Daily Prelims Notes 9 February 2024

Daily Prelims Notes

9 February 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Clean water crisis: Nitrogen pollution to triple scarcity in river sub-basins worldwide
2. QuantumScape solid-state battery may be the future of EVs
3. With CRISPR poised to revolutionise therapy, a pause to consider ethical issues
4. R&D Spend — Golden Intervention Or Smoke and Mirrors
5. Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY)
6. Enhancing retirement age for judges based on performance not practical idea: Govt tells Parliament panel

1. Clean water crisis: Nitrogen pollution to triple scarcity in river sub-basins worldwide

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context:

• The growing crisis of water scarcity is worsened by declining water quality across various regions, with a particular focus on nitrogen pollution in rivers.

Clean Water Scarcity: Study findings

• This issue, first recognized in 2010, is projected to continue until 2050, significantly impacting global water scarcity by potentially tripling the number of sub-basins affected.
• A study published in Nature Communications introduces “clean-water scarcity” as a concept that assesses water scarcity by considering both quantity and quality.
• It predicts that an additional 40 million square kilometres of river basin area and three billion people could face water scarcity by 2050, a situation far grimmer than previously estimated.
• This assessment highlights the role of nitrogen pollution in exacerbating water scarcity, affecting 2,000 sub-basins worldwide.
• In 2010, while 984 sub-basins were identified as water-scarce based on quantity, the inclusion of water quality issues raised this number to 2,517, expected to grow to 3,061 by 2050 in a worst-case scenario.
• The study also notes a dramatic increase in the global population living in areas of severe water scarcity when quality is considered, jumping from 45% to 80%.
• Future hotspots for clean-water scarcity include China, India, Europe, North America, and potentially Central Africa, each facing unique challenges.
• The study indicates that nitrogen pollution from human waste, agriculture, and fertilizers is significant, with sewage expected to become the dominant source due to urbanization and inadequate wastewater treatment.
• This trend is particularly noted in India and Africa, where sewage is projected to surpass agriculture as the primary pollution source in the worst-case scenario.
• The urgency of integrating water quality considerations into water management policies is underscored, with references to India’s deviation from Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in clean water and sanitation.
• The report calls for proactive measures to address water quality and pollution, highlighting the critical need to manage nitrogen pollution as part of mitigation strategies to combat the escalating issue of water scarcity.

Impact of Nitrogen Pollution:

• During precipitation, surplus nitrogen oxide compounds and sulfate oxides mix with oxygen molecules and other atmospheric components to produce acid rain.
• Nitrogen pollution often results in Eutrophication – the abnormal growth of algae on water bodies.
• Deterioration of soil microbes and acidification.
• It intensifies the greenhouse effect.
• Leads to photochemical smog.

Steps taken to control Nitrogen Pollution:

• Mandatory neem-coated urea production: Nitrogen is used most effectively when it is released from urea that has been coated with neem because it takes longer for plants to absorb.
• Soil Health Card: It informs farmers about the nutritional state of their soil and offers suggestions for the right amount of nutrients to add to improve soil health and fertility. It has caused the consumption of nitrogen in agriculture to decline.
• Bharat Stage Norms: It aims to regulate the harmful emissions from vehicles, like carbon monoxide (CO), unburnt hydrocarbons (HC), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), and Particulate matter (PM).
• The National Air Quality Index (NAQI) has been put into place, and nitrogen dioxide is one of the eight pollutants whose emission needs to be managed and tracked.

International Initiatives:

1. Gothenburg Protocol: It aims to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication, and Ground-level Ozone and is a part of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
   • To control and reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH4), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and Particulate Matter (PM) that are caused by human activities.
2. International Nitrogen Initiative (INI): The goal of this global initiative is to maximize nitrogen’s advantageous contribution to the production of sustainable food. It was established in 2003 with support from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE). The Indian government is also involved in this project.
3. Colombo Declaration on Sustainable Nitrogen Management: The declaration aims to halve nitrogen waste by

Source: DTE

2. QuantumScape solid-state battery may be the future of EVs

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Msc

Context:

• QuantumScape, a U.S.-based company, has developed a solid-state battery prototype that marks a significant advancement in electric vehicle (EV) technology.

