Daily Prelims Notes 9 May 2024

Daily Prelims Notes

9 May 2024

1. How the Widal test clouds India’s sense of its typhoid problem

Subject: Science and tech

Sec: Health

Tag: Widal Test, Typhoid

Typhoid Fever:

• Typhoid fever is an infectious disease caused by Salmonella typhi bacteria, transmitted through contaminated food and water.
• It manifests symptoms like high fever, stomach pain, weakness, nausea, and potentially severe complications if untreated.
• Approximately 9 million cases are diagnosed annually worldwide, with significant morbidity and mortality rates.

Typhoid test:

• The gold standard for diagnosing typhoid — in addition to a detailed medical history and a thorough examination — is to isolate the bacteria from a patient’s blood or bone marrow and grow them in the lab.
• Stool and urine samples can also yield the same but with lower sensitivity.
• Cultures are time-consuming and skill- and resource-intensive.

Widal Test and associated challenges:

• In India, the Widal test (rapid blood test) is prevalently used for diagnosing typhoid due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.
  • Our immune system produces antibodies in the blood against the bacteria, causing enteric fever. The Widal test rapidly detects and quantifies these antibodies.
• However, this test, developed in the late 1800s, is plagued with inaccuracies such as false positive and negative outcomes.
• It requires two serum samples taken 7-14 days apart to confirm a diagnosis, which is often impractical.
• Additionally, the test’s results can be skewed by prior antibiotic use, existing immunity levels, or cross-reactions with other infections.

Impact of Misdiagnosis:

• Misdiagnosis leads to inappropriate treatment, contributing to the misuse of antibiotics and increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
• This not only escalates the disease burden by making it harder to treat but also imposes financial strains on affected individuals, often forcing them to sell assets for treatment costs.

Alternatives and Improvements Needed:

• Given the flaws of the Widal test, there is a pressing need for better diagnostic methods. Recommendations include:
  • Developing and adopting more accurate and reliable point-of-care tests.
  • Implementing a “hub and spoke” model for sample collection and processing, leveraging existing healthcare infrastructure for better diagnosis and surveillance.
  • Improving sanitation, access to clean water, and food safety to address the root causes of typhoid.
  • Enhancing surveillance systems to monitor and respond to typhoid resistance patterns effectively, with reports such as those from the Indian Council for Medical Research guiding antibiotic usage and policy adjustments.

Way forward:

• The mismanagement of typhoid fever diagnosis and treatment underscores the need for systemic improvements in public health strategies, diagnostic technologies, and antibiotic use policies to effectively control this preventable disease in India.

Source: TH

2. Coral bleaching grips Indian coasts; Lakshadweep, Andamans are most affected

Subject: Geography

Sec: Oceanography

Tag: Coral bleaching , Lakshadweep, Andamans

Coral Bleaching in India:

• Coral reefs in India, found in regions such as Lakshadweep, Gulf of Kutch, Goa, Maharashtra, and along the eastern coast including the Gulf of Mannar and Tamil Nadu, are experiencing instances of coral bleaching.
• Notably, Lakshadweep has reported widespread bleaching, especially around Kavaratti Island.
• The bleaching affects both hard and soft coral species, extending down to depths of 30 meters.
• While some islands like Agatti report lesser severity, areas like Goa and the Andaman islands are witnessing the onset of bleaching, which could escalate if high temperatures persist.

What is Coral Bleaching?

• When corals face stress by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white. This phenomenon is called coral bleaching.
• The pale white colour is of the translucent tissues of calcium carbonate which are visible due to the loss of pigment-producing zooxanthellae.
• Bleached corals can survive depending on the levels of bleaching and the recovery of sea temperatures to normal levels.
• If heat pollutions subside in time, over a few weeks, the zooxanthellae can come back to the corals and restart the partnership but severe bleaching and prolonged stress in the external environment can lead to coral death.
• Over the last couple of decades, climate change and increased global warming owing to rising carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases have made seas warmer than usual.
• Coral bleaching has occurred in the Caribbean, Indian, and Pacific oceans regularly.

