a police officer or investigative agencies after completing their investigation of a case.

After preparing the chargesheet, the officer-in-charge of the police station forwards it to a Magistrate, who is empowered to take notice of the offences mentioned in it.

The chargesheet should contain details of names, the nature of the information, and offences. Whether the accused is under arrest, in custody, or has been released, whether any action was taken against him, are all important questions that the chargesheet answers.

Further, when the chargesheet relates to offences for which there is sufficient evidence against the accused, the officer forwards it to the Magistrate, complete with all documents. This forms the basis for the prosecution’s case and the charges to be framed.

A chargesheet must be filed against the accused within a prescribed period of 60-90 days, otherwise the arrest is illegal and the accused is entitled to bail.

What is a FIR?

First Information Report (FIR) is a written document prepared by the police when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence.

It is generally a complaint lodged with the police by the victim of a cognizable offence or by someone on his/her behalf. Anyone can report the commission of a cognizable offence either orally or in writing to the police. Even a telephonic message can be treated as an FIR.

For more about FIR https://optimizeias.com/first-information-report-fir/

How is a chargesheet different from an FIR?

The term ‘chargesheet’ has been expressly defined under Section 173 of the CrPC but ‘First Information Report’ or FIR, has not been defined in either the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the CrPC. Instead, it finds a place under the police regulations/ rules under Section 154 of CrPC, which deals with ‘Information in Cognizable Cases’.

The chargesheet is the final report filed towards the end of an investigation, an FIR is filed at the ‘first’ instance’ that the police is informed of a cognizable offense or offence for which one can be arrested without a warrant such as rape, murder, kidnapping.

FIR does not decide a person’s guilt but a chargesheet is complete with evidence and is often used during the trial to prove the offenses the accused is charged with.

After filing an FIR, the investigation takes place. Only if the police have sufficient evidence can the case be forwarded to the Magistrate, otherwise, the accused is released from custody under Section 169 of the CrPC.

According to Section 154 (3) of the CrPC, if any person is aggrieved by the refusal of authorities to file FIR, they can send the complaint to the Superintendent of Police, who will either investigate himself or direct it to their subordinate.

A chargesheet is filed by the police or law-enforcement/ investigative agency only after they have gathered sufficient evidence against the accused in respect of the offenses mentioned in the FIR, otherwise, a ‘cancellation report’ or ‘untraced report’ can be filed when due to lack of evidence.

Why is a chargesheet not a ‘public document’?

Court held that a chargesheet cannot be made publicly available as it’s not a ‘public document’ under Sections 74 and 76 of the Evidence Act, as argued by the petitioners’.

Section 74 of the Evidence Act defines ‘public documents’ as those which form the acts or records of sovereign authority, official bodies, tribunals, and of public offices either legislative, judicial or executive in any part of India, Commonwealth or a foreign country. It also includes public records “kept in any State of private documents”.

Section 76 of the Evidence Act mandates every public officer having custody over such documents to provide its copy pursuant to a demand and payment of legal fee, accompanied by a certificate of attestation along with the date, seal, name and designation of the officer.

Court also clarified that as per Section 75 of the Evidence Act, all documents other than those listed under Section 74’ are private documents.

3. Revised EXIM Data

Subject : Economy

Section :External Sector

Concept :

India’s foreign trade data for the first eight months of 2022-23 have been significantly revised, with the import bill being scaled up or down by at least two billion dollars in each of those months, in comparison to the preliminary estimates issued by the Union Commerce Ministry.
The total merchandise exports between April and November are revised at $298.3 billion, nearly $12 billion higher than the original monthly data.
The import bill in those eight months is now estimated at $493.5 billion, about $1.7 billion higher than the initial numbers.
The trade deficit in the first eight months of the year is $10 billion lower than indicated by adding up monthly preliminary estimates.
Economists believe that such wide variations in data are unusual and make policy formulation difficult, particularly when managing the current account deficit, which is being fueled by rising imports and a feared slowdown in exports amid a global recession.