Details:

• This battery retained 95% of its capacity after 1,000 charging cycles, potentially enabling an EV to cover a total mileage of over 500,000 kilometres with a single charge range of 500-600 kilometres.
• This performance surpasses the current industry target for solid-state battery development, which is about 700 charging cycles with a maximum capacity loss of 20%.
• The tests, conducted by Volkswagen’s battery company PowerCo, suggest this technology could address many challenges facing current EV batteries, such as cost, safety, capacity, charging time, and durability.
• Solid-state batteries differ from traditional lithium-ion batteries by using a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid one, eliminating many safety and performance issues associated with the latter.
• This new type of battery offers improved temperature tolerance, is non-flammable, and does not leak, making it potentially more suitable for varied climates.
• Solid-state batteries have been a research focus for 40 years, with recent breakthroughs overcoming long-standing challenges in cycle life, thermal stability, and current density.
• QuantumScape’s solid-state lithium-metal cell, notable for its anode-free design and ability to be produced in layers for series cell production, represents a leap forward in energy density and manufacturing scalability.
• Major automotive companies like Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, and Hyundai are investing in solid-state technology, with launches of solid-state battery EVs anticipated around 2025.

About Solid State batteries:

• These batteries use solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte, instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.
• Solid-state batteries can provide solutions for many problems of liquid Li-ion batteries, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable solid-electrolyte interphase formation, and poor cycling performance and strength.
• In the charging & discharging cycle, ions transfer to and fro between the anode (negative electrode generally made of graphite) and cathode (positive electrode made of lithium).

Advantages of the solid-state battery technology:

• Higher cell energy density (by eliminating the carbon anode)
• Lower charge time (by eliminating the need to have lithium diffuse into the carbon particles in conventional lithium-ion cells)
• Ability to undertake more charging cycles and longer life.
• Improved safety and Lower cost.
• Increase the capacity of EV batteries.

Source: DTE

3. With CRISPR poised to revolutionise therapy, a pause to consider ethical issues

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Biotech

What is CRISPR?

• CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
• CRISPR-Cas9 is the most prominent technology that enables to edit parts of the genome by removing, adding or altering sections of the DNA sequence.
• The CRISPR-Cas9 system consists of two key molecules that introduce a change mutation into the DNA.
• Cas9- An enzyme that acts as a pair of ‘molecular scissors’ that can cut the two strands of DNA at a specific location in the genome.
• Guide RNA (gRNA)- The gRNA is designed to find and bind to a specific sequence in the DNA.
• The Cas9 follows the guide RNA to the same location in the DNA sequence and makes a cut across both strands of the DNA.
• At this stage, the cell recognises that the DNA is damaged and tries to repair it.
• The DNA repair machinery is used to introduce changes to one or more genes in the genome of a cell of interest.
• The technology replicates a natural defence mechanism in some bacteria that uses a similar method to protect itself from virus attacks.

What are the advantages of this technology?

• Faster and Cheaper– It is faster and cheaper than previous techniques of editing DNA.
• High accuracy– Genetic engineering has made the work more accurate by allowing scientists to have greater control on trait development.
• Viable compared to GMO- CRISPR technology proves viable against the criticisms of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

What are the issues with CRISPR technology?

• Ethical concerns– In 2018, a Chinese researcher’s disclosure of creating a ‘designer baby’ has caused widespread concern in the scientific community.
• Biological concerns– Though the technology is not 100% precise and has the risk of causing mutations, side effects and undesirable changes like antibiotic resistance.
• Genetic drive – Once the manipulated genes get transferred on to next generations, they become part of the environment.
• Gene gap– CRISPR can be very expensive and get limited to those who can afford it.

