Daily Prelims Notes 8 January 2023
- January 8, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims Notes
8 January 2023
Table Of Contents
- MHA gets 7th extension to frame CAA rules
- Manual Scavenging in Tamil Nadu
- Jaish affiliate PAFF declared terrorist group
- Less than 1% of voters downloaded e-EPIC
- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2023
- Kerala establishes welfare board for workers
- Social and Performance Audit Authority (SPAA)
- Key Ladakh outfits reject centre’s plan
- Frequent outbreaks of bird flu in Kerala require diagnostic studies
- Roots connect a Meghalaya village
- A clear picture of how mercury becomes a superconductor
- Is Omicron variant XBB.1.5’s superior binding causing higher transmissibility?
- IISER new material removes pollutants from water
- From deforestation to restoration: Policy plots path to Amazon recovery
1. MHA gets 7th extension to frame CAA rules
Subject: Polity
Context: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been granted an extension for the seventh time to frame rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
More about News:
- The citizenship amendment Bill was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019. It got the President’s assent and was subsequently notified by the Home Ministry.
- The law is yet to be implemented, as rules under the CAA are yet to be framed.
- The Parliamentary committees on subordinate legislation in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha granted the extension to the Home Ministry until December 31, 2022, and January 9, 2023, respectively.
- Now, the Ministry has approached the Parliamentary committees, got approval from the Rajya Sabha for the next six months and are still waiting to get approval from the Lok Sabha.
Procedure and timeline for Framing Rules:
- Under the Constitution, the Legislature has the power to make laws and the Executive is responsible for implementing them. Often, the Legislature enacts a law covering the general principles and policies, and delegates the power to the Executive for specifying certain details for the implementation of a law.
- Ordinarily, Rules, Regulations, and bye-laws are to be framed within six months from the date on which the concerned Act came into force.
- Post that, the concerned Ministry is required to seek an extension from the Parliamentary Committees on Subordinate Legislation. The reason for the extension needs to be stated. Such extensions may be granted for a maximum period of three months at a time.
- To ensure monitoring, every Ministry is required to prepare a quarterly report on the status of subordinate legislation not framed and share it with the Ministry of Law and Justice. These reports are not available in the public domain.
About Parliamentary Committees on Subordinate Legislation:
- The Committee examines Bills which seek to delegate powers to make rules, regulations, bye-laws, etc. or amend earlier Acts delegating such powers, with a view to seeing whether suitable provisions for the laying of the rules, regulations, etc. before Parliament have been made therein.
- The Committee also examines representations made to it in regard to rules, regulations, bye-laws, etc. made or required to be made under an Act.
- The reports of the Committee are presented to the House from time to time by the Chairman of the Committee or in his absence, by any member of the Committee.
- Composition: It consists of 15 members in both houses. Members are nominated by the Speaker or Chairman in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.Ministers can’t be members of this committee.
- The Committee is present in both houses of the parliament.
2. Manual Scavenging in Tamil Nadu
Subject :Polity
Context: Social Awareness Society for Youth (SASY), a Dalit Human Rights Organisation recently conducted a study on ‘The status of implementation of prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act – 2013 in Tamil Nadu’.
- SASY studied 21 cases related to manual scavenging, sewer tank deaths, incidents of caste-based discrimination against sanitary workers and related incidents in government schools in Tamil Nadu in 2021-22.
Manual Scavenging:
- The term is used mainly for “manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or sewer or in a septic tank or a pit”.
- This occupation is linked with caste in India. All kinds of cleaning are considered lowly and are assigned to people from the so-called lowest caste of the social hierarchy.
- The Parliament had enacted the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 which came in force from December 6, 2013.
- This outlaws all manual excrement cleaning of insanitary latrines, open drains, or pits.
- It also provides a constitutional responsibility to provide alternative jobs and other assistance to manual scavenging communities.
National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)
- The NCSK was established in the year 1993 as per the provisions of the NCSK Act 1993 to give its recommendations to the Government regarding specific programmes for welfare of Safai Karamcharis.
- The NCSK Act ceased to have effect from 29th February, 2004.
- After that the tenure of the NCSK has been extended as a non-statutory body from time to time through resolutions.