Mass Coral Bleaching:

• To officially declare a global mass bleaching event, widespread bleaching must be observed in three major ocean basins: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Fourth Mass Coral Bleaching Event:

• The current coral bleaching event is part of a global trend, identified as the fourth mass coral bleaching event, which has affected over 50 regions worldwide since 2023.
• Triggered by elevated sea surface temperatures due to an ongoing El Niño event, this phenomenon threatens marine biodiversity, as corals act as crucial ecosystems for various marine species.
• Historical data from global events in 1998, 2010, 2014, and 2017 highlight the recurring and severe nature of these bleaching events, emphasizing the urgent need for effective marine environmental management.

Previous Mass Coral Bleaching:

• First Mass Bleaching: It occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern caused sea surfaces in the Pacific Ocean to heat up; this event caused 8% of the world’s coral to die.
• Second Mass Bleaching: This event took place in 2002. In the past decade, however, mass bleaching occurrences have become more closely spaced in time, with the longest and most damaging bleaching event taking place from 2014 to 2017.
• Third Mass Bleaching: The event that took place between 2014-17 affected reefs in Guam in the Western Pacific region, the North, South-Pacific, and the Indian Ocean.

Coral reef:

• Corals are invertebrate animals belonging to a large group of colourful and fascinating animals called Cnidaria.
• Each coral animal is called a polyp, and most live in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps that form a ‘colony’.
• Coral polyps host a microscopic symbiotic alga called zooxanthella that photosynthesizes just like plants, providing food to the coral.
• Coral is generally classified as either hard coral or soft coral.

Importance of Coral Reefs:

• Coral reefs, often described as the “rainforests of the sea,” play a vital role in marine life by providing essential habitat, food, and breeding grounds for numerous marine organisms.
• The health of coral reefs is directly linked to the broader ecological balance and biodiversity of the oceans.

Source: DTE

3. Plastic treaty talks conclude in Ottawa with little progress

Subject: Environment

Sec: Pollution

Tag: Plastic treaty

Context:

• The fourth round of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to negotiate a Global Plastics Treaty concluded in Ottawa, Canada, with 192 member countries deliberating on a legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution.

Details:

• The next meeting, expected to be the final one, is scheduled for November 2024 in Busan, South Korea.
• Despite high expectations, the talks failed to establish a timeline for halting primary plastic production.
• The discussions aimed to address the challenges posed by the widespread use of plastics linked to oil economies, extensive manufacturing sectors, and the absence of affordable alternatives.
• The negotiations highlighted the difficulties in curbing the production of plastics, which are major pollutants in marine and terrestrial ecosystems due to their non-biodegradable nature.

India’s Position:

• India’s stance in the negotiations was to oppose restrictions on producing primary or virgin plastic polymers, arguing that production reductions were beyond the scope of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolutions.
• Indian delegates emphasized the need for decisions on chemical usage in plastics to be based on scientific evidence and conducted through a transparent and inclusive process.
• In 2022, India implemented the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, which banned 19 categories of single-use plastics, though enforcement remains uneven across the country.

Instances of other nations:

• Many plastic and petrochemical-producing countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and China– known collectively as the group of Like-Minded Countries– have opposed mentioning production limits.
• Meanwhile, the 60-nation “High-Ambition Coalition”, which includes EU countries, island nations, Japan and the UAE, wants to end plastic pollution by 2040.
  • Backed by some environment groups, this coalition has called for common, legally binding provisions to “restrain and reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.”
  • They also are proposing measures such as phasing out “problematic” single-use plastics and banning certain chemical additives that could carry health risks.
• The U.S. wants to end plastic pollution by 2040. But unlike the High-Ambition Coalition, it wants countries to set their plans and send updates regularly to the United Nations.

Considerations in the New Global Plastics Pollution Treaty:

• Focus on elements like global objectives to tackle marine and other types of environmental pollution and their impact, and worldwide obligations and measures throughout the lifecycle of plastics, right from product design to waste management.
• Mechanisms for providing scientific information relevant to the policies of the resolution, and for helping with financial support for its implementation.
• The treaty might require the testing of certain chemicals present in plastics to ensure safety and environmental protection.
• Identifies the importance of indigenous communities and their age-old practices to keep the environments pollution-free and calls for the knowledge of these communities to be taken into account by the INC.
• National action plans and national and international cooperative measures towards achieving the goal of eliminating plastic pollution.
• Progress assessment for member states.

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC):

• Established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2022 to develop an international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution.
• Its mandate is to develop an instrument that addresses the entire life cycle of plastic, including in the marine environment, and could include both voluntary and binding approaches.
• The INC-1 started in November 2022 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The INC-2 occurred in May-June 2023 in Paris, France. The INC-3 convened in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2023.