Where does India stand in the field of gene editing and CRISPR?

• India is at its infancy when it comes to genome editing.
• Research in gene editing is not so abundant but it is growing steadily.
• Although the funding for biology has been steadily growing, a lot of investment is needed in infrastructure.
• India’s draft gene-editing rules allows genome-edited organisms without any “foreign” genes to be subjected to a different regulatory process than the one applied to genetically engineered products.

4. R&D Spend — Golden Intervention Or Smoke and Mirrors

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Msc

Context

• The announcement in the interim Budget by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding the establishment of a one lakh crore rupees corpus with fifty-year interest-free loans to promote private sector research and innovation in sunrise domains has ignited discussions about the effectiveness and implications of such a move.

A sunrise industry

• A sunrise industry refers to a sector or area of economic activity that is experiencing rapid growth and expansion, often characterized by the emergence of new technologies, products, or services. These industries typically represent promising opportunities for investment and development due to their potential to drive innovation, create jobs, and contribute significantly to economic growth.

Private Sector Contribution and International Comparisons

• India’s private sector’s contribution to research and development (R&D) expenditure has historically been low, constituting only 36.4% of the national gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) in 2020-21.
• Comparisons with global leaders in R&D investment such as Germany, South Korea, and the United States, where private sector contributions to national GERD are significantly higher (67%, 79%, and 75% respectively), highlight the disparity and raise questions about the necessity for private sector dominance in R&D spending.
• These comparisons also prompt reflection on whether international benchmarks for R&D expenditure are relevant to India’s unique developmental context.

Trends in India’s R&D Expenditure

• Despite an increase in absolute terms, India’s R&D expenditure as a fraction of GDP has been steadily declining, underscoring a lag in keeping pace with more technologically advanced nations.
• The decline from 0.82% to approximately 0.64% of GDP from 2009-10 to 2020-21 highlights the need for concerted efforts to bolster R&D investment in India.

5. Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY)

Subject: Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context:

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the “Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY)”, a Central Sector Sub-scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna.

More on news:

• PM-MKSSY is a Central Sector Sub-scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada for formalization of the fisheries sector and supporting fisheries micro and small enterprises.
• It comprises an investment of over Rs. 6,000 crores over a period of next four (4) years from FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27 in all States/Union Territories.

Aims and objectives of PM-MKSSY:

• Gradual Formalization of the unorganized fisheries sector through self registration of fishers, fish farmers and supportive workers under a National Fisheries Sector Digital Platform including creation of work based digital identities of fish workers for improved service delivery.
• Facilitating access to institutional financing fisheries sector micro and small enterprises.
• Providing a one-time incentive to beneficiaries for purchasing aquaculture insurance.
• Incentivizing fisheries and aquaculture microenterprises through performance grants for improving fisheries sector value-chain efficiencies including creation and maintenance of jobs.
• Incentivising micro and small enterprises through performance grants for adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems including creation and maintenance of jobs.

Expenditure involved

• The Sub-scheme will be implemented as a Central Sector Sub-scheme under the Central Sector Component of the PMMSY at an estimated outlay of  Rs.6,000 crore consisting of 50% i.e. Rs.3,000 crore public finance including the World Bank and the AFD external financing, and rest 50% i.e.Rs.3,000 crore being the anticipated investment from the beneficiaries/private sector leverage.
• It will be implemented for 4 (four) years from FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27 across all the States and UTs.

Intended Beneficiaries:

• Fishers, Fish (Aquaculture) Farmers, Fish workers, Fish Vendors or such other persons directly engaged in fisheries value chain.
• Micro and Small enterprises in the form of Proprietary Firms, Partnership Firms and Companies registered in India, Societies, Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), Cooperatives, Federations, Village Level Organizations like Self Help Groups (SHGs), Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) and Startups engaged in fisheries and aquaculture value chains.
• FFPOs also include Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs).
• Any other beneficiaries that may be included by the Department of Fisheries, Gol as targeted beneficiaries.