- It studies and evaluates the existing welfare programmes for Safai Karamcharis, investigates cases of specific grievances etc.
- As per the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the NCSK has been assigned the work to monitor the implementation of the Act, tender advice for its effective implementation to the Center and State Governments and enquire into complaints regarding contravention/non-implementation of the provisions of the Act.
- The Chairperson and Members of the Commission undertake extensive touring of the country to study the socio-economic and living conditions of Safai Karamcharis and their dependents.
- The Commission calls for the factual reports in connection with these complaints/petitions from the concerned authorities and impress upon them to redress the grievances of the affected Safai Karamcharis.
A National Policy for mechanized Sanitation Eco-system has been formulated in consultation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Department of Drinking water and Sanitation which envisages, inter alia, the following:
- Appointment of Responsible Sanitation Authority in every District.
- Setting up of Sanitation Response Unit (SRU) in each municipality.
- Equipping SRUs with necessary devices, machines and vehicles required for mechanized cleaning.
- Professionally trained manpower for mechanized cleaning.
- 24×7 helpline to receive complaints regarding blockage of sewers and septic tanks.
- Setting up facilities for evacuation, transportation and treatment of sludge from septic tanks.
- Training to the staff of municipalities and contractors in the mechanized cleaning of sewers/septic tanks.
The following measures have been taken to promote 100% mechanization, specially cleaning of sewers, septic tanks, desilting of drains, garbage lifting, sludge handling, solid and medical waste disposal etc. and for the benefit of sanitation workers (including waste pickers) and their dependants to provide sustainable livelihood:-
- Under the Swachhta Udyami Yojana (SUY) concessional loans are provided to sanitation workers and their dependants and the urban local bodies for procurement of sanitation related equipments, machines and vehicles costing upto Rs. 50.00 lakh. The Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) has been revised from 2020-21 to provide capital subsidy upto Rs. 5.00 lakh to sanitation workers and their dependants for sanitation related projects.
- Under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme, free short duration upskilling training is provided to the sanitation workers. The candidates are trained about mechanized cleaning and safety precautions for safe and healthy cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
- Workshops are organised with officers, engineers, sanitary inspectors, supervisors, contractors and sanitation workers etc. of urban local bodies and authorities responsible for cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. During the workshops the participants are made aware about the provisions under the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013”, the rules framed there under and other provisions for safe and healthy cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
3. Jaish affiliate PAFF declared terrorist group
Subject: Security
- The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), believed to be an affiliate of Pakistani terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), was on Friday declared as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- According to a notification issued by the MHA, the PAFF emerged in 2019 as a proxy outfit of JeM, a proscribed terrorist organization.
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)
- UAPA was passed in 1967. It aims at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.
- Unlawful activity refers to any action taken by an individual or association intended to disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
- The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if the Centre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette, declare it so.
- It has death penalty and life imprisonment as highest punishments.
- Under UAPA, both Indian and foreign nationals can be charged.
- It will be applicable to the offenders in the same manner, even if crime is committed on a foreign land, outside India.
- Under the UAPA, the investigating agency can file a charge sheet in maximum 180 days after the arrests and the duration can be extended further after intimating the court.
- The 2004 amendment, added “terrorist act” to the list of offences to ban organisations for terrorist activities, under which 34 outfits were banned.
- Till 2004, “unlawful” activities referred to actions related to secession and cession of territory.
- In August, Parliament cleared the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 to designate individuals as terrorists on certain grounds provided in the Act.
- The Act empowers the Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) to grant approval of seizure or attachment of property when the case is investigated by the said agency.
- The Act empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to investigate cases of terrorism in addition to those conducted by the DSP or ACP or above rank officer in the state.
4. Less than 1% of voters downloaded e-EPIC
Subject :Polity
Context: Only Over 67 lakh voters have downloaded a digital voter ID, known as the electronic Electoral Photo ID Card (e-EPIC), from the time the document was made available by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
- Along with e-PAN and e-Aadhaar, the E-EPIC is one of the few generally accepted identity documents that can be downloaded as a legally valid PDF file.
Digital Voter ID Card (e-EPIC)
- The digital voter card is not expected to look too different from its physical form.