Plastic pollution:

• While plastic waste has become a global menace polluting landscapes and waterways, producing plastics involves releasing greenhouse gas emissions.
• The plastic industry now accounts for 5% of global carbon emissions, which could grow to 20% by 2050 if current trends continue.
• Plastic production is on track to triple by 2060 — unless the treaty sets production limits, as some have proposed.
• Most virgin plastic is derived from petroleum.

India’s effort to reduce plastic pollution:

• Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2024
• The Plastics Manufacture and Usage (Amendment) Rules (2003).
• UNDP India’s Plastic Waste Management Program (2018-2024).
• Prakrit initiative.
• EPR Portal by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
• India Plastics Pact
• Project REPLAN
• Swachh Bharat Mission

Source: TH

4. Why Vietnam wants US to change its ‘non-market economy’ status

Subject: Economy

Sec: External Sector

Tag: non-market economy

Context:

• Vietnam has been pushing the President Joe Biden administration to quickly change its “non-market economy” classification to “market economy”, in a bid to avoid high taxes imposed by the US on the goods imported from the Southeastern country.

More on news:

• Vietnam has emerged as one of the top trading partners of the US and helped thwart China’s expanding influence in the region.
• Vietnam has continued to be on Washington’s list of non-market economies for more than two decades.

What are ‘non-market economies’?

• The US designates a country as a non-market economy based on several factors.
• These are:
  • if the country’s currency is convertible; 
  • if wage rates are determined by free bargaining between labor and management; 
  • if joint ventures or other foreign investment are allowed; 
  • whether the means of production are owned by the state; and 
  • if the state controls the allocation of resources and price and output decisions. 
  • Other factors like human rights are also considered.
• The non-market economy label allows the US to impose “anti-dumping” duties on goods imported from designated countries.
• In international trade, dumping is when a country’s export prices are considered to be intentionally set below domestic prices, thereby inflicting harm to industries in the importing country.
• The US assesses the value of a product to be imported from a non-market economy like Vietnam based on what it is worth in Bangladesh and then assumes that this is the supposed production cost to a Vietnamese company.
• The company’s own data about the costs are not considered.

Why does Vietnam want to get the ‘market economy’ status?

• The change in status will also help Vietnam get rid of the anti-dumping duties, making its products more competitive in the US market. 

What is Anti Dumping Duty?

• Anti-dumping duties are imposed when it is conclusively proved that a particular item is being exported at a price lower than what is prevailing in the domestic market of the exporter and is leading to disruption in the domestic market, injuring the local producers
• An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
• Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market.
• The imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime
• Anti-dumping duties essentially compensate for the difference between the imported good’s export price and their normal value.
• The level of anti-dumping duties is determined by relying on a third country, for instance, Bangladesh, which is a market economy. 

Places in news:

Vietnam:

• It has a long land border of 4,550 km, bordering China to the North, Laos and Cambodia to the West, and the Eastern Sea (South China Sea) of Pacific Ocean to the East.
• It shares maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea.

5. Do marriages need to be registered? What happens if they are not?

Subject: Polity

Sec: Legislation in news

Tag: Special Marriage Act 1954 (SMA). 

Context:

• The Supreme Court last week ruled that despite an official marriage certificate, a Hindu couple before the Court had never acquired the status of husband and wife.

More on news:

• Marriage is registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) even before they perform the wedding rituals.
• The SC ruled that the couple who had filed divorce cases need not get a divorce because they were never married in the first place.
• The apex court’s observations in the ruling bring to focus various issues on registration and solemnization of a marriage, and its necessity.

What is a solemnized marriage?

• Solemnizing a marriage simply refers to the performance of an official marriage ceremony, with appropriate rituals.
• Marriage in India is largely governed through a gamut of personal laws, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA). 
• Though codified through statute, these personal laws are essentially practices ordained by religion, with each religion having its own set of ‘requirements’ for a marriage — a marriage is ‘valid’ when these requirements are met.
• Rituals such as kanyadaan, panigrahana and saptapadi, or other local customs solemnize a Hindu marriage.
• Section 7 of the HMA codifies these requirements, and names saptapadi as an essential ritual.

What are registered marriages?