Trade Deficit

Trade deficit or negative balance of trade (BOT) is the gap between exports and imports.
When money spent on imports exceeds that spent on exports in a country-a trade deficit occurs.
The opposite of a trade deficit is a trade surplus.
India tends to have a trade deficit every year because it imports far more (in terms of value, measured in $) than it exports.
A trade deficit implies that Indians need dollars/forex more than the rest of the world needs rupees for the trades to settle.
A trade deficit puts pressure on the rupee’s exchange rate against the dollar and persistently high trade deficits tend to weaken the rupee’s exchange rate.
It is a part of the Current Account Deficit.

Current Account Deficit.

The current account records exports and imports in goods and services and transfer payments.
It represents a country’s transactions with the rest of the world and, like the capital account, is a component of a country’s Balance of Payments (BOP).
There is a deficit in Current Account if the value of the goods and services imported exceeds the value of those exported.
Major components are:
- Goods,
- Services, and
- Net earnings on overseas investments (such as interests and dividend) and net transfer of payments over a period of time, such as remittances.
Current Account Balance = Trade gap + Net current transfers + Net income abroad.
Trade gap/Trade deficit = Exports – Imports.

4. Poll bound Nagaland hit by defection

Subject : Polity

Section: Parliament and State legislature

Concept :

Undeterred by the frequent defection of its legislators in northeastern states, Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United has decided to contest the upcoming Nagaland assembly elections scheduled in the last week of February.

Anti-defection law

The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by 52nd amendment.
It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.

What constitutes defection?

The law covers three kinds of scenarios.

One is when legislators elected on the ticket of one political party “voluntarily give up” membership of that party or vote in the legislature against the party’s wishes. A legislator’s speech and conduct inside and outside the legislature can lead to deciding the voluntarily giving up membership.
The second scenario arises when an MP/MLA who has been elected as an independent join a party later.
The third scenario relates to nominated legislators. In their case, the law specifies that they can join a political party within six months of being appointed to the House, and not after such time.
Violation of the law in any of these scenarios can lead to a legislator being penalised for defection.
The Presiding Officers of the Legislature (Speaker, Chairman) are the deciding authorities in such cases. The Supreme Court has held legislators can challenge their decisions before the higher judiciary.
The law does not provide a time-frame within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case.
The supreme court held that ideally, Speakers should take a decision on a defection petition within three months.

5. National Digital University will scale up Gross Enrolment Ratio

Subject : Governance

Concept :

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the digital University will pave way for scapling up Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education significantly from the present level of 27 percent.
A thrust on online education, collaboration amongst existing institutions and start of new ones are the other ways to attain the intended target of 50 percent GER, the Minister told mediapersons.

Digital University

The Union Government of India in its Budget 2022-2023 has announced the establishment of a Digital University.
The main objective is to ensure world-class quality universal education with a personalised learning experience at doorsteps.
The study material will be available in different Indian languages and ICT formats.
The University will be built on the hub-spoke model.
The hub and spoke model refers to a distribution method in which a centralized “hub” exists.
Everything either originates in the hub or is sent to the hub.
The best public universities and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spokes.
The Department of Higher Education, University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and other stakeholders have initiated the process to ensure the early start of this digital university.

Gross Enrolment Ratio:

The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is the number of students enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education.
The percentage of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in higher education in 2019-20 is 27.1% against 26.3% in 2018-19 and 24.3% in 2014-2015.

6. SC notice on Kerala GST law permitting levy of tax under VAT scheme

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Concept :

The Supreme Court this week sought responses from the Central government and the State of Kerala in a plea challenging provisions of the Kerala Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act that permit assessment and collection of tax under the old tax regime.
The petitioner’s business was registered under the erstwhile Kerala Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, which was repealed when the GST regime came into force.
It was the petitioner’s case that the GST Act allowed certain provisions of the earlier regime to continue with relation to levy, collection and assessment of tax.
When the tax department issued pre-assessment notices in 2018 under the provisions that were in force at the time, the constitutional validity of the notices was challenged by various petitioners.
The plea was dismissed by a single-judge of the High Court, who reasoned that the State had sufficient legislative powers to include a savings clause under the Kerala GST Act.