- It will be available as a PDF file and can be downloaded on one’s phone or computer.
- The soft copy may also have a QR code that will carry the voter’s enrolment details such as name and date of birth and address.
- This is still just a proposal and needs to be approved by the Election Commission.
How to avail it?
- To avail this facility, an eligible voter will have to provide her mobile number or email address to the EC machinery at the time of applying for enrolment in the voters’ list.
- Once her name is included in the electoral roll, she will be intimated through an SMS or email.
- The new voter can then download the Voter Card through OTP (One Time Password) authentication.
- Existing voters may have to re-verify their details with the EC (similar to the Bank KYC process) and provide their email or mobile phone number to get their cards in the electronic form.
Benefits offered
- An electronic card will help the EC save costs on printing and distributing a hard copy of EPIC.
- The EC feels that voters too will find it useful to have the PDF file of her voter card on her phone.
- This will do away with the necessity of first producing a voter’s slip on the day of voting.
5. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2023
Subject :International relations
- External affairs minister S Jaishankar inaugurated the Youth Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2023 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Sunday and said that the energies of young India are increasingly visible.
- The 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention is being organized in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh Government in Indore.
- The theme of this PBD Convention is “Diaspora: Reliable partners for India’s progress in Amrit Kaal”
- The convention will have three segments:
- The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be inaugurated on 8 January 2023. Ms. Zaneta Mascarenhas, Member of Parliament of Australia, will be the Guest of Honour at the event.
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the PBD convention on 09 January 2023. The event will feature the addresses of the Chief Guest Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and the Special Guest of Honour Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of the Republic of Suriname.
- President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu will confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2023 and preside over the Valedictory Session on 10 January 2023.
About Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)
- Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of the Overseas Indian community in the development of India.
- 9th January was chosen as the day to celebrate PBD since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.
- This day came into effect in 2003, but in 2015 it was revised and was decided to be celebrated every two years.
- It was then a theme-based conference that was set up every year during the interim period.
- PBD Conventions are held once every two years.
- PBD 2021: The 16th PBD Convention was held virtually in New Delhi. The theme was “Contributing to Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
- On this day, the Government also confers Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award.
- It is the highest honour conferred on a Non-Resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin; or an organisation or institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin, who have made significant contribution in better understanding of India abroad, support India’s causes and concerns in a tangible way.
Significance:
- This day plays a significant role as the overseas Indian community gets a shared platform to get themselves engaged with the government and the native people of the land.
- The conventions are very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.
6. Kerala establishes welfare board for workers
Subject : Polity
- Kerala set up a welfare board for the workers of employment guarantee schemes in the state.
- At least 26.71 lakh labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme and 2.5 lakh workers of the Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme will receive the benefits of the newly formed welfare board.
- Kerala became the first state to have a welfare board for the beneficiaries of employment guarantee programmes in the country.
Benefits ensured via welfare board
- Members of the welfare board will receive benefits, including pensions after reaching 60 years of age.
- Workers in the age group of 18-55 can join the welfare board. A monthly share of Rs 50 has to be paid
- If beneficiary dies, pension will be dispensed to their kin.
- Financial assistance for family,if beneficiary dies due to illness or accident
- Financial aid for beneficiaries affected by critical illness.
- Financial assistance for women members for marriages, maternity benefits and support for education of children.
Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme
- Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS), launched in 2010, aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in urban areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to an urban household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
7. Social and Performance Audit Authority (SPAA)
Subject :Polity
- In a first of its kind, Rajasthan government has set up a Social and Performance Audit Authority (SPAA) to ensure accountability in delivery of government schemes and programmes.
- Naresh Kumar Thakral, Secretary, Finance (Expenditure), who has been made the Commissioner of the authority, said that under SPAA, audits of government schemes will be undertaken on two counts: social and performance.
- Social audit will be undertaken along the lines of social audit in MGNREGA.
- For performance audit, SPAA will engage personnel from Valuation Wing under the Planning Department as well as the Department of Treasuries and Accounts.
About Social Audit
- Social Audit is the audit of a scheme jointly by the Government and the people, especially by those who are affected by the scheme or its beneficiaries.