Implementation strategy:

The Sub-scheme has the following major components:

Component 1-A:

Formalization of fisheries sector and facilitating access of fisheries microenterprises to Government of India programs for working capital financing:

• For this purpose, a National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP) will be created and all the stakeholders will be mobilized to register on it.
• They will be encouraged to do so through providing financial incentives.
• The NFDP will serve multiple functions including disbursement of financial incentives.

Component 1-B:

Facilitating adoption of aquaculture insurance:

• It is proposed to facilitate creation of appropriate insurance products and to cover at least 1 lakh hectare of aquaculture farms during the project period to provide the scale of operation.
• Further, it is proposed to provide one time incentive to the willing farmers against purchase of insurance with a farm size of 4 hectares of water spread area and less.

Component 2:

Supporting microenterprises to improve fisheries sector value chain efficiencies:

• This component seeks to improve value chain efficiencies in the fishery sector through a system of performance grants with associated analytics and awareness campaigns.

Component 3:

Adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems:

• It is proposed to incentivize fisheries micro and small enterprises to adopt safety and quality assurance systems in marketing of fish and fishery products through provision of performance grants against a set of measurable parameters.

Performance Grant disbursement criteria for components 2 and 3

• Number of jobs created and maintained; including jobs created and maintained for women.
• For each job created and maintained for a woman an amount of Rs.15,000 per year will be paid.
• Similarly, for each job created and maintained for a man an amount of Rs.10,000 per year will be paid, subject to the limit of 50% of total eligible grant.

Component 4: Project management, monitoring and reporting:

• Under this component, it is proposed to set up Project Management Units (PMUs) to manage, implement, monitor and evaluate project activities.

6. Enhancing retirement age for judges based on performance not practical idea: Govt tells Parliament panel

Subject: Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context:

• The government has told a parliamentary panel that extending the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges based on their performance may not be practical.

More on news:

• The government said that Enhancing retirement age for judges will  “further erode” the powers of Parliament and may also result in “undue favoritism”.
• The committee headed by BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi had recommended a system of appraisal which may be devised and put in place by the SC collegium, before any judge is recommended for enhancement of their tenure.
• The Standing Committee on Law and Personnel, in its report on ‘Judicial Processes and their Reforms’, had recommended a performance appraisal system for extending the tenure of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts beyond the existing retirement age.

Constitutional provisions:

• According to constitutional provisions, at present, while Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years, judges of the 25 high courts demit office at 62.
• According to Article 124(2) of the Constitution, the age of retirement for Supreme Court judges is 65.
• As per Article 217(1) of the Constitution, High Court judges retire at 62.
• Initially, the retirement age of High Court judges was 60, which was later in 1963 increased to 62 through the 114th constitutional amendment.
• Article 124(7) of the Constitution bars judges of the Supreme Court from practicing before any forum
• For High Court judges, an amendment was brought in 1956 to allow practice before the Supreme Court and High Courts other than the one they served in under Article 220

Challenges relating to extension of retirement age:

• It will  result in empowering the SCC (Supreme Court Collegium) for the evaluation of the judges at the time of giving extensions on individual basis.
• It  will further erode the powers of Parliament and empower (the) Judiciary through the SCC to take decisions on the enhancement of age.
• The Department of Justice in the law ministry also said that this step may also result in “undue favoritism” and make the judges “susceptible to pressures”.
• It would create an avoidable burden on the limited manpower resources in the Judiciary and the Executive, who are involved in the appointment process.

Committee Recommendations:

• In 1974, the 58th report of the Law Commission recommended bringing parity between the age of retirement of judges of the High Court and Supreme Court.
• In 2002, Justice Venkatachaliah Report – the report of the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution,also recommended that the age of retirement should be increased for judges of High Courts and Supreme Court to 65 and 68, respectively.