Savings Clause under GST

Section 174 of the CGST Act, is the customary ‘Repeal and Savings’ clause introduced by the Legislature to save transactions under pre-GST enactments.
The said provision provides for saving of any right, privilege, obligation, or liability acquired or incurred under the repealed Acts.

Value Added Tax Regime

Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a form of tax that is assessed incrementally.
It is levied on the actual transaction value of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the end consumer.
VAT essentially compensates for the shared service and infrastructure provided in a certain locality by a state and funded by its taxpayers that were used in the creation of the said product and service.
From a global perspective, although there isn’t much difference between GST and VAT, in India the difference existed due to implementation.
Hence to eliminate the cascading tax effect GST subsumed many indirect taxes including VAT.

7. Passive Debt Funds

Subject : Economy

Section :Money Market

Concept :

Passive Funds

A passive fund is an investment vehicle that tracks a market index, or a specific market segment, to determine what to invest in.
Unlike with an active fund, the fund manager does not decide what securities the fund takes on.
This normally makes passive funds cheaper to invest in than active funds, which require the fund manager to spend time researching and analysing opportunities to invest in.
Tracker funds, such as ETFs (exchange traded funds) and index funds fall under the banner of passive funds.

Passive debt funds

Passive debt funds are fixed income mutual fund schemes which track debt or money market instruments.
These funds invest in debt or money market instruments like Government Securities (Gilts / G-Secs), State Development Loans (SDL), PSU bonds, and Tri Party Repos (TPTs) etc.
Currently, debt funds in the passive category invest only in AAA-rated instruments.
The Sebi circular on passive fund introduces norms for each debt fund category, including portfolio exposure limits to each sector, the issuer (based on rating) and group.
Application of these provisions should help mitigate concentration risk in debt ETFs/ index funds.

What are different types of passive debt funds in India?

There are mainly three kinds of passive debt funds in India viz. passive liquid funds, passive Gilt funds and target maturity funds.
Passive liquid funds invest primarily in overnight instruments, while passive Gilt funds invest in Government Securities.
The vast majority of passive debt funds are target maturity funds.
Target maturity funds are passive debt mutual fund schemes, which track an underlying bond index and have defined maturity dates. On maturity, you will get the maturity proceeds which will include the face value of the bonds in the fund portfolio and accrued interest.

8. State Development Loan

Subject : Economy

Section : Fiscal Policy

Concept :

Tamil Nadu is planning to raise ₹51,000 crore in the fourth quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2022-2023 by auctioning off bonds called State Development Loans, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s borrowing calendar.

State Development Loans (SDLs)

State Development Loans (SDLs) are dated securities issued by states for meeting their market borrowings requirements.
Purpose of issuing State Development Loans is to meet the budgetary needs of state governments. Each state can borrow up to a set limit through State Development Loans.
The SDL securities issued by states are credible collateral for meeting the SLR requirements of banks as well as a collateral for availing liquidity under the RBI’s LAF including the repo.
One remarkable feature of SDL is that it is a market oriented instrument for states to mobilize funds from the open market. Higher the fiscal strength of a state, lower will be the interest rate (yield) it has to pay for the SDL borrowings.
SDLs are basically securities and they are auctioned by the RBI through the e-Kuber which is dedicated electronic auction system for government securities and other instruments. RBI holds SDL auctions once in a fortnight.
The rate of interest or yield of SDL securities are determined through auction.
Still the interest rate will be slightly higher than that of Central Government securities (G-secs) of matching tenure.
The investors in SDL are basically commercial banks, mutual funds, insurance companies who are attracted by the slightly higher interest rate of SDL (compared to central government securities).