- Social audit is different from financial audits which involve inspecting and assessing documents related to financial transactions in an organization to provide a true picture of its profits, losses and financial stability.
Social Audit and MGNREGA:
- Under Section 17 of the MGNREGA, all works executed under the program must undergo a social audit.
- Every Social Audit Unit is entitled to funds equivalent to 0.5% of the MNREGA expenditure incurred by the State in the previous year.
- The audit involves quality checks of infrastructure created under the MNREGA, financial misappropriation in wages, and checking for any procedural deviations.
- The report titled ‘Social audit calendar vs audits completed’ was released recently by the Union Rural Development Ministry (MoRD) highlights that only 14.29% of the planned audits have been completed in 2021-2022.
- The Ministry also held that failure to carry out a social audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by states will invite action, including withholding of funds.
- However, it is the Centre that bears the administrative cost of these Social Audit Units, and the inordinate delay in the release of funds has left many of these cash-strapped units nearly paralysed.
8. Key Ladakh outfits reject centre’s plan
Subject :Polity
- Ladakh’s two top socio-political bodies, the Leh Apex Body (LAB ) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), on Saturday rejected the Union Home Ministry’s high-powered committee for protection of land and jobs for the people of the Union Territory.
- The bodies hardened their stand on four key points, which include granting Statehood and special status under the Sixth Schedule of Constitution.
High-powered committee for Ladakh
- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in India has established a High Powered Committee (HPC) to address issues related to the protection of Ladakh’s culture, language, land, and employment opportunities.
- A 17-member committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
- The committee has been formed with the goal of promoting inclusive development and employment generation in the region, as well as empowering the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) of Leh and Kargil.
- Its mandate includes discussing measures to protect Ladakh’s unique culture and language, and to ensure that the region’s land and employment opportunities are protected for the benefit of its people.
Sixth Schedule
- The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution.
- Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
- ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.
- The Governors of these states are empowered to reorganise boundaries of the tribal areas.
- In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.
- They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a separate legislation.
- Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils for each area constituted as an autonomous region.
- In all, there are 10 areas in the Northeast that are registered as autonomous districts – three in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura.
- These regions are named as district council of (name of district) and regional council of (name of region).
- Each autonomous district and regional council consists of not more than 30 members, of which four are nominated by the governor and the rest via elections. All of them remain in power for a term of five years.
- The Bodoland Territorial Council, however, is an exception as it can constitute up to 46 members.
9. Frequent outbreaks of bird flu in Kerala require diagnostic studies
Subject :Environment
- Kerala’s wetlands, which inhabitat more than 80 % of duck population, are under threat due to outbreaks of bird flu.
- Many of them are Ramsar sites with rich biodiversity.
- Ramsar sites require continuous monitoring and epidemiological studies; investigations required on whether contamination occurs through soil and water, and if there is any change in salinity and pH level of water and soil over the period
- A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,which is also known as the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ — an intergovernmental environmental treaty established by UNESCO in 1971, and named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed that year.
- Ramsar recognition is the identification of wetlands around the world,which are of international importance, especially if they provide habitat to waterfowl (about 180 species of birds).
Ramsar Sites in Kerala
Vembanad Lake
- Vembanad Lake is also known as Vembanad Kayal, Vembanad Kol, Punnamada Lake (in Kuttanad) and Kochi Lake (in Kochi).
- Spanning several districts of Kerala and covering a territory of more than 2033.02 km2.
- The lake has its source in four rivers, Meenachil, Achankovil, Pampa and Manimala
- It is separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier island and is a popular backwater stretch in Kerala.
- Vallam Kali (i.e Nehru Trophy Boat Race) is a Snake Boat Race held every year in the month of August in Vembanad Lake.
- In 2002, it was included in the list of wetlands of international importance, as defined by the Ramsar Convention.
- It is the second-largest Ramsar site in India only after the Sundarbans in West Bengal.
- The Government of India has identified the Vembanad wetland under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme.
- The Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is located on the east coast of the lake.
- In 2019, Willingdon Island, a seaport located in the city of Kochi, was carved out of Vembanad Lake.
- One of the most outstanding features of this lake is the 1252 m long saltwater barrier, Thanneermukkom, which was built to stop saltwater intrusion into Kuttanad.