• Registration of a marriage after it is solemnized as per rituals is different from a registered marriage.
• Commonly used terms like ‘court marriage’ or ‘registered marriage’ refer to a non-religious or civil marriage under the SMA, a secular law.
• A marriage ‘performed’ under this law is essentially a solemnization in ‘court’ (a registrar’s office) without any rituals.
• Marriages under personal laws (such as HMA) become ‘valid’ only after the performance of rituals prescribed by religion.
• A marriage without any rituals is only valid under the SMA.
• Section 8 of the HMA gives powers to the state to register marriages solemnized as per the requirements of Section 7.

What if a marriage is not registered?

• Entry 5 of the Concurrent List in the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule deals with marriage and divorce, and Entry 30 deals with vital statistics including registration of births and deaths. 
• Both these subjects jointly or separately deal with the registration of marriages.
• There is a central legislation on the subject — the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1886 — that does not have a robust application to marriage, unlike the effort to record births and deaths.
• States have their own laws, and in some states like Karnataka and Delhi, registration of a marriage is mandatory.

Validity of Marriage:

• Not registering a marriage cannot be the sole ground to declare it invalid — since registering a marriage itself does not make it valid, so not registering also cannot in itself make it invalid.
• When the validity of a marriage is contested, then a marriage certificate alone is not enough to prove the marriage.
• A ‘valid’ marriage as per rituals might be key in determining who is a rightful spouse when there are claims by multiple cohabiting partners.
• In an inheritance case, the validity of a marriage is questioned to disinherit a spouse.
• Proof of performing a valid marriage as per rituals (through photos, witnesses etc.); proof of long cohabitation as spouses through acceptance by family, friends or even children is evidence of a valid marriage.
• A marriage certificate has corroborative value in these cases but cannot be counted as evidence in itself.

About Hindu Marriage Act:

• The Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1955 which was passed on 18 May.
• Three other important acts were also enacted as part of the Hindu Code Bills during this time: the Hindu Succession Act (1956), the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956), the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (1956).
• The main purpose of the act was to amend and codify the law relating to marriage among Hindus and others.
• This Act applies to:
  • to any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments, including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj;
  • to any person who is a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion; and
  • to any other person domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion, unless it is proved that any such person would not have been governed by the Hindu law or by any custom or usage as part of that law in respect of any of the matters dealt with herein if this Act had not been passed.

6. In Supreme Court, Centre says it sends CBI to States for probes

Subject: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Tag: Art 131, Original jurisdiction of SC

Context:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accept at face value the Centre’s claim that it has no control over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), asking who else can send the premier investigating agency to States to investigate cases.

What is the issue?

• The SC is hearing an original suit filed by the State of West Bengal under Article 131 of the Constitution, accusing the Union government of “interfering” in cases originating within the State’s jurisdiction by unilaterally  authorising the CBI to probe them.
• West Bengal said the Centre continues to employ the CBI regardless of the fact that the State had withdrawn its general consent to CBI investigations within its territory under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946 way back in November 2018. The CBI has registered over 15 cases in West Bengal.

Article 131:

• According to Article 131, the SC has exclusive and original jurisdiction over legal issues originating between States or between States and the Union.
• Original jurisdiction is the power of the court to hear and determine a dispute in the first instance.
• Original jurisdiction of the SC:
• between the Government of India and one or more States
• between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more other States on the other
• between two or more States, if and in so far as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.
• The nature of Article 131 is subject to provisions of the Constitution and is limited to disputes involving legal rights, as mentioned in the Article itself.
• Thus, disputes of political nature are not covered under this, unless legal rights are at stake.
• The SC held that the meaning of the word ‘State’ under Article 131 does not include any private citizen, company, or a government department, even if it had filed a complaint along with any State Governments.

Restrictions:

• The original jurisdiction of the SC does not extend to disputes arising out of any treaty, agreement, covenant, engagement, sanad, or any other similar instrument which came into being before the commencement of the Constitution.
• The parliament may exclude the jurisdiction of the SC in disputes relating to the use, distribution, or control of the water of any inter-state river;
• Suits brought by private individuals against the Government of India.

What is CBI?

• Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India.
• It functions under the superintendence of the of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances, Government of India – which falls under the prime minister’s office.
• However for investigations of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, its superintendence vests with the Central Vigilance Commission.
• It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.
• Its conviction rate is as high as 65 to 70% and it is comparable to the best investigation agencies in the world.