9. Purana Qila prepares history walk for G20 guests

Subject : History

Section :Art and Culture

Concept :

During the G20 Summit in Delhi in September, visiting delegates will be taken to the Purana Qila to travel back 2,500 years in time.
Currently, one of the excavated trenches at the site is being turned into a visitors’ spot by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), where those who walk in can see “a continuous habitation of 2,500 years”, according to the agency.
At eight metres below the ground level on the excavated trench are traces of pre-Mauryan era (6th to 4th century BC), and gradually, as one comes up, the soil layers have cultural deposits of various other kingdoms of Delhi that existed before the Mughals came in — the Mauryan empire, the Shungas, Kushanas and the Rajputs.

PuranaQila

PuranaQila is built on the banks of river Yamuna and is the oldest fort of Delhi.
It has been said that the fort was previously built by the Pandavas for their kingdom Indraprastha as some grey ware of that period was found during excavation.

PuranaQila under Mughals

PuranaQila was renovated by Humayun in 1533 and it took around five years to complete.
The fort was built inside Din Panahwhich was a small city in Delhi. Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun in 1540 and captured the fort.
Sher Shah Suri ruled for five years and in his reign he constructed many structures inside the fort and named the fort as Shergarh.
After winning again, the renovation of the fort continued by Humayun.
Shah Jahan wanted to shift his capital from the old fort so he constructed Lal Qila or Red Fort.
New Delhi became the capital of British India in 1920 and Edwin Lutyens linked Rajpath with PuranaQila.

Gateways of the fort

The walls of the fort are 18m high and the circumference of the fort is 1.5km. There are three gates in the fort which are
Bara Darwaza
HumayunDarwaza
TalaqiDarwaza
The Bara Darwaza is still in use and it faces west. Humayun Darwaza was named so because Humayun’s tomb is visible from here.
Talaqi Darwaza or forbidden gate is the third gate of the fort. Each of the gates has two storeys and are built with sandstone. Each gate also has two bastion towers made up of marble.
Qila-i-KuhnaMosque: Sher Shah Suri built this mosque in 1541. Five doorways are there having pointed arch in each. In this mosque the king and his courtiers used to offer prayers.
Sher Mandal: The construction of Sher Mandal was started by Babur and completed by Humayun. The building is made up of red sandstone and is octagonal in shape. Babur used the building as an observatory and library.

10. Promote ‘One District One Spice’, urges Niti Aayog Member

Subject: Schemes

Concept:

Dr Ramesh Chand, Agricultural Economist and Member Niti Aayog urged All-India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) to draw up a “one district one spice” action plan for promoting spice cultivation, as a sequel to the “One District One Product” initiative of the central government to fuel economic growth.
Out of the total crop area of 200 million hectares in this country, spices are grown only in 2.2% of the total crop area which comes only to 4.4 million hectares.
But the spices’ share in production in terms of value in the total crop sector is 6%.

One District One Product (ODOP)

It was launched in January 2018, by the Uttar Pradesh Government, and due to its success, was later adopted by the Central Government.
The ‘One District, One Product (ODOP) was later launched by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, to help districts reach their full potential, foster economic and socio-cultural growth, and create employment opportunities, especially in rural areas.
The initiative is carried out with the ‘Districts as Exports Hub’ initiative by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme to be shared by the central government and states in 60:40 contributions.

Significance

The ODOP initiative is aimed at manifesting the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to foster balanced regional development across all districts of the country.
The idea is to select, brand, and promote One Product from each District of the country
For enabling holistic socioeconomic growth across all regions
To attract investment in the District to boost manufacturing and exports
To generate employment in the District
To provide an ecosystem for Innovation/ use of Technology at the District level to make them competitive with domestic as well as international market

11. Leopard 2 tank

Subject: Science and Technology

Section :Defence

Context: Germany has not decided whether to allow its Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine.

What is a Leopard 2 tank?