Ashtamudi Lake
- Ashtamudi Lake or Ashtamudi Kayal , in the Kollam District of the Indian state of Kerala, is the most visited backwater and lake in the state.
- It possesses a unique wetland ecosystem and a large palm-shaped (also described as octopus-shaped) water body, second only in size to the Vembanad estuary ecosystem of the state.
- Ashtamudi means ‘eight braids’ in the local Malayalam language.
- The name is indicative of the lake’s topography with its multiple branches.
- The lake is also called the gateway to the backwaters of Kerala and is well known for its houseboat and backwater resorts.
- Ashtamudi Wetland was included in the list of wetlands of international importance, as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands.
Sasthamcotta Lake
- Sasthamcotta Lake is the largest fresh water lake in Kerala.
- The lake is named after the ancient Sastha temple (a pilgrimage centre) located on its bank.
- It meets the drinking water needs of half million people of the Quilon district and also provides fishing resources.
- It is a designated wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention since November 2002.
10. Roots connect a Meghalaya village
Subject :Environment
Living root bridge:
- Living root bridges or Jing Kieng Jri are the aerial bridges that are built by weaving and manipulating the roots of the Indian rubber tree.
- A living root bridge is like a suspension bridge formed by guiding the pliable roots of the rubber fig tree (Ficus elastica) across a stream or river and allowing the roots to grow and strengthen over time.
- They have been serving as connectors for generations in the Indian state of Meghalaya.
- A root bridge uses traditional tribal knowledge to train the roots of the Indian rubber tree (found in abundance in the area) to grow laterally across a stream bed resulting in a living bridge of roots.
- It spans between 15 and 250 feet and is built over centuries.
- They are on the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites.
- They have also become world-famous tourist attractions. The two most popular tourist spots are-
- Riwai Root Bridge
- Umshiang Double Decker Bridge.
- There are no records to suggest when the Khasi community started the living root bridge tradition, but ecologists say it highlights the symbiotic relationship between people and nature. Many bridges across the State are over a century old.
- Over 70 living root bridges (LRBs) thrive in the state’s mountainous rainforests in one of the world’s wettest regions – evidence of an enduring relationship between a pollinator, seed dispersers and indigenous communities.
Properties of Living Roots Bridge:
- They have three main properties:
- They are elastic,
- The roots easily combine, and
- The plants grow in rough and rocky soils.
Process of constructing a living root bridge:
- The structure of the bridge is entirely made from tree branches, trunks, and roots.
- The process begins with placing young pliable aerial roots Ficus Elastica trees in hollowed-out trunks of the Areca Catechu tree (type of palm tree).
- These trunks provide essential nutrition and protection from the weather to the young roots and also serve as a root guidance system.
- This is supported by a bamboo framework along with the entire structure.
- Over time, as the aerial roots increase in strength and thickness, the Areca Catechu trunks are no longer required.
- Dead load in the form of stones, timber planks, leaves, and soil is added to plug gaps and to weight test the living root structure.
- Meghalaya’s humid climate and pedestrian movement along the bridge contribute to soil/dead load compaction.
- Over time (15 to 30 years), the root structure becomes strong enough to support substantial weight without the bamboo framework.
- Unlike the concrete bridges, Living Root bridges become stronger and more resistant with time and use.
Learnings from such heritage:
- Sights like the Living Root bridges showcase the skilled craftmanship of tribes of India and their self-sufficient approach towards life.
- Future generations derive inspiration from these ancient techniques and strive for embracing a greener future.
Ficus Trees:
- Keystone role in nature.
- They hold the ecosystem together and promote biodiversity around them.
- They are hospitable to birds and bats (seed-dispersing animals) that feed on their fruits.
- They stabilise the soil with their root system and prevent landslides.
Meghalaya government Draft Guidelines for Protection of Living Root Bridge:
- Underpinned by science-based approaches and community participation.
- Zone-based conservation and a responsible development approach for regulating activities, including tourism. For example, the proposed Zone I suggests declaring at least approximately 30 meters from the core LRB structure as a protected area.
- Determine the gene pool of both the trees and of the pollinators (eg. fig wasp pollinator).