Cases Handled by the CBI

• Anti-Corruption Crimes – for investigation of cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Public officials and the employees of Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Corporations or Bodies owned or controlled by the Government of India.
• Economic Crimes – for investigation of major financial scams and serious economic frauds, including crimes relating to Fake Indian Currency Notes, Bank Frauds and Cyber Crime, bank frauds, Import Export & Foreign Exchange violations, large-scale smuggling of narcotics, antiques, cultural property and smuggling of other contraband items etc.
• Special Crimes – for investigation of serious and organized crime under the Indian Penal Code and other laws on the requests of State Governments or on the orders of the Supreme Court and High Courts – such as cases of terrorism, bomb blasts, kidnapping for ransom and crimes committed by the mafia/the underworld.
• Suo Moto Cases – CBI can suo-moto take up investigation of offences only in the Union Territories.
• The Central Government can authorize CBI to investigate a crime in a State but only with the consent of the concerned State Government.
• The Supreme Court and High Courts, however, can order CBI to investigate a crime anywhere in the country without the consent of the State.

Director of CBI

• Director, CBI as Inspector General of Police, Delhi Special Police Establishment, is responsible for the administration of the organisation.
• Till 2014, the CBI Director was appointed on the basis of the DSPE Act, 1946.
• In 2003, DSPE Act was revised on Supreme Court’s recommendation in the VineetNarain case. A committee that had members from Central Vigilance Commission, Secretaries from Home Ministry, Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances would send recommendations to Central Government for the appointment of CBI Director.
• In 2014, the Lokpal Act provided a committee for appointment of CBI Director: Headed by Prime Minister, Other members – Leader of Opposition/ Leader of the single largest opposition party, Chief Justice of India/ a Supreme Court Judge.
• Home Ministry sends a list of eligible candidates to DoPT. Then, the DoPT prepares the final list on basis of seniority, integrity, and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases, and sends it to the committee.

General Consent

• The CBI needs consent of the state government in whose territorial jurisdiction, the CBI has to conduct an investigation (unlike NIA which enjoys All-India jurisdiction).
• Section 6 of the DPSE Act authorizes the central government to direct CBI to probe a case within the jurisdiction of any state on the recommendation of the concerned state government.
• However, the courts (SC and HC) can also order a CBI probe, and even monitor the progress of investigation in which case it won’t need states consent.
• However, even after withdrawal of the general consent The CBI continues to probe in old cases until specifically taken back by the state government. Further, it continues to investigate cases that were given to it by a court order.
• When a state gives a general consent to the CBI for probing a case, the agency is not required to seek fresh permission every time it enters that state in connection with investigation or for every case.
• If the general consent is withdrawn CBI needs to seek case-wise consent for investigation from the concerned state government. If specific consent is not granted, the CBI officials will not have the power of police personnel when they enter that state.
• In case of lack of general consent the CBI can approach a local court for a search warrant and conduct investigation.

Has the agency’s job been affected?

• The withdrawal of general consent does not affect pending investigation (KaziLendhupDorji v. CBI, 1994) or the cases registered in another State in relation to which investigation leads into the territory of the State which has withdrawn general consent; nor does the withdrawal circumscribe the power of the jurisdictional High Court to order a CBI investigation.
• However, without the States’ general consent, the CBI offices get disrobed of their general status as Police Stations.
• In other words, the CBI gets handcuffed by the State governments with its freedom of action available only in the aforesaid occasions and in cases in which such a State gives specific consent in relation to an offence to be investigated.

What does the law say?

• According to Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946 under which the CBI functions, the State’s consent is required to extend CBI investigation beyond Union Territories.
• The general consent given by the States enables the CBI to investigate corruption charges freely, as “police” is Entry 2 in the State List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
• The legal foundation of the CBI has been construed to be based on Entry 80 of the Union List which provides for the extension of powers of the police force belonging to one State to any area in another State but not without its permission.
• In the Advance Insurance Co. Ltd case, 1970, a Constitution Bench held that the definition of “State”, as contained in The General Clauses Act, includes Union Territories as well and hence the CBI, being a force constituted for Union Territories as recognised under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946, can conduct investigation into the territories of the States only with their consent.
• The United Nations Convention against Corruption to which India is a signatory also requires firm impartial steps to combat corruption at all levels.