The Leopard 2 is a 3rd generation main battle tank originally developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s for the West German army.
The tank entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German Army.
It is armed with a 120 mm smoothbore cannon made by Rheinmetall, and is powered by a V-12 twin-turbo diesel engine made by MTU Friedrichshafen.
It features night-vision equipment and a laser range finder that can measure the distance to an object.
It is also used by the other European armies, Canada and Indonesia.
It has seen service in conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Syria.

How will it help Ukraine?

Supplies of the Leopard 2 would help offset Russia’s superiority in artillery firepower.

Why does Germany have to approve the transfer of Leopards owned by other countries?

The re-exporting of German-made tanks without Berlin’s permission would be illegal.
The contracts that a country signs to obtain weapons from German manufacturers or German military stocks require them to request a re-export license from the federal government should they wish to send such weapons to another country.
The United States has similar requirements, as do other countries, including Switzerland.

Other tanks offered to Ukraine include:

Challenger 2 tanks of Britain
Stryker combat vehicle by USA
M1 Abrams tanks by the USA (though the USA has made no commitment to providing them to Ukraine).

12. To lower the risk of Kidney disease, eat oily fish, shows research

Subject : Science and Technology

Section: Biotechnology

Research findings:

Higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids found in seafood are associated with a moderately lower risk of chronic kidney disease and a slower decline in kidney function, according to the research.
These associations are not found with higher levels of plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids.

Chronic kidney disease:

It affects about 700 Mn people worldwide and can lead to kidney failure and death, so there is a need to identify factors that might prevent its onset and progression.
Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) may have beneficial effects on kidney function, but evidence from human studies is limited.

About Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are nutrients one get from food (or supplements) that help build and maintain a healthy body.
They’re key to the structure of every cell wall one has.
They’re also an energy source and help keep one’s heart, lungs, blood vessels, and immune system working the way they should.
Two crucial ones — EPA and DHA — are primarily found in certain fish.
ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), another omega-3 fatty acid, is found in plant sources such as nuts and seeds.
DHA levels are especially high in the retina (eye), brain, and sperm cells.
Not only does our body need these fatty acids to function, but they also deliver some big health benefits.

Sources of Omega-3 fatty acids

13. Dry cold winter and rabi crop

Subject: Geography

Subject : Economic Geography

Context:

The India Meteorological Department has forecast “scattered to fairly widespread rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm activity” over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh though a fresh western disturbance is expected to bring more rain over northwest India.

How will this impact the Rabi crops?

This year wheat is shown in more areas (341.13 lha) than that in the previous year (339.87 lha), so the expectation for this year is a bumper production of wheat.
Moreover, the wheat stocks in government warehouses on January 1 at a six-year-low.

The crop has a risk of Heavy rains, hailstorms and the early onset of summer, which can affect the production of wheat.

But there are two positive scenarios:

There are more-than-adequate public stocks of rice to meet the public distribution system’s requirements.
The international wheat prices are eased considerably.

Wheat crop:

The wheat that was sown before mid-November is in the “boot” stage (by mid-january), where the earheads (which bear the flowers and eventually grain) are forming at the top of the plants. Heading (when the earheads fully emerge from the stem) and flowering (pollination) happen within 90-100 days from sowing, which is followed by about 25 days of early kernel formation (“milk” stage) and another 15 days or more of grain-filling (“dough”).
Rain at this stage will provide growth momentum to the crop by cooling the canopy and enabling natural nitrogen fixation.
The rain will:
- Reduce the usage of fertilizers
- Remove dust and pollutants from the leaves
- Save irrigation costs

Mustard crop situation:

Farmers have planted an all-time-high area of 91.56 lh under mustard, compared to 84.47 lh in 2021-22.
The dry and cold winter has not been beneficial for mustard.
Reason:
Mustard, which is generally sown by October-end, starts flowering after 50-60 days and forming siliqua (pods containing seeds) over the next 35-40 days.
The severe cold wave conditions are believed to have caused frost damage to the crop in many areas.
A wide range of temperatures (high temperature in daytime and drop to lowest point in night time) in these areas harm the mustard crops.