- Raise awareness levels among tourists and students about the root bridges.
- The guidelines also emphasise forming Village Cooperative Societies for inclusion of all stakeholders, ensuring an equitable profit-sharing model, and nurturing sustainable livelihoods
- Engage local communities in monitoring the biodiversity in the LRB ecosystem.
11. A clear picture of how mercury becomes a superconductor
Subject :Science and Technology
Context:
- In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity in mercury. He found that at a very low temperature, called the threshold temperature, solid mercury offers no resistance to the flow of electric current.
Mercury:
- Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and soil.
- Released into the atmosphere through natural processes such as weathering of rocks, volcanic eruptions, geothermal activities, forest fires, etc.
- Mercury is also released through human activities.
- It is the only metal which remains liquid at room temperature.
The BCS Theory:
- Scientists later classified mercury as a conventional superconductor because its superconductivity could be explained by the concepts of Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory.
- In BCS superconductors, vibrational energy released by the grid of atoms encourages electrons to pair up, forming so-called Cooper pairs.
- These Cooper pairs can move like water in a stream, facing no resistance to their flow, below a threshold temperature.
- However, scientists have never fully understood how it operates in mercury — the oldest superconductor.
What researchers have done now?
- The researchers used “state-of-the-art theoretical and computational approaches” and found that “all physical properties relevant for conventional superconductivity are anomalous in some respect” in mercury.
- By including certain factors that physicists had previously sidelined, the group’s calculations led to a clearer picture of how superconductivity emerges in mercury.
- The group found that one electron in each pair in mercury occupied a higher energy level than the other. This detail reportedly lowered the Coulomb repulsion (like charges repel) between them and nurtured superconductivity.
- Thus, the group has explained how mercury becomes a superconductor below its threshold temperature.
Superconductors: https://optimizeias.com/superconductors/
12. Is Omicron variant XBB.1.5’s superior binding causing higher transmissibility?
Subject :Science and Technology
Context:
- The XBB.1.5 Omicron recombinant variant that was first detected in the U.S. (New York and Connecticut) in late October 2022 has now spread to at least 29 countries.
XXB.1.5 variant:
- The XBB.1.5 variant is a descendant of XBB.1, which, in turn, descends from XBB.
- The XBB variant evolved through the recombination of two descendants of the earlier Omicron BA.2 variant.
- The XBB.1.5 variant was first found in India on December 30 last year, and as per INSACOG five XBB.1.5 variants have been detected so far — three cases in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka and Rajasthan.
- If XBB and XBB.1 already had high transmissibility and higher immune escape, the XBB.1.5 variant is even more transmissible while retaining significant immune escape ability.
- Both XBB.1 and XBB.1.5 “significantly” evaded convalescent plasma samples from BA.1, BA.5, and BF.7 breakthrough infections.
- However, XBB.1.5 displayed a slightly weaker immune evasion capability compared with XBB.1.
Transmissibility:
- XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible variant that has been detected yet.
- The reason for the high transmissibility of XBB.1.5 is the mutations within this recombinant sub-variant of Omicron.
- The underlying mechanism for such high transmissibility remains unclear.
- The additional mutation found on XBB.1.5 renders the virus with substantially higher binding affinity with the receptor compared with BQ.1.1 and XBB/XBB.1.
- And compared with XBB.1, the XBB.1.5 variant has comparable antibody evasion but displays distinct transmissibility suggesting that enhanced receptor-binding affinity would indeed lead to higher growth advantages.
- With a stronger immune escape ability than BQ.1.1 but limited by weaker binding affinity, XBB and XBB.1 were recorded only in a few countries. In contrast, with enhanced receptor-binding affinity but comparable antibody evasion, the prevalence of XBB.1.5 demonstrates that receptor-binding affinity will affect transmissibility.
Rare mutation of XXB.1.5:
- The additional mutation seen on XBB.1.5 is the S486P on the spike protein.
- The mutations at 486 reduce ACE2 [binding] affinity.
- The XBB.1.5 variant fixed the reduced binding affinity seen in XBB and XBB.1 by undergoing changes in two nucleotides to become S486P.