Chana crop situation:

Chana is the second biggest rabi crop by area, with farmers sowing 110.91 lh.
That’s down from last year’s 112.65 lh, but higher than the normal area of 98.86 lh.
Sowing stretches from end-September (in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) to October (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat) and the first fortnight of November (Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab), with the crop duration also extending from 100-110 days to 120-130 and 130-140 days in these three regions.
There has been no loss from frost, as flowering will start only towards end-January/ early-February and pod-setting 25-30 days after that.
The crop condition is good, but rain will be helpful at this point.

14. How ISM variability led to more showers in the Bay

Subject: Geography

Subject : Climatology/ Atomosphere

Context:

Regions surrounding northern Bay of Bengal (BoB) received higher precipitation than the other parts of India for the last 10,200 years, says a new study.

About the study and its findings:

Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences, Lucknow, reconstructed the history of the ISM variability from this region by using both biotic (phytoliths, NPPs and stable carbon isotopes) and abiotic (environmental magnetic parameters, and grain size data) proxies that predate instrumental records (records taken before the 19th century).
This new study traced the dynamics of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall (ISMR) over 10,000 years – a period which witnessed the development and fall of numerous ancient civilisations around the world, many of which were associated with climate instability.
The researchers show that a heavy ISMR was witnessed between 10,200 years and 5,600 years ago by this region, but the ISMR decreased 4,300 years ago.
The ISM got strengthened again between 3,700 and 2,100 years following which it switched to a drier mode for a while.
The ISM regained its strength some 200 to 100 years ago. Of the weakened phases, the one that occurred around 4,300 years back was the most severe one, and had an adverse impact on the ecosystem.

What derived the variability in ISM?

As per the study, the millennial-scale variations in the ISM rainfall may largely be attributed to changes in solar insolation and dynamics of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ — an area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge).
The centennial-scale variations may be collectively triggered by phenomena like North Atlantic Oscillation, El Nino Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean Dipole.

Significance of the study:

Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on ISM.
The Bengal Basin located at the trajectory of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) branch of the ISM is very sensitive to changes in the ISM strength.
Even a minor change in ISM strength may have adverse effects on the agrarian-based socio-economic conditions of the region.
However, no systematic long-term record (beyond the range of instrumental period) for the past ISM variability in the region was available.
The study can help us understand long-term trends of climate change impacts on the ecosystems and may help mitigate future climate extremities.

15. Dealing with drug-resistant pathogens

Subject: Science & Tech

Section :Biotechnology

Context:

Pathogens develop drug resistance and we need to find newer drugs against which they have no defence.

Antimicrobial peptide (AMP):

These are peptides that attach themselves to the body of the pathogen and prevent it from entering our cells.
Peptides are small chains of amino acids.
AMPs are produced by human bodies, as also other living beings.
Today, about 5,000 AMPs are known, and catalogued.
AMPs are proving to be smarter than invading pathogens.
These peptides are effective, broad-spectrum antimicrobials that establish themselves as new therapeutic agents, and hold the potential to kill gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, fungi, enclosed viruses, and even mutated or malignant cells.
Unlike antibiotics, AMPs are effective against viruses too.

The issue with AMPs:

The problem is, how to produce AMPs.
It is possible to chemically synthesise AMPs. Another option is to take the DNA in organisms and coax it to produce the peptides.
But both are time-consuming, costly and with no guaranteed output.

Bacteriophages

These are viruses that get into the bacteria and lyse them — break them open inside out. Bacteriophage therapy has great potential as an alternative to antimicrobials.
Optimal conditions of phage use, including their concentration, the time and sequence of administration and their combination with the appropriate antibiotics, are likely to establish the effectiveness and reliability of this medicine.
- However, may not be a long-term solution as bacteria can evolve resistance to bacteriophages too.

Tackling AMR: Need for a deeper approach:

Researchers are working on various deeper approaches to finding the solution to the problem of AMR. Some of them include:

Understanding ‘host-pathogen interaction’.