- XBB.1.5’s hACE2 binding affinity is almost comparable to that of BA.2.75, which may enable XBB.1.5 to gain more mutations, similar to what BA.2.75 had.
13. IISER new material removes pollutants from water
Subject :Environment
Context:
- Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune came up with a custom-designed unique molecular sponge-like material — macro/microporous ionic organic framework — which can swiftly clean polluted water by soaking up sinister contaminants.
Water contaminants:
- Systematic studies have identified various organic (organic dyes, antibiotics, pesticides, etc.) as well as inorganic toxic pollutants such as iodides, and oxo-pollutants like perrhenate that are carcinogenic in freshwater sources and can pose a direct threat to humanity and living organisms.
New material to purify water:
- In general, commonly utilised sorbent materials often trap the pollutants through an ion-exchange strategy to purify water but suffer from poor kinetics and specificity.
- To mitigate this issue, researchers have prepared a newly engineered material called viologen-unit grafted organic-framework (iVOFm).
- The material employs amalgamation of electrostatics driven ion-exchange combined with nanometer-sized macropores and specific binding sites for the targeted pollutants.
- The size and number of tunable macropores along with the strong electrostatic interaction of iVOFm can quickly remove various toxic pollutants from water.
- Researchers employed a make-and-break strategy to grow a charged porous organic polymer (POP) as a sponge-like infinite framework on silica nanoparticles that is used as a template.
- Following this, the silica nanoparticles were strategically removed to create ordered hierarchical interconnected macro/microporosity throughout the material.
Fast diffusion:
- This material features inherent cationic nature and macroporosity to allow fast diffusion of pollutants.
- When tested for a wide array of water pollutants, it showed ultrafast capture of all the pollutants– both organic and inorganic- with over 93% removal in just 30 seconds.
- The engineered material could remove sulfadimethoxine antibiotic with high efficiency.
- It can also be used several times to clean contaminated water.
14. From deforestation to restoration: Policy plots path to Amazon recovery
Subject: Environment
Context:
- At his inauguration on Jan. 1 as Brazil’s new president, Inácio Lula da Silva reiterated a promise to reach zero deforestation and to recover degraded land. He’d already made the same commitment in a speech at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
Amazon deforestation:
- Approximately 17% of the Amazon has already been deforested.
- Another 17% is in various stages of degradation from selective logging, fire, forest fragmentation, bad land use, and other disturbances.
- Some attempts to provide greater detail emerged from the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) at COP27, which presented the policy brief “Transforming the Amazon through ‘Arcs of Restoration.’”
- The report provides the scientific basis to guide debates and decisions around the large-scale recovery of deforested and degraded areas of the Amazon Rainforest.
Arc of Deforestation:
- The worst of the degradation is concentrated in the region known as the Arc of Deforestation, along the eastern and southern edges of the Brazilian Amazon, where rates of forest loss have been the highest in recent decades.
- This part of the rainforest suffers from land grabs, illegal logging, mining in protected areas, and other crimes that drive a boom-and-bust economy.
Afforestation process in amazon:
- The first step to fixing the problem is to restore the rule of law in the Brazilian Amazon, by strengthening environmental protection and rooting out criminal elements.
- Other steps include:
- Allocating staff and funding to implement laws and policies on restoration plans.
- A new Forest Code and the National Plan for Native Vegetation Recovery.
- Agroforestry in Amazon:
- Agroforestry is growing increasingly popular as one of the main models for restoring forests while allowing income generation.
- The Alliance for the Restoration in the Amazon, a coalition of Brazilian and international institutions working to promote forest recovery, identified 1,643 such projects in 2022, almost all small-scale.
- Although agroforestry doesn’t result in the complete recovery of the forest, these initiatives offer environmental benefits, especially with the restoration of vegetation cover and the sustainable use of soil and water.
- The main advantage of agroforestry is the focus on human welfare, by ensuring food security, employment, and income for families who live in degraded and poor areas of the Amazon.
- Low-impact timber extraction, açaí berries, medicinal plants, corn, coffee, cocoa, pumpkins, and beans are just some examples already being produced in various parts of the Amazon.
One potential risk with agroforestry systems is when income gets so attractive that the project loses its restoration focus.