Some pathogens enter a host (our) cell and disarm the immune system by secreting certain proteins. A better understanding of this mechanism would help in stopping it.

Understanding the fundamental principles of cell-intrinsic defence and immune dysregulation that drive pathogenesis.

The goal is to identify common and distinct themes in host defence using various infectious disease models.

‘host-based therapies’

It involves the use of ‘interferon signalling pathways’.
Interferons are a type of protein released by our cells when a virus enters the cell’s vicinity and are a part of the ‘cytokine family’.

Developing technologies that can differentiate between viral and bacterial infections, limiting the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics.
Yet another strategy is for proper disposal of antibiotics and antibiotic-contaminated material, to prevent environmental contamination and the emergence of AMR.

16. More bio-inspired functional materials pouring out of labs

Subject: Science & Tech

Section :Biotechnology

Bio-inspired materials:

Bio-inspired materials are synthetic materials whose structure, properties or function mimic those of natural materials or living matter.
Examples include:
- Light-harvesting photonic materials that mimic photosynthesis
- Structural composites that imitate the structure of nacre
- Metal actuators inspired by the movements of jellyfish
- Spider silk has ultra-high tensile strength.
- Honeycomb structures used in industries are inspired by the honeycomb made by the bees.
- The crescent-shaped structures on the insides of a pitcher plant — a plant with pitchers into which insects fall and are duly digested — give a better surface texture to the cutting edges of machine tools.

Euplectella aspergillum:

It is a greyish-white sponge that is found in the deep waters of the Pacific.
Loosely woven and bottle-shaped, they grow in clumps and keep dancing with the motion of the waters.
The locals know them as ‘venus flower basket’.

The lattice structure of Euplectella aspergillum:

There were vertical and horizontal struts, making several little squares. But while some squares had diagonal struts (closed cells), others didn’t (open cells).
This lattice structure in the venus flower basket is nature’s way of giving the sponge properties of buckling resistance and impact and vibration absorption.
Researcher at IIT-Madras made engineering materials inspired by the lattice structure of this plant.
- These engineered materials are the basic building blocks that can eventually be adopted into automobiles, space, armoured vehicles, bio-implants, and so on.
- These bio-inspired structures showed better energy absorption performance than the most commonly used foams and honeycombs for industrial applications.
- These structures can be incorporated into the aero-engine components to significantly reduce the weight, increase vibration absorption and for improved heat dissipation control.

17. The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to begin negotiations for the next round of wage revision for employees, due from November 1, 2022.

Subject: Polity

Section: National Organisation

Context: Wage revision in PSU banks has always been a tedious and time-consuming process with bank managements and unions engaging in tough negotiations. Department of Financial Service has asked public sector banks to begin negotiations for the next round of wage revision for employees, due from November 1, 2022.

In July 2020, around 8.5lakh bank employees got a 15 per cent increase in their salary packages with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) – the apex body of banks – and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UBFU) signing a Memorandum of understanding to settle the three year long contentious issue of wage revision. The wage revision, which cost banks around Rs 7900 crore, was effective from November 1, 2017.

Indian Banks` Association (IBA) has been receiving a number of communications from bank customers, members of the public, bank employees and bank retirees conveying their grievances against banks/ making enquiries/ seeking information about banks.

IBA wishes to clarify in this regard that IBA is:

An association of banks and other entities in the banking ecosystem in India catering to its members

It is Neither a Governmental entity nor a Regulatory Authority;

It is Not amenable to Writ Jurisdiction of Courts; an

It is Not subject to the RTI Act

About the DFS

The Department of Financial Services covers Banks, Insurance, and Financial Services provided by various government agencies and private corporations.
It also covers pension reforms and Industrial Finance and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise. It started the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
PFRDA, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is a statutory body which also works under this department.
The major Acts administered by the DFS that are being considered for rationalisation of compliances are: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934; the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949; the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Act, 1999; the Insurance Act, 1938; the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005; and the National Housing Bank (NHB) Act, 